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 Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 8:48 am
"Who hasn't." He replied dryly, letting out a small chuckle. As Chance explained his actual tent experience, Ripley stretched his arms above his head and leaned back far enough to crack a few of his vertebrae. The fresh air was relaxing, and he had always approved of remote places; so far, this was turning into a great trip for him. His current company was nice, too.
"Sounds good." Ripley observed the spot that Chance had picked out, and began to make his way over to it with the tent bag. "This is a four season tent." He explained as he took the parts out of the bag, which ended up being a bright orange and white canvas and interlocking poles.
"We should clear the snow." He frowned at the spot, his gloved hands on his lips. Had hadn't brought a shovel. That was fairly stupid, now that he thought about it. "We should start digging." With a sigh, he dug his foot in the ground and swept it to the side to clear a small space.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:37 am
He liked the fact that he'd made Ripley laugh, even if it was small; there was something very satisfying in catching one of those rare moments in which the other man let his guard down, even if it was just a slight amount. The stoicism was why Chance liked him in the first place, everything else was just an added bonus.
There was no one else around, and it was freezing; but if he kept moving, he didn't feel the cold too much. "What's a four season tent?" Chance asked, and then it clicked. "Oh, you mean, like, it's capable of handling all four seasons? That's pretty awesome."
His eyes followed towards where Ripley was looking, and a small laugh escaped Chance's throat. Obediently, he began pushing around the snow, grateful that he'd worn boots, and hopped from place to place, trying to clear a bit off. It took a few minutes, but at least the movement meant warmth, and Chance put his gloved hands on his hips, surveying their work.
"So...what goes down first, then?"
A pause.
"In a strictly tent-sense, I mean."
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:54 am
Chance had figured out what he meant, and so all he did was nod to confirm that he was correct and that yes, it was pretty awesome. It took them little to no time to clear a modest amount of room for the tent itself, but as Chance surveyed the work, Ripley had gone back to where he had left the tent pieces, pulling free a ground cloth for the tent itself. He brought it over and laid it down in the middle of the snowy walls, able to leave it where it was thanks to the current lack of wind. He did the same with the tent itself, and laid it out as a blueprint.
Chance made a terrible joke, and Ripley stared at him for a moment, as stoic as ever, before giving a shrug and a thin smile.
"Well, since you mean the tent...take these." He instructed, holding out a bundle of poles, semi-connected with an elastic cord. "And put them together, like so." Gloved hands locked one of the poles back together, and then slid and locked it into place, forcing the tent to stand lazily and awkwardly. "Yours go that way." He gestured to make his point, then returned to the equipment to take the last things they needed; the stakes. Half were given to Chance - rather, half were tossed near Chance, on the other side of the half-formed tent. "To secure it to the ground." Which seemed obvious, but seeing as his actual tent experience was slim...
Then he got back to work.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:59 am
Chance just returned Ripley's dry stare with a completely innocent smile of his own.
"Yes, sir," he said, reaching out and taking the poles. They were fumbled for a bit, as he tried to figure out just how the heck they even worked, but eventually - and after watching Ripley for a few minutes - he managed to get one in the way it was supposed to, the poles clicking into place.
"Cool," said Chance, looking pleased with his own handiwork, reaching with gloved hands to pick up the stakes. "Are you sure we won't need these for like, any vampires or anything?"
Another winning smile was given to Ripley before Chance got back to work, and eventually managed to make the tent actually stand.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:34 am
"You can keep a few if you want." Ripley mused, though he shook his head slowly at the idea. Vampires. Really, Chance? "But I'd be more concerned about the Wendigo, or Yeti." He took up a stake of his own, kneeling to put it in place and used his body weight to push it into the ground. It was a lot more difficult than he imagined, but he wasn't about to summon Wilhelm to use as a hammer, and of the things he had forgotten to pack, a small mallet was one of them.
"Don't worry, I will protect you." He promised with a dry sneer, as he went to work on the second of his stakes. He had done a bang-up job of it last time, if that inspired any confidence at all. Which it shouldn't have. Maybe there was something to the stake thing, but...well, if it came to that, they wouldn't be too far away.
