The air is alive with a multitude of sounds. The crackling of fire and the occasional snap and spark of the logs that feed it. The chirping of bugs all around them accents the hysterical laughter of young teenagers. Plastic bags of marshmallows, chips and candy crinkle as they're passed around the campfire.
The New Mutants, under the questionable supervision of Kitty Pryde—"questionable" in that she only thinks she's supervising, but she's so not and everyone knows it—have set up camp so deep into the forest on the edge of the Xavier estate that they can't even see the lights from the mansion anymore, or even the reflections of said lights on the surface of Breakwater Lake.
They had only settled on this spot after all their previous choices had gotten shot down by some protest or another. First, Amara had complained that there were too many trees and which meant too many opportunities for creepy crawlies to rear their tiny ugly heads. Rahne couldn't see the moon from their second spot. At the third, Illyana had whined that she could see a single window at the back of the mansion and therefore it wasn't a genuine camping trip. The fourth objection was at least legitimate—there wasn't enough room for all of them and their tents—so Kitty had lead them to their fifth and final spot.
Pretending to be some kind of camping expert because she thinks she can remember going camping with her parents that one time before her mutation surfaced—though she secretly wonders if she had only dreamt up that tale—Kitty makes a show of directing everyone in how to set up their tents, how to arrange logs and rocks in a circle, and how to properly make a fire in the center of said circle. She's making most of it up as she goes along, because even if she hadn't dreamt the experience, there's no way she can remember that far back. Not with everything that has happened since. Dani does remember, but it's in her interest to keep Kitty in a good mood, so she doesn't point out the mistakes she's making.
Kitty even stops Amara from making them a fire the easy way, insisting that that isn't real camping either, and they have to rub some sticks together or nothing. They all groan and roll their eyes but they do it anyway.
They spend about half an hour trying until they're all so frustrated that they've just about given up on fire altogether, when Roberto distracts Kitty by asking her what kind of tree he set his tent up under, and Amara throws a spark into the kindling. Sam woops like it was his doing, and she elbows him hard in the side for taking credit, but Kitty is none the wiser and rewards him with a pat on the shoulder.
They start the night out stereotypically enough. Dani suggests scary stories to which Illyana quickly agrees, much to Rahne's dismay. Sam puts his arm around her shoulders and tells her it'll be okay and she seems to ease up to his words. Most of the stories are told by Dani, Illyana and Roberto but the more Illyana tells the more they start to wonder whether she's making things up or allowing them all a privileged glimpse into her childhood. Kitty recognizes many of the stories from things that the blonde has told her about her time in Limbo, and though they seem slightly more exaggerated now, it gives her the chills thinking about her best friend actually having lived in a place where such things were the norm. As soon as Illyana's done, Dani suggests a new activity: Truth or Dare.
The game starts off innocently enough: Roberto dares Sam to stuff as many marshmallows into his mouth as possible, Doug asks Kitty the truth about just how many incidents of busted electronics at the mansion were secretly her fault, and Amara dares Illyana to swap Wolverine's underwear drawer with Storm's. Turns out, Sam can fit a whopping 27 marshmallows in his mouth, Kitty has broken so many electronics she's lost count by now, and Illyana has a death wish if how fast she accepts and completes that dare has anything to say about it.
Dani spends most of the game eyeing Kitty and Illyana, grinning it off or quickly diverting her attention to someone else when they catch her. In the back of her mind she knows she's probably not being as sly as she thinks she is, but she considers it a win as long as neither of them question her. Those two might think they've got each other and all the others fooled, but Dani's not so easily bamboozled.
Dani's seen the way Illyana looks at Kitty, the way she admires her like she's staring at an angel in the flesh, like there is nothing else in the world she'd rather look at. The way Kitty relaxes and lets go of the "X-Man" act around Illyana, and the way they both open up when they're together. Illyana's smiles are always brighter, more genuine and come more frequently around Kitty and her mood lightens the second Kitty comes in the room. And from the look on Kitty's face whenever she's in close proximity to Illyana, Dani knows there is nowhere she would rather be. She's also seen the way they try to subtly check each other out in the locker rooms, only to glance away with red cheeks when they're caught.
