Chapter 9: Your Soft Side is Showing


Minus the awkward encounters with a certain tall, redhead ex-girlfriend, Laura actually enjoys camp life by the second week.

Laura gets closer to some of the kids, though she has to admit, Julia is still her favorite. She's been assigned a heavy load of counselor duties for this week but she figures, it'll be alright because by the third week, she's on rounds duty. And rounds duty means she just gets the attendance sheets and goes on night rounds. Laura later on learns that the night round pairings are based on cabin assignments which means, she'll be doing night rounds with Carmilla.

The dirty-blonde ignores how her stomach felt like it did a somersault after gaining that knowledge.

The second week is still fun though, despite the load. She particularly enjoys the outdoor activities because she's been working indoors for how many years that she actually missed feeling the sun against her skin. Plus, it's really fun to see the kids enjoying the activities. Handling teenagers would probably be her most hated part of it because she can only take so little of the 'this is so gonna damage my skin' and 'ugh, why did I even think of doing this' complains before she actually gets annoyed because back in her time, she actually enjoyed these activities. Luckily, for the two instances that she's been assigned with teens, Perry is her partner and Perry actually handles the teenagers like a professional (of course she would).

However, she discovers that her roommate is not a fan of the outdoors. Carmilla's skin would often redden when exposed to the sun too much. She wears long sleeves during her outdoor duties, even when it's too hot to wear them. She says it's better than being sunburnt.

Laura hates to admit the fact that Carmilla still looks amazing in whatever clothes she decides to wear – not that she hasn't established that before.

Speaking of clothing, Carmilla likes her red flannel. A few days into the second week, the brunette arrives in the mess hall wearing Laura's red flannel over her black band shirt. When Laura asked, the girl simply shrugs and says she confused it as hers. So she simply ignores it. Days later, Carmilla's wearing it again over her camp shirt because she ran out of long sleeves. Laura doesn't mind, for some reason.

While she did enjoy the outdoors, Laura is glad that she's down to her last two activities to attend to for the week. She walks over to the cabins after just finishing a hill climb activity. It's just 10:30 in the morning and Laura suspects that her last two activities would be after lunch, one after the other.

She enters the cabin, pushing the door and looking around. There is no sign of Carmilla so she concludes that her roommate is either on duty or she's at a quiet spot, reading a book. Laura sluggishly walks to her bed, exhausted after walking for hours that she doesn't even realize that she's fallen asleep until she hears something fall on the floor. She immediately sits up to see Carmilla, cringing as she looks down on a water bottle on the floor which Laura assumes is what she heard.

Carmilla then looks at her and groans. "Sorry cupcake. I didn't mean to wake you up." Her roommate says, frowning. "Perry told me to check on you since it's lunch time and you're not at the mess hall yet but you looked exhausted so I was trying to let you sleep. Too bad this little shit here decided now was the best time to fall off the table." Carmilla finishes; obviously annoyed at the water bottle. Laura finds this absolutely adorable.

"Hey, it's okay Carm. I wasn't even supposed to go to sleep." The blonde offers Carmilla a warm smile which she returns with a sheepish, apologetic, lopsided smile. "It's lunch time already huh?" Laura looks at the clock to confirm the time. "Anyway, thanks for your consideration." Her roommate only shrugs and walks towards the door only to lean against it, looking at Laura who immediately smiles at the realization that she's waiting for her.

Laura makes sure to subtly wipe her mouth, hoping she wasn't drooling earlier then hops to her feet and follows Carmilla who closes the door behind them.

As they make their way to the mess hall, Carmilla tells her about the annoying kid, Daverell, who kept on throwing crumpled paper at the other kids during her previous activity. She's lucky enough that she's been assigned to an indoor activity but Laura guesses that Carmilla would choose the sun over kids who she thinks exists for the sole purpose of annoying the living crap out of her.

The fact that Carmilla is talking a lot more than she usually did back during the first week is also comforting, in Laura's opinion. She secretly takes pride in the fact that Carmilla doesn't talk much with others like she does with her. It's funny how the brunette still tries to act all cool and collected around her but fails miserably most of the time.

