Dresden Academy

Who: Abernathy, Adelaide, and the Ford family
When: July 2011, over Summer Break
Where: Hadley-Luzerne, NY
What: SFW version: Abernathy's sister Bernadine invites Adelaide camping, and reveals the devious plan she and her identical twin have hatched. NSFW version: Adelaide sleeps with Abernathy and all her siblings.
Rating: SFW. Language.

It seemed that the truce called between Abernathy and Adelaide was a genuine affair, as the peace had been lasting, if not a little strained. That first weekend of respite had passed without incident, and during the following summer Adelaide found herself the surprised recipient of a polite owl extending her an offer to again join the Ford family for a few days. She accepted almost immediately, thanking Abernathy for the invitation (though she had little doubt Bernadine would have been behind the idea) and asked when she should arrive and what to bring.

A few days later, she Apparated onto their doorstep with a backpack slung over her shoulder and the hope that this visit would be as pleasant an experience as the last.

Bernadine greeted her cheerily and showed her in. It might have been the same drill as before, but Abernathy insisted they take a tent and go camping in the woods behind the house. "At least a night," Abby said. "Camping is like... Our favorite thing to do."

At the moment Abernathy was in the backyard, laying on her back and looking at clouds. Tim was out behind the woodshed, helping to chop of the wood their dad couldn't use for furniture; it would be kindling or fire wood for the camp later.

"You brought a sleeping bag?" Bernadine checked, showing Adelaide a pile of camp gear the kids had piled into the hallway. They'd be riding their four wheelers in so they had to pack light, though a bit more than they would if they were hiking into the woods.

“I brought everything you told me,” Addy assured her with a grin. The backpack didn’t look all that huge, but it was heavy thanks to the charm that made it deep enough to hold just about anything she tried to stuff in it. She set it down with the other stuff. “I don’t know how you talked her into this, B. I can’t wait.”

"She'll never admit it, but I think she kind of misses you." To which Bernadine giggled and then led her to the backyard where the other two were hanging around.

"Hi bitch," Abernathy said, barely peeking toward the backdoor.

Timmy chucked a small hunk of wood at his sister, which landed on her stomach and bounded off. "Hi Addy, nice to see you again."

She grinned at the exchanges, business as usual. “I’m feeling the love,” she smirked at Abernathy, before trying not to turn a goofy smile in Tim’s direction. They’d stayed in quite regular contact, and had gotten together a few times to hang out but she still found her stomach in knots at the sight of him. She was becoming rather attached.

Tim grinned back, though he turned his attention back to the wood pile before Abernathy noticed.

"We're almost ready to go," Abernathy commented from the ground. She'd already packed a cooler for them and strapped it down to one of the four wheelers. "Captain America decided we needed more wood."

Tim didn't bother responding. "You could always pack the rest of the shit on the transportation."

Abernathy huffed at him and then rolled to stand up. "Oh fine then." She nodded to Bernadine to get back into the house and help her carry the rest of their gear out back. In a few minutes everything was secure and Tim had finally finished, packing up the wood in little bundles and tucking it in here and there. He could always chop more wood up at the site.

It was a little place they'd camped before, far enough from the house that they wouldn't have Bill stumbling over them, but close enough that if they ran into trouble it wouldn't take them too long to get home again. On the four wheelers it would take less than a half hour to get there.

There was of course the usual scuffle over who would ride with whom, when Bernadine pointed out that Abernathy would probably punch Adelaide off the back of hers just for old time's sake and that it would be so much better if the twins rode together and Addy rode with Tim.

Abernathy climbed on her four wheeler and grumbled while Bernadine settled in behind her. Tim couldn't help a gleeful little smirk as he settled on to his and waited for Adelaide to join him. "It's not too far in," he promised, though he intended to enjoy every moment of her arms wrapped around him.

“Bumpy? I ride a broom,” she teased, shifting up behind him and curling her arms around his waist after a quick glance in the twins’ direction. “This is nothing.” She could probably have courted a compromise and held onto his shoulders (or at least not put her arms so low) but it was an easy excuse to touch him and she wasn’t going to pass it up while she could claim an innocent reason.

The ride was a bit bumpy, they had to take a slightly different route because of a downed tree. The camp was a bit messy; they hadn't been up yet to clean it. There was a rough stone fire pit in the ground and a small clearing in the trees for their tents. Down a small embankment was the Hudson River; a thin path lead down to it where they could drop in their kayaks, though Tim hadn't brought his up. He could always go back and get it if they wanted to play in the river.

Bernadine set about picking up fallen sticks and tidying up the camp area while Tim climbed a tree to tie up their food bucket. Abernathy dug through their packs for the tent. They'd be sharing a four man tent which she was easy enough to set up, but she needed help fitting the rods in and securing it to the ground with stakes. "Want to lend a hand?" she asked Adelaide.

“You can even have both,” she replied, chucking the armful of debris she had collected with Bernadine off into the trees. AB probably wouldn’t give her a pole to the face on purpose if she wanted help setting it up. She took up one and started in at the other end of the tent from her.

Abernathy smirked at her, but managed to help her set up the tent without incident. She took out the small camp hammer and started pounding in stakes. "You can toss our junk into the tent if you want. We've got to set up our mats and sleeping bags," she instructed rather helpfully while Bernadine started setting pieces of kindling in the cleaned out fire pit and Tim shimmied his way down the tree.

Well, chucking things about was something she could do. “Do you want me to put everything in there, or just the sleep stuff for now?” She asked as she started grabbing things off the four wheelers and carting them over to the tent.

