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Well.

[ just as elsa starts towards the exit of his apartment building, she turns suddenly to face him, speaking seriously. ] They don't dislike animals. I imagine that they like a great deal of things when they aren't being nuisances.

[ she suspects that he likes them more than "okay" implies. ] How is Zelo fitting into your household?

They get along. [ he says it like he's uncertain, even though he's tried to read everything he can about introducing a second dog into the home when he already has one. ] Nike and him.

[ he lifts his hand behind his head to scratch at his neck for a moment. letting it drop, he shrugs his shoulders, leading her to the end of the corridor where there's an elevator. ] I think I'm doing it right.

[ glancing at her a little sheepish, he knows he doesn't have to explain why he's so unsure, but he does so, anyway, almost out of habit. ] They don't have dogs back home.

[ what a dreadful thought, a life without dogs. after a brief frown, she smiles reassuringly at him, even going so far as to take his arm while they wait for the elevator. it isn't quite a habit with bellamy, but she likes to do so. it isn't out of a need to prove that she can initiate contact either, but a gesture she rarely offers to anyone else save her sister. ]

You're doing wonderfully, [ elsa says kindly, patting his arm. ] I know it isn't the same, but you do have a lovely little family now. [ a thought comes to her and she lifts a finger. ] But perhaps when the dogs are bigger, you may want to find a bigger space for them.

[ bellamy doesn't move his arm from hers, letting him take it. it's not as though he expects she'll do it, but after walking her home a few months ago, it doesn't surprise him any longer. she's cold, and maybe he'll never get used to that, always needing to bite back the desire to inform her that she is, but it no longer shocks him whenever she reaches out. ]

[ glancing over his shoulder, as though he can see the dogs or his apartment, his brows crinkle together. living in a small space with three people, just as it had been intended to be, but not for the blake family, hadn't been easy. but it's normal for bellamy. living on top of others — he doesn't see how it's any different in the city with his dogs. ]

Why? [ he turns back to her, jabbing at the button for the elevator again. ] We'd just go outside more. I know dogs need to run around.

Just a thought! Bigger space might benefit all parties in the foreseeable future. [ elsa makes no promises herself regarding her future in eudio. she knows that he would like to finish his task so that he can return to his sister and his people as well. ] Of course, I have been spoiled with more space than I need.

[ elsa sighs and looks sheepish. ] I can't even tell you how many spiral staircases we have at home.

I've seen them in pictures. I've never walked down one.

[ bellamy's about to punch the button again when the elevator doors ding open, dragging themselves apart to reveal an empty box. bellamy moves forward, throwing his arm out in front of it so the sensor can feel him and keep the elevator he's always impatient for sitting where it is. ]

[ he turns inside of the elevator, hitting the ground floor button. looking at her, he raises an eyebrow, appearing amused despite the fact that she's only confessed to the privilege he sometimes still finds himself loathing. it's what had made clarke a target for him, an easy one to use to manipulate the masses who hadn't grown up as well-off as her on the ark. ] Is your castle bigger than this building?

Considering the architecture here, I would assume there have to be a few. I'll have to show you.

[ it seems like a silly promise to make, but it is the closest she can get at the moment to showing someone her home, or parts of her home that she remembers fondly.

releasing his arm, elsa steps into the elevator with him, folding her hands over her lap again. ] It's much bigger than this building.

[ bellamy smiles, glancing up at the little display informing him they're moving down the stories rather than up. in compression to her, and many other people, bellamy doesn't know much. a spiral staircase may be something many people take for granted when it's something new for him. ]

[ he looks down at her with interest. ]

How much bigger? Two of these buildings side by side?

Oh.

[ she touches a hand to her chin, looking down at her shoes as she thinks about the size of her home. blessedly, it is still a clear memory to her. she smiles proudly up at him. ]

If you've been to the Eudio Museum, it is about three times the size of that. Perhaps four. I may be a little too modest, but it is our royal castle.

[ bellamy looks at her with an arch to his brow, unable to quite believe what he's hearing. it's hard to imagine such space, especially space belonging to one person. bellamy doubts the ark is even as big as the museum, despite having walked inside of it many times since roxy had given him the grand tour. ] How many people and snow things live with you again?

[ just as he says it, the elevator stops, the doors about to pull open. he doesn't look toward it when he feels and hears the elevator meet the ground floor. ]

[ instead of pressing a button to hold the doors open, elsa easily slips through, standing in the entranceway as she turns to face him, ticking them off her fingers. ] Well, there's the entire staff of the castle: the stewards, the constables, the marshals, the valets, the domestic servants...

[ elsa ducks her head, embarrassed by her own riches when she otherwise wouldn't be. ] It seems to be the standard for royals.

