Fandom I K N O W A P L A C E \\ Camp Camp Roleplay // 1x1

[Pilot-66]

He shifted uncomfortably in the silence that hung between them after he’d finished speaking. Worry prickled at the nape of his neck as he dared a glance back over at Abby and found her eyes searching his with an emotion (or a few) that he couldn’t read. Oh no, had she felt obligated this whole time…?

Finally, she spoke and David felt his shoulders visibly ease at how candid her tone was despite the few seconds it’d taken her to find an answer. Picking his head up a bit more, he followed her inside and turned to shut the cabin door behind them. However, he paused halfway through the motion when he heard her muttered reassurances that she wasn’t leaving. Him in particular. Not just the camp.

David looked over his shoulder at her, still absently holding onto the doorknob as he tried to process the phrase and balance the familiar mixture of wariness and elation that her words had sparked to life within him. Suddenly the busy look he’d seen in Abby’s eyes just a moment ago made a little more sense. He could easily picture the same look on his face now.

He blinked a couple of times to chase the thoughts away, then focused on her again as she assured him she wasn’t a bad person. Those were words he’d heard before, and some part of him flinched inwardly at hearing them again, but…Gosh darn it, he believed her. After all, Abby had been nothing but helpful and kind since he’d met her! He’d seen that for himself.

David felt a smile brimming naturally on his lips as he watched her settle down onto the edge of her bed. “Alrighty then!” He turned and closed the door once he finally remembered to do so then spun around to face her with renewed confidence as he rested his fists on his hips, “So long as you know you always a choice and you’re happy here—then so am I!” After a moment, he let his arms rest back at his side and felt his expression ease as he added more earnestly, “And…Thank you. Uh–heh–again.”

He strode over towards his own bed and took a seat at end of it. With some amusement, the lanky counselor realized he was the complete opposite of Abby. He sat with his knees bent and his feet firmly planted on the floor. If anything, he sort of always felt a little too tall for the twin mattress, but…it did the job well enough. Especially now.

He let himself flop onto his back atop the comforter with a sigh as all the ache and weight in his muscles and joints finally eased. He closed his eyes, barely even bothered by the lights burning overhead. “I really can’t wait for you to get to see this place in full swing. You’re gonna love it~” the redhead tried to stifle a yawn with chatter, but it managed to sneak into the end of his words despite his efforts.

“You can take the restroom first.” David offered since the two of them usually took turns in the bathroom to change out of their uniforms at night. He yawned again in spite of himself, “I’m just…gonna…rest my eyes for a teensy bit… ”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

As he gave up the first chance to the bathroom, she smiled and nodded, silently assuring him that she would be quick - though she had a feeling he’d fall asleep before she got out. She grabbed her what she needed and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door carefully behind her. She didn’t really feel like she needed a shower, and she hadn’t really been doing anything strenuous that day, so she simply settled on changing her clothes. She tugged a little bit at the large blue shirt with clouds on it. She couldn’t remember where she had even bought the shirt at, and she knew that it had never fit her, but she did notice that she was getting a tiny bit of weight and that was a little miracle in her book - she was starting to look like an actual human being. But when she looked into the mirror at her own face, she realized that she still looked beyond tired. It wasn’t the physical kind of tired. It was the emotional kind, the kind that showed up on someone’s face when they wouldn’t say the truth, or they wouldn’t talk about what was bothering them because they would bottle it up and keep it in the back of their mind because they were afraid of the truth.

She sighed to herself and ripped the ponytail out of her slightly snarled up hair. The blonde strands have become sort of nodded and occasionally she pulled out some sort of debris. She may have actually needed to shower, but she was too tired to really bother. She would just have to get up earlier and take a shower before dealing with the kids in the morning. As she ran her brush through her hair in an effort to tame its wild state, she did her best to mentally figure out what she had to do in the morning - wake up early to shower and dress, then go out and wake up the campers and make sure they all got to breakfast unharmed. It was probably a very simple task that she was overthinking, but that wasn’t anything new to her. She was a mess. Even when she didn’t look like she was having anxiety, her mind was always buzzing with things that she didn’t want to remember, forgot that she knew, and whatever she was doing at the moment.

Abby stopped brushing her hair after a moment, her free hand moving across to feel the edges of the inked portions of her shoulder and the tiny licks of the tattoo that showed up past her upper back. She traced what it was a million times and most of the time, it was comforting to know it was there. She hadn’t spoke about it to anyone, nor had she said what the tattoo read. Her heart sort of aches a little when she remembered why she got it and she finally gathered her things and left the bathroom, eager to leave the sad thoughts behind. It had been a good night and she wanted to have semi-decent sleep. Thinking wouldn’t make that happen.

 

[Pilot-66]

Birdsong sounded quietly from outside, the cries distant and sparse as the forest was just beginning to wake.

David cracked an eye open groggily and lifted his head. He looked up at the window, blinking slowly into the pale dawn colors backlighting the treetops. Wait, it was morning already? He turned his head to look over at Abby’s bed, surprised to see her snuggled down beneath the blankets. He blinked again, more furiously this time to try and shake the fog of sleep from his mind. He must have fallen asleep after she went to change…

He hoped he hadn’t missed anything in the night or seemed rude for passing out, but he tried not to linger on the thought. He had a full day of work ahead of him now, and after last night, he was more determined than ever to make sure he had the docks I'm uncultured and span before the day’s first activity!

The redhead got to his feet and slipped into the bathroom to change and clean himself up a bit. Combing his hair, he quietly wished he hadn’t fallen asleep using his arm as a pillow, but he wasn’t about to let that slow him down. Meeting his reflection in the mirror he took a deep breath before beaming a grin at himself then stepping out to meet the day. He moved quietly through the cabin, casting a glance over at Abby as he passed by her bed. He still felt a little bad about leaving her alone with the kids so early, but…if he could just work fast enough, he knew he could make it up to her and tag in later.

He shut the cabin door slowly behind him then ventured back towards last night’s campsite to check on the campers before he got to work. When he was certain everyone was still sound asleep and settled, he gathered his supplies from the Quartermaster’s storage and headed for the lake.



It was a few hours later before anyone around the long-dead campfire started to stir, but gradually a few of the early risers were beginning to sit up in their sleeping bags and chatter amongst themselves. It wasn’t long–of course–until someone accidentally woke Nurf, prompting him to zip the offender up in their sleeping bag and start trying to swing them around in the air over his head. Max was pretty sure it was Space Kid if the screams were anything to judge by.

The boy groaned, reaching up to cover his ears as he tried to sink further down into his own sleeping bag and block out another day of this stupid shit. Jesus, why did he come out here again!? He could have been sound asleep in his tent right now. Or at least pretending to be.

“Morning Max!” Niki plopped beside him, “Hey, I think Nurf’s finally gonna kill Space Kid. Neil says his helmet will probably break and stab his neck or something, but I got money on him drowning in his own puke inside it first. What do you think?”

“I think it’s too fucking early for this…” Max bit the words out then reached up to yank the edges of his sleeping bag down over his head as he bundled himself up to block out the sunlight. His head was already hurting from a restless night and the screaming and light weren’t helping.

 

[TarantulaHawk]

When Abby woke up, she rubbed her eyes over and over in an attempt to get the nightmares that she had that night to leave her memory. It hadn’t been an extremely bad night like it usually was, but there were nightmares and she was bothered by them. She wished that she could get used to them somehow so that they didn’t bother her so much when she woke up. But she had a feeling that would never happen and she would just have to deal with those unsightly memories coming back to haunt her.

She was quick to get up and go and hit the shower, doing her best to try and run her fingers through her knotted hair. She really needed to invest in some detangler or something - her instant thought when she had gotten out of the shower and started tearing her brush through the blonde strands. She put her clothing on the best she could with a still damp body, stumbling a bit when it came to her pants. She could already tell it was going to be a rough day.

And then she remembered that she was going to be in charge of the kids for a while and it simply solidified her thought. She was a little bit better than David when it came to discipline, but she really hoped that she didn’t have to put any discipline in force. She was too tired for that sort of thing.

