Breakfast was served in typical French fashion as a small parting gift. Lafayette helped Francis make a plate of pastries and fruit before letting the little boy sip from his cup of coffee to see if the other wanted any. He laughed and ruffled Francis's hair when the boy's face twisted into an expression of disgust as he quickly shook his head and pushed the cup of coffee back into Lafayette's hands.
"Don't feel bad, mon petit. It is a, uh, ac-acqui- well, you need to get used to it." Lafayette said with a small smile to the little boy as they all started to eat together happily.
"An acquired taste." The Major supplied for Lafayette with a small smile to the young aristocrat, personally having come to find his lack of fluency rather charming. He'd have to keep an eye out and an ear open for any further word of the French teenager in the future, part of him very confident that the boy would become as great as the young man seemed so sure that he would be.
"Yes, that's it. Acquired taste." Lafayette said with a happy smile as they all ate together contently, chatting easily.
As they finished up, they all turned to the door when they heard a knock on the door, a carriage clearly visible from the front window of the house, a two of the men from the brotherhood waving to him happily from outside the window. The three men he was traveling with were older than he was, but, with the exception of one of them, acted like young boys with him. All of them seemed to have the same thirst for revolution that he did.
"I'll get that. You finish eating." The Major said to Lafayette, standing up from the table and heading over to the door to let the trio inside the house as they finished eating together.
"Bonjour, mes amis." Lafayette said to the trio happily from his place at the table.
"Good morning, Marquis. We're ready to go when you are." The most serious of the group said to him easily.
Lafayette nodded and finished eating with the little family, watching as Mary packaged up the leftover pastries for the men to eat on their journey back up north.
"Lafayette, what about my present?" Francis asked eagerly, gently tugging at Lafayette's freshly laundered coat.
"I wouldn't forget that, mon petit. Now, close your eyes and hold out your hands." Lafayette said with a small smile to Francis, poking his nose. When the little boy had his eyes closed and palms extended, he reached into the pocket of his coat to pull out a small silver lapel pin in the shape of the Fleur de Lis that was encrusted with little diamonds. He then pinned it to lapel of the little boy's jacket easily.
"Alright open your eyes." He said after a bit, watching with a smile as the other looked down at his empty hands, then down at the glittering new pin on his jacket.
"Hey, you didn't put it in my hands!" Francis said confusedly.
"I know. I tricked you, mon petit." Lafayette replied, grinning happily at the little boy and laughing happily as Francis scowled at him before gently hitting his shoulder. "You be good for your Maman and Papan, alright?"
"I'll try." Francis replied with a small smile to Lafayette, moving to hug the young man as he got up from the table. "You gotta promise to write to me, okay? Promise!"
"D'accord, mon petit. I promise, I'll write to you and your parents." Lafayette replied, placing a hand over his heart. He kissed the little boy's head softly before moving to go over to Mary, hugging her happily.
"Thank you for your hospitality, madame. It will not soon be forgotten." He thanked her sincerely.
"It was no problem, Lafayette. If you're ever back in Charleston, don't be a stranger, alright? You're more than welcome here. You're practically family under this roof." Mary replied to him easily.
Lafayette nodded and moved on to the Major, grinning at him happily before hugging him tightly. "My dear Major. How do I thank you for all you've done for me?"
"Just stay alive, write to us, and make us proud. We'll be watching and listening for any word of you." The major replied with a smile back to the younger man. "By the way, your English has come quite a long way since I met you a few weeks ago." He added in fluent French, laughing at the shock on Lafayette's face.
Lafayette smiled once again after a bit and laughed softly with the Major, hugging him once more before kissing both of his cheeks. "Au revoir, mes amis." He said to the family with a polite bow to them before he put his hat on and moved with the three men from the brotherhood to leave the house, carrying his trunk of belongings to the carriage. They all got settled in the carriage together easily and headed off on his way. Lafayette watched out the window as the family waved to them from the front porch of the large house. He waved back to them easily, his other hand holding his hat securely on his head as he leaned out the window until the little family was nothing more than a few dots in the distance.
"One day, once this whole war's over, I need to take a trip to France." The more serious of the men, Benjamin, commented after a while as they rode together easily.
"Oh definitely. Is it as great as everyone says?" a second brother, Abraham, agreed with a smile to the Frenchman seated next to him.
"Yes, I love France. The landscapes are as lovely as the women, with plenty of art and wine and culture to keep a person entertained for a long time." Lafayette replied with a small smile to them.
