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#kane really does the bare minimum huh
kinetic-elaboration · 4 years
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January 27: Thoughts on The 100 2x09, Remember Me
...For some reason I was really angry at the beginning of this? Also there’s a lot of Lxa bashing. Sorry. And some Clarke criticism but in the latter case, I mean it well.
Also this is really long whoops.
*
So...I miss when killing off main characters was a big deal and people actually reacted to it.
I truly cannot take Lxa seriously I’m sorry. I don’t find her... intimidating at all.
I’ve already complained repeatedly about her complete bad faith deal making at every turn so I won’t go into it again but nevertheless, here she is, again, moving the goal posts of the negotiation. ‘I’ll withdraw my army if you cure the Reapers. No, if you give up your friend. No, if you give me his body.’ Clarke should have double crossed her immediately.
Also I know that I ultimately did think it was reasonable for Finn to face Grounder justice (except insofar as that justice was itself morally untenable--that is, the Torture Porn) but now that he’s dead, I think there’s no real moral argument to be made that the Grounders deserve his body. I understand their traditions, which in fact I found quite moving when I first watched this ep, but surely his people have, or could make up, some traditions for his burial also. He is still their friend. This seems like little more than an excuse to be cruel. And Clarke’s so fucking broken she just goes with it. It’s truly awful. I mean she’s doing the only thing she can do I guess but it’s laughable that she sounds as if she has any sort of upper hand, you’re getting played bitch.
(Yeah I know, Lxa is being ‘groundbreaking’ and ‘revolutionary’ by even semi-accepting capital punishment without torture and taking his body is a way of appeasing her harder line advisers but like cry me a river--she’s either the all powerful commander or she’s fucking not.)
“We want the same things.” Lol if you wanted the same things you would have stuck to the original deal. No I’m not over this at all I guess.
I also still can’t get over how Clarke has literally never earned true leadership in the eyes of her own people and yet she continues to be randomly viewed as a leader by the Grounders and thus retains pretty much full de facto control over her own people’s power structure.
Also Kane shut the fuck up. I completely forgot about this but they really did put him through an off-screen 180 where all of a sudden Lxa is a God to him and can literally do nothing wrong and to this day we have never been given an explanation how that came to be. Guess it’s easier to tell not show huh?!?
ALSO I get we’re suppose to see a sort of racism-corollary to lines like “I don’t think they know what peace is” like obviously this rubs one the wrong way automatically. But Abby’s not really wrong. And despite what Kane thinks, Lxa has given, again, NO indication at all that she is interested in peace. She has given a lot of indications that she wants to do whatever she can to wring as much from the Sky People as she can without giving anything in return and hey we’re only halfway through the season and she’s already psychologically broken Clarke (also the only person she acknowledges as the leader even though she is not, cannot emphasize this enough, the leader of anything... and thus the only person L really has to break) and sunk-cost-fallacy-ed her into submission. Now that Finn is dead Clarke would cut off her own tit to make Lxa happy because anything else is “letting him die in vain.”
...Why am I so angry lol?
I understand the positions of both Clarke and Raven in this scene, which is fucking brutal, but I sympathize more with Raven. Clarke’s basically just a messenger, but what the Grounders are demanding is (I know I already said it) cruel, and cruel to Raven above all. And Clarke is almost all business. I think that’s what she needs to be for herself but it’s not helpful to the situation.
Anyway here are my faves in Mount Weather. It’s almost hard to watch these scenes because I want to, like, memorize them. Partially for the C/M story and partially just because. Today’s adventure is getting to a radio to send a message to the Ark-wide channel, which is a term for a thing that exists. Also I forgot how snarky everyone / Miller was to Maya. Which, I get. But--are they not thinking about how her own people have experimented on her? Like she is expendable to them, this is just a known fact at this time. So yes, there is a real risk to her, Nathan.
“Oh, is that all?” / “No--there’s more.” Monty’s so one-track he didn’t even hear the sarcasm. I love him.
“Their army has been getting their ass kicked by Mount Weather forever.” Bellamy speaking the truth. Do they need the alliance, or do they just need the Grounders to back the fuck off from attacking them? (Spoiler: they do not need the alliance.)
Ah Bellarke, always quick to reassure each other. Blindly, even.
