No Better Time to Bond - [QuirkyVixen & Crescent]

[Crescent]

"Hallelujah!" Joel's pair of dirt crusted boots drew to a halt. He extended his arms out wide and tipped his head back, taking a saintly pose with a ray of afternoon sunlight shining on him through the heavy cover of trees. A pair of trekking poles hung loosely in the air from each of his wrists. A large, dusty-blue backpack was slung securely over each of his broad shoulders and cinched about his waist, the weight of it preventing the 28 year old from properly stretching out in what had been a rare patch of warmth on the final day of his hike. As all things, that briefest tease of radiant heat was taken from him by a distant cloud. "Arghh!" he cried dramatically, moments before a stiff shove in the back of his pack propelled him forward in several stumbling steps. The one responsible, Alex, Joel's younger cousin, paused in the vacated place to glance up through the tree gap a moment, then continued on.

Ever the optimist, Joel had already plucked his aviators from the front of his shirt. Leaning sideways against a nearby tree trunk, he put them on. "I'm telling you, if we believe, it will be sunny." Alex, stuffing the pointy ends of his trekking poles into the dirt in front of him to lean against, laughed the kind of gracious but tired laugh you afford a friend for their effort, if not their timely wit.

Looking ahead down the trail, Alex checked his watch - which was also a compass, barometer, altimeter, and weather trend indicator - and spoke, "we should be just a quarter mile away, and it's almost 4. That's when we're supposed to meet her, right?"

"Indeed," chimed in Joel. "Good timing, us." Alex, nodded in agreement, hoisting his pack to a more comfortable position. He made to take the lead, but Joel's pole suddenly blocked his path. "But....I need you to believe with me." An dark eyebrow arched just visibly behind his sunglasses, he tapped one finger to the side of their frame.

Flicking his own trekking pole against his cousin's to create a metallic clinking sound. "I don't see that working any better than the hundred other times we tried today. Besides, it's supposed to rain soon."

Joel, tapping his finger three more times, expressively mouthed the word, "Beh-leeeave". Huffing out an exaggerated sigh of defeat, Alex drew his own pair of aviators, with a matching fake wood frame, from his pocket and put them on. The already shaded, cloudy afternoon grew dimmer in his eyes, but his cousin's triumphant announcement, "Then we shall be on!", injected a bit of energy into the auburn haired 25-year-old just as Joel's trekking pole raised like a starting gate in front of him. Together, the pair trudged through the moderately muddy earth and overshadowing trees like kings returning home for a royal feast.

No more sunlight graced them, replaced instead with a heavy blanket of ominous clouds slowly sweeping overhead. Before long, the train drew to an abrupt end, opening wide to a short open stretch of grass with a picnic table set in the middle of it. Just further ahead, lay a truly miraculous sight for the pair of travel weary hikers, a parking lot. Joel was the first to shed his carry weight, dropping it hastily on the picnic table's bench. Replicating his stretch from before, he reached out and towards the sky, arching his back and pushing his chest forward. He let loose a resounding, "Halle-fucking lujah!" He paid no mind to the disapproving look from the grandmother shepherding two young children from the log cabin style visitor's center to a parked SUV. "Now where is my lady?", he inquired, raising his burdensome sunglasses up to scan the lot for a recognizable car. Alex as well dropped his pack onto the table and headed off in the direction of the public restrooms.

 

[QuirkyVixen]

Somewhere, not so far away from that little splotch of sunshine peeking through a blanket of perpetual grey, Heather Larson's sleek little charcoal crossover sped along a narrow two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. The winding path was drawn haphazardly across the bellies of each ridge, making speed a difficult thing to achieve. Despite it, she managed to rev the engine each time she hit a little sprawl of straightness. Windows down, the stereo piped music just shy of deafeningly loud into the wilderness whilst chocolate locks whipped wildly about her head amid the near-arctic breeze.

Heather didn't know if the looming grey above meant rain or snow. Either was a disappointment, but after a week, she was just happy to see the weekend -- and a little getaway with Joel -- arrive. So what if they had to spend it all locked inside with no realistic way to enjoy the idyllic wilderness in which they were submerged? And the fact that his cousin, Alex, was all but a stranger to her would make it a little weirder, but she didn't care. It didn't take much at all for her to find a good time in most any situation.