[ if bellamy hadn't extended his arm for the sensors to keep the doors open, he'd be in the elevator, stationary, waiting to pick a floor to travel to. sometimes he forgets that elsa's privileged, lucky enough to be born with status and power and even money, despite the latter never having been much of a contender for him on the ark. it's what he hadn't liked about clarke and wells, feeling as though the spoons they'd been born with in their mouths would threaten him while on the ground. ]

[ he doesn't feel threatened, but bellamy has always been uneasy around those who are simply better than him. it's a lesson he learned quite quickly on the ark, having it repeated to him over and over by those around him in positions of power. even though he hasn't returned to that job he held on the ark, he's still janitor blake in his own eyes. ]

[ stepping through, the doors close shut behind him. it's an impressive list, one that he's vaguely familiar with given what he's seen and read about royalty back in the medieval era. ]

I guess it's not as lonely as I first thought. [ it seems stupid to him now, thinking she only shared that castle with snowgies and anna. he walks, keeping his strides small, even though elsa has the legs to keep up with him if he chose to storm out of the foyer like he walks on his ground. ] I figured you just lived there with your sister.

[ elsa isn't entirely certain why her gut reaction is to feel anxious at telling him about her home. bellamy has only given her inches when she's given him yards as far as personal stories go. her life isn't an open book, but if he seeks to understand her better, then she is happy and comfortable enough to tell him anything he wants to know.

mostly.

she goes back to wringing her hands. ] We hardly had playmates as children, save for each other. Well, for a time, at least. Our servants were always so kind and loyal to us, practically family, especially when we needed that most.

[ after her parents died at sea, even if she felt utterly isolated, they ensured that she and anna were always cared for and protected. she doesn't take that lightly, regardless of her royal status. ]

[ bellamy knows his life had been close to what normal could be on the ark before octavia. with friends and a life that wasn't plagued by needing to watch his actions and his own language, he thinks he had the childhood anyone else had on the ark, from wells to raven. but with octavia, things had changed, and elsa's words ring true for him with how it'd been on the ark growing up. ]

[ he doubts it'd been the same for her. maybe more isolating, given how he's come to understand being a child of royalty may have singled her out from any of the other children. and how it may have been isolating, given her parents may not have wanted her to mingle with the kids in the town of arendelle. ]

At least you had someone. That's always a good thing. [ bellamy had mom for seven years before he'd had octavia. he doesn't understand what having a servant would be like. aside from the films he's seen, where they're mistreated, hardly people themselves, he thinks he understands it to an extent. the people of section 17 had been like that for him — simply there when he needed them. ]

[ he looks around as they walk, hands in the pockets of his jacket. he doesn't wave to anyone, barely acknowledges any person in the foyer as someone he recognises. ]

[ he shrugs, looking at her from the corner of his eye. ] I kind of don't know what a servant is. We didn't have them on the Ark. No royalty, either. [ he lifts his shoulders upward, a purposeful shrug as he purses his lips. he settles his posture as he triggers the sensor of the automatic doors. ] You're kind of my first.

I'm eternally grateful for that.

[ there they are, two people with the weight of the world on their shoulders but with miles of distance between them. for all that she doesn't know about him, she thinks that she understands parts of him that she can see. and though she will never truly understand what the suffocating environment of the ark was like, she can at least piece together an image for her to keep in mind whenever her discusses it. ]

People under our employ, essentially, some with or without titles lower than say, queen or princess. Some live within the palace walls, the others live just outside of it in the village.

[ but something about what he says makes elsa giggle softly behind a lifted hand. ] I'm your first royal? Truly?

I don't really count the Commander as royalty.

[ if anything, he dislikes lexa. it borders on hatred for a girl who had stabbed them in the back and taken clarke away from them, but — bellamy's sometimes been hesitant to call hate hate. it feels intense. the respect the grounders have for her, that maybe lincoln holds for her, isn't something found within bellamy blake. if anything, he pities her as much as he resents her. ]

[ keeping his hands in his pockets, bellamy shifts his shoulders. looking down at the pavement as they walk, he finds that maybe he shouldn't have said that — her being the first royal person he's met. or, at least, the first that's bothered to inform him they're royal. ]

[ he looks ahead on purpose, finding that he feels like he's seventeen again in front of gina martin. he tries to sound casual, but his words feel slow and weighted. ]

I think you are the first queen I've ever met. Probably the only one.

[ were she familiar with the commander, she would disagree greatly with her leadership decisions. being a turncoat for the sake of one group of people over another is not the type of sacrifice anyone should be making. there is always another way, that is the policy elsa has used in the years she has been on her throne. instead of throwing prince hans in jail or sending him to the executioner, elsa left his punishment in the hands of his brothers.

of course, that backfired after a few years, but they did fix it. blood must not have blood.

but things are different in arendelle. for one, she knows many, many other royals now. she does not know many people exactly like bellamy, though she senses touches of emma's heroism, anna's self-sacrifice, and the dedication her friends have to their families in him. it seems strange to tell him so, so she doesn't.

elsa's lips part in a surprise smile and she looks away from him, fussing with her purse for a moment. ] Well, I am glad to be your first.

