#this goes from deeply relaxing to sheer terror real quick

[notaplushtoy]

While march wasn’t as bad as last year...total productivity was sub par.  This month we go ham fam!!!

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Starting Monday!  Okay gonna go play subnautica byeeeeeeeeeeee~!

[bellarke-addict]

A short conversation

Canon-Divergent. Kane tries to help Bellamy and Clarke along. 

The first time Kane had seen Octavia had been in the Earth Skills class, she had been the last one to walk through the door, so hesitant, so unsure of herself.

Since landing on Earth, she had grown into a brave, fierce woman. A true warrior.

So, when he hears her cry out in terror, he finds himself racing across Ton DC, darting around the grounders in his way, towards the large bonfire and nearly colliding with her as she scrambles backwards.

He puts his hands on her shoulders and positions her behind him, looking for the source of the threat and only finding Lincoln.

Who was laughing.

And holding a baby.

“I have never seen you move that fast,” he cries, his shoulders shaking as he bends over slightly, both hands holding the child against his chest,

“Not even when your life depended on it.”

Octavia is shorter than Kane, so she can’t speak over his shoulder but she makes no move from behind his back,

“At least I don’t endanger the lives of children.” she shouts and Kane has no idea what is going on.

He looks to the others sitting around the bonfire and sees the Trikru are amused and the Skai-kru confused.

“Every member of the clan is expected to care for our young,” Lincoln explains,

“It takes a village to raise a child.”

Sound and interesting wisdom, Kane wonders if he could ask Indra about this but he can’t see her right now and the baby in question is beginning to fret.

“Here,” Bellamy says, standing up and making his way around the bonfire to Lincoln’s side, “Give her to me.”

Lincoln clearly hesitates and Bellamy looks offended,

“Come on,” he protests, “Who do you think raised O?”

Lincoln raises an eyebrow, “Are you trying to convince me or threaten me?”

“It’s either him or me,” Octavia calls from behind Kane’s back, “And only one of us has actively tried to keep kids alive.”

Lincoln sighs but holds out the baby as she utters a weak cry and Bellamy picks her up with a confidence that Kane would not feel, he cradles her in his arms and the baby snuffles before turning her head to his chest and settling down.

Bellamy smirks and sits back down on the log, leaning back slightly as Jasper and Monty on either side began looking at the baby.

“Don’t poke her,” he warns Jasper, just as the young man’s index finger approached the baby’s cheek, “She’s not a toy.”

“She looks squishy,” he coos, his finger being captured and squeezed, “And soft.”

Kane feels a push on his back and looks over his shoulder to see Octavia’s hands flat against his jacket,

“Are you using me as a human shield?” he asks, fighting the urge to laugh and she glares at him,

“You wanted to be part of the family?” she challenges, “That means protecting us.”

Her voice is deliberately low so that she won’t be overheard, but the physical closeness between the two of them isn’t missed by watching eyes.

Bellamy had been the first of the siblings to be emotionally open with Kane and physical affection soon followed. Light touches on the shoulder or arm when either one was leaving the camp and anything deeper was reserved for when the young man was injured in some manner.

Roughly every third day.

Octavia had been more hesitant, more resisting and shying away whenever Kane reached for her. Now, however, she was walking them both to the bonfire, and settling herself down as far away from the baby as possible, glaring at her brother,

“She comes anywhere near me, I’m going to defend myself.” She warns and Bellamy tilts his head back in amusement,

“Octavia Blake, killer of giant lake slugs, second to Indra kom Trikru, terrified of an infant who can’t lift her own head yet.”

“Oh, as if I’m not the entire reason you aren’t scared of babies.” She replies and the two of them share a look unknown to the rest of Skai-kru,

“Yeah you are.” He admits and then shifts away from Jasper who had begun reaching for the baby’s cheek again.

The call goes up that riders are approaching and Kane starts to climb to his feet, in unison with Octavia and a few of those around the campfire on watch that night.

“Hod op!” The watchman calls down, “It’s Wanheda.”

Striding towards the gate as it opens, Kane catches a glimpse of Clarke’s distinctive blonde hair as she canters through on a horse, pulling up and dismantling with a clumsy drop.

He reads exhaustion in every line of her body as she tugs down the hood of her cloak and he reaches for her backpack before she can pick it up,

“Hey,” she greets, past a yawn, “We’re still at peace.”

He grins, “Good,” he murmurs, “You did well.”

He jerks his head, leading her towards the fire and as they approach he sees the bags under her eyes, “Have you eaten?”

