Gregory had only managed to wait 5 minutes before he had snapped at the team to start warming up. It wasn't that he was surprised... it was that Francis had proved him right. He wasn't captain material.
What kind of example was he setting for the team by arriving late, to his very first practice as captain. You could hardly ask everyone else to try their best, when you weren't willing to do the same yourself.
Gregory joined in with the warm-up with that shot, throwing himself into it as he pushed the other members of the team. He would just have to pick up the slack... otherwise, they would never make it to=
nationals.
hadn't planned to be late to the first day of official practices, but things happen and here he was, 15 minutes late and already hearing the sounds of the team warming up in the gym. He huffs and hurries to
get his gym clothes on, tossing his hair up into a ponytail, before entering into the gym like he'd planned it all along. "What a promising looking team!" he grins, making his way over to Gregory and
clapping him on the back. "Thanks for getting them started, I got all caught up with a group of cute girls who just wouldn't let me leave~" he grins sheepishly. "Is this everyone?"
Gregory makes a noise of disgust, doing very little to hide his feelings. He stops tossing for the team, something Francis should be doing and turns to other, looking up at him with a furrowed brow. When did=
the other get taller than him again? "It is now... You're 15 minutes late." He shoves the ball against Francis chest, not so softly before walking off to join the line of players waiting to spike.
laughs off the little noise, smiling down at him. Oh. This was a better view than before, somehow. "Sorry~" he starts, letting out a breath when Gregory shoves the ball into him. He laughs a bit,taking the ball
and moving into position. "Thank you dear~~" he teases, looking to the next person in line before starting back the practice. He did want to be a good captain after all!
Twitches with the endearment, resisting the urge to turn back around and start a fight over it. He could already see this next year flash before his eyes... And it was only the first day of practice.
Gregory takes out his frustration on his first toss of the day, throwing his weight behind the spike. He hears the satisfying thud against the floor, and looks up just in time to see it disappear_
Into the spectator's area. He grins at himself, despite the childishness behind the act, and goes to fetch it. The poor team was going to have an interesting day with these two as their leaders.
had gotten used to the pace at which the rest of the team was spiking before Gregory gets there, so when suddenly there's a lot more power involved and the ball smacks louder against the floor he startles and
frowns at the redhead. "Gregory's trying to show everyone up today, it seems," he hums in a light voice. "Are you going to let that happen?" he challenges to the next kind in line as Greg walks off to retrieve
the ball. When the next kid's up he grins, knowing the next spiker was good at aim. "How about testing your aim?" he grins. "Try hitting Greg next~" he whispers conspiratorially with a wink before
setting up the spike for him as Gregory's coming back.
The kid hesitates, knowing Gregory to be the scarier of the two. But when Francis' grin was aimed at someone, it was hard to deny him anything. The kid swallows back his fear and jumps to meet the toss, eyes on
the vice captain as he enters the court. The spike lands before Gregory and comes up to hit his arm, a reflex he's learned after years of practice. "Watch where you're spiking!" he snaps, an angry red mark=
spreading over his arm. His gaze shift towards Francis, accusation in his eyes.
laughs gleefully when the kid does as instructed, giving him a thumbs up. "He was! It was a good hit," he hums. Giving Francis this much power was probably a bad thing. "Let's do one more round of spikes
before we move on," he decides, tossing for the next in line and letting the momentum keep up. It'd be good if they played a game by the end of practice to get their heads back in it.
bristles at the blatant confession, resisting the urge to throw his ball at Francis head. He gets in line and when it's his turn he throws Francis a particulary difficult line-up. Let's see how he deals with_
that.
should've expected something like that from Gregory, but he had gotten well into the rhythm of the other tosses he had been receiving. He has to step back quickly and manages to toss it back with a shitty
set-up for a spike, but he stumbles and runs his hip into the corner of the ball basket with a gasp before managing to steady himself. "Aim better next time!" he scolds, though he knows Gregory did that on
purpose. He pouts, rubbing his hip now... that would probably bruise.
