week one ♡ tuesday ♡ bellamy blake

[jokered]

[the situation is absolutely frustrating, to be sure.

it doesn't particularly bother him to have the life of another person resting on his ability to do well; that's par for the course with akira, after all. it helps that raven is incredibly competent from what he's been able to gather, and he doesn't think she would betray him and take his life if it meant her own.

just a feeling he gets.

but akira is definitely pondering everyone else. listening to people, eavesdropping, getting a sense of who people are and what they're about so he knows who to keep an eye on. he'd like to prevent things like needless death, despite the nature of the game, after all.granted, this is simultaneously easier and harder for him with the current circumstances—easier to seem unassuming and eavesdrop or scope people out in general. but also much, much harder to act on his own, in the ways he normally would without giving away that he's not just some nerdy-ass high school student who may or may not have a dubious criminal record.

it's fine.

though it's precisely because he's pondering this that akira is spacing out a bit. after returning from the oasis, he's changed back properly into his clothes, he sits near the shoreline; his back faces the water as he idly looks ahead. his eyes aren't fixed on any one particular thing—he's just watching everyone mill about and figure out what to do, and he does the same. his hair is as frizzy and disheveled as ever, quickly drying in whatever mess it was when he exited the water; his glasses mask the look in his eyes as the sun reflects off them and creates a glare—really, he does look as unassuming as he pretends to be, it's a good ruse. but still, even though he looks like he's spacing out, his senses are incredibly sharp—so he's not going to miss someone making an approach, no matter what direction it is they may come from.

sup, bellamy.]

Comments

[jettisons]

[Hey, Akira.

It's good that Akira has chosen a spot that's at a bit of a distance from the rest of the group. Maybe it's paranoid, but Bellamy still isn't sure who to trust. He's been burned too many times for that, and this close to the water, they can keep their voices low and let what they're saying be lost in the sound of the surf. It makes him feel just a bit better.

He thinks this will be an easy enough sell. Akira seems levelheaded, and Bellamy knows not to underestimate someone just because they're a teenager. Besides, Raven has a good feeling about him, so that earns him points in Bellamy's book.]

Mind if we talk?

[jokered]

[it's a fair assessment to make—everyone is a bit on edge and unsure of who to trust; akira isn't much different right now, to be sure.

but his own attempts to keep his calm means that he looks pretty unfazed by it all—there's a pretty large dissonance between what he feels and what he actively expresses right now, for better or for worse.

so with that approach, akira just nods his head, offering a bit of a half-smile.]

Sure thing. I'm not doing anything important right now.

[jettisons]

[Bellamy sits down beside him, running a hand through his hair. Might as well just get to it.]

Raven told me you two are partners. If this goes south, it'd be smart for all of us to have each other's backs.

[jokered]

[he more or less expected this to come up, anyway.]

I wasn't going to refuse that anyway. It doesn't benefit me to let anything happen to her—and vice versa.

[and it's a given that someone she knows from her own world is someone he'd look out for too when it's obvious that she trusts him. though:]

There's one more person I need added to this equation. One more person to look out for.

[not that akira is going to refuse to be on their side if they don't agree, but it still needs to be made known.]

Haru Okumura. [she's the person he would put his own life on the line for, so she needs to be kept safe.]

[jettisons]

[Bellamy doesn't even hesitate before nodding. He likes Haru and he'd been planning on it anyway, but even if that weren't the case, it's more than fair of Akira to ask.]

We'll look out for Haru, too. Can the two of you defend yourselves?

[jokered]

[it's a fair question.]

We're both more capable than we look. Out of our element, but we know how to defend ourselves.

[jettisons]

[He nods.]

Good. Raven and I are working on a way out.

[jokered]

You guys are quick.

[it's a good thing. he's not surprised; what he knows about their world already, it makes sense that they'd be quick to figure that out.

akira and haru contrast that a bit because they go home to their first world problems after their adventuring; it's dangerous but far more controlled. in a pure survival situation, they're out of their element.]