When she figured it was a good time, she left the cabin and made her way over to where the campers had fallen asleep the previous night. It seems that most of them had started to wake up, and it was obvious that they were groggy and not a big fan of being awake.

“Morning, everyone!” She put a smile on her face that would stay there probably until she went to bed that night, it wasn’t exactly genuine but it was there to make sure that she looked friendly. “Did you all sleep good? I hope so. I’m sure David has a ton of things for you guys to do today, as usual!”

Unfortunately it was only a few seconds later when she noticed that the child was being swung around inside of their sleeping bag and she had to go and break up the problem. Nurf was not impressed with the kid inside of the bag, which did turn out to be, a very nauseous, Space Kid. It was pretty early for things to be going haywire already, and that only let Abby know that she was completely correct when she had earlier thought that the day was going to be a little crazy.

 

[Pilot-66]

Still bundled as deep into his sleeping bag as he could get, Max felt his brow flatten at the sound of an adult feminine voice interrupting the commotion around the campfire. So much for maybe getting another half-hour in before this shit show of a Thursday started. The boy sighed to himself as he clawed the blankets off from over his head and sat up, trying to ignore the stabbing pressure behind his eyes as sunlight beamed down on the clearing through the trees. God, he needed coffee.

He looked up at Abby as she walked past to go handle Nurf’s rage. He felt the corner of his lip twist into a sneer as he listened to her try and sound chipper around a smile that couldn’t have been more fake if she’d drawn it on.

“I’m sure David has a ton of things for you guys to do today, as usual!”

David and his dumb activities were the last things Max wanted to think about this early in the morning, but the mention of the red-head made him cast a glance around the campsite. As nice as the peace was, it was kind of strange not to see David anywhere. The idiot never missed breakfast or the chance to try and get them all to start the day with the camp’s dumb anthem. Suspicion churned in Max’s gut as he looked back to Abby, watching silently as she rescued a failing Space Kid from his sleeping bag. Things had been weird around the camp—well, more weird than usual—ever since they’d arrived to find her here, and that was almost always a bad sign around this hell hole…

“Yeah?” Max finally spoke up as she pushed himself to his feet and dusted a few stray leaves off his hoodie before turning a dull glance back up at the blonde woman, “Well, if he’s got so much planned what are you doing here?”

“Oh! I hope it’s to give us breakfast! I’m STARVING!” Niki jumped up to her feet, nearly knocking Neil over as he worked on neatly folding up his sleeping bag. The green haired girl bounded over to stand next to Abby and tug on her pant leg. “Can we hunt for our own food today? I found a log with a bunch of bugs building nests under it two days ago. I bet those babies are ripe for the picking by now!”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

She looked over at the source of the snarky remark and found that it was Max - she wasn't surprised, but was a little confused that someone could be like that so early in the morning. Maybe he just wasn't a morning person. "That's not a bad question, honestly. For those of you who haven't noticed, David has been doing a lot to make the camp look a lot better! He's been working really hard and he had to get up twice as early as all of us to get a move on with his plans. He said that he should be ready to rejoin us after breakfast!"

Abby looked over at Nikki and laughed despite the young girl's violent tendencies showing through her comment. "We are going to be getting some breakfast, but no Nikki, we won't be hunting for our food. I'm sorry."

"I mean," Ered sighed as she ignored the others, moving her bangs out of her face and shrugging, crossing her arms tiredly, "at least he's getting something done about how uncool this place looks."

Abby turned her attention to the eldest girl for a moment and sighed. She glanced around after a moment. She couldn't deny that if she was a kid and heading to camp, she would have been pretty unhappy to see that the camp looked the way it did. It was run down after what was probably many years of use and there was a lot that could be improved. But David was doing a pretty good job with tackling one thing at a time. The docks looked great, as an example!

"I think an adventurer's camp should look cooler," Nerris sniffled as she stood up, putting on her glasses and blinking rather sleepily, "I mean, we're a party of many classes and many skills, and our camp is very...."

"Gross?" Nikki grinned, her eyes gleaming at the words she kept saying, "Ugly? Disgusting? Old?"

"More like ancient." Neil piped in.

"All those words work." Nerris nodded.

"Well," Abby chuckled, feeling a little awful with each work they decided to chose and she prayed that David was anywhere but in earshot, "the camp is pretty old. But David is doing a good job at making sure he works on whatever he can, whenever he can."

"Hate to interrupt your praise of the fucking goober," Max grumbled, "but can we get a move on? I need some coffee or I might just kill everyone and then myself."

"Breakfast! Right!" Abby had honestly forgotten and knew they were all children - that meant they were constantly hungry, "Let's head to the mess hall! I'm sure the Quartermaster has something good made for you guys this morning."

 

[Pilot-66]

Max brought up the rear of the group, glad to be moving and even more glad to already smell coffee brewing down the hill, but…something still didn’t sit right with him. The camp had always looked like shit and David has always worked overtime to try and spruce the place up, but the red-head had never been this preoccupied and on edge about it before. Not until Abby got here.

“Are you okay?” The sound of Neil’s voice distracted him from his thoughts and he glanced up to see that the taller boy had fallen back to match his pace, “You look kinda upset…”

“What? No!” Max drew his head back, slightly jolted by Neil’s observation. He furrowed his brow and fell back few steps so that Abby and the rest of the kids couldn’t hear them talking, “I still just think we’re one bad day away from Abby snapping and killing us all.”

“Sweet Newton, not this again.” Max bristled at the exasperation in Neil’s voice, “She’s just a new counselor, Max. We all knew Gwen was gonna get the hell out of here the first chance she got. Who cares if there’s someone new?”

“I feel like I shouldn’t have to remind you that the last time David hired someone with dead eyes and a fake smile like that, we all ended up in a fucking gas chamber. But I guess I’m going to anyway…” Max countered aridly.

Neil blanched and looked away. That made Max feel a little better about the hair standing up on the back of his own neck every time he thought about the experience. After a moment Neil finally shook his head and spoke again, “Okay, fine. But Daniel was obviously disturbed from the second he got here. Abby seems…quiet…but pretty normal to me.”

“Nah. She’s hiding something and I’m gonna find out what it is.” Remembering Neil calling him out for looking upset, Max closed his eyes and shrugged to look casual, “Even on the off chance that I’m wrong, I can at least probably find something to hang over her head when the time comes…”

Neil tensed beside him before whispering, “You’re going to raid the Councler’s Cabin again, aren’t you…?”

Max nodded, “Yup.”

“Y’know most people just talk to someone when they want to get to know them…” Neil had to fight a slight smirk. Max was a smart guy, but man, he had some warped social hang ups. Worse even than his own personal social anxiety.

Max shot a glare over at his tall friend for sounding amused, “And most people only ever learn what the other person WANTS them to know! Haven’t you ever noticed how vague she is every time we ask her a question?”

“That’s not true…” Neil rolled his eyes and followed the group into the mess hall, but when he stopped to think about it, he supposed the story that Abby had told them last night about her learning to sing had been a little sparse. All they’d learned in the end was that she had a natural talent that some important person she’d refused to name had helped her improve. That was the most he’d learned about her all week. But…someone valuing their privacy didn’t mean they had another Daniel situation on their hands…did it? They hadn't even exactly pressed her for details at the time...

Shaking his head to try and prevent Max’s paranoia from infecting him, he squared his shoulders and looked down at Max, “Here, I’ll prove it’s not true so you can finally stop freaking out.”

Neil hurried along to join the other kids as they formed a line at the mess hall’s serving window. He purposefully placed himself next to Abby then glanced back at Max. He saw that the dark haired boy had already poured himself a cup of black coffee like he usually did and had taken a seat at one of the tables nearest to the mess hall’s doors—no doubt waiting on his chance to slip out and rifle through the counselor’s belongings. The guy really was stuck on this idea…

Neil slowly glanced up to Abby—some primal part of him almost wanting to back out of this and let Max’s conniving plans reassure him that everything was as fine as he said—but he was more determined to prove he was right than he was nervous so he carried on. “Sooo, Abby…” He reached up and collected an empty tray from the serving window, flexing it in front of himself as he spoke loudly enough for Max to hear the conversation, “Where are you from? You don’t have the local accent, so obviously you’re not a Sleepy Peak resident…unless your family lives out here and you just moved away at some point and now you're back? Also, are you religious at all? And do you feel particularly strongly about your philosophies and the spreading of your ideals?”

