Free Web NovelChapter 120: Chapter 120
"I only tripped because you wouldn’t stop talking." Valentin shot back at him.
"Out of the way, I’ll get it." Alois stepped forward, unimpressed with their argument.
Everyone quietly watched him start up the tree and then promptly try to climb up a branch that was too weak to hold up his weight, the branch snapped but he managed to keep his balance.
"Come down before you hurt yourself." Louis immediately hounded him.
Alois glared at him and nearly lost his balance again. "I’m fine."
"I could have gotten it," Valentin grumbled, staring unhappily up at Alois’ progress with his arms crossed.
"Like hell you could have," Louis fired back.
"Hey! Who’s side are you on?" Valentin turned to him, hurt.
"The side that no one is tripping." Audie found a chance to slip into the quickly heating conversation, snickering as he did.
"I wasn’t talking to you." Valentin said in a curt manner, aggravated.
"Your collective squawking is distracting me." Alois called from his perch on a branch.
"Using your ears to see now? We should have left the job of retrieving the map to someone more trustworthy." Louis huffed, always the first to take a jab at Alois.
"I see you’re not talking about yourself." Alois countered confidently.
"And I see that your eyes are working again." Audie jumped into the fray, not wanting to be left out of the free for all jabbing.
Errol just watched on in frustration, all he wanted was to get off the road and eat some breakfast. "That’s it, I’m holding the map this time." He said when Alois finally got hold of the map and started making his way down.
He knew that the argument of who would hold the map would be the next on the itinerary and he wasn’t about to let them all rip into each other for a map that they were all unqualified to hold.
A little distance away, Dio unfurled his palms to show Cecil another bug. He and the other hadn’t been paying attention to the ruckus happening just beside them.
"Oh wow, you caught an even bigger one." Cecil said in the most enthusiastic voice he could muster, it came out very strained.
Dio silently offered it to him and although Cecil wanted nothing to do with bugs of any kind, he took it in his second hand, a look of visceral pain on his face. Now he was clutching skittling bugs in both of his hands and he watched with resigned horror as Dio promptly went off to find more.
Cecil prided himself on being a bad guy, being brought up in a family of people with sketchy morals who ran even sketchier businesses but something about a mute Alpha with mismatched eyes offering bugs made him forget all that.
"Are you alright?" Alois walked right up to him after getting down from the tree.
Cecil just sighed in relief, "Thank fuck you’re here, take, take..." He quickly hoisted the bugs on his boyfriend, a visible shiver running through his body.
Alois’ dark mood improved at this, humor dancing in his leaf-green eyes. "Scared of bugs?"
Cecil quickly put some distance in between them, "Maybe."
-*-
They finally made it to their campsite but it wasn’t devoid of more arguments. As a matter of fact, Louis and Alois found a reason to argue as often as they could, Valentin was collateral damage while Audie just joined in for the fun of it.
Errol didn’t bother resolving their issues, as long as they were still moving, he couldn’t be bothered if they all jumped each other. He held the map while Nael helped him read it, making them complete their journey faster.
At the other end of the group, Tarquin and Henri were peacefully enjoying the journey while pretending to not see the mini-battle going on in front of them.
It was an even far better turnout than Henri hoped, although he couldn’t help but get a niggling feeling in his middle that eventually, they would both team up to come after him.
Errol didn’t let them get into another argument when they got to the campsite, immediately putting everyone to work. What made it even better was that Louis and Alois were the best cooks so they were both in charge of meals.
Errol didn’t give them both a chance to argue either, and it turned out that they were more efficient when they worked together. Breakfast was ready in no time, and afterward, they all sat around the low-burning fire to take a much-needed break.
The atmosphere was clearly different from the one they had when Seton had been with them. Tarquin had tied up the horse at the edge of the campsite, his tent only a few meters away. He had fed the horse even before setting up his tent and returned to it after eating breakfast.
Henri squatted beside the fire and poked the burning sticks with Dio by his side. The rest all sat quietly on the logs and it was the most peace they had gotten after starting their field trip.
Audie was the first to get bored, he quickly got tired of just sitting around the fire, saying little. "Let’s go check out the lake."
"It’s a running river." Alois countered calmly, letting Cecil rest his head on his legs.
"So are we checking it out?" Audie prodded, refusing to be diverted.
"No, I’m tired, maybe later." Errol said nicely, getting to his feet with plans to take a nap in his tent.
"I’m not going without Errol." Nael said bluntly, getting to his feet as well.
"Want to go?" Alois turned to Cecil. freewebnøvel.com
Cecil shrugged, "Errol’s idea doesn’t sound so bad, I’m also going to nap."
"Not going." Henri said, knowing that Louis was waiting for his answer too.
"I’m not going either and I don’t think Dio is interested."
"It’s no fun if you’re all not going..." Audie started to grumble.
"I’ll go!" Tarquin called out, hurrying closer. "I want the horse to have a drink." He said honestly when Audie glanced at him.
Valentin rolled his eyes, "Fine, I’ll go too."
-*-
They all went to the river after lunch, and even Henri went along, Tarquin making sure to take his horse.
The senior was the most content that Henri had ever seen him, the rest of the group letting him do as he wanted without leaving him out of the group.
Henri found a peaceful perch on a rock higher up on the river, he could watch the others splash around in the water, Louis and Alois teaming up to catch fish together.
This was already shaping up to be a really fine trip already, sure they argued every now and then but at this point, it was just harmless banter.
After dinner, the air became even calmer, the only one causing a ruckus was Audie who dragged Valentin along on his trysts, the others too busy with their partners to pay them any attention.
The rest of the field trip pretty much went that way, Henri having the most freedom ever. He even managed to convince Louis and Alois to let him clean up all by himself. It was a pretty nice way to end the year.
By the end of the field trip, the horse looked to be in a better condition than when it was first given to them. Its chestnut coat glistened and it seemed to have gotten even bigger.
The trip back was even better, it was easy and Henri would get to soak in a hot tub after days of sufficing with cold river water.
Carriages were waiting as usual for them to be taken to the dorms. When they got to the dorms, it was bustling which was a surprise. After the last field trip, most had gone straight to bed before discussing about how their field trip had gone.
But right now, it didn’t sound like anyone was sleeping.
"Hey, you’re back!" Jann beamed when he bumped into them in the hallway. he looked to be long settled in.
"Your campsite wasn’t a far distance?" Henri noted.
Dio and Louis had already gone down to their room, Jann helping Henri with his backpack instead.
"Yeah, we’ve been back for a couple of hours now."
"Is Cedric asleep?" He asked curiously when they went past Jann’s dorm room.
"No, he’s packing up." Jann said sheepishly, "I should get back before he gets mad." He added, dropping off Henri’s backpack in his room.
It added up now why the dorms were so loud, students were too busy packing up their bags to go home to care about sleeping, not Henri though.
He straightaway undressed to take a soak in the tub and went right to his bed afterward to get some sleep before lunch. There would be enough time to pack up after lunch, or after dinner even.
He was certain that his mother would be the one to come pick him up, frankly, he was impressed that she had managed to stay away throughout the duration of his first year of college. He could guess that his father had something to do with that.
