A Grounder Walks Into A Bar . . .

[blake]

Octavia Blake

---

I don't want to survive. I want to live.

---

Something was different about her brother of late, and Octavia knew what it was. She planned on casually seeking out Bellamy tonight towards the end of his shift--which was where he was now--and asking him about it. Until then, O just wanted to see what made her special. Why was this girl making him smile? The answer wouldn't matter, because O was just grateful for it no matter the cause. It made her happy to know that after he had given up so much, that he had something in his life that was constant, and just for him.

O walked up to the bar, and looked at the bartender. Gena Martin was serving drinks, and it took her a few moments to move to Octavia. "Anything strong." She told her, not knowing what everyone was drinking. For tonight she was just in a jacket, and pants; not dressing up in her full gear since it made others uncomfortable sometimes. Not that she did it for them. They'd not done anything for her, so she wasn't about to do something for them. She did it for herself. Tonight she was just Octavia, a sister trying to get to know someone her brother was spending time with.

[Gena Martin]

It was rather busy at the moment. There were no supply runs, a lot of people had the day off, for whatever reasons. Gena was happy with it, though. She hated to be bored on shifts, apart from towards the end of them, because that meant she could actually spend time with Bellamy instead of having to serve people. She was nowhere near the end of her shift now. Gena hurried a bit, from one person to the other, until most people cleared out to go and sit at one of the tables, to talk to each other. There were only a handful of people left when she made it to the girl. She looked cute in her simple jacket and the braids, but still like someone, who could take down a guy twice her size. She wondered if that was Octavia. The hair color and size would match, but then again there could be others. She didn’t want to assume.

“Okay. Coming right up.” Gena turned to fill her a glass with decently strong moonshine. She wasn’t sure how strong strong was for her, so she left room for something stronger in the future. Setting it down in front of the girl, she grinned at her. “There you go. You’re one of the 100, aren’t you?” She had to be. She was around them. She was around Bellamy. Gena really guessed she had to be Octavia, but she didn’t want to assume. “Can I get you anything else? Food?” She didn't have much there, but hopefully enough for her.

blake

[blake]

Octavia Blake

---

I don't want to survive. I want to live.

---

“Okay. Coming right up.” O watched her as she moved around and made the drink before walking back over. She was pretty, but not outrageously glorious. Looking at her, you'd not think there was something magical about her--but for Bellamy to be getting closer to her, and finding just one person to be with, there had to be something about her that was so beautiful and special that it could change him. Ease him. Give him peace. “There you go. You’re one of the 100, aren’t you?” Her shoulders squared, and she had to hold back the defensiveness. She hated the Ark for what they had done done to her and her mother. She'd been locked up for 17 years, locked up for another one after her mother had been floated. Sent down here to die.

But it wasn't her fault, and she had to for force herself not to made a snarky reply that was meant to hurt her. She might to other people, but Gena was special to Bellamy and she wasn't sure to screw that up for him. "Yeah, I'm one of the 46," she said, only just keeping the heat from her voice. She was still bitter over it, and would forever be so. "I'm Octavia Blake." She said, with less resentment, and watched Gena's face for any sign the last name ment something. Everyone knew her name, if not her face. Blake. The 2nd Blake. The sibling. Pardoned for her crime of just being alive because she managed to stay alive on the ground. Congratulations!

“Can I get you anything else? Food?” She offered and O shook her head but didn't want her to walk away yet. "What station are you from?" She asked, trying to learn more about her, and thus more about who Bellamy was finding so special.

[Gena Martin]

“Thought so.” Gena commented with a smirk. “Your brother speaks about you a lot.” He had done so a lot more back on the Ark, when everything about her and their mothers fate were the source of his pain and selfhatred. Now it was filled with even more pride for her. Listening to Bellamy to talk about her, anyone would be impressed with Octavia without even meeting her, but he was her brother. He loved her. Gena lingered as she shook her head to indicate she didn’t want any food. She had timed it to be able to stay and talk to her for a moment, should she want to and it seemed like she did. She wondered why exactly, but given how protective her brother was of her, she was probably as protective of him. Maybe she wanted to see why he hung around the bar late without getting drunk. It seemed to be an interesting assumption.

“I’m originally from Farm Station.” Gena began. She leaned forward to put her elbows on the counter and smile at her. “I used to work in the canteen in Factory Station. Would have come down with it, but decided last minute on Mecha. But yeah, Farm Station.” She could have provided her with deeper information on why she went to Mecha and not Factory, but it was a sore subject, one she barely breached with Bellamy even. Losing a mother was not a light subject. Especially not with someone who was technically a stranger even though she considered Octavias brother her best friend.

blake

[blake]

Octavia Blake

---

I don't want to survive. I want to live.

---

“Thought so.” She thought so. O looked enough like Bellamy that she question that too hard. “Your brother speaks about you a lot.” THIS comment, however, gave her a pause. He had talked about her? A lot?! Bellamy talked to her? That alone said a lot about Bellamy and this girl. Octavia looked at her closer, trying to see what was so special. She was grateful that she was there for her brother--and even more that Gena wasn't like some of the girls from his past. Roma had been a stuck up princess, Clarke had left him . . .

He hadn't made the best choices when it came to girls, but Gena seemed . . . normal. “I’m originally from Farm Station.” She went on explaining, but O wasn't really paying attention. She was surprised at his choice in girls--or well, women. It made her feel hopeful too. "Good thing," O said, knowing Farm station had not made it down. At least not that they'd seen so far, but after so many months why would it be out there and not have contacted them? "So your friends with my brother?" She asked, getting right to the point.

[Gena Martin]

"So your friends with my brother?" Right to the core of this, apparently. Gena couldn’t help a fond smile appearing on her face. It was in part due to how amazing she found that the two siblings were so fiercely protective of each other. Siblings were so rare on the Ark, they were the only sibling couple Gena knew and their relationship was precious. Anyone with eyes could see how much they cared about each other. They loved each other and would do everything for each other. Including feeling out the others friends, as it seemed. She found it adorable. “Yes, I’d say that.” Since she never asked Bellamy to define it, it was actually hard for her to define it, too. She didn’t want to assume anything.

“We met at my work.” She guessed Octavia would want to know more about her or them, how they met and bonded. Speaking about this was not easy, though. She knew the story of how they met would probably evoke bad memories in Octavia, too, so she tried to work around it, by not mentioning what had hurt Bellamy so much back then. “He was tasked with cleaning up in the canteen in Factory. I stayed behind washing dishes. We started talking and hanging out.” Way longer than they were actually working. Those were their nights, finding comfort in the other at least for a bit and for silly moments. 

blake