[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

[controlledvariable]

[Steph's smile widens into a grin, an she pretends to stumble back a little at the shove.]

Hey, it seemed the most reasonable guess. [a beat, as something occurs to her, and she smirks] Collette would be shocked, if she thought you had a thing for Fi.

[reconnaissance]

How was that the most reasonable guess? ( This is not computing at all. ) And yeah, of course she would. Fi is-- she's Fi. And I'm not into girls, anyway.

( She makes a face, shrugging. Bloody Hell, Steph. ) Wait, hang up. Why... are you mentioning Collette, specifically?

[controlledvariable]

She's the person you're closest to. [Said as if it's obvious. And she raises an eyebrow, still amused.] You totally missed the part where she thinks we're dating, didn't you?

[Oh, Ellie.]

[reconnaissance]

What?

( That was loud enough to make some birds abandon their perch, and she doubletakes, dropping her voice to something of an intense whisper. )

Where'd she get that idea?

( STEPH WHAT DID YOU DO )

[controlledvariable]

[That has her laughing, hearing the accusation in Ellie's voice.]

Strangely enough, when you tell people that we're sharing a bed, they get ideas about it.

[reconnaissance]

But I just--

( oh my god she is turning colours )

But we're both girls!

( HELP HER ) Why didn't you fix it?

( It hasn't registered that Steph would know this by listening in on private conversations, that will come up later. Maybe. Unless she just assumes Col mentioned it. Col who is about to be strangled. )

[controlledvariable]

I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but two girls can be in a relationship. [It's said lightly, teasing; this is funnier than it probably should be.]

And I didn't know I had to fix it. [Collette will figure it out, maybe.]

[reconnaissance]

God, I know that, but this is different! ( She's turning red, too, because that particular observation makes her feel exceptionally stupid, blush spreading over her skin like wildfire. )

What? ( Excuse her, she wants to crawl a rock. ) But it's going to make things weird.

[controlledvariable]

How is it different? [Aside from the obvious fact that they aren't dating.] And why's it gonna make things weird?

[This is at least ten times more amusing than Nikolai calling her a lesbian.]

[reconnaissance]

Stop laughing at me!

( Hissed out, even if Steph isn't actually laughing, Ellie knows she thinks this is funny, and that joke is at her expense. It'd be funny, if she didn't feel so stupid. That's one of the things that still gets her, every time. )

I'm going on sentry duty. ( During daylight. ) You can go tell Collette that we broke up

[controlledvariable]

I'm not. [crap.] Hey. [She reaches out to grab Ellie's wrist again, but it's a simple hold this time, just ensuring she doesn't run off.]

It's not a big deal, Ellie. I don't care what anyone thinks, especially not a friend.

[She'll have to talk to Collette about it now, to make sure there aren't any more misunderstandings.]

[reconnaissance]

( Partly she just feels foolish, for managing to say things got misconstrued. Another part is tangled up in her feelings for Steph, which she knows are stronger than for most of her friends, and it's just because Steph is important, has been there in ways other people couldn't be, because Steph gets things and she doesn't have to explain, and what's more, Steph helps her. It's an intensity that she just hasn't touched, because it was fine. This was the kind of thing that held up a mirror, and she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with that.

Her jaw clenches, relaxes, and clenches again. ) You're really confusing, sometimes.

( These two and their pots and kettles. ) Why'd you tell me if it didn't matter? Just to make me feel ignorant, or what?

[controlledvariable]

I know. [There's amusement in it, but it's the self-deprecating kind, and she sounds almost apologetic, too. She knows that she's not the easiest to get along with, that she can be a little confusing.

The question is a little harder to answer, so she pauses before going with honesty.] I thought it was kinda funny that she got the wrong idea, figured you might find it amusing, too.

[Apparently she was wrong.]

[reconnaissance]

( That I know has a painful kick in it. Not harsh, not condemning, but when she's trying to make Steph get that she's good, and helpful, and all these things that she keeps proving to be and just keeps giving where Ellie is concerned, that line feels like she just kicked a puppy.
Not that there is anything "kicked puppy"esque about her, she's more like... a lion, or something.

Guiltily, Ellie relents, actually turning to face Steph again. She doesn't say sorry, not out loud, but apologies are embedded in the slightly stiff, awkward way she's holding herself. )

Do I have to sleep on the couch, now?

[controlledvariable]

[Ellie turning around is a relief. Steph lets out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, giving Ellie's wrist a gentle squeeze before letting her go.]

I'm not mad at you, El.

[reconnaissance]

( I reckon you should get mad at me, sometimes, the way I go on. She almost says it, but that barrier that usually rears up to trip her appears, all pride and self-righteousness. Instead, she just watches Steph for long moments, in silence, before she finally speaks. Admittedly, the words come without her really taking a moment to think about them. )

You're like a lion.

