Northrop National Park Lady Green Sleeves

[Emily Reyes]

Max said 'next time' he went camping, but Emily had later begged for a stay of execution until the weather warmed up. The hike up to the lake in the dead of winter had been bearable only because they weren't going to stay the night. Now that she was staring down the barrel of sleeping on the ground, Emily wanted to, sensibly, make this as pleasant for herself as possible. A rough and tumble granola girl, she was not.

Still, although she was short on enthusiasm, Emily was also short on complaints as they made their way out to the campsite. She'd agreed to this after all, for many good reasons, and she was going to follow through, goddamnit. Max had helpfully coached her through what to bring, and although there was a little friendly bickering over some supposedly 'useless items' (she needed her dry shampoo, thanks) that ended in some enthusiastic 'making-up', the werewolf's directions kept her pack light enough that she could comfortably hike with it.

The only thing Emily absolutely refused to lighten up on was her spellbag. Fortunately, she'd gotten a dedicated satchel for her witchcraft and an organizer for all the components she kept, which kept it from being unwieldy, but the little bag was dense, and she was adding to it. Like some kind of naturalist collecting samples, she kept pausing on the path to coax late morning sunlight from dewdrops. She had half a vial by now, the liquid inside clear but warm to the touch and glowing when she cupped it in her hand.

“Oh wait, hang on, is that... A spiderweb?” she said, halting their progress for the umpteenth time so she could peer at webbing hung between two trees, speckled with morning dew. Emily didn't go straight for it, though. Instead, she glanced over at Max and asked warily, “Do you see a spider there?”

[Max Kuryakin]

Ground sense (Strike), exceptional success

Out of respect for Emily's general reluctance to go camping, Max carried the lion's share of their kit. Max, being the camper, had all of it already, supplemented by abandoned stuff his siblings had left in his ma's attic. She'd been perfectly willing to dig it out for him once he'd told her he was taking Emily camping. Strangely enthusiastic, actually. But he had a tent for them, enough food and the kit to prepare and eat it, and the various necessities like a first aid kit, drinking water, and a pocket knife.

Emily was a good sport, though, even if there'd been a little argument over the packing when she stuffed in things she didn't need. Dry shampoo when they weren't going to be gone that long? Come on. She could dunk her head in the lake if she needed a wash. They'd solved it easily enough, even if Max refused to carry her spellbag. That was a heavy burden she put on herself, Max uninterested in the constant itch of magic tickling the back of his neck all day.

She was better off with it, considering how she kept halting their progress to coax dewdrops into a vial. Max didn't mind, even if restless energy had settled into his limbs. It was the anticipation of a shift more than the pressure to shift. He couldn't just shift and go running off, though, with the bags and leading the way for Emily. Maybe he could do it on the way back when they were heading home.

As Emily called out, Max turned away from staring into the thick dark forest around them, the sun casting shadows everywhere. Shaded as they were, it wasn't getting too hot, but it promised clear skies and a warm day. Quirking an eyebrow at her announcing finding a spider web, Max wondered if that was something she could collect for her magic or just Emily being curious.

Whatever reason, Max stepped up to stand next to her, looking at the spiderweb and reaching out to barely touch one of the silky strands. It shook, the web shuddering gently, Max's eyes seeking out the sense of where the movement was coming from, spotting a spider working further up into the branches where the web stretched out, glittering in the shifting sunbeams. It was colourful, bright green with splotches of yellow and orange on its abdomen. Max didn't know his spiders–he just knew it wasn't a wolf spider, not hairy enough.

Tapping Emily's shoulder, Max lifted his hand to point out the long-legged creature. “Yeah, up there. I can move it if you want to... do something with the web?” He shrugged. Could spiderwebs be used?

[Emily Reyes]

When Max stepped forward to touch the spider web, Emily grabbed his shirt at the side, making a warning noise because she was only asking and didn't want him to get near the spider! Still, she caught herself before getting in his way, although her hand stayed curled in his shirt. The idea of a spider being nearby made goosebumps pop up all over her arms, and with the size of the web, it had to be huge.

But she wanted that sunlight! And... Could she collect the concept of gossamer? It was an idea...

The witch was distracted from her thoughts as the werewolf touched the strands, and she watched with growing astonishment as he used it somehow locate the little monstrosity. Admiration evident in her grin, Emily's eyes followed his pointing, and then she hiccuped a distressed noise at the idea of moving it. By touching it? She shook her head quickly.

“Oh, no no no,” Emily whispered as if the arachnid was hunting them by sound. Her voice was twisted with nerves, and now that she was hyper-aware of the spider's location, she had to force her hand to unclench from Max's shirt. “No, it's okay. I just wanted the sunlight.”

Edging in a little arc around the spider's spot towards the web and stealing glances up at it, Emily leaned in from far away, to the very limit of her reach, to start coaxing the droplets into her vial.

