(no subject)

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

Who: usedwindything and usedtherapy
Where: Ilex Forest
When: 8/20 through 8/26
Summary: WOO HOO CAMPING-TRIP-DINO-HUNT-VACATION-DATE-EXTRAVAGANZA!
Rating: uhh...PG for possible language?
Log:
[To say that John was "looking forward" to his second date with Rose would be a gross understatement. He had barely been able to sleep the night before they left and ended up knocking on Rose's door at five in the morning because he'd finally given up on the notion of sleep entirely. Plus, weren't you supposed to leave early for camping trips?]

[Unsurprisingly, Rose hadn't expected him that early. She'd given him a very bleary look, stepped back into her room to give her clock a bleary look and then asked "...are we leaving 'lready?"]

[Even less surprisingly...she'd fallen right back asleep the minute they had both clambered inside Elliot and gone on their way. But that was okay. Because she had fallen asleep on John's shoulder and he had absolutely no qualms with that at all.]

[And then a few hours later, his excitement wore off and he too fell asleep. Wow, their trip was off to a great start already!]

[Elliot wasn't the fastest pokemon but fortunately, being a ghost, he didn't really need a lot of sleep. So their four day trip ended up taking only two. Once inside the forest, Elliot went back inside his ball for some much needed rest while the two kids shouldered their packs and began walking through the forest, hand-in-hand.]

[Surely this was going to be the best camping-trip-dino-hunt-vacation-date-extravaganza ever! Also possibly the first ever, because seriously, who besides John would come up with something as crazy as this?]

Comments

this thread is backdated to the night of 8/20

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[It was getting late, the forest growing even darker than normal. And after half a day of traipsing through the forest in search of Bulbasaurs and Chikoritas (sadly, to no avail), John figured it was likely as good a time as any to stop and attempt to set up camp.]

[Keyword there begin attempt.]

[John was quickly coming to realize that setting up a tent was really not as easy as he thought it would be. Even with instructions.]

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[Unfortunately for John, Rose found it too amusing to allow him to figure it out on his own first. He was the man of the relationship, after all.

After a few good minutes of attempts, she chuckled and stood up from the rock she'd taken to sitting on.]]

Would you like assistance?

...how did i typo "being" as "begin"? what am i even *on* today?

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[Yes, Rose, he is the man of the relationship. And you know that that totally means he's knows what he's doing. At all times. Ever.]

[Even when he doesn't.]

[Like right now.]

Uh... [Another few seconds of struggling with some poles before defeat is admitted with a sigh.] ...yes please. That would be great.

/snerk/ It's better than adding an 's to the end of a he that doesn't need it~

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[She happily wanders over to assist him.

Though after a few moments, it's clear to see she has no idea what she's doing either. Still, she's chuckling and seems to be enjoying herself all the same?]]

...LKJFD:LKDSJFLKSDJLSKDFJ /hides in a corner and cries

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[They'll just...figure it out together then! YEAH!]

Sorry about this. [A somewhat nervous laugh.]

/smothers with love

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

About what? [[She pauses to give his hand a squeeze.]] It's fine. I've never set up a tent, so it isn't as if I have anything to judge you on. Not that I would judge you anyway.

[[Two heads are better than one. They'll get this.]]

/brb sobbing hysterically.

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

Really? You haven't? [He looks a little surprised at this.] And here I thought you were sitting over there silently judging me. Since you live near a forest and all, I thought you would be a master at this.

[Yes. They will! He is determined...where does this pole go now?]

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

I may climb trees with the best of them, but that does not necessarily mean that I have ever gone camping.

[[She picks up the instructions and happily starts reading them off to him.]]

placeholder for a potential 8/21 thread

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

Because what is a camping trip without a feelings jam? [8/22?]

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[Their first few days of the camping trip had been filled with lots of good things. Magic tricks, sleeping cozy together in a tent, (unsuccessfully but still enjoyable) dino hunting. Lots of things that left Rose feeling really...well. Happy.

Unfortunately, there were a few things that also left her confused. Or worse, upset. And she had been doing her best to leave it mostly secret, because she didn't want to ruin this for John.

So, she was simply sitting and thinking in the tent that night, when she was sure John was busy with Casey and training. Just taking a bit of time on her own. Even Guile had been sent away to spend time with John and Casey instead.]]

a piss poor excuse for a camping trip, that's what.

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[Unfortunately for Rose, John isn't completely oblivious. He hadn't picked up on her confusion, but he has quite a knack for telling when people are upset.]

[He's just not always sure how to go about fixing it. Blind optimism can only do so much and only works on so many people. And he's not entirely sure that Rose is one of them.]

[He's pretty sure he knows why she's upset and that really only makes things worse. Because he's not sure if he wants to or can handle hearing it. And that just makes him feel like the worst person in the world. Because Rose is upset and he should be doing something to fix that instead of feeling insecure and avoiding the issue.]

[Man he sucks at this boyfriend thing, doesn't he? The boyfriend Rose deserves would be back in the tent with her right now, trying to make her feel better. Hell, he might even be kissing her right now for all John knows, that seems like a good, comforting, boyfriend-ly thing to do. Instead, Rose is stuck with him, the boyfriend who's too scared to talk about Karkat and is out skipping rocks on a little pond when it's far too dark to see.]

