leaf

After a tiresome evening out at the bonfire, Annie was finally looking forward to throwing on her pajamas and probably watch some T.V. Of course, Maverick was right about the Bachelor being on, but watching something new required a certain activeness about it, and wanting to wind down instead, she thought some TLC program was more her speed tonight. Annie was honestly really thankful Maverick made her television actually usable, otherwise she’d just call it a night with some wine and stare at her fire. 

Opening her door, Annie froze mid-step eyes drawing to the noise of the baseball game on her T.V. to dropping down to meet Leaf’s on the floor. It took her a brief moment to put the scene together. When she did, Annie sighed, shut the door, and tossed her bag on the chair. It really was her fault for not being more quiet about it. “I really don’t like people coming in my room, even more so without my permission,” she told him, untying her hair so it fell down. “I have to go change and things, so that’s about ten minutes in the bathroom– I’ll let you wrap this up, but then I’m going to come back and watch my own shows, so unless you’re interested in a night of that….” Annie lifted her shoulders.

“I just wanted to see if this was for real. Then it was gonna be like I was never here at all.“ Arthur said by way of explanation. He waited on the floor, expecting a polite request to leave but Books just breezed past to lay the situation. A very generous situation, at that, and while he would’ve offered to have left the room for her to change---he couldn’t just leave in the middle of the innings. “Yep. Mm-hm. Whatever you want, Books.” The extra ten minutes was going to be worth the roulette of tv shows. Arthur turned back and soaked in the screen.

When Books returned from the bathroom, Arthur leapt for her attention. “Look at ‘em---“ he waved emphatically at the screen by way of explanation. The pitcher had hurled down the fourth ball and the Cubs walked an easy home run. “---Pittsburgh is a team on cinderblocks. How?! How did they manage to crash and burn so hard? I’m so mad. Like, it’s... it’s---” As if Books wouldn’t be as invested as he was at all. “... Alright, I’m over it. What are we watching?”

It was early morning before the kids arrived so Eats’ decided to take a walk through the Lodge kitchen gardens. He had looked in on them when he had arrived, but the whole week had just been a blur between getting everything ready, saying hello and managing Cat. There really was a LOT of asparagus here. It was not a flavour kids usually liked, so he was going to have to get creative. At least the kids were going to get a lot of vitamin K this summer… Eats wandered through the bushes to see if there was anything else overflowing he’d have to wrangle into the menu when he nearly tripped over Leaf. “Oh hey! Leaf! I didn’t see you down there.” He reached down to help Leaf out of the dirt.

“Sorry I didn’t get to chat much before camp started… arriving late really put a dent in my schedule…” Eats brushed some dirt off a nearby bench and took a seat and patted the seat next to him, “So how have you been since I was last here… God was it… May?” @arthur-cohen

It was the last of the early rises for Arthur for the week and he spent that quality time tending to his garden. A few years earlier, the plot of land used to only grow duds and missteps without the help of his own powers---but after a point of almost nearing an obsession, he was growing pumpkins with faces already on them. 

He was mulching the ground under the lemon tree when he heard someone come up and stumble around him. “Eats! Hey!“ Arthur clasped his hand around his and heaved off his knee. He greeted him with a smile and clapped his shoulder. “You okay? Should I start wearing flashing lights from now on so you don’t mistake me for foliage?“ He shook his head at him when he continued, waving away the apology. “Nah we got all summer. Where’d you run off to that got you running late?” he asked, following him over to the grey and warped bench. 

She splashed his knee with a light dash of lake water, playful but still slightly miffed as she swallowed the rest of the marshmallow and wiped her mouth and hands. “He admits it. Man, they really shoulda caught that about you in the interview process, Nega-Treebeard.” She was still feeling self-conscious— the one time she’d chosen to let loose a little and it became a joke, it didn’t feel good. And maybe it would’ve been easier to shrug off but she counted Leaf as a friend. “Next time I’ll choose something with plenty of harmonica and sentimental gang vocals, will that be better? Maybe a banjo love-song about bugs in springtime, or something? Then can I dance un-ridiculed?”

The second laugh made her duck her head away for a moment. She didn’t know about being called adorable, it was weird. Hit a combative nerve. Looking back over she said in a haughty tone, only half-kidding, “And if I refuse?”

