Fic: The Great Outdoors
Title: The Great Outdoors
Author: starrdust411
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Mohinder/Sylar
Rating: PG
Summary: For the schmoop_bingo challenge. Prompt: Camping (Word Count: 2,845)
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
Warnings: Humor, Slash
"Are we at the grounds yet?"
"Jesus, Mohinder! We've only been in the car for an hour."
"This is a stupid idea," Mohinder grumbled bitterly as he slumped further into the tan suede seats of their rental car. He must have said those words over a dozen times since Matt had come up with his brilliant idea. When the detective had suggested that the three of them pack their bags and get out of the city, Mohinder had been completely in favor of the idea, until Matt had added that his idea of "getting out of the city" included leaving the comfort of the indoors to squat in the mud and be eaten alive by flies.
Camping? Of all the ridiculous things he had ever heard, spending the weekend camping was highest on his list. And just to add insult to injury, Matt insisted that a vital part of the “camping experience” included waking up at the crack of dawn. They would have to pack themselves and only belongings that would be absolutely "vital" to the trip into a car when there was barely enough light out to see an inch in front of them.
Yet Matt had been adamant that they at least give it a try -- insisting that it would be a nice change of pace and a great opportunity to get some fresh air -- and Mohinder had relented, somewhat, because after all, it had been a while since they had done anything Matt wanted.
"I see," Matt huffed defensively, "it's stupid because it's my idea."
Mohinder sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "I didn't say that! Don't be that way."
"Well don't be that way," he shot back. "You've been whining and crying about this for days-"
"I have not cried!"
"- is it really going to kill you to just unplug?" Matt continued, ignoring Mohinder's words as if the Indian had never spoken. "For a little while at least?"
He gave another overly dramatic sigh, his arms crossing even tighter over his chest and his fingers digging into the sleeve of his shirt. "Fine," he conceded. "I will stop complaining." Out loud. Mohinder wasn't certain whether or not Matt heard that last thought, but from the way the other man's lips pressed together, he could assume that Matt at least thought he wasn't going to keep that promise.
The discussion settled, Mohinder decided then to focus his attention on the road. When Matt had said he wanted to get out of the city, Mohinder had thought that the man merely wanted to leave Brooklyn, but apparently getting out of the borough wasn't far enough for him. Instead they were driving to some park upstate, somewhere that had no wifi, no stores, and far removed from any basketball courts, playgrounds, or golf courses.
"And no cell phone signal," Mohinder had added bitterly. Matt's only response to his assumption was a short laugh and a secretive smirk.
Silence settled into the sedan as Mohinder occupied himself with watching the tall buildings slowly pass them by. The sun was now up and he could actually see more than just street lights and lights in windows. Still, the pink orange hue of the sky was a clear reminder of the hour and all the hundreds of different things that he could be doing instead of this. He honestly couldn't say that he would miss the city so much as he would miss the comfort of being surrounded by four walls, a ceiling, and a solid floor.
The quiet couldn't have lasted more than a minute before Molly asked, "Are we gonna die?"
Mohinder felt his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he twisted around in his seat to stare at the girl who only stared back at him with sincere worry in her bright eyes. "Wh-what?" he stammered as a mixture of shock and slight horror welled up inside of him.
"No body's gonna die, Molly," Matt assured. He jerked his head around to look the girl in the eye before quickly turning back to face the road. "What would give you that idea?"
Mohinder was absolutely appalled when Matt gave him a very pointed glare. As if he would ever do something as thoughtless as the possibility of murder in front of the girl.
"Well, we're going to be outside in the middle of the night and there's gonna be no phones and no one else around," Molly pointed out. "That kinda sounds like something that would happen in a horror movie."
"And who on earth let you watch a horror movie?" Mohinder asked as he pinned Matt with a suspicious scowl.
"Okay, can everybody just stop complaining for one second?" Matt barked, pointedly avoiding Mohinder's gaze and his question. "Nothing is going to happen, okay? No body's going to die, no body's going to get lost, and no body's going to get eaten by a bear! We're just going to have one nice, stress free weekend getting back to nature."
