Work Text:
Tango leaned back in the camping chair, careful not to go too far back and fall like Skizz had earlier.
"Here's all the wood!" Skizz grinned as he dumped his arm load of wood onto the camp fire circle. "I went all the way to the bluff."
"That will be nice for when we have to get more as it gets dark," Impulse pointed out.
Tango nodded along, watching as something in the low light started to move along Skizz's back.
Impulse noticed as well and stood up from his chair and walked over to Skizz.
He tried to brush it off, but Skizz yelped and turned. The thing went scurrying under Skizz's sun hood.
"Hey Tops already tried to plant a fake spider on me like that," Skizz grinned. "Try something new Impy."
Tango laughed. "Skizz, this one is real buddy."
"It's not," Skizz hissed waving his hand to dismiss the possibility.
Tango and Impulse shared a glance as the spider remerged and began to crawl along Skizz's arm. That was enough to get him to look down and see the huge spider.
Skizz screamed and swatted it off him while the rest of them broke into laughter. Tango savored the sound mixing with the crackling of the fire growing.
After a second, even Skizz's laughing joined them.
Tango was going to miss this.
The low laugh of Impulse's gentle voice.
The loud joy of Skizz's laugh.
The rare sound of Etho's calm laugh.
The sound of his own happy laugh mixing with the other three...
It would be so long before they had a chance like this again.
The four of them had been friends since middle school, and now the time had come that they'd all be spread out over the map.
Between universities, and training, they'd be spread out between two different countries and four different cities.
For the first time in their lives, Skizz couldn't text asking for them to come to a movie, Tango couldn't drive around collecting them all after work for DND, Impulse and Etho couldn't drag them all camping just because.
They weren't going to be able to text be there in five.
Looking up, Tango could see the stars that he'd seen on each camping trip with them. Usually the day after a trip they'd head back to Tango's and play games, but not tomorrow.
Tomorrow they all had their plane tickets saved and their bags packed to leave.
The airport would be the last time they were all together for a long, long time.
Tango wasn't sure how to feel about that. He knew they'd still be friends, but there was something scary about not being with them anymore.
Not having them to visit when he was stressed...
"Marshmallow?" Etho asked through a mouthful of marshmallow. He was the only one of the group that liked raw marshmallow.
Tango grabbed one and stuck it onto the stick that someone had set in front of him. "Thanks. I'll eat Skizz's first though."
"Hey!" Skizz yelped.
"You always burn the first one," Tango shot back. "I mean I'm not complaining because it's good but..."
Skizz shook his head. "I totally don't Tops. I'm an expert at this."
"You sure about that, Skizz?" Impulse asked motioning to the fire pit.
Sitting in the pit was Skizz's already on fire and burned marshmallow. Wordlessly, Skizz handed him the stick with the burnt marshmallow.
Tango handed his stick back for Skizz to use with a grin.
Impulse pulled his out from the fire and examined it with its perfection.
"How do you do that?" Tango laughed. "I swear they're perfect every time."
Impulse laughed. "Patience."
They fell into familiar conversation and jokes as the marshmallow cooked. Each voice was careful to steer the conversation away from the ticking clock.
All the questions about dorms, majors and goals had been asked already.
Tonight was all about memories.
Then as the fire dimmed, and the stars became more visible, Tango surprised himself as he raised the half eaten s'more.
"To the future," Tango cheered. "To who we will become even ten years down the line."
Impulse grinned and raised his s'more. "To the friends that walked with us every step."
"And to the friends that became family," Etho added. "When we had no one else."
Skizz was surprisingly the last one. Normally he was the first one, but when Tango looked over, it was clear why.
His friend was smiling, but the tears were clear.
"To my brothers," Skizz started. "The people that make home a place to miss."
”Ah, Skizz,” Impulse grinned. “We’ll miss you too.”
Skizz stood up from his chair and pulled Etho, who was closest to him into a hug. “Come on you two. Get in here too.”
Tango didn’t have to be told again as he joined the group hug.
Things like be a little murky right now, but this hug under the stars with his best friends told him that everything would work out just fine.