Checking In On A Friend

[Deleted]

Jasper felt a little embarrassed about the way he'd been acting lately, and the way he'd treated Monty. On the way back to camp after blowing up the bridge, Jasper had apologized profusely to Monty in hushed tones until Monty called him an idiot, and of course made it clear that he wanted Monty to return to sharing the larger tent Bellamy had given him. Monty had saved his ass, after all. All of their asses.

By the time they got back to camp, Jasper had slung his arm over his best friend's shoulders, and while he enjoyed the cheering crowd, he tried not to think about it too much. He'd learned what letting himself get a big head could do today. He fucked up when he got a big head. He hurt his friend. He got in over his head.

As he helped Monty get his few personal items back to Jasper's tent, his thoughts drifted to Bellamy. Bellamy, who had given him this tent. Bellamy, who'd told Jasper it was down to him now to blow up the bridge and then collapsed into a tent, sick with whatever had Bellamy and so many others coughing up blood. Bellamy hadn't let Jasper help him up, so Jasper had left him on the ground and barked orders at a couple other kids to get Bellamy to the Dropship.

Bellamy hadn't been in the crowd when Jasper and Monty came back into camp, so Jasper checked the Dropship after getting Monty settled, but there weren't many people still in there, and Bellamy was nowhere to be seen. So Jasper headed to Bellamy's tent and slapped the back of his hand against the tarps a few times. "Bellamy?" He somehow doubted Bellamy would have company after being so sick, but Jasper really didn't want to walk in on something inappropriate. Especially when he considered where that might make his mind go. The Blakes, man. They had good genes.

Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jasper420

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

They had pulled it off. Jasper had made the shot. Bellamy had his doubts before but the delinquent had proved him wrong, and Bellamy was pretty damn relieved about that. It would delay the Grounders for a least a little while so that they could strengthen their defenses and more importantly, recover from the virus that had plagued them all. While the others gathered near the gates to welcome back the others, Bellamy took the opportunity to slip away to his tent. He was still feeling like shit but knew he couldn't afford to. There was far too much that had to be done. He couldn't be weak or vulnerable.

At least he wasn't dead. Unlike the delinquents they had lost to it. With the time alone, Bellamy quickly worked on cleaning his shirt that had been stained with the blood that he'd coughed up. Fortunately he managed to get most of it off. He wound up just sitting down on his makeshift bed, closing his eyes for a few moments to stop the spinning, when he heard a tap on his tent flap and a familiar voice. Jasper. Taking a deep breath, Bellamy rose to his feet, closing off any sign that he was unwell. "Come in," he told him, casually reaching for his jacket as Jasper entered. Bellamy looked over the younger male with a nod of approval. "Good job today," he told him, genuine in his praise.

[Deleted]

Jasper ducked into the tent, raking his fingers through his hair as he did, and then straightening back up to his full height once insides. He blinked, surprised to find Bellamy on his feet. But then, he probably shouldn't be surprised. Bellamy was strong. Maybe stronger than all of them.

Jasper smiled automatically at Bellamy's praise, shrugging his shoulder a little awkwardly. It felt good when Bellamy seemed proud of him. But after a moment, he made a face, scrunching his nose as he remembered what had actually happened when he'd tried to blow up Raven's bomb, how panicked he'd been, how he'd thought he'd failed and all his friends would die because of him... until Monty showed up with another gun and calmed him.

"Ah, you should thank Monty for that," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jasper420

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Bellamy didn't know the details of Monty's involvement but he was hardly surprised to hear it. The two seemed to be quite the pair, strong when together. Bellamy could easily understand, and even relate, to that concept. "I'm sure everyone played their part," he stated. Jasper. Raven. Finn. And apparently, Monty. Bellamy turned to face the former delinquent. "You made the shot though." Without being there, Bellamy felt he could safely make that assumption. That it was Jasper who pulled that trigger, despite the credit he gave to Monty for it. He placed a hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"You came through." Bellamy wanted the male to recognize his actions and skills. To build that confidence in his abilities. Bellamy knew that every single person down here was strong in their own way. And he wanted them to feel empowered; to embrace their strength. If they didn't, then there was no way in hell that they would win this war against the Grounders. After a few moments he lowered his hand from Jasper's shoulder and casually rested it by his sat, proceeding to pull on his jacket.

[Deleted]

Jasper's gaze flicked from Bellamy's face momentarily when Bellamy touched him, but then he nodded. "Yeah," he said softly. Then after a moment, with more confidence, "Yeah." He smiled, feeling a little better. He would have explained what had happened, had Bellamy asked. Monty deserved his credit. But Jasper was also thankful Bellamy didn't ask.

