[closed] So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road

[reconnaissance]

Date & Time: forward dated: Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th March
Location: a fair way into the Outlands
Characters:
Asami Sato chittybang, Cedric Diggory theboywhodied, Collette whatsupcroc, Ellie Linton reconnaissance, Fi Maxwell burnsinvisibly, Katniss Everdeen accidentalrebellion, Mitsuki Ishikawa drowns, Peter Parker arachnoid, Steph Brown controlledvariable
Summary: Nine teenagers with varying degrees of trauma decide to go camping.
(Actually, eight teenagers get bullied into going camping by Ellie.)
Warnings: Not sure yet; I'll add them as they come up. At the very least some language, and fallout from PTSD.



Ellie had found the place once before on her wandering into the Outlands; a dilapidated old barn, with stone walls and a roof that was, by some miracle, completely intact despite all the evidence of nature clambering up its walls and trying to reclaim it for the land. There's a hill leading down to it, and if you follow that hill down, you meet the woods, a big lake. It's beautiful, she thinks. Nowhere near so wild as Hell, but that was better.

Finding that place had been how it started, before thinking about getting some of the others together had kicked in. A way to unwind, after the body swap. At the very least a chance to get some decent people all together in the same place (and maybe a way to apologise to Asami for pointing a gun at her that one time).


OOC: Party style, adventures everyone.Just go wild, if you want it to be set at a particular time, maybe specify in the subject line? I'm doing some starters just... in case that helps but do whatever you like tbh. YEAH. There's also the ooc plotting post so chuck folks in there and scheme and let the madness and CR unfold.

Comments

[reconnaissance]

( Ellie's that special pain in the backside who's always playing with fires. Even when they're fine she's trying to fix them, prodding the embers around and trying to get stuff settled down just so. And if she's not playing with the fire, then it's with the wall of stones around it that they piled up to help keep the fire less visible, more contained.

It's more concerning when she reaches in to grab hold of pieces of wood already burning to rearrange them, though. )

[whatsupcroc]

By any chance, are you part phoenix?

( Collette is perched on her own rock at a distance close enough to the fire to feel the warmth, far enough away not to have a spark alight on her lower legs and start trying to burn something before she or someone else notices. Just a minor situational inconvenience.

She smiles at Ellie, watching her try to rearrange the fire for the fourth time so far tonight. )

[reconnaissance]

Huh?

( She looks from the fire to Collette, and smiles sheepishly. ) I'm just fixing it.

( Again. ) Besides, when the carcass is done cooling, the coals've gotta be perfect so dinner cooks right.

( She is just making excuses, of course. Moving away from her immediate task of fixing, she flops down next to Collette. ) Hey.

[whatsupcroc]

Geez, you people who know how to cook on open flame are amazing. I've barely got the oven figured out!

( She grins when Ellie flops down next to her. )

You big on keeping yourself busy?

[reconnaissance]

It's just a barbie stripped down to basics. I got in the habit of this, trying to switch back to regular cooktops is the difficult part.

( A hopeless shrug. Asami and Lenny should be happy she hasn't just made a pit fire in the kitchen. )

Yeah. I mean, growing up on the farm, there was always stuff to do. I could read and stuff and just veg out, but usually there was a lot to get done. I kind of associate not doing stuff or planning things with not being able to do stuff, I guess? Either 'cause of hiding out or when I was in solitary.

( That's not something she mentions often, and she almost regrets the word as soon as they're out. ) Doing stuff makes me feel like I'm living.

[whatsupcroc]

( Collette gives her a strange look at barbie, not making the immediate connection to the barbeque. She listens, nodding as Ellie speaks about there being so much around to do. Collette had access challenges, but there was always something to occupy the mind, or hands, or both.

Solitary is a word that she blinks at, regarding Ellie with that perpetual curiosity. )

I get you there. Doing things is like... aah, like a breath of fresh air! I hate having to wait for things to happen just so I can get out there and be, you know? Though around here it's not as big of a deal. You just plan enough, and you can make things happen...

( She grins. )

Like a camping trip with friends, or like getting an idea about what the UE is doing, or finding out what the mystery meat is at the meat-bun shop near the Hold.

[reconnaissance]

Mm. And reacting is like-- you're getting your hand forced. Reacting puts you in a dangerous position. Acting is harder, but in the end it puts you on the back foot. It's not on your own terms.

( Considering they're just talking in casual terms, her language is pretty dramatic, but it's the war tactics talking. Still, she echoes Collette's grin. )

I dunno, getting a bit presumptuous aren't you? Friends, phew.

( She just chuckles a little, peeling some bark off a piece of firewood and tossing it into the fire pit. ) What do you think the UE is doing, anyway?

[whatsupcroc]

I don't know. Which is why I want to know, since I don't trust people who are desperate to win. They might stretch what they know because they need us to be firmly on their side.