"Enough with the 'getting back to nature,' Matt!" Mohinder huffed. "We're going to a bloody state park, not hiking through the Appalachian Mountains!"
Matt scowled bitterly, his grip on the steering wheel tightening until his knuckles were practically white. "Okay, who wants to play the quiet game?"
Mohinder smirked, but said nothing else as he leaned back in his seat. His smirk quickly turned into a scowl when he noticed the car in the rearview mirror. Either he was still half asleep or that same black Volkswagen had been following them since they left Brooklyn.
"It's probably nothing," Matt muttered, before falling into a stubborn silence for the remainder of the drive.
-+-+-+-
It was late morning by the time they got to the park, but from the brightness of the sun, one would easily have assumed that it was the middle of the afternoon. Mohinder squinted as he emerged from the car, stretching his back until he heard a satisfying pop before moving to the rear of the car. They had gotten a decent parking spot, but Mohinder had a feeling that there would still be quite a hike before they actually got to the camp grounds.
"Okay, everybody grab everything you’ll need, because we're not coming back here," Matt announced as he pulled out the cooler and portable grill and set them down on the gravel. "Here Mohinder, grab this," he began, handing Mohinder their sleeping bags, before pausing. "Wait a minute, why am I handing you all the light stuff? You're the one with the super bug man strength."
Mohinder felt his face flush slightly at Matt's description of his ability. He was truly getting sick of the man describing his enhanced strength that way. "That may be true, but don't think you're going to turn me into the pack mule on your trip," Mohinder warned tersely even as he grabbed both the cooler and the grill.
"Just makin' a point," Matt said as he grabbed another bag. He paused again before handing it over to the Indian. "May I?"
Mohinder sighed before giving a weary nod.
"Are we gonna run into Bigfoot up here?" Molly asked, shouldering her own backpack.
"No, Molly, I'm pretty sure Bigfoot lives in Canada," Matt said, as he continued to unpack the car.
"Matt, don't say that," Mohinder chided, just as Matt handed him yet another bag. He sighed, stepping away from the trunk to make sure Matt knew that he wasn't carrying anything else. "Bigfoot's not real, Molly."
"What about Sasquatch?"
"Isn't that the same as Bigfoot?"
"Yes it is, and therefore not real."
-+-+-+-
By sunset Mohinder was ready to say that camping wasn't nearly as bad as he had made it out to be. Instead, it was much worse. Just as he had anticipated they had hiked half a mile before settling on a camp site and then it was time to put up the tent, which was more complicated than the tent's packaging had promised it would be. Of course it was only once the tent was up that they discovered that it was too small as the three sleeping bags seemed to overlap each other.
Not that Mohinder was expecting to get much sleep that night. The ground beneath them was firm, painfully so, and he doubted that a thin layer of padding was going to make much of a difference.
Molly seemed to be having some fun, though, when she wasn't trying to figure out which large animal was going to attack them first that is. She was more than happy to sit by the camp fire (which Mohinder had started with the aid of a set of matches he had hidden in his pocket) eating hot dogs and roast marshmallows. Yet when it came time to go to bed, she suddenly became quite anxious and reluctant to sleep.
"This is where the murderer comes," she insisted firmly, her light eyes wide as she scanned the thin circle of trees for any unfamiliar shapes. "That's how it goes: we all go to sleep, and an axe wielding maniac comes and chops us up!"
"Molly, nobody is going to kill us," Matt sighed, too tired from the long drive and the hard work involved in a "relaxing" camp trip. "There isn't another person for miles."
"Then it'll be a bear!" Molly muttered, hugging herself tightly.
Matt frowned, rubbing at his eyes wearily as he tried to think of something else to say, but all that came out was a long yawn. Mohinder couldn't blame him for being so unfocused. After all, it had been a very long day for all of them.
