Becoming a Space Person (AKA Montiah In Space)

[Isaiah Riggs]

Monty Green I had to write this because I thought of the title and it gave me many feels. You're welcome. Space. Isaiah took in a shaky breath, his head surrounded by a helmet that he didn't want to puke in. Everything felt like it had happened so fast. From being in Mount Weather, to being outside in the world ... to the chip--which Isaiah luckily didn't end up taking--and now, well, space. It seemed like that, although Isaiah wasn't sure he could be one hundred percent certain that this was actually happening. All those years Isaiah had dreamed about going outside of Mount Weather. Getting that dream, even in the circumstances it came, was the most unbelievable and incredible thing that had happened to him. But when the Space People had arrived in Mount Weather he had gained a new dream of going to space. How could he have not started to think of that? To be out with the stars, things he hadn't even seen before. And now, Isaiah had seen the stars every night, and the moon, and everything. The building they had entered reminded Isaiah of Mount Weather, just in the off way that some places did. It would be a lie to say that Isaiah didn't ever miss the bunker in which he had spent his first twenty-one years of life. Looking at an apple tree from a particular angle; waking up and staring at the metal walls of Arkadia's interior, Isaiah sometimes yearned for the night's he spent in agriculture, falling asleep amongst plants when the harvest ran late into the night; or the meals he spent with his friends and family but right now, he didn't have time to think about that. He didn't have time for anything. As Raven spoke, telling them the situation they were in, Isaiah knew he barely had time to breathe. But it'll be worth it, he told himself, hoping that maybe he might make himself believe that. Space. Yes, it was exciting but Isaiah was just as terrified as he was feeling excited. Things moved quickly from that point. Everyone was given a job and Isaiah did his part just as much as the others in the group did. They had instructions on what to do then, how to get the space ship ready for launch, to make sure they had enough supplies to not die. They also had instructions on what to do once they were in the ship, how to conserve their air, what needed to be done to get onto the Ark alive. Isaiah's chest rose and fell, heart pounding in his ears every time he paused or every time the space ship came into his line of sight. It was actually going to happen. When he had a spare second he took hold of Monty's hand, squeezing it and praying to himself that this wasn't some sort of dream. For some twisted reason, Isaiah loved this idea so much more than being trapped in a bunker with Outsiders--or as the others called them, Grounders--for five years. Space was exciting. It was, that was what Isaiah had to keep telling himself. When they finally made it into the space ship, Isaiah didn't know if he could breathe anymore. Positioned next to Monty, thankfully, Isaiah's grip on his boyfriend's hand was so tight that Isaiah's was sure his knuckles would be white underneath the glove. While he felt bad, Isaiah couldn't make himself let go. Monty would just have to deal with his good hand being in pain. "Will it hurt?" Isaiah asked, the words coming out before he could stop them. "Going into space? The ship must move very fast." As soon as he finished talking, Isaiah instantly felt silly about the question he had asked. Like it mattered at all in the situation they were in. There was no other choice for them but to go into space, to go to the Ark so they had a way of surviving the death wave. Dying would hurt more. Isaiah still didn't let go of Monty's hand.

[Monty Green]

Monty knew that the bunker was no longer an option, when they’d chosen to carry on to get Raven they’d all known that they wouldn’t make it back in time. They’d made that decision and now they had only one option left if they wanted to survive. They were going back into space, going back to the place that he’d lived for the majority of his life. Monty never dreamed that he’d ever go back to the ark, not since he’d arrived on earth with the other delinquents, he hadn’t thought that it was possible to return, until now. Monty wasn’t particularly looking forward to spending the next five years in space, a few months ago it might not have been such a daunting thing to think about, but now there were so many ghosts up there. However, Isaiah was excited at the idea of going to space, Monty could see how excited his boyfriend was whenever he looked at him and he didn’t want to take away that joy from him. Isaiah deserved to be excited, he’d finally get to see that view that they’d talked about. 

