honey eyes looked to the woman in front of them. english is what she spoke, though aspen was still wary. she was taught their language, was told only to use english with those that they trusted. her eyes then went to uncle nyko, watching him nodding his head, and then her little eyes went back to the other woman. hearing that she would come with her, little hands tightening on nyko while her eyes looked to the woman. she didn’t know what to say to her, her eyes burning, as she was nodding her head. “he tripped a couple of times.” she whispers quietly, her head ducking to nyko’s shoulder, before she was being lifted and then her hands clung to the woman that was now taking her into her arms. her cheek rested against the woman’s shoulder, and aspen was curling into her now, closing her eyes as she listened to those around them. “ai firfou.” she whispers to her, not wanting to move her cheek from the woman’s cheek. “are yu firfou?”

reycs

dark eyes cut toward echo with her words….and after a long moment, her laugh broke on her lips, a shake of her head given before she dropped her gaze. “at the very least…i am more than prepared to deal with you.” she hums back, returning the jest in her eyes that echo had extended her. she took the bottle just the same, a single nod given for her thanks and she pulled in a deep breath just to let it go as a slower sigh. 

“my turn.” she murmured, turning up the bottle in much the same fashion that the girl beside her had, and she felt the alcohol burn as it traveled to her stomach, a flex finding her jaw as she pulled in another breath. it stung but…it was sitting with her a lot better than it had in the lab and she was grateful for that. maybe it was her head being decluttered now…alie reduced to an old nightmare. maybe it was less stress…good company…but her laugh was bubbling up again…more easily it seemed, and she held the bottle out for echo. 

“how many does that make?” she asked, brows knit as she looked back to the girl. mostly curiosity, because she herself hadn’t been keeping track. if it wasn’t many… “we could play a game.” she mused, a hint of playfulness reaching her eyes. raven liked playing games…because raven liked to win games. there were a few that she knew and they didn’t need much more than what was in front of them. in fact…there was an old coin in her pocket and…some sort of vessel was easy enough to come by.

she wasn’t truly worried about raven as company; she preferred it, and her being here, sitting with her, likely was a nod enough to that fact. most of the time it was raven that she navigated her time towards, for the very basic of reasons. she was level headed and she was always working on some sort of project that was enough to keep own thoughts leveled when she watched, learned, was able to offer help. the last thing that she wanted to be was useless here. raven kept herself more busy, at least in ways that were more interesting to her. monty and his partner fussed over the green sludge and echo wished to avoid that everywhere that she could. 

her head lulled to the side and she met her eyes, watching her take a drink, and really...echo didn’t need the alcohol in heavy amounts but it was a nice warmth underneath her skin and a slight releasing of tension filled thoughts...that she could appreciate right now. “one.” she wasn’t sure. “two...how many drinks or how many bottles?” she knew the one bottle, and with not being able to offer much help, it might not even end up finished at the end of the day; it was still plenty full. “i forgot to count your drinks. and mine.” she hadn’t counted either of their drinks. 

no amount of wiping her hands into the debris of dead foliage would save her from the images in her mind now; echo’s eyes hardened as did her mind, and instead she reveled in the blood that covered her. the mountain was a slaughter of her people, people from every clan, women, children; she could bask for eternity over the lives of the mountain men she had claimed. as solid...as steel...as her mind and body felt right now...she felt the shaking under her skin, chattering through her bones, she was weak...and she despised that feeling. aimlessly she walked, for awhile, against everything that she had been taught, everything that she had been trained for....the accuracy of navigation, of a strike of blade, of a loosed arrow, and aimless was all she felt for some miles. her hand gripped tight on the small knife in her hand with a pressure that dug into her palm, so tight that she swore she was holding it by the blade. she wasn’t. debris cracked on the ground alerting her to the presence of life, snapping her gaze through the trees to a male, trikru by the ink on his skin. great, and on her return to azgeda and to her queen. “chon yu bilaik.”

