Submission (#3919) Approved

“Ow. Ow. Ow.”
Sienna sighed, as she turned to face Thistle. “Can you stop saying ‘ow’ every five seconds? I get it. If you need a break, you can just ask me.”
Thistle gasped as the two of them stopped. They were on their way through a small hiking trail - Sienna had suggested that driving would take too much effort, and cost too much grubs. Hiking up to the campsite they were going to be staying at would give them some good exercise, anyways.
“It’s not my muscles or anything,” Thistle mumbled, placing their lower set of arms on their knees. “It’s all these bugs— they keep biting me! I thought they didn’t do that to bug Terraliens!”
The caterpillar in their visor curled up and smiled sweetly, as at the same time, Thistle waved their arms around frantically to try warding off more bugs.
Sienna could feel her patience begin to hang by a thread.
“That’s a very widely debunked rumor,” she corrected, antennae flicking with annoyance. “Any Terralien, regardless of subspecies, needs to wear both bug spray and sunscreen when spending a large amount of time outdoors. Didn’t you research anything when we were planning this trip?”
Thistle made some small mumbling sounds as they wrung their hands together.
Sienna grumbled, pressing her face— er, visor— into the palms of her hands. “Okay. Let’s… let’s just take a breather for a second. Get our bearings again.”
Thistle nodded, slumping down to sit on a nearby log. They were beginning to have their doubts about going on this trip - Sienna was the more outdoorsy one of the two, and their own ideal of ‘camping’ included a fully air-conditioned, spacious ‘cabin.’
Hiking up a trail to then need to pitch a tent before being able to rest, and then having to sleep on the hard floor of a thin tent on top of dirt and rocks? It didn’t sound that great.
They wanted to impress Sienna, though. And she called all of their own preferences ‘glamping,’ with a cold snark in her tone. They didn’t want her to think they were weak - but it looked like she was thinking just that right now…
“Sorry…” They mumbled, hunching their shoulders up in shame.
Sienna was already rifling in her pack - but she glanced back up at them, antennae twitching with confusion. “Why are you sorry? You haven’t done this before.”
Thistle used their second set of arms to hug themself tight. “I know, but— I just… don’t want to slow you down. Or make you frustrated.”
Sienna sighed, as she finally found a bottle of bug spray - she shook it a few times, and then began to spray it on Thistle’s arms, gently grabbing them as she did so. “You aren’t. I’m sorry if my tone made it seem that way— you’re just a beginner. I didn’t do very well on my first trip, either.”
She finished applying the spray, placing it back into her bag. “If you need sunscreen or water, just ask me, okay? We’ll take a short break here, and then get walking again once you’ve got your energy back.”
Thistle nodded once, rubbing the bug spray into their arms for good measure. “Okay…!”
They promised themself that they’d make this trip a good one, now - even if they weren’t the best at this yet.