manages to salvage the toss, although his hand brushes the net and would have led to a point for the other side during a match. "Sorry captain. My arm is playing up..."
hums at him, ready for the next person so he can finish up this warm up and move on. "Maybe you should go to the nurse then," he offers.
shakes his head, "God knows what would happen if I wasn't here." He moves to stand by Francis, watching the other finish up. "How are we gonna split them up today... I think a lot of the second years still=
need to work on recieves. We relied on the third years too much for that."
smiles at the response, expecting nothing less. He finishes up with the line for spikes, telling them to get a drink before they move on to the next thing. "Mm, good idea. I'll take the first years then, start
introducing them to the hand thingys and such," he makes some vague versions of their hand signals to show what he was talking about. "And welcome them to the team of course!"
Makes a face, "I think you mean hand signals... Not thingies. Do you even know them properly?" He could feel the headache starting.
laughs at the face he makes, patting his back again. "I know them, don't worry your pretty little head." He was the one that had to use them after all!
flushes, stepping away out of reach from the other. "Don't corrupt them too much then." He stomps off to gather the second years, groans filling the room when they learn that they'll
be doing recieving practice.
chuckles at the warning, letting out a sigh once Gregory has stomped away. The other was so grumpy, he'd have to do his best to help him fix that somehow. He smiles though, heading over to the
group of first years to introduce them to the team, the signals, and to get them started with a bit of practice.
seems to actually relax outside of Francis' presence, and despite the initial groans of protests a lively atmosphere eminates from his side of the court. It's partly helped by the fact that Gregory throws=
himself into the practice also, and seems to be able to joke around with the guys he's learned to trust after years on the court. When they're taking a water break Gregory approaches Francis with a grin, "Do_
you think the first years are up for a match?"
finds he really enjoys his new position of power, seeing the way the first years looked up to him already even though they hadn't even seen him play yet. He gets them warmed up with volleys and is starting
in on serves when Gregory comes over. He dismisses the team for a water break as well, walking over to meet him at the net. "I would say they absolutely are," he agrees with a nod, finding this Gregory much
more pleasant to deal with. "That's really what we're here for anyways, right?" Francis pauses to take a sip from his water bottle, pausing with a hum before continuing. "Plus practice games are the only
time I get to whoop your butt," he teases with a grin.
raises an eyebrow, "Unless you can work miracles, I think you'll find my second years are gonna hand your arse to you, Bonnefoy." He seems a bit more amicable now. The first years don't appear overly scarred_
.... yet. Perhaps Francis would turn out to be an alright captain afterall. He turns back to his own group now that the challenge has been set, looking to pump them up for the game.
laughs at that, shaking his head. "We should mix teams. Or do you want to be the one to scar the first years?" he asks with a grin, knowing thats exactly what Gregory expected from him. "Plus we'll split the
third years too." Since they had just been practising their own thing off to the side. Francis felt a little weird being named captain when he wasn't the oldest on the team, but he supposed next year
would rectify that.
knows that the third years will have to leave soon anyway, to study for exams. It only made sense to name second years. He turns to face Francis. "Who's gonna decide how to split the teams then?" He sounded_
just as confident, even with the huge blow to his winning chances.
would suppose so. He hums, glancing to the third years, whom they conveniently had two of. "Let's make them do it," he grins, motioning towards the pair.
raises an eyebrow, before nodding. That was the fairest way. "Alright, you go ask 'em and I'll gather everyone up." Which really only consisted of Gregory yelling at them to get over here right this minute.
nods, though he cringes and covers his ears when Gregory suddenly shouts. He laughs a little, stepping over to the third years and explaining what was next. They join the rest of them, and soon enough
the teams are split up and ready to play on the opposite sides of the court.
