mostly open!

[adamance]

Who: Lexa (adamance) and open! (except for the closed prompt, obviously.)
When: Days 16 and 17
Where: The Forgotten City
What: Training, gaining knowledge about others, and probably kissing her gal pal

a: to make a warrior out of you

[As the Commander, Lexa will always believe that it is one of her duties to train those beneath her. Though what power and leadership she has is greatly diminished—and would be back home, as her spirit would have normally passed on (and did, from what Clarke's told her)—she still believes that survivor can't just come from foraging goods and finding a successful source of water. All throughout the city, the marks make it clear that there had been something that cleared out what civilization may have been here before. The marks are unfamiliar: she's seen ruined cities not unlike this one, but she knows exactly how they were ruined. Here, she lacks that knowledge, but she can guess as to where things will be going if they continue on.

So: she prepares to train. Lexa knows that she's out of shape, in part because of the dehydration that doused her strength in the first few days here, and she begins her training in preparation to draw others toward her. Some of her training is nothing more than hand-to-hand combat preparation with repeated punches and kicks, and then she advances, picking up the long metal bo-stick that she found in the hull to work with that as well. (It's still powered down: she hasn't sought out the batteries to change that yet.)

If someone comes to watch her, she'll glance over to them with a nod.] Care to join me? We should all be prepared.

[Lexa will take measure of someone's skills only after they accept—and taking on a seasoned warrior will keep her instincts up.]

b: gaining knowledge about others

[It won't be the first time someone's come across Lexa meditating, even if that someone is from the newest batch of pods. It likely won't be the last time, either. But it's apparent that instead of choosing a place where she could be left alone, she's placed herself near the underground lake right around the hottest point in the day. It helps that it's cooler in there, but ... she's clearly there to catch people while they get water.

When they approach, Lexa opens her eyes to focus on them for a long moment, and then speaks:] Hello, I'm Lexa. [Though, for what it's worth, she won't be sharing her name if she's already shared it. Either way, this is what comes next after her greeting:] I've decided to compile what abilities we have so that we can work together, and teach one another. [A major undertaking, and one done for ... slightly selfish reasons. But it's good to know who can burn a hole in her, even if he seems like the nicest guy alive.]

Even if you can't teach them, it'll be good to know what we can call upon in times of need.

c: date night at a time-stopping tree

[Sneaking away in a city like this isn't that difficult—the winding turns and maze-like quality make it easy for Lexa and Clarke to slip off from time to time unnoticed, armed with some purple water and some food (likely the very same bug meat that Clarke was reluctant about before) so that they don't have to worry about a quick return. It offers them privacy, especially since their closeness in front of others is apparent though might not completely offer confirmation of what they are to one another.

It's during the eclipse on day seventeen that Lexa decides to draw Clarke toward the tree. Though those outside of the tree will see them, there's something about the idea of time stopping, of being able to steal away privacy without feeling responsible for their fellow captives. (It's a feeling they've claimed before, but briefly, back in the capital where Lexa ruled.)

Perhaps the most important part of being here isn't the tree, but the fact that they can feel less guilty. Stopping time doesn't mean that their troubles go away, but they can stand there and pretend, even for a little while.

Once they draw closer to the tree, Lexa stretches her hand out to catch Clarke's, all to make sure they experience the stoppage together. Her fingers hold on to her loosely, but it's clear that even if she's looking at her only out of her periphery, she has her complete attention. She says nothing until time does stop, and even then, she just turns in toward her, eyes intense. There's a great deal that goes unsaid between them day in and day out, and Lexa wonders if they should keep it that way. (What happens if Clarke goes back? What if their world is already lost? What if Lexa is only kept alive by this suit? ... And more. The questions are never-ending, and Lexa is never a person who completely throws off the burdens of survival.)]

[ooc note: I am open to wildcarded versions of the two prompts to make it more applicable to our characters meeting up, and I'm also open to either brackets like the above or prose. Go with your heart's desire!]

Comments

[adamance]

[Years and years and years without any intimacy between Costia's death and the arrival of Clarke will always make Lexa feel as if she can never have enough. Her eyes remain closed for a moment, head dipping down to catch Clarke's mouth for another kiss after she speaks. It's brief, fleeting, but enough like she's trying to absorb the moment for a second longer.]

There is you, and then there is everyone else here, [Lexa begins, eyes only opening midway through her sentence. It's like starting a thought in the middle, but she doesn't know where to go with it.

Anything that seems like it's bound to follow is backed up, like she can't figure out where to go with it. But expressing intimacy in words is a struggle.]

[bringguns]

[Clarke's watching her closely when she speaks, meeting Lexa's eyes, and it's intense in this close proximity. So intense that she has to close her eyes when Lexa trails off, tilting her head forward to lean her forehead against Lexa's.]

