WARNINGS: swearing.
I spend the next day avoiding Emori's eyes.
The day after, I go to Ally's mansion. John is cooking while I sit in the living room, playing piano. He was surprised to hear that I play but he doesn't seem to mind much. I've been at it for a few hours when I hear the backdoor open. I continue my work, running through the song until the end.
"That was beautiful."
I turn in my seat to find Clarke and I shrug. "It's nothing."
"I never would've pegged you for a musician," she says, shaking her head.
I stand, walking past her and into the kitchen. "I never would've pegged you for the Commander of Death but here we are."
"Don't be a dick, Cam," John advises me.
"You'd know all about being a dick, wouldn't you?" I say, narrowing my eyes.
"I see you two've made up," Clarke says sarcastically.
"Quite the opposite, actually," I say, grinning at him.
He smiles back, turning to Clarke. "Is Emori coming?"
"She's already here."
I turn to find her walking through the backdoor. I stare down at my feet, leaning my back against the counter. The silence in the room is palpable. I fill it by squeaking my shoes on the floor.
"Bakon off," Emori says suddenly to me.
"Em ste strik seintaim lait gon bilaik," I say, smiling and shaking my head.
She told me to back off and I told her it was a little too late for that.
"Hod op," Clarke says, crossing her arms over her chest. "Chit dula op yu gon daun gon?"
She asked us what we even fight for.
"Osa nou gon daun nau," she says, shaking her head. "Krei, hod em op."
She told us we can't be fighting now and that we have to stop it.
"Ai ste fiya," I apologize, turning to Emori. "Em laik gon yu."
"Ai ste fiya seintaim," she says, nodding.
I look at John's stunned face. "I'll see you later."
Then I rush out the backdoor of the mansion.
_•_•_
"It can't be over with," Raven says, working on something I don't understand.
"It can't happen, Raven. Emori made that very clear," I say, shaking my head.
"I thought you said he chose you and then you had sex. How is that just friend stuff?" she asks, seemingly confused.
"It isn't but I honestly don't want to tear them apart. Shouldn't I let him see what happens with her first before swooping in?" I say, shifting in my seat on a table.
"Sure, but I think he has a say in this too. If he wants to be with you, shouldn't you respect that?" she asks, raising her eyebrows.
"I don't mean to interrupt."
I turn to find Abby at the top of the stairs. "You're not. I was just leaving anyway."
"Maybe you shouldn't. Clarke found us a test subject," Abby says, nodding.
Emori emerges with a man in Scavenger clothes. He looks a little familiar but I can't put my finger on it. He isn't happy when he sees me. His expression turns to hatred as he attempts to pull himself from Emori's hands. John grabs him to keep him steady. I roll my eyes as he begins to hurl insults at me in Trig.
"Shof op!" I say, frowning and hopping off the table.
"You know him?" John asks as they bring him down the stairs.
"He seems to remember me," I say, shrugging a bit.
"Ai na frag yu op!" he shouts, lunging toward me.
"Beja! Yu nou na frag ai op! Ai laik ething!" I shout back as John binds him to a table.
He threatened to kill me and I told him he couldn't if tried.
"Ha yu nou mema ai in!?" he screams, fighting against the cuffs.
He's offended because I don't remember him.
I laugh. "Ai laik kom ogeda!! Yu nou laik noseim!!"
"Wan op!!" he shouts at me.
"Ai ste tran gon," I reply as John stabs him in the neck with a device that knocks him out.
"What'd he say to you?" John asks me, still staring at the man.
I sigh, going and sitting back on the table. "He told me to die and I told him that I'm trying."
Within the next hour, they make him into a Nightblood and test the radiation on him. He dies. I watch as he does. It's a gruesome death. His skin burns and he begins coughing up dark blood. Even if they had turned it off in time, he never would've recovered from the damage. When he goes still, I walk to the radiation chamber and place a hand on it, shutting my eyes.
"Yu gonplei ste odon," I say quietly, swallowing hard and walking to the stairs. I sit on the bottom step, sighing.
"He deserved that, I promise," Emori says, staring at his face.
"No one deserves that," I say, shaking my head. "Not even me."
They pull him out of the radiation bin as Clarke begins to clean it. Luna examines the body, finding some beads that belong to another clan. She's about to say something when I stop her, giving her a look. Emori said this guy was terrible. That he tortured her and her brother. I think I remember him now. He lived in a Grounder village his entire life. I can't remember the exact name but maybe I'll recognize the name she gives me.
