A/N: Next chapter will take a while, not because I am going away, for once, but because I am really behind. I am sorry I've been such a lazy author (yes, it's mainly been laziness, sadly, cannot make excuses and shouldn't either).
Anyway, today's chapter is pretty long, so I hope I can make up for it. For more things regarding this story, please check out my tumblr: sunshineauthorsnotes . tumblr . com
Also, for today I will include the trivia. I don't know if you guys like it or not, the review section and all other means have been very quiet, thus until you say something, I'll keep guessing.
Ps: Even if you do keep silent for all eternity, I know someone still reads this, so for those who do, thank you so much!
Chapter 4
Cousin Feliks
August came with the promise of continued warm winds and even hotter temperatures. For the five newly settled Brits the French summer was pure torture, to the point as to almost unbearable. All the members stayed indoors where the air-conditioner was constantly blowing out cold air. Well this wasn't all true as Allistor happened to note and he could not, for the life of him, understand why Arthur, who generally clung to the house, would suddenly be so eager to get out. Nor would he ever understand how he could run around the village and play.
Arthur had his reasons, and they weren't the usual ones. For the first weeks he had acted like a hermit stuck in his house during a storm. The change had happened when he started hanging out more and more with Francis. The more time he spent with Francis, the more he found that he liked the other boy. He found him loyal, warm and friendly and charming enough to probably be friend with every person in the village. At the same time the French boy had his more peculiar sides. He simply was, girly. This was kind of a relief since Francis otherwise would seem like the perfect little angel in comparison to Arthur, who could be quite rude. In short, they could be complete polar opposites. At least, Arthur was proud to say, out of the two of them he was definitely the manliest.
But his frowns softened as the weeks went by and more of the village children joined in on the games. After weeks of dedicated work by the children and their parents the raft was finished. It was big. Arthur and Francis could easily lie on it and bask in the sun with their three female friends.
The best thing was, since everyone had contributed to the finish of the raft, everyone was free to use it. Today was such a day when a large number of kids had gathered to use the raft as a sort of diving board.
Of course Arthur could not join. His skills on the water was still not good enough to swim above the deepest parts of the lake. So, while the older children dove, he, Francis and the girls practised swimming for later. Luckily today a small football tournament would be held among the children, however neither Francis nor the girls were that interested within the sports itself. Arthur was, but he was apparently too young to play. So they had to wait until the games were about to start before they could play with it.
"Look, the raft is vacant." Julie said after another half an hour of waiting. She spoke in English, which she had been practising. It had been a silent agreement for the girls and Francis to help Arthur understand, and since Arthur's French was far from perfect (though he was steadily getting better)
Julie had been perched as a lookout. Marie and Delphine looked up with glee and tossed the black and white rocks away that they had been using to play nought and crosses. Francis and Arthur were drying up by the sun.
"So it would seem." Francis affirmed and sat up.
Arthur cheered and put his cloak back over his shoulders and his green swimming trunks. The girls hadn't brought anything and already wore their swimming wear. Arthur looked hopefully at Francis, but found to his surprise that his friend didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.
"Francis, hey, frog... Why are you spacing out?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, I am sorry." Francis said softly. "But Julie, what time is it?"
"2,30pm..." the girl said and checked her watch. "Why?"
"Oh..." Francis said. "I am sorry Arthur, maman wanted me 'ome at three. She needs some help, but I should be back soon."
Arthur frowned. This was not what he had expected out of such a nice day.
"Don't do this to me, Arthur." Francis said and sighed and stood up to put on a white jacket loosely. He had forgotten to bring his cape. "I'll be back before you know it. Besides, you have said before that I am too pretty to be a pirate." Francis said, he was already on his way towards his bike.
"Well, fine... suit yourself, princess." Arthur said. Francis had by then reached his bike and simply returned a unusually shy smile.
"Don't worry, we can play without 'im for now." Julie said. "Didn't you say you wanted to sail, Captain Kirkland?"she asked with a smile. Arthur smiled back, about of the three girls Julie, to him, was the nicest. She also had the best English. Apparently, her grandmother came from Northern Ireland.
The girls already wore their swimsuits. Julie took Arthur by the hand as she and the others walked down to the small beach. Arthur had to wait for the three girls to swim out first and get the raft. But soon, Captain Kirkland was ready to sail off, escorted by the mermaids that would lead him to the treasure. Arthur balanced at the front of the raft, which was easier said than done.