Gregory seems pleased with the team his third year has picked, letting the senior lead the team tactics and watching the way he interacted. Sometimes he felt in over his head... but the only way he could_
fix that was to learn and work on it. Hopefully Francis would do the same. He's set up so that he's facing Francis on the first rotation. "Are you worried yet?" He asks, grin sharp.
definitely felt a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility of captain dropped on to him, especially since he had never even played until last year, but he had no intention of letting that show and so he's
all cocky grins and confidence as far as his teammates are concerned. "You're going down," he replies to Gregory with a smirk, ready to play. This was the good part, after all.
rolls his eyes at the confidence. Something Francis never seemed to lack. Gregory's team serves first and thanks to Gregory's practice is recieved rather cleanly... something he would otherwise be happy about.
He watches as the ball makes it way to Francis, trying to determine who the setter would toss to.
is pleased when Gregory's training backfires on him, though focusing on the ball instead of glancing to Gregory to see a frown. He's careful with his movements, showing the natural skill that had lead him to
become captain in the first place, and easily passing it off to the spiker that had earlier managed to hit Greg.
watches him, quickly shouting to other players at the net to cover the spiker who had tried to hit him earlier. He counts under his breath before shouting "Jump," the trio jumping to block the spike. It_
rebounds off of Gregory's arm and towards the floor. What Francis had in pure talent, Gregory had worked his arse off for in sweat and tears. Perhaps because Francis was so graceful and eye catching, he could_
see where the other would toss. If only they weren't on the same team.
can feel Gregory watching him- he was going to have to get better at faking his tosses, he muses. A first year dives for the ball and manages to hit it, but it bounces the wrong way and ends up on the floor
anyways. Francis reassures the boy that it was a nice save and cheers up his side with his smile, tossing over the ball to the next to serve. He knew he'd meet Gregory's gloating face when he turns back
around, but he keeps a grin on his expression anyways. One point wasn't much!
Gregory is there, beaming from ear to ear as he faces Francis. "Let's make it two points guys!" He shouts, the team replying with a short cheer. He meets Francis' gaze before the third year for his team serves.
His eyes follow the trajectory, noting how the ball goes straight to the Libero. "On your toes guys!"
can't help but laugh at Greg's confidence. "We've got this!" he calls out while the serve's in the air, his libero receiving it easily. The ball makes its way back to him and he
sets it up for what looks like a hard spike from a 2nd year spiker, though the kid attempts to fake the blockers out instead.
Is focused too much on how Francis sets up the spike that he misses the fake out, fingers missing the ball as he drops down to the floor. It lands behind him with a thud,
And he curses. "Let's just give 'em as good as they give guys." He pats the other guys on the back as they move to rotate, a middle blocker replacing Gregory infront of Francis.
| It's Francis's turn to shoot Gregory an amazingly confident grin, pleased with the fake out and congratulating the boy on a well done shot. The next to serve steps up, sending off a good serve, though
easy to receive again. They would have to work on that, Francis notes.
|The match progresses evenly, a point here and there until Francis' team takes a definitive lead towards the end of the match. On the match point the rotation has_
matched Gregory and Francis up again, facing each other on either side of the net. Gregory looks stressed, although he's putting on a brave face for his team.
He turns to Francis eventually, a look of stubborn determination on his face.
takes the opportunity to stretch his wings as captain, the scoreboard reflecting that he did seem to be doing a half-decent job of it at least. He notices when Gregory steps back in front of him and he
can't help but resume his grin from before, even more confident and showy this time. He can't help himelf but wink at Greg to tease, before
returning to paying attention to the game. This time when the ball comes to his team he has them attempt a three man fake out, setting it towards the kid further from Gregory.
|Gregory twitches in response to the wink, looking away as the ball is served cleanly over the net and right into the waiting arms of a second year.
