Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Fuck, that’s another venue out,” Phinks groaned and slumped back into his chair. He, Feitan, Shalnark, Kortopi, Franklin, and Shizuku were crowded in the jam room, wedding magazines and pamphlets strewn across the coffee tables. “Who’d have thought finding a backup wedding venue for Halloween would be so hard?” Kortopi patted his shoulder as Phinks let out a frustrated huff. “Fuck, I don’t know what we’re gonna do if we don’t get...”

Pakunoda suddenly burst into the room, smiling. “Guess who I just got off the phone with?”

“Who?” Feitan asked.

“Muir Woods.”

Phinks and Feitan sat up sharply, eyes locked on her. “Well?”

She grinned. “You got it!”

“HELL YEAH!” Phinks jumped from his seat and punched the air, Shalnark whining as he successfully knocked half their pamphlets and magazines onto the floor.

“Muir Woods?” Shizuku looked confused.

“You don’t remember? It’s the Redwood Forest we visited during that camping trip we went on when Feitan first joined the troupe. You know, right before we all moved in together?” Pakunoda explained.

Shizuku blinked.

“It was where you two first started to get to know each other, if I’m not mistaken?” Pakunoda winked at Phinks and the tall blond flushed.

“Well, I…um…”

Shalnark smirked, leaning forward on his arms. The group continued to chatter excitedly as Shalnark’s mind slipped away. He hadn’t thought about that trip in such a long time.

---

The tour bus sped along the highway, flanked on both sides by endless trees. Shalnark sighed and took out his phone, opening up a chat he had going with Milluki and firing off a reply. He hated camping. It was hot and buggy and dirty. At least Chrollo had assured him that there were actual bathrooms on the campground and he wouldn’t be expected to do his business in a bush with a roll of toilet paper on a stick. His parents had attempted many times to sign him up for camp as a child, hoping he’d follow in their footsteps and be the perfect little camper who became the perfect little CIT who went on to be the perfect little counselor, etcetera, etcetera. It hadn’t stuck, of course. Much to his parents’ disapproval, he’d always end up tucking himself away from the other campers with his handheld, the bane of his counselors’ existence as he utterly refused to engage despite their best efforts. And now here he was, expected to do it all again, only this time it was his bandmates he was expected to embrace in the throes of nature instead of a myriad of strangers he only saw once a year. A step up, he supposed. At least he knew who these people were, though it came with the added discomfort of knowing that he would not only be seeing these people again, but in fact sharing close quarters with them for the foreseeable future.

Chrollo moved to stand at the front of the bus, beaming at them. “Alright, everyone! Shalnark, do you have the room assignments for the house?”

“Yup.” Shalnark perked up. He pulled the list from his bag and handed it over.

“Thank you. I’ve paired you all up based on what your room assignments will be at the new house. A copy has already been sent to the movers, so by the time we return form the trip, your stuff will already be in your rooms to unpack. I’ve partnered you up with your room neighbors for the trip. Those match-ups are Feitan and Franklin, Kortopi and Bonolenov, Phinks and…” Chrollo stopped. “Ah, there seems to be an error in the list. It looks like Shalnark and Nobunaga’s room assignments were swapped.”

“What? Let me see,” Shalnark said. Chrollo handed him back the list and Shalnark’s eyes flickered over it. “Oops. Sorry, boss. The computer must have messed up.” He handed the list back.

Chrollo hummed. “You know, though, it’s fine as is. Uvogin and Nobunaga know each other well enough, you two hardly need group bonding. Uvogin and Shalnark will continue to share for the trip. If you two decide you don’t want to share a room when you get back, you can move rooms, but give this a shot for now. Nobunaga, you’ll partner with Phinks…”

Shalnark tuned the rest of Chrollo’s words out, sliding down in his seat and fighting a smile. In truth, it wasn’t a computer error that had prompted the swap in rooms, but soft brown eyes, rippling muscles, and a laugh that made Shalnark’s stomach flutter and face warm. He wasn’t entirely sure when the attraction had started. All he knew is that one day, Uvo had thrown an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close while he bellowed laughter that sent Shalnark’s ears ringing and instead of the utter annoyance that would have been his normal response, he felt weak at the knees. It had been downhill from there and when Chrollo had asked him to write up the room assignments, he’d seen his opportunity and, on an impulse he’d never quite experienced before, he’d taken it. He knew that the likelihood that anything would come of this was next to nothing. They’d have some fun on the trip, go back home, move into the new house, and he and Nobunaga would swap rooms. But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy the next three days in close quarters with one very attractive man.

