Surviving the Elements (Richard/M.E Thread)

[Richard Monaghan]

Her giggle got him laughing as well, a slight little chuckle that was more of an exhalation than anything, as she shook his head. She was weird, that was for sure, but Rick couldn't help but be a little bit charmed by it, all the same. She stood in such stark contrast to his own personality, simply watching her go kept him entertained, if nothing else.

His question brought that little blush right back up to her cheeks, which made him grin all the wider. All that blatant objectification up to this point, and she thought this was the first time he'd truly noticed? He shook his head. She could go on thinking that, he supposed. Instead, he just shrugged, resignedly.

"I guess I'm just a little slow sometimes," he said, laughing again.

[Jacelyn Winters]

She smiled a bit more brightly as he chuckled, finding that she rather enjoyed being able to bring about even the smallest fraction of happiness from him. Her bright eyes alight with amusement as she nestled into the back of her seat and curled her legs up into her chest just slightly. Slender arms wrapping about them, she was small enough to curl up there and actually make it look comfortable.

Inside her head, things was a war going on as to what she should do. Part of her wanting to just curl up and die right now, while another part was all about keeping up the bold words and actions and hoping for the best. The latter of which not typically her style, or so she thought. Not like she actually paid attention to herself very often, that would just be boring! "A little slow huh?" Her brow arching slightly as she tilted her head to the side just a bit, giggling lightly before once more shaking her head.

No, she didn't think he was slow, not in the slightest. Perhaps a bit stubborn, maybe a bit evasive? She wasn't sure, but one thing was for sure, she was having quite a bit of fun finding out. "Hmm, well if that is the case I will just have to make sure and be a bit more direct about my flirting. I mean, if I plan on having you grab me up and kiss me anytime in the near future, I am really going to have to put some effort into it." A bright smile gracing her lips, giggling softly before she would roll her eyes upward as if looking toward her pretty pink kitty ears. "Because clearly this pair is just not cutting it. Gonna have to pull out the big guns." Eyes turning back to him before she would blush just a bit, her nose wrinkling as she laughed, a habit she wasn't fully aware she had.

[Richard Monaghan]

He was fairly focused on her by this point, as she curled up on the seat, he looked at her, his head tilting slightly in confusion. It was actually rather impressive how she managed to make herself look comfortable even on those fairly not-so-comfortably bus seats. His head lolled back a bit as he rested it against the back of the seat, turned to its side so he could look at her as she spoke.

She giggled again, and he smiled, that little cute laugh always bringing it to his face, despite his best efforts to keep up the stoic attitude. She continued on, talking about being more direct, and following it up by actually being much more direct, which, as could probably be expected, caused Rick's jaw to drop just a little bit. Not that he was complaining, but she was throwing on the game pretty hard.

"I'm not so sure if cat ears would look as right if they were too much bigger," he said with a smirk, casually evading the situation as his hand, formerly just draping behind the seat, came up and around, taking one of the ears between his forefinger and thumb and pinching it, twisting it a little as if trying to get a feel for what it was made of, or perhaps what it would look like if it were much bigger.

[Jacelyn Winters]

She would relax there within her seat,content with being curled up here, talking to him and finding that she cared less and less about being stuck on this bus or on this stupid camping trip. It was actually turning out to be rather fun, interesting for that matter, and she was also learning that she rather enjoyed that look he got every time she giggled or laughed. Not that she quite understood why, but hey! If it made him happy, then she was more than willing to keep it up.

"True, I don't think I have a big enough head to pull it off." Pursing her lips, as if giving it a bit more thought, her eyes dancing with amusement before rolling upward once more, feeling the headband atop her head pulled upon as his fingers gripped one of her kitty ears which was made of a mixture of vinyl and fake fur. Her favorite pair save for the pink and black set she had safely tucked away at home.

Wrinkling her nose, she could not help the slight compulsion to reach up and lightly bat at his fingers to try and remove them from her "ear", giggling softly as she shook her head and looked at him and leaned in just a bit closer...speaking rather softly. "Just means I will have to find another way to get you to kiss me." Smiling brightly before she would tap the end of his nose with her index finger and then retracting her hand slowly and allowing it to fall into her lap. "Though I have to admit, not sure what else I have to entice you with besides these sexy lil ears." Grinning softly.

[Richard Monaghan]

Her hand met his as she knocked it away, and he allowed it, moving his hand away to rest up on top of the seat, looking at her with a smile as she giggled yet again. It was almost starting to become a routine by this point. For a second, he looked off from her, glancing out at the other windows to see how far they had come, until her words hit his ears, making him pause in his glancing and purse his lips slightly, head still turned away from her for the time being. He looked back at her again, once again just in time to see her finger coming for his nose. This time, instead, he lifted his head slightly and bit at it, not actually reaching it, more so threatening it jokingly.