We'll help how we can. We've been doing legwork too—to see who else may be trustworthy.

[jettisons]

[It's Raven who's the genius here. Bellamy is fully aware she'll be taking the lead in this, because he's worthless when it comes to tech or AI. There's no one else he'd trust to do it more, but the work Haru and Akira are doing is just as vital.]

Anyone catch your eye so far?

[jokered]

Lief was someone she and I both agreed on.

[he says quietly, and then adds:]

Nino. Jaffar by proxy. [jaffar seems okay enough to him, but he thinks that jaffar would do anything to keep nino safe—which could be a problem, but it could also be pretty helpful, since he seems willing to go along with what she wants.

and she's good and pure.]

[jettisons]

[All people he hasn't met yet, but he nods anyway.]

What can you tell me about them?

[jokered]

Lief is one of the first I talked to that was interested in trying to get people on the same page and make sure we're all able to eat and survive.

[akira's pretty damn sure he's got people's best interests at heart, even if he seemed to be lying about his name at first. even still—everyone has their secrets right now, so that's not too surprising.]

Nino is kind, a very sweet girl. Like a little sister-type that doesn't belong in this struggle. [listen, he doesn't know that she can take down entire armies with speed and magic, they're without their abilities here. but she really is nice and good and doesn't want to kill people, so akira's initial assessment isn't really incorrect anyway.] She's special to Jaffar, so he'll want to keep her safe. I think he'd go along with something if it's what she wanted.

[he's been watching the way nino drags jaffar around and it's pretty clear to him in that sense.]

[jettisons]

[Bellamy's expression shifts almost unreadably when Akira mentions Nino. He's glanced over the profiles and seen the kids on the board, and he's trying not to dwell on how much that pisses him off.]

We'll keep an eye on them. Raven likes Newt and Hiro—they're smart, and they'll be good to have backing us. Hiro's young, too. He'll need all the help he can get.

[jokered]

[akira feels it. when he saw nino's profile, he almost blew a gasket about it. she is too good and too pure for that bullshit.]

Hiro seemed okay to me too. I haven't spoken to Newt, but I'll take your word for it for now.

[naturally, he'll have to look into it himself. he's not going to blindly trust someone he's never met before, after all.]

[jettisons]

Newt's got a hell of an ego, but Raven vouched for him, so he knows what he's talking about. Raven thinks the AIs might have a control center somewhere—some sort of mainframe. If they do, we could use another person who knows what they're looking at.

[Because he sure as hell doesn't.]

[jokered]

Ah.

[that makes a lot of sense. the only person he knows that is good with that sort of stuff is futaba, and there's no way in hell he'd ever want her to experience this place.]

That makes sense. I'm not really good with that sort of thing myself, either.

[jettisons]

[Bellamy nods.]

Raven's got it. She's saved our ass more times than I can count, and this isn't her first time dealing with an AI.

[jokered]

I'm glad we have someone here for that.

[honestly.]

My go-to person isn't here. [which is a good thing, but it means that he wouldn't know where to start with that kind of nonsense if they didn't have someone on hand already.]

[jettisons]

Good. It'll be hard enough when you have one person to worry about.

[Wow, Bellamy, that's... cheerful.]

[jokered]

[and yet, akira doesn't disagree.]

...I'm used to it, but I still wouldn't wish it on anyone else.

[jettisons]

I'm sorry.

[It's quiet but genuine. Bellamy wouldn't wish that kind of fear on anyone, either.]

We'll get through this.

[jokered]

You don't have to apologize to me. I get it.

[he's doing as okay as one can, under these circumstances.]

We're already in this situation, so I'm not going to mope about it. We take action, because it's all we can do.

[jettisons]

[That's the attitude he likes to hear. It's making him feel a hell of a lot better about Raven being partnered with Akira.]

