"NO NO NO DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

"WAIT- STOP RUNNING IN THE HALLS!"

"DON'T STEAL EACH OTHERS' THINGS!"

A small crash could be heard as glass broke on the wooden floor as Hermits were rushing around the house, causing chaos for fun or actually trying to get themselves organized.

"Wait- NO STOP!" Xisumavoid desperately yelled as Tango ran away with a hammer to do who knows what.

Joe Hills was next to him, cleaning up the glass that someone had mistakenly knocked over in the mess.

"Thanks Joe, this was much more chaotic than I thought it would be." Xisuma said, dropping his shoulders and slumping over a bit in defeat.

"Well what did you expect? Twenty-something people in one house trying to get ready for a trip at the last minute?"

"Yeah, I should have thought this through better, I'm a derp." Xisuma sighed.

Joe just patted his shoulder as he walked past to dump the sweeper with glass in it to the trash can in the other room.

This had all started when X had invited the entire group over to his house to meet the bus, like a derp. They were all going on a school camping trip for a few days and X was the lucky person who got to be in charge of everything since he was class president. He figured meeting at his house would be easier than the school because no one would get confused with which bus it was, and no extra people would get on the bus, and it would all around be more organized..... right?

He was wrong.

Very wrong.

And as fighting was heard near the basement he told no one but Etho to enter, and someone had started up the TV even though the bus would be here any minute, X knew this camping trip was going to be well over his head.

"Ah Tango! You got the hammer!" Etho smiled through his mask.

"Yeah, what did you need it for exactly? I don't want to purposely break any of X's stuff if that's what you're planning."

"Oh no nothing like that." Etho started. He moved to the side to show a table with a water bottle and a tray of ice cubes. Tango still looked confused. "The ice cubes don't fit through the top of my water bottle so I need to break them so they do. From experience, hammers and paper towels work the best." Etho explained.

"Well that seems like a hassle. Did X even say you could be down here?"

"Yeah I asked him for the keys so I didn't have to lockpick it." Etho said casually, twirling the keys around his finger. "Figured the tables down here would be less dentable or breakable than the ones upstairs."

Tango shrugged off the lockpicking statement and pulled his water bottle from his backpack, making his way to the table.

"Mind if I add some ice to mine too?"

Etho waved his hand over and showed him how to break it without scattering the ice in every direction by putting the ice cube in a folded paper towel.

Stress, Gem, and False were already ready and didn't have to do any last minute organizing like the idiots around them, but also didn't feel like sitting outside with the other prepared hermits. Instead, they sat on the couch and talked about the flora and fauna they were excited to see, before False grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on.

"Aren't we leaving in a few minutes?" Gemini asked as her eyes wandered towards the screen.

"Eh, we have some time." False waved it off as she landed on some random kid's cartoon. "Plus it's better than listening to-" She gestured to the loud hermits running and arguing about the house, "-.... this."

In the background of whatever show False had picked, distinct arguing between two Hermits could be heard loud and clear for anyone paying the slightest attention to them. Namely, Doc and Bdubs.

"Hey! Give me that back!" Bdubs yelled in the hallway, glaring at the tall person in front of him.

"What? Can't reach it?" Doc teased, holding up a flashlight that was turned on above his head loosely, tempting the idea of dropping it down to Bdubs's level.

"You're going to waste the battery!" He argued, reaching on his tiptoes to try to grab it while Doc snickered and easily held it up too high.

Keralis was sorting through his things a few feet away while Ren idly watched with amusement, his sunglasses perched on his head for the indoors.

"Bubbles, you can borrow mine." Keralis offered, pulling another flashlight from his bag to try to stop the arguing.

"But that one's mine!"

"What? Don't want to share yours with a friend, Bubbles?" Doc sneered. That earned a half laugh from Ren on the sidelines before he quickly covered his mouth with his hand as Bdubs shot him a death glare.

