Arthur- Junior
Alfred- Sophomore
It was one of those days where no one wanted to be there.
The air was cold, put in motion by an unforgiving wind and chilled by an absence of sun and an overabundance of clouds. The team was at debate whether the weather called for freezing rain or snow.
Arthur had woken up from his bus-ride nap in a particularly foul mood, matching those of the rest of his teammates, and Alfred began wondering if he was the only one left with a feeling of hopefulness.
"Quit smiling. There is nothing to smile about," Arthur snapped, ripping the skin of his orange off with a bit more force than what was entirely necessary.
Alfred shrugged. "I'm keeping my hopes up that it's gonna get canceled." He took a bite of banana. "Or at least delayed. I could deal with delayed."
The Englishman scoffed. "We shouldn't even be here. We haven't had a day off all season, the meet is far too far away, and everyone feels like rubbish. The coaches aren't even taking it seriously!"
Alfred nodded absentmindedly; he didn't want to be there either. The coaches had decided to make it relaxed week, every athlete competing in only one event, typically their favorite or best, and most likely a relay if they were usually a part of one. While this was supposed to lift spirits, the weather was not on their side.
"What race are you running today, anyway?" Alfred asked.
"1500," Arthur grumbled. Alfred rose his eyebrows in surprise.
"Isn't that your favorite?" he asked. "Thought you would be excited for that."
Arthur pouted. "Not today. The only thing that would make today not be a total waste is if the frog got struck by lightning mid-vault."
Alfred snorted. "He'll probably be inside all day, unfortunately."
A heavy sigh. "Another reason today is going to be dreadful."
O
"Don't die, Francis! Ow! Hey!"
Matthew rolled his eyes as Alfred rubbed the spot on his arm his twin had punched him. "Don't say stuff like that while he's pole vaulting," he sighed. "It's actually really dangerous."
"Frannie knows I'm just kidding. Don't ya, Frannie?"
The Frenchman chuckled, powdering his hands with chalk. "I am just happy to have an audience for once, mon cher." He did a once over of the rest of his team, confined indoors because of the weather, and shrugged. "Whether they want to be or not."
"Where's Arthur?" Matthew asked once Francis had gone to get in line. "I haven't seen him for a while."
Alfred shrugged. "He had to get his ankle taped, I think, so he went to find Coach."
His twin nodded, turning back to his homework and popping a donut into his mouth. Alfred couldn't help but be a little jealous of his twin, the boy was a triple jumper, which meant he was the first event and was done for the rest of the day. Alternatively, Alfred was running the anchor leg of the 4x400. He would literally be the very last person on the team to run that meet.
"I hate you, Matt."
"That's too bad."
"I wanna eat."
"So eat."
He groaned. "Like really eat. Like a burger or a donut or something, not just bananas and granola bars!"
"The fact that you think a burger or donut is really eating worries me."
Alfred moaned, falling backward dramatically and landing on a very surprised Lili.
She blinked down at him a few times before waving awkwardly. "Hello, Alfred."
Alfred smiled up at the freshman and waved back. "Sup, Lil? What are you running today?"
"Just the 100 hurdles," she replied sweetly. "Are you doing the 400 today?"
"4x4, but close enough!" He sat up and spun to face her, sitting cross legged on top of his coat. "When do you have to go warm up?"
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Right after the 1500. I was going to watch Lien and Arthur and then start." Alfred wrinkled his nose. Lien wasn't exactly his favorite person in the world. "Where is Arthur?" Lili asked. "Everyone has been warming up inside today. I hope he's not out there in the cold."
Alfred pursed his lips. He hadn't thought of that, actually. Arthur was taking a while to get back inside from getting his ankle taped. It would be just like that little stinker to get himself sick running outside when he didn't have to. "Should I go check on him?" he asked.
Lili nodded and dug into her bag to pull out a bright pink umbrella. "You can use this if you would like," she offered.
