Chapter Text
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, Clarke thought. She could use the time in lockdown away from the distractions of everyday life to work on some projects she had held off for who knows how long.
She made herself a cup of coffee, dropped her mum a Whatsapp message to call her later, grabbed her sketchbook, and headed out to her balcony. The sun was out and starting to warm the edge of the balcony.
As Clarke began to sketch, blanket over her knees to ward off the early Spring chill, she let her thoughts drift. Despite the global pandemic and countries shutting down in order to protect people and reduce the spread of the virus, the Earth continued to turn, bringing with it the change of seasons.
Long after we’ve gone, she mused, the Earth will carry on... like we were never there.
On the page before her the city skyline took shape and Clarke noticed the differences from just a few days ago. Skyscrapers were no longer lit up by office lights. The streets were empty. Clarke often sat out on her balcony in the mornings, just listening to the sounds of the city as she prepared for the day. But now it was eerily quiet, save for the birds chirping in the distance. There was no angry tooting of horns, no dull thrumming of car engines, no music blasting from the coffee cart on the corner of the street.
Clarke wished she could sketch the serenity of it all. Instead all she could capture was a visual moment in time; the city suspended in motion.
A movement below caught her eye. It was a man out walking his dog. Clarke watched him head in the direction of the park and considered going for a walk herself - she might as well as that was the only thing she was allowed to do outside of her apartment.
A sudden crack startled Clarke from her thoughts, but it was just her neighbour opening their balcony door.
Clarke glanced over out of curiosity; she hadn’t met her neighbour at apartment 318, just heard the front door open and close at antisocial hours of the morning and evening.
She had imagined the unknown occupant of 318 to be some sort of businessman. Middle-aged maybe, with a receding hairline and tired suits. She had literally no reason to think that other than a bare balcony and a constantly unavailable presence. She could not have been more wrong.
The inhabitant of 318 was in fact a young woman, about Clarke’s age. She stepped out onto the balcony cradling a steaming cup, dressed in a jumper and some very short shorts that showed off long tanned legs. She had chestnut brown hair pulled back into a messy bun and black rimmed glasses perched atop her head.
Clarke couldn’t help but appreciate that the woman was attractive. Blame her artistic eye for finding beauty everywhere she could, but 318 was hot. And smiling right at Clarke, who wasn’t just glancing anymore. She was staring.
‘Hey,’ 318 waved. ‘Nice morning, isn’t it?’ Damn , even her voice was attractive. Unexpectedly soft.
‘Yeah,’ Clarke agreed. ‘Really peaceful.’
The woman leaned on the balcony and took a sip of her drink. Clarke tore her gaze away, trying not to seem like a creep.
‘Is this your first day in lockdown?’
Clarke hadn’t expected the conversation to continue. Most people in Polis were anti-social even before social distancing became a thing.
Clarke nodded. ‘Though so far it’s not too different from my usual day - I’m used to spending time on my own.’
‘How come?’
‘I’m an artist,’ Clarke gestured to her sketchpad. ‘A bit of alone time is expected. But if I’m stuck in one place I still reckon I’ll be climbing the walls if this lasts the three months they expect.’
‘Tell me about it,’ 318 chuckled. ‘I’m Lexa, by the way.’
‘Clarke,’ Clarke replied.
‘Nice to meet you, Clarke,’ Lexa replied. She raised her cup in greeting, Clarke reciprocated with her own cup.
‘Have you lived here long?’ Clarke asked. ‘I’ve been here a year and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.’
‘Six months. I run a gym, so I tend to get up early for a run and don’t get back until late after closing up. I’m only really here overnight.’
‘A gym, huh?’ Clarke’s eyes flitted back to Lexa’s legs. That explains it.
‘Woods Fitness, down on Fifth. You ever been?’
Clarke laughed. ‘I’m not really a gym person. But I wear active wear for painting, does that count?’
‘Sure,’ Lexa chuckled. She glanced back into her apartment. ‘My phone’s ringing. That’ll be my business partner wanting to talk work. It was nice chatting to you, Clarke.’
Clarke raised a hand in farewell but Lexa was already gone. The door closed behind her and the balcony was bare once more.
With a sigh, Clarke glanced back at her sketchpad. She didn’t feel like sketching the skyline anymore.
===
Clarke returned to the balcony as evening fell, glass of wine in one hand, her mobile in the other.
‘Hey mum, how was shift?’
‘Awful.’ Abby’s voice was hoarse with tiredness. ‘Clarke honey, please tell me you’re being sensible? You’re following all the guidelines; not going out, washing your hands?’
‘Yes mum, I’m doing all of that.’
‘Good. This isn’t going to be over anytime soon, honey. The cases just keep coming and coming and we don’t have enough staff or resources or even room to treat them. It’s just chaos.’
‘I wish I could help you out,’ Clarke sighed. ‘Cook you something for when you finish shift, you know?’
‘I know Clarke, but the best thing you can do right now is stay at your apartment and not go out unless it’s absolutely necessary.’
‘I know.’
‘Just think how lucky you are,’ Abby chuckled. ‘If you’d stuck with Med School you’d be here helping too.’
Clarke couldn’t believe her mother. Now of all times to bring that up. ‘Wow, thanks for that.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound that way.’
‘Sure.’ Clarke pursed her lips. Her choice of career was always a sore point between them.
‘I just meant I’m glad you’re not here and are able to stay safe.’
‘Okay mum,’ Clarke hated that her conversations with her mother always turned sour.
‘Well, as long as you’re staying safe I can keep doing my job. I’m shattered so I’m going to have a shower and go straight to bed. I’m back in the ER tomorrow morning. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Clarke. Love you.’
‘Love you too,’ Clarke signed off and waited for the beep that told her that her mother had hung up.
‘That sounded cheery.’
Clarke glanced around and found Lexa peeking out from the doorway of her balcony.
‘Mothers,’ Clarke huffed, taking a sip of her wine. ‘They just have a way with words, you know?’
‘Mmm, yep.’ Lexa nodded. ‘You want some company out here?’
‘I wouldn’t say no, my social life isn’t exactly off the charts these days.’ On a normal evening, Clarke would probably be out for drinks with her friends.
‘Give me a second.’ Lexa disappeared back into her apartment. Clarke watched as Lexa shuttled back and forward to deck out the balcony. A few sips of wine later and Lexa had a coffee table, a sofa chair, and her own glass of wine out on the balcony with her. ‘There we go. Much better.’
‘Almost like you live here,’ Clarke teased.
‘Almost,’ Lexa nodded. ‘I’ll need to spruce up the walls a bit if I’m going to spend any amount of time here.’
Clarke perked up at the turn of conversation. If there was one thing Clarke could talk about it was art, and two hours later they were still chatting away like they were old friends.
‘I’m really sorry, Clarke,’ Lexa stifled a yawn. ‘I should get to bed. This whole doing nothing all day has really tired me out.’
‘No worries,’ Clarke smiled. The wine was making her pretty sleepy too. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow?’
‘See you tomorrow,’ Lexa grinned. ‘Night, Clarke.’
Clarke hummed happily to herself, feeling a little buzzed from the bottle of wine she had almost polished off. Yep, maybe the lockdown wouldn’t be so bad after all.