[Freezair]

Bergamot----Danica

Blobert

"This is the place, I think!"

Bergamot mopped the sweat from his brow and stood in front of the cabin. His legs wobbled beneath him and his knees threatened to give out, so he supported most of his weight on the walking stick. It looked hand-polished and well-worn, but a closer look revealed the plastic tag bearing the name of a sporting-goods store still affixed to the handle, as well as the compass embedded in the tip. Looking significantly less winded by the hike, Bergamot's cousin Danica stood next to him, breathing the forest air with relish.

"Woohoo! See, now--this is the life," Bergamot! The blonde girl checked her shoulder to make sure the blue Snicky held on tight, but he was as he ever was. She inhaled boisterously.

Bergamot fiddled with the map and tried to decipher the folds. "Umm... I hope this is the place. If you spot a girl, as her if she's Ashley, will you?"

"Sure. I wanna meet this 'Ashley' chick," Danica said with a wry smile. "She sounds cute."

"Cut that out."

"Cuuuuuuute!" Danica laughed as fanatically as she breathed.

[58, 11, 1]

[AuroraSky]

Ashley looked around worriedly, clutching the map in her hand and turning it in all different directions. Her eyebrows crinkled and she paused for a second before giving an exasperated sigh. "These instructions can't be right! They've been sending us in circles."

"Would you relax?" Veronica snapped. "You're starting to get all panicky and it's scaring the kids." She gestured to the young children hovering closely behind the tomboy, looking around the forests as if at any time the trees would grab them up. "And give me that map! You're no good at these things." She snatched the crinkled paper out of her friends hands and examined it for a few moments.

"You'll never be able to understand it, it's too-"

"That way." Veronica pointed her finger through a few trees. Before Ashley could interrupt she was ushering the children through the foliage, her friend having no choice but to follow as well.

"You're wrong. That will only lead us towards the waterfalls, Ronnie, I checked."

"Uh-huh." The younger female replied, not paying any attention to her fretting friend.

"Ronnie? Are you listening? Let's just call Aurora and ask for clearer directions or you're going to get us-"

"Is that it?"

"...Lucky guess."

"Uh-huh." Veronica replied with a smirk. "Oh look, your boyfriend!"

"He's not my-"

"BERGAMOT!"

[55][32][13][13]

[Freezair]

"HEY, ASHLEY! HEY, VERONICA!"

Bergamot stood on tip-toes, waving to the two girls he saw off in the distance. Danica abruptly turned and waved as well, even though they didn't yet know her. Bergamot grinned from ear to ear. Even Veronica's grumping felt welcoming to him.

Bergamot hopped down the steps of the cabin with Danica and her Snicky in tow. She stuck out her hand in a ready-for-shaking pose. "Hey, guys! Wow, I'm surprised we made it before you." His breath still panted a little, and he leaned on his walking stick. "Nice to see you two again. Uh... especially you, Ashley." He blushed.

"Nice to meet you!" Danica beamed from beneath her woodsy cap. She brushed her fine blonde hair out of her face. "I'm Bergy's cousin Danica. You can call me Dani. Which one of you two lovely ladies is my cousin's beau?"

"Dani!"

"Cut it. I'm your family. Embarrassing you is what I'm supposed to do!"

[59, 12, 2]

[AuroraSky]

Ashley could feel her breath hitch in her throat as Bergamot neared, and prayed that she wasn't as sweaty as she thought she might be. Her hands flew up to her hair as she attempted to smooth it out a little, and suddenly she wished her hair wasn't such a bright green. How ridiculous she must have looked? "He's coming!" She squealed to Veronica, who couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm super excited. Who's the chick with him?" Another family member, perhaps? Veronica wasn't really sure if she could handle that.

"I don't know, I've never seen her before. Now Veronica, please mind your manners." When her friend gave her a look Ashley shook her head. "No, don't. At our lunch outing you weren't exactly on your best behavior. So please, just this once, try and bite your tongue?"

Veronica eyed her friend for a few moments before sighing, giving up. "Fine. Only because you like him so much. Now here they come, act natural."