"Captain, you look a little wobbly. You sure you did not leave your wooden leg behind?" Julie joked at Arthur's unsteadiness. Arthur put his toes and heels firmly on the wood. He did not like it when people noticed. Marie and Delphine giggled.
"I think it's cute." Marie said in French with a smile.
"It is. He's like a little woodland creature stuck on the vast sea." Delphine said.
"Language!" Julie reminded. Arthur smiled at her.
The girls swam with the raft near the beaches and rockier edges of the lake where, if worst came to worst, the water wasn't very deep. If something would have happened they seemed certain Arthur would be fine.
Who knows if he would be, but nothing happened apart from his cloak getting wet and his hat falling into the water. When this happened Marie playfully took it and put it on her head and made such an impressionism of a pirate that it even made Arthur laugh.
"Captain Arthur, I almost forgot. We have to show you our treasure." Julie said suddenly between laughs. By this time they had spent a good portion of time swimming or sailing around the lake.
"Treasure?" Arthur said quizzically. Delphine and Marie looked at each other with a shrug.
"Yes, treasure. Girls, hurry up. We need to guide this ship to the castle!"
"Oh, okay." Delphine said and started to kick the raft into motion again.
The raft slowly started to move towards what Arthur realised would be the pier. He followed the direction and opened his mouth slightly. Francis had returned, and stood at the very edge of the pier looking down at the water. Something had obviously captivated the young French boy, because he was completely still.
Arthur smirked and saw an opportunity to give back for Francis sudden unexplained departure.
"Avast!" Arthur shouted to the girls, meaning for them to speed up. However, his sudden voice seemed to startle Francis who looked up suddenly. This was a mistake, as Francis did not look where he put his feet and accidentally fell into the water.
Seconds later he resurfaced, hair dripping and eyes and mouth wide. He then spotted Arthur and the gaping mouth turned to tired smile. Arthur relaxed a little as the start of a giggle exploded from his lips.
"Honhon" he said calmly. "Very funny, mon cher."
Julie and Marie had by this point stopped pushing the raft to stop and cling to it in silent giggles. Julie had given up on giggling to start laughing outright. Francis shook his head and made an attempt to get back on the pier, but it was out of his reach. His shoulders slumped and he swum over to the raft.
Arthur yelped as he was splashed. Francis climbed on and brought with him a waterfall. The two looked at each other. Arthur with his large hat and wooden sword and Francis who was most likely soaked to the bone looked like a rather odd pair. But then they both joined in laughing.
"Embrassez! Embrassez! La bise!" Delphine suddenly shouted from below. Her cheeks were slightly red.
Arthur looked quizzically at her, he did not understand her demand. That was until Francis said: "She wants us to kiss."
Arthur jerked his head back. "What?"
"You're in France. It's not unheard of for friends to kiss." Francis said and shrugged. Of course, he meant this among girls, but since they were friends, what should it matter?
Arthur's cheeks flamed read, but he slowly leaned forward and put his lips against Francis. He did not notice how Francis eyes widened of shock, nor how the girls gasped. All he noticed was how weird it was and how unusually soft Francis lips felt. The kiss however only lasted a few seconds and was over as quickly as it had come. Arthur looked at Francis for a few seconds, blinked then made a face that obviously showed his dislike.
Francis stared at him, then he laughed once again. The girls joined in, and Arthur did not get it.
Even later, as they walked home together would Francis explain. All though before they walked their separate ways, arriving at Francis' house, Francis bent down slightly to kiss Arthur on the cheek. Arthur would once more jerk his head back, frown and hurry home. It would take several years before he'd grasp the difference between a kiss and a kiss.
-000-
Arthur had forgotten most of the kiss the next day as he once more hurried over to Francis house in the morning. His mother had left to attend some business, taking the twins with her. Allistor was asked to take care of Arthur, but since Arthur would once more spend the day with Francis, whom he considered, to be his closest friend, Allistor took as little notice of him as possible. It was similar to the idea to that Arthur could be a fly on the wall. Arthur didn't care though, but simply downed his breakfast and was out of the door with his favourite cape, before Allistor had even left the shower.