"Tah dah." He fanned his hands out in the most deadpan jazzhands known to man. "We have a tent." Which meant they could get everything else from the car now, which was his next goal as he made his way back to the vehicle, and their no doubt already freezing things. He pulled his from the car and waited for Chance to do the same, and once he did he kicked the door closed and trudged back to their tent, opening it up and making his way inside with his things.
He scraped his boots off outside, and took them off without touching foot in the tent itself. They were left in the vestibule, where they would probably be cold forever, but at least wouldn't be snowed on. He moved in enough to give Chance space to get comfortable in their two-person tent, and once he settled he dug around his bags for a portable heater, immediately turning it on and setting it in the open to let it do its thing.
"We've got a few hours to waste." He told the other man, as he took his time to take out a couple heat-trapping sleeping bags, passing one along and keeping the other for himself.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:16 am
He gave Ripley a smile and continued working, hammering the stakes into place with the heel of his foot once he was standing again. It took a bit of time to actually get them in deep enough that they wouldn't pull out at the slightest amount of wind, but once they were secured, Chance hopped backwards, brushing his hands together.
"My hero," he said dramatically, and grinned.
And approximately five minutes later, there was now a nice, decently sized place for them to camp out in. Ripley climbed in first and then Chance dropped down and crawled in after, making sure to kick off his boots before they actually got too far in; he didn't want to track snow everywhere, but like Ripley, he didn't want them to be snowed on either.
Inside, it was marginally less cold, but the heater made it much better. Chance huddled beside Ripley and held his hands out towards it, exhaling a satisfied breath.
"Sounds good," he said with a laugh, and instead of actually laying out his sleeping bag, just temporarily piled it onto his lap to warm his legs. "What do we do until this mysterious time?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:42 pm
Warmth was filling the tent, but the white haired man stubbornly kept his coat on, as if fearing the heater would go out at any moment; it wouldn't, of course. It was a very good little machine. In the end, the only thing he removed was his gloves, and even then they were replaced with this much thinner everyday ones that he even wore on the warm island. Soon his toque would join the fold of discarded clothing, and he took a moment to run his hands through his hair, loosening the flattened strands.
"Whatever you want." Ripley offered generously, and with a shrug. He had drinks for them, but he imagined those were best left for later, after Chance had his opportunity to see the night sky completely sober. Truth be told he even had a book, but that was for if and when the other man decided to do something solitary. He mulled over some options in his head, but none saw air.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:46 pm
Chance's eyes flickered sideways, watching as Ripley moved around. The white hair still intrigued him; it should have aged him, made him look older than he was, but it strangely kept a very straightforward and youthful air without being overbearing. Ironically, it only added to the serious, stoic personality that Chance had long associated with Ripley, and it was actually rather appealing.
"Well, if whatever we're here for is later," he said with a smile. "Then how about we just relax for now? I only got about four hours of sleep yesterday - " A gross overestimate, really, it was more like two. " - so I could take a nap; but then that would just leave you sitting here bored, wouldn't it?" he added, frowning a little. "I don't want you to be bored, that wouldn't be any fun."
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:05 pm
Ripley could only stare. Four hours? If he wanted Chance to stay awake well into the night, that simply wouldn't do!
"Nap." He insisted, the single word coming out as a near order. "I brought a book...or I could leave for a little bit. Get more edible food." Unlike the MREs that he had brought - he was pretty sure he had seen restaurants and a grocery store in the nearby town. "If you are comfortable with being alone." They could always leave to eat later, of course. It wasn't necessary that he go now.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:09 pm
His eyebrows rose at the insistent tone.
"As you wish," said Chance, and smiled. "I'm comfortable being alone, don't worry. I'll be fine if you want to go and get some food, seriously."
He dragged the sleeping bag off of his legs, giving a little whine of protest as the layer of heat was pulled away - but then he spread it out properly, not too close to Ripley's, but not too far away either, because it was closer to the heater and because closer meant more warmth. Unzipping it, Chance shifted around and then shimmied down into the sleeping bag, glancing up at Ripley with an amused smile on his face.
"Wake me up when you want me," he said lightly, and then curled up and closed his eyes.
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:35 pm
By now, Ripley imagined he shouldn't be surprised by Chance's choice of words, and yet he still was, almost consistently. He shook his head slowly in the face of the amused smile, the motion hopefully hiding one of his own.