“…ike you all to really try and not just stick to those you already know well. This will be a great chance for you to get to really know each other and bond as a group,” Chrollo was saying.

“Thanks for the PSA, boss!” Phinks called. The troupe laughed and Chrollo struck a pose that reminded Shalnark of one of those overly perking tour guides in the mini-skirts. They turned onto a dirt road and passed by a large wooden sign welcoming them to the campground. Shalnark frowned out the window. Well, at least he could look forward to one good thing on this trip.

Two hours later, they had disembarked from the bus with their luggage and had somewhat settled into the campground. Nobunaga had been bitten by a spider, Shizuku had tried to eat from a poisonous berry bush, Kortopi had gotten stuck in his tent, Phinks had walked into three trees, and Shalnark had been pulled off tent duty twice. He grumbled. It wasn’t his fault the damn instructions made no sense.

Oh, and Feitan had found a dead bird.

“Well, that's ominous...and nasty,” Machi said, sliding to the other side of the picnic area.

“Actually,” Kortopi appeared beside the pink haired woman, Franklin having finally freed him from his tent prison. “A dead bird is not always a bad sign.” He leaned over to investigate the corpse. Feitan poked it with a stick and the bird rolled over.  “In some cultures, a dead bird is a symbol for the rebirth of the soul and new beginnings. Kind of auspicious actually, since we are starting this whole thing together. It’s the death of our old selves and the start of something awesome in the new house with new band mates.”

“We should bury maybe,” Feitan said as he stared at the dead animal.  “Is big bird. Also eagle. American bird.”

“I will go grab the trowel,” Kortopi said excitedly as Feitan rolled the bird onto a trash bag.

“Ah, everyone!” Chrollo called, stepping out from his tent and approaching the group. “Before you all run off, I have one last thing: I’d like everyone to give me their phones.”

A chorus of grumbles rose up but, reluctantly, each member of the troupe placed their cellphones in the bag Chrollo presented. That was, until he got to Shalnark.

The blond blinked, looking from the bag to Chrollo’s face. “Huh?”

Chrollo sighed. “We talked about this, Shalnark.”

“I didn’t think you meant me!”

“Especially you.” Chrollo shook his head. “I’ll give you a moment to let your followers know that you won’t be around for the weekend. Trust me. This will be good for you.”

Shalnark waited a beat, half expecting Chrollo to reveal this as some horrible prank, but his boss remained silent. Hands shaking, he typed out a brief post explaining his absence and released a sharp whine as Chrollo plucked the phone from his hands and let it join the others in the bag.

“Alright, everyone! You have the rest of the day to yourselves! I have some fun activities lined up for tomorrow so make sure to be awake bright and early!” With that, their boss strolled across the campground and into his solitary tent.

Shalnark’s fingers twitched, hands uncomfortably empty. He hugged himself. What was he supposed to do now? With no distraction, he suddenly felt hyperaware. He could feel the heat of the sun prickling across his skin. The world seemed to turn into one giant fishbowl, distorted and unclear.

“Hey Shal, you okay?”

Shalnark flinched when Phinks’ hand touched his shoulder. The older man held up his hands in a show of surrender.

“Hey, it’s just me. Take a deep breath, okay?” Phinks reached out again to grip his shoulder and Shalnark squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the pressure there.

“Found it!”