"Are French ladies a lot different from American ladies?" the third brother, Caleb, asked curiously.
"I confess I can't say for sure. I was not a bachelor for very long before I met my Adrienne and married her. American and French women are all very lovely, but I think French ladies tend to fuss over how they look a bit more. There is a much clearer line between the classes in France. You can know which woman has more money with one glance." Lafayette explained to them easily.
"What do they dress like?" Abraham asked curiously.
"Well, the richer women seem to strive to look like Marie Antoinette. The paler your skin is, the better, so they use cosmetics to make their faces fairer. They'll also put rouge on their mouths, make their lips red like the rose." Lafayette explained, talking with his hands and tapping his lips when talking about way the women would color their lips. "Men will often wear wigs, but ladies like looking more natural. They will powder their hair and sometimes add some fake hair to make it higher. Women and men want to have brown or blonde hair, and red hair like mine is unattractive."
Abraham blinked at that and moved to gently lift up the back of Lafayette's white wig to look underneath it. "Ah, would you look at that. It's red like fire. I don't know what I expected, though."
"So, do the carpets match the drapes, then?" Caleb asked with a smirk as Lafayette's expression switched to one of deep confusion as the Frenchman cocked his head at him.
"Caleb, that's not a good thing to ask a woman, let alone a man you have to travel with for almost a week." Benjamin scolded, hitting the other's chest.
"Drapes? Carpets? Je ne comprends pas…" Lafayette said with a small frown, looking over as Abraham laughed happily next to him.
"Don't worry about it, Marquis. Caleb's mouth is controlled by his mind, and his mind is controlled by his cock." Benjamin said with a small sigh. "He has the moral backbone of a chocolate éclair, and the mind of a fourteen year old boy."
"Hey, I'm just a lonely guy, that's all. Besides, if you close your eyes and just imagine really hard, everyone will feel like a lady." Caleb protested, a roll of thunder following his words.
"You hear that, Caleb. That's God telling you to watch your sinful back." Abraham said with a laugh to the other man.
"Do you think it will rain?" Lafayette asked, changing the subject as he looked out the window at the darkening sky and the quickly gathering clouds in the sky overhead.
"I wouldn't be surprised. It definitely looks that way." Benjamin replied easily. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asked when Lafayette handed his hat to Abraham before standing on the seat and moving to move out of the window to grab his trunk from on top of the carriage so the clothes inside wouldn't get wet, and the portrait of his family would stay nice and dry.
"Lafayette, you're toeing the line between being brave and being a suicidal bastard." Benjamin said with a sigh as the Frenchman got the trunk and sat back down in his seat.
"Sorry, I just don't want it getting wet." Lafayette replied sheepishly as Abraham put his hat back on his head.
"Hey, don't listen to him. Bravery is a good thing in anyone who wants to be a soldier." Caleb said easily with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Soon enough, rain started to fall slowly outside their carriage as they rode along and chatted together contently. The rain picked up in force, and soon enough it was down pouring, the dirt road they drove on turning to mud and rocks.
The carriage soon got stuck in a spot of mud, losing balance as the horses continued on, and pitching to the side to the surprise of the young men inside.
"Let's go inspect the damage." Caleb said with a small sigh, opening the door on the side that wasn't on ground and working to awkwardly get out of the carriage, the other men squirming out as well to find one of the axles snapped in half.
"Well, we're in the middle of nowhere, it's pouring, and the carriage is broken. Anyone have any ideas?" Abraham asked with a small sigh, looking between the men.
"There are three horses. The driver can take one horse and then the rest of us can ride in twos." Lafayette said to the group after a bit of thought.
"That sounds good to me." Benjamin said, moving to the horses, getting them ready to be ridden with the other men.
"Who's riding with who, then?" Caleb asked curiously.
"Well, after that comment about the drapes and carpets, I think you should ride with anyone who isn't Lafayette." Benjamin replied to him easily.
"I'll ride with Lafayette." Abraham said, slinging an arm around the taller Frenchman's shoulders happily.
"Alright. I'll keep an eye on Caleb, then." Benjamin said easily before they all got suited on their horses.
Abraham followed Lafayette up onto the horse, sitting behind the taller man and holding onto him by the waist, figuring the aristocrat would more than likely be the best rider out of them all.