"I suppose you could always try asking," he said, dismissively, but a sly little smile crossed his face, all the same.

[Jacelyn Winters]

She was all giggles until he threatened, jokingly, to bite her fingers. Watching as he snapped at it, and releasing a little squeak of surprise before jerking her hand back and safely tucking it away with in her lap before bursting into a small giggle fit at the way her heart fluttered rapidly within her chest.

However, it was his words that came next which would catch her completely off guard, her brow arching slightly as she tilted her head and felt the heat rising within her cheeks. Of course she was blushing! She was naturally a very shy girl, at least for the most part, unless she got caught up in a moment like this. Now though...well now she wasn't entirely sure what to do. If she asked, and he laughed at her, it would probably crush her inside to the point she would spent an hour or two crying in embarrassment in the restroom once they got there. But...if he did....well...The thought causing her heart to race a bit more, her stomach fluttering softly as she ran her tongue slowly along her lower lip and leaned in just a tiny bit more. "Well then....what would it take to get you to kiss me?" Not so much asking flat out, wanting to spare herself the potential rejection if possible...but still hinting to what she wanted in a round about way...Assuming she had not done so already.

[Richard Monaghan]

Her reaction to his faux-bite caused him to laugh out loud, enough so that a few students nearby turned back to look at them, throwing death-glares their way. Of course, a teacher and... whatever he was having a good time on a school bus during a school trip was clearly something utterly unheard of around these parts. He stopped for a second, turning back to face them with a death glare of his own, scary enough to cause them to avert their eyes, at least. His head lolled back to face her, a self-satisfied grin crossing his features.

He watched her get quiet, seeming to try to figure out how to ask the question he knew was coming next. What actually came out, however, wasn't exactly what he was expecting, and it required him to think about it, himself. He pursed his lips, one hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully for half a moment. Satisfied, he nodded to himself, and met her gaze once more.

"Hmm. The perfect time. The perfect place. The perfect ambience."

He glanced back over at the other students, who were poking each other and pointing at the odd couple and muffling snickers.

"Probably not in a bus full of rowdy teenagers."

[Jacelyn Winters]

Jace could not help but blush rather brightly at the way in which the students took note of them, her head lowering slightly as she seemed to try and disappear within the seat. She had been picked on and made fun of most her life, and so drawing unwarranted attention to herself in a moment such as this, well it made her way to just disappear. Sure, she stood out like a sore thumb on almost any occasion, but that was when she did so deliberately...not when she was trying to remain somewhat private.

Yet when he turned back to her, she would smile once more, her eyes lighting up just a bit as she tilted her head and listened carefully to what he had to say. "Hmm, right time, right place, right ambiance...You have yourself a deal." Nodding lightly before she would dart forward and press a light kiss to his cheek. Nothing overly friendly, and yet given the path of their conversation,...well yeah.

Noting the kids pointing and taking that moment to nod in agreement with his words, turning her head downward once more, blushing rather profusely as she did so and trying to avoid being noticed any further than she had been thus far.

[Richard Monaghan]

She pressed her lips to his cheek, causing him to smile himself, this time taking the bashful route as he looked down for a moment, and then away, nodding more or less to himself at the idea.

He would have said something more, but by sheer miracle of coincidence, they'd reached the campground. He looked back over at her, also averting her attention from anything except maybe a speck of dirt on the bus floor, and nudged her with his shoulder a little. "Hey, perk up, we're here."

He allowed the students to get off before he did, opening up the emergency exit on the back anyway, much to the chagrin of the bus driver who had to deal with the alarm going off up front. He dropped down, giving the driver a little wave before helping Jace down, as well, if she so desired.

Wasting little time, he wandered over to the baggage compartments, grabbing his and Jace's things without being asked. Most of the students were milling about, waiting for more direction, which Rick decided was a good enough time as any to drop his bombshell.

He glanced up at the sign indicating what park they were in. Upon seeing it, he gave out a low whistle. "Oh, I remember this place," he said, loudly enough for the students to hear. "This is where-well, nevermind."

"Wait, what?"

One of the kids had heard him, and he glanced over at him. "I really shouldn't say. Sworn to secrecy and all that."


"Whaaaat?" the kid said, clearly not okay with this. "Come on, man!"

"Ahh..." Rick hemmed and hawed for a moment, and then took a few steps closer to the kid, leaning down to get more at ear level with him as his voice lowered, but still was loud enough for anyone who was listening to overhear. "Look, if I tell you, you can't tell anybody else, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course!"

Rick smiled and nodded. "They brought us here during our Spec Ops training... it's just a regular part in most of it, but there's a couple places that are also used for paranormal military research... supposedly the whole place is haunted by the ghosts of dead soldiers who never stopped going to war... they brought us here to teach us how to deal with a psychological disadvantage."

