The next morning, Luna somehow managed to convince her to vacate the lab for another walk.
Well, not somehow.
She actually hadn't had to do all that much convincing.
One hopeful smile directed Raven's way and she was a goner, almost tripping over herself in her rush to ensure that smile didn't falter.
It was becoming increasingly clear that Luna had far too much power over her.
Far too much.
She comforted herself with the thought that she was only doing this because, as Luna had pointed out, the exercise would be good for her brain, energize it enough to spark some new thoughts - hopefully ones that would be enough to save them - but she knew that wasn't the reason.
Knew it as her chest squeezed with the widening of Luna's smile, the way her pulse jumped when she grasped onto Raven's hand, leading her out of the lab.
She was way too touchy.
Yet Raven didn't hate it.
She traced the wrapping of the bracelet around her wrist, watching as Luna inspected various plants on their way, plucking a few here and there and dumping them into the satchel she'd brought along.
It was a quiet walk but the silence was far from frustrating. Rather, it gave Raven room to breathe, to think, without the cacophony of thoughts that had been crowding her head for weeks now.
Her ever-present headache welcomed the reprieve.
"What are you collecting?" she asked.
Luna didn't look up from the leaf she'd been examining for several moments. "A bit of everything. I left all my herbs back on the oil rig and you never know when something might come in handy." Apparently deciding that the leaf failed muster - or else wasn't what she was looking for - she let it go.
"What do you use them for?"
Luna's lips quirked as she spared her a glance. "A bit of everything."
Rolling her eyes, Raven drew closer, peering at the flower Luna had now moved on to inspecting. "What does that one do?"
"It's an emetic. In case you happen to swallow poison." She plucked several of the flowers free. "Trust me, it comes in handy."
Raven raised a brow. "Swallow poison often, do you?"
Luna smiled secretly. "You'd be surprised."
Well, Raven would much rather hold off on said surprise than find out exactly what she meant by that.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes, Raven trying not to think about all the work she was leaving back at the lab. Granted, there wasn't any actual work, not since the barrel plan had been blown, but struggling to come up with a new plan still made her feel useful. Like she was at least doing something and not just standing back and waiting for the world to end.
Though, Murphy didn't seem to be having all too much trouble with that.
She spared a few surreptitious glances over her shoulder, back at the direction they'd come.
Luna didn't miss it. "The lab will still be there in an hour or two. And so will your rocket."
Raven huffed, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Well, it's not like we have many hours to waste."
"You're right. We don't. But taking a break every now and again will only help you achieve what you want. We're not made to work constantly. We burn out."
Yeah, she knew that only too well.
"If you give your mind time to rest, it will repay you for it."
Raven grumbled but couldn't find a reasonable argument against that. "Yeah, yeah."
Luna smiled - it was impossible to keep up even a modicum of irritation when she did that - and they moved on.
A minute later, Luna paused at a tree, its bark a rusty brown, almost red. She traced a finger over the lines of its trunk. "Twice."
"What?"
"I've swallowed poison twice," Luna murmured, standing up on her tiptoes to reach the foliage sprouting from higher up the tree.
Raven blinked. "Wait, are you serious?"
Her cheeks pinched momentarily in a smile. "Deadly serious."
Raven narrowed her eyes, unappreciative of the joke. "Ha ha."
Luna's lips turned up further. "The second time was entirely my fault. I was still unfamiliar with a lot of plants and was on my own. It was winter then, so I was starving." She frowned, recalling the memory. "It was a stupid thing to do. Everyone knows not to eat a plant you're unfamiliar with. But I was desperate and this was the first fruit I'd come across in a week. So I ate it. Luckily, Nyko insisted that I always keep an emetic on me at all times." Her smile turned wry. "I don't think he trusted me very much to look after myself. He was always a bit of a mother pauna."
Raven didn't share her amusement. "You were okay, though, right?"
She nodded. "I was lucky. And I learnt a valuable lesson, so it wasn't without its purpose." Moving away from the tree, she crouched down to inspect the shrubs at its roots. Raven didn't know how she could tell any of this shit apart. It all looked the same to her. No doubt, if left to her own devices on the ground, she'd probably end up poisoning herself too.
"And the first time?"
Luna's smile was back. "That one was not my fault. I lay the blame squarely at the feet of Lincoln."
"Lincoln?" Though they hadn't been close - hell, she'd even tortured him at one point - it hurt a little to hear his name dropped so casually in conversation. He'd been a good man.
