Cat coughed out the last of the ash â cursing herself for not bringing some kind of water bottle to take away the taste. Being all boy-scout prepared for being in the woods though was not really her style. Cat was used to living in a world full of nearby convenient gas stations where you could just pick up that kind of thing up at a moments notice â or at least get a boy to run down and get stuff for you.Â
She had a water bottle in her room, but spilling out the precious vodka she had managed to smuggle in to store actual water in it whenever she wanted to get some space seemed like a totally heinous crime. Though, the sudden realization of the lack of convenience of this stupid camp made Cat sharply aware of how precious short her supply of cigarettes was getting â and she didnât even get to enjoy that last one â not to mention the joint BB had made her throw one of her even more rare joints into the garbage. God she hated this place.
Trying to fight back the urge to take out her general annoyance on this girl, Cat did her best to still play nice. It wasnât like this girl had tried to bust her on smoking like some fucking narc â besides maybe the stranger knew a way to get more booze and cigarettes. She didnât seem cool, but she did seem like a pushover. Cat put on her best smile, âNo problem. I was just spacing.â She put out her hand to the stranger, âIâm Cat. Whatâs your name?â
Bibi didnât remember seeing this woman before, so she was probably new, maybe... oh yeah! Right! Eats said his sister arrived at camp too, he hadnât wanted to talk about her, but she was new, like Guru. So this must be Cat. She felt giddy all of the sudden having the pleasure to meet the little sister of their famed cook. She smiled and shook Catâs hand, trying not to go overboard on her enthusiasm.Â
âBibi Jane, but everyone at camp calls me Sizzler... well almost everyone. So go ahead and call me any of those names. I even answer to Firestorm,â she joked. She guessed her name gave away her power, but if it didnât, maybe her joke did. âYouâre new to camp right? Whatâs your first impression? Great right?!âÂ
Cat looked up and down the railroad tracks and saw nothing for miles in the dying sunlight. Good, she thought as she lit up a smoke. The fight with that Books bitch (she made a mental note to call her BB from now on) still bothered her. Not a lot of people yelled at her anymore â cops maybe but that was whatever. Cops yelled like fish swam â it didnât mean she had to care about it. BB was just another cop in disguise â so why was Cat so upset? Catâs parents never yelled, they would just get quietly disappointed and mope around a bit because god forbid they like â be parents. They always acted more like zoo keepers trying to not upset the tigers in case it took out their fucking throats. Fucking sheeple. As for Jay⊠that was a whole other fucking thing â fucking traitor.
Cat took another puff. So why was she upset? She guessed cause as weird and messed up as this place was, it was better than Stoneybrook. Cat thought she would miss her friends, but it had been about a week now and she didnât really â her friends were all just like her â hustlers, juvenile delinquents. They cared no more about her than they cared about their next score or hit, same as her. Ok, so no one had like, showed they cared tons about her up here, but no one had hit her up for cash or drugs either. So did she want to stay? Is that why she was so mopey? But behaving so she could fit in wasnât in Catâs vocabulary and BB could come at her again and Catâd be goddamned if sheâd take it like some punk â but then again â maybe Cat didnât want to go either⊠It was a scary thought. She took another drag.