Edited (i forgot what she was holding oops) 2016-03-03 05:47 (UTC)

[ much like how she had tried to duck her head to see his smile on the beach, bellamy thinks to embarrass her now. he wants to. it's the perfect moment for revenge, and even though bellamy's sometimes a guy who understands "an eye for an eye" isn't the best way to tackle wanting to make someone pay, he thinks it's only fair now. she had tried to embarrass him, and even if it wasn't her intention to do so, she'd succeeded. if she understands anything about him, it's how he likes to make fun of her. ]

[ it's incidentally the one thing he doesn't understand about himself. this desire to make her exasperated with him. ]

[ she may pull away, but he only glances around for a moment before looking back at her with a small smile. easily amused, and inspired, there's a slight laugh to his voice, ] It's not like you were particularly gentle with me, either. [ he tilts his head toward her, incidentally leaning into her. his smile widens as he does his best not to laugh. ] You started off kind of rough.

Me!

[ elsa is aghast, pressing her hand to her chest when her attention snaps back to bellamy. ] I certainly was not rough. Perhaps a bit cool, but not rough. [ conservative in her demeanor, she has a reputation for being frigid especially among her critics, though if she pauses to think about it – and she won't here – she hadn't been all that cold with him at all when they had first spoken, both online and in person. ]

I certainly was not rough, [ elsa huffs, nose in the air. ]

[ he can't help but laugh at her, walking into her slightly with a bump of his arm against her own. ]

I hadn't even been here a day and you were already telling me about people with powers.

[ it's still something he doesn't understand. bellamy's made no effort to really dig deep into it. while he's looked up books, google searched what half of it means, and tried to ask elsa without prying too much into what makes her tick and cold, bellamy's come to the conclusion that the less he knows down to the molecule, the better it is for him. ]

[ it still makes it fun to tease her, though. ]

And different realms and worlds. Are you always this gentle with newcomers, Elsa?

I can scarcely recall what our conversation was like.

[ while elsa can recall a few little things that happen between them, in clear high definition, she doesn't have a word for word recollection of their first exchange. just that it charmed her enough to inspire her to seek him out on cuddlr. ]

What would you assume? Am I gentler or rougher than I had been with you? [ she inquired with lifted eyebrows, her hand still to her chest. ]

[ bellamy doesn't remember much, but he knows that elsa had been oddly friendly to him when he thinks his original broadcast had been dripping with unkindness. asking him if he had found all he needed, and easily and eagerly providing him with information that had given him pause in wondering whether or not he could trust her at all, bellamy remembers that elsa had been someone he thought to be oddly friendly. she reminded him of some of the kids from the ground. she didn't remind him of himself. ]

[ despite looking over the network and reading some of the conversations out of sheer boredom and interest, bellamy hasn't quite followed elsa's welcome wagon tactics. but he doesn't think he needs to. he figures he knows how she is — and that's warmer than she believes her hands to be whenever he touches them. ]

[ looking at her with a pointed gaze, he smiles. ]

I do know that you should've told me 'Your Highness' was the wrong title to call you.

[ even though he'd called her it after they'd known each other for a good several months, bellamy thinks her answer can be found there. elsa's always gentle despite the harshness she perceives herself to have. ]

Oh, yes. Anna is "Your Highness." It is a mere technicality in Eudio.

[ her eyebrows remain where they are, closer to her hairline. had he been doing research on the matter? it shouldn't be surprising, all things considered, though she wonders how much he has done related to their past conversations. ]

You don't have to call me "Your Majesty," [ elsa laughs, embarrassed, ducking her head and brushing stray hairs behind her ear. ] Elsa is perfectly fine here.

[ a mere technicality. if she were more arrogant, lost in her status and power, she'd find offense to such a mere technicality. but she isn't, and that's why bellamy thinks elsa's a hell of a lot more gentler than anyone else he's met who sat on a chair of power. ]

[ pursing his lips, bellamy's head ducks, as if mulling over calling her by her name and nothing else. his lips curve upward easily giving away he's bound to be cheeky, before he lifts his head and looks ahead of them. ]

As you wish, Your Majesty.

[ whereas he's often focused elsewhere when he reaches out for someone else, acting on impulse or instinct rather than any thought he's given to the action, bellamy looks to the side, surveying the buildings in case they pass one she'll later drag him to to smell the chocolate air, he's aware of what he's doing. extending his arm, he plants it on the small of her back, touch gentle, and finds that the moment he does, they need to side-step a woman on the pavement as they walk, making it easier to nudge her to the side and out of the path of possibly bumping into her. ]

[ being addressed as "your majesty" is such a common occurrence to elsa, but for some reason, it makes her giggle behind her hand when she hears bellamy say it. of course, elsa cannot recognize good-natured flirting, even if it took its shirt off in front of her.

wait.

but then, she takes a deep breath the moment his hand touches her back and though they have held hands before, this feels a little more intimate than that small action. her eyes briefly widen and she steps to the side with him. ] Oh, thank – thank you, [ she stammers, her eyes darting to the side. ]

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