"i really dig you."

Sunflowers and Salamanders

Author's Note;
Hey guys! Welcome to Chapter 2; or Chapter 1, if you considered the previous chapter an epilogue. Just a note, I know Pendanski wears short sleeves in the cannon! This is more of an AU, is all. Have fun reading!
P.S;When you see the indicator, turn on the song linked for some extra shipping effect!

The pen slowly dragged along Pendanski's sunburnt bicep as he continued to draw the blooming sunflower sprouting from the sack of seeds. It looked so realistic, with the pen's black and gray shading and the petal's etched-in creases to make them look even more like a first-bloomed flower's.
A few seeds gently fell from the large center of the flower, falling into the bag softly. If you weren't in Camp Green Lake, you'd have never guessed who the pen drawing was dedicated to.
But if you did live there, you'd know.

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Marion Sevillo was busy near the edge of the actual camp grounds, making sure the water tank was filled and ready. A burlap sack of sunflower seeds sat at his side, leaning against the inside wall of the water truck. Since he was pretty strong, Marion could lift the water tank, which is why he drove it more often than Pendanski. After all, the other councelor was a complete twig.
No wonder he wore sweaters in the hottest parts of the day, during the summer.
For some reason, he found himself thinking about Pendanski- or, as D Tent had nicknamed him, Mom -a lot. Marion had tried telling himself he hated Pendanski, or at least, he was supposed to hate him. And yet, he found himself actually enjoying his time spent around the councelor. The conversations they had, the things they talked about, everything.
The thought kept coming back, not matter what he thought about. He couldn't get his damn thoughts off Pendanski.
Marion spent the rest of the time pondering it.

]<~○○○~>[

The Tent D boys were still digging their holes. As per usual, Zero was going the fastest, despite his small size. Stanley was having trouble with his hole; unsurprisingly. A sudden cloud of dust halted all movement, even Pendanski's tapping foot.
Pendanski had headed back out after finishing the sunflower seed drawing, wearing a pastel blue sweater and black shorts. He was sweating from under it, bad. But it was necessary to cover the drawings; he did not need to explain the topic of depression to these boys.
The councelor's head perked up as the cloud of dust settled. All the Tent D boys grabbed their canteens off the ground, rushing up to the truck in their usual order. Pendanski found the tiniest hint of pink brushing his cheeks as he remembered Marion was running the truck. He stepped past a few holes, standing a few feet away from Stanley, who was at the back of the line.
The line filed away quickly, as usual. He noticed Stanley standing in front of Mr. Sir after he filled his canteen, taking a long sip. He then outstretched his canteen toward the taller man, shaking it. Pendanski realized the boy was trying to get more water. And so, the shorter councelor tried to do the best he could to ward him off.
"H-Hey!"
He squeaked out, making Stanley flinch and look at him.
"This ain't no G-Girl Scouts camp! Go back t-to diggin' your ho-hole!"
The shorter man stammered, stepping forward a little. He was eye level with Stanley. A sudden call from one of the boys rang out.
"Hey Caveman! C'mere!"
Pendanski recognized the voice as Magnet's. Stanley ran over to him, holding his half empty canteen. Marion looked down at him as he approached, the man blushing and glancing downward.
"Uh.. sorry."
He mumbled, shuffling his feet.
Marion just smiled, looking down at the ador-
Absolutely average.
councelor in front of him.
"Don't sweat it, Pen."
He chuckled out.
"No reason to apologize. You got the kid to bug off, I'm proud."
Pendanski felt his face flush a bit more pink as his pretty much idol complimented him. He giggled, brushing off a bit of dust from his cheek.
"Thank you-!"
He chirped, eyes sparkling just a tiny bit. For some reason, Marion felt his face flush, too. The man opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a loud shriek.
Out of the hole all the Tent D boys had been crowded around crawled some kind of lizard..
Oh crap.
Pendanski instantly realized they were yellow spotted lizards, their white tongues flicking between their black teeth. All the boys ran, stumbling away from the hole. There was at least seven of them.
Marion flinched, noticing how the younger man beside him was shaky and tense. He stepped out of the water truck, grabbing his shotgun and intertwining his hand with Pendanski's. Even through his fear, the councelor's face heated up again.
The other man aimed the gun, then shot at one of the lizards, a loud bang ringing out. The rest of the lizards must have taken the hint, because they scrambled back to the shade.
The two hadn't seen the spots.
They were safe.

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Marion had agreed to let Pendanski stay in his office for the night, and was now sitting at the side of his bed, waiting for the other councelor to finish getting dressed. After a few minutes, he finally walked out. He had a long sleeve, pastel blue pajama shirt on with matching pants. The shirt sleeves hung past his hands and was obviously too big on him, but Mr. Sir really didn't seem to care.
Pendanski blushed, remembering the two would be sleeping in the same bed. He tried not to seem like he was internally freaking out. He sat on the edge of the bed, next to Marion, staring out the window across from the bed. Moonlight beamed out from it like the small ray of a spotlight.
]~Play linked song here!~[
"Hey.. Marion?"
Mr. Sir flinched as his real name was spoken. He didn't get called by it very frequently at all, but considering only Pendanski and The Warden knew it, that was no surprise.
"Yeah, Pen?"
He mumbled in response to the councelor, who was glancing at the floor, face flushed.
"I.. uh.. thanks for helping me."
He squeaked, blushing even more. Marion couldn't help a tiny chuckle.
He was so adora- no.
"No problem, sunflo-"
He cut himself off, realizing what he had just said. His eyes widened, his cheeks flushing a light pink as his eyes darted down to Pendanski. The other councelor smiled.
"..sunflower? Were you gonna call me sunflower?"
He asked, staring up at Mr. Sir with wide eyes. The taller man nodded a little, and Pendanski suddenly hugged him. He pulled the other close, smiling even more. Mr. Sir blushed even more, hugging the shorter man back.
"I kinda like that nickname."
"Do.. you want me to keep calling you that?"
Pendanski thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah."
"Alright, sunflower."