And he'd paid for it with his life.
She'd forgotten that he and Luna had known each other. Had maybe even been friends.
"He brought me this platter of fruit, back when I was staying with Nyko."
Right, he'd mentioned that he and Luna had crossed paths occasionally after her mysterious Conclave, implied that he'd even helped her in the process. But Raven hadn't known that she'd stayed with him. Or that Lincoln had been involved.
"I think he was trying to impress me," Luna continued, lips quirking.
Raven raised a brow. "Did it work?"
"I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd received much greater platters back when I was living in Polis. But, yes, it impressed me. The thoughtfulness of it did." She smiled to herself. "At least until I started asphyxiating. He'd confused one of the fruits with another. One that was highly poisonous. Easily done, they're the same color, same shape. But the trees they come from look slightly different."
Raven started. "Lincoln poisoned you?"
Was that like his thing? Poisoning random people?
She still hadn't forgiven him for what he'd done to Finn.
"By accident." Luna shrugged her shoulders carelessly. "Nyko was furious, though. Wouldn't let him anywhere near me for a week. After that, Lincoln was certainly far more careful when it came to poisons, even pedantic at times. I don't think he wanted to make the same mistake twice."
Raven snorted. "I'll bet."
If only that had translated to him not wanting to use any poison at all. That would have saved them all a headache.
She wondered if she should start hiding all the fruit in Luna's vicinity. The last thing they needed was for her to pull a Snow White - and whilst Raven wasn't sure who would be lining up to fill the role of evil stepmother, stranger things had happened.
Biting her lip, she turned around and made her way as speedily as possible to the bush they'd passed several minutes ago. Following after her, Luna watched curiously as Raven swiped her bag and went about piling as many of the flowers as she could get her hands on into it.
"Just in case," she explained, stomach flipping at the answering twinkle in Luna's eye.
"Of course," she said, cheeks slightly strained with the effort to keep her smile under wraps. "Though, generally we advise that you only take a third of the flowers on offer. So the plant can survive and grow anew."
Raven glanced guiltily back at the bush she'd so hastily stripped bare. Luna touched her arm briefly, accepting the bag back. "It's okay. None of these plants are going to survive what's coming."
She exhaled a little in relief that she hadn't just committed a major fuck-up in Luna's eyes but that faltered when she saw how subdued she'd become in the space of a second, and Raven didn't think it had anything to do with her.
('None of these plants are going to survive what's coming.')
Right, that was a bit of a downer.
She searched around for something to say, to distract from the heaviness she now saw in Luna's gaze.
Fingers absentmindedly finding the band around her wrist again, she deliberated. "So what's your anchor- uh, kara?"
Luna's eyebrows drew up at the question but she eased into it without any further hesitation. Holding up a hand, she wriggled her fingers demonstratively.
Raven's mouth parted. "Your gloves?"
She grinned, lowering her hand. "I like to keep my hands warm. It seemed convenient."
Well, if you want something to keep your hands warm, I-
She resisted the urge to slap herself in the face. Seriously, Reyes?
Shifting uncomfortably, Raven crossed her arms - just in case she got the unforgivable impulse to reach out and steal one of Luna's innocent, unsuspecting hands.
Raven grasped the bracelet on her wrist in defense. "Well, mine's prettier."
Luna's cheeks pulled tight and she seemed to be fighting a laugh. "I would be insulted if you also weren't indirectly complimenting me."
Of course there was a drawback to pretty girls making you bracelets. She'd known there'd have to be. "Only indirectly. And very unintentionally."
"Of course." Her eyes sparkled. "I'm pleased you approve of my work."
Yeah, a little too much. She'd found herself fiddling with the bracelet almost constantly since it had landed on her wrist and every time she did so, her heart gave a little tug.
Never accept gifts from pretty girls, Raven. Big mistake.
She bit her tongue on a pout. "It itches."
Luna laughed.
By late afternoon, they had parted ways, Luna retreating to the mansion to deposit her spoils whilst Raven returned to the lab. In disregard of Abby's protests, she ran through the simulation again, and again, determined to find a way around the missing barrel.
But no matter what she tried, failure inevitably reared up and slammed her in the face.
Three hours later, sweating and somewhat dizzy with exhaustion, Raven gave up. Collapsing onto the nearest seat, she grimaced slightly at the feel of it. The chairs in Becca's lab really were as uncomfortable as they came.