Monty just couldn’t share his enthusiasm, growing up on the ark hadn’t been the most enjoyable experience and there were bad memories up there but it wasn’t the bad memories that Monty feared. It was the good ones that scared him the most. They were going back to the place where Monty had grown up, the place where he’d grown up with Jasper. Thinking about his brother now was painful, so painful and he missed him so much. The ark was where they’d grown up together, where they’d spent hours looking down at earth and making up silly games to pass the time. Where they never spent a day apart from each other, every memory Monty had up there was a memory of Jasper and he didn’t know if he was ready to be confronted with those memories. He didn’t doubt that there would come a time when he’d be grateful for the good memories that he had of his brother, but so soon after he’d lost him… It was still so painful.

He couldn’t afford to waste time mourning him now, he would have plenty of time for that when they were safe, because he knew that from the time they got in the rocket to the time where they arrived at what remained of the ark, a million things could go wrong and knowing their luck, they probably would. Monty did his part when it was time for them to get everything ready, they were racing against the clock and it gave him something else to focus on. When Isaiah approached and slipped his hand into Monty’s, he wondered if the other man was at all afraid of what they were about to do. He guessed that he must be, he’d never done anything like this before and Monty remembered how scared he’d been during his journey to earth, the excitement had still been there but there was also fear.

When it was almost time for them to leave, Monty took his seat beside Isaiah and felt his boyfriend squeeze his hand tighter than he had before. “You okay?” he asked him, smiling in an effort to reassure his boyfriend. He wasn’t going to lie, the grip that the other man had on his hand was painful, but if it’s what Iah needed to help him get through the journey, then Monty wouldn’t take it away from him. “No, it’s not painful” he chuckled slightly at Isaiah’s question “it might be a bit of a bumpy ride, but it shouldn’t hurt” and then he paused, seeming to think of something at the last minute and pulled his hand quickly out of Isaiah’s. “Make sure you’re strapped in properly” he muttered as he reached across and quickly made sure that Isaiah’s restraints were secure. He had said that it wouldn’t hurt but he didn’t want any accidents and he knew that he’d at least feel a lot better if he checked to make sure Iah was safe himself. Once he was satisfied, he sat back in his own seat and made sure his own restraints were secure, eager to remain as secure as he could on the journey. Then he reached over and took Isaiah’s hand back in his own, giving it a squeeze of his own. “Hey, soon you’ll get to see what it’s like to live in space” he told him, forcing a smile for Isaiah’s benefit as he knew that his boyfriend was unavoidably excited about going to space and he deserved to be happy and excited about something during a time where it was so difficult to find happiness in things.

Isaiah Riggs

[Isaiah Riggs]

Monty Green Isaiah is being all lovey-dovey and feelsy. He could be about to die, I guess that's why. XD Every second that passed felt like an hour. The time ticked by, getting closer and closer to when the rocket would take off. No one looked happy in the spaceship, that part was clear. No one looked confident that they were actually going to make it to the Ark alive and Isaiah felt his own excitement poisoned by the worry that was so bluntly evident on the faces of everyone around him. But at least Isaiah had Monty beside him. Monty, the person Isaiah had fallen for from the first time he'd seen the other man's pure excitement over chocolate cake. They had been through so much, through the loss of Isaiah's whole community and people, and yet they had still made it back to a point where Isaiah could say that he loved the other man completely. If they didn't make it up to the Ark alive, at least Isaiah knew he would die with his hand in Monty's. Saying that, there was still no guarantee of death. They could make it to the Ark alive and spend the next five years living there. Isaiah tried to stay as hopeful as he could about that part. It would be pointless to let himself become ready for death when it might not even happen. This was their hope, their chance. When Monty asked if Isaiah was okay, Isaiah knew that he couldn't answer the question. He didn't want to lie, there was no point lying to Monty then. Were any of them okay? Isaiah knew so clearly that Monty wasn't. He had been there, been at Arkadia when the disaster happened. When Jasper had been lost. Isaiah had seen the look on Monty's face, had been the first to hear that news. While Isaiah hadn't been by Monty's side when Jasper had died, he had still been close enough to know that it probably broke something in his boyfriend. Thinking about that, it only made Isaiah begin to feel guilty about any excitement he had. Was it even right for him to be feeling the slightest bit of a positivity when Monty was sitting next to him having just lost the person most important to him? Still, Monty kept a strong face and he was dealing better than Isaiah knew he ever would. Sometimes Isaiah looked into Monty's eyes and he didn't recognise the fun, smart, loyal and caring man he had come to love. Sometimes there was a wall there, a hardness that Isaiah could imagine came from everything he had been forced to do and endure. Isaiah knew he wouldn't have survived half of what Monty had. He loosened his grip on Monty's hand just enough so it wouldn't hurt him, smiling in thanks at Monty's reassurance that the trip into space wouldn't hurt. Isaiah even believed Monty was telling the truth about that, although if he was lying Isaiah didn't particularly care. What Monty said was what Isaiah needed to hear. "I'm glad to hear that," Isaiah replied, fighting to keep some sort of smile on his face. Fear was creeping in but he didn't want Monty to know that. Monty was so strong. But so caring. Isaiah raised an eyebrow when Monty let go of his hand but as he watched his boyfriend check both their restraints, he felt a bit of the fear disappear. This was going to be as safe as it could possibly be--for the situation they found themselves in, that was. "Thank you. I love you." Because those words needed to be said before the rocket took off. Because Isaiah wanted to try and bring some joy or contentment to Monty, even if it was only the smallest amount. When Monty smiled, even though it didn't look strong, Isaiah made himself meet that smile with one of his own. His heart was counting to pound in his chest and his ears, unending and refusing to slow. He knew he needed to slow it though, he needed to keep his breathing as slow as possible. "Tell me about the farms on the Ark, about what they were like." It might have seemed like a random question and Isaiah had heard about them before but he hoped hearing about them now might calm him. They barely had a couple of minutes left. Clarke was nowhere to be seen. Isaiah began to rub small circles on Monty's hand with his thumb.

