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“Oh my, is the kitty cat feeling a little defensive?” Aster laughed, knowing full well he wouldn’t throw hands with their dear overlord tromping up so quickly. He kept his hands in his pockets and smirked as Demi suddenly swapped back into concerned sibling mode. Really, he was so easy to rile up. How could he not? He turned to Em as Zeke dragged Nancy and Demi away and Dobbs returned to his roof work.

“Emily dear, how was the water? The retriever and I were working on the water sports things, and I was just telling him how pleasant I looked in it. I was thinking about swimming a little later, but I’m concerned about my skin. Is there an abundance of algae? Strange animals swimming with you or just the usual suspects? Any snakes? Water roaches?”

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Marco sighed softly as they headed toward the trails where they had heard the cries coming from and sighed a bit. He really hoped everything was alright, and that no one was truly hurt too much that they had to be shipped away from the camp. He crossed paths with Dobbs with Em as they talked together and then looked up at him and nodded at Em's words. "Yeah, he is pretty straight forward. Not sure how I feel about him entirely, but he's going to be getting us nicer food."

As they walked up, he paused at Em's joke, and snorted for a moment. It was pretty funny, but considering what he had been talking about with Dobbs earlier, maybe he wasn't sure that he wanted to talk about sacrifice. He took a deep breath at that point, and then relaxed, as he tugged Em in close and nuzzled her. He was glad that it seemed that Nancy was alright, but if he had to guess it was one of the seizure they had mentioned before. She seemed to be fine now, but... it was ominous.

"Aster, if you're that worried about the water, then you probably should miss out on swimming. It's a lake, not a tended to pool. But I will say, I got a lovely view in the lake~" Marco chuckled as he held his girlfriend close.

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Nancy chaffed at the attention - particularly at Zeke’s declaration that he wasn’t going to leave her alone another second while they were at the camp. She could empathize with where he was coming from, but she hated it all the same. She despised being treated like a doll, like something fragile that could break at any moment. “Zeke, I’m not going to shatter the first moment you look away,” she protested, even as she allowed her twin to pull her along and drag her off - with Demi.

“I’m fine, nothing bad happened, it’s all good. I don’t think you want to be hanging onto me the entire time, either,” she shot a glance in Demi’s direction, hoping that he would back her up on this. If there was anyone at camp who would be on her side on this, it had to be Zeke’s boyfriend. He didn’t want Nancy as a plus one to every activity too.

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Demetri was certainly going to make sure that the walkie talkies were added to the list of items that they procured. Especially after what had just happened. The most horrifying thing about it wasn’t the spasming, or the way that his name was being repeated over and over and over again in a way that would haunt him for a long portion of his life, but it was the way that he wasn’t able to get any help until it would’ve been too late. The walkies at least would have afforded them the room to get someone to get to the HAM and call for help regardless of where they were, because he couldn’t call for help and watch Nancy at the same time, and it seemed that carrying her across the camp as she spasmed wasn’t exactly a play in the game. Two more joined their merry group to round out the numbers and make sure that this three ring circus had a full audience. Great. He could appreciate the way in which Emily was at least trying to break the tension by making a small joke, even if it felt a bit in poor taste given what could’ve happened to Nancy. ”I vote we sacrifice Aster first. Everyone knows the gods love a good Virgin sacrifice.” He chimed in as his hand was grabbed and tugged away from the main group of people.

It was now only Demi, Zeke, and Nancy, all together again as they made their way to…actually where the fuck were they going to? And why was Zeke speaking in Tacos. At Nancy’s protest, Demi let go of Zeke’s hand and placed both of his in a large T shape as he stopped dead in his tracks. ”Woah Z, chill. Let’s take a bit of a pause here before we start speaking in tongues ok? You certainly can’t be attached to Nancy’s hip for the rest of Camp, let alone the rest of your life. We should implement a buddy system however. No one goes off alone anymore, everyone stays in pairs of two and with the Walkies we can not only communicate if something like this happens again, but we can talk the person through it while some of us make it to the scene and others make it to the HAM. You can’t just…suffocate Nancy like that…at least…that’s the uh…vibe I’m gettin from her stare…right Nance?”

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@KazAlkemi@Achronum@kittyluna45@Morose@Trainerblue192

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“It is a lake, Aster. Oh, you city boy.” Em sighed exasperated. Marco hit the nail on the head there. She leaned into his embrace.

“Well if we aren’t needed to fight Bigfoot or whatever, I’m going to go get out of wet clothing.” Em started to leave, pausing to wait long enough for Marco.

