For the teenage group, the nature activity was plant identification, so Soren and Jack made sure they had enough field guides and notepads for everyone. The campers showed up not long after they were done setting up, and Jack felt confident that this was something he could do, no problem. He was little intimidated when Rick, Jared, and Martin showed up for the nature activity, but Jack decided that he could use this a second chance to show everyone he could be a real professional. In the back of his head, however, he couldn't help but wonder why that was so much more important to him than figuring out what was going on here, and what had happened to... Wait, who had they come here with again?
He launched into his lesson, first going over the big rules when dealing with plants in nature. “Rule 1, ‘don’t touch it if you don’t know what it is’! And rule 2, ‘don’t eat it unless me or Soren here knows what it is’. Actually, just make that ‘don’t eat anything’. This is a nature hike, not a salad bar, after all,” he said, getting a couple of laughs from the campers, which boosted his confidence and earned an approving look from Soren. However, in the back of the group, Rick, Jared, and Martin were quietly talking amongst themselves, with Jared and Martin in particular paying more attention to the counselors’ good looks than to the lesson about plant safety.
After going over different ways of identifying a few common plants and looking them up in the field guide, it was time for the nature hike, a nice easy hour long round trip through the woods and past the opposite side of the lake. “This’ll be easy. Just show that big bear you can be a professional,” Jack murmured to himself as they set out down the path, with Martin and Jared watching the two handsome counselors leading the hike dreamily…
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“Mister Jack! What about this one?” Jared asked, desperately trying to get the handsome opossum’s attention. The tiger ran his hand over a slender vine with white flowers, gently rubbing the leaves between his fingers and sniffling the flowers, getting the pollen all over his face.
“What part about ‘don’t touch if you’re not sure’ don’t you get, kid? And it’s just ‘Jack’, please,” Jack said with exasperation, running over and pulling Jared’s paw away from the vines. “Now, let’s see here…”
Jack flipped through his identification guide, but couldn’t find that particular vine anywhere. So, he followed a hunch and looked in the back in the non-native and invasive plants section, and finally found it. However, as he read, he didn’t notice Jared’s eyes glazing over and a grin forming on his face as he leaned over and began nibbling the vine’s leaves and rubbing his face all over the flowers.
“Silver vine. Native to Japan and China, but it’s got a foothold around here,” Jack read, oblivious to what Jared was doing. “Not toxic, but… Umm… Uh-oh. ‘Similar effects in felines as catnip, except much more potent.’” He finally turned to Jared, and found the tiger rolling on the ground, giggling and purring like crazy.
“Shit…” Jack hissed, forgetting that he was supposed to be watching his language, then he ran over and helped Jared to his feet. “Jared? Hey, are you okay, kid? Talk to me here!”
The young tiger looked at Jack dreamily for a minute, then leaned in to try to plant a kiss right on the possum’s cheek, but Jack turned his head just in time to avoid it. Jared just kept giggling and nuzzled up against Jack, rubbing his muzzle into the opossum’s fur with delight. “Love you, sweetie… Love you, love you, love you…” he moaned, making Jack blush and try his best to pull away.
“Hey, Soren! We got a situation here!” Jack shouted, pulling the other counselor’s attention from identifying wild blackberries with some of the other campers. “This kid’s fucking… I mean, he’s stoned out of his mind here. We gotta head back!”
Soren didn’t waste a moment, striding over and pulling Jared off of Jack with ease and slinging him over his broad back. The tiger pouted a little, then pressed his face into Soren’s fur to enjoy the remainder of his buzz as the group quickly made their way back to the main campsite. After leaving the campers with the first counselor they found, they hurried over to the first aid tent, where a goat named Nina got to work right away, getting Jared hydrated and comfortable enough to ride out the effects of the vine, which was otherwise harmless.
“Third cat today,” she muttered to herself, having just sent an eight year old lynx back to her cabin for a nap. “Someone needs to get in there and pull all that nasty stuff down and burn it.”
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Once Jack and Soren were sure Jared would be fine, they left the tent and Jack slumped down on a nearby bench, his heart beating a thousand beats per minutes.
“Ugh… I fucked that up…” he muttered to himself. “Alex is gonna kill me, that kid’s mom is gonna kill me… I’m dead. I’m not cut out for this job…”
Soren sighed, feeling bad for the less experienced counselor. He’d tried his best, but shit happens, especially when teens were involved. Soren honestly couldn’t think of any way this situation could have been avoided, but he also wasn’t sure if letting his roommate off easy was the right thing to do here. He rubbed Jack’s shoulders, and the lean opossum whimpered and leaned up against the big, strong bear, rubbing his eyes as he tried not to have a panic attack.