Chapter 9
Clarke had been back a few weeks now, falling into her old routine. She would help in the sick bay, assisting her mom, or she would travel to Polis to take care of other business. She thought of Andes often, smiling at something she had said, or some face she had made. She had hoped for a visit from her, but she never came. One morning, she woke early, her heart beating in her chest. She had just woke up from a dream, and she sat up as she tried to remember it. She couldn’t quite recall it, but she knew she saw gray eyes where there used to be green. She got out of bed and got a glass of water, wondering what the hell that meant, probably just missing her friend.
The next day she went outside the fence to look for some herbs for her mom, since they were getting low. She wasn’t going far so she was alone. She wandered around, lost in her thoughts, still trying to recall the dream from yesterday, but it remained elusive. She bent down to pull some flowers, thinking they would look nice in her room. She was on her knees digging in the dirt, when she looked up and saw Jaks sitting nearby. “Jaks? Jaks? Come here boy.” But the dog ran off down the trail. Clarke got up and quickly followed him, but he was running and she lost him. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking around. Then she spotted Sampson. She headed in his direction, and as soon as she got close, he turned and took off. She followed him, because he wasn’t running, just trotting. She finally came to a small clearing. And all the dogs were sitting there. She looked around again. She knew she was here, her heart was beating pretty hard, probably because she had just been running.
“Clarke kom Skaikru, it’s good to see you.” Clarke whirled around, and there she was, sitting up in the first branch of a tree.
“Andes,” Clarke said excitedly, she rushed over and Andes dropped down and pulled Clarke into a big bear hug, she picked her up and twirled her a little, then put her down.
“Whew, you know how to sweep a girl off her feet.” She threw a small punch at her shoulder. She didn’t notice that Andes had picked her up with just one arm, the other hanging limply by her side.
“Clarke, you’re looking well, as beautiful as ever, “
“I could say the same about you, “ she replied back teasingly. Then she noticed, something was wrong with Andes arm. Concern immediately written on face, she reached for Andes arm, “What happened?” Andes raised her hand, and Clarke knew it was broken, her wrist was fractured, the bone almost poking through. “Jesus Andes, when did this happen?”
“Two days ago.”
“Oh god, you must be in a lot of pain, how did happen?”
“I fell, from about twenty feet up.”
“You never fall.”
“I know, I just misjudged my jump, I was a little distracted by something, and down I went.” She didn’t want to tell Clarke that she was distracted by thoughts about her, their last night together. No, she wouldn’t admit that.
“So, anyway, I remembered what you said, about ever needing anything, and you and your mom being healers and all, I thought maybe you could set this properly. I would have gone to a local healer, but I didn’t want them to screw it up, I kinda need my hand to function properly.”
“Oh my god, yes, let’s go. My mom will fix you right up.”
“Should I bring the dogs?”
“Yeah, they’ll be a big hit back at camp.”
They began the short trek back to Arkadia, Clarke looked over at Andes and realized how much she missed her. She still looked great. She had a cropped top over her bindings, abs still showing, guns blazing, her shorts were a little longer, she was still mesmerizing. Andes caught her eye, smiled, and Clarke felt a little something down below in the pit of her belly. “Did you cut your hair?” she asked, since it seemed a bit shorter.
Andes absently ran her good hand through her hair. “Yeah, took off a little bit, it was getting a little wild.”
“Well, it looks nice.”
“Thanks.”
Soon Arkadia came into view, and the guards looked up and saw Clarke, walking with a taller woman, and 3 very large looking dogs. They opened the gates and just stared as Andes and the dogs walked through. Everyone at camp stopped what they were doing when the group walked by. Clarke opened the door and waited for Andes, who was looking up at the ark with wonderment. She noticed Clarke was waiting for her, so she apologized and walked through the door. Clarke led her through a maze of corridors, finally coming to the med bay. They left the dogs outside the door. Her mom was attending to one of the Arkers, leaning over him, taking his temperature.
“Mom, when you have second?” Her mom looked over at Clarke, then looked at Andes. Andes waved with her bad hand. It was pretty dislocated, very noticeable even from across the room. Her mom rushed over.
“Mom, this is Andes, Andes, my mom, Abby.”
Andes grabbed Abby’s hand with her good one, “It’s nice to meet you Clarke’s mom, may I call you Abby, or do you prefer mom?”
