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tinypeckers · 3 years ago

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Summer is an eternity spent with you

Fandom(s): The Creatures / Cow Chop

Pairing(s): Eddie Cardona/Seamus O’Doherty (SlyPKC), James Wilson/Aleks Marchant (NovaHD)

Summary: Seamus O'Doherty’s big plans for the summer of lounging in front of the TV, gorging on snacks and getting approximately 0.005 hours of sunlight are dashed when he is unceremoniously dumped at a summer camp by his parents. If that wasn’t bad enough, he’s sorted into a bunk with the most obnoxious, dorky know-it-all, Eddie Cardona, who seems to determined to torture Seamus with his gung-ho attitude. Will his other bunkmates be enough to keep him sane? Will it all end in a blood bath a la Friday the 13th? Or will Eddie find a way to make Seamus a happy camper after all?

AO3 Link

The team building activities every bunk was forced to participate in had quickly become the bane of Seamus’ existence. It was always the same, vague format with an easy task that would keep the campers occupied long enough for the councillors to smoke behind the cabin. It didn’t help that they always seemed to come when Seamus was least in the mood for them – after a strenuous activity or, like today, first thing in the morning when he had not yet fully adjusted to the world. It seemed that whoever organised these torture sessions had finally reached the third or fourth page of google, all the good team-building activities now been used, and they had had to improvise. Seamus frowned down at the supplies they had been given on the table: 20 sticks of dry spaghetti, a yard of tape and a marshmallow. Seamus licked his lips at the latter, as the memory of the taste of a perfect s’more still lingered on his tongue. He looked up when Kai, followed by the rest of Bunk 16, walked up to them. Apparently, the camp could not spare too much of these precious supplies.

Seamus clicked his tongue as the guy from the party, who he had thought was called George, now definitely confirmed to be Geoff (and certainly not something), pushed between himself and Eddie. The rest of Bunk 16, Tom and Spencer, closed in. Everyone contemplated the task ahead of them. Kai picked up a couple of the spaghetti sticks and held them aloft.

“So, we’re supposed to build a tower with this?”

“And this,” James held up the tape with a grin. Kai scoffed at him. Aleks eyed the marshmallow.

“Do you think the marshmallow really needs to be on top or can we just eat it?” Aleks licked his lips. James whacked him on the shoulder and shook his head. Seamus smiled as Aleks mumbled, “was just askin’.” Behind him, Eddie jumped to see over Seamus and Geoff’s heads. Seamus glanced over his shoulder and looked the other boy up and down. He rolled his eyes but took a step toward Aleks so that Eddie could join their circle. The other boy flashed him a wide grin in thanks.

Getting started was the hard part, Tom suggested that they build the tower up like a campfire with some of the sticks in a tepee at the bottom. But they quickly learnt that a long, thin tower of one piece of spaghetti could not hold a marshmallow on its own. Aleks swiped the broken pieces off the table and all the boys sighed as they scattered on the floor. James’ idea was sampled next, a square base at the bottom to make it more stable, but by the time they’d built that they had barely any spaghetti to create the tower part. It was their best idea for a while, but it was pulled apart again when they saw how high other people’s towers had reached. Everyone had their own ideas and they positioned, taped and pulled apart the tower over and over again. The marshmallow had become deformed and slightly dirty, and occasionally would go missing when Aleks tried to just eat it instead. Even Seamus had leaned into the table, head tilted as he tried to figure out the best way.

“What about a triangle base instead of a square? It’ll use less sticks,” Eddie chimed in. He had been pushed to the back again, unable to join the others around the small table. He leaned this way and that in an effort to see what the boys had achieved so far but could not see past the circle of heads. “Guys? Seriously, I think a triangle could work – you could use some of the sticks for supports and-“

“James, how about instead of a square we could try a triangle?” Geoff positioned their sticks in demonstration. James contemplated it for a second, and then nodded.

“Yeah, that’s way better – it’ll use less sticks so we can use them for supports. Good one Geoff,” James held his hand up for a high five. Their hands slapped together as the other boys begun to form the structure.

