Week One | Outside the circle of huts | Friday Night

[sasetai]

[ There is a song they would sing, the three of them. Head, shoulder, knees, toes, she'd sing faster and faster and Shin would get upset when he couldn't keep up.

She has been walking back and forth, back and forth, humming the rhythm, following the words and lightly pressing her fingertips against the mentioned body parts. ]

Eyes, and ears, and mouth, and nose..head--

[ She stops when she sees Bellamy, and though she speaks directly to him, her eyes look somewhere much far past him. ]

You were right. [ Her voice is tired, but there is no severity in her voice, no fear. She speaks like what is just is. ]

We're all at risk.

Comments

[sasetai]

[ She knows he's right. She's been there, done that, not by choice-- but she's watched that sort of paranoia force someone to unravel.

He has a conviction that reminds her a bit of home, of friends lost and left behind. ]

You promise?

[ Hesitantly, she extends a pinky. A childish way to make a deal, but it is another piece of home that she can't seem to let go of. ]

I'll look out for you and your friend, and you'll both look out for me, right?

[jettisons]

[Bellamy hesitates, thrown by the gesture, and then finally links his pinky with hers.]

I promise.

[It's stupid to promise this again, after all the promises he's made and failed to keep. After Haru. But he does.]

We'll protect you, Jinah. You're not alone here.

[It's not like he can be with her every second of every day though, so...]

If someone came at you, would you know how to defend yourself?

[sasetai]

[ She doesn't even have to think about it-- ]

No.

[ There's no point in beating around the bush. Before this place she'd survived through blind faith and dumb luck, and even before that she'd never had any reason to need to defend herself. ]

Earlier this week I was asking a lot of people a lot of questions, do you remember? I was trying to figure out if I needed to be careful around anyone. It's all I can really do.

[jettisons]

Smart.

[There's clear approval in his voice. He was wondering why her questions were so probing, and that makes perfect sense.]

Do you want me to teach you?

[sasetai]

If you can..

[ Though she wonders how apt a student she's capable of being. ]

I'm not very strong, but I think I'm pretty fast. I think in most cases my best bet is running instead of fighting.

[jettisons]

[That's fair, but Bellamy doesn't seem too phased by it.]

Then I can teach you how to disarm and distract someone long enough to get away. You don't always have to be strong, you just have to know where to hit.

[sasetai]

[ She nods, slowly and deliberately. It was probably about time, the Gods had never taken mercy on her, even before this place-- but at very least there had been other forces to keep her out of harms way.

That wasn't the case here. If she wanted a chance at making her own choices then she'd have to fight for it. ]

Thank you. You didn't have to help me, but you are. I won't forget that.

[jettisons]

[He nods back.]

I want all of us to get out of here, Jinah, not just me.