Camping Trip
Source: https://twitter.com/ice014tabetai/status/1590324369443934208
“Take the shot, Kronii.” You told her as she fidgeted around.
“No, shut up!” She tried to kick you without looking. “I have to wait for the perfect moment!”
“Take the freakin’ shot, Kronii.” You nudged her.
“I HAVE TO WAIT, MAN! DON’T PRESSURE ME!”
Kronii’s scream scared off the bird she was trying to photograph.
“GOSH DANGIT!”
She watched as it flew away before turning to you with puffed up cheeks. You put your hands up.
“Not my fault.” You said.
“nOt mY fAuLt,” she parroted, “Let’s keep going.”
After getting a new camera, Kronii spent a lot of her free time photographing everything in your walks, the view, the animals you’d come across, Karens arguing with shopkeepers… Eventually, she started bugging you to take her someplace else so she could keep taking pictures. You were happy to oblige since you felt you needed a break. The both of you got everything you needed and went off on a camping trip together.
When you arrived, you quickly got to work setting up the camp and getting food ready for later. Kronii helped while complaining the entire time that you weren’t fast enough.
“I need daylight.” She explained. “No, I can’t wait till tomorrow, hurry up.”
You still made sure to add extra veggies to her skewers for later.
Kronii dragged you along as you went for a walk along the trail. You made frequent stops so the warden could take pictures of whatever she found interesting. Plants, mushrooms, squirrels, deer, birds, insects, nothing escaped her lens. You did your part too by bringing a pair of binoculars and pointing her at potential shots.
After taking a picture of a squirrel with a mouthful of acorns, she walked up to you and handed you her camera.
“Check them out.” She proudly puffed out her chest. “I’m the best photographer there is.”
You lightly smiled but stopped yourself from making fun of her. You happily checked fiddled with the camera to see what she took. You were surprised to find pictures of you while you were setting up the camp. Thankfully, there weren’t any embarrassing angles.
You reached out your hand to pat her head.
“You could totally get paid for this.” You told her.
“I know, right?” She laughed as you gave her back her camera. You decided not to ask about the photos she took of you for now.
After another while of hiking and the small incident you had with the bird flying off, the sun started to set. You hadn’t gone too far away from the camp, so you still had enough time to go back before it got dark.
“Kronii, let’s go back to eat.” You called out to her.
She was too focused looking at something at a distance. “Is that…?” She narrowed her eyes then took your binoculars to get a better look.
“There you are!” She yelled before breaking into a run.
“Kronii?!” You watched her as she ran away from the trail. “Hey, wait!”
She clearly wasn’t listening to you, so you followed her. You tried to take note of where you were, keeping in mind any landmarks to get you back to the trail. Unfortunately, your dearest clock decided to make a lot of twists and turns while following her target, making you lose track of everything.
After what felt like going through a labyrinth, she finally stopped and pulled out her camera again.
“Please don’t move, please don’t move…” She whispered as you caught up with her. When you looked at whatever she was facing, it turned out she was following the bird she had missed a while back.
SNAP
“YES!” She pumped her fist. “GOTCHA!”
“Yeah, yeah, great job.” You rubbed your forehead. “Was that really worth it?”
“What are you talking about?” She proudly showed you her camera. “Of course it was!”
“Well that’s great.” You moved her camera aside. “Now, how are you planning to get back to the camp?”
“Obviously we just follow the trail back and…” She looked around, her smile slowly faded. “…Oh.”
“Do you remember how far we went?” You asked her.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine… probably.” You took her hand. “Let’s try to find the trail.”
You walked in the opposite direction, hoping you’d find your way to the camp quickly. As much as you tried, you didn’t recognize anything you encountered. You couldn’t hear anything other than the sounds of nature either.
“…Wait.” Kronii stopped you.
“What’s up?”
She let go of your hand, dropped her bag and started climbing a tree.
“…Did you lose your mind?” You asked her.
“No!” She yelled at you. “I just… maybe I can see something from up here!”
You weren’t too worried she’d fall off considering her experience but you still paid close attention just in case.
“Umm…” She looked around when she reached a high enough spot. “Oh! Hey, come up here!”
“What? Why?” You grabbed Kronii’s belongings and put them nearby. “Do you see something?”
“Yes, now come here!”
“Fine, fine…” You said as you started climbing. You found her sitting on a branch looking at the horizon.
“Huh…” You sat on another branch and took in the view.
From above you could clearly see other campsites nearby. You weren’t even that far from the trail, you just had to walk straight for a few more minutes. You looked above. The moon shone brightly, and the sky was illuminated by innumerable stars.
“This is great.” Kronii said as she took more pictures with her camera. “I’m gonna show off so hard to the girls.”
“Just make sure you move my pictures somewhere else.” You told her.
“GWAK?!" She almost dropped her camera. She looked at you, the moon shining on her blushing face. “HOW DID YOU—?!”
“I uh… scrolled a bit too far.” You explained. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine, just… Aw, man…” She looked like she wanted to throw herself off the tree. “I kinda just wanted to take some pictures…”
“You’re a pretty good photographer.” You said.
“T-thank you…”
You awkwardly stayed silent watching the view.
“Let’s go eat.” You finally said.
You carefully climbed down the tree and returned to the trail. You poked fun at Kronii a few times adding to her embarrassment, but she never let go of your hand on the way back.
When you returned, everything in your camp was still in order. You got the campfire going again so you could heat the food up. You also took the skewers with extra veggies for yourself, Kronii had gone through enough bullying for the day. Your warden didn’t stop taking pictures of you even after being found out. Maybe it was her form of revenge, but you didn’t really mind.
After eating, the two of you sat together, enjoying the warmth of the campfire and the crackles it made. You stared at the night sky again, trying to guess the constellations. Kronii beat you every time, she said she had studied, but you already knew it was thanks to Sana.
While you got everything ready to sleep, Kronii happily went through the pictures she took. You sat down next to her and she showed you the photos she liked the most.
“Thank you for taking me here.” She told you. “It was a nice break.”
“I needed it too, don’t worry.” You ruffled her hair. “You think you took enough pictures.”
She smiled then shook her head.
“Still missing one.” She leaned on you then pointed the camera at the both of you. “We never took one together.”
You laughed and resigned yourself to getting yet another picture taken. This one, however, was special. You made sure to frame it when you got back home.
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