It was almost dusk and team two was still in the lead. Not by much, mind you, as team one had the other van in their feild of vision the whole time.

While passing a gas station, Scar noticed two figures waving at them from beside the station. There were three tents set up and a little portable fire pit.

Zedaph furrowed his brow. "Why are they waving at us?"

"It's X and Keralis! That must be the checkpoint!" Bdubs exclaimed, "Zedaph, turn here."

As Zed turned the corner, Impulse shimmied around in his seat and grinned smugly at the camper van behind them. "We won! Nice driving Zed."

Zedaph parked their van and turned to smile at the brunet. "Thanks! It'll be nice to stand up hah-"

Zedaph jumped out of the front seat and streached as Scar and Bdubs left to speak to Keralis and Xisuma. Somewhere along the way, Tango had fallen asleep so Impulse was left to shake him awake.

"Tango!" Impulse patted his buddy's face, "We're here. We won!"

"Hah...?" The blond arose, rubbing his bleary eyes. "We what?"

"We won, Tango!" Impulse winked, "Go congratulate Zed. Give him a kissy kiss."

Impulse mockingly puckered his lips, making gross kissing noises at his tired friend.

"Okay, okay shut up-" Tango laughed, pushing Impulse's face away from his own. "I'm getting up."

Tango pulled himself up, walking over to where Zedaph, Bdubs and Keralis were talking.

"--gonna have prepacked sandwiches and stuff for you guys for a dinner-type thing." Keralis was saying. He noticed Tango and waved. "Hello Tango!"

Zedaph turned around, and winked. "Morning Sleeping Beauty."

"Good morning, Godzilla." Tango grinned at Zed, ignoring his little flirt. "Nice driving!"

"Why thank you." The dirty-blonde smiled back, "Though you've gotta thanks Bdubs here too. I would've missed the checkpoint if not for him."

Tango nodded at Bdubs, "Thanks!"

Bdubs grinned. "Of course! Im glad to have h-"

"Hey, Keralis right? 'Rich Kid' wants you over there." Doc came up from behind Bdubs, making the brunet jump.

"Oh, thanks Doc!" Keralis smiled at their little circle before waving and jogging over to Xisuma and Scar.

Doc turned to Zed, "Congrats Zedaph. You drove well."

"Thanks! You're taking your loss surprisingly well, knowing you." The britt patted Doc on the shoulder. Doc scoffed.

Tango snickered, and him Zedaph, and Doc began conversing about their trips, leaving Bdubs awkwardly standing there.

This is what I was scared of. He thought begrudgingly, Being the one person who doesn't know people well enough to know how to approach conversation.

"--Who was driving on your team?" Tango asked.

"His name's Grian." Doc said. "He kept wanting to speed up just a tiny bit past the speed limit to pass you guys but his.. boyfriend? Friend? I dunno. His buddy Mumbo insisted that he didn't break th-"

"They- they're not dating." Bdubs blurted, unitentionally inturrupting Doc. "I mean like, Scar says they aren’t, but they definitely act like it, but they aren't."

"Yeah, I thought so." Doc nodded. He was kinda pissed about being inturrupted but he told himself it wasn’t worth bitching about it. "And who are you?"

Oops.

That came out a whole lot more aggressive than Doc meant it too.

Bdubs frowned at Doc's tone, subconsciously matching that attitude.

"I-I'm Bdubs, from the winning team."

Doc scoffed. "Oh, that won't be your team for long."

Zedaph gave Tango a look, grabbing his hand and dragging him away.

"Hey, so your Doc?" Bdubs crossed his arms. "Stop scowling, it ruins your pretty face."

"I'd say the same to you."

Hey, hot guy called me pretty! Bdubs thought, before realizing, Oh yeah hot guy's also a dickbag.

"What?" Doc grinned, "Cat got your tongue already, Double0?"

How does he just- know my last name..?