Once they were all set to go, they all headed out together to ride through the rain and continue on their trek to Philadelphia and Abraham quickly learned that being an aristocrat didn't automatically equip a person with grace and control. Nonetheless, they rode together until they found a little town with an inn attached to a small tavern. They stopped there for the night and tied up their horses easily before heading inside to get a couple rooms.
Lafayette shared a room with Abraham, setting their things down in the room and getting settled for the night. When they were all settled, they met Caleb and Benjamin outside the rooms and headed down to the tavern for a couple drinks.
As they sat down, a few other men laughing happily and loudly walked into the tavern, draping their red coats over the backs of their chairs as they talked loudly.
"This rabble will be shut down soon enough. Children who are too loud and unruly need to be punished and kept in their place. That's exactly how it will go with the colonies." One of the men said easily while Lafayette ordered a glass of wine and sat with the other three men, listening in on the other group's conversation.
"So, you don't think this will last too long?" One of the redcoats asked.
"Of course not. The British military is unstoppable, and the strongest in the world. All Washington has to send are little boys. I have no intention to surrender to pups." The first man replied dismissively.
"And I have no intention to surrender whatsoever. I'm strong, not French." Another redcoat joked, making their entire table laugh heartily.
Abraham heard the jab and looked over at Lafayette, as the young aristocrat's expression seemed to harden.
"Ah, speaking of which, did you hear what the new French military's flag looks like?" One of the redcoats asked, his face smooth and stoic.
"I didn't hear they were making a new one." Another redcoat replied curiously.
"Oh, yes. It's a white cross on a white background." The first redcoat said, the table bursting into laughter again.
"Marquis…" Abraham said softly when he noticed the way Lafayette's jaw clenched, the other men having started to watch the rather proud, and often patient, Frenchman's patience wear thinner and thinner before their eyes.
Lafayette finished his glass of wine as he listened to the British men tell another joke about how Jesus hadn't been born in France because no one could find any wise men or any virgins.
"Another wine, please. In fact, I'll just buy the entire bottle." He said to the woman working behind the bar politely. When she'd returned with the bottle of wine, he took it, paid the woman, and walked over to the table of British men, smiling at them politely as they all stopped talking and turned to look over at him.
"Bonsoir, monsieurs." Lafayette greeted easily. "Excusez-moi. I couldn't help but overhear your jokes. I'm sorry, but I don't understand them. Explain them to me?"
"I don't know if I could. I don't think your wine-soaked mind could understand it if I tried." One of the redcoats replied with a small frown to the young man with the heavy accent.
"Ferme ta bouche." Lafayette replied with a frown before tipping the bottle of wine over to pour the contents onto the other's head and wig. "Understand?" He spat, leaning down to push his face rather close to the now fuming British officer's.
Benjamin decided to break up the confrontation before it went any farther and quickly grabbed the empty bottle of wine from Lafayette's hand before he could use it as a weapon, then grabbing the collar of Lafayette's coat, dragging him away and over to the group.
"Lafayette, why don't you go up to the room and write to your wife? Cool down." Benjamin advised the teenager.
"Listen to your elders, little boy. It's past your bedtime." The wine-soaked British soldier supplied with a frown, making Lafayette's attention snap back to him.
"You're taking it back!" Lafayette shouted before starting to advance on the redcoat, though not getting too far when Benjamin and Abraham both grabbed him by the torso, holding him back.
"Abraham, take him up to your room." Benjamin said with a sigh while Caleb just smiled and laughed at the scene happily.
"Sleep it off, sleep it off. God, I love you, kid." Caleb said with a happy laugh, patting Lafayette's back as Abraham lead him out of the tavern and back up to their room for the night.
"If it helps, I would have done the same thing." Abraham said gently to Lafayette as he lead the Frenchman up to their room for the night, letting the man cool down by writing a letter to Adrienne and just talk to him, both in French and English.
Lafayette talked and talked about everything on his mind as he stripped down to go to bed for the night with Abraham, perfectly calm once they were both laying in the bed under the warm covers.
"Abraham?" Lafayette asked softly after a bit as he snuggled into the other man's warmth.
"Yes?" Abraham asked, not minding Lafayette's little need to snuggle up and cuddle in the bed.
"What did Caleb mean earlier? About the drapes and carpets, I mean."
"Let's just go to bed and leave it behind us. Tomorrow's a new day." Abraham said, smiling a bit as Lafayette just nodded and fell silent until his breaths evened out as he fell asleep next to him.