"Why that's-" Bdubs started, seething with hatred at the way Doc used his nickname like that. He stopped short only when Keralis gently held his wrist to stop him, and led him away from the fight before he could argue back.

"But-" Bdubs looked at Keralis, who stopped him short again.

"It's not worth it Bubbles, we'll get you a new one in the basement okay? Shashwammy is sure to have a spare lying around."

Bdubs just sighed and nodded as they weaved their way around the other rushing hermits to get to the door of the basement.

Surprisingly, the door was already open when Keralis tried at it and it wasn't long before they saw the people who had opened it.

Etho, Tango and Grian were all standing by a table with a hammer between them, breaking ice cubes between paper towels?

"Uhm? What are you guys doing down here?" Bdubs asked.

"Well we could ask you the same thing." Etho said with a playful tone, gesturing for Grian to stop with the hammer so they could all have a conversation. Grian frowned before lowering the hammer before he got another swing, and went to scooping up what he had into his water bottle instead.

"We came to get a flashlight." Keralis answered, making his way to the shelves.

"Well Etho here wanted ice in his water bottle but the cubes didn't fit in the lid, so I got him a hammer and here we are." Tango explained.

"What about you, Grian?" Bdubs asked while Keralis rummaged through boxes for a flashlight.

"Oh I just came because I heard a noise down here and decided to check it out, and this is more interesting than whatever Mumbo and Iskall are talking about so I stayed."

"Found one, Bubbles!" Keralis exclaimed, holding a flashlight triumphantly in the air.

"Oh great! Well, we'll leave you to do whatever this is-" Bdubs gestured to the table, "-and see you outside when you're done!"

There was a chorus of bye's as they walked up the stairs, and then the sound of a hammer followed closely after.

Keralis dragged a confused Bdubs's wrist again to an empty room.

"Huh?"

"Shashwammy never packs enough sweets." Keralis explained as pulled up a stool from the side. "Luckily I know where the marshmallows are." He smiled and stepped up, going on his tiptoes to reach the highest cabinet.

Bdubs saw the problem before it happened, and rushed forwards right before disaster-... sort of.

The step stood was tipping a little, and right as Keralis stretched and reached to the back of it, the stool tilted just a little too much. He grabbed onto a bag in the back as the stool fell over, him along with it. Bdubs was in the perfect spot and caught him just like a trust fall, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Bubbles!" Keralis smiled while looking up at Bdubs upside down, still hanging in his arms. Bdubs helped him back to his feet quickly, and Keralis took no time to shove a fluffy bag in his face as what was assumed to be a thank you.

"I got the marshmallows!" He said triumphantly.

Bdubs just chuckled.

"They better be the jumbo ones for that effort."

Keralis looked at the package and nodded.

"Hey we should draw a moustache on one of them and then we can have a Jumbo-Mumbo!" Bdubs exclaimed when he thought of it.

The two had a good quick laugh while Keralis stuffed them in his bag.

"Let's go outside now; I'm sure Shashwamy is overwhelmed enough with so many people here."

Bdubs nodded and started on his way to the living room while Keralis slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Keralis glanced to the backyard as the two made their way out of the kitchen, and surprisingly saw someone there. He shrugged it off, and let them be, since X was sure to do a headcount before the bus anyway so there wasn't a threat of them being left behind.

Scar had tense shoulders as he quickly walked to the backyard away from the crowds with his backpack tightly wrapped around his arms. He was actually surprised that no one else was out here, but figured it was because they were waiting in the front yard instead. It was really peaceful with buzzing bees in Xisuma's bee hives and blossoming flowers all around, and he let himself take in the beauty of it all as he relaxed his shoulders a bit.

His bag rustled and he opened it up enough so a fuzzy head could pop out for some fresh air as well.

"Hey Jellie!" He cooed quietly. "Did you have a nice nap?"

He scratched under her chin and she purred, which he took as an answer enough.

