InsaneJournal

Who: Scott Summers and Nate Pryor
Where: at a waterfall and lake
What: Camping trip bonding time for newly united father and son
When: Handwavey time during February
Warnings/Rating: PG
Status Complete


It had taken some convincing, but Scott had talked Maddie into taking Nate out on a winter camping trip. He figured it couldn’t be too bad - they were used to Alaska, and even up in the mountains it wasn’t as bad as it could get up there.

It was still freezing, and in case of snow he’d borrowed Shepard’s Humvee. It was a five mile hike to the camp site, and he was loving every minute of it.

Nate had been bouncy ever since he had learned about the trip. This was fun! He liked his newfound dad, and wanted to spend more time with him.. He hoped that the trip would be fun and allow him to learn more about Scott. The hike was fun. Nate liked hiking, and had done a lot of it.

"This rocks! What's the campsite like? ”

“I don’t know yet. A friend told me about it,” Scott replied, adjusting the pack on his shoulder. “We should almost be there. If we’re lucky, there’ll be a frozen waterfall. It might have thawed by now, though.” Either way, there’d be fishing. Scott had brought enough food for the weekend, just in case, but he’d prefer they caught their own way to full bellies. It would be more fun that way.

Nate didn’t know how to fish yet, and looked forward to adding it to the list of things he could do by the end of the weekend. He wanted to learn just how to make this right, and how to impress his dad. “A frozen waterfall? Cool! How’s it hold still long enough to freeze?”

“It’s usually the surface, and water still flows behind it,” Scott explained. “But it probably doesn’t get cold enough here.” He’d seen it a few times, in the dreams. They crested a hill, and the clearing was visible alongside a stream, with the waterfall in the distance. It sadly wasn’t frozen, but there was patches of snow all around. Scott put his hand on Nate’s shoulder. “Lets get camp set up and then catch dinner.”

“Ooo, shiny.” He bounced as he walked, stretching a little. He enjoyed walking and hiking a lot. Peering down into the clearing, he grinned. ‘Wowsers...” He nodded. “Sounds like fun!” He headed for a likely small hillock, where they could go downhill for water, and that had a depression for a fire. It would be great!

“I hope the fish are biting. I wanna learn how to catch them right!”

"I'll teach you," Scott said, smiling proudly. "Everything you need for camping and fishing. And anything you don't already know about how to survive. It'll be fun!" And for once, it would be for fun, not because he thought that Nate would ever actually need those survival skills.

Nate nodded, listening, and watching his father. it was weird to think of him that way, and yet comfortable. Especially since having the dreams. Scott moved and sounded a lot like Slym from the dreams did.

He grinned, listening. “Cool! I want to learn it all!” And he meant it. He had a voracious desire to learn and a curiosity that never died.

“Sounds awesome. When do we start?”

Scott’s grin could have lit up the sun. “Right now!” He put his back down and started pulling the tent off. “Okay, Nate. Lets make a game of it. First one to get their tent up, bag rolled out and their things ready inside wins.”

He wasn’t sure what they’d win. Maybe one of the snacks they’d brought.

Nate worked at it, and nodded, he attacked the tent with a will, knowing how to do it from back in Alaska, but also less skilled, likely, than someone who had been a survivalist, really, all his life. He grinned, for he was having fun, as he worked to get it done.

And it was fun. Just doing it for fun, with his son, made Scott happier than anything that had happened to him lately, except for marrying Emma. He hadn’t even told anyone yet, that they’d eloped. Maybe he should tell Nathan.

Finishing his tent, Nate scrambled to get his things in, and grinning over at his dad. He knew he had finished second, because, really, how could he not. But he didn’t care. He was enjoying this. Somehow, doing things with Scott was fun, and more important than winning.

Relenting, Scott tossed Nathan a snack cake, putting up some chairs for them to sit on. “Do you know how to make a campfire?”

He started to put together fishing rods.

“Yep! I learned a lot when hiking!” Nate nodded, and got out a bundle of kindling, then placed it right and scrambled around finding some dry wood to start a proper campfire. He cleaned the area and made a ring of stones, then set it up, carefully preparing it for when they came back from fishing.

Scott nodded. Good. He smiled proudly at his son and held up a fishing rod. "Come over here, we'll bait the hooks. Then try to catch dinner. You'll probably pick this up pretty quickly. It's mostly patience and knowing when to tug."

