A camping we will go! (reserved)

[Leonie von der Marck]

Leonie grinned at the presence of some form or another of camping snacks making their way into Lou’s hand and accepted a small bit of the seeds, if only to give her idle hands something to do for the moment. Moments after the seeds were popped into her mouth, she waved to the arriving Mirella, who was laden down with gear of her own. The Lioness would have stepped in to help but Jude took over and she stayed by Lou’s side instead, well enough out of sight and out of the way.

An amused look crossed her face at the feel of strong hands at her hips followed by the quiet words spoken and as he moved to her side, she hefted the bag over her shoulders and adjusted it before his hand wrapped around hers. “You do realize I’ve done this before, right?” she teased him gently, bumping a hip into his. “Why doesn’t bug spray work for you?” she added, curiosity more than piqued at the idea that something as strong as DEET wouldn’t keep the little bloodsuckers away from him.

She walked at his side, keeping up his pace easily, as they followed loosely behind the group Hannah led. She might seem a pampered princess on the outside, but the Lioness held a deep love for the outdoors that had been inspired since her childhood and nothing had really changed. She was beyond excited for the experience just ahead of them.

[Hannah Lynn (DELETED 8242)]

Hannah made sure that they remained a little ahead of the group so they could talk freely-without many distractions. "Good, but I hope you're wrong. About the temporary thing." Hannah concluded, before thinking about what she could talk about. "I'm good. Work is busy as usual. Deciding on what to do next...probably moving to a new apartment complex. Something a little bigger." Freddie needed more than a smaller bedroom, in Hannah's mind. That was, if he was going to move with her. He didn't even know she was thinking of moving. Yet.

"I'm kind of seeing someone." Kind of. That was a way of putting it. "Definitely seeing someone. I like him. It seemed like an odd thing to say, obviously she had to like him to be 'seeing' him, but they started out anything but normal. "So, there are two places I thought about for pitching up a tent. Both sort of in the same vicinity, but offers different points of view."

They walked a few more steps before she offered her insight and sought Jude out for his. "We could cozy up not too far from a timid shoreline of a river that has a lake a few feet away....or....there's a small hilltop area just above the lake that's connected to that same river. Thoughts?" She asked, before going whatever way he decided. Both were good choices, but the weekend just wasn't about what she wanted, but what was good for everyone. And that would be where they would set up camp.

[Judah Marck]

Jude let Hannah lead the way, more than content to simply tag along, to be a friendly presence and an extra body to carry the multitudes of luggage some of them had brought. Her suggestion of moving had him glancing at her with query an expression, though when she'd arrived it was all new and maybe she'd just found an area she liked better, and she'd mentioned more space. He nodded, but before he could make a verbal reply she was talking, something of a confession that had him shooting her one of his grins, a bit more of a spring to his step. The man nudged her shoulder gently with his, affectionately. "Ahh, Hannah's got a someone! I hope this dude knows how lucky he is, and that you are both super happy." It was true, he genuinely felt an overwhelming sense of desire to see her happy and settled, while he didn't know the extent of why she had become a blood thief it was clear she'd gone through the wringer and was starting to come out the other side with renewed strength. He hoped that this man was someone she could confide in, who could know about and accept whatever it was that lurked in Hannah's past.

He considered teasing her, giving her a good natured ribbing about the guy, demanding all the details like some sorority sister, fake giggles and all but a more serious question forced him to decide to save it for campfire time. The two options were good, he knew the area had fairly good paths so either should be relatively easy to reach but as he glanced around at all the luggage he gave a thoughtful hum. "Well... If it has a decent bit of cover and the wind isn't too high I'd generally opt for going higher ground. Then again as long as it's raised from the shoreline... Better than a potentially slippery slope. If it's easier to access let's go the spot around the river. Just need to pick the place that's ok to get to with all this... Stuff. Enough room for the tents, a fire and still maintaining decent distant from the softer riverbed? Then we are golden." He offered, deferring back to Hannah, she knew more and would be able to take his suggestion into consideration. If the path became difficult at either point then perhaps they could go the other. "Oh, and Hannah? We are gossiping later.
S'mores, wine and snickering like teenagers is on the agenda." He winked, striding along, feeling a renewed sense of cheer about his decision to join the outing.