“Since I don’t take orders from you, I’m going to need a better reason” is one of my favorite lines, and underrated. Finally someone reminding Clarke she’s not actually in charge of everyone and everything all the time. (I realize this sounds like I dislike Clarke. I don’t. I just find certain traits of hers frustrating. But this just makes her a good character.) Also you can see that, rather like her moment with Raven, she falls back on being business like and direct and issuing orders to avoid talking about feelings or breaking apart.
The United States War Room survives the apocalypse.
I’m sorry but it’s ridiculous to think that Lxa invented the concept of an alliance lol.
I guess Clarke needs to go all in on the alliance because of Finn, but... I also think this is part of who she is. Her sense of practicality outweighs any human desire to hold a grudge, and I think she assumes a level of practicality in others too, automatically, such that she underestimates wariness in others. Like Bellamy and Gustus and everyone is right to be uncertain about this literally hours-old alliance--not even an official alliance, since L’s latest demand hasn’t technically been met!--and Clarke’s like ‘yeah I’ll sleep next to people who would have killed me six hours ago np!’ because now that she’s in, she’s in. She’s neither angry nor afraid.
Linctavia like “Google Earth, always taking pictures.”
Is Lincoln wearing Ark clothes?
I know Raven is made to look kind of wan and sunken and sad but yet this scene where she’s being disarmed is honestly like peak hotness for me and I don’t know why. I like my women sullen and covered in knives?
Interesting how allegedly only the warriors knew English and yet Lxa’s big announcement re: get in line with me or die is made in English. Just going to point out yet again what a big mistake that throwaway S1 line is.
What a sad life to lead, where random declarations followed by “or death” have to form the entirety of your belief system “Don’t be upset that your wife and child are dead...or I’ll beat you to a pulp.” I truly don’t understand how we were ever supposed to get in line with this society as sympathetic or interesting. So much so that they get a whole prequel I guess???
I’d rather have a Mount Weather prequel except not really, don’t ruin it for me.
I love Miller’s canonical insane superhuman strength. This is a trait often overlooked in fics.
The usual comment on Mount Weather scenes: I love all of it.
The thing is that if everyone were on board with the funeral ceremony, it is touching. Murderer and murdered together, and the people who’ve been hurt, on both sides, saying goodbye as a group. It’s just that Clarke’s people were coerced into this--they weren’t convinced it would be a fitting ceremony, just told ‘well this is how it is and if you don’t like it, we could perhaps... KILL YOU?”
Is this a new revelation that Mount Weather crashed the Exodus ship (still a really satisfying belated explanation imo)? Or did we know that because, unlike Monty et al, we knew about the jamming signals already? Can’t remember.
You can see how L came to believe what she believes but nevertheless this is bad advice lol. “Don’t care about other people.” Okay, I’ll just stop doing that then.
Mmmm, a feast in a subway station. Delicious. Fucking full pig head as the centerpiece. Very DC.
Kane (handing over pure space moonshine probably): Just don’t drink too much of it. Clarke (five minutes later): Guzzles whole bottle at once. #partygriff is officially canon.
Waiting until tomorrow to start the war? Procrastinators. Clarke didn’t kill Finn for this.
I love Certified Dramatic Ho Bellamy knocking the cup out of Clarke’s hand even though she had made no move whatsoever to drink it.
“When you plunged your knife into the heart of the boy you loved, did you not wish that it was mine.” Lxa, also a certified Dramatic Ho.
Clarke kinda deserved to be punched in the face given that it wouldn’t actually make sense for Raven to try to poison Lxa--and make Finn’s death mean nothing? And put them all in danger in enemy territory? Nonsense. Nevertheless it’s hard not to feel bad for her when she follows this accusation up with a psychotic break.
Hmmm, do I think Abby turning in Jake was the same as Clarke killing Finn? Not really. She didn’t directly kill Jake, that was Jaha, and Jaha is who Clarke should really be mad at. That said, I don’t think she was really saving anyone in the direct way Clarke was. So, apples and oranges. Crazy awkward moment to bring it up, though lol. “Oh Clarke, you’ll feel better eventually--remember that time I killed your Dad? I got over that! Wait--does talking about your dead father upset you? That’s a surprise!” Nevertheless I appreciate major actions having consequences as that’s a semi-rarity on this show.
Monty Green: hero.
