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The bell ring was echoing inside her ears when a tap on her shoulder popped Flora out of the lunch break trance to get away from the classrooms as soon as possible. She let out a small gasp at the pale hand retreating into a nook with a black hole and, after a quick glance around, followed after it.
“Hey,” she let out in a whisper that turned into a choking fit as the outside wind used her own hair against her.
Félix grunted a reply while Flora shook her head and wiped the blond strands out of her face. Tying her hair into a bun, she hurriedly stepped over the school’s rooftop and closer to Félix, who was sitting by her poppies—they should be blooming soon, from what Flora could tell—a cardboard model propped on his lap.
“Oh.” Flora blinked at the construct, folding her skirt as she sat by his side. “It’s, uhm–”
“The Castle of Lucky Fables,” Félix said, thumbing the edges of the model’s base, where the drawbridge met the model’s limit.
Flora craned her neck to get a better look, a giggle escaping her at finding the flowers cut out and green ribbons representing her garden on one of the balconies.
Her eyes flicked to Fé’s frowning face and her grin fell a bit.
She cleared her throat and gently nudged Félix with her shoulder. “Marinette did this?” It sounded like a question, but it wasn’t really a question, it was one of those ‘affirmative questions’ that Flora forgot the name of. But Félix knew what those were, so he must’ve understood.
He shrugged. “That’s my assumption.”
Or maybe not.
“It’s a really good replica,” Flora chirped, brain screaming for what else to say.
Félix groaned, hands raising to his face. “I know I should just talk to her already; it’s been a week. Dragging this out for any longer is just dumb! ” Félix huffed through his nose, muttering, “Like it isn’t any dumber already.”
“So why don’t you talk to her?”
Félix’s hands—which had been flying around in a Marinette-like fashion—slumped by his sides together with his posture.
“What will I even say?” he asked, arms wrapping carefully around the cardboard castle.
“How about: ‘The mini-Castle of Lucky Fables looks so cool, ‘Ri! You’re figures are always awesome!’”
Félix didn’t react.
“Or maybe you could just hug?” Flora tried again.
Félix pursed his lips.
Flora deflated, looking away as she rubbed her arms. Should she push more? Alina would’ve pushed more, tried to coach him into doing what he wanted to do, but didn’t because of fear. Flora, on the other hand, didn’t like pushing for more than she already got; it’d often blow up in her face and the last thing Félix and Marinette needed right now was more things blowing up.
She tucked a stray strand behind her ear, eyes wandering over the horizon, where the wind swung her poppy buds over the open sky.
But Alina wasn’t here, and Félix was in dire need of a friendly push.
After a deep breath, she turned a tentative smile at him. “Come on, Fé. You said so yourself: you don’t want to drag it out more. A-and not because it’s dumb!” she was quick to add, shaking hands gripping her knees. “I know what it is like to mourn something you love being destroyed overnight, barely knowing how or why–” Flora shook the plants poking out of garbage bags out of her head, focusing her gaze on Félix. “But because you really care for each other, and want to make amends.”
Her breath only released from her throat when Félix nodded slightly and started to stand up. Flora released a quiet laugh, dusting off her clothes as she got up too.
One black hole and a pedestrian line later, and they were approaching the alleyway where their usual picnic table for school-hours retreat resided.
Marinette’s head immediately jerked up at their sight, Alina’s voice—which probably had been comforting Mar—still trailing off as she turned on her seat.
Félix passed the castle model to Flora—who cradled it securely in her arms—before stepping closer to the other girls.
Marinette sprouted to her feet, Alina also standing up, hand behind her neck, and taking a few steps back to give them space.
“Listen, Félix, I–”
Before Marinete could finish, she was being enveloped by long arms, holding her tightly. She just stood there frozen for a bit, then hugged him back, happy squeals escaping her together with what Flora thought might be words.
A loud sigh brought Flora’s attention to Alina, who was slumping over the table with visible relief.
Flora laughed, chest bubbling with all the poppies that had decided to blossom earlier, and rushed to tackle her rejoined friends, grabbing Alina by the arm to pull her along into the group hug.