heda | clexa

two

A woman's proper purpose had been taken from her, and now she's stuck with this.

The only thing she really has in this world, besides her job at the tower and apparently a purpose now, is Madi. Sweet, little Madi who isn't like Lexa ever was, who is innocent, whose eyes have never been black and who bleeds red when she scrapes her knee.

Madi, whom Lexa would give everything for.

Madi, who will be taken from her for the duration of this job.

Lexa supposes that at least, if she succeeds, she will earn just a little more trig than she usually does. If she succeeds, she may be able to afford a better life for Madi than Lexa to care for her and the Hakas district to live in. She might even be able to afford a good marriage for Madi.

Lexa sighs and steps out of the tower into the busy crowds of the Strip, the long market street that reaches from the two main gates in the east and the west to the tower in the center. It's strange to be out on the Strip on a week day when it's still bright outside. Usually, Lexa spends these hours under piles of paperwork or in classrooms, sometimes in the tower's library, Titus' office, the church- anywhere but outside, usually surrounded by stone walls in windowless rooms instead of crowds.

Lexa takes a deep breath and among the sweet perfumes, sweaty bodies and many different foods, there's a waft of fried potatoes that practically calls her name. She finds the stand and sits down on a stool by a wooden counter. The seat is heated by the sun and Lexa is tempted to take off her sweater.

In crowds this tight, she could hope for no one to notice the long, dark blue robes of an academic. She could hope for no one to make the connection between her distinctly female shape and the color of her clothes.

She doesn't.

She leaves the sweater on, simple brown cotton that matches her hair, and lets the sun's rays heat her back with an extra layer of fabric.

"Good day, lady, what may I get you?" the young man behind the counter asks her after serving the customer next to her and Lexa knows she made the right choice, leaving the sweater on. Once in a while, being respected actually feels nice.

"Two servings of your lunch special," she says with a glance to the slate board someone had written the menu on. The lunch special was a simple serving of fried potatoes with warm garlic bread, but for Lexa, it's a luxury, and she knows for Madi it will be too.

When the server turns away, the person besides her says in a hushed voice, "Ask him for a drink. They don't write it on there to save money, but the lunch specials come with a drink for loyal customers."

Lexa turns around, and just as easily, when she thought her day couldn't be more unusual, she finds herself sitting across a creature that could be anything from a mad woman over an angel to a devil.

Demons have attacked us. They're unlike anything I've ever seen.

Titus' voice.

She should have asked him for a closer description.

The woman, if she can be called that, does look unlike anything Lexa has ever seen before.

Her back isn't straight, her posture not humble. Her arms are crossed over a chest plate of armor, like only men ever wear, golden armor, like only the Saints ever wore.

It isn't an armor like any Lexa has seen before though, in real life or on pictures.

The gold is shaped around this woman's breasts in the most intricate way, in the most artistic way. It's a deliberately female armor, shaped for this particular woman to wear, and it's adorned so unlike anything Lexa has ever seen before, so unnecessarily indulgent- are those dragons, or flowers?

Her hair is the same color- golden, especially in the sun, but again unlike everything Lexa has seen before.

If women have thick hair or hair that in any way takes up more space than it should, it's cut or braided entirely to hide it. No matter what, hair is never longer than above breasts.

This woman? Her hair is wild and wonderful and like a hundred unique golden waterfalls, some strands braided, others not, some braids adorned, others not, almost reaching her waist.

God, there are so many strange things about this woman, from her hair to her armor to her impossible-to-be-female strength to the bold, grotesque but somehow ethereal paint on her temples, yet it's not this woman's strength or the way she's dressed that catches Lexa's eye most.

It's her beautiful blue eyes, a whole ocean on a summer's day, with bright freckles like the white crowns of waves, with a turquoise like salty water in the south when it has caught the warmest ray of sun. It's a blue sky on an icy winter's day, when the snow sparkles and the birds come out to sing and remind each other that they are still alive in the barren cold.

It makes Lexa entirely unable to move for a few seconds and by the time she catches herself, she's almost entirely sure that this must be one of these demons. She has too much of a hold on Lexa. She's too magnetic. She's too tempting.

Pink lips turn upwards into a smirk.

A teasing, amused smirk that makes Lexa think the demon knows exactly what she's doing.

The demon leans closer and her armor catches in the sun, the gold reflecting and catching Lexa's attention. Her eyes drift lower and jump back up as soon as they find the swell of the demon's breasts far too exposed.

Fuck.

Lexa shakes her head and silently thanks God for making the server bring her food just that moment. She empties her pocket of trig and the copper coins sing their own song on the wood as Lexa grabs the two bags of food. "Thanks," she says fleetingly to the server and then she gives the demon a polite smile. "I appreciate your input."

Then, she disappears inbetween the blurry faces of the crowd. Without a drink.

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