For Raven Reyes, life was not the most easy. Yes she was the daughter of the two most successful mechanics on the ark; yes she was now the most successful zero gravity mechanic on that dying tin craft they called home. Yes, she was a child prodigy.
But alas, no, her life was far from comfortable.
Life was harsh, life had knocked her down one too many times, life had left its physical and mental mark on her once silky smooth, caramel skinned body; now it was scarred and ugly and sore.
No, she tried not to let it bother her, she drowned herself in her work, but sometimes - just sometimes - things built up so much that the weight of it all began to crush her poor, fragile shoulders, when all she wanted was to be able to escape it all and be happy.
Octavia Blake was no stranger to a hard life: from the moment of her birth she had no mother or father, only a brother. God knows he loves her but one had to question how he showed that love sometimes. She wondered this most of all in the depths of night, when all that could be heard on the ark was the dull echo of loved ones sleeping, the low hum of air vents and the quiet clicking of night guards roaming the corridors. She would lie in her room, a small and dank box cut into the ark's main skeleton under the living quarters of her brother, and think.
She would think about the life she could've had if she was born first, if Bellamy was not her brother but a friend, if she could ever have a normal life or a life on the ground away from the totalitarianism of the chancellor. She thought all this and more as she waited for the soft snoring of her brother to permeate into her little hole of a room.
Once she was certain he was asleep she would sneak out, watching the rotations of the guards, and make her way skillfully to the observation deck. Here she would sit, every night, and lookout at the earth.
Tonight as she rounded the last familiar corner onto the deck she paused, noting that she was not alone. No, sat in her regular spot was a Latina woman, doing exactly what she was going to do, sitting on the edge of it all, watching the earth spin so slowly on it's axis. Octavia let out a long breath before silently joining the stranger.
"Beautiful isn't it?" The latina beauty greeted for her position next to Octavia. "To think that we might be the only living survivors of earth and we are essentially refugees of our own planet."
"Wow. Well that was deep for a first meeting!" Octavia chuckled lightly as she watched the woman, who pondered for a moment before responding.
"Sorry," she finally turned to face Octavia, who silently gasped at her flawlessness, "Raven Reyes," she stuck her hand out for the visablly younger girl, who shook it readily.
She stuttered slightly, trying to find her voice, still taken aback by the beauty of the woman before her. "O...Octavia Blake." The two women shared a heated gaze in the pregnant silence before it was broken. "I've not seen you here before, why are you?"
At this Raven visably sighs before deciding it is best to trust someone and tells her all about her pain. She tells her about her twin brother who died when he was a few months old. She told her about her parents, how they had forevermore resented her for surviving while her brother died; she told them about how they would beat her for the slightest transgression. She revealed what they made her do, selling her to the slimy old men on the ark just to spite her. She let down all her walls, dropped her guard and spilled her deepest worries to the smaller woman. She told her everything, she felt safe and supported despite only just meeting her.
Octavia listened to what Raven had to say, played attention and even let a few surreptitious tears break free. She didn't pity her but was inspired by her continued strength and resiliance. She didn't say she was sorry, or that she wished she could make it better, she didn't try to compare or disparage. All she did was stand slowly and offer her hand.
"Where are we going?" Raven asked the relative stranger as she took the hand and stood nonetheless.
Octavia smirked in response before leading Raven back down the series if corridors towards the living quarters.
Raven furrored her brows as Octavia entered her brother's room and knelt before the hatch to her box. Octavia just smirked and chuckled out "it's not a sex dungeon, relax!"
At that, Raven's shoulders deflated in relief as she let out a nervous giggle before scratching her neck awkwardly and following Octavia into the dimly lit box room. She looked around for a dew moments, trying to guage everything there was - or rather wasn't - she turned back to Octavia who was closing the hatch.
"You'll be safe here, I promise," she rushed out in hushed tones, "anytime you need to escape, I'll be here, this will be here. A safe place; not just for me but for you too. I'll make sure you have a sanctuary you can escape to if and when you need it." She finally finished, with a small, genuine smile.
All Raven could do was mouth a weak "thank you" as she was doing her absolute best - and failing - to hold back tears, which were cascading freely down her full cheeks. Octaven slipped effortlessly towards Raven and embraced her, wrapping her arms strongly around her body and holding her as she wept.
------------------------- six weeks later-----------------------------
Octavia was perched on her on a small wooden crate, that created a makeshift seat, minding her own business, reading a book her brother swears is "the greatest novel of all time" when a shaft of intense, white light hits her page, distorting the text for a moment, as the hatch aboves slides open and close. Within seconds there are hands around her waist, snaking their way from behind, pulling her close and entrapping her against the warm body of the other figure. Soft, open mouthed kisses are pressed delicately on to the nape of her neck before working up around her neck and up her jawline. Swiftly, they swivel Octavia to pull her flush so their bodies are pressed together and they lean down carefully to plant a slow and deliberate kiss to their girlfriend's delicate lips. Both of them hummed in appreciation and as they reluctantly pull away, Octavia looks deep into her lover's dark hazel eyes, and seeing nothing but love announces "your late."
With a cheeky smirk, the accused simply responded "sorry, my love, I was distracted."
When this proved to be ineffective in placating their girlfriend, they placed a quick peck on their lips and cited, "by the marvel that is how much I love you; I just had to stop and let it sink in."
Octavia shook her head with a grin, ducked out of their grasp and moved to plop down on her cot bed. Sighing and gesturing for them to join her she muttered "you'll be the death of me, Raven Reyes. But I love you too."