Dani honestly has no idea how the others don't notice it, or maybe they do but willfully ignore it. Whatever. It's not them that matters, it's Kitty and Illyana and how they walk around everyday pretending like there isn't something between them that blatantly spells out in flashing neon lights "I-Love-You-But-Not-In-The-Friend-Way". Dani isn't usually one to butt into people's business—she hates it when people do it to her—but this is one case that's so annoying to watch that it needs to be remedied. If that means playing matchmaker at a game of campfire truth or dare, then bring it on.
Finally, when it doesn't seem like anyone else is going to jump in, and she twists immediately to face Illyana, "Illyana, truth or dare?"
"Dare, duh," Illyana grins, fearless as ever.
Dani doesn't waste time acting like she needs to think about, "I dare you to kiss Kitty."
Gasps go up around the campfire, but Illyana is unperturbed.
"That's it?" She asks, like she expected something harder. Dani makes sure to rectify that train of thought.
"On the mouth," she clarifies with a challenging smirk.
"Hey!" Kitty protests, her cheeks suddenly pink for reasons other than how close she's sitting to the fire.
"A dare's a dare, Pryde," Illyana grins as she turns her body to face the brunette. She puts up a playful front, but what she doesn't think anyone notices are her fingers scratching nervously at the fabric of her pants when she drops her arm across her thigh.
Kitty is trying to lean away from her, but Dani is on her other side and has her hands firmly against the back of her shoulders, pushing her towards Illyana. Kitty could phase away if she really wants to, but she doesn't, so she must not be that against what's about to happen.
Illyana's a little hesitant and her hand twitches as she tries to figure out where to put it. She gives up a second later and drops it down to join her other one and decides to just go for it. While Rahne covers her eyes from the other side of the campfire, Illyana flashes Kitty a little cross-eyed grin and leans in. She brings their mouths together at a slightly awkward angle but fixes it after a second or two and really goes for it, deepening the kiss in an obvious attempt to do it like it's done in the movies. Only it's not that glamorous and neither of them seem to realize that until Illyana almost falls off her rock and against Kitty and that's how she knows it's time to pull away.
Kitty's hands reach for the blonde's knees as she moves away, her mouth chasing after Illyana's until she realizes that Magik is trying to break them apart, and abruptly pulls back like she's been burned. Her face turns bright red and her ears feel like they're on fire, but she tries to turn back to the middle of the circle as if it isn't that big of a deal.
Dani's grinning and she can't help it, "Kitty, truth or dare?"
Sam pipes in to protest and the look on his face says he hasn't recovered from what he just saw, "You can't ask twice in a row!"
"Shove it, hayseed. We didn't have an order anyway, chill out," Dani tells him and he begrudgingly backs off. She turns back to Kitty, "So?"
Kitty doesn't think either of those options are safe, and she winces as she answers, "Truth?"
Dani's grin broadens, just barely managing to mask what she deems to be her success, "Did you like it?"
"Like... what?" Kitty asks carefully, praying that the other girl means something else.
"You know what," she gives Kitty a friendly nudge in the back with her elbow.
Kitty isn't smiling. In fact, any evidence that she's having fun falls right off her face. She doesn't like the gleam in Dani's eyes, doesn't like the muffled laughter she can hear coming from the other side of the fire. Her hands bunch into fists and suddenly she's standing, glowering down at Dani.
"That's not funny," Kitty tells her, and out of the corner of her eye, Dani sees a hopeful expression fade from Illyana's face. The blonde turns away from them almost like she's ashamed and she focuses her gaze on something on the ground instead.
"Self-friend Kitty, please calm down," Warlock's mechanically and awkwardly inflected voice tries to soothe her from his place beside Doug.
"No, I will not calm down! It's not funny! This isn't spin-the-bottle, you can't just... Do that! It's... UGH."
Unable to explain herself and her abrupt upset, Kitty storms off instead and makes her way straight for the tent she's supposed to be sharing with Illyana. She phases right on in and makes sure to zip the inside zip as well before she dives headlong onto her sleeping bag.
She knows she's being childish but she can't help it. She's humiliated and the laughter of the New Mutants rings in her ears. How could Dani do that to her?
Outside, Dani stares the snickering mutants down, "Stop laughing at her. I didn't do that for you to make a joke out of her."
"Who's making a joke?" Roberto asks through his laughter but before Dani has the chance to respond, Illyana's on her feet.
