[hr][hr][center][h3][b][i][color=#9370DB]Nancy[/color] & [color=2B9311]Em[/color][/i][/b][/h3][/center][hr][hr]


Nancy, of course, was not searching for path and plants - well, she was and she wasn’t. She was keeping an eye out in general for how to navigate around camp, yes, but she was more interested in seeing things they weren’t supposed to find. She doubted any body parts or weapons from previous grisly murders were left behind, of course. Maybe there was some residual nasty energy though - the feeling of being watched that she just couldn’t shake - a strange carving into a tree, an ominous bit of graffiti. Just [i]something[/i] to make her heart twinge a bit with adrenaline, with fear. 

[color=#9370DB]“So,”[/color] she said to Em, moving a bit of a tree branch away from her face as she traversed the path. [color=#9370DB]“What are you in for? Smoke the wrong plant at the wrong time?”[/color]

Em laughed, [color=2B9311]”Not quite. I got caught with my dorm room still.”[/color] Em had the look of the cat who caught the canary. She was proud. [color=2B9311]”You?”[/color] She continued down the path, marking a couple things in her notebook, but was nodding. Em didn’t seem upset about whatever plant they were writing down. Em considered asking something else, but decided against it. She didn’t know Nancy well enough yet. 

She raised an eyebrow, laughing slightly at the candidness of Em’s response. [color=#9370DB]“Anything interesting?”[/color] She didn’t drink alcohol herself - it didn’t really interest her. But if Em made something a little more palpable than hooch before, maybe she could replicate that here. It’d be something the others would appreciate at least. As for what she herself had done… Nancy didn’t see any reason to hide it, there was no shame in it. [color=#9370DB]“My brother and I were trespassing - making a music video for our band. It’s pretty rad, you’ll have to check it out some time.”[/color]

[color=2B9311]”I like to think I make some good stuff. I’m the one most of the other students get it from too. Marco likes it. If you want, I have a couple bottles with me, you can try it.”[/color] As far as Emily was concerned Marco liking it was all she needed. Everyone one else could hate it, as long as Marco liked it. He didn’t lie if he didn’t like something she made either. He was always honest. 

[color=2B9311]”Ooh, rad indeed. I do want to check that out.”[/color] Em considered something for a moment. [color=2B9311]”Can you make sure the others don’t pressure Marco about what he did? He [i]is[/i] innocent, and is taking it hard.”[/color] 

Nancy’s blood went cold for a second. She didn’t know Marco very well, didn’t know Em, but she immediately caught the vibe - immediately understood what Em was saying without saying. Her body shook with anger for a moment at the injustice of it all. [color=#9370DB]“That’s completely fucked,”[/color] she muttered, before nodding. [color=#9370DB]“I’ll do what I can - I can get my brother to listen to me, but his new beau… I dunno. Between you and me, I think he wishes I wasn’t here. It’s not really romantic to have your boyfriend’s sick sister hovering. I’ll try to squash any questions that I hear.”[/color]

Em’s smile was soft, [color=2B9311]”Thank you. That means a lot. I don’t want to punch anyone.”[/color] Her smile turned into a bright grin, one promising violence to anyone who hurt Marco. 

[color=2B9311]”So my guess was right, those two are an item.”[/color] Em shifted the conversation. [color=2B9311]”What about you, got anyone waiting for you to return from war?”[/color] 

[color=#9370DB]“That makes one of us, I’d love to punch someone,”[/color] she said with a crooked smile. She chafed slightly, though, as Em turned the conversation to her. She understood the impulse. Of the six of them here, four of them were already coupled up. It was something she’d been hearing more and more often in her life, probing questions of when she’d find the right guy, when she’d move out and get married and have kids, the whole shebang. There’d been a point in her life when she’d indulged those sorts of questions, thinking that when she was older, she’d start to want that… but it had never happened. 

Nancy shrugged. [color=#9370DB]“I’m not… really wired that way,”[/color] she offered. [color=#9370DB]“No offense, but the whole thing seems real fucking grody, y’know? Letting someone else’s tongue in your mouth? [i]Yuck[/i]. Gag me with a spoon.”[/color]

Em raised an eyebrow and assessed Nancy at the comment about wanting to punch someone. She hadn’t expected that. Nancy didn’t seem like the type. Em was just very protective of Marco, and was willing to take the damage of punching assholes if it meant making sure people didn’t mess with him. 

She considered what Nancy said about kissing. Em was very fond of it. She found it satisfying. Em was quiet for a moment as she thought over a different perspective. Her gut reaction was to laugh it off. But she had spent her whole life making sure people understood their opinion was not the only one that mattered. Slowly she nodded. 

[color=2B9311]”That’s alright. You don’t have to like it. I don’t like math and everyone says I should learn it. I am going to use exactly as much math as I need to do the things I enjoy. Anything else can fuck right off.”[/color] 

[color=#9370DB]“Ugh, I know. Math is terrible,”[/color] Nancy agreed. [color=#9370DB]“I’ve almost flunked it, like, three times now. It’s like the numbers just start spinning when I look at the page.”[/color] She was happy, though, to hear that Em didn’t push - there were so many people who had told her she just needed to meet the right person, or that girls weren’t supposed to really feel those things anyway. 

During their hike Em had been taking some notes. She paused. [color=2B9311]”Damn alright, this area is off limits unless we can do some plant clearing. This part of the path is covered in poison ivy. I'll mark off the trail.”[/color]

She waved Nancy to follow her back the way they had come. [color=2B9311]”Hmm, I don't have that issue, that sounds rough. I think I’d go mad. Math is already hard enough without it jumping off the page.”[/color]

Nancy had been more than happy to let Em take the lead here, on navigating and notetaking. She was horrible when it came to maps. She’d led Zeke down the wrong road at least a dozen times, if not more. So as Em waved for her to follow, she readily obliged. [color=#9370DB]“My brain’s wired a little weird,”[/color] she offered with a shrug. [color=#9370DB]“Gotta say, kinda disappointed there was nothing too grisly or grody out here… besides the poison ivy. Dobbs was acting like we’d find some cultists or something chopped up.”[/color]

[color=2B9311]”Dobbs is an ass. He was just trying to scare us. He even said himself he doesn’t really believe it. However, note that he won’t stay here after dark. So he believes it more than he’ll say.”[/color] Em found another trail and marked her note book. 

[color=2B9311]”My theory about him is, that he’s lived in the shadow of this place long enough that the superstition of it all has seeped into his subconscious. He will pretend he doesn’t believe it, while acting like it is important. I wonder which building has the mass grave under it.”[/color] Em paused and looked out over the cabins arrayed around the grounds. This was a good spot she decided and marked it too. She wished she had a camera. [color=2B9311]”Think anyone brought a camera? I didn’t think to. Dang.”[/color] 

[color=#9370DB]“Or maybe he’s seen something enough to get him spooked, but not enough to abandon a paycheck,”[/color] she countered. It was easy to be a skeptic in daylight. At night it was harder. [color=#9370DB]“Oh, ugh. I did. It’s with my bags though. Pretty sure Demi did too.”[/color] She then scrunched up her face for a moment, thinking. [color=#9370DB]“I brought my tarot cards, if we wanna ask about where the bodies are - or were, I guess.”[/color]

[color=2B9311]”We should come up here when the lights good and get some cool shots later then.”[/color] Em looked at Nancy and grinned. [color=2B9311]”Oh I am so down for that.”[/color] The bell rung from the main cabin.

[color=2B9311]”That's breakfast. Let's head back.”[/color]