So I've been sitting on this one for a bit. I came to the decision to make a second mini series besides my Ray x Tyson one shots focusing more on another pairing. Unlike that series however, this one won't be based on holidays unless it ties in with a RayxTyson (like the Halloween fic I've been stalled on because this fic isn't done)
This series will be chapter based as I feel there's much I need work with but I'm hoping they won't run too long. I'm planning for there to be around 3/4 of these stories.
Also updated some errors in Fix You chapter 2
Non English conversations will be in bold
Chapter One
"A camping trip?!"
Mr. Dickenson cringed at the volume of up to three voices ringing loudly in his ears. Hiro pinched the bridge of his nose, slightly ashamed of his team's childishness. He now wished he'd taken a leaf out of Kai's book and conjured up some believable excuse to escape the torture. Ray, Kenny and Hilary were poker faced but on the inside all three were dreading the hell that was no doubt to come.
"Yes boys. And you're not the only ones going. As part of their ongoing therapy, the Blitzkrieg Boys will be tagging along. Besides, you could all use a bit of a break from the city. All I ask is that you try to get along. Now I suggest you head home and start packing. "
Hiro ushered everyone out of Mr.D's office to save the poor old man an earful off of somebody. On the way back to the dojo, he wondered how in the world they'd get Kai onto the coach. If it came to it, Hiro could always rely on Tyson to annoy the team captain into submission.
Everybody split up once they got back to the dojo. Tyson, Max and Daichi ran off to commit all manner of mischief. Kenny seated himself in the living room and looked up various guides about camping. Hiro ventured off in search of Kai to try and lie through his teeth, leaving Ray and Hilary out on the front porch.
A gentle breeze drifted around the yard, carrying raven and chocolate brown tresses upon their graceful fingers. Gold eyes trailed from the clear blue sky and onto the young girl sitting an arm's length away. Ray wanted to ask Hilary if she was okay, not blind to the pale shade of her usually Riviera skin, but knew she'd just make up an excuse. For days now something seemed to be eating at the plucky brunette. It wouldn't surprise Ray if the others could see the difference that he did in their manager.
Ray decided to bite the beyblade and ask anyway. There was always a chance Hilary would be honest with him.
"Hey Hil." Ray muttered. "Is everything okay? You've been rather quiet all day."
Hilary seemed to stop breathing for a few seconds, as if Ray's question had caught her off guard. Soon, she smiled sweetly, head inclined a little to the side and ruby eyes closed.
"I'm fine Ray. Just not been sleeping too well at night is all. Between keeping you guys in shape and my job at the BBA I'm being run a little ragged. I can't wait for this camping trip. It'll be just like old times, huh?"
"Old times of stress and Tyson constantly bickering with Daichi? Yeah I can't imagine that'll be good for your health Hilary."
Ray added a chuckle at the end to keep his tone light. But he understood where Hilary was coming from. It had been too long since they all just left town for a week or two to unwind. Perhaps the random arrangement was because Mr. Dickenson could see Hilary was stressing out and knew she wouldn't actually take a week off working unless everyone went on a mini holiday.
Deep down, Ray couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't just work and the team that were causing Hilary to miss sleep. He hoped it wasn't serious enough to push the brunette beyond the point of no return. Ray had seen a scar or two on Hilary's shoulder when her shirt slipped a few months back. He hadn't pried but now wished he'd said something.
Shaking his head a little, Ray wrapped an arm around Hilary's shoulder and pulled her close. They sat in companionable silence for hours just watching the clouds roll by…until Hilary fell asleep and collapsed into Ray's lap prompting him to take her inside to rest.
Very little happened for the rest of the week. Hiro had somehow convinced Kai to go on the camping trip but not without injury. He'd sat to dinner with a shining black eye and a fairly sized lump on his chin that night. Grandpa Granger made sure the boys were all packed and ready to go Monday morning, rousing them as the dawn peaked.
There was a lot of tired complaining from the teens as they were herded onto the coach, their luggage safely stored. Shockingly, Hilary and the Blitzkrieg Boys were already onboard either sleeping or glaring out the window at everyone and everything that passed by. The strangest sight was Spencer being seated beside Hilary as she slumbered next to the window, a large brown coat acting as a makeshift blanket.
It took hours to reach the woodland retreat. During that time some of the sleeping travellers had rejoined the world of the living. Hilary however slept the whole way. The only life anybody saw out the feisty girl was her shuffling to get comfortable. At one point she'd properly snuggled into Spencer's side, making him go deathly pale as he sat reading.