[Amalea]

Amalea had been quietly trailing behind the group since they had left Cherrydale station. Aside from Doc, who wasn’t currently present, she hadn’t known any of the others. It was very obvious that the others knew each other and in most cases were even related which left her as the outsider. This feeling was reinforced by the interactions between the quintet though it was hard to say if it was purposeful or just their group dynamic. Whichever it was, it was certainly intimidating.

Ever since they had stepped out of the city bounds into the wilderness, they had been followed. It was to be expected by anyone who knew of the demi-fae, though the red-head suspected most aside from vampires and ritualists would not. She had to wonder if any of the others had realized it or if they even would given the fae tended to leave most humans alone. They used to pay her no heed and, in reality, most still did not. It was only a small group that gave the blood thief trouble.

It had started nearly two and a half years ago, shortly after she had learnt the secrets of the blood thief. They never spoke to her, of course, as that would be too easy so all she could do was guess as to their reasons for tormenting her. Given the timing and persistence, Amalea had to assume it was due to her being able to wield the abilities of a vampire. She wasn’t quite sure what sense that made as she was still very much human but knew that little was known about demi-fae. Still, she found it odd that it was only the handful that seemed to have issues while the others were usually eager to aid her ritual work.

Mindful of their nearly invisible escort, the red-head remained on guard though she didn’t think they’d dare attack her physically with the others so close. She wasn’t going to take the chance though in case her thought process was incorrect. Having caught the descriptions of the two places had in mind, she was surprised to see that they had ended up at the lower site closer to the river; but then she wasn’t the camping expert and perhaps there was some benefit to this site over the hilltop.

Setting her sleeping bag topped cooler down; Amalea untangled herself from her bag. As she propped it against the cooler, her phone beeped with an alert. In truth, she was surprised there was even cell service this far outside the city limits. A simple tap on the screen autodialed her voicemail while she began to unfasten the pop-ups from her bag. She hadn’t been expecting Doc to call but had been grateful for the status update. The background sounds were mostly muffled though she could have sworn she heard a bone crack; his statements confirmed her theory that there was a drama unfolding. She laughed softly as she disconnected from her voicemail and flipped over to her messaging app so she could discreetly reply. [text] “Good luck and be careful. See you when you arrive.”

[Louvel von der Marck]

“Because I am not a bug.”

And if he was it still wouldn’t work at keeping him away. Louvel didn’t need to tell the von der Marck Lioness his following thought. She had enough time to figure it out. His hand slid up the narrow divide of the pale yet beautiful one beneath his touch. His fingertips floated gently while his mind counted each vertebrae that was left behind in their travel. The Canadian air filled him bringing in the traces of her that sweetened it all the more. He had breathed in the wonders of Nepal, the Maldives and the crisp clean richness of the Alps. He had been all over and yet there was nothing that registered quite so deep and constant as the scent of whom he was reminded of as he leaned in closer and walked in step with her. Life had always been good. But as if it was all part of some grand scheme to prove he had not seen anything yet -there it was getting better with the passing of hours, days and months without any effort on his part.

“You know they could choose to set up camp on a spread of cactus and I think somehow we could make something out of it all.”

He spoke in a hushed tone so that their conversation would not infringe on those taking place with the others. Not that the comment was without merit because he in fact had pretty much been left with no choice but to camp out in some raspberries years back for reasons only known to her.

“Raspberries.” He mentioned out loud as an afterthought.

Once he realized that he did his fingers curled over the rise of her hip and slid the tips between the surface of her skin and the denim. A man who never knew a moment of full selfish envy was finding even he could learn something along the way. Denim was becoming a contender in his mind. After all it was permitted to be hugging her body closer than he was able to at the moment.The hook of his thumb on the outside kept everything respectable as his steps moved him in the direction of those ahead of them.

“There is something about painful risk that is worth savoring. With or without achieving the possible reward.” His mossy orbs rested their gaze on a profile that found its place in his memory lingering as if he may discover something new if he did. The sound of Hannah talking to Judah up ahead caught his attention. “I do believe I need to mend some bridges while we are out here, Lioness. Or I can continue stand around like a fool and watch them burn.”