But they were better than sitting on the floor. If only because it meant she didn't have to force her body through the inevitable contortions and strains that came with getting down and back up again.
Luna found her then, as if summoned. The doors opened with a swish and Raven looked up to see her making her way down the stairs, laden down with two plates of food. Had she carried those all the way over from the mansion? The distance wasn't exactly brief and from the amount of food she could see laden on them, they had to be heavy.
Luna held out a plate after she reached her. "I know you don't like John but his cooking, at least, is something to be admired."
Raven huffed but reluctantly accepted it, if only because she hadn't eaten at all yet and she was starting to get the shakes. Once again, her body was enforcing its limits.
Besides, she couldn't reject the offering after Luna had gone to so much effort to bring it to her.
"I've had better."
Not true, but Luna didn't need to know that.
Luna smiled a little to herself like she was aware anyway, before sinking gracefully down onto the seat beside her. "Me, too. But it is better than what we were eating at Arkadia."
Raven could grant her that. "Yeah. Not a lot of quality cooks among our people. And most of us have never worked with real food before. Well, until now."
Luna hummed thoughtfully. "I can't imagine what that would be like. I've always had something natural to eat. Even if it was horrible."
She kind of envied her that. "It's one of the ground's few selling points." She poked at some of the pale brown chunks on her plate. "What kind of meat is this anyway?"
Raven hoped it wasn't fucking rabbit. After Luna's story, she wasn't sure she could stomach it - and she sure as hell didn't know how Luna could.
Though, doubtless, she'd had to. Many times.
"A bird of some kind." Luna squinted down at the plate. "I think."
"Well, that's encouraging," Raven grumbled, eyeing the dish with renewed caution.
Luna tilted her head in agreement. "I think I might go fishing this week. It's not fair to leave all the hunting to John and Emori."
Why not? It wasn't like they were doing anything else to be useful.
Okay, that wasn't entirely fair. Murphy had taken up Ravensitting duty - which she resented - until she'd, you know, totally flipped on him. And it wasn't like there were many ways for either him or Emori to help beyond that.
Though, Raven got the feeling those two were doing more scavenging than hunting. They were good at that.
She was surprised by Luna's suggestion, however. Raven had assumed she would never want to go near a fish again. Not after what had happened. Maybe this was a good sign.
Raven hunched her shoulders, stabbing a carrot with her fork. "Want company?"
She hated that a part of her instinctively coiled up in fear of rejection. Thanks, Mum.
But Luna smiled at her, looking exceptionally pleased by the offer - too pleased. "I would love it."
God, why did she have to be so goddamn nice?
"It's whatever." And now she sounded awkward as fuck, but Luna ducked her head, that smile growing.
Luna took a tentative taste of the unnamed bird, relaxing a moment later. "It's safe," she declared, winking at her.
A wink that had no right to be so fucking hot.
Shit, this was getting to unmanageable levels.
Trying to swallow the burn in her chest, Raven looked back down, intent on taking a hasty bite of her own bird. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed something dark and green littering it. What the hell? Was Murphy trying to poison her?
"Uh. . . there's grass on my bird." She poked at it, equal parts perturbed and disappointed. Now that she had the food in front of her, it was hard to dismiss the hunger in her gut. "Fucking Murphy. Knew him being able to cook was too good to be true."
Luna hid a smile.
"It's a herb. Rosemary. It's very versatile and has a wide range of uses. In this instance, adding flavor to birds of unknown origin."
Raven peered at her suspiciously. "This is your doing, isn't it?"
Luna seemed to be working her way into every other aspect of her life, so why not her food too?
"Yes." She didn't look at all guilty for the fact. "I promise it tastes nothing like grass."
"And how would you know what grass tastes like?"
Luna was silent.
Raven let out a snort of laughter. "No way. You ate it?"
Her eyes narrowed. "I was a child. And Lexa dared me too."
"And if she dared you to jump out the airlock would you do it?" Luna's brow furrowed in confusion. "Sorry, Sky Person reference. So Lexa wasn't always a hard ass, huh? Used to have a sense of humor."
Sounded unlikely, but okay.
Luna pierced a peculiar-looking vegetable with her fork, not seeming daunted by its ambiguity. "Oh, she never lost it. But back then she didn't bother to hide it."
Raven's ribs itched and she bit her lip, frustrated that any mention of the Commander always seemed to bring back that day in full contrast. "I'll take your word for it."
