come_sailaway | JUNE EVENT: CAMP

early on June 10th, Friday's morning announcements end with a request for everyone going on the latest excursion to meet her in the atrium. she seems in noticeably better spirits than she had been last time, and she leads them cheerfully to the tender. once they are all aboard, and the door is securely shut, the interior fills with gas, and, perhaps, their last thought before they slip into unconsciousness is "oh shit, not again."

passengers wake up on a rickety old school bus, driving down a dirt road surrounded by woods. what is it that they notice first? that, no matter what they were wearing before, they are now wearing a camp t-shirt and legitimately horrifyingly short shorts? the overstuffed backpack between their knees? the words "take one down and pass it around" dying on their lips? the fact that Friday is absolutely driving the bus?

or, maybe the fact that it's already slowing down, pulling up in front of a massive wooden sign, saying:

CAMP AION

when they get out of the bus, Friday is the one to divide them up into their cabin groups, and she is the one to give the counselors their very official-looking clipboards and whistles. she explains that they are in charge, and that she will be back to pick them up in a week, and... very little else. she responds to nothing outside of whatever is on her unseen little script, and she gets back on the bus shortly after, leaving them there.

welcome to camp. let's make some summer memories!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That is weird." Very weird. How did they not notice when they started to loop? Do the woods somehow alter your direction without your noticing? Are they on a tiny planetoid, with the camp being the center?

"There's still quite a bit of wood left to explore," he thinks, "But I suppose we can rule out anything attacking us immediately." Later, maybe. But they seem to be safe for at least the moment...

"How far do you think that was? It felt like a fairly decent hike." He doesn't acknowledge that he just called it a hike. "I should go find a watch and try again. Maybe I could weave a bit more? See if there's a way to find the stitching where we begin to loop?"

Darcy paused for a moment, holding her hand flat on her chest, trying to feel what her heart was doing. Her legs ached, but that didn't count for much, she would've been surprised if a long walk hadn't fucked with her, considering her confinement on the ship.

"No idea. Definitely longer than the length of the ship. But also. You can do the rest of that yourself, some of us have muscles that can hurt after long walks."

Oh, right. It isn't just eating and sleeping that Darcy has to contend with, after all. They must've walked over five kilometers, maybe closer to ten, and that can't possibly be good for her to do without water and food and... Well, Valkyrie usually complains the entire time they're forced to walk any kind of distance, and those are the things she complains about most.

"Of course. You've probably got plans with your girlfriend, anyway." And if he's got a playful lilt there... well, of course, he's still going to tease her. He's only human.

Her ears flush bright red.

"I hate you so much," she says too quickly, all-but confirming that she does in fact have plans with her girlfriend.

"I'm going to make her dinner and it's going to be magical, fuck you."

Hah! Nailed it.

"She is, after all, a magical girl." To say nothing of Darcy's supernatural abilities. "I'm sure it will be lovely. She'll probably appreciate a meal that wasn't conjured from the ether."

The only thing that they're missing is a projector and some old movies to watch. Alas, no movie theaters anywhere.

She affectionately flips him off.

"Well, food that isn't conjured needs time to cook, and I want to leave myself time in case I fuck up the béchamel, so I should probably get started," she says, to avoid being roped into more walking. As if it'll take her more than one attempt to make a béchamel. But she hesitates before walking towards the mess hall.

"I'll see you around, yeah?" as an affirmation that they were good, that everything was back in its right place between them.

Skulduggery, in his squeaky stupid trainers and wearing the worst outfit in the world, sets not one foot further than he already has past the treeline. You're not catching him anywhere near other people until he's learned to cope with these godawful shorts.

He also knows an excuse to get out of walking when he hears one, but who is he to stand in the way of young love? Hah. He is so going to say that later.

"I'll be hard to miss," he says, lifting a hand as if to encourage her to run off before he starts another hike. "Go on, I want to get out of here before somebody sees me like this."

"I saw you," she teases in an ominous voice, "I'll always knoooow," she does spooky wiggly fingers at him. Yeah, they're good. It's a relief, knowing he's there again, even if the mystery of the gauntlets do still weigh on her. Maybe he'll tell her eventually, maybe it really isn't that big of a deal. In some ways, the camp was a welcome break from the stresses of the ship, and Darcy idly wonders if they would've made up as easily if they didn't have the mystery of the forest to take their minds off the fight.

All hypothetical now. She had potatoes to peel and a béchamel to not fuck up, and she offers him a parting grin that wrinkles her nose. Everything was as it should be again.

JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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