"Ah, shit."
A dot of blood bubbled out of her skin. Without a second thought, the redhead popped her finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding. Resting on her knees lay the source of her pain; a needle, laced with a piece of thread and a kids padded bomber jacket.
The badge of the moon stared back at her, reminding her to keep going but it wasn't easy.
Sewing wasn't a skill of hers. The evidence was in her bleeding finger.
In just a few days, it would be Jimmy's birthday. Nora had recently managed to snag the kids jacket from goodwill, it was a dark shade of green and probably a bit oversized for the young boy, but it would last him for a couple of years.
She just wished she had paid more attention to Gwen when she had patched up the kids clothes.
Groaning loudly, she blew the hair out of her face and leaned back against the wall. This was hopeless. By the time she was finishing attempting to sew the badge onto the shoulder, it would look like a disaster.
"What are you doing?"
The sudden voice shocked her, her neck snapping up and eyes bright and wide. Her whole body relaxed when she saw the familiar face of Bellamy Blake in front of her.
"Failing. That's what I'm doing." A laugh bubbled out of him as he crouched down to her level to take a closer look. "It's Jimmy's birthday in a couple of days and he needs a new jacket, loves the moon and I thought this would be perfect." A smile touched her lips, looking at the badge of the moon, the craters visible on the grey fabric. "But I forgot that I can't sew for shit."
"Yeah, it doesn't look too good."
Nora sent the man a glare, her eyes narrowed. "I'm trying! I just want it to be perfect."
Bellamy stared down at the jacket, his eyes scrutinising her sewing abilities. Or lack of.
"Can I tell you a secret?"
"Not exactly the right time, but yeah, go on." She waved her hand at him.
"My mom taught me how to sew."
Nora's eyes opened wider than saucers and her mouth parted slowly. "I've never been so happy to be your friend."
Bellamy's laugh warmed her to the core; it was starting to have that effect on her more regularly now. "Yeah, just don't go around telling people, alright?"
"Secret is safe with me. Now, please help me?" Frowning softly, her bottom lip stuck out as she held out her awful attempt at sewing.
"You'll need better thread than that. Come on." Holding out his hand to her, she immediately placed hers in his larger one and he pulled her up to standing. With the jacket bundled up in her arms, Bellamy led the way to his home, explaining his mother had supplies he could use.
Nora waited back around the corner, as she found out pretty quickly that his mother didn't like Bellamy bringing her by. She wasn't exactly sure why she didn't, maybe she just didn't like Nora?
The cadet appeared minutes later with a wolfish grin and a small parcel in hand. "Let's get to work." They found a quiet, secluded spot on Mecha, with a wide window before them and the stars shining light in.
Sitting beside him, Nora's eyes stayed glued to his nimble fingers as he showed her how to sew neatly around the badge. Weaving in and out of the fabric, she was amazed how easy he made it look. Passing the jacket over the Nora, she made an attempt and discovered it really wasn't that easy of a technique. Her brow line creased heavily as she concentrated on the needle and thread. In the end, it didn't turn out as bad as she thought it might.
Coyly, she reached into her own pocket to pull out another badge, this one of a collection of stars and a spaceship. This badge was considerably aged, the discolouration proof of that. Nora had planned for it to go on the opposite shoulder.
Bellamy just rolled his eyes at her, a smile pulling at his lips. "You start this one off, like I showed you." She tried to do just that, but cursed loudly when she pricked her finger again. Sucking her finger, Bellamy took over and helped her around the frayed edge before handing it over again.
"We should sew up your combats next." Warmth radiated through her body and she looked down to find the source of the heat; Bellamy's hand over the biggest rip on her knee.
Nora shrugged it off and returned to her sewing, trying not to think too much about how nice his touch felt. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. I'll wait for the next pair to come through goodwill or one day make it to repairing them."
Bellamy wanted to question that, but upon closer inspection, he knew they really were beyond repair. He could always try putting patches of fabric over the rips, but they wouldn't hold.
When the second badge was finally secured into place, Nora turned to Bellamy with the brightest grin. Her fingers ran over the moon badge, the black stitching almost invisible against the fabric. "It's perfect!" Leaning over, she threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. "Thank you." She murmured in his ear, as his own arms wrapped around her waist.
She never noticed her body relaxed into his with a deep breath, her muscles melting into him. But Bellamy did. She could feel his fingers flexing around her middle though.
Nora's body slowly slid back down to the spot beside him, a coy smile settling onto her lips as she looked up at him. "You're welcome, Nor." He returned her gaze with a warm smile.
Reaching over, he pulled her into his side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The pair relaxed back against the wall as Nora ran her fingers over the stitch work of the jacket again, marvelling at their work.
"Now I gotta figure out what to get the little guy."
"He's turning 9 and he loves space. But seeing you would be enough for him."
"He's a good kid."
"He is. He's the best kid. So smiley and happy all the time, and when you think what he's gone through, losing both his parents at such a young age, it's incredible to see how far he's come."
