What If The Storm Ends?

𝐅𝐥𝐮 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐲

The pair found it hard to believe that they had been living together for almost nine months. Soon enough, it would be a whole year since Octavia found him ransacking the rubble that day.

As time passed, Five found himself slowly but surely opening up to Octavia more. Of course he did this in his own way, the concept of being vulnerable was alien to him. The boy hid any personal revelations through his usual snarkiness, after all, Five had to remind himself of the guarded exterior he sought to maintain so as to not blow his own cover.

However, he sometimes found himself yielding to Octavia's curious nature and doe eyed expression. Their most deep and personal revelations were exchanged through their designated 'us time' as they called it, where they sat by the fire after dinner, discussing every conceivable topic they could conjure.

"What's your favourite colour?" Octavia asked as she poked the burning flame of the fire.

"Are you serious?" Five had to fight the urge to laugh at her ridiculous question.

Although, he knew Octavia's character well enough at this point that he was very familiar with her spontaneity in instances like this.

"I'm being dead serious."

"I dunno, green?" Five shrugged, replying with the first colour that came to mind.

"Why green?"

"This is bullshit." he huffed, shaking his head softly.

"Answer the question, Five." she said sternly.

Five thought about his own answer, genuinely considering it. He supposed that he had chosen the colour because of its sentimental connotations from his life before the chaos of the apocalypse.

He remembered how his bedroom window at the top floor of the academy looked out onto the trees that littered the sidewalk, their leaves in perfect view with his windowsill. Five enjoyed watching the colour of the leaves change in accordance to the season, however he found himself taking quite a liking to the peak of spring, when they were at their most vibrant.

"Fine. Because it's nice I guess!? I suppose I like the type of green that the grass and trees are."

"Aw cute."

"Shut up."

"I mean it."

"Well Octavia, enlighten me. Why do you like your favourite colour?"

"Because it reminds me of everything I loved when I was younger."

"Which was...?"

"Don't laugh, but it was pink."

"That's a little cliche."

"Shut up. It wasn't the bright fluorescent pink you're probably thinking of. I loved the soft powdery pink. I had pink everything, pink dresses, pink fingernail polish, my shoes were pink and my bedsheets were too."

Five smirked as he imagined the girl's assortment of pink objects which dramatically contrasted her rugged apocalyptic aesthetic he had grown to know over the past few months.

"You just didn't strike me as being so girlish." he shrugged.

"I have my moments. But my favourite pink thing by far was this pair of baby pink, glittery light up rain boots." she explained through a small laugh.

"Jesus christ." Five pinched the skin between his brows, a small breathy chuckle left his lips as he tried to imagine the sight Octavia had described to him.

"Hey! What did I tell you about not laughing?" She replied defensively, shoving her shoulder against his.

Five found himself no longer flinching at her subtle touches, now becoming more acquainted with the fleeting moments of physical comfort. They were short, playful and carried no deeper meaning, much like the shoulder jab she had just given him a second ago.