Closed A Foot In Both Camps

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander had been looking forward to seeing his friends outside of Hogwarts, without the stresses of exams or the constraints of the school rules. He needed a break, a real break, and the thought of unwinding in nature had sounded like a great idea. He had taken a couple of days off work to organise a trip for exactly that reason, much to his father's annoyance. Apparently, it was inconvenient for two of his employees to take time off during one of the busiest periods of the year. Best he hadn't also decided to invite Linden, then, though Kas might have been happier about him than finding out that Emma was coming along, too. His friends not all getting along was its own obstacle, and one of the cons about flittering through different circles instead of having one grounded group. Had it not been for the drama between Connor and Nicole, it might have been easier to navigate, if only slightly.

Having met everyone at his place to travel together to the beach, Lysander scouted out a spot on the grass, underneath the shade of a tree and not too far from the sand and sea. Lysander unceremoniously dumped his camping supplies at his feet and put his hands on his hips, turning back to face his friends with a grin, as if all were well between them. "This is the spot!" He announced, as if it were all that different than any other spot along the coastline. He kicked away a stone that would have otherwise made for an uncomfortable place to sit, and picked up one of the tent poles. He realised, too late, that the whole ensemble had probably come with a bunch of instructions that he'd neglected to take along with them. "...Hey, out of curiosity, has anyone ever built a tent before?" He asked. It couldn't be that hard to figure out, could it? All they had to do was prop up some fabric, and Merlin's your uncle, you had a tent.​

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma was glad to get out of the house and happy to hang out with Lysander. A camping trip sounded like fun, and Emma was excited to explore nature and roast marshmallows at a big fire. That was part of camping, right? The Gryffindor had been hoping to hang out with only Lysander, but he had invited Kas as well. Emma knew Kas was a close friend of his, for some reason, and had tried her best to hide her annoyance with the decision. Once they were on their way, Emma tried to engage Lysander in conversation about Quidditch, something she knew Kas didn't know a lot about. But it didn't take long for them to find a spot, and Emma nodded when Lysander decided where they were camping. "Looks perfect." She declared, putting her own things down too. She watched as Lysander got started on the tent, only for him to ask if either of them had any experience. Emma hesitated, considering a lie for a moment. But she knew she would easily be found out. There was no use to pretending. "No, but I'm sure we can figure it out together." She told him, picking up a tent pole herself and inspecting it closely, as if she knew what she was doing. She then glanced at Kas. "I don't suppose you know?" She asked him, though she really doubted it. He didn't seem like the camping type to her, and it made her wonder even more why he was here.

 

[Kasim Safir]

The closest Kas had ever gotten to camping in his life was the time he refused to come inside once we he was 9 and spent the night on the lawn. His mother had been furious when Kas eventually tromped in around 4am, soaked from the dew. It wasn't exactly his fondest memory, but it showed how keen Kas to not spend the holidays at home that he'd taken up Lysander's invitation to go camping without a second thought. Though he may have thought harder if he'd known Emma was coming. He'd done his best to avoid Emma at school, seeing how both Connor and Freya hated her, but it seemed there was no avoiding her now. At least he wouldn't have to talk to her, content to let Lysander be the middleman the whole trip.

Kas dumped his bag when Lysander declared they'd found a good spot, relieved to finally have it off his shoulders, and was just setting about trying to make himself as comfortable as possible in the grass until Lysander asked about setting up the tent. "I think my folks would rather die than spend a night in a tent," he said with a sniff, poking at the tarp that he assumed was the body of the tent and trying to see if he could figure out where the opening to get inside was. "Are you sure this is going to be enough space for us? I'm not sharing rooms. With anyone," he said, giving Emma a pointed look.

 

[Lysander Summers]

The more Lysander thought about it, the more he realised the tent had probably never had instructions to begin with. His dads had always simply waved a wand and it would erect itself. His friends responses did not inspire him with hope. It couldn't be that hard, but as he looked at the pieces, the poles all looked pretty much the same. "Speaking of your folks Kas, I might have told my dads I was camping with you and your family. Wasn't sure they'd be cool with me camping on my own, so if either of them asks..." He trailed off, since the rest of his request pretty much spoke for itself. "Not that you've invited me to meet your folks, yet." He added, in an obvious hint. He hadn't seen Kas' place, and he'd only ever heard about his parents. Didn't seem fair that Kas had met both of his. The same probably could have been said for Emma, except she lived in a whole different country, so she had that excuse. That, and he'd gone to school with half her family already. Kissed one. Meeting her parents at this point wasn't really the same.