Maybe cutting ravens to ribbons was Lexa's idea of a joke.
She rolled her eyes, stabbed another carrot.
Luna watched her a moment, calculating, before seeming to sense that moving on would be the best course of action. "It's from the Latin, ros marinus. Which means dew of the sea."
Right, back to the stupid herb.
Then Luna's words caught up with her and she snorted. "Of course, it does. You're such an ocean geek."
The fact that Raven kind of dug it was not something she wanted to ruminate on.
Luna paused, fork halfway to her mouth. "Geek?"
"Nerd."
She continued to stare at her blankly and Raven flailed around for an explanation that would bridge the divide between their two cultures. "You're obsessed with it."
Good enough.
Luna shook her head, finally taking a bite of her food. "You Sky People have such strange terms for things." She didn't deny the observation, though.
Raven pointed a fork at her. "Hey, that one originated before the nuclear apocalypse so we can't take credit for it. Technically, it belongs to both of us."
"Well, my people clearly didn't appreciate it as much as yours since it's no longer in use."
"That's because your people suffer from a criminal lack of taste."
Luna rolled her eyes. "Or we just don't feel the need to label every aspect of ourselves."
"Po-tay-to po-tah-to." Raven shrugged, at last taking a bite of the suspicious meat. Okay, so Luna hadn't been lying. It did taste okay. Kind of better than okay.
Wait. That smell. . .
Brow furrowing, she skewered another piece and raised it to her nose for inspection.
Nope, she hadn't been imagining it. That was definitely the smell.
"Why the hell do you smell like lunch?"
"Oh." Luna's eyes widened a moment before she shifted some of her hair to the side, revealing a sprig of rosemary wound into some of the strands. "For remembrance. Delfikru tradition."
Raven squinted, waiting, but Luna didn't elaborate. Nonplussed, she shrugged, resolving to leave it for now.
A part of her couldn't believe it. All her guessing, all her confusion and frustration. . . over a tiny little twig.
She almost felt cheated.
Raven had been hoping for something a little grander. Something that could explain why she was so consumed with the scent.
Why she couldn't stop thinking about it.
Or Luna.
But it was just a herb. A simple fucking herb. Nothing more, nothing less.
"You're lucky I haven't applied henna to my hair recently or I'd smell like grass," Luna continued, eyes sparkling. "Adria hated it."
Raven wrinkled her nose. "Henna?"
Luna nodded, releasing the strands and allowing them to fall back into place. "It's one of the plants I use to keep my hair healthy. I have a lot of it, and it takes care to maintain. I left it to its own devices once and it was. . . a nightmare. Costia was horrified." Her mouth curled slightly, lost in a memory that seemed to hold much amusement for her.
"Oh." She hadn't really given much thought to how Grounders maintained their hair - or any other form of hygiene and beauty. But it made sense. She assumed that most cultures tended to care about appearances and even the Apocalypse couldn't change that. Clearly.
Raven wondered who this Costia was, though. She'd never heard her mentioned before. A friend? Ex-girlfriend, maybe? Probably another member of Floukru, which meant that they were venturing dangerously close to grief-stricken waters.
She opened her mouth to change the subject but Luna was already continuing. "It's why I have this red tint to my hair."
Raven stiffened as she captured her hand and raised it to the top of her head - did she really have to be so fucking tactile all the time?
She swallowed, concentrated all her efforts on studying the auburn tinge to Luna's hair, instead of feeling the tingling warmth of her hand.
"So it's not-"
"Natural? No." She smiled. "The wonders of nature."
More like the side-effects of nature. "It's, um, nice."
A little too nice.
Everything about Luna was.
She released Raven's hand and her breath came back in a rush. It shouldn't feel like she was on fire every time Luna touched her. God, it was like going through puberty all over again.
Luna smiled at her and she managed a strained one back.
It was annoying as hell, this effect she had on Raven. She liked Luna's company. Their conversations, the way she didn't treat her like glass but still seemed overly invested in her wellbeing.
She liked Luna.
And these goddamn hormones were ruining it.
"Think it would look good on me?" Raven asked, gaze dancing away.
"Hmm," she assessed her playfully. "I think it might add a certain flair." That stupid smile was back. Raven resisted the urge to smack it off her face. Thankfully, Luna soon shrugged and moved on. "But I haven't found any here on the island yet, so I think you're out of luck."