Alfred grinned. "Only because it's totally my color."
To say Alfred was surprised to see an angry, drippy Englishman standing directly in front of him when he opened the gym doors would be an understatement.
"Well, howdy!"
"Bugger off."
Alfred laughed, closing Lili's umbrella and guiding Arthur back to camp with an unnecessary yet welcomed hand on his lower back. "Where were you, dude? People were getting worried."
Arthur began stripping off his soaked jacket, wincing as it fell to the floor in with a wet plop. "Gilbert decided to wait until the last bloody second to get both of his ankles taped and I was forced to stand in the sodding rain because there wasn't enough room under the tent." He shivered. "Has Lien started warming up yet?"
He nodded. "She started a couple minutes ago. Hey, is Gil running the steeple today? How's he liking that?"
"Oh, he's having a jolly good time," Arthur scoffed. "Mental, that one."
Alfred laughed. Only Gilbert could find joy in hopping around in freezing water in the rain. "C'mon, I'll warm up with ya."
Arthur pinked slightly. "Will you? You don't run for hours."
"Exactly! I need to stretch my legs or I'll get stiff."
They ventured up the stairs to the small, three lane track that was wrapped above the gym and set their timers. Arthur's usual brisk jog morphed into a up-beat shuffle at best to Alfred's relief, so they were able to carry easy conversation.
"Blarge," Arthur grumbled pathetically. Alfred busted into laughter.
"Dude, what the hell was that?" he exclaimed. "I have never heard that sound come out of you before!"
Arthur sputtered, blushing, but turned his nose into the air and picked up his pace ever so slightly. "I'm just not in the mood for this, alright? Who would be? Look at it out there!"
He gestured to the window as they ran past, and Alfred just managed to catch of glimpse of Gilbert clearing a barrier on the backstretch. "I thought the whole cold and rainy thing was your kind of weather," he said with a smirk.
"Not to run in, you git," Arthur said, shaking his head.
They fell into comfortable silence as they jogged along, checking their watches every couple of minutes to see how much longer they had to run. After a while, they caught up to Lien, who was jogging and chatting with Mei, a sprinter who was most likely on her cool down from the 4x100 that had just finished judging by her wet hair and rosy cheeks. With a wolfish grin, Alfred yanked Lien's ponytail as they passed.
"Ow!" she exclaimed from behind them, just barely heard over Alfred's laughter and Mai's giggling. "Alfred Jones! Lo dit!"
Arthur rolled his eyes, trying and failing spectacularly to hide his disgust. "Must you flirt with Lien right before a race? She has enough to worry about." he grumbled.
Alfred's laughter died down as he looked over at his roommate with wide eyes. "Hey, hold up, I'm not flirting with her."
"Oh please."
"No, seriously!"
Arthur pursed his lips and picked up his pace once again. Alfred inwardly cursed, trying to match him in step. "Then what would you call all that teasing and playful bickering?"
"Exactly that!" Alfred sighed, exasperated. "Seriously bro, she drives me crazy. And not in a good way!" he spat out as Arthur opened his mouth to argue his point. "I'm sure she's a nice girl but she...I dunno, she rubs me the wrong way, just like I do to her. No romantic feelings. Like, at all."
Arthur narrowed his eyes but seemed satisfied with that and dropped it...for now. Alfred released the breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Finally the jogging was over and Alfred stood off to the side with Mai as Lien and Arthur went though their stretches, suddenly much more self-conscious of his interactions with the Vietnamese girl.
"What do you think the chances are that the meet will be canceled before I get to the start line?" she asked Arthur with a small smile. He laughed.
"Not as good as I wish they were, old girl."
Once it became time to go outside, Mai returned to camp and a half-finished romance novel, and the small group picked up Lili in return. Alfred grinned and offered the younger girl space under her own pink umbrella, which Lien promptly teased him for using. Alfred sent back an insult at her femininity half-heartedly in return, for some reason, really hoping Arthur had noticed how it lacked it's usual bite.