"Molly, there aren't any bears here," Mohinder insisted, although in truth, he had absolutely no idea what was out there. He merely wanted to get through the night and the next morning and then head home. "I'll tell you what, why don't you and Matt get some sleep and I'll stay here and keep watch?"
Molly frowned thoughtfully, considering his offer before finally nodding in consent. "Okay," she said, moving in to give Mohinder a hug. "Goodnight Mohinder. Keep the camp fire going."
"I will," he promised, giving her cheek a quick kiss.
As soon as Molly had disappeared inside the tent, Matt crouched down beside him, an uncertain look written all over his face. "You sure you're gonna be okay? It's pretty late."
"I'll be fine," Mohinder sighed, staring into the fire pit dully. "I wasn't exactly going to get much sleep tonight anyway."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Besides, I'll just stay up for another hour or two and then try to squeeze into the tent."
Matt chuckled, patting Mohinder's arm affectionately as he stood up. "Alright. Just make sure you don't step on anybody when you do."
-+-+-+-
Mohinder hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep until the moment that he woke up. It was night still, that much he could tell right away from the campfire still burning brightly in front of him, yet somehow he knew that it wasn't the same fire he had fallen asleep watching. He frowned as his tired mind suddenly registered the feeling of something combing through his hair and the solid warmth that he was leaning heavily against. It was then that he remembered the black Volkswagen that had been trailing them for most of the drive, disappearing only when they approached the actual park.
Craning his neck up, he wasn't terribly surprised to find himself sitting next to Sylar, his head resting on the serial killer's shoulder as the other man's pale fingers gently stroked his loose curls.
"Sylar," he began to say, but was quickly cut off when a finger pressed against his lips.
"Shhhh..." Sylar soothed, a sound that could never be comforting coming from the man next to him. "I know we're outside, but let's use our indoor voices. Don't want to ruin the peaceful atmosphere."
"I can't believe you followed me out here," Mohinder huffed, pushing himself away from the other man's form. "Well, actually, I can believe that you followed me out here. It's exactly the sort of creepy thing you would do."
"I'm not the one who dragged you out into the middle of the words so you could roll around in some dirt," Sylar scoffed. "I mean, honestly, how the hell is getting lost in the middle of the woods a vacation?"
"I know!" Mohinder exclaimed, thankful that someone was finally seeing his point. "I don't work hard all year long just to spend a day pretending that I'm homeless and... wait a minute. Why am I still talking to you?" The Indian groaned, shaking his head at his own foolishness as he stood up. "I'm going back to my own tent."
"Good luck finding it," Sylar answered instantly, his voice completely disinterested as he stayed perfectly still.
It was only then that Mohinder realized that he had absolutely no idea where he was. It was dark and all the trees looked exactly the same to him. What's more, he had been unconscious when Sylar had taken him, so there was no chance of knowing how far away he was or even in what direction he was supposed to go.
The Indian sighed, looking at the forest longingly. Trapped in the woods in the middle of the night with a serial killer. This was exactly like the plot of a bad horror movie.
The sound of a very loud pop was enough to make Mohinder jump out of his skin. His first instinct was to check himself for a wound, but as the blackened forest settled back into its calm stillness; he realized that the sound was not a gunshot.
"Champagne?" Sylar offered, handing him a glass flute that was filled nearly to the brim with bubbling golden liquid.
"You devious bastard," Mohinder grumbled, just as Sylar offered him a sly smile and plopped a plump red strawberry into the glass. The champagne fizzled, bubbling with frothy white foam that nearly spilled over its rim. "Do you really think I'm going to have sex with you in the middle of the woods?"
"I never said anything about sex," the serial killer said innocently. "Although if you'd like to relax in my tent, that'd be perfectly acceptable."
Mohinder frowned, his eyes going towards the dome shaped tent that was easily twice as big as the one Matt had bought. His scowl deepened as he lifted the flap to check inside. "Is that a blow up mattress?" he asked incredulously.
"Queen Size," Sylar announced. Even though he wasn't looking at him, Mohinder could hear the smug smirk in his voice. "It's even elevated, so we won't be touching the ground at all and I have plenty of warm blankets."