She jumped up a bit to bump her head on his head to urge him to continue to pet her, which he obliged to.

"Alright alright. Just keep still on the bus ok? We can't get caught-"

"Scar?"

Scar froze and turned his head slowly to meet the gaze of the voice.

"Hey Cub?...." Scar said with a cracked voice, obviously caught but still trying to hide his secret.

"Who were you talking to?" Cub asked suspiciously.

"Oh ya know, just the bees around here? And the flowers and stuff, they're really pretty!"

"Uh huh." Cub said, completely convinced. "Nothing in your backpack then?"

"Just the basic supplies!" Scar lied, painfully bad at it.

Getting nowhere, Cub sighed and moved closer so he could lower his voice, "You brought Jellie didn't you?"

"She looked so sad!" Scar defended himself, opening the beg a little so Cub could also see her kitty eyes. "Plus I have everything she needs, bed, food, toys, everything."

He sighed. "Does anyone else know?"

"No, please don't tell them! X will kill me. I can see the murder look in his eyes."

"Yeah I guess all of the others are getting on his nerves at the moment." Cub chuckled a little, taking a deep breath of the fresh outside air. "I won't tell, but you better share some of that extra chocolate I know you snuck from home."

"Fine." Scar grumbled. "Convex bros?"

"Convex bros." Cub smiled. The two fist bumped and stood up. Scar pet Jellie one last time before telling her to lay down and sleep and carefully zipping the backpack back up.

"Let's go outside in the front so no one gets suspicious." Cub said. Scar nodded and followed him through, dodging a ZombieCleo running through a hallway.

"Woah X! You have a recording studio!?" Cleo said as he opened a door to a room that was probably supposed to be locked.

"Wait, no- don't go in there!"

She ignored him completely and swiftly walked through, taking in the posters and instruments around her.

"I never knew you could play an instrument!"

"Well I only play guitar and bass, the drums are my dad's."

"That's so cool! You should start a band one day or something."

"Eh maybe.... We should focus on the camping trip now though. Are you all ready?" X asked, trying to get the topic back on track. Something that pretty much everyone had forgotten about.

"Yeah yeah. I was just waiting for Joe to get a cleaner for his glasses and make sure he packed the camera. I'm going to put the best photos we get in the school newspaper."

"Oh that sounds cool!"

"Hey, ever want me to put you and your future band in it?" She offered, while looking at some of the posters on the walls.

Xisuma chuckled, "We'll see." He waved it off, "Let's get everyone ready for this first." He said, leading her out of the door and actually locking it behind him. He sighed in relief a little when she didn't ask anymore questions and instead ran off to Joe with a wave. He held up the piece of fabric for his glasses and the camera to show he was ready and she gave him a high five.

"Two ready, a whole house of others to go..." X sighed.

He glanced at the TV and the three hermits watching it with backpacks next to them, then listened to the sound of hermits laughing and yelling in the basement, then looked around to see others running around for no reason, everyone talking loudly over one another, and hardly anyone actually being productive. X grumbled in frustration, before his phone buzzed with a notification.

It was the bus driver telling him he'd be there soon and to wait outside so he could see them. X looked at the chaos and made a quick and firm decision.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT! EVERYONE OUT NOW!" Xisuma yelled loud enough for the entire house to hear loud and clear. "The bus is going to be here in seconds and you've had plenty of time to get ready. If you need anything at this moment then you can come and see me but everyone else better be outside in 2 minutes or we're leaving without you!"

Everyone was quiet from the shock of the class president yelling, since he was usually such a calm and collected person, and a few hermits glanced at each other to make sure they were seeing the same thing.

"Well?..."

Without another word, everyone made their way to the door and hastily got outside with all of the others who had just been chatting while they waited. They slung backpacks over their shoulders and zipped up each others', making sure nothing fell out outside and joined groups to talk to while they waited for the bus.