Pushes the others towards the kid a moment too late, and the ball rushes past them. He dives, an act of desperation and misses the ball completely.
|The floor seems so inviting, as the loss sinks in and the idea of Francis' smug face comes to mind. He picks himself up however, commiserating with his team as he guides them over to shake_
Hands with the other side. His touch lingers with Francis, expression pained as he makes the point of begrudgingly congratulating him. "They gathered around you and pulled through... God knows why."
is glad that him are Gregory are the last two in line, so that he can milk this moment a little more. "Oho, does this mean you will admit that I was a good choice for captain after all~?" he teases, keeping his
friendly grip on Gregory's hand a moment longer. He does seem genuinely pleased by the little bit of praise from the stubborn redhead however, smiling rather than the smug grin that Greg had expected.
|Gregory resists the urge to outright protest Francis claim, just giving his hand a rough squeeze before pulling back from the hand shake. "Stop looking so pleased with yourself."
turns to the other members, telling the first and second years to clean up.
blinks with the rough squeeze and laughs, shaking his head as Gregory walks away. He joins in on the cleanup, helping to take down the nets and such and making cheerful chit chat as he goes.
|It's unsettling how quickly one can slip into a routine. He almost can't remember a time when he didn't have to go pick up Francis for practice. Every. Single. Day. And only a couple of weeks had passed.
Gregory is stalking the halls when he spots Francis this time, out in the courtyard, surrounded by a swarm of squealing banshees - better known as girls. He almost calls out his name_
Before he realises something. He has a volleyball, and a half decent aim on his side. And Francis appears to be oh so distracted so he has plenty of time to set it up.
|The ball smacks Francis on the back of the head with a satisfying thud, and Gregory follows behind it. "You should have been at practice 10 minutes ago."
had gotten used to Gregory coming to fetch him, and what had originally started as accidental lates turned into more purposeful slacking off, partially just to piss Gregory off because it was fun to rile him
up. He's current particularly engrossed in chatting with a group of girls when suddenly the ball smacks him upside the head. He shouts in surprise, hand coming to the back of his head and furrowing
his brow as he turns to spot who it was, expecting none other than the redhead. "Ahhh alas, it's my volleyball wife," he laments, turning back to the girls with a charming smile. "I'm afraid I must depart, my
dears," he continues, completely ignoring Gregory's words. "But my heart will continue to be thinking of you three~" he winks, before turning back to join Gregory with a grin.
|Gregory grabs his arm when he's within reach and drags him towards the club room. "In what universe am I the wife?" He retorts, cheeks flushing with anger.
"If you just somehow, you know, used your two legs and walked to the club room by yourself I wouldn't have to do this." He lets go when they reach the club room, crossing his arms. "Go change."
blinks and lets himself be half dragged, laughing as he catches up in step. "Well you nag enough to be!" he teases, pinching Gregory's cheek. "Plus you're pretty cute. You'd make a good wife," he
hums happily. He grins when Gregory tells him to go change, turning to face him as he walks backwards, pulling off his shirt seductively. "Ooh Gregory, do you want to watch~~"
Gregory swats the offending hand away, huffing. "You wouldn't make a good husband. Do you even know their names?"
|His eyes widen as Francis pulls yet another stunt, floundering for a moment before escaping towards the door.
|He would wait outside for Francis. "I'd rather gorge my eyes out."
relishes in the embarrassed look, laughing as Gregory leaves in a hurry. "Aw, it's nothing you haven't seen before," he hums, though enjoying the minor privacy and changing quickly so he can join the
practice. He steps back out after a moment, mid-tying his hair up. "Did you already start everyone on warm-ups?"
is waiting outside, in case Francis runs off. Something he wouldn't put past the captain. "No, I told them to sit on their hands and wait until you arrived." He heads towards the gym hall, where is lie is_
Easily proved wrong by the sound of trainers squeaking against wood and the regular thud or smack of a ball.
grins when Gregory's lie is almost immediately disproved, a bit pleased that this routine had become so normal somehow. Though he should start coming earlier to warm up too... but this was more fun. He
takes charge as he walks into the gym, getting the group to pause in their warm ups to come over so he could dictate what they'd be practising today.
rolls his eyes, following Francis in and watching as he takes charge as though he's done nothing wrong. It still baffled him that the team seemed to gather around the blond, despite his laziness.