There was probably nothing worse than wet jeans, she got him there. Arthur scrunched his nose in mild distaste and shook his head. “Yeah, ‘cause with the interviews---nothing falls through those cracks,” he chuckled and took a longer sip. Otter's words became crisp again---it stung her a little bit more than he thought it would. Arthur made a quiet note about that before he realised hadn’t actually apologised for laughing. “Okay, okay, I deserved that. I’m sorry,” he said, pausing to fumble for more sincerity,” And I will... I will dance. Right here, right now, and totally embarrass myself in the process if it means you’ll come back with me to the bonfire.”

Oh. Well. He hadn’t expected to be called out on that and formed his response at a pedestrian pace. "It’ll... bum me out? And you don’t want that ‘cause we’re best buds?” Arthur squinted,” I dunno, will that work? Like, even a little bit?”

She lifted the bottle up and took a swig, and then glared at it in confusion. He’d brought her a half-finished beer? — oh. Right. Setting it back down beside her for him to retrieve, she gave a disgruntled look. “It’s called Noise Pollution— you think there’s funny about pollution and the degradation of the ecosystem?” she asked dryly.

As marshmallows were waved in front of her, she plucked one carefully off the stick and ate it, licking the sugar from her fingertips. “Bwite Me,” Otter replied, but with her mouth full of melty deliciousness it didn’t have its usual level of snark attached.

“Oh, you’re done? Thanks so much,“ Arthur quipped, commandeering the bottle back and raising the cool beer to his lips to hide a grin. He peered amusedly over when she decided she’d direct an accusatory tone towards him about the ecosystem, of all things. “Mmhmm, yep,” Arthur nodded earnestly, while the words that came out flatlined,” I think pollution is hilarious. I hate the ecosystem. Hate nature. Nature is the worst.”

Arthur broke into a laugh, throwing his head back. Something about the usually glacial Otter, cracking back at him with a mouthful of marshmallow. “I can’t,” he shook his head,” That was adorable. Can I feed you more?”

The marshmallows were a big hit apparently. Their reserves running rapidly low and they needed a filler up. Arthur walked up the reasonably proportioned set of stairs up into the Big House and made his way into the pantry for his super secret stash. He was hoping that he’d be able to share them with his new Angles as a peace offering after they made it up the Stairs of Doom, but he’ll think of something else to give them. Maybe some nuts. 

With a big helping of marshmallow packets in his arms, Arthur half-circled toward the exist before he stopped at Books’ door. Over the fire, he heard one of the counsellors---Maverick, a technopath---updated the cable in her room. It was definitely worth checking out. Arthur knocked. 

“Books? You in?“ No answer. Last he saw, she was at the bonfire but he had to make sure. “I’m gonna open the door, okay? Don’t be in there.”

Empty. Arthur fumbled straight for the remote on her bedside table and slid onto the hardwood floor in front of her bed. He switched it on and passed through every single channel until the screen flipped onto an MLB game. Two fists punched the air. He might’ve shed a tear if he didn’t need his eyes to watch the pitch.

By the fourth innings, Arthur had forgotten all about the party and his fingers were covered over with marshmallow powder. He didn’t hear the footsteps coming from the living room, and didn’t notice someone was inside the Big House until they opened the bedroom door.

Arthur turned and stopped mid-chew. “Hi...? Can I help you?“

“I don’t want your sugar-bribe,” she scolded softly, but accepted the beer and, okay, yeah, was eyeing the marshmallows. How had he managed so many, and all-over crispy and golden like that? Probably witchcraft and devilwork. “You were laughing at me.” She swished her bare feet in the water.

Otter would just take his drink instead. That was somewhat better. But he didn’t have the willpower to get up and walk over to the cooler to get another one, so he was gonna need that back. Arthur sighed, and spoke gently. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I was---” He paused, tentative with his next words“---I just thought the song choice was funny.” Arthur waved the marshmallow stick in front of her. “Come on... Eat me.”

“Hey there, stranger,“ Arthur slumped down beside Otter on the dock. He set down a bottle of light beer by her leg and then offered her a stick of freshly toasted marshmallows,” This is for you.”

“Leafy for my Leafykins, of course,” she emphasized, content to sit forward and watch him grow her flowers instead of make any attempt to start on a bracelet for him. That changed abruptly when he asked about her life, and instead of answering him for a moment she dug through her piles of thread, eyeing the various shades of green available to her. “Well,” Pippa started diplomatically, drawing out the syllable. “School’s going well, lots of bio labs, which I’m not complaining about, but there’s only so much dissection you can sit through before formaldehyde kindof… seeps into your brain. And I’m not actually playing soccer for a while. I had an ankle fracture back in the spring so they don’t want me up and running again till they’re sure it’s fully-healed. Which means that I get to work with my lovely Stripes, and with you all summer.” Having finished the gust of overly-enthusiastic exposition, she lifted an olive green and a seafoam green for comparison with Leaf’s skin tone. “You’re so tan, Leafy, I’m jealous.”

