"She's painting again?" The hand on Raven's leg stilled as Abby Griffin stared up at her patient. Raven tilted her head at Abby's response.
"That's what I said." The older woman rolled her shoulders before focusing back on her task. They were quiet as Abby completed her ROM test.
"How is it going with Octavia?"
"You tell me, doc." Abby stood and moved to her computer, typing in a few notes before she answered.
"Well, she's certainly progressed you past your original prognosis, that's for sure."
"Fucking right, she has!" Abby shot her a look and Raven rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Proper language is not at the top of my list." Abby's lips were still pursed. "You're such a mom, God, Abby." Raven knew she'd hit a nerve as Abby's face briefly flashed with pain. But then her expression cleared, and she turned back to her computer.
"Well, at least you think that way." She said, voice defeated. Raven shifted uncomfortably. I was a strange act of fate that she had a better relationship with Abby than Clarke did, and had for a while now. Raven didn't have the best mother figure growing up (or really her mother never displayed motherly qualities), and she had grown to respect Abby in a way that felt parental.
"She just needs time." Abby's typing stopped and she turned to Raven.
"Could you...maybe just let her know that she's invited to Thanksgiving? I know that you're coming, but it's not going to be a big event. Tell her that the Jaha's will be there? I know Wells would love to see her."
"Of course I can. And I'll let you know what she says."
R.R.R.R.R.R.
"Griffin!" Raven yelled as she pushed the door open to the apartment. Clarke jumped and spun from her easel, her paints splattering all over the floor (Raven had insisted that she didn't care about Clarke's paint all over because, after all, Clarke tolerated the grease that Raven's projects sometimes produced).
"Fucking hell, Raven!" Clarke's eyes still looked a little wild, and Raven felt briefly guilty for startling her. Then she remembered that treating Clarke Griffin with kid gloves produced more brooding and terrible moods, so she just plowed on.
"Abby wants to know if you're coming to Thanksgiving next week." Clarke sighed and ran her hand through her hair, and Raven watched a streak of green appear on blonde. Instead of answering, Clarke bent to collect the brushes that had scattered when she startled. "Seriously, Griff. Your mom is awesome no matter what the issue is between you, and I'll be there. She also said that Wells was going to be there." Clarke glanced up in interest, and Raven went with it. "He's the friend from way back you'd always talk about, right?"
"Yeah." Clarke straightened. "We grew up together- he was really my only friend until I joined up."
"When's the last time you saw him?" Clarke started frowning again, but only because she appeared to be thinking.
"I...don't even remember. It's been a few years at least. I missed him the last time I was home- he was travelling around Brazil, I think."
"So...will you come?" Raven felt excited that Clarke didn't reject the idea right away. Before she could answer, Lexa emerged from Clarke's room talking.
"You know, you should really lock your window, Clarke."
"Or you could knock on the door like a normal neighbor," Raven noted, smirking. Lexa waved her off and walked closer to Clarke. Lexa had over the past few weeks become a regular in their apartment. Raven didn't get it: she'd been living next door to Lexa for a while, and still had no clue what she did for work (she seemed to be out of town a lot, and worked weird hours when she was home). Not to mention that Lexa had never struck her as a social person: when Clarke wasn't involved she tended to only answer questions, and only then with a nod or a grunt. Seeing her be so chatty with Clarke was bizarre- even if her "chatty" was still fairly controlled and succinct. To Raven's utter surprise, Lexa turned directly to her and smirked.
"Since when have I been a normal neighbor?" Raven blinked. Ok, if that's how it's going to play out.
"Between you and Griffin, my whole routine is completely fucked. Not to mention, I hear you come in the middle of the night sometimes." Lexa pinked but held her expression, and Raven turned to Clarke. "Is she providing adequate comfort Clarkey?" Clarke rolled her eyes rather than rising to Raven's bait (how boring!).
"We get along just fine, Reyes. Thanks for giving me the accessible room." Raven saluted and moved to her room to hit the shower. As she shut her door, she heard Lexa ask,
"What are you painting today?"