She nods, “There was a feast, I could barely get on the horse.”

What he was about to say next was cut off by the sound of Bellamy laughing and they look over to see him smiling.

Kane had never seen him smile like this, with clear eyes and teeth showing, real happiness visible there.

And beside him, Clarke drew a ragged breath.

Kane allowed her a moment before facing her, but was still rendered momentarily speechless by the sheer longing in her expression.

So tender and heartfelt.

He thinks that she’s simply unable to hide her feelings but when she catches his eye and gives him a quick embarrassed smile, he realises that she trusts him enough to let him read her emotions.

For her sake, he would pretend that there was still a soul left in Arkadia, Ton DC or Polis who wasn’t aware how deeply Bellamy and Clarke cared for each other.

It was the worst kept secret Kane had ever encountered.

Still, Clarke was a young woman, so he reached out and touched her arm,

“We can discuss politics in the morning,” he murmurs encouragingly, “Go sit down.”

She bites her cheek but he’s guiding her as gently as he can without making it obvious and they’ve barely taken three steps before Bellamy stands and ambles over to them.

“You’re back.” he offers as greeting and Clarke nods, the two of them both running their eyes over the other, looking for injury before they resume conversation,

“We at war?” he asks and she shakes her head, “No, how’s the winter preparations going?”

“No,” Kane interrupts, “It’s late, we can plan tomorrow, you two need rest.”

Bellamy gives him a bewildered glance, “We’re fine.”

Kane raises his eyebrows, wondering how these two could be so inept.

Perhaps his own inability to flirt was contagious?

“Clarke is falling asleep on her feet and you just handed an innocent, defenseless child to Jasper Jordan and Monty Green,” Kane points out,

“Neither of you are in any state to be working right now.”

Bellamy’s eyes widen with horror and he looks over his shoulder to see that Lincoln was hovering nervously as Monty clutched the baby and Jasper leaned towards it, opening and closing his mouth with a snap of his teeth.

“We should probably…” Clarke begins as they two of them hurry over, moving in sync as Bellamy rescued the baby from the boys who cleared a space so she could sit down.

Not that the space provided stopped her from sitting so close to Bellamy that they were practically joined from the shoulder down to their boots.

Kane crossed his arms and watched Bellamy as Clarke held her hands out to the fire, shuddering and staring into the flames as she warmed up. His expression mirrored the one she had worn on her face barely a minute or two beforehand.

How could two people care about each other so much and not act on it?

How could they resist?

Octavia joins him, shifting so she could follow his line of sight and snorts,  

“Yeah, they’re idiots,” she speaks as if having guessed his question,

“It’s never going to happen at this rate.”

He hums in agreement, “Lincoln and I have watch.” she tells him, and he nods,

“Be careful.” He murmurs, absently, as she stalks off.

As trusted allies, Skai-kru are allowed to sleep inside the walls of Ton DC, and Kane is given a place in Indra’s hut, a bed next to hers, which was the greatest show of faith that he could ask for.

He knew that Octavia and Lincoln were bedding down with Nyko, Clarke was in the healing hut, on call if anyone needed medical attention, and the rest of his people had been quartered wherever there was room. Still, as they were mostly young and drunk, he does a round to make sure they were actually sleeping and not causing trouble.

He also wanted the chance to speak with Bellamy.

The young man was outside the walls, asleep in the rover, by choice as he preferred to sleep alone if he wasn’t on duty.

When Kane approaches, he sees the back of the vehicle lit up by one of the lamps and Bellamy is lying down but holding a book.

He doesn’t open the trunk, instead opening the back door and leaning in over the seat,

“What are you reading?” he asks curiously, and the young man holds up the cover for him to see.

“I didn’t know we had that.” Kane comments as he reads the title.

“We didn’t,” Bellamy replies, “Clarke found it in the tower in Polis and lifted it when no-one was looking.”

Kane smirks, trying to imagine Abby’s daughter committing theft and finding it all too easy.

For previously law-abiding members of Alpha station, the Griffin women had a talent for criminality that would have impressed the black marketeers of the Ark.

He hesitates, having come to Bellamy with a purpose but finding himself suddenly uncertain. The young man looks relaxed, unguarded in that moment which was so rare for him.

“I…uh…” Kane clears his throat, scratching his eyebrow with his thumbnail,

“I wanted to speak to you about…Clarke.”

Bellamy frowns slightly, a hint of a smile on his lips, “Abby send you?”

No.

