Cameron is lounging on the couch. Or at least appears to be. It's almost like he's concentrating on something, staring fixedly at the roof.

The door opens, and Bernie passes through, kicking it relatively softly closed behind her as she enters, grumbling a little. The bit of annoyance she appears to be nursing disappears as she spots Cameron, though, and she interrupts his reverie with a much more cheerful, "Hey!"

Cameron turns his face to look at her, the speculative face quickly turning cheerful. Eyebrows raise a little, and one corner of his mouth, too, in a lopsided smile. "Hey, yourself. What brings you in here, darkening my door with curses?"

Bernie grins. "Your door, huh? Movin' on up in th' world, I guess," she teases, heading toward the couch and slipping her backpack off as she plops down on it. "Went over t' see 'f Sophia was in, t' chat at her, only she's not. Annoyin', it bein' a hella long walk an' all. So I figured I'll hang here a while an' try 'gain..." She seems a bit more tightly coiled than usual, as if there's an abundance of excess energy there.

Cameron tilts his head, and gives her a curious look. "Got someone to kill, then? Cubs to beat?" His grin widens, as he realizes that's entirely possible.

Bernie flashes an uncharacteristically evil grin at the Fianna, "...you volunteerin'?" A beat, and she shakes her head, "Nahhh. Jus' sayin' hi, talkin' t' her 'bout a couple things Kaz mentioned. Nothin' big." She stretches, and pulls her knees up to her chest a moment, then shifts and curls them onto the cushion beside her. "'sup? Y'looked all lost in thought when I got in."

Cameron shrugs lightly, and his facial expressions dim slightly into neutrality. "Neh. Practicing sleeping with my eyes open. Or whatever." he says with a smile. "Y'know. Just thinking about stuff. Late afternoon nap."

Bernie glances sidelong at Cameron. "...mmmhmm," she replies, sounding unconvinced. "Fine, then, don' tell me. So y'got t'steal Summer 'way last night? You guys were gone when I got back in here."

Cameron's smile turns into an idiotic lop-sided grin. "Yeah." he virtually sighs. "She's so great, she's like..." he pauses, and his mouth twists. "Uh-uh. Not doin' that stuff. Dreamy-eyed pansy shit." he grins widely, but there's colour coming to his cheeks. "We went for a walk, saw the stars and said goodnight. Thassit."

Bernie smiles rather fondly and leans back into the corner of the cushions. "Oh, go 'head," she says, "s' cute." She adjusts the seating of her glasses, and adds, "...sounds good t' me, anyhow. I'm glad it's workin' out an' all, y'know?"

Cameron nods, and leans back in the couch, bringing his arms up behind his head. "Yeah, well." he face falls a little. A hint of guilt creeping in. "I wish everyone could be so happy." he says quietly. Avoiding her eye for a moment.

"Happiness is good," Bernie remarks, head tilting a tad as she notices the changes, "I'm in favour of it, m'self. 's wrong?"

Cameron shrugs dismissively. "Just some people aren't so lucky. Sometimes don't know what to do to help 'em out." he says with a small smile, which fades a little, quirking ruefully. "Or do /entirely/ the wrong thing, or whatever." A sudden, long-suffering look comes to his face. But it's oddly happy at the same time. "I don't know. I've got a /long/ way to go before I'm Wise." he chuckles self-deprecatively.

Bernie considers that. "Well. 'f it's any consolation, e.e.cummings once wrote, 'kisses are a better fate / than wisdom'." She grins, fleetingly, and then thinks for another few moments before asking, "...y'got anyone in particular in mind?"

Cameron shrugs. "Well. I dunno. There's 'lish." He clears his throat, and frowns a little. "She tell you? She's been having bad dreams. Wakin' up Crinos. Two nights in a row, now. S'why she hasn't been in such a good mood."

Bernie blinks, and shakes her head, looking concerned. "No. She didn' say. Only, I haven't really seen her alone, in, like, a while. So..." Her brow furrows a bit, and she adds, a bit absently, "...I di'n' even know we could do that, change in our sleep, Maybe it's 'cause it was her moon, 'least partly.."

Cameron shrugs. "Wouldn't surprise me if it was after waking up. When you can still smell the blood, and see 'em lyin' there, even though they're not." Mouth twisting uncomfortably, his eyes flick quickly to Bernie the back to the other end of the couch. "And such." he adds, lamely.

