pineslog | ( mingle ) field day + camping trip!

( mingle ) field day + camping trip!

FIELD DAY & SCHOOL TRIP

JUNE 8TH
FIELD DAY

With the current school semester coming to a close and summer vacation on the horizon, school administrators have elected to end the year on a high note with an invigorating Track and Field Day at the park, in order to better foster fitness and health in the children (outside of their government mandated physical education classes, anyway).

The event is, of course, open to the community at large, whether you have a current affiliation with the school or not. Because, well, everyone could stand to get up off their couches for an afternoon of running around in the sun. Or, in the case of residents with a particular sun allergy, under the shaded tarp canopies that dot the field here and there with healthy snacks, drinks, and some of the less expansive games available today (such as, oh, a nice sedate beanbag toss).

Wayward Pines thrives on the inclusion of all varieties of people, after all. Even those that aren't, strictly speaking, people at all.

All of the most recognizable games are available, of course: sack races, relay races, three-legged races, any sort of race you can think of, really; flag football and dodgeball with soft spongy balls to keep anyone from getting too competitive (the school nurse is on hand just in case though); a massive tug-of-war rope that spans nearly the entire field; and water balloon and blanket tosses. If you're not too sure what the latter is you can ask Linda at the makeshift juice bar and she'll be all too glad to explain for you.

Actually, on second thought, don't ask Linda anything. Don't give her the satisfaction.

JUNE 8TH - 9TH
HELLO MOTHER
HELLO FATHER

While most of the citizens of Wayward Pines disperse back to their homes or jobs as Field Day draws to a close, the students, teachers, and a small handful of volunteer chaperones simply relocate the festivities to the campground in northeastern forest for a two-night camping trip. The evening of the 8th and the first half of the 9th run smoothly enough; tents are set up, marshmallows are toasted on an open fire, sunblock and insect repellent liberally applied, a thin veil of nostalgia and bonhomie settles around the entire event and people are in generally good spirits, despite the... excitement of last month.

All in all, it's a pretty great day. Of course, something's got to give.

There's no warning, no steady build up or slow decline. On the afternoon of the 9th, between one breath and another, the power to the fence surrounding the town increases exponentially, and anyone more than 100 yards from town feels suddenly exhausted and de-powered. And unfortunately for the students and staff trying enjoy a weekend of nature and simplicity, the campground falls squarely outside of that 100 yard perimeter of safety.

The camping trip is called to an abrupt end, and most of the camping gear is left abandoned while everyone drags themselves slowly home, but perhaps even more troubling is the question that's on everyone's lips (whether they choose to risk actually saying it aloud or not): why did it happen?

And what does it mean for the future of Wayward Pines?

MOD NOTES

This is a catch-all for any and all threads pertaining to the field day or the school camping trip! This includes the point at which the camping trip is rudely interrupted by the Precautionary Measures event. You're welcome to make your own logs for the rest of the Precautionary Measures event, as there will not be a catch-all for this one. The next mod log will be going up on the 19th!

PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR TOP-LEVEL SUBJECT LINE: Character Name, date, location, and open or closed, to help keep things a bit more organized.

If you have any questions regarding this event, feel free to ask them here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's it, [ she murmurs softly, knowing she should pull away but unable to for a moment longer. Her hand finally falls from his face and she offers him a gentle smile.] How do you feel?

[ Poe catches her hand as it falls, a muscle-memory action he doesn't bother to correct. He considers the answer to her question, looking himself over with slightly exaggerated scrutiny. ] The same.

[ But-- ] We should test it.

Okay, [ she gives him a coy smile, keeping her hands in his for a moment longer.] How?

[ He's warming to the prospect. ] I dunno. Climb a tree. Climb the house? Do you have any tall ladders here? I mean I can probably manage without, but it makes things easier.

I guess you could climb the lattice that's on the back of the house that goes up to my bedroom window... You know, Romeo and Juliet style. [ Except, she wasn't sure if he'd remember that with false memories. Let's be real, Pines!Memory Caroline Forbes would have made him watch Romeo + Juliet 100x. ] It's a romance. [ Kind of.]

[ waitasecond. He grins and heads for the stairs, Caroline's hand in his. ] I forgot about the stairs.

[ DETAILS.

He practically runs to the top of the stairway, bracing himself for the reeling dizziness.

It doesn't come. It doesn't come, and Poe whoops, catching Caroline up in his arms and spinning in a tight circle. ] You did it! You did it. You're amazing, Caroline.

[ For a moment, she feels the shock of realizing that he couldn't even go upstairs without feeling dizzy. But before her heart can break, he's pulling her up the stairs with him and--

It works.

And suddenly she's spinning and he's happy. She laughs with him, grins down at him as he twirls them, her arms wrapping around his neck for support.]

It worked, [ she breathes with relief, a smile plastered on her face.] I'm glad it's good for something... good.

Me too. [ He sets her down gently, marveling a little at the fact that anyone could look at this woman and be frightened away by something as petty as species. ] Not just for my sake, either-- hey.

[ There's a thought. ] You could help soldiers, survivors--not make them forget, but I've known vets who go half-crazy just trying to sleep through a night.

[ He takes her hand and spins her like they're on a dance floor, not in an upstairs hallway. He can't help it--he's over the moon. ] A tool is just a tool, and that's all your abilities are. You get to decide what to do with them. Never mind how they've been used by other people.

