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Continuing on Sat, Feb 24, 2024

There was a fire to provide light and warmth, and a new tent behind them, perfectly sturdy and only slightly crooked from deft but still learning hands. The sausages had been cooked and devoured, and their scent still lingered even as the promised s'mores were first debated over and then began to take shape under intense mutual supervision.

The results were proving to be...gooey, but delicious. Because even if you mess up a s'more it's still a s'more.

"Do you like to cook, like, as a hobby?" Halle added, not wanting her to think it was some sort of women in the kitchen type of question.

"I love to cook," Halle replied, flushing a little at the compliment. "And to eat! I think food is the sort of adventure anyone can have, at anytime, if they're willing? So I think it's really fun like that. But uh..."

He stared at his smore, looking perfectly normal an edible, "I think you're the first person to compliment my cooking after trying it." Halle wasn't traumatized by the lack of encouragement regarding cooking up to this point. Some people just didn't like that sort of adventure. Even though sausages over a campfire were a little simple compared to his normal efforts, he thought that maybe Mechelen was like him. Adventurous! Liking to try new food combinations and experiments!

He should cook for her for real next time.

"What else do you like to do? Like outside of school...and inside of school, too. What's your favorite classes?"

"They suit you, all artsy and sof-" he coughed into his hand and corrected, "...nice. Really nice." Scratching the back of his head and then having to save his marshmallows from dropping into the fire, Halle eventually added, "Can I see some of your work, sometime? Do you have some sort of social media thing?" While he barely bother with it, Halle found that he really liked the idea of getting to snoop Mechelen's.

The joke about womanly things just got a snort. One day she'd meet his mom and realize his expectations regarding womanly things was pretty nonexistent.

Journalism seemed interesting, and she seemed kind of an all-rounder when it came to studies. Halle wasn't all too surprised by that. "I'm not really into anything lit, but I do like letters mixed with my numbers," he grinned. "Variables represent both mystery and possibility in the world. Um, I like chemistry a lot too. Earth sciences probably most of all? I admire the theoretical a lot, but for me, the things I can touch and stand in front of are really exciting."

Gazing down at his sticky hands, Halle sighed and brought out a cannister of wet wipes, offering some to her as well. "So is journalism something you think you want to do later? Or maybe sewing design stuff?"

His civ phone was out as soon as his hands were clean, and for a second Halle forgot that there wasn't any internet in space. Pausing for a moment, he instead went to his note taking app to get her online details.

And then his head was whipping up, realizing that she was well ahead of him in grade. "You're a senior next year?" Did his voice break just a little at that? No...it must have been a weird echo. A weird space echo. Why was he flushing, though? There was nothing to flush over in that. "That's really cool. Are you planning anything special? Like a senior trip or anything?"

Taking a long drink of water (why was he suddenly feeling so thirsty?!) Halle didn't confirm or deny that he was smart or amazing or anything. It felt nice to hear, though. "If I get a good enough scholarship, I'd like to got to university to be viable for the forest service. But if I don't I'll probably end up enlisting and eventually getting a scholarship that way." There was a certain resignation to it the latter. And then he paused, voice turning odd, "...or I guess not. I heard it's not safe to power up outside of the region around DC. And I don't think I can put my...our work here on pause for years for stuff like that."

It hadn't really occurred to Halle before this. Since awakening he'd been caught up in either the moment or fearing the magic dangers ahead of them. It was startling to realize that his whole future might be limited to this one city.

Seventeen in January? "I think I owe you a birthday present," he grinned across the fire at her. Mechelen was two years older than him for the moment, and Halle didn't know why that made him a little excited, but boy was he not going to think on it too much, especially not in front of her.

"I can't...I can't do that. I made an oath, and I I just can't...break something like that." He could, actually, but the thought of it made him nauseous. Halle didn't want to be like that, he'd rather...

Well, it was fine. "I'll make it work. I just hadn't considered it before," he tried to reassure her with an awkward smile.

She didn't know, at least yet, that Halle kept his promises and responsibilities in the way a loving parent cared for their children. It was a duty, sure. But it was also something integral to who he was, and who he would be. He built his life around them, and he wouldn't change that about himself.

Holding her hand, "I'll definitely live my life, but I think it may take a different shape than what I'd been thinking. I'm okay with that, really." Or at least he would be, once he figured some stuff out.

He glanced down at her hand, and found something different in the cut of her sleeve. Looking up, the tents were also very different. There was just the one, and it was large and ornate, with golden tassels and something sort of furry mop chasing a moth that hovered near a glowing lamp.

He turned to lok at Mechelen and...

The tent was once again two tents, there was no little creatures running about, and Mechelen was...well, Mechelen.

"The past doesn't seem so bad at least," he added, voice turning a little thoughtful and distant.

"I guess I was camping with someone right here, at some point back then." Halle scratched his nose with his free hand. "I only saw for a moment, though. Didn't really learn anything this time. But I really like, it," he turned to look at her, "...getting to see people here. Knowing I wasn't alone." Then, or now.

"We really are and..." he thought back, on something he'd hear in passing from one of those talking cats. A Mauvian. "I've heard we can formalize it? Us being a group, that is. If there's enough knights with a shared interest and bond, we can form something called a brigade, and get stronger as a group."

It was something that had been kicking around at the back of his mind for awhile now. But his own feelings about oaths and promises and responsibilities made him a little hesitant when asking for the same from others. And forming a brigade did seem like a special commitment to a group. Not as serious as the oath they make to their worlds and wonders, but still not something to take too lightly.