"Oh. Well, that sucks." She didn't really mean it. Her head was too clouded at the moment to mean much of anything.
She still didn't get Luna. Why she cared.
More specifically, why she cared about her.
Raven was used to fighting for every stray scrap of affection (well, at least when she wasn't fighting off unwanted attention). There were only two people she hadn't had to do that with.
Sinclair. And Finn.
Or, in the beginning, Finn had been one of them. The first person, in fact, to offer her love freely, before she even knew she wanted it.
But that had changed.
There was Abby. Raven knew she cared about her, loved her even maybe.
But she could still feel the sting of a slap against her cheek and how, in that moment, she'd felt like a child again, enduring the brunt of her mother's temper for daring to speak the truth.
Luna was. . .
She didn't ask for anything. She certainly didn't seem to expect anything.
She just. . . was.
Her affection, her care, for all appearances, seemed to come without strings or demand. As for earning it, all Raven had done was place a gun on the ground - a gun that should never have been raised in the first place.
But sometimes Luna looked at her like she'd done more than that, like she'd ripped the heavens apart and called rain down to quench a never-ending drought.
And she hated it. It was all too fucking much to live up to. She'd put a gun down, that was all. And once Luna realized that was all she had to give her, her awe would cease.
Because Raven was brilliant at everything she did.
She just wasn't all that brilliant at being a person.
Not the kind that could live up to whatever it was Luna thought she saw in her. Whatever impossible illusion she'd crafted.
It wasn't like the two of them had anything in common, either, besides being used as science experiments - which Luna didn't even know about.
Raven certainly wasn't all peaceful and shit. Luna could try to sway her, but she didn't think meditating would ever be something she willingly engaged in.
But when she talked, Luna looked at her like everything she had to say was of the utmost importance. Which Raven was used to getting on account of her genius brain - people knew they sure as fuck better listen to her if they wanted to stand a chance in this hell. But she didn't talk about that kind of shit with Luna. World-saving wasn't the main object of their conversations - not Raven's part in the endeavor, anyway.
Actually, when they did talk about it, Luna seemed more focused on steering her away from the world-saving.
Raven's brain didn't seem to be of any value to Luna. Or, at least, of no more value than the rest of her.
She was like Finn in that.
He hadn't given a shit what her brain could do. It was the rest of her that interested him, the bits she didn't always hand over to other people.
She was Raven first. Genius mechanic second.
It was weird - even unsettling - to experience that with someone else. Especially because she knew it couldn't last.
Nothing did.
Finn had known her better than anyone, known everything there was to know, and he'd still picked some girl he'd only hung out with for a hot second over her.
It was hard not to take that personally.
You can't choose who you love. And he did love you.
Just not the way you wanted to be loved.
Story of her life.
Her mum hadn't loved her the way she wanted to be loved, either.
Raven sighed, stirring the mess of veggies around on her plate, increasing their unappetizing appearance by the second.
Finn had been everything to her. But she hadn't been everything to him.
Maybe that was healthier, though. She'd put too much of her heart into Finn and she'd barely survived the loss of him.
One person couldn't be everything. But Raven wasn't sure she knew how to love any other way.
Not romantically.
Though, Finn had always been so much more than just a lover to her.
She couldn't-couldn't allow herself to get used to that feeling, that security. Not again.
Raven's eyes bore into her plate, feeling heavy with the knowledge of who had brought it to her. With the memory of that jacket, weighing down her shoulders.
The bracelet around her wrist felt suddenly constricting.
When she'd told Luna she could hang around the lab for Ravensitting, she hadn't actually meant for her to take the offer to heart. Rather, Raven had intended for her to know that she was welcome in her presence, that she didn't have to spend her days on the island alone.
But she hadn't and she didn't want anyone to take care of her.
Or to feel like they had to.
She got enough of that from Abby.
She didn't want that kind of relationship with Luna. She didn't want to be another burden she had to carry.
Raven sighed. "You don't have to worry about me, Luna."
She hated people worrying about her. Almost as much as she hated the possibility that no-one worried about her at all.
But Luna just shrugged.
"I think I do," she said easily. "Everybody needs someone to worry about them. And I no longer have anyone to worry about so I happen to be available."
Ouch.
Raven squinted a second later, though. "You're trying to make me feel sorry for you so I'll stop fighting you on this, aren't you?"
"Mm, yes." Luna shoveled a fork full of food into her mouth, taking her time with it, before turning a smile on her. "Is it working?"