“Come on Aster.” She gestured, beckoning Aster to join them. She followed after the others slowly trying to keep space between the two groups, sighing when they stopped and veered so they could go around them.

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Zeke stumbled to a stop when Demi blocked his path. He tried to side-step his boyfriend but got nowhere. ”Buddy system? Fine. I’ll stick with Nancy.” Zeke knew he wasn’t being rational. He wanted to create some distance between himself and his twin before. Especially as their interests started to shift, they were supposed to go to university together and form a band. They couldn’t do that if Nancy were dead. If Zeke didn’t keep protecting his sister like he promised their mother.

”Can you move? Nancy needs something to eat and drink.”

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Marco chuckled a bit more at Em's response to Aster's comment about the lake. He nuzzled her happily as she leaned into his embrace and then kissed the top of her head. He then chuckled more as she said they weren't needed to fight Bigfoot. "As long as the Ogopogo doesn't come out as well... then I think we're good." He chuckled more as he looked at Em and then listened softly.

"Mmm I'll help you come get out of those wet cloths my love~" He purred into her ear and then went to head to the cabins. He hoped that Aster would follow them, as it would seem that Zeke was going into overprotective brother mode. He couldn't blame him, but maybe it was too much. But, who was he to say? He didn't have siblings.

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Truthfully, there wasn't really anyone present at camp that Nancy wanted to be exclusively tied to. She valued her alone time above all else. If Zeke wanted to constantly hang around her, it would drive her mad. But neither was she thrilled about the idea of hanging around with anyone else. She needed space to breathe, space to be alone with her thoughts, without having watchful eyes on her, looking for the subtlest sign of an oncoming seizure. "I'm not going to let you do that, Zeke," she crossed her arms. "We don't even do that at home. There's tons of times where it's just me in the shop and you have the day off - or where they call you in and Mom's working, so I'm the only one at home. And I'm fine. I'm still here."

"He'll move when you take a beat and calm down." Her eyes darted over towards Demi. Strange bedfellows.

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Demetri crossed his arms, nodded his nose towards Nancy. ”Sorry babe, you heard the lady. I don't move till you take a breath and calm down. She's a strong girl, one that can speak for herself too. I'm not doing this to be difficult, but we can't spend all summer like this. Also, you're crazy if you think im being stuck with Dis-Aster as my buddy. No thank you. I say we rotate them, see how long the two Heteros can be apart without shoving their tongues down each others throats.”

Demi's expression softened. Taking a step closer towards Zeke as he placed his hand onto his shoulder calmly. ”I get it, you're worried and scared. Shit, I was fucking scared back there, but that's no reason to loose our cool. We set up systems, fail safes, ways to work around it. The Walkies are a huge help once they come in. Ham is another, and buddies means we have eyes and ears on everyone at all times. We'll be fine, soooo long as the water in the lake never bubbles that is.”

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“You two are disgusting.” Aster deadpanned at Marco's suggestive comment and he waved it away as if it was an offensive odor before following, pointedly ignoring Demi's comment. “Of course I understand it is a lake. This is why I have to ask. If it's frigid, I don't want to go in. If there are strange things touching you, I also don't want to go in. Have you ever swam in a shallow spring? Those tall, underwater plants are awful when they brush against you.” Aster shivered at the thought.

“I should get my moisturizer ready for this too. Lake water is probably terrible for your skin and all this working in the sun, ugh. I'll take a short little break to reapply sun screen too.” Aster muttered to himself.

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@KazAlkemi@Achronum@kittyluna45@Morose@Trainerblue192

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Em giggled at Marco’s suggestion. “Maybe we can do that later. For now I suppose I should get back to work.” To Aster she told him, “Hmm, I didn’t notice anything in the water. But it is pretty cold, which is nice with the heat of the day.” Em had already gotten burned, but that was already turning into a tan. She never worried about wearing sunscreen.

At the cabin she quickly pulled off her swim suit and got back into her clothes from earlier. Em was unbothered by anyone else's presence as she changed. She had mostly dried off between the walk and heat of the afternoon. The only negative was that her working clothes were dirty. She hated putting on dirty clothes. However, if she put on clean clothes and went back to work she’d just get those dirty so there was no point. The swimsuit she hung outside on a tree branch to finish drying.

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Marco sighed at that, and looked at Emily. She was right, he probably should go back to work as well, as much as he really didn't want to. The cooking part was fine, he enjoyed that, the cleaning part? Not so much, as he was finding way too much had plastic rot, unidentified junk, and just was gross. Too many years of neglect had left much to be desired with some of the other things around the kitchen.