The clock read 4:02 which meant that, unusual as it was, Heather was late. The revelation fueled a heaviness in the toe of her boot as she got a little heavier on the gas. Futile as it was, she plucked her phone from the nearby console and confirmed that -- sure enough -- there still wasn't any signal. Heather's first reaction to the severance of her lifeline to society was frustration and something akin to fear, but an hour -- and about a bajillion trees -- later, the young woman was feeling liberated. Her relationship with Joel was relatively young -- a few months -- and this felt like the perfect opportunity for things to get deeper. She had a vehicle packed with snacks, liquor, and even a little weed in the even that Alex had an especially hard time acclimating to being a third wheel.

The clock read 4:06 by the time the little crossover rolled into the parking lot, immediately turning as her features lit. Heather was none too surprised to see that her boyfriend was right on time. She grinned when she spotted him, wasting no time in abruptly twisting the wheel. Tires squealed gently as she threw the vehicle into park with its nose pointed towards the picnic table. A moment later, and she was out of the vehicle. Snug fitting denim led up from the uggs on her feet whilst a down jacket obscured her upper body. A delighted grin spread her lips. It'd only been a couple days since she'd last seen him, but it felt like a lot longer.

"Found you," she remarked, and still boot-clad feet carried her closer. Heather threw herself into Joel, latching arms 'round his neck only to lean in and peck his mouth with a tentative smooch. Brown pools peeled away once she'd speckled a few more shallow smooches on his mouth, and with her weight still draped over him, her head twisted to guide that look around. There was no sign of him.

"Where's Alex?"

Moments later, her gaze reverted to her boyfriend, and she leaned in for a slower, more savory nip at his mouth which left her teeth playfully sinking into his lower lip. She gave a tug, then grinned just after releasing it. "I missed you. How was it?"

 

[Crescent]

The parking lot's sparse assortment of people and cars filled the air with a quiet din, all the sounds familiar, but alien at the same time. Even to city boy Joel, the first dose of civilization following a week long trail hike felt especially jarring. A car door closing resounded loudly in his ears. Joel was momentarily surprised no one else's attention snapped to the source of it, a black sedan with a teenage Asian couple emerging, him in a gray hoodie and jeans and her in tighter, black jeans and a puffy coat with faux fir trim. The casual clothing seemed especially touristy out there at the mouth of nature. Joel found his gaze idly following the couple on their path to the visitor's center, daydreaming, first about warm, comfortable clothing, then bed sheets, then...Heather. He pictured her in that jacket, drawing the fur trimmed hood over her loose, brown tresses, her cheeks tucked in that knowing smile.

Actual Heather's boots scuffing along the dirt path brought Joel back to reality, and to face the reason for his inspired finish to their last day of hiking. Irrefutably, her real, tangible being outclassed Joel's imagined one ten times over. Not that he was particularly overweight to begin with, Joel looked noticeably more trim in his coal-colored wool pullover, the sleeves drawn up to his elbows, and his tan, nylon hiking pants. Her beaming smile hastily infected him, bringing a charmed grin to his own scruffy face. Joel pushed up from the edge of the picnic table that had supported his leaning as she collided into him. "Never been happier to be found." His hands magnetized to their usual place just above her hips, taking firm hold of her sides as if he were always about to hoist her up like a figure skater. His lips pursed against her smattering of kisses. How he'd made it a week without those warm kiss-happy lips was beyond him.

"Where's who?" Joel wasn't ready to lose her affectionate attention just yet. His right hand smoothed up her side until his thumb reached what felt like bra through her down and other hidden layers, cupping around to her back and decidedly squeezing her against him. His thin slacks did little to hide the kindling in his groin which she no doubt intended with that lip nibbling kiss.

To her question, Joel contorted his face into one experiencing deep thought, only to come up with, "Shit, I think I forgot already." He wore an easy smirk as his dusty-blue eyes settled back into her gorgeous browns. "No it was great. I missed the hell out of you, but it was great." His attention drifted to a genuine thought somewhere off to the left, and he added, "we saw a MOOSE." Joel attempted to demonstrate the idea of bigness, holding his left hand up above either of their heads. "Mooses are large." His facial expression as well expanded for emphasis.

