Just a Little Push
Part 36
Francis really did love Gill. She was one of his best friends after all—actually, more like a combination of best friend and the younger sister that he never had...
However, he sometimes had the intense desire to lock her up in a shed for an hour or two. Just to get a short period of peace and quiet. Just to get a break from her ridiculous plans to defeat Allison—honestly, he was pretty sure that by this point, they'd both forgotten what in the world they'd been arguing about in the first place. And to escape from her love for making messes.
Since Francis really did not enjoy getting absolutely filthy. Particularly when he was about to get absolutely filthy just so Gillian could defeat her girlfriend's overprotective sister in a stupid camp competition that really meant nothing in the long run.
Honestly, he had much more important things to worry about right now. Like how he was going to make Arthur completely paranoid in the next few days...
Not that he really thought it would take too much work on his part. Since Arthur was already paranoid when it came to his cher Allison. And Allison was incredibly oblivious when it came to things like this. And Leon really was hopeless when it came to anything involving l'amour. Add all of those ingredients together and you had a recipe for one of the most entertaining misunderstandings that Francis had ever manipulated into being.
But it would still require some planning. Planning which he could be doing right now, if he weren't currently standing behind Elizabeta and holding onto a grimy rope with his bare hands.
He was probably going to end up getting rope burn, too, which just made everything worse.
And where in the world was Antonio? Antonio enjoyed this sort of thing; he was always working on his maman's farm after all. Getting himself covered in dirt and mud.
Although, now that Francis thought about it, he hadn't seen Lovina around either. Which meant...
And a smirk immediately stretched across his lips at that thought. Now that he thought about it, that would definitely explain where Antonio was...
Which meant that he was definitely winning his bet with Gillian.
He was so lost in thought that he completely missed the countdown. What he didn't miss was the sudden tug on the rope that almost completely knocked him off balance.
"Pull! Pull!"
Francis obeyed the shout—tugging back as hard as he could. Merde. Why did they have to play tug-of-war? He could already feel the rope rubbing his hands raw...
"Come on, guys! We can't let the villain win!"
He couldn't really see much of the other team, as his vision was blocked by Lizzie's back. He did notice, however, that she was tugging as hard as she could. While growling something under her breath that sounded rather like "Going to kill him... Going to kill him..."
"Come on, Lizzie!" And now Francis heard a taunting call from the other side of the mud pit. That definitely sounded like Eli.
He twisted his head to glance around her... Eli was standing right in front of Ally, behind Kiku, Yong Soo, and Yao.
"Let's make this more interesting, Liz!" He shouted, his voice managing to carry over the grunts and shouts from both teams. "Your team wins and I'll photograph for you for the rest of this month..." His voice broke off for a moment as Gill gave a well-timed yank on the rope that managed to tug Kiku right into the muck.
"And if we win—!" And now Francis felt his entire body jerk forward at a particularly strong tug. Ow~ how was he supposed to be the master of l'amour when his hands were rubbed raw like this?
And then he heard a yelp, followed by a squelching sound, and then infuriated cursing.
Ah, so Arthur had been in the front of the line. He hadn't really paid too much attention to the order...
Okay, that made him feel better about the whole tug-of-war thing.
"And if we win, then you and Gill have to make out for no less than three minutes in front of the entire camp!" Eli finally finished.
"What!" And that had been Mattie's voice.
The rope suddenly jerked back in the direction of his team at that, and he heard Ally scream, "Hey, don't let go of the rope, Mattie!"
"I'm going to fall in, da ze~!"
And then a rather loud splat.
Two down. However many left to go.
"Ew~! That's disgusting, Eli!"
"Dude, not awesome!"
Francis now glanced around Lizzie again, since they seemed in charge of the rope right now. Yao was scrabbling at the very edge of the mud pit right now, attempting to keep from sliding in after Kiku and Yong Soo. Who were just sitting in the mud with a very very irritated-looking Arthur... Who was currently attempting to stand up and failing miserably.
Eli looked incredibly pleased with himself right now.
"So, what do you say, sis? This isn't near as bad as what you made me do that one time."
Well, that sounded interesting...
And Francis had sort of stopped paying attention to what he was supposed to be doing right now at that remark. Which was how he was taken completely by surprise when the rope jerked forward at least a foot. And he heard two splats.