Eddie took a step back. He played with his fingers and looked around at the other groups. Like his own, they were all hunched around their tables. Some had a clear structure already, the marshmallow proud at the top, while others had not yet got that far. Everyone in each group worked together as a whole, everyone except his own. He was the only one cast off to the side, it seemed every other group had managed to get each camper around the table. Maybe they’re in smaller groups, Eddie reassured himself. But a quick count around the room confirmed that they were all even. He jumped when the doors to the cabin opened and the councillors walked in, followed by a waft of tobacco. A whistle was blown, and the other boys of Eddie’s group all stood up. Eddie hunched his shoulders as he was brought back into the fray, squished once again between Seamus and Geoff. He could now see their tower, built upon a triangle base and tilted dangerously to one side. It was not how Eddie would have done it – he would have added more support, added more tape to the spaghetti that held the marshmallow to make to stronger. But it was built, and Eddie supposed he could be proud of his teammates for creating it. When the councillors declared the winners, not their team but another who had built it just as Eddie would have, Eddie clapped for them. He stopped when the others stared back at him and forced a smile as they headed to lunch.

There were no scheduled activities in the afternoon – one of the rare moments of bliss for Seamus, who had come to relish the gaps in his schedule labelled ‘free time’. It was a time to take a nap in the bunk, to find a sweet spot of signal and scroll aimlessly through social media, to have the pressure-free summer Seamus so desperately craved. Except today, as Seamus, James and Aleks barged into the bunk, Eddie pulled the door closed and let out a squeal. He swung it open again and followed his bunkmates inside, an envelope held high in the air. Seamus watched as James abandoned his climb into his bed and leapt toward Eddie instead. He snatched the envelope in his hand and turned it. His fingers dug under a wax seal, which bore Creature Carl’s hideous face, and ripped the envelope open. Eddie hung over his shoulder and hopped from foot to foot, his hands shook in mid-air as though he could not decide whether to clap or cheer. Aleks and Seamus shared a look with one another as James’ eyes darted back and forth along the page.

“Yes,” he finally whispered. “Oh, this is going to be great.” James passed the paper back to Eddie and, without a word to his other bunkmates, headed for the ladder to his bed. He climbed up and begun to text someone. Seamus and Aleks’ heads turned to Eddie in unison.

“It’s murder in the dark night!” Eddie shook the paper in his hand.

“Wait, are we going to kill someone? That wasn’t in the brochure,” Aleks looked around the room for the pamphlet to make sure he hadn’t missed that section. Although, ‘human sacrifice’ didn’t exactly scream fun summer camp activity.

Eddie laughed and rushed to sit beside Aleks on the bed. Seamus walked toward the pair but stayed standing, head tilted as he tried to read the page. It had been written in red crayon, a poor attempt at mimicking blood, and was an invitation to join a game of ‘Murder in the dark’. There were no rules listed, only a time and place: the welcome cabin, an hour after lights out. Aleks turned to Eddie and held a hand up, still confused by what the other boy was so excited about.

“It’s a game Aleks,” Eddie tapped the red words. “We all sneak out at night and the councillors hunt us and then if you’re caught,” Eddie giggled. “Or murdered, you join the murderers and hunt people.” He looked up as Seamus took the invitation from him for a closer look.

“But it’s after lights out, Eddie – isn’t that breaking the rules?” Seamus rose his eyebrow.

“Well, technically, but I think Jordan knows about it. We won’t get in trouble, promise,” Eddie reached out and squeezed Seamus’ arm. Seamus yanked it away from him and chucked the paper on the ground. He climbed up the ladder to his bed.

“Wake me up for dinner,” Seamus mumbled. He crawled into his sheets and curled the pillow around his head.

What Seamus had wanted, when the time for dinner rolled around, was to be gently prodded awake by Aleks or James. He would have even taken a dirty sock to the head, if it came to it. As it was, none of that was what woke him up. Instead, the toot-toot of an all-too-familiar horn he had almost come to learn how to drown out startled Seamus from his slumber. He groaned, but the horn toot-tooted over him. He flipped the offending sound off and buried his head further into his pillow. The horn stopped. Seamus sighed. The fragments of sleep begun to pull him under. He snuggled further under his sheets. His eyes shot open as a hand curled around his ankle. Seamus kicked and jumped up just in time to see Eddie grab the top rung of the ladder to keep from falling. He let out a short breath, then smiled at Seamus. Seamus glared back. He rubbed at his nose and pulled himself up to prove that he was awake. Satisfied, Eddie slid down the ladder. Seamus looked down at his other bunkmates. His eyes narrowed toward James, who watched from behind his phone. He flipped his friend off too.