Bellamy watched as the soft smile touched her lips, lingering there. "Most of that is because you." he squeezed her shoulder and her head cowered lower, but he caught the smile.
"Nah, it's all him." She turned to look up at him with shining eyes.
/
The squealing of the kids could be heard from outside the centre. Nora had been woken up early this morning by an excitable Jimmy who was turning 9 today. Birthdays were always celebrated in the centre, they couldn't go ignored.
The redhead bubbled with excitement as she handed over Jimmy's first present that morning. The boy had ripped into the paper to find the forest green bomber jacket, "woah". His eyes were wide like saucers, his small fingers touching the badges on each shoulder. "I love it!" He threw it on quickly; it was a little larger but he would grow into it quickly and it would keep him warm. "Thank you, Nora." Skinny arms wrapped around her neck and she gave the boy a squeeze.
She imagined this was what it felt like to have a little brother. Feeling a bubble of warmth and happiness rising up and consuming her, just because of the smile he wore as he spun around in his new jacket.
The kids seemed to have limitless amounts of energy that day, and Gwen and Nora had never been happier to have help in the form of a few volunteers from the Ark. Together they sang happy birthday to the smiling boy, with the other kids joining in and shouting as loud as they could. He was 9 years old and one little fighter. He would now go to more classes, including beginners earth skills, science lessons, etc.
A knock on the door stilled Nora and her eyes scanned the room, expecting no visitors today and pray it wasn't another random inspection to ruin the day. Opening the door tentatively, her whole body relaxed when she saw Bellamy's smiling face. "Where's the birthday boy?"
Returning his smile, she opened the door further to see Bellamy decked out in his cadet uniform. As the man stepped in, she couldn't help but appreciate the tight uniform on the back, her eyes naturally scanning him.
"Bellamy!"
The small voice shocked her to look up and she found Gwen smirking coyly to the side. Rolling her eyes she stood by as Jimmy gave Bellamy the biggest hug imaginable.
"You made it!"
"Of course, bud. I wouldn't miss giving the newest cadet a personal tour of the Ark."
Bending down, the dark haired cadet was at Jimmy's height as the boy looked at him in shock. "Really?"
"Yep, a special birthday tour just for you." Bellamy winked at him. "Just need to formally induct you first." Reaching into his pocket, Bellamy pulled out a sewn badge. It was a long strip, one the cadets had on their arms to represent their rank in the guard. "If you ask Nora, I'm sure she'll sew it on for you."
The redhead's jaw dropped and she sent a glare to the man as he stifled his laugh. "I'll do it later, J-man."
"Can I go now?!" His head swung between Bellamy and Nora, the redhead cast a look over to Gwen who just nodded. The rest of the children had returned to playing loudly, running around the centre. They would do quiet time soon, to calm them down anyway.
"Yes, you can, birthday boy." Nora ruffled his hair, as Jimmy gripped the cadet rank strip tightly in his fist. "Just make sure he's back before guard rounds?" Her brows knitted together and he nodded, understanding that she didn't want Jimmy anywhere near Shumway again after their last run in.
"Why don't you come with us?" Bellamy asked, standing up to his full height and reaching to open the door.
"Yeah!" Smiling at the little boy's excitement, Nora shook her head. She wanted them to have this time together. Jimmy look up so much to Bellamy that was it was nice for them to have quality time to bond. "Please!" The 9 year old begged and pulled on her hand. Bellamy cocked his head at her with a smile, nodding his head to the door.
Nora squeezed her lips together before agreeing. "Okay, But you two walk ahead." She said to Bellamy, who nodded and opened the door for the redhead and the younger boy. Jimmy bounced through the doors and Nora could see, from walking behind the pair, that the young boy had copied Bellamy's stance, emulating the older man.
It was times like this that she wished they had cameras on the Ark. They had them on Earth and some had even made it to space, but she didn't have any photos of her own. The way Jimmy looked up to Bellamy was heart warming and a moment she didn't soon want to forget.
Nora shadowed their movements, not hearing exact words but occasionally hearing Jimmy let out the occasional 'woah'. They passed by window after window, showing the stars, bits of the moon and other parts of the Ark. At one point, the boy had pressed himself up against the glass, with Bellamy grinning and looking over at the redhead, who was smiling on. She seemed to have a permanent smile stuck to her face while watching the two of them.
Continuing the tour, Bellamy gestured to cadet training, what happened after they became a guard, and what his training would be like. Jimmy was visibly bouncing with excitement, drinking in everything Bellamy said and inspiring the next generation of guard.
Nora lingered back from them, her arms wrapped around herself as a chill took over the Ark. Reduced oxygen did that to Mecha; the temperature dropping over the past few days. She brushed aside the sinking feeling that settled in her stomach and tried to not think about the reduced rations that would again occur soon enough.
Shaking her head, she focused on the pair before her and nothing else. She didn't want to dread what was to come, or fear anything. She just wanted to enjoy the special moment between the pair walking in front of her. That was all that mattered to her right now, the rest could wait.