The Indian hummed, weighing his options carefully. He should really get back to the camp to check on Matt and Molly, but stumbling around in the darkened woods was a sure way to get himself hurt. "I suppose I could wait inside until sunrise," Mohinder sighed, accepting the flute of champagne.
Sylar beamed, lifting the flap of the tent and allowing Mohinder entry. "I'll get the massage oil."
-+-+-+-
"Man, did you actually fall asleep outside?"
Mohinder blinked in slow confusion at that question. He barely remembered returning to their camp site, but as he stared up at Matt in the early morning light, he slowly began to remember getting up at the crack of dawn, quickly getting dressed and wandering back. Mohinder sighed, adjusting himself on the log that he was currently using as his pillow. He would have thought that it was all a dream if it weren't for the pleasant little aches that he still felt in certain places.
"I guess I did," Mohinder said slowly, fighting against the urge to smirk in response.
"Weren't you cold?" Matt asked, staring pointedly at the now extinguished fire pit.
"Not really." He shrugged, pushing himself into a sitting position so he could brush off the bits of dirt and dead leaves that may have clung to him. "The, uh, the fire kept me pretty warm."
Matt frowned as he crouched down beside him. "Wow, looks like some bugs had a field day on your neck," he commented. "It's all red and blotchy."
Mohinder's face was practically on fire as he adjusted his collar, trying his best to hide the red bite and bruises that decorated his skin. He should have known better than to trust Sylar to be even remotely discrete. "I guess I didn't put on enough bug spray," he chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry my dumb camping trip ruined your delicate skin," Matt muttered as he stood up straight and surveyed the area.
"It wasn't a dumb idea," Mohinder sighed. "In fact... I kind of enjoyed myself?"
Matt snorted, rolling his eyes at Mohinder's words. "Yeah, right," he grumbled. "All you did was complain. Did sleeping under the stars really change your mind?"
He shrugged innocently, trying his best not to smile too much. "Something like that."
Author: starrdust411
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Mohinder/Sylar
Rating: PG
Summary: For the schmoop_bingo challenge. Prompt: Camping (Word Count: 2,845)
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes.
Warnings: Humor, Slash
"Are we at the grounds yet?"
"Jesus, Mohinder! We've only been in the car for an hour."
"This is a stupid idea," Mohinder grumbled bitterly as he slumped further into the tan suede seats of their rental car. He must have said those words over a dozen times since Matt had come up with his brilliant idea. When the detective had suggested that the three of them pack their bags and get out of the city, Mohinder had been completely in favor of the idea, until Matt had added that his idea of "getting out of the city" included leaving the comfort of the indoors to squat in the mud and be eaten alive by flies.
Camping? Of all the ridiculous things he had ever heard, spending the weekend camping was highest on his list. And just to add insult to injury, Matt insisted that a vital part of the “camping experience” included waking up at the crack of dawn. They would have to pack themselves and only belongings that would be absolutely "vital" to the trip into a car when there was barely enough light out to see an inch in front of them.
Yet Matt had been adamant that they at least give it a try -- insisting that it would be a nice change of pace and a great opportunity to get some fresh air -- and Mohinder had relented, somewhat, because after all, it had been a while since they had done anything Matt wanted.
"I see," Matt huffed defensively, "it's stupid because it's my idea."
Mohinder sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "I didn't say that! Don't be that way."
"Well don't be that way," he shot back. "You've been whining and crying about this for days-"
"I have not cried!"
"- is it really going to kill you to just unplug?" Matt continued, ignoring Mohinder's words as if the Indian had never spoken. "For a little while at least?"
He gave another overly dramatic sigh, his arms crossing even tighter over his chest and his fingers digging into the sleeve of his shirt. "Fine," he conceded. "I will stop complaining." Out loud. Mohinder wasn't certain whether or not Matt heard that last thought, but from the way the other man's lips pressed together, he could assume that Matt at least thought he wasn't going to keep that promise.