Today the clouds were greying and Arthur hurried over in case there would be a downpour. Once at Francis' house his mother opened. She reminded Arthur quite a lot about Francis, they had the same colour of hair and also similar soft features. She was dressed in a simple navy blue dress, patterned with large white lilies that was partly covered by a white apron. Arthur could smell something sweet from the kitchen.
"Francis est dans le jardin." she said, meaning that Francis would be in the garden. Arthur hurriedly took of his shoes (Francis had at one point explained in great detail that Mrs Bonnefoy absolutely hated shoes indoors and was most likely the only person to do so in the entire village), before walking to the other side of the house, towards a second door leading towards the second door that lead to the small back. Mrs Bonnefoy leant him a secondary pair of shoes she preferred, she was very careful around her home and Arthur couldn't help but to feel a little sorry for Francis. His mother had a lot of rules.
"I do not see your point, mon frère." Arthur heard Francis say before he even reached the second set of doors. "In my opinion, this place is lovely.
"Francis, kuzynie, I love you and all that, but I cannot for the life of me understand how you can live in this, grey and boring no-man's-land?"
Arthur came closer and Francis answered, whoever this was, somewhat more enthusiastic.
"Oh Feliks, this is not a barren place. I mean, we are at least connected to the large world. There is the station, you arrived on it, and we 'ave the square which I think is lovely, and you cannot say people here aren't nice. You've seen Paris, my goodness, the Parisians... honhonhon."
Arthur had by now reached the doors and peaked out. He saw Francis at once, dressed in a light blue shirt and jeans. With him was another blond Arthur hadn't seen before. He was dressed in what looked like a silk green shirt, and matching black trousers. He also wore polished shoes, something Arthur couldn't believe anyone could stand in this heat.
Francis noticed his arrival and smiled widely. "Arthur, I did not expect you." he said. The French boy put his hand on the other blond's shoulder. "Arthur, meet Feliks. Feliks is my cousin visiting from Poland. I am sorry for yesterday, but Maman wanted me to go down to the station and meet Feliks there."
Arthur could tell that Feliks was eyeing, much like analysing him. Instead of staring back he stretched out his hand, as his mother had told him to do, and said: "Hello, I am Arthur Kirkland."
Feliks held out his hand, but not in the usual fashion. Instead of meeting Arthur's hand he held it high, close to Arthur's face. Arthur did not understand.
After some awkward minutes Feliks sighed and dropped his hand.
"Are you one of those?" he asked.
"Pardon?" Arthur answered and blinked.
"Those... those... oh, I don't know the word for it, but as my mother says it. There are educated children in this world, and there are uneducated children in this world. Are you one of those?"
Arthur blinked again, but then clasped his hands tightly.
"What do you mean, exactly?" he asked slowly, doing his best to act civilised since Feliks was Francis cousin after all, while his insides wished to simply throw himself at him and punch him.
"My parents are very important, much like Francis' father. I, myself, was given the best education in Warzaw. We live in a mansion, and we have servants. What about you?"
Francis shook his head.
"Feliks, you are being rude." he said, surprising Arthur, but he was grateful he wasn't the only one who thought so.
"But Francis, look at the way he is dressed." Feliks said and pointed at Arthur's green cape. Arthur's hand slowly reached up to grab onto it. He felt insecure as to what Feliks wanted to say about this.
Feliks raised his hand to his forehead in a overly dramatic gesture. "You know" he said to Francis "it is so hard these days to find people who appreciate good fashion. I mean, look at that thing. I bet it is made out of cotton, very cheap cotton. And the handiwork, no, not good at all. I can see seams. Unlike this." Feliks continued and from behind him he pulled up his own cape. Much like his shirt it was made from the same material, and set to match.
"It does look good on you." Francis admitted. Arthur felt hurt.
"Of course it does. I can get one for you as well." Feliks said.
"No thank you, I'd 'ave no use for it 'ere. Besides, I like mine as it is."
Feliks shrugged dramatically. "Ah, kuzynie, you could have dressed as a prince with your charm. And yet, you are as downtrodden as all these other donkeys."
Francis shook his head. "It's not that I think of myself as beneath others, but you know. If I'd be someone else but me, I am pretty sure people would come to miss me. After all, I 'ave many who care deeply for me." he then leant forward slightly, so that Arthur barely heard him. "But you know, we do look the best around 'ere."
