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"WHY DID YOU do this?!"
Hope Mikaelson froze on the spot, and she whirled around with wide eyes to see none other than Ryan Clarke advancing towards her. Her breathing picked up and it was not because she was happy to see him. No, it was something else completely.
You couldn't tell time in this god-awful place, but she knew it had to be at least four hours since her panic attack. She had forced all her emotions back into the back of her mind in a little box, and began to search around the darkness, even though, deep down she knew it was useless. But, it kept her mind on something else than the fact that she had failed at everything.
And now, somehow, Clarke had found her and she couldn't help but feel some sort of happiness at the fact that she was no longer alone with her thoughts.
"I didn't want to join in on your stupid suicide mission!" He was now standing over her, his pale face practically glowing in the inky darkness.
"Yeah, well we don't always get what we want," she quipped back at him on instinct. She had to make herself not look vulnerable in front of him. He was the enemy after all no matter how happy she was to have someone to occupy the same space she was in. She put her facade back on — the strong tribrid. "Oh, god, I'm in hell!" She exclaimed as he only stepped closer to her. Deep inside, she actually wanted to reach out and just touch him, even just for a split second.
Oh god, what is this place doing to me?!
Clarke seemed to be thinking the same thing because he looked her up and down and narrowed his eyes at her face. She knew she had to look like a wreck. His hand twitched at his side before he also put up a facade and glared back at her. "There is no such thing." He then paused, "I think."
Hope scoffed and immediately regretted her thoughts as he just smirked down at her. "You're annoying!" She spun around on her heel and began walking away from him, even though all her body wanted to do was stay near him.
"Go on," he urged as he followed not that long after her retreating figure. "Take your best guess."
She paused for a split second. She had already come to realization that she failed during her panic attack. She didn't need to be reminded by him either. "I'm not gonna give you the satisfaction of telling me that I failed."
"You mean you don't want to hear you're in the Blackness?" He rhetorically asked, smugly. "That you've been consumed by Malivore?"
"No." Her breathing quickened and she continued to walk, trying to stop her hands from shaking.
"You don't want me to point out that all your heroics were for nada? That the big bad lives to see another day and all your friends have forgotten you ever existed?!"
"Stop talking," she demanded him, her voice wavering which he didn't either seem to notice or care about.
"If I were you, I'd make peace with that," he retorted and then froze as she quickly swiveled around, allowing him to see the affect that Malivore had on her.
Her eyes were red and blotchy, and he could faintly see her lips quivering and hands shaking. "Shut up!" She roared loudly in anger and he flinched back in shock. "I know this already! I don't need the likes of you to repeat what I have already told myself a million times since I arrived here! Yes, I failed! I'm a failure! Does that make you happy?"
He sucked in a breath and looked her up and down, feeling bad. "I spent years inside this place," he told her softly, "and while you cannonballing into the belly of Malivore didn't seem to destroy him, it has changed things."
Hope took in a shaky breath and crossed her arms. "Okay. I'm partially listening."
"Every creature consumed by my father used to exist here in total isolation, but here we are, talking to each other," he told her, gesturing between them as he took a hesitant step towards her. "Your presence here has somehow opened the cell doors. If it can do that, maybe there's a way for us to escape." He stepped even closer to her and stared down at her since he was more than a foot taller than her.
Hope looked him up and down before scoffing. "I don't trust you, okay? And I never will."
"You're the one who brought me into this mess!" He shouted at her, his voice cracking before he cleared his throat. "You literally forced me in here! Why? Because you're afraid of being alone?"
Hope narrowed her eyes at him and turned around, walking away from him. Yes — she thought.
"Wait!" He cried out. "Don't leave me!" He jogged up to her and grabbed her arm to turn her around to face him. But almost immediately, he retracted his hand and she stumbled backwards in shock. Where his hand had just been sent sparks throughout the both of them. Warmth filled both of them and against themselves, pink dusted their cheeks. "What the—"
"What was that?" Hope mumbled and she took a step back further from him.
Clarke frowned and shrugged, looking much like a child that was getting scolded. "I — I don't know," he stuttered out and crossed his arms. "Last time I was here... I was alone. I never experienced anything like that." He gestured to her and could barley meet her intense blue eyes.
Hope frowned and took a step towards him and he straightened his posture and glared down at her, his facade back on. And almost immediately as his went up, so did hers.
She rolled her eyes and went to walk away from him again when Clarke went to reach for her again on instinct, but immediately stopped himself just as Hope flinched back from him.
"Don't leave," he begged, pretty much like a child. His eyes held vulnerability and he kept switching from foot to foot as he awaited her response.
Hope took in a breath and opened her mouth to speak, "Fine. Just don't say anything." She then picked up her speed and began walking in a direction.
Clarke couldn't help himself but smile as he followed after her, matching her speed with long strides.
