Nightblood Under the Bed

Chapter 2

 Clarke stays quiet throughout Lexa's recollection of her nights with Madi. In fact she stays quiet for so long after it as well that Lexa starts to think she zoned out and didn't listen to the story at all and Lexa should've just gone with a shorter explanation.

"So that's why Madi kept insisting the monster under her bed looked like her Nomon from the picture in the living room even after all these years", Clarke finally murmurs, running hand through her blond hair.

Clarke swings her legs around so that they touch the floor. "How do I know you're not going to just up and leave again? I need to know you're here to stay if you're going to help look for Madi." The unspoken part hangs in the air. I need to know if you're trustworthy enough to let you stay near Madi and I.

Lexa shuffles on the carpet until she is kneeling in front of Clarke. She looks up at her, neck exposed in the tilt. "I swear fealty to you, Clarke. I vow to treat your needs as my own, and Madi's like my soul depended on it." She wills Clarke to see that she means it in her eyes. That she won't leave as long as Clarke doesn't ask her to.

Clarke doesn't smile, nod, or say anything. She just reaches her hand out to Lexa. Lexa slowly slips her hand into Clarke's. They stand up together, green eyes and blue eyes locked. It is not forgiveness, but it is understanding.

They jump apart and start blushing like they did when they were teens at the sound of a car horn blaring.

Clarke clears her throat awkwardly, trying to look anywhere but Lexa. "So where do we start?"

-0-

It turns out, letting Lexa lead is a rather bad idea. She brings Clarke through a metal grate into the sewers, which lead off into a concrete encased tunnel. The tunnel is slightly better in smell, but still no more appealing with its flickering yellow lights and cold draft. All in all, if Lexa is trying to woo Clarke again, she is doing an awful job. Actually, even if she isn't trying to woo Clarke and trying to get Clarke to trust her again, she would also be doing an awful job.

Clarke's emotions flip flop like a fish out of water between wanting to throw herself into Lexa's arms or fuel that roaring angry fire that hates Lexa for leaving. Is it possible to be both simultaneously?

They turn into another tunnel, this time lit with torches that sat on holders against the brick walls. This section was obviously much older than the rest. Even the air was staler. The echo was less prominent and much more muted. Most surprisingly of all, Clarke started to smell absolutely delicious food.

Then turn one last corner and Clarke almost walks into Lexa's back. Her jaw drops at the large space. It is obviously an old abandoned subway station, but there are tents and makeshift houses erected, market stalls lining the unmarked streets. The ceiling is arched, kind of like if Grand Central station sat around without being maintained or used for a few decades. An overhang with hazy floor to ceiling glass (probably used to be offices) hangs from the ceiling all the way in the back, overlooking the entire makeshift city. "Welcome to Polis", Lexa says, her eyes twinkling with pride.

She beckons Clarke forward and slips her hand into Clarke's, tugging her through the confusing streets. Clarke is so distracted and in awe of the place she forgets that she shouldn't be so close to Lexa and holding her hand back.

People call out to Lexa. Well there's two inaccuracies in that sentence. First, they don't call her Lexa. They call her "Heda", but Lexa responds all the same. Second, they aren't people. There are green skinned orcs, centaurs, a literal glob of slime, some that resemble wolves more than humans, some with wings. They weren't all human sized either. It was a collection from a book of ultimate mythical monsters.