Private Getting Away for a Bit

"I can see that," Jasmine said with a nod. "When I was little, I thought that going camping with my troop was this great big adventure. And it was still fun as I got older, but for a while there I stopped believing in monsters and well... the woods were a little less fun and magical during that time."

Holding out her hands to take one of the blankets so that Aria wasn't carrying everything, she said, "Let's find a spot to set these up, yeah? It'll be getting dark enough before too long, and I don't wanna miss a thing with you."

She didn't want a spot too far away from camp, so they could get back to the fire and the tent, but far enough away that the fire - low as it had gotten, wouldn't wash out any of the light from the sky. "And somewhere without too many rocks or roots would be nice. Sitting on a rock for any length of time isn't fun," she added with a quiet laugh as she found a spot that looked good.

"I've never considered myself hardcore," Jasmine admitted as the two of them settled down to watch the sky. It was so pretty out here and the way the sun set was just like back home. One of those little things that reminded her that even though she was in a different world, that didn't mean that hers had ended.

"Though I guess I kind of am. A lot of the stuff I learned just seemed normal, but I... have you ever read Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain? They're about kids not just surviving, but thriving in the wilderness. I wanted to be like that when I was little and, it might sound braggy but I think I could do it. I know how to tan and process leather, I can tell a lot of poisonous plants from safe ones - and the ones I don't know I know how to safely test."

She paused, chewing on the inside of her lip. Jasmine didn't know where she was going with this, but she knew it had to go somewhere. It would be weird to just stroke her own ego like that with no point to it. So she slid a little closer to Aria, laying her head against her shoulder as the stars began to become visible in the sky above.

"Compared to that, this is completely uncharted territory for me. I don't know how to deal with people in a situation where there's not a clear hierarchy or work that needs doing. And I'm still figuring out like... what I want an how to communicate that to other people."

"That's good advice," Jasmine said, nodding a bit and laying her head against Aria's shoulder so that she could look at her. She was a much better view than the stars, and as the night wore on Jazz found that she could be more comfortable in admitting that to herself. "Being happy isn't something I ever thought was, ya know, all that important compared to being like... ah, successful, I guess. Or maybe I thought that being successful would make me happy."

But that hadn't been true: the more Jasmine had succeeded the more miserable she had felt in the long run. Here she was only a B student and none of the achievements that she'd made in the Boy Scouts actually mattered. Or at least they didn't have any real weight. She wasn't going to get into college on her Eagle Scout status.

"So don't think three steps ahead. Easier said than done but... I think I can manage that," she finally said with a small chuckle. "Just promise me you'll snap me out of it if I go too wild?" She hoped that her joke came across well enough.