[PRP] The Winter of Our Discount Tent (Finn & Preacher)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher had gone about her usual schtick - get to the forest, pull down her stuff, find a slightly new spot, then set up camp. It was starting to get cold at night, and she couldn't risk a fire, but at least it was no longer raining. She hummed as she worked. The ground was still damp, but it took a tent stake okay. After the tent was pitched, she powered on her battery-operated cooking pan and began to heat up her panini (a frivolous food purchase, but it had looked so good).

She shivered.

silverah

 

[Silverah]

At least, Finn thought as he zipped up his jacket, the rain had stopped. The ground out in the woods was marshy in places, muddy in others, and the trails had been more or less washed out, but...

At least it was drying out.

The sun was setting, and the woods were quickly growing dark as Finn set off into them. He clicked on his flashlight, sweeping the trail ahead with the beam.

He smelled... bacon?

Finn frowned and set off in search of the source of the smell, his powers nudging him off the trail and out into the woods, where he eventually came across a makeshift campsite... and a young woman bent over a camping stove.

"Uh," he said, clearing his throat to announce himself. His aura glowed faintly blue in the twilight, a long-lasting effect of his misadventures at the fairy ball. "This isn't a designated camping area."

The Semblance Of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher looked up and froze. After a moment, she flipped the panini; she didn't want it to burn. The soft sizzle of it hung between them. "Dude... why are... are you ********' blue?" Though, she guessed, that really wasn't the issue at hand here. She turned off the stove.

"I mean, uh, sorry... I... didn't know..."

silverah

 

[Silverah]

"Long story," said Finn, and pointed to the stove. It was off now, but the smell lingered in the air.

"You're gonna attract bears," he said. "I mean. I don't want to be the bad guy, but it's my job to tell you - you can't camp here. You've gotta pay the camping fee and go to one of the official campgrounds. Haven't you heard?"

"Teenagers disappear out here."

Poor Adoelle, he thought. Poor Michael Mitchel. Poor Heliodora.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She looked up at him through narrowed eyes. "Ain't never met a bear before," she muttered. And she hadn't - possibly only through dint of good luck and good storage (also keeping her things in trees). Her stomach growled loudly. Preacher quite plainly did not want to go to the official campgrounds - full of tourists and costing money. Both terrible, terrible things.

"Why - they fall into that weird canyon thing back a-ways?" She jerked her hand vaguely behind her. Preacher hadn't approached it; it looked dangerous and she wasn't about that danger. She'd read about the teenagers he was mentioning though, or at least she thought he was talking about that. Those were related to spooky s**t which she wasn't a part of so....

"Can I at least eat first?"

silverah

 

[Silverah]

"Yeah, and worse," said Finn, who did not feel like getting into the specifics of there being a vaguely malevolent magical world overlapping their own with a certified miscreant. "Just because you've never seen a bear doesn't mean they're not out here."

Honestly, he thought. Tourists.

"Okay, but hurry up," he conceded, scanning the trees with his flashlight. "It's getting dark."

He was worried about accidentally crossing over - this whole forest was a damn liminal space.

The Semblance of Unity

Sorry for the wait!!!

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Okay, jus' bear with me." She hastily covered up her snort of amusement with shoving about a third of the panini in her mouth. And almost choking. "If you shine that light 'round, won't tha bears know where to find us?" Preacher waggled her fingers at him.

Looking at the rest of the sandwich, she help up half. "You want half, dude?"

silverah

it ok bro : D

 

[Silverah]

Finn eyed the sandwich, then shook his head. "Nah," he said. "I'm good." He stilled the flashlight, keeping it trained towards the trail. "Just gotta keep an eye on the way back."

Not that Finn ever got lost.

"I'm not gonna like, write you up or whatever," he said. If the kid was living in a shitty tent in a state park, she obviously didn't need the additional bullshit of being issued a fine. What she needed, he thought, was for someone to cut her some slack. "You can stay in the campground for free tonight. You just, like, can't be out here."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She shrugged. "Your loss." Preacher was kind of glad he'd declined the sandwich, more for her. Normally, she'd have saved the half but she doubted that having food around would be viewed as a good idea. After a moment, she stood, cracked her neck, and began to set about dissembling her tent. The methodical way she moved suggested she had done this many, many times.

"Thanks," she said. She couldn't afford a write-up. "How much is the campsite?" But she'd be damned if she took more generosity than that.

silverah