SLEEP UNDER THE STARS

[goosemods]

SLEEP UNDER THE STARS

Ms. Whittle and Mr. Thorn are waiting outside of Coppertale for students to show up for the outdoor sleepover. Everyone checks in with both their prefects as well as staff, and if Ms. Whittle's a bit lax, Mr. Thorn is definitely not.

The sky is clear, and with each passing minute the stars get more and more impressive. Almost hypnotizing. It's a warm, pleasant night, perfect for camping. You should feel plenty safe, considering how many Aurors and teachers are out looking after you. In fact, it seems like even Anon is present, although his appearance seems to upset the Aurors. It's only thanks to Mrs. O'Hare that they agree not to chase him away.

Riley Stamper stays up into the early hours of the morning having an intimate conversation with Chloe Shepherd. However, the next day learns that their conversation partner was either not in attendance, or asleep the whole time.

Hazel Keating is up very late watching the stars, their friends having long since fallen asleep, when movement in the nearby forest catches their eye. It's a group of what must be people, three or four of them, but they're moving oddly, and their proportions are hard to make out in the shadows. They giggle and whisper, and when they see someone watching them, they gesture for the student to join them. "Look what we found," one says in the voice of Micah St. Clair. "Come on. Look. We found something really interesting. You'll like it." There's the sound of crunching leaves, and the figures freeze unnaturally. Too still. Through the trees, the bright white shape of a moose approaches, lowering its antlers meaningfully. The figures waste no time scattering into the woods noiselessly.

The student feels a wash of Anon's petulant annoyance with the mimics, like he's a young prefect on duty, before he returns to his patrol.

RULES

• Everyone will check in at 10:00 PM in the flower fields outside of Coppertale. They must also check in with their prefect. If you fail to check in with both in a gambit to sneak off somewhere else, you'll be in trouble.


• There will be June constellations visible. Astronomy students can point them out with ease.


• There will be hot chocolate or lemonade available, and some light snacks, but everyone is assumed to have eaten dinner earlier.


• You may sleep near anyone you like. There are also tents available if you don't want to be exposed to the elements, in which case those sleep up to four.


• Ms. Whittle has convinced Mr. Thorn to not stop young couples who are clearly just here to make out under the stars. Don't get frisky, though!


• Attendance is optional, but Astronomy students can earn extra credit for attending.


• Everyone will be woken up early at 9:30 at the latest, and breakfast will be served in the lodge.

» STARGAZING: Before going to sleep enjoy the beautiful stars and look for some constellations. Alternatively, tell a cutie that the brightest stars are the ones you see in their eyes. ♥

» ANON'S APPEARANCE: There are so many more Aurors around than there used to be, and it's the same case tonight. This would be fine, ordinarily, but tension grows when the shape of a slim, white moose is seen wandering through the trees around midnight. Mrs. O'Hare gets into a hushed argument with the highest ranking Auror, demanding they leave Anon alone.

» GOODNIGHT: Quiet time is at 12:00 AM, so settle down in your sleeping bag or grab a tent. You may sleep near whoever you wish, but tents only sleep four at a time.

» OOC: QUESTIONS, COMMENTS & CONCERNS

Comments

STARGAZING

[goosemods]

Junior Jay (and Adjacent??) Jamboree

[bubblewrapped]

Lucas flops down practically on top of the nearest Junior Azurcrest, a bit like the world's third tallest building toppling over. Used to be, he'd be the one on the bottom of the bird pile, grumbling and uncomfortable. Now he's the one starting it. Come one, come all.

"Did you know," he starts, shoving colorful candy into his mouth and not looking at all like he just It's Free Real Estated someone's personal space. "That you're more likely to get hit by a meteorite than attacked by a shark?" He lifts his brow, tilting his head. Very important information Lucas, thank you.

Junior Jay (and Adjacent??) Jamboree

[racingstripe]

Jeffy responds with the soft "oof" of someone who does not actually mind being sat on. When you're this big and also an Azurcrest, it's basically your job to be a beanbag chair.

