Hanson Campfire | Wednesday Afternoon

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

The weather was seriously just encouraging Caroline to spend all her time outside the cabin, wishing she could tan. While her skin was super protected by the big blue ring on her forefinger, stretching out in the direct sunshine meant she could feel the warmth like she should be applying her SPF 30 regularly.

And okay, so maybe Caroline had lotioned up just for the scent memories, but no one had to know it wasn't necessary to keep her skin all soft and pale. God, she missed being tan. Not like, Jersey housewife tan, but not so close to the nude crayon as she seemed these days.

Whatever, her Italian homework didn't care what sad state her skin was in, and Caroline got comfy on her stomach, tugging her bikini bottom firmly into place before she set to work reading. Yeah, in five minutes she'd probably be praying for an entertaining interruption.

[Open campfire!]

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[withasword.livejournal.com]

Class done, changed and dried off, and Kate was about to set off into town, maybe even the new mainland for some food. Growing up as she had, myths, Greek or otherwise, had been a big part of Voron's education. She loved them, wanted lunch, and he'd probably have approved of this kind of field trip. Win win win.

Then, on her way out she passed Caroline, and had to pause at the icy wave of nausea. Vampires. Way to put a girl right off dinner.

"Don't you have... sun problems?" If it came off a little accusing, well, Kate still had a few undead-related issues.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Hey, it wasn't Caroline's fault that other people thought she stank. As far as she knew she smelled like coconut sunblock and soap.

"You say that like we're not both out in the sunshine," she replied, glancing at Kate over her sunglasses. "Or did I miss something?"

[withasword.livejournal.com]

Kate pulled a face. She was right, yes, but there were some differences between them, weren't there?

"You know what I mean." It was one vampire myth she knew was true back home, because when they did go out in daylight they were smeared in copious amounts of thick purple sunblock, that made them somehow more hideous than normal.

She folded her arms, tilting her head to watch the other girl. "Dead people aren't known for their tans." Tact: not Kate's strong suit.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"Good thing I'm only kind of dead," Caroline pointed out helpfully, putting down her book and sitting up a little more to have a look at her little sibling. "But then, my tan doesn't exactly improve when I lay out here. Does that bother you or something?"

[withasword.livejournal.com]

"'Kind of dead' people that walk around bother me as a rule." At least it wasn't just the tanning issue, and it wasn't limited purely to Caroline. Happy thought? "Even when they're not mindlessly ripping people to shreds." Maybe not.

Why people in her universe devoted their entire lives to the study and care of the undead, she would never begin to fathom.

"It's a problem I have. Sorry." So sincere. Really.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"Does me laying here count as walking around?" Caroline asked with a smirk. "And I feel like pointing out that just because I'm a vampire doesn't make me all evil. I can honestly say I've never done the mindless ripping people to shreds thing! Your world clearly has sucky vampires."

[withasword.livejournal.com]

"Really sucky." That at least, she could agree with. "And the people who make them are just as bad." Worse, in some cases.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"And by people you mean other, worse vampires, right? Because if actual humans are making vampires, well, they really can't talk now, huh?" At least not in Caroline's opinion.

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, newbie he remember from the picnic. At least, Jake thought she was still a newbie as long as the new welcome picnic hadn't come around.

"Hey, Kate," he greeted. "You've managed to survive, I see."

[withasword.livejournal.com]

"It's a weird talent I have," Kate agreed, twitching a little smile. "Were you expecting something else?"

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

So Jake had been on his was to... He honestly couldn't remember what he was planning to do, and maybe there hadn't even been a plan. Like hell if he remembered or cared when he came to a stop a little behind Caroline.

He tilted his head, as to get both angles right and would she blame him if he just looked at her a little while longer? It wasn't like she hadn't heard him coming up and he needed a moment to just appreciate what was given to him so freely.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Of course she'd blame him, he wasn't talking to her or standing where she could see him. "If you're going to just stand there and stare at my ass, the least you could do is not block the light," Caroline said, flipping pages in her book to see how much she had left in this chapter.

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

"I'm trying to keep you from overheating," he said helpfully, not moving at all. He wasn't done looking, dammit.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Aww, so concerned with my well being. You realize overheating would involve like, flames and stuff though." Not something he could stop.

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

"Not the kind of overheating I was thinking of," he smirked and look, she didn't need to be able to read his mind to tell what he was thinking. It was all too obvious from the way he was watching her.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Oh that smirk, yeah, Caroline could guess at his thoughts. "You might need to cool down," she laughed, placing her book on the blanket and moving her sunscreen closer. "Here, have some lotion."

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

He raised an eyebrow, but maybe that was just what he needed as he finally moved out of her sunlight. "You think it will help?" he asked, squatting down beside her to grab the bottle.

[likethestore.livejournal.com]

Finally no longer looking like a zombie, K-Mart headed for a random campfire and plunked herself down on a log with a notebook to start planning stuff out for cheerleading.

"Hey," she said with a nod as she sat down. Because it was only polite and all.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Caroline glanced at the new arrival and managed to find a smile that wasn't entirely judgmental. "Hi."

[likethestore.livejournal.com]

K-Mart could live with not entirely judgmental. Y'know, if she knew that was what it was. She just took it as reserved.

"Know what blows? Time getting away from you," K-Mart complained. "Because then you get to do a lot of planning in a relatively short time."

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"Uh oh, sounds like someone is not so good with the calendar," Caroline remarked, understanding what that would be like. "I tend toward the healthily obsessive when it comes to planning, so that is so not something that happens to me."

[likethestore.livejournal.com]

"The calendar and I are not very good friends," K-Mart said with a laugh. "So now I get to pull together a cheerleading squad that consists of me, the one co-captain, a couple of other people, and more people after I hold tryouts. Not that I know when that's gonna be yet."

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, Caroline couldn't help being intrigued at the mention of a cheer squad, but it wasn't like she was really supposed to be doing sports now. But then, it wasn't like she'd be allowed to take over. Once a leader, never a follower.

"Oh yeah? I think I heard about there being a squad here. What sorts of things do you cheer for? I mean, it's not like there's a football team." Or hot football players, sigh.

[likethestore.livejournal.com]

"We do -- or plan to be doing -- stuff for Parents Weekend, try to circulate at the welcome picnics, be a school presence, stuff like that."

[snarkyhealer.livejournal.com]

Shira was extremely happy with this weather. It meant she could wear the cute little shorts and t-shirt combination Alice had convinced her to buy. And while it wasn't at all her usual type of clothing, it was nice to be wearing something that let her take advantage of the nice weather properly.

She wandered out of the cabin and over to her campfire, sitting down near the people.