He nodded, and patted the kid on the shoulder, before hefting one of his bags and wandering back over to Jace with a grin.

"Shall we go find our camp site?"

[Jacelyn Winters]

Jace felt his shoulder nudge her, managing to pry her eyes away from the floor of the bus long enough to look up at him and offer a bright little smile...despite the redness that had flooded into her cheeks and remained there. Thankful that the bus had finally come to a stop, finding it really hard to breath in this moment and wanting nothing more than fresh air, a place to stretch out, bounce around...be...free.

Standing up as he did, she would allow him to go first, her head tilting and an amused little grin curling upon her lips as he opened up the emergency exit, a kiss blown to the none too happy bus driver before she would allow Rick to help her down, bouncing onto the ground rather happily and skipping forward toward the luggage department.

Though once he had grabbed his bag, he would snatch up her own just as her hand reached for it, already having prepared herself for the great battle of gravity and its habit of kicking her ass. A little bewildered by his actions, though smiling none the less and bouncing along after him.

Though when he stopped, relaying that story about dead soldiers and what not, she would brighten up all the more, before looking at the students and allowing those bright eyes to go wide with a sense of fear and uncertainty. "I..I don't know Rick. I mean...I heard..." She bit her lip, a well timed little whimper given as she oh so subtly gripped the back of his shirt and pulled herself inward, hiding behind him and peeking out at the campgrounds that surrounded them.

Of course, by this point, a few of the female students who were with their boyfriends had huddled in a bit closer to them...watching her rather intently. "I heard...that this is the place those campers were found mauled to death. Supposedly, there was a group of campers, many years ago that got lost in the woods, you know..before it was a park...And well...they were forced to adapt...eating whatever they could find....breeding with one another.....Turning into these mutated... cannibalistic monsters...eating anything...anyone who crossed their paths."

She would whimper softly, glancing around only to turn her head sharply and let out a little yelp, burying her face snuggly into his shoulder and even managing to tremble slightly. "They say..n..now, their children inhabit these woods...hungry...starving for any campers that wander too far from their group...Wanting to feast on their flesh and to keep the women to...to...to breed with." A little glance cast about, grinning into his shirt at the way the students looked around in fear, not sure who to believe, but scared none the less.

"But yeah..w..we should probably set up camp. Don't want to be wandering around too much after dark and all." Nodding as she pried herself away from him and would slowly slip past him, tossing him a daring little grin, hidden from their now fearful group of campers and waving at him just slightly before bouncing off toward the campgrounds, that pert little ass of her's swaying back and forth with every step she took.

[Richard Monaghan]

Rick nodded intently at her story.

"I wish I could tell you that's just a story, but..." he shook his head somberly. "Well I wasn't going to mention it, but that's another reason why our unit was sent here. Grisly business. Lost three good men, and had to leave before anything was resolved. As far as I know, they're all still out there."

When she buried herself into his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around her, almost instinctively, as if to console her in her time of need. "There, there," he said, patting the back of her head until she pulled herself away. She tossed a grin his way, and he responded with a silent wink. Idea firmly planted. Mission, successful.

As she bounced away, Rick walked just a few paces behind her, his mirrored shades helping to hide the fact that he was staring at dat ass the entire time. The idea caused him to smile to himself. Sunglasses were wonderful creations.

"So where, exactly, are we setting up camp, anway?"

[Jacelyn Winters]

Her grin buried into his shirt as she felt his arm wrap around her, she would gasp slightly at the "realization" that he had been sent in to rid these woods of that cannibal that the students now looked about in fear for. A small snicker forced back as she pulled away, that grin the only sign of what she was really up to.

Then, as she moved away, she would saunter off, swaying her hips from side to side as she did so, just assuming that with his close proximity behind her, he was staring at her ass or at least glancing at it, possibly noting how he could catch a glimpse of her panties every now and again through that hole in the butt of her jeans. Not enough to be slutty, just enough to be a massive tease if he let his mind wander. "I think we should set up closer to the edge of the trees....That way we can have a lil privacy. I mean, I don't think they will be too anxious to sit near the tree line and wait for the cannibals."

A little snicker as she moved to the spot she had already picked out, waiting for him to lay her bag down so that she could go about TRYING to set up her tent. Not like she had ever really done so on her on before, but she could damn sure try!

[Richard Monaghan]

"And if they do..." Rick lets the thought trail off, a wry smile crossing his face for a moment before reverting to his standard neutral expression.

If he noticed the hole in the pants, he made no mention of it, simply continuing on behind her and laying out her bag for her once they reached the clearing. As she did the same, he quickly started setting up his stuff. Before anything, however, he grabbed a nearby branch and started using it as a makeshift broom, clearing away all the excess rocks, twigs and branches from where he planned to set up his own tent. Once that was done, however, he meandered over to where she was working, giving her a look before starting to sweep away the random debris from her camping area, as well.