They eventually get to the mess hall and sit down on their usual seats with Perry, LaFontaine, Kirsch and JP. She notices how Kirsch and Carmilla fall back into their routine of trying to annoy each other. While it's true that Carmilla doesn't talk much with others, she sure enjoys trying to infuriate Kirsch which has never happened yet. Laura's beginning to think that Kirsch really is a giant puppy because apparently, he thinks Carmilla's always playing with him. It's a wonder what actually offends the guy but Laura doesn't really want to know. She'd rather that Kirsch stays the same.

Laura glances to the wall clock only to realize that it's time for her to go to her next duty. "I should be off. It's almost time for me to go to the lake for the next activity."

"Another outdoor activity, huh." Carmilla smirks. "Try not to get sunburnt out there cutie." Laura rolls her eyes at the brunette but continues to smile at Carmilla.

"The only one who gets sunburnt that easy is you. I'm really beginning to think that you are a vampire." She replies, trying to match her roommate's playful tone.

"Maybe I really am. Careful cupcake, I might just eat you alive."

"Uh, Laura?" Both Laura and Carmilla stops their playful banter to look at Perry who is smiling at them. "Laura, dear, what happened to 'you should be off'?"

Laura blushes at the realization that she and Carmilla are sitting closer to each other now. She stands up immediately. "Right. Going. I'm going." She scratches the back of her head, nodding a bit. "I'll go now." She points the door, looking at all of them before bolting out of the mess hall.


Fate is a funny thing, Laura thinks as she discovers that her second to last duty for the day is with Danny. She makes a mental note to change Olivia's name into Danny in her schedule list since she keeps forgetting that Olivia left for an emergency and Danny replaced her.

The activity is just a few trust exercises and as if things can't get worse, Laura discovers she really needs to stop thinking positive. The activity is with teenagers and a few of them have heard the talk that she and Danny are a thing so, of course they're going to make her miserable. Of course.

"I don't know it. Can you demonstrate it with Laura?" One teenager tells Danny while her bunch of friends giggle behind her.

Danny seems happy with the idea but Laura really just wants things to be over already. How can one duty match how tiring her whole week has been? She has never felt more mentally exhausted.

The end of the exercise requires the teens to do some talking among themselves, know why they do or do not trust each other because as Danny says it, 'trust is important in any relationship'. Laura tries her best not to laugh at the irony of that.

"Laura, Laura, hey!" Danny calls out to her while the teens are busy. "So, how are you doing?"

"Good. Thanks for asking." Laura says, not stopping from going around the teenagers in circles, supervising them while they're sat on the grass.

Danny follows after her. "Right, that's good. Y'know, I've met Perry and LaFontaine. They both are really nice, just like you've said before." She starts. "Can't help but seem uneasy that you're friends with Carmilla though." That strikes a nerve. Laura stops walking to face Danny. "Don't get me wrong but she's just so full of herself. I remember you telling me how you can't stand people like her an-"

The dirty blonde counselor can't believe that she's actually thankful for the teenagers' interruption for once as all of them decided that they're finished cooperating and begin to inform them that the time allotted for the activity is done. Usually Laura protests but now she sends them off, hoping that Danny would stop bugging her about Carmilla.

Of course Danny doesn't. The redhead has always been protective of her and thinks it's her duty to make sure Laura does what she thinks is right and safe. "I really don't understand how you can be friends with her. Obviously she's a show-off and a sarcastic-"

Laura makes sure that no one is anywhere near them before turning once again to the redhead. "Danny, I'm going to have to stop you there because this is crossing boundaries. I said I'll forgive you. Not that you can come back and dictate what I have to do and who I should be friends with." Laura snarls at her.

The tall woman looks surprised at Laura's retort. "I'm just looking out for you. That girl-"

"Has a name and it's Carmilla. She's my friend." Laura cuts Danny off before she can even say anything. "You don't get to judge her because of that one time she told you off, Danny. And for your information, I don't need you to look out for me. I don't need another dad. I got that one covered. How many times do I have to tell that to you?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Danny finally says. "I just can't help but feel like I want to protect you. I know things aren't great between us but I'm still your friend."