"No!" The short brunet glared up at Doc. "You're not worth my time."

The german put his hands up. "Hey, you snapped first."

"No! You- Oh, whatever," Bdubs grumbled, "Nice to meet you I guess."

Doc rolled his eyes, patting Bdubs on the head almost patronizingly. "Likewise."

---

Xisuma was helping Grian, Mumbo and Iskall set up their tent, even though technically their team came second and they should've been doing it alone. Bdubs was sharing a tent with Scar, and was still fuming about his interaction with Doc. The little guy was eating his prepackaged cucumber sandwich as menacingly as he could manage.

Team ZIT were also sharing a pre-setup tent, where Zedaph conked out almost immediately after finishing his dinner. Impulse and Tango stayed up drawing on Zed's legs.

Ren and Doc, who had gone camping together before, had no trouble putting their tent up themselves, and they were contentedly playing Minecraft PE in their tent together.

Once Xisuma finished helping Iskall, Grian, and Mumbo he went to have his prepacked dinner in his tent with Keralis, leaving the three boys to move their stuff into the tent.

Once they were done, Grian pulled the zipper down on the tent and laid down. He shifted so that his head was in Mumbo's lap, and the ravenette set down his phone and began weaving little braids into Grian's hair.

"So," Grian prompted, kicking Iskall in the shin. "How was your dayy..."

Iskall turned to Grian, grinning. "I talked to him, Gri! I did it!"

Grian laughed at his friend's excitement. "Yeah! Not smoothly, but it was a start!"

Iskall scoffed, "Give me some credit here."

"Fine," The blond rolled his eyes, "That was magnificently gay of you."

"Euh- Look at yourself right now, man!" Iskall laughed, "Mumbo is legit petting you!"

The swede appreciated the rare occasion of being able to embarrass Grian, and grinned as he watched the short males cheeks flush pink.

"Yeah, whatever." He mumbled.

Silence hung over the group for a bit, before Grian tapped Mumbo's shoulder. The ravenette removed his earphone, looking down at the blond.

"Mumby are we being weird right now?"

Iskall raised an eyebrow. "Annd he's getting self-conscious now."

Mumbo shot Iskall a look, before smiling fondly down at Grian. "No, lo- Grian, I'm sure everyone does this."

"Okay..."

"Oh, and Gri?"

"Yes?"

Mumbo's smile turned malicious. "Call me Mumby again and you're not getting the science notes."

"Noooooo!!"

As Iskall watched his best friends being all lovey-dovey, he wondered if him and Ren could ever be like that. As if he read Iskall's mind, Grian smiled at him reassuringly.

"But really, man, it's a great start." He said, "This trip will do good for you."

"It will." Mumbo agreed. "I never understand what you two are going on about, especially when it comes to Ren, but I'll try my best to help if you ever need it."

Iskall sighed, smiling. "Don't you go all sappy on me Mumbolio Jumbolio. You don't even know what we're talking about."

"Yeah." Mumbo agreed, "I genuinely have no clue what's going on."

Grian sat up, "You'll understand one day, Mumby. In the meantime, I'm gonna try for some sleep."

Mumbo rolled his eyes, "What did I say abou-" Grian pecked the ravenette on the cheek as he reached past him for his backpack, effectively shutting Mumbo up. His face flushed, eyebrows furrowing. "A-abo- about ca-call-"

"Shush Mumbo," Grian teased, "I'm tryna sleep."

Iskall laughed at his friends, laying down to get some shut-eye too.

"Thank you guys." He said, after Mumbo flicked off their flashlight.

"Anytime, Iskall." Grian responded, "We're here for you."

---

Ah, good old Grumbo.

I'm really just churning out these chapters. Then again, I have nothing better to do.

REMEMBER TO HYDRATE AND STAY HEALTHY *GENTLY PASSES WATER BOTTLES AND LOVE <3 SO I DON'T BRUISE ANYONE ELSE*

Buh bye o/