“Lxa needs this alliance as much as we do.” - True, if she intends to get her people out of MW. “She’s shown herself to be flexible.” - Not true. She’s given the bare minimum of concessions. Kane, please crawl back out of her colon for like 5 seconds, get some air.
Interesting that Raven and Bellamy are chilling near each other. I wonder what they were discussing. Tbh Bellamy’s feelings on everything in this episode are rather opaque. Other than understanding why Clarke mercy-killed Finn and being skeptical of the alliance.
“Kill one person and destroy the alliance” is literally only merciful because the default in this society is “kill everyone all the time for any reason.” Like, I guess??? That’s mercy by comparison?? But forgive me if I am not moved to admiration.
“This time justice will be done” says the woman who used the barest sliver of evidence to decide that a random person was guilty so she could have a public execution. A public execution to replace the other public execution, in fact, not to avenge a death because Gustus isn’t dead. (Yet.)
Kane’s really okay with letting Raven be tortured to death, huh? Gah he’s fucking annoying.
Bellarke: Crime Solving Duo. That’s some satisfying teamwork. Clarke figures out how the scheme worked. Bellamy figures out who’s behind the scheme. With all the evidence put together, the motive becomes clear. (Honesty, they should have been suspicious that the poison not only didn’t kill Gustus, it barely harmed him lol.)
Check out all the Department of Homeland Security stuff on Monty’s computer. This is perhaps Dante’s log in? There’s a set of “personal” files too. And a set of President’s Office files, which one would assume not everyone would have.
Anyway, I have a Thing for tense sequences of hackers...hacking.
When I first watched this season I was often so tense my whole body hurt and it’s mostly because of MW scenes like this one where Monty is caught. Like aaaaah it still gets me. He almost makes it... and then almost makes it again, with his silly little salute... (Never forget that he is A Dork.)
On the one hand, Raven being tortured and then seeing Gustus tortured to death allows her to see why Clarke killing Finn was an act of mercy, to forgive her, and to move on, so the narrative can continue with them as allies and nominal friends. And it works, basically. But I also think there’s something to the theory that they were never the same, that the wound never really healed.
I’m sorry but Octavia’s face when Clarke’s like “Yeah B, you’re expendable, go get yourself killed, have a map!!” is hilarious. Like, he’s just said that Gustus doing anything for Lxa made sense, and Octavia responded with “Look at the thanks he got” which seems to me like She Knows and then 5 seconds later Bellamy is basically thrown away by the person we all know he’d do anything for... I mean the face is fair. Also this is Bellamy’s idea and it’s a good idea and so he was right before and Clarke is also right now, but it’s still so... annoying.... like “okay, I’m done caring about you lol bye.”
And Raven’s just totally confused. It’s been a damn long day I guess.
Why are they all such fucking hotties? It’s hard to pay attention to “the plot.”
So the ashes Abby tries to give to Clarke are the same ashes, perhaps, that Jasper scatters in S3? This vial looks smaller. Why did she not immediately give them to Raven? That would seem to be the obvious thing to do.
And here we see Clarke, under L’s direct influence, becoming Increasingly Insufferable. I love her but this is obviously supposed to be her descent into the abyss: she treats her friends like little expendable minions, she turns her back on Finn’s memory, and then she ends the episode by dramatically walking into a dark room in slow motion to creepy chamber music. I mean this is the hero’s fall guys!! That’s what it always was!!!
If only they’d handled Bellamy’s hero’s fall in 3A, and Clarke’s rise again in 3B, as well.
That ending is a straight up horror movie thanks that’s why this is my favorite season.
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abbygkane · 7 years
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Please tell me we didn’t have sex last night (1/4)
Summary: Waking up with the worst hangover ever Abby, a second-year medical student, has absolutely no recollection of getting home from last night’s party. So imagine her surprise when she wakes up naked in her bed with nobody other than Marcus, third-year law student and general pain in her ass, Kane. Just what the hell happened last night??!
Inspired by the following prompt: How about Kabby at university and they end up together in bed after a party? Bonus if they aren’t really friends but have a lot of unresolved sexual tension :D
Abby wakes up to a pounding head and her mouth feeling as dry as a desert. Groaning, she tries to open her eyes, but the light that’s pouring into the room quickly makes her clench them shut again.
