It's quiet and cool outside, but not too quiet, and not too cold. Audrey really likes it out in the forest. Everything's alive, but peaceful, and all they have to do is match that vibe for a sense of quiet contentment. Audrey's perched herself in the middle of the tent so she'll have body heat opportunities from both her roommates, which she feels she'll need even with the double sweater layer she's sporting. It's dark, but not quite time for sleep yet.
"Don't you feel like we should be playing MASH or something." She murmurs to her tentmates, not wanting to disturb the night noises too much, "Or do either of you know what ghosts are supposed to be around?" Although she'd never been camping before high school, there was an automatic nostalgia. She assumes that's the kind of thing one did at sleepaway camp.
"Oh ghosts," Jupiter exclaims sitting up and putting her phone down in her lap, heedless of nature sounds, like she's invented some sort of new cool catchphrase. (Oh ghosts!) "Yous guys ever think it's weird how, like, Peckenpaugh only has Mr. Qualls?" She starts, sounding like she's about to tell a very spooky story. "Doesn't Hogwarts have like, fuckin', a ton of ghosts?" A pause. "I mean, I know like pretty much everyone who's gone to Hogwarts has died or whatever. But, still." Okay, maybe not a story. Maybe just observational comedy? Or just observations sans comedy, based on the sound of crickets outside their tent.
Freya, who wanted to go to Hogwarts when she was a kid, rolls over and props herself up on one elbow. "They have so many ghosts," she chimes in enviously. "Can you imagine the cool stories they could tell? Literal ghost stories."
Bijou isn't a regular member of Adventure Club. If that wasn't apparent from her disasterous attempts at pitching a tent, it definitely was when unpacking her 'survival essentials utility kit' revealed a pink marabou feather trimmed sleep mask and a 12 step skincare regimen.
Every night at boarding school is like a slumber party, but this one's extra special since it's out in a woods! With big plans for a night filled with boytalkmanstertalk with her two besties for the evening, she holds up a tube of deeply glittery deeply pink peel-off face mask and chirps, "Who's ready for some fun?"
This wasn't exactly what Wyatt was expecting from a camping trip. It's not that he doesn't like the two sophomore girls he's been paired with, he's just not quite ready for boytalk and mani-pedis. "What's that sparkly stuff for?" he asks, tilting his head.
"Why don't you try it on and find out?" Scarlett suggests with a grin. She'd like to see Wyatt with his face covered in pink glitter. She'd also like to avoid putting it on herself. (She doesn't trust anything that bright and sparkly. It ain't natural.)
After a day packed with all her favorite things, she's in a good mood. Or maybe that's because she found an enormous spider outside, which she brought into the tent and can't wait to show -- huh. Hang on, where'd he go? Oh well, he's either long gone or he'll turn up later...
A bag of jumbo marshmallows sits open on the ground beside Jupiter, who reclines in the dirt with her hands back behind her, one leg crossed over the other, bouncing her foot. She stares out into the darkness, watching in silence.
Is that something moving beyond the trees? A cryptid? A deer?? A freshman??? A trick of the light????
She leans forward, scooping up the bag of puffed sugar. As she squints into the forest, she pops two of them in her mouth, stuffing either cheek overfull. Overall, excepting the chipmunk cheeks, she gives the impression of a cat getting ready to pounce.
Oh, Armani brought binoculars just for this occasion!
He takes a seat beside her and holds the binoculars to his eyes, scanning the area. They slowly veer from the treeline and follow a group playing lumos tag for several moments before he lowers them with a sigh. "Wanna try 'em? You've got sharper eyes."
"Yeeeees?" Jupiter replies with a long, low bend in her voice as she helps herself the binoculars. "Thank you sweet boy." With a wide and wolfish grin, she brings the binoculars to her face and peers into the darkness at that thing she thought she'd heard.
After a beat of silence, she goes on, "Let's find you a hubby, huh? What're your specifications? Tall, winged and handsome?"
"Try my s'mores?" he offers sweetly, holding out his skillet of s'more nachos with chocolate chips and syrup aesthetically drizzled across. It tastes just like the s'mores everyone else is making right now, except it looks like a food blogger mommy made it to one-up Karen at the bonfire party.
It's been a busy day for Merlin, spent hiking and climbing and scribbling notes into his field guides. Busy enough that he hasn't made it back to the campfire or the s'mores just yet. Passing by on the way to his tent, he turns on his heel at siren call of try my s'mores? and lights up visibly at the dish being offered to him. Armani doesn't have to ask him twice.
