Welcome to Gaia! ::

The lodge had been visibly improving in small ways, without Halle's efforts to repair the interior, instead focusing on the forest and its many paths. But it still wasn't what he'd call particularly safe or habitable. So when he met up with Mechelen, he was carrying a large pack which contained whatever camping supplies he felt were missing from what was already up there.

Her job was to bring her own sleeping bag and some food for the campfire.

"It'll be night there, when we arrive. I'm not sure how it is where your wonder is located, but mine keeps about the same day and night cycle as Earth. We'll be in a forest, but there's no large animals there or anything really dangerous. Don't worry about water, there's a spring I've already tested and it's ridiculously clear. Better than bottled..." Halle rambled on, and on, feeling weirdly nervous. This wasn't the first time he'd been camping with girls. Well, the first time alone. But he and Mechelen had hung out for entire nights training and patrolling DC, which was basically the same thing, right?

Scratching his head, Halle countered, "Yeah, but like, I'm not sure about the regions there? If there's time zones of a sort, or if everything is just...magically the same everywhere." He sounded a little offended by the way these worlds and wonders completely defied the sciences of Earth in favor of...it's just magic! But thinking about it did help him to calm down, take Mechelen's hand, (again) and think on his oath, to Halle and Lysithea.

The fresh scents of pure air and chill forest greeted them, along with stars bigger and brighter than could be seen through DC's horrid light pollution.

There was indeed a huge forest ahead of them, and a large building of wood and stone behind them. Turning to her, Halle admitted, "There are bugs, and crabs, and spiders. But they're all really pretty? I haven't been bit by anything so far?"

Pointing up into the trees, draped in glinting, lacy scarves, he went on, "Like, those are the webs of..." he moved his finger over toward a cluster of pale flowers, slowly moving on their own, "...those spiders. But they're basically just flowers with legs?"

He started moving toward a path, one that led to a clearing he'd already found to be perfect for camping.

"Sounds like the sort of thing you'd hear in a horror movie, like when someone's about to get attacked," Halle gave her a sympathetic look. They continued to make their way, trees in soft hues towering above, flowers and maybe "flowers" crowding the path at their feet.

"Honestly, I hope birds of some kind come back soon. Or even space squirrels. Things that make more noise. The silence can get kind of spooky, too," he admitted. "Less when I'm not alone though," and glances back at her with a smile. Eyes going a bit wide to see her in the shifting, dappled light of distant moons.

Turning back hurriedly, eyes firmly ahead, Halle went on, "It's not camping if there's no marshmallows."

The forest opened up to a tidy little campsite, undisturbed since his last visit. There's only one tent set up, but he assures her, "I've got and extra for you." They probably didn't really need a tent, the temperature wasn't too chilly, but certain types of bugs might want to cuddle against a warm body if they slept fully under the stars.

"What, like a cosmonut?" He answered dryly, but couldn't help smiling at her laugh. Halle slipped of his pack and move around the campground with easy familiarity, not just with the space but with the equipment in general.

"We have a bunch of tents and gear at home. Back in Bailey we'd go camping all the time, I liked the forest, my brother likes the stars. So it was a pretty good combination of interests. Still is, I guess." He was already pulling out thin metal stakes and what looked like a pretty small amount of material to make a whole tent out of.

"Do you get to go camping often?" His voice paused even as his hand steadily worked with comfortable competence. Having asked one personal question of her in the safety of space, Halle suddenly found himself will a whole well of questions, suddenly uncovered, that'd been there the whole time.

"Have you always lived in DC?"

Listening to Mechelen talk, Halle tried to picture her as a Brownie and the picture was, well, adorable. Of course, little girls generally were, he reminded himself. Lena had been, after all. Still was, even if she insisted on being taller than him. For now.

His hands paused as he realized that Mechelen probably had little to no woodcraft, and considering the worlds and wonders she might end up visiting, including her own, it'd be good to learn. Putting the tent down. He turned back to her and the remains of the fire from his last visit.

"Change of plans, we're going to start the fire first. And then I'll explain the tent to you, and how to set it up. For next time."

He pulled several items out of his pack, going on, "Since it's pretty dry tonight, I'll show you what to gather for tinder, but I like to keep at least one sort of alternative in case it rains. This is a tinder rope and this..."

Slowly, and patiently, Halle explained and walked through the basics of a fire, and as the heat and then flames began to build up, so were the questions he wanted to ask her. And some part of him began to hope that she also had questions she wanted to ask about him, across their shared little fire.