Seamus should have known that the free time they’d been blessed with was the calm before the storm. Instead of a nice, home-cooked meal from Dan the campers had been brought straight to the bonfire. Seamus’ lip curled up at the row of foiled, not-yet-baked potatoes and stations with various toppings. Unlike the other evenings when this had been sprung on them – a pattern Seamus had now started to realise probably matched up to Dan’s shopping schedule – the bonfire was not yet lit. The campers had been arranged in a circle around it and Jordan loomed over them. An axe rested over his shoulder and beneath his foot was an upright log. Behind him, several more logs had been placed next to the bonfire ready to be chopped and thrown in. Seamus cupped his chin in his hand, elbow pressed into his knee, as Jordan informed the camp that tonight they would learn how to start a fire. It was a necessary skill, after all, that the boys would need during their upcoming solo camping trip.

Jordan moved his foot from the log and took a step back. He lined the axe up with the top and glanced around at his audience. He made eye contact with as many campers as he could before he pulled the axe up, just a little. He brought it back down slowly, and up again as he made sure that it would land.

“Okay,” Jordan muttered as he brought the axe back up again. “Okay, okay, okay.” The axe went up, then down, up then down, up then down – yet Jordan did not swing. “Okay.” Jordan swung the axe far above his head and brought it down toward the log, only to pull away at the last second. “Okay.” Seamus jumped as the wood split into two. He careened toward Eddie. The other boy pat his back. Seamus cleared his throat and sat back up, his back rigid and eyes fixed to Jordan. The councillor had lifted his cap. He scratched at his head before he put it back on. He rested the axe against the pile of logs and rubbed at his shoulder. His hands pushed the sleeve of his shirt up to reveal pale skin cut against the darker shade of his summer tan. Jordan smoothed his shirt back down and looked out to the crowd.

“So, who would like to have a try?”

Unfortunately, Seamus was the first to be picked out from the crowd thanks to Eddie. Eddie had immediately pointed to him and James, the dick that he was, had quickly done the same. Seamus was mortified when Kai, then George, Tom, Spencer, and Todd joined in. He dragged his feet over to the middle of the circle as his cheeks heated up. Jordan handed Seamus the axe and explained how to handle it. Seamus’ arm dropped a little when Jordan’s hand pulled away. He shook it off, stood up straighter and faced the log pile. He grabbed a log and set it down where Jordan’s once was, now kicked aside into a pile ready for the bonfire. Seamus stretched out his shoulders, cracked his neck. He shook out his arms, closed one eye and lined the axe edge up with the log. He pulled it over his head with a deep breath. The air rushed out of Seamus as he swung and the axe sailed straight into the dirt in front of him. He smirked with the rest of the camp as they laughed at him. He tried again – axe high in the air, then straight into the ground. Seamus snorted. Axe high, straight into the ground.

“I missed,” Seamus said. Jordan twitched beside him. “Same exact spot too, maybe I should move up.” Seamus shuffled forward. He brought the axe up, swung and chipped the corner. Seamus clicked his tongue. Axe up, then down and straight down the middle of the log. Seamus pulled the axe up and saw that it had not split completely. He put the axe down and simply pulled it apart instead. Jordan and the rest of the camp cheered for him and the wood was chucked aside.

Aleks volunteered himself. He walked into the centre of the circle with his head held high. Confidence oozed from his smile. He stumbled when Jordan’s hand landed heavily against his back.

“New contender,” Jordan encouraged the rest of the camp to clap with a wave of his hand. He grinned as they complied, then looked up to the sky. The sun had started to slip behind the trees. Aleks grabbed the first log he could, a slightly chipped thing, and placed it where Seamus and Jordan’s logs had been. It toppled to the side the second his hands left it. With a shrug, Aleks tried again. Down it went. Aleks huffed. He pushed the log into the ground for a few seconds, sure that it was stable, and let go. The log hit the floor with a thump.