Shalnark jumped, whipping around as Kortopi ran across the camp to where their newest member stood, cradling the dead-bird-in-a-trash-bag in his arms. The two began to head off into the woods, Kortopi continuing to babble as they disappeared into the trees. "You know, I read somewhere that a dead eagle can symbolize a loss of freedom but like...not in a bad way? It can mean coming together like the band is doing, even the start of a new romance! Bird symbolism is so cool…"

Phinks made a low whining sound in his throat. “Think Franklin would switch with me?”

Shalnark gave him a look. “Phinks…he’s holding a dead bird…”

“New kid is a bit of a strange one, huh?” a deep voice behind them asked.

Shalnark felt his heart leap into his throat.

Phinks let out a sigh. “Yeah…cute, right?”

“If you say so, dude. Not exactly my type. Kortopi really seems to like him though. It’s nice to see him so excited for once. Sorry about the mix-up, by the way,” Uvogin said and Shalnark’s stomach fluttered. “Guess you’re stuck with me for a bit.”

“If he starts to be a pain in the ass, smack him upside the head. That usually works for me,” Nobunaga called from where he was trying to work the camp’s grill.

“Fuck off!” Uvo called back, but he was grinning. Nobunaga flipped him off and went back to fiddling with the grill.

Shalnark gave a non-committal nod, looking away to hide his red face. Uvo had yet to remove his arm from Shalnark’s shoulders and he was so close, Shalnark could feel his warmth against his side. Normally, in the blistering heat of the sun, he’d do all he could to separate himself from the large man, but instead when Uvo finally did move on to grab Nobunaga in a headlock, Shalnark found the space beside him startlingly empty. His fingers twitched, searching out his phone to distract himself from that emptiness, but they closed around nothing and the churning in his stomach returned.

“Shal!” Pakunoda was waving him over. She gestured to the cooler beside her. “Help me with lunch?”

Shalnark took a deep breath and nodded. It would keep him busy at least.

Lunch went far too fast for Shalnark and soon he was left with nothing to do once more. It was more than a little embarrassing when even Pakunoda (someone Shalnark had always considering effortlessly classy and just a little high maintenance) turned out to be better at this camping thing than him. Now she had disappeared with Machi and Shizuku, citing a girl-bonding afternoon. Most of the troupe had dispersed to do their own thing and Shalnark was left standing alone in the middle of the camp. An arm suddenly wrapped around his shoulders, jerking him back against a familiar warmth, and Shalnark released a startled squawk that made his face burn.

“Hey!” Uvo grinned. “Nobu and I are gonna take a walk around the place. Wanna come? We’re supposed to be buddies, right?”

Shalnark glanced out of the corner of his eye at the snickering Nobunaga and stuck his tongue out. The guitarist returned the gesture, not even bothering to stifle his laughter.

“Uh…sure,” Shalnark forced his voice out.

Uvo beamed down at him. “Awesome!” He started walking without another word, dragging Shalnark along with him. Nobunaga laughed and Shalnark bristled. He didn’t see what was so fucking funny.

After nearly falling on his face four times, Shalnark was finally forced to reluctantly peel himself from Uvogin’s side to walk properly along the trail. The campground was actually quite nice, if one overlooked the bugs and the burning of the sun. Shalnark grumbled and pulled his sunscreen out.

“Nerd,” Nobunaga snickered.

“When you look like a tomato, don’t come crying to me,” Shalnark fired back. It wasn’t his fault he burnt easily. He grimaced. The horrible heat was making him gross and sweaty. Oh god, did this place even have a shower? There were bathrooms, but Chrollo hadn’t mentioned anything about showers. Shalnark bit back a whine. They hadn’t even finished the first day and he was ready to go home. He shoved the sunscreen back in his bag. Suddenly, he felt eyes on him. He glanced over at Uvo and the large man made a strange sound and looked away.

“So…” Uvogin started. “This place is pretty nice, huh? Can’t wait to see those redwoods tomorrow. Bet that’ll be cool.”