“Oh, shit. That really sucks, Pip. I mean, it’s nice to hear your classes are going well and you’re already meditating on fumes but---sorry to hear about your ankle. Is that why you’re up this early? You couldn’t run yourself tired so you didn’t sleep?” Arthur offered a smile, the playful comment rolling off him. The ankle injury wasn’t something that could bring her down, that was for sure. It was probably the fact of not being able to play. He wondered what happened to all that built up energy when it wasn’t bashing through a ball. Arthur settled for a moment and lightly knocked his hand against her knee. “But hey, at least this year I might just be able to keep up with you. Does that mean you won’t be swinging by the treehouse later?”

Otter’s eyes squinched at the corners and she followed along with the joke, spooling up some lake water to help scrub with her power— though elbow grease seemed to be working just as well. “The mean streets of Somewhere, you gotta watch out. Hey, think should we start a gang this year?” she suggested. 

“Might help keep the place in line– if we’re already at dicks on boats, next you know they’ll be smokin’ up and having rap battles, who the hell knows — gotta get on top of that, right?”

“Yeah, count me and The Angles in. I’m sick of being stonewalled by Silver. ‘Can I stick these rogues up a tree, Silver?’---’No.’---’Can I start a militia, Silver?’---‘No’.” Arthur gives her his best forlorn look, his forehead creasing from the weight of the world and not from the laughable suggestion Silver could be anything other than a teddy bear. ”He’s up in his ivory tower. He’s not out here every day. He doesn’t know how bad those rap battles get.”

Recognizing the voice, Pippa offered her fellow counselor a sunny smile. “Anything for you Leafykins,” she informed him in a cheery tone, eyeing the blue and red bracelet that wrapped around his willing wrist. “’Course, this bracelet is just for one of my little Stripes. So I’ll have to make you a different one.” “I would, of course, love it if you kept in mind how fond I am of those pretty purple wildflowers in Wilkins’ field,” Pippa continued pointedly, pulling the bracelet back and adding it to the pile of works in progress on the stoop. Her legs pulled up and her arms wrapped around them, resting her chin on her knees. “How you been? I missed you guys so much last year!” She really meant it, since Leaf, along with Silver, Sizzler, Momma and Ghost– her old friends– was one of her favorite people from Camp Somewhere.

Faced with Pippa’s high spirits, Arthur lolled his head to the side and with his best puppy-eyes, he aww’d. “Obviously, I want a green one. I don’t know how they measure shades of green but… leafy. The Stripes should be damn well grateful to have you as their counsellor.”

As soon as she said the word, Arthur focused on a small patch in front of the bunk. He sensed the sprouts curling under the dirt, urging them to split open into the air, before a small patch of grass and purple wildflowers bloomed for him. Arthur plucked a couple, haphazardly braiding them together and unravelling them as he relearned how to make a crown. “Well, I don’t know how to tell you how I’ve been or what my life’s about but today—it’s about this.” Arthur smiled, holding up the crown. What was he going to say that didn’t sound pretty boring? “We missed you, too, Pip—my bad, it’s Rugrat now. How’s school going? And your soccer?”

“I’m kind of guessing the same thing based on this one miscalculation, but I still have hope that they do like me, only they are playing a prank or something,” she said with a smile. “Stop it? Oh no sir, I’ll comment on how awesome that was the whole trip long, it was baffling, you own those trees, you’re like one of those big tree things from Lord of the Rings, only human, and not a tree yourself. However, are you? Maybe you’re just wearing a human for a skin?” 

“That sounds promising.” She grinned. All sorts of tree-related jokes were running through her head at that point, also some flirtatious remarks that might be inappropriate, so she kept all of them to herself. She followed towards the truck, surprised to find anyone owning such a wagon around camp. “Sizzler, nice to make your acquaintance,” she spoke formally with a grin still on her lips. “Or Bibi Jane, or just Bibi. Arty doesn’t suit you, Leaf is perfect. Though Tree Man is also very fitting.” 

Arthur cracked a smile. “Wow… That was—” A lot of words. “So you are a big weirdo. Good to know.” He held his stare on her for a longer, reassuring beat to show he was really only teasing her—his way of trying to chip the ice.

