Manbearpig

THE NIGHT BEFORE

You wouldn't think packing up would be so hard when you'd never unpacked in the first place, but she'd been scrambling around the apartment all night in a buzzing panic. The Headmaster had warned she might be picked up for a mission to keep up appearances, but this had to be a sick joke. Evelyn picked at the label on her vodka bottle, picked up with her first Guardian paycheck, things laid out across the bedroom floor. A box or two of her things had been lost in the slow-burning fire that you could call her "move."

Not much of value was lost. Some ugly dresses in dreary colors which she wouldn't mourn. But she was missing all the spring clothes she'd need for a week-long romp through Yellowstone. No shorts, tank tops; layers and heavy coats got her by fine here, but she knew Montana weather better.

Jace's muffled golden voice rang out from the shower. She slipped the bottle into her bag and crept out of the room.

Bigfoot in Yellowstone. The Headmaster knew that was a hoax. She knew it was a hoax. Jace knew it was a hoax. And when he put it together that she needed a sponsor for this first field mission of hers... Well. Here they were.

Evelyn paused outside the door. She hadn't so much as taken a peek inside. It was forbidden territory. But she could only imagine the stranger's wardrobe... She counted on Jace not to notice. Peeking around, she cracked open the door, padding across the floor like a burglar to start nosing through her drawers. Okay; she couldn't ignore the dull wave of guilt, but there was a raw pettiness that kept her going. She wanted so snoop through her shit, sue her.

Hey, this was her secret mission, wasn't it? She'd spent this whole time gazing out windows, pondering on how long she could stretch out the Headmaster's patience before he relieved her of her duties. How could she spy on somebody who wasn't here? Evelyn slid open her drawers, picking through socks and undershirts, trying to pick out anything that wasn't black, sliding open a drawer full of lingerie and slamming it back closed again. "Sheesh..."

On the brink of defeat, she flung open the closet, sweeping through the black coats and picking through the blouses, the professional button-ups, the ballroom gowns. She was getting tangled in a black trenchcoat's sleeves when something solid flipped out and landed on her toes. "Ack! Ow!" Evelyn kicked out, reflexively, the tip of her foot smashing into a black shoulder bag; equally as solid. As she fell back, cursing, the bag spilled out over her shins.

"Wh-what the heck...?"

A dozen phones fell out across her feet. One, its screen cracked almost beyond reading, lit up beneath her touch.

[29 unread messages from Aegisthus]

YELLOWSTONE, WYOMING

They were hiking over rugged hills, overlooking a green valley spattered with wildflowers. The two of them had hit the tourist-y stuff early, walked the boards with the rest, watched Old Faithful, and then set out on their 'official Guardian business.' She kept pace behind him, knuckles white around the straps of her backpack, a big floppy hat over her head to keep the sun out of her eyes. Evelyn was already covered in a sheet of sweat.

When did I get out of shape...? She did her best to mask her heavy breathing.

It'd felt like it'd been forever since he'd been in a place like this. Sure, Europe was beautiful, and he'd visited all the beautiful, architectural, and very crowded places in his time there; well, there was something about just being out in the open and in the middle of nature that he couldn't get enough of. Even if he had to share most of the day with other small families and crowds, most of them trailed away throughout the day, and he could now say that he saw some of the most beautiful hot springs of his time.

And bison? When did you ever see any bison, ever, just running around? Never.

To him, it was a long needed vacation after dealing with people in black and schools blowing up and trying to fake his way through being some sort of teacher. Things here were simple and the weather was never better.

His company was quiet, and he felt sort of bad - like she was dragged out here in a way, but it was good for the both of them. "We're almost at the campsite," he smiled, pulling a water bottle out of the side of his backpack and tossing it her way. "You're not going to make me do all the setting up, are you?"

Jason had found them a more secluded, singular site - away from a lot of the crowds. All the better for hunting big foot, of course.

"O-only... most of it." Her hand flashed out to catch the bottle, but she flinched away, and she just swatted it down to her feet instead. Cha cha real smooth

He was gentlemen enough not to laugh, at least not loud, a grin flashing across instead as he stopped and turnes, pickimg the bottle back up to hand it to her. "I might have to get you up the hill myself at this rate too."

The word slipped out from her mouth without her thinking. "Please." It felt so natural to joke like this. But she wasn't joking.

Jason laughed and leaned in a bit closer. "Alright," he teased, testing her. "But you have to carry me back down."

She wouldn't carry him. The way he closed the distance made the hair on her arms stand up. "Deal. B-but I'll roll you down."

They followed the trail until it became a fox-track, up onto a green ridge secluded from the rest of civilization. Just him, and her, and a bottle of vodka, all alone in the wilderness. As promised, Evelyn let him do the hard parts with the stakes and the poles, and she played the helpless assistant. It was nice to watch him work.

Her stomach churned thinking back to the cracked phone on the closet floor, and the cryptic messages she'd found on there. Not that she'd been expecting it, but she actually had something to give to the Headmaster. To warn Jace. He said he might be in danger. So what game was she playing? Which one was she supposed to play? She couldn't exactly break it to him easy.

So for now, she just smiled and enjoyed the vacation, taking a healthy drink from Jace's water bottle.

One last swing toss and the last blanket had found it's way into the tent. It was a bit messy in there, but they'd only be out camping for a day or two, they could always sort out the details later. It hadn't been his plan for them to share a small enclosure, but it would still be better than having to hike a whole two tent set ups all day. He wasn't sure either of them had the energy or patience for that.

When he'd finally finished, he crashed down in front of the open flap, planting his ass into the earth and wiping the sweat off his forehead. Finally, he could start to enjoy the view. "It's so quiet up here," he mused, golden eyes meeting hers. "What do you think? Bigfoot gonna trample through here?"

Har, har, har. She plopped down onto the sleeping bag, hoping he couldn't pick up her sped up breathing. "I-I... I d-don't th-think we have to worry ab-about that." He knew that better than she did. "But I'll—I'll k-keep a lookout."

He smirked, letting himself relax and half-lay down across his own sleeping back, propped up by his elbow. "Well, what should we do then in the meantime?" Jason reached for the water bottle back, taking in a few large gulps.

Oh shit he had no idiea

She hitched her breathh. "See t-the sights. Enjoy the v-vacation."

He smirked. “Well I can't keep carrying you around the whole park." And besides, they had spent the whole day sight seeing already. Jason yearned to stay a little closer to base. “No ideas? Have you ever camped before?"

Her mind flashed back to Glacier and Yellowstone, and bundling up in small tents in the Arctic, and she just turned her gaze downwards, smiling sheepishly. "S-sorta. Th-then... y-you tell me, if y-y-you're so full of ideas..."

What were they supposed to do? Hunt for Bigfoot? She flicked her eyes up at him, and then back into her lap again, tracing circles in the skin of her calf with the tips of her nails

Jason let out a deep, thoughtful sigh, staring out of the tent opening and to the surrounding wilderness. "Cake by the river, obviously." He smiled back over at her. Well, this was still official Guardian business, and he was supervising her - there had to be something he could show her how to do, anything except how to catch a Bigfoot.

He was caught with a short loss for words, tired from setting up camp, lost and not wanting to bore her. After everything that happened, he at least wanted to treat her to the trip of her life. "Or we stay here, relax, let the monster come to us."

They had better luck of finding Bigfoot than finding a cake, so that didn't leave them with many options, did it? "That sounds pe-perfect to me." Her head was spinning. Her hands felt numb. Evelyn leaned back, fiddling at a flannel button. "I'm n-n-not carrying you a-anywhere."