Bernie blinks once, and unfocuses for a second before nodding. "Could be," she replies, and sighs a tad. "Yeah. Mrmph. Maybe I oughta see 'f I c'n see what's up, when I see her."

Cameron frowns. "Yeah, well. Maybe I oughta talk to her first. See... we had this 'heart to heart' a few nights ago... 'cept it wasn't really, and we didn't finish ... talkin'. And yeah. She was just really tired when I walked her home, but I should probably resolve shit there." He shrugs again. "But yeah. If you reckon you can fix her up... It'd be good."

Bernie nods a little again, and sighs, sinking back into the cushions some. "....yeah... well, guess we'll see what happens, yeah?" She crosses her arms ont he back of the sofa, resting her chin on them. "...so. What else's up?"

Cameron strrrretches and his eyebrows give Bernie an amused little jump. "Enjoying life a lot more, now that I can wander." He chuckles. "It's strange. I thought I'd be spending all my time in the Caern, in the umbra, but I find myself just wandering back here after I've slept, or finished playing. Talking to Bandit and shit. Or trying to." He chuckles again.

"Bandit?" Bernie asks, head tilting again. "An' it's just better bein' anywhere when y'know you're =choosin'= t' be there, y'know?"

Cameron's grin widens, and he nods. "Freeeedom." he says happily. "I hang out here sometimes, just hoping Summer'll - or any of you guys, too, y'know - but yeah, just hoping they'll come by once in a while. Catch up on what's going on in the city." The Fianna cub only seems to realise that he was asked another question, just after trailing off. "Oh! Bandit! He's like... a racoon! He? She.. whatever. I think he's a he. We can't talk, see. So we just play. He's got a couple nifty little tricks and stuff, but I need like, Duncan to translate, most times." He shrugs. "So it's like... he's 400 years old or something." The boy sounds quite taken with the spirit.

Bernie grins, and bounces slightly, excited as well. "Cool!" she exclaims. "First time Kaz took me patrollin' in th' Umbra, when we fought the oozy Wyrmy jello thing, first we helped these two raccoon spirits get th' Weaver webs off their building... an' th' pack, onea th' Totems we're thinkin' of most is Raccoon. Maybe I c'n meet him sometime?"

Cameron's grin widens and he sits up a little straighter. "That would be /very/ cool." he says with amusement. "We were gonna meet on pretty close to the full. Which is I don't know when, but I'll be there most nights." He shakes his head a little. "You're going to love him. He's the coolest little guy."

"'s almost full now," Bernie replies, a hand going up to run through her curls. "I always start gettin' all antsy, y'know? But yeah! I'll hafta make sure t' be by, an' all. Where, 'zactly?"

There's a crooked smile on his face as the Fianna raises one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Right by the waterfall. There's a pile of rocks and some dead vegetation. Right there. Can't miss it. Probably becuase he's also a cranky little bastard if you wake him up, and he'll come tugging on your pants with a vengeance." Cameron snickers to himself.

Bernie nods, mentally mapping the area, and grins back. "Cool beans. I'll hafta, like, meetcha here or there or somethin', then." She pauses, thinking. "'zere anythin' you c'n bring spirits? I mean, like food, or whatever. Seem t' recall Shadow Claws likes slim jims, for one, so I guess y'can..."

Cameron shrugs apologetically. "Sorry. I'm a pretty poor excuse for a crescent, but I reckon you'd need to dedicated it or something. He's pretty patient with me, though, so... I dunno. Maybe." He shrugs again, but this time, he's got a slightly thoughtful look.

Bernie smiles. "You'll prolly learn it all inna flash when people get 'round t' teachin' ya it an' all, yeah? An' Kaz said she'll teach me t' dedicate things, so hey, maybe I'll be able t' do that. Dunno how long it takes t' learn or anythin'."

Cameron inclines his head, and smiles faintly. "'course. I hope Sepdet'll find the time, like she was promising before. But Alicia fucked things up." He sighs lightly. "Still. Friends come first. That's been my creed for most of my life, why change it?"

Bernie's brow furrows, at that. "How'd 'lish fuck things up?" she asks, "I mean, I know she an' Sepdet weren't bein' best of friends, but how's that mess things up for you?"

