This was written for my Season 2 Countdown Challenge, the prompt was "Camping (in a tent)". Silly, and then just very fluffy at the end. I don't know, I was feeling like some cute Rizzles cuddling.

"Jane, I don't believe that this is very good for our spinal alignments. I've never slept on the ground before, Jane. Jane, I- Jane, are you listening to me?" Maura pouted and stood with a hand on her hip. She was practically whining, and Jane couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yes, Maura, I'm listening to you. Sleeping in a tent for one day isn't gonna kill you, okay? We used to do this every summer when we were kids." Jane shook her head as she continued putting the tent together. Maura had been complaining about everything and they had only been here for an hour.

"Look, you said that we should do things outside of work. We do stuff that you want to do all the time, and I thought it'd be nice for us to do something out of town for once." Jane looked up, smiling at the finished tent.

"I suppose you're right…it's just…I'm not very comfortable sleeping in foreign places." Maura huffed, staring at the small tent and sighing.

"It'll be fine, Maura, I promise. You'll have fun. Come on, let's make some s'mores." Jane began tearing into a bag of marshmallows.

"What-s'mores? What on earth is a s'more?" Maura watched in horror as Jane stabbed a marshmallow with a stick.

"Oh no, Jane. No. I will not eat anything after you've- Jane, do you know what that stick could have come into contact with?"

Jane simply chuckled and sat down in front of the fire that Maura had help her make. The ME had never been camping before, but apparently she could build a kick-ass fire.

"I brought some skewers if you don't want to use a stick, Maur. Calm down, okay? This is supposed to be fun." Jane sandwiched the marshmallow between some graham crackers and a piece of chocolate and took a monstrous bite.

"Agh, hot!" The brunette winced and swallowed the hot mess, leaving a trail of chocolate and marshmallow on her chin.

"Oh, Jane…" Maura couldn't suppress her smile. Jane was really too adorable sometimes.

"Fine, I will have one of your little marshmallow sandwiches." Maura sat beside Jane in the dirt- her jeans were already a mess, it was too late to keep them clean now, anyhow.

Night fell and Jane built a comfortable cocoon of blankets and open sleeping bags on the floor of the tent.

Maura crawled in cautiously and burrowed under the covers, settling in before Jane followed, zipping up their small house for the night.

"You think you'll be okay sleeping here, then? Is it cozy enough?" Jane smiled at her friend, getting comfortable in the nest of blankets.

"I believe so. There are enough blankets to serve as decent cushioning." Maura stared at the top of the tent, jumping suddenly when she heard a branch cracking nearby.

"What's wrong, Maur? You're not afraid of bears, are you?" Jane grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Of course not, the odds of a bear attack are actually incredibly low in this area." Maura stated matter-of-factly, shimmying lower into the blankets and settling her head on the expensive pillow that she insisted on purchasing just for the trip.

"Alright, if you say so, Maura." Jane smiled, preparing to sleep, when a sudden rustling in the bushes startled the smaller woman next to her.

"Jane, did you hear that?" Maura tensed, scooting closer to the detective and tugging her shoulder gently.

"Perhaps I do have a slight irrational fear of bears, despite knowing that it's not likely for…Jane?" Maura whispered, and Jane could almost hear the question at it worked its way through Maura's head.

Jane turned to face Maura, smiling and laying a hand gently on her cheek.

"Hey, don't worry. It's okay to be scared on your first camping trip. The noises scared the crap out of Frankie on our first family campout. Don't ever tell him I told you that, though, he'll kill me." Jane reassured the ME, and Maura nodded, still slightly frightened.

"Here, turn around…" Jane nudged Maura gently, and the smaller woman rolled over, her back to Jane.

Jane wrapped an arm around the ME, pulling her and wrapping herself around her.

"If anything comes after us, it'll have to go through me first, okay? I'm pretty sure I could fight off a bear if I wanted to." Jane laughed, a laugh that vibrated through Maura, making her smile and move closer to Jane. She felt safe and warm in Jane's arms; perhaps she could sleep on the ground out in the woods, if it meant falling asleep like this.

"I'm not sure how you would fare against a bear, Jane, but I'd like to think that you would protect us if you had to. Thank you, Jane, for everything." The detective felt that there was more to her softly whispered thanks than just s'mores and a fun new experience, if Maura's voice was any indication.

"Of course, Maura, you're welcome…you know that I love spending time with you, even if it does mean that I have to lug around a ton of your stuff and have you talk my ear off." Maura could feel her smile against her hair, and she closed her eyes, amazed with how much she loved the feeling.

"We should do this more often…" Maura heard herself say the words, and she wasn't sure if she was referring to the camping or the snuggling, but Jane didn't question her, she merely nodded and pulled the smaller woman closer.

"Goodnight, Maura." Jane placed a gentle kiss to the caramel blonde's temple and sighed.

"Goodnight, Jane."

The crickets chirping, animals stirring, and soft breaths lulled them to sleep.