Laura runs her hand through her hair in frustration. "Protect me from who then? Carmilla? Protect me from someone who helped me stop feeling shitty from losing my job and being cheated on by my girlfriend?" She hisses. "If there's anyone I should be wary of being around with, it's you." She emphasizes the 'you', making Danny look to the ground. "And yet, you don't see Carmilla nor Perry and LaFontaine trying to pry me away from talking to you because I told them I'm alright. They trust that I can handle myself. They trust me."

Danny remains quiet after that. Laura feels like she's gone too far and she doesn't feel bad about it. It feels like the conversation is over so Laura heads off to her final duty hoping that no one notices how annoyed she is.


Laura is annoyed.

Carmilla notes at the sight of her roommate who is making her way towards the cabin where their last activity for the week will be held. The brunette can practically see smoke coming out of Laura's nose as she stomps on the grass with her eyes on the ground, heading towards the door.

What happened? Carmilla asks herself, as if she can give an answer to that. Laura looked happy when she last saw her in the mess hall.

The door opens and Laura looks up to meet her gaze. At first, the blonde's eyebrows were furrowed, indicating her mood but, the moment she sees Carmilla looking at her from inside the cabin, the annoyed look on her face turns to confusion. "Carm? What are you doing here? I thought LaFontaine is my partner for this activity?"

She smirks, trying to make it look like she didn't notice anything. "Ginger two had stuff to do in the kitchen all of a sudden and was looking for a substitute. They followed me around until I said yes." Carmilla leaves out the part that the only thing that got her to say yes was when they mentioned that their partner would be Laura.

"Huh." Laura raises an eyebrow. "And you just willingly said yes? Careful Karnstein, your soft side is showing." She smiles.

"You're right. Might as well just leave then." Carmilla jokes, pushing herself off the wall where she had been leaning on to walk towards the door but Laura blocks her path in protest.

She tilts her head only to be met by Laura's pout. "I was just kidding Carmilla."

"Anything bothering you, cupcake?"

Laura sighs exasperatedly at her question. "I thought I am going to be having fun in camp, y'know? And I was until Danny came and now it feels like someone's always following me around again and it's frustrating." The blonde bites her lip in annoyance as she runs her hand through her hair.

Of course it's the giant again. "She was your partner in the activity earlier?" Laura nods. Carmilla actually feels concerned because what if the giant is trying to force Laura to come back to her? "Is she bothering you a lot? I could tell-"

"No Carmilla, it's not that she's bothering me that much but she's just-" Laura pauses, trying to find the right word to use. "She has this tendency to be overprotective of me back then and now, she thinks she still has this duty to do that. It's so annoying." She groans.

The brunette scowls at that. "Hey, hey, Laura," Carmilla calls Laura's attention at the sight of her roommate's frustration. "Listen, maybe we can ask Ginger One to switch your schedule when Xena is your partner so you don't actually have to interact with her? For now though, it's our last duty for the week then next week, it's just you and me. Think you can handle that, cutie?"

The blonde heaves a huge sigh and nods. "Thanks Carm." She smiles.

Finally, Carmilla thinks, relieved that she somehow managed to make Laura smile. "So, what was the giant trying to protect you from anyway? Mosquito bites?"

Before Laura could answer, the kids arrive which means that their duty starts now. Laura laughs at Carmilla's groan and pats her on the shoulder before heading to the front to check the attendance, leaving Carmilla by the door.

"Hi Carmilla." A small, quiet voice greets her.

The brunette looks down to see Julia entering the room with Shaira and Sheh. Carmilla slightly smiles at them. You really are going soft, Karnstein, Carmilla groans after the girls has passed her.

"Okay kiddos." Laura calls their attention. "Today we're going to make bracelets! Perfect activity to end the week, right?"

Carmilla leans on the doorframe while watching her roommate tell the kids what they can do to the bracelets and how to get the measurements. It's a nice and calm activity, at least if no one starts throwing beads at each other. She smirks, thinking that if she's in the kids' position, she would be the first one to start a bead war. Bracelet making? That's something anyone can do without anyone else instructing them but, hey, who's she to complain? She's a counselor on duty.