He steps over to the Thorntrail with a smile, eyebrows uplifted and already starting to reach for one. "Fancy," he observes, "What's the catch?" Though, given his tone easy tone and his clear intention to take the offered treat, he doesn't seem especially concerned about a catch.
Armani hums thoughtfully. He hadn't expected anything in exchange except for a few moments of positive attention, but now that Merlin mentions it... "You have to tell your friends what a wonderful little kitchen witch I am," he responds in the same saccharine tone, temptingly raising the skillet a little closer to Merlin so he can smell that chocolaty aroma.
Uninvited (because he's always uninvited) Uriah claims the spot in front of the fire, right next to Presley. He squeezes himself in on the log, making space where clearly there wasn't enough. Like this it's easy to move in close, one hand on the seat behind Presley, and whisper in his ear:
"Now's your chance to make a move on MG," he croons, "starry skies, crackling fire—"
Presley doesn't bother to look up from his book before he dives an elbow into Uriah's solar plexus. Clearly, a regular occurrence between the two of them. "I don't know an 'MG'," Presley says. This is the most reverence he's willing show his cheer captain. "And I wouldn't be interested, anyway."
"Ow! Asshole." Uriah pushes back against Presley with one hang rubbing the grievous wound. It does discourage him from touching Presley any further, though, at least for now.
"Not your type?" Scuffle concluded, Uriah soldiers on like nothing is out of the ordinary. He grin is back in place almost immediately "So who are you into? Who's gonna be on your arm at the dance?"
Uriah rolls over on his side and grins brilliantly at his unfortunate tentmates. "Who's gonna hold me when I get scared in the middle of the night? I'm real scared a White Thing's gonna take me."
He does not sound scared at all. Rather, he looks ready to burst into laughter at the slightest provocation.
"Aristotle," Harrison responds without missing a beat. Ignoring the other boy entirely is pretty much impossible in this stupid cramped tent (why hadn't he requested tentmates?), but maybe it'll be no fun for the Junior if they remain non-challenging and non-reactive. If they're lucky he'll go find someone else to bother. Or just fall asleep.
Surely Aristotle would actually agree to spooning, anyway.
"We're already close enough. Holding you wouldn't provide any additional protection. If anything, we're all better off keeping our arms free to defend ourselves from the White Things." Her emphasis comes not from a doubt that meeting one is a possibility, but from her confidence that she could handle one in the event of an encounter. "Does anyone want to see the bones I found today?"
It's dark out. Of course it's dark out, it's, like, the middle of the night and everyone should be asleep by now.
But Cedar isn't. Cedar's mind is racing, with every noise outside, every shifting shadow in the moonlight. It isn't like they've never slept in the West Virginia wilderness before. It's that every time they have, a tree branch fell on a tent or a sheepsquatch wandered in and ate all their potato chips, or that one time their aunt just walked off a mountain trying to find a place to pee???? She didn't break anything but she lost a finger to frostbite!! What if that happened again????
"Hey," Cedar whispers into the dark tent, at the sleeping forms of their temporary roommates. Then again, more forcefully. "Hey." They try to wait for a response before continuing, but there's a howl outside and Cedar can't remember when snarly yow mating season is and— "HEY."
"Mmm, huh?" Val stirs from a deep sleep. Someone's making noise. Cedar. Did Cedar also make the yowling noise? Probably. "Go back to sleep, honey," she murmurs at them and rolls over.
The evening quiet is broken by a sudden loud yelp, and the shaking of Tent 7 as someone scrambles out and lands hard on the dirt in his rush to escape. "Don't touch me," Presley snaps at the first person who approaches, then seems to belatedly realize where he is. On a stupid camping trip, surrounded by his classmates, who can see him making a scene.
Dammit. "I'm fine. It's fine." Despite his adamant words, Presley covers his mouth with one hand and stares at his tent with a look of quiet dread. He makes no move to return inside.
Edited (he saw a big spider) 2019-10-14 18:42 (UTC)
Felicity disappears into the tent as Presley dramatically escapes from it. A moment later she lets out an, "Aww, Pres," followed by a couple, "Come here buddy"s and finally a satisfied, "Got ya." Felicity pokes her head back out, some stray hairs only barely conceal the small smile on her face.
"Pres, buddy," she extends her hand and opens it slowly to reveal a big spider. "These things are good luck."
The time it takes for Felicity to retrieve the tent intruder is just enough time for Presley to regain his dignity, although there's a clear fight-or-flight conflict happening in his expression as he looks at the thing in Felicity's hand.
"Just—toss it." Presley crosses his arms with a scowl. "Luck is a fantasy for people who don't know how to work hard."
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peckenpaugh2019-10-13 12:17 pm
EVENING & NIGHT
Tent Three Time!
