Chapter Text
Evening was starting to fall, the sky over Camp Campbell darkening gradually. The kids should have been back in their tents over an hour ago, but on the makeshift stage of theatre camp, Preston was still scribbling away at a bit of paper, muttering furiously. He was working on a new play script, and didn't want to stop until it was finished.
Nikki was getting ready for some night exploring, when she saw subtle movement at the stage. Thinking it to be a stray animal, she grinned and ran over, leaping out at him. "IIIII've gotcha!"
Of course, Preston being Preston, his reaction HAD to be completely melodramatic. "AAAAAAAGH!" He shrieked, leaping backwards, utterly horrified. After a heart-stopping moment, he realised who his mystery attacker was.
"Nikki! You evil little rat!" He clutched at his heart pitifully. "You nearly KILLED me! How dare you? What are you doing out? It's nearly dark!"
"The dark's when the fun things come out." She noticed the papers. "Ooooo, whatcha writing?"
"No!" Preston snatched his papers out of her reach. "No touching! It's none of your business." He turned his nose up snobbishly, but it was painfully obvious he actually really wanted to talk about it. Typical Preston.
She smiled a bit wider, "Are you working on another play thing, like the one I was supposed to be in?"
"Mmmmmaybe..." he drawled mysteriously, giving her a smirk. After a moment, he grinned excitedly, flourishing with one hand.
"Picture this! It's Hamlet, except Hamlet's father was actually an alien who had an affair with the queen! Doesn't it sound wonderful?"
"WOAH, NO WAY... who's hamlet?"
"Who... who's HAMLET?!" Preston's voice rose to a shout. "HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHO HAMLET IS?! THE BEAUTIFUL SPAWN OF THE BARD! THE ULTIMATE TRAGIC HERO OF SHAKESPEARE!" He coughed lightly, blushing a little as he realised how loud he'd been. "...my apologies."
She giggled, "He sounds important. So his dad's an alien now? Does he know?" She seemed genuinely interested.
"No, that's the best part! He only finds out when his father dies, and his ghost comes to visit him!" Preston chuckled proudly. "It's genius, if I do say so myself. I was wondering, Nikki, if you'd like to play Hamlet. Considering you didn't get to play Juliet last time. I'm sure you were very upset."
"Wait? I get to play the hero?! Do I fight things?!" She was bouncing on her toes
"Yes! In fact, you get to kill everyone in the play!" Preston grinned, handing her the script. "Have a read through. I knew you'd love it! And you'll absolutely nail the part, too! AH, you're perfect for it!"
He pranced around the stage in his enthusiasm, flourishing dramatically.
She read through it, smiling more as she went on. "Wow, I do kill everyone. Can I do cool stunts?"
"Of course! We can use state of the art special effects, just like they use on Broadway!" He was only imagining now - that could never really happen - but the theatre kid was so excited he almost believed it. "You know, Nikki, maybe one day I will be on Broadway."
"Broadway? I think my dad called my mom that once." She set the script down and walked over to him. "That's the music/play thingy right? You could definitely do that."
"Ah, I hope so. My father doesn't seem to agree, but I'm going to keep trying my hardest to get there." He paused, seeming curious. "Do your parents fight a lot, then?" He sounded stiff, as though he wasn't used to asking about other people. That was true enough; Preston only really spoke about himself.
She shrugged, and began playing with one of the prop swords. "Yeah, but all parents do that. That's what Neil says."
"Hm." Preston sat down on the edge of the stage, patting the boards beside him for Nikki to sit down too. "In all of Shakespeare's plays, there is some form of family dysfunction. I suppose it's been happening for hundreds of years. But that doesn't mean it's good, or normal." He shook his head, laughing with that manic suddenness that only Preston could pull off. "Look at me, getting all serious over something that isn't theatre!"
She sat next to him and laughed a bit too. "I guess you just know about all kinds'a drama." She still played with the plastic sword, nervously picking at some of the lose plastic on one of the seams. "You're not wrong though, I guess." He tone was a bit quieter than it usually was.
"Ah, Nikki. The woes of tragedy are all too familiar to me, being in the theatre." He gave her what looked like an attempt at a kind smile; still a little bit manic, a little bit snobbish, but kind nonetheless. "What seems to be troubling you? Talk away!"
"Me? What, no, I'm fine!" Her smile immediately perked up and she looked like her normal self again, though it looked somewhat forced. "I wanna hear more about the play and your broads and stuff!"