I’m never drinking again
Not only is she experiencing what has the potential to grow into a massive hangover, her pillow also seems to be breathing? Realising that she’s not alone in her bed and that yes, she is naked and so is the body she’s lying on top of, Abby feels a panic attack coming up. Her body tenses as she tries to wrack her brain on how the hell she not only ended up naked with another person in her bed but most importantly with whom.
The last thing she remembers from last night’s party is playing several games of beer pong with Callie before ending up on a couch drinking, she thinks whisky, with, oh no, Marcus stuck-up Kane. Abby’s almost scared to lift her head, but she rationalises, even in her drunken state she wouldn’t have sunk so low as to sleep with Kane. Right?!
Before she can force herself to look up, the body beneath her tenses up before letting out a painful groan. Abby’s lets out a startled gasp when the guy’s hands shift on her body and come to rest on her waist.
“Ugh, my head”, the guy murmurs, his voice coming out rough and still sleep-filled.
Fuck.
Abby most definitely knows that voice. That voice had been getting on her nerves ever since she first heard it almost two years ago.
Guess she did sink that low
Marcus slightly moves beneath her before pressing a soft kiss on the top of her head.
What the hell?
“Abby, you awake?”, he whispers and his voice sounds soft and affectionate? In all of their previous encounters, she can’t recall a single instance where he sounded even remotely pleasant. Rude, obnoxious and arrogant, sure. But affectionate? Never!
Just what the hell happened last night? 
“I am”, she rasps out.
“Does your head also feels like you bashed it against a wall? Repeatedly?”, Marcus asks as he gently trails his fingers across her back, causing a shiver to travel through her body.
“Uhm, yes”, Abby replies, her voice filled with bewilderment, because she has no idea how to handle a Marcus Kane who’s nice to her and tenderly caresses her skin. Especially not while being extremely hungover.
She needs to get out of this bed, and she needs to do so fast.
“Uhm”, she murmurs while sitting up way too quickly because her vision blackens for a second and Abby can swear she can feel the earth move beneath her. 
Marcus sits up as well, gazing at her with a concerned look on his face.
“Abby, are you a-”
She cuts him off with a wave of her hand, “M’fine. I think I’m going to be sick. I’m gonna –”, she babbles as she picks up the first piece of clothing she finds next to the bed, which just happens to be Marcus’ T-shirt.
Without finishing her sentence Abby quickly slips the shirt over her head before stumbling out of bed and towards the bathroom, ignoring his worried cry of her name.
Closing the bathroom door behind her, she promptly drops onto her knees in front of the toilet, while taking deep breaths to ease her nausea. After a couple of seconds though a particularly intense wave of nausea crashes over her and Abby’s barely hunched over the toilet bowl when she starts to vomit.
While vomiting, Abby’s faintly aware of the door opening and Marcus entering. He immediately drops down next to her before pulling her hair from her face with one hand while the other one is rubbing comfortable circles on her lower back.
If she didn’t feel so goddamn awful while being in the middle of puking what felt like all of her internal organs, even though she knew as a medical student that wasn’t possible, the fact that Marcus Kane of all people was sitting next to her on the floor, holding back her hair while making comforting mumbling noises, would have been absolutely hilarious. But as her stomach heaved, Abby realises that she couldn’t care less about who was sitting next to be at the moment.   
Just how much did she drink last night?
 *last night*
“Abby come on. We’re going to be late”, Callie calls out while repeatedly banging on the bathroom door.
Rolling her eyes at her best friend’s whiny voice, Abby pulls her hair into a ponytail and sprays on some perfume before opening the door and nearly crashing into Callie.
“You’re going out wearing that?”, she exclaims incredulously.
Frowning Abby glances down at her outfit, which are her favourite red converses, a pair of black skinny jeans and a grey blouse.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
Callie bites her lower lip, “Nothing if we were going for a cup of coffee, but this is a frat party Abs. With, you know, lots of cute guys”
“Callie the only reason I’m coming along is because you’ve been practically begging me for weeks now. Not to impress some idiotic frat boy.  So either I go wearing this or I’m not going at all”, she states with her arms crossed.
Her best friend raises her hands in surrender, “Alright. But let me at least fix your hair”
“Callie”
“Please ”
“Fine. Do your worst”
They’ve only been at the party for no longer than half an hour and Abby already had to remove some drunk idiot’s hands from her ass and had scarcely managed to avoid getting beer spilt on her blouse,  twice.