Ashley nodded quickly as Bergamot and his companions approached them, suddenly she shyness once again overcoming her. It made no real sense to be shy in front of Bergamot, but she just couldn't help herself. Oh, how she must have looked a mess! "It's nice seeing you as well." Ashley said softly, folding her hands and looking down in an effort to hide her blush. A few strings of hair fell into her face and she was thankful.

Veronica smirked at Bergamot and then took Danica's hand. "My name is Veronica, and I believe the lovely lady you're referring to is my friend here, Ashley. She's absolutely nuts about your cousin."

"Veronica!"

"It's true." The tomboy shrugged before pushing the two children in front of her. "And these two are Cecelia and Martin."

"I can introduce myself, you know." Cecelia said, taking Danica's hand with a smile on her face. "I'm Cecelia, and this is my brother Martin. Martin doesn't talk a lot." She glanced at her younger brother, who just stared at the two unfamiliar adults. "And are you Bergamot? Ashley has a crush on you but I'm not supposed to tell-"

"Inside!" Ashley said abruptly. "We should go inside! Bergamot, you look a little winded."

[56][33][14][14]

[Freezair]

Danica dove into the crowd with abandon. "It's nice to meet you, Veronica! I think Cousin Bergy mentioned you." With that, she winked at Veronica. It was mischeviously friendly. "And it's nice to meet you two, too! This is Blobert with me here." She pointed to the Snicky, who waved his antenna around curiously. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite."

Nervously, Bergamot rubbed the back of his neck. The redness rode all the way up from his shoulders to fill his face. Every bit of skin burned shamefully. "Ehh... Well, I guess it's not really a secret any more." He tried to look coolly at Ashley, but it's hard to be cool when you're wearing a monocle and carrying a store-bought walking stick. "Yeah, I like you, you like me... I think we know that by now. D'you... d'you wanna show us around the cabin now? You... you could just show me. We could ignore--"

Danica did not hear them, but she wasn't in any mood to be ignored anyway. "WE BROUGHT BOARD GAMES!" she said excitedly. "I hope it rains! Really hard! Sitting inside by the fire when it's raining like the dickens, playing board games! Hot dog!"

Bergamot grinned. "Yeah... she's always like this."

[AuroraSky]

Before Ashley could even open her mouth to respond, not that she had a set response anyways, Cecelia had jumped into the air in excitement with her hands up. "BOARD GAMES!" She exclaimed, a big, goofy grin across her face. "Martin and I LOVE board games, don't we Martin?" Silence. "Oh I hope it rains too! Then we can play alllll the board games we want!"

"You know, Cecelia, you don't really have to wait for rain for board games." Veronica pointed out, then turning back to Danica. "Oh I'm sure he's mentioned me. I left quite the impression last time we met." She said with a smirk. "And that's a really cool Snicky. Blobert...." She thought of the name for a second. "Nice."

Ashley was impressed. Veronica was actually making an attempt to be kind today. But there was no more time to think about that considering she still hadn't spoken to Bergamot yet. She tried to control her blush, but there was really no use. "Right." She said simply. "I'd love to give you a tour of the home." Carefully she wrapped her hand around his arm and started leading him towards the door.

[57][34][15][15]

[Freezair]

"Awesome!" Danica punched the air exuberantly. "I like these people already! Right on, Bergy!" She traipsed behind them as Ashley lead the way towards the house. Blobert turned his head, slowly, towards the other. The low, sludgy sound he made might have been a purr, in a world where snails purred. But perhaps Evelon was such a world? It had seen stranger things.

As Ashley lead the way, Bergamot tried to figure out what to do with his walking stick. He settled for leaving it in the doorway. "I've never been in a cabin before. You have a fireplace, correct? Because we also brought marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. All of these made by my granddad, mind you, and he doesn't play around when it comes to candy!"

[61, 14, 4]

[AuroraSky]

Cecelia grabbed her brothers hand and the two began to make their way towards the house, when something little and blue caught her eye. Turning towards Danica, her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. "Martin look! A Snicky!" She raced over, dragging a very startled Martin behind her, and started to examine the tiny creature. "He's so cute! Does he bite? What does he eat? Where did you get him? How old is he? How many do you have? How long have you had him? Where does he sleep? Do Snicky's like leaves-"

"Cecelia." Veronica groaned, rolling her eyes. "Please, it is too early in the morning. Stop bothering Danica and be careful, you're going to scare Blobert."

