all she can see around her is darkness. it’s surrounding her face as she lets her head rest in the palm of her hands, rubbing quickly over her features before letting her hands drop to grip the edge of the bed she’s sitting on. i’m worried about you. a long sigh pulls itself from her lungs at the words because she knows why costia is worried, understands that she’s slept too little, traveled too much, tired her body until there’s a near constant ache in her limbs and a permanent set of her jaw in place. lexa knows costia can see it in the way she holds herself, the way she only lets her shoulders fall a fraction when she’s alone, the way she loses the exterior of the commander and replaces it with the demeanor of herself, of lexa. she only lets it show in the quiet confines of her room or when she’s alone in the forest with costia. no one else can see it, can see that she’s just as much lexa as she is commander. “ you worry for nothing, kostia. ” her words are quiet as she speaks, voice even, still in the tone she uses among her people to address them or to command them. it feels almost wrong to use the same tone with costia, the only person who knows her as she is. but the worry costia has for her is useless, pointless. it won’t change her work, won’t change her fight to unite the clans into one. it’s her duty, her responsibility, and she won’t stop until she’s achieved it.