Kody had begged them to make camp earlier than usual that evening, saying he had a particularly bad feeling about the weather. Being in the air so much would have made him exquisitely sensitive to the signs of an oncoming storm, and Shane had agreed that things looked iffy, so they had the tents already set up before the first drop of rain ever showed itself.
Kody was inside playing cards with Mila, with the tent flap open to the breeze, as the storm swept in. The strikes drew closer, and then there was a flash of lightning that made Kody go pale and shrink back from the opening.
"Are you okay?" Mila asked.
"Yes! Yes, I'm -" Kody said, but was interrupted by the booming of thunder, which despite not being particularly close was already making Kody jump.
"Is everything all right?" Shane said, sticking his head in, and then he saw Kody cringing into himself. Shane's face immediately dropped, and he hunched downwards to crawl into the small tent's opening.
"Hey," Shane said, quietly, "you're scared of thunder?"
Kody looked at the ground. "It's stupid."
"I get what it's like to be scared of something stupid." Shane folded his arms around Kody.
"I'm scared," Kody repeated, burying his face in Shane's chest.
Mila stroked Kody's hair. "It's okay. I won't let you get hurt."
"Me neither," Shane said.
"...so what are you scared of?" Kody eventually asked.
"Dogs."
"...dogs?"
"I did say it was stupid."
Kody laughed, a little, through his tears. "Well, at least I'm not the only one."
