JGOB | Friday Afternoon

[notgetkilled]

Bellamy's nightmare was still ongoing. He'd hoped (stupidly) that possibly spending a few days on this island would be enough to get him back home. Whatever had sent him here in the first place had been given plenty of time to correct itself. But, when he'd tried to leave this morning, he'd been sent right back to the spot in the woods he'd been squatting since he'd arrived.

Bellamy wasn't ready to say that Clarke was right but she was probably right and it was pissing him off. He'd left everything of his in the woods, covered up by the jacket he didn't need. He'd walked into town only because he was hungry. He'd managed to get himself a meal at some place that sold hamburgers because one of the locals took pity on him.

Bellamy didn't want pity but he did want a deal so he smiled and nodded as any nice gentleman would. Once his hunger was satisfied, he wandered around the town, stopping inside this place so he could sit down and think.

They didn't make him buy anything but considering he was still pretty bedraggled and dirty, the staff behind the counter were keeping a close eye on him. Bellamy ignored them and rubbed his hands tiredly over his face.

He hoped Octavia was all right.

[ Open place/post ]

Comments

[seveninchmotto]

Flick had casually created a monster the other day. By handwavily omg introducing her to the wonders of social media and Instagram in particular, he'd unleashed something terrifying.

Or at least something that meant there was excessive tagging happening.

In any case, she waltzed in and up to the counter, ordered herself a fancy coffee, then paused to try and find the best angle to take a picture of the cup from with her phone. Yes.

[notgetkilled]

The shop had previously been empty save for himself and the staff. Now, with Isabelle's arrival, the quiet was gone and he found himself looking over at her like she'd somehow invaded his personal space.

"Why are you taking a picture of a drink?" he asked testily. That was just a default tone of voice for him these days. The question was valid though.

[seveninchmotto]

You could tell he was new by how he assumed any space Isabelle was in somehow wasn't automatically hers. How weird.

"Because it's cute and I want to show my followers," she informed him without looking up because she was still trying to get the angle right.

[notgetkilled]

That didn't help Bellamy confusion over the whole thing. He sat back in his chair and watched her quietly for a few more seconds.

"It's a drink. It's hydration," he remarked. "Who gives a shit if it's cute?"

[seveninchmotto]

That made Isabelle look up and over at him.

And, he was dirty. So that explained why he didn't understand the value of cuteness, despite his face.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand. Don't worry about it."

[notgetkilled]

"I'm not worrying about it," Bellamy assured her, kicking a boot up onto the chair opposite him. "It was a simple question. Didn't know going backward in time would lead to all this. People taking picture of food because it's cute."

[seveninchmotto]

"It's a drink, not a food." And she only cared about the difference to one-up him. "Was it recently that you came backwards in time? Because it sounds like it."

And she sounded like that was the least weird thing she'd heard in a long time. Oldbie status confirmed.

[notgetkilled]

"Since a few days ago," he grumbled. "And I can't seem to get back to where I came from. People seem really happy to be stuck in a place that's virtually a prison."

[seveninchmotto]

"'Virtually a prison'?"

That was the kind of statement that called for more elaboration. While she finally took her coffee picture.

[notgetkilled]

"I don't want to be here," he said, punctuating those six words by thumping his fist against the table. "But, I can't leave. Isn't that what a prison is?"

[seveninchmotto]

"What do you mean, you can't leave?" Isabelle asked, even if she wasn't sure she was really interested. The table-thumping was needlessly aggressive for her taste. (Or the wrong kind of aggressive, more like.) "Someone forcing you to stay?"

[notgetkilled]

Bellamy looked at her like maybe she was slow or something. She'd been taking pictures of her drink so it didn't seem out of the question.

"I've tried to leave and each time, I end up right back where I started," he explained. "I can't get home. There's no way home for me on this stupid island. So yes, someone is forcing me to stay and I don't like it."

[seveninchmotto]

"There's no need to look at me like I'm dimwitted, because I'm not," she informed him, arching one eyebrow sharply. "Everyone I know can leave the island just fine. So, maybe you've upset it somehow. From what I've seen so far, it wouldn't surprise me."

[notgetkilled]

"That would be a perfectly idiotic answer if it weren't for the fact that it's not only me that's dealing with this," Bellamy told her, shaking his head. "She says there's no way back. You think she pissed someone off too?"

Bellamy definitely wouldn't that past Clarke.

[seveninchmotto]

"Not someone," Isabelle corrected, "something. The island." And yes, she was going to say that like it was obvious, complete with eyerolling. "And I don't know what the two of you have been doing, but it doesn't seem very widespread."

[notgetkilled]

"We've been trying to survive," Bellamy said dryly. "Nuclear war wiped out our Earth. We don't have the luxury of strolling into a place like this and taking pictures of liquid."

[seveninchmotto]

"Well, now you've obviously found the luxury of not leaving."

Isabelle. Please be more sympathetic.

[notgetkilled]

"That's not an option," he told her tightly. "Sorry to disappoint you, Princess."