All of a sudden, she heard a rustling coming up from the bushes. Cat panicked, pinched the end of the cigarette with her fingers and ate the cigarette whole. A move she hadnât done since she was 14. Cat coughed and spluttered at the taste of ash and dying embers when the figure emerged from the bushes. It wasnât BB, but some chick near her age. Catâs face dropped with relief but also with a bit of disappointment. Cat never got along well with women (except Momma o/c). Against her better judgment she decided to be friendly and gave a little laugh and said, âHoly shit! You scared the shit out of me!â @bibi-jane-sizzler
Bibi really enjoyed the forest, it brought back so many amazing memories of the last years that she always felt like she needed a little time rethinking on those memories. It was amazing to be here again, her second home, the place where she could be herself to the fullest - although she didnât go around making random fires, Silver wouldnât appreciate that at all.Â
She jumped from the bushes, suddenly seeing someone else roaming the woods. She was looking at a woman her age, with a very familiar face, a bit taller than Bibi was. âIâm sooooo sorry!â she said right away, instantly throwing up her hands to show that she was just a random girl emerging from bushes.Â
Even a passing mention of music gave him a boost and quickened his steps. The guitar had always been the one bright ember of creation over destruction in his life. ââI play both but brought the acoustic along for obvious reasons. And I can absolutely lead the campfire sing-a-longs and shooting marshmallows out of the air, as long as youâre in charge of actually starting the campfire.. and making the sâmores.ââÂ
Finally, with no better explanation, Luc laughed quietly while fessing up. ââMaybe I had a few drinks and was in a rush to come up something. Maybe you can help me come up with a new name and Iâll use it next year.ââ
Sizzler seemed entirely confident and comfortable in her own skin. So he didnât hesitate in asking. ââIâd love to see how it works sometime. If youâre up for it. You could come out on the field and weâll shoot some flaming arrows or somethingâ.â He was itching to practice, to find the quiet space in lining up a target down the narrow of a bow.Â
A brow raised. ââThat sure about it, huh? Well, I can at least say Iâm trying to be more of people person.ââÂ
Luc sounded like one of those music enthousiasts, she loved it. She listened intently and nodded with a grin. âI think thatâs a plan. Weâll have a smores, music, campfire extravaganza! Now, what is your repertoire? Like, do you have sing along material?â Of course he probably did. She was so excited to have a guitar player around, camp fires sounded way more amazing.Â
She laughed, coming up with names wasnât really her thing, but maybe if Bale was alright with her and Pippa brainstorming the heck out of those possibilities? âCan I let Pippa help me? She came up with my name after all, and probably many more around camp. Sheâs good at those things,â Bibi promised. âAnd sheâs my roommate, so know that we wonât take such an important task lightly.âÂ
âFLAMING ARROWS? OH Iâm so in! We can go right now, I have nothing better to do, nothing, clearly. Letâs shoot some arrows huh?â she calmed down a bit. âOr later of course, really, doesnât matter, thereâs no rush. Just know, I would loooove to shoot flaming arrowsâ She snickered. âAs one peopleâs person to an other, that was the best invitation anyone ever gave me.âÂ
âThat sounds just great. I might pop in and have to make a little robot myself - just a little one - only to help around the kitchen of course.â
âNow, Miss Jane. Why ask a question to which you already know the answerâŠâ He laughed. âIâm gonna go grab another drink⊠Iâll get you one as well⊠I need to hear more about these robots.âÂ
Eats got up and headed towards the drinks, eager to get back to her. Talking to Sizzler had been a great distraction on possibly the most depressing night of the year. He grabbed the drinks and Sizzler and he talked long into the night about many things - but nothing of importance⊠which may have been the best gift he had received all week.
He could almost envision a younger version of herself tinkering around snapping blocks into place. His brother spent hours constructing elaborate creations which Luc often destroyed in an instant. It wasnât out of personal satisfaction either, but to find his brotherâs softest point of weakness. ââI play guitar, like to read. I only took up archery a few years ago.ââ
A crooked smile formed as Bibi pressed for an explanation. ââEvil as a destructive force, yeah.ââ His laugh was light, gaze narrowing ahead of them while walking. ââI was clearly going for overdramatic and obscure. Guilty as charged. I like Sizzler though. Less of a safety hazard than yelling Fire around here for sure.ââÂ
As much as he wouldâve turned his nose up to spending time in a place like this way back when, there were distinct reasons to return. The world wasnât slanted in automatic opposition towards him here. The only label Luc had was camp counselor. ââYou better believe it, I was an absolute prick.ââ
âGuitar, awesome! Electrical or acoustic? So during the campfire youâre going to play some guitar? Or shoot some mallows into the fire?â she asked, grinning. Somehow the idea of him using arrows to shoot mallows out of the skin, brought a smile to her face. âBut youâre good at archery right? Like Robin Hood?â Or Hawkeye, or Katniss, or so many other fictional characters.Â
She laughed at his comment of being overly dramatic, maybe in choosing Bale he was being over dramatic, but then again, never ask anyone to make up their own nicknames, they would come up with the weirdest things, like Guru. âI think my power is enough of a safety hazard. Iâm glad I have control over it, because else I figure I wouldâve already sparked people to shout Fire multiple times.âÂ
âI enjoy the was in your sentence. Because you certainly arenât an absolute prick anymore. I can tell, Iâm a real people person,â she mentioned with a slight sarcastic tone.Â
