"Grant Douglas Ward, did your campers steal every last pair my girls' shoes? And tie all of the laces together into a giant string of footwear? And then replace the tarzan rope into the river with this new shoe rope?"
Grant blanched as he heard Skye's voice behind him, but he quickly composed his face and then slowly turned around to face the music. "Did they do what? That definitely doesn't sound like-"
"Cut the crap, Ward. I saw you teaching them the knots in your outdoor survival class two days ago. I can recognize a double sheet bend when I see one, and that mess was made up almost exclusively out of that particular hitch… How interesting that that just so happens to be your specialty!
"So, here's what's going to happen. Your campers are going to go get that rope down out of that tree. Then they are going to undo every last one of those knots and return the shoes to the steps in front of our cabin before dinner tonight."
Grant knew he was toast, but sometimes his mouth didn't listen to his brain. "Or what?" he asked, before he could stop himself. He immediately cringed as he saw Skye's jaw clench and her eyebrow lift so high it almost disappeared behind her bangs. She took a step closer to him, placing them nearly chest to chest. How the hell was this 5' 4" pixie so terrifying?
"Or you will soon find that every pair of underwear you brought to this camp will somehow wind up at the bottom of the river." She turned and was about to walk away, but turned on her heel and stepped up on her tippy toes to whisper her final threat in his ear. "And that box of condoms, well how about I mail half of them to your mom, and half of them to the camp director? And, if my math is right, that would leave us about…. Zero. Zero condoms for the rest of the summer. And I think we both do that math." She stepped back and smirked, then strode off to return to her cabin. "Remember Grant, dinner time! That means they've got about two hours to undo about 25 knots!"
The moment she was out of earshot, Grant whirled and ran towards his cabin. "Dogwood Cabin, assemble out front NOW!"
Since Skye and her campers didn't have any shoes, they stayed in their cabin for the rest of the afternoon. It wasn't like there was nothing to do. First on the agenda was mattress sliding. The girls leaned their mattresses against the bed frames and then slid from the top bunk to the ground in their sleeping bags. And when they got tired of that, Skye taught them how to make bracelets out of coloured string. She'd been teaching her campers that all summer and, since each week brought a new set of girls, and almost every girl gave Skye a bracelet, her wrists (and ankles) were basically covered in them. About half an hour before dinner time, Skye's phone buzzed and she quickly checked the message.
Get your girls (and yourself) dressed up for dinner tonight
Skye rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself and tucked her phone back in her pocket. "Hey girls, who wants to make tonight's dinner a formal event?" Of course she didn't need to ask the group of 13 year olds a second time, and within moments they were all pulling their sun dresses out of their suitcases and showing them off to one another. Skye turned to her closet and flipped through a couple options before settling on one of her favourites. It was a simple black number, and was perfectly compliant with camp dress code, but it was extremely flattering on her and brought out every one of her assets. She had a feeling that Grant had something up his sleeve and this dress could be either a reward, or a terrible punishment, depending on which way his plan went.
Once she was changed she pulled her hair out of its usual ponytail and grabbed the pair of wedges she kept under her bed (the boys hadn't gotten them, since she rarely wore them and so didn't keep them outside with her other shoes) and slipped them on. A dash of eyeliner and a smidge of lipgloss and she was ready, so she helped her campers play dress up for the next 20 minutes. The cabin was filled with princesses by 5:55, and it was then that she heard the disturbance outside.
A moment later, a voice called from outside, "Birch Cabin, we humbly request your presence outside, if it pleases you."
The girls giggled, but Skye quickly shushed them. "Remember what they did… Make them earn our forgiveness" she whispered. The girls laughed quietly and she winked before leading them through the door.
Dogwood Cabin had dutifully untied every single shoelace and had laid the shoes out carefully in front of the steps, but that wasn't what drew the girls' attention. Theirs wasn't the only cabin that had dressed up. The boys were all surprisingly clean for a bunch of 13 year old boys at summer camp, and they were all wearing what was clearly the best outfit they had brought with them. They had also picked wildflowers and stood there in a line, each one holding out a bouquet.
"We'd like to ask for your forgiveness for this prank, and we would like to take you to dinner to make it up to you" the boys chimed in semi-chorus. The girls had clearly taken Skye's advice to heart, because they didn't answer right away. Instead the wordlessly formed a huddle and a flurry of whispers were all that emerged. The boys were starting to look nervous by the time the huddle broke, and one of the girls stepped forward to speak for the group.
"Well, I guess" she said nonchalantly. The girls put on their shoes and the boys valiantly held out their arms, giving their "dates" the wildflowers they had picked and the group filed along to the dining hall.
Once the kids all had their backs turned, Grant walked over to where Skye was still standing on the bottom step of the cabin, which happened to put her right at his level.
"My lady" he bowed, holding out the wildflower bouquet.
"Oh just kiss me already you goof" she laughed. He stood up from his bow and kissed her lips for the briefest moment.
"Camp rules…" he complained. Instead he held out his arm and she took it, allowing him to escort her in the same direction that the kids had taken.
"Yeah yeah" she replied. "What did you have to do to make the boys clean up like that?"
"Told them that if they didn't make things right with Birch then they would be cleaning the bathrooms everyday for the rest of the week."
"Well, I must say, you did well, Grant. You more than surpassed the terms of our negotiation, and as such you can rest assured that your underwear are safe."
"And the second part of the threat?" he asked.
"Well, obviously I'm not going to follow through on that one either… Although I think there does need to be some form of punishment for this horrible trick… I'm thinking you're going to have to surrender one of those condoms to me. Shall we make the handoff at midnight in the boathouse?"
"Sounds good to me."
The loud clanging of the dinner bell cut off any further conversation as the two counselors broke into a jog to catch up with their kids.
AN: So there's that! Hope you liked it! Please review and follow me for more AU one-shots featuring our beloved SkyeWard!