He watched as Em got changed, and smiled as he was reminded of how lucky he was to have her in his life as his friend and lover. He knew she probably was hating have to put back on those dirty cloths, but it didn't make sense to change and get them all dirty. He walked over and then rubbed her back softly. "You gonna go back to cleaning? I'll miss you, and see you at dinner." He kissed her on the cheek, waved to Aster and then set off.

He headed back to the main hall, thinking of what to make for dinner, and what else he would clean before tomorrow. He really hoped that Dobbs would come through on those nicer ingredients. He wasn't sure he could keep trying to make Aster eat hot dogs. He really did hope that this week would be kind, and that he could figure out what he could do once the kids got there.

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Nancy prickled at some of Demi’s language. She never particularly loved being referred to as the lady or as a girl - it felt infantilizing, in a similar way to her brother’s obsessive need to protect her. The twins didn’t talk about it, but there would be a day where they were separated from each other and Zeke wouldn’t be around. If he couldn’t trust that she’d be fine without him, he was in for a great deal of pain and worry… pain and worry that Nancy herself was trying to set aside, to not fixate on the absolute worst thing that could happen.

Although one small part of her felt that at least if it happened, she wouldn’t need to worry about seizures anymore.

“I haven’t had a gnarly one in years, either. And the odds of a second seizure hitting while we are at camp are probably low.” She didn’t usually have multiple in a week.

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Zeke twitched. He didn’t do well with being told no or being told to back off. He didn’t even really register Demetri until the raven-haired man stepped closer to him, filling his view completely. Zeke met Demetri’s eyes, narrowing them until his words sank in. He looked back at Nancy, seeing the annoyance on her face. He deflated, rubbing the back of his neck.

”Ya…true. Today has been a lot, I guess. With hiking and cleaning and the heat. But maybe you should take a little bit of a break? You did say you were hungry and thirsty,” Zeke reminded Nancy, smiling sheepishly at his sister.

”Wait. What? What happens when the lake bubbles?” Zeke whipped his head back, staring Demetri down.

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Demi saw the slight twitch in Zeke's eyes as he stepped in closer to him. He worried that this might become their first fight, maybe even their first physical fight. As Zeke narrowed his eyes, Demi tried not to back down, holding his ground before finally being able to relax and let out the breath he'd been holding. ”Good to know Wonder Boy here has some sense to him after all. Z's right about that much at least. Get some food, drink, and maybe take a nap. I'm sure I can find a way to entertain myself and avoid Aster all at the same time.”

Demi had already started moving away, happy with the result of their little tag team, before halting dead in his tracks at Zeke's question. ”Oh. Yeah, uh, they say if you see the water bubbling, then it means the Spirit of this Killer is active. There's actually a lot of info on this guy, ways to avoid him, signs he's coming, none of it good. So if the waters calm, we should be pretty good.”

Aster had no issue following Emily as she went to change, sighing at the description of the water. “Cold is fine, I suppose - It's far better for the skin than hot water, but I'd prefer the lake water to be at least somewhat warm.” Aster heaved another sigh. “Still, nevertheless, you should consider yourself lucky Dobbs didn't decide to lurking near the lake and catch you slacking off or the strange stories didn't snag your foot and drag you under.”

“Bye dear.” Em waved Marco off, smiling. “We’re pretty high up and I think most of the lake is snowmelt. I doubt it is ever warm.” Especially since right now it is nearly the height of Summer. It was unlikely, though she supposed not impossible. “As for Dobbs, the most he could really do is tell me to get back to work, which I will. Soon. I’ll get the trails all cleared up before the kids get here. If he had more specific things for us to do I’d probably be more worried. But he gave us such general stuff.” Emily shrugs. “What do you plan to do the rest of the day?” It had gotten hot enough that Emily didn’t want to keep working on the trails. That was absolutely an early morning task.

“Blah, snowmelt.” Aster waved the thought away. “Well, I don't particularly want to stand outside baking in the sun any longer. There is still plenty to clean around camp, so I may start working inside all the main building rooms or maybe work a little on an actual activity schedule now that I know what we have for our future campers. Zeke seemed to be interested in helping with my things, but he was more focused on talking about relationships. One would think he'd have settled down now that he got his cat, but still so focused on it.”

Emily snorted at Aster’s judgement about Zeke. She didn’t know Zeke very well except for the time in the kitchen. He seemed pretty level headed for the most part... except where it came to Demi.