The discussion settled, Mohinder decided then to focus his attention on the road. When Matt had said he wanted to get out of the city, Mohinder had thought that the man merely wanted to leave Brooklyn, but apparently getting out of the borough wasn't far enough for him. Instead they were driving to some park upstate, somewhere that had no wifi, no stores, and far removed from any basketball courts, playgrounds, or golf courses.
"And no cell phone signal," Mohinder had added bitterly. Matt's only response to his assumption was a short laugh and a secretive smirk.
Silence settled into the sedan as Mohinder occupied himself with watching the tall buildings slowly pass them by. The sun was now up and he could actually see more than just street lights and lights in windows. Still, the pink orange hue of the sky was a clear reminder of the hour and all the hundreds of different things that he could be doing instead of this. He honestly couldn't say that he would miss the city so much as he would miss the comfort of being surrounded by four walls, a ceiling, and a solid floor.
The quiet couldn't have lasted more than a minute before Molly asked, "Are we gonna die?"
Mohinder felt his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he twisted around in his seat to stare at the girl who only stared back at him with sincere worry in her bright eyes. "Wh-what?" he stammered as a mixture of shock and slight horror welled up inside of him.
"No body's gonna die, Molly," Matt assured. He jerked his head around to look the girl in the eye before quickly turning back to face the road. "What would give you that idea?"
Mohinder was absolutely appalled when Matt gave him a very pointed glare. As if he would ever do something as thoughtless as the possibility of murder in front of the girl.
"Well, we're going to be outside in the middle of the night and there's gonna be no phones and no one else around," Molly pointed out. "That kinda sounds like something that would happen in a horror movie."
"And who on earth let you watch a horror movie?" Mohinder asked as he pinned Matt with a suspicious scowl.
"Okay, can everybody just stop complaining for one second?" Matt barked, pointedly avoiding Mohinder's gaze and his question. "Nothing is going to happen, okay? No body's going to die, no body's going to get lost, and no body's going to get eaten by a bear! We're just going to have one nice, stress free weekend getting back to nature."
"Enough with the 'getting back to nature,' Matt!" Mohinder huffed. "We're going to a bloody state park, not hiking through the Appalachian Mountains!"
Matt scowled bitterly, his grip on the steering wheel tightening until his knuckles were practically white. "Okay, who wants to play the quiet game?"
Mohinder smirked, but said nothing else as he leaned back in his seat. His smirk quickly turned into a scowl when he noticed the car in the rearview mirror. Either he was still half asleep or that same black Volkswagen had been following them since they left Brooklyn.
"It's probably nothing," Matt muttered, before falling into a stubborn silence for the remainder of the drive.
-+-+-+-
It was late morning by the time they got to the park, but from the brightness of the sun, one would easily have assumed that it was the middle of the afternoon. Mohinder squinted as he emerged from the car, stretching his back until he heard a satisfying pop before moving to the rear of the car. They had gotten a decent parking spot, but Mohinder had a feeling that there would still be quite a hike before they actually got to the camp grounds.
"Okay, everybody grab everything you’ll need, because we're not coming back here," Matt announced as he pulled out the cooler and portable grill and set them down on the gravel. "Here Mohinder, grab this," he began, handing Mohinder their sleeping bags, before pausing. "Wait a minute, why am I handing you all the light stuff? You're the one with the super bug man strength."
Mohinder felt his face flush slightly at Matt's description of his ability. He was truly getting sick of the man describing his enhanced strength that way. "That may be true, but don't think you're going to turn me into the pack mule on your trip," Mohinder warned tersely even as he grabbed both the cooler and the grill.
"Just makin' a point," Matt said as he grabbed another bag. He paused again before handing it over to the Indian. "May I?"
Mohinder sighed before giving a weary nod.
"Are we gonna run into Bigfoot up here?" Molly asked, shouldering her own backpack.
"No, Molly, I'm pretty sure Bigfoot lives in Canada," Matt said, as he continued to unpack the car.
