CH. THIRTY - THREE
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"You... what?!"
"Oh, boy," Fry mumbles.
"Listen for one second!" She starts, giving Gally a pointed look. "I—"
"What's the point in becoming a Runner if there's no way out anyways? Just leave the Maze alone and don't go on a suicide mission!"
Minho gasps at Joan. "Hey! You said you wouldn't tell anyone."
"I understand Camil and Gally as no one."
"Excuse you?"
"Sorry?"
"You know what I mean!" She hisses.
The three boys in command, Minho, Fry, Gally, and Joan are all standing in the Gathering Room.
Gally somehow heard what they were going to discuss and obviously didn't hesitate to take his place in this conversation, along with Fry.
"Why'd you want to do that?"
"Because Runners are quitting! Yet we don't want to cause suspicions and Minho already asked me to join the Runners before. So why not? He thinks I'd be able to do it."
"Why not? Well, I don't know— maybe the shucking monsters that sit inside there?! The moving walls? Also, what the hell, Minho."
The Runners holds up his hands. "I only asked her 'cause she's smart and fast, man."
"Besides, Gally, you don't own her," Camil adds, muttering under his breath.
"True," Gally admits, which immediately makes her more comfortable in the situation, somehow. "But I'd like to keep her out of unnecessary danger. You already got stung, Joan. Not fun to through that twice."
"Because back then, I didn't know anything about the Maze! I let myself get stung because of the Greenie," she explains, and then quietly adds, "and because I wanted to remember more."
"You shanks figure it out." Alby groans, followed by a sigh. Obviously, he's bored. "I don't give a shit. If Minho says Joan would be a good Runner, then fine."
"You're a Keeper. If you turn into a Runner, how are you gonna lead the Tool-Makers?" Newt wonders.
Joan scoffs. "My Tool-Makers are the calm and unproblematic. They'll manage on their own! Besides, I can multitask. Run through the day, work as a Tool-Maker at night and on my days off."
"You'll overwork," Gally warns, slight worry in his eyes. "I mean, I want you to be happy, but it might get too much."
She shakes her head. "I'll manage! Or are you against women's rights?"
"What? That's not what I'm trying to—"
"You're sexist!"
"I am not—"
How many times did he say those words in her presence by now?
"You're the bloody same as Jeff," Newt mumbles. "When he doesn't get what he wants, he pulls the 'is it because I'm black?'."
"And does he get what he wants when he says that?"
"No, of course not. And neither do you."
"Joan likes to hold onto the things she wants or finds funny," Gally announces. "So don't expect her to let it go anytime soon unless it goes her way."
That was meant toward the navy blue thing for sure.
Heavily, she nods. "See? He agrees. And wouldn't y'all want to do something for the poor, lone girl? Who went through the Changing and remembers horrible things? Who—"
"We get it."
"In my past, I was all alone!" She adds, along with a few tiny things that might not be completely true. "Never got accepted by any group. Learned to run fast because boys were always teasing me. Fought these enormous creatures. Had a gun. Like, a giant gun. Along with an electric bow and arrow." She pauses. Gives them a glare. "Trust me, I can do it!"
Minho bites his lip to cover a laugh, Frypan presses a hand on his mouth and coughs, and Gally pulls a face.
"And you're all sexists if you refuse," she finishes.
"Manipulation," Camil whispers. "Awesome! I vote yes."
She claps in her hands. "Thank you! And you other idiots?"
"I'm—"
"Not you, Gally. Well, sometimes— not the point. Share your opinion."
"I stand by what I said."
"Great! Gally votes a full yes and donates half of his desserts to Joan because she runs super hard." She nods before turning to Fry. "And you?"
In the meanwhile, Gally mumbles a protest.
"Agree with Camil," Fry announces.
Another grateful nod. "We know Minho's opinion. Newt?"
"Fine," he sighs. "But you do need a lot of training and you're gonna run with Minho before you actually go."
Alby ends up agreeing with Newt.
"Now we'll discuss it with the other Keepers," Minho decides. "And I'm hungry, so imma go eat dinner. See ya, shanks."
Everyone follows, Camil with a wink at Joan, and then she's left alone with Gally.