Cameron sighs. "Ah, it's nothing. Really. Sepdet was in the middle of inviting the two of us to go out and learn some stuff, do a bit of Umbral gear, but Alicia just blew up suddenly, pissed off at something or other. I dunno. Sepdet's cool. She'll be 'round again." Cam gives his new elder a reassuring look, and a faint smile.

"Hell yeah, Sepdet's cool," Bernie replies, with a wicked grin. "Anyone who sets Big'n'Scary's ass alight on his moon an' gets away with it is def'nitely cool in my book." She shakes her head, and giggles at the memory.

Cameron scratches his head a little. "You mean, the Boss? I mean, Steven?" he corrects himself.

"Yup," the ragabash replies, still grinning. "T' his credit, he took it relatively well... consid'rin'. But oh, god, I think I burst somethin' not laughin'." She pauses, and arches a brow, "...an' don' tell him I said anythin'; I'm still not lookin' t' get defenestrated."

Cameron chuckles lightly at the thought. "Nah, I reckon he'd take it okay. He's actually pretty cool, sometimes, Steven." He grins, but it quickly becomes a little wry. "If bloody juvenile." he adds.

Bernie half-smiles. "He might take it okay from =you=," she replies, without any particular rancor, "but =I'm= a scummy Gnawer." Pause, and fleetingly, something suspiciously close to a smirk, "..an' when we met he gave me orders t' stay 'way from him an' his an' not taint th' way th' Fianna cub talk an' act." It sounds as if she's quoting that, speech patterns aside. "...so I told him I would endeavour to prevent my low-class idiolect from interfering with that of the Fianna cubs," she adds, sounding like someone completely different for a moment. The weird bit being that it sounds just as entirely natural as the way she usually speaks. The grin returns, and she shrugs. Then laughs, "'course, seein' as I'd only met Matt yet, th' idea of bein' a bad influence on how he talked was pretty amusin'." She stretches, and looks intrigued, "...so how's he bloody juvenile?"

Cameron listens with a sardonic look on his face. "Sounds like him. He's just protective, you know?" The Fianna gives a mischievous grin. "And not without reason. Look at Matt. Lost cause already." The boy's eyes sparkle with the jibe.

"Oh, yeah?" Bernie asks, arching a brow, but grinning, "How so, hmm?"

Cameron pulls his head back in mock-indignance that she even has to ask. "Oh, come /on/. He practically eats, talks, walks, breathes, /sleeps/ Scummy Gnawer. You seen that thing he putters around on? Salvaged, I'm sure. As for his fashion sense... ach. He even carries one around on one arm!" As he speaks, the Aussie's finding it difficult to continue without cracking up. As he finishes, he finally does so, cackling inanely to himself, looking down to hide the amusement (or tears) in his eyes. Shoulders shaking with mirth. "Feel a bit like Steven now." he giggles, and then laughs harder for it.

Bernie giggles, and punches Cameron in the upper arm -- not too hard, but not quite glancing, either. "...I was 'bout t' say I like how he dresses, but 'ccurs t' me that's not gonna help th' case any, huh? An' th' Lambretta's way cool, y'philistine. Useta be his Dad's, y'know? An' 'f you say that t' him I think he might kick yer teef in." She grins, saying that bit in very close to his accent. "I mean, yeah, I bet we woulda loved t' adopt him, but he's def'nitely Fianna. Just happens t' be a particularly cool one." She sticks her tongue out teasingly at the cub. "...an' sadly, I can't claim any credit for that."

Cameron laughs harder when she hits him, and is forced to wipe his eyes as she pokes her tongue out at him. "Oh... they say love is blind." he giggles happily to himself, wiping his eyes. A moment passes when he realises what he's just said, and nearly pokes his eye out. He looks up quickly at Bernie with his good-eye, after a quick profanity, then adds hastily, "That is to say... I mean, what I really... eep."

Bernie actually didn't seem to take the original comment as anything in particular, but the backpedaling makes her blush slightly and give him an almost wary look. "What =do= you mean, then?" she asks.