"Matt, don't say that," Mohinder chided, just as Matt handed him yet another bag. He sighed, stepping away from the trunk to make sure Matt knew that he wasn't carrying anything else. "Bigfoot's not real, Molly."
"What about Sasquatch?"
"Isn't that the same as Bigfoot?"
"Yes it is, and therefore not real."
-+-+-+-
By sunset Mohinder was ready to say that camping wasn't nearly as bad as he had made it out to be. Instead, it was much worse. Just as he had anticipated they had hiked half a mile before settling on a camp site and then it was time to put up the tent, which was more complicated than the tent's packaging had promised it would be. Of course it was only once the tent was up that they discovered that it was too small as the three sleeping bags seemed to overlap each other.
Not that Mohinder was expecting to get much sleep that night. The ground beneath them was firm, painfully so, and he doubted that a thin layer of padding was going to make much of a difference.
Molly seemed to be having some fun, though, when she wasn't trying to figure out which large animal was going to attack them first that is. She was more than happy to sit by the camp fire (which Mohinder had started with the aid of a set of matches he had hidden in his pocket) eating hot dogs and roast marshmallows. Yet when it came time to go to bed, she suddenly became quite anxious and reluctant to sleep.
"This is where the murderer comes," she insisted firmly, her light eyes wide as she scanned the thin circle of trees for any unfamiliar shapes. "That's how it goes: we all go to sleep, and an axe wielding maniac comes and chops us up!"
"Molly, nobody is going to kill us," Matt sighed, too tired from the long drive and the hard work involved in a "relaxing" camp trip. "There isn't another person for miles."
"Then it'll be a bear!" Molly muttered, hugging herself tightly.
Matt frowned, rubbing at his eyes wearily as he tried to think of something else to say, but all that came out was a long yawn. Mohinder couldn't blame him for being so unfocused. After all, it had been a very long day for all of them.
"Molly, there aren't any bears here," Mohinder insisted, although in truth, he had absolutely no idea what was out there. He merely wanted to get through the night and the next morning and then head home. "I'll tell you what, why don't you and Matt get some sleep and I'll stay here and keep watch?"
Molly frowned thoughtfully, considering his offer before finally nodding in consent. "Okay," she said, moving in to give Mohinder a hug. "Goodnight Mohinder. Keep the camp fire going."
"I will," he promised, giving her cheek a quick kiss.
As soon as Molly had disappeared inside the tent, Matt crouched down beside him, an uncertain look written all over his face. "You sure you're gonna be okay? It's pretty late."
"I'll be fine," Mohinder sighed, staring into the fire pit dully. "I wasn't exactly going to get much sleep tonight anyway."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Besides, I'll just stay up for another hour or two and then try to squeeze into the tent."
Matt chuckled, patting Mohinder's arm affectionately as he stood up. "Alright. Just make sure you don't step on anybody when you do."
-+-+-+-
Mohinder hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep until the moment that he woke up. It was night still, that much he could tell right away from the campfire still burning brightly in front of him, yet somehow he knew that it wasn't the same fire he had fallen asleep watching. He frowned as his tired mind suddenly registered the feeling of something combing through his hair and the solid warmth that he was leaning heavily against. It was then that he remembered the black Volkswagen that had been trailing them for most of the drive, disappearing only when they approached the actual park.
Craning his neck up, he wasn't terribly surprised to find himself sitting next to Sylar, his head resting on the serial killer's shoulder as the other man's pale fingers gently stroked his loose curls.
"Sylar," he began to say, but was quickly cut off when a finger pressed against his lips.
"Shhhh..." Sylar soothed, a sound that could never be comforting coming from the man next to him. "I know we're outside, but let's use our indoor voices. Don't want to ruin the peaceful atmosphere."
"I can't believe you followed me out here," Mohinder huffed, pushing himself away from the other man's form. "Well, actually, I can believe that you followed me out here. It's exactly the sort of creepy thing you would do."