[Max Kuryakin]

Max didn't react to Emily grabbing his shirt beyond a glance her way to check if she wanted to say something before his attention went back to the web and the spider. Her grab made sense as she gave a fearful hiccup at seeing the spider. Max might've been tempted to tease her for it if she hadn't sounded so nervous about the eight-legged creepy crawly. Was she afraid of them?

Rather than tease her, Max watched as Emily unwound the grip on his shirt, shuffling as far away from the spider as she could while still staying close to the web. Max moved in the opposite direction from where she went. Looking up at the spider, Max plucked at the web at the spot furthest away from Emily, wiggling his finger like a fly trapped in a web. He lured it away from Emily as it slowly crawled towards where Max's finger twitched.

“Afraid of spiders?” Max asked gently, glancing at her as the sunlight seemed to just... coalesce in her vial.

[Emily Reyes]

Cinder Collection - 6 passes: Exceptional Success

Max's work with the web made the dewdrops shiver on the strands, but it wasn't enough to make them fall. Emily spread her fingers out in front of the web, sensing the pinpricks of light like heat on her palm. The witch imagined tangling threads of light between her fingers, and then she pinched them together as she very carefully drew her hand back. As she did, the light came away like a glimmering strand, and she fed the end of it into her vial, letting it drip down into what she'd already gathered.

“Ah-” Emily breathed, eyes flicking to the spider as it started to pick its way across the web. Carefully pulling her hand away, she shivered, the sight of the arachnid's long legs moving, causing her skin to feel oversensitive. More goosebumps spilled out across her skin, but she shook her head, huffing a nervous laugh. “No. Well, yes, but not afraid. I can deal with them, but the idea of them crawling on me makes me-” She offered Max a grimace of a smile, scrunching up her nose. “Eugh.”

[Max Kuryakin]

Dropping his hand from the web, Max let out a little “Huh,” at Emily's denial and elaboration. It sure sounded like some variation of afraid, but creepy crawlies were creepy for a reason. He was more occupied by how she'd threaded the sunlight into the vial. That strange ability to make something tangible out of the intangible would never stop fascinating him.

“Spider stuff is creepy,” he returned, moving back onto the path and giving her a smile, crooked and indulgent. Then he reached out to take her hand, tugging her away from the drops of sunlight and the spiderweb. “C'mon, before the spider gets you.”

[Emily Reyes]

Pressing a cork into the vial with her thumb, Emily admired her little cache of sunlight as Max went back to the main path. This time, the liquid seemed to be particularly potent, shining clearly like the dew on the spider web. The woman only shifted when he tugged at her hand, but at his words, a scared little thrill went up her spine, her imagination getting the better of her, and she rabbited back to his side with a little whoop.

“Max!” she wailed, although Max hadn't done anything except plant ideas in her head. With a shudder, Emily patted down her clothes and then looked over both shoulders as she pulled her free hand down her ponytail. Just a paranoid cursory spot check for any hangers on. “Was it still on the web? Did it fall off or anything?” Fall off onto her from a few feet away, of course.

[Max Kuryakin]

Glancing behind him to spot Emily brushing invisible spiders off her clothing, Max couldn't help the laugh. He dropped her hand to drape his arm over her shoulder, jostling her close and leaning in to rub his cheek against the top of her head, unthinking and automatic.

“I'm teasing,” Max reassured, grinning broadly. “The spider is safe in its web, safe from the likes of you.”

He loosened his looped arm, dropping it off Emily's shoulders before squeezing her around the waist. That was it, though, it wouldn't be practical to walk like that, so Max let her slip away and dropped his hand.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily scoffed but leaned into his side as he pulled her in, smiling good-naturedly at his laugh. She rarely noticed the way Max liked to nuzzle her head anymore. Even before finding out about the werewolf side of him, it had been a staple in the way he showed affection.

“They're perfectly safe around me! When I find them in my place, I put them outside,” she said, defending her honor. “I just don't want them crawling on me.” As Max let her go, she reached up and tickled her fingers over his ear to emphasize her point.

[Max Kuryakin]

Strike vs. Emily, 8 passes

Laughing, Max jerked his head back from her fingers tickling over his ear. He didn't let that stand, turning to wrap his arm around her and yank her into an over-the-shoulder carry whether she liked it or not. Despite her wiggling, Max had a firm and steady grip on her, quickly hoisting her up on his shoulder. He delivered a firm smack to her ass with his free hand, then massaged the spot to ease the sting.

“If we stop dragging our feet,” Max said, laughing as he turned around to lead them both down the path, carrying Emily along like she barely weighed anything. “We won't have to worry about spiders!”

[Emily Reyes]

Strike vs Max, 5 passes

Catching his look, Emily tried to scramble away, yelping when he got an arm around her middle. Despite knowing there was no getting away, she still struggled, laughing breathlessly and shouting, “Max, no-!” when her feet left the ground.

