WHO: Nic and Quinn WHAT: Settling down for the night WHEN: August 30th, 12 am ish WHERE: The camp site!
Nic stretched outside the tent before ducking inside with a thermos. He'd heated up some water over their fire and had used it to make hot chocolate. Smiling he moved around carefully in the tent, holding the thermos out towards Quinn. "I've got hot chocolate. Do you want some?" He yawned a little bit, stretching. "It's perfect on a just slightly cool night like this. I'm so glad we came out here, aren't you? It's awesome." He sat down cross-legged in the tent, grinning at his friend.
Quinn put down the book he'd been reading and smiled as Nic entered the tent. "Hot chocolate would be perfect," he replied before he nodded his agreement, "It's been nice to get away and I'm glad no ones gotten hurt." He still couldn't believe Ethan was okay and was grateful Erin had been there to help him.
Nic nodded solemnly. "Yeah, that's definitely a good thing." He handed the thermos over and then sprawled out on top of the sleeping bags for a moment, stretching. He was glad, here in the tent, that he wasn't a particularly tall person. It would've made stretching nearly impossible in here, but for now that didn't seem to be a problem. "What should we do tomorrow, do you think?"
Quinn smiled, his eyes straying over Nic as he took a sip from the thermos. He closed it, set it aside and then laid down next to Nic, looking over at him, "I think the consensus was that we were going to find a bear and attempt not to get eaten by it.”
Nic grinned widely. "I still think it would be cool. I don't know a lot about the wildlife around here. Well, y'know. Outside of squirrels and skunks and the more normal stuff." He put an arm behind his head, propping it up slightly, and pouted a bit. "And ostriches are cool, no matter what Evie says. Not to mention scary, they're huge and mean!" He laughed a little and blushed, knowing that he was a little weird.
"I wouldn't want to get close to one of them," Quinn agreed as he wrapped an arm around Nic. He closed his eyes, maybe he shouldn't be doing this, but they'd already tried not touching and it just didn't work. Cuddling into Nic was one of the most comfortable things he did and it was odd to feel guilty about it. Quinn moved in just that bit closer and said, "So bears tomorrow?"
Nic smiled to himself, curling up slightly against Quinn and nodding. "Definitely. Do we need like, honey to attract them?" It was mainly a joke, and he grinned at Quinn before turning slightly, pulling a lightweight blanket out of his bag. It was just chilly enough to curl up under it. With a yawn he stretched a little bit more, settling in and getting comfortable as he pulled it over the two of them.
Quinn settled in next to Nic again as he was cover. The blanket was nice, not to heavy. Quinn gave Nic a half-smile, "Honey? Can't we just put some on breakfast and not worry about the bear?"
Nic curled around Quinn almost protectively. "Okay, I guess we don't have to worry about the bear." He grinned a little bit, resting his head against the other ranger's shoulder. "Maybe we could all just go for a little hike or something, that would be fun right?" He closed his eyes peacefully, not asleep yet but definitely relaxing in his friend's company.
Quinn carded a hand through Nic's hair, grateful that the bear excitement might not happen. The last thing he wanted to see was anyone hurt especially not his Nic...no, his best friend, Quinn corrected himself. "I think a hike's a great idea," Quinn said to change his focus, "Do you think we could get anyone to go with us?"
Nic rolled over almost onto his stomach, tossing one arm across Quinn's chest casually. "I'm sure! I mean, we all came out here to have fun together right? And we could probably see all kinds of things out there if we really went looking." He grinned widely, imagining all sorts of things already. "We could maybe see like... some rabbits. Or um..." He tried not to mention any of the more, to him, 'exciting' animals. "Like I said I'm not really sure what's around here," he laughed.
Quinn smiled at Nic. He always looked so adorable when he was excited. It made Quinn want to kiss him. He ran his hand into Nic's hair again instead, "We could always go wake up Erin and tell him you really wanted to see a rabbit," Quinn teased.
Nic's eyes widened and he covered his mouth to smother laughter. "Erin would kill me!" he said with a laugh. "Though maybe around Easter we could ask him to dress up for some charity event." He grinned wickedly.
Quinn grinned at the idea of Erin in a bunny costume, with the floppy ears and big feet. "That would be hilarious, we need to try that," Quinn told him as he wrapped his arms around his friend and snuggled in closer
Nic giggled and covered his face with his hands, trying to smother his laughter before it woke everyone else in the camp. Snuggling in closer to Quinn, he beamed at his friend. "Ohhhhh god he'd kill us. He would kill us dead." He grinned anyway, very amused.
Quinn wanted to move his hands, wanted to cup Nic's face, wanted to kiss him even more than he had a moment before. He loved when Nic smiled like that. Resisting his want for more Quinn placed a kiss on Nic's nose, "I wish you smiled like that all the time."
Nic grinned mischievously, his eyes twinkling. He really just couldn't help what he said next. "Hmmm, no you don't. It'd drive you crazy." He winked. He couldn't help but feel great... they were out here with their friends and he was snuggled up with Quinn. What wasn't to like?
Quinn blinked at the tease, lazily smiling. "Torture me then," he told Nic, running one hand into Nic’s hair. He had to stop doing this, it wasn't right. It hurt him. It was wrong to be touching, wanting someone else like this behind Neil's back, but most of all he was worried that he was going to hurt Nic. And yet, this was when he was most comfortable, when he was with Nic, like this.
Nic's smile grew a little more serious and he shook his head. "No. I don't want to torture you, Quinn." He withdrew his arms slightly, propping himself up on his elbow. He looked through one of the small net 'windows' in the side of the tent, staring off into space thoughtfully. "That's the last thing I want to do..."
Quinn frowned, his brows furrowing together as the mood turned more serious. Nic wasn't implying that...and he didn't want his friend to pull away. Guilt flooded through him. He was too close to Nic again and maybe he should just have stayed home and tried to spend time with Neil, try to get the other man to accept him in his personal space. Quinn wet his lips, he'd decided to go on the camping trip, decided to spend time with his friend and wasn't going to regret that and he wasn't going to upset Nic. His hands moved, fingers wiggling their way to Nic's ribs and he began tickling his friend.
Nic started laughing, squirming under Quinn's tickles. "He-hey! No fair!" He gasped, his face lit up with laughter. "What's this for??" He tried first to pull Quinn's hands away, then gave that up and started tickling in retaliation. "I'll show you! I'll get you now." He grinned, rolling over and starting to tickle Quinn harder. "You've got it coming to you now."
Quinn laughed, attempting to grab for Nic's hands. It wasn't working. He grabbed Nic, pulling him close and nearly rolled on top of him. Quinn realized he couldn't do that, not a good move...it wouldn't be...Quinn grabbed Nic, hugged him and rolled back, pulling his friend on top of him. "Caught you," he teased, slightly breathless.
Nic laughed, shaking his head. "I think I've got the upper hand here," He said with a grin, tossing his head a little. He looked down at his friend and stuck his tongue out, smirking. "You aren't going to be able to get me off of you if I don't wanna, now." He sat up, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning cockily.
Quinn raised an eyebrow to not only the challenge, but an attempt to not react to Nic, right there looking like that. He wet his lips and willed his hands to remain still. He resisted the urge to challenge Nic back. Instead he yawned and let his eyes drift shut, "Kay, stay there then."