Yet, he also finds himself following his directions to a point. There was a certain aura around him, when he took things seriously. If only he could apply that aura to arrving on time. Towards the end of_
practice, Gregory makes his way over. "I won't come pick you up tomorrow, so make sure you're on time."
had grown more comfortable in his role as captain as he had started to make friends with everyone on the team, including the new first years. Perhaps that's what made him so easy to follow, despite his own
well hidden insecurities about it. And he planned to make Gregory say he was a great captain by the end of the year! He pauses in his practice and blinks at Gregory at his words, before feigning hurt. "Don't
you love me any more?" he asks dramatically, draping a hand across his forehead.
smacks Francis upside the head, lighter then he really should have. "I never loved you in the first place, eejit," he counters, voice reverberating around the room.
gasps and brings his hand up to his head, pausing as he realizes that had reverberated enough for the background noise to stop and a few others to
look their way. "...how mean! My own wife doesn't love me!" he replies with a pout, still being fake dramatic.
feels his face heat up, not as aware of everyone else as Francis is. "Then maybe you should try making it to practice on time instead of flirting with girls."
grins at this reply, very aware that they were being watched (although by now only a few were paying attention to them, the rest going back to practice) and taking this opportunity because Gregroy was
fun to bother. "Oho, are you jealous mon ami~" he asks,draping an arm over Gregory's shoulders.
nudges Francis in the ribs with his elbow, scowling. "Of what? A couple of girls?" He rolls his eyes, "The whole world doesn't revolve around you Francis."
laughs, not letting go just yet despite the nudge. "If you were jealous, all you had to do was say so~" he sighs, pinching Gregory's cheek teasingly. "I'll give you the attention you want~" he winks,
before finally pulling away from Greg... admittedly trying to avoid whatever retaliation he gets, and completely ignoring his reply.
_"I'm not jealous!" He attempts to elbow him again, missing Francis as he pulls back and loosing his balance for a moment. "I just want you to..." He sighs as he realises Francis isn't listening and walks off_
_in the other direction to start cleaning up.
can't help but hear his half reply anyways, laughing a bit but pausing at the defeated end to it. He hesitates, but lets Gregory walk away and does the same, letting the practice dissolve into
finishing cleaning up, thanking everyone for their hard work as they leave the gym.
Gregory watches as the team leaves, talking to some of the members he's closer to for a while. Soon enough, it's just the two of them left to lock up the hall.
"They're improving... maybe we have an actual chance at winning regionals..."
_He turns off the lights before stepping outside the door, waiting for Francis to lock the door.
finishes cleaning up, first locking the storage door and locking the gym doors behind them. He smiles happily at Gregory's words, taking it a little bit as personal praise, but also proud of the
team. "We're definitely going to win. Having confidence is key," he smiles with a wink, tucking his hands into his pockets as he walks alongside Gregory to leave.
raises his eyebrow. "But, having too much confidence makes you take stupid risks." He adjusts his bag, noting that they were headed in the same direction. "What? No date tonight?"
laughs a bit, shaking his head. "If you had more confidence and believed in good things happening, then maybe you'd get a girlfriend too~" he teases, though pausing a bit at the question. "I've got to
have a least a little time for school work too, right?" he shrugs. "You head home this way too?"
Gregory scoffs. Of course Francis would relate confidence to him not having a girlfriend. "Maybe if I didn't have to run around after you, I'd have a girlfriend."
He seems to relax with the latter statement however, nodding. "If you fail anything the team will be without a captain." He continues to head in the same direction as Francis, "And naw... I don't.
I'm just prolonging my torture for kicks."
laughs at the retort, bumping up against Greg playfully. "Oh is that so? Maybe you just don't want to admit you'd rather have me~" he teases. He hums in agreement though, before looking hurt at the last
statement and pouting at him. "How mean! Hanging out with me is an absolute delight~" he laughs. "But yeah, I'm aware of the school thing," he shrugs. Maybe he wasn't the best in some subjects, but he did
do his best so that he wouldn't drop below the acceptable level.
