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"It was stupid," Clarke mumbled. "You shouldn't have come here. They weren't just looking for me. You could have been killed."
Lexa gave the blonde a dry look. "Tomas was not sure if you were alive," she groused. "He only knew a Mountain Man had shot at you. I had to make sure you were alive."
"You could have sent someone," Clarke pointed out, tying the bandage with a little more force than necessary. Lexa held back a wince, flexing her fingers.
She'd been grazed by a bullet riding out of her camp towards Clarke's group. Her soldiers quickly killed the assassins, but she'd not waited long enough to get her wound seen to. Clarke was not impressed by her actions, leading her out of the open area of Camp Jaha into her own private rooms.
"How does your shoulder feel?" Clarke asked. "The bullet grazed your upper arm, but it looks like you tell." She nodded pointedly to the dust and stains that adorned only one side of her body.
"I dove from my horse," Lexa admitted. "Until I knew where the Mountain Men were hiding." She didn't want to admit the blind fear she'd felt confronted by the weapon. She'd fight a bow, a sword, a dagger, or fists any day. But guns... Like all Grounders, they frightened her.
Clarke gave her a look like she understood, and the Commander felt a flush of shame.
"Your shoulder muscles keep twitching," Clarke pointed out. "Let me give it a massage."
"A what?" Lexa asked, startled.
"A massage?" Clarke asked, frowning. "You know, like... rubbing?" She made a vague motion with her hands that looked almost like pinching.
"I don't understand how that would assist my shoulder," the brunette said, thoroughly confused.
Clarke laughed a little, motioning for her to turn around. "I'll show you. Trust me, it feels good."
Lexa didn't move for a few minutes, and Clarke didn't push her. Finally, after deciding that her trust in the Sky girl outweighed her... apprehension... of this strange practice, she did as bid.
"Take off your armor," the blonde said quickly.
The Commander gave her an incredulous look before complying, taking off the shoulder gear and the thick, leather outer shirt she wore.
Sitting in Clarke's room in her cotton undershirt, Lexa tried to calm her nerves. She knew Clarke would never--could never--do anything. Lexa could handle any enemy, and the Skaikru child was nothing dangerous.
At least, Lexa believed that before she pressed her fingers firmly into her shoulders.
Lexa flinched away, yelping at the sudden contact.
"Sorry, too rough," Clarke apologized. "Everyone's different. Sorry. Let me try again." Lexa looked back at her dubiously, but returned to the position.
Her hands were softer this time. Barely ghosting over her skin. Lexa could hardly feel her through the fabric of her shirt. She began to gently rub some indiscernible shapes into the girl's shoulders, the hard muscle twitching every so often.
"You need to relax," Clarke whispered. "This won't do anything if you keep tensing up."
"It's unlikely to do anything regardless," the Grounder muttered, but making an effort to ease her muscles.
After a few moments of the gentle caress, Lexa closed her eyes, enjoying the simple movements.
And, after a few moments of that, Clarke began to press harder, causing yet another noise to leave the Commander's mouth. This one was not a yelp.
For the first time in her life, Lexa felt her face flush red.
Clarke didn't stop, but sensed the shock that had claimed the girl in front of her. "It's alright," she whispered. "That's completely normal."
Moaning is a common sound to you? Lexa wanted to snap. But then she realized she didn't want to know the answer. Instead, she relaxed again, but making sure to keep her vocal chords under control.
Clarke abandoned her right shoulder, focusing her attentions on the wounded left one. Lexa's eyes again fluttered shut against her will.
"Where did you learn this?" she rasped, hoping to take her mind of the pleasant sensations that were gripping her.
"I was training to be a doctor," Clarke explained. "This can be very healing."
"Very healing," Lexa agreed in a whisper so quiet the blonde likely couldn't hear.
"Take off your shirt."
As if a shock from the Skaikru's black sticks had gone through her spine, Lexa straightened. "Excuse me?" she said, her tone more calm than she felt.
"I... I can't get all the tension out," Clarke explained, almost defensively. "Just trust me."
Lexa let out an annoyed breath, but grabbed the back of the garment and pulled it over her head swiftly.
She sat for a very tense moment in naught but her pants and the cloth binding her breasts.
The blonde's hesitant fingers against pressed into her skin, this time directly. Lexa had to force herself not to gasp.
"You didn't have to come and save me, you know," Clarke said gently. "I can take care of myself."
"I know," Lexa said quietly. "I know. I just..." She trailed off, not sure how to phrase it.
"What is it?" Clarke said, pausing in her ministrations after easing a particularly sore spot.
"I understand your strength, Clarke. You are not weak. However... I do not like the idea of you being hurt because I did not come. The idea of you being hurt... Does not appeal to me."
"I don't mind you being protective," Clarke said, sighing. The pressed her forehead against Lexa's back. "I like it, actually. But promise me you won't do something so dangerous to yourself again. Not even just this time. Back with the gorilla... Lexa, you were ready to die if I could escape. You can't do that anymore. We both have people to look out for."
"My spirit can find another body," Lexa whispered. "But it cannot find another you." She nearly choked as she said the words, unaccustomed to the blunt honestly.
It had been years since she'd felt these things. Not since Costia. She'd told Clarke that they were weakness, but she couldn't imagine being strong if it meant losing them again.
Clarke pressed her lips against Lexa's back. Not moving. Not kissing. Just a gentle pressure. Finally she spoke, the words casting the warm breath against the slightly-flushed skin.
"I don't think mine could, either," she whispered.
Lexa turned, enveloping the girl in a hug, and spoke directly in her ear. "Let's not find out."
They didn't move until Clarke's mother called for them, insisting on checking Lexa's wound herself. Clarke laughed when the Commander jumped to defend the blonde, but insisted her mother was right.
Afterwards, they retired to Clarke's room until the morning, when word came of Bellamy's survival.