Callie had wandered off a couple of minutes ago minutes after spotting some girls from her year. Slowly sipping from her water, Abby lets out a sigh while glancing at her watch. She’d give everything to be back at her place. All she wants to do is put on her pj’s, crawl into bed and watch a movie. But she did promise Callie and for her best friend’s sake, she’ll try to at least pretend to be enjoying herself. 
“You look like you’re having the best time of your life”, a familiar voice drawls to her right.
Turning her head, Abby comes face to face with Thelonius.
“That obvious, huh?”, she smirks
“Just a little bit”, he replies, “Let me guess, Callie forced you to come?”
“Of course she did”
“You want to join me? I’m here with some friends”, Thelonius proposes.
She’s just about to agree when suddenly there’s a giggling and probably already slightly tipsy Callie hanging onto her.
“Hi, Thelonius”, she exclaims.
“Callie”, he replies, an amused smile playing on his lips.
Slipping her arm around her friend’s waist, Abby gives her an exasperated look before returning her attention back on Thelonius.
“I might come and find you later, but for now I think it’s best if I don’t leave this one’s – nodding her head at Callie – side”, she points out, ignoring Callie’s indignant huff and mumbling.
Chuckling, Thelonius raises his bottle of beer in a salute before leaving both of them.
“You know I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself”, Callie mutters under her breath.
“Of course you are”, Abby retorts while patting her hair, only to laugh when her friend gently pinches her waist in response.
“I’m just kidding CC”, she swears, “Now let’s find some tequila because I feel that I’ll need it if I want to survive this party without punching some guy”
Her reply is met with an enthusiastic and sloppy peck on the cheek before Callie drags her through the crowd, “I knew there was a reason why I loved you”, she shouts over her shoulder while tugging on her hand.
To be completely honest, Abby has lost track of the number of tequila shots she had downed. All she knows is that her fingers are sticky from the lime and salt and that she’s currently kicking ass at beer pong.
Nailing another throw and winning the game, she cheerfully puts her fist in the air before drunkenly high-fiving Callie, or better, trying to high-five Callie because they miss each other’s hand, twice. Both girls giggle before wrapping an arm around the other person’s waist and dramatically bowing when the crowd around them starts to cheer.
“I never knew you were this good at beer pong”, Callie laughs, her eyes are alight with amusement and her cheeks are slightly flushed, both from playing the game as from consuming several shots.
“Well, I am a medical student. A steady hand and precise aim are preferable, especially when you’re cutting into someone”, Abby states, inwardly congratulating herself for managing to get the words out with only the bare minimum of slurring.
Callie opens her mouth, probably to give a witty retort, only to close it with an audible snap. Confused at her behaviour, Abby notices the surprised look in her friend’s eyes before a broad and mischievous grin appears on her face. A grin, she knows from experience, means trouble.
“What?”, she asks, albeit hesitantly. She still remembers what happened the last time Callie had that grin on her face. They had scarcely managed to avoid getting arrested.
“Guess who walked into the room and has been unable to keep his eyes off you ever since arriving?”, Callie teases.
“Who?”
“Marcus I’m an ass, but a very attractive one Kane”, her friend exclaims, bursting out in laughter when Abby scrunches up her face in distaste.
“Oh come on Abs. Even you can’t deny that he’s sexy”, she adds with a wink.
Abby huffs while shaking her head, “He isn’t”
“Abs”
“He isn’t”, she vehemently insists, “He’s a smug, arrogant, condescending, haughty jerk and the less I see his face the better.”
 “Wow, okay. Calm down. There’s like steam coming out of your ears. I knew you two don’t see eye to eye, but he’s honestly not as bad as you make him out to be Abby”, Callie calmly points out, ignoring her friend’s sarcastic exhale of sure.
“And even if you refuse to admit it, I know for a fact that you think he’s attractive because last time you came home after running into him you kept muttering about how it’s a crime for someone with arms and a butt like that to have such a ghastly personality. Don’t even think of denying it”, she rushes out when Abby opens her mouth to contradict her.
“And from the way he’s been staring at you, I think it’s safe to say that he finds you attractive too, because I doubt he has even blinked since entering the room”, Callie continues before pulling on the sleeve and motioning for her to turn around, “Have a look for yourself”
Abby really doesn’t want to turn around, but she also knows that Callie is just going to keep on pushing until she does. So as she lets out a deep and displeased sigh, she turns around and it takes only a couple of seconds before Abby finds Marcus leaning against the wall and oh. 
