If someone had asked a couple of years ago if he would ever be found in a sporting goods store looking at camping supplies he would have fallen over laughing. Paramedics would have probably been called and someone would be trying to make sure he hadn’t snapped since he wouldn’t have been able to stop laughing. All of his friends, Cordelia especially, would have probably started laughing too if someone brought it up.

He didn’t do the outdoors.

Who knew there were so many different versions of a backpack? He had been standing in front of a wall of backpacks for at least twenty minutes trying to decide what he would need. He’d done some research, made a list even, but actually getting into a store and seeing all the variations of what he’d picked out was daunting. The list was supposed to make things easy. One list with everything he knew he would need to spend multiple days out on Arsinoe and he was stick on item number one.

“I should have started with sleeping bags.”

He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair for at least the eighth time which apparent was the que for the guy who was hovering to come over. He was about his age, at least looked it, and thankfully wasn’t condescending as he asked if Lucien needed help. He almost told the other man no but after looking at his list and the wall again he gave in.

He explained that he wasn’t into the outdoors much but had joined a group to do small backpacking trips to try out something new. That was easier to make up than his real reason and for once in his life something went right. The young man, Jason, was an avid camper and offered to help him pick out what he needed. He was afraid Jason would go for the more pricy items, for some sort of sale, but he was actually paying attention to Lucien being new at this.

Two backpacks were picked out and Lucien spent a bit of time poking at them before he chose one, the pricier of the two but still a lot cheaper than what he’d found online. The next item was a camping lantern which was easy enough when he found one that was solar powered with a battery backup and a small camping stove was easy enough to get too. While Jason was going over the various options he’d been surprised at the amount of them that didn’t require electricity. He should have expected it but the array was still interesting. He went with the low budget option, a small griddle that worked with a can of heat gel and a battery powered hot plate.

Sleeping bags turned out to be more complicated than he thought. The fact that they came in so many different fabrics and patterns and thicknesses hadn't occurred to him. He had just thought about the ones you always ended up with as a kid and maybe the ones polar explorers used. The array of things in between was insane. Did he want it water proof, heated, thermal, breathable, nylon, fleece lined, or cotton?

And the plaid. All of it was hideous.

After thinking about the conditions on the Asteroid, what kind of weather there wasn’t mostly, he went with a moderately heavy sleeping back that was lined with a cotton flannel and would keep him warm enough without being too hot. He managed to find one with a black outer lining and a soft gray inner one too which was a plus.

A tent was the next item on the list and thankfully that turned out to be easy. He found the exact one he’d looked at online, with all the features he knew he’d need, and it was on sale to.

After that it was all the little things; reusable plate and silverware set, water bottle, a compass and flashlight just to keep questions from being asked, and a few other little things he figured he’d either want or need. Plus a couple things he did actually want for himself.

He thanked Jason as he rang him out, tucking everything into bags and once he was sure he had it all finally got on the bus to go home. The trip was uneventful and once he was back at his small apartment he unpacked the bags so he could sort them a bit better.

He expected the receipt to fall out. What he didn’t expect was that on the back of his receipt was a scribbled note and a phone number.

If you need help testing any of that out let me know

"Oh god .... he thought I was ... that we could ..." He'd been hit on a few times but no one had ever left them his number before.

"I'm not really thinking about this." But he was. Jason had been cute and he was nice, possibly because he thought Lucien was cute too but that was thinking too much into it. He didn't need a date, not even if Cordy said he did, nope.

He tucked the receipt under a book on his desk as he set the bags with the small pile of food supplies that had to go up to Arsinoe with him next time he could travel.

Maybe he'd remember the number was there later.