Week 5: Natalya/Mattie

Natalya's dark blue eyes scanned the large pack that she had taken a long time to get right and make sure that she had everything she may need. Her eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head with a sigh. She had been so excited when Matthew had invited her to go camping with him but.. it was starting to seem like a very hard task. Natalya pushed those thoughts away, deciding to stay as positive as she had been at first about the outing. It certainly would be an experience. She hoisted the pack onto her shoulders as she waited for Matthew. He had said that he would pick her up, hadn't he? At the moment, Natalya couldn't remember, which only made her a little more nervous. For the most part, though, she was worried that she would make a complete fool of herself on this trip.

Matthew looked at the clock in his car worriedly. He was running a little late and didn’t want to leave Natalya waiting for too long. It wouldn’t be right, considering that this had been his idea in the first place.

He hoped that Natalya actually wanted to go and didn’t just agree because of how enthusiastic he had been about the idea earlier. He smiled a bit as he neared the place he was to pick up Natalya, embarrassed by the memory. Matthew just couldn’t help but invite her to go camping after hearing that she’d never gone before, though maybe he had acted a bit overzealous.

Finally, he found Natalya, if a little later than he had hoped. Exiting the car, he walked toward her. “So are you ready?” he asked with a friendly smile.

(*late* I was waiting for the e-mail for you post, but it never came for obvious reasons and...in short, I suck, sorry.)

Natalya's small smile found its way onto her face as Matthew's car pulled up close to where she was waiting. She relaxed as she saw a slightly flustered, or perhaps worried, Matthew behind the wheel and quickly trying to remove himself from the car. The blonde came to her and his smile was infectious. She couldn't help but broaden her own.

"Da, I am. I am very excited!" She added, standing to her feet with the pack on her shoulders. Again, she was pretty sure that she had brought everything Matthew had instructed but... she couldn't shake the feeling that she had forgotten something. With a mental shrug, Natalya pushed it out of her mind. "Thank you very much for inviting me, Matthew."

“No problem, I’m glad that you agreed to go with me,” Matthew told her. By the looks of it, Natalya had followed the directions he gave her and came completely prepared, which was good. Though it was possible to go camping with less than what he had advised to bring, it was better to be safe than sorry, especially since this was her first camping trip.

“So there’s a site pretty close by, only a half hour drive, then a small hike up a hill the rest of the way. How does that sound?” he asked as he walked back over to the car, opening the trunk so she could throw her bag in.

"Da! That sounds like fun!" Natalya simply beamed, her excitment coming back to her again now that their little trip was being put into motion. She looked down at the sleek, black tennis shoes Matthew had advised her to wear. She was thankful she had listened, considering they'd be hiking. She set the pack down into the trunk of his car with a relieved sigh. She still felt like she had left something, but it was too late to fix any of that now. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Natalya slipped herself into the passenger seat of Matthew's car. Quickly buckling herself in, she glanced as Matthew came around the car to slip into the adjacent driver's seat. He seemed extremely exuberant about going, which brought a small, secret smile to her lips. Matthew always looked so worried or flustered.. it was nice to see him relaxed and happy. It would be a small present Natalya would keep locked away tenderly in her memory banks.

Matthew was glad to see that Natalya was thrilled about the trip. He hoped that she’d have a good time and maybe, if nothing went wrong, that she’d be willing to go with him again another time. Although it wasn’t the kind of thing he’d be comfortable telling someone out loud, he loved Natalya’s company and found her great to be around.

“So I know you haven’t gone camping, but have you done any other outdoorsy activities?” Matthew asked, curious. He’d gone camping with people who seemed unlikely to be able to survive in the wilderness for longer than a day, but he had a feeling that Natalya would be okay, whether she was used to the outdoors or not.

Natalya watched the gorgeous scenery pss by through the window of the car. How beautiful it was! Her thoughts bounced around, excitement churning higher and higher within her. When Matthew's voice spoke over the soft thrum of the engine she turned to look at him. "Vell.. My siblings and I, ve ski, ice-skate.. Ve have gone fishing a few times, but that is all I can really remember." She tried to smile, hoping Matthew wouldn't think she was completely hopeless. "You have gone many times, da?"

“Oh, that’s good, I like skiing and ice-skating, too.” He had a feeling that Natalya would be fine, most likely.