Xisuma waited for everyone to leave before locking the door and scanning the faces of everyone, trying to mentally count them up. He gave up and figured he would just take roll before they got on the bus instead. Joe and Cleo waved him over to chat and he let himself relax a little as he walked over.

It was still a little overwhelming with so many people talking in one place and moving around, but at least it was manageable now.

Scar had a suspicious movement in his backpack, and quickly turned to face the others so no one could see behind him better.

Mumbo and Iskall were discussing the value of 12 bamboo while Grian opted to talk to Bdubs, Keralis, and PearlescentMoon instead because he had no idea what the heck they were saying. They seemed to be making some illegal trades involving the gooey treat in Keralis's bag, but no one was paying attention, luckily for them.

Impulse was chasing Zedaph around the yard because he stole something, and tackled Zed to the ground the second he got close enough to, while they both laughed in a heap on the ground.

Etho and Tango clicked their metal water bottles together in triumph and guarded Zed's and Impulse's backpacks.

Cub was helping Scar look less suspicious standing around alone, by talking to him and conveniently blocking his backpack from view.

Hypno, Jevin, and Wels were sitting in the grass waiting for the bus and talking, and xBCrafted came over too after double checking his supplies.

Most other people were just chatting or wandering around while they waited, but Ren and Doc decided to be a bit rougher as they set their stuff to the side. Ren had his sunglasses flipped back down now that they were outside, and tipped them downwards to peer at Doc, who had a sly grin on his face.

Ren tackled Doc from the back on the grass and pushed him forwards. Doc reached behind him, grabbed Ren, and flipped him onto the grass as well. A few people surrounded them and were chanting to fight while others avoided it like the plague so they wouldn't get thrown into the mix.

After a few seconds of goodhearted wrestling, False stepped in to separate them as most others were too afraid to.

Xisuma just sighed and ignored them, and was glad they were outside now, where the number of breakable objects was significantly fewer. Hopefully the bus ride would be calmer, since no one could move from their seats.

As if on cue, the bus rolled up the sidewalk right in front of the house, and the doors opened up to a smiling bus driver. TinFoilChef, everyone's favorite highschool-... staff? waiting in the driver's seat. Honestly no one really knew what his job was there, as he was seen anywhere at any time with no measurable schedule. Sometimes serving lunch or cleaning up after it, sometimes subbing for absent teachers, and sometimes walking out to the courtyard just to beat the freshmen in basketball when he felt like it, the man had an unknown job and an unknown schedule. It was still probably more than luck that landed him here, but no one was complaining as he was their favorite.

TFC smiled at everyone and waved to the group.

"Alright-" X mumbled to himself, "The food is already on the bus, correct?" He spoke up, directing it to Tin.

"More than enough, yup!" TFC said. "It's in the side compartments. You guys might want to put the big bag's in there too." He mentioned throwing the key to X who caught it with one hand.

"Ok," Xismua nodded.

"Doc, Beef, Ren!" X called out to the group, "Help me open these side compartments!"

The three walked over and lifted the heavy doors together and everyone stood back.

"Thanks. Ok, if you have a big bag or a tent then put it in here, but if you would rather keep your bag with you then line up by the bus so I can take roll!" He called out to the group so everyone could hear. Conversation had stopped and everyone was standing and ready now, letting the people with the big stuff move to the front of the crowds.

After everyone put their bags in and got in line, X took roll call as they lined up to get in the bus. Two people per seat was plenty of room for everyone and small bags and everyone was content with where they sat, which was good because it meant no one would try to switch seats while the bus was driving. X slumped down in the front-most seat next to Joe and let out a sigh. Of relief or exhaustion already, it was hard to tell, but he definitely hoped this would be a peaceful bus ride at the least. 

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(3216 words! not including anything under the line) Thanks so much for reading! I'm not giving up on the manhunt story I swear, this is just a nice breather to mix up what I'm writing a bit. I hope you are having a good day or night when and wherever you are! (but if it's night then do a Bdubs and Shreep!)