Our camping trip.

I had been talked into going camping by Foster. It was silly. It was stupid. It was pointless. It was all that and more, but Foster had insisted he wanted to see what else was out there. For all his personal adventures, I was quite the homebody. I'd finally crumpled when Foster had said fine, he'd just go without me then. And so we'd marched off into the uncertain landscape that Foster was sure was just waiting to be explored.

I woke the next morning stiff and sore with an awareness of all my blisters and aches, but I felt something else too, something like hope at the bottom of Pandora's Box. It was the thing that had ended my slumber and realizing what it was, I kept my eyes shut and tried to deepen my breathing back to somnolent levels. I wanted to fool Foster; I needed to fool Foster. Because Foster had woke first and was slowly stroking the outside of my forearm. That marvelous, surreptitious touch stopped only a few moments later, but it confirmed all sorts of things about the man, hints and mixed signals, now all clarified.

I continued to feign sleep even though I badly wanted to open my eyes and look. I heard Foster shift and stand, leaving the tent we'd set up. The day before, I had not been able to manage an objection to this gesture at authenticity in camping, even though we had our choice of abandoned cabins to choose from. After all, it put me sleeping in the same place with Foster. Apparently Foster had not been unmoved by that consideration either. It might even have been his plan all along, the manipulative little brat. New territory, indeed.

Gabriel.

I had managed to talk Gabriel into going camping with me. It was silly. It was immature. It was fun. I wanted to get out and away from the routine we'd settled into. For as much as I value being reliable, steady, and there for people, I am a rebel at heart. I'd finally been forced to threaten to go alone - that had cracked Gabriel loose from his moorings. And so we'd marched off on an adventure together, seeing new corners of the world. I was thrilled. Maybe I'd get to see a side of my companion other than the stoic smart-ass I like to front with.

I hardly slept. I kept thinking about the time I'd stayed up all night to watch Gabriel passed out on my bed. My rest was less disturbed this time, but not by much. An entire night of watching the man struggle intermittently with his demons, completely vulnerable in slumber, moved me. As dawn greeted the world, the nightmares seemed to get worse. I knelt next to Gabriel and stroked his arm slowly. He stopped whimpering immediately and seemed to rouse, then lapse back into sleep.

I stopped, regarding my lover for some moments. I watched the slight motions of Gabriel's eyes under his lids and the lack of relaxation around his lips. He was faking! I smiled. So Gabriel knew I tried to comfort him. I rose and left the tent, stretching in the light of the new day. I wouldn't say it had been a bad night of sleep, exactly. I'd been confronted with Gabriel's humanity for hour upon hour and perhaps that was just what I needed to wake me up. I heard the man stir out and I turned to greet him, a warmth in my heart.

Foster.