Work Text
“Gather around, campers! My co-counselors too! I have an announcement to make!” David’s cheery voice called out, and all the groggy eyes in the mess hall turned to look at him. You notice that he’s extra peppy this morning, his auburn colored hair bouncing along with every step he takes. As you walk towards him, you rack your brain, trying to think what the announcement could be. Nothing peculiar was scheduled for this week that you know of… Unless you’re forgetting something? It’s Seven AM, your thoughts just might be cloudy from having woken up a few short minutes ago. David continues on, “Now, the quartermaster and I have been planning this for some time now...” You shoot Gwen a questionable look, and she shoots one right back at you. “...And it's finally happening! We’re gonna be going on a surprise Camp Campbell overnight Field Trip!!”Max’s voice rings out from the small crowd of kids. “What the fuck, David? That’s kidnapping!”David smiles down at Max, enthusiastically scolding him. “Language, Max!” He turns his attention from Max, over to the rest of the campers. “And not to worry, everyone! I’ve called all your parents, all of them are aware and think it’s a wonderful idea!”Nikki bounces up and down excitedly, her words running at a mile a minute. “Oh! Field trip! I love field trips!! How long will we be gone? What should we bring with us? Where are we going? When are we leaving?” David answers her questions just as quickly as she asks them. “A few nights, three days worth of clothes, that's a secret, and this afternoon! After breakfast, you guys can go pack!!” The kids begin to chatter among themselves about where we might be going, what they’re bringing, etc. You pull David aside, half nervous, and half excited. “How long have you been planning this!!” It comes out as more of a statement than a question. You know for certain he must’ve done this all on his own, the only thing Quartermaster contributed was probably his approval. “I don’t remember, maybe since the summer started?” He rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “It's gonna be great.” David looks up at you with a gleam in his eye that almost makes you melt, which is interrupted by Gwen bumping into his shoulder. “So! What's the secret location?” The last portion of her sentence is hushed, and she looks pretty excited for the trip, or maybe she’s just excited to leave camp.“It's a surprise!! You’ll both find out when we get there!” David smiles, looking extremely proud of himself. “As long as we’re getting out of here for a few days, I’m fine with it.” And with that, Gwen walks back towards a table to finish her breakfast. “So you’re really not gonna say where we’re going?” You whisper, smirking slyly up at him. “Yep! My lips are sealed.” He mimics zipping his lips shut. "Even to me?" You bat your eyelashes, trying to get the information out of him. In response, he shakes his head, pointing at his zipped lips. “Fine, fine. But can you at least tell me what type of clothes to pack? Like are we talking beaches, or more forests-” David cuts you off before you can finish your list. “Doesn’t matter. You’ll look stunning in anything.” He looks at you with that gleam in his eye. Every time he gives you that look, it makes you feel like you're the only person in the world, even if there are tons of campers yelling around you. You and David have been flirting with each other since you arrived at camp this summer, but it's never gone past that, even though you're sure both of you want it to. Your face flushes, and you push at his arm playfully. “I’m being serious, Davey! Tell me that much, please?” You pout your lip to complete your puppy dog face. It works like a charm, and he dodges your eyes, casting his over the camp members. “Fine! Pack for both, forests and beaches. But that’s all the information you're getting out of me!!” David plants his hands firmly on his hips, smiling softly. “Sir yes sir!!” You joke, pressing two fingers up to your forehead to salute him. He giggles, and you swear it's one of the purest sounds you've ever heard. You make your way back to the tables to finish breakfast before walking the kids back to their cabins to help them pack for the trip. Gwen agreed to packing first while you watched the kids, and switching off when she was done. After what seemed like ages of “Don’t forget your toothbrush!” and “Do you really need to bring your Science kit/Typewriter/Ant Farm/Etc.” The kids were all packed, and Gwen was watching over them in the courtyard. You walked over to your cabin, starting to pack your stuff up. “Hey! How’s packing?” David’s head popped out from the open door of your room. “Going good! How are the kids?” You ask, speaking while folding clothes gently into your bag.“Good, I think. Gwen is watching over them now. I just-” You turn to face David, finishing the end of his statement in unison. “-hope I’m doing everything right.” His expression perks up as you both finish the sentence. You take a step toward him, putting your hands on his shoulders as you begin to reassure him. “You are, David. The kids are the happiest I’ve seen them in a while. I’m sure you picked an amazing place for us to visit.”David smiles up at you, his cheeks dusting red. You start to pull away to continue packing, but he takes hold of your hand. His palms are cold, but soft, and the action sends the butterflies in your stomach into a frenzy. “I-I need to ask you something!” He looks down nervously at your hands, but doesn’t let go, and instead takes a small step towards you. “I know this is gonna sound silly… But, heck, I’m gonna ask anyway.” He glides his thumb against your knuckles, looking almost mesmerized by the sight of your hands together. “Will you sit next to me on the bus? I know there's more than enough room for everyone to get their own seat, but I-”“I’d love to.” You interrupted, squeezing his hand gently. He looks up from your hands to give you that look. It takes everything in you to pull away and continue packing. “But we’ll never get anywhere if I don't finish!!” “Yeah! I'm sorry, go ahead and finish up. We’ll be waitin' for ya outside!!” David starts to walk out, taking one last look at you before continuing on his way. Once you finished packing up, you headed out of your cabin to meet everyone by the flagpole. David has a bag slung over his shoulder, his guitar in one hand, and a (fairly large) box in the other. Adorned on his head is a Camp Campbell baseball cap you’ve never seen before. Naturally, as you walked over to stand beside him, you snatched it from his head, placing it on your own. He gives you a smile, dropping the box down beside him and ruffling his hat hair with his now free hand. “Alright campers! Before we head off, we have to go over a few things!!” After David