Arthur shook his head. People were just, weird. Feliks seemed to take note of his behaviour, and so his attention turned back to Arthur.
"May I ask, where are you from?"
"England." Arthur answered.
"I can tell you are from England, it's quite obvious. But from where in England?"
"London."
"Oh," Feliks said and sounded genuinely surprised for a short moment. "Then why are you here? Did they kick you out for your bad fashion?"
Francis chuckled and quickly raised his hand to stifle a laughter. Arthur's ears reddened.
"Mum works here." Arthur growled.
"And your dad?"
"He can rot."
Arthur decided that he liked Feliks less and less. The way that Feliks was playing with the silk in his clothes gave him the image of a peacock. Arthur remembered that Allistor once told him that Eastern Europeans were poor, so it baffled him how Feliks wore such nice clothing, and even seemed to think that anything beneath his world had no standard.
Feliks seemed as little interested in Arthur as a you could be when there is a fly on the wall. He had already seemingly forgotten him, and turned back to his cousin to show him pictures from some shopping spree in Warzaw. When he tried to say something Feliks didn't even bother to listen, but purposely put himself between the annoyed Brit and the somewhat easily-distracted French boy.
Arthur couldn't do anything to stop it, so he left. He returned indoors where Madame Bonnefoy sat by the large table polishing silver. She noticed Arthur's sour demeanour at once and smiled.
"Arthur, asseyez-vous s'il vous plait." she said and patted the seat beside her. He did. Francis mother put down the silver spoon she held in her hand, her eyes were very blue. They had the same shade of blue as Francis.
"I am sorry." she said and switched to English, she was very good at it. There was hardly any trace of French in her accent. "Francis and Feliks rarely see each other. My sister, God bless her, moved to Warzaw some years ago to study, and she met her husband there. Since then I hardly see her myself. Much like myself, she married well and her husband makes good money, but while I try my best to raise Francis to be a caring young boy, I am afraid Feliks is quite spoiled. I know this is probably a little hard on you, I see your family and I know your mother work so hard. But bear with it, Feliks will be going home soon. Then you two can play some more before summer ends."
She looked over her shoulder to see that by now Feliks had dragged Francis away to sit in a canopy swing beneath a large tree. The cousins spoke with their heads close.
"Arthur, I know this is not what you wanted out of your day. Do you know what, if you allow me to finish, I can take you down to the village for a while. Francis forgot to bring back a bottle of olive oil that I asked Monsieur Garcia to put away for me. Would you mind making me company?"
Arthur smiled. He had no intentions of going home. He did not want to face Allistor or his hundreds of questions that would likely come if he came home before noon. And Francis mother was nice, a little weird and odd at times, but she genuinely seemed to like children.
It didn't take very long for her either to finish polishing the last few spoons. And half an hour later Arthur sat beside Madame Bonnefoy on a seat-cushion as the trees and houses whizzed by. It was a short ride, but not by any means unpleasant. Francis mother played jazzy music in her car while she joked about several of the people they passed. She knew everyone, and it was clear to Arthur how Francis seemed to know everyone. Here you had no secrets, here you were a community and a group. Here, you cared for everyone.
Arthur really liked that.
Ten minutes later they were both inside the local farmer's store where Madame Bonnefoy received her bottle of extra virgin olive oil and Arthur had his first taste of Brie de Meaux (he didn't really like it). She also bought two bottles of orange lemonade, one bottle which Arthur could bring home.
Arthur seemed to fascinate everyone. There were many among the village, in particular among the women, who came up to look at him, or touch his cheek or say something. It got annoying after a while with all of the attention, but Madame Bonnefoy simply smiled and said that people rarely moved to the village, so they all wanted to have a good look at him.
And all the attention thankfully also came with something good.
"I am so happy you came here." One of the elder ladies known as Madame Ruiz said to Arthur, she was one of those women who kept coming back to poke some more on his cheeks. Arthur wasn't sure what to think of her. She was quite the eccentric woman dressed in a pink dress with lace gloves and a large pink hat. She had a small pug with her tucked back by a leather leash, and Arthur was surprised how well it walked considering how round it was.
