JENNA: * Jo takes her time in the woods, though her task is somewhat hurried by the fading light. Luckily, the game appears to have been largely unmolested by the nearby human settlement, and she catches a pair of fairly plump rabbits without too much difficulty. Even so, full dark has fallen before she makes her way back to the camp, and she looks around warily before checking on Shane's condition before she steps into view.

JUSTIN: * Shane is still where he dropped himself, though he's long since dried by the time Jo returns. He never bothered to dress himself, and he's half zonked out, eyes covered by an arm. The sound of Jo's approach injects some life into his brooding, nap-like state, however, and he rolls onto his side to glare into the fire with red cheeks.

JENNA: "You'll catch a cold lying around like that," Jo remarks, dropping the rabbits near the fire and seating herself to clean up a couple of sticks, as she doubts he'll be of any use to her in his current state. "They should be good -- young and plump." It doesn't take her long to set up a makeshift rotisserie, and with that prepared she seats herself again to deal with the rabbits.

JUSTIN: * Shane turns his glare momentarily to her, tucking his arms around himself in silent protest of her proximity. "I'm next to a fire... The only thing I'll catch is a heat rash." He manages to reach a sitting position, crossing his legs beneath him. "You catch colds by swimming naked in a pool of freezing water."

JENNA: "Haven't caught one yet," Jo retorts, picking up one of the rabbits and setting to work. "At least not that way." She strips the dead animal expertly of its skin, tossing the hide to one side and slitting it open to deal with its entrails. "Now, nearly drowning yourself ... I'd call that a good way to lower your defenses."

JUSTIN: "I didn't nearly drown myself!" Shane snaps, quickly turning his gaze back to the fire after a brief pause. His arms tighten reflexively around his chest, and it looks as if he might be trying to crush his own ribs under the pressure, but he doesn't relent. "You could have warned me. It's not like you didn't know I was coming."

JENNA: * Jo skewers the rabbit savagely, reaching for the next and nearly slamming it on the ground in front of her. "Warned you? If I'd told you, you wouldn't even have gotten in the water!" She nearly thrusts the knife into the small animal before stopping herself and continuing her work at a more measured pace.

JUSTIN: "You say that like you had no choice about your condition, Jocasta." Shane gets to his feet, moving away from the fire to grab his clothes. "Nobody forced you to go into the water naked. You could have -- I dunno -- /dressed/ yourself." He practically growls as he yanks his pants and shirt on, getting stuck once due to his haste.

JENNA: "Maybe I didn't feel like it," Jo snaps, forcing her hands steady as she continues to clean the kill. "The only reason I wear anything to begin with is because you're such a damn --" She breaks off, swearing, and jerks her hand back. "God damn it." A thin line of fresh blood runs down her palm, contrasting with the gore from the kill.

JUSTIN: * Shane is about to interrupt her retort when he sees the wound she's carved down her hand. He swallows back hard on the venom he was about to spit, nearly choking in the process, and drops his boots to rush back to the fireside. "Are you all right? Let me see--" He drops down on his knees next to her, taking her by the wrist and using his sleeve to swipe away the mixed blood.

JENNA: "I'll be fine, it's not deep --" Jo twitches her fingers and swears again when it twinges, attempting to get to her feet. "Let me get to the river -- wash it off." She tries to shoulder Shane aside, still angry at him in spite of a mild feeling of relief that he isn't about to start yelling at her. "Stupid ..." she mutters, in reference to herself.

JUSTIN: * Shane stutters over a response, but he decides to shut his mouth instead. It takes him a moment to remember there's nothing wrong with her legs, and he lets her go, dashing to their packs to dig out first-aid supplies. "I'll... I'll be with you in a second." He says, trying to quell his completely unnecessary rush of adrenaline. He is far too easily excited.

JENNA: * Jo makes for the river without another word, expression grim. She kneels at the shore and dips her hand in the water immediately upon reaching it, carefully washing away the mess of blood from her wound and from the rabbit. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she says again, grimacing at the pain and reflecting that it's a good damn thing she's not on a job or anything dangerous.