Ashley, however, was too preoccupied to mediate the situation. "A fireplace? Of course! Would it really be a cabin if there wasn't?" She smiled and looked down, holding Bergamot a little tighter this time and then fumbling in her jeans for the key. "Let's have a look, shall we?" She opened the door and pushed it open. "I have to warn you from now...I'm not exactly the most graceful when it comes to s'mores. The marshmallow goo always gets all around my face and sometimes on my nose." She wrinkled her nose at the memory.

[58][35][16][16]

[Freezair]

Deftly, Danica entertained the kids. "Well, I found him on Halloween not too long ago, in a haunted house. He was looking kind of lonely under a bush, so I picked him up. Dunno how old he is, but not too old, I don't think." She patted his shell, and he closed his eyes, slimily content. "He eats mostly dry cereal, and leafy veggies. But he likes 'em fresh; no wilted lettuce for him!" She grinned as they entered the cabin. To mollify Veronica, she said, "Don't worry. He doesn't spook easily."

Bergamot took in the interior of the cabin, breathing the deep, wooded scent. In the corner of his monocle, he thought he saw strange, spiritual traces here and there--ghosts? He should've brought his ouija board.

"Don't worry," he remarked. "It's hard to eat a s'more with dignity."

[AuroraSky]

Cecelia's eyes grew with glee. "A haunted house? Oh, Martin and I have wanted to visit one for so long, but Ashley says that we can't go until we're older. A boy at my school, Timmy Jackson, went to one and he says there were men with chainsaws and snarling rabies-infested Felloxes!" She bared her teeth and bended her fingers to imitate claws, before growling menacingly at Danica. "He says he wasn't scared but I think he was lying. Don't you think so too, Martin?" Silence. "Exactly."

Veronica raised her eyebrows at Danica. "She can go on like this for hours...it can drive you crazy after a while. You sure you up for it?" She ushered the kids into the cabin before tossing her backpack on the ground.

"Ronnie please, pick up your things! We are guests in Ro's cabin." Veronica rolled her eyes but slung the backpack over her shoulder once again so her friend could go back to paying attention to her special guest. "Oh I should warn you, Bergamot and Danica, that if you look closely at some of the plants they move. Aurora sort bewitched this place." Ashley looked around thoughtfully. "I would steer clear of the Venus fly traps but the rest of them are very friendly...some even an excellent source of herbs."

"Yeah, yeah." Veronica said before nudging her friend. "Go show Bergamot around. I'll take care of the rest of the herd."

[59][36][17][17]

[Freezair]

Enchanted, eh? Perhaps THAT was the sort of the wisps he saw in his monocle. He focused on one small potted plant. It did have a most peculiar aura to it, dancing and quivering with more life than a plant ought. He smiled, but he could not stay to study it. Ashley, or rather, Veronica speaking for Ashley, wanted him to see more of the house.

"Oh! Yeah, let's go see. Where are the beds? I want to unpack my clothes." He followed after Ashley, entranced by the plants. Her too, but the plants temporarily captured his flighty attention.

"Handful?" Danica said. "Don't worry about me. I got energy to spare. In fact! You kids wanna play a game? C'mon, let's play the inaugural game of this campout! Pictionary. Right here, right now. Let's do it!

Blobert even made a noise like he wanted to join in. He slithered down her arm to the tabletop, and he, too, stared at the plants.

[63, 16, 6]

[AuroraSky]

Ashley led Bergamot towards the stairs, a nearby hanging plant reaching down to touch her cheek. She smiled and carefully rubbed one of its leaves between her two fingers. "It's amazing what Ro can do." She breathed, before remembering there was a task to be completed. "The cabin has four bedrooms. I figured one for you, one for Danica, one for the children, and one for Ronnie and I." Ashley paused for a second and shyly asked. "So how have you been since we last saw each other?"

Cecelia jumped in the air. "Oh boy! I love Pictionary!" She ran into the living room and dived headfirst onto one of the leather couches before rolling onto her back. Martin quickly scrambled after his sister, taking a seat beside her. Cecelia immediately ruffled his air. "Hey Danica, what's Pictionary?"