Kitty can see their silhouettes through the green material of her tent, illuminated by the fire still glowing brightly in their midsts. She hears Illyana yell at them as she pulls off her shoes and crawls into her sleeping bag.
"Shut up!" she shouts, but there's a twinge of hurt mixed with her anger that she does her best to ignore by making sure she looks as threatening as possible. It does the trick, as usual. No one ever likes to make her mad because they're afraid of what she'll do to them. Sometimes Illyana's thankful for that. Most of the time, she's not.
Kitty hadn't wanted to upset Illyana, that just wasn't how she had ever imagined their first kiss to be, and she hates herself that she even has imagined. She hates herself for having liked it, but at the same time she wishes she had been able to tell Dani, she wishes that Illyana had been able to hear her say it, but it's too late now.
In the next second, there's a flash of light and then Illyana's crawling across the tent floor to her own sleeping bag. She sits on her knees awkwardly for a long moment and picks at imaginary fuzz on the knees of her jeans. She almost forgets why she came in because any nerve she had leaves the second she looks at the back of Kitty's head.
She finds it, but it's gone again after the first word leaves her mouth, "Kitty?"
"Mmm?" Kitty hums at her, unwilling to turn around and face her best friend after the scene she just made. She's ashamed, and the last thing she wants to do is see a look on Illyana's face that tells her that she should be.
"I'm sorry," Illyana sounds about as bad as Kitty feels.
That makes Kitty roll over, her sleeping bag rustles and twists around her legs as she does so, "For what? You didn't do anything, Yana."
Illyana maneuvers her legs around to sit down properly. She tucks her hands beneath her body to keep her from wringing them in a show of nerves. She frowns and doesn't make eye contact, "Yeah I did. That was a really dumb thing to do."
"It was just a dare, Yana," Kitty assures her, though it meant much more to her than that, "I know you can't turn down a dare."
"It wasn't just a dare," the words are out of Illyana's mouth before she can stop them. She bites her lower lip like that's going to help her reel them back in.
The other girl frowns, confused, "What do you mean?"
Illyana fidgets uncomfortably and for a moment she considers telling Kitty not to worry about it and then teleport away before she can argue. But she knows that never works. So it's now or spend the rest of her life being chased around the mansion until she does spill the beans.
"I did it because I think about it a lot," she confesses and no matter how badly she wants to look away and teleport out of the line of fire, she stays put and looks right at Kitty. She worst thing she can do is make the brunette think she's insincere after that display outside.
Kitty doesn't know what to say. She can feel her chest swelling and her heart thudding and something in her stomach tightens with anxiety. She does look away and glances at the wall of the tent beside her just for a second before her eyes are back on Illyana. She still can't hold her gaze, and looks passed her instead.
"I think about it sometimes too," she says, her voice small, as if she doesn't really want the blonde to hear.
Illyana is pretty sure her heart skips a beat, the hope that was dashed earlier returns now in full force. But the smile that wants to form on her lips is hesitant, and she's unsure of what to do. So, she does what she knows best and scoots closer to Kitty, "You do?"
Kitty finally pushes herself up into a sitting position, her hands supporting her weight behind her. Her brows knot together and lift slightly, hopefully, as she nods. That's the encouragement Illyana needs, and she beams.
"Was I okay?" she asks, her tone becoming sheepish towards the end.
Kitty flushes pink and ducks her head so that her hair falls in front of her face and hides the fact that she's biting her lip. Her head bobs again, and she tucks her hair behind her ear as she raises her eyes back to meet Magik's. "Was I?"
"Duh," Illyana grins and tips her head like that should have been a no-brainer, "Can I do it again?"
"I dunno," Kitty grins at her suddenly, "Can you?"
That sounds like a challenge to Illyana. She climbs back onto her knees and places her hands on either side of Kitty's sleeping-bag-bound legs. She leans forward with her bright blue eyes locked on Kitty's deep brown ones and kisses her. The brunette kisses her back, her hands tentatively coming up to touch her cheeks. She knows now that she hadn't been wrong the first time when she thought she liked it. It's just as good, if not better, now that no one else is watching.
Or, so she thinks. Because just outside the tent, sitting at the campfire, is a very smug little New Mutant whose big plan paid off.