Several attempts were made to rouse Hilary but she simply shrugged them all off. While her teammates bickered amongst themselves as to who would carry her, she was lifted effortlessly into strong arms and carried off of the coach, leaving the BBA Revolutions and Blitzkrieg Boys speechless. They hurriedly followed after the wall of muscle that was Spencer's back, not caring to take in the stunningly beautiful woodland. Or the fact there was still some travelling to do before any relaxing could be done.
Once everything was unloaded, the coach vanished down the mountain path it came up on, leaving the dysfunctional group in a somewhat awkward silence. Tyson was mere moments away from saying or doing something stupid to break the tension when suddenly…
"Howdy y'all. You must be the folks Mr. Dickenson mentioned over the phone."
All open eyes clicked in the direction of the speaker, landing on a stocky, wide hipped woman with long wavy chestnut brown hair and teasing purple eyes. Her skin shone a beautiful sun kissed caramel beige signifying that she spent a lot of time outdoors. With how she stood, one hip was tilted upwards in a seductive fashion. Seeing that none of the boys could form any words, the brown haired lass took a few steps forward, hand on one hip.
"Welcome to the Sleepy Bear camping grounds. I'm Mithra, the manager of this establishment. Once the others get back we'll show y'all where you'll be staying fer the next two weeks. Yer welcome to come on down fer supper any day except Wednesday. That's when we hold our staff meetings. Take a load off while we wait fellas. No use standing around like sticks in the mud now is there?"
As suggested, everyone found a place to sit…well almost everyone. Spencer ended up being surrounded by his intimidating teammates, Kai included.
"What gives, sasquatch?"
Spencer inclined his head toward the speaker, matching Kai's venomous glare with his own stony one. "Watch your mouth, midget. Or your team is going home one man short."
Kai tensed, puffing out his chest in a feeble attempt to look bigger. Tala and Brian rolled their eyes and Ian snickered, earning him a kick to the leg from the second shortest Russian.
"The hell is going on between you and Ms. Cheerleader? Or did you carry her off the coach for the sake of it?"
"Perhaps if you lot hadn't been bickering amongst yourselves I wouldn't have lifted a finger. And here I thought you at least had been raised better than that. But it would appear I was mistaken, snob."
Everyone who couldn't understand a word being said just stared on in confusion. It was rare the BBA Revolutions saw Kai so angry he got verbal with somebody. And Spencer was still a massive mystery to anyone but his team. In the corner of his eye, Ray saw Daichi was about to sneak over and make the situation worse, grabbing the feisty young man by his flaming red hair.
Mithra's colleagues arrived some half an hour later and thankfully the Russian team had calmed down. After his quarrel with Kai, Spencer sat as far away from Hilary that was possible without leaving the immediate area. Seeing that the wait was over, everybody gathered into something of a circle, minus a certain young woman.
"About time you lot." Mithra spat. "What took ya'll so long?"
Spencer didn't like the look of the young man that stepped forward. Just something about his pale lilac eyes set him on edge. Caramel blonde hair floated around slender shoulders, dancing to the minor breeze floating around the clearing.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Mithra." Quipped the unnamed gent. "There's been a small landslide up in the mountains some ways off from the camping grounds. We've compiled all the necessary information to send down to the big guys in town. I see our visitors arrived while you waited for us."
Calculative lilac orbs rested on everyone for only the briefest moment…until they located Hilary still slumbering against a log where Spencer left her. It was faint, but the tall brunette caught a lusty glimpse in the shorter man's gaze. Mithra also seemed aware of her colleague's wandering eyes, standing between him and Hilary.
"Yes Nigel, they have. Now quit standing there and fetch 'em a map from the office."
Mithra made it known she was not a woman to be crossed, her arms folded tightly across a puffed out chest. Purple eyes that once held kindness were now lashed with ferocity. Nigel reluctantly did as he was told, clashing eyes with Spencer before skulking off into the main building.
The other staff members, all two of them, shrugged wearily. Ray figured that Mithra and Nigel clashed often much to the chagrin of their co-workers. With Nigel gone, Mithra lowered her guard but didn't stray far from Hilary. She didn't know the boys at all, fearing that the only young woman with them could come to harm at their hands. Especially after the display of anger she'd seen from the Blitzkrieg Boys.