“if it doesn’t make it easier for me to deal with you...we’re working through this bottle until it does.” her voice is flat, despite her eyes being light showing the intention of her words directed towards raven. she wasn’t really needing help to tolerate raven, so the jest was obvious she hoped. “your....turn...” her words are slow, slurred slightly, as she passed raven the bottle and sunk back to lean into the side of the bed where they were both sitting on the floor.

reycs

the soft smile from echo pulled her own a little more to her lips, watching now as the girl moved for one of the gold-wrapped candies just to pass it her way first. raven only paused a moment, probably not enough to be noticed but it just struck her…an act of kindness that she didn’t have to extend. “thanks.” she told he quietly, meeting her eyes with a lingering smile before she focused on opening the caramel, unwrapping it to pop in her mouth. she listened as echo spoke…nodding a little in understanding, but she didn’t pretend to know fully either - dark eyes looked to her with questions. she trusted the girl when it came to fighting and the processes thereof…but she also trusted her enough to ask, in the sense of…knowing that echo most likely would give her a full answer…and she didn’t feel like not knowing wouldn’t…be a problem. she understood how speed would be a factor ; a faster hit, a faster block…either, and so much more, could be benefited. she just wasn’t sure how to…incorporate the speed, where to use it at. she considered herself fast but she didn’t pretend that the brace didn’t get in her way, or limit that mobility, that speed. “i uh…used to be a lot quicker, but…” a breath of her smile broke her words, her head falling for a moment while her eyes focused on the wrapper in her own hands, the way she was folding it. “i have a pretty good reaction time. quick hands.” she told her, meeting her eyes now before she wiggled her fingers a little on another hint at a smile. 

“the sound of tools on metal and tile floors…started getting to me in the lab.” it made her ears ring…her head ache, never really fond of the sound anyway but…at some point, after the seizures, it started hitting her more. she’d caught on quick. raven shook her head lightly now, shifting in a little more to rest on her forearms against the table, fingers still folding the candy wrapper. dark eyes watched as echo tried the candy now, waiting for a moment for the taste to sink in and she saw her face shift from a scrunched nose to the nod she gave her now, more approval in her eyes, her words. raven’s smile spread softly on her lips and she nodded, the sweetness more soothing on her own tongue. “i’m glad you like it.” she told her, grin soft on her lips. “the uh…the red ones too.” she told her, nodding again toward the pile of candy before her left reached to slide two slightly different red discs from the pile. “so…the red ones wrapped in red plastic are cinnamon.” she explained, scooting the other one in clear plastic closer now. “but these ones are cherry, ninety-nine percent of the time. in the off-chance, it’s strawberry.” she told her. raven sat back a little in her seat then, reaching for a sip of her water before she met echo’s eyes. “we can spar after we eat…if you want.”

anything was more worth stomaching than the green mush in the bowls they were passing around every night. for weeks she had been sick while her body adjusted to the diet here, herself along with the others born on earth. those born in space seemed more used to such meals. echo took the tiny foiled thing grateful and unwrapped it, already in a better mood for having pocketed a few of the crackers. seeing the small soft toffee beneath the foil made her mouth water the moment the sweet buttery scent touched her nose. honey eyes glanced up to see if any of the others were looking at her and then she tucked it into her mouth, not letting it touch her cheeks because it would be a waste for not letting it be at home directly on her tongue. it was good and her eyes looked to raven, a small smile touching her lips and a nod given to her. she liked it and she knew she'd have to watch for raven passing these to murphy in the future. "you're not slow." she offers, her tone flat maybe, void of something she didn't let touch her voice when the room was holding all of them, but she spoke quietly too, keeping her words between herself and raven. maybe most days she didn't know if she was still a candidate for being floated. in that regard she kept herself at a distance from bellamy at times purely because he had been the one to suggest it, even if with a smile on his face.

“i wouldn’t want you chancing it either. i like having you here, and you do look very good up here. around the metal, and the stars. you’re adapting to this pretty well, echo.” she says to her now, offering her a soft smile, before she was laughing and shaking her head when she heard her. “thank you for the obvious.” she teases her before she was shaking her head because she knew that echo was right. there was a lot of pressure that she couldn’t exactly get away from. only time she did get away from it, was when she was talking to luna, and making her feel like she wasn’t even up here, that she was down there on the ground with her. she knew that there was a chance that the green on the ground could just disappear, and raven would panic more because luna was down there. and if luna didn’t have food or anything like that, her girl would soon be nothing also, and raven would be up here, not being able to see her. but talk to her, probably until luna died on the radio. her eyes looked to the radio now, and raven was taking echo’s hand, to just sit with her on the bed. “you know, i don’t just want that from you, right?” she asks her, her eyes going to the radio that was on. “i don’t turn to you, just for sex, echo. you’re my friend, my family. and even just talking with you like this. or just talking about anything but the pressure that we’re all under.” she breathes out before she was shaking her head, and wiping her face as she does. “everything has pressure, you know? gravity has pressure to keep us on the ground. to not have us floating around. water has pressure.” she says, before she was taking off her brace, and then she was resting her head against the window, facing echo. “i don’t want you feeling like, i only see you when i need something from you. or if i need you to have sex with me to take my mind off of things. i like hanging out with you. as friends, and other things, but i do like just spending time with you. so tell me, what do you get up to when you’re not with me? and how are you doing up here, really?”