Letting the restroom door swing shut behind him, Alex set a path back to where he'd left his pack and his cousin. At a distance, he caught sight of the pair of lovebirds and their blatant PDA. 'Here we go,' he reflexively thought, steeling himself for a weekend of third-wheeling. Not that Alex held any animosity towards Heather, he'd been looking quite forward to meeting her after being subjected to Joel's love struck depiction of his incredible new girlfriend. It was just impossible not to glean his cousin's more exclusionary intentions from the anticipatory way he talked about meeting up with her at the end of their trip, especially when Joel explicitly mentioned it.

"Hey, I found him!" Joel pointed towards Alex, looking over Heather's head. Motioning his index finger back and forth between them, he offered a lazy introduction. "Alex, Heather. Heather, Alex."

Alex flipped on a friendly greeting face and brushed his palm against the side of his khaki shorts as he leaned forward and reached out to shake hands. "Hey, nice to finally meet you." The sleeve cuffs of his red and gray flannel shirt were rolled up to his elbows. "Hey, umm." Worrying he held eye contact too long, he looked to Joel. "They have showers here. I mean, if we're planning on going right out somewhere." Alex crossed his arms in front of his chest, keeping an extra step and a half away, lest he offend Heather's sense of smell.

"Nah, we're fiiiiine," Joel tossed back. "We don't smell that bad, do we baby?" He flashed a toothy smile in her direction. "And I might die of starvation if I don't eat a hamburger within the next half hour. No shower is worth that."

"Ok then, uh, there was a place on the road I remember. The Big Bear Lodge I think." Alex shuffled another step away and raised an arm to point towards the outlet road Heather had come in on.

"Perfect, let's go!" Joel exclaimed, leading the way to Heather's crossover, fairly oblivious to his cousin's discomfort.

 

[QuirkyVixen]

We saw a MOOSE.

"No!" Heather was quick to exclaim alongside a wide-eyed gawk of surprise. Still draped 'round Joel's neck, there was some hint of patronizing in her gaze, yet the fact was genuinely exciting. The pair had already enjoyed two different zoo visits over the relatively young duration of their relationship thus far, and there had been countless hikes. Despite it, she couldn't help but split a lingering and somewhat wry grin.

"How large?" Mischief glimmered in the rich pools of her eyes, and for a moment it might've seemed as though Heather's loosening hand was about to take an adventurous dip for a little grope. Instead, she gave Joel's collar and then shoulder a little squeeze. Her touch fell away, and still that gaze lingered alongside a decidedly wicked grin. Alex, seemingly in cue, interrupted the amorous levity. Gradually, and with nary a hard feeling towards the interference, she fully uncoiled from her boyfriend and slipped a surprisingly taut soft-palmed grip into his handshake.

"It's great to meet you, too!" First impressions: Alex was confident, conscientious, and cute. As third wheels went, she'd be happy to share a little of Joel's attention with his cousin; even if things on the front end might be a little one-sided. Gradually, she sank into Joel's side, entwining her arm -- and hand -- with his own whilst her head nuzzled into the outside of his arm.

We don't smell that bad, do we baby?

Heather offered up an exaggerated sniff followed rather closely by a perturbed scowl poised rather directly to Alex. As if to tease Joel and further bond with his cousin, she gave a shake of the head.

"I don't want anyone starvin', but holy shit." Truth be told, the two of them were rather ripe. She kind of liked it, however, and her stomach was on the brink of letting loose a roar the both of them would hear. Food seemed like a good idea. Besides, Joel was going to need his energy later. She gave a reassuring smile up to him, then reclutantly pushed off his side before twirling her keys and starting for the car.

Moments later, the trio were all buckled in, and Heather started out of the tourist center parking lot in the direction Alex had pointed out. "I got everything you guys asked for. Plus some surprises," she teased, turning a sidelong grin to Joel in the passenger's seat. No doubt he could tell, by now, that she was more than happy to see him, yet there was a lingering fear in her that whatever last-minute accommodations they could find would inevitably only have one bed or something equally awkward. That wasn't exactly romantic, but -- again -- she didn't totally care.