Max effortlessly tossed her over his shoulder and she put up a struggle until he laid a hard smack across her ass. Body jolting, Emily bit out an infuriated noise, although her stifled giggling betrayed how little she minded the manhandling. That is to say, not at all, and yet, it was still infuriating.

“Cave man!” she accused as Max turned to start down the path, carrying his gear, her gear, her, and the rest of her stuff. Emily had seen this kind of feat of strength enough to not be startled, though. Instead, she took full advantage of being pinned and reached around the werewolf’s backpack to dig her fingers into his sides, finding a ticklish spot and retaliating.

[Max Kuryakin]

Strike vs. Emily, 7 passes

Emily was lucky Max had a firm grip on her, arm around her upper thighs pinning her down, with one hand on her ass to keep her steady. Her tickling had him jostling her as he arched his torso away from her fingers–an impossibility, considering how she was being carried. Max couldn't help the giggles, even as he bit his lip and tried to keep it in.

“Quit it!” Max protested, giggling and jostling her on his shoulder, adjusting her position. “I'll end up dropping you if you keep that up!”

[Emily Reyes]

Strike vs Max, 2 passes: miss

It wasn’t the threat of being dropped that made her stop—Emily doubted he would let her fall if he could help it, even if she was playing the scorpion to the frog. It was just the jostling, the listing ship feeling. She lost her grip and flopped forward, her laughter cutting off with a quiet “oof” as her backpack shifted forward onto the back of her head.

“This is bullying,” Emily huffed, using the top of Max's pack to push herself up into a better position and shuffling to seat her backpack back on her back. “Werewolf on witch bullying. I can't even outrun you.”

[Max Kuryakin]

Max snorted a laugh at Emily's huffing, patting her ass as she adjusted her position. He kept walking as he stepped over rocks and roots, feet steady and stride sure. The path was familiar, so he knew they weren't far off.

“Werewolf on witch sounds like something completely different,” Max remarked slyly, climbing over a large rock and holding Emily steady over his shoulder. “You haven't tried outrunning me, have you?”

Had she? Maybe the beach, but Max hadn't been trying too hard. She hadn't known back then, so he'd tried to be careful about showing off. Not so much anymore.

[Emily Reyes]

“You want it to sound like something completely different,” Emily laughed, catching his meaning but refusing to play along for the moment. She was still sore about the caveman carry, even if they were making good time now.

Folding her arms on top of his pack, she propped her head on them and went on with a chuckle, “I’ve tried, but if you’re asking me that, then it probably wasn’t a challenge.”

[Max Kuryakin]

“Oh,” Max chuckled, feeling a little bad. It was probably the beach then, wasn't it? Unless she meant when he chased her up the stairs, but those were somehow different if it wasn't out in the open. And those had been fun chases, ending in, well, pleasant things. Not outrunning.

“I might be difficult to outrun, but I can show you some tricks to evade someone like me? If you're interested.”

Max couldn't look at her to gauge her reaction with her tossed over his shoulder. Maybe she'd take the chance, maybe she wouldn't, but Max found he was interested in showing her whatever he could to help her. Their run-in with the golden cat made it seem more relevant, but he hoped something like that wouldn't happen to her again.

[Emily Reyes]

The little “oh” made Emily tip her head down to hide her face in her arms and laugh. She might’ve felt sore about that if she were less realistic, or more competitive, but Emily knew her strengths well enough to not give her limits much credence. She couldn’t outrun a werewolf but she could easily out-magic one.

Out-magic, because she wasn’t about to claim she could outsmart Max—in that, they were evenly matched. Which Emily found delightful, in most scenarios, but in combination with his speed and strength—neither of which she’d seen the full extent of, especially when he mainly used it for things like manhandling her—she was at a disadvantage. Of course, she trusted Max, so that didn’t bother her but his offer had the gears turning. God forbid she have to evade a different shifter, but she couldn’t write it off.

Emily made an unmistakably interested noise at the thought, lifting her head again to gaze back the way they’d come. She had no other choice while slung over his shoulder.

“Yeaaaah,” she replied, drawing the word out in thought. Then, decided, she said. “Yeah, good idea. I think I could give you a challenge then.” She was grinning, the mischievous expression in her voice.

[Max Kuryakin]

Grabbing an overhead branch, Max heaved himself and Emily up over a short earthen embankment, naturally formed from wear and tear. His arm was steady around her, keeping her steady as he moved. They were close now, a short walk until they got where they needed to be. They weren't far from the lake they'd gone to before, but Max didn't head towards it. There was a better spot for camping within walking distance, so they'd have water without getting bothered by the bugs.

Letting go of the branch, Max scanned the area for the noises of the creatures around them, answering Emily as he walked, grinning as he spoke, “Practice makes perfect.” He patted her on the ass, turning around on the path to take in where they were. “I think we're almost there. You wanna get down?”