"I mean, we seldom see people pass by, unless the autumn harvest festival arrives and then, maybe just then, some of those townsfolk will make it here. But really, back in my days, it took us days sometimes to travel just about anywhere. People these days... they don't understand their luxuries."
Arthur was shoved a thin cone full of, to his pleasant surprise, a bunch of toffee, which he was allowed to eat as many as he'd like.
"I am sure we can make a proper Frenchman our of you!" Madame Ruiz continued.
"You do know he is British?" one younger man said who helped carrying on a box of radishes.
"Whatever, we all won the war after all, we're all decent people here." and she gave Arthur some peppermint candies as well. Arthur had never been given so much candy, and he couldn't understand why anyone would carry it around.
"Ignore her." the man said and nodded toward Mr Garcia. "She's been like that ever since her brother got his medal for service of the country. Not that she ought to remember, the war was long ago, and she was just a kid like you then. She's all high and mighty because her husband owns the café in the village, best business around. All the couples go there, and the teens, when they return home from university."
"They don't stay?"
"No, not at all. I went myself some years back, but my dad needed help with the farm so I came back home. I love Paris and the big cities, but here it is more tranquil, and less stress. But every summer many do return to their parents, to visit or to relax some."
"Do you think I'll do that too?" Arthur asked. He knew about universities, his mother had a degree or whatever it was called. And there was the big University where he had lived, in London.
"Oh, you might. You seem like a smart kid for your age, I am sure you will. But never forget, the roads here always welcome you home."
Monsieur Garcia, who was a muscular man with a lot of upper body strength came in carrying large boxes of wine.
"Aren't you a little too sentimental for your young age, get back to work. Madame Ruiz, I will send your husband the bags of flour he want. Now out, you are all blocking the door and there is a line waiting."
Arthur and Madame Bonnefoy bid their farewells to the crowd and left. Arthur was silent at first, but then he kept thinking of how people acted.
"May I ask something?" Arthur asked after a while. "How come you are helping me?"
"Pardon?" Madame Bonnefoy said and raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, I know you are Francis mother, but you didn't need to look after me." he was very close to add that he was quite grown himself. She laughed.
"Oh, mon petit. I don't mind at all. Besides, your family are very nice neighbours, and that is what we do. We help each other. Believe me, you are never alone when you don't want to be. I've heard from Francis that you often lock yourself to your room, but you don't need to do that here."
She leaned down slightly, so that her lips almost touched the love of his ear.
"And I know Francis will be very curious of our little trip, so can you keep a secret?"
Arthur nodded.
"Let's keep our mission secret, then he can feel a little bad because honestly. That boy sometimes has the habit of forgetting things. He may not seem like it, but he can get a little distracted of himself."
Arthur blinked, then opened and closed his mouth to try to find something to say. But after a while he returned the shy but cunning smile that seemed to mimic Madame Bonnefoy quite well.
She drove her back to his house. His mother was quite confused to see him arrive with Francis mother and Francis not being anywhere in sight. But then he told her about the village and the people he met and she relaxed some. She was happy after all that her son was settling in quite well.
-000-
Much like Madame Bonnefoy had said Francis did return back to his company after a few days, but Arthur didn't feel sad in the same way anymore. Every morning he went with his mother who would drop him in the village. There he found odd jobs to help out a little and find something to preoccupy his days. He ran errands for Monsieur Garcia and he got to meet Monsieur Ruiz, the husband of Madame Ruiz, and got to watch him bake and tend to customers. Everyone seemed to be busy and he felt as if he wanted to explore this new world he lived within. He hadn't even spoken to any of his friends for a few days because he was so tired when he got home.
He soon discovered many things about the village. He liked Monsieur Garcia, he was the kind of man who knew what he wanted and he was an expert of keeping boys in a straight line and march. He liked Madame Ruiz a little, even if she was quite weird and her pug was even weirder. Some people he soon realised he was not so happy about, there was a postman that seemed to growl at everyone and one of the girls from the pharmacy had a crush on a student, but ever since he dumped her before even giving her a chance you stayed out of her way if you met her.
Worst was yet Allistor, who had friends of his own and none of them seemed to like Arthur. Arthur did his best to stay away from them whenever he heard Allistor's voice carried by wind.