"You can make bracelets for your moms and dads when they get here once camp is over and they pick you up from here." Laura continues explaining. "Everything you need for bracelet making is on the tables."

The kids move to the tables, everyone trying to figure out what they want their bracelets to look like. Carmilla sees a kid looking at a particularly large bead in his hands before beginning to aim for the girl opposite him. "Anyone caught throwing beads will find the beads they threw in their dinner for the next few weeks so don't even think about it." She announces then smirks as the boy immediately lowers his hand.

"Carm! You're not supposed to be threatening kids!" Laura hisses to her once she's reached her.

The brunette shrugs. "I'd use the term 'warning' actually." The smaller girl glares at her and she smirks then feigns a surrender by raising both her hands. "But if someone starts throwing beads at you, don't expect me to help clean up the place."

Carmilla chuckles as she walks away from a pouting Laura. She sits on an empty chair in between Julia and a girl named Kim. Julia seems more at ease around the others now that she's has friends in the camp now. Shaira and Sheh really looks out for her so she'll give the two credit for that.

"Carmilla, your wrist." Shaira tells her and she raises her eyebrow at the child.

"We can be wrong if we guess our parents' measurements but since you're here, we don't have to guess." Sheh says, followed by a nod from Julia.

Shaira tugs on the hem of Carmilla's shirt. "Whats going on here?" Laura asks.

The three kids all point at Carmilla. "She won't lend us her wrist to use for adults' measurement." Shaira says.

She feels her roommate's eyes on her. "It's not that hard, Carmilla." Sheh says before turning to Laura. She holds out a nylon thread in front of her then points Laura's hands.

Laura holds out her arm in front of them. Sheh takes her measurement then adds an adjustment before cutting off the string. "See? That easy."

Carmilla rolls her eyes, seeing Laura laughing at her. "Fine." She holds out her arm and Shaira does what Sheh did to Laura.

"Don't forget the extra thread, Shaira." Julia reminds her.

The girl nods then gets a scissor to cut the thread, her tongue even sticking out of her mouth in her effort to concentrate.

"Okay, you kids have fun making bracelets." Laura pats their heads, the three girls smiling at the blonde as she walks around to check on the other campers.

Yawning, Carmilla stays beside the girls. Shaira occasionally asks her what she thinks of the bracelets they're making. She glances at Laura once in awhile, checking if she's alright. She seems fine, at least. The activity has taken her mind off of what happened with the giant redhead earlier.

What did happen? Carmilla hates how concerned she is for her roommate. It's not like she's never cared for anyone before - of course she had. But usually it is out of need: a need to care for others because she is dictated to do so or; a need to care in order to oblige to society's norms. If she will be honest, she's quite apathetic on her own but since she grew up in a setting where she's forced to care about what's going on around her in order for her mother to look good; the media feasting on how great and perfect her family is thanks to her mother's upbringing; Carmilla began to wear the caring mask as it clung to her skin and she hates how pretentious she's been.

But when it comes to Laura, Carmilla genuinely cares and the feeling scares her because it overpowers her will. She actually feels the need to be concerned with her. The last time she cared this much, her heart was broken. Funny how she thought that her heart has learned.

Apparently not.

As usual, the period goes by with Carmilla doing minimal work while her partner does the explaining to the kids. She checks the names of the kids as they went out though, making sure no one managed to leave the activity early.

"Carmilla." A small voice calls out and the brunette looks down to Julia again who is holding a bracelet with all sorts of different black beads. "Shaira says your favorite color is black so uhm…" She raises her hand to hand the bracelet over.

A bracelet. The counselor looks at it in awe. It's not the prettiest bracelet that she's seen but somehow, a piece of accessory made by a seven year old made her feel warm. As the little girl drops it from her hand to Carmilla's, the older of the two realizes it's not the actual bracelet that gives her the feeling but the thought of Julia spending her time to make one for her even if Laura only mentioned that they should make bracelets for their parents too. Someone caring for you without being asked gives that warm feeling of happiness.

For the first time, she wants to be the cause of someone's happiness.

Carmilla wears the bracelet, careful so the strings doesn't break and cause the whole thing to fall apart, then smiles at Julia. The little girl really is growing on her. "Thank you very much." She says, crouching down to hug the little girl.