“Many times? Hm, yeah, I guess I have,” Matthew said, smiling at the memories that came to mind. Most of them involved mishaps that were only amusing after the fact, like that one time someone left out food that attracted a bear and—

He figured that it probably wouldn’t be the best thing to tell her those stories now. Maybe after the trip, if she was comfortable enough with camping. Matthew looked at Natalya after seeing a familiar sign. “Almost there!”

Natalya watched Matthew smile as he seemed to reminisce about the many times he had been camping. His smile led her to believe they had all been good memories. She hoped she could be one of them. Oh no, what if she was the one trip that ruined camping for him?! She wouldn't be able to live that down.. She grew slightly more worried now with that thought buzzing around in her head.

She was contemplating on how to not mess everything up for Matthew, when he chimed that they were almost there. Natalya took a silent deep breath, trying to calm her anxieties. This was going to be fun. She wouldn't have it any other way. "So, how far vill ve have to hike to the site?"

“It’s not that far,” Matthew said, shrugging, “Two miles, maybe? And only a small amount of that is walking uphill.” The hiking part shouldn’t be too difficult, but if she did get tired, he’d just offer to carry her things the rest of the way. In which case, he’d probably need a couple of minutes of rest once reaching their destination, but it would be worth it if it ensured that Natalya would have a good time.

“Oh! We’re here,” Matthew said, bringing his car to a stop. Noticing a bit of nervousness in Natalya’s expression, Matthew smiled encouragingly before going to open the trunk to retrieve their things. He hoped it worked; after all, he was pretty nervous himself.

Natalya was relieved to hear that it was not going to be too long of a hike. "Ah.. that's good. I just hope I can keep up vith you." She chuckled softly, glancing back out the window of Matthew's car. Her head lifted eagerly when Matthew exclaimed that they were at the start of their outing. She looked over to him, appreciating the smile that he gave her, which made her feel a little more secure. Natalya quickly unbuckled herself from the car and stepped out into the beaming sun.

She stepped over to the back of Matthew's car, slipping her pack onto her shoulders and glanced around. "Lead the vay, Mattie!" She chimed, eager to start and make her eagerness last.

“Alright!” Matthew responded cheerfully making sure the car doors were locked before heading off down the trail, making sure Natalya was following.

“So it shouldn’t be that long of a walk, especially since you’re pretty—er, I mean it’s a pretty even slope. N-not that you aren’t pretty, because you are, but you’re not an even slo—I’m going to stop talking now,” Matthew stammered.

That had gone as smoothly as a train wreck. Usually he avoided similar blunders by thinking things through before saying them. Matthew figured that he must have felt comfortable enough around Natalya that he forgot to do so. He'd have to watch that, then.

Natalya kept her pace as even as possible with Matthew's. The beginning of the trail seemed pretty easy and she felt much more relaxed about this. She found it endearing the way Matthew would glance over his shoulder to make sure she was still standing and right behind him. It encouraged her to keep going.

Natalya's porcelain cheeks pinkened at Matthew's slip of the tongue. And the fact that he tried to clear it, but only ended up fumbling again made it all the more.. sweet. She giggled, glancing shyly at her hiking shoes. "Th-thank you, Mattie. I'm glad you think I'm pretty, even though I'm not an even slope." She added, hoping to make light of his.. mistake? Was it just that? Surely not, the way he said it twice.

“No problem,” Matthew said, laughing embarrassedly as he stared down at his own shoes. He was just thankful that she wasn’t going to make a big deal over it, not that he thought she would have.

The trail got a bit steeper as the path got wider, so Matthew shifted from walking in front of Natalya to walking by her side. “It only gets a little more steeper, and that’s a little later on. How are you holding up?” She seemed to be doing just fine, so Matthew wasn’t really worried.

Natalya giggled softly, feeling Matthew's nervousness. It was tangible in the air. She glanced up at the sun as they continued their walking, thinking about nothing in particular except to keep moving. She could feel the pack digging into her shoulders as the hill got a little steeper.

"Da.. I am fi--" Natalya started to respond but something had caught on her foot and she fell flat on her hands and knees. An old but sturdy tree root had tripped her! She winced with pain, feeling her knees make contact with the hard ground and her pack shift all its weight against her back.

“A-are you alright?!” Matthew asked, running over to Natalya’s side. Wondering what could have possibly caused her to fall, his eyes fell upon a tree root sticking out of the ground. “I should have warned you about that, I’m sorry, are you hurt?”

