Work Text:
Bellamy browsed his inbox, a little disappointed with the emails. For having “23 new messages”, it seemed like mostly garbage. The Dropship was having some kind of half priced drinks night for girls (a lot of good that would do him), and there were at least 15 notifications from petitions he didn’t care to sign.
He smirked when he saw the subject “Blog update from ‘spacewalker’”. This should be good. He clicked on the attached link, feeling only a little guilty for being so petty. Months ago, he had stumbled across this silly “peace and love” anti-war blog while doing research for a history report on the anti-war protests of the 1960s. He had intended to read the first post or so out of curiosity, but five pages in he found himself simultaneously amused and furious at the utter ignorance of the author’s suggestions for world peace. He still wasn’t sure why he ended up clicking “subscribe”, but he had both read and been annoyed by every update since.
Today’s title “The U.S engages in more military spending than the next eight countries combined. And we wonder why other countries don’t like us.” was written across the top of the page in bold font. Bellamy felt himself growing frustrated as he read the blog post, which was about how the United States should downsize its armed forces and encourage others to do the same. Clearly this kid didn’t understand the first thing about world politics; the only way to succeed was to be able to protect yourself. If other countries weren’t going to demilitarize, why should we?
When he reached the end of the post, where the usual cheesy “Comments? Leave them below and I’ll get back to ya. Peace out- Spacewalker” was written out, Bellamy decided to do just that. He had never commented on any of the other posts,and there was a strange sense of excitement about telling this kid exactly what he thought after months of biting his tongue. It took him a few tries before he came up with something that wasn’t too mean; he wasn’t about to use the cover of the internet to say things he wouldn’t say to the guy’s face.
“You clearly don’t know the first thing about war, kid. It’s easy to be a coward and hide behind your screen and boast about how to fix things, but anyone who knows anything about history can tell you that war is never going to end. The world will always be run by the person with the bigger stick, and the only way to ensure your safety is to make sure your stick is the biggest. Someday you’ll learn this, and you’ll probably learn it the hard way. - bellblakes.”
Bellamy read through his response again before hitting the post button. He felt satisfied with himself; let’s see how “spacewalker” responds to that one. He closed out of the window and pushed his chair away from his desk as he stood up and stretched. The coward might not even respond at all.
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It was a few days before Bellamy received another “Blog update from ‘spacewalker’” in his inbox. He clicked on the link, feeling oddly smug. The kid had never responded to his comment, and he felt a small sense of victory. Then he saw the title of today’s blog post: “How the ‘bigger stick’ mentality will never fix anything, and how fighting for peace doesn’t make you a ‘coward’.”
Bellamy didn’t expect the kid to write an entire blog post dedicated to him. He felt equal parts amusement and annoyance at this new development. It should be an interesting read, at the least.
“On my last blog entry, I got a pretty interesting comment disagreeing with me. It brought up some good points, and so I decided to clear some things up. This one goes out to you, ‘bellblakes.’
I was told that the world is run by whoever has the bigger stick, and I actually agree. That’s the way things have always been. No one is denying that fear and bloodshed is effective in beating down your opponents. As my commenter pointed out, it’s been historically proven. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Conflicts can be settled without violence. If people would just abandon the idea of this ‘need’ to have control and power to be safe, the world would be a better place. Yes, our ancestors fought and killed each other and it bought them a small amount of safety. But if there doesn’t need to be violence, why resort to it because that’s how it’s always been done? Some people might say war will never end. I like to think we can do better this time around.”
Bellamy wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. Maybe “spacewalker” had some idea what he was talking about after all, even if he was still painfully naive. Not that Bellamy agreed with him; things would never change. “Spacewalker” was just wasting his time and breath, but he was allowed to dream all he wanted. The post then continued:
“It was also brought to my attention that I’ve been unintentionally ‘hiding’ behind this blog. I don’t have any problems with my followers knowing who I am. My name is Finn Collins, I’m a Peace Studies major at ARU, and I enjoy metal sculpting, hiking, and long walks on the beach… I’m usually hanging around the arboretum, if anyone wants to say hi.”
There was a picture of a friendly looking boy with shoulder length brown hair and kind brown eyes. His mouth was turned up in a cocky smirk, as if he were enormously pleased with himself about something. Bellamy was taken aback; he had no idea that “spacewalker” was so damn attractive.
“Who’s that?”
Bellamy almost fell out of his chair; Octavia had become alarmingly stealthy since she started hanging out with her new boyfriend Lincoln. The two of them had been taking some kind of martial arts classes together, and it was almost unnatural the way she could sneak up on him.
“It’s no one. Just the person behind that stupid hippie blog,” he told her. He scrolled past the picture, hoping that she hadn’t been behind him long enough to realize he had been staring.
“Go back,” she said, putting her hands on the back of his chair and leaning forward. He looked at her quizzically. “What? He’s cute.”
“What difference does that make?” Bellamy said, despite scrolling back up until the picture was in view again.
“‘This one goes out to you, bellblakes’?” Octavia read aloud. Bellamy shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“I was sick of him spewing his silly hippie ideas without anyone pointing out reality.”
“You should apologize for your nasty comment by taking him out,” Octavia told him teasingly.
“He’s not that cute,” Bellamy said, grumbling just the littlest bit. He scrolled back down to the end of the post to read the last few lines.
“Whatever you say, ‘bellblakes’,” Octavia said as she stood up straight again before sauntering out of the room. Bellamy just had time to flip her off before she was out the door.
