The four boys were sitting at the table, eating the meal before them as the first of the Bean Scouts approached them. He introduced himself as Edward, accompanied by two twin Dung Beetles. The Platypus made note that he was the head scout of Camp Kidney.
"All four of my Big Brothers were exceptional Campers, and I'm the one carrying that torch" he replied as one of the dung beetles was shaking, turning to the platypus, asking if he could sit down, his leg was cramping up. Edward dismissed the twins, looking at Andy.
The Tiger simply ran his spoon through the meal, glancing at Tusk, stuffing his face as he and Jakk set their spoons down. If this food was anything to go by this summer would be quite eventful.
Steven kept his mouth shut and scooped a spoonful of chili, chewing and swallowing the mixture as Edward smiled, looking at the four eat.
"Yeah, Mcmuesli's food sucks,... what would you say if I told you I had a secret stash of edible food" Edward added, getting the attention of the four. Edward went on to explain he ran an underground business of gathering outside food and trading it for beads.
"When you got here Slinkman gave each of you a pouch of beads, beads are money at Camp Kidney, if you got the money, I got the snacks" Edward replied. Andy, looked at the pouch in his uniform, indeed seeing a sack of wooden beads.
Andy was aware to the concept of making allies and Edward was offering food, he pulled a few wooden beads from his satchel, handing them out. The Platypus looked at him, dismissing the hand.
Edward instructed them not to do the deal here but meet him at Pinto Cabin after dinner but before Lights Out. Andy nodded as they tried to eat the food Infront of them. Tusk let out a soft belch, holding up his bowl, asking if he could have seconds.
Andy held Tusk's hand down, sliding the boar his own bowl which Tusk quickly went to town on, eating 4 bowls worth of vegan chili.
"I've never seen someone eat so much camp food" Edward admitted as Andy nodded, informing him that Tusk was a bottomless pit, the four empty bowls stacked beside him.
After dinner The Cocoa Beans were making their way to Pinto cabin, handing Edward a few wooden beans. The platypus in return opened a trunk at the foot of his bed, various foods on display. snack cakes, chips, sodas among others as he handed some of his goods to the others.
The four made their way back to Cocoa cabin, Steven carrying the food in a bookbag on his arm, setting the bag down on his bed and passing it out to the other Three Cocoa Beans. Andy ripped the top of a can of sausages, pulling one of the small links from the can, shaking the juices off before plopping it in his mouth,
Steven himself opened the wrapper on a pack of snack cakes, biting into the gooey snack, strawberry juices dripping on his chin. after eating the four cleaned up their trash before getting ready for bed.
"I'm going to take use the can before bed, maybe take a shower" Steven replied, setting his bag on the bed as the other three nodded, watching the wolf leave. Andy looked at Tusk and Jakk, asking what they thought about Camp Kidney so far. Tusk thought they should have their first day before making a decision as they got there after activities.
Andy Agreed to this. Jakk pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling as the three played a few rounds, waiting for Steven to return. Tusk, put two cards down, drawing one and adding it to his hand. They found it a bit weird that Steven liked to take his showers before bed as opposed to in the morning but did not question it.
The Three continued playing cards as there was a knock at the cabin. Andy walked over opening it, seeing Three more bean scouts, who introduced themselves as Lazlo, Raj and Clam of Jelly Bean Cabin. Andy welcomed them into the cabin.
"Nice place you got" Lazlo commented plopping on Andy's bed as he coughed getting the monkey to stand up. The Jellies looked around the cabin. Andy asked what brought them here.
"We just wanted to meet our new scouts and new Friends" Lazlo replied in a welcoming tone as the two Jellies nodded in agreement.
"New Friends" Clam repeated as the six were quick to get along, playing cards as Steven returned from the showers, telling the others about his discovery of the camp lacking any hot water.
"I swear there is mold growing in the drain" Steven replied, plopping on his bed as Lazlo dismissed it, saying that moldy drains and cold water were part of the Camp Kidney experience, trust me and you will be having a fun at Camp Kidney in no time" Lazlo offered.
"Jelly Fun" Clam repeated as the four boys of Cocoa Cabin looked at the elephant. noting that he had been quiet. Lazlo simply explained that Raj was shy around new people, but he would warm up to them.
The monkey than told the Cocoa Beans that tomorrow was a free day as they had no activities on weekends and asked if they wanted to spend it together. Andy pondered this, looking at this crew. Tusk seemed on board with the idea, Jakk and Steven were indifferent, so they agreed to spend the day together.