"You're a dirty little manipulator, you know that?"
She shrugs, an innocent grin on her face. "But your dirty little manipulator."
"That's right." He moves closer. "Thought you weren't interested in the Maze, though."
As her heartbeat quickens, she looks up at him. "It'll keep my mind off things. Creating things doesn't always work."
A hum. "There's plenty other things that can keep your mind off things."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," he confirms, voice lower than before. His hand cups the side of her face. "Things I'd enjoy, too."
"Well, Gally, not to disappoint you or anything, but I can't always give a shit if you enjoy what I want or not," she says.
Though she's piercing her eyes through his, she still takes a step back when he takes one forward, all the way until her back hits the wall.
Then, just in a second, he scoops his arm under her, lifting her up against the wall. His fingers grasp around her chin before they force her to look at him. Once she does, her breaths have heaved.
His eyes fill with a twinkle. "You want this?"
"I don't know," she says, also raising her eyebrows. "Not sure if I'll enjoy it. Try me."
He crashes his lips on hers. Not softly and carefully like the first time they kissed, or the second time, or maybe any time— but with force. Likely his irritation is mixing in it.
A gasp against his mouth while he rests his hand on her neck, the pressure of his hold evolving by the time. With closed eyes, she searches to hold onto something. It ends up being the back of his head, where she slides her hand in the little hair he has.
"Your stubbornness can really piss me off," he mutters, connecting his lips with her jaw.
"Go cry about it," she murmurs back. "Because you've still chosen me, after all."
"Since it turns me on... yes."
Her eyes open wide in surprise, yet then they fall closed at his touch. He's simply trailing his lips over her jaw, slowly moving to her neck as he moves her hair out of the way, but it's still... awesome.
A whimper escapes from the back of her throat. Ashamed he has that much affected on her, she presses her lips together so she can't—
He parts her lips by taking her chin another time. Kisses her deep enough for another sound to become audible. "Always opinionated and then suddenly silencing yourself?"
"Shut up," she tells him, against his lips, and tightens her legs around his waist.
"Action speaks louder than words, does it?" He replies. After rubbing his thumb over her neck, he kisses that exact place, and it sends such tingles over her spine that it arches, her chest pressing into his.
Still with a little more aggression, he moves everywhere on her neck. By the time she realizes how tender it leaves her, she's already a mess. "Gally—" a groan interrupts her sentence. "...it's gonna leave marks."
"Worth it," he says. His hand runs down her spine, causing another rush of pleasure through her. Then quickly, lips still on her neck, he adds, "If you agree with that, of course."
"Perhaps you should—"
"BLOODY HELL!"
Great.
"Newt, you idiot, I told you to come see this happening, not curse the Glade together," Minho hisses. He looks up, smiling awkwardly. "You guys just continue. We were totally not—"
"Minho, we sadly don't have popcorn—"
"Oh, my god, Frypan—"
"You betrayed us—"
"Camil, shut up—"
Her mouth hangs half open. "How long have you been standing there, Minho? And Camil, too!"
Gally grunts in annoyance. "Enjoying the show?"
Minho nods. "Very."
"How long have you been standing there?" She repeats.
"Long enough to make me unholy. But hey, at least y'all thought thought it's not PDA."
"Get the shuck out."
Fry pulls a face. "I made a great dinner tonight, man."
"I think he was having his own dinner," Camil says, a big grin on his face.
Newt blinks a few times. "That's never gonna get off my retina. Minho, I hate you."
Eventually, Gally puts Joan down and she covers her neck with a hand. Covering her red face isn't really possible, but at least Gally's red, too.
"It was about time someone made out with someone," Minho adds.
"Because the only thing you see is yourself making out with a mirror?"
He tilts his head. "Ahw, good to know you agree to hot how I am, Greenette."
"I hate you all."
"Sure you do. I can still undo the decision to make you a Runner, though."
"Don't do that!"
"Blah, blah." He crosses his arms. Leans against the wall. "How about you and Gally continue the lessons on how to be fast, so you'll be great in the Maze?"
"Perhaps we should go eat dinner," the couple says in unison.
"Yeah. We'll leave you two alone," Camil agrees.
"We mean normal dinner."