But this afternoon Arthur was not down by the village, instead Francis had once more cycled by his house to fetch him before they went to the bridge.
"I am sorry." Francis said as they both stood leaning at the rail of the bridge. Arthur was leaning a little more than usual with a long stick. He had one ear open to her the apology, but in all honesty, he didn't feel like it was the worst experience he had ever had.
"I am sorry. I just don't see Feliks often, and we 'ad so much to catch up with. I didn't even think you might be lonely, and then mother says you and 'er went to the village on your own."
Arthur leaned back again to stand properly on the bridge. He honestly had no need to hear an apology for something that was so stupid.
"You don't need to apologise." he said and tossed the twig away. It wasn't good enough.
"Pardon?"
"You don't need to apologise, of course you spend time with family. I honestly haven't seen my cousin either for a few years. And he lives in Wales."
Francis blinked.
"So... why are you so silent then?" he asked.
"I was trying to find the perfect stick. If you want to play, see whose stick beats the other."
Arthur spotted another stick on the other side of the bridge and ran over. It took a while but Francis too realised what Arthur wanted to do, and he too hurried to find one himself. Soon they both stood leaning over one side of the bridge, a new game of pooh sticks soon to commence.
"Ready?" Arthur asked.
"Oui, trois, deux, un..."
TBC
Trivia:
Pirates: The AMV Listen to your heart featured a lot of historical pictures. I struggled for some time between doing an historical story or a modern story. But, the problems with this story is that I wanted a French environment and doing a French historical environment would be quite difficult as sources of historical French environment, culture and etiquette would take a lot of research and I haven't had the time to put myself into that kind of research. There will be a lot more elements in this story that might seem a bit old fashioned, so as for all those wonderful historical glimpses, I feel bad I cannot do more to include then than games and imaginations.
Kisses: Don't get any ideas. Kissing is not unheard of in many arts of the world, and is done as a greeting between friends. Kissing in France is common on the cheek between friends. Arthur's knowledge of this however is limited, so when Francis told him to kiss he thought it was on the mouth. Trust me, it surprised everyone!
Originally I was going to keep this on the cheek and make less fuss about it, but in the last second I changed it. It amazes me sometimes how kissing in seen between cultures. Sometimes people make such a fuss about it, like true love's kiss or special kisses. Personally, I lived through a childhood of a variation of kissing games, yeah... that's how we do it North.
And when I meant that there are several countries that greet each other by kisses, when I was in China my Italian friend would always kiss on the cheek twice when we saw each other. At first I wasn't prepared because I had forgotten, plain to say. But, it's not weird, so I went with it the second time.
Shoe policies: From what I can gather going through forums on the internet, there isn't a set rule as to whether you should or should not wear shoes indoors in France. It seems to be down to whoever you visit. Still, I like the idea that Francis' mother would be one of the more obsessed mothers when it comes to cleanliness.
In all honesty, when I grew up I learnt you should never wear shoes indoors. I'm from Sweden, and here it would be a pain since the only really nice season are down to one or two months a year, the rest is either cold, wet or full of snow. If you live in any snowy region, you know how much snow that can enter the house, hence we leave our boots by the door.
Naturally, many cultures don't do this, but it is the curriculum in not just Northern Europe but also South Korea and Japan. And believe me or not, it is easier to keep a house clean, if you do not bring the mud or dust indoors.
A/N: I apologise for Feliks behaviour, I know Poles do not extend their hands and expect people to kiss them. Feliks is just a really spoiled brat, and I wanted Arthur to find someone whom he could truly dislike.
In all honesty, I find Poland in Hetalia hilarious. I am sure he must be among the most annoying type of people you can ever encounter, but that goes for more than half of these characters... -stares at America and shivers-
I should also apologise to all the children out there. I feel like I did the lake-game too short, but I truly ran out of ideas as to what a couple of eleven/twelve year-olds would play by the water. I just wanted that small kiss between them. Don't judge me, I thought it would be sweet, by no means perverted.
kuzynie: cousin (Polish)
football: For all your Americans out there, no, it's not the American football. Sorry, my bad, I was raised with British English and thus I mean soccer. I have most likely butchered this on a number of occasions, as I have grown more and more accustomed to American words, but since I live pretty close to the UK and pretty far from the US, I have a tendency to keep my spelling on UK English.