[Monty Green]

Monty hated every minute of what they were going through, he knew that they didn't have another choice. That in less than an hour, everything that he'd come to love about Earth would be destroyed, he doubted that it would even look like the same planet from the ark either. So much had happened during the time they'd been on Earth, from the moment he'd arrived with the delinquents it had felt like the planet had been trying to kill them and it had succeeded in wiping out the majority of their population, but there were also good memories there too. That first night on the ground before they'd discovered the grounder population had been pretty sweet, they'd been able to just take in and experience the planet's beauty without having to worry about the dangers that lurked in the shadows. It was also where he'd met Isaiah and he'd always be grateful for that, even if those memories were tainted by everything that had happened at Mount Weather. He would never regret meeting his boyfriend even if he would forever regret his actions that helped to wipe out Iah's people.

"Honestly, if it hurt I might just stay down here" he told Isaiah, trying to crack a joke to break the tension... It was ill tasting though and he doubted anyone would find it amusing. Using humour to diffuse situations wasn't always the best thing to do, but it was all he could think to do sometimes. Sometimes the only thing he could do was crack jokes, the alternative was to cry and he'd done plenty of crying recently. He'd cried enough.  "I'm sorry..." he apologised, trying to offer Isaiah a smile but failing completely "that sounded funnier in my head" Jasper would have laughed at his poor attempt at humour, or called him out on being an idiot. But he didn't want to upset Iah,

At Isaiah's words, Monty managed a genuine smile, like he did whenever he heard those words from the other man. "I love you too" he breathed, hearing it said made him feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Because despite everything, he still had Isaiah and he had no intention of ever losing him. He'd lost so many others but Isaiah was still there, they'd had their ups and downs but they'd got through them all and Monty believed that they were stronger for them. He sat back in his seat and remained focused on his boyfriend, he could see how nervous he was, it wasn't hard to see. "The farms?" he asked, smiling at the memories of his childhood spent growing up amongst the farms on the ark... If you could even call them that, they weren't much compared to the set up Mount Weather had. "Well... They're similar to what you had in Mount Weather" he started to explain. "On a much smaller scale obviously and we didn't have any animals because they'd use up too many resources" before coming to Earth, he'd never seen an animal in person, only in books... It was why he'd been so excited upon arriving on the planet. "You'll like it there, when we've got the algae farm up and running... I just hope you like algae!" he shot the other man a playful grin "we're going to be eating a lot of it"

He looked away from Isaiah for a moment, his anxiety starting to rise as he realised that Clarke still wasn't back. She should've been back long before they had to leave and yet the time was ticking away and she still hadn't made an appearance. "Where is she?" he asked aloud, they couldn't leave her behind... But if she wasn't back in time then he didn't think they'd have any choice.

Isaiah Riggs