JUSTIN: * Shane hurries along after her, arriving less than a minute after. He stumbles and nearly trips in his rush, coming to a heavy landing on his knees beside her. "I've got some... some ointment for the wound, and some bandages--" He fumbles around with the items in his hands, trying not to drop them in the river in the process. He's a little shakey still, between the swimming incident, the brief argument, and now this.

JENNA: "Calm down," Jo mutters, guessing the suggestion to be mostly futile. "Just.. give it to me, okay?" She takes the bandages from him, laying them across her lap and reaching for the ointment after to treat them before wrapping her hand. "I told you, it's really not that bad ..." She pauses once the bandages are ready, trying to think of the best way to get her wound wrapped.

JUSTIN: "Sure, that's what you said about your arm, and look what happened with that." Shane manages to restrain himself for a moment, but he is clearly impatient to get her wound dressed. After a matter of seconds watching her sit and stare, he reaches over and plucks the supplies from her lap. "Just let me do it. You only have one hand..." Without waiting for her to protest, he immediately sets to work on it.

JENNA: * Jo bites down on an irritable response, letting him do the work, as she wasn't getting it done herself anyway. "Those wounds were worse," she says sourly after a moment. "This one isn't even that deep ..." She doesn't protest any more than that, feeling inexplicably weary after the hiking, swimming and fighting she's done today.

JUSTIN: * Shane tuts her quietly, mostly concentrating on getting the wound properly taken care of. "Even a small injury... can cause big trouble, if it isn't dealt with properly..." Once the ointment is applied to his satisfaction, he starts to wrap her hand with the bandages. "And you can't pretend it doesn't hurt."

JENNA: "I'm not pretending it doesn't hurt," Jo mutters, watching him bandage her hand in silence for a moment afterward. Once he's largely finished, she flexes her fingers slightly, frowning at the pain. "You don't mind finishing the rabbits.. right?" she asks, peering at him uncertainly. "Not much left to do anyway.."

JUSTIN: "Of course I don't. You did all the work to catch them, anyway..." Shane eyes his sleeve, where it's wet from a fowl mixture of human and rabbit blood, and sighs. "Please don't aggravate the wound like you usually do. I don't want it to get infected." He dips his hands into the river to wash, dabbing and scrubbing at his sleeve as best he can. It's clearly not going to come clean without a proper washing, however.

JENNA: "I don't really plan on it," she says drily, getting to her feet again and eyeing the bandages. "Haven't got any hard worked lined up for a while, after all." She pauses after this, frowning slightly, then kneels again, catching the side of Shane's face in her hand and tilting it toward her. She kisses him after a moment's hesitation, almost as if seeking reassurance.

JUSTIN: * Shane blushes lightly at the unexpected show of affection, forgetting for a moment to kiss back. He does so after a second, looking up at her with some measure of guilt, in spite of his accusational comments earlier. "Let's... let's get back and cook some dinner, yeah?" He pushes to his feet, pocketing the bandage roll and bottle of ointment, and after some hesitation of his own, sets a hand to her back and starts to walk.

JENNA: * Jo lets him lead her, weariness still settling over her. "Right. Food." She pushes ahead briefly, then decides she doesn't feel like rushing and settles back next to Shane. "I guess this ended up more eventful than I intended," she mutters, tugging at her bandages. "I'll be glad to get some sleep."

JUSTIN: "I guess that's my fault..." Shane responds quietly, keeping his eyes glued to the ground ahead of him. "I'm sorry I ruined your swim." He rubs at his face, pulling ahead slightly and aiming directly for the fire when they come back into the camp. Wasting no time, he picks up the knife and cleans it with a bit of bandaging cloth, then gets to finishing the job Jo left for him.

JENNA: * Jo shakes her head, taking a seat near the fire. "Don't worry about it ..." It isn't really what she wants to say, but it will do for now. She sighs, flexing her hand again. "Well, with any luck this will be the worst that happens for the next few months." She grins drily. "We'll at least have somewhere warm to winter."

JUSTIN: "Yeah." Shane works slowly but surely at finishing up the last rabbit, finally setting the knife aside and getting it properly skewered. He wipes his hands off and gets the rabbits set up over the fire, then tugs his pack over and fishes out a few bottles of herbs and spices. "I guess we can go to bed right after we eat."