"Did you get to see it? The explosion. We had to duck behind a thing," Jasper said after a moment. He leaned in slightly, a hint of mischief in his eyes as he lowered his voice to a slightly conspiratorial tone. "Was it awesome?"

Jasper had felt the explosion for sure. The reverberations had shaken his body in a way Jasper had never felt before, outside of when the Dropship had landed. He'd been too close to safely watch, but he was sure from the cloud of smoke that the explosion left behind that anyone outside at the camp would have seen it.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jasper420

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

The shift in Jasper's tone made Bellamy give an ever so slight smile as the younger male then asked whether he saw the explosion, and if it was awesome. That caused the faint smirk to be a little more visible. "Yeah we saw it from all the way over here," Bellamy reassured him. I am become death were the words that Clarke had quoted as they had started at the cloud of smoke that erupted from the explosion.

"I'm sure you made Raven proud," Bellamy added on, not realizing that she too had contracted the illness. Unfortuantely, they wouldn't have a lot of time to bask in the victory . . . for it was far from over. "Any of the bastards go down with the bridge?" Bellamy inquired. And if so . . . "How many?" He didn't give a shit what Finn said, it was best to take down as many of those Grounders as possible. Besides, it would be less they would have to worry about killing later, or less that they would have to worry about being killed by.

[Deleted]

Jasper found himself grinning at the expression of Bellamy's face when he told Jasper they'd seen the explosion, but it faded when Bellamy mentioned Raven. He answered Bellamy's question first, though. "Pretty sure it took out some grounders. Not sure how many," he said, then his lips pulled to the side. "Raven wasn't in much condition to be proud. She's in the Dropship."

He made a face, thinking of how Finn had had to drag her off the bridge, thinking if they had been too late, Raven would have blown the bridge herself and gone out with it. Jasper liked Raven a lot, and she was so smart and useful. "She was resting in a hammock when I went to look for you. Connor's still dead asleep on the floor. A few others." He paused, eying Bellamy. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jasper420

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Some was better than none at least. They needed to maximize the attack as much as possible. Until they had more resources to strengthen their defenses which, they now had the time to get and build. Though when Jasper mentioned that Raven wasn't in great condition, that she was in the drop ship . . . concern filled Bellamy, despite making no visible show of it. Raven had gotten sick.

Leaving only very few people in the camp who hadn't gotten the illness . . . which made Bellamy wonder if it had something to do with their former intake of poison or the antidote. Monty would be the only exception but still, Bellamy couldn't help but wonder. "She's tough. She'll pull through," he said confidently, though was going to check on her soon either way. He needed to do a check on all those that were sick to see how they were recovering. Some had it worse than others, but at least most of them lived. They'd have to bury the ones that didn't.

"We lost a few but it could have been worse." And yet, Bellamy mourned the ones they did lose. The ones that didn't make it. Each person they lost, was another weight of guilt on the co leaders shoulders. Evidence of his failure to protect them. Jasper's question pulled him out of these thoughts, no about to dwell on his own well being. "I'm fine," he said dismissively. "Worst of it is over." At least he could walk. "Besides, there's a lot to do and we need every able person to help." They at least had their food supply set, so they wouldn't have to worry about hunting. "The others ok, Monty, Finn?" Clearly Jasper was, but he wanted to check and see if the others had also gotten sick or if it was just Raven.

[Deleted]

"Monty and Finn are fine," Jasper said. "I guess the three of us were immune." He shrugged and shifted his weight a little, watching Bellamy's face intently.

After a moment, he made a face. He didn't really want to disagree with Bellamy, but... "The bridge bought us some time to recover. If you run yourself into the ground, we're screwed." Well, they would still have Clarke, but Jasper tended to side with Bellamy when he and Clarke disagreed about a course of action to take. "I only came by to see if you needed anything, since I... left you like I did."

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jasper420

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

The three of them, and Octavia. Bellamy knew that looking into the reasons of how and why didn't matter right now. What mattered is that those who were sick, recovered. Majority did. There were just a few -- and now Raven -- who would need additional time. Bellamy listened to Jasper speak of how he could run himself into the ground, but Bellamy wasn't overly concerned about that. "I won't," he said dismissively, knowing that there were more important things to worry about than his health. He looked at the younger male as he expressed the reason he had come here, to check on him and well, Bellamy could certainly appreciate the sentiment.