"Toss it all in," she replied. They could sort it out later.

"No, not all of it," Tim said rushing to Adelaide's side. He set a few things aside, like the cooler and the collapsible chairs he'd packed for around the camp fire. He helped her set the rest of the things in the tent and Bernadine went in to start setting out sleeping bags in a semblance of organization.

Tim found some rope and hung up a line between two trees behind their tent. There were already two hooks embedded into the trees for just such a purpose. Then he dug into his bag and brought out a roll of toilet paper. "Abby might have forgotten to mention it. You're lucky dad helped me build an outhouse a few years ago." He grinned and pointed to another little path leading off from camp. At least they wouldn't have to poop in the woods.

“Nice to know,” she said, slightly embarrassed. She had no problem with conversation about bodily functions on a purely general level, but as they related to the people in the conversation, she’d rather just... not. Though, it was really something she should have thought about. She couldn’t remember what arrangements had been made when she went camping as a child; and the last time she’d been camping recently, they all pussed out and Apparated to bathrooms.

Tim pushed at her shoulder with the roll of toilet paper. "I'll show you the way," he said and nodded for her to follow him away from camp while Abernathy fussed with her bag in the tent and Bernadine kept rearranging sleeping bags.

She followed close behind, reaching out to poke at his hand once Abernathy had dived into the tent. She still didn’t know where they stood on the whole... ‘making out a whole lot’ thing, but she wasn’t game to ask or express a preference one way or the other. What she did know was that she enjoyed his company a great deal, and especially so when she didn’t have to share her attention around.

“I haven’t been proper camping in forever,” she confessed shyly. “And never without magic.” She did have her wand stashed in her bag, but that was only because she tended to take it everywhere with her out of habit, whether or not she was going to use it.

Tim led her down the path and showed her the outhouse, setting the toilet paper inside. His dad had cleaned it out just last year before they closed up camp for the summer. "We're up here so much you'd think we'd just build a little cabin, but I think dad's partial to sleeping under the stars."

“Can’t blame him; there’s nothing like a clear night.” Adelaide didn’t make a habit of sleeping outside, but she’d always been fond of a proper starry sky. If she kept a blog, she’d probably be one of those douchebags who posted pictures of nebulas all the time. “If you did have a roof here though, would you ever remember to go home?”

"Absolutely not," he replied honestly. "I'd live out here." He leaned against the outside of the little wooden structure and smiled over at her. "I'm glad you came." He opened his arms for a hug, something he couldn't do while Abernathy was anywhere near. "It's been too long since I've seen you."

She could have told him exactly how long it had been, but she didn’t want to sound weird. “I missed you,” she promised, squishing him close. “Of course I’d come. Why wouldn’t I?” Sure, she had her differences with his sister, but they seemed to be getting along pretty okay lately.

He smiled into her hair, a little indulgently. He tried not to squeeze her too tight, but he didn't know how many other chances he'd get to hold her on this visit. "We'll have to trick Abernathy into riding down to the house one of these days so we can have a proper snuggle." Because they both knew Bernadine didn't seem to mind what was happening between them.

“I would love that.” She didn’t feel so self-conscious about expressing a desire to be with him so long as he said it first. “Remind me to accidentally sick in her hair or something,” she joked.

"She'd kill us if she ever found out," he said quietly. In more than one way, but he didn't add this thought out loud. Abernathy was the main reason that he didn't ask Adelaide what he meant to her. He wanted to know, wanted to make his own feelings known, but for the moment he thought it would be best to play it safe. "We should head back before she comes up here looking for trouble." He laughed lightly and took her hand to walk back.

Adelaide glanced at the little outhouse. “Or worse,” she said, biting down a laugh and tangling her fingers with his. “We’re near the river, right? You still need to prove you don’t suck at chicken. It’s summer now, no excuses.”

"Oh man, I'm going to end up getting kicked, aren't I?" he swung their hands between them and took them in a slow pace back towards camp. He meandered through the trees with her taking a slightly different, longer path back.

“No competition; just your pride at stake.” She bumped her hip into him and giggled. “I won’t think of you as less of a man.” The woods out here were much thicker and quieter than closer to the house, and they were able to approach much closer to camp before separating.

"Good to know," he said and squeezed her hand before letting it go and stepping through the woods back out into camp.

Abernathy looked up at him foully. "Did you need her to hold your hand while you peed in the woods?"

Tim laughed at that and just shook his head. He made his way over toward their little fire circle. It was early yet to set the flames, but he started stacking the kindling anyway.

Bernadine peeked out of the tent. "Come in," she said beckoning Adelaide inside. "Pick a sleeping spot."

“Yeah, we left you a present on the trail. Watch out for that,” she shot back, making her way over to the tent to join Bernadine. She poked her head inside and admired her neat arranging of the mats and bags. If Addy had done it, they’d have all wound up sleeping in a dogpile in the middle.

“Where’s AB sleeping? I need to be away from her morning breath.”

"I put her in the back," Bernadine said. "She needs to be near the woods." It was a strangely cryptic thing to say.

Addy didn’t pick up on the significance of Bernadine’s words, just assumed it was some strange quirk of Abernathy’s to demand proximity to the trees. “Okay, I’ll go front then.” If she got stomped in the middle of the night by someone trying to get out to use the bathroom, she’d try not to pitch them into the campfire.