( Um. )

[controlledvariable]

[She gives Ellie a slightly curious look at the watching, but waits for her to say whatever's on her mind.

What comes out is not what she was expecting, and it startles a laugh out of her, but it sounds - delighted, rather than strictly amused.]

What is it with me and lions?

[reconnaissance]

There's this Egyptian goddess, uh-- Sehkmet, I think. She was the warrior goddess and the goddess of healing. ( She feels calm, again. Not thrown off balance. This is a thing she can explain, and make sense of. ) Sehkmet was a lioness. And lionesses, they're more agile, they're faster than lions. Everyone thinks of the lion as the fighter, but it's the lionesses that are the best hunters. They're really strong, but they protect, too, don't just hunt.

( The more she explains, the more it makes sense. ) They mean bravery, and honour. They're powerful, and ferocious, but they're not-- lions are the good guys. People say terrible things about wolves, and bears, and all those other strong animals, but I've never heard anyone say something bad about a lion.

( She realises that's not true of vigilantes, but she holds Steph's gaze, steady, if she can. ) You're a lionness.

( Just like how Fi was a heron, elegant, fragile and beautiful. It just fit. )

[controlledvariable]

[That... sure is an explanation. It's a lot more than Vanadi's comparison, and it - means more, too, because she knows Ellie isn't saying at as an attempt to get in her good graces. (Her thougts about Vanadi aren't very generous).

It also doesn't surprise her, hearing the way Ellie talks about her, that Collette got the wrong impression about her relationships. She thinks that's one of the nicest compliments she's ever got, and her smile is - soft, grateful. She isn't sure what to say.]

Healing and fighting, huh? I guess that fits.

[She hasn't done as much, well, healing here, as she does back home, but there's something about the comparison that she kind of loves, as much as it makes her feel a bit overwhelmed.]

[reconnaissance]

Yeah. It does.

( Even if Steph hasn't done much fixing other people, she's helped Ellie. A lot, more than she ever had to, and she was the one that grabbed Ellie and kept her afloat when she was struggling. There's just the barest flicker of a smile, and she shrugs. )

But you gotta wear more red. That's Sehkmet's colour, I think. It's been a while since I read up on my mythology. I mean, not all the stuff about her is good, but they don't matter.

( Well, that sure was a thing to say. Ellie rolls her eyes at herself, and scratches the back of her neck. ) You got the good end of the stick. I told Cedric he was like a teddy bear.

[controlledvariable]

[There's a flicker in her expression, something unreadable at the red comment, but it lasts barely a second before Steph smiles.]

I'll show you what my Robin costume looked like, one day. There was a fair bit of red in that.

[She still has too many feelings tangled up in Robin for it to ever be easy to mention, but she doesn't need to trouble Ellie with that. So she lets her smile widen.]

I dunno, teddy bears aren't so bad. I'm sure he appreciates it.

[reconnaissance]

( She just watches, nods a little. Suddenly her hands feel really empty, fingers twitching as the absence of doing something strikes her. That awkwardness that comes when she feels-- well, that awkwardness that just comes, sometimes, that feels like setting herself to some task or another will help. Ease it away, give herself something else to think about, rather than the fact she just told Steph she was a goddess lion warrior healer. Sometimes she wanted to smack herself in the face for her own honesty. )

Mmm. I still miss Alvin.

( Whatever, she doesn't even care. She loved that bear, don't judge her. Instead, blows her hair out of her face - again - plastered down as it is by the rain. ) Do you want to head back to the barn?

[controlledvariable]

[And there's another thing that startles a laugh out of her.]

Oh my god. Alvin, really?

[It's not about Ellie's teddy bear, but rather the fact that Alvin is a name that Tim operated under, when he was taking Steph out before she knew his real name. She's never heard it since then.

But she also nods for the question, turning towards the barn and offering her hand with a slight wiggle of her fingers.] You could probably stand to change your clothes.

[reconnaissance]

Yeah. What's wrong with Alvin?

( At least she's not offended, this time, just bemused.

Glancing down, and then, back at Steph. So deadpan: ) I think it's fine.

( So, so fine. It only takes a few seconds for that flatness to crack, and she grins as she takes the offered hand. It doesn't even occur to her to think that, hey, maybe this is another reason Coll thinks they're dating. ) I gotta check the fire, too.

( Stop checking the fire, Ellie. )

[controlledvariable]

It was a cover identity one of us used.

[Alvin Draper. She huffs a laugh, even as she gives Ellie's fingers a squeeze and starts towards the barn.]

I'm sure the fire is fine.