Honestly, Raven was surprised that those two hadn't banged already.
R.R.R.R.R.R.
"You look fine, for the zillionth time. Let's get inside before my tits freeze off." Raven pushed a strange creature ahead of her (she had never seen Clarke act like this before- all over the place and frankly jittery). She had seen Clarke break down once (in her kitchen), get angry once (Mbege had accidentally misfired and nearly hit Sterling in a pre-deployment drill), and effortlessly take command of a Rifle Platoon (when the 1st Lieutenant was pinned down and incommunicado). She was only guessing how to handle Clarke the nervous, somewhat insecure girl that had emerged in the last hours' drive to her mother's house.
"This was a terrible idea." Clarke said, and Raven was dismayed to see her turn away from the house. Abby had been so excited when Raven had told her that Clarke was coming. Before she could say anything to Clarke, however, the front door of the house opened and a man called out to Clarke. Raven was relieved to see an immediate relaxation in Clarke, and looked to see a dark haired man their age hustling toward them. Clarke smiled genuinely and opened her arms as he swept her off the ground.
He was a large man, and Clarke immediately disappeared into his embrace. They started quietly murmuring to each other and Raven took that as her cue to leave. She made her way up to the front door, where Abby was watching her daughter and the man who could only be Wells talk excitedly. Raven broke her longing stare by giving Abby a hug.
"Thanks for having me." The comment snapped Abby out of her thoughts and she immediately went into hostess mode, ushering Raven inside.
Raven hadn't been to the Griffin house before, and immediately looked around in interest. For the salary she knew Abby made, the house was surprisingly modest. The ground floor only seemed to contain a cozy living room, a bathroom, a dining room, and a kitchen. Plates were being set by an older man that had to be the elder Jaha.
"Hello, I'm Thelonius Jaha," he said, holding out his hand.
"Raven Reyes, it's nice to meet you Mr. Jaha." Jaha's eyes crinkled in amusement, and he raised an eyebrow at Abby.
"Oh hush," Abby quickly interjected, before Raven could fully suss out the reason for the looks they exchanged. She took a stab at it anyway.
"Let me guess. Abby painted me as a spunky yet loveable heathen?" Jaha and Abby laughed.
"You are a spunky heathen, though, Raven." Clarke had entered the house, the man sticking close to her (he was as aware as Raven of Clarke's instinct toward flight in this particular situation). Raven frowned. "This is Wells. Wells, this is Raven."
"I notice you didn't include the 'loveable' in your introduction." Raven snarked. She held out a hand to Wells, but he ignored it and wrapped her in a hug. He took the opportunity to say a 'thank you' softly in her ear.
"Hi mom," Clarke mumbled.
"Clarke," the name was strangled. Wells tugged Raven to the dining room where his father handed them the silverware. Out of the corner of her eye, Raven noted the awkward hug that the Griffin women exchanged before Clarke ducked and turned to help them set up, tense once more. The older adults exchanged another inscrutable look before Abby turned to the kitchen.
"It's good to see you, Clarke," Jaha said as the clink of dishes continued. Wells slipped into the kitchen and began to ferry food to the table.
"You to, Uncle Theo. How is retirement treating you these days?"
What followed was small talk that Raven tuned out as she started wandering around the living room. Clarke's whole life was chronicled here: from a squishy blonde baby to a messy toddler to a sassy middle schooler to a sullen teenager and everything in between. Her mother was in a lot of pictures, as was Clarke's father: Raven didn't know much about him except that he'd died in some sort of terrible accident in Clarke's final week of nursing school. They looked happy.
"I'm glad you got her to come," Abby remarked softly, coming to stand by Raven. Not knowing what to say, Raven shrugged. Abby put her hand on Raven's shoulder and squeezed. "Dinner's ready." Raven made her way to the table and sat down next to Clarke, facing the Jahas. Abby sat at the head of table and didn't miss everyone turning to the empty sixth seat.