Bernadine put her sleeping bag next to Adelaide's if only to allay any fears Abernathy might have about what their brother would get up to in the middle of the night, but chances were they'd end up switching places if only to give Addy and Tim some snuggle time. She wouldn't say anything about it, but her quiet acceptance of them was enough for now. She could meddle more later if Abernathy put up a stink. "I think we're having hot dog delight for dinner," she joked.

“Do I want to know about the ‘delight’ part?” Addy raised an eyebrow. “Sounds a bit like turnip surprise.” The surprise being that it contained no turnips, and a whole lot of the awful parts of animals. Though, she supposed hot dogs were kind of just the worst parts of animals, but seeing as you knew that going into it and it tasted just fine, it wasn’t nearly so bad.

She reached over to grab her backpack, and climbed halfway into it to fish something out of the bottom. After some rummaging, she emerged with a big bag of M&Ms. “Just in case,” she said, stuffing them into the corner of the tent.

Bernadine laughed. "We'll have to keep those hidden." She pushed outside of the tent and marveled at how quickly their camp had come together. "We're out of things to do," she said to her siblings.

Abernathy was already laid out on a little grassy patch under a tree. "Chillax, B. It's vacation."

Tim laughed at the absurdity of that idea and pulled a chair up to the fire pit. "Some of us need order and tasks to complete," he pointed out.

"Some of us need to let loose," Abby replied lazily.

“You’re not supposed to hibernate until winter,” Adelaide said with a smirk, thinking that Abernathy was laid out in a very sloth-like fashion. She sat not too far away, spreading herself out in a warm shaft of sunlight like a snake warming up for the day. They had the right idea.

After a while, she rolled over onto her belly and looked around the clearing properly, not looking for anything in particular, just observing her new surroundings.

Abby growled in response and closed her eyes.

"Lazy shits," Tim commented, but then he too flopped on the ground.

Bernadine rolled her eyes at all of them and wandered around camp making sure everything was in order and nothing else had to be done before she could relax. Eventually she settled down on the ground, sitting with her legs crossed. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, though a bit cooler in the woods. It wasn't cold enough yet to warrant putting a sweater on, but eventually she'd need the one she shoved into her bag.

“If you don’t want to nap in the sun then think of something for us to do,” Addy said, reaching out with her foot and nudging Tim’s head and snickering at the miffed noise he made. “Whiny.”

“We could... hike, or swim... or chuck rocks at things.” Grumpy things sleeping under trees?

"Or we could hibernate," Abernathy suggested. She was perfectly happy laying on the ground under the tree.

"I'm for that," Tim said, sad that his head was in the path of Adelaide's foot. If he'd laid in any other direction he could be the one bugging her.

She poked him again and lay back, unsure if he meant he wanted to hibernate after all, or do something else. Either way, she was content to be in the sun a while; there weren’t many places to do it in Burnham, and by the time school got back and she could fuss about in the fields, summer was almost over.

“I think we’re harshing Miss Grumpy’s naptime.”

"I am not Miss Grumpy," Abby grumbled. She rolled over onto her stomach, just close enough to kick out her leg and whack Addy's, though not with any sort of umph.

"You're not Miss Sunshine either," Tim teased and scooted so that Addy couldn't poke his head anymore.

Bernadine grinned at them. "Why don't we play a hand of cards or something?"

Abby groaned. "It's a bit early to break out the cards," and she sat up just enough to look over at Bernadine. "You're that bored?"

"No," Bernadine replied quietly. "Not really."

Finding Tim’s head out of reach, Addy sat up and turned herself around. “Oh, go back to sleep. Me and B will have fun without you.” She propped herself up on her hands and smiled at her favourite twin. “I’m all yours.”

"Kay," said Abernathy and dropped back down to her back.

Bernadine laughed and gestured to Adelaide to follow her over to the tent. She had a deck of cards in her bag and they could play over sleeping bags while Tim and Abby took a nap in the grass.

“I’ll play you for M&Ms; they’ll be sorry they missed out.” She reached into the corner where she’d stashed the candy earlier and ripped the bag open, counting out two piles for them to bet with.

Bernadine laughed. "What's your game?" she asked and scooped over her pile of M&Ms, already tempted to eat some.

“Lately,” she said, eating some of her green ‘chips’, “when I can’t sleep I’ve been watching the community channel, and they’re on this poker tournament kick. They take it so serious! Want to play M&M championship?”

She nodded curtly. "Get your poker face on," she said with a grin. "And I will turn off my mojo."

“For now, anyway. Once we’re old enough, we’re going to clean out Vegas,” she teased, shuffling the cards and dealing them each a hand of five.

"I don't think we'll ever be old enough," she replied with a little smirk that made her feel like a cat.

“Oh, we’ll be old enough, probably just never mature enough.” She examined her cards and looked over to Bernadine expectantly. “Ladies first?”

"Suppose that means me," she said with a light smile and opted to trade in two cards. She had the makings for a full house if she lucked out.

Addy had managed to deal herself a complete fuck-all. She discarded three of the cards and hoped to make the best of it, succeeding in drawing a card to make a pair. “Okay, I’m in.”

"Me too," Bernadine said and pushed in four M&Ms. "I raise you two."

She eyeballed her friend, trying to make heads or tails of her poker face. But she just sat serenely with that enigmatic smile, and she had no idea what that could mean for the cards in her hand. She looked down at her pair of tens. “Hmm.. call,” she decided, and pushed in all of her yellow M&Ms.

Bernadine smiled and revealed the three of a kind she had managed. It wasn't the full house she was aiming for, but it was still decent.

“Aw, tits.” She put her cards in the pile and went to deal again. “Are there any games you aren’t good at?”