"So what else did you guys see? I heard about a moose," Heather rambled, glimpsing Alex through the rearview on occasion; if only to try and keep him feeling comfortable and not out of place. All told, the conversation stayed light as they meandered along the winding mountain road.

It was nearly fifteen minutes when the little crossover rolled to a stop ahead of the well-worn sign affixed to the front of what could only be considered a dive. The little shanty of a restaurant was, however, bustling, as an array of vehicles occupied the twenty-some count of spaces divvied out in front of it. Heather parked, grinned excitedly to Joel and then Alex, and hopped out only to meander around at the front. A red-orange neon sign glowed in the window, prompting her to point with delight. It read, quite simply, COLD BEER.

 

[Crescent]

"SO large." Joel channeled the exuberance 10 year-old describing a reassembled dinosaur fossil from the museum to their parents "Way larger than you'd expect." He reveled in her playful encouraging. Heather's ability to spur on his often nonsensical theatrics was a trait Joel loved in her. In their relatively short time as a couple, she had proven to be a stimulant for his already substantial self-confidence. After the long week apart, this affectionate banter served as a shot of Heather adrenaline, needled directly into his blood stream. To a lesser effect, Alex experienced the same. Little had sounded better than a warm shower, followed by spreading out on a motel couch with a beer and pizza, an evening he might have contested his cousin in favor of were she not present. Her smiling eyes though, during their brief introduction, seemed to promise adventure, even if Alex knew it was with Joel, not him.

En route to the restaurant, Alex considered his options for becoming presentable in public while Joel fiddled with the radio. Among the provisions Heather had brought them was a bag of changing clothes, a god send given that all of their efficiently packed hiking attire had seen multiple days on unwashed bodies. Back in the parking lot, Joel had pointed out, "Hey, we jumped in a lake, like...two days ago?"

"Uhh, three," Alex had corrected him. At the time he had laughed at Heather's soured expression, but now he questioned whether or not it was truly exaggerated. Finding a yellow cotton t-shirt of his folded into the bag, Alex withdrew it and began unbuttoning his flannel top. Joel, still at work trying to find the least fuzzy country station, left answering Heather's moose question to him. "Uhh, yeah. It was about a mile from the campsite on Tuesday morning, getting a drink from the lake. I got some good pictures of it." Sitting forward from the seat's back, Alex's bare chest came into view as he tugged open his unfastened shirt. Mostly bereft of hair, his pecks and abdominal muscles were fairly taut, though ghostly white compared to the fresh tan extending down his arms. An exchange of glances in the rear view mirror brought touch of red to Alex's cheeks. Quick to pull on the fresh tshirt, Alex's eyes kept to the window for the duration of the drive.

Having resigned from radio tuning, Joel let his hand drop from the stereo to strategically land on Heather's thigh. Glancing over his shoulder to the backseat, he said, "Cameraman back here took a million pictures. Possibly even some good ones." With his fingers grazing down the inner curvature between her legs, he turned his attention to his girlfriend. "We should take a look at them later. Maybe tomorrow." The unspoken implication came through a cheshire grin, his fingertips skimming the inseam of her jeans.

Cracked, gravelly pavement crunched under the tires as they drew to a stop in the restaurant parking lot, a pair of towering Ford pick-ups looming on either side of the crossover. Alex's rear door popped open, and he hopped out into the still gray evening holding another item from their weekend bag. A hand passed through his grimy, reddish hair which he then capped with a throwback, plastic mesh in the back, honest to god trucker hat. Adjusting it on his head, he looked over the impressively flat establishment. Possessing no awning nor outer decor, the flat wood front wall rose up to a flat, forward-slanted roof. The wood board exterior gave the place it's shack-like quality. A sparse row of outer windows were obscured by a smokey tint, allowing no visibility nor external light inside. A far cry from the local microbreweries that had taken over

"Hey, isn't that my hat?" Joel had lingered in the front seat just long enough to mash lips again with his girlfriend over the center console, but now joining his cousin outside, he leveled the accusation at his cousin.

Already several paces towards the entrance, Alex kept moving forward, calling back over his shoulder, "You're the one that abdicated showering." For good measure, he worked gripped the brim and worked the hat firmly in place on his head.