Damn right. If we can't get out of here, I'm going to screw this up for them as much as I can.

[jokered]

[he'll probably show more of his capabilities, both in getting by and in leadership as time goes on; akira's really shitty at sitting back and not taking action, after all.

for now, he can at least do the bare minimum in making sure bellamy knows that he doesn't plan to lay down and let death come for him—and he doesn't plan on letting that be the same for raven, either.]

I vote we sink them. [there's a little bit of humor to that, at least, but akira definitely seems like he's willing to fuckup their AI overlords here.]

[jettisons]

[Bellamy smiles a bit, although it's edging on a smirk.]

Raven's gonna be disappointed if we don't blow them up, but I'm fine with your plan.

[jokered]

She's really into explosives, right.

[he actually knew that.]

Blow them up and then sink the pieces for safe measure, then. Let them rust.

[jettisons]

Sounds good to me. If we figure this out, I'll let you pitch them into the ocean yourself.

[jokered]

I'll gladly take the honor, as long as someone else doesn't beat me to it.

[he sure would love that, honestly.]

[jettisons]

You want me to hold Raven back while you swipe the parts and dump them?

[jokered]

Would she let either of us live if we did that?

[jettisons]

See? You've already got a good read on her. You two'll be fine.

[jokered]

I'd like to think so. [really, though.] More importantly than getting along, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to be some liability to her.

[he knows that's what bellamy's concerned about, after all.]

[jettisons]

[There goes the levity! Bellamy gets quiet again.]

Yeah, I know. She doesn't deserve this.

[Not that any of them do, but Raven has been through far too much already.]

[jokered]

[sorry, bellamy. it's just akira's way to be straightforward when it counts.]

Neither does Haru. [just for the record. they both know nobody really deserves this, but akira's just as concerned here.]

But Raven is my partner in this, so I'll do everything I can for both our sakes. [while looking out for haru, bellamy, and others too. but you know.

some things don't need to be spoken, right?]

[jettisons]

We'll make sure they stay safe, no matter what happens.

[Bellamy already likes Haru, so he wouldn't even need prompting from Akira, really.]

She's important to you?

[jokered]

Haru? Yeah.

[there's not even a shred of hesitation for that. assuming that's who he means—raven's important too, but that's naturally in a very different way.]

She's very important to me.

[jettisons]

Seems like you're important to her, too. She cares about you.

[jokered]

[he nods. even if she hasn't addressed her feelings to him—akira knows exactly what they are.]

It's that kind of situation. We've... relied on each other for a lot of things over the last while.

[there's a definite fondness to the way he says that as well. maybe his own feelings aren't strictly platonic here.]

[jettisons]

[Wow, yeah, that's pretty obvious.]

Have you told her?

[jokered]

[well, at least akira doesn't shy away from it.]

I was going to, after we finished something we had been working on. [he has his reasons for not doing yet, and all them have to do with circumstance rather than not acknowledging it.

obviously, he's a little more reluctant now, given the situation.]

[jettisons]

Trust me, there's no point in waiting.

[Judging from the quiet tone, Bellamy is speaking from experience.]

[jokered]

It's complicated.

[he understands that there's probably a reason. but he can't just jump into it—mostly for haru's sake.]

[jettisons]

I'm listening.

[jokered]

It's not my place to talk about it. She just got through a lot of difficult things.

[stuff they'll eventually be able to talk about, but right now falls under "things that are under haru's jurisdiction to reveal."]

It would be a burden right now because of that.

[jettisons]

I get it. She should at least know how much she means to you.

[jokered]

I'm sure she knows. A lot's happened with us even before we got here.

[she's someone precious and irreplaceable, like all of his team—he's made that clear time and time again, both in terms of the team effort and the things he's done for her in his own time.]

[jettisons]

[Bellamy nods, quiet for a moment.]

I hope things get better for the two of you.

[jokered]

I hope it gets better for everyone.

[not just them. joke's on him, though.]