"Haven't found one yet," Bernadine said with an ironic little smile. "I used to try to lose just to keep other people happy, but then they're still not happy because they know you're throwing it on purpose." She shrugged and pulled back her pile of candy. "I found it's easier just to roll with my good luck and play games with people who don't mind losing."

“It must be nice to be so lucky.” She was envious, of course, but said it without any tinge of resentment. There was a time she might have hated her for it, but things were getting better for her all the time, and she was always happier in summer anyway. “Let’s hope you rub off on me!” She pushed in a few candies after they took their cards.

"It has perks," Bernadine said quietly, but sometimes it didn't work out well. She didn't say anything about that. "Did Abby tell you anything about our plan?" She hadn't broached the subject with Adelaide yet, mostly because Abernathy believed that the less people knew about their plan the better off it might go.

“Just camping, she didn’t say what else,” Addy shrugged, not realizing that there was a plan other than the activities they were currently engaged in. She won back some M&Ms with that round, and started dealing another. “Not a fan of making conversation with me, that one.”

Bernadine decided it was about time Adelaide knew. "Well, remember when she had that big turn around and decided she'd apply to stay on at Dresden for university?" She began tentatively and pushed some M&Ms in for a bet after peeking at her cards.

She snorted. “I remember the heart attack Professor von Brandt had when she realized that we’d be sharing a dorm.” She didn’t think she’d ever seen the Iron Lady flinch, but it seemed even that idea was enough to cause her some consternation.

Bernadine set her cards down, because this was important. "She applied to another school too. Got into both." Bernadine bit the side of her lip. "She's going to both," she said slowly. Then she held her breath for a moment, biting her lower lip and then exhaling. "Well. That is to say. Abernathy Ford is going to both schools, but only one of them will be the real Abernathy."

Adelaide set her cards down too (which of course would happen on the only really good hand she’d gotten). “Am I to assume,” she said slowly, still processing the information, “that I will be seeing you at Dresden?”

Bernadine smiled and nodded slowly. "You will," she said with a uncharacteristic wink.

This news was both shocking and amazing. “Oh, that’s dastardly. And exciting! Wow, so you’ll like... wow! You’ll get that whole Seeing thing down like the back of your hand.” It would probably be interesting for her to meet others with her gift too, who knew exactly what it was like and how difficult it could be in ways that people like Adelaide would never understand. “Man, that’s crazy!”

"Yeah," Bernadine said quietly. "It's uh... It'll work," she said firmly. "It'll work just as long as I need it to and then... I'm not really sure after that part." She shrugged. "I can't see everything." Thankfully. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but Abby and I swore to keep it just between us for as long as possible. You're in cahoots now."

“It’ll be great,” she said, absolutely convinced of the fact. Of course, there were so many things to think about, how on earth they were going to manage to pull it off... but they’ve been planning this a while, surely, they must have everything covered. It sure as hell wouldn’t be easy, but when was anything worthwhile ever easy? “It’ll be great for you.”

Bernadine nodded hopefully. It would be good for her and she was convinced that even if Mother Criss knew which twin she was she'd still train her. "We might have to beat each other up just to keep the ruse going." She smiled awkwardly and then laughed at the absurdity of that idea. "I'm not sure I can be crude enough to convince everyone I'm Abernathy."

Adelaide snorted. “We are so not going to fight. I can’t beat on you.” As for being as crude as Abernathy... “Hmm. You might want to start getting acquainted with the fucking ‘f’ word.” She grinned. “Go on, try it out.”

"Fuck?" Bernadine tried. This was certainly going to be a challenge, but one worth the risk. She frowned again though, because they didn't have every detail worked out. "At some point we're going to have to tell my dad. Neither of us can figure out when."

Oh. Well. That was kind of a major detail. ”Did you apply anywhere? I mean... he thinks you’ve got something planned for the year, right?” After all, she’d need to be on campus to attend, and her not being around the house was something that Bill would probably notice.

"Originally Abernathy wanted me to apply to Burnham University and she'd apply to Dresden for me and we'd just switch places." She shrugged and picked at a loose thread on the sleeping bag. "But dad would figure it out before long. We can't switch places with him." And there were other implications involved in this maneuver; Bill's secrets and the ones Bernadine kept for him would come out in the process. "We're holding off for as long as possible."

“He can’t be too pissed though, I mean, you’re just trying it out, trying to learn about your talents and stuff. It’s not like you’re doing something bad.” What was the worst that could happen if it didn’t work out? She’d be stopped coming back to Dresden, but that wasn’t the end of the world. She’d get to go to a muggle university still, which was probably the original plan anyway, so really... the worse option would be not to try.

"It's hard to say with dad. Anyway I told Abby it wouldn't work that way. It's better that she's Abby at school and I'm Abby at Dresden. I don't think she could play quiet and demure, even if dad couldn't tell us apart."

She smirked, nodding in agreement. “She doesn’t know the meaning of the words! No, you’ll have to learn to sit with your knees apart while you talk shit about people in earshot. Loudly.”

Bernadine balked at that. "She's not that bad, is she?"

“Would you like to observe us attempt a conversation?” Adelaide offered. “I mean, she’s a little more extreme on the rude with me, but you’ll get the idea.”

She pushed up onto her knees and stumbled out of the tent a little blindly in the sudden transition to full sunlight, dropping down beside Abernathy. “Hi.”

Bernadine followed timidly and stood quietly behind her.

"What do you want?" Abby asked, though not as irritably as she might have.