"Something I won't be a part of." Veronica said under her breath. "I think I'm going to play some video games while you guys do...whatever it is that you're doing." She turned the TV on and reached for a game controller.

One of the plants closet to Blobert used on of its vines to rub the Snicky's shell, fascinated with the new creature.

[60][37][18][18]

[Freezair]

"Wow. This place is bigger than I thought," Bergamot breathed. Part of it was in awe at the cabin itself, and part of it was his shock at the plants. This whole place was wreathed in a strange glow, just behind his glass. What a place! But four bedrooms in a cabin was still luxurious. Four bedrooms at all was still on the bigger side of things.

"As for what I've been up to? Eh, not much. It hasn't been too long. I did read a wonderful book, though. And my family's been ribbing me about you incessantly, of course." He grinned with a blush.

Down in the living room, Danica explained the rules. "It's a game where you draw a card that tells you something to draw, and your partner has to guess what you drew. You can't write words or tell them, though." She gazed around the room ruefully. "But we need teammembers! And if you're gonna bow out, Veronica, we won't be able to play! C'mon. You don't wanna disappoint the kids, do you?"

If he had lips, he would've licked them. Blobert opened his Snicky mouth, and tried to bite down on the planty tendril. He liked lunch that came straight to him!

[64, 17, 7]

[AuroraSky]

((Sorry, I was in the hurricane =P I was going to try and type a response on my phone, but then I know the response would have sucked so...=D))

As they wandered through the hallways of the second floor, one of the plants peeked its way out of its pot, leafs brushing against Bergamot's leg curiously. It had never seen a male Lucain before, how intriguing! "Oh Aurora has a library here that takes my breath away." She said dreamily. "Well, not a full library, because this is a cabin after all. It's more like a larger room filled with books. But the furniture is dark cherry wood, which is my favorite kind and color of wood." Ashley paused for a second. "Ronnie always makes fun of me for having a favorite kind of wood, she calls me an oddball."

And then he was telling her about how his family was asking about her, and she couldn't help the blush. "I know what you mean. Ronnie made it a point to tell everyone at home about our lunch. Cecelia's already planning our wedding." Then realizing what she said, her face turned a deep, crimson red. "Not that I'm saying we'll get married! Well we could, but not now! And...and...I need to stop talking."

Meanwhile, Cecelia was tackling Veronica. "Please, please, oh please play with us? Veronica please?" She pushed the Lucain onto the floor and got on top of her, staring down with her big, red glassy eyes. "Please?" She asked.

Veronica sighed, clearly annoyed. "Fine. Whatever...just get off."

"YAY!" Cecelia said, jumping into the air and running over to where Danica had set up the game. "Come over here, Veronica, sit with us!"

"I'm coming kid, I'm coming." Veronica stood and rubbed the lower half of her back before grumpily taking a seat on the couch next to Martin. She looked over at him and ruffled his hair, and he smiled slightly at her. Martin was her kind of kid, quiet. Easy to manage. Not like the linebacker over there. "Let's get this thing started."

[61][38][19][19]

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[Freezair]

((I think safety is more important than replying to an RP. Don't let that bully Irene get to you!))

Bergamot felt something on the back of his leg and jumped. He also made a slightly-unseemly yelping noise that might have seemed a bit high-pitched if it came from the mouth of a four-year-old girl. "What was that?!" He whipped around. He saw the aura of the plants, but not the tendril that snaked him. He was so shaken, he hardly noticed Ashley's smitten and awkward rambling.

"Creepy," he shuddered. "Oooh, a library? Let's go!" He hurried on ahead, partially to avoid whatever stuck him in the back. This trip might be a bit creepier than it seemed.

In the main room, Danica clapped. "Alright! Veronica, you and I will be on one team and the kids'll be on another!" Danica retrieved the old, beat-up Pictionary box and passed out small pencils and pads of paper. She shook a clog out of the white sand in the timer. She unfolded the dog-eared board and withdrew the box of cards. "This marker's our team, and this one is yours. I'm thinking of a number between one and ten. You pick one, Veronica, and you guys pick one, and whoever is closer goes first!"

PS: Thank you!

[65, 18, 8]