Cameron clears his throat, watching his escape slide away. He backpedals in a different direction to try catch it, clearing his throat and saying, "Well, just that, actually. A cliche and nothing more." The tone of his voice is light, and he shrugs. But one eye is still a little red from being poked, and he rubs at it as he carries on to change the topic. "Anyway to answer your question... Steven being juvenile, well. I suppose if you were to look at it from the /outside/ it'd be a funny story-"

Bernie eyes Cameron a second more, but dismisses it; before she does, there's a slight look of confusion, as if she's suddenly wondering why she cares in the first place. She shrugs, and it's gone. "...Good. I'm outside, so tell!" she replies, changing her position slightly and sinking into the cushions a bit farther.

Cameron watches her a little worriedly for a brief moment, then just shrugs, and lets his eyes roll up into his head. For him to try and remember. It's pretty obvious as he puts it together, because blushes even at the memory. "Yeah. Juvenile bastard." he mutters, without any ill feeling. Looking over to Bernie he shrugs and gives a small smile. "See... I've finished walking Alicia back from the compound, hopefully leaving her in a better state than the teary mess she /was/ in, right, and I'm thinking, 'Wonder if the Boss is still in the farmhouse', because me and 'lish bumped into him on the way." The boy takes the time to note, as an aside, "And it must've looked bad from Steve's point of view, because 'lish was resting on my shoulder, leaning against me like Summer does-" Cue happy, wistful look. "-and holding my hand, and he comes over to investigate, and see's she's an absolute wreck with red eyes and unbrushed hair, etc, and I'm not particularly concerned, so he changes his mind pretty quick." The boy taps his nose. "I think he reckons I'll always look guilty if I've done something wrong. Think I'll keep doing that. Wouldn't want to disappoint him by doing something wrong and not looking guilty about it, eh?"

Bernie giggles a little at that, and nods, solemnly. "Wise," she agrees.

Cameron nods graciously, and continues. "So anyway. Here's me walking back a little down because of 'lish and all, and then I bump into you and Kaz. Anyhow, I see you guys are obviously busy with the new girl, and I don't want to interrupt, so I dash into the kitchen to keep myself out of the way." He actually looks sincere, as if that's what he remembers happening.

Bernie smirks a little, remembering it slightly differently. "Ten seconds," she replies, mildly, and then grins teasingly. "Go on."

Cameron blinks confusedly at her mention of ten seconds, but there's a brief flicker of an eyelid. Maybe a wink, maybe blinking out of sync. And he continues with a smile. "And so I come into the kitchen, and it's a regular party! And Summer's there! She ran out of water in her water bottle, see. She's thinking she's going to get a second one..." He looks in danger of plunging into a ramble about the kin girl, a small idiotic grin clinging to his face.

"Mmmhmm?" Bernie prompts, looking a bit amused and seemingly willing to listen to the ramble if it emerges.

Cameron nods vaguely with that small smile. "Mmhmm. She rides around a lot for fun, but you know, I think she was just looking for an excuse to find me." The thought gives him immense satisfaction, evidently, but he blinks and realizes he's got an audience. A quick, small blush and he clears his throat. "Anyway." he says, getting on with it. "So I come in, and there's a whole heap of people there... the new kid: Sophie, 'The Lady Jefferson'..." Brittany gets her title and a fond smile in rememberance. "...and the Boss. And so naturally, Summer spots me immediately and likewise, and we're just saying hello and huggin' and stuff-" He skips over that quickly, to avoid further cheek reddening. "-when Steven does this most /immature/ and fucking /embarassing/ thing! Right in front of the others!" Too late for avoiding blush, now.

Bernie considers for just a fraction of a second before deciding that telling him will make him happy and is unlikely to have any ill effect, barring possibly ego inflation: "I think so too. She asked for ya when she showed up, an' all. An' she lights up for ya an' stuff..." The girl shrugs a little, and asks rather eagerly, "...so what'd Steven do?"

Cameron gets the stupid grin in response to her ego pumping, and his eyes flash. "Knew it!" The blush was banished for a moment, but returns quickly at the mention of Steven. "Ugh! Bastard! I'm holding Summer there, and I look up over her shoulder, and he's doing /THIS/." Cameron makes the appropriate gesture: Both hands raised, one with thumb and forefinger forming a closed loop. The other hand plunging the forefinger in through the loop and back out again, repeatedly. The look on Cameron's face is a near mirror of his look at the actual time. Indignance and supreme embarassment.