"I'm not the one who dragged you out into the middle of the words so you could roll around in some dirt," Sylar scoffed. "I mean, honestly, how the hell is getting lost in the middle of the woods a vacation?"
"I know!" Mohinder exclaimed, thankful that someone was finally seeing his point. "I don't work hard all year long just to spend a day pretending that I'm homeless and... wait a minute. Why am I still talking to you?" The Indian groaned, shaking his head at his own foolishness as he stood up. "I'm going back to my own tent."
"Good luck finding it," Sylar answered instantly, his voice completely disinterested as he stayed perfectly still.
It was only then that Mohinder realized that he had absolutely no idea where he was. It was dark and all the trees looked exactly the same to him. What's more, he had been unconscious when Sylar had taken him, so there was no chance of knowing how far away he was or even in what direction he was supposed to go.
The Indian sighed, looking at the forest longingly. Trapped in the woods in the middle of the night with a serial killer. This was exactly like the plot of a bad horror movie.
The sound of a very loud pop was enough to make Mohinder jump out of his skin. His first instinct was to check himself for a wound, but as the blackened forest settled back into its calm stillness; he realized that the sound was not a gunshot.
"Champagne?" Sylar offered, handing him a glass flute that was filled nearly to the brim with bubbling golden liquid.
"You devious bastard," Mohinder grumbled, just as Sylar offered him a sly smile and plopped a plump red strawberry into the glass. The champagne fizzled, bubbling with frothy white foam that nearly spilled over its rim. "Do you really think I'm going to have sex with you in the middle of the woods?"
"I never said anything about sex," the serial killer said innocently. "Although if you'd like to relax in my tent, that'd be perfectly acceptable."
Mohinder frowned, his eyes going towards the dome shaped tent that was easily twice as big as the one Matt had bought. His scowl deepened as he lifted the flap to check inside. "Is that a blow up mattress?" he asked incredulously.
"Queen Size," Sylar announced. Even though he wasn't looking at him, Mohinder could hear the smug smirk in his voice. "It's even elevated, so we won't be touching the ground at all and I have plenty of warm blankets."
The Indian hummed, weighing his options carefully. He should really get back to the camp to check on Matt and Molly, but stumbling around in the darkened woods was a sure way to get himself hurt. "I suppose I could wait inside until sunrise," Mohinder sighed, accepting the flute of champagne.
Sylar beamed, lifting the flap of the tent and allowing Mohinder entry. "I'll get the massage oil."
-+-+-+-
"Man, did you actually fall asleep outside?"
Mohinder blinked in slow confusion at that question. He barely remembered returning to their camp site, but as he stared up at Matt in the early morning light, he slowly began to remember getting up at the crack of dawn, quickly getting dressed and wandering back. Mohinder sighed, adjusting himself on the log that he was currently using as his pillow. He would have thought that it was all a dream if it weren't for the pleasant little aches that he still felt in certain places.
"I guess I did," Mohinder said slowly, fighting against the urge to smirk in response.
"Weren't you cold?" Matt asked, staring pointedly at the now extinguished fire pit.
"Not really." He shrugged, pushing himself into a sitting position so he could brush off the bits of dirt and dead leaves that may have clung to him. "The, uh, the fire kept me pretty warm."
Matt frowned as he crouched down beside him. "Wow, looks like some bugs had a field day on your neck," he commented. "It's all red and blotchy."
Mohinder's face was practically on fire as he adjusted his collar, trying his best to hide the red bite and bruises that decorated his skin. He should have known better than to trust Sylar to be even remotely discrete. "I guess I didn't put on enough bug spray," he chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry my dumb camping trip ruined your delicate skin," Matt muttered as he stood up straight and surveyed the area.
"It wasn't a dumb idea," Mohinder sighed. "In fact... I kind of enjoyed myself?"
Matt snorted, rolling his eyes at Mohinder's words. "Yeah, right," he grumbled. "All you did was complain. Did sleeping under the stars really change your mind?"
He shrugged innocently, trying his best not to smile too much. "Something like that."