Preston chuckled, leaping to his feet. "Of course!" He seized a prop sword, and pointed it elegantly at Nikki. "Care to rehearse a fight scene?"
He'd noticed how forced her smile looked, of course he had. But she really seemed to enjoy this kind of thing. Maybe he could cheer her up this way?
She immediately bounced up, grinning ear to ear. "YEAH!" She ran at him like a raging bull, gripping the sword in both hands, ready to strike.
Preston instinctively shrieked, waving his sword frantically, before regaining his former composure and blocking Nikki's strike with delicate skill. Thank goodness he'd taken those fencing classes to help with stage fights.
"Amateur!" He teased, leaping out of the way with a smirk.
She stopped for a moment, clearly impressed. "I kinda thought you were gonna faint on the spot, not bad." She watched him closely before making another attempt, this time a more subtle strike.
Preston managed to block the strike, but only just, his blade slipping off the surface of Nikki's with a nasty 'shwing' noise. She was matching him in style now, and it was getting more difficult. "Good, good..."
"Let's see how long you can keep this up" She struck several times in succession, each blow aimed for a different location.
That did it. Flailing his ridiculous noodle arms in an attempt to block the strikes, and leaping backwards simultaneously, Preston lost his balance and fell off the edge of the stage with a cry. It wasn't far to fall, and there was grass below, so he wasn't hurt. But, being Preston, the shock had made him faint momentarily, just as Nikki had predicted.
Nikki giggled, but ran over to make sure he was alright. She leaped off the stage and landed in the grass next to him. "You're not actually dead, right?"
Preston whined and rolled onto his front. "Just let me bask in my humiliation," he huffed, his voice muffled by the grass.
"I was supposed to kill you though, that's how you wrote it." She scooted over and started pulling the grass and piling it on his back.
"Stop it this instant," Preston grumbled, lifting his head a little to glare at her, but not making any effort to move. The sky was fully dark by now, and all the lights in the cabins and tents were switched off.
She didn't stop, but kept piling ripped up grass in the same spot on his back. "I'm burying you. I'm pretty sure that's what you do when your friends die."
"Hm.. yes.. that is.. that would be... correct..." Preston murmured, his eyes fluttering closed. He yawned quietly. Evidently the repetitive movement of placing the grass, combined with how dark it was, was relaxing him.
She stopped and tilted her head slightly. "Are you actually going to sleep out here?"
"Hm...? What?" He mumbled sleepily. The boy's eyes suddenly snapped open and he sat up quickly. "Oh! Oh my, I didn't realise." He yawned quietly again. "Aren't you tired?"
"No way! I can go for hours, I'm getting ready to go in the woods and look for cryptids!"
"Cryptids...?" Preston's eyes widened dramatically and he grabbed Nikki's shoulders. "Oh, Nikki! That's ever so dangerous! There could be things in there that could EAT you, and you were planning to go alone? No, I won't allow it. I'm taking you back to your tent."
"Nah, if they try it, I'll wrestle them like alligators and then they'll raise me as one of their own! I'll be a little Big foot... a Big Toe?"
Despite himself, Preston let out a snort of laughter. "Well, if you are going to insist upon this frankly ridiculous activity, I should probably come with you." His voice wavered slightly.
"Sure, they could probably adopt you too!" She brushed the grass off him and stood up with a small bounce.
Preston shuddered inwardly. "Sasquatch? Adopting me? It hardly bears thinking of." He stood up too, trying to stop his legs from quivering already. He wasn't going to faint again. It wasn't THAT scary out here, right?
"Then maybe you'll get lucky and find the chupacabra or Goat Man!" She grabbed his arm and made a beeline into the forest, It was close to pitch black at this point.
"Oh, this is a bad idea. This is a terrible idea. This is a terrible, terrible idea!" Preston muttered regretfully as they made their way into the forest. "It's most certainly not because I'm frightened, not at all, but I really believe the both of us should turn back..." An owl swooped down near his head, and he practically screamed, jumping violently.
"Is that Owlman?! I think it is!" She let go of his arm and climbed on a large rock sticking out of the ground, she stood up and put her arms spread wide out, "I'm hear Owlman, come and get me!" She was standing on her tip toes on the edge of the rock.
"Don't fall!" Preston screeched, waving his arms. "If you die I'll be blamed! I'd have to live as an outcast, running from the law. My family would disown me!" He stood tensely at the base of the rock, conflicted. Should he climb it to make sure Nikki was safe? Should he stay on the ground, where it was safe?