Bernie flinches and actually buries her face in her hands; from what little can still be seen of her face, she seems to be blushing quite pinkly. "Oh, no!" she groans, horrified. She can't help but giggle after a few moments, though, and peeks, lowering her hands just below her eyes, "..what happened?"

Cameron stops the motion abruptly. And blushes redder. "Well, I just /stared/ at him, trying to keep my jaw from hitting her shoulder.. which wouldn'tve been too... I mean, anyway, I'm just staring at him, and Lady Jefferson is too! And poor little Sophia's jaw's hit the table already, and she's shrinking into her seat, and he's just standing there /still doing it/ until Lady Jefferson throws something at him, I think." The boy shakes his head in amazement. "Bastard just started laughing so hard at me and Brittany, he was /crying/." Looking indignant, he adds, "And poor Summer's standing there just turning around and looking around to see what everyone's so amazed at. Thank GOD she didn't see!"

Bernie keeps giggling, looking mortified. "Oh, my god! ... I think maybe I'm glad I was outside..." She shudders, shaking her head, still blushing.

Cameron nods. "There was some joking and stuff after that, but that big bastard just wouldn't stop laughing. Then he made some more jokes, Summer made a /really/ good one back at him-" Yay, is the expression on his face. Private moment of pride. "-and then he gave the Lady Jefferson a squeeze on the butt and left!" Cameron shakes his head slowly. "Juvenile, see? Utterly immature..."

Bernie clucks her tongue disapprovingly, and giggles some more. "Def'nitely," she replies. "You'd think our elder's'd set a better 'zample for us." Her eyes sparkle a bit mischievously with that comment.

Cameron looks up from his own personal moment of embarassed annoyance - at the memory, and what /could/ have gone wrong - and waggles a finger at her. "Tsk. You're talking like a cub, now." he says with a slowly growing grin.

"Hey," Bernie points out, unruffled, "He's a Fostern, he's still my elder. Not t' mention he's hella older 'n I am so it's a twofer!" She grins back.

Cameron's mouth twists slightly. "Yeahhh, I dunno. If Steven's the perfect example of a Fostern, I don't think I'll ever make it that far." he says with a small smile. "But I really don't feel like kow-towing to him every minute of my life after I've proven I /can/ actually use my brain, and my other wonderful qualities. Don't throw around respect for free, or something." he says with a grin. "Even if it means you spend a few months locked up in a farmhouse till' they trust you again."

Bernie half-smiles. "I dunno he's th' perfect example either, but that's got nothin' t' do with whether he's my elder or not. I di'n' say he was my =hero=." She smirks, shaking her head a little. "But, y'know. People got th' rank, they get th' perks. 's not right t' pretend they don't." A pause. "Not t' mention he could prolly kick my ass inta next week without breakin' a sweat." She grins, shrugging again. "Which isn't t' say I'm inta th' whole kowtowin' idea either, as such."

Cameron shrugs, then taps his nose again. "I call him Boss, and he's fine with that. I don't really know what 'Rhya' means exactly, save that that's what you call your elders if you're being formal. And I /hate/ formal. Boss suits us both fine. Says in no uncertain terms that he's in charge, but it's also kind of a term of endearment." Cam rests back in the couch a little. "Works. My next project will be earning the right to call Sepdet-Rhya, 'Sepdet'. Or even 'Sep'."

Bernie thinks about it a moment. "To his face, I call 'im Steven, I think. If anythin'. He hasn't kicked me yet. We're not real formal, over my sidea th' fam'ly," she remarks, the grin flashing back into place.

Cameron nods quietly. "Yeah, well. I gotta be me." he says with a grin. "Trying to make my world fit around me and not vice-a-versa." He eases back on the couch slightly.

"Gen'rally, I go for a compromise," Bernie replies, and leans over to give the cub a hug. "I'm gonna go check 'gain, see if Sophia's 'round yet. Promised I'd stop by an' bug her, so. Think I might practise beatin' up th' bag in th' barn if she's still not 'round, so feel free t' come out an' join me or something, y'get bored later, yeah?" She stands, stretching again, and scoops her back up and onto her shoulder.

Cameron nods, and gives her a lazy half-wave. "Will do, Berns. Just gonna contemplate for a bit longer, eh?" He smiles as the Raggie makes her way out again.

Bernie waves back, as she opens the door. "Jus' don't wear out your navel, yeah?" she replies, grinning. "Later!" And then, she's gone.