#BESTIES? maybe a stretch 😂 jk jk he likes Amrita

[erenozturk]

His eyes darted about as wildflowers grew around him, the faintest smile gracing his often severe face. Eren quirked a brow at Amrita, head tilting to toward his shoulder as he replied, “Oh I don’t know about that… Some flowering plants are rather deadly. Oleander is extremely poisonous, for one. And they can attract deadly things. Such as bees, which one can be highly allergic too.” Despite the seriousness of his words, there was an air of amusement to his tone, as though Eren were teasing her. Plucking one of the wildflowers that she spontaneously grew, he spun it delicately in his gloved fingers before offering it to her. A rare and friendly gesture, marked by a warm bow of his head. “You haven’t? Duct tape crafts are all the rage for camps. At least… that’s what I have seen.” He had taken the time to look up camping activities in preparation for the retreat, though that all seemed futile now. He hadn’t prepared for these “trust building” exercises, and he had the dreadful feeling he was woefully underprepared for the days ahead. “You can make just about anything with Duct tape, since it’s so sturdy. You just need quite a bit of it. And since it comes in so many colors and even patterns, you can make some unique looking things,” he shrugged. Eren watched her carefully a moment, playing with the cuff of one of his gloves. Nodding slowly, his eyes travelled back to the trust falls when the next contender prepared to fall back into (hopefully) waiting arms. “I understand completely,” he said, before bluntly adding, “I can’t imagine why anyone would choose something so divisive for the sake of ‘bonding’.” He glanced at his hand for a brief moment. “Then again, maybe it’s because they knew that only a small handful of us would reject this.” At least he wasn’t alone.

Eren shook his head, having never made any sort of friendship bracelet alone. He could reason it was because he wasn’t all that crafty, but the reality was he hadn’t had friends to share with. Maybe back when he was a kid, though back in those days he was bullied more than befriended. And now? Well, the last person who ever got close enough to see him for who he was underneath the surly demeanor had long gone. “I’ll hold you to it,” he said to her invitation to teach him, figuring he may as well learn, even if his only friend was the Doberman who waited for him at home and wouldn’t keep a bracelet on if he tried. Any sort of calm in the man disappeared the moment she brought up paired events. Tilting his head back to stare at the leaves above, Eren sighed deeply. “I truly don’t look forward to that,” he said quietly. But he didn’t allow himself the space to dwell for long. If he got so worked up about it now, he’d be woefully unprepared for the day these paired events would take place, which would only prove to make things worse. “Of course,” he answered, drumming out an upbeat rhythm on his thighs. A couple years in marching band before he gave that up to be a sullen withdrawn teenage banshee, and a long obsession with music, gave him some basic grasp of rhythm. “Can’t speak for the others, but definitely for myself.” He spoke with a resolute assurance which gave him the faintest air of arrogance. “Is a whisper challenge where you have a phrase which you then whisper into each other’s ears until the last person reveals what they were told, and you try to see how close to the initial statement you can get?” He was quiet and thoughtful a moment before shrugging, “That would be more fun than falling into people, I suppose.” He said it with such a dry sarcastic tone, the joking nature of it could have been so easily missed.

Amrita didn't truly know how to feel about Elena. The young witch decided that shoving the thought of her being involved in Mason's death deep and as far away as possible just for her own sake. It was better to think that there was no one to blame even if it was a lie. Her expression soured, brows furrowed for a second before her attention shifted back to Eren. "Then you must be on your guard with me throughout this whole event. Though I don't think flowers are that scary." With an easy move of a hand, small wildflowers sprouted all around Eren. She shook her head with a small smile. "Duct tape wallets? I've never heard of that." Eyes widened in curiosity. Was that a campy thing to do? How had she never heard about it. How fun. Probably a waste of tape. "I do love s'mores. I hope we get those. It'll be much more fun than..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't want to be a downer, truly, but this whole thing felt ridiculous.

The young witch chuckled at his words, thinking there is definitely going to be a white guy on a guitar. Wasn't that how the movies surrounding camps went anyway? "Hm, both? Have you made them before? I like the beaded ones because it's quite easy to make flower shapes with them, but the ones with embroidery floss feel sturdier. I like any crafty hobby if I'm honest. It's nice to work on something repeatedly. I can teach you... if you want? I don't have embroidery floss here though." As Eren mentioned how cool the embroidery floss bracelets were, she promised to make him some. Maybe it could be black, grey, and white? Would he like that? He didn't seem to use colors on his day-to-day clothes. "That sounds about right. Who knows? Maybe at the end of the event we'll eat our words. I heard there will be a pairing event. Kinda nervous about that." Being stuck with a stranger doing an odd activity sounded like a bad time, but maybe it could lead to new friendships? Amrita touched her forehead, massaging it. This whole back and forth was tiring. She wished she could settle on how to feel about it. "Do you have a basic grasp of rhythm? Is that something the Fae Court does?" The idea of Eren and Aiyla doing some silly sign games with music in the background brought a smile back to her face. "Or a whisper challenge? Have you heard of those?"