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Oliver should have known better than to believe Arorangi would leave things as they were. He had told Oliver they would have an adventure someday, and as it turned out, someday arrived a lot sooner than the boy anticipated. But this was not the first time he found himself surprised in this manner, not after Harland had actually collected him for gym training a couple days after offering, or after Finn told him to come out jogging and seemed somehow invested in his success. When Arorangi said adventures, Oliver should have expected adventures.

It was almost uncanny how smoothly everything had happened. There came a day when neither of them had evening or early morning duties to attend to. It was almost like magic, but what else would Oliver expect from someone who smiled as much as the Mist trainee did? Surely he had a little magic in him.

That evening after dinner, he did as Arorangi had told him earlier, signing out a pair of sleeping bags from the equipment storage and heading out into the island's residential area. The sun was low on the horizon when he arrived. Oliver tried not to think about what 'adventures' they were in for, out here beyond the safety of the walls

Oliver jumped, even knowing that his friend always seemed to prefer a loud, boisterous greeting. But he looked merely startled rather than scared.

"Ah, I'm okay, yeah," he replied. "Are we... going to sleep somewhere out here?" Oliver hadn't been clear on the details, but being asked to bring sleeping bags was a pretty big tip off. "I-it might not be safe, they say things like... uh, shadowlings wander around outside the walls..."

Oliver had a feeling it wouldn't be an 'adventure' if they were merely camping out, adventures were usually dangerous, too.

If they were attacked, it was more likely Arorangi would fight back... Oliver would probably run away. He cringed at the thought.

"A-are you sure we can't... um... sleep in one of the houses here?" He asked, staring longingly at some of the dark, empty houses. Walls might create more shadows than being outside with a bright moon, but they could also create safety. Oliver had never really gone camping with other kids growing up, despite the abundance of forest around his town, and three whole months of warm-ish weather to take advantage of. Indoors made up his comfort zone.

Oliver knew just asking about the houses was pushing his luck, and a small crease formed between his eyebrows as he frowned. "What are we going to sleep on... And what if it rains?"

Aro's words brought a slightly alarmed look to the kid's face. "N-no, i-it's okay then! We can sleep out here!" Oliver was not going to take credit for any assumed bravery, he would backpedal as fast as he could before doing something frightening merely to test his weak courage.

The clap on his shoulder made him stumble, but slowly he was getting stronger. One day he might even be strong enough to not flinch at the friendly gesture.

"Um, like... a tent?" Oliver asked hopefully. "I suppose rain wouldn't be so bad in a tent... But I think snow would be warmer..." The trainee wore a speculative expression as he pondered this, a change from his normal nervous demeanour.

The speculative expression turned in the direction of suspicion. It was still a step up from his frightened fidgeting, but it was a bigger step than it looked. It was not often that Oliver could show doubt without self-depreciation to accompany it. This was a rare moment when he had approached the situation as though he wasn't the cause of any and all future failures.

And this time perhaps the suspicion was entirely warranted. He was a smart enough kid to realize the large man had not provided many details at all about their sleeping arrangements. "A place to sleep...?" Oliver echoed. He didn't like the sound of this...

But regardless, he began looking for a good place to spend the night. If houses were out of the question, where would be a good, safe place? Finally he ended up in a large yard, the flat lawn completely taken over by naturally short grasses and weeds. Not too close to the house... and within sight of the lighthouse.

Oliver paused there in front of the yard, and looked at Arorangi as though silently asking for approval.

All suspiciousness aside, Oliver was unaware of the positive appraisal he was receiving. Had he known Arorangi was watching him, his attitude and behaviour, he would once again be overcome with embarrassed anxiety. But living in the moment as he was, it was easier for Oliver to forget he was afraid of everything.

"Um... Is it good? I d-don't know much about survival training or anything, I don't leave the labs much..." Oliver was hesitant, but he began unfolding the tarp. It was larger than he expected, and he did an awkward job of unfolding it, flapping it as though it were bed sheets and pulling it along the ground in an attempt to get it spread out, and then walking an entire circle around it to tug at corners when his previous attempts failed.

By the time he finished, Arorangi had gotten out the other items. There was no tent. Oliver wandered closer to the duffel bag, but there was no way it would contain a tent. Even the light, small ones they made these days, unless he were a cheerful singing nanny from London there was no way there was a tent in that bag. The thought of sleeping out under the stars was not something that had ever occurred to the Life trainee, and as it finally arrived it was accompanied by a bout of nervous fidgets.

"Um, a-are we... uh... just... sleeping here? On the tarp? With no tent?" Oliver began to look around at the lengthening shadows with apprehension.

He supposed the other trainee was right. Getting out of his comfort zone was a good idea while the situation was under control, without panic, and without alarm. Oliver was not opposed to getting used to such things as sleeping outside on a tarp, but his fear kept him trapped inside. Both literally and figuratively.

"I'll try not to worry..." He replied, and then barely a minute later, "Of course I'm still worried, I've never slept outside in the open like this. Have you?" Taking the sleeping bag, he unrolled it and shook the dust off. It looked a bit worse for wear, but Oliver could still feel the quality of the fabric. He was sure it would hold warmth very well for all it's worn edges.

Following Arorangi's lead, the boy sat down on the sleeping bag, pulling his knees up to his chest. "What do we do until it's time to sleep?"

"I thought it was pretty normal... to, uh, be concerned about new things," Oliver muttered, looking down at the tarp for a couple seconds. "Especially for someone like me. You are strong and really confident, I'm sure there are lots of bad situations you could turn around."

Oliver was about to say more, but when he glanced up there was a deck of cards flying towards him. He uncurled frantically, and managed to grab them before Arorangi's well-aimed throw pinged them off his head. "Ah! That was close... Um, I don't know many... card games..."

The Life trainee trailed off, and looked up from the old deck of cards in his hands. "Did you ever see a tuatara?" The question was delivered with a very intense focus, like it was the most important thing in the world right then. "They are in New Zealand, right? Did you get to see one?"