She didn't seem to hear him, her focus was on the wildlife around her, "I'm right here! I'm ready for you to take me home!" She inched forward, her toes were now off the edge.
Real fear caught at Preston's heart, and he instinctively started to climb the rock. "Nikki! Be careful, for goodness' sake! Step back!"
She turned to look at him. "Huh, why?" As she said that, her foot slipped. The adventurous look on her face was quickly replaced with panic, and she managed to grab onto the rock with her hands to keep from falling.
"NIKKI!" Scrabbling clumsily up onto the top of the rock, Preston reached out a hand desperately, holding it down for her. "Take my hand! I-I won't let you fall! You'll be ok!" He wiped at his eyes furiously with his other hand. He was NOT going to cry.
She carefully reached with one hand, while the other stayed clutching the rock. The outstretched hand was just centimeters away from hers, but she couldn't close the gap between them. "I can't!" Her grip with her other hand was weakening.
"Keep holding on for just one moment!" Preston gasped desperately, leaning right over the edge of the rock to grab her hand in both of his. With a bit of manoeuvring he managed it, and, breathing hard, hauled her up over the edge.
She was out of breath, and still a little shaken. "I almost fell... I could've died... that... that was... AWESOME! Let's do it again!" She was genuinely excited, but seemed to be joking about that last part.
"What? WHAT?" Preston grabbed her shoulders and shook her furiously. "Yes, you could have died! You could have died and I might not have been able to help you, and... I.." he dissolved into frightened tears. "I-I want to go back to the camp. Now."
"Don't cry! We'll go back to camp, okay? Just don't cry." She pulled him into a tight hug.
Preston whimpered, burying his face in her shoulder. After a moment or two he sniffled, trying to stop crying, and nodded. "It's too dark and dangerous out here."
"Sure, let’s go back. I had enough fun anyway, I'll get adopted by Mothman tomorrow." She rubbed his back comfortingly.
"Now I understand why Neil has such bad anxiety," Preston mumbled under his breath, rubbing at his eyes again as he climbed carefully down the rock. He waited at the base of it for Nikki to follow.
Nikki slid down it with ease, still smiling ear to ear. "Yeah, I keep things fun."
Preston folded his arms irritably, seeming almost back to his normal self already. "Your definition of 'fun' is rather worrying, Nikki."
"Kids? Kids!" The shout echoed through the trees, high and panicked. Preston tilted his head. "Is that David?"
"I think so, he probably thinks we died or something." She grabbed his arm again, "C'mon, last one there is platypus crap!"
"Hey!" Preston took off running behind her, David's shouts getting louder as they approached the camp. Now they could hear Gwen calling too, both of them sounding painfully like terrified parents.
"Uh oh, we're in trouble!" She didn't slow down though
With a burst of speed and holding tighter to Nikki's hand, Preston made an attempt to run them both past David without being spotted.
Unfortunately, it didn't really work out that way.
"Nikki! Preston!" Both kids were suddenly smothered in a tight hug. "Oh, thank goodness, we were so worried! Gwen, I found them!"
"Let... go..!" Preston gasped, squirming indignantly.
"We're fine, we were just looking for Mothman and Bigfoot, oh and we found Owlman!"
David pulled away, looking stern. "What the gosh darn heck would you do that for? The woods are dangerous at night, kids. Dang, I'll have to do a workshop on safety tomorrow..."
Preston opened his mouth, then shut it again. He wasn't going to worry David even more by telling him about Nikki's near-fall. Instead, he huffed, glaring. "Yes, yes, now if you don't mind I'd really like to be getting my beauty sleep. I've already missed enough."
Nikki seemed intent on acting as if the near fall never happened. "Yeah, I might get some shut eye too, got big plans tomorrow." She let out an exaggerated yawn.
"Alright, kids, off you go. Sleep tight, and get ready for another day of activities tomorrow!" He flashed them a blinding smile and hurried off (with a very relieved Gwen) towards the counsellors' cabin.
Preston glanced at Nikki, giving her a quick smile. "Goodnight, Nikki. Oh, and don't you dare tell anyone I cried. Or I might just give the part of Hamlet to somebody else, hm?" He smiled sweetly and walked in the direction of his tent
She pantomimed a zipper on her mouth and gave him a thumbs up, before walking away to her own tent.