In the back of the room, Max had to fight not to slap his hand over his face. What an idiot.

 

[TarantulaHawk]

Abby made sure to lead the kids directly to the mess hall, knowing they were probably beyond hungry and still very tired and any sort of detours might make her lose control of them. She had learned enough already that when it came to the kids, she needed to just go straight to the point or they wouldn't really care enough to let her round them up again. It was sort of a mess sometimes. So when she got there, she stepped aside and let them in, counting each head of hair she saw.

The air smelled stale, as it always did inside of the mess hall, and it mixed in curiously with whatever breakfast food the Quartermaster had made or was currently making. As she watched the kids line up with their trays, she saw him put a scoop of what seemed to be eggs and something else she didn't quite identify. Maybe she'd just skip breakfast. She had some granola bars in the counselors cabin that she had gotten David to buy for her on his last trip into town. She would stop by and grab one of those later on.

All the same, she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at one of the tables near the window with the trays and such. She liked to keep a close eye on the kids because, well, they were all sort of devious in their own ways and it sort of made her paranoid. It wasn't like she really had a ton of things to hide, though she did have some things reserved because children didn't need to learn about certain things so young. The few secrets she had were kept for their safety. And her own sanity.

She glanced up from her cup of coffee at Neil, who seemed curious. About her. She couldn't blame him. The kids didn't know much about her. Though some of his questions didn't make any sense whatsoever - "I'm from Seattle. I was born there. And.... I don't really think I'm religious? I don't really think about that sort of thing much, I guess. Sorry I don't have a better answer."

Such a weird round of questions. Though, they were just kids. Kids were bound to ask the things she never really paid attention to, like her third favorite reptile or something. Though Neil was a lot smarter than some of those kids and his questions were pretty specific, so it caught her off guard when it came to answering them. She just didn't know what else to say but the truth.

And for once, she could actually say the entire truth without lying. It was sort of a relief.

 

[Pilot-66]

Neil looked up at Abby as she took a crack at answering his questions. At first, he was hopeful, but by the time she’d finished speaking, Neil felt himself starting to sweat a little under the collar of his shirt. She didn’t have some crazy religion she was going to try and force on them, but…he still hadn’t exactly learned much about her either. “O-Oh, well…that’s…uhhh good?” He tried to sound natural as he picked his food tray out of the serving window and shuffled on his feet for a moment, “Well, see ya later.” Neil hurried to the back of the Mess Hall again, sighing as he slid onto the bench seat next to Max.

“Well,” Max piped up as soon as he’d settled and Neil grimaced at how smugly satisfied the other boy sounded, “You sure showed me. She’s an open fucking book now.”

“It still doesn’t prove anything,” Neil argued sullenly, picking up his fork and giving the egg-things on his plate an experimental poke before he looked over at Max, “I Just-–I’m not that great of a conversationalist! You know that. Besides, she said where she from and…she did technically answer all my questions…”

Max rolled his eyes and lifted the mug to his lips, chugging down the rest of the coffee before slamming the empty cup down on the table top, “Well, I’m about to DEFINITELY answer our questions.”

“Max, I don’t know…”

“Shut up!” Max growled then shot a glance at Abby from across the Mess Hall. She didn’t look like she was paying too much attention to them. Good. But just to cover his ass, he hunched his shoulders and leaned across the table to whisper to Niki, “Niki, I need a distraction.”

The green haired girl’s eyes lit up as she grinned around a mouthful of eggs. “Oooh, how big are we talkin’?”

“Ehh, give me fifteen minutes.” Max shrugged as he settled back down into his seat, smiling appreciatively at how easily Niki had gone along with this. He liked that about her. Never asked too many questions.

“I’m on it!” Niki nodded, gulping down her mouthful and giving a thumbs up before she spun around in her seat and flicked a spoonful of eggs at the back of Preston’s head. “FOOD FIIIIIGHT!”

Within seconds, the mess hall erupted into a battlefield. Eggs, toast, and orange juice sailed through the air. A few kids tried to take shelter under the tables or behind their serving trays while others went all out. When Niki jumped up onto one of the tables with a battle screech, Max took his chance, letting her draw all the attention as she slipped quietly out the mess hall’s doors.

He could still hear screaming behind him as he hurried towards the counselor's cabin. He kept himself pressed closed to the side of the building as he peaked through the windows and around the corners—just in case David was around anywhere. When he was sure the coast was clear, he strode up to the front door and tried the doorknob. Locked, as usual.

Max sighed with annoyance then backed up and gave the cabin door a swift kick. The spare key that David kept hidden at the top of the door frame rattled, and—without even needing to look anymore—Max held out his hand and caught it. Seriously, why did the David even bother to lock the door if he was going to keep the spare key hidden in the same place forever?

Fitting the key into the lock, Max pushed the door open and stepped inside, quickly closing it behind him so he wouldn’t be noticed. The boy shoved the key into his hoodie pocket as he turned to survey the cabin. It was kind of weird being in here and not seeing Gwen’s trashy romance posters plastered all over the place…

He glanced over at the wall that David always decorated and briefly stopped in his tracks when he saw that David still had that stupid ‘Max + Positivity = Sucess’ sign up, right next to the broken staff from his weird bonfire tradition. Max stared at the items for a few moments before shaking his head and furrowing his brow as he crossed the room to Abby’s side of the cabin. David would get over this. It was his fault anyway! Who hired someone without even doing background checks--twice?!

“Let’s see…” Max glanced over the sparse belongings sitting on and around Abby’s bed as he tried to decide where to look first, “If I was a possible psychopath and I was gonna try to hide something, where would I put it…?”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

Abby was still curious as to why those questions seemed to be the ones that a kid wanted to ask her. She took a drink of her coffee and then looked at all the kids. Max and Neil were now talking, Nikki was wolfing down as much food as she possibly could, Preston was talking about something to Dolph and the two looked like they were in a disagreement, and the others seemed to just be spread out in their own little groups.

Though, a sudden cry from Nikki and a blob of eggs flying through the air quickly garnered Abby's attention. Within mere seconds, the situation had escalated violently and even Abby was being pelted by eggs and whatever other slop they were given, as well as someone splashing a carton of milk on her, which was disgusting. She did her best to dodge flying food and other things as she made her way to Nikki. She grabbed the girl off the table and put her on the ground.

"Nikki, what in the world?!" She exclaimed, "Quit!"

Abby turned around, panicking a little. Of course, on her morning alone, the kids had to be like that. The blonde counselor was yelping and trying her hardest to stop the kids from flinging the food everywhere. She was freaking out and knew that the end result was not going to be pleasant. She glanced over to the counter where the Quartermaster had served them heir food to find the drop-down metal piece shut. Even the Quartermaster had abandoned her. Of course. Of course!

"Stop!" She did her best to raise her voice at the kids, her hands in fists and she was not feeling good all the sudden. "C'mon, quit! You guys are making a mess and you're all gonna clean it up!"

Though there was something else going on that was obviously out of view from Abby, something much more concerning. In the cabin, she had her items organized fairly well and put in places that she could get to automatically. Like how all her hygiene products were to the left in her drawer, which also held her clothing. Underneath the bed, next to a few junk boxes of things that had probably been inside the cabin for many years, was her patterned drawstring bag. It had more personal things, like her checks, her jewelry (what little she had anymore), two VHS tapes and something that sat on top of all of that. It was a photo album.

 

[Pilot-66]

Wild light danced in Niki’s eyes as she stood atop the table overseeing her destruction. She glanced over to where Max had been moments before and noted with pride that he was gone now. Another job done right! She smiled to herself, though the grin quickly turned into a frown as a pair of hands scooped her up and set her back down on the ground, “Aww… I wasn’t done boasting!”