[Emily Reyes]

As Max heaved them both up and over the earthy hill, Emily grunted softly when his shoulder pushed up into her abdomen. Just the work of gravity. The man was strong, but the ride wasn't the comfiest. However, when he asked if she wanted to get down, Emily felt contrary. As he turned around, she curled her fingers into the top of his pack, squirming to seat herself more firmly on his shoulder.

“Oh no,” Emily drawled, putting on a haughty air. “I'm pretty sure I paid for the entire Tour de Max to the top of the mountain.”

Never mind that she didn't pay, it wasn't a bike race, and they weren't going to the top of the mountain. Emily wasn't getting down on her own.

[Max Kuryakin]

Untargeted Strike (heightened speed), exceptional success.

With an incredulous laugh, Max rolled his eyes at Emily's sudden contrariness. Her squirming and the tug at his backpack told him she was digging her feet in, unwilling to let him slide her off.

“What happened to werewolf on witch bullying,” Max teased, patting her ass again as he turned around to look down the path that'd take them to the campsite. Scraping the sole of his boot on the ground, Max evaluated the terrain. It was relatively flat, the worst of it behind them. He didn't doubt that he'd be able to hold onto Emily if he did what he was planning. “But if you want the, uh, tour de Max, who am I to deny it, huh? Better hang on.”

Max wasn't cruel, so he gave her a moment to figure out what he was planning as he tightened the arm around the back of her thighs. He kept the hand on her ass, steadying her before starting a light loping jog. With relaxed shoulders held low, it wasn't as bumpy a ride as it could be as he picked up the pace, breaking out into a full run and pushing his enhanced speed. He was careful about Emily on his shoulder, so he didn't speed up to his upper limit, but it was still unnaturally fast.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily knew she was being ridiculous, but it matched the mood. Max insisted on hauling her over his shoulder, so she got to be ridiculous about it! Except then, he decided to up the ante, and Emily made an alarmed questioning noise, twisting around to look at the back of his head when he asked who he was to deny it. It didn't escape Emily that this was the nature of most of their interactions, but she hadn't expected him to take her insistence and run with it. Literally.

The loping jog was manageable, enough warning for her to catch on, but as he picked up speed, Emily felt the telltale jolt of acceleration tugging at her center of balance. “Woah-” Eyes popping wide and heart jumping into her throat, she did exactly as instructed because she had no other choice, clinging to his pack and curling tightly over his shoulder, like a cat hugging a tree branch in desperation.

As they sped along, she laughed in disbelief and terror--the helpless laugh one managed while going over the peak of a rollercoaster. Of course, she couldn't let this stand. “Max!” she called, “Wait-! You forgot to call me 'spider monkey'!”

Because what was life without a horrible Twilight reference?

[Max Kuryakin]

The path only gently curved, so it was easy for Max to stay steady, with no turns to unbalance Emily even as tightly as he held her. But she was distracting him, saying something about spider monkeys that got a bark of a laugh out of him, even as he spotted where they wanted to be, just ahead. He started slowing down, ensuring that he could come to a slow stop rather than a sudden one.

Boots skidding on the ground just a little, Max came to a jogging stop, huffing more laughter as he bent forward to let Emily get her feet under her whether she liked it or not. “Did you just-?” Max began, straightening once she had her legs under her, “Was that fucking Twilight?”

He couldn't help the helpless grin at the sudden appearance of bad teen supernatural romance references.

[Emily Reyes]

As he bent to put her back on her feet, Emily’s legs quivered slightly but she exhaled in relief. Adrenaline, of course, but rather than try to straighten up, stay standing, she crouched and then dropped onto her ass in the leafy underbrush with a laugh.

“Yeah,” she panted, head spinning a little while her heart was still hammering. Regardless, she was grinning. “When he’s carrying her and sprinting around, he calls Bella spider monkey? It’s awful, I’m sorry.” Emily did sound sorry even though she was laughing as she caught her breath. Stretching her legs out in front of her, she looked up at Max, amazed as she added, “Jesus, you’re fast… There’s really no out running you.”

[Max Kuryakin]

Emily went down on her ass, a steady drop while laughing, so Max didn't worry about it. He was listening to her thundering heartbeat, the way she was catching her breath. A little rollercoaster to get the day started, but he was glad she looked exhilarated rather than frightened.

Chuckling at the explanation and her apology, Max slipped the backpack off his shoulders, dropping it next to Emily. Then he thumped onto the ground next to her. They couldn't linger, they needed to get the tents up and the camp prepped, and Max had been looking forward to shifting, but it was fine to sit here, right after.

Her amazement made Max feel uncomfortable as he realised he'd only ever talked about it with people who could do the same thing. It was just the norm, the contrast against humans in the background. So he glanced away, laughing a little, a wry grin in place.

“Yeah, not on foot, anyway.” Maybe someone in a car or on a horse could? He'd never tested it. “Kinda weird to push it when I'm not shifted, though.”