“Nothing,” she shrugged. “Just thought I’d say hi, seeing as we’re hanging out. Good nap?” The shadow she’d chosen to lie in had shrunk considerably in the time they’d been playing cards.

"Swell," Abernathy replied and put her hand up in front of her eyes to block the sun. "Did you bore B to death with your fantastic tales of who the fuck cares?" And she smiled, because she had to get some digs in on Adelaide in order for this vacation to be "normal."

“You don’t get to call me boring while you’re taking a little old lady nap. Maybe later, when you’re complaining about your arthritis over bingo.” She smirked over at Bernadine, as if to say ‘see?’

Bernadine frowned, because she wasn't sure if she could keep the act up for a couple of hours every day. "Hey, I like bingo," she interjected.

Addy shook her head. “Old before your time, B.” She really felt the senior-citizen activities should be saved for later in life, and that you should run around and do shit while your body was still young enough to take the punishment.

Bernadine didn't really see it that way, though it was true. She was older than her biological years, older than most kids her age in maturity though lacking the experience.

"Dinner's at four o'clock sharp," Abernathy said sarcastically. "Then we watch Golden Girls for two hours before bed."

She grinned, and shoved off of the ground to roll over and face Bernadine fully. “Get the idea? She’s all piss and vinegar.” Then she laughed, because she wasn’t sure if Abernathy would understand what the hell was going on.

"She's something," Tim said as if knew what they were talking about.

Abernathy rolled her eyes. "I'm awesome and you all just need to get over it."

“Oh, we’re way over it.” Adelaide wriggled away before she could get another kick and settled herself in the sun. “Your awesomeness jumped the shark ages ago.”

"I couldn't get a third season," she said breezily. "But I'm already gaining cult status. I'm the next Twin Peaks."

Bernadine laughed at that. Tim borrowed the show from a friend at college and the girls watched it over a single weekend visit. "It wasn't what we thought it was, but it was excellent."

“I don’t even remember TV shows; they all mash up in my head to form a pointless, nonsensical story with no resolution. Kinda like Lost, actually.” She liked watching movies because they at least had a predictable timeframe for reaching a satisfactory ‘point’; television tended to take too many twists and turns and lost her attention very quickly.

"We didn't watch a lot growing up," Tim said, though that was something Adelaide knew. "Probably wouldn't have watched Lost even if I could have."

Abernathy rolled her eyes under their lids. "Timmy wants to think he's not very picky, but he's unbelievably so."

“Hey, more people should be picky about what they watch. Shit like Two and a Half Men wouldn’t last so long.” She rolled slightly to talk to Tim rather than just at him. “I wouldn’t watch Lost, not even for curious. It was so boring. All this potential, and build-up, and the end was shit and you didn’t get anything out of it. It--” It was pretty much everything Andre said dating her was like.

She pulled a face and flopped back on the ground. “At least shows like True Blood know they’re crappy and play with it.”

Tim laughed. "Now vampire porn I might watch."

Bernadine giggled. "I can't believe you just admitted to that."

Abernathy giggled too. "I'm kind of amazed that you did."

Adelaide was laughing too, mostly because he’d just said ‘porn’ in front of his sisters. “I’d be appalled but... I own it, so what does that say?”

"And I believe you once had the audacity to call me a sexual deviant," Abernathy said idly. "Vampire porn. Really?"

“You are definitely a pervert, don’t get all high and mighty. Your dating history is perverts.” She shuddered.

Abernathy sighed. "There wasn't much choice." She bit her tongue about Andre. AB figured dating Hawthorne was a step up from dating the biggest, gayest douchebag in the school, but she wasn't going to rub that in.

Tim huffed. "You had better choices than the ones in Luzerne."

Bernadine giggled at that because she knew the sort of girls Tim went to high school with. "That gene pool needed some bleach," she said, trying out an Abernathy attitude.

Addy squealed with laughter at Bernadine’s comment. It was probably true, but coming out of B with such a snide tone just made it probably true and hilarious. “Maybe it’s not just Dresden then. Maybe ‘high school in general’ is the Bermuda Triangle of dating.”

"I don't even know why we bother," Abernathy said lazily.

"I don't know why you bother," Tim laughed. "But I know why I bother."

"Oh. Do. Please. Illuminate us."

Tim sat up enough to cast a filthy look at his sister, even though her eyes were closed and she was being dreadfully obtuse. "You're too young to understand," he said in the most condescending tone he could muster.

“Buuuurn.” Adelaide smirked. She couldn’t claim much on Abernathy and Bernadine for age, she was only six months older than them. Although, that probably meant she was too young to understand too, right? “Hey, fuck you. I’m an adult.”

"Just barely," Tim conceded with a charming grin.

Abernathy made a gagging noise, but said nothing. Bernadine just giggled happily.

“‘Barely’ counts!” She insisted. “I can get arrested for real now!”

"Maybe you should stop beating up people who are still minors," Abernathy said rather sarcastically. "Fisticuffs will go in your permanent record from now on."

Tim laughed at that idea. "Wouldn't that be something? To get yourself a permanent record."

Adelaide shook her head. “I haven’t beaten up a single goddamn minor since I turned eighteen thankyouverymuch. I have been... perfectly... non-abusing of minors, I haven’t even touched one in a friendly way.” Oh god, she’d have a field day with that. “I mean like... hugs and shit. I haven’t been hitting on them.”

Abernathy snorted very loudly. "You are seriously deranged." And because she was feeling generous she left it at that.