By that time, all her bags were stowed in the back and they arrived at the truck for Arthur to unlock it. “It’d be nice to make your acquaintance too if I had a whole year. But I’d rather spend start off the summer being friends. That cool with you?” From what he could tell, Sizzler was pretty comfortable around people and he wanted to make the new counsellors feel as much at home as possible. He hopped in the front seat and waited for her before he started the engine.

“Anyway, you’ve got Pip to thank that for that. I think she’s your roommate for the summer. She used to name the counsellors when she was a camper. Some people were lucky… and some people are stuck with ‘Momma’.” He shook his head. Ridiculous, but Iris was still into it. “What I’m saying is, you picked a good year to become a counsellor.”

Leaf was offering help— though, Regan had to wonder, since he was so prompt and so out of it, if he hadn’t actually picked up  the bucket for other reasons. Maybe he woke up like that. But he was one of the few people she actively liked last year, so her rage faded to grumbles as she tied her hair out of her face. 

The sailboats were mast-less, upside-down on the shore for cleaning and maintenance. When the campers arrived, she’d teach them how to handle their crafts from re-caulking all the way up to rigging sails, but she refused to do that if they were defaced. 

“I come here to get away from scrubbing other people’s shit—” was one of the few comments she let quietly out as she picked up a sponge. “People’re fuckers. These boats are for kids, for fuck’s sake.”

Arthur massaged the back of his neck, stifling another yawn. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout this. I didn’t know we were teaching fucking manners too.” 

It could’ve easily been one of his assistant counsellors from the other day, but they both knew who it was. There probably would’ve been a point after the clean up where he’d track him down and tell him dick drawings are played out, but well... he didn’t catch it early enough. Bubbles was in Otter’s hands now.

Arthur plunged his sponge in the bucket and began to scrub. “You know, Mom was really happy when I got the job. She said the camp would be safer. Less crime per capita. I guess she never really considered the crime of what’s happened right now.”  

“Well, no. They actually dropped me off in the right place, just not my stuff,” she explained, an apologetic smile on her face. “So I had to get back here, and find it all.” She pointed at a total of four bags on the floor, which she could’ve dragged all the way herself, or that was what she initially thought. She watched him take her bag as she spoke, and completely fell silent when seeing him using some fancy power to pick it up and having plants neatly drop it into a car. Wuuuuttt. She stood there with her mouth wide open. Sure, she had seen some fancy stuff on tv and on the internet, but rarely in real life, really like this, so easily. And that was saying much, because this was her third year at camp. She guessed that the older they got, the better they were at controlling their ability. Hadn’t she seen this guy before. Silently, still in trance, she pointed at the four bags behind her again. “That was amazing!”

"Yikes.” With a hand on her shoulder, Arthur volunteered a mingled look of sympathy and amusement. “They do not like you,”

Nine months sequestered in the woods with only Silver and Spanner for human interaction meant a lot of spare time on his hands (even if Silver was good for a long talk and Spanner was good for a long drink). “Stop it,” Arthur said, offering a lopsided grin. 

After hauling the remaining bags up into the trees, he turned back to her and motioned her to follow him towards the truck. “I’m Leaf, by the way. Or Arthur---Artie’s just embarrassing. I’m over in the treehouse looking after the assistant counsellors. Anything you need... Anything else you need, just radio in and we’ll give you a hand.”

Pippa understood she was probably already very annoying based on the sheer force of her enthusiasm alone. Today she was awake well-before the standard breakfast time, even before the loose pre-camper ‘wake up call’, just to enjoy the empty camp. She’d taken pains not to disturb Sizzler and was instead sitting cross-legged on the stoop outside the cabin. To keep her hands busy since she couldn’t go running, Pippa had opted to continue working on some friendship bracelets for her campers. Subdued birdsong and the stillness of the morning provided background noise as the embroidery thread twisted between her fingers. Her head turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. “Hey! Let me borrow your arm,” Pippa offered by way of introduction, not really lifting her gaze but instead holding out the half-finished bracelet.

Sleep, for Arthur, was one of those myths---like in the way that people say they should be always be drinking eight glasses of water every day, the truth was you only ever really needed to sleep if you were sleepy. Arthur was way too restless for that. Despite the late night, he rose early and let the Angles sleep in while he finished watering the vegetable patch.

Arthur was on his way to put the watering can back in Spanner’s shed when he spotted Pippa already awake and outside. “Oh, pft, good morning to you too.” Using the last of the water, he washed his hands and dried them off. It was full summer since he last saw Pippa at the camp and that was when she was still up in the treehouse. “Do you take requests?” he asked, sitting down on the step. He offered his arm. “I’ll trade you a crown for one of those bracelets”