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▁ ▂ ▅ ▇ █ We are grounders! █ ▇ ▅ ▂ ▁
The camp was quiet under the cover of night, the firelight flickering against the trees. Shadows danced as the group worked to set up the perimeter defenses. Bellamy's instructions still echoed in Iris's mind: "We can't let the Grounders catch us off guard. The landmines you two built are our best chance to hold them off."
Iris grabbed a coil of wire and her rifle, scanning the camp until her eyes landed on Raven. The mechanic was crouched by the edge of the perimeter, her hands busy with one of the devices. Her movements were sharp and deliberate, her jaw set in a way that screamed frustration.
Iris hesitated, then made her way over. "Still pissed at me?" she asked, stopping a few feet away.
Raven didn't look up. "What do you think?"
Iris sighed, crouching beside her. "Look, I didn't come here to fight—"
"Then why are you here?" Raven snapped, finally glancing at her. "Shouldn't you be off drinking yourself into another bad decision?"
Iris flinched, the jab hitting its mark. "Wow, okay," she said, her tone biting. "Is that how we're gonna do this? You're just gonna take cheap shots at me all night?"
Raven scoffed, her fingers deftly twisting a wire into place. "I'm not the one who acted like an ass after—" She stopped herself, taking a sharp breath. "You know what? Forget it."
"No, go ahead. Say it," Iris challenged, crossing her arms. "After we slept together? Yeah, I acted like a dick, but you're not exactly blameless here."
Raven's head snapped up, her eyes narrowing. "Excuse me? I wasn't the one who brushed it off like it was nothing. Like it was some mistake."
"It wasn't nothing!" Iris shot back, her voice rising. "And it wasn't a mistake, either. I was just—" She stopped, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "I don't know, okay? It caught me off guard, and I panicked."
Raven's expression softened, but her tone stayed firm. "You panicked, so you acted like an idiot. Got it." She went back to working on the landmine, her movements tense.
Iris exhaled sharply, forcing herself to calm down. "Look, I came over here to help, not to rehash this." She grabbed a toolkit, starting to work on the next device.
They worked in silence for a few minutes, the tension between them thick enough to cut with a knife. Finally, Iris broke it.
"I'm sorry, okay?" she said, her voice quieter now.