_Gregory pushes Francis away, scowling at his playfullness. "I'd rather have a headache then you." He shoves his hands in his pockets, huffing to himself. "Just make sure you don't fail anything."
lets himself be pushed away, chuckling softly despite being a little hurt. He had thought perhaps Gregory was joking with him at last, but apparently not. "Yes yes, mother hen. I'm not going to fail
anything, don't worry," he hums in reply. "Besides, you'd just take the opportunity to rise in rank anyways, wouldn't you prefer me to fail?"
makes a face at the question, glancing towards the other before looking away. "I think you're better at lifting their spirits, is all." He scowls, "Also... I'm in no way a Mum. I don't even have the right bits.
blinks at the compliment, smiling softly. "You can be a mum without the bits, you just look after everyone and nag until they do what you want," he teases.
shakes his head, "You're the only one I have to nag."
grins at him. "That just means I'm your favourite~"
looks utterly appalled by the idea, picking up the speed in his walking. "That would only happen if I was a masochist. Which... last time I checked, I wasn't."
laughs at this move, walking a little faster, though not enough to actually catch up. "Nah you seem to be more the sadist type. You're always throwing insults after all," he hums, slipping his hands into his
coat pockets as he walks, enjoying the fresh air.
rubs his temple with his free hand, sighing loudly. Of course Francis would go there. Why hadn't he seen it? "Only because you deserve them."
laughs at the reaction, trying to keep walking slow to see if Gregory would stick with him. "Does that make me the masochist in this relationship then?" he ponders with a hum, teasing still.
_Gregory does match Francis' pace, scowling over at him. "You're a narcissist and all those girls just feed into your ego. We don't have a relationship."
smiles pleasantly as he catches up with Gregory again thanks to that. "A friendship is a relationship still," he points out helpfully.
Gregory doesn't reply to that, knowing that he's been defeated. Francis was right, although he didn't want to admit that they were friends...
had almost been expecting Gregory to outright deny even that much, so he laughs happily as he takes the lack of denial as a confirmation. After a moment he gives mercy and changes the topic
though. "Got any plans for the weekend?"
Reaches out to hit Francis as he laughs, his cheeks beginning to match his hair. "Nothin', but I'm guessing you have something exciting planned."
laughs harder as he's smacked, shooing his hand away. "Non, not really.." he takes a breath to calm himself, giving Gregory a smile. "Do you want to hang out...?" he asks, his voice sounding more
casual than he felt.
Gregory looks over, eyebrows furrowing. "I'm not gonna let you copy my homework, if that's what you're after."
makes a face at him. "How mean, I thought you wanted me to pass!"
Rolls his eyes, "Which is why you should do your homework honestly." He stops at an intersection in the road, unsure of which direction Francis was headed in. "You can come over tomorrow
And I'll help you with your homework."
blinks at the offer, perking up a bit more. He had been expecting Gregory's reaction was a no, since the boy seemed set on thinking the worst of him. "Really?" he asks with a smile. "Thanks!" He blinks as they
stop though, noting the corner their on. "Ah... I go straight here. Where's you're house?"
Gregory points to a house in the distance, down the opposite street. "It's the one with the Scottish flag in the window." He says, cheeks flushing. His family were oddly patriotic.
laughs a little at the embarrassed look, nodding. "That'll make it pretty easy to find," he smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
waves him off, "I won't be holding my breath." He heads in the opposite direction, adjusting his bag once more on his shoulder. Now he just has to tell his Ma...
smiles happily and waves as he resumes heading home. "Au revoir mon ami~" he hums, happy as he walks off.
|| It's just after lunchtime when Francis shows up at Gregory's doorstep, bag slung casually over his shoulder. He looks up to the Scottish flag in the window, smiling a bit as he hesitates before
knocking. Hopefully Gregory had been serious. Francis had actually brought his homework... though he more wanted to go watch a movie or dick around at the mall instead, or something.