PTSD-- [ she murmurs, looking at him, a little awestruck by how none of who she is now seems to phase him. How he just accepts everything about her without reservation or fear when he's only human, when she'd have freaked out herself. And then he gives her purpose? Something she can do that is good, that she can help others with instead of hurt them.

She moves with a practiced grace when he twirls her, although she's still a little dumbstruck by the moment, by the things he says, by his kindness. And she can't help the way she looks at him with all the tenderness and gratitude in the world. She can't help the way her heart skips a beat or two, the way old feelings mix with new and they swell and tighten in her chest where her heart is. And she can't help the way her hands find his face a moment later or the way she presses her mouth to his.]

[ That's the benefit of experience all around. What he's seen, where he's been, what he's done.

Somehow, with all that experience, he can't quite fathom that the look on her face is for him. There was nothing to cause it he's pretty sure. No stray memory, at least on his end.

Which means--

Then she's kissing him, and it feels different. No lust-driven intensity. Where their earlier kisses were like high-speed maneuvers in a flak-bright sky, this is...

It's like watching a meteor shower at high altitude. It's streaks of light falling around him like rain, and he relaxes against her, touching his tongue to her lower lip, reaching out to run his fingertips over the curve of her ear.

He's not as good at kissing as he is at flying, but he's pretty damn good, either way. ]

[ It's different. It's not chasing the ghost of old feelings, it's not getting lost in the past because the things he knows about her now he didn't then (were they even true in those false memories?). She isn't caught up in the confusion of what they thought they used to be.

This is real. What she's feeling for him is real. It's more than a crush, it's different from anything she's ever felt from anyone else, ever. The warmth that springs from her heart and slowly spreads throughout her entire being upon seeing him has nothing to do with the fake past they shared and everything to do with... now.

One hand slides to the back of his head, fingers curling ever-so-slightly against his scalp as her other hand moves to slide beneath his arm and clutch at his back, keeping him close now that he's kissing her back.]

[ She's strong. In another moment he would, did, does find that incredibly attractive.

(There is a competence kink that seems to run in his family, both blood and found.)

But the difference between this kiss and the others has his focus. Adrenaline rush, the quickening pulse, sense of risk redoubled. It means something, he's letting it mean something, he wants it to mean something. Which means what?

Poe falls into love the way people fall into bed after a long day. Love is where his heart rests, and he loves the galaxy and nearly everything in it with the passion that most direct toward a single being or set of beings.

It's directing that passion toward a single being that he's always had trouble with. It's giving over the darker parts of himself, admitting to the things he fears, being with someone in the particular way that his parents were with each other. He feels and has always felt the ghost at his father's side, a separate entity from the mother he knew.

It's why, as he holds her, he also draws away from the kiss.

He doesn't say anything, because he can't think of anything to say.

My mother would like you, is what he thinks. He thinks it, and he hopes that she can read past the borderline panic starting to cycle up in his mind. ] I'm....

[ His mouth is forming words, but he is not sure what they are. ] I have no idea what I'm doing.

Uh, the way my lips are tingling and my legs feel a little like jelly tells me otherwise. [ She says lightly, softly, catching the undercurrent of his words lifting it, them, to something a little lighter for just another moment.

But she's the one who made it serious, she's the one that kissed him the way she did and she's the one who needs to steer this ship, it seems, because Poe seems without direction at the moment, if his words mean what she thinks they do.

Caroline is different than Poe. Caroline gives her heart away without reservation, freely without too much effort. But her love is fierce and loyal, it is patient once she gets over the impatience of falling in love. It doesn't matter how many times it becomes someone else's, it stays full and steadfast even in the face of horrible things.

And because of that when she gives her heart away, it usually comes back in tattered pieces.

She takes in a breath, her expression turning more tender as her fingers stroke the back of his neck.] It's okay. For once, you don't need to. [ He doesn't need to know what he's doing and she isn't really sure what she's doing either. This could get messy, this place may not allow it. She may end up hurt in the end or maybe he will or maybe both of them.

But she smiles softly in the face of that uncertainty, a control freak giving up the reigns (oh, how far she's come from that neurotic, insecure cheerleader). ]

I really doubt this is the first time you've flown by the seat of your pants... so to speak.

Actually, funny story....

[ This is the part where Jyn would smack him upside the head, probably.

He lets the joke drop, rearranging the loose curls around her face, starting to marvel at the fact that they've decided that he, himself, not some dream of himself, that he's allowed to touch her this way. Mystified by the feel of her fingers against his neck like a promise that for today, things won't fall apart.

So he kisses her. Forehead, cheek, temple, teasingly on the tip of her nose. Like he's trying to find somewhere she won't accept it. Then her lips, with the same gentleness she showed him, the memory of meteor showers in his head, the desire to make her feel that same kind of wonder.

Still scary. But he's flown through worse. ]

[ With every kiss, her smile widens just a little more. With every breath shared between them, she feels her heart flutter and a blush bloom on her cheeks. And when he kisses her, she kisses him back, sweet and tender as she takes a tiny step forward, closer to him.

But the kiss has to break a moment later and she knows she needs to say something because she's Caroline Forbes and that's the kind of person she is. Her voice is soft, barely above a whisper but she knows he's listening.]

This is real.

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( mingle ) field day + camping trip!

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