Sang the Setari

30. Avalon

"Come on, Peanut," Nathan said, scooping me up from the couch. "You need some fresh air. We are going on a...what did you call it?....pig neck? The thing where we eat outside."

"A picnic," I answered, with a small smile.  I sighed and put my arms around his strong shoulders. "You're right."

"Damn straight," Gabriel added, giving my hair a tug as he passed by. "Ever since that fucked up Hidden War episode, you've been moping around the apartment unless we are on a patrol. You like being outside too much for that to be normal."

"Exactly. So North and Luke are packing the food for the peck neck," Nathan said.

"Okay," I replied, not correcting him again. I was reminded of some very pleasant 'neck pecking' from last night. To distract myself, I asked, "Where are we going?"

Nathan set me on the edge of the kitchen countertop and North answered, "That island across the lake we found during the last Near-Space patrol. You said you wanted to see the waterfall from Real-Space."

North looked into the portable food preservation unit and grunted. He removed two dessert boxes marked 'For Always' and 'For Forever' that Luke had just placed inside.  As soon as North turned back away to grab some more veggie packs, Luke silently snuck our dessert boxes back in, sending me a wink. I slipped off the counter and intercepted North, grabbing the veggie packs.

"I'll help," I said. I put them in the container, shielding the view as I tucked the desserts under the picnic blanket.

"Teamwork," Luke said grinning widely, and giving me a high five.  "I like it."

North looked at us with suspicion. Nathan and Gabriel, having seen our deception, were trying not to laugh.

"Baby..." North started to say, but Gabriel interrupted grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the bedroom.

"Come on, Trouble," Gabriel said. "You can't wear those clothes on a picnic. Let's get you ready to go."

******
Silas had a hover sled ready for us at the lake shore. It was a small transport that only fit the six of us. Tsee Blackbourne, Kota and Victor had gone back to Tare to deal with the KOTIS Media Relations investigation. Sean was in the Muina MedBay working because several visiting Tarens had started breaking out in a rash from exposure to a plant that looked like some hybrid of poison ivy and stinging nettles.

"Aggele mou, how are you feeling today?" Silas asked as he held the hover sled steady with one hand and offered the other to help me board. 

I looked up into his handsome face and and realized then how much the boys had been worried by my morose behavior.  I was even more determined to enjoy the outting. I didn't want to burden the boys any further. And truly, I was not so much anxious about the show's portrayal of me, but how this was affecting them.  I needed to trust that things were being resolved and the boys would talk to me or each other if they needed to. 

I took a deep breath and smiled up at Silas and replied, "Much better. Thank you for doing this today. I really needed it."

"I think we need to do even better. I want to hear that beautiful laugh," Silas said, returning my smile.

"Oh?" I wondered, "How will you do that?"

"I used to tell North silly jokes when we were younger to cheer him up," Silas said. "Maybe some of those will work."

"Ugh, please no," North grumbled as he settled into his seat.

"I am with North. Those jokes are horrible," Nathan cringed.

"Oh, nevermind them," I grinned, "Tell me one."

The hover sled started up with a gentle hum and we moved forward across the lake.

Silas pulled me into his side and said, "I haven't seen that new film Constipation. It isn't out yet."

I giggled along with Gabriel and Luke's chuckles. North and Nathan groaned.

Nathan shook his head, saying, "See. Horrible. Just awful."

Silas' eyes twinkled and he followed up with, "What did one toilet say to the other toilet?"

I just shook my head with a goofy smile.

"You look flushed," Silas deadpanned.

"Worse! It is getting worse!" Nathan mock- lamented while Gabriel and Luke hooted in laughter. I think I caught a brief smile on North before he scowled and refocused on steering the hover sled.

The remainder of the half-kasse trip was spent with Gabriel and Luke joining Silas in sharing jokes. Some I didn't get, simply because of language translation or my limited knowledge of Kolarian culture. When the jokes ran out they told about some of Luke's pranks. By the time we arrived in the island, my face hurt from smiling and laughing.  

*****
"We have to bring the others here, when we are all back on Muina again," I mused, sitting on the shore and tentatively dipping my feet into the cold water. On the back side of the island was a small cove. After finding the waterfall and meandering around, and feeling quite warm in the spring weather, we decided to rest here before returning. "This little cove is perfect for swimming once the water temperature goes up a bit more."

"We could go now with nanosuits," Nathan suggested, sitting at my left and taking my hand in his.

"I know....but...this place is so beautiful...almost magical. I want to keep it a place that I can just...forget everything," I responded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Luke said at my right, gazing off dreamily.

"The island has not been named yet," North commented. "Technically, we discovered it, since we first explored it in the Ena. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Avalon," I replied, without hesitation.

"Done," North said a joden later. "I logged the submission with the KOTIS Land Planning and Development Commission."

I stood and hugged him tightly, whispering, "Thank you, North Star."

His gaze softened as he looked down at me. He kissed me on the forehead and whispered back, "Anything for you, Baby."