Alex returned to an empty Blue cabin. Slightly disappointed that Caspy wasn't there so she could apologize for what happened at the dining hall, she quickly took in the room. Noting that her best friend's luggage was open and rummaged through, she took a seat on his bunk before looking into his suitcase. Unknowingly, the girl smiled gently at the contents she saw: romance novels and cookbooks, meticulously folded casual clothes with a few suit assets. Pulling out her phone to check the time, Alex noticed it was almost half past eleven. Caspy must have came back to the cabin to gather items and get ready for the leader meeting happening at noon. That was why his pack was half messy.
Frowning, Alex began to go through his belongings. She was hoping that she would be able to catch him before the meeting. However, she knew that if he wasn't here at this time it meant that he had already left for the meeting, wanting to be extra punctual to start with a good first impression. Finally finding the thing she was searching for, Alex decided that she might be able to catch up with him. The Main Hall wasn't too far. Hearing the overhead announcement, Alex quickly left the cabin, heading in the direction of the meeting. Once the hall came into view, she noticed a familiar figure slightly fidgeting, standing outside of the hall.
Increasing her speed, Alex ran up to Caspy, calling out his name. Once he had turned around, she engulfed him in a tight embrace, humming in distress.
"..alright, Casper. Just go in, nod an' smile to what everybody says, be agreeable..then politely put forwa-"
Having been awkwardly pacing outside the meeting room while going over his 'action plan' for the meeting he would soon enter, Casper found his train of thought abruptly interrupted by the familiar voice. Rather taken by surprise, Casper only managed to squeak out a "Hi!" before being taken into her arms. Welcoming the hug, and a much needed distraction from the upcoming meeting, he wrapped his own arms around her, laying one across her waist and another her upper-back.
Casper kept quiet at first, and his initial hopes that Alex was simply coming to him to pleasantly say 'hello' were soon dashed. He'd seen her like this before, and it often meant something was up. Only, this time, he wasn't entirely sure what could be wrong, and so instead remained silent in the hopes she'd spill it out to him. The silence continued for a few seconds, however, and Casper finally spoke up. After all, something was upsetting his best friend, which in turn meant that something was upsetting him, and he was determined to resolve it. Pulling his head back to offer a warm smile accompanied with a reassuring squeeze, he gently asked, "..Alex? I would ask if everything's okay, but..I think I know the answer. What's up?" Asking the question, he had soon forgotten about the meeting he was due to attend entirely, now being completely focused on whatever it was that was rather obviously upsetting Alex.
Green eyes met worried brown before averting their gaze to the side. Alex rested her her hands on Caspy's shoulders as he asked her about what was bugging her, making her guilt worse. Pouting, she exhaled heavily, only relinquishing her silence once she felt Caspy's hands give her sides a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sorry," she stated sincerely, which was actually a difficult task for the girl with anyone else. "I shouldn't have left you in the dining hall like that. That was pretty messed up of me," she trailed off toward the end. Remembering one of the reasons she traveled the Sahara Desert to go meet her best friend, Alex removed her arms from around Caspy and pulled out a chocolate bar from her back pocket. "And to prove to you how bad I felt, I got you this," she said, handing him the candy.
Casper held his gentle smile and affectionately caressed her back throughout her 'confession', hoping to give what reassurance he could without words. When she did finally finish apologising, he opened his mouth to speak, though instead cocked his head to the side in silence as he observed the chocolate bar in her hands. Dropping his arms from around her to take the bar, he inspected the candy in his hands, and after a moments of silence, Casper allowed a small chuckle to escape his lips. "My favourite chocolate. You didn't happen to find this in my bag, did you? ...and some of it has been eaten!" Turning his attention back to Alex, he looked down at her fondly while adopting a slightly more serious, albeit reassuring, tone. "Alex. You don't need to apologise. Richard is your friend, and you can be with him whenever you like."
Acting mock offended, Alex placed a hand on her chest. "What? No. I took it from someone. See? That's how much I wanted to show I was sorry: I stole for you." At Caspy's exclaim, the girl merely shrugged before whining, "I wanted some..." However, the brunette frowned once her best friend had brought the topic back to serious matters. He was so good to her; his dislike for Richard was so much greater than hers for either Leah or Lil and he was understanding of her friendship with the blonde yet she couldn't even sit with him because a few of his friends slightly irritated her. Shaking her head as if to rid the unpleasant wave of guilt and solemn thoughts, Alex avoided the conversation with a, "Let's not talk about that right now." After taking back the chocolate bar, Alex held Caspy's arms and placed them around her; she liked being in his embrace. Unmoved by the close proximity between the two, the girl broke off a piece of the chocolate before holding it to the boy's lips. "Here," she gently offered with a small smile.
Tilting his head with a soft smirk, Casper happily obliged Alex by opening his mouth slightly. After she placed the piece of chocolate onto his lips, Casper gave a slight nod of thanks. Allowing the chocolate to melt in his mouth, he spoke quietly as to avoid fully opening his mouth (speaking with your mouth full was the height of bad manners, after all) "I sure know good chocolate, huh. I don't blame you for being unable to resist taking some yourself, and besides. Sharing is caring!"
Rolling her eyes at his cheesy response, the girl brought her fingers away from his lips, noticing a slight smear of chocolate. Sucking her fingers clean, she looked up at him. "So, do you forgive me?" Pausing for a brief moment to think over his reply, Casper eventually began to speak, "..psch, I don't think you even needed to--" Cutting himself off mid-sentence, Casper figured now wasn't the time to debate whether the apology was needed in the first place, and instead bit the inside of his lip, smirking. "Yes. I forgive you."