Abby just stared at her for a second, “Uh, Abby’s fine, Andes,” suddenly getting who she was, “Oh Andes, oh my god, Clarke’s told me so much about you. “
Andes looked at Clarke and raised her eyebrows, “I hope it was all good, “ she said, then turned back to Abby. “I see where Clarke gets her good looks,“ she said with a smile.
Abby blushed a little, it was hard not to when Andes was paying attention to you. “Oh ,thank you, Clarke, where’ve you been hiding her?” She asked, never taking her eyes off Andes. She seemed vaguely familiar. She couldn’t quite figure out why that would be the case.
Clarke rolled her eyes at the whole exchange, knowing this scene was going to play over and over again as Andes met people She could charm the rattle off a snake. “So, mom, broken wrist.”
“Oh, yes, wow, that’s bad, “she said as she looked at it. “How long ago did it happen?”
“Two days ago.”
“Well, that’s not too bad, hopefully no healing took place, you’re not a fast healer or anything, are you?” She asked kiddingly.
Andes looked at Clarke, nightbloods were notoriously fast healers. “I do heal a little quick.”
“Oh, ok. Well, the only thing that will do is make it more painful when I set it, because it’s almost like I’m re-breaking it. “Jackson, “ she called. “Let’s take a quick scan, and get some plaster ready,” turning back to Andes now, “after I set it, we’ll put a cast on it. That will probably have to stay on at least 3 weeks, if not 4. When the cast comes off, we’ll have to do some rehab to get the movement and strength back. In other words, welcome to the Arkadia, you new home for the next 6 weeks.”
Andes looked at Clarke again . “Six weeks? I certainly don’t want to put anyone out. You can cast me, then I’ll just come back to take it off in a few weeks. Really, it’s no big deal.”
Clarke put her hand on Andes arm, “Andes, you can’t be running around out there with one arm. It’s too dangerous.”
Andes didn’t think of that. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Oh my god, you saved my daughter’s life. It’s the least we can do, give you a safe place to heal.” Abby said. Andes nodded her head, accepting her fate. She would have to be around Clarke for the next 6 weeks, without touching her. This would surely test her self control.
Abby scanned the film, looked at the break. “Ok, let’s get this set, do you want some pain killers?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
Abby looked at Clarke, “She’s pretty tough, mom.”
“Oook. Ready?” She looked at Andes, then Clarke.
Andes nodded, Clarke took her hands and cupped Andes face, gazed into her eyes, trying to distract her, and it worked, Andes melted under the stare, but her eyes widened in pain when Abby set the bone.
“Holy shit, Holy fuck, that hurt,” Clarke patted her face, “shake it off, you’ll be fine.” Andes bit her lower lip, and nodded. Abby wet the sheets of plaster and casted the wrist. When she was done, she stepped back to look at her handiwork, nodding, “Looks good. You can get it signed after it dries in an hour.”
Andes just looked at her, “signed?”
“Yeah, that’s what people do, get their casts signed, although I have no idea why.”
“Thank you Abby, “
Abby turned and smiled at her, Clarke’s smile. “You’re very welcome Andes. And thank you, for saving my baby.” Clarke groaned, Andes looked at her, and mouthed, “baby.”
“Shut up.”
By now, word had spread through Arkadia of the visitor and her exotic pets. People started filing in to meet this new person.
Clarke knew Andes head must be spinning, she was meeting so many people, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. Monty and Jasper were a little tongue tied around her, but she put them at ease with her story about how she raised the dogs. Octavia made her promise to teach her how to shoot a bow, the one thing she hadn’t mastered yet. Now she was engaged in an animated conversation with Kane, talking about planting crops, so Clarke slipped away to stand next to her mom.
“She’s really pretty, Clarke, unusual looking.” Abby said. She still found Andes oddly familiar.
“Yeah, she’s a good egg too, mom.” Abby looked at her daughter, and watched the way she looked at Andes, raised her eyebrows turned away with a small smile on her lips. Maybe this girl could get through to Clarke. Abby had been trying for a couple months to pull Clarke out of her doldrums. Losing Lexa had thrown her for a loop.
“Griff, what up?” Clarke turned to see Raven coming up. She slung her arm around Clarke. “So, who’s your friend?” she asked slyly.
“That, is Andes.”
“Oh, the chick who rescued you?” Clarke nodded. Raven looked over at Andes, looked her up and down, “Holy shit, Clarke, she’s smokin’, as in smokin’ fuckin’ hot. You hittin’ that?” She asked teasingly.