Nate ambled over and took the rod, then peered at it. “Cool! I’ve been curious about this all week!” The instant he had learned of the trip, he had become a bouncing ball of energy, and his mom had laughed a lot, which he was glad of. As much as she might have showed some small resistance, she had been glad to Nate’s unfortunately open mind’s eye, to see him do something normal.

Scott showed Nate how to hold the rod, and how to work the reel so he could cast it, then led him to the stream. “Go and give it a shot. The water might look shallow but you can catch a lot of big fish in a stream like this.”

Nate listened and learned, bringing all his attention to bear, and nodded as his father told him how to do things. He gladly walked to the water, nervous, bouncy, and hopeful. He liked learning new things. He swallowed when his father told him to try it, and he breathed, then cast out into the water, holding on to his rod to wait for a bite. “How long can it take?”

"Minutes, sometimes hours. If the fish are biting we can catch dinner pretty quickly." Fishing was an exercise in patience. Scott didn't seem to be in any hurry.

“Really? Okay.” He smiled and settled in, and peered out at the water. Time seemed to elongate as he waited. “How did you learn how to fish?” More stories, please!

“My dad taught me when I was younger than you,” Scott explained. “The rest of it I had to learn on my own after he was gone.” He barely remembered his own father any more. At least the one here. Corsair was easier to remember. Something about that bothered Scott.

Nate started to feel a jerking sensation and clutched the rod. “I got a bite!” He glanced at his dad. “I’m sorry he was gone. That never feels good.” He nodded. He knew.

“Wait until he feels secure then yank back and start to reel,” Scott said. “The yank makes sure it hooks!” He put a hand on his son’s back. “No it doesn’t.”

He held on until it felt a little different and then he yanked, hard,. and felt the fish really start wriggling, but in a different way. “Now what?”

“Reel!”

Nate reeled the rotor, fighting the fish, and then crowed aloud as a fish came bursting up out of the water. It wasn’t a large one, but it was here and he laughed aloud. “Holy smokes!”

He reeled it in and then held it up to Scott, the thing flapping around. “How do I ah... get it off the hook?”

Scott laughed, grabbing for the fish. He had a plier like device that he used to yank the hook out of the fish's mouth. Then he strung it onto a string, which he tied to an rock so the fish was leashed and couldn't get away. "You can do the next one."

Nate nodded. “Cool!” He reset his line and cast out again, grinning. “This is fun!” He liked learning from Scott and doing things with him.

The next fish was harder to reel in, and fought Nate like a sea monster. When it was landed, it was clear why - Nate had managed to snag it on the tail. Scott shook his head. “Of course you’d get the easy one.”

Nate was breathing heavy, then shook his head. “It’s your turn. That was crazy!” He chuckled. “But fun!”

Grinning, Scott cast , sending the hook and bait into the stream. In less than an hour they had a sizable feast. Scott showed Nate how to clean the fish to take out the guts. “Some people like the guts. If we were stuck out here it would be good to cook them too. But we’re not so I’d rather not, myself.”

“Okay. Maybe next time we can try them. I am curious.” But not that curious. he took to cutting, cleaning and gutting quickly, and soon had the fire started and spitted the fish so they could be turned and roasted. This was awesome!

Already he was really enjoying this.

Scott had brought some potatoes. He wrapped them in foil and tossed them into the fire. The only sound was the crackle of the fire and the sizzle of fish. It was so peaceful.

Cooking the fish, watching potatoes bake, it was nice. As the stars rose, Nate looked up. “It’[s kind of fun, being out here with you. It’s like everything has changed, and yet, little has.” He chuckled.

He sighed. “Do you think things will get better?”:

“What do you mean?” Scott looked up from the cooking food. “I think things..are a lot better than they could be. And a lot better than they were." He leaned forward. "Emma and I got married."

Nate started to answer, then cried out and jumped up. “Really? Cool! That is awesome!” And Scott was being hugged now, glomped really. “Congratulations! Miss Emma must be over the moon!”

"She is! I never actually expected it, but... with life how it could be..." Scott trailed off, then finished, "We wanted to enjoy it."

Nate nodded, smiling softly. “Good. You two deserve it I hope you find you never regret it, and that you have a large and happy family.”

"We've got a start, with you." Scott grinned. He couldn't be happier with his life right now.

Nate blushed and smiled, then. He nodded and hugged his dad again. “Thanks. This is so cool!” He felt bouncy!

Scott chewed on his lip, and hugged Nate back. “I love you, son.”

Nate blushed and hugged his dad back, and smiled. “I love you too, dad.” And for the first time in a long time, he was happy. Truly happy.

FIN.