Letting her gaze travel across his body it becomes clear that he had decided to ditch his usual long-sleeved shirts and to replace it with a grey T-shirt, a very tight grey T-shirt. Like, were law students even allowed to be so toned? The next thing that grabs Abby’s attention is his hair. Usually slicked back, it’s now framing his face in loose curls and her gaze is focused on one particular curl against his forehead. 
It’s the ideal length for tangling your hands in her traitorous mind whispers. 
Shaking her head at the turn her thoughts were taking, this was, after all, Marcus Kane, Abby moves her gaze lower and lets out a tiny gasp when their eyes lock. He has never in the two years they’ve known each other looked at her like that and she has no idea how to behave. The only thing she knows is that it makes her skin tingle and a warmth to spread through her stomach. 
It must be all the alcohol she has had. No way that Kane was turning her on by simply looking at her. 
You’d think that he’d blush or at least avert his gaze after getting caught staring, but Marcus merely raises an eyebrow before taking a sip from his bottle of beer. The slight smugness of his smirk breaks whatever spell there was between them and Abby promptly turns around, but not before throwing him an annoyed glare. 
“Fine, he’s hot but he’s still an ass”, Abby concedes, and Callie can’t help but roll her eyes at her statement.  
“It’s a start”, Callie shrugs, “But Kane isn’t the only available man at this party. Why don’t you mingle? Flirt a little bit?”
“I know you mean well CC but I’m not really interested in some meaningless flirtation. But that doesn’t mean you can’t mingle. I’ll just go and find Thelonius. You go and enjoy yourself. Just text me or come find me if you want to leave, okay?”, Abby suggests. 
“You sure? I don’t want to leave you”, Callie replies. 
“Of course I am, besides I won’t be alone. I’ll be bothering Thelonius”, Abby retorts with a smirk before gently nudging her friend towards the door. 
“Go, have fun. I’ll be fine”
Callie pressing her hands against Abby’s cheeks and gives her a quick peck, “You’re the best friend ever! I’ll see you later”
Watching Callie leave with a fond smile, she pulls out her phone, intending on texting Thelonius to ask him where he’s at when a throat clears behind her. Without any second thought, Abby turns around, only to come face to face with Marcus. 
“Hi”
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abbygkane · 7 years
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Please tell me we didn’t have sex last night (2/4)
You can read the first part here. Thank you so much for all of your likes/comments/reblogs, it really means a lot x
Abby doesn’t know how long she’s been hunched over the toilet bowl, but after what feels a lifetime, her stomach is finally starting to settle down. After taking several deep breaths, she slowly releases her death grip on the bowl before settling down on her bum. Letting out a miserable groan, Abby resolutely tries to ignore the fact that Marcus is still crouching next to her on the ground. He has stopped stroking her back, but he’s still sitting rather close.    
“Do you want me to get you something?”, Marcus asks softly, breaking the awkward silence that had descended over them.
Abby weakly shakes her head, “No, I think I’m-”, she starts to reply, but another wave of nausea hits her and she’s doubled over the toilet bowl once more. 
Marcus quickly gathers her hair again, but fortunately this time her nausea only lasts for a couple of seconds. As Abby leans back, she gratefully accepts the piece of toilet paper he offers her before wiping her mouth with it.
“Ugh. I’m sorry you had to see this”, she murmurs, feeling her cheeks flush from embarrassment.
“Don’t worry about it”, he insists and they lapse into silence, both of them unsure how to proceed.
Unfortunately, there’s no so we got drunk last night and apparently had sex even though we hate each other guidebook they could consult.
Just as Marcus opens his mouth, Abby attempts to rise to her feet, with an emphasis on attempts, because as she gets up she falters and loses her balance. Luckily Marcus is there to catch her and she leans heavily against him. His hands slip around her waist so he can support her.   
“Careful Abby. Why don’t you sit down on the toilet and I’ll get you a glass of water?”, he suggests.
If Abby had felt any better, she’d been slightly irritated by the way Marcus was taking control of the situation, but she can still taste the bile in her mouth, her head’s pounding and she’s sweaty all over. So she merely gives him a small nod before gingerly sitting down on the toilet seat.