"How big of a meteorite?" he asks through a mouthful of an M&M cookie. "Like does it still count if it lands in my cereal bowl and I eat it and don't even notice?"

I think the real question here is why Jeffy is apparently eating cereal outside.

Junior Jay (and Adjacent??) Jamboree

[odder]

“A meteorite of any size would incinerate you and your cereal.” Jade informs Jeffy, her voice sounding more like a pleased chirp than anything else. She saw this starting, and had to make her presence as a not-so Baby Jay known, but she’ll never really contribute to the cuddle nests unless forced. She perches near their now-conjoined shoulders instead. “You’d be dead before you finished all the marshmallows in the lucky charms.”
Who let her into Azurcrest, anyway.

Junior Jay (and Adjacent??) Jamboree

[professionalcorpse]

Bash folds himself into place next to Jade - suitably adjacent positioning, all things considered - knocking his shoulder into hers lightly.

"I feel like it's maybe because the ocean is a necessary component." He barrels into the conversation without pause, tugging on one of Lucas' curls and letting it spring back into place. "Of the shark one, I mean. And you could, y'know -" he slides his hand through the air, fingers fanning outward accompanied by an explosion noise. "Get meteorited. Could happen anywhere. Ocean included."

Junior Jay (and Adjacent??) Jamboree

[magitechnically]

Essie's not intentionally being contrary, but sharks seem like WAY more real and dangerous to her than meteorites in her Lucky Charms. Which she also absolutely doesn't question the validity of eating outdoors. She stretches across Jeffy and waves her hands around as she spins a totally ridiculous theory. "Okay, but what if you like cast like a REVERSE Bubble-Head Charm on the shark AND built it like a super cool flying contraption. And like MAYBE added a saddle so you and all your varmint friends could ride around on it??? Like THEN you could be a GANG of SHARK RIDING no good CANDY rustlers???"

Junior Jay (and Adjacent??) Jamboree

[stclair]

Micah throws himself dramatically onto the grass in front of his friends, brings his camera up to his face, and snaps a photo of them all. And then snaps some more, of this very dramatic and artistic angle.

"It's the perfect crime. No one would ever expect to get murdered by a sugar high cowboy on a shark-horse," he muses, still taking pictures. "The Aurors would never catch you because they wouldn't even believe it could happen."

Junior Jay (and Adjacent??) Jamboree

[bubblewrapped]

"Flying shark mount?" Lucas says with a surprised blink - he's going to have to remember that for later - offering his candy to Bash as soon as he feels his hair being tugged on, an automatic move done without even looking.

He makes an awful face for the camera before going on. "Okay, but what if there's an arms race of escalating marine-to-sky mounted combat? Pretty soon, you're going to have dolphins flying around stopping people's hearts with their super echolocation."

That's exactly what you're going to have, yes.

Rosy & Danny

[browbeats]

Rosy is not a camping person. Every time she’s been forced to camp in the past, she’s woken up cold and with a sore neck. She’s not a sentimental person either, so there’s no way she came to this field to stare at the stars and lament the fact that, soon, she’ll be headed back to LA, and after that, New York. If anything, Rosy is itching to get away from this bug-infested camping school and back to civilization and coffee shops. And any suggestions that she’s here for a boy should be dismissed outright, because it would be a lot easier and a much better power move to make him come to her.

Her presence here, then, is purely practical. Danny takes a lot of the same classes as her, so it makes sense to study together, and everyone’s always harassing her for not eating enough when she shifts into cramming mode, so why not study somewhere with free snacks?

“These Scottish highlighters are such trash,” she complains, squinting at her flashcard in the darkness. “The bright yellow and pastel yellow look exactly the same and it’s throwing off my whole system.”

Cute.

Rosy & Danny

[graysanatomyforkids]

They're not convincing anyone but themselves, sitting here together with binders and index cards and open textbooks. In the dark. Reading by wandlight. But, boy howdy, do they have themselves fooled.

