The Campgrounds, Just Outside 'Can't Sleep Clowns Will Eat Me' | Sunday Morning

[nottrivial]

Given recent circumstances, Alec found that it took him a little bit of time to get to the campgrounds. Not only did he have a heavy backpack to lug along with him that was stuffed almost exclusively with black clothes and arrows, but he also had a dog and a cat in tow, both of whom were a little rowdy today. Corgi Sparkle kept running ahead, apparently trying to incite Velcro the cat to race him (possibly? Alec wasn't actually sure what the objective was), while Velcro mostly seemed to want to play-fight, which was more than Sparkle had bargained for.

It was trying, to say the least.

Finally he reached this... terrible-looking inflatable structure-type thing, but before Alec could even take the time to be horrified by where he was going to be living for the next two weeks, Velcro either tackled Sparkle or tried to give him a very aggressive hug. Alec sat down on the... entryway with some difficulty, pinched the bridge of his nose and let them fight.

Two seconds later, they were over it and peacefully inspecting branches together. That was fast.

[[open to bouncy-housemates and passers-by!]]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

This whole camping thing was annoying. So Natalie shouldn't really have been surprised that one of the very first things that happened after she'd made it to the campgrounds was losing sight of Mr. Moxy.

Peter, of course, has noticed the cat taking off. He'd just failed to care.

And Mox was not sorry, either. He sniffed around this bouncy castle with what seemed to be great curiosity. Because for some reason this one was much more interesting than Natalie's one.

[nottrivial]

Well, now Velcro had to investigate this new cat. Potential new friend! He had to be approached!

In an annoying way, granted. Sorry, Mox.

[whenshewasnice]

And poor Moxy had already had to deal with Peter the fox for a couple of days. So he was already seeming wary and suspicious of this newcomer.

Backing away a bit, too.

Maybe Natalie was a terrible influence when it came to socializing.

[nottrivial]

Oh! That meant Moxy was trying to play, right?

Velcro tried batting his face. Nicely! Like friends did!

[whenshewasnice]

... Moxy did not want to be friends with cats who tried batting his face. No.

He hissed a warning.

[nottrivial]

That hiss had Alec actually looking up from his phone, to find a cat that was a member of his menagerie about to fight with a cat that definitely wasn't.

Well. Best not to let Sparkle's cat get squished.

"Velcro?" he called. "Maybe don't?"

Velcro decided that now was the time to initiate snuggle time with his new friend. Because.

[whenshewasnice]

Well, if nothing else, Velcro was making Peter seem a little less annoying by comparison? Moxy hissed again, and this time also took a swipe at Velcro. Because that would teach him.

He was not interested in snuggling.

[nottrivial]

Oh dear.

Alec was a Shadowhunter, and had fought many a demon without wimping out. However, these disagreeing cats seemed to be a little bit out of his league.

Corgi-Sparkle seemed to find this objectionable, but also very funny.

After a moment or two of considering what to do, Alec went with glancing around the camping area before loudly inquiring, "Has someone lost a cat?"

Meanwhile, Velcro was giving Moxy sad eyes. Why had his new friend betrayed him like that?

[whenshewasnice]

... That was Alec's voice, wasn't it? Of course it was. Natalie hadn't been far away, and she turned up soon enough from behind one of the other castles, a fox trailing some feet behind her.

Moxy hissed one last time, just in case. "Oh come on, Mox."

[nottrivial]

Behold the look of total irritation and unmerited non-shock on Alec's face when it became apparent whose cat this was.

"You might want to keep a closer eye on your cat," he said irritably. "If he's going to go around starting fights."

Meanwhile, Sparkle the corgi headed over to investigate the fox that was with Nat. He wasn't looking for friends, but, well, how often did you see someone with a fox?

[whenshewasnice]

Peter the fox looked uninterested. Figured.

Natalie just looked mild. Neutral. All that stuff. Moxy flitted over to her and rubbed his side against her leg. "He doesn't go around starting fights, Alec."

[nottrivial]

"Seems like he does," Alec pointed out. Snottily and all that. "I'm watching this cat for a friend and I'd rather not have to explain why some other cat came and attacked him."

Yeah, no, Alec. That was not what had happened.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie didn't even say anything to that. Just gave him a silent look with a raised eyebrow.

Really? That was what he was going with? She knew her pet a little better than that.

[nottrivial]

"What?"

Alec didn't know what to make of that look. Maybe if her expressions weren't all so similar...

[whenshewasnice]

Maybe if he wasn't so judgment-blind...

Had Peter the fox just snorted?

"My cat didn't start a fight."

[nottrivial]

Alec just gestured to Velcro, who was now calmly napping near some dandelions.

"It looks like he did."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie gestured to her feet where Moxy was just as calmly batting at her shoelace.

"Does it?"

[nottrivial]

"Yes."

Despite his minimal amount of evidence, Alec felt quite confident about that.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie held back an eye roll. "You're just saying that because you'd rather blame me than accept any other possibility."