[On top of that, he can't even skip rocks.]

[Yup, he's pretty ashamed of himself right now. He can tell himself all he wants that she just needs some time on her own, but that's a lame excuse and he knows it. Even if it's probably true. But after a good two hours, it gets to a point where he actually starts hating himself a little bit. And if that's not a sign to go back, he's not sure what is.]

[So eventually Rose will hear footsteps and a hushed voice from outside telling some unseen pokémon to "just stay out here for a bit, okay? But don't wander too far." Before John himself appears in the tent entrance and ducks inside, zipping it closed behind him and offering Rose his best (somewhat forced) "Egbert smile".]

We're back!

Damn straight.

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[At the sound of footsteps and hushed voices, she quickly unfurls and pulls a book from her bag. No need for him to see her moping. Burying into the literature, she pretends as though she was reading this whole time. There was no moping going on here, John. None at all. And when he enters, she glances up at him and then offers him a smile.]]

Welcome back. I was starting to wonder if you'd managed to get lost and I would have to be the dame in shining armor to come rescue you.

furk yea. B|b

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[Somehow he doubts there was no moping. But...this is a pretty convincing ruse. Good job Rose, good job.]

Maybe a liiittle bit. But I found myself again so it's all good.

[And coming over to sit down next to her.]

Whatcha' reading? [Yup. Keeping it light and casual for now.]

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[Of course it is. She's been practicing this her whole life.]]

"Myths and Legends". Another book on the more mysterious Pokemon of Johto.

[[Leaning over, she shows him a page talking about Unknown, showing various pictures of variously different shaped ones along with one of a stone tablet yet to be deciphered.]]

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

Jeez, don't you read anything for fun anymore? Or is it all just research? Anything interesting though?

[It's a good thing he wasn't actually scared by that story the other night. Otherwise he might not like seeing a whole page of Unown.]

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

I read things for fun once in a while, but honestly it's hard to enjoy books when you read a Pokemon pun or two every page. [[Chuckling, she shrugs and closes the book after marking the page with an Espeon bookmark.]]

Interesting, yes. Useful, no.

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

I suppose that's true. [Could be worse though, Rose. Could be fish puns!]

What do you mean it's not useful though? Is there something in particular you're looking for?

feelings jam 2: electric boogaloo backdated to 8/26

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[Upon receiving a certain text message (http://usedwindything.livejournal.com/10234.html?thread=766714#t766714), John had temporarily excused himself from Rose's company to answer it. He hadn't known exactly what Vriska was going to say, but he had a feeling that it was something that deserved some degree of privacy.]

[And boy had he ever been right.]

[He wasn't really sure what to think or feel once the conversation was over. This was even worse than the other night after Karkat had come back. At least then he had known what he was feeling and why. But this...this was different. He didn't even know where to start with sorting all this out.]

[Rose would know what to do, he was sure. She'd listen, she'd help. She always did, and this time would be no different. But he wasn't sure if he was ready to face her just yet. Especially since he was sure there would be a lot of "now how does that make you feel?" and he had no idea how to answer that. "It makes me feel feelings!" was likely not an appropriate answer.]

[He wasn't all that far away from camp, not wanting to get lost in the dark, but he wasn't have his brain picked apart just yet. So he decided to remain where he was for a while, listening to the crickets chirp and watching a few fireflies float lazily by.]

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[Rose had had a feeling when he left that whatever was being spoken about was likely pretty important. Normally he wouldn't mind texting around her - it wasn't as if she ever read over his shoulder (unless it was Dave, but John knew the deal with that).

So she let him have some time to deal with it. Though after a while she grew just a tad on the worried side, and a while after that finally decided to go look for him. Taking the blanket, she packed a tiny snack for them (food is always a comfort, right?) and rolled it up. Picking that and the firefly lamp up, shoes were slipped on and she left in search of her friend.]]

...John?

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[He really should have known this would happen. Well, looks like it was time to talk about it whether he was ready to or not. Since Rose would likely find him even if he was rude enough to ignore her call. And then he would have to lie and tell her that he just didn't hear her and he didn't want to do that at all. You don't lie to your girlfriend, you just don't.]

Over here.

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[Perking up somewhat, she followed his voice and came to stand beside him, offering him a warm smile.]]

Hey. What are you doing over here, hm? I'm not intruding, am I?

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

Nothing. [Not a lie since...well technically he really wasn't doing anything.] But no, you're not intruding. Why would you think that?

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

Mmm no reason. [[Well, if she's not intruding, then she is going to sit down and start unraveling the blanket she brought, the fireflies set aside as a sort of lamp.]] We haven't had dinner yet. You must be getting hungry.

[usedwindything.livejournal.com]

[Truthfully, he had been hungry earlier. But his conversation with Vriska had kind of made him forget that. And with the way his stomach was all twisted up right now, the last thing John wanted to do was eat. He shook his head.] No. I'm not. Not right now, anyway.

[This should be a pretty big hint, Rose. Because how often does John turn down food?]

[usedtherapy.livejournal.com]

[[Not often. Though still, once the blanket was unfurled, she offered him one of their smaller bags of jerky anyway, as if she hadn't heard him.]] Take it. And then come sit with me. Please?

[[There's also a thermos now set aside as well, and the blanket is simply lying in her lap for now.]]