He figured it must have, as she had fallen with the added weight of her pack. He hoped she wasn’t too mad at him. It was a rather selfish thing to hope for, considering the circumstances, but it was truly what he was most afraid of. He frowned, moving to help remove Natalya’s pack from her back.

"I-I think.." Natalya started, rolling over once Matthew removed her pack so she could sit and examine her knees. She glanced down to see blood dripping down from both of her knees which had been scraped. "Ech.." She grumbled in distaste. "I am so clumsy, it is not your fault.." She glanced over her hands which were also scraped up from the ground. They stung a little bit, but she would live.

Her knees were what hurt badly. Natalya tried to stretch them out, wincing a little. "Maybe.. ve could rest for a moment, da? I think I need a bandage.. or two."

Although they were only scrapes, Matthew winced at seeing the blood nonetheless. “No, but still, I should’ve…” he trailed off, not sure of what he could have done that would have prevented the fall. But he was sure there was something that he just wasn’t thinking of.

“Sure, we could rest, take as long as you need,” Matthew said before rummaging through his own bag, retrieving from it a reasonably big and white box. He used to be reluctant and a little embarrassed to bring a first aid kit along, but after quite a number of random mishaps, he found it helpful to be crazy prepared. Matthew opened the kit, showing Natalya its contents. “Pick whatever size you want, there’s a bunch.”

Natalya shook her head, knowing there was nothing Matthew could have done to prevent her fall. She would have to be more careful if she was going to last the trip. She smiled a little when Matthew told her to take her time. "You are so sveet Mattie.." It was terribly considerate of him, especially since she was setting their schedule back a little bit.

Her eyes widened at the large box, wondering exactly what he had expected to happen during the trip. She sure hoped they wouldn't have to use half of the things in the first-aid kit. Her blue eyes skimmed the bandaids, grinning when she found normal-sized dark blue bandaids. Natalya's eyes lifted to Matthew, looking a little sheepish. "Can you clean the scrapes for me..? If I try.. I von't be able to.." She said, slightly embarrassed now. She had always hated the sting of an antiseptic when she was little and was unable to do it herself. How childish she must have seemed.

“Huh? Oh sure, no…no problem,” he told her, taking out the antiseptic from another compartment of the kit (okay, so maybe if it had compartments he was too well prepared). He got some dabbed on a cotton ball and leaned over to clean the scrapes on her knees.

Although Matthew didn’t look up to see Natalya’s reaction, he would have bet money he was wincing more than she was as he applied the antiseptic. Although it was only a little sting, Matthew didn’t want to hurt her. It was sort of inevitable in this case, however.

He smiled as comfortingly as he could when the ordeal was over and slid the white box closer so she could take her pick of bandaids. He’d seen her eyeing the dark blue ones and wondered if that’s what she would end up picking.

Natalya instinctively winced before he had even begun to clean the small scrapes. Her body tensed, trying to keep as much pain away as possible to no avail. A small hiss of pain came from her lips, opening one eye slowly after a moment or two of the stinging sensation. "I-Is it over?" She asked, feeling the pain die away.

Matthew's smile brought comfort to her as she inspected the treated scrapes. She grabbed two of the dark blue bandaids, carefully placing them on her knees to recieve the best protection. "Thank you Matthew.." She added softly, blushing a bit. She couldn't believe how childish she had acted!

"Vell, at least I got getting hurt out of the vay for the rest of the trip hopefully, da?" She asked, chuckling softly. She hoped to make light of the situation, since it seemed Matthew was pretty concerned.

“Yeah,” Matthew agreed, still smiling, stopping himself from adding ‘I hope’ afterward, not wanting to scare her into thinking that the entire trip would be full of…well, trips. And though it wouldn’t do to hover and fret around Natalya like a mother hen, he’d keep an eye out for anything else that could possibly cause someone to fall. The more he could do to prevent another accident, the better.

He put away the first aid kit from the compartment of his backpack he had taken it out of, helping Natalya up before lifting the straps over his shoulders once again.

“We don’t have much more to hike up,” he said, carefully handing Natalya her bag as they got ready to continue along the trail. “Then we can rest, set up camp and look around for a bit. How does that sound?” he said, occasionally making a quick glance as if to make sure that Natalya was still in one piece.