Tim kicked lightly at Adelaide's leg. "I'm into hugs and shit," he teased.

She flicked a knowing glance in his direction. “Because hugs and shit are awesome. I’d be a much nicer person if I got more hugs.” She was probably a prime stereotype of someone who wasn’t hugged enough as a child.

"Maybe if you didn't have so many prickles."

"Don't you mean quills?" Bernadine asked her sister.

"Thorns," Abernathy corrected.

Tim smiled dreamily. "All roses have them."

The noise that Abernathy made was fairly priceless. "I need to go find a tree to hang myself from," she announced, got up and dusted herself off. She headed toward the trees like she was serious and then turned back. "Go start us a fire big man Tim. It'll be cooking time soon."

Nice going, she mouthed at him with a pleased little smile. “For the record,” she added, aloud now, “I don’t have prickles, quills or thorns, and she knows it, because she has hugged me. Epically. And in front of people.”

Abernathy groaned and plopped down near the fire pit. "What can I say? The holidays move me."

Tim sat up and raised an eyebrow at these proceedings. "She really hugged you?"

“She was waaaaaaasted!” Addy sing-songed. “I dunno how she got booze into the winter social, but she did, and then she molested my date and then me. And she was talking about how much she loves hugs, and everyone needs hugs, and why wasn’t I hugging her back...” She trailed off into giggles.

Abby shrugged. "I was trying hug therapy. Too bad it didn't take." It was easily one of the weirdest moments in her entire school career at Dresden.

Tim laughed. "Abernathy Ford. Wasted. At a school function."

"As if you've never gotten drunk before."

Bernadine smiled mildly. "He's done worse." But that's all she'd say.

"Only in the woods," he retorted.

“Oh, Timmy, you bad bad man.” She closed her eyes and giggled. The sun had moved low in the sky, throwing down long shadows and taking away some of the day’s warmth. It was still nice, balmy weather, but not quite as warm anymore as Addy liked it. She sat up and rubbed her legs. “So, about that fire.”

"Yeah, yeah," Tim said and hoisted himself up toward the fire pit. He already had the wood set up and just needed the matches which he'd stashed in his pocket earlier. It only took him two tries to have the kindling going and before long a nice, toasty fire started up.

Abernathy went into the tent for her sweatshirt but draped it over her shoulders in lieu of putting it on. It wasn't that cold yet. "Next year, I'm going to try and talk dad into building us a little picnic table up here. We use it enough that we should have one."

"I don't mind playing cards over sleeping bags," Bernadine said quietly and plunked into one of the collapsible chairs. "Though it would be nice not to have to lug these up every time."

“You can still play cards over sleeping bags if there’s a table, you just don’t have to.” Addy got up and dropped herself into a chair by Bernadine’s side. “Options are nice.”

"Girls have a hard enough time making up their minds," Tim said with a smarmy grin. "What we need are less options."

Both Bernadine and Abernathy got up and smacked their brother on his arms. "It's no wonder you're still single," Abby commented. "No respect."

Tim laughed at the hits to both side. "I have nothing but respect for women," he said. "It's girls that I have a problem with."

Addy just shook her head. “You’re insane. Don’t talk shit about girls when we’re surrounding you.” She laughed. “We might not be able to make up our minds on how to punish you, but you’ll still regret it.”

"He wants you to think that he likes living dangerously," Abby said darkly. "Wouldn't want you to think our dear old Tim was boring as vanilla."

"There's nothing wrong with vanilla," Bernadine said rather firmly and found some sticks to roast hot dogs on, grabbing some from the cooler and stabbing them on the end. She passed one to Adelaide and another Abby before fixing one for herself and one for Tim.

“People need to shit on vanilla a little less,” she said, waving her stick at Abernathy. “It goes with everything, is great on pancakes, and those fancy tubs that still have the little bean bits all mixed through it are like icecreamgasms.”

Tim blushed at the thought that skipped into his head. "I don't think I'd taste great on pancakes."

Abernathy gagged and thought about slapping him with her half cooked hot dog, but instead just shook her head sadly. "He's like imitation vanilla. Not even tasty flavorful." Then she gagged again because she'd been the one to suggest it.

Adelaide snickered. “I don’t even have to try anymore. You’re grossing yourself out all on your lonesome.” She decided to spare her the comment that putting even imitation vanilla in a cake pretty much made the cake.

"Yeah I quit," Abernathy said and turned her attention back to her hot dog.

Bernadine shook her head, slowly turning her dog on the fire. She got it good and crispy on the outside before removing it from the fire and eating it straight off the stick.

Tim remained perfectly quiet, not prepared to comment on these shenanigans.

Addy managed to catch her hot dog on fire. Cooking. Always. She blew off the smoking end and eyeballed the charred skin, poking at the outside to see if was still good on the inside. She couldn’t really tell, but gave it a go anyway. It was surprisingly undamaged. “Mmm, chargrill.”

The rest of the M&Ms could probably be saved for later after all.

Abernathy got up and rummaged in their food bucket. "I thought we brought buns."

"It's still in the tent," Bernadine said.

Abernathy huffed and went into the tent to rummage. It was nearly twilight and pretty soon she'd need a flashlight. She found a bag with bread and peanut butter and jelly in it. That was probably tomorrow's lunch. "No buns," she called.

"Just fold it into some bread," Tim shot back.

Abby shrugged and tossed the dog in a piece of bread, bringing the bag out with her to stash in the food bucket. She wandered over to the fire eating her hot dog and flopped back down into her chair. She hated to admit it, but she was getting tired already.