in truth echo knew very little about the relationship between raven and the natblida on the ground; she knew it was none of her business really. she wasn't going to question something that had nothing to do with her...in that regard at least. if raven wished to feel less lonely up here, just like all of them felt at some point or another, echo wasn't going to judge that. she knew the feeling herself, and she wasn't sacrificing anything in keeping raven company and finding company with her. if raven was sacrificing or risking something, she imagined raven would say that she was, and in any case, even if she did, echo would respect that. it was raven's choice, raven's right..to be with who she wanted, to do what she wanted, what was between her and the natblida she knew wasn't of her business. "i know. besides even if you did, it's not really my place to question when it comes to you and her." echo assures her, a small shake of her head. the natblida was on the ground, raven was here, she imagined the two talked if they didn't, it was still none of echo's business at all. "there won't always be pressure. eventually we'll all be back on the ground and these years will feel like only days, they'll fall so far behind all of us." she offered her a light smile. 

she saw the man carrying a child in his arms into polis. she could imagine the fate of the ocean clan and her eyes weakened as her hue settled on the tiny girl in the healer’s arms. he must have been standing around for some time not knowing where to take the child, given the little one’s words to her as she approached, but echo shook her head lightly. “no. i know this place.” she says quietly to her, though she didn’t, not well, and not given the circumstances where every person here was driven by panic and chaos to find their place in the bunker. echo met the healer’s eyes and she could see his hue breaking without needing to say the fate of floukru. echo took a better look at the child and noted a small scuff of a scratch on her cheek, nothing major, something likely acquired in nyko traveling here with her, but the sight of the tiniest smudge of ebony had echo very aware of who he was holding. nyko looked at back at echo expectantly too. 

“you’ll come with me now.” she says softly to the little one. “nyko will stay beside us, but his arms must be tired now, yes? he’s been carrying you for some while?” echo coaxes her agreement, and reaches her arms for the little girl, “he’ll be right beside us.” she lifted the little one quickly, though gently, and brought her into her arms, nyko knowing to stay within the tiny natblida’s sights; she guided the little girl to rest her cheek down to her shoulder to hide the small scratch that was likely so small she didn’t even feel it there. she couldn’t risk it being see by anyone here, and with that she started to walk, carrying her tiny cousin into the bunker with nyko at her side, to search for anyone else they might know here, anyone that...any of them might know so they could reconnect.

her head was turning to look over her shoulder at echo, hearing her words, a smile gracing her features as she heard them. “i like how you think that i would let anyone float you. you’re very important to me, echo.” she tells her, lips pressing to her cheek, before she felt her wrapping her arms around her, and then she felt her pulling, and soon enough her boot was clear of the toilet. “these are my favorite pair of boots.” she breathes out to her, looking down at the boot that was stuck, and raven noticed that it wasn’t damaged, that was a good thing. “you saved my boot, i need to repay you.” she says, as echo was talking and flushing the toilet, raven found herself sitting on the toilet now, her eyes looking up at her friend. “there is no pressure there.” she murmurs to her, her fingers rubbing at her temples softly, knowing that echo wasn’t trying to put pressure on her. but she felt her lips pressing to the side of her head and that made her feel a little better. “i haven’t found a solution to get us back to the ground. luna keeps telling me not to worry about it but. i have to worry. because you’re right. who else is going to get us back to the ground? how am i going to get me back to the ground to see her again?” she murmurs, her eyes looking back to luna’s eyes as she looked to her. “we have no communications for the ground. aside from my radio, but i don’t want to play with that, because i don’t want to lose the connection i have with luna.” she breathes out to her, before she was getting up from the toilet, and then she was pressing her lips to echo’s. “take my mind off of all of this? please?”