Neil peaked out from behind his tray, curling his nose as he watched eggs slide down the wall next to him. Honestly! Did the distraction have to be this disgusting? He could have thought of a dozen much more sanitary ways to go about this! He ducked again as a milk carton sailed over his head then dared another glance out at Abby as she tried to calm the room. He frowned as he watched the Quartermaster shut the window in her face. He was actually starting to feel a little bad for her as he recognized the glazed panic in her eye—he wouldn’t have been handling this any better than she was if he were in her shoes, but the way she balled her fists at her side kept him firmly planted behind the safety of his meal tray.

Everyone in the mess hall gradually started to quiet at the threat of being forced to clean up their own mess. “What?” Nurf blinked, slowly lowering his fistful of bacon, “That’s BS! Niki started it! She should clean it…”

Still standing where Abby had put her, Niki spun around on her heel to face the red-haired boy, seeming more thrilled by his challenge than personally offended, “You’ll never take me alive!”



Back in the cabin, Max decided to start with Abby’s nightstand. He pulled the first drawer open peaked inside, occasionally reaching in to roll aside bottles of shampoo or lotion in search of something more sinister, but the most revolting thing he ever found were tampons or pads or something. Kinda gross to a ten-year-old but harmless. There didn’t seem to be any weapons hidden in her clothes either.

Max huffed and closed the drawer, “Okay, maybe the nightstand was too obvious…”

Narrowing his eyes, he checked under Abby’s pillows then slowly dropped to his hands and knees to peek under the bed. “Oh, hello~” The boy mused when he spotted the drawstring bag hidden away between the old boxes. He reached for it, cursing his small stature under his breath when he couldn’t quite grab it. Flattening himself closer to the floor he strained and eventually hooked a finger around on the bag’s strings and tugged it out into the open.

Max sat back up, sitting cross-legged next to the bed as he pulled the bag open and peered inside. He ignored the checks and the jewelry, but he arched a brow when he pulled one of the VHS tapes out. “Who the hell still uses these?” He asked no one as he turned it over in hands, idly wondering if the camp’s VHS player still worked.

That’s when he noticed the photo album he’d knocked out from under the bed while pulling the bag out. The boy set the VHS tape back into the bag then reached out to pull the photo album into his lap. Not seeing anything of interest on the front, he flipped open the cover curiously.

 

[TarantulaHawk]

“Stop it!” Abby yelled again, not exactly a fan of how things were going at the moment and no one could really blame her because she was new at this whole thing, “You were all involved, meaning that you all will help clean up. So, you might wanna grab those mops and wash cloths from the closet and start working, or we might not be able to do any fun activities David has planned.”

Abby hated being so forceful and even kind of mean to the kids, but it wasn’t really her fault that they decided to go AWOL like that and she was just trying to make sure that she was still seen as authority figure. Honestly, there was a lot that she was working on that she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to finish, or establish, really. Even though she didn’t mind working with the kids, that was something she didn’t like the idea of. She refused to let them walk all over her just because she was calm and sometimes timid most of the time.


The drawstring bag was old, fraying a little bit at the ties and the blue geometric pattern that was on it was faded. It was obvious that she had owned it for a very long time. And that was the truth, and she had it since she was around six years old. It was one of the few items that remained constant in her life.

And the photo album didn’t really look any better. It was light gray and fading away in the center a little bit. The black rings that held it together were slightly bent in some places and it was obvious that it had gone through years of wear.

When Max opened it, he was greeted by the first page. There wasn’t really anything exciting. Four photos laid neatly inside of pockets. They were all of her when she was little, varying in ages from six to probably ten or eleven. As the pictures progressed, it was easy to tell that she got a little older and looked a little more tired. She seemed so unimpressed in the last picture on the page, wearing a black v-neck and her blonde hair down and frizzy as hell, a sort of ‘fuck you’ look on her face. The pictures were also in different places, as the backgrounds were all different from each other - they were still in homes, however. Just not the same one.

The next pages were different. The spread of photos were her in her teen years, pictures obviously taken at parties that weren’t probably good to be at - alcohol sat in the background of some of the pictures, and she even held a bottle of jack in on picture, friends hugging her and flashing middle fingers. They were blurry pictures, mainly.

The picture on the far right lower corner before the next page was a little different. Still at a party scene, of course, but she was sitting in somebody’s lap - dark blue jeans and a black sweater over a white button up shirt. The male’s face wasn’t in frame, but his arms were around her waist, one of his hands on her inner thigh, gripping rather roughly, it seemed. But Abby’s grin was in frame and it flashed her teeth and she looked happy. Excited, even.

 

[Pilot-66]

Nurf had taken a challenging step towards Niki after she’d yelled at him, but the boy stopped short when Abby snapped for them all to stop again. For a moment, he actually seemed like he was going to listen, but when Abby’s threat petered out to them possibly missing whatever David had planned for them…well…He blinked in confusion and glanced around at his peers. A few of the kids looked back at him then around at each other.

Finally, Nurf straightened up adopted a much more introspective tone as he leveled his gaze on, “Okay wait, I’m getting mixed messages here and think we should clarify for a better understanding…are you punishing us or not…? Because if us getting to ignore David is all that’s gonna happen well—” With a snort he switched instantly back to a rougher tone as he lifted the bacon above his head and aimed them at Niki, “EAT IT, BUTTMUNCH!”

He slung the bacon forward at Niki, who just snapped her teeth and tried to catch the meat out of the air, growling the whole time as through she were some kind of animal.

“No! No! No! Enough!” Dolph snapped and crawled out from under one of the tables. He brushed himself off before standing straight and glaring around at his fellow campers, “I’ve got a painting that I’m supposed to finish today and I will NOT allow you all to hinder the glory of ART! Respect ze authority above you!”

Neil watched from the corner as Dolph turned to look up at Abby once before heading towards the broom closet to fetch a mop. He honestly couldn’t tell if Dolph had intervened more for the sake of his art or because he was fond of the doting attention Abby had given him since her arrival. Feeling partly responsible for all this–and a little afraid that Abby’s frustration might get worse against those that didn’t do as they were told–Neil sighed and stood to help.



At first, Max was ready to skip over the boring childhood photos since they looked pretty normal, but he paused halfway through flipping past the first pages and tilted his head. He flipped back and forth between the early photos and the one where she looked to be about his age. All the houses and locations in background…they looked different every time.

The boy’s brow arched curiously. When he really looked, he noticed the people in the background looked different too. Had she been…in the system? He’d heard of kids getting put there and bouncing from one shitty home to the next until they were eighteen. He’d actually kind of always feared that might be his fate one day. It wasn’t like it’d have been a hard choice for his parents... Max looked back at the image of Abby in the black tshirt and a pissed off expression and shivered despite the heat when the glossy page of the photo album caught his reflection wearing the exact same dull frown.

“Whatever.” Max growled at himself and shook his head furiously as he turned the pages. He blinked back surprise when he was met with a page full of party photos…wild parties too, if the alcohol bottles and solo cups were anything to judge by. He tilted his head to one side as he studied the images. As quiet and jumpy as Abby was, he hardly pictured her as the type for this sort of life style. The girl in the photos hardly even seemed to be the same woman in the mess hall. It wasn’t proof of anything, but the sight did set off a few red flags in his mind. Maybe she just grew out of her wild teenager phase, or maybe she was just really good at hiding who she really was…

He moved his hand, ready to flip to another page, but blinked when his palm was no longer covering the last photo. There was some guy in the photo with his arms wrapped around her waist. Max drew his head back slightly and wrinkled his nose, not really wanting to know about teenage Abby’s boyfriends, but he couldn’t look away from the photo. Abby looked happy, but he still couldn’t help but feel like something was…wrong in the picture and the vice like grip the guy had on her. Or maybe Abby and this guy were just into some weird shit. Who knew. Adults were like that. Shrugging it off and pulling his eyes off the photo, Max turned the page again to see if there was anything else unexpected hiding between the laminated sheets.

 

[TarantulaHawk]

Abby was losing her cool quite fast as Nurf completely disobeyed her words and chucked a piece of bacon at Nikki - those two were definitely not good to be around each other. To be far, Nurf was dangerous around anyone and Nikki's energetic and challenging attitude didn't make anything better. She wasn't just getting angry, but she was feeling more and more anxious. She knew that she was new at this job, but the least she could do was take care of kids! She was looking like a bit of an idiot and it was making her quite unhappy.