“Losing daylight here, Aleksandr – so any day now would be nice,” Jordan hovered closer to Aleks. Aleks glared up at him. He spied a rock nearby and went to rest the log against that. “Don’t you dare use my axe on that rock – I mean, you can do this,” Jordan’s lips pulled back in a tight smile. Aleks moved the log back to the original mark, tried to set it up again but watched as it toppled back down. Jordan, wary of the hungry grumbles of the campers around them, swooped in and set the log upright in one turn. Aleks rolled his eyes, but swung the axe above his head anyway. It came down, straight into the log on the first try but did not make it through. Instead, the axe caught on a knot in the wood. Aleks tugged it upward, but the log came with it. With a shrug, Aleks bashed the log against the ground as though he were hammering in a nail. When it did not split, he stabilised the log with his foot and pulled the axe out. Jordan gasped, the sound mirrored by Eddie. Aleks brought the axe down toward the log and missed. As he swung it high above his head again, Jordan grabbed the handle and smiled down at him.

“Why don’t we just start the fire? It’s getting dark.”

Jordan made quick work of the rest of the logs, aided by the other councillors. Jordan stood beside the bonfire with his hands on his hips. All of the natural light had been lost, the sun safely tucked into its horizon bed. So, the councillors brought out their torches and one shone a light directly underneath Jordan’s chin. The head councillor tried his hand at a movie villain cackle and failed miserably. When the campers shifted uncomfortably around him, Jordan cleared his throat. The first step of any good fire is to create a good base, such as newspaper. The paper crinkled between Jordan’s fingers as he scrunched it into a ball. He chucked it into the pit. Then, you must arrange the kindling – the smaller pieces of wood – into a little tepee. The councillors’ lights danced around the pit as Jordan worked. The kindling, Jordan explained, is the primary source for fire starting because it catches easily.

“Excuse me, I have a question,” James called from the circle. “Is that garbage supposed to be in there?” He pointed to an empty packet of sweets at the edge of the pit. Jordan shook his head.

“That was thrown in there by a very unruly camper,” Jordan threw the wrapper in the general direction of the bin. Aleks held his hand over his mouth. His lips twitched upward between chews.

Seamus hugged his stomach as it rumbled. The hot dogs for lunch were but a distant memory now and even the foiled potatoes had started to look appetising. The sole sweet Aleks had shared with him had not been as satisfying as Seamus had hoped. He gnawed upon his knuckle; his eyes fixed upon the different toppings. He drooled around his finger as he pictured the potato he would create – smothered in beans and cheese. Seamus’ stomach cried out again. He turned his head at the pop of a Tupperware lid. Eddie thrust the box toward Seamus. He expected the box to be empty, it had to be so Eddie could stock up on toppings for the group. But it wasn’t. Several chocolate mini muffins had been tucked inside, at least two for each of the boys in the bunk. Seamus cocked his head at Eddie. Eddie pushed the box toward him again. He shielded it from the view of the camper on Seamus’ other side. Seamus picked a muffin out. He sniffed the sweet treat and his nostrils flooded with its sweet, chocolatey embrace. Seamus’ teeth closed around the top and he took a bite. As he chewed, Seamus unwrapped the casing and shoved the rest of the muffin into his mouth. Eddie watched and Seamus, his cheeks rounded out like a hamster’s, turned and smiled at him. Eddie beamed back. He closed the Tupperware and looked back toward Jordan as the councillor flicked on his lighter. Eddie frowned and raised his hand.

“But Jordan, in the forest we don’t have lighters!”

Jordan’s shoulders dropped and he found Eddie in the crowd. He nodded at the boy’s enthusiasm.

“That’s right Eddie, that’s why we’re going to teach you what to use as tinder later, but as it’s getting so dark – why don’t we just go ahead and use this lighter for now?” Eddie slouched and his bottom lip threatened to pop out into a pout. He wanted to see the demonstration now – it was always his favourite part of this lesson – but he knew that the other campers would never forgive him if he insisted Jordan dragged it out any longer. He relented with a shrug. Jordan smiled, flicked the lighter on again and lit the kindling. The smallest of flames flickered at the base of the pit. It slowly licked its way up the wood, never quite catching properly.

“Jordan, this is the weakest ass fire!” James spat. Jordan held his hand up.

“Give it a second,” Jordan murmured. The wood crackled in the heat. There was a beat, then the breeze picked up and the flames roared around the wood. Jordan puffed his chest out as the campers around him broke out into cheers and applause. He made to bow but stumbled as the boys rushed past him and to the tables lined with food. Jordan stood up and cleared his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, Jordan caught Eddie’s thumb held high in appreciation. He smiled back at the camper.

#slypkc #Summer Camp AU #novahd #fanfiction

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