“Thank you. Could you please bring me an Advil as well? They’re in the cupboard above the sink”
“Of course. I’ll be right back”, he promises before leaving her alone and stepping out of the bathroom.
When she’s finally alone, the absurdness of the situation is starting to seep through. When she had arrived at the party last night, she hadn’t intended to leave with someone other than Callie. Especially not Kane. But here they were, and she just made a complete fool of herself by puking. Not that she cared about what he thought of her, not at all.
Okay, fine perhaps she did care a little bit
Shifting on the seat Abby remembers that she’s only wearing his T-shirt, which just reaches her upper thighs when she’s standing, but there’s no way he hadn’t caught a glimpse of her naked bum while she had been puking.
Oh my god, this is so embarrassing.
Before she has the opportunity to wallow in self-pity or to wish for the ground to open up beneath her, Marcus appears in the doorway with a glass of water and thank god the bottle of Advil.
“Here you go”
“Thanks”, she murmurs accepting both the glass and a pill before promptly swallowing it with some water. It hurts a little bit to swallow, but the water does feel great and Abby briefly closes her eyes.
“Better?”
As Abby opens her eyes to reply, her breath catches in her throat when she finally, for the first time since entering the bathroom, takes in his attire, or rather lack of one. Due to the fact that she’s currently wearing his shirt, Marcus is only clad in his boxers and dear god that man is fit.
Eyes widening, Abby lets her gaze flicker over his broad shoulders, his toned chest and lean arms.  And to think that last night she had thought he looked good in a T-shirt. As great as he had looked last night, he looks even better shirtless.
Goddamn you could cut yourself on those abs if you weren’t careful
“Is there something wrong? Are you feeling sick again?”, Abby can hear him ask, the worry very clear in his voice.
Just as she’s about to lift her gaze, her eyes notice two trails of red scratches on each side of his chest.
Are those nail marks? Did she do that? 
Immediately blurred flashes of heated kisses, of breathless gasps, of the glorious feel of him between her thighs while she scratched her nails across his chest flood her mind and she can feel her cheeks burn.
Oh my
“Abby?”
Snapping her eyes to his, Abby notices the concern that’s etched on his face and she realises that she hasn’t replied yet.
Right, talking. I can do that. 
“Uhm”, she clears her throat, “No, I’m fine. It’s just – I’d like to freshen up. So if you don’t mind”, she continues while gesturing to the shower.
“Oh”, Marcus exhales as he averts his gaze, “Of course. I’ll just leave then”, he murmurs, and Abby can’t tell for sure but he almost sounds disappointed?
“Yeah, thanks”, she replies, not knowing what else to say.
“Right”, he replies, sounding oddly dejected before leaving the bathroom and closing the door without sparing her another glance.
Staring at the closed door, Abby feels a churning in her stomach that has nothing to do with being hungover, but everything with the man that had just left. She’s torn between going after him or taking the shower, she desperately needs when she hears her front door slamming shut. A feeling of regret washes over her, before she pulls herself together and gets up to turn on the shower.
She has absolutely no reason to feel guilty, she vows to herself. So they had sex. That didn’t mean that anything had changed between them.
Right?
Of course not. He was still same old Kane. Arrogant and condescending.
But he did take care of you earlier. He didn’t have to do that. He could have left when you dashed off to the bathroom, her mind whispers, making her feel doubtful and nervously bite her lower lip.
It’s only when she’s about to step into the shower that she realises she’s still wearing his T-shirt. Which means he left her place shirtless.
Shaking her head, Abby takes the shirt off before moving her body until it’s beneath the spray of hot water and she can feel her body relax where the water caresses her skin. She grabs some soap and starts to gently scrub her body, removing any trace of last night of her.
If only she could remember what had happened last night
*last night*
Abby realises that she's staring at Marcus, but she has no idea why he's standing right in front of her with his beer in one hand and the other one shoved in the back pocket of his jeans.
Why the hell is he talking to me?
Not understanding what could have possibly possessed him to cross the room and say hi to her, but knowing that whatever reason he had, it couldn’t be anything good and Abby’s already mentally preparing for yet another argument because all of their conversations seem to inevitably end with one.
But tonight’s different. Contrary to their other encounters, Abby’s feeling slightly buzzed and whatever filter she usually has while talking, disappears after a couple of drinks.
