She’d been nervous ever since her friends left for Azgeda territory. Sure, Roan had claimed they would have safe passage there, but honestly how much say did he have over these people? So she’d spent a lot of time pacing, taking extra shifts to ensure she was at the gate when they came back. And when they finally drove through that gate she was the first person there, hugging Miller and Bellamy. Exhausted from an accidental all-nighter, but happy everyone made it back in one piece. Bringing with them a few more of their people, who’d been trapped up north for months. But they hadn’t gotten the machine. Raven was pissed and Maia didn’t really blame her, their saving grace thrown out the window just like that. But at least everyone was safe now.
Maia backed away, not wanting to get in the middle of anything. There were more important things to do now, like make new plans. With Kane gone, there wasn’t really anyone in charge here and she was trying to take on as much of the weight as she could. She stepped back, mind already spinning trying to think of their next steps, when she ran right into one of the kids. “Totally my fault,” she said with a quiet laugh. She turned to see who it was. The boy looked away, shaking as if she was going to lash out. It took her a moment to place him. “Wait, Bryan?” She asked incredulously. She’d known most of the kids on the Ark at least in passing, but Bryan specifically…well, Miller never shut up about him. She felt like she’d known him for ages.
He was barely recognizable now. He looked so weak and pale. She could only imagine what he’d been through, of course he was still scared. She reached out, putting a hand on his arm tentatively, not wanting to frighten him any more. “Come on, let’s get you inside.” She steered him toward the door, nodding at Miller who was still helping the other kids. “Are you hungry? The cantina’s got…” She frowned. “Well, they’ve got Ark rations. But it’s better than nothing.”
Bryan was tensed up and afraid; back in Ice Nation, if he’d ran into one of the grounders it was an immediate hit and a hard one, so it was still ingrained in him to expect it. However, instead of getting the hit, he heard someone say his name and his head shot up. The girl was staring at him incredulously and it took him a moment to place her. He knew who she was from the Ark, but his time as a slave had made him forget a lot. It took a second, but then he managed out faintly, “… Maia?”
He tried not to tremble when she reached out for him, knowing that she was trustworthy and that he was safe now. He opened his mouth when she suggested going inside, almost as if to protest or mention Miller; but he spotted the other nodding to them, and he let out a shaky breath. “… Ark rations? Food?” He asked softly, trying not to sound so much in awe. It wasn’t like they’d been fed much, and rations sounded like home honestly. He walked with her, staying close as if to try and hide against her some.
this is it. this is exactly what freedom taste like. smells like. looks like. and octavia can’t keep the permanent smile off her face. ever since bellamy opened the drop ship door it’s like a weight’s been lifted off her shoulders. like down here the burden of being an illegal second born simply doesn’t matter. the chancellor has already deemed them expendable so now who was going to stop them all from living the lives they were desperately deprived of? earth is better than she could have ever imagined because not only is she somewhere with wide opens spaces basking in freedom, she also has her big brother. the only person who mattered in the world to her now.
even though she’s been without him for an entire year, octavia can’t help the itch to explore. she promises not to go far, simply just a small walk into the trees. i’ve been locked up one way or another all my life, bell, i’m done following orders. i need to do something crazy, just because i can. with much hesitation, octavia finally convinces bellamy to give in and quickly, heels turn to wander off in the distance.
it’s not long before a small walk turns into a little adventure, swinging on trees and stopping to explore all the different colors. earth was beautiful and she wanted to capture every detail. until she’s colliding with another body. before octavia’s even really sure what’s happening the boy’s apologizing while she rubs her hand across her forehead. “it’s fine,” she tells him with a nonchalant shrug. her brow furrows when he calls her by her correct name – even though there’s all this freedom still there’s new people she’s not used to. even with a year in the sky box, trusting others hasn’t come easy to her. not when she spent sixteen years with only two people in her whole world. but then he’s peaking her interest and she can’t help it as her eyes fill with wonder. “a butterfly?” she questions, emerald hues dashing to look around. “i wasn’t, where?”
Bryan offered her a soft smile at seeing the look she gets when he calls her by the right name. He figured she wasn’t used to people knowing her name, or was used to others talking about her badly, and he didn’t want her to think he was going to be rude. If anything, he wanted to extend a hand of friendship to her. After all, they were now on earth and free, everyone should get a clean slate, especially when they didn’t do anything wrong. Plus, friends were always good and Bryan wanted to be kind as he always was.