Eats ran his hand through his hair, âYeah, sheâll be working with me in the kitchensâŠâ He kind of trailed off not sure what to say next. That was what Cat was supposed to be doing, but getting her to work was really twice the work of doing it himself â and even if she did one or two of the tasks he asked her to do, they tended to need redoing. But being behind as he was, he just didnât have the time to coach her. He planed to take a firmer hand eventually or at least he wanted to plan to take a firmer hand, but the first week of camp was just not that time. He hated himself for thinking it, but his greatest hope for Cat right now was his amazing fellow campers might just rub off on her â even if he felt selfish for pawning off the responsibility. It was a frustrating problemâŠ
Grateful for the change of subject, Eats broke into a smile, âYes! I met Guru in the lodge. He really is a nice guy⊠I think you two will really get along. There are really going to be some lucky kids this summer⊠Tell me all about the crafts you have planned!â
Eats seemed grateful for the change of subject, he didnât waste too many words on her from then on, and she would have to find out about Eatsâ sister by herself. Couldnât be hard, if she looked anything like Eats, or she would just have to go to the kitchen.Â
âTheyâre going to have lots of arts and crafts, which is amazing!â She said filled with enthousiasme. âI got some scraps thanks to Books from the nearest dump, and I brought some stuff of my own, so what Iâm planning is having all of them creating their own little robots, or more than one of course, and then Iâll hide them all over the forest, and weâll have a big search finding them, but they can only find their own.â She was still thinking about the final part of the plan, but luckily, she could change it all if she wanted too. âAnd you, have any awesome recipes lying around?âÂ
A small group of eager eleven and twelve year olds gathered around Bibiâs self created camp fire. It was so easy to sway her little campers into paying attention to her once she had revealed her mutation. They all swamped to the fire like a group of mosquitoâs to a light. She was already planning on giving them some dumb nickname, like the Sizzlers, or the Little Lime Lights. They were adorable little kids, sitting there in the brightness of the day being impressed by a little fire.Â
She kept them focussed on the fire a little longer until they were all seated with their tiny backpacks on the floor or in their hands. One of them was particularly obvious: the little slimmy guy called Maxwell, who was a little withdrawn. And one a little less, although there was an obvious sign of him never breathing, obvious was the kid with the gills, who had decided to sit next to her right away.Â
âOkay kids, weâre going to do a little introduction game, and afterwards weâll go for a hike and Iâll show you around camp,â she said lovingly, and found that the little campers still looked at him with a sense of wonder.Â
She presented the kids with a ball, and for safety precautions - Books would hate her if she set anything on fire that wasnât grass or twigs - dozed the fire. They were a bit sad to see it go, but still gave her their absolute attention. She had these kids in her pocket, at least after the fire. It was better to give them a buzz of activity.Â
âThe game goes as follows,â she told them, and stood up from her little circle. âWe all move a bit back, then Iâll ask a question and Iâll throw the ball to one of you. The person that catches the ball, answers the question, and then asks a new question before throwing the ball to someone else. Is everyone with me?âÂ
The campers nodded.Â
âDo you have any pets?â Sizzler asked, before throwing it to one of the girls. She gasped when suddenly a second ball appeared, less vivid, but very present. The ball flew straight to a blonde girl, and she grinned. âNice trick, but there is only one ball in this game, Kathy.â The girl made the ball disappeared and hit her face behind one of the boys; Max - not at all confusing with Maxwell there as well. Bibi smiled as well, with a little shake of her head.Â
âI have a parrot,â the girl who got the ball said when the second ball disappeared. This had to be Sammy, a girl who could manipulate dreams. She could probably do great things with that power. âWhat is your power?âÂ
She threw the ball to Max, who caught it with great difficulty. He seemed a little withdrawn as well. âI can talk to mammals,â he said quietly.Â
âHumans are mammals too, so I guess youâre power isnât that special,â the red haired girl said with sass in her voice.Â
âBailey, thatâs not nice,â Bibi said. The girl was probably going to be a hand full, with her Supersonic Scream. âEveryoneâs power is special, no matter what it is,â she told the group. âMax, you can ask a question now.âÂ
âWhat is your favorite color?â Max asked before throwing the ball to Sandra, who took the ball with a sad face. She seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. Bibi had to find out what was bothering her. âI like all colors,â Sandra explained in a small voice. âI can manipulate them.â She quickly came up with a question to pass the ball.Â
âWhat is your favorite animal?â And she threw the ball to Benjamin, but in a bad angle, which made the boy fall against her as he caught it. These kids had seriously good answers that seemed to be based on an idea of their powers, she was impressed by some of them already. âSharks!â Benjamin said with a big grin.Â
âWhatâs your favorite food?â Maxwell, the slimy kid, seemed to have no problem catching the ball, at first that was, until it he dropped it again, and made all the other kids laugh. It was going to be hard to give this kid some confidence. He picked it up and held it to his slimy chest. It was pay back for the kids laughing because she didnât have an other ball. âI like pancakes.âÂ
âWhat is your superhero name?â He threw the ball to Bailey, who seemed to be annoyed by the slimy ball, but the question interested her. âThe Scream,â she said with a grin.
