nextgenerationmarvel | Whoa, come with me now.

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Whoa, come with me now.

"Gentlemen, behold!" Marcus made a grand gesture toward the red and white structure before them. It had taken nearly seven hours to get to Chester, WV and it wasn't exactly on their way, but what kind of Brit would he be if he passed up the opportunity to visit the "World's Largest Teapot"? He had a duty to himself, his mother country, and his teammates. Especially since this would be the last opportunity to drag Jay across the country before his college classes started.

Whipping out his handy guide to roadside attractions, he thumbed to the correct page and peered at the attraction information. "Apparently, it began life as a keg..."

It was not, strictly speaking, the best looking teapot he'd ever seen. The size was impressive, though.

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"Thank you, Jay." Marcus nodded gravely. "You're a true friend, Jay."

He glanced in the rear view mirror at Bruce, pulling a wounded face. "My weaponry isn't medieval! And don't ever let Aether hear you say that. He's sensitive about his age."

"I guess it's not your fault knights raised in drafty castles don't learn to fish because those moats are full of crocodiles." If cartoons had taught him anything, that was how the knight lived. Yessiree.

Though for protection, Jay held Boo up front of his face to deflect any incredulous looks or glares. Boo looked fierce. Or curious. It was hard to tell with that happy little face.

"Hey, I would never want to say anything bad about Aether," Bruce said.

"Jay does bring up a point though. You probably can't help it."

"... crocodiles?" Color him confused! Still, it's an interesting idea. Sammy might like a house with a moat filled with crocodiles.

Without taking his eyes off the road, he reached over and booped Boo's belly. "I'm sworn to protect the helpless. Not to impale them on barbed hooks. It's a knight thing, y'see."

"To keep people from swimming in the moat. Have you knights learned nothing from the Ancient Egyptians?!?" Jay shook his head at the deplorable state of knight education via Egypt.

Boo gave his version of a giggle at the belly boop. Jay lowered his pet into his lap with a mock-scowl of betrayal. The miniature giant space hamster paid the look no mind.

"So, why are you hunting down innocent fish with fair maiden worms impaled on dastardly hooks?"

"Because fishing is a traditional camping activity?" Bruce ventured.

"Right you are, Bruce!" Marcus was a city boy and even he knew that! There were also copious amounts of marshmallows and other s'mores fixings to be had. Just add fire! And, if he had his way, there would be a campfire sing along. "Tradition, my good sirs. Jay wanted camping and we shall give it to him!"

"Unless you camp in a desert," Jay noted wryly. Which was a lot of his early camping experience with his father.

He glanced out the side window. This camping trip gave him a good feeling.

"May there be no UFO enthusiasts on this camping trip."

"That would be a pleasant change," Bruce agreed. "The last thing we need is more pictures of you mistaken for a martian or Bigfoot."

"Your lips to God's ears." Not that it wasn't funny last time, but they could really do with less tabloid publicity. Plus, Sammy would be upset to miss it.

In just under a half hour, Marcus pulled into the park and after checking in, took the winding drive to their camp site. Trees, lakes... the whole nine yards. Plenty of space for tents and campfires and all manner of camp-type shenanigans.

"Pictures of green me, not so bad. Pictures of my big, green dong very bad." And that was all he was going to say on that. Jay was the Avenger's PR manager's nightmare. Nude pics and a rampage within the last year. He had been shut in his room for quite awhile.

He glanced around the campground when Marcus stopped the jeep. "Nice," he commented as he tried to stuff a not-quite willing Boo back into his backpack.

"Very nice, bro," Bruce said, as he got out of the jeep. He definitely wanted to avoid any further PR disasters. As team leader, he had enough plates to keep spinning already, and any trouble always fell on his head first.

Not that he blamed Jay for either of those incidents, of course. But this was the world they lived in.

"First order of business is tents, I believe?" That seemed logical to him, anyway. Of course, his logic had, occasionally, been called into question. Still, he rounded the jeep and began hauling gear out of the back. His tent, sleeping back, and other accouterments had been purchased especially for this trip. His adventure would begin when he tried to put the thing together!

"Then, we shall make men of ourselves and capture our dinner in yon fishing lakes."

"Setting up camp is an important first step," Jay agreed. He wasn't sure how much these two city slickers had been camping. Though Bruce might have had a little.

Boo finally went into the top of the backpack, but the creature insisted on peaking out. Jay didn't care as long as the little fuzzball stayed in the pack. He climbed out of the jeep and slipped the pack on.

"With spears or poles, Grand Master Planner?"

Bruce had occasionally gone camping with Uncle Steve, so he knew a little bit about camping.

"First order of business is tents, then we set up for making the fire."

Which, technically, was solved by him with a photon blast rather than matches, but still.

"Dealer's choice," Marcus answered Jay. He did not, strictly speaking, have any spears, but given enough time and incentive, he was sure he could fashion some from local materials. He used a lance, occasionally. How much harder could a spear be?

"Fire you say?" He glance at Bruce as he carried his tent to a promising looking location. At least it was flat. Ish. "It just so happens that I've acquired us a flint and steel for just that purpose!"

Camping, by God. They would camp like real campers.

"You do remember I'm powered by the sun, right?" Bruce asked, laughing.

"Otherwise known as Bruce likes to cheat," Jay commented as he grabbed his tent and found a spot that was a bit away from where the fire would be. If he Hulked out in his sleep, it would also disturb the other two less with giant Jay wearing a tent muumuu.

"Spear-fishing wouldn't need worms. Pole fishing might actually get us a fish. Decisions, decisions." Boo hummed contemplatively from the backpack.

"There will be no cheating, sir!" Marcus gave Bruce a mock scowl and a finger wag. Tsk. Trying to take shortcuts? Never! "We are men of skill and good conscience. We shall bend the wilderness to our will!"

Marcus glanced over. "And when we pitch our tents, I want Boo on my team."

Jay set down the backpack so Boo could wander out if it so desired. Boo did just that. The small, furry creature wandered around the campsite, but it was never very far from Jay.

The sometimes green teen started to construct his tent. Right side up even.

"You thinking Boo will throw your tent far?" Jay asked as he knelt down to drive in a stake.

Bruce just laughed as he got to work on pitching his tent.

"I dunno," he said. "That wilderness can be pretty tough."

"Likely further than I could." Marcus made a show of 'flexing' a muscle, then dumped the contents of the tent bag onto the ground, sorting the pieces carefully.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Bruce! Jay will keep us safe."

"I think Boo and Marcus need to arm wrestle." Jay moved from one stake to the next, pounding them in with his camp axe.

Boo wandered over toward Marcus and eyed the scattered pieces on the ground. It squeaked contemplatively.

"Even in the woods, I can handle the wilderness," Jay commented as he drove the last stake in. He had been adroit in setting up his tent. He glanced to the sky and rubbed his chin.

Bruce just shook his head and laughed, continuing to set up his tent.

"That was either deeply profound or phenomenally dumb, Jay," Bruce told him. "So I'll split the difference and go with profoundly dumb."

"What d'ya reckon?" Marcus asked Boo, crouching beside the little guy and stroking his own chin thoughtfully. There were instructions and diagrams, so it really wasn't all that complicated. Well, in theory.

"Do you suppose if I'm incompetent enough, Jay and Bruce will put it together for me?"

Whoa, come with me now.

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