Shalnark bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t have the heart to tell the large man that they were in fact surrounded by redwoods at that very moment. “Yeah, I guess. It’s a pretty popular place.” The larger man sounded so…awkward. Was he really that hard to talk to? Behind them Nobunaga chuckled and Shalnark rolled his eyes. Glad I can amuse you, he thought. Off to one side of the trail, he spotted Kortopi and Feitan. It appeared that they had finished doing…whatever it was they were doing…with the dead bird and had moved on to examine a rather large spider crawling its way up a tree trunk. Kortopi was chattering excitedly about what kind of spider it was and Shalnark couldn’t recall ever hearing the white-haired man talk so much. He was normally very quiet, preferring to sit away by himself in the corner during parties rather than actually engage. Shalnark understood the sentiment.

“We probably shouldn’t go too far from the camp,” Shalnark said. He turned around and started back down the path. Uvogin faltered.

“But we just left…”

Shalnark didn’t respond, instead just continuing on his way back. Behind him, he heard Nobunaga mutter “whatever” and footsteps faded away behind him. When he arrived, he found himself completely alone.

A couple hours later, the rest of the group began to meander in for dinner. Bonolenov, with a significant amount of grumbling from Nobunaga, managed to get the grill going and soon they were all stuffed with more hotdogs than was probably acceptable. Someone mentioned s’mores and then there was alcohol and before long they were crowded around a campfire, most of them pleasantly buzzed.

Feitan yelped when his stick caught on fire and he threw it into the flames. “How you do?! Why so hard?!”

“You’ve never done this before?” Phinks asked.

Feitan shook his head. “Never camp, never be in woods, never make…sm…oo…smoos…” He frowned.

“S’mores,” Phinks supplied. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I can give you a hand if you want?”

Feitan nodded eagerly and Phinks swallowed. Across the fire, Uvogin started snickering and Phinks tucked one hand under his arm to flip Uvo off out of Feitan’s view. Uvo laughed harder. With trembling hands, Phinks handed the newcomer his own stick and wrapped his hand around a much smaller one to bring the marshmallow into the flame.

Shalnark stifled a laugh behind his hand. Phinks looked so awkward, face bright red as Feitan leaned in against him, watching the cooking marshmallow with an expression of awe. After a bit, Phinks helped him pull it out of the flame and slid it into place on the treat. Feitan frowned.

“Stick is dirty?”

Phinks shook his head. “Nah, see?” He pointed to where the marshmallow had melted onto the stick. “All the other stuff stays put, so you just get the good stuff. Try it.”

Feitan gave the treat a skeptical look, but nevertheless accepted it from the large blond and took a small bite. He chewed for a moment, paused, then shoved the rest into his mouth. He grinned up at Phinks.

“I like.”

Phinks was giddy. “Yeah? Awesome! Here, try doing another one…”

Shalnark rolled his eyes. He wondered if Phinks had any idea how ridiculous he looked, acting like a lovestruck fool. His eyes flickered over to where Uvo was speaking very animatedly to Machi about something and he tucked in on himself a bit. Some part of him, the nonsensical part with no sense of self-preservation, wanted that ability to not care what others saw, what others said. It felt like poison in his veins, to think that someone could get ahold of the most intimate details of his person and twist them into something ugly. Maybe it was ugly to begin with. That scared him more than anything.

Shalnark was broken from his thoughts when Feitan began yelling in some language he didn’t understand, but he had the feeling they were not very nice words and probably had something to do with the fact that Feitan’s new stick was now also on fire. As it joined the others in the campfire, Uvo stood up.

“Anybody up for a walk to the water?”

Pakunoda raised a delicate eyebrow. “It’s almost one in the morning, Uvo. Probably not the best time for the beach.”

“Nah, it’s the perfect time! We’ll have it all to ourselves. Let’s go!”

Despite some eye rolling and protests, Shalnark found himself wandering down the path along with Uvogin and most of the troupe. Chrollo had already turned in for the night and Franklin and Shizuku elected to stay behind and mind the fire. As Uvo had predicted, the beach was barren. He began to strip.

“What are you doing?!” Pakunoda yelped.

Uvo chuckled. “What’s it look like? I’m goin swimming!”

“You’re not serious.”

“Hell yeah I am!” His shorts joined his shirt on the sand. Nobunaga was cackling and Uvo threw a sock at him.

