#kingbrandon

For someone who constantly boasted about being a resourceful and adaptable person, dmitri had never been able to find the charm to camping. he wasn’t precisely an anthophiliac, but he didn’t hate the wilderness ---- even as a young boy, he would sneak off when his mother wasn’t looking in order to go explore the vast garden behind the house where he worked. he’d camped once or twice in the woods as a teenager, yet as far as his nature-related experiences went, that was it. was he excited this time ? initially, no. sure, there wasn’t anything he loathed more than that sticky californian lethargy, but not exhausting himself having to avoid people here and there or struggling to find a decent place to crash at night was beyond pleasant, so it was no wonder he’d learned to enjoy it. however, his perception shifted soon afterward. if there was something that made him laugh, was seeing people not knowing what to do. large groups of astranauts in yosemite, some of which, he anticipated, would be experiencing nature this way for the first time ----- that wasn’t a sight one would come across with every day and the thought of thriving in a foreign environment while others flustered about mosquitoes and poison ivy thrilled him.

    a few jewel-like droplets of sweat garnishing the skin of his forehead, he had already started assembling  the tent on his own, not expecting to receive outside help. one, he didn’t mind, and two, he hadn’t looked at the list of people he’d been paired up with - this way, he hope whoever these people were would approach him instead. dmitri let out a soft sigh as he spotted someone coming nearer, a smile visibly pulling at the corners of his lips. 

    “ why, looks like i hit the jackpot when they were putting the groups together, ” he stopped working for a moment to turn to the other, a playful ( yet certainly not malicious ) tone laced onto each word. “ i can already tell this'll be to be great . . .which reminds me, i brought got a couple card decks in my bag, if you fancy playing some poker some time. ”

The first night of camping proved be fairly successful: there was a lot of wood to build a strong fire, and Ariel had positioned herself in the makeshift circle the Astranauts had made to keep warm. And while people were sharing stories and sipping hot coffee, she was more in the mood to make a classic camping treat: s’mores. She stood up to gather the graham crackers and chocolate squares from a bag, plopping down on her chair. She was just about to assemble her s‘mores when she realized she couldn’t find the last ingredient. She looked around her frantically before catching sight of it just out of reach. Tilting herself to the closest person, she gave a bashful smile and whispered, “Excuse me, do you mind passing me the marshmallows?”