[Emily Reyes]

Emily took a look around the clearing, assuming this was where they’d be camping if Max was putting his things down. She didn’t recognize it, but for a spot in the middle of the forest, it seemed nice.

Then, grinning, she watched the werewolf settle down next to her, her head tilted to one side. Knowing Max as well as she did, Emily didn’t miss the slight change in his demeanor, even if he was laughing.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell if there was something he wanted to say about it, or if it was about what she said. He didn’t seem offended if he was still laughing, and she didn’t feel like she needed to keep her curiosity to herself.

“Oh? Why ‘weird’?” Emily prompted thoughtfully, propping her knees together and leaning back on her hands.

[Max Kuryakin]

Lifting his knees and leaning forward, Max braced his forearms on his knees and brought one hand to scratch at his chin as he shrugged. Why did it feel weird? Maybe it was that sense of feeling like the wrong shape, from time to time.

“Combination of things, maybe,” Max said, thoughtful as he glanced at Emily. “Needing to hide. The way it... doesn't quite feel right, sometimes. Like I should be bigger.”

[Emily Reyes]

Emily hummed in contemplation, a habitual response as if she was absorbing and understanding, and then laughed softly to herself when she realized she had no point of reference. She didn't need to hide anything, and she didn't know what it was to feel like she ought to be bigger. Eight feet tall and hairy was not the bigger she'd want to be either. But she did want to understand. Max deserved that.

Tilting her head to meet Max's eyes, she softly smiled as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind one ear. She'd tied her hair up into a tight ponytail earlier that morning, but now, it was loose, a few flyaways framing her face. Getting tossed over his shoulder hadn't helped. “Do you prefer being a wolf?” she asked with open curiosity as she unbuckled the waist strap on her bag. “Does it depend on the time of the month?”

[Max Kuryakin]

The question surprised him, Max's eyebrows going up as he tipped his head upward, looking to the treetops above them. He didn't think it was him preferring to be a wolf. He still felt like him, whatever body he was in. Certain things and days had that feeling of potential or power or sheer mass particularly present, but it wasn't bad.

Max still felt in control through all of that; it was just the idea that he should be a particular shape if he wanted to throw his weight around.

Looking down at Emily again, he gave her a wry grin. “No, I don't prefer one over the other. And I don't think it's just the full moon. Cognitive dissonance, maybe?” Max shrugged, not all that bothered. “Spent almost thirty years as a human. All of this is still new, relatively speaking. There are some things the human body can't do.”

Gesturing to himself, Max chuckled.

[Emily Reyes]

Ah, now that made sense. Emily exhaled a soft 'ah' of understanding. Some things remained beyond comprehension with magic, even to those who could do said magic. Emily had no idea how she could collect sunlight, feelings, or concepts into something tangible. It just was.

Of course, it wasn't quite comparable to the inhuman feats of strength Max could pull off. That was more concrete, something that wasn't solely magic and, in a sense, safe from too much contemplation. Running and lifting were things most humans could do, but he went far beyond the human limit, and she could see the dissonance there.

“So, it's as though your mind hasn't caught up with your body,” she concluded as she shrugged out of her bag. “And it's easier to comprehend when you're a wolf.”

[Max Kuryakin]

“Yeah,” Max agreed, as he rocked back up on his feet. Grabbing his bag again, he began to get the kit for the tent out, all compact in their bags, the clinking of the tent pegs loud in the quiet forest. “Yeah, that's a good way of saying it.”

He prodded Emily with his shoe, grinning. “But my super-strength doesn't mean you get to skip out on putting the tent up, come on.”

[Emily Reyes]

Max moved on from the topic so briskly that Emily worried she’d struck a nerve. She watched him get up, her brow creasing in concern and then bit her lip at his comment about skipping out on helping. Had she given the impression she didn’t want to help? She was pretty inexperienced at camping, but she hadn’t intended to stand by while Max took care of it.

Still, it seemed like Max wanted to move on, and she didn’t want to push, so she filed away the thought for later. Put a little off kilter by the sudden switch, she fished her water bottle out of her bag, and watched him pull out the various odds and ends of a tent, buying time to get back to a different thread of conversation.

Looking at the kit, with all the little pouches and pegs, she had to admit, “I don’t think I’ll be much help, super-strength or not.” She took a sip of lukewarm water and chuckled. “The most camping I’ve ever done was in an RV.”

Emily briefly wondered if she could find a spell to keep her water cool and then recalled the existence of insulated water bottles.

[Max Kuryakin]

Unaware of Emily overthinking things, Max chuckled at her response, shaking his head. They might've come up to have him shift somewhere a little better than in the basement of a library or a parking garage, but he doubted he'd spend all his time wolf shaped. Max hadn't cajoled her out here for that alone, anyway. There'd been a reason he'd pestered her into packing correctly. Maybe she wouldn't want to come with him more after this, but camping was an experience! It seemed like a great opportunity to get Emily a little into it.