“Yes!” He lit up then at her question, quickly nodding his head, “I saw it on one of the flowers, it was this big blue butterfly and it was so pretty. I was trying to figure out where it went when I ran into you.” He looked around for a second, then grinned. “It just went this way, come on,” Without a thought he took her hand, tugging her after him as he moved a few trees over, going around and pointing up then. “There, see!” He grinned wider at seeing the butterfly on one of the branches.
As the silence persisted, Murphy moved his arm on the side Bryan laid on to the other’s back. He looked up the roof to the bunk and where the mattress above sunk where someone above was snoring away. He wasn’t thinking of much but drew absentminded patterns on Bryan’s arm as he felt himself grow tired. The question kept him from drifting off as he considered it with a sigh, his hand halting as he did. “I don’t know. Probably like last time.” Of course Bryan hadn’t been with them on the dropship, hadn’t known what it was like, the fear and excitement as they walked out for the first time. “It was scary not knowing what was out there, but it was… it was good.” He hadn’t always had the easiest time but it’d been better than space and better than this bunker.
Bryan felt the other drawing patterns on his arm and it helped to calm him, pulling him towards sleep. However, he couldn’t help the question because it was rattling around in his head and he wanted to know. At Murphy’s words, he couldn’t help the faint shiver that went through him. He may not have been there for the dropship, but he’d felt almost the same thing when Farm Station landed; the excitement and fear of not knowing what was out there, but being alive.. Only they’d been attacked right away and that took away any excitement. “Hopefully with no one trying to kill us this time…” He mumbled out faintly, unable to help it. If there were people who’d survived the destruction like last time, he just hoped they wouldn’t attack.
Monroe shrugged, figuring it wasn’t a good idea to argue that point. “Hm… I like pizza. And fries. And BLTs.”
Bryan hummed and nodded his head then. “Well, those all I can make,” He chuckled, “And I can do them pretty well, so no worries. You’ll have some good food to eat. Much more tempting than the coffee.”
“I feel like we’re definitely going to need an extra kitchen or maybe a maid. They’re going to make a lot of messes,” Maia said, shaking her head already amused at the idea of their friends trying to cook. She nodded enthusiastically at his ideas. “That’s perfect! We really were made for this. Watch out Paula Deen we’re coming for you.” She paused. “Is her show even still on anymore? I don’t even use that much butter.” She shook her head with a laugh. “Anyway point is. This is going to be awesome.”
“Probably,” Bryan laughed, “They’ll make such a huge mess. Actually, we can just tell them that if they want good food in return, they’re going to have to help us clean up afterwards. Problem solved.” He paused, making a face in thought about it and then shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know if she is,” He stated, “But that much butter is probably not good for you. But yes! This is going to be absolutely awesome and they’re all going to love it.”
“better to be drunk than hungover. but your loss, bryan.” he
says with a small laugh as he headed out the door. he turns to give him a look.
“next rounds gonna be on you though.”
“Is that why you’re constantly drinking, so you don’t have to deal with being hungover? That doesn’t really sound like a good solution, Bellamy,” Bryan laughs out in return, “Sounds counterproductive.” He quirks an eyebrow and smirks at Bellamy’s words though. “That works for me, I’ll make sure to get the cheap ass beer that you don’t like for us,” He grins innocently, starting down the sidewalk.