“Just add fried onion and potato salad and man, I could food coma. Summer dinners are the best.” Summers in general were the best. Addy rocked back in her chair and looked up at the sky. “It’s really nice out here.”

"We'll have a grand feast back at the house before you go. I think dad wants to roast a pig," Tim said cheerfully. He was fairly wide awake and would probably sit up a while after the girls went to bed.

Bernadine yawned rather loudly. She had a tendency to go to bed earlier than others anyway. "I'm nipping into bed," she announced and headed for the tent unceremoniously.

Abernathy watched her sister go. If she didn't know better she'd think the girl had put a sleeping potion on her hot dog. She didn't want to leave Tim and Adelaide sitting outside alone again, but she didn't really want to fall asleep by the fire either. "Oh fuck. Me too," she said and ambled off to the tent.

Tim watched her go and waited until the zipper was closed on the tent. "You put sleeping powder on her hot dog when she wasn't looking, didn't you?" he asked Adelaide in a low, humor filled whisper.

“It’s a potion for sleeping, and I did no such thing.” She grinned at him and switched to Bernadine’s chair, moving it around closer so that she sat right beside him. “It’s coincidence, or B’s even more evil than we thought.”

He raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't put it past her. It's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for." He squished his chair as close as he could and leaned toward her. "I thought they'd never leave us alone."

She bit down the increasingly silly smile on her face, and curled up against him as best she could from her chair. “Neither did I. I was starting to think I’d have to eat my words and go back to trying to gross her out until she stalked off in a huff.”

Tim laughed and rubbed her arm gently. "Sometimes that girl drives me insane."

“Only sometimes? You must be a saint.” She laughed softly and nuzzled against his shoulder, almost afraid to start showing a bit more affection in case one of the girls decided she wasn’t sleepy after all and barreled out of the tent all of a sudden. After a few moments, she decided to chance it and snaked an arm around his waist.

He settled an arm around her shoulders. "Very nearly," he said. "Though to be fair, I've had lots of practice." He leaned just enough to place a kiss on her forehead. He'd missed her too much since the last time they saw each other, but he couldn't really express it yet. He wasn't brave enough to risk his sister's eternal hatred; though Bernadine becoming Adelaide's champion was certainly helping in that regard. "Gonna be a long summer," he mused.

She hummed happily at the gentle kiss. “Good. Summers should always be long, and hot, and lazy. Lots of nights like this.” She wasn’t talking about the temperature or the clear skies so much as pressing up against him by a campfire. The campfire being an optional extra to that equation. “Come sit on the ground with me. I can’t get close enough like this, and if I sit in your lap you’ll get dead leg.”

"I wouldn't mind it," he said of the dead leg, but he pushed his chair back and snuggled up on the ground to be closer to her. It was risky and silly, but it made him happy. These moments were too far between and too few; he savored them when he could.

“Oh, well. I will remember for next time,” she teased, cupping his face and pulling him close for a quick and gentle kiss. “Save you the hassle.”

"Not a hassle either way," he replied and squeezed her tight. He heard someone shifting in the tent and debating pulling away from Addy just in case. But then he figured if they did get caught they could stop sneaking around about the growing affection between them. He kept her close and kissed her hair. "Must have been a bear. And by bear I mean Abernathy."

She giggled. “And just think, later on we’re going to zip ourselves in there with her on purpose. Talk about living on the edge.” She’d very obviously flinched at the noise, and was surprised and delighted to find that it hadn’t stopped him holding her. That small gesture was amazingly important to her. She slid her arms around him in response, nuzzling up to his neck and nipping softly.

He grinned at the nip, pleased and happy to have her curled up in his arms again. They'd have to sleep before long or they'd be useless the entire next day, but for now he could just enjoy her company. "Well you know me. Vanilla."

“Great for putting chocolate sauce on,” she teased, and then buried her face in the crook of his neck, burning with embarrassment.

"Should have brought some," he replied warmly and tilted up her chin to kiss her properly.

“Would be messy,” she whispered into his mouth shyly, relieved that if he did think she was some strange sex pervert who wanted to cover him in chocolate sauce, at least he wasn’t showing it.

"Might attract bears," he joked and lightly tickled down her sides. Then he laughed a little harder, just because that was Abby's animagus. "Don't want to do that when we have one sleeping in the tent with us."

Probably a good thing we do have one sleeping in the tent with us, she thought as she melted into the tickle. She found herself so aware of every sensation when she was with him, almost unrecognizably awake and aware and aroused. She’d wake up in his sleeping bag, shamelessly wrapped around him and absolutely mortified at how... stupidly uncautious he made her feel.

“I think I’d be less frightened of a real bear,” she giggled. Best not to think about the other things.

Tim snorted briefly, but he definitely understood what she meant. He ran his hand gently up and down her spine and he tried not to dwell on how much his sister complicated this flirtation. Tim couldn't admit that he was ready to explore it more deeply. It was starting to get just a bit chilly and he squeezed her a little closer (both for warmth and simply because he liked her so close).

She smiled up at him, little shivers rippling up and down her back after his fingertips. Every breath crushed her just a tiny bit closer and she squeezed her arms around him, not saying a word, just grinning up like an idiot. She knew exactly why she was too afraid to just come out and say ‘I really, really like you... a lot’, that fear of being rejected all over again kept her quiet and happy enough in accepting whatever affection he might like to give her. Had she any idea what it was that he was thinking, she might have worked up the courage.