Danny leans lazily toward Rosy, hands falling into the book in his lap. "I told you they weren't worth it," he says, leveling his gaze on her over his glasses. "You had perfectly reliable highlighters here, already. And now I'm going to get a better grade on my Transfig final than you."

He clucks, bumping lightly against her. "That hubris must be genetic."

Rosy & Danny

[browbeats]

"You know what?" Rosy bumps his shoulder back, but not as light. It's not as cute. "It was a cultural learning experience, and I'm richer for having had it, goddammit." She heaves a sigh and drops her ring of flashcards in her lap, using this perfectly valid excuse to lean over Danny's shoulder to peer at his notes.

If she said anything about his note-taking system being surprisingly acceptable, would that count as flirting? Best not to risk it.

"And I came by my appropriate amount of hubris honestly, thank you," she continues instead. "By never being wrong even once in my life."

Rosy & Danny

[graysanatomyforkids]

"Bullshit," he says, just a little soft, as he moves to brush her hair back and out of her face. Danny drapes his arm across her back, making room for Rosy to scoot closer. Because...it's definitely just easier for them to share a notebook this way. Fuck off, everyone else. Pay no attention to the way he watches her face, or the stupid grin on his own. "In what reality?"

Rosy & Danny

[browbeats]

"Same one where you've got a girlfriend way out of your league," she teases, even as she scoots in closer. Because it's cold. And because it's easier to focus on the weight of his hand on her back than his eyes on her face, or the tips of his fingers as they push the hair away from his eyes.

It's surprisingly difficult to focus on the rows of color-coded equations in the notebook, though. Rosy turns the page without asking, deciding for the both of them that they're done with this one. Maybe the next page won't seem like such a jumble.

"Unless, shit," she peers up at Danny, one real ass shit eating grin on her face, "were you my first mistake?"

Rosy & Danny

[graysanatomyforkids]

"Oh, dude, yeah you fucked up super bad with that one," he exclaims, like it's a revelation, all mock excitement as he presses his face - and a kiss - to her temple. There isn't a hint of anything but gross adoration when he follows that up, laughing, with, "You fuckin' asshole. God."

He pushes his hair back with his free hand, gaze dropping to the notebook in his lap and the equations written across the page and smirks. "In a rush to get to that textbooks-to-mice section, huh?"

Ferdie & Ursula

[ferdie]

Ferdie's not yet done with his senior project, a study of how to make predictions using aeromancy. Now's a good time for night data gathering, but he finishes as early as he can. It's the last few days of the school year, and everything, mercifully, is drawing to a close. He wants to take the time to enjoy his last few weeks here. If he can.

So he closes a book for good and hands it over to Ursula in surrender. "According to the night air, no one's dying." He explains.

Ferdie & Ursula

[cecaelian]

Not tonight, anyway is the quip that almost passes Ursula's lips, but with only a few weeks left she'd rather not jinx it. Instead, she gladly confiscates the book and tucks it away. "Many thanks to the night air for being the bearer of glad tidings then," she says, the corner of her mouth twitching up fondly. She enjoyed helping him work, even if it was mostly just to sit and keep him company, or comment on kite colors, or be a general nuisance.

She scoots closer now that he's done. A night under the stars isn't normally something she'd take advantage of, but with highschool almost over, it felt imperative not to miss out on anything. And she had to admit it did feel romantic, even with all the threat of dirt and bugs. "Ten days to go," she notes, in reference to his upcoming birthday. "Now's your chance to make all sorts of ridiculous demands."

Ferdie & Ursula

[ferdie]

He's barely thought about his birthday, in the flurry of end-of-year activity. Ferdie's had a lot of struggles and failures this year, but they've all done okay. The best birthday present is a school year where he gets to go home without dealing with anymore mimics. But she cant give that. He works his fingers through hers instead, which at least is distracting.

"A plane? And rollerblades?" Are his suggestions instead

Ferdie & Ursula

[cecaelian]

Looking towards graduation, and Ferdie's birthday, are welcome distractions from thinking about mimics, and everything that happened a year minus ten or so days ago. They just had to rely on strange ancient moosemen a little while longer, even if Ursula still struggled with the idea of trusting Anon. And failing that, she trusted in Ferdie to do whatever was needed to keep them safe. He was her hero, after all.