But when Dolph injected his feelings into the argument, coming out from his little hiding spot, Abby felt a tiny bit of relief. At least one kid seemed to have some respect for her. She watched as he went to the broom closet. "Thank you, Dolph! Now, please, would you all grab something to help clean up and stop arguing with each other. It's ridiculous."



The next page showed just what Max likely wanted to see.

The truth.

It wasn't that Abby had known him in recent years, as she refused to talk to him or come in contact with him, so she had no idea what danger he had been to the camp and the kids with his disturbing and violent obsession. But there he was, plain as day, standing behind her with his arms around her midsection and grasping, quite tightly again, her hands. Both of them were smiling happily, and he was laughing a bit - someone must have told him something funny behind the scenes.

Daniel looked different than what the kids had witnessed, really. He wore the same black sweatshirt over a white button up and his jeans were dark blue and ripped, and he actually wore sneakers. He had a few rings on and he had a bandage over the bridge of his nose. His hair was the same blonde, but messier. But his expression... There was something still so sinister in the way that he smiled and the way that he held Abby so tightly. It wasn't protective. It seemed like something else entirely.

The other two pictures that followed were them doing really nothing specific. One of them was Daniel reading something and Abby was laying her head on his lap. Again, Daniel was touching her, his arm draped over her ribs, just beneath her chest. A common theme, it seemed, as in the next picture, the two of them were napping on a couch - his back against the arm of the couch and her in his lap, his arms locked around her waist and one of their hands intertwined. In their sleep, they both didn't look as happy as one might have expected from what the other photos provided. Strange.

The first picture on the next page was sort of sweet, despite the dangerous man at her side. They were surrounded by at least seven other people and she was holding the ukulele she had used to play them the songs next to the campfire the previous night, and she was grinning and crying, rubbing at one eye. Daniel had his lips pressed against her cheek and he was grinning. The others looked excited and joyous, the photo catching them laughing or even teary-eyed as well. Something big had happened in the photo, for sure.

 

[Pilot-66]

After turning the page, Max let the photo album settle back onto his lap as he skimmed over the images. “Great,” He sighed, “Just more pictures of her and that—”

That guy.

Max’s voice caught in the back of his throat as he caught the eye of the man the photographs. He lifted the book up for a closer look at the old photo. The hair and the clothes were different, but…the eyes definitely weren’t.

“Holy. Fuck.” Max’s eyes widened as he found himself staring at a younger Daniel. His knuckles paled as he gripped the photo album’s edges tightly. He was right about Abby! Hell, he was beyond right if she had connections to that nut-case! He swallowed hard, waiting to feel that surge of satisfaction he always got when he managed to call bullshit from ten yards away, but…it never came. All he felt was his heart drumming against his ribs as he stared down at the photos. For a second he swore he could smell the gas from the cleansing chamber.

The sound of a keys in the door finally snapped him out of it.

Max’s head shot up and glanced over his shoulder to see the doorknob jiggling. Cursing under his breath, he slammed the photo album shut and slid everything back into place inside Abby’s bag. He shoved the bag back under the bed and set the album down next to it where he’d found it, then with only a few seconds to spare, he dove across the room, pried one of the back windows open and jumped out to hide in one of the bushes below the window.

A few seconds later he heard the cabin door swing open on squeaky hinges. He pressed himself flat up against the cabin wall when he heard footsteps drawing closer, but relaxed a little when heard David’s voice. “Huh, I don’t remember leaving this open…” The man mused from inside the cabin, “Oh well! A little fresh air never hurt anything~”

Max heard the window slide shut again behind him and waited until he couldn’t hear David anymore before he left his hiding spot in the bushes and hurried back to the mess hall before he could be spotted or missed. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside. He glanced around the hall, vaguely surprised to see everyone cleaning (although a few of them grumbled as they worked). He scan the room in search of Neil and Niki, then slid in between some of the other kids, hoping his arrival would go unnoticed but of course that was asking too much of the world…

“Oh. Welcome back, Max!” Space Kid blurted out loudly enough for the whole town of Sleepy Peak to hear as he gathered trash into a dust pan.

“Whatever, idiot!” Max did his best to blow it off. Space Kid was just stupid enough for no one to take him seriously, so…maybe he’d gotten away clean. He kept moving through the mess hall, eager to share his discoveries with the guys. MOSTLY because he’d been right and he wanted them to know it and also because…well, shit…he kinda needed somebody to talk to about this. Just to sort it all out. And figure out how they were going to get rid of the ticking time bomb in their camp.

“Guys!” He whispered when he reached the corner where Niki and Neil were cleaning. He reached out and tugged both of them into as casual a huddle as he could, “Shit’s more messed up than I expected…Abby knows Daniel!” The fact still simmered in his mind, but his heart had slowed and his voice sounded clear. Thank God neither of them had been around to see him freeze up in the cabin, “She has pictures with the lunatic and everything!”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

Abby was too busy watching over the kids to notice that Space Kid had a bit of an outburst, and she was into much of a bad mood to really think of anything other than making sure the place got clean before David got back. It should’ve been a very simple task that she shouldn’t have messed up, but somehow, the world seemed to be on her ass that day and she just couldn’t get rid of it. She leaned against the wall as she watched the kids clean, making sure that they were actually doing it and not goofing off. Of course she was going to thank them for cleaning up, but she wasn’t about to let them off without a warning. Abby was a pretty timid person usually, but she wasn’t one that could be walked all over (all of the time, anyway).

She mainly focused on the floor for a minute, her eyes sort of zoning out and her mind going to another place entirely. She often felt guilty when she had to put her foot down, especially around children. It was true that she didn’t have much of a backbone and what backbone she did have came from years of unfortunate circumstances. But she knew that she had to put her foot down in a case like that, or else things could’ve probably gotten way worse, considering some of the kids had violent tendencies. And she supposed with her job title, she kind of had to learn how to reign and the children. It wasn’t the way that David would’ve done it, but maybe she was just kind of becoming her own sort of camp counselor. Hopefully it wasn’t a bad one.

Meanwhile, Neil looked over his shoulder from the table he was cleaning with his wash rag and rolled his eyes, “Okay, whatever Max. I bet you didn’t even find anything and you’re just so determined to make us think you’re right that you’re making stuff up.”

“But what if he’s not, Neil,” Nikki gasped, strangely excited for what news that they just received, “what if she’s another creepy cultist who wants to kill us all?”

Neil sighed roughly and crossed his arms. “Look. From the second Daniel was were, he was... “purifying” us. Has Abby done that? Has Abby made us kool-aid? Has she built a purification sauna? You two are sounding actually crazy!”

“Hey, Neil?” Abby called, making him lift his head and look over at the woman, noticing she looked already absolutely drained - it wasn’t even close to the afternoon yet, “Can you, Max and Nikki help pick up the trays and put them in the kitchen?”

 

[Pilot-66]

Max’s brow lowered as he met Neil’s doubts with a glare. He opened his mouth to bite out an insult, but before he could speak Niki butted in with excitement. At least one of them was willing to listen to him. Then again, Niki would generally listen to anything…

He looked back up to Neil in time to hear the boy’s argument and shook his head. “The only one who’s crazy here is–”

Abby’s voice cut him off and Max felt irritation prickle under his skin. He cut a sharp glaze back at the woman over his shoulder then looked back to the other kids and sighed. Whatever. At least they could talk behind closed doors. He walked towards the kitchen, picking up just a few trays along the way to look as though he was just complying rather than just trying to set up a meeting.

As soon as they had the kitchen to themselves, Max tossed his trays into the sink with a clatter then whipped around to face Neil in particular, picking up their conversation right where it’d left off, “Look, Daniel was a moron. He drank his own kool-aid….literally and metaphorically. The fact that Abby’s got connections to him and hasn’t completely fucked it up yet should be what concerns you the most!” Max pulled one of his hands out his hoodie pocket and pointed a finger a Neil for emphasis at the end of that statement. “She might actually be insane and competent.”