“Never too late to figure out how to pitch a tent, in more ways than one,” Max joked, biting his lip and grinning. The innuendo had originally been unintentional, but he couldn't resist tacking on the last part. He started getting the collapsible poles and fabric out of their tightly wound canvas bags as he spoke. “It's just about folding it out and getting the tent poles where they're supposed to be.”

[Emily Reyes]

Smirking, Emily snorted through her nose at the innuendo and rolled to her feet as well, drink in hand and getting a better view of the whole operation. Taking another sip, she took in the folded mass of fabric that she assumed was the main body of the tent, another flatter span of fabric, and what looked like a tangled mass of light metal rods.

Putting her bottle down, she plucked up one of the rods and found it was attached to a few others by elastic string. The way the ends were shaped implied to Emily that they were meant to be slotted together, and she made a satisfied noise when she tested it, the two pieces assembling neatly.

Still, she had a difficult time seeing how they were going to get from all these puzzle pieces to a full tent. “How many tents did you bring?” she asked idly, adding another piece to the pole.

[Max Kuryakin]

“Just the one,” Max answered as he started rolling out the fabric as Emily worked on snapping the poles together. He positioned it roughly where he wanted the tent to go, by some logic that was only clear to him. It wasn't an overly large tent, enough for two people to fit comfortably. “Big enough for the two of us.”

Once the fabric was folded out and ready for the poles to get threaded through the anchoring points, Max dipped down to pick up another collapsible tentpole, starting to snap the ends together like Emily was doing.

[Emily Reyes]

Emily hummed in acknowledgment as she snapped another two pole segments together and then smirked. She couldn't help quietly joking, almost to herself, “Only one tent? My virtue.”

Looking up from her work, she watched Max lay out the footprint and the tent itself, the fabric all crumpled up and shapeless. She could see spots where she thought the tent poles might fit, which left her satisfied at intuiting the process, but “big enough for the two of them” looked like it meant it was the approximate size of a mattress.

A doubtful expression slowly dawned across her face as she reached for another disassembled pole, thoughts wandering down a rabbit hole. What if it rained? Would they be stuck inside that tiny space until it stopped? With all their gear? ...Honestly, the thought wasn’t completely unappealing; the time she spent with Max was rarely, if ever, poorly spent.

It could be cozy, Emily supposed... As long as she wasn’t thinking about rain and the resulting mud. Or sitting on the ground.

Or bugs.

Or how thin the walls were. Just a little bit of fabric between her and the forest. The safety of four walls and a roof was only conceptual.

Well, except that her camping partner was a werewolf, so that put a kibosh in the whole nighttime terror of “oh God, is there something in these woods?”

Technically, the answer was yes, but he would be in the tent with her. The train of thought amused Emily enough that she snorted a quiet laugh, even if she raised both eyebrows and glanced plaintively at Max. It was a small tent...

[Max Kuryakin]

Sorting a laugh at Emily's comment about virtue, which neither of them had much of, Max rapidly snapped together the pole, held together by the elastic joints. He was moving faster than Emily, but he had more familiarity with the kit, so he didn't comment on it. Max did keep an eye on her face, watching with amusement as her expression morphed from a smirk into something more doubtful.

With his own little smirk in place, head ducked down as he peered at her, Max caught the little plaintive glance. He wasn't feeling all that sympathetic, but he understood the expression of someone who just didn't do camping.

“Regretting saying yes?” Max asked, nonchalant as he wobbled the fully intact tentpole in his hands.

[Emily Reyes]

Max was smirking at her, and she flushed with both annoyance and mild embarrassment. She hadn't expected or wanted any sympathy, but now he was teasing her!

Eyes narrowing, Emily pursed her lips, drew in a breath, and gave Max a very stubborn, “No.” Gaze dropping to her work, she snapped another two segments together. Then, she added primly, “Your tent is small.”

[Max Kuryakin]

Max's smirk softened, the stubborn 'no' typical of Emily. She didn't want to admit second-guessing, even if Max could see it on her face. Or maybe not second-guessing, just doomsaying in her head. The tent wasn't too small for the two of them, but it was smaller than the type of RV he imagined she was used to. The point wasn't to sit in the tent all day; it was to enjoy the woods.

“You want it to yourself?” Max asked, teasing a little as he bent down to start threading the pole through the eyelets positioned along the fabric, starting the x-shape of the dome tent. “I can sleep outside, all furred up. Nice and toasty.”

Ducking his head, Max peered at her, grinning and crinkling the corners of his eyes. It actually felt appealing to him, spending the night wandering the woods, catching some hours of sleep, but he wasn't sure Emily'd get any sleep if he were creeping around in the dark.