JENNA: "Sounds like a plan," Jo murmurs, sprawling down on the cloak and staring drowsily at the fire. "Been a longer day than I realized." She's beginning to feel the ache of walking all this way and wonders vaguely if she's gotten that soft already. Part of her, however, is far to weary to give a damn one way or the other.

JUSTIN: * Shane busies himself with getting the meat seasoned, turning the rabbits over the flame as he does so, and for a few minutes he doesn't respond to her statement. Once he's packed away his seasoning bottles, he sits back and brings his knees up, resting his arms across them. "If you'd rather have the tent to yourself tonight, I can sleep by the fire. I might keep you up, tossing and turning."

JENNA: * Jo shakes her head and smiles wearily. "By now it'd feel weird to sleep alone ... I don't mind. I probably wouldn't wake up anyway." She rolls over on her back and draws one hand across her eyes. "We're probably both too tired to do much moving around."

JUSTIN: "I suppose you're right." Shane reaches out and gives the meat a turn, watching it begin to sizzle and pop over the rising heat. "If you want to have a proper swim tomorrow... I can keep myself busy at camp. I wouldn't want your trip to be a complete waste." He turns to look at her, raising a hand to rest his cheek against. "I guess I just can't be trusted to behave myself around a beautiful, naked woman." He tries a smile on, though it looks more morbid than happy.

JENNA: * Jo gives him a long look through the fire, shaking her head wearily. "I didn't just come to swim.. so it doesn't really matter." She pushes herself upright, staring at him silently for a moment, expression unreadable. "It's not like I'd .. eh. Never mind." She lies back again, sighing. "Though I guess I can't really hunt now anyway ... maybe I'll just hike."

JUSTIN: "It's not like you'd what?" Shane tilts his head, eyeing her curiously. He picks up one of the extra sticks he collected earlier, along with the knife, and begins to shave it boredly. "And you'll get to hike on the way back to town, unless that's not enough for you..."

JENNA: "I can still look around the area," she says shortly, then shakes her head. "It's not a big deal if I look around a couple days ... you can go back to town if you need to." She sits up slowly, debating whether to ignore his question, then looks across the fire at him. "And.. it's not like I'd mind if you misbehaved a little, you know," she mutters finally, leaning back and rolling away slightly.

JUSTIN: * Shane's face flushes, and he curls his legs up tighter against his chest, turning his eyes to the rabbits -- though he's hardly paying them any attention. "I shouldn't misbehave..." He answers quietly, assuming she's likely to disagree anyway. He gives the rabbits another turn and tries his best to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

JENNA: * Jo gives a faint sigh, not really wanting to argue about it, particularly since she really doesn't see it as misbehaving at all. "At least we know the hunting's good," she says a little flatly, pillowing her head against her arm. This probably doesn't matter terribly so near to town, but if nothing else, she wants to at least be able to get by on her own if she has to.

JUSTIN: "Yeah... yeah, I guess so. That doesn't hurt." Shane rubs at his shoulder for a moment and continues to watch the roasting meat in silence. After a few more minutes he pronounces them done and shifts to his knees to retrieve them from the fire, offering the stake to Jo to get first dibs on the rabbit of her choice. "At least it's not fish again. Sometime, we'll have to try hunting something bigger. Deer, maybe."

JENNA: * Jo smiles briefly, taking the stick and snapping in two to hand one rabbit back to Shane. "Never really had the tools to hunt anything larger ... I'm not great with a bow." She takes a bite of the rabbit, sampling it quietly for several minutes and grinning. "Not bad ... and just think, there are going to be more possibilities in a few months."

JUSTIN: * Shane takes Jo's grin as a good sign, and he smiles at the sight of it. "I'm glad you approve. We'll see what I can do with my own kitchen and a full selection of herbs and spices." He blows a bit at the meat, waiting for it to cool a little before he takes a small bite. Though still a bit too hot, it gives a decent enough preview of the flavor. He swallows shortly and leans back, watching Jo. "I'm plenty good with a gun. Sure, it's louder than a bow and arrow, but one shot is all you need." He turns his eyes down to the cooked rabbit in his hand, and rubs at the side of his neck. "Of course... I wouldn't know the first thing about how to actually go about the tracking and hunting part..."