Wasn't that how it usually went?

[nottrivial]

"I'm not blaming you," Alec said, mostly because she had been kind of spot-on there and he felt the urge to disagree with her. "I'm blaming your cat."

Which was absolutely the same thing as blaming Natalie, since he was here telling her to stop letting Moxy roam about unsupervised. Details.

[whenshewasnice]

"You're blaming me. And you're doing it because you can't admit that I'm right." Come on now, it was obvious. "Nice to know some things haven't changed even with Jace gone."

For a given value of nice. Her tone was pretty dry there.

[nottrivial]

Well. That was annoying.

"Did you think I'd suddenly become fond of you?" he asked, with an edge to his voice that was unnecessarily condescending.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie's answering tone, meanwhile, was nothing but utterly neutral. She'd reined her annoyance back in.

"No, and I don't need you to."

[nottrivial]

"Then I don't see why it's surprising." He crossed his arms. "Sorry to disappoint."

[whenshewasnice]

"Don't try to put words in my mouth," she told him evenly, while Peter parked his fox butt down beside her to idly observe this conversation. "I didn't say I was surprised or disappointed. But there's a difference between expecting fondness and expecting basic civility, instead of carrying on some grudge that was pointless already when it began."

[nottrivial]

"It's not uncivil to ask you to keep an eye on your pets," Alec insisted stubbornly. "And I wouldn't call any grudge that I have against you pointless. I have more than enough of a reason."

Remember that time with the beating Alec up? In a whole different universe where lots of people were evil? That counted as a legit reason, right?

[whenshewasnice]

"Which is?"

No seriously, she was curious.

(Spoiler: she wasn't going to think that counted.)

[nottrivial]

Well, Alec thought it did. But Alec thought a lot of things.

"You're - were - a bad influence on someone I care a lot about," he said steadily. "And you did attack me once."

There were other reasons, but mostly of the 'and you replaced me as a big sibling' and 'and you're a girl!' varieties, and even Alec knew that those didn't sound very convincing at all.

[whenshewasnice]

"In an alternate universe," Natalie replied, dryly. That was all she thought she needed to deflect that one. That hadn't been her. Hadn't been him, either.

"And what exactly did I ever so badly influence Jace to do?"

That boy was a bad influence all on his own. Come on.

[nottrivial]

"You distracted him." From all that demon-hunting he didn't do here. "And talked about me to him. Negatively. And whatever you did in the alternate universe is still something you're capable of."

He shuffled his feet a bit.

"And it's none of your concern, anyway. I'm not asking you why you don't like me."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie was predictably unimpressed by his reasons. "Would you do your best to adore someone who you were specifically warned about in advance?"

[nottrivial]

Well, they weren't very good reasons.

"...What?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Jace knows you, Alec," Natalie told him, simply. "He told me you were going to have a problem with me before you even showed up."

[nottrivial]

"Oh." Alec wasn't sure whether that should sting or not, but it sort of did, and it showed for a moment on his face. "Well, then, I can't imagine why you're so curious about something you already knew."

He glanced away, wondering if getting out of this conversation was an option at all.

[whenshewasnice]

Well, Natalie was crouching down to pick up Moxy. Rolling her eyes but mostly hiding that.

"Look, Alec," she said, straightening up again. "He's your parabatai. There was never anything to really worry about."

They were bound to each other. For life. Meanwhile, she already felt like she'd lost him. Like she was slowly losing most people.

[nottrivial]

"Well." Alec said, sounding awkwardly stilted, "Thank you for the reminder."

He uncrossed his arms. Sparkle padded over, apparently just to rub the side of his head against Alec's hand.

After a moment or two, he decided a subject-change was called for.

"Who's the fox?"

[whenshewasnice]

Peter perked up, if only a little bit. He was still not terribly interested in the conversation, but more than in the past moment or two.

"Peter Wiggin," Natalie replied. "Slightly less of a teen politician right now."

[nottrivial]

"Oh. I think I've met him."

This animal transformations thing was kind of an epidemic, huh?

He nodded toward the corgi. "This is Sparkle."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie glanced at the dog. "Your boyfriend Sparkle?"

There probably weren't any others by that name around, were they?

"Hmm. A lot of that going around, then."

[nottrivial]

"Apparently."

Sigh.

"They're not going to be very popular in these things."

Whatever these castle things were called.

[whenshewasnice]

"In the bluncy castles," Natalie supplied, not the least bit surprised he didn't know that. "No, I guess not. Sharp nails and all."

[nottrivial]

"Plus a tendency to skitter." At least Sparkle had one. "Oh well, I guess."

[whenshewasnice]

"Oh well," Natalie echoed. Peter looked mildly affronted. As much as a fox could, anyway. "We've had worse."

Anyone complained about the animals, you could always point out things were still better than something like the dungeons.

[nottrivial]

"By far," Alec agreed.

He swung his arms a bit. This conversation had taking an interestingly civil turn.