[Emily Reyes]

Even though his smirk softened, the question was met with another “No!” this time in surprised protest. Her comment had been bratty and spoilt on purpose, but Emily didn't want to evict Max from the tent. However, his follow-up solution, 'all furred up,' made her snort through her nose. She fought a losing battle with her smile, and when it cracked, she bubbled up with chuckles, her stubborn demeanor broken.

“You promised you'd keep me warm at night,” she pouted, watching Max work before selecting the other tent pole of similar size and holding it ready for when he needed it. Then, in an attempt to preempt him, she added, “And don't say that just means I'll have to sleep outside with you now!”

[Max Kuryakin]

Her protest had Max barking out a laugh, even as he kept threading the pole through the eyelets, hands moving quickly with the familiar motion. He quirked an eyebrow at her as she pouted, unable to help his amusement at Emily's response. The subsequent pre-empting of suggesting she sleep outside with him got another huffed laugh out of him, even as he bent down to take the pole she'd put together after finishing threading the first through the eyelets.

“Guess you'll have to tolerate how small it is and cuddle up with me, then,” Max offered, ever so reasonable. He passed close by her to get to the other set of eyelets for the new pole, reaching out to tweak her nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Put your virtue to the test.”

[Emily Reyes]

Handing over the pole, Emily scoffed and clicked her teeth at him, a lazy attempt at fending off his fingers as he tweaked her nose. Then she grinned, looking off to one side.

“Not to feed your ego, but I wouldn't place a single bet on my virtue,” she said, nonchalant even though her cheeks were warming. Then, she tapped a boot on the ground, looking down and rustling the leaves and feeling the soil beneath it as she noted more seriously. “I think sleeping on the ground will do the trick, though.”

She didn't have... high hopes for getting any sleep that evening. And it wasn't because she'd be cuddling up with Max.

[Max Kuryakin]

Starting to thread the second pole through the eyelets, Max giggled at Emily's comment on her virtue, knowing that they were as bad as the other when it came to their respective virtues. It hardly mattered; they had fun.

Regardless, the comment about the ground was fair. Max recalled how he'd experienced it during boot camp, those first few nights where it wasn't easy to settle, but the exhaustion forced him to. Now, he could sleep anywhere, helped along by the fact that shifting helped make it more comfortable.

“Yeah, you have to get used to it.” Max admitted, giving her a wry grin. It was just a fact of camping unless they dragged an inflatable mattress into the woods. “I've got sleeping mats, they'll help make it more comfortable, but I remember how it was in boot camp. Managed to fall asleep because I was exhausted, not because it was comfortable.”

[Emily Reyes]

“Ah, yeah…” she said, grimacing lightly and chewing her lip. If police academy was anything like boot camp, then she had at least some notion of what that was like. She remembered the white-knuckle determination that got her through 99-yard obstacle courses and beyond, and the subsequent blackout when she went to bed that night.

But she didn’t see them doing anything that taxing out here. Emily didn’t know what Max meant to do besides shift, but he was used to sleeping on the ground. For her, a walk in the woods wouldn’t do it. But then again, was it a problem that needed to be solved? It wasn’t like she planned to stick to her bedtime routine—camping had an air of detachment to it. So what if she stayed up all night? She was out camping with a werewolf and she hadn’t taken the time to properly appreciate the fantastical turn her life has taken beyond all her fretting. Besides, she had nowhere to be the following day. So… Emily shrugged, letting it go with a small, crooked smile.

“I’ll figure it out,” she said airily, bending to pick up a shorter pole that she was starting to think was a kind of crossbar. “Where are you… what are you doing to do after you shift? Maybe I could… walk with you?” she shrugged again, smiling but looking shy about asking. Max had been talking about evasion tactics, maybe they could make a game of it.

[Max Kuryakin]

Emily seemed to accept her lot in life, soft earth and everything. He'd picked a spot that wouldn't be hard, free of roots sticking into their backs, but there was only so much you could do when you were sleeping on the ground.

Max glanced up at her from his work as she asked about his shift, a little surprised. He hadn't been planning to leave her alone the whole time, whatever shape he was. But then, she had a point that he wouldn't be content to sit around the campsite, collecting dew off the leaves.

“Yeah, of course,” Max quickly agreed, smiling at her. “I didn't have anything planned other than hunting, but we could try some of those evasion tricks?”

Finishing off the last of the crossed poles that'd make the dome of the tent, Max started setting it up for real, setting the poles in their rubber reinforced cradles so he could begin bending them into place.

[Emily Reyes]

Setting the end of the pole on the ground, Emily rolled it slowly between her palms as Max said what she'd been thinking. Hunting made sense. She didn't want to be around for that, but exploring the woods with him otherwise made her smile warm and she felt a weird little twist in her chest. Emily glanced away to the wobbly top of the pole as it rotated. They were miles away from when he thought she wouldn't want him around.

Emily didn't feel like she'd proven him wrong or anything; many things could've gone very wrong, but they'd managed to stumble through, and she hadn't needed to fight with herself to be here. So, she was grateful for that and just... happy for the chance to be with Max.