Raven snorted. "Frustratingly well."
She couldn't believe it. Except she kind of could.
"Good." Luna smiled before returning to her meal.
Raven suspected, however, that whilst Luna may be manipulating her she had also been completely honest in everything she'd said. She just knew how to use the truth to her advantage.
She supposed it might be difficult going from being responsible for an entire clan to being responsible for no one but herself. Maybe Raven had become a surrogate clan member, a placeholder for the people she'd lost. It was the only way she could explain Luna's unfailing interest in her. The way she had started sticking to her like a duckling who'd imprinted, trailing after Raven wherever she went. Even Murphy had commented on it once - much to her embarrassment.
Or maybe. . .
Maybe Luna was just lonely.
Lonely like Raven was lonely.
She could understand that.
Perhaps it was even another reason why Luna had chosen to stay on the island in the first place.
Maybe this compulsion she had to take care of her wasn't about Raven at all. Maybe she needed to give help, more than Raven needed to receive it.
But it still made her uncomfortable.
"I can take care of myself."
Luna glanced up. "Of course, you can. You're an extremely capable person, Raven. That much is obvious." She couldn't stop herself from preening a little at the assessment. "But there's a difference between being capable of something and actually doing it. I don't think you value your own care as much as you do that of others. You put them first. You put the world first." Luna's smile, whilst admiring, was weighted by sadness. "I know that's not going to change and I don't expect it to. But in the meantime, I can put you first." The smile grew lighter, almost impish. "If you'll let me."
Raven gaped, stomach turning with that questionable bird, threatening to expel its contents. Such care and consideration shouldn't make her feel sick, but it did.
Maybe because everyone else in the past who'd ever offered it had either ended up dying or betraying her - sometimes both.
But Luna was safe.
She had to keep reminding herself of that.
Luna was a nightblood.
So she was safe.
Raven only had a short time left to live and, statistically, the odds of Luna dying in that time - when she was currently the safest person on earth - were extremely low.
And even Raven's paranoia couldn't convince her that she was likely to ever betray her.
Yet Raven still had to clench her hand to keep from digging her nails into her thigh. Lowering her gaze, she moved to clutch the bracelet instead, soothing herself to the rise of each indentation.
(so maybe Luna had known what she was talking about when she'd come up with this whole touchstone thing)
Clarke had promised to put her first once, too.
Hadn't meant it.
It scared her that Luna might.
"I don't think I can," Raven said finally. Nausea aside, she knew herself well enough to predict she would never cave to another's fussing easily. "But I'll try."
Because she believed Luna when she said that her care didn't come from a place of doubt, a lack of confidence in Raven's own abilities. That she didn't think she was weak.
And. . . she wasn't wrong about her lack of self-care. It just wasn't something that bothered Raven enough for her to try and fix.
But it bothered Luna.
And she didn't want anything to bother her.
Which was a worrying realization in itself.
Luna smiled. "I won't ask for more than that."
And Raven knew she wouldn't.
A/N: More on Luna and rosemary in a later chapter. A much later chapter lol. It keeps getting pushed back further and further.
Next chapter: Raven finds out what happens at a Conclave
I just want to have a quick word with you on something. Because of my ADHD, various mental and physical illnesses and traumas, my memory is bad. Like REALLY bad. And this often leads me to repeating conversations and scenes. I went through the draft the other day and you would not believe how many conversations and scenes I'd repeated throughout. Just worded differently. I'm struggling a lot more with it on this fic than I have been with my yumagna ones, I don't why. So I've tried to cut as many of those repetitions as I could but unless I read the draft every day - it's like 100,000 words - it's going to keep happening. And if I read the draft every day, I won't have any time to write or proofread and you'll be waiting on the fic forever. So I've just sort of decided to grin and bear it. Sometimes, things will be repeated. It might be the occasional sentence. It might be parts of a conversation. Sorry about this guys, I know it's annoying but I don't really know what else to do. I hope it doesn't bother you too much.
Also, another thing, the whole '35 chapters thing' is just a guesstimate on my part. Everything is in scenes at the moment so I don't actually know how many chapters it will all divide into. But it's looking like it might be more. All I know is that so far the draft is 100,000 words and that will probably grow - depending on if I decide to cut anything.
I'm doing my best to stay on top of it but the further into the story we get, the more there is to remember, the harder it becomes.
So if you see a paragraph or conversation that looks familiar, that's why.