She gives his hand a gentle squeeze as she considers his suggestions. "Are these separate requests, or is this a plane wearing rollerblades? And how picky are you feeling about size and materials?" She's already imagining a tiny plane made out of macaroni.

Ferdie & Ursula

[ferdie]

He's not sure how that would work, but it makes him laugh, a little. He's perfectly happy planting this idea in her mind and letting her run. He likes seeing what her mind can do. He hasn't seen a limit to it yet, and he's not sure he ever will.

"Surprise me." He decrees. "I trust you."

Ferdie & Ursula

[cecaelian]

"You'll regret that," she teases as she wedges herself in closer to him, even as it delights her to hear that. If he questions it, she'll make a show of shivering. She catches one of the curls at the back of his neck and plays with the end, wrapping it around her finger.

"Did the night air share any other insights with you?" she asks, bumping her nose lightly against his cheek.

Big Boy Bears Cuddle Pile

[gonnabefamous]

Cameron isn't in astronomy, so he isn't great with identifying constellations, but he still likes to look up at the stars here at Gooseberry. There's less light pollution here than in Olympus, so it looks like twice as many stars in the sky.

He's also keen to have this chance to camp with his friends before the year is over. Possibly for the last time. Maybe that's why he's being particularly clingy tonight, even by his usual standards.

He returns to the group with hot chocolates in both hands, carefully settling himself on a blanket next to Wilde without spilling a drop. If his lovelorn friend has to mope, that's okay, but he's not allowed to do it on his own. "Who wants one?"

Big Boy Bears Cuddle Pile

[casperkim]

Predictably, Casper glances at Cameron and shakes his head. Hot or not, he doesn't have any use for chocolate. He doesn't usually have any use for the great outdoors either but even he's feeling pangs of nostalgia as the five of them sit here under the stars. Because classes will be over on Friday. And exams will be over in a week. And then...

He lowers his gaze and lets his eyes close. He's wanted to be done with this place for a long time but that doesn't mean it won't be bittersweet. Pushing this feeling down, he murmurs flatly, "So. What now? I've been avoiding shit like this for so long, I think I'm out of practice."

Big Boy Bears Cuddle Pile

[iliya]

Iliya's eyes light up when Cameron shows up with hot chocolate, and he immediately reaches out to take one from him, giving Cameron a quick kiss on the cheek in thanks. He's going to miss moments like these. Relaxing under the velvet cover of night, surrounded by his dear friends, feeling more comfortable in his skin than he ever has.

"We are supposed to look at stars." The only stars Iliya seems interested in are the white marshmallows floating in his drink, but he does shoot a cursory glance up at the sky. "I do not know how you can tell any of them apart."

Big Boy Bears Cuddle Pile

[destructobot]

"Studying." mumbles Wilde. He lifts a hand to trace his finger along a starry trapezoid to the northwest. "There. Ursa major. Big ass bear. The only one we care about."

It's the first thing he's said in a while. And probably the most he's said in a while, actually. Lying here makes him think about this event last year, which makes him think about Saira, which... Is a thing he doesn't want to talk about. So he'll be mostly quiet and drink this welcome hot chocolate and be with his best friends.

"Minor's just to the east. Baby bear. And that weird yellowish star down..." His hand drifts south. "There? Is Saturn."

Big Boy Bears Cuddle Pile

[gonnabefamous]

Cameron passes Wilde and Ulysses a cup, and hands a second one to Iliya because Casper didn't want his. He shrugs at Casper, making an iunno sound, then reclines on one elbow with his hot chocolate in the other hand. "I guess you could start by trying to relax," he says, mostly teasing, because he knows Casper is basically incapable of that.

"Ursa minor, too," he adds after Wilde points out Ursa Major, pointing up at the night sky to trace the pattern. "That bright star, Polaris, is the tail. If anything, Casper should be even better at spotting little bears."