"Sure thing. Rest well." And with that he left the tent, collecting his boots, winter gloves and toque before heading to the car. The ignition starting and the thick crunch of snow signalled his departure from the camp site.
He wasted time in town, a small one called Healy. He found proper food, the majority that could be eaten without much preparation and a few more that needed a fire, and water. Some items were purchased for the off-chance they would be needed, and he even collected some firewood and topped the car's tank up just in case before he returned. Barely two hours had passed, and the day was only just starting to fade.
In an effort to not wake Chance, he parked the car further up the road and walked the rest of the way, leaving items that could survive overnight in the cold - particularly the meat foods - locked safely within. When he crawled back into the fairly toasty tent, he did it as quietly as he could and did everything to minimize his disturbing of the peace, leaving his boots once more in the vestibule and removing his gloves and hat.
Once he was settled on his own sleeping bag, he paused to listen to the stillness around them, and hoped he hadn't woken the other man up just yet.kuuropii I'm really good at tags about absolutely nothing
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:44 pm
For someone who had not ever camped outdoors - and if he had, he didn't remember it - Chance slept relatively well, though if not a little fitfully. Every now and then he would doze awake, blink a few times, and then drift right back off, lost within a series of dreams he didn't remember. Once or twice he was aware of the sound of the zipper of the tent moving, the soft scuffle of feet as Ripley climbed back in, but Chance was still drowsy enough that he didn't stir. He exhaled a breath and curved himself a little closer to the heater, lashes fluttering against his cheek.
Chance remained asleep, even with the slight disturbance, black curly hair falling over his forehead in messy swipes.enoh love matches ur tag about nothing with a tag about nothing
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:00 pm
Chance's breathing evened back out again, signalling sleep, and so Ripley took the opportunity to look at him. Eye contact was something he did naturally, but it was very rare that he actually looked at someone. He studied him for a moment, from the mass of black curls that made him look much younger than he was to the way he subconsciously curled towards the heater.
He then looked away, and quietly slid into his own sleeping bag, laying on his back to stare distantly above him in the small space he had. His glasses were removed and set aside, safe and out of harm's way before he closed his own eyes to take a small nap himself.
Ripley never did nap excessively. He was awake again an hour later, and by then there was no natural light easing through the tent. He glanced to the side and listened; it sounded like Chance was still sleeping, which worked for him. After a small quiet struggle to sit up and find his glasses he checked his watch, finding that it was late enough to indeed be dark out there - and hopefully, clear - which meant...
"Chance." He said softly, not wanting to startle the younger man. Ripley leaned down in the modest space between their sleeping bags and continued in a somewhat lighter voice. "Wake up, I need you."
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:09 pm
He didn't know how long he slept, or even what he dreamed. Everything seemed to melt together into a long, muddled stretch of sights, sounds, and colors, blending and ebbing into the spaces between sleep and awakening.
He thought he heard a voice, and for one confusing minute, he almost believed he was back at his house, back at the boy's home, back elsewhere. Chance forced his eyes open, blinking blearily at the unfamiliar surroundings, at the white haired man that was leaning towards him. The pieces slowly began putting themselves together, Chance exhaling a sigh.
"That's what I like to hear," he said, sounding drowsily amused, one arm lifting, a sleepy hand trying to pat Ripley's face but missing slightly and only grazing. Chance yawned and pushed himself up into a sitting position, his hair completely ruffled, the curls all over the place. It was much darker than before, but the tent was warm and cozy, and Chance rubbed at his jaw.
"So. Now that I know it for real - what do you need me for?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:27 pm
Ripley smirked, Chance's drowsy reach missing as he tilted his head away, leaving nothing but the graze of fingers against his jaw. The other man sat up and so he sat back, reaching into one of the nearby shopping bags to free a protein bar, tossing it on Chance's lap.
"I need you awake, for starters. If you can eat, eat." He'd attempt a fairly real dinner later, but for now, snacks. He had one of his own, because he was starting to get hungry. "And then I need you to get ready to go outside." In between bites of his snack he was putting his gloves on, surprisingly eager to see the night's sky - and to see Chance's reaction to it.
"Ah. Slept well?" He paused before he asked, as if realizing he had forgotten his formalities. Even between friends, they were a staple of his, to prevent him from slipping too far into his own little world.
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