JENNA: "I can teach you. A bit." She takes another bite and chews over it thoughtfully, glancing at him sideways. "A lot of it involves staying quiet," she says, mouth twitching into another grin, then returns her attention to the food. With her weariness more or less in place, she realizes she's quite hungry, and she eats rapidly, pausing only when she runs out of breath. Then she attempts to go after it at a more steady pace.

JUSTIN: "What? I can be quiet!" Shane glares, making a face at the insinuation. "I've snuck up on you a few times, haven't I?" He hunches his shoulders a bit, blowing on his meal again before digging into it with more purpose. His own stomach is quickly satiated, and he begins to feel more than a bit tired, himself.

JENNA: * Jo sniffs, but she doesn't say anything more than that, concentrating on finishing her meal before she tries to make more conversation. Once she's pretty well finished, she lifts her head. "I didn't say you couldn't," she says, reaching over to tug his hair, then she tosses the remains of her meal onto the fire.

JUSTIN: * Shane grunts quietly, pulling his mostly-devoured rabbit away from his face and staring quietly at the fire. "Well, it won't matter for a while, anyway..." Swiping at his mouth, he drops his stick into the fire and gets slowly to his feet. "Let's get some sleep." He rubs absently at his arm, watching the fire for another moment, then heads for the tent, giving Jo's hair a soft pet as he passes her.

JENNA: "Ah.. let me douse the fire." Jo sighs, getting to her feet and quickly scooping dirt over the guttering flames. She waits long enough to make sure it won't flare up in her absence, then follows Shane toward the tent. She pats his back lightly, kicking her shoes off and waiting for him to get settled before she moves.

JUSTIN: * Shane drops down on his knees to crawl into the small tent, briefly wondering if he should add a bigger one to his list of things to acquire. The thought leaves him a quickly as it came, and he tucks himself off to the side before flopping to the ground and quietly sighing. He can't wait for the morning to come along, based solely on the the hope that sleep will help him get over the day's events.

JENNA: * Jo crawls in after him, still frowning, and lies down next to him, nestling against him for a moment -- not that the tent is large enough to permit more than an inch of space between them. "I might be up early.. so I'll just let you sleep if that's the case. Unless you want me to get you up." She tilts her head, watching him cautiously.

JUSTIN: * Shane makes a slight shaking motion with his head, the most he can manage in his current position, and answers in a quiet, muffled voice. "That's all right... You can have some time to yourself..." He has no blanket or cloak to curl up in -- not that it's cold enough to require it -- so he settles for tightening one arm over his chest, and wiggles for a moment until he's comfortable.

JENNA: * Jo sighs, nuzzling against his neck before scooting back to give him some room, attempting not to push the matter -- whatever it is. "If you say so ..." She pillows her head against her arm, watching him wearily until she beings to drift off. "Good night," she says, and it's not long before she drops off entirely.

JUSTIN: * Shane closes his eyes and murmurs an acknowledgement, doing his best to shut out thoughts running rampant through his head. It takes him a good while to finally fall asleep, and even then -- not surprisingly -- his subconscious mind seems no more inclined to let go the day's main event than his waking one. He shifts, turning over once and finding momentary comfort against Jo's sleeping form.

JENNA: * Jo nurmurs drowsily, nuzzling him contentedly in her sleep and relaxing with a soft sigh. Much less bothered by the day's events than Shane, her dreams are nothing special, mostly involving somewhere warm and comfortable. She sighs again, one of her arms reaching over to fumble against him for a moment before making its way gently around him.

JUSTIN: * Shane's dream thus far has been a fairly convincing replay of events at the pool. The "mere memory" theory is broken not long into the illusion, however, when events begin to diverge from what happened in reality earlier in the day. In his dreamscape version of events, Jo doesn't try to get away, and he doesn't panic -- instead, quite the opposite occurs. His body begins to twitch and squirm in understated, real-world manifestation of his subconscious actions, and it isn't long before he's gotten his arms latched around Jo's slumbering self.