“Yeah, let's do that. I'd like to play hide and seek with a werewolf,” she chuckled. She knew her odds weren't good, although she trusted Max to give her some good evasion tips. “So,” Emily started, pursing her lips in contemplation, “How do I make sure you can't sniff me out?”

The first notion she had was that she wouldn't sleep with Max between now and whenever they tried these evasion tricks. She was positive that made it especially easy for him to track her down.

[Max Kuryakin]

Max continued getting the tent set up, getting the poles in the correct position. He went by Emily, pulling the wobbling pole out of her hands with a grin as he continued setting up. Hide and seek with a werewolf sounded like it'd be intense or very short-lived. But Max knew he wanted to make sure Emily could manage to evade for long enough so her magic could help her. He didn't know the full extent of what she could do, but he thought she'd told him most of it.

His grin broadened as Emily focused on the thing that'd always give her away first, at least for most others. With that sense Max had for identifying movement around him, he was a different beast than the others, but that wouldn't help if he didn't get close enough. Her scent was the one trail she could leave behind without knowing.

“You need to cover your scent,” Max explained, working on the very last part of getting the tent looking like a proper tent rather than a pile of fabric and flexible metal poles. “You can roll around in something that smells stronger or submerge in water. Crossing any body of water can disrupt the trail and confuse someone tracking you.”

[Emily Reyes]

Letting Max take the pole, she briefly rubbed her hands over her leggings and then tucked them into her sleeves as she crossed her arms. Then, she paced in a half circle around the tent, listening but making a light 'ooh' noise as it all came together. It was satisfying seeing the fabric stretch out into a real shape, and now that she had a better view of it, the tent did look cozy.

Stepping around to the front, she noted the zipper and started to look for the pull. She found two, one for a mesh layer and the second for the actual flap. After quick glance at Max, she pulled them one after the other so she could bend over and stick her head inside. As she did, she thought about his advice. The first tripped her up for a moment--would that make it easier to track her? But after a moment of thought, she thought it made sense that if she smelled like another animal, it would confuse the senses and make her pursuer think they were tracking the wrong prey.

The water made a lot more intuitive sense. It would wash away her scent and kill any physical tracks as well. “Anyone tracking me just wouldn't have to see me doing it--but in that scenario, the game's already up,” she noted soberly, shuffling off her shoes so she could poke around the inside of the tent. “How good is your hearing? Oh- your eyesight?”

Emily tried not to sound too curious about it, but she'd been dying to ask for months.

[Max Kuryakin]

As Emily prepared to go into the tent, Max bent to get the tent pegs. Her question got a thoughtful hum out of him, realising that he hadn't directly quantified it. He spoke as he started driving the pegs into the ground to secure the tent.

“I haven't measured it,” Max admitted, pressing one tent peg into the ground with his boot and moving on to do the others. “I know my eyesight's better than ever, 20/20 and then some. Sensitive to movement.” The advantage of side-vision, which real wolves didn't do so well, and while seeing clearer further, like humans couldn't. Best of both worlds.

He continued, knowing he had a better idea about his hearing based on research and practical experience. “As for my hearing... I'm not sure. Wolves can hear within six miles in forests and ten on open planes. I think that's probably the ballpark for me?” Max's baseline often defaulted to wolves if he didn't have a way of measuring it himself. “Worse in cities, with all the buildings. But I can hear most of what happens in an apartment building.”

[Emily Reyes]

There was a zipping sound as Emily found the pull for one of the window flaps, and she peeked out at Max through the mesh as she listened. At this point, she wasn't surprised at the impossible extent of his abilities, but she also couldn't visualize it until he said he could hear everything in an apartment building. Hearing things six to ten miles away was beyond her, but it sounded like Max was cursed with perpetually thin walls.

“That sounds miserable. No wonder you like to come out here,” she chuckled, scrunching up her nose. Unzipping another flap, she asked, “What about magic? Magic... senses?”

[Max Kuryakin]

Max shrugged, having long since learnt the art of filtering out everything happening around him. It was all background noise if it met a specific set of criteria, usually relating to suspicious noises that might be threatening. Not that it always worked. Sometimes it was overwhelming. And yeah, that was why he liked it out here. He didn't need to use a lot of energy filtering out the noises of people living and fucking.

There was a joke on the tip of his tongue about using Emily's thighs as mufflers, but it fell away as Emily moved on, and Max used his boot to shove one more tent peg into the ground. Maybe it was a long time coming, with how he'd pushed her off this kind of line of questioning before. Different situation, different topic, but since they'd come out here to show Emily how the werewolf in him was, it felt less like he was under a microscope, somehow.

“Yeah or something like it,” Max mused. “It's nothing like my other senses. It's weak. I need to be really close to feel it. Like- it's like magic vibrates. That's what I'm picking up on.”