( She shrugs, lips still turned up in a faint smile The flames jump upward toward the sky, burning into her retinas as she stares into them. Collette closes her eyes, then looks off to the side. She wants to start regaining her night vision back, but she'd need to turn her back to really adjust.

it's all idle thoughts, too, for the moment. She turns back toward Ellie. )

I don't want to see my friends -- ( here she winks, her smile going lopsided ) -- get forced into reacting. i want to know what the Initaitive says is true. I want to see how the UE is getting to our worlds, if they are at all.

[reconnaissance]

( Another time, Ellie might have flinched. She knows it's not personal, so she holds steady. ) It can push them to doing some pretty out there things.

( Certainly she can concede that, though she's happy to lapse into silence for a little bit. So many worlds and so many possibilities that it makes the mind boggle. )

Me too. ( Everything Collette is saying makes sense. ) I want to know just how the UE is buggering things up for the rest of us, too, or if it's some Initiative spin, like you say. It's impossible to pick out any propaganda when we can't see the other side.

( Her voice is rough, but not angry, just the faintest edges of frustration peeking out before she restores the calm. ) Maybe we should just break out of here and take a look for ourselves.

( She's being flippant.

Mostly. )

[whatsupcroc]

( Collette sounds almost as flippant in return, one hand brushing over the blanket covering her thigh. )

Maybe I know some people intending to do exactly that.

( She smiles, looking off over the fire. She was almost being subtle. Betcha wouldn't believe this, Caesar! )

Sound interesting to you?

[reconnaissance]

( For a moment, she just stares at Collette, disbelieving. Only a moment, because in the next her mouth is caught up with a grin that can only be described as dangerous. There's been too much sitting around and waiting in this bloody place, but in these few seconds her entire posture has changed, shifted into being curious, alert. Focused.

There are brief considerations: danger, risk, but these are all things she's used to. How safe are they in this city? She hardly knows, patrolled as they are, and even if she likes the people here, it's not like a normal civilian life.

And besides. It's not like Collette is handing her a pile of explosives. Just gauging interest. )

Pretty interesting, yeah.

[arachnoid]

You know you can kill it by messing with it too much.

[ He's sitting at a reasonable distance away from it, thank you, cross-legged on the ground and eating one of the whatevers he brought from one of the food booths. It looks a bit like a gyro, or like it was a gyro at some point.

But the critique is casual and friendly, as is the one that follows. ]

Or you might just set yourself on fire.

[reconnaissance]

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot how much experience you had with campfires.

( She shoots him a grin, betraying the good humour beneath that grumpy tone. And, as she looks over, she catches sight of whatever That Is Supposed To Be. ) Hey. We've got some good grub that'll be ready soon, if you want? I mean, when you're done with whatever that used to be.

( Hah. )

I've proved pretty hard to set on fire, so far. I think maybe the flames just don't like me.

[arachnoid]

[ That earns a grin right back, but he stays where he is for now. And he doesn't put down his not-sandwich, thank you. ]

What?

Oh, no, this is good. Good and it didn't even have a face. [ ... well. ] I mean it did, obviously, but since it's mystery meat I can't really figure out what kind of face it was, and I'm pretty okay with that.

[ His attention shifts back to the fire, and now he's a bit more thoughtful and serious. Casually ignoring the campfire experience comment, by the way. ]

It just needs space. And air. It'd work better if you just blew on it.

[reconnaissance]

Does it really bother you? I mean-- seeing what it is before it just becomes meat? ( She's curious, not being obnoxious. It feels so foreign to her, after growing up on the farm. It reminds her just a little of how squeamish Fi used to be, could still be. ) I mean, you know when you go to the store that something used to be a lamb or a chicken. We can just not tell you what it is, if we go hunting, if that'd make it better. ( It seems stupid, but she'd rather Peter wasn't living off stuff like that when there was good, fresh meat at hand. Call it her caring side. )

Yeah. I just get restless.

[arachnoid]

No, it's - [ Well, yes, it does kind of bother him, but he knows he's being a total dork about it. It's not like he hasn't done dissections before. ]

Yeah. I mean, yeah, I guess I'll try whatever you guys bring back.

[ There's a pause, but now that that's decided he abandons his sandwich ?? and stands to step over to the fire next to her, squatting down on his heels. He could ask why she's restless, but he's not really good at being that direct, so instead he goes for offering some distracting conversation. ]

Did you do a lot of camping back home?

[reconnaissance]

All right. It'll be good, I promise. ( At least she can be a bit more gentle, sometimes. ) It was rough for some of the others, back home, when we went hunting and stuff. But if Princess Fifi can handle it, I reckon you can.

( It's probably some way of putting Fi down, talking like that, but Ellie figures it's more like friendly teasing. Fi is a ballerina and a arranges flowers and could sweet talk anyone's grandmother into loving her. War still doesn't seem like the right place for her, but at least she's gotten more at home with camping.