Oh yes, she thinks while letting her gaze travel once more over him, she’s going to enjoy winding him up tonight.
Raising an eyebrow, she swiftly plucks the bottle of beer from his grasp before taking a large sip from it. At the look of bewilderment, Abby nearly lets out a chuckle, but she manages to control her face just in time.
“You need something, Kane? You noticed me enjoying myself and decided to put a stop to it? Hmm?”, she coolly murmurs while taking a step into his personal space, they’re so close that their chests nearly touch and she watches with satisfaction how his pupils dilate before his eyes briefly flickered towards her cleavage and he drew in a shuddering breath. 
Huh, that’s something new. Guess Callie was right after all
“Well?”, she presses when he continues to stare at her, his eyes wide.
If she’d known that all it would have taken to render Marcus Kane speechless was intruding his personal space and showing a little bit of cleavage she would have done so years ago.
“Earth to Kane”, Abby taunts after taking another sip from his bottle and snapping her fingers before his face, causing him to startle and come out of his daze.
“I uhm-”, he clears his throat, “I wanted to talk to you”
“Why?”, she retorts, both because she’s loving seeing him all flustered, but also because she’s genuinely confused as to why he sought her out.
Because if you take into consideration the way their encounters usually end, you’d think he would avoid ending up in the same room with her, not actively seeking her out.
“Because I noticed that Callie left you alone and I wanted to make sure everything was alright”, he shrugs, as if him making sure she was okay was a natural thing and happened all the time.
“Since when do you care about how I feel?”, she bites out before she can help herself.
When Marcus visibly flinches at her harsh tone and even takes a small step backwards, Abby feels of a twinge of regret for lashing out like that. Even though she had said worse in the past, and so had he.
“I’m –”, she starts, but he quickly cuts her off by raising his hand.
“No, I think I deserved that”, he softly concedes, looking hesitant and uncertain.
Now it’s her turn to be rendered speechless because in the two years she had known him Abby has never heard him admit being wrong or acknowledging that he hadn’t treated her properly.
“I know that I might sometimes come across as a jerk”, he mutters, tactfully ignoring her snort at the sometimes which slips out before she can stop herself.
“It’s just – You make it difficult for me to – I mean, you aren’t exactly easy going”, Marcus stammers and if it weren’t for the fact that he just insulted her, again, Abby would have found his mumbling amusing and even cute.
“Are you seriously blaming me for your inability to treat me with the bare minimum of politeness?”, she quickly retorts, feeling her annoyance grow.
“What no. That was not –”, Marcus sighs, “See, this is what I was trying to explain. Every word that comes out of my mouth is received by you as an insult”
“You just referred to be as not easy going and difficult. Like, 2 minutes ago. How else was I supposed to perceive that?”, she frowns.
“I’m trying to apologise here”, he grunts back.
“Yeah, well try harder”, she deadpans as she crosses her arms.
Marcus clenches his jaw and Abby can basically see him counting to ten in his head before running a hand through his hair, waves of frustration are coming off him.
“Abby, I’d like to apologise for being an absolute jerk to you for the past two years. I know that it’s long overdue and I’d understand it if don’t accept them or don’t want anything to do with me, but trust me when I say that my apologies are sincere”, he states, his words slightly rushed and they almost feel rehearsed.
Could it be that he had actually thought about apologising before tonight and he had practised these words? 
He’s looking slightly bashful and she really should just accept his apologies and walk away, but there’s something in his eyes, a hesitant hopefulness, that makes her reach out and gently grab his arm.
“You really mean it?”, she whispers.
Marcus gives her a nod, “I do. If you like, we could perhaps start over? I swear I can pleasant”, he quips and Abby can’t help but smile.
She stares at him for a couple of seconds, before stretching out her hand, "Hi, my name is Abby Griffin and I can be difficult sometimes"
Marcus looks at her hand in disbelief, as if he didn't think she'd actually agree with him and just would have accepted his apologies and left. 
Chuckling, he shakes her hand, "Nice to meet you, Abby. My name is Marcus Kane and I've been told I sometimes act like a jerk"
"Well Marcus, how about we go get a drink and get to know each other a little bit better?", she proposes. 
"I'd like that", he replies with a half grin and Abby already knows without any doubt that that grin is going to make her do things she wouldn't ordinally do. 
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