They were setting up the fire.
Madi was running about, a bunch of firewood in her arms, as she provided the fuel to the fire that kept it alive. Clarke had been tossing in leaves, branches—anything flammable, generally, that would make it easier for the fire to consume and burn the firewood later on.
Meanwhile, Madi was also indulging Clarke in a bunch of... well, Luna-gushing and sister-related stories. Most of which Clarke had taken in with a weary smile and a bunch of nodding, because her mind had sort-of drifted off after Madi's continuous jabbering for the past thirty minutes. And yes, it was continuous.
''S-she's so good at spear-fishing!'' Madi gushed, as she quickly put down the firewood by the smothering fire, as Clarke arranged the various flammables around the campfire. ''S-she got so much fish! An' we had a race— an'—an' she got so much fish so quickly!'' Madi yelped out in excitement, and Clarke couldn't hide her smile. Is this the first time Madi's glad that someone beat her in spear-fishing?
''Seems like you've got competition,'' Clarke said good-naturedly, as she hefted the firewood into the fire-pit.
Madi beamed. ''It's gonna be a lot harder than beating you for sure!'' she said, which aroused an indignant play-along glare from Clarke, to which Madi poked a tongue out at.
But then, Madi seemed to quieten down. Under her breath, she murmured, in what sounded like impassioned sadness: ''Luna's too good at it though. It's gonna be impossible to defeat her in spear-fishing.''
Clarke poked Madi, which caused her to look up at her. She was grinning. ''Not impossible. Just really hard.''
Madi beamed at Clarke's words. ''Okay. It's gonna be really hard if I wanna beat her at it.''
Clarke smiled as she poked at the firepit with a stick. ''But definitely not impossible.''
They had stood around contently for a few moments until the door to the abode creaked open and out came Luna and Lexa, who were making their way towards the fire. Madi had let out a tiny squeak in excitement, and set about putting off the dust from the two stretches of logs that were lopsidedly around the fire.
''How's my favourite Nightblood?'' Luna almost drawled, as she ruffled Madi's hair, and a small smile blossomed over Madi's features.
''I-I'm good,'' Madi managed to stutter out, hiding a small blush and a goofy smile that was forming on her features.
Clarke had casually left the pile of firewood by the side as she rounded over to where Lexa was, and she smiled and dropped a kiss on Lexa's lips. Lexa smiled into the kiss, fingers brushing against Clarke's cheek, as Luna feigned exasperation and Madi made a funny face at the duo.
They sat around the fire, as the night descended around them like a blanket. Stars flickered in the sky like blinking lights, and the crickets of the night chirruped through the forests around them. The only sound that was evident other than the sounds of the night was the slow chattering of the four survivors and the crackling of the fire that warmed them despite the cold black that surrounded their lives like a shroud.
''— can't believe you actually did that!'' Clarke's laugh reverberated across the foursome.
''Madi!'' Lexa said in exasperation, glancing at the embarrassed Nightblood. ''You should not.''
Madi's face flushed red. ''— stop sharing my stories, Luna!''
And on Luna's face was a grin. ''Don't tell me to shoj op, goufa!'' she teased, as Madi sulked at Luna.
''Aw c'mon!'' Madi pouted, as she glanced around the other three survivors. Neither, however, showed some sort of regret—rather, they seemed to only grin more at Madi's antics. Which didn't particularly please her much, because, well, it was HER stories they were talking about! Personal, none-too-good, embarrassing ones that were probably even more embarrassing than the time when she thought that Lexa wasn't the same Leska Heda that basically ruled the entire world, and that Clarke wasn't same Clarke that was Wanheda, the Maunon-Slayer!