she’s not going to hear his excuses. “ your precious peopleINVADED our lands. fell out of the sky in a ball of fire and then proceeded to CAMP OUT in OUR territory and you expected us to be nice ? to people who were obviously dangerous. we were protecting ourselves. it is not the job of the INVADED to ask questions, we have you plenty of time to leave. two days was more than enough. you chose to stay. it doesn’t matter if they were children they were not US and that makes them enemies. you would all be dead if you asked me that would be way better. ” she’s more than slightly annoyed by the fact that he’s too much of a stuck up idiot ( like most of his people ) too see the realities of life. its sad really. she expect this one to be… BETTER ( for lack of a better word ). “ you should count yourself LUCKY to be a slave for us. ”
Bryan let out a loud, frustrated groan at her words. “We didn’t know anyone was here! You didn’t know we were in the sky, did you? We had no idea anyone was here, or where our people were to go find them. You wouldn’t even let us ask or give us help. We didn’t chose to stay!” His hands were shaking and he clenched them tighter into fists, his eyes suddenly more watery than he wanted them to be. “They were just kids,” He huffed, “It shouldn’t have mattered if they were yours or not. Children don’t deserve to die!” His shoulders slumped, as if the fight in him was leaving and he looked up, shaking his head. “I just wanted to find my boyfriend and start a farm. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to raise chickens and plant corn, not be stuck in some stupid damn war and a slave…”
She felt a little bad for dragging him with her to the dropship, but it was maybe the last time she’d ever see it. So much had happened to them there, it held so many memories, just as many bad as good. She felt as if she’d been a completely different person when they landed. Those first few weeks on the ground had changed all of them, bonded them in a way that nothing else could. “You should’ve stolen something too,” she teased in an attempt to lighten the mood. She figured it must have felt weird for him, coming down and reuniting with everyone only to find out he’d missed out on such an important part of their lives. They’d been through the sort of things you couldn’t explain, even if you wanted to. But so had he with the rest of Farm Station, they’d had the same sort of camaraderie when they finally made it back to Arkadia. She’d witnessed first hand just how strong their loyalty to each other was when Pike had taken over. But that was all in the past now, there was no more in-fighting, they were finally all on the same page. Survival had a way of doing that to people. She reached over and touched Bryan’s arm lightly, to reassure him they were in this together. “I’m glad you’re here now.”
“That’s not dumb, it’s cute,” she insisted, ready to do anything to cheer him up, especially after she’d taken her own detour. “Give me directions?”
Bryan couldn’t help the faint chuckle that left his lips when he heard her words. That was something he’d told himself over and over before, and he hated that he hadn’t done it. “I should have,” He agreed faintly, “I thought about it for months while Nate was locked up. I just didn’t have the courage. But I guess I didn’t belong anyway, so it doesn’t matter…” He felt bad once the words left his mouth; he knew she was trying and that she wanted him there, he was just still hurting. They’d all changed so much and were so close and Bryan… Bryan had lost all the people he was close to, and felt like he was completely alone; except of course now with her pulling him back in. When he felt her hand on his arm and heard her words of reassurance, he offered her a soft smile. “Thank you. I’m glad you want me here,” He added softly.
He felt a flush rising on his face as she called it cute, but felt more grateful than ever. “Go straight for about a mile, then a half-mile to the left,” He told her, “There’s a large tree and then the village.”
quickly, octavia’s rests her head in the crook of his neck as he lifts her from the floor. emerald hues flutter shut, trying to keep the spins at bay with his initial lift. “i object,” she says, tapping her finger against his chest with a permanent smile on her lips as her eyes open once more. “there is no such thing as too drunk mr. bryan,” once he sets her on the bed, everything feels a little better. it’s definitely a lot more comfier than the floor had been previously and instantly she curls towards his body warmth, fingers playing with the fabric of his shirt. “it is a crime – but i called you like three times,” she explains, words tumbling from her lips a little faster with the booze.
“You’re not allowed to object, it’s law,” Bryan snickered out softly, grinning at Octavia as he held her close, adding then, “And there is so a thing as too drunk, Miss Octavia.” He smiled down at her, moving his hand to start playing with her hair, absently starting to braid it some. “You did?” He looked surprised at hearing that, pausing to reach over on the nightstand for his phone and hitting the button. He wrinkled his nose at seeing a ton of missed calls and texts from people and chuckled faintly. “Ah, I see you did. Guess that’s what I get for having it on silent, yeah?” He laughed.
Bryan hadn’t been so sure about things when he heard Monroe was subletting her place to a guy named Hector. Maybe it was the fact that it felt weird having another guy in the apartment, or that he just really missed Monroe and was feeling that fear of her leaving and not coming back. Whatever it was, he’d tried to stay away from the man; not actively ignoring him, but quiet and reserved, which was rather unusual for Bryan.
However, when the man spoke up and defended Odessa in the group chat, Bryan’s respect for him skyrocketed and he felt awful that he’d probably been kinda rude to the man instead of a welcoming roommate. To make up for it, and to thank him for being there for one of his girls, Bryan was now in the kitchen, baking up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. That and focusing on the cookies also kept him from going and fighting the three that had him angry.
He hummed softly as he moved, pulling the baking tray out of the oven and sitting it on the stove so he could put the cookies on the cooling rack. He hoped that the other would like them; or at least it’d be a nice conversation starter or something.
indiebryan 