Shalnark turned away to hide his blush. Sure, he hypothetically knew he might get to see Uvo in his underwear if they shared a tent, but he certainly hadn’t expected it at this moment.

Pakunoda rubbed at her temples. “You’re actually doing this,” she sighed. “You’re going swimming in public at one in the morning in your underwear.”

“Huh? Who said anything about swimming in my underwear?” And with that, his boxers hit the sand.

Shalnark choked hard in his throat and averted his eyes, desperately trying to look anywhere but at the jolly drummer. The…very naked…drummer…okay, maybe one little look couldn’t hurt…well damn. His face burned.

“Oh my god!” Pakunoda threw a hand up over her eyes. “Uvo!”

“Come on, Paku! Have some fun!” Uvo was already sloshing his way into the water. Nobunaga laughed even harder before also beginning to tug his shirt off.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Pakunoda groaned.

“Hey, it’s just a little fun, Paku,” Phinks said, tossing his shirt to join the growing pile of clothes. He clapped Shalnark on the back. “You in, Shal?”

Shalnark sputtered. “Um…” He pulled at his sleeve. “Well, I guess…”

Phinks cheered and returned to stripping. Shalnark fumbled with the hem of his shirt and sucked in a breath. Fuck, was he really doing this? He glanced around. Pakunoda was shaking her head, but Nobunaga, Phinks, and Bonolenov were already down to their underwear, as was…

“Machi, seriously?” Pakunoda asked.

Machi shrugged, standing in her bra and panties. “Hey, I am 7 beers in and this sounds like fun, so sue me.” She tossed her bra at Pakunoda and the older woman squawked when it hit her in the face. Shalnark laughed. Okay, if even Machi was joining in on the fun, so could he.

Feitan was sitting on the beach, watching the group. His eyes lingered on Uvo, rivets of water running down his muscled back, and Shalnark felt a sharp twisting in his chest. He didn’t like it, he realized. He didn’t like Feitan looking at Uvo. What if Uvo liked Feitan better than him? He probably would. Everyone seemed to be enamored with the new arrival. Logically, he knew why – they just wanted him to feel welcome – but that didn’t stop him from tossing his shorts into the pile just a little more forcefully than he’d intended. Feitan’s eyes slid over to Phinks and a grin stretched slowly over his face.

Good, Shalnark thought. That one you can have. It was a stupid thing to be caught up on. He and Uvo weren’t even dating.

"You know, there are a lot of stories about swimming too." Kortopi was fidgeting next to Feitan, his hand twitching around something in his pocket. Feitan turned and blinked at him owlishly.

"Is stories about swim naked at night?" he asked.

"Well...kinda. I don't know about naked, but there was this guy named Leander from ancient Greece and he was in love with this woman named Hero and he used to swim over to her tower at night to be with her. I mean, he was probably naked. It was ancient Greece. That story is sort of sad, though. You know, cause they both died and stuff…”

"Ooh! What other stories there are about swimming?!" Feitan said excitedly.

Kortopi's face lit up. "Really? You want to hear more? I mean…yeah, lemme see..."

The water was colder than Shalnark had expected. The chill rippled over his skin and he shivered. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“Hey!” Shalnark whipped around. Uvo swam up beside him.

Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down.

“Havin’ fun?” Uvo looked at him expectantly and Shalnark nodded. Uvo grinned. “Awesome!” He patted Shalnark on the back and all Shalnark could think about how close he was to his…to his…

Uvogin waved towards the beach. “Hey Feitan! Kortopi! You guys gonna come in?!”

Shalnark bristled. So he really did like Feitan better than him. Everyone did, so why wouldn’t he?

All at once, Shalnark felt very exposed, both literally and figuratively. He wished the water would swallow him whole.

“Hey, Shal-”

“It’s late. I’m gonna go back to the camp.”

Uvogin looked at him, confusion on his face. “Huh? But I thought…”

But Shalnark was already leaving, swimming back towards the shore. Behind him, he could hear Phinks and Machi laughing, chants of “Team Dad! Team Dad!” rising up, over what victory he wasn’t certain. He reminded himself that this was the second time he had run away from Uvogin, but he didn’t have it in him to turn back.