Eventually the Jelly Scouts left and the Cocoa Scouts were alone. Andy thought about the Jellies who stopped by for a few minutes, commenting that they seemed nice.
Andy crawled into his bed as the other scouts did the same. Steven made note of how itchy the bed was, scratching himself as Andy looked up at the ceiling.
On the trek back to Jelly Cabin the three were walking along the camp, Lazlo turned to his cabinmates, telling them to go on ahead, he was going to take a quick walk before heading back to the cabin. Raj and Clam nodded, entering Jelly Cabin as Lazlo was left alone.
Lazlo looked around, making sure no one watching as he left the Campgrounds and hiked into the woods. It was one of Camp Kidney's biggest rules that campers weren't allowed to leave the Campgrounds and Lazlo knew he could get in trouble, but it was worth the risk.
The Monkey walked around the lake eventually finding an old, abandoned hiking path, probably from before Camp kidney's anti-nature days. he climbed up the decrepit path, putting his hand on the wooden railing as he climbed up the hill.
At the peak was a cliff overlooking leaky lake with a tree sticking out of the ground as Lazlo sat down, watching the sunset. it was where he went at the end of the day to clear his head, his own little area away from Camp, Lazlo sat down, crossing his legs to meditate, clasping his hands together and taking a deep breath.
almost as if on instinct Lazlo felt himself float as his body felt really heavy, like it sinking as he was being separated from it. The monkey floated in his dreamlike state flying around the air which seemed so real. As a result of meditating Lazlo was able separate his consciousness from his body, flying around woods, watching the wild animals with his non-corporeal form.
Lazlo often did this to unwind but it required a lot of focus and peace, which was why he chose to do this in the isolation of the abandoned peak. His grandmother taught him how to meditate and he tried teaching it to Raj and Clam but while they were picking it up, they were not yet able to separate from their bodies. It was hard to do as the slightest disturbance to Lazlo's body could cause him to slingshot back to it. Such as when he heard a chipper voice calling out with a warm and friendly "Hi Lazlo".
Lazlo opened his eyes, seeing the source of the noise, hanging from the tree above was the Pink-haired mongoose, waving to him as he recomposed himself.
"Oh...Hi Patsy, what are you doing up here?" Lazlo asked, curious how she found out about his secret spot. She simply responded that she usually came up here to unwind after the day.
"You look really peaceful when you sleep" Patsy commented as Lazlo stood up stretching, replying that he wasn't sleeping, he was meditating to which Patsy showed little interest in, the concept of standing still did not seem appealing to her as she let go of the tree, doing a flip landing on her feet, earning a small clap from Lazlo.
"I'll be honest I did not expect to run into you here, in my private spot" Patsy replied as Lazlo defended, saying it was his spot before the two had a mild argument before Lazlo looked at her.
"We're not going to a fight about this are we, last thing I want is a Pinecone sitting Redux" Lazlo replied as Patsy let out a mild giggle, sitting beside him.
"You're just mad that you lost" she replied, pointing to the Pinecone sitting badge on her vest as Lazlo rolled his eyes, reminding her she was playing dirty, shooting a flirty glance at him as Patsy chuckled.
"Not my fault you feel for the bedroom eyes trick, all is fair in love and war" Patsy relied as Lazlo laid down, looking at the stars, Patsy following suit as he looked at the sky.
"So, it IS a trick, since I've met you, you've been sending out mixed signals, one second you're helping me find a missing snake, the next you're abducting me in my bed and accusing me of being an alien" Lazlo replied as Patsy rolled her eyes, telling him to blame Nina for that.
Patsy took a deep breath, before looking at him, clarifying "It's not all a trick."
She did not know how to go about telling him about her feeling, Lazlo made it clear he did not know how to interpretate her feelings as Patsy decided to bite the bullet.
"Lazlo" I do Like you, I mean I Really Like you, Like-Like You" Patsy admitted as Lazlo put his hands behind his head, admitting he figured that out a while ago, specifically when her confession letter was intercepted by her father.
"And again, I'm so sorry for that" Patsy apologized, feeling that punching Lazlo was the worst thing she had ever done as he looked at her.
"So, what exactly are we?" Lazlo asked.
Lazlo and Patsy having a secret spot is something that i carried over from the original story but I changed the location from a basic tree to under a tree on a cliff near an abandoned hiking trial.