The flustered face Joel made was aimed equally at the sullying of his hat and the four-syllable word used to justify it. "Did I abdicate showering?" he inquired of Heather, trusting his girlfriend's vocabulary over his own and draping an arm around her.

The front door opened up directly into the seating area, such as it were. A handful of booths lined the edge of the place, their seats red upholstery covering un-cushioned wood. Uniform round tables, none fit for more than four people, filled in the rest of the floor space. A beaten up wood-grain bar spanned the middle of the back wall and attracted the biggest congestion of patrons, primarily locals. Amongst the tabled seating, a few parties were recognizably tourists, also stopping at the first food and beer available coming from the park visitor's center. Though reasonably full, nothing bustled about the place. A pair of TVs hanging over the bar both tuned to a baseball game of little consequence, judging by the half-interested watchers occupying bar stools.

Alex bee-lined towards an open booth that had just been bussed. He was disappointed to find the seat hard and wooden, but the scent of greasy food had both his and Joel's mouths watering. Before long, a waitress with a graying, blonde ponytail, looking to be around her mid 40's approached their table. "What can I get you kids to drink?"

 

[QuirkyVixen]

"Jesus," Heather was quick to exclaim. Hands on the wheel, her eyes -- and head -- were in constant motion, flickering between the two passengers in her vehicle whilst doing what they could to maintain the road's curvaceous pathway with at least some regard for its fresh and bold yellow lines. This felt better. The last several days had been monotonous by her standards; still lively but absent something vitally important. Having Joel back -- and that hand on her thigh -- prompted a wide, full smile and knowing eyes whose lids fluttered briefly. She was so bold as to let loose a sigh when it slid down in between, settling between body-warmed denim.

Eye contact with Alex felt comfortable; casual. Meeting anyone for the first time could be difficult, but it had only taken miliseconds for Heather to recognize that jovial Brennan nature in him. Like anyone, the sudden sight of flesh tones prompted the young woman to glimpse down; a gesture which was only too clear despite that it happened through the reflection of a rearview mirror. In wake of it, she held Alex's eyes and returned his expression, unable to sprout a little grin at the sight of flush in his cheeks. Yup. Just like Joel.

We should take a look at them later. Maybe tomorrow.

The remark lifted haphazardly at the right corner of Heather's mouth, prompting a smirk that could only be described as mischievous. To say that she'd missed her boyfriend over the last week was an understatement. His hand on her thigh served to further tantalize, prompting its sister to veer inward if only to provide pressure around his hand. It wasn't that she'd made it impossible for him to withdraw, but it was clear that she did not want it.

"Yeah?" She couldn't help but play naive. Thoughtfully, Heather contemplated just how appropriate it was to carry on like this with Alex changing clothes in the back. The vehicle, meanwhile, twisted sharply into a parking spot. Moments later, outside the car, she threw an arm around Joel's lower back, sinking herself into him before drawing in a deep inhale of him.

"Mmh," she hissed with an exaggerated grimace. "You definitely abdicated showering. But that's okay. I still love you." With a cheerful snicker, she once again neglected the fact that Alex was watching; only to give Joel's backside a firm and loud smack.

The little diner was quaint but busier than Heather would've expected. As if to reaffirm the meager crowd, the alluring scent of purest junk -- grease, cheese, and liquor -- hanged heavy in a place that was surprisingly well lit despite the perpetual grey of a looming storm outside. She and Joel were close behind Alex, and when the time came Heather slinked along to the inside, looking expectantly to her boyfriend as he slid in alongside her.

Heather was only just in the process of pouring over the drink menu when they were prompted, and none to her surprise, both men looked to her expectantly when the time came. "Ummmm," she scanned again and again, but the reality was that this place didn't list out a plethora of fancy mixed drinks. She pushed the temptation away anyway. Liquor this early in the evening -- with driving on unknown country roads ahead -- was almost surely a bad idea. Besides, she had plenty of that stashed away in the vehicle for later.

"Can I just have whatever you have on draught please? A big one." She grinned sheepishly, deferring then as both Joel and Alex placed their own orders.

"Ooh. Can we have some cheese fries, too?"