Camping Trip

@"Rosetta Souline"

The day was ending, and the sun was low in the sky - it was by no means night, but it would be soon enough. Teddy basked in the weak glow passing through his body, a massive, somewhat comical backpack on his bag. In it were camping essentials, and a lot of camping non-essentials such as an entire costume for a play and a functional torch.

He wore shades even if it was late and they were unnecessary, thinking that whoever would start a camping trip would probably not appreciated being snuck up on by a glowing blue dude without eyes. The rest of him being blue was something he couldn't properly hide so he didn't bother trying.

There in the distance he could see someone already setting up, and no one else nearby. Figuring to make his presence known in a friendly way, he took a rational course of action from his head... and promptly shoved it down the drain in favor of sinking half his body through the ground and wading onward toward whoever it was by the lake.

So there he was, walking toward the campsite with only his upper body and backpack above ground, the rest of him within the soil itself. His movements were sluggish, but just at the right pace to be mildly disturbing. With a smile, he leaned forward, and instead of walking through the ground normally, he dragged himself with his arms while calling out slowly in the lowest voice he could manage, "Why aaaaare yoooouuuu heeeeeeeereeeeeee..."

@"Rosetta Souline"

"Well, that - okay, let's say I wasn't expecting that and be done with it. Someone's probably regretting not putting up restrictions on who could come right now..." Teddy said, grinning as he pushed himself back up into the world. This was going to be a fun night.

Probably not for the girl though.

Teddy let down his bag onto the grass and began to dig out the essential things. A tent, a sleeping bag, a folding bed, a c - "Wait, this isn't my cat," he said, letting out a black Siamese that would have scratched him, but passed through him instead. He let it go into the woods with a confused "I don't even have a cat. The hell is this doing here..."

"Ehem," he began, clearing his throat. "I don't think I saw your name on that notice maybe because I skimmed it but anyway. I'm Teddy for the most part. And you are..? Also, if you don't like stupid and / or cheesy dialogue you might want to answer before I make some of that."

@"Rosetta Souline"

"O-kaaaaaay, calm down, missy, I'm just here to camp out, not to try and get you to put out. Besides, there's already someone I have to go for first." Teddy backed off comically, with exaggerated vividness to all his movements as he put both hands up. His bag was still bulky even after he pulled out all the essentials he had, which included his tent, his sleeping bag, some tiny folding bed that barely even fit him and was used instead as a chair, and a blanket completed with floral print.

Grinning, he raised his blanket to (illogically) prove an unnecessary point. "I've got this blanket right here. Think I'd be the kind of person to just flirt twenty-four seven? Nah, I'm probably closer to two hours a week and I've met that quota already."

He began to dig into his bag a bit more, pulling out the most important thing that he had which also took up the most space. It was a crate of some sort, closed and taped up.

With some more needless flair Teddy stood up, cracked his knuckles, his neck, and a nearby glass bottle (accomplished by smashing it into a rock by the lake) and said, "Stand back... I don't know what might happen... actually, I do, but I really just wanted to say that at least once in my life. Here I go... 1... 2... 3... 4... - dammit, I went past three - screw it, I'll just open the damn thing."

Using the broken bottle he cut off the tape and pried open the top of the crate. Inside was a portable stove, some gas, and a grill, which he took out one by one. "Brought my kitchen with me. Thought you and anyone else around might like it."

@"Rosetta Souline"

Teddy could sense judgment on Rosetta's part, and ignored it, having had much worse from much worse. He began to wipe away at the stove with his shirt, rubbing it to a shine. "Oh, don't you worry about it. It's an option if someone comes by with a more... no, refined's not the right term... prissy ain't it either... hah, I give up. Whatever the word is, it's for someone who - picky! Okay, that was the word."

Figuring that the stove wouldn't need to be particularly shiny for whatever reason, he turned his attention to the torch that sat in his backpack. He pulled it out - the strangest trophy he had in his possession - and stood up. Since it was a wooded area, twigs weren't particularly hard to find, and in a short while, he'd gathered a small pile.

All the while, he was singing out loud, crooning ancient hits that were older than him by a large gap. He began rubbing the twigs together to make fire, and it was a slow process, mitigated by his impromptu 60's concierto.

"The niiiiight is youuung and you're so beautiful
Here among the shaaadows, beautiful
Lady, open your heaaaart

The sea is set, the breeeezes sing of it
Can't you geeeeet into the swing of it
Lady, where do we staaart?"

Then he turned his head to Rosetta. "I, uh, probably should have asked this before I started singing, but you don't mind music, do you?"

Teddy scrunched up his face in an almost piteous smile. He'd have reached out to pet her head, but first, he didn't know her too well, and second, he was too busy setting the twigs on fire. Instead, he just let a mildly mocking remark out. "Aww... someone's worried people aren't gonna come to their party! How cuuuuuute..."

"Ehem. Don't worry about it. People come, people don't come - there's nothing you can do about it! You're just going to have to sit and wait, cause that's basically what camping is. You wash your neck in one place, bask in the glory of nature and all her insectile glory, and hope to God that no bears drop by for a midnight snack." The crackling and rubbing of wood against wood grew louder and faster, and then started to smoke. The smoke and charring roared into flame with a bit of help - Teddy ejected a bit of his hand into the heat, the mana turning to fire.

Quickly, he lit the torch and planted it into the ground, continuing his song in the firelight. With a steady fire going, he stood up again and began to pick up stones. He went closer to the lakeside, hunched over, looking for good rocks to put up a fire pit.

"When the lady's kissable
And the evening is so cool
Any dream is permissible
In the heart of a fool..."