"I wish it was just the two of us out here," he said quietly. If it weren't so cold he'd suggest sleeping out under the stars, cuddled together for warmth. "Maybe some other vacation. Just you and me. Come visit me up at school."

“Oh,” she blushed despite herself. “I’d love that.” She couldn’t suggest the same; despite being a student of University house, the school itself was still fundamentally a high school. Having a boy over was just... not going to happen. And then there would be the Bernadine thing, too. Slightly awkward.

"You could even just pop into my room unexpected," he said and then realized what that implied. He blushed, god help him he blushed. "I got that RA job, so I have my own room now." He couldn't quite backtrack fast enough. "Pushed two beds together." And it was just getting worse. "Call it mega-bed." Stop talking, Timothy.

Addy tried not to laugh at the look on his face, but then he just kept talking and digging himself a deeper hole and she couldn’t help herself. She let go of him and clamped her hands over her mouth to try and muffle the noise, before the others could hear and wonder just what on earth they could be talking about.

“You’ll have to show me,” she finally managed to whisper, still giggling. “If you don’t know the place you’re Apparating into you can wind up in some seriously weird places.” She’d been squished into a wall cavity once, but the worst was when she materialized with one foot in a toilet bowl.

"I'll drive you up one weekend and then you can come and go as you like." He left that a little open ended. He liked the idea of her dropping by whenever she wanted to see him. He hoped that she would come often. "If you wanted."

She bit her lip and tucked her hands around his neck. “Dangerous offer. I’ll be there all the time; you’ll never get rid of me. And now that I know about mega-bed, well, you lost your ‘not enough room’ excuse...” Oh god, I just suggested I’d share his bed. She flushed.

He grinned and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Maybe I don't want to get rid of you," he replied, but that was about as much as he'd say on the subject. Then he was blushing with her because she'd mentioned his bed too. Not that he'd mind getting her into it, just... Well, they were in the middle of the woods and what was the use thinking on it when he couldn't do it? He squeezed her a bit more and kissed lightly around her ear. "I'd make room for you anyway."

She sighed happily, arching up to offer him her ear and neck. “Show me how to get there, and I’ll visit lots,” she promised. It would be much faster and much more convenient than the ways they’d been seeing each other already.

He was thinking how nice it would be to see her without his sisters around. He wouldn't have to jump through hoops and pretend he wasn't falling for this girl. "I'll take you there later this summer. I've got to head up early in August to get my floor arranged and do all these stupid seminars, but I can show you around campus while it's still empty."

“So responsible,” she cooed, teasingly. It sounded like being a student proctor at Dresden, but worse. She’d never had the grades to become one, but even if she had she wouldn’t have wanted to have to take on all the extra duties. “The sacrifices you make to ditch roommates.”

“So worth it," Tim replied. He was a very responsible young man and it helped him get the job. The benefits were absolutely worth the struggle to him, though he hadn't really discovered all the ins and outs of the job yet. "You'll think it's worthwhile too when you come visit. We can stay up all night watching public access tv and drinking Red Bull." He pulled a face, because Red Bull tasted completely foul to him.

She grinned at the face, not knowing if it was for the public access tv or the Red Bull. “Do you have a dvd player? I can bring True Blood and you can find out if vampire porn is to your liking.”

His frown spread into a rare little smirk. "I bought one last year off my old roommate." He squeezed her again. "You want to watch vampire porn together?"

Her eyes widened, and she reddened considerably. “Oh. Oh, that does sound quite wrong, doesn’t it?” She covered her face and laughed helplessly. “It’s not all porn,” she added, peeking up between her fingers. “There’s a very flimsy plot holding it together.”

"That's the best kind of porn," he said with an embarrassed laugh. Then he heard some mumbling from the tent and wondered if he was getting too loud. "Shh," he said pressing his finger to her lips and then removing it to place a pleasant kiss there instead.

She squeaked slightly in protest, but shut up very quickly, finding this an acceptable reason to be forced to quiet (if not the best encouragement to do so, ever). “We should probably get in there,” she said, reluctantly. She’d love to stay out all night, just the two of them, but it was cold and if they’d just been overheard talking about porn of all things then she could only imagine the reaction they’d get in the morning.

"I suppose," he said reluctantly. He kissed her again a little bit more than just to quiet her, maybe to let her know that he wanted more of the same at some point. He got up first and offered her hand, pulling her straight into his arms for another embrace. "I don't know if you noticed; I have a very hard time saying goodbye to you."

She beamed up at him, swooning a little, and hesitated barely a moment before tangling her hands in his hair and pulling him in for a fierce, brief little kiss. “How about you just say ‘goodnight’ then?” She whispered against his lips.

"I can say goodnight then," he whispered back and kissed her again to match her last stolen kiss. He tucked his fingers in with hers and walked with her to the tent, unzipping to let her inside. He wanted to linger, but the longer he did it the less chance either of them would end up in the tent before dawn.

It was unintentional that she’d requested the sleeping spot closest to the tent door but also incredibly convenient given that it meant she could sneak in with a minimum amount of climbing over the others. She wriggled into her sleeping bag fully dressed, and scooted aside from the opening to make room for Tim to get in without too much trouble.

Tim made to lie down in his spot and found that Bernadine had switched places with him so that he was next to Adelaide. He climbed over her carefully and settled into his sleeping bag before wriggling up close to her. "Bernie shifted," he whispered and then slid his arm around her.

“Oh, this is very nice,” she whispered back, smiling in the darkness. She pressed back against him comfortably, folding her arm over his. Bernadine was a goddamn champion.