Apparently, that nickname applied to more than just Clarke.

"You seem really taken with me and all."

[seveninchmotto]

Wasn't the first time she'd been called that, and wouldn't be the last, either.

She smiled, like a particularly haughty princess. "Well, you're ever so charming."

[notgetkilled]

And he smiled like a smug prick. "I know I am. But, you're not really my type. I suppose I could make an exception..."

[seveninchmotto]

"Sorry, I prefer mine better showered."

And he looked like he'd been camping in the preserve.

[notgetkilled]

"A nice, original insult," Bellamy said, shaking his head. "Your loss, Princess. Should take your chance while I'm here, though."

He was a charming person. But, this helped take his mind off Octavia temporarily.

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle rolled her eyes at him.

"I have a boyfriend."

Which her Instagram account could also attest to. Even though she used tags like #lookatthisasshole in reference to him.

[notgetkilled]

"That's sweet," Bellamy crooned, smirking. "You can still come. He can't. I'm sure he'll survive."

Classy.

[seveninchmotto]

"Does this often work for you?" Isabelle wondered, with a brief gesture towards him and his everything. "It doesn't seem like it should, but maybe this nuclear war you mentioned also wiped out standards."

He was attractive, but he didn't need to know that form her, since he obviously already knew it from other sources.

[notgetkilled]

"Almost always," he said, shrugging one shoulder. "People like a little fun to go with imminent threat of death that's hanging over us. It makes us feel better."

[seveninchmotto]

"So, wiped out standards," Isabelle repeated, because that was the conclusion she was at least pretending to draw. "Oh well, who am I to judge?"

She just wouldn't partake.

[notgetkilled]

"All those kids survived a nuclear war and living in space and that's what you're gonna label them as?" Bellamy asked, switching tactics now. "There's just wiped out leftovers. This place just gets better and better."

[seveninchmotto]

"I don't even know any of these people or situations you're talking about," Isabelle pointed out, calm but unimpressed. She sipped her coffee. "It sounds terrible. But you're the one talking like you're using these terrible circumstances as a way for easy sex. So, apologies if I'm not taking yoir bait right now."

[notgetkilled]

"I don't need you to take anything," Bellamy told her easily enough. "It is terrible. But it's what we've been given. So, we survive like humans do."

[seveninchmotto]

"Good for you."

She would've been less sarcastic if this whole conversation had gotten started in a different tone, but it was too late for that now.

[notgetkilled]

"Yeah, you're about the same quality as everyone else here," Bellamy declared. "Which isn't saying much, believe me."

[seveninchmotto]

"The island's not letting you leave," Isabelle pointed out. "That's enough to make anyone so pissed off they can't even see straight. So I'll forgive you for your wrong assessment."

[notgetkilled]

"Why's it so wrong?" he wondered. "You don't even know who else I've met and you're already disparaging them."

[seveninchmotto]

"I don't think you have a very good grasp on what anyone here is really like," Isabelle corrected him.

So it was him doing all the disparaging.

[notgetkilled]

"I got attacked. Twice," he shared. "No one even wanted to listen to me."

[seveninchmotto]

Hold on a minute.

"... Are you the guy who showed up with a gun?"

If so, well, there was his problem right there.

[notgetkilled]

Bellamy, of course, didn't see the issue.

"Yeah," he said plainly. "I was out searching for someone in hostile territory when I ended up here. You wouldn't defend yourself in a new place with unknowns converging on you?"

[seveninchmotto]

"Well I wouldn't point a gun at them."

Of course, she didn't primarily need a weapon in a situation like that. And a whip coiled at her hip generally didn't attract as much attention as a gun would.

[notgetkilled]

"Then, you're an idiot," Bellamy told her bluntly. "I didn't know who they were or if they were the reason some people from our camp were missing. Precaution, you see."

[seveninchmotto]

"And getting taken out by people who don't like people waving guns at them would have been good because...?"

She didn't see the point of guns in general, to be honest. Although that was because her people had never gotten runes to work with them.

[notgetkilled]

"I didn't wave anything around at them," he replied tightly. "I defended myself against an unknown threat in an unknown world. You people might have taken my sister for all I know."

[seveninchmotto]

"Well, I doubt we did," she said after another sip of coffee. "I'm sorry if your sister's missing –" No really, she was. She knew sibling trauma very well. "– but acting rash and aggressive won't help you there. And that includes how you've acted right here in this situation."

[notgetkilled]

"Quit with the lecture," Bellamy said. He didn't want to hear it. He got to his feet, tired of being still. He needed to move. "I'll do what it takes to get the hell off this island. I don't need your help."

[seveninchmotto]

"Well, you're also not going to get it with that attitude. From anyone."

So, he was all set.

[notgetkilled]

"You're so wise," Bellamy said dryly, already headed for the door. He said nothing else before pushing the door and leaving the shop.

Time to try and get off this island again.

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle shrugged.

Then turned towards the counter to see if she could decide on which type of pastry was the most photogenic.