Oh hell.

Stopping his harsh pace only when stood in the absolute middle of their bright tent, eventually giving in himself to the uncomfortable creaks his footsteps made in the braided floor, Scott dropped his heavy bag by his feet with a thud, and closed his eyes in exasperation as he breathed.

Hell.

This must be it, the classic teenager would conclude: the feeling of something angry stuck in your head, something sad in your chest, and something absolutely nerve-racking everywhere else...

He'd been nervous before, of course, that was true. But he'd then also like to flatter himself a little by adding that he'd always been able to handle that quite well up until now, all things considered... In fact, he'd quite often taken to a trick his mother had taught him: when faced with a situation you're not sure you'll be comfortable with, imagine the worst case scenario and realise how it can't turn out that poorly after all.

Only the irony was, that would she have asked Scott that morning, what the worst case scenario for the camp could be... this was probably what he would've answered.

That, and an asteroid hitting earth. ...Asteroid?

"Hey..."

...Meteoroid?
...Meteorite?
...Meteor?

"Do you...want any help unpacking?"

"Meteor!"

Scott almost jumped at the sound of Adam's voice from behind him, and he spun around in place, almost getting his foot caught in the strap of his bag. Stumbling to grab hold of the wooden pole in the middle of their tent, Scott knocked against it a few times with the back of his hand to play it off as God knows what.

"Oh, sorry. Right! Unpacking... Unpacking..."

Untangling his one foot with the other, Scott reached down and then up again at a speed that sent blood surging through his already heavy head. But now, clutching his bag with two hands against his stomach, he could heave it atop the bed on which Adam wasn't already sitting. The one that he, since he in this state hadn't given the interior of the tent a careful investigation yet, assumed to be his.

"That's very kind of you, you know, really very kind. I'd use the spell, of course, but I'm always afraid it'll break things... I can't have things breaking. Can't have that at all. Much rather be careful! Tedious as it can be."

Scott removed the layer of textbooks he'd placed in there last to keep things from rattling about, and threw a smile at Adam over his shoulder to where he was sitting.

"Which is why I appreciate your offering to. I'll gladly-"

Then he removed a larger linen pouch, and pushed it into the space beneath the bed. It contained a second pair of shoes.

"-help you too, should you wish. Besides,"

A folded pile of four shirts.

"I really hope that you realise,"

A folded pile of two pairs of trousers.

"that I'm not very happy with how things went out there. I should've,"

A sigh small, bedside, grandfather clock standing at just above a foot to be placed by the side of the headboard.

"Done better by myself, and you."

Stepping back with a clap of his hands, his bag not even half empty yet, Scott turned around to face Adam properly again. He really did feel embarrassed about it, always did after situations when he had't felt himself. But surely the Ravenclaw couldn't tell.

"It was silly." Was all he had time to utter. "Is that your bed, then? Where'll the other-"

The sound of the tent entrance being opened to the outside again brought silence both to him and, or at least so it seemed, the world. He had his back turned to it, but shifted in his place to awkwardly lean back towards the wooden pole once again.

Hell.

"Um.."

Indeed. Scott found himself on the brink of returning to the heat his head had been in only a minute or so before, but swiftly began taking deep and controlled breaths, not particularly caring if any of them noticed. He remained still, though, and watched as Ami made her way towards the bed he himself had just left. Scott was close to realising he'd probably need to move his things again, as the number of beds was slowly dawning on him, but he didn't really care about that right now.

"Have you all finished unpacking?"

"All set." He replied quickly, with a small and hopefully-not-so-forced-looking smile.

"We could... play a game or go for a walk or something..."

She was really making an honest attempt. Scott had to appreciate her for that, he really did. Perhaps, even, he'd admit that this is probably what he would've done, himself? Except no. No, he wasn't brave like that.

"I couldn't speak for either of them, I suppose, but I don't think I've had more exhausted legs than this in some time. I'd probably stay here. Don't think I know too many games, though..."

And in return, he hoped Amadea could sense that he was making an honest attempt, too. His green eyes darting uncomfortably between the three of them all the same.