Clarke pushed her a little, “What? Why would you say that? Oh my god, knock it off.”
“You gonna introduce me?”
“I will if you promise to behave.”
Raven looked hurt, “Clarkie, I’m a model citizen, “
Clarke shook her head and they walked over towards Andes, who had her back to them. Clarke tapped her shoulder, she turned and faced the two girls, “Holy fuck, you’re gorgeous, and what color are your eyes? “ Raven said as she grabbed Andes hand, looking at her closely. “Gray, wow, that’s some cool shit, I’m Raven, by the way, I am Clarke’s BFF, best fucking friend.”
“I knew who you were as soon as you said, ‘holy fuck’, “ Andes said with a serious face.
Raven looked at her, turned to Clarke, “I love her Clarke, I’m in love with her already.” Raven grabbed Andes arm and started walking away from Clarke, Andes looking back at Clarke and winked. Clarke groaned. These two. These two would be trouble. Two peas in a pod. She caught up to them quickly, afraid of the questions Raven would ask. She hadn’t told Raven about what happened between her and Andes, knowing Raven would never let it go. Now Raven had her hands around the top of Andes, arms, “You have very big biceps, do you lift weights or something? Clarke has a weakness for biceps, did you know that?”
“I wasn’t aware of that,” Andes wanted to correct her and say that Clarke liked abs the most, but she thought better of it.
Fuck, “Raven,“ Clarke said, but Raven held Clarke off with her other arm,
“What did you two gals do for 6 days, all alone in the woods?”
“Well, when we weren’t running for our lives, we would have sex everywhere, in the trees, in the rivers, in the fields, she wore me out actually. By the end of the 6th day, I was ready to be rid of her, I needed my beauty rest. I mean, this “ circling around her face,”does not happen by accident. If I don’t get the proper 8 hours sleep a night, I start to get bags under my eyes, you know what I mean? “ Andes managed to diffuse the question in the best way possible with Raven, turn it into a joke.
Raven looked at Andes, then looked at Clarke, “Clarke, I’m going to marry Andes, will you be my maid of honor?”
Clarke could see that they were both thoroughly enjoying this encounter. “Oh, hey Raven, Andes would like you to teach her about jet propulsion.”
Raven’s mouth dropped open, looking back and forth between Andes and Clarke, “seriously?” Andes nodded. “I just got a little wet.” Raven said. Now they were all laughing. “Come with me goddess. Hey Wick,” she shouted across the room, “ meet my new wife, and get your shit out of my room, cause she’s moving in.”
Abby came back over to Clarke, pulled her aside. “Clarke, Andes is going to need somewhere to sleep. You know we’re short on rooms around here. I mean, I can set her up in the medical bay, maybe in the corner, but that’s no very private. I thought maybe she could bunk with you?”
Clarke looked at her mom, seeing something in her eyes, “Mom, you know we’re just friends, right?”
“Absolutely honey, I just thought, maybe she would be more comfortable with someone she knows, that’s all. And why don’t you take her to storage and get her some clothes, she can’t be walking around half naked all the time. I’ll have Miller put a cot in your room.” And with that she walked away. It seems Clarke was to have a roommate for the next 5 or 6 weeks.
Clarke had to pry Andes away from Raven. “Come with me, I’m gonna get you some clothes and show you were you’ll sleep. Raven, we’ll see you later, “
Raven made some sexy eyes at Andes, “I’ll see you, later.” Andes winked back at her.
“I like her Clarke,”
“I knew you would. “ Clarke ushered them into a supply closet, and the door swung shut behind them.
“Clarke, if you wanted to get me alone, you just had to ask.”
Clarke just rolled her eyes at her. She began pulling out tee shirts, pants, socks, boots. “I think these should fit, here, try them on, “ Andes took off her half shirt, and pulled on the tee. It was snug, especially around her arms. Clarke looked at the way the shirt fit, decided she liked it tight. Next came the pants, and Clarke thought she would miss seeing Andes legs, and opted for shorts instead. She found a pair that were a little longer than the ones she wore now, handed them to Andes. Ankle high black boots topped it off. Clarke stepped back and looked her over. Wow, she thought if certain parts were covered up, she wouldn’t be as sexy looking. Wrong. She was lost in these thoughts when she realized that Andes was talking to her. “Sorry, what?”