Lysander glanced between Kas and Emma as the topic of space was brought up, and sucked in air through his teeth. He had definitely forgotten to mention a few important details. "Well, uh. It's a four-person tent." He began sheepishly. He scratched at the back of his head, and attempted to slot together two of the tent pieces while he talked. "For, uh, for muggles. This is muggle camping. There's no...rooms." It had always been enough space for him when he'd been younger. The muggle-style camping trips were very novel at the time. Even now there was more of a sense of outdoor adventure to them over the magical equivalent. "But hey, we'll have half a person of space between us? I can sleep in the middle." He suggested, sure that Kas and Emma spending the night beside each other would have only resulted in arguments.​

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma wasn't surprised Kas said his family would rather die than spend the night in a tent. It fit with the stuck-up image she had of him. Though the fact that he'd agreed to come with them didn't really fit with that. The way Lysander had gotten his family to agree to the camping was very similar to what Emma had done, and she grinned. "I said the same thing about you." She said to Lysander. Emma snorted when Kas said he wasn't sharing rooms. That was fine with her. She would much rather stay up late telling spooky stories with Lysander while Kas sulked alone in a room to the side. But then Lysander revealed that it was a muggle tent without any rooms, and Emma's mental image of the scene shifted a bit. She hadn't considered that. But then she grinned. "But since you're not sharing a room with anyone, you're free to sleep outside." She told Kas, gesturing to a spot nearby. "The dirt over there looks especially comfortable, want to try it out?"

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas glanced up from where he'd hooked a finger through one of the mysterious loops on the tent when Lysander mentioned lying to his dads, shaking his head with an amused snort. "We'll make a rebel of you yet," he said sagely before shrugging. "You don't want to meet them. And this way no one can blow our cover by talking to them either," he said breezily. Kas really wasn't keen on anyone meeting his parents, especially not after how much time he'd spent with the Summers and seeing how they worked. Kas' own family felt just that much more stilted and cold in comparison. "Besides, everyone knows I was raised by a pair of ball pythons," he added with a smirk, though it quickly fell as Lysander clarified more about the tent situation.

"Oh. Great. That's great," he said, scowling at Emma as she tried to be cute. Kas could see why Freya didn't like her. How dare she be funnier than him. "You're not invited to Lysander and mine's cuddle party then," he said wanly, giving up on the tent and dropping it in a flurry of nylon and zippers. "Do we at least have something to eat, I'm not tackling muggle engineering on an empty stomach," he groused, moving over to dig in the backpacks for something edible.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander let out a laugh when Emma admitted to pulling the same stunt, and he held up a hand for a high-five. "Nice." He grinned. Kas made a good point - he had to hope none of their parents decided to talk. That said, he wasn't convinced Kas hadn't actually been adopted by a pair of ball pythons, which was why no one had met his parents yet. He was sure even if they were, his dad would somehow be able to chat with them like he could with some of the other animals.

It was difficult to ignore his friends bickering, though Lysander smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at the suggestion of a cuddle party. If they were like this already, he didn't know how they were going to survive a night in close quarters. He successfully managed to create a...triangularish shape, out of the tent poles he'd been fiddling with. It was almost definitely lopsided, and he sighed, dropping it on top of the pile Kas had created. He shot his friend another sheepish look. "Food, yeah. Uh, well, I thought it would be fun if we went out and foraged for it. Search for some mushrooms and berries, that kind of thing." He started, trying to maintain a serious expression until his smile won out. "I'm kidding. We've got marshmallows, duh. Some chocolate, two-minute noodles, cheese, nacho chips, bread rolls, some cold fruits and vegetables and a bunch of other stuff." Whatever easy food he'd been able to find in his pantry, he brought. No meat, since he didn't really eat it, and he hadn't thought about whether or not his friends would want any. "Does someone want to get some wood so we can start a campfire?" He asked, if only to give everyone a break from each other for a few minutes.​