O
As Arthur and Lien approached the starting line, Alfred and Lili took a spot at the top of the last straightaway. Lien was called up up start the race, so Arthur went though his pre-race routine, trying to focus on the task at hand but finding it more difficult that usual.
He shouldn't have gotten cross with Alfre about his flirting the Lien. What a hypocrite he was! Why, if Alfred only knew what kind of situations Arthur had gotten himself into his freshman year... well, who knew what he would think of him? He really needed to get emotions under control.
BANG
And apparently he really needed to start focusing on this bloody race as well, seeing as the girls had just entered the bell lap. Frantically, he ran through the last bit of his stretches, pushing his wet hair from his face and re-lacing his spikes once more so they felt absolutely perfect around his feet. He noticed himself shivering, so he did a few sprints in the infield to keep himself warm.
Lien finished in fifth, panting and rubbing her bare arms with equally cold hands for warmth. Emma was at her side in a moment with a relatively dry blanket and her relatively dry warm-ups. Arthur bit back the jealousy that no one was keeping his warm-ups dry for him and forced a smile to his face instead.
"How was it?" he asked sympathetically.
The girl simply stared back at him, completely exhausted and physically shivering. She shook her head miserably. Arthur winced.
A minute later the last of the girls finished, and Arthur found himself on the start-line cold, wet, and not at all prepared. The gun was shot before he even had a chance to think to himself how little he wanted to do this, and he was off. The nice thing about running, though, was that as soon as this was over, the pain and suffering of the race would be more or less completely repressed in his psyche, and he could forget it ever happened.
The race started off completely normal, the runners were clumped together around the first curve, fighting for second because no one wanted to lead the group through the wind and rain. Arthur kept himself at third; he wanted to be close enough to the front to make a move when the time was right, yet far enough away that the wind and rain wouldn't assault his body.
"Go Arthur!"
"C'mon Artie, you got this! Relax your arms, widen your stride!"
He peeked to the infield, his eyes instantly landing on the bright pink umbrella sheltering Lili and Alfred from the rain. Lili clapped politely next to the screaming Alfred, who was using the arm that was not holding the umbrella in place to motion how Arthur should be moving his arms. He nodded and forced himself to relax; Alfred beamed.
The gap between the runners increased the next lap. Arthur passed the bloke in front of him, but was immediately passed by someone else in return. He focused on keeping his stride fast and relaxed, his arms loose and his breathing even. As he turned the curve, he kept his eyes trained on the pink dot at the top of the next turn, using it as his own personal goal. Just focus on reaching that umbrella; focus on reaching Alfred.
He was sure Lili must have cheered as he passed, but her voice was heavily outweighed by the American at her side.
"Let's go Arthur!" Alfred exclaimed. "You can catch that guy, Artie! I know you can! You better be on his ass the next time you come around! Go!"
Arthur narrowed his eyes determinedly, resolute not to let Alfred down. Alfred thought he could catch the guy in front of him, Alfred told him he could do it.
His third lap was a blur, Arthur's entire focus was on closing the gap between himself and number two. He managed to pass him right at the start line, woken from his determined haze by the sounding of the gun lap. He hadn't even realized he had already passed the pink umbrella, and he wondered briefly what advice Alfred had supplied him with that time.
With one lap to go, Arthur gave himself a mini pep-talk to finish. That was all he had to do. 400 meters stood between him and the chance to stop, the chance to go back inside, wrap himself in a blanket, and read until it was time to cheer on Alfred. All he had to do was bloody finish.
He figured the leader was too far off for him to catch, but thankfully the one he has just passed was close enough to keep the fire lit.
He just kept his eyes trained on the the pink umbrella.