[The feeling in those words is overwhelming. Clarke feels the same way, and she thinks she's expressed it in not so many words, but right now she takes a steadying breath.]

I won't abandon you here if I can help it.

[She knows the chances are slim of either of them going anywhere soon, unless some ill fate befalls them on this mission, but she needs Lexa to know.]

If there's something I can do to keep us together...

[adamance]

If I live now, there's no reason to believe that I wouldn't live if we returned to our people. [It's a conversation topic the two of them have avoided. To some degree, it's because Lexa doesn't want to tell anyone that she's died, and she doesn't want to risk them listening in on her speaking to Clarke. Here, they have a semblance of privacy. It's something.]

There is a chance that this suit may be the only thing maintaining my life. [She huffs out a breath.] Though I know I don't show any signs of being just outside of death. Even when the power goes down, I don't become stiffer.

I've paid attention. [She glances away at this point.] But it might be that the people around us are ... our people. It might not be a matter of life or death. It might just be time. [Inui's words haunt her, and while Lexa has exercised more caution in her words around Clarke since the day she brought her back to Polis, the blunter edge of her disposition is showing here, just a bit. Might as well approach both the problems they're having. They were always bad about dealing with that, anyway.]

[bringguns]

[Clarke watches Lexa's face closely as she speaks, eyebrows knitting together in concern. When she speaks, there's a bit of nervous energy bubbling out.]

I don't understand. Our people are at home, on Earth. I have to go back and help them.

[She doesn't want to hear that Lexa won't help her with this. If they're going to go along with all of this, with finding the Atlas and making nice with the people they're here with, it's only so Clarke can find a way home quicker. Preferably she'd bring Lexa with her.]

[adamance]

I would never abandon our people of my own free will. [The words are sharp. Despite the intimacy of the moment, there's a sense that Lexa is hurt by the misunderstanding. Trouble in paradise, or perhaps it's just trouble that's existed all along. Lexa's own concerns with her life and death situation weigh heavily on her. In a way, she feels like a taunt for Clarke, something and someone who hangs over her head unnecessarily, not letting her move on.

Then again, they are here.

That is the point she was making.]

But it may be that I've been forced to do that twice now. Our pods were in bad shape. That hull we found was ruined. Someone asked me this: how long were we asleep? We have no way of knowing.

[bringguns]

[Clarke looks down at the ground between them, falling deep into thought. It's such an awful thought - that she's been asleep for so long that all of it is moot. After a moment she closes her eyes and shakes her head.]

No, I can't think that. I have to believe there's something to go back to. I wasn't finished, Lexa, I...

[She trails off, and then looks up at Lexa, her eyes stinging and threatening to betray her.]

I'll go along with this as long as I have to, but I won't give up the idea of going home.

[adamance]

I'd expect as much of you. [Lexa genuinely can't say that she's surprised. That Clarke can hold on to such a concept as "hope" despite all that she has seen in her life is part of why Lexa cares for her so deeply. Giving up that would mean giving up her identity, and she did it to some degree when she hid in the woods away from her people. Still, when it was time, she rose up to the challenge to try to better everything for her people—and Lexa's, too.

That's Clarke Griffin.]

But I don't want you to be hurt if you realize that there may be no chance of it. [Protecting her from that feels like a ... priority, to keep her from being disappointed.

She did offer her protection with all her power, after all.]

[bringguns]

[Clarke looks away again, thinking about what Lexa's saying. She gets the sentiment, and she appreciates it, but you can't be protected form some things. When she speaks she sounds gracious.]

That's going to hurt no matter what you do.

[adamance]

It will. [There's no denying that reality. There is a solid chance that things won't be good regardless, that the two of them will have to have a different discussion one day about what it means for Clarke to not have saved her people. This wasn't the time for this, but then, Lexa isn't very good at timing. She never has been.]

If it's a matter of returning, we will go together, Clarke. I'm certain of that. [Unfortunately, Lexa hasn't yet been infected by enough of Clarke's hope to believe that "if" is "when." But then, she never has. Like many of her people, she stands around waiting for the other shoe to drop on ... a lot of things.]

[bringguns]

[Clarke nods and offers a weak smile. It's good that Lexa isn't pushing the issue, isn't making her face the possibility that it could be over already. She doesn't know how she'll go on if she thinks that.]

Good.

[She sighs and looks up at the sky.]

You brought me out here so we could have a date, not so we could talk about that anyway.

[adamance]

I did warn that I'm not accustomed to this, [she says, tone bordering on a weird line between chiding and teasing ... while also maintaining Lexa's depth of tone. It's something that only she could manage, but it offers her a lightness that she rarely maintains.]

You may have to take the lead, Clarke.