He put his clothes back on in a rush, ignoring Pakunoda as he stormed back towards the camp. Static filled his ears and his finger twitched at his sides. He clenched them into tight fists, feeling his nails bite into his palm. He vaguely heard Franklin call out to him as he reached the camp, but he didn’t even attempt an answer. He needed to get away, away from all the eyes watching his every move. Only when he was inside his tent did he allow himself to breathe, dropping onto his sleeping bag. Sand clung to his feet and legs and he knew he should take care of it, but instead he rolled over and tried to sleep. He felt exhausted, but his mind was buzzing and he lay there, staring at the dusty red fabric of the tent. Damn it. Sharing a tent with Uvo had been the entire point of his efforts. Now he just wanted to be alone.

Shalnark sighed to himself, closing his eyes and rolling over. When he blinked his eyes open, the tent was glowing in the early light of dawn and Uvo was curled up snoring, a pillow hugged against his chest. Shalnark blushed and reached for his bag. It was going to be a long day.

They spent the morning in the park. The winding paths and giant redwoods surrounded them as they filed dutifully behind Chrollo and the tour guide. Finally, towards the end of the tour, they stopped among a large gathering of trees. "Cathedral grove." The tour guide called it. It did vaguely resemble the front of a church, if you squinted.

Phinks tipped his head back, gazing up into the endlessly stretching trees. “I want to get married here,” he whispered. His gaze shifted, drifting around the clearing. Shalnark rolled his eyes.

“You do know you’re single, right?” Across the grove, Shalnark noticed Feitan perk up. “And you’re thinking about marriage?”

Phinks frowned. “Hey, sometimes it just feels right, okay?” He shrugged. “You wouldn’t get it.”

Shalnark tensed and the queasiness returned to his stomach. “I…need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” He started off down the path, but jumped when he heard someone call out behind him.

“Hey, wait up!” Uvo jogged up to him. “Where ya going?”

Shalnark raised an eyebrow. “Bathroom?”

Uvogin fidgeted. “Oh…uh…I gotta go too. I’ll come with.”

“Me too,” Nobunaga appeared beside the large man.

Uvogin gave his friend a surprisingly sour look and quickly moved to follow after Shalnark, who turned his back to them, lest the large man see the distress on his face. This was the last thing he needed. He just wanted to be alone.

The walk to the bathroom felt far longer than it should have. Uvogin kept talking beside him, but Shalnark tuned him out for most of the trip, letting the static fill his ears as he mindlessly followed the trail to their destination. Once they arrived, Shalnark disappeared inside and shut himself in the first empty stall he found.

Seriously? You’re hiding again? I guess old habits really do die hard, he thought. Shalnark sighed and leaned back against the wall. No matter where he went, he always felt like such an outsider.

“You wouldn’t get it.”

Maybe Phinks was right. His fingers twitched at his side, searching. He longed for his phone, to check out for a while and come back when things had settled down in his mind. He closed his eyes. At least things were silent…he paused. That’s right. The bathroom was utterly silent and Shalnark suddenly realized he couldn’t remember if Uvo or Nobunaga had actually followed him in. He certainly would have heard them leave.

As he stepped back out into the hot sun, Shalnark was surprisingly annoyed to find neither Uvo nor Nobunaga in sight. He frowned. Had they ditched him? He turned to head back along the trail when…

“…nd seriously, man, you gotta fucking chill.”

Shalnark stopped, ducking back towards the bathroom. Peeking around the corner, he spotted Nobunaga and Uvogin around the side of the building. Uvo was leaning up against the wall while Nobunaga was looking very much the scolding parent.

“Shal’s high maintenance,” he was saying. “You know that. Take a breather and give him a little space. You’re gonna smother him. You totally lucked out with the room mix-up, so don’t blow your chance.”

Uvo dropped his head back against the wall. “I know, I know! I just get excited and can’t help myself. He’s really cute.” He ran a hand back through his wild hair. “I don’t think he likes me very much though.”