O
Alfred was hopping around from foot to foot as he followed Arthur with his eyes. Poor Lili was left to hold on to the umbrella when Alfred let it go and sprinted to the edge of the track, the rain and wind be damned. Arthur could totally catch the guy in first! The dude had a freaking awesome kick when he wanted to, though he often thought so little of his own abilities he didn't utilize it. Alfred clenched his fists, determined to get Arthur that first place.
Arthur was tired, that much was obvious, and Alfred could tell that the leader was the last thing on his mind. He kept at a good pace, however, fast enough to stay ahead of the guy behind him, but slow enough that the wind wouldn't be too much of an issue. Alfred bit his lip, he had a bad feeling that guy behind him was only letting Arthur block the wind.
Alfred cupped his hands around his mouth, leaning just enough over the track that he wouldn't get in the runner's way. The guy in first passed him, huffing and puffing, obviously running only on fumes to get to the finish line.
"He's tired, Artie! He's tried!" he exclaimed, meeting Arthur's eyes somehow. "Kick it in, buddy! You got this! Catch that guy!"
Arthur passed him with a small, barely noticeable nod. Alfred smiled.
"And don't let that guy use you to block the wind!" he called as an afterthought. The guy behind Arthur coughed.
Alfred took off across the track to meet Arthur at the other side of the curve, at the end of the last straight-away. Lili followed behind, squeaking every few seconds when the wind got caught up in her umbrella, but she was the last thing on Alfred's mind. The gap was quickly closing between the top two runners, and Alfred crossed his fingers that Arthur had a faster sprint.
"Stay strong, Arthur!" Alfred exclaimed, even though he wasn't entirely sure Arthur could even hear him. He was "in the zone", and Alfred knew as well as anyone that a nuclear bomb could go off and Artie wouldn't hear it, all of his focus was on that finish line 100 meters away. Not that that would stop him from cheering of course. "Less than 100 left, buddy, you got this! You can catch him!"
Other athletes were running to the track to cheer on the runners, as is custom when there is any kind of close finish, so Alfred had to push through clusters of people to even get next to the track once again as he ran to watch the finish. His eyes never left Arthur, whose face had taken on a determined, stubborn, yet pained look. He found himself next to Gilbert about ten meters from the finish line and together they cheered for Arthur to sprint, run faster, and, in Gilbert's case, not to be a pussy.
Finally the two athletes crossed the line and finished the race, hunched over and panting, despite knowing damn well they were making it harder for themselves to breathe. Coach Germania rushed to Arthur, patting his back and handing him a cup of water.
"Did I get him?" Arthur asked between breaths as he was guided of the track.
Germania, never one to beat around the bush, shook his head. "He got you at the very end." Arthur cursed and crumpled up his paper cup, tossing it into a garbage can. "But," the coach continued, "you got a PR."
Arthur was in the process of slipping on his (now soaking) warm ups, and instantly perked up. "I did? What was it?"
"4:07:76."
Arthur's eyes widened comically. "Bugger off!"
Germania shook his head, but smiled knowingly. "That ranks you, oh, I would say, first for conference." Arthur's face broke into a huge smile before finally catching up with the weather around him and sneezing. Germania sighed. "Now get your ass inside and cool down, you'll do me no good to conference if you're sick."
"Y-yes sir," Arthur gathered up his things and rushed off toward the gym.
"Arthur!"
"Alfred? Oof!" Arthur coughed, as Alfred trapped him in a tight hug. "What on earth are you doing, you twat?" he exclaimed.
Alfred laughed. "Dude, that race was awesome! It sucks you didn't get him at the end, but Coach G. said you got a PR! Way to go, man!"
Arthur blushed, brushing his wet fringe out of his eyes. "Ah- well, it's nothing..."
"Dude! You dropped like five seconds! That's awesome!"
The older boy blushed even deeper, wringing his pants in his hands nervously. "W-why don't we head inside to finish this discussion," he said softly. "I'm quite cold."
"Oh! Shit, sorry man, c'mon let's head in. I'll cool down with ya, okay?"
