Puppy Pile Meme - Jungle Fury
Title: Camping Builds Character
Gen fic
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1262
Spoiler warnings: None.
For: lelola - as part of starandrea's Puppy Pile Meme.
"Oh Theo, quit grumbling..." Lily turned to him with a sunny smile.
Theo frowned at her from under the large load of backpacks and camping supplies that had him bent over nearly double. "That's easy for you to say, you're not carrying half the supplies..."
Fran stifled a giggle.
"Why are we going camping anyway?" Theo asked.
"Because camping builds character," said RJ, his expression serene. "Besides, you don't see Casey or Dom complaining about carrying their things."
Casey and Dom grinned at him, both well aware that RJ had deliberately saddled Theo with not only all of his own supplies and gear, but also all of RJ's.
"Aha!" As they came into an open clearing, RJ held up his hand to let them know he wanted them to stop. "And here is our home away from home for the next two days. Now we have three two man tents, so..."
Theo brightened significantly. "So I'll share a tent with Li--" he said, interrupting RJ.
"--so you'll be sharing a tent with Dom," RJ cut back in smoothly.
Theo looked at Dom in confusion. "What?"
RJ held up three fingers. "Well, there are six of us and three tents so Lily will be sharing with Fran. We know from experience that you and Casey have completely different thresholds for cleanliness - and while I want this trip to build character, I don't want to end up cleaning blood out of the tents later... so Casey will be with me. That leaves you and Dom."
Casey grinned at Theo's crestfallen expression. "Don't worry, man. At least Dom doesn't snore that loudly."
Dom glared at him. "Hey! I do not snore."
Lily and Fran started to giggle. Theo sighed and then with a startled yelp of surprise, toppled over under the weight of the supplies.
Later, when the tents were all set up - with only the usual amount of good natured squabbling - they all crowded around the campfire. Lily asked if they could sing campfire songs and RJ eagerly burst into a stirring (and surprisingly in-tune) rendition of Black Socks. Theo sighed and buried his head in his heads. The singing went on as the team worked their way through nearly an entire bag of marshmallows and Fran dozed off against Dom's shoulder.
"All right, that's enough fun for tonight," RJ said, as they finished the last verse of Down By The Bay. "All of you, off to bed. I'll be waking you up at dawn for training."
Theo and Casey groaned but RJ only smiled. Lily gently shook Fran's shoulder and Fran jolted awake. She immediately pulled away Dom in embarrassment, stammering apologies before Lily led her to their tent. Casey yawned and disappeared into the tent he was sharing with RJ, leaving Dom and Theo to stumble to their tent. The last thing Theo saw as he zipped the tent closed, was RJ, silhouetted by the campfire, meditating.
What seemed like hours later, Theo groaned. He covered his ears with his hands and placed his camping pillow over his head, but he was still unable to escape the sound of Dom's snoring.
"Spirit of the rhino. Yeah right. More like the spirits of a herd of rhinos," Theo muttered. "One rhino would be quieter than this."
Giving up his attempts to block out the sound as a lost cause, Theo sat up. He froze as a shuffling sound came from outside the tent.
"Dom. Dom, did you hear that?"
Dom opened an eye and looked at Theo. "What, Theo? What's wrong?"
"There are noises coming from outside," Theo explained.
Dom sighed. "It's probably a mouse or something. Go back to sleep." Within moments, he was fast asleep and snoring again.
"Great," sighed Theo. "Some help you are."
The shuffling noise grew louder, and off somewhere to the left, Theo heard a branch break as if something stepped on it. Grabbing a flashlight, he gingerly opened the tent flap. He turned on the flashlight, using it to illuminate the darkness. The campfire had been extinguished and RJ was nowhere to be seen. Gulping, Theo stepped out into the open air, closing the tent flap behind him. He noticed light coming from the tent that Lily and Fran were sharing and he made his way toward it.
"And he's got such a nice smile..." Fran was saying. He decided to move closer to the tent to listen in on the girls' conversation, when he bumped into something soft and close to his height. He fumbled with the flashlight before finding his target.
"What the -- Casey," he gasped out in surprise. "You startled me."
"Hey, Theo. I wasn't expecting to see you out here," Casey said, a somewhat sheepish smile on his face.
"I wasn't expecting to see you either," Theo said, lowering the flashlight.
Lily unzipped the flap of her tent and stuck her head out. "You know," she said conversationally, "if you're going to eavesdrop, you might want to make less of a racket."
"We weren't eavesdropping!" Casey and Theo protested in unison.