Scott wheeled around with a start and Adam felt himself blush. He hadn't meant to catch the other boy unaware; he had said "hey", right? He should've been a little louder. Adam tripped over his words in an attempt to apologize to Scott, but the Gryffindor beat him to it, rapping on the pole between them a few times for some reason. He seemed just as uncertain as Adam felt right now. That made sense.

"Oh, sorry. Right! Unpacking... Unpacking..." Adam gave a dimsissive wave, trying to tell Scott that he had nothing to be sorry about. While his tentmate was bent over his heavy bag, Adam realized that he must have gotten tangled in the strap — that explained the weird thing with the pole. Before he could ask if Scott was alright, the other boy suddenly jolted upright. Adam blinked a few times in surprise and watched Scott toss the bag onto the other unoccupied bed. That's a bit odd, Adam thought. Shouldn't there be...

"That's very kind of you, you know, really very kind. I'd use the spell, of course, but I'm always afraid it'll break things..." Scott smiled at Adam as he lifted a stack of books out of his bag and put them to the side. Books? On vacation? Adam hadn't brought any books along, and he was in Ravenclaw. Then again, he was a pretty bad Ravenclaw. He'd have to see if Scott would lend him a book if things ever got really boring before they went home. The blonde boy returned Scott's smile with a distracted one of his own, and his tentmate's arms plunged back into the depths of the bag.

Scott kept talking, but Adam was distracted watching him unpack. He was on the edge of his seat waiting to see what would come out of the bag next — and despite the fact that it seemed to be laundry, laundry, and more laundry, he was sure that the next thing would be wildly spectacular. Wasn't that kind of a rule with wizard luggage, old-fashioned as it was?

The closest thing Scott had to an oddity was the miniature grandfather clock that he put at the side of his bed. Adam fought back a laugh at the image of how tiny its chimes would be; at the same time, he hoped that Scott had a way to turn it off when they slept. He wasn't fond of the idea of being woken up every hour by tiny bells. Though there was still some bulge to the bag, Scott stepped away after the clock, and Adam hurried to tune back in.

"It was silly." Hm? Oh! Scott must have been talking about the face-off that had happened outside of the tent. "No, it's okay!" he responded. Adam didn't know what had happened to drive Scott and Ami apart, but he was sure that that was the silly thing. Scott's (and Ami's) reactions were just a little overblown, maybe. He was sure that they could move past it if they just spent a few days together and remembered how much they liked each other. That was what Adam should've done when he'd fought with Eris. He wasn't going to let his new friends make the same mistake. "Is that your bed, then?" Scott interjected before Adam's mouth could catch up with his mind. He really had to stop thinking things through so much. "Where'll the other-"

It was a good question, one that made Adam realize what was wrong with the otherwise beautiful tent. There were only two beds for four campers. Where were the girls supposed to sleep? Adam scrambled to ask Scott about the shortage, but to his dismay, the bigger issue had entered the tent. Sleeping arrangements would have to wait.

Silence followed Amadea and Ami inside, settling over the four students like a wet blanket. Adam nearly broke under the renewed tension, but before he could say or do anything irrational, Amadea spoke up. It seemed like she was still feeling the weight of this...unconventional quartet on her shoulders and was determined to do something to lighten the mood. Adam wished that she wouldn't be so hard on herself — but at the same time, he wasn't going to complain if she wanted to break the ice. He busied himself with playing with his luggage tag as Scott and Amadea made small talk.

"We could... play a game or go for a walk or something..." That was a good idea, even if Amadea didn't sound at all convinced. Scott backed out of the walk after a moment, saving Adam the trouble of having to do the same; silence circled the group again and threatened to kill any prospect of a good time. Adam racked his brain for a simple game they could play and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Truth or dare!" he exclaimed, looking between his tentmates. "You know, where you...pick truth or dare. That's easy, and fun. Fun and easy!" Way to go, genius. Three years at Hogwarts had whittled down some of Adam's innocence, but his tendency to ramble was fully intact. "I've never actually played before, but I can get us started. Um....Ami. Truth? Or dare?" Hopefully this wasn't way over the line, given that Adam only really knew one out of the three people in front of him. Truth or dare was universally fun though, and having met Ami before, he was sure that she'd play along. He just hoped that they could keep the game going long enough to forget about the stifling silence looming over them.

And for the love of god, he hoped that this didn't somehow make things worse.