Last but not least was Kathy before they could start a second round. âAre your parents still alive?âÂ
âKathy,â Bibi said as a warning, giving her an irritated look before she could even throw the ball. She felt a moment of tension before the twelve year old gave in.Â
âHave you ever had coffee?â she threw the ball and Kathy caught it. The little girl shook her head and kept the ball close to her chest. âDo you like us?â she asked, and threw the ball back to Bibi.Â
Bibi just smiled, a sort of grin. Yes she liked her little band of kids, how could she not. They were all adorable. Her little slimy guy, who was hopeless catching a ball, the sassy sonic screamer, the withdraw girl who could project balls, the restless dream manipulator, her sad color changer, the little guy who could talk to mammals, and the affectionate kid with the gills. They were adorable. âI think youâll have to figure that out. Itâs my turn now.âÂ
Eats laughed then pondered her comment. He hadnât really been taking in the group gathered around the bonfire. "Well thereâsâŠâ He started pointing to people he could see close by âRugrat, Leaf, Otter, Ghost⊠hmm I think about the only people you may not know yet are GuruâŠvery nice guyâŠand ummâŠmy sisterâŠâ Eats cleared his throat awkwardly â Cat.â
He loved his sister technically but he liked his business private. Not all of the Councillors knew he had a sister, let alone a âtroubledâ one, and he had preferred it that way - it was probably for the best for him to get this kind of thing out of the way, though.
âYou have a sister? At camp?â She was surprised, she had never heard Eats talk about a sister, so maybe he wasnât very fond of her, but then why would he bring her to camp? If she was anything like Eats, she was probably a very nice person. âIs she going to counsel groups? Or work with you?â The idea of a brother-sister duo in the kitchen thrilled her.Â
âGuru is actually the person Iâll have to work together with, heâs doing Arts and Crafts as well. Iâm wondering what kind of person heâll be.â Bibi decided to go into the other subject as well, just in case Eats didnât feel about talking about the sister he had avoided talking about in the first place.Â
Anyone with that kind of mind could not possibly be lazy. He envied her, wondered what mightâve inspired her to chart such a path. ââHow did you get interested in that, building stuff?ââ Luc loved a good story. And sure, the one of how Bibi aka Sizzler discovered her mutation might prove to be more interesting. Maybe he hadnât quite relaxed enough to pryâ even his third year there, he didnât always ask outright. Not yet, at least.Â
And then he laughed. ââIs it not obvious I had zero help with mine?ââ There had been no one to bounce ideas off of, and yet he couldnât bring himself to be completely embarrassed about a shit name. ââWell now I want to hear the other options, DJ Sizzler. ââ Luc glanced over at Bibi. ââIf my campers are anything like me at that age.. I might need some back up.ââÂ
Bibi started thinking, she couldnât remember where it had started, she blamed Lego, so that was probably what had pushed her into that at first. âIâm going with Lego, I did that way too much as a kid, and I was always building stuff that wasnât on the package.â She grinned. âDo you have any hobbies?â
âBut how did you get it? I mean... from what I can remember from my extensive memory of the dictionaryâ - which she didnât have âit means something like great evil. Right?â She laughed. â I think other options were Combustion, Sparkler, Torchic, Fireworks, Katty Perry, we discussed Fire, but Silver would probably hate us for shouting that around camp the whole time.âÂ
âMaybe if they were like you, you would be a great example, because I can barely believe you were one of those hot-to-handle kids.âÂ
He listened, grin sparking up broader as Sizzler comes to the realization that maybe her place does resemble something seen in a movie. ââHey, anything to make life more efficient, right? Or.. really, I see no shame in using technology to indulge laziness. Not that you areâ Iâm speaking about myself here.ââ His head bobbed, ducking under a tree hanging lower over their path before speaking up again. ââI might take you up on that, Iâd love to see what you come up with.ââ
It wasnât such a surprise that Pippa had passed on a nickname. ââI like the name, she chose a good one. It suits you somehow too. If Iâd had known I wouldâve asked her for help on mine a few years back.ââ Sizzler sounded sort of like a character in the retro comics heâd read as a kid. It painted an image in his mind which made it also fairly easy to remember. Luc smiled to her joke. ââAbsolutely, we need to share notes. Especially with the age group we have. Already got that emo angsty attitude going, combined with their mutations. But thatâs what keeps it fun, isnât it?ââ