Nigel was gone maybe ten minutes, handing Mithra a folded sheet of paper. With that done he stalked off back into the building saying nothing to anybody. Once again this behaviour left everyone who didn't know him terribly confused.
Hiro stepped forward being the one responsible for the teens with him, sharing seemingly hushed words with Mithra as he took the presumed map from her delicate hands. She seemed to relax once Hiro moved away, turning to one of her other colleagues.
"Leon, be a doll and take these here tired folks up to their camp. I have things I need to sort out. And give Nigel another talking to it seems."
The young man Mithra named Leon had bushy brown hair seemingly styled like a lion's mane on purpose, piercing gray eyes glistening with displeasure at having to go back up the mountain so soon. He barked at the large group to gather their things and get moving. For the most part, they did. Until Ray noticed that Hilary still hadn't woken up. He would've passed his bags to Max but Spencer moved first. Everyone watched intently as the silent giant crafted something of a sling across his chest to carry Hilary in and grabbed her singular bag along with his own; leaving a hand free to make sure she stayed secure during the possibly long hike up the mountain. Nobody dared to argue, following Leon along the winding path to where they'd be staying.
Hilary finally woke up shortly after they arrived at the actual camp site, looking around confused. How long had she been out for? The boys were all busy pitching their tents around the unlit campfire, luggage off to one side. Hilary wasn't aware of somebody sitting beside her until they spoke, their voice unfamiliar.
"You've been out for around four hours."
Looking up and slightly to the side, Hilary saw Spencer perched on a large log. Her head had actually been resting on his leg while he observed everyone else. She noticed his tone had been slightly clipped, as if something had rattled his cage. Hilary decided against asking, knowing she probably wouldn't get an answer anyway. She moved away when he stretched his leg to probably get the blood flowing back through it. Getting her own limbs working sounded like a good idea, watched by curious jade orbs.
With Hilary now awake and moving, Spencer moved off to get his tent set up. Oddly he didn't pick somewhere near his teammates, preferring to set up shop on the empty side of the fire. While BBA Revolutions would be in three different tents, the Blitzkrieg Boys all had individual sleeping spaces. As much as Hilary loved her boys, she decided to take a leaf out of Spencer's book and picked a spot of the empty side. As she assembled her frame, Hilary noticed that Spencer seemed to be struggling with his. The other Russians had somehow managed to get theirs up.
"Would you like some help big guy?"
Spencer glared over his shoulder, more out of fright than anything but it still sent Hilary a few paces back. Once she was certain Spencer wouldn't rip her to pieces, Hilary moved toward him a little. He listened quietly as she instructed and showed him how to put the bones of the tent together, strangely taken back to a time before Balkov Abbey. Her patience with him reminded Spencer of his mother and how she would teach him things.
Within around twenty or so minutes, Spencer's tent was complete and he felt it only fair to help Hilary finish hers, unaware that the others were watching them...until somebody decided to wolf whistle in their direction. This in turn startled them both and their hands collided briefly. They both flushed red with embarrassment, Spencer fleeing into his finished den. Hilary on the other hand stormed across the clearing, her eyes ablaze. Considering how Daichi sprinted off, it had been him to ruin the moment. Tala was of half a mind to also give chase to punish the shorter redhead for his childishness but decided a woman's wrath was more than enough.
Not a lot else happened after that. The group had a little gander at the surrounding area to see what kind of wildlife they'd be living with. Spencer had kept well clear of Hilary after Daichi's little stunt, not wanting a repeat of the incident. He wouldn't even look at her. Hilary wouldn't admit it, but being shunned by the quiet giant actually hurt. She'd tried so hard over the last few weeks to get to know him while he helped out at the BBA training center. All that time and effort now down the drain no thanks to one stupid boy.
Hilary found she couldn't sleep once the dark of night settled in, leaving her tent to get some air. A dying flame crackled in the fire pit, signalling that everyone had retired for the day. With care not to make any noise, she grabbed her flashlight and ventured toward a path she'd seen earlier. It led to a small clearing that looked out over the town below, its lights twinkling like a colourful carpet. Looking around, Hilary couldn't see anybody else so she sat down on the cool grass to watch the stars for a little while.
Spencer tossed in his sleeping bag, eyes screwed shut. He woke with a start, the nightmare plaguing him coming to a bloody end. Each night a different one but they all ended the same. Not willing to dive back into the world of night terrors again so soon, Spencer left his tent with a blanket, intent on visiting a quiet spot he'd found earlier. Seeing a dark figure against the starry curtain made him frown. He'd hoped for some peace to calm down. Against his better judgment, Spencer moved closer to the unmoving shape, glad he hadn't just turned around and walked away once he reached it. Hilary had fallen asleep against the tree trunk bench. With unfamiliar care, Spencer settled the blanket over Hilary's shoulders and carried her back to camp.