[Doc]

It was getting close to dusk. Doc didn’t want to leave for the camp site before it was was dark. Not because he couldn’t, but because he did not want to draw attention to himself to the Fae. The Fae were creatures he could not define within the means and information he had. Sure he could ‘surmise’ about the Fae, based on experiences. But there was far too much he did not know. That was the downside of knowledge. Once you knew enough about a subject, you realized a simple statement of fact could be proven or disproved far too easily.

In Doc’s case, he knew enough about the the Fae to know that any display of supernatural abilities would draw their attention. So he had to make sure he did nothing to draw their attention. His intents for this camping trip was fun. Perhaps a bit of mischief, but only because he bored easily. But he intended no harm, or injury to anyone. If the Fae decided to show up, he had a plan. One that might get him shot, stabbed or hurt.. Doc grinned. He would heal. He wanted Amalea to be able to unwind, have some fun.

If there was one person that he knew that was wound too tight.. Other than himself,.. It had to be Amalea. She was always ‘on’. Meaning she was always aware of her surroundings, the people about her and the implications those people could pose to her. Doc was fully aware that a female in her position should be aware. But,.. ****.. The girl rarely smiled.. Much less laughed. She held herself in check far too tightly. He had succeeded in talking her into camping; it was now his mission to make sure she enjoyed herself, for once.

Doc realized that a female alone, like Amalea was, she had to be careful. She walked a tight, fine line. She couldn't trust ‘just’ anyone. He understood this. But for some reason, he felt determined to make ensure she had a chance to relax. Why? He didn’t know, but he grinned to himself, it should be fun. He shouldered the backpack as the sun went down.

Setting out from the designated transit station, Doc kept up a quick pace. A quick pace by human standards. He didn’t want to call attention to himself to Fae. Thankfully for him, he didn’t get winded, therefore the quick pace wasn’t taxing. So he could make the distance in a quarter of the time that it took the group to make the trek. Occasionally Doc had to stop along the way, to check the tracking device that Cyril had given her. It was this tracking device that allowed him to find his way to the campsite, without alerting the Fae.

Strolling into the campsite well after the sun set, Doc grinned in his usual manner, “Evening all. Sorry I am late.. To make it up to everyone.. I brought booze.” Sliding the backpack off, with a sigh of relief, he set it on the ground. “You all are gonna have to help drink this.. Because I do not want to have to haul this all out.. Again..”

Unzipping the backpack, he pulled out several bottles of whiskey, vodka and gin. Doc looked about the group. “I didn't know.. What everyone liked, so I brought a variety of everything.. “ He grinned unashamedly.

[Hannah Lynn (DELETED 8242)]

The lower ground had been chosen with good insight from Judah. Hannah had been leaning towards it anyways, but the view of the overhang would have been cool too. No reason they couldn't check it out later. "Sure." Hannah said with a nod of her head as she started setting up her camp space, the first thing she lost had been the backpack from her shoulders, almost silently claiming 'dibs' in her area as she did this.

Hannah had no problems telling Judah about Freddie-maybe she wouldn't tell him his name, but she could tell him the gist of everything. The tent she picked was small, and easy to set up. It was one of the reason Hannah had bought it. Apparently it could be set up in just five simple steps. Who had time for putting stakes in the ground and all that crazy stuff? Once her tent was up, Hannah scooted the cooler she brought to one of the sides of the tent, indicating it was hers, but it was also open to everyone, given the way she angled it towards people.

A new person arrived on the scene just after everything had been set up and Hannah glanced the guy over. 'Doc.' She had never seen or heard of him, but he got a wave and a smile from her regardless. She looked at all the hard liquor he brought and then over at Judah. She wondered if he took part in any real heavy drinking. Then her eyes moved to Louvel and Leonie, also wondering the same thing. The impression she got from the majority was that they didn't, and that most preferred wine. Or at least, maybe that was in civil social settings. Hannah wasn't judging, she just wondered who might be drinking everything the new guy brought. "Hey, thanks." Hannah said to the guy who seemed keen on getting everyone wasted for the weekend. Good thing she had brought a fair bit of water in some bottles in the cooler.

Her eyes moved to Judah, before she made a small suggestion. "Fire first. Anyone up for helping me get some branches and sticks?" Hannah glanced between everyone in the group, not minding who offered and who didn't. Everyone was part of the group, and some people were better at other things than others. Not that stick finding was a skill set, being they were in the woods.