Lily looked unconvinced. "Right."
"No really!" Theo rushed to explain. "I heard noises outside the tent and came out to investigate."
"Me too," added Casey, nodding. "I heard noises, like something was lurking right outside the tent. I haven't seen RJ since we were around the campfire. I thought I should go look for him."
Lily opened her mouth to say something when, in the darkness just beyond their tent, the sound of several branches breaking could be heard. Theo dropped the flashlight in alarm and he and Casey pushed past Lily into the tent.
"Hey, be careful," Lily protested, as Theo nearly fell on Fran.
"What's going on?" Fran asked, puzzled.
"There's something outside the tent," explained Lily. "And these two are afraid of it."
"What if it's a bear?" Fran asked, eyes wide. "Maybe that's why Casey couldn't find RJ. Maybe the bear ate him!"
"Breathe, Fran," Lily said, patting Fran's arm. "I doubt it's a bear."
"It could be a wolf or a coyote," pointed out Theo.
Fran clung to Lily's arm. "Really, Fran, I don't think it's a..." Lily trailed off as a dark shadow was suddenly cast again the side of the tent, illuminated by Theo's forgotten flashlight. Instantly, the four of them froze.
Whatever was casting the shadow was walking on all fours and it was big. It appeared to be sniffing around the outside of the tent, just near the tent flap.
"What do we do?" whispered Fran.
"We could fight it...?" suggested Casey, hesitantly.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Right. Moving on. Theo?"
"We could make a lot of noise and chase it away," Theo suggested.
"What if it eats us?" Fran asked, softly.
"Maybe we should just wait it out," Lily suggested.
Casey and Theo looked at each other, then nodded. "Good idea," they agreed in unison.
***
In the morning, RJ opened the tent flap. "You guys should see the mess the raccoon made when it got into our food supp--" he trailed off, taking in the sight before him. One of Theo's arms was flung across Lily's stomach and his other arm was being used as a pillow by Casey. One of Casey's feet was tangled up in Fran's blanket, and Fran was curled up on Lily's other side.
RJ chuckled. "Come on, rangers. And you too, Fran. Rise and shine. The raccoon ate your breakfast, so your first task of the day is to find something to eat!"
The pile of limbs moaned as one.
RJ smiled. "I love camping!"
Gen fic
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1262
Spoiler warnings: None.
For: lelola - as part of starandrea's Puppy Pile Meme.
"Oh Theo, quit grumbling..." Lily turned to him with a sunny smile.
Theo frowned at her from under the large load of backpacks and camping supplies that had him bent over nearly double. "That's easy for you to say, you're not carrying half the supplies..."
Fran stifled a giggle.
"Why are we going camping anyway?" Theo asked.
"Because camping builds character," said RJ, his expression serene. "Besides, you don't see Casey or Dom complaining about carrying their things."
Casey and Dom grinned at him, both well aware that RJ had deliberately saddled Theo with not only all of his own supplies and gear, but also all of RJ's.
"Aha!" As they came into an open clearing, RJ held up his hand to let them know he wanted them to stop. "And here is our home away from home for the next two days. Now we have three two man tents, so..."
Theo brightened significantly. "So I'll share a tent with Li--" he said, interrupting RJ.
"--so you'll be sharing a tent with Dom," RJ cut back in smoothly.
Theo looked at Dom in confusion. "What?"
RJ held up three fingers. "Well, there are six of us and three tents so Lily will be sharing with Fran. We know from experience that you and Casey have completely different thresholds for cleanliness - and while I want this trip to build character, I don't want to end up cleaning blood out of the tents later... so Casey will be with me. That leaves you and Dom."
Casey grinned at Theo's crestfallen expression. "Don't worry, man. At least Dom doesn't snore that loudly."
Dom glared at him. "Hey! I do not snore."
Lily and Fran started to giggle. Theo sighed and then with a startled yelp of surprise, toppled over under the weight of the supplies.
Later, when the tents were all set up - with only the usual amount of good natured squabbling - they all crowded around the campfire. Lily asked if they could sing campfire songs and RJ eagerly burst into a stirring (and surprisingly in-tune) rendition of Black Socks. Theo sighed and buried his head in his heads. The singing went on as the team worked their way through nearly an entire bag of marshmallows and Fran dozed off against Dom's shoulder.
"All right, that's enough fun for tonight," RJ said, as they finished the last verse of Down By The Bay. "All of you, off to bed. I'll be waking you up at dawn for training."