A few days cruised by with struggle as the dysfunctional group adjusted to one another's presence. Things had been especially tense between Spencer and Hilary even though Daichi had been clobbered into apologising by Hiro, promising he wouldn't do it again. Out of respect, the boys all allowed Hilary to use the nearby washing facilities first in the mornings. If there was one thing the BBA Revolutions had learned, it was never to come between Hilary and her morning grooming.
On the fourth day, Hiro decided it would be a good idea to go on a group hike. To everyone else it looked like an excuse to try and get the abused teens to finally open up to their happy camp-mates. But in truth, Hiro just wanted to give Hilary the chance to try and get back some of that progress she'd lost with Spencer. The stoic brunette was never far away when she needed a knight in shining armour though not always on purpose.
After a hearty breakfast courtesy of Ray and Tyson teaming up to feed everyone, the large group set off on the trail Hiro had selected the previous day. Thankfully everyone had a good pair of hiking boots and suitable clothing for the hot weather. It wasn't forecast rain but coats were packed just in case. Hiro kept Daichi in front of him and Tala did the same with Ian. Brian ignored all attempts of conversation, quietly taking in nature's beauty.
Spencer hung at the back of the group purposefully so he could sort the jumbled thoughts in his head. Further back even than Kai who strolled just behind Kenny, Hilary a bit in front of them having fun spotting wildlife with Max like a couple of children. The sight took Spencer back once again to happier times when he'd go walking with the only parent he knew. Something about Hilary always reminded him of his mother. Perhaps it was her kind disposition or maybe the way she interacted with the youngsters he helped to train up for the BBA. There was just…something about Hilary that appealed to him in ways he'd never felt before. Being unable to identify these feelings terrified Spencer. But he was more afraid of trying to get help in understanding them.
Hiro's plan backfired for the first half of the walk, coming slightly into fruition when they stopped for a bite to eat. Spencer had sat off away from everyone staring into a cup, tuned out to the world around him until Hilary approached him with a plate of sandwiches. She didn't say anything, just sat a comfortable distance away on the fallen tree that now served as a bench. Nor did Spencer oppose to her company. He almost seemed glad for it in fact. Hiro considered the silent interaction a small victory, rounding everyone up after half an hour of rest.
Everyone changed positions somewhat on the second leg of the hike. Max accompanied Ian to try and get him to open up by identifying any and all animals they came across. Poor Kenny ended up between Tala and Brian somehow, trying his best to subtly slip away. Kai strangely enough went off ahead but remained in sight. Ray got stuck babysitting Daichi so Hiro could spend some time with Tyson. And Hilary ended up at the rear with Spencer.
With everyone else a small distance ahead, Spencer allowed his façade to drop a little. Enough for Hilary to notice that he'd relaxed and wasn't opposed to a little chatter. She observed him quietly for awhile; still unable to believe he was actually wearing plain denim dungarees and a dull orange t-shirt. Tied around his waist was a thin forest green jumper in case it got chilly but not cold enough for a coat. He honest to god looked like a farmer even without a wide brim straw hat to complete the outfit. It suited him in comparison to the slightly sporty stuff he usually wore.
Hilary was of two minds. She wanted to make small talk, to apologise for Daichi's childish behaviour. But on the other felt that breaking the silence would ruin the pleasant atmosphere. Spencer saw a new side to Hilary when they came across a bridge stretching over a deep canyon filled with rocks and a raging river. Seeing it all took her back to that time she and the boys had been held prisoner on Dr. Zagart's island. Spencer was a few steps onto the bridge when he noticed Hilary wasn't beside him, turning back to see that she was frozen stiff in fear. All she could see was that one specific close call where Kai had saved her life. Identifying that Hilary needed help, Spencer whistled as loud as he could to distract the others and avoid being left behind. Leading Hilary across wasn't working so Spencer had to carry her over.
And here concludes chapter one. I'm taking a slightly different approach with Tala, Ian and Brian this time. You'll see in what ways later on. Hopefully the interactions between Spencer and Hilary don't feel too forced.
Anywho, I'm working on chapter 2 right now. Just find myself in a rut again. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are eager for the next one.