Who—? Ah, Heracles and Natalya...
He shuddered slightly at the icy glare that Natalya immediately sent toward everyone. Heracles just looked completely confused, as if he'd just been woken up. Wait, he hadn't actually been sleeping, had he?
"You're on, Elijah!"
And now the rope jerked back towards their side. Francis was starting to wonder if he was the only one on this team who wasn't on the same wavelength, because he kept getting taken surprise by the sudden tugs by his own teammates.
Then again, it would probably help if he were actually paying attention to what Gill was saying.
Not that he thought that it would really help, as he could currently feel his feet starting to slide in the muck. Yao was now standing at least a foot away from his edge on the other side of the mud pit, while Gill was tottering right on the edge. And Lizzie right behind her was leaning back as far as she could go.
Really, who had thought it was at all fair to put Ally and Ivan on the same team? He could see Ivan's grin from here. He barely looked like he was exerting himself at all.
At this point, Francis was pretty sure that the only way that they could possibly win was if Ludwig somehow managed to make up for the fact that Allison's team had managed to get the two strongest players and tug Ally, Ivan, and Eli off balance...
"Ve~ Ludwig! My hands hurt!" Except, now Francis heard that familiar call out from right behind him.
"F—Feli!" And that suddenly panicked voice from right behind her. "Don't let go of the ro— Feli, you can't grab onto me!"
And that was all the warning that the rest of the team received...
Before their anchor suddenly released his hold on the rope as he was tackled by a sobbing Italian, and said rope flew forward at the next hard yank.
Causing the rest of the team to fly forward with it.
...And that was it.
The next thing that Francis was aware of was the sound of Mr. Roma shouting "Allison's team wins!" at the top of his lungs. And then cheering...
The second thing that he was aware of was the sensation of something squirming under him. Something that now started kicking and attempting to hit him.
"Get off of me, bloody git!"
Ah, Francis really had incredible luck sometimes.
He shook his head slightly as he rose from where he'd landed—he'd managed to catch himself on his hands and knees and was now hovering over his British friend... Who had not been quite so lucky and was currently lying on his back under him.
Such a familiar position, oui~?
He probably would have found it more amusing if it were not for the fact that he was currently feeling mud seeping up into his pants. And mud was covering his front and there was mud in his hair...
Ugh, it was going to take forever to get that out.
"Not awesome!" And now he glanced over. He was currently surrounded by people in varying states of muddiness. The one who was currently in the worst state, of course, being the one who had just shouted that and was now standing up, glaring at the other team...
And who now turned toward the rest of her team. Glaring at them for a moment before she seemed to realise something that made a smirk pass over her lips.
"Actually, nein. Don't worry! This is just a minor set-back for Team Awesome! Because now..." And her smirk widened as her eyes travelled to meet Francis's.
"We take our awesome revenge!"
A/N: Revenge in mud tug-of-war is totally more important than the actual game. Because revenge involves attacking with mud. And that game was so totally not what real tug-of-war is like. But oh well, it's been so long since I actually played tug-of-war...
Eli and Lizzie are terrible. ;) I kind of love them in a sort of "These guys are nutsss~ just like the rest of the town" way.
Hmm, oh! And this is for those of you who have been leaving messages of Leon and Johnson's formspring! (Which the link is on my profile if you don't know what I'm talking about) ;D Keep it up! Your questions amuse me very muchly. Haha. Don't be upset though if it takes me a few days to respond. Some questions take me a little more thought to figure out how the characters would answer them... (Slash, some of them I actually talk over with muse-chan before answering, so I've gotta wait for her response and such things). Plus, you know... I'm busy some days because of silly college-work.
Just to say, though. Since I kind of forgot to mention this. It's mostly Leon answering the questions. Even if you pose them to Johnson. Just because it would be super super out of character for Johnson to respond to most things, since I can't see him really using a computer or being willing to give out information like that. Since he's so secretive.
So don't be upset if he doesn't respond. That's just how Johnson is. ;) He's difficult. Leon will try to be more helpful, but he doesn't know everything.
(Plus, the way that I picture them answering is through Leon being on his laptop, reading the questions to Johnson, and then interpreting Johnson's stares/one word answers into something that you can understand, lol. So...it'd be Leon typing them out no matter what.)