[Judah Marck]

Judah followed Hannah as she chose the lower path, content enough with her decision, he knew she was more than capable in the wilderness. With her new abilities perhaps even more so than before, though he tried not to dwell on her supernatural side too much. Her example was followed, Jude eyeing up and finding himself a place to set up his tent, gesturing for Mirella to take a good spot where he placed her extra belongings. His tent wouldn't take long to set up and so he wasn't too stressed about it, instead he made himself available to anyone else who needed help. The Pastor headed towards the rest of the group, pausing as he saw another man arrive. One who began to pull bottles of alcohol out. Jude glanced at his cousins and then at Hannah, gauging their reactions. "Well... Looks like we have a camping party on our hands?" He suggested.

Jude gave a laugh, offering his hand to newest arrival. "Hi there, I'm Judah, nice to meet you. You guys need a hand setting up at all?" He grinned over at the redheaded woman again, extending the offer, gathering that this was the extra person she had been expecting.

[Leonie von der Marck]

“Ahh,” she replied with a knowing laugh. Her mind hadn’t strayed far past literal meanings just yet, even if she was thoroughly enjoying his gentle touch, but that statement certainly had her thoughts lazily floating to precisely what he meant. “Maybe we’ll test that theory out sometime,” she added with a fresh grin just for him, tossed over her shoulder.

That smile was only growing as he reminded her of more prickly memories from what seemed an age ago. “You know... I'm pretty sure we could.”

The summer everything had changed, just before she’d headed off for college and mostly abandoned the family, had been one for the books. She’d tried to cut the visit short, heartache and break all but obliterating her judgment. Her mother had forbidden her from returning to Germany - a blow if there ever was one - because of all the times, she was there at the Estate for once, and busy, and had no time to deal with the presence of her youngest daughter who, on the verge of turning eighteen, was not a good visual reminder of the woman’s waning but not fading youth, by a long shot. This also meant the family jet was mysteriously not available and Leonie had long since realized it was useless trying to get her father involved when it came to disagreeing with his wife. An ill-timed storm had scuppered her plans for a commercial flight to New York in hopes she could stay with Lucia rather than hole up in a hotel, and she’d been near to losing it, but it had ended up turning into something better than she could have anticipated.

Bags were packed and she’d straightened up the room she usually inhabited while in residence at the Canadian manor. Even if she couldn’t get where she wanted, she surely had other options, even if she couldn’t quite think well enough to formulate a solid idea of what those might be. She had planned to tell Lou goodbye in person when she knew he wasn’t working, but instead, as she waited for him to come back for the evening, he’d surprised her. Somehow, he’d figured out she was gearing up to leave, and even though she didn’t say why, the Lioness had a sneaking suspicion he had a good enough idea. He and Judah were so close then; it was purely stupid to think he wouldn’t figure it out. At least some of it.

But before Leonie knew it, Lou had her laughing, had her naturally playful personality coming out to shine through the darkness and depression that wanted to swallow her up. She’d loved him then - in a different way than now, maybe - but love was love was love, in her estimation. When it was true, and honest, and real, it could make just about anything better. He’d ditched his duties for the evening in favor of dragging her out to play, just as they had as kids, and they ended up having so much fun she'd almost forgotten her plans to take off early.

The night had ended with a dare, inspired by so many of their younger nights, just like the one that had spurred on more current events. She'd blindfolded him and made him select the spot, on a map of the grounds, where he’d be camping out for the night. Unfortunately, that had been square in the middle of the wild raspberry patch, near their quiet little swimming hole, where she imagined he'd been aiming. No one knew the estate like Lou, so the poorly chosen spot had been almost gleefully satisfying.

But Leonie had not planned to make him stay there alone; she'd grabbed a sleeping bag and a couple bottles of wine and set up right next to him, under the stars, where they'd had a long talk about just about everything - except why she'd wanted to leave, out of respect for Judah's wishes - and anything that had come to mind. Though she hadn't insisted they stay there and had eventually moved to a more comfortable spot near the banks, that they'd been plucking thorns out of one another the next morning, for hours at that and amidst much pained laughter, had little negative impact on how good, how needed it had been. And out there, in the open solitude of the night sky, the Lioness had learned a few things of great importance, lessons that reverberated there, in the present, that had spilled over into their current union and beyond.