"Look I appreciate the concern," he began, similar words spoken to Finn though at the time, it had been dripping with sarcasm. This time when he said them, it was more genuine. "But we have bigger things to worry about. Like the damn grounders. And setting up our defenses." They had time, but they still needed to strategically plan everything out. Where numbers worked in the Grounders favor, technology worked in the Arkers. "Is there anything else you saw that could help? Anything about the army?" Anything that perhaps they may not have known or realized.

[Deleted]

Jasper nodded. Obviously trying to convince Bellamy to take a break wasn't going to work, and, well, Jasper didn't think he could force Bellamy to his bedroll and make him drink water and talk about things that weren't Grounder-related, as much as he wanted to.

He dragged his hand through his hair. "There were war drums." He shook his head, rolling his eyes a little. "We were running toward the war drums. That was fun," he added with sarcasm. He looked up, trying to remember anything else as he inspected a thin spot in the tarp. He'd zoned in so much on blowing up that damn can that he hadn't seen much else. "They had full face masks." He made a face and looked back at Bellamy. "That's probably not helpful."

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jasper420

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Jasper explained that they had war drums, and full face masks, stating at the end that it most likely wasn't helpful. "Anything we can learn about these bastards, is helpful. It's a little more than what we knew before." And they needed to learn their enemy. Which was what he had been hoping to achieve from the Grounder he had kidnapped. But a lot of good that did. The only benefit that came from it . . . was that they were able to save Finn's life. Which, was a pretty damn big benefit. But they hadn't come any closer to learning about their enemies.

If anything right now, the war between them was solidified. Maybe Bellamy should have shot to kill their leader when he had the chance, instead of injuring her arm. "You eaten?" He asked suddenly, unsure when the last time Jasper had taken something was . . . especially if he had been out all night journeying to the bridge and then walking on the way back. Bellamy's own appetite was practically non existent, but Jasper was right. Bellamy would need to keep up his strength; they all did. "We have enough food for the next little bit. No one was exactly eating when they were sick." They were too busy puking blood.

[Deleted]

"Coughing up blood didn't stimulate your appetite?" Jasper said, his sarcasm subtle. "I'm starving actually," he added, and since he was closer to the tent flap, he led the way outside and held the flap for Bellamy to come through. Bellamy looked even a little more pale in the full sunlight, but Jasper didn't point it out. Mostly he was relieved Bellamy seemed to be willing to move on from Grounder talk, at least for a short time.

"Not that that's unusual," Jasper continued. His body burned through food like it was nothing, and Jasper wasn't innocent of stealing rations. He just hadn't been caught for that. "I sometimes wondered on the Ark, if we weren't subject to rationing food, if I would be a half a foot taller than I am?" Bellamy didn't need to know that these were the sorts of things Jasper thought while high, but that was besides the point.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jasper420

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Jasper's joke caused Bellamy to slightly raise an eyebrow in response though replied with equal sarcasm. "Shockingly no." And of course truth. He hadn't felt like eating since throwing up and feeling like shit. Water had helped when he was able to move, though he supposed he had better at least try to get something in his system. As they made their way to the makeshift food station, Jasper spoke of how he was starving, and if they hadn't rationed food, whether he'd be taller than he is.

So it seemed that the kid ate a lot. Bellamy was used to living on limited food. They had only been receiving rations for two people while feeding three, so he was accustomed to not eating a whole lot. That much hadn't changed a great deal down here. "What, you wanna be taller than you are now?" He teased. Jasper was one of the tallest delinquents out of the lot. "Maybe you should work on building what you got before trying to get taller," he continued to tease, referring to upper body strength. Though Jasper hadn't had difficulty in handling a gun, he knew for some the weight was something that required an adjustment, so Bellamy had offered training exercises to help.

[Deleted]

Jasper snorted at Bellamy's tease. Skinny jokes used to bother him when he was much younger. But even then, he was never bothered enough to try to change his body or work out to try to build muscle. He wasn't weak, in spite of his thinness. "I don't delude myself into thinking I could ever look like you," he said, and then felt his cheeks warm just barely. Should he have said that? Would Bellamy piece together that meant Jasper had looked at him. No, that was stupid. Everyone knew what Bellamy's body looked like by now.

"I do okay," he said, stopping at the food station. "And the height thing could actually happen. If I don't die first," he said casually, tossing something that looked like a nut into his mouth before picking a couple things to eat. Not as much as he wanted to eat, but like the Ark, resources on the ground were limited. It would be a lot harder to steal food on the ground, though.

Tag: Bellamy Blake