JENNA: * Unsurprisingly, Jo doesn't react badly to being embraced, more than used to sleeping cuddled next to someone. Still dreaming herself, she doesn't register his movements as anything out of the ordinary and nestles closer, murmuring again and tightening her arm around him.

JUSTIN: * Shane's dream is beginning to take turns for the worse -- or better, depending on how one looks at it. He's certainly enjoying it, unwitting as his unconscious self is. Jo's pleasant reception plays well into his imaginary fun, and his face finds its way into her chest, nuzzling along. He kisses as he goes, unable to distinguish cloth from skin -- after all, from his subconscious perspective, she's very much unclothed -- and his hands begin to do what idle hands will.

JENNA: * This treatment, welcome though it may be in Shane's dream, is a considerable step away from what Jo was experiencing in hers, lending a very strange color to the atmosphere. For a moment she accepts it, fingers tangling in his shirt as her grip tightens on him, then she comes awake with a jolt and a gasp, utterly disoriented. Her first reaction, naturally, is to struggle, but her movements are sluggish and carry very little weight.

JUSTIN: * The struggling doesn't alarm Shane in his dream, nor does it wake him. After all, as far as he's concerned they're in the middle of a pool with running river water all around, treading water to stay afloat while they go about their fun. His body moves slowly but surely closer, until it's managed to get itself half on top of Jo's bewildered self, and he doesn't ease up on the kissing or the groping to make room for this new arrangement.

JENNA: * Jo yelps at the shift in position, finally shaking off the last of her sleep-borne confusion to realize what is going on -- again. Her face heats rapidly, and she bites down on a swearword, having a difficult time figuring out what to do about this between Shane's advantage in size and her body's extremely conflicted responses to what he's doing. One thing she's certain of, however, is that what would do the most damage would be to wake him up, and a sort of embarrassed resignation flits across her face.

JUSTIN: * Shane continues to offer Jo his affectionate ministrations -- to use an understatement -- whether she wants them or not, exploring her trapped body with all the glee of a teenage boy. He occasionally murmurs delighted noises, a smile plastered to his face and eyes darting about wildly behind closed lids. It's uncertain how long he intends to keep this up, but if one can go by body language alone, it would seem he's only just finishing up the foreplay.

JENNA: * Jo still hasn't figured out a solution that will get her out of trouble and not wake her unusually enthusiastic partner. And efforts to squirm out of his grip are unsuccessful on a number of levels. One such attempt leaves her tunic badly askew, and she doesn't try again, afraid she'll lose it entirely or, alternately, choke herself. In the end, she gives up on escape, deciding that for at least one night she can weather the storm, so to speak, and take precautions in the future.

JUSTIN: * Shane's hands find the area of newly exposed skin and seem to take a liking to it, the smooth, warm surface much more comfortable than the tough weave of her shirt. His loving assault continues for a good deal of time, only getting worse the longer he carries on, until he finally slows again. It's difficult to tell how much time has passed -- ten minutes, an hour, a week -- by the time he stops, settling against her and nestling in to fall asleep again. He offers some more muffled, pleased-sounding words, and then drifts off as if nothing ever happened.

JENNA: * Jo is even more tired in the aftermath of the assault, though her weariness comes more from struggling and later resisting the urge to retaliate against her companion. Her body itself is still confused about how it should react, and try as she might, it's fairly clear she won't be getting back to sleep anytime soon. It is with great care she extricates herself from him, scooting as far over as she can before attempting to slink out of the tent.

JUSTIN: * The most Shane does in response to her departure is to roll back over to his side of the tent and gurgle a little in his sleep. He soon finds a comfortable position again and curls up, apparently intent on sleeping the rest of the night away in a much more innocent fashion.

JENNA: * Free from the tent, Jo stumbles to her feet and angles for the river, where she spends several minutes splashing water over her face. From there she flops backward and stares at the sky, and it's some time before she feels well enough to stumble back to camp and lie down on the cloak near the remains of the fire. Even so, she doesn't sleep well, giving up the effort when dawn begins to light the sky.

JUSTIN: * Shane doesn't move much for the rest of the night, and as usual, doesn't seem inclined to wake with the sunrise. In Jo's absence he's taken to making use of every bit of space the tent allows, flopping onto his back and stretching his limbs to their limits.