"Raven, we start Thanksgiving going around and saying what we're thankful for," Jaha said. Raven nodded and he began. "I'm thankful for Abby for cooking this beautiful meal, and for my son and Clarke being home at the same time for once, and for meeting new people."
"I'm thankful to spend time with family today, and for this food because I really can't cook. Also to see Clarke again after almost two years." Wells paused, then got a wicked look on his face, "finally, that Clarke brought home a hot girl that she's not dating." He wiggled his eyebrows at Raven, who giggled (and stopped herself, because she wasn't the giggling type). Jaha rolled his eyes in good humor, and Clarke snorted. Raven figured that small noise was the reason Wells had said that, because he lit up even as Abby sighed.
"You're ridiculous." Clarke muttered, still slightly smiling.
"Well," Raven began, "I'm thankful that Clarke's friends are all really really attractive."
"Reyes," Clarke groaned, her face dropping to her hands. "No, no, no." Raven grinned at Wells and winked.
"Seriously, I'm thankful to be here, so I appreciate the invite Abby. Plus, it's nice to see Clarke interact with someone other than Lexxxxaaaaa." She made kissy faces and Clarke glared at her.
"Who's Lexa?" Abby asked, leaning forward. Everyone looked at Clarke, but when she only pursed her lips, they turned to Raven.
"Lexa is my neighbor who now spends more time at our place hanging out with Griffin." She left it at that.
"I hate you." Clarke said. Raven was relieved that there was no true bite to her words. Clarke turned to the entire table. "Lexa is a friend, we are not dating."
"Yet!" Raven interjected. Clarke rolled her eyes, but conceeded.
"Yet." Raven whooped at the admission, but didn't push her luck. Clarke plowed forward. "I'm thankful for the free food that I didn't have to cook. Thanks, mom." She turned and looked directly at Abby for the first time that Raven noticed. Abby smiled genuinely and nodded. And then ruined the light mood.
"I'm thankful that my daughter is here with us alive, and that she has left active duty behind." Ok, now Raven understood why Clarke didn't want to come to dinner.
R.R.R.R.R.R.
The food was good, but Raven spent the whole dinner tiptoeing conversation, as did Wells. Despite only just meeting him, Raven could tell they shared the same concerns about Clarke. They exchanged looks throughout dinner between Jaha and Abby carrying the conversation about some mundane topic or other. Clarke excused herself to the bathroom as soon as the main course was over, and Raven and Wells offered to clear the table before pie.
"Give me your number," he said the minute they were in the kitchen.
"Excuse me, you're going to have to try harder than that."
"Ok, you know that's not what I meant."
"Am I not good enough for you, Jaha?" He paused, seemingly off balance.
"Dearest Miss Reyes," he began.
"Yes?" She looked at him directly- God, he was tall.
"I would be honored to get to know you further outside of-" he lowered his voice "-awkward pseudo-family dinners. Could I possible trouble you for your phone number?" Raven rolled her eyes over dramatically, but smiled.
"Of course, let me program it in." She entered her numbers, then texted herself. He pulled the pie out of the oven and glanced at her, debating. She sighed, and reassured. "I'll text you as needed. Seriously would like to get to know you better, though. Jury's out on what type of better, though, so don't get your hopes up." He smiled and they walked back out to the dining room, where Clarke and Abby were very close and breathing hard, anger on both of their faces.
"Where's dad?" Wells asked, and Abby stepped back.
"He had a phone call to take. He should be back in a moment. I can cut the pie."
Clarke refused to talk the rest of the meal, only saying goodbye to Wells and the older Jaha. Raven felt like she hugged Abby extra hard because of the heartbreak on her face. Wells gave her a pointed look as she left and tapped his phone. She gave him a small smile and followed Clarke to the waiting car.
From: Jaha the Younger- Get back? How is she?
To: Jaha the Younger- Silence. Door slamming.
From: Jaha the Younger- Be there for lunch. Bringing movies.