"No fair Julia, we want hugs from Carmilla too!" Shaira and Sherilyn immediately comes charging at them from behind, almost making Carmilla lose her balance. They hug their counselor as soon they got close to her.

From a distance, Carmilla could hear Laura laughing. "Oh how I wish I can snap a photo Carm." She teases. "Your soft side is showing again."

"Shut up." Carmilla mouths at the tiny woman who only replies with what seems to be the girl's imitation of her smirk. Laura raises her hand to show a colorful bracelet around her wrist then points at the girls who are currently wrapped around Carmilla and she figures that the kids has made the other counselor a bracelet too.

"Miss Laura! Come join the group hug!" Shaira shouts, her mouth near Carmilla's ear. The brunette flinches but sees how Laura reddens on the spot at the kids' request.

"Come here, Miss Laura!" Sherilyn seems to have the same train of thought, hoping that Laura joins the ball of humans on the floor. Even Julia tries to turn her head to look expectantly at Laura.

While seemingly reluctant, Laura kneels down beside Julia, her right knee directly under Carmilla's right shin. Carmilla is thankful for the kids wrapped around her because she swears Laura will be able to feel her heart pounding in her chest. The dirty-blonde leans in, her cheek slightly grazing Carmilla's, as she embraces them.

Carmilla wonders if her jolly roommate knows the effects she has on her.

Trying to keep a straight face while they all pull away is as awkward as Carmilla thought it would be. The kids don't seem to mind it but the two adults obviously do. The brunette clears her throat, thrusting her hands in the pocket of her jeans, hoping she looks like she's cool about it. "Well, you got your hugs." Carmilla starts, willing her usual smirk back on her face. "How about we start heading to the camping grounds so that you all can rest up?"

Julia nods while the other two kids begins talking about their bracelets. Carmilla ushers them outside, while Laura closes the door to the cabin.

For some reason, Laura is quiet during their walk to the campsite. It's not the comfortable silence but something lingers in the air - like an elephant in the room that they both refuse to talk about.

"You alright there, creampuff?" Carmilla asks in an attempt to figure out why Laura's fallen into silence all of a sudden.

"It's nothing Carm." The blonde says, shaking her head. "Just a bit tired is all." She adds.

Carmilla nods, letting it go. Laura didn't seem to want to talk about it. "Okay then." She shrugs, tucking her hands inside her pocket and glancing up at the darkening sky as the night time comes. She clearly must have done something. But what exactly?

"I-I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Laura suddenly blurts out causing Carmilla to stop on her tracks. She glances at the three kids, seeing that they're near the campsite. Laura looks back at her roommate. "I mean, earlier, you were really stiff after the whole group hug thing that the kids suggested so I thought you're not okay with me being that close to you. Don't get me wrong, it's okay. I mean, it's okay that you're not okay with close proximities with me because, hey personal space and all and not, it's okay, I don't have any sickness or anything and all-."

Carmilla repeatedly blinks at the tiny girl who continues her babbling. She can't help the sudden laughter that erupts from her chest because can Laura Hollis get any cuter? Laura halts her rapid fire of words to look at the brunette, confused. "Okay, have I broken you or something?" Laura asks, obviously concerned.

"You thought I was uncomfortable?" Carmilla tilts her head to the side. The blonde gives a small nod. "God, what am I doing?" She bends down, shaking her head as she leans her hands against her knees. "Naive girl, entirely too tightly wound. Such a cliché." She mumbles, to herself mostly, but audible nonetheless. "Yet," She raises her head to look up at Laura with a gentle smile on her face. "There's something about you."

She can see how Laura bites her lip at what she just said. "Is this the part where you tell me you're a vampire and bite me?" The girl asks, chuckling a bit but Carmilla can hear the nervous tone in her voice.

"Depends on what you're into, cupcake." Laura actually gasps at that, looking at Carmilla with disbelief. "I'm joking. Are you really convinced that I'm a vampire?" Carmilla straightens up and Laura groans at her but steps forward.

"You… You're unbelievable!" Laura huffs but is trying not to smile, hitting her roommate's arm playfully, almost too gentle which makes the brunette chuckle.