Feeling like he’d made his point, Max let his shoulders ease again, though his brow remained furrowed as he explained what he’d found, “I think She and Daniel dated or something. There were a bunch of pictures of them together. It was…kinda weird, actually.” He hesitated, looking off to watch water drip down the side of the sink as he tried to shake off the feeling of subtle discomfort in the pictures. He never could though. A part of him knew what he’d seen and felt a little bad…but…he had to look out for himself here. Even if it was a little fucked up, he couldn’t trust that Abby wasn’t warped by Daniel’s influence. Or maybe he’d gotten his ideas from her?

Collecting himself again, he blinked slowly and looked back to the other kids with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m just sayin’ that for all we know, we sent her man to jail and now she's here and pissed. Couples do that weird Bonnie and Clyde shit all the time.”



“Gooood morning and Campe Diem, Campers!” David appeared in the doorway of the mess hall just a few minutes after Max, Niki, and Neil had vanished into the kitchen. He wore a grin as he stepped inside and adjusted the yellow bandana around his neck. He’d done his best to clean himself up a bit in the counselor's cabin after spending all morning working on the pier, but he still felt a bit like he was baking under the sun and the fresh bandages around his work-worn hands kept slipping a little.

But at least he’d made it back to Abby and the campers on time! And with the second pier done to boot!

“Wowzers!” David glanced around, his smile brightening as he watched the campers bustling around the mess hall with brooms, mops, and rags. He was a little confused as to why there were some eggs on the ceiling, but…all things considered that wasn’t too out of the norm. “You’ve got everyone working together to clean?” He asked, drifting over to stand next to Abby. He finally pried his eyes off the kids glance down at her with a toothy grin, “That’s wonderful! You’re going to have to teach me that one.”

He froze and blinked when he saw her face though. The poor woman looked exhausted. Guilt gnawed at him instantly and it was all he could do not to wince. “Uh…you okay?”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

Abby was very glad that Max and the other two kids had listened, but it also made her a little suspicious. Max was generally not want to listen to her or David, and given the fact that she had snapped at him before, she couldn’t really blame him when It came to her. She knew was a kid that she probably wouldn’t want to listen to somebody like her either.

—

Neil sighed. Honestly, if Max wasn’t completely lying about that, he was right. If for a fact, which Neil was still very suspicious about, Abby had any connections to Daniel that was a bad sign. Something about Abby kind of told him that they weren’t together anymore if they had been previously, but her mind sure as hell could’ve been tainted by anything Daniel told her. Or did to her, rather. Neil wouldn’t of put it past Daniel to do something physically harmful to her just to change her into something he wanted. Neil had seen that firsthand with the purification chamber.

“Pictures?” Nikki gasped and then wrinkled her nose, “Ew. Why would she have pictures of him? That is weird.”

Neil looked at Max. It was pretty obvious that Max had noticed something in the pictures that was a little bit weirder than just having pictures of him, and if he really did find pictures, Neil couldn’t deny that he was actually kind of curious and wanted to see them himself. It would tell a lot about Abby and it would reveal who she really was. But that was even if she had pictures of everything in the first place and Max just wasn’t fabricating this because he wanted to be an asshole, like usual.

“Okay, look,” Neil said after a moment, crossing his arms, “let’s say that her and Daniel were together and you’re not making this up. That would probably put us in danger, but we.... we can’t really just assume she’d do anything. Especially when we have zero proof that she’s even dangerous.”

“Yeah.... yeah, he’s right!” Nikki nodded and then grabbed Max by the front of his hoodie, “You gotta get more evidence! Physical evidence from her! That’s the only way you’ll convict her!”

Neil Pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going a way that he really didn’t like, and he didn’t want to get in trouble for going through somebody’s belongings because that wasn’t the kind of person he was. He didn’t really want to desecrate something that Abby probably didn’t want them to know, although that did make him feel uncomfortable, that she was hiding secrets. If she was hiding secrets, anyway.

“I highly doubt she’s really hiding anything, Nikki.” He said.

“But that’s boring!”

———

The moment that David came in the room, she straightened up a little bit and forced a smile on her face right away. Although she had a feeling it was a bit more of a grimace. Her head was pounding and her hands were a little bit clammy, and for once it wasn’t from anxiety but from irritation. It took her a lot to be irritated in the first place, and this just hadn’t been a good morning. What made her feel bad was the fact that David seem to notice right away that something was off.

“Huh?” Abby blinked and then shook her head, rubbing at her neck with a bigger and more forceful smile than before, “O-Oh, sorry! I’m just a little warm. It’s-“

“Because somebody decided to attack me with their milk!” Preston almost screeched, looking rather angry that his top was soaked.

“Well,” Ered tolled her eyes, leaning forward onto a broom, “you decided to get in my way, which was totally uncool.”

“I am tired of all zis fighting!” Dolph said, stopping his foot, “We should not fight each other! We should fight Nikki!”

“Yeah,” Dolph punched a fist into the open palm of his hand, “she started it!”

“Nobody is fighting anybody.” Abby said, rather stern compared to her usual relaxed and playful demeanor. “Now please, finish cleaning so we can move on with today’s activities.”

Abby managed a little smile at David, which was a little more genuine than before, just worried. “Well, they weren’t exactly.... Behaving earlier and made a mess. So I had them all clean it up.”

 

[Pilot-66]

Max looked up at Neil as he spoke, his expression going flat when his friend called him an outright liar again. Normally, that was true—he’d give Neil that and maybe even take a bit of pride in the label—but god damn it was frustrating right now. Why would he lie about this?! For a moment, he was tempted to do nothing, just so he could he look Neil in the eye and say ‘told you so’ right before Abby cut his heart out or something…

Fists grabbing the front of his hoodie caught him off guard and ripped him from his daydreaming. Max glanced down at Niki, briefly surprised by her latching onto him, but quickly furrowed his brow again and craned his head back and away from her when she started yelling about evidence and putting people away.

“Alright, fine.” Max finally huffed. He reached up to pry Niki’s hands off of him then looked up at Neil, speaking with a devious edge in his voice, “Then we’ll just get her to expose herself…”

“YEAH!” Niki cheered beside him, pumping a fist over her head with enthusiasm before slowly lowering her hand back down to her side as she glanced at Max, “Wait…why do we want anyone naked?”

“What?” Max blinked and looked over at the girl then sighed, reaching up to massage his temple, “No, Niki. Not like that…” He grumbled, mildly irritated at the stupid interruption, “I mean we get her to snap.”

The dark haired boy lifted his head again as he continued, “All we gotta do is push her just enough to make her blow her cover without going full psycho on us. If she really is as crazy as Daniel was, she won’t be able to help herself. Then we'll see who she really is.” A smirk was starting to spread across his face as he spoke. He leaned up on his tiptoes and peered through the crack in the serving window at Abby, pleased to see her already getting stern with some of the other kids.

“It’ll be easy. She already seems close to breaking.” Max bragged cooly as he planted his feet on the floor again and faced his friends. He felt the smirk on his face spread further as a dozen different ideas began to swarm in his mind. He lifted his hands out of his pockets and laced his fingers together to loudly pop his knuckles as he prepared to get to work, “Just give me a day, two tops…”

—

David searched Abby’s face quietly as she started to speak, a little worried at how pale she looked, but before she could even finish talking an argument erupted behind them. He rose his eyebrows, turning to look over at the kids as they snapped back and forth at each other over…milk?

And then they were planning to lynch Niki…

“Uh–” David’s shoulders tensed under his vest as he turned to the kids to try and quell their anger, but Abby spoke first and easily thwarted the mini-revolution. He arched a brow and glanced over at his co-counselor, a little surprised by the edge in her voice. Compared to some of the things Gwen used to hurl at them, Abby’s discipline was pretty tame but her tone still concerned him. For her sake.

When she looked back up at him and explained what he’d missed, David reached up to rub the side of his neck. “Oh, geez.” He doubted he could have really done anything to stop them, but…he did feel a little bad knowing he’d left Abby to deal with the chaos alone. And he knew better by now than to think the Quartermaster had stuck around to lend a hand…or…hook. Maybe he should start getting up earlier to take care of things so he didn’t put all the pressure on meal time on her alone?