I stand, walking over to her and leaning against the same table. "Whereabouts did you meet him?"
"Why?" she asks quickly, looking over at me.
I raise my hands in surrender. "Fiya. I was just curious."
She sighs. "The desert. He picked up me and my brother and tortured us in his home on the dunes."
"Ai get in bilaik yu spich," I say, looking over at her. I know that you lie.
"Chit ste yu chichplei hashta?" she says, acting confused. What are you talking about?
"Ai don get em in kom Trikru. Em don kik raun der kom goufa," I say, shaking my head. I knew him in Trikru. He lived there since childhood.
She shifts, glancing over at Clarke and her mother.
"Chil au. Ai nou na chichplei emo," I say, smiling softly. Calm down. I won't tell them.
"Chomouda nou?" she asks, eyebrows pulled together. Why not?
"Ai gaf in gon yu em don kom hodnes, nou laudnes," I say, nodding. I want to get him with love, not pain.
She grins at me. "Yu nou na yu em don." You won't get him.
I smile back. "Sha, ai na." Yes, I will.
_•_•_
We need another test subject. So, Clarke injects herself with nightblood. Abby immediately goes insane, destroying the radiation chamber. So, that plan's gone to shit.
Clarke and Abby have left us. I'm guessing they know it's pointless to stay here when no cure can be found. I don't know why I'm still here. Maybe I think it's best to just die now rather than get my hopes up about living. I know things aren't looking good. I knew that as soon as I heard the rumours from Trikru. I know it's best to stay. And Raven knows it too.
"Cam, we're leaving!" John yells from the top of the stairs.
"We won't be joining you!" I say, loud enough so he can hear me.
He breathes a laugh, looking between Raven who's fixing up the rocket and me who's sitting on a desk. "Come on! We're leaving! Don't be like that!"
"We're not being like anything!" Raven responds, coming out from underneath the engine. "We're staying, that's final!"
John gets a grave look on his face as he rushes down the stairs and stands in front of me. "What are you doing?"
"I'm being realistic," I say, shaking my head.
"You're being reckless," he says, looking over his shoulder and lowering his tone. "I can't go without you."
"Listen to me," I say, smiling and touching my hand to his cheek. "The only reason I would want to live is to be with you and you have her-"
"I don't want her, I want you," he says, stepping closer until he's between my legs.
I run my thumb over his cheekbone, shaking my head. "Don't lie to me, John. We both know you love her. I don't want to get in the middle of you two and I know when it's my time."
He's shaking his head hard. "Please."
I pull him closer, hugging him tightly with my arms around his neck. "Ai hod yu in, John."
"I still don't know what that means," he says quietly.
"Maybe Emori will teach you," I say, pulling away and looking into his eyes.
He presses his lips urgently to mine. I know what this is. A goodbye. I grab either side of his face and pull him closer to me. He holds me close as his hands run along my back. I let him push his tongue into my mouth as his hips grind into mine. That's the signal I need to stop this.
"She'll be looking for you," I say, resting my forehead against his.
"I'll miss you, Cam," he says, backing away from me.
"Goodbye, John," I say, smiling a bit as I continue to fight the tears. He doesn't need to see me cry right now.
"Bye, toy," he says, turning to look at the rocket. "Bye, Raven!"
"See ya, cockroach!" she yells back, grinning at him.
He smiles at the pair of us before walking up the stairs and out of my life.
I sigh, jumping off the desk. "You need my help?"
"Maybe a little, tongue monster," she responds.
I laugh. "Shut up."
"I'm serious. That was gross," she says, making me chuckle. "But also kinda sweet."
"I'm gonna miss him," I say, nodding and walking to her. "And don't worry. I'm not going up into space with you. I know how much it means to you. I just want to help make it happen."
She pauses, placing the wrench in her hand on a desk. "We're really gonna die alone then, huh?"
I shrug. "Kik kom bilaik kru, wan op kom non."
"What does that mean?" Raven asks, shifting her weight.
"Live with your people, die with no one," I say, nodding.
"Okay, you're teaching me Trig before we die," she says, pointing at me and walking back to the rocket. "It sounds cool as hell."
I laugh. "Have it your way. It isn't difficult to learn anyway. I did it in a week and a half-"
"Well, you play piano. Your ears are little geniuses," she says.
"Don't talk to me about genius. You're a fucking rocket scientist," I say, sitting on the ladder of the rocket as she goes underneath again.
She laughs. "First lesson starts now."
"For me or you?" I ask, bouncing my leg.
"Both."
WORD COUNT: 1824
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