“Does it fit? Feels a little tight.” She said as she pulled at the tee shirt.
Clarke slapped Andes hands away, and reached in to her shirt to pull out her necklace. “No, looks good, you look good.”
“If you say so.”
“C’mon, I’ll show you your room.” Clarke walked her down a few corridors, and stopped at her door. “So, this, this is my room, ah, we don’t really have any open space, and my mom thought you would be more comfortable if you were with someone you knew.”
Andes looked at her, slowly smiling, “I like your mom.” Clarke rolled her eyes again and pushed the door open. Miller had delivered the cot and placed it against the wall opposite Clarke’s bed. Andes followed her in, looking around. “So, you can put your stuff over here, this obviously is your bed, “ she stopped and looked over at Andes, who was intently staring at something. Too late, crap.
“What’s this Clarke?” Andes asked, holding up the picture Clarke had drawn, the picture of Andes and the dogs, standing up on the hill. Clarke forgot that picture was sitting out.
“Oh, that’s you and the boys. That’s from our last day, when you were standing up on the hill. It just looked like a moment that had to be drawn.”
“I know that it’s me, why did you draw it?”
“I don’t know, I love to draw, it was, I don’t know, I guess I wanted to permanently capture that image. In case, in case we never saw each other again, I’d have something to remember, you, and, Jaks.” Clarke was stumbling a little, feeling like she got caught red-handed with something.
“It’s beautiful.” She turned towards Clarke, “Will you draw me something?”
“Sure, what?”
“Something for me to remember you by?” Andes looked over at her, the stare was back, but they both pulled back from it quickly.
“Yes, I will draw something for you. Probably take a little while, I have to be inspired.”
Andes stepped closer to Clarke, invading her personal space, “So, what inspires you,” she asked softly, close enough now to breathe in the scent of her.
Clarke’s heart skipped a beat, and she took a quick glance down at Andes lips, hopefully quick enough that she didn’t notice, although the girl didn’t miss much. She stepped back a little, creating a little space between them. “All kinds of things can be inspiring, I’ll know it when it happens. “ Andes just smiled, she caught the glance, Clarke knew she caught the glance. “So, are you hungry? It’s dinner time around here, how about we go get some chow.”
Andes knew that this moment was over, and she looked forward to the next one. The next 6 weeks would be interesting. “Sure, let’s eat. Dinner.” Clarke looked at her sharply, but chose to ignore that remark.
When they made it down to the mess hall, Raven called them over to sit with her and the gang. “So, goddess, I hear we’ll have you around for about 6 weeks?”
“Yes, lucky you.”
“I know, right? So I think you should come down to the control room, I’m gonna teach you all about jet propulsion.”
Andes rested her chin in her hand, “Is that what you call it? “ Andes said with a leer. She was totally on Raven’s wave length, like they were twin sisters separated at birth.
“Wick! Take the day off tomorrow, me and the goddess have things to do.” Wick just rolled his eyes, used to Raven’s craziness.
“Actually, that’s a great idea, “ said Clarke. “Show her a computer, see what she does with it. Just don’t play poker with her, she’ll fleece you.”
They spent the next couple of hours working out a schedule for Andes, making sure she got a full taste of life at Arkadia. Mornings with Raven, lunch with Abby in the medical bay, afternoons outside with Octavia, late afternoons exercising the dogs. Andes was a little disappointed because there didn’t seem to be any scheduled “Clarke time.” She wondered if Clarke did that on purpose. It was getting late now, so everyone wandered back to their respective rooms to turn in. When Clarke and Andes got back to the room, Clarke went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Andes sat on her bed and looked at the other pictures that Clarke had on the wall, admiring her talent, and wishing she could kiss Clarke goodnight. When Clarke came out, Andes went in. She came back out and stripped off all her clothes, and Clarke just watched, remembering their night together, remembering having free reign over that body. She closed her eyes, but the images wouldn’t go away.
Andes was in bed now, “good night Clarke, and thank you for everything, for helping with this, “ holding up her broken wrist, “and for letting me stay here.”
“You’re welcome, Andes. Get a goodnights rest, you have a full day tomorrow.”
“I’ll try Clarke, “ she said as she stared over at her. Clarke knew that look, knew what she was thinking when her eyes turned that color. Clarke felt a pang, thought how good she looked, thought how it would be nice to lie together, snuggle together. She banished those thoughts, and rolled over to try and get some sleep.