Amery is not supposed to be on the dropship.
She isn't one of the hundred delinquents being sent down to a radiation-soaked planet. She's just a Zero-G mechanic making some last-minute adjustments to a project nobody will tell her anything about.
I...
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✧】xiv. it's all blueberries 【✧
[ day trip ]
"MONTY!"
CLARKE SUDDENLY appears from within the dropship, looking like she hasn't slept in days. All things considered, she probably hasn't. Amery jumps away from Monty, face flushed, heart beating in the uneven rhythm of a faulty transmitter.
Can I kiss you?
The question mixes with the remnants of Monty's breath, the words and the warm air burrowing deep into Amery's skin and crowding her thoughts like overgrown weeds. Snap out of it. She shakes her head once, sharply, turning to face Clarke. Even sleep-deprived and fresh out of life-saving medical procedures, her hair is loose and tied back with two small braids, and she somehow manages to retain some semblance of authority.
"Clarke," Amery acknowledges as she comes to a stop right between Monty and Amery. If the girl picks up on anything, the tension somehow stifling and loose at all at once in the space between Amery and the boy who just asked to kiss her, she doesn't say anything. Amery's thankful for that.
"Hey," Clarke says, exhaustion evident even in her voice. She smiles weakly at Monty, brow raised in question.
"It's up," Monty says, and Clarke sighs in relief, shoulders going slack, empty air like a tangible lifted weight. "I think Jaha wants to talk to you."
"Oh, thank you. Thank you. You're the best, both of you."
She moves to enter the comms tent, but Amery impulsively catches her with a hand on her elbow, unsure even as she acts of what she's going to say. Clarke turns and raises a brow in question.
"Just—I wanted to thank you," Amery blurts, face flushing. "For what you did for Cash. And Finn. Really. You're...thanks, Clarke."
Amery gulps. It's not something she'd usually make a point to say to someone, at least out loud—thank you. But Clarke is the reason Cash and Finn are still breathing. Amery can give her this much.
Monty nods emphatically. Clarke draws her lips into a tight line, nodding slightly.
"Least I could do," she says, and then disappears into the tent.
Monty turns back to Amery, flushed red. He opens his mouth, closes it, does it again like he's not sure what to do know that the line's been crossed, whether he should frantically backtrack or try to salvage it or just pretend it never happened. Amery wants to say something to wipe that panicked expression off his face, but it's like she has no words, either, all of them buried in her chest beneath the words Can I kiss you? and the memory of his breath tangling with hers.