âOh, Iâm totally lazy,â Which wasnât really true, Bibi just enjoyed doing way too many things at the same time that she needed to drop some things in favor for others. People always called her lazy, and she knew what it felt like, she didnât want Luc to feel bad about being lazy. She smiled like a little kid who was told her drawing was beautiful.Â
âDid you pick your own?â she asked. âIâve never figured out why she picked it, but she had all these different ideas, and we agreed on this one. I think it would make a great name for when I start my DJâing career,â she said jokingly. âOh yes, that age group is the best, way more fun. I remember me at that age. If they are anything like me, Iâll all think they are amazing.âÂ
Eats tentatively touched his face to assess the damage. Not as bad as it could have been⊠He reached into a nearby cooler and grabbed a beer to roll the condensation on his face, then wiped what he could with his shirt. âAny better?â
âSo, what have you been up to Sizzler? Besides becoming a world champ?â
Bibi laughed at Eatsâ weird ethnics on getting the mallow of his face. Beer, sure why not. She nodded while trying to keep it together. She wasnât going to reply to his question in words.Â
âAnd roasting mallows for almost everyone!â she stated, although few people seemed to notice her huge stack of mallows. âIâm trying to figure who is who, some people I know by face, some I donât. How about you?âÂ
âYou totally did,â Pippa agreed companionably, and applied as much pressure as she could as Sizzlerâs hand met hers. She was glad no one was around, because they must have looked ridiculous, both the picture of maximum concentration as they wrestled. Finally, Pippa watched rather than felt her arm inch slowly towards the wood surface.
She let out a hiss of air as she knew sheâd lost. âGood one, Sizzler!â She offered a companionable high five to her roommate, whoâd won the top bunk fair and square. âMaybe this year we need to be careful that you donât throw anyone into a coffee table. Letâs get your stuff into the cabin.â
Without waiting for a response, Pippa was on her feet again, reaching to scoop up a few of Sizzlerâs bags.
Bibi almost jumped up when Pippaâs hand hit the board, and she was the winner. She instead smiled about her win, but felt a little bad about it as well. Pippa was such a great person, why did she have to win? She high-fived back, despite her feeling she almost didnât want the top bunk. âIâll try,â she laughed. âDo we even have a coffee table!â She pronounced to cover up her feeling of guilt. She scooped up her own bag and followed Pippa to their cabin. Their cabin. Her top bunk bed? Yeah, chances were she would be trading off her top bunk halfway through the week.Â
At least she had gotten the best bunk mate anyone could wish for.Â
Eats continued catching the marshmallows with his face till he held up his hands in protest laughing, mouth still full of mallows, âMstop, mstop!â
He then swallowed his last mallow and started laughing again. âOkâŠokâŠyou win the international best mallows award!â
Bibi laughed along as she stopped throwing the mallows and just held them in her hands not afraid that they would start sticking to her skin. She took a mallow herself as she watched with great delight how Eats finally swallowed all the mallows and pronounced her the winner. âThank you, thank you, I knew you would get to your senses.âÂ
Eats did his best to catch each Mallow as it flew by his face. He caught the majority of them, but a lot ended up getting stuck to his face. Eats tried speak with the fluffy mess in his mouth.
âMhat mmall youm gmot mrookie?â
Bibi kept on laughing as she threw the mallows. She threw the last one and watched him eating it horribly. He looked ridiculous with all the mallows sticking to his face, well at least it meant they had been real mushy.Â
âEats, no talking with your mouth full!â She called at him, and held up the next few mallows - being a Pyro made it easy to make new ones in mere seconds.
Eats laughed at the comment, âOh yes of courseâŠyou didnât hear? But you are right. The best were all pyros.â He took the marshmallow from her and gave her a big gooey grin. âItâs very good SizzlerâŠâ
âBut maybe I need justâŠone more to test your skills⊠The kids will be expecting consistently top notch marshmallows and I need to see if you can repeat your success.â
âOne more, really?â Bibi asked with a grin. She took the four she was making at the moment from the fire and took them off one by one. âCatch!â She started throwing all four one by one at his face.Â