"I can't believe I agreed to this." Kevin moans and stares at the big backpack that Scotty has placed in front of him.

"This is the small one, I take the big one with the tent and all the cooking appliances." Scotty briskly announces and swings a large backpack up on his back. "Come on, Kevin, it'll be fun." He says and pats his husband on the back.

They start walking up the mountains, very slowly so Kevin doesn't, in his own words, "fall down and die". Scotty laughs at him and shares stories from his many camping trips as a child.

"Had I known you were not a city boy, I'm not sure I would've proposed." Kevin pants.

Scotty stops and waits for Kevin to catch up. He smiles at his sweaty husband and gives him an encouraging kiss.

"Why don't we stop here for some coffee and one of your mother's home baked cinnamon buns? We have about one hour left of walking until we reach the spot where we will set camp."

"Please tell me that the rest is either downhill or also trafficked by some kind of commute." Kevin says and sits down, carefully making sure he won't sit on something uncomfortable. An incident with a pine cone at the last stop is still very fresh in his memory.

"You will love the spot, it's so beautiful. It's worth the walk." Scotty assures him and picks up a thermos from his own backpack.

"It is beautiful here." Kevin states and looks around. "We've been walking all day and haven't met a soul."

"I know, that's the thing I love the most about hiking in these hills. Californians are too lazy to hike off track, so you get all the good spots for yourself." He says and sips the now lukewarm coffee. He leans over to Kevin and kisses him on the cheek. "I love you." He whispers in his ear. "I love that you wanted to come with me."

Kevin enjoys the attention around his ears, and remembers when he accepted. Pinned down on the couch under Scotty, after a long day at work, wanting nothing more than getting naked. He was not in position to deny Scotty anything at that point.

"I'm glad I wanted to." He says and kisses Scotty back.

Slightly delayed they are back on their feet heading across a hot forest. The afternoon is very hot, even for California.

"Maybe you should take off your shirt." Kevin teasingly suggest when Scotty complains.

"And get burned? I don't think so." Scotty says. "I'd rather leave that for tonight." He winks.

"Are you getting naked tonight? Are we skinny-dipping in this lake I've heard about?" Kevin asks, suddenly excited.

"Oh you know, a sleeping-bag is always the warmest when you're naked. That way you keep yourself warm with your own body heat. Everyone knows that." Scotty explains with a very innocent voice.

Kevin smirks. He had, of course, no idea about that, and he is determined to see his husband naked tonight, skinny-dipping or not. He has, further more, no intention of using his own body heat to stay warm the coming night either.

Slightly more than an hour later they arrive at the spot Scotty has picked out for them. Kevin has to agree, this is beautiful. The mountains around them, the small calm lake and the big clearing where they apparently will put up the tent.

They, of course, meaning Scotty, who doesn't waste any time. He picks up the tent from his backpack and walks around in the clearing. He stomps a little and then puts the tent on the ground.

"Come here!" He gives Kevin a rope to hold, and then he climbs around doing the rest himself. Only minutes later the tent is up. "Good job, sweetie." He says and kisses Kevin's neck.

"I'm hungry." Kevin replies. "Are we eating now?" He sits down on the beach and watches as Scotty picks up a lot of things from his backpack, putting them around him. He takes out a small portable cooking device and Kevin watches with big eyes.

"Can you fetch some twigs and stuff so that we can make a camp fire?" Scotty asks.

"We're gonna have an open fire?" Kevin sounds truly frightened.

"We're on a beach. Put some big rocks in a ring, dig a hole in it, put a lot of big firewood in the bottom and some smaller twigs on top. They all have to be dry. Can you handle that?" Scotty asks after giving the instructions.

Kevin nods and gets up. "I don't know who you are, but I want to you give me back my husband." He mutters and zero in on some big rocks.

****

It's with big bitterness Kevin realizes that Scotty's cooking is just as amazing here and that he himself knows absolutely nothing about wildlife. After eating and doing the dishes they both lay down on the beach, enjoying the last hour of daylight.

"So, when are we skinny-dipping?" Kevin tries again. He can feel Scotty's arm around him and Scotty's stomach against his back, bouncing when Scotty laughs.

"You're not going to give up on that thought, are you?" He asks.

"No." Kevin says. He turns his head around to get face to face with Scotty, and they share a kiss together. The rest of Kevin spins around and he wraps his arms around Scotty, rolling him over to get on top. Hands travel under the sweaters and it's not just the cool evening weather that sends shills down their spines.

"Let's go." Kevin says, parting their lips. He quickly gets up, rips of his clothes and runs out into the water. Scotty is left on the beach, staring as Kevin, stark naked, throwing himself in the water, urging him to follow. Scotty smiles, gets naked, and follows.

Kevin teasingly avoids Scotty, diving under the water when he comes close. Scotty laughs and follows him, after a while managing to reel him in.

"You're like a slippery eel." Scotty says and kisses him, continuing the adventure from the beach.

"And with my luck and your wildlife skills, you'll probably smoke me and have me for breakfast."

****

When up from the water Kevin reveals that he brought a bottle of wine, and wrapped in a big towel they watched the fire extinguish and enjoy the company. Random animals start making noises after the night has fallen, and Scotty listens carefully and tells Kevin which they are.

When dry they enter the tent, spreading their sleeping bags. Kevin watches Scotty handling them, looking rather disappointed.

"There's not room in there for both of us." He says and tugs at the nylon. Scotty only smiles at him as the unzips and re-zips, turning the bags into one big.

"Wow." Kevin looks at it and sees Scotty's proud smile. "So your survival skills came in handy after all." He says and climbs in. Scotty joins him and zips the bag up. "So this is what it feels like being a burrito." He says and wraps his arms around Scotty.

"Oh, you are so romantic." Scotty tells him with a kiss.

"I know, it's one of my big obstacles to building this very macho and cool image of myself." Kevin explains.

"Really?" Scotty asks. "I think you're incredibly macho."

"Yeah?"

"Sure. Compared to me, and your brothers and… your sisters… you're very macho." Scotty teases. Kevin tries to hit him, but is pinned in the tight bag.

"Why do you have to ruin it?" He asks.

"You know you don't need an image with me." Scotty comforts. "I love you even though you have no idea how to make a fire, use a compass or smoke an eel." He kisses Kevin on the lips and smiles. "You are just fine being an eel."