"So how many rations do you have to last you this month?"
"It's gone back to a pretty okay level, so we'll last for this month."
"No stealing?"
"Nope." She smiled, relaxing against the pillows by the large window. "No stealing this month."
"Good." Bellamy nodded, giving her knee a nudge. "You making sure to eat properly?" His eyes scanned her slim form and he knew the answer before he even asked the question. But still, he needed to check in on her. After all, if she didn't look after herself, who was? He guessed that was where he came in, to look after her. He wouldn't mind doing it; he supposed he already had been looking out for her. But maybe it was time to start slipping her more of his rations from time to time.
Nora rolled her eyes, "yes, Blake. I'm fine. Don't get all naggy with me."
He sighed, rolling his eyes and giving her a playful shove. "Any more of the kids getting adopted?"
"We've had some interest in a few of them. Not enough though." She pulled the blanket up and over herself, trying to warm herself up. "We've got a couple coming in next month about adoption. They have to wait to hear about her job first before moving forward, so we'll see what happens and what next excuse they use."
"Damn shame more of them can't be placed."
"Nature of the beast." She shrugged, leaning back against the pillows. Without sparing a thought, Bellamy reached over to wrap his arm around her shoulders. His hand was warm on her shoulder, it felt small, but then she always had. Their training exercises had benefited her, but she was lacking the food her body needed to keep up with itself.
He was running out of ways to help her, he thought as he pulled her into him. She wriggled for a moment to get comfortable, her head shifting to rest in the nook of his arm had created.
"What are your shifts like next week?"
His ears perked up at her question, "Pretty much the same, why?"
"One of our volunteers dropped out last minute on the moon rise trip and Gwen's got to be here for the little ones." He glanced down at her, seeing her hands fidget and a small frown appear on her brow. "Want to help out? Otherwise it's just me and like 10 other kids." She gave a shrug. "Not to guilt trip you into agreeing or anything."
Bellamy chuckled, mentally already agreeing. "I'll make sure I'm there."
"Really?"
He liked the way her face lit up, her mouth opening in a small grin and her eyes widening, sparkling brighter than before.
"Yeah, really."
"Cool. Thanks." Her grin grew a little wider.
Anything for you. His brain said before he could think, but instead he gulped back those words and smiled, ruffling her hair. "No problem."
He realised then that the best way he could think of helping Nora, was simply being there. He couldn't run off like he had before again, he had to show up for her. Silently, he made a promise to himself that he would protect Nora, be there for her and help her through anything.
After all, it was what she had done for not just him, but his sister too; someone she hadn't met before that day at the dance.
It was time for him to return the favour to the redhead. It was time for him to become her protector.
The following months would be hard on them all and Nora's stealing drought didn't last for long. She had to do another small run, except this time, she went to a smaller kitchen, one with less rations and less eyes on her. She couldn't risk another run in with Xavier again, not after cutting it so close last time.
But she did have one pair of eyes on her throughout it all, Bellamy had offered to be "on guard" nearby. He wouldn't have it any other way when she told him about the near run in last time. Nora had to admit though, it felt nice knowing someone had her back throughout it, even if it was a small ration run, it meant something.
She finally had a friend she could actually count on, someone to have her back if it all went wrong, and also someone to celebrate with when it went right.
But even as rations grew shorter, the mood in the children's centre didn't deplete. Bellamy had returned to spend more time at the centre, getting back into a usual routine, and with that, on his off days he began accompanying them on trips around the Ark, helping out with their classes in the centre and even staying over more.
All the while Nora had been squeezing in more than her allowed one visit a week to Octavia. She marked it up to be recommended for her cognitive behaviour and progression. If they weren't going to release her from the Sky Box, then Nora would just make sure she maximised on her visits to see the Blake sibling and she would use every excuse in the book to get them.
The woman was starting to go a bit stir crazy inside the steel box, even if there was more room inside lock up in comparison to life under the floor.
"She just turned two. I believe she would be a wonderful match for your family." Gwen said, smiling brightly at the visiting couple. They were here to finally enquire about adopting one of the younger kids.
Bellamy had been kind enough to take the older kids out on an "expedition" as he called it.
Nora called it a walk.
Suffice to say Bellamy's choice of words made it seem a bit more exciting than it actually was.
Nora knew by now that it was hard for the older kids to see someone younger adopted. Jimmy and Kyra had grown hard shells to it, but it still affected some.
"What happened to her parents?" The woman asked quietly, just loud enough for Nora to hear as she engaged the younger kids in the reading nook. Or tried to at least, Samson, a three year old, was running around like he was high on too many sugary rations.
But she let that slide right now... instead, choosing to just roll her eyes and ignore the maniac child jumping on cushions as if hot lava was beneath him.
"Floated." Gwen's voice was low and soft. Nora knew it scared or worried some potential new parents to find that the parents had been floated. She didn't understand why. It wasn't like it was a disease to be floated. They committed a crime and were punished, the child didn't do anything wrong, neither had the parents most of the time.
Just like dad... Her mind slipped and the image of her father's face appeared, always smiling and caring. Some of these kids' parents knowingly sacrificed their own life so that their child could have a life. That wasn't a reason to floated, hell it was a reason those people should always be remembered and loved.
Jimmy would still tell her stories of his mom and dad, with Kyra chiming in about her parents here and there and it was heart-warming to see them share memories with each other with such happiness. They taught them to never forget about them.
They were not felons; they were heroes in the centre.
This couple just nodded in reply, the woman with a polite smile on her lips. She had seen that look before and she hoped and prayed that this time it would have a different outcome this time. She hoped the pair would adopt the two year old and give her a good life, and not walk away.
"What do you and your friends do?"
Nora made a face and caught the ball the younger woman threw at her. She knew Octavia meant the group of friends that she had been with at the dance, but Bellamy had popped up in her mind too. He was the closest friend she had on the Ark now, her best friend, well not that she had really called him that out loud.
"We try to meet up when we can, but it's hard," she began and bounced the ball back, "We're now spread out on different stations, they've made new friends and... I've sorta just stayed where I've always been. It's nice when we do meet up though, like nothing's changed, just hard now is all. The dance was nice to see them all again, drink a bit of moonshine, forget about everything else."
Octavia just nodded, catching and throwing again, "what do they do?"
"One's doing med training, two work on Farm Station, another's on Mecha still... They're all doing something..." She caught the ball with quick reflexes. "...proper? I don't even know if that's right for what I'm thinking." She shrugged, tossing the ball back.
"You're doing something proper too. You're basically in charge of the care centre."
"I know, but... it's not always as successful as I'd like. There are kids there that have been with us for years, since they arrived, never been placed with new families."
Octavia paused, ball in hand to think, "but you never know, they're probably happier with you all. It's like one big family."
"Yeah," Nora caught the ball and smiled. "I guess it is, Gwen's the mom, I'm the sister."
"And Bellamy's now the best big brother." Octavia grinned, her smile faltering ever so slightly, as if she were reminiscing of her big brother.
"The unruly, misbehaving one that gets them all over excited right before bed, yeah." Nora joked, Octavia nodding along. "But also the favourite. My book reading is completely out of the door now that he's come along! I never used to be that good, but still."
Octavia burst out laughing, "gotta accept it now, Bell's pretty great at storytelling."
"Yeah, he is." Nora sighed, shaking her head. "He's great at it all really."
"Don't tell him that." Octavia scoffed, shaking her head.
"I know, his head's already big enough."
A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this one out to you! I said 4-5 chapters time they would be on the ground, but I actually feel like it could be more like 2/3 chapters until launch. Now that it's so close, I just want to get to that point already! What did you all think of this one?