“Maybe if you stopped scaring him away. Just relax, Uvo.”

“You know, maybe you could actually help instead of laughing at me every time I try to make a move.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault your idea of flirting is hilarious.”

Shalnark dropped back against the wall, stunned. They were talking about him. Did…did Uvo like him? That didn’t make any sense. But Nobunaga had definitely said his name…

His mind raced, suddenly dragging up every little interaction he’d had with Uvo over the past couple days. He heard footsteps and quickly ducked back inside the bathroom just as Uvo and Nobunaga came back around to the front of the building. They were talking much quieter now and he couldn’t hear them. He swallowed and opened the door.

“Hey, we were beginning to think you fell in,” Nobunaga said, smiling at him.

“I wasn’t aware my bathroom habits concerned you, Mr. Hazama.”

Nobunaga laughed. “Mr. Hazama. Well, if that doesn’t make me feel like an old man. Come on, let’s head back.”

The afternoon was spent doing Chrollo’s group bonding exercises. After some mishaps with the trust falls (turns out, it doesn’t matter how much you trust someone when you’re a nearly 7-foot wall of muscle and the person catching you doesn’t even break 5-foot), they decided to return to camp.

Sitting around the campfire, Shalnark felt more at ease than he had the entire trip. Uvo liked him. Uvo liked him. He’d tested the theory on their way back to the camp by “accidentally” tripping. Uvo had nearly knocked Machi over rushing to catch him and had held onto his arm just a little longer than was strictly necessary, until Machi pointed it out and Uvo had released him with a stutter and a blush. Shalnark smiled. Uvo liked him. He could use that.

“We should tell ghost stories!” Kortopi suddenly said as Pakunoda helped him swap the ice pack for his back. Uvo mouthed yet another “sorry,” but the much smaller man waved him off with a smile. “It’s not truly camping without ghost stories by the campfire.”

“Uh…” Phinks fidgeted. “I mean, we could…you know…tell other stories…doesn’t have to be ghosts.”

“Oooh, want ghost stories!” Feitan cried. “Sound like fun.”

Poor Phinks. He looked caught between a rock and a hard place. “Yeah,” he said weakly. “Super fun.”

Kortopi eagerly launched into an eerie tale. The troupe grew quiet as they listened. Feitan was fascinated, staring at Kortopi with delight written across his face. Phinks, however, had become very tense and twitched at every little noise, eyes darting around desperately. Even the others, who did not typically share Phinks’ aversion to ghosts and ghouls, seemed uncomfortable. Bonolenov had even left the circle…wait, when did he…

“BOO!”

Thin hands seized Phinks shoulders and the blond man screeched, jumping up and scrambling to get away, tripping over the cooler and face-planting into the dirt. Machi shrieked and fell off her seat and Uvo stood up, ready for a fight. Nobunaga had grabbed a stick and was holding it up like a weapon.

“I don’t get it,” Shizuku cocked her head to one side. “So he wasn’t in the car?”

“Sometimes I envy you, Shizuku,” Machi said as Pakunoda helped her back onto the bench and began plucking leaves from her hair.

“Bono,” Phinks muttered as he dragged himself up onto his elbows. “You’re an asshole.” Bonolenov took a bow and Phinks grumbled. A pale hand appeared before him and Phinks looked up, blushing as he accepted. “Uh, thanks.”

And there go what few braincells he had left, Shalnark thought as Feitan helped Phinks to his feet.

“Is okay,” Feitan said, still holding the blonde’s hand. “I protect you from ghosts.”

“Oh, okay.” Phinks’ face was bright red.

“These ghost wimps anyway. Ghosts from my country much scarier.”

All the color drained from Phinks’ face. Kortopi leaned forward. “Ooh, do tell!”

Phinks whimpered, even as Feitan pulled him to sit beside him on the bench. The small man grinned. “This one of my favorites. There was lady…”

If Kortopi’s story had been scary, Feitan’s story proved to be terrifying. By the end of it, Phinks looked ready to cry and Machi was gripping the bench so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Nobunaga had yet to relinquish his stick and Uvogin stood up so fast the second the story ended that he nearly sent Bonolenov to the ground.