“Well if you want some help cleaning I can do that with you for a bit. I can also let you know what sort of activities I have planned for the trails. I don’t know what all is available otherwise though. But I definitely want to do some scavenger hunts and nature hikes.”

“So long as you don't abandon me without finishing your section, your company is well appreciated. The cat basically left me to finish the cabin halfway through the plan.” Aster grumbled. “Perhaps we can make them related somehow; your activity feeds into mine or vice versa. A whole experience, no matter what you're doing.” Aster tapped his chin thoughtfully as he considered their options.

“However we go about it, perhaps we ensure the others plan their things with each other's activities in mind - beyond simple times of course. Some overarching theme or lesson that we can all feed into.”

“Don’t worry I won’t abandon you. Hmm, I was definitely planning for it to be educational. I think everyone should know hiking safety, and what is safe and not safe. Obviously, I’ll try to make it fun. I know the age range is pretty big for the campers we’re supposed to get. From first graders up to high school. What are you planning? I’m sure I can make something work with it.”

Aster let out a soft hum. “Beyond the obvious of what we have, I've put no thought into it. We have canoes, we have fishing rods, we have some functional safety vests - everything as straight forward as can be.” Aster considered it. “I assume we'll separate them by age range? I do not want to deal with the small ones. The older ones may be bearable, bit children? Disgusting.”

Em laughed. “You very likely will also have to deal with the little ones. They might even not know how to swim. So you’ll have to set up swimming lessons. Aster, do you know how to swim?”

Aster gagged at the thought of having to teach. A dozen little gremlins spitting and coughing and sneezing and screaming and crying and having fun? Aster was tempted to be taken to jail. “Yes, I quite enjoy swimming, thank you. It's my favorite form of exercise. What I dislike are creatures. Can we not give the retriever all the children? He seems like a child favorite.”

Emily laughed again. Aster’s discomfort in this situation was hilarious to her. “Oh my goodness you’re going to suffer all summer. I mean you can see if he can swim and if he can teach it to the little ones. But if you’re in charge of the water activities you’ll be in charge of their safety and stuff.”

“Why do you mock my suffering, Emily? This is a punishment worse than hell itself.” Aster moans, leaning dramatically against the nearest surface. “Have we considered letting the children find their own way? Teach them all things must be earned, not given? Why are we pampering them by considering safety? Activities? If they have the talent, then they will succeed and if not, then they are lost to the lake.”

“I’m laughing because you’re just so dramatic.” Emily shakes her head. “Alright, let’s go ahead and leave the kids to their devices. What happens if a kid who doesn’t know how to swim is out on a boat and falls into the lake in the middle?”

“Sink or swim. What better learning environment than nature and all its threats?” Aster sighed again, hand pressed against his forehead. “Still, I suppose we must try to some degree lest we be dragged away to jail. I doubt our captives would take the responsibility of a child's death when us scapegoats are so easily offered. I suppose I will suffer through interactions with the gremlins.”

“Exactly. Sink means death to children. So let’s not murder any children. We can see if Demi is willing to help at least get them started so you don’t have to do the basics.” Em considered. “I’m not sure how to integrate my hike plans with your water plans. Are you doing educational stuff on the water?” Emily doubts it, but she might as well ask.

“You think Demi would handle children well? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter as long as I'm not dealing with it.” Aster waved away his own concerns, shoving himself back into a standing position. “But no, I did not. I was going to just let them tire themselves out - I suppose I could make it educational but how long are they here? How in the world are we supposed to teach about water for anything longer than a few days. Also, we would need time frames to figure out lessons, ugh. I have no idea how long we’ll even be supervising these things. An hour? Twelve minutes? Ideally, 90 seconds or less but that seems unlikely.”

“The program is all summer but we will rotate kids every week. So each group will be here for a week. As long as you come up with stuff for a week you'll be fine. Though you should have it in skill categories. You can't have your older kids doing the same thing as the littlest. They'll never stand for it. Maybe four different things planned for the age groups.”

“I suppose that's achievable. It'll have to be something physical however; I do not know anything about what lives in the water. I suppose races and contests and games will have to do instead.” Aster considered the thought. “Contests are easy to scale; I'll have to have Dobbs get prizes. Maybe we can have contests with each of us and you win a shiny trophy for having won the most. Children enjoy trophies.”

“Most things that live in water are fish. I’m not an expert on that, so I’m not going to tell you things I don’t for sure are true. Plants are more my thing. A contest would be good. Kids like competitions. You could do a tournament.” She thought that could be a good idea. Kids did like prizes. Aster wasn’t wrong. So good for him on coming up with an idea she thought would actually work.

