blood moon, marc spector

eleven.

WHEN MARC AND LILITH RETURNED TO THE SANCTUARY OF ATHENA POLIAS, THERE WASN'T A SINGLE ARCHAEOLOGIST IN SIGHT. they'd somehow managed to miss their way back to the güllübahçe village.

"where's that trolley you said we couldn't miss?" marc asked.

lilith scoffed. "where do you think? back in güllübahçe."

"so what now?"

"we make camp." lilith said as if it was obvious. she'd done this with frenchie years prior. she led the way to the secluded area that she and her friend had set up camp.

there were still some remnants of the log and stick fire that she and frenchie had set up, and lilith couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of it.

"can you start the fire? i'm gonna see when the first trolley's gonna get here." lilith said, sitting down on a stone as she pulled her phone out of an inside pocket of her jacket.

"uh.. how do i do that?"

she looked up, not believing what she was hearing. "what do you mean?"

".. how?"

lilith let out a disbelieving chuckle. "you don't know how to start a fire?"

marc shook his head. "do i look like a boy scout? where would i have learned how to do that?"

".. life experience, common sense, survival skills.. i could go on." lilith sighed, leaning forward as she put her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. "have you seriously never done this before?"

"come on, you don't have to act like i'm an idiot."

she chuckled, looking up at him. "okay, okay. sorry. here, i'll teach you. this is a damn important life skill." she reached into the middle of the logs, finding the fireboard that she and frenchie had made previously. "okay, so you take this," she said, "and french already carved into it, but now we need... this..." she grabbed a stick that had been whittled down. "you gonna take this and just start rubbing it into the grove on the other log."

marc took the stick from her and began to apply pressure onto the small log. "how often do you do this?"

"not very often." lilith shrugged, watching as black dust began to come off of the log. "okay, stop for a second. let it get some oxygen." she moved closer to where marc was, gently blowing on the black dust flakes. they both watched as they began to resemble tiny glowing embers.

marc let out a chuckle. "i didn't think this would actually work."

lilith gave him a look as the bundle of logs caught fire. "told you." she patted his back. "and now, you've learned how to start a fire. trust me, it'll help you out in the apocalypse."

he chuckled, watching her as she sat back down on the small stone near the fire.

a comfortable silence fell over the two, and lilith was beginning to realize that this was the most she'd ever spoken to marc before. the conversation she'd had with remy and charles the week prior was still getting to her, admittedly. how similar were the two, really?

marc's voice broke the silence, bringing her out of her thoughts. "wanna talk about it?" he asked, speaking over the hum of the various insects in the air.

lilith poked at the small fire with a stick, trying to make it grow. "talk about what?"

"the fact that i saved your life."

she scoffed. "okay, maybe i would've thanked you if you hadn't brought it up like that."

marc chuckled at her response. "i'm kidding. but, seriously, i feel like we shouldn't be so.. at each other's throats all the time anymore. if jabez is gonna keep putting us together on these things, anyway."

lilith hummed in response, looking down at the growing flames in the small fire she'd started. "yeah, probably not."

silence fell on the two for a moment before marc cleared his throat. "so. why are you doing this? mercenary work. what got you into it?"

"served for the marines for a bit." she said. "found out that my only real skill is.. doing this. guess it stuck."

"we got that in common, then." marc replied, leaning back against the thin gray jacket that he was using as a pillow.

lilith nodded. "cool."

"are you always so enthusiastic?"

"yeah, pretty much."

marc shook his head. "i'm trying to get to know you here, believe it or not."

this made her almost scoff. "why?"

"is it that difficult to believe that i don't want us to be complete strangers?"

lilith looked up from the fire. "you think i'm about to start making friendship bracelets and inviting you to my birthday parties?"

marc rolled his eyes. "really? really, you're going to be like this? right when i start to think we're having an almost normal conversation, you're going to break down on me and get all defensive."

"i'm not getting defensive, we're just not friends."

"right, and whose fault is that?"

lilith scoffed. "you're the one who's always reminding me of how annoying and narcissistic i am, right?"

"because you always start this bullshit." he complained. "why do you refuse to let anyone in? to trust anyone?"

"you know what happens to people who trust mercenaries."

marc shook his head. "are you being serious right now? i saved your life, you think i'm about to slice your head off while you're sleeping?"

"you never know." she replied, looking back down at the fire, which was starting to grow.

"seriously?" marc huffed. "every time i think we might be making some sort of headway, you just shut down on me."

lilith didn't really know why she did that, honestly. "yeah. yeah, i do."

he nodded. "do you not see how damn infuriating that is?"

"i don't see why you want to be friends so badly."

marc didn't seem to have an answer, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "you're always saying you don't want to be at each other's throats, and then when i try to talk to you you just shut down. i don't know what to do when you do that."

"just.. give me space. i don't know." she replied.

"give you space, huh? is that what frenchie does?" there was almost a hint of jealousy in his voice that lilith was not used to.

"yeah. that is what frenchie does. because he's actually my friend."

marc scoffed at that, shaking his head. "and he's your friend, then? because he doesn't talk to you?"

"because he talks to me and then realizes when i want a conversation to be over. oh, and also he doesn't call me a bitch or discredit my work." 

he seemed a little guilty as he heard her words. "look, i apologized for that. and i saved your life, too. what the hell more do you want from me?"

"some damn patience, maybe." lilith replied. "for always getting onto me for being stubborn, you are so damn impatient. does it occur to you that maybe conversation isn't easy for me? that maybe i feel uncomfortable talking to someone who's prone to just blowing up as soon as he hears an answer he doesn't find satisfactory?"

marc didn't reply at first, looking down at the fire. "i don't know why i blow up at you, honestly."

"then.. fucking stop." lilith said, running a hand through her hair as she watched the fire. 

it was quiet for some more time. "i'll take first watch." marc offered.

neither of them slept, though, both staring into the fire in front of them as they waited for the sun to rise.