Knowing there was nothing he could do for it now beside move forward, David straightened his back, resting his bandaged hands on his hips as he admired the semi-clean mess hall with a beaming grin, “Well! It looks like you handled it just fine~ This place doesn’t look that much worse than a usual now and most importantly you got everyone working together as a team! That’s great!”

He turned his head to look down at Abby. He was glad to see the smile on her face looked a little more natural, and she seemed a bit more calm than she had when he first arrived, but he was still a bit worried about her. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of a mop bucket clattering on the ground and some of the campers tossing blame at each other. He glanced over quickly to ensure that no one was hurt, then looked back to her, “Why don’t you let me tag in for a bit? You can take one of your breaks while I help everyone finish up in here. Then we can meet back up in the field in about fifteen minutes for today’s first fun-filled activity~! It’s gonna be a good one! It’s art day!”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

“I don’t like this.” Neil sighed, but he knew Max was going to go through with it regardless. He just hoped that whatever Max did wouldn’t get him in trouble as well.

———

“You sure?” Abby asked, but then smiled a bit despite herself, “Alright, I’ll see you in a few.”

Abby genuinely felt kind of bad for leaving David alone with them, considering how the morning had gone, she couldn’t imagine that the rest of the day was going to go any easier. But she really wanted a break before she actually snapped and hurt somebody’s feelings. She would never physically hurt a child, so she didn’t worry about that at all.

After a moment of looking around at the kids, she left the mess hall and let out a deep breath that she wasn’t sure she knew she was holding. As she walked toward the counselors cabin, she put her thumb is in her pocket and did her best to simply calm her self down. She didn’t really know why that day was the day that she was going to be angry, especially because it wasn’t like her to snap at other people. And she felt bad, but more than that, she just wanted to know why she was being that way.

As she went inside the cabin, she was greeted with the air conditioning already on. It wasn’t exactly warm outside yet, but she knew that in about an hour it would start to warm up. She walked over to the bathroom and splashed some water up onto her face, she hoped that might calm her down, but it certainly woke her up a little bit if she already wasn’t awake enough. She left the bathroom and went over to her belongings, pulling the drawstring bag out from underneath the bed and then stopping for a minute. The contents of the bag were mixed up a little bit. She hadn’t touched them since she came to the camp. But she did her best to just dispel her feelings and took everything out and put it back in properly before grabbing one of her granola bars. She knew that David wouldn’t go through her belongings and that the kids, hopefully, weren’t that rude. She was already in a bad mood to begin with and she didn’t want to have to try to calm down after thinking her self into a worse mood. So she sat down on the bed and unwrapped her granola bar and started eating it, taking her time. She was going to do her best to drag those fifteen minutes out as much as she could.

 

[Pilot-66]

After sending Abby off with a smile and a nod, David set to work on helping the kids to clean up around the mess hall. He had settled the dispute surrounding the overturned mop bucket first, then moved on to try and coax Nerris to clean with a rag rather than spells. A few minutes after that, he’d had to break up another fight as all the campers dog-piled onto the Niki the second she left the kitchen with Max and Neil. He lost count of how many kids he’d had to pull off of Niki but when he finally reached the girl, he’d been relieved to see was she was grinning ear to ear and howling for more challengers. He’d treated a small cut on her cheek with a bandaid and finally got everyone back in order to finish cleaning.

Now, finally, David was getting them all outside.

He walked behind the group as they made their way to the activities field. He took a deep breath as they passed under the oaks lining the trail, starting to feel a bit more at ease now that they were out in the open. The morning had been a busy one, but at least it had been productive! The piers were done and they had a sparkling clean mess hall! He couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day.

David bounded to the front of the group when they finally art camp’s section of the field (which for now was really just two long picnic tables pressed together and a couple of rusty easels off to the side). He had plans to spruce the art camp up a bit—like he did for all the camps—but David noted with some guilt that he just hadn’t had the time yet…he had to get to those safety violations taken care of before the first inspector arrived. Promising himself the camper’s interests would come next, the redhead spun on his heels to face the kids, “Alrighty kiddos, who’s ready to get creative~?”

“Ugh, at last! Zome peace un quiet away from all zes lesser minds!” Dolph didn’t hesitate to make his way over to one of the easels where his painting from last week sat.

“Heh. That’s the spirit, Dolph!” Dave cheered him on, trying to ignore the last half of the boy’s statement and just focus on his enthusiasm for his craft. Clearing his throat, David walked around the long wooden picnic tables and picked two hefty boxes of art supplies and set them down on the edge of the tables. “Now, who wants to help me pass out supplies to everyone? You’ll get first pick of the paints~”

He smiled out at the kids expectantly but all of them just settled down at various places around the picnic table and started chatting amongst each other or picking splinters out of the table top with a bored expression on their faces.

 

[TarantulaHawk]

After a little bit, Abby came out of the cabin, looking a lot better than she did before. Her usual smile was toying at her lips and she had spruced herself up a little bit - more deodorant, a little bit of sunscreen because it was supposed to be rather warm that day, and she had run a brush through her hair because it had become rather nasty in her flustered state. She made her way over to the picnic tables and stopped, placing her hands lightly on her hips. Not in an agressive way or anything, but it was just the way she stood.

She noticed that only one of the kids was working on something, which happened to be Dolph. That didn't surprise her one bit. With a little sigh, she looked at the kids, curious as if there was a way to get them to work.

"C'mon, guys," she said gently, "let's try to find something you all would enjoy that's artistic."

"Art is for losers." Ered glanced up from her fingertips and nails.

"It is?" Abby raised an eyebrow and then something clicked, which made her smile, "Have you ever wanted to repaint your skateboard?"

"I mean, kind of," Ered shrugged, "but how do I do that?"

"Go on and get your board and then go to the shed and find some sandpaper," Abby smiled, "I'll show you how!"

Ered seemed a little more willing to participate when it had something to do with her skateboard. Then Abby looked for the next kid to focus on. Maybe Nurf. She frowned for a moment and then realized she had something of his.

"Have you ever whittled, Nurf?"

"The hell is that?" Nurf gave her a disturbed look, "Sounds stupid."

"Go grab a piece of wood, okay?" Abby rolled her eyes with a laugh, "Not too big and not too small, but make sure it's wide."

It seemed like, one-by-one, she was getting the campers into something unique but also still art-related. When she was focused and determined to get something done, she could get it done usually. Then, she came to Max. It took her a moment of watching him to think of what he might like.

"Hey, Max?" She said after a moment, "Wanna grab some of the string and beads? Any kind that you want. I can show you how to make a dream catcher."

 

[Pilot-66]

Hearing Abby’s voice, David picked up his head and glanced over his shoulder at her. He gave her a slight smile as she approached the tables, glad to see see the color had returned to her cheeks a bit and that she didn’t look quite as tired as she had before. David lifted the last box of supplies up onto the table as he listened to her try and rally the kids behind the idea of art camp. Green eyes lighting up at her suggestion of combining their interests with a touch of art, “That’s a wonderful idea, Abby!”

He turned to look over at Ered when the teen shot the idea down but Abby seemed more than ready to handle it. Even Nurf eventually bought in and got up to fetch the supplies that Abby had suggested for him. A few of the other kids even started to pick their heads up off the table and wait expectantly for their turns. Pride flared in his chest as he shot Abby and appreciative glance then set to work digging through the supplies to help out.

He dug some old rivets, wingnuts, and a roll of shiny silver paper out of the bottom of the supply box then glanced over to the helmet-wearing boy beside him. “What do you think adding the finishing touches to that shuttle of yours, Space Kid? It’d be just in time for you to give us the grand tour later this week~”

“WOHA. This is perfect for the radiation hull!” Space Kid bounced out of his seat, marveling over the supplies for a second before bounding off to haul his cardboard creation across the activity field.

Max shook his head then looked up when Abby’s shadow fell over him. He glared up at her as she stared at him, trying to find some stupid art task for him to complete. When she finally spoke, he let his eyebrows flatten and gave her a dull stare, “…Really?”

“Aw, c’mon Max! I think making a dreamcatcher sounds pretty neat!” David chipped in as he helped Space kid settle his cardboard spaceship down next to the table.