Theo and Casey groaned but RJ only smiled. Lily gently shook Fran's shoulder and Fran jolted awake. She immediately pulled away Dom in embarrassment, stammering apologies before Lily led her to their tent. Casey yawned and disappeared into the tent he was sharing with RJ, leaving Dom and Theo to stumble to their tent. The last thing Theo saw as he zipped the tent closed, was RJ, silhouetted by the campfire, meditating.
What seemed like hours later, Theo groaned. He covered his ears with his hands and placed his camping pillow over his head, but he was still unable to escape the sound of Dom's snoring.
"Spirit of the rhino. Yeah right. More like the spirits of a herd of rhinos," Theo muttered. "One rhino would be quieter than this."
Giving up his attempts to block out the sound as a lost cause, Theo sat up. He froze as a shuffling sound came from outside the tent.
"Dom. Dom, did you hear that?"
Dom opened an eye and looked at Theo. "What, Theo? What's wrong?"
"There are noises coming from outside," Theo explained.
Dom sighed. "It's probably a mouse or something. Go back to sleep." Within moments, he was fast asleep and snoring again.
"Great," sighed Theo. "Some help you are."
The shuffling noise grew louder, and off somewhere to the left, Theo heard a branch break as if something stepped on it. Grabbing a flashlight, he gingerly opened the tent flap. He turned on the flashlight, using it to illuminate the darkness. The campfire had been extinguished and RJ was nowhere to be seen. Gulping, Theo stepped out into the open air, closing the tent flap behind him. He noticed light coming from the tent that Lily and Fran were sharing and he made his way toward it.
"And he's got such a nice smile..." Fran was saying. He decided to move closer to the tent to listen in on the girls' conversation, when he bumped into something soft and close to his height. He fumbled with the flashlight before finding his target.
"What the -- Casey," he gasped out in surprise. "You startled me."
"Hey, Theo. I wasn't expecting to see you out here," Casey said, a somewhat sheepish smile on his face.
"I wasn't expecting to see you either," Theo said, lowering the flashlight.
Lily unzipped the flap of her tent and stuck her head out. "You know," she said conversationally, "if you're going to eavesdrop, you might want to make less of a racket."
"We weren't eavesdropping!" Casey and Theo protested in unison.
Lily looked unconvinced. "Right."
"No really!" Theo rushed to explain. "I heard noises outside the tent and came out to investigate."
"Me too," added Casey, nodding. "I heard noises, like something was lurking right outside the tent. I haven't seen RJ since we were around the campfire. I thought I should go look for him."
Lily opened her mouth to say something when, in the darkness just beyond their tent, the sound of several branches breaking could be heard. Theo dropped the flashlight in alarm and he and Casey pushed past Lily into the tent.
"Hey, be careful," Lily protested, as Theo nearly fell on Fran.
"What's going on?" Fran asked, puzzled.
"There's something outside the tent," explained Lily. "And these two are afraid of it."
"What if it's a bear?" Fran asked, eyes wide. "Maybe that's why Casey couldn't find RJ. Maybe the bear ate him!"
"Breathe, Fran," Lily said, patting Fran's arm. "I doubt it's a bear."
"It could be a wolf or a coyote," pointed out Theo.
Fran clung to Lily's arm. "Really, Fran, I don't think it's a..." Lily trailed off as a dark shadow was suddenly cast again the side of the tent, illuminated by Theo's forgotten flashlight. Instantly, the four of them froze.
Whatever was casting the shadow was walking on all fours and it was big. It appeared to be sniffing around the outside of the tent, just near the tent flap.
"What do we do?" whispered Fran.
"We could fight it...?" suggested Casey, hesitantly.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Right. Moving on. Theo?"
"We could make a lot of noise and chase it away," Theo suggested.
"What if it eats us?" Fran asked, softly.
"Maybe we should just wait it out," Lily suggested.
Casey and Theo looked at each other, then nodded. "Good idea," they agreed in unison.
***
In the morning, RJ opened the tent flap. "You guys should see the mess the raccoon made when it got into our food supp--" he trailed off, taking in the sight before him. One of Theo's arms was flung across Lily's stomach and his other arm was being used as a pillow by Casey. One of Casey's feet was tangled up in Fran's blanket, and Fran was curled up on Lily's other side.
RJ chuckled. "Come on, rangers. And you too, Fran. Rise and shine. The raccoon ate your breakfast, so your first task of the day is to find something to eat!"
The pile of limbs moaned as one.
RJ smiled. "I love camping!"