Bellamy shook his head and looked back to his screen. The post ended with the usual “Comments? Leave them below and I’ll get back to ya. Peace out- Spacewalker,” but for some reason it didn’t seem quite so cheesy.
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“This next round’s on me!” Jasper exclaimed loudly as he stood up from their booth. The rest of the table cheered and whooped. Bellamy smiled and leaned back in his seat. It was a Friday night, and the group was out celebrating. He couldn’t quite remember what the cause for celebration had been; Jasper had a knack for making almost anything into a reason to celebrate. Not that Bellamy was complaining; a night out with his friends was always welcome, and after spending his week writing his thesis he had definitely earned it.
“Hey, Bellamy,” Miller said, nudging him. He pointed towards the bar with his bottle before taking a swig of beer. “That guy can’t seem to stop looking over here at you.”
Bellamy took a sip of his own drink and looked towards where Miller had pointed before almost choking. He managed to swallow his mouthful as he made eye contact with Finn, who was leaning casually against the bar.
Octavia had apparently also looked over.
“Go talk to him!” Octavia said in a low voice, kicking him under the table. “It’s destiny.”
“It’s the only bar in this town,” Bellamy responded. If Octavia knew what was good for her, she’d drop it.
“I’m missing something, aren’t I?” Monty asked, looking between Bellamy, Octavia, and Finn, who had clearly realized he had been noticed.
“No,” Bellamy said, at the same time Octavia responded “Yes.”
He shot her a meaningful look. “It’s nothing.”
“Well, bellblakes over here,” Octavia said, tipping her head towards Bellamy. “Follows this blog-”
“Fine, I’ll go talk to him. You happy?”
“Incredibly,” she said, scooting out of the booth to let Bellamy out. “Go get ‘em, big brother.”
Bellamy shook his head as he weaved through the crowded room. Octavia was going to be the death of him one of these days. As he approached the bar, Finn looked up at him and smiled.
“Hey,” Bellamy said, wondering how he had let Octavia talk him into this. Not only did he have nothing in common with this guy, but they definitely disagreed on a number of subjects. How adorable he looked as he pushed his floppy hair out of his eyes didn’t change anything.
“Hey,” Finn said, extending his hand. “I’m Finn.”
Bellamy nodded. “I know.”
“Um.” Finn dropped his hand back to his side, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
Bellamy felt his cheeks burn, but managed to recover. “I mean, I follow your blog.”
Finn visibly relaxed, letting out a small laugh. “Oh, okay. I was a kinda freaked out for a moment.”
“Yeah, that must’ve come off pretty creepy,” Bellamy said with a laugh. He tried not to look over to where Octavia and the rest of his group were obviously watching. “I’m, uh. I’m actually bellblakes.”
Finn raised his eyebrows, amusement plain on his attractive features. “Ah, so you’re the famous bellblakes.”
“The one and only,” Bellamy countered with a smile. He leaned up against the bar, taking a swig from his beer. The burning in his cheeks was starting to go away.
“I hope you’re not pissed about me answering you publically. I wasn’t sure if that was too much of a dick move.”
“None at all,” Bellamy said. “I might not agree with you on a lot, but that was a ballsy move and I’ve got to respect it.”
“Thanks,” Finn said, smiling. “So, can I buy you a drink?”
“Sure,” Bellamy said, returning his smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Octavia shoot him a thumbs up, which he did his best to ignore.
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“-so, Octavia brings home this rooster; she’s insistent on keeping it, even though we live in an apartment and have no where to put the damn thing. But how am I supposed to say no, when she’s tearing up and she already has a name for it and everything. She’s my little sister. Long story short, it ends up living in her room for a solid month before the neighbors finally filed a noise complaint,” Bellamy said. “But not before it completely destroyed the carpet and drove me half insane.”
“Holy shit, that’s hilarious.” Finn drew a deep breath, having been laughing for the past five or so minutes as Bellamy told his story. “Your sister sounds seriously awesome.”
“Oh, she is,” Octavia said matter-of-factly as she came out of the crowd.
“Finn, this is my sister Octavia,” Bellamy said, shaking his head at Octavia’s knack for appearing out of thin air. “Octavia, this is Finn.”
“Nice to meet you,” Finn said, extending his hand to her. Bellamy couldn’t help but smile at how he genuinely seemed glad to meet her. “Bellamy was just telling me about the rooster.”
“Ah yes, the best cock I’ve ever had,” Octavia joked, shaking Finn’s hand. She turned to Bellamy. “We’re all getting ready to leave, but don’t let us stop you two from having a good time.”
“So early? I’m supposed to be the tired old man here,” Bellamy said as he pulled out his phone and checked the time. Somehow, three hours had passed since he started talking to Finn. “Shit. I should actually go too. I didn’t realize it was so late.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Finn said with a small laugh. “I didn’t realize it was getting late either.”
“We’ll meet you at the car then,” Octavia said to Bellamy as she turned to leave. “Bye Finn!”
“Have a good night,” Finn said to Octavia before turning back to Bellamy. “I should head out too, I have a huge paper to write this weekend.”
Bellamy nodded. “We should hang out again sometime. Can I get your number?”
“Are you sure you don’t just want to leave a comment on my blog?”
“Or you could just put your number at the end of your next update,” Bellamy countered.
Finn laughed. “How about I just put it in your phone?”
“Sounds good to me.”
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Bellamy walked back to the car, a smile playing across his lips. He might actually fall for “spacewalker.”