“Yeah, okay.” Max rolled his eyes and sent a cutting glance back up to Abby, “Look, I’m just gonna ignore the incorrect but still kinda fucked up racial profiling here and pass on all this.” He pushed himself away from the table without giving Abby the chance to retort to his scathing accusations and hopped down onto the grass. He strode to the edge of the group, deftly grabbing a handful of rubber bands out of the art supply box as he passed by it. Shoving them subtly into his hoodie pocket, he smirked to himself. Oh, he was gonna craft something alright… All he needed was a little time and space to work.

Watching Max stalk off, Nerris blinked then quickly shrugged the ordeal off. She gathered up a few of the older looking sheets of paper from the supplies that David had set out and then hurried over to Abby excitedly. “Can you help me make a map for the Gareoth Dominion?!” She pleaded, holding the aged paper and a few markers up to the woman, her eyes gleaming as she went into detail, “They’re an industrial race at war with my elven pantheon…but I’ve never been to a big city before like you have and I need some advice on where things would go.”

 

[TarantulaHawk]

She couldn't help but smile a bit at the compliment sent her way by David, which made her feel a little more confident in her actions. She was mainly trying to make things a bit easier on David, who had obviously been working pretty hard, judging by the bandages on his hands. She watched as Nurf even went to look for a piece of wood and Ered was already on her way back with her board and sandpaper.

But then Max made a comment and Abby frowned, wincing a little bit. She hadn't meant to be racist or anything, she just couldn't think of anything else for him to make. She still didn't know Max as well as she wanted. She knew it would take time, but it felt like it was going to take longer than forever. She sighed a little bit as he walked away, but Nerris was quick to catch her attention with a question.

"Well, I'm not sure how much I can help, but I'll give it a shot!" Abby said with a nod, smiling at the young girl.

Abby began to bounce between certain kids to help them out. Nurf received his pocket knife back - on the condition he wouldn't threaten others or stab them with it - as she began to teach him how to whittle. She didn't know too much about it, but it the large boy seemed to pick up on it and went right to work. Then, she turned to Ered and began to help her strip the back of her board - getting rid of the old and basic paint and bringing it down to the wooden base.

She walked around between the three kids she was assisting, sort of hovering, but keeping her distance all the same. She only pointed things out and helped whenever they really needed it or asked for it. But it was obvious to tell she had a natural knack with children if someone watched her; she kept her eyes on them and made sure to sort of memorize how they acted, and what could set them off. It was hard for her to keep it all straight, but she did her best. Maybe she could buy a notebook or something and start writing everything down.

"So, like, what now?" Ered's voice caught her attention.

"Okay, so you've stripped the board," Abby plopped down next to her, straddling the bench facing her, "and now you can get creative. You're going to want acrylic paints and a big brush to start with, to cover the board in color. You'll have to let it dry between layers of paint - the more layers you add, the brighter the color will be."

"Cool." Ered nodded, reaching for the supplies she needed.

"Hey Nurf," Abby's eyes widened when she saw that he was already whittling it down into a shape that was semi-recognizable as a small bear, "that looks awesome! You're doing really good."

"Bears symbolize the courage it takes to fight," Nurf said easily, not taking his eyes off the little statue, "and since I'm a kid in an oppressive society that turned into a bully because I was too scared to be anything else, I figure it's a good representation of myself."

Abby was a little awestruck by his words, not expecting something like that out of him, but her smile only grew. "I like that a lot, Nurf! Keep at it!"

 

[Pilot-66]

David winced a little when Max lashed out and he almost tried to call the boy back and clear the air between him and Abby, but…by now he knew better than to think anything like that would work with Max unless it was on his own terms. The redhead sighed a little then looked back to Abby, ready to apologize on Max’s behalf, but he was happy to see Nerris already bounding up to the woman instead.

Content with that, David wandered around the edge of the table, admiring everyone’s work and offering help where needed. He paused alongside Harrison when he saw the boy slumped over some fabric, trying desperately to pass some thread through the eye of a needle. “What are you making, Harrison?”

The young magician glanced up, “Uh, well…there were fabric scraps in the box and I wanted to sew them together to make a vanishing cloak for my new trick. But I don’t really know how to do this first part….or sew.”

“Well, we can take care of that!” David piped encouragingly as he took a seat alongside the boy. Harrison handed him the supplies, looking relieved. “First thing is to thread the needle. You can try to stick it right through, or…I know a few magic tricks of my own~” The redhead grinned as he boasted. He laid the thread out against his palm and gently rolled the eye of the needle back and forth over the thread a few times until the thread started to bunch itself up and pass through the needle on its own.

Harrison’s face lit up. “Wow!”

Pleaded to actually be impressing one of the kids for once, David felt his grin spread further across his face as he pulled the thread the rest of the way through the needle and showed Harrison how to tie it off. Then he spent the next few minutes showing the boy a basic stitch before letting him practice it on his own. Before long, Harrison had it down. “You’ve got it! Great work!” David praised with a beaming smile. He got up from his seat, leaving Harrison to make his cloak as he saw fit.

David carried on with his rounds around the table, occasionally glancing over to see Abby looking perfectly in her element. He smiled again as he watched her help Ered with her skateboard. It was still kind of hard to believe that Abby had ever thought that she wouldn’t be good at this. She seemed perfect for it.

Looking away from her again, David scanned the group until he saw Max sitting at the edge of the tree line. Concern crept up on him, weakening his smile a bit. He started to head over to check on him, but a pair of hands grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

Letting out a short yelp, the lanky counselor spun and looked down to see Preston staring up at him intently. “Yes? Preston?”

“I require your assistance. Abby’s made the brilliant suggestion that I work on my set pieces but I can NOT decide on a color until I’ve seen the piece up on the stage!” Preston demanded, “I need you to come hold it in place to help me envision it. You’re the only one tall enough.”

“Uh, Okay. I’ll be right there. Just let me go check on–”

“No! It has to be now! This is a mid-morning scene and I NEED to know what the lighting will be like.” Preston protested and turned, yanking David along by the arm. The redhead attempted an argument, but only ever really managed a bumbling agreement as he let the kid drag him a few feet away from the art table towards the stage.



Doing his best to ignore the happy chatter behind him, Max worked diligently to add the finishing touches to his own art project—a slingshot. He pulled back on the rubber band to test the power behind the improved weapon and grinned to himself with satisfaction when it snapped forward with a satisfying pop. It was probably too shitty to put an eye out or anything, but it’d definitely get his target’s attention and leave a small welt.

When he was sure no one was looking, Max slipped between the trees and peered out the art camp. Irritation prickled under his skin when he looked out and saw that many of the kids actually looked like they were enjoying whatever craft Abby had introduced them too. Even Neil and Niki seemed to be enjoying themselves despite what they knew about the woman.

What a bunch of idiots. Oh well, at least he could always count on all of them being predictable…

Picking a pebble up off of the ground, Max closed one eye and took aim on his first target. He let the rock fly and hit Dolph in the back right as Nerris walked past him. As soon as it hit, Max slipped back behind the tree.

“OW!” Dolph jumped when the stone hit him, causing his paintbrush to drag across his canvas and leave a giant blue line through the whole thing. Growling in irritation, Dolph spun on his heel and glanced around until he saw Nerris closest to him. “How dare you! You’ve ruined my art un vasted my whole week!”

Nerris stopped, instantly defensive, “I didn’t do anything! You messed it up all by yourself!”

Outraged, Dolph slung his paintbrush out at her, splattering paint all over the map she’d been making with Abby. Gasping at the insult, Nerris dug her hand into the pouch at her side and started flinging glitter at Dolph and his painting while yelling charms.

Pleased with how easy that was, Max loaded the next stone into his slingshot and fired another shot at Harrison when Ered reached past him for a new color of paint. It wasn’t long before they were having a similar fight. He even launched some at Niki and Neil, getting them to…well, Neil didn’t really fight, but he was yelling.

Within just a minute, he had all the kids around Abby arguing. He smirked from his hiding spot, knowing from observation just how quickly Abby got flustered by unexpected chaos. This being the second time today in just as many hours would probably just make it all the better.