Gregory is the one that answers the door, clothes rather untidy. It didn't look like he intended to leave the house anytime soon. "I thought you'd ditch me for a girl or something."
blinks at the sight that greets him at the door, laughing a bit and waving off the assumption. "I considered it, but I thought perhaps you wanted my attention more than you let on" he teases.
watches him for a moment, brow twitching, before he steps aside to let him in. "I'd rather have the attention of a cute girl."
smiles, a little in relief as Gregory lets him in. He steps inside, glancing around before looking back to Gregory witha grin. "If that's what you want, we could go to the mall and see who's there
instead~?" he offers.
balks at the idea, shaking his head. "I don't want to hear the screeching of your fans more than I have to." He leads the way up to his bedroom, not bothering to show Francis around.
"Did you bring your homework?"
laughs, taking a look around as he follows him upstairs. "They might become your fans too if you stopped dragging me off by the ear all the time!" he protests. He tugs a bit at his bag strap. "Amazingly, I
actually did."
Gregory's house is clean, his mum makes sure of that. There is an air of wear and tear about the place, suggesting they have been there a while. "I told you I'm not gonna do that anymore."
opens the door to his room, letting Francis go in first. "Good. I usually do my homework on Friday but since you were coming over..." He trails off, foolwoing Francis into the room.
shakes his head, obviously not entirely believing that. "You'd miss doing it if you actually stopped~" he hums, entering Gregory's room and glancing around curiously before looking back to him. "I thought you
didn't actually expect me to show up?" he asks, though smiling. He was pleased to hear that maybe it was a bit more joking than it had felt.
isn't as sure about that as Francis is... he was sure he would have infinitely less headaches, once Francis started turning up on his own. "I almost suffocated holding my breath."
_He replies, voice dry with sarcasm. He fusses about his room, cleaning haphazardly as he lets his nerves overcome him.
He nods towards a low table in the middle of the room, pillows on either side. "Make yourself comfortable."
laughs, stepping over to plop down at the table with the invitation while Gregory fusses about. "Aww you were excited to see me~" he teases, pulling out his notebook and textbook.
straightens out his bed before joining Francis at the table, huffing. "Excited about what?" He pulls over his own textbooks. "If we finish quickly we can still go the shopping centre." An incentive, of sorts.
grins at him, batting his eyelashes. "Excited that your handsome classmate was coming to see you in your bedroom~ Ooh scandal~" He hums softly, opening his notebook. "That sounds like a
much better idea," he agrees, straightening up a bit and grabbing his pen. As he flips to a fresh page of his notebook Gregory could probably see the margin doodles that littered the pages... what looked like a
sign that Francis spent a lot of classtime distracted, perhaps.
Gregory settles down, stretching out his legs. "When is this handsome classmate coming?" He watches Francis open his book, expecting to see at least some notes.
_He sits up a little, leaning in closer to inspect. "Do you ever pay attention in class?"
pouts at the first comment, though looking back to his notebook at the second. "Oui, of course!" he defends, pointing to his handwriting that sometimes had to avoid a drawing.
Gregory leans in closer to look at the notes, nose scrunching up. He doesn't approve. "Should I lend you my notes?"
huffs softly. "What's wrong with these? I wrote it all down, see?" he replies, flipping the page to the most current lesson... which shared a page with an observational doodle of a classmate.
Gregory pulls out his own book in reply, opening it to the latest page. His notes are excessive in comparison to Francis'. "If by "all" you mean the bare minimum." He looks at the doodle_
recognising her as one of Francis' classmates. "So, Sarah is your type, huh?" Although... does Francis really have a "type"?
leans over to look at Gregory's book, and feels a bit overwhelmed by the wall of knowledge he had written. "That's too much," he criticizes in return, sitting upright again. He smiles a bit proudly as Gregory
recognizes who it is, though he hums at the question. "Well, she is a cute girl, and I do like cute girls," he answers non committaly.