“Wow, uh, great story but you know,” he gave an exaggerated yawn. “I’m totally beat so I think I’m gonna, you know, go to sleep. Totally cool story with the…um…yeah…good night, guys! See you tomorrow!” And with that, he disappeared into the tent.

Shalnark stifled a laugh behind his hand. Aw, Uvo was scared. How cute. Illogical, of course, since ghosts weren’t real, but still cute.

“I’m tired too,” he said, stretching. “See you guys tomorrow.”

When he opened the tent, Uvo jumped, spinning around and nearly knocking their tent onto its side. “Oh thank fuck, it’s just you.”

Shalnark chuckled. “Were you expecting a ghost?” Uvo looked pale and Shalnark took pity on him. “I’m only joking. We don’t even meet any of the parameters for that story to take place.”

Uvo groaned and ran a hand back through his hair. “Yeah, I know. Stuff like that doesn’t normally get to me, but jeez that new guy can be fucking creepy.”

Shalnark kicked off his shoes and as he went to zip the tent closed, he caught a glimpse of Nobunaga and Phinks heading back to their tent, arms filled with empty cans, a ball of twine, and Nobunaga notably still carrying his stick.

“You’re sure this will work?”

“The fuck if I know, but it’s worth a shot.”

Shalnark rolled his eyes and closed the tent, settling back on his sleeping bag. Uvo was checking under his own sleeping bag, as well as his pillow and duffle. “You’re really that scared?”

The large drummer stuttered and shoved his pillow back down. He crossed his arms over his chest like a petulant child. “Yeah. So what?”

Shalnark chuckled. “Aw. Well, don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

Uvogin’s blush reached his ears. “Y-yeah?” He had no right being this cute. “So can I come over there?”

“Well, I don’t think we’ll both fit in the sleeping bag, but we can snuggle at least.”

Uvo’s face reminded Shalnark of a kid at Christmas. “Yeah. Okay. Sure…uh, do I…?”

“Well, let me change first.”

“Right! Right, yeah, cool.”

Uvo turned his head to look away and Shalnark pursed his lips together to hold in his laughter. This was too cute. He moved slowly, grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling it up and over his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Uvo trying to discreetly watch him and he nearly lost it. How had he not noticed before? It seemed so obvious now.

“See something you like?” he asked. Uvo choked and turned away.

“Sorry!”

Shalnark crawled across the tent and wrapped his arms around Uvo’s neck from behind. The large man made an agonized sound in his throat and Shalnark smirked. “So is that a no?”

“No! I mean, I do…um...like…uh…”

Shalnark giggled and swung around to sit on Uvo’s lap. Large hands immediately fell to his hips. He leaned in and…

“Right, Shal?”

Shalnark jolted, snapping out of his reverie. “Huh? What?”

“I said, it’s not that far from the visitor’s center.” Phinks snickered. “You good over there?”

Shalnark blushed. “Ah, sorry. I was thinking about the camping trip.” He smirked. “You spent the whole time following Feitan around like a lost puppy.”

Phinks’ grew red up to his ears. “I-I did not!” he sputtered.

“Oh, you absolutely did,” Pakunoda said, hiding a smile behind her hand.

“For what it’s worth, he was not mad about it.” Feitan swatted at Kortopi’s arm, sticking his tongue out at his friend. Suddenly Kortopi perked up. “Hey! We should stay at the campground again!”

Shalnark choked. “No.”

“Why not?” Kortopi asked.

“Uh…way too many bugs. And getting ready would be a pain in the ass.”

Feitan cackled. “I could scare Phinksy again. Was fun.”

“Was not fun,” Phinks whimpered.

“We’ll figure all that out later,” Pakunoda said. “In the meantime, we have a lot of other things that will need to be addressed. I hope you two are ready to look at a lot of menus and color swatches.”

Phinks and Feitan groaned in unison and collapsed back onto the couch. Phinks grumbled.

“Man, I hate weddings.”