Ellie laughs, surprised. ) Yeah, a bit.

( There's something sarcastic in that, before she revises her tone. ) My mate Corrie and I went on camp outs quite a lot. Taking the horses down the river, stuff like that. Um, last time I organised a camping trip, though, that was when the war broke out. ( She smiles, rueful, and scratches the back of her neck. ) I figured we should be safe from that happening, this time, since there's already a war going on.

( This new attempt at a smile is rather more self-mocking than she intended. ) Bloody long camping trip, though.

[drowns]

[She's been quiet most of the trip, either out of nervousness or melancholy, and watches the flames dance and jump against the wood, not really seeing, really. Just lost, in her own thoughts.

Ellie grabbing the wood out of the flame knocks her out of her reverie pretty effectively though, and she instinctively reaches out a hand, stops suddenly, and flails a little.]

—Ah! Be careful!

[reconnaissance]

( She's still holding it when she glances over at Mitsuki, eyebrows raised. ) Eh?

( Fair enough though, Ellie looks at the branch in her hand and settles it back down without any strife. ) I'm pretty flame repellent.

( She ambles over, dropping down next to Mitsuki. ) You all right?

[drowns]

[Sheepishly, her hands settle down into her lap. She feels ridiculous, getting that nervous over something Ellie appeared to have control of.]

...Ah, I'm fine. I was just concerned. It looked as if you might burn yourself.

[reconnaissance]

No stress.

( A brief smile, softer at the edges. ) My mates back home call me a 'bloody nuisance' with fire. I haven't gotten burnt too bad so far. Besides, Steph probably brought enough first aid stuff for a small hospital.

( Considering the fire for a few moments, Ellie lapses into silence. ) Plus side, there's not gonna be too many leeches around a fire.

[drowns]

I have a friend at home like that. [In a manner of speaking...

She tucks her knees in close to her chest.] The leeches, mm. [...] I'm very sorry, for screaming so loudly about those earlier.

[She pushes her glasses up, trying not to look as embarrassed as she feels.] I'm not accustomed to the wilderness.

[reconnaissance]

Yeah? What are they like? ( She likes hearing about people, and settles down, getting comfortable. Sure, she is peeling bark off some of the firewood pile, and tossing it into the flames, but she's listening. )

Don't even. They're disgusting, and I'm a 'rough as guts' rural girl. There's no shame in hating leeches. My best mate, Corrie, she'd have thought your display was too quiet. ( Stop talking about Corrie. ) Besides, it could've been worse. Imagine if they'd been giant mutant leeches.

( That is so helpful, Ellie. ) You're doing all right. Fi, she's a townie, too. Don't tell her I said anything, but she handles herself pretty well.

( Maybe do tell her that Ellie said that, she makes Fi feel awful regularly enough )

[drowns]

She's... [A pause. How to explain Kotone in a way that does her justice.] Kotone's very different from me. She wouldn't be afraid of any of this at all. This...this situation, I mean.

[An understatement.] Whenever she has a problem with something, she's very direct about it. [Or rude, but she won't say that.] And she's gruff, not ladylike at all...she acts as if she dislikes everything, but that isn't true. After a while, you tend to get used to it. I think...people have ways of protecting themselves, and that's her way.

[her gaze turns back to the fire.] It took me a long time to understand that. [for a while she goes quiet and contemplative, and then she realizes she is going to make herself upset. so the subject is changed.]

What about your friends? Do you know anyone like that?

[reconnaissance]

Um. ( Wow, okay. ) She sounds like a character.

( Not said like it's a bad thing, mind. It's just something to think about, isn't it? And when so many of it hits so close to home. Her gaze follows Mitsuki's to rest on the fire, as if she might find answers in the orange glow of the embers. )

Um. Homer, he was always really loud mouthed. Acted up a lot at school, you know? The teachers wouldn't even trust him to hand out the books, he destroyed school property. He could be rude and he'd--- ( No. She trails off, shakes her head. ) That was before the war, though. And when the fan got hit, he was the guy that got us all moving again. Encourages us all, I guess.

( Her tone suggests that maybe she's thinking about this all wrong, needs to go back to the drawing board. Thinking aloud, ) Homer was too gentle, even if he used to be a terror. ( That was still a shock to her, really. ) And Lee-- I don't think he does like anything, anymore. He's just obsessed with his vengeance, that's all, no matter what it does.

( That's a thought, not a good one. It was still hard to remember the way Lee abused Kevin and claimed he'd go off alone, if the others weren't up to it. Forced their hands - she grimaces, and stares into the fire. Finally, after a stretch of silence: )

Me. Your mate sounds like me. ( With a surprised huff of a laugh. ) Sometimes, anyway. Some of the pieces fit.