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@KazAlkemi@Achronum@kittyluna45@Morose@Trainerblue192

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Camp Lava Lake is caught in those strange hours between day and evening. The day isn't cooling yet, but the sun has begun its slow descent behind the mountains, turning everything gold. Tall pines and cedar trees surround the grounds like silent walls, their tops swaying gently in the breeze.

The cabins look almost welcoming in the afternoon light. Their weathered cedar siding glows amber beneath the sun. Hammering echoes from somewhere near the cabins and Dobbs’ work has recommenced.

Lava Lake itself is beautiful. The water stretches eastward, dark blue. From a distance, it looks peaceful. No one sees the lake bubbling slightly. The wind could be blamed for the disturbances of the water.

The tree next to the Main Cabin is larger than any of the surrounding forest, its massive branches spreading over the clearing like an umbrella. While everything else seems alive with summer, the oak appears older, darker. Its bark is blackened in places, and its roots twist across the ground like giant fingers. The grass around it never grows quite right.

Birds fill the air with song. Chickadees dart between branches. A raven circles overhead before disappearing toward the forest. Somewhere down by the water, a loon calls.

Then, for a moment, the sounds stop.

Not gradually.

All at once.

The forest falls silent.

Then the wind kicks up, and with it so does the noise of the forest animals.

”Oh, of course. That’s not creepy or terrifying at all,” Zeke grumbled. And he had wanted to go for a swim. ”Can we at least walk you back to the main building? Then I’ll leave you alone…At least until supper time,” Zeke asked Nancy.

The wind shifted, causing the hair on Zeke’s arm to rise, and he shivered. He glanced behind him, feeling a creeping sensation along the back of his neck. He had the sudden feeling they were all being watched. Nearby, a bird called out loudly.

”Okay. No more creepy stories. I’m serious,” Zeke snapped, looking back at Demi.

“What if a ghost story is what I need for my brain to reset properly?” Nancy countered. “Yeah, you can walk with me. I’m going to go right to bed after I eat and…” She frowned for a moment. She didn’t like admitting this part. “And I could use an extra pair of hands to make sure I don’t trip.” Her head still felt pretty scrambled.

Demi felt the hairs on the nape of his neck rise. His skin turned to goosebumps as the surrounding sounds of the forest died all at once. It felt as though the forest itself was afraid to show life, as if a predator was lurking beyond and all who dared to breathe and live were its prey. ”Oye, you asked. I answered. I wasn't trying to tell a Ghost Story or anything. But…” The wind kicked in and the sound of a bird call rang out through the area, causing Demi to jump within his skin. ”What the fuck was that?!”

Zeke’s face dropped at Nancy’s teasing. Ya, she was fine. ”Then you can wait until we get back to the main building and then you and Demi can braid each other’s hair while he tells you creepy stories,” Zeke said, offering his sister his hand to hold should she want it.

Demi’s freak-out made Zeke smirk. Seems he wasn’t the only one freaking out. ”It was a loon, Demi. Now who’s freaked out?”

“I doubt he knows how to braid.” The loon cry - and other noises or lack thereof - didn’t startle her. She was too fried to pay much attention to them. “He’s probably better at it than you are, though.” She didn’t let Zeke touch her hair any longer. She did however take his hand and leaned on him as they walked.

”Sounds like a fucking wolf. What kind of a bird makes a sound like that?” Demi looked back over his shoulder towards where the sound had come from. Maybe a supernatural psychokiller wasn't the only thing to be worried about around here. He never thought about the possibility of wolves or bears. ”And I'm not freaked out, I'm just being vigilant. Nothing wrong with that. Besides, how hard can a braid be?”

Zeke grinned, resting his cheek briefly against Nancy's head while they walked. ”We can't all be amazing at everything.”

He laughed when Demi called a loon a wolf. ”A wolf doesn't sound like a loon,” he declared.

“Ease up on him, Zeke. He’s probably never been out in nature before,” Nancy poked. “How’s he supposed to know what a wolf sounds like if he doesn’t even know what grass feels like?”

”Ha Ha. Laugh it up you two. It's not as if I spend my time lookin’ for wolves or birdwatching like some old bitty.” Demi flipped them both off, a smile on his face as he did it before finally pressing onwards.

Zeke grinned. ”Oh, you're probably right, Nancy. I wouldn't recommend going to look for wolves. They are rather territorial. Come to think of it, so are some birds.”

Zeke felt the tension of early fall off as they walked back to the main building, talking and laughing. This was what Zeke most loved about camping.