was sure he had everyone’s attention, he continued on. “Now! To keep us looking like a team while we’re away from Camp Campbell, I got some Camp hats!” David gestured over to the hat on your head, a huge grin on his face. “Make sure you have them on you at all times as well, that way we can spot you if you get lost!” He opened the box and passed it to Gwen, who began passing the hats out to the campers. There was a few groans at the required “uniform,” but the campers obeyed for the most part, putting the hats on their heads or clipping them to their belt loops. “And… You’ll all have to pick one buddy to stick with at all times. So go ahead and pick your buddies!” You notice that Neil, Nikki, and Max look at each other with a confused glance, before shrugging. David took a clipboard out of his bag, starting to write down the names of all the pairs, mumbling under his breath. “Alright, so, Ered & Nerris, Dolph & Nurf, Nikki & Neil & Max, Harrison & Preston... Spacekid?” David looked around, and he stood by Gwen, who surprisingly looked unbothered by the decision. “Spacekid & Gwen! Perfect. That just leaves…” David gives you a wink, before scribbling your names down together. Your cheeks start to get red, and you pull the brim of the cap down to cover your face. After going over a few more safety precautions, everyone is piling into the bus. Most kids take their own seat, with a few exceptions, and you and David take the first seat by the door, you taking the window seat. “Alrighty! Is everyone sure they have everything they need?” David calls out to the campers, even though most of them are uninterested. The quartermaster starts driving anyways, and David stumbles a little. You take his hand, hoping to balance him out. He smiles down at you, squeezing your hand gently before calling out again. “I know what we can do!! This is the perfect time for some road trip songs!!” Every camper on the bus lets out an audible groan, Gwen included. David starts singing anyways, “Ohh, one hundred bottles of-” but he’s cut off quickly by a projectile shoe hitting his forehead. The shoe came from the back of the bus, along with Max’s shrill voice, “No, David! Shut the fuck up!” After that, David finally sat down, pulling his hand away from yours to rub his temple. “At least we know he’s paying attention in target practice camp!” David laughed off the hit, turning to face you. You can see the red mark forming on his pale skin, and you sigh, reaching for your bottle of ice water. “Come here, Davey.” You cooed, getting on your knees and gently pulling his hand away from the mark to replace it with the cold bottle, holding it in place. He winces, but doesn’t pull away, instead leaning into you. Sitting on your knees like this, you’re a little taller than he is, and he’s blushing up at you, his eyes as wide as saucers. You feel your own cheeks getting red under his gaze. “Do you wanna hold it instead...?” You question, moving your free arm up to hold onto the seat behind him. “But you’re doing just fine!” He insists, leaning into you just a little more. With every bump in the road, the bus jumps a bit, threatening to knock you off balance. David brings his hand up to your waist to steady you, holding you tightly. “Alright, alright. How long is this trip anyways?” You ask, half expecting David to answer your question with “It's a surprise!”.“About five hours, maybe six? Depending on how many times we stop for bathroom breaks and whatnot!” He answers, squeezing your side gently after hitting a particularly large bump. You let out an approving hum, and after a little while longer, you pull your bottle away, sitting beside David normally. You turn your face to look out the window, and he scooches in close to look outside as well. “Man-oh-man, am I excited to see the all the different species of trees!! Not that I don’t enjoy all the Elm’s and Cedar’s that grow here on Lake Lilac, it's just gonna be so great to see something new!” Normally, talking about things like this would bore you to death. But seeing how passionate David is about it brings a whole new meaning to all of it, his eyes light up, and he expresses everything he’s saying with his hands, not to even get started with the smile he gets on his face. “Tell me more, nature boy!” You smile up at him, turning your attention from the window to David. He goes on and on about trees, then plant life, and eventually ends up talking about the Farmers Almanac. “It's really cool, cause you get to see how the farming industry has progressed over the years, how things have changed, what the weather was like, and learn old forgotten farming tips… Oh, 1972 was such an interesting year!! I keep it on my phone to listen to at all times!” David’s expression quickly switches from excited to nervous as he pulls his phone and a pair of earbuds out of his pocket. He awkwardly fumbled with it in his hands, before looking back at you. “Do you… Wanna listen with me?” He extends an earbud towards you. “Sure!!” You happily take it, plugging it into your ear, and you tilt your head up to see that David is looking at you like you’re a giant sentient tree, his eyes wide and twinkling, and his jaw slightly dropped. You shift slightly under his look, wiping your face thinking you have something on it. “What?” “I… No one has ever wanted to listen to the farmers almanac with me before…” David mumbles as he looks at you in awe. “I mean, you love it, so it must be interesting!” You smile brightly up at him, tapping his chin to close his mouth. “You’ll catch flies, silly. Play it!” David did so, and the voice of an older man began talking about an upcoming cold front. Even though it wasn’t the most captivating thing in the world, listening to it did soothe you, and you now know that the quality and tenderness of an asparagus depends on the temperature of the soil it's growing on. You lean against David, letting your head rest on his shoulder as you listened to the Almanac and looked out the window. You saw the passing clouds, and the change from dirt road to highway, but what you didn’t see, was David looking down at you admirably the entire time. You make your first pit stop right at the end of 1972. David puts his phone back into his pocket, standing up in the aisle of the bus. “Alright, campers!! Now’s your chance to get a snack or use the bathroom! We’re gonna break into groups now, so be sure to stick together the whole time!” David reaches into his bag for his clipboard before continuing. “The groups are… Gwen, Spacekid, Nerris, and Ered… Then (y/n), Max, Neil, n’ Nikki… And finally, Dolph, Nurf, Harrison, and Preston are with me!! Let's go everyone!!” All the kids begin to pile off the bus, reuniting with their groups outside the doors. “We all meet back here in one hour!! Don’t be late!!”