Smiling at his answer, Alex brought her arms to rest behind Caspy's neck once more before batting her eyelashes up at him and flashing him a flirty smile. "You still love me?" Casper wasted little time in answering the next question, however, and opted to go for one of the cheesier lines in his romantic vocabulary. "Of course I love you! Now and always." After his response, she pressed herself against him and hugged him tightly before taking on a more serious tone. "Good, because I don't know what I'd do without you." As she held him, green eyes drifted to the side where the entrance to the Main Hall was. She should probably let him go soon. Exhaling, Alex pulled back and brought one of her hands up to Caspy's cheek, offering him a genuine smile. "Good luck in there. Don't overthink everything; remember you're doing the right thing and some of these other 'leaders' don't deserve their spot because they don't know what they're doing. Remember to relax your mind from time to time and just think about something else for a moment and breath. It'll get better as you go along. You're going to be amazing," she assured as she ran her fingers through his hair. Running her hand down his shirt a few times to smooth out his clothes, she commented, "Oh, yeah. I also have a surprise for you when you come back to the cabin." Wishing him luck one last time, she bent up to kiss his cheek before waving to him as he left to enter the hall.
Location: Main Hall - Meeting Room
Interacting With
Chase Jackson @McHaggis Stacey Hampton @HushedWhispers Lillan Ashbourne @Wintergrey Any other leaders
Interacting With
Chase Jackson @McHaggis Stacey Hampton @HushedWhispers Lillan Ashbourne @Wintergrey Any other leaders
Making his way into the meeting room punctually, Casper thought he noticed Stacey pull some kind of face, though when he looked back at her, she was already looking in another direction. Figuring it was simply a result of 'nervous imagination', Casper walked around the table to take a seat opposite from Stacey. "Wait - did she not wave at me? She waved in my direction, right? She probably just missed me. Right?" Aware of the fact he was letting his worries take hold over him, Casper took a deep breath, assuring himself that he was simply making such things up in his head, and soon distracted himself with the introductions alongside the other Team Leaders. "..so, I'm Casper. Leader of the Blue Team, and, well. That's about it for introductions, huh!"
Soon after the leaders had completed their short, individual introductions alongside the camp counsellors, Stacey rose to her feet. She began passing around copies of her ideas, though curiously, threw hers toward Casper. "..that almost hit me! Okay--..you're far away, Casper, you're on the opposite side of the table! She probably just had to throw it because she didn't want to walk all the way around! That's a normal thing!" Trying his hardest to convince himself that he was not a target of hers, Casper remembered the advice Alex had offered him earlier, "..relax your mind from time to time and just think about something else for a moment.." This, however, soon led Casper to recount their entire encounter in his head. "Was she flirting with me? Like - the chocolate thing. She chose to put it on my lips, and she did move my arms around her, and she kissed me again! ..but, no. It's platonic. It has to be! ..I'm just getting my hopes up--..although, maybe if I tell her how I feel-, no, no. Don't be stupid, Casper. You want to keep the friendship, not ruin it! ...but then again, she is so amazing. Imagine if you were actually with her, Casper..."
When he finally snapped out of his daydream, Casper realised that Stacey had all but finished her little speech, and Chase was now adding her own thoughts. Using Chase's own discussion as an opportunity to read over the list in front of him, Casper gave it a brief run over before standing, himself, after Chase was finished. Stacey stood. Why shouldn't he? "So, I was thinking, shouldn't we just put it to the vote around the camp, as it usually is? Maybe if we offer a few films from each genre, and then they vote as per usual! I don't think...we need to, like..decide a genre for the camp. I mean--..I'll be the first to admit, I think Camp Rock and the Jonas Brothers are starting to grow on me...it's only been a few years!" Allowing himself to laugh somewhat, Casper soon realised his joke had fallen flat, and his laugh trailed off into an awkward silence "..a-a-a..anyway." Casper threw his attention down to the list on the table, skimming it over once more, though he also took the time to compose himself as best he could after his failed attempt at comedy. With his cheeks flushing red, it wasn't hard to see the boy was in hot water. "Paintball." He thought to himself. "There's no way I'm letting Richard anywhere near me with a paintball gun."
"About the paintball idea...I think, maybe. It's a bit..violent? I mean, we don't come here to get beaten and bruised! Maybe sticking with foam darts, or something akin to that is better? I think we'd all be thankful for it in the days after the paintball." Pausing for a moment, he nodded his head quickly, deciding to move on from the disagreements he had. "I think the talent show is a great idea, though. For sure! ...and for the party, maybe we should do, like, a hollywood-esque theme. You know, during the time of the glitz and glamour, when all the films were black and white, and being a celebrity was just the best! ...or, I kind of like the masquerade idea, honestly!"
Not entirely sure where to go after his last comments, Casper went to sit down, before stopping himself and promptly rising to stand once more. "Oh, and. Well, I know it's not really related, but I just wanted to say...I know Team Blue has a 'reputation' around the Camp, and I know it's not the nicest of reputations. I just. Well, I just want to let you all know, that this year Team Blue isn't going to be playing to that reputation. No hosting secret parties, no taking competitions beyond a friendly rivalry...and no more using the nickname 'Royal Blues'. I think, most of all, this should be about friendly competition...and the colour of our teams shouldn't define who we are, or who we can associate with." With that said, Casper let a heavy breath of relief, giving a slight nod to signify he had finished speaking, before sitting once more.