They jogged into the warm building together, sighing contently when the rush of warm air hit them. Matt, Francis, and a few other athletes asked how the race went and offered their congratulations as Arthur stripped himself of his wet uniform. Unbeknownst to Arthur, Alfred blushed softly as Arthur's skin was revealed.
"Let's jog to the bathroom so I can change my shorts," Arthur muttered. "I feel like I'll never be warm again."
Once Arthur was changed, the boys continued their cool-down, jogging around the elevated track Arthur had warmed up on before the race. They kept a fairly compatible silence, broken finally by a sudden cough from Arthur.
"You okay?" Alfred asked. "Coach is gonna kill you if you're getting sick."
Arthur shook his head and cleared his throat. "I just...I wanted to, you know... thank you."
Alfred blinked. "Huh? Thank me for what?"
"You know," he sighed. "Cheering for me during the race. I don't think you understand how much your cheering and advice helps me. I wish I could have caught him at the end, but...well..." Arthur trailed off, not quite ready to admit how upset with himself he was at letting Alfred down.
The younger boy grinned. "You actually heard me? Sweet! I thought you didn't! Like you were all focused and stuff."
"Well I was," he chuckled. "But you tend to be hard to ignore." Alfred grinned.
"Glad I could help, then!"
They finished up with the cool down (about ten minutes short of the twenty minutes they were supposed to run), and went back to camp so that Arthur could grab some food and Alfred could continue to wait until the end of the meet to run, much to Arthur's irritation. They had just nearly settled in when the door to the gym busted open, allowing an angry Mathias to stomp through.
"Det ver noget pjat!" he exclaimed in loud, angry Danish. "What a joke! I was on the start-line! On top of it!"
Everyone at the WU camp (as well as a few other school's camps) turned to look at him, surprised. Kiku followed him soon after, much more quietly, and covered head to toe with a bight yellow poncho.
"The meet has been canceled," he explained, taking off his hood as he walked up to his teammates. "Right as the 800 was about to start, they spotted lightening. The coaches said to start packing up."
A chorus of relieved sighs and whoops of joy spread from the camp as athletes started packing up blankets, books, and bags. Alfred, in particular, seemed especially joyful, grabbing his brother's head under his arm and hugging it tightly, ignoring his wiggling and punching.
Arthur, however, was not nearly as pleased.
"The meet is what?" he exclaimed. "They've canceled it now? Now? I've already bloody ran!"
Alfred laughed heartily, throwing an arm over his distressed roommate's shoulders. "Look on the bright side, we get to go home!"
Arthur glared. "I'm done for the day! It doesn't even matter!"
"You got a PR?" Alfred offered lamely. Arthur's glare intensified. "I'll let you watch a movie on my laptop during the ride home?"
"I get to pick it," he grumbled. "And there will be no complaining from you. Even!" he exclaimed as Alfred opened his mouth to protest. "Even if it's one of my, and I quote, 'totally boring-arse romanic comedies.'"
Alfred stuck out his tongue. "Fine. I don't know why you even bring those stupid DVDs with you to every meet. Rome will never let you show them on the bus."
"Because they are lovely and I enjoy them," he replied simply, throwing his gym bag over his shoulder. "Come now, let's go get this movie started. We only have 4 hours to kill until we get back home."
Alfred sighed, despite the small, amused smile that snuck to his lips. "Oh goodie, can't wait."
Little bit longer than the other one with a little bit more running! This was based on an actual meet I went to my senior year of college where the weather was awful and it was canceled right after I had ran. XD I was so pissed.
Again! There's some track lingo in this that may be confusing to those who have never ran track before, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! My tumblr is seecarrun (link in profile), and I'm on there quite a bit, so feel free to contact me though there with questions if you don't want to ask them on here!
A few notes: PR = Personal Record; 1500= 3 and 3/4 laps; 4x4 = 4 people each running a lap in a relay.
Hope you enjoyed, and have a great day! :D -Car