"So you've said a couple of times already." She smiles when Laura raises her hand to hit her once again but she catches it with her hand and lowers it, not letting go. "Just so you know, I'm not uncomfortable around you, Laura. It's actually quite the opposite."

"Oh." Was Laura's reply, looking down on their hands. She seems to be formulating what she has to say next but is interrupted by someone calling her name.

"Laura!" It's Danny, to Carmilla's disappointment.

Before tall woman even got to them, the two girls immediately let go of each other and Carmilla steps back, not wanting to put Laura in an awkward position. "Danny." Laura says, her voice low and annoyed.

"Xena." Carmilla nods to her.

"Fangface." The redhead retorts, scowling at her before turning to Laura. "I just noticed you weren't at the campsite yet so I thought I should look for you. Didn't know you're just near the site and with her." Danny shoots Carmilla a glare.

She raises her hands to her chest and shrugs, much to Danny's chagrin.

"Yeah well, I'm here so," Laura walks off. "Let's go, Carmilla."

Carmilla smirks at the sound of her name and follows her roommate, leaving the tall amazon behind.


Campfire stories are ridiculous, Carmilla declares to herself after the third horrendous story about made-up monsters in the camp. She's not sure it's a wise decision to scare the kids about the monsters in the camp if they actually want the kids to come back next summer. While tiring, she wouldn't want to see that there are only a few faces back next year.

Carmilla sits up straight, from her previously slumped position under a nearby tree, at the implication that she'll be here again next year. Okay. First, woah. Second, that wasn't her plan! She said one summer and she's done. She'd start actually practicing her art degree (which she took alongside philosophy). Where is this 'I'll-be-back-here' thinking coming from?

"Did you get scared by the scary stories that's why you went far away from there?" Laura drops beside her.

'And here she is; where the 'returning-here-next-summer' thoughts are coming from', Carmilla tells herself which is ridiculous because she doesn't even know if the dirty blonde woman beside her will be back here next year.

Carmilla rolls her eyes. "Are you seriously asking me that, creampuff?" She raises an eyebrow at Laura who laughs.

"A softie like you would probably be scared of campfire stories." Laura teases, bumping Carmilla's shoulder with hers.

Carmilla feigns hurt. "Must you always hurt me?" She does the same, bumping Laura on the shoulder. Her roommate laughs at the action. They don't actually separate after that. It's like the contact provided comfort for the both of them.

"Only when you deserve it." Laura replies, smiling playfully at Carmilla. "You know what, I can't believe you're the same person I met during the first day of camp. I was really annoyed with you."

Carmilla raises an eyebrow at her. "What? I was kind enough to think your little dance with Ginger Two was cute."

"Ugh." The blonde groans. "You remember that?"

Carmilla nods, laughing. "How did that go again? Camp it up?"

"Aww, you liked it so much that you still remember it? Should we teach you the steps, Carm?"

"Shut up." Carmilla growls at Laura which only makes the girl laugh more at her.

After a while, their laughter subsides and Laura sighs, making the brunette look at her. "What a day." She murmurs, yawning.

Nodding her head, Carmilla looks back at the campfire where the kids are still gathered around. "Yeah. Not surprised that you're exhausted. You've been out since 6 AM. Not to mention the whole-"

"Fleeing from the ex scene? Yeah, I know. It's just really complicated with Danny here but, I think I can live with it." Laura chuckles, then sighs. "Hey Carm?" Carmilla only hums in reply. "Thanks for all you've done for me today." She mumbles then yawning once more.

The brunette tilts her head to look at Laura properly. "Wow, twice in a row, cupcake." She says, nudging her roommate by the shoulders again. "Come on, let's head back. You need to rest." Carmilla stands up then offers her hand out to Laura who grabs it. She pulls her roommate up and the two of them make their way back to the cabin.

"I sure am glad this week's over. Getting sunburnt is a pain. "

"Shut up Carm, you were barely outside. You only had two outdoor activities this week. Plus, you were wearing long sleeves."

"Wow. Someone's been paying attention to me a lot."

"You're delusional. Sleep it off Karnstein."

"You bet I will. I'm exhausted."