“Has she sent interrogators to you before?” Kane asks, only half-joking as he shifts into the seat, resting his arm along the back as Bellamy shifts onto his elbows,

“Not yet,” he answers, tilting his head, “But I’ve been wondering which of you would come first.”

Kane raises his eyebrows, “You’ve been expecting this?”

Bellamy nods, “For a while now.”

Right. Kane inhales and prepares himself,

“I couldn’t help but notice the way you two were watching each other tonight,” he begins, keeping his voice soft and supportive, “Have you considered telling her how you feel?”

Bellamy ducks his head, hiding his amused smile,

“She knows,” he says, “She’s always known, it’s not like I’ve bothered hiding it.”

The ease with which he gave this revelation impressed Kane, showing an emotional maturity beyond what he expected from someone so young, in spite of everything they had faced together.

“And you know she feels the same?” Kane prompts, and Bellamy sighs, lying back down with his arms behind his head,

“I do, but I also know she’s afraid.”  

“Clarke has lost everyone she’s ever loved,” he explains, “She’s afraid to lose me too.”

“Loving you won’t increase or decrease the risk that you could die down here.” Kane points out, and he only shrugs, “If I have to wait for her while she works her way through that fear, then I’ll wait.”

He spoke with such ease and such faith. He was willing to be patient for the woman he loved, something very few would be.

Kane reached over and gripped his knee, “You’re a good man, Bellamy,” he tells him, “You deserve to be happy.”

Because Clarke had fallen asleep by the time Kane reached her, he had put off talking to her about her feelings for Bellamy.

And of course, the next morning, they were distracted.

A band of scavengers attacked the rover, trying to steal it which was pointless considering there were only five people on Earth who could drive stick shift properly and the only one in a twenty-mile radius was injured when they dragged him from the vehicle.

Tri-kru warriors and Skai-kru soldiers came to his aid but not before Bellamy took a blow to the head that left him lying dazed on the ground.

The one who had dealt the blow wound up with a bullet in the thigh.

“Kane!” Bellamy called for him and he was at his side, helping him to stand,

“I’ve got you son,” he swore, as the young man turned his head frantically, “They’re gone.”

“I can’t see,” Bellamy shouted, “I’m blind.”

Clarke was a whirlwind of energy as Kane and Lincoln carried Bellamy into the healer’s hut.

She showed them where to sit him down and took his hand, squeezing it and ordering Lincoln about so quickly that Octavia had to help as well.

“Okay,” she sighed, as she shone the light in his eyes, “Temporary blindness caused by your concussion, you’ll be fine in ten minutes.”

Her tone was one of complete relief and Kane sees the tension drain from Bellamy’s shoulders.

There was no place in this world for a blind man.

Kane kept guard as the scavenger was brought in and Clarke clenched her jaw but carried the medical kit over and examined the wound, glaring at him when he flinched away from her.

“It didn’t pierce anything vital,” she reports, uncapping a bottle of moonshine and pouring it over the man’s flesh, causing him to screech in pain, “I’ll stitch it up.”

The man lost consciousness as Lincoln and Octavia took up watch over him, letting Kane follow Clarke from the hut to the small herb garden where she was wiping fiercely at her eyes. He puts his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them gently and she managed a weak laugh,

“I wanted to kill him,” she muttered, “I haven’t even kissed Bellamy yet and I want to kill anyone that hurts him.”

He doesn’t know why he’s surprised that Clarke was admitting her feelings to him, but perhaps hearing Bellamy’s testimony of her fear made him expect denials.

Kane supposes that this is a sign of her trust in him.

“The desire to keep him safe, that protectiveness, it’s not going to go away, whether you act on your feelings or not.”

She gives him a shaky nod, sniffing sharply, “I…there’s no going back, if we…I think we’ll be forever.”

There was no such thing as forever.

Not on this merciless Earth, but the belief in it was almost as important.

Gently, Kane turns her to face him and gives her a comforting smile,

“What you and Bellamy have…it is so rare Clarke, that level of trust is such a wonderful foundation to build upon and seeing the two of you when you’re caught up in each other…” he breaks off grinning, “It reaffirms one’s faith in love.”

Clarke laughs quietly, “But no pressure.”

Impulsively, he kisses her forehead, “No pressure.”

That night, he does his best to pretend not to notice when they’re all sitting by the bonfire and Clarke shyly takes Bellamy’s hand, their fingers interlocking together easily and they continue staring into the flames but Kane is sure that this was the start of something new for them.