"Don't you feel like we should be playing MASH or something." She murmurs to her tentmates, not wanting to disturb the night noises too much, "Or do either of you know what ghosts are supposed to be around?"
Although she'd never been camping before high school, there was an automatic nostalgia. She assumes that's the kind of thing one did at sleepaway camp.
Tent Three Time!
Tent Three Time!
Tent Three Time!
Tent Three Time!
Tent Three Time!
Tent Six, Late Night
She also stole away some marshmallows from earlier and has quietly but carelessly rested the bag on the edge of her closest tentmate's sleeping bag.
Tent Four Time!
Every night at boarding school is like a slumber party, but this one's extra special since it's out in a woods! With big plans for a night filled with
boytalkmanstertalk with her two besties for the evening, she holds up a tube of deeply glittery deeply pink peel-off face mask and chirps, "Who's ready for some fun?"Tent Four Time!
Tent Four Time!
After a day packed with all her favorite things, she's in a good mood. Or maybe that's because she found an enormous spider outside, which she brought into the tent and can't wait to show -- huh. Hang on, where'd he go? Oh well, he's either long gone or he'll turn up later...
Tent Four Time!
Tent Four Time!
Tent Four Time!
Tent Four Time!
Watchin' for Weird Things with Jup (Open++)
Is that something moving beyond the trees? A cryptid? A deer?? A freshman??? A trick of the light????
She leans forward, scooping up the bag of puffed sugar. As she squints into the forest, she pops two of them in her mouth, stuffing either cheek overfull. Overall, excepting the chipmunk cheeks, she gives the impression of a cat getting ready to pounce.
Watchin' for Weird Things with Jup & Armani
He takes a seat beside her and holds the binoculars to his eyes, scanning the area. They slowly veer from the treeline and follow a group playing lumos tag for several moments before he lowers them with a sigh. "Wanna try 'em? You've got sharper eyes."
Watchin' for Weird Things with Jup & Armani
After a beat of silence, she goes on, "Let's find you a hubby, huh? What're your specifications? Tall, winged and handsome?"
Watchin' for Weird Things with Jup & Armani
Armani tries to impress everyone by feeding them (Open++)
Armani Impresses Merlin By Feeding Him
He steps over to the Thorntrail with a smile, eyebrows uplifted and already starting to reach for one. "Fancy," he observes, "What's the catch?" Though, given his tone easy tone and his clear intention to take the offered treat, he doesn't seem especially concerned about a catch.
Armani Impresses Merlin By Feeding Him
Armani Impresses Merlin By Feeding Him
Uriah & Presley
"Now's your chance to make a move on MG," he croons, "starry skies, crackling fire—"
Uriah & Presley
Uriah & Presley
"Not your type?" Scuffle concluded, Uriah soldiers on like nothing is out of the ordinary. He grin is back in place almost immediately "So who are you into? Who's gonna be on your arm at the dance?"
Uriah & Presley
Uriah & Presley
Uriah & Presley
Uriah & Presley
Uriah & Presley
Tent One
He does not sound scared at all. Rather, he looks ready to burst into laughter at the slightest provocation.
Tent One
Surely Aristotle would actually agree to spooning, anyway.
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent One
Tent Five is Alive
But Cedar isn't. Cedar's mind is racing, with every noise outside, every shifting shadow in the moonlight. It isn't like they've never slept in the West Virginia wilderness before. It's that every time they have, a tree branch fell on a tent or a sheepsquatch wandered in and ate all their potato chips, or that one time their aunt just walked off a mountain trying to find a place to pee???? She didn't break anything but she lost a finger to frostbite!! What if that happened again????
"Hey," Cedar whispers into the dark tent, at the sleeping forms of their temporary roommates. Then again, more forcefully. "Hey." They try to wait for a response before continuing, but there's a howl outside and Cedar can't remember when snarly yow mating season is and— "HEY."
Tent Five is Alive
Tent Seven, Early Evening
Dammit. "I'm fine. It's fine." Despite his adamant words, Presley covers his mouth with one hand and stares at his tent with a look of quiet dread. He makes no move to return inside.
Tent Seven, Early Evening
"Pres, buddy," she extends her hand and opens it slowly to reveal a big spider. "These things are good luck."
She'd like her two friends to reconcile.
Tent Seven, Early Evening
"Just—toss it." Presley crosses his arms with a scowl. "Luck is a fantasy for people who don't know how to work hard."
Tent Seven, Early Evening
Tent Seven, Early Evening
Tent Seven, Early Evening
Tent Seven, Early Evening
Tent Seven, Early Evening