She swallowed, the words trapped beneath the strange lump forming in her throat as her gaze moved across the way for a brief moment, and she nodded. No matter what had happened, there was too strong a foundation between them all to keep letting temporary difficulties get in the way and keep them apart. Those rifts had to have some resolution. “You're right. I kinda started making those repairs already... Not sure how far they'll get, especially now, but you and he have more to lose than he and I ever did. I hope you get the chance to start this weekend...”

The moment was broken, though by the sound of someone else arriving when they'd come to a halt, who offered a large array of booze at that. Leonie smiled and called out a thanks in reply; being among unfamiliar faces meant she didn't think she'd be partaking in much more than a glass of whiskey by the fire, but it was a nice gesture all the same.

A brief sigh left her as her attention moved back to the golden haired male beside her, her fingers moving to curl around his, as she surveyed the scene before her. It was a good spot to set up, and she already had her eye on a cozy corner that would fit them and their gear a little ways away.

[Amalea]

Having slid her phone back into her pocket, the red-head returned her attention to getting setup before it became far too dark to see what she was doing. Not that she actually had any sort of clue in this arena, but surely setting up a couple of pop-up tents couldn’t be that hard, could it? Then again, her only real knowledge of camping came from movies and books. Of course, she had done a bit of research into what to pack, but without knowing the type of tents being involved, she hadn’t been able to do much aside from get a rough idea what to expect.

Amalea took a moment to survey the area she had chosen. It appeared to be fairly flat and able to hold the pair of tents she had in her possession as long as they weren’t massive. Wrinkling her nose, she turned her attention back to the bags holding the mysterious shelter. The name would appear to imply that such was easy enough to set up, but the red-head’s luck tended to be erratic at the best of times so she wasn’t about to bet on it. Therefore, she was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a small collection of stakes and a secured bundle when opening the bag. That there wasn’t a million pieces coming tumbling out was a good sign.

Taking the bundle from the bag, she set aside the remaining bits. Loosening the strap, she gave the bundle a light shake to separate whatever pieces it contained and was more than delighted when a full-fledged tent emerged. Laughing softly, she plopped it into place before quickly repeating the procedure with the second one, figuring it would be easier to stake them down after ensuring they’d fit in the spot and there was enough room to do so. Blowing away should a wind storm move though was not high on her list of adventures for the weekend.

The stakes had been easier to set than she had anticipated; perhaps this wasn’t as hard as she thought. Either that, or Doc had found the easiest tent to set up that he could. In the end, it didn’t really matter. They were set up and didn’t seem as though they’d blow away so all was well. That it wasn’t completely dark yet was just a bonus. She threw a sleeping bag in each tent before stowing her backpack in the one closest to the others. It could always be moved later, if Doc had a preference, but at least it wouldn’t get dusty in the meantime.

The sight and sound of Doc arriving brought a soft sigh of relief from the red-head. Finally she wasn’t the only outsider in this impromptu family affair. “Evening, Doc,” she replied with a cheeriness and a soft laugh as he began to empty his bag. The looks the others gave each other didn’t miss the escape of the woman as she had watching them carefully. She wasn’t sure how attuned they were to vampires and wanted to be on the watch for trouble just in case.

Amalea smiled at Judah, as he introduced himself to Doc, “I think we might be good, but thanks.” . She was pleased by his offer, even if it was unnecessary, as he was the only one to do so or even offer up an introduction. Apparently, she was going to have to take the lead and introduce the rest of the bunch. She gave Doc a small smile, “The one that just suggested a fire is Hannah, you’ve met Judah, the pair over there are Leonie and Louvel, and Mirella is around here somewhere as well.”

“And all of them except Hannah seem to be related while she appears to be a close family friend,” she added in a mental aside to Doc, grateful it was even a viable option. “If I didn’t know this had been an open-invitation weekend, I’d almost swear I was the red-sheep outcast of the family.” She nodded her head towards the tents she had set up, “I think they’re up right.” She laughed lightly, “If not, I guess we’ll find out later. I took a guess you might prefer the far one? If not, I’ll just switch my bag around later.”