Gregory rolls his eyes, taking his notes back. "This is why I have better grades than you. I don't waste my time day dreaming about girls." ... at least, during class time.
laughs, shrugging his shoulders. "It's more fun this way! Besides, it's not like school really matters," he hums, fixing a little part of the doodle. "As long as I pass enough to play volleyball, that's
all that counts," he smiles.
Gregory pulls out his homework, biting his tongue. He didn't want to come across as a naggy mother figure. At least, not anymore than he already did. "Well we should start our homework then."
Looks down at his page, more distracted than usual with Francis just across from him. It unsettled him somehow, did weird things to his level of concentration.
hums softly in agreement, looking down at what he had written down for the homework and begrudgingly getting to work, leaning his chin on one hand as he writes with the other. He's unaware that he's
managing to distract Gregory even when he's actually not trying to, for once.
Gregory looks up from his work every so often, telling himself that he's checking that Francis is actually doing his homework and not doodling.
is going through his work pretty slowly, starting to feel a bit fidgety. He notices he feels eyes on him though, and instead of acknowledging it, he waits with only sly glances up at him until the other
looks away again before doodling a little caricature of Gregory as a mom in a frilly apron.
Gregory becomes rather engaged in a particularly difficult question, giving Francis some time to perfect his doodle. His cheeks turn a violent red when he does finally look over,
making a sound in the back of is throat. "W-What's that?"
's grin grows the longer it takes for Gregory to look back over, finding it hard to hold back a snicker. So when Gregory does finally react he can't help but laugh loudly. "It's you!" he says proudly, shifting
the book to make it easier for him to see. "I saw you checking up on me, mom."
Gregory feels the tips of his ears turn red, noting the similarities between himself and the picture. "It doesn't look like me!" he protests, far too loudly, his voice cracking.
can only laugh harder at the reaction, having to take a breath. "Wait wait I can fix it," he snickers before digging in his pencil case. He pulls out a red pencil crayon, going back and adding a
blush to the drawing. "There! Now it's perfect," he grins.
Gregory snatches up the book when Francis is done, shutting it rather violently. "It's nothing like me!" he replies, looking down at the book with conflicted feelings. He couldn't exactly throw it out...
startles as he hears the snap of the book shut before he even realizes Greg's pulled away his book, still laughing but trying to catch his breath now. "Aw hey it's a pretty good likeness, I thought," he
teases, taking a deeper breath to quiet his laughing to a grin as Greg debates.
Gregory looks very conflicted, face turning redder still. It almost felt as though he_
might die from the embarrassment. "Don't show it to anyone else," he grumbles, handing him the notebook. "And do your homework."
He takes in a deep breath and lets out a shuddering shy, hand going to his neck as he concentrates on the next question. He was almost done... something which could probably not be said for Francis.
laughs as he takes the book back from Gregory, shrugging a bit. "I mean, the teacher will see it. But it's not like anyone's scrambling to borrow my notes," he answers, flipping the pages back open to the
homework. He's a good few questions behind Greg yet, but he sits down to try and concentrate on it again. It's harder this time though, because now he keeps glancing to the doodle from time to time and having
to hold back a snicker.
Gregory sits back when he's finished with the homework, stretching out his back with a soft sigh. "Don't they ever tell you off?" He looks over, noticing the odd snickers and frowning.
got distracted actually answering a question by the time Gregory sits back, blinking up at him. "Does who? The teachers?" he asks, finishing off what he was writing distractedly. "Some have, but it's better
than just staring off into space, right?" he shrugs.
continues to frown. "I'm sure they'd rather you pay full attention..." He realises he sounds like a nagging Mum however and shrugs. "Just hurry up. I'll go change."
hums in non-committal agreement, clearly not caring very much about it. He'd just say he concentrated better this way... which was debatable really. He blinks up and grins when Greg says he'll go get changed,
far more interested to go out and do things than sit here finishing homework. "I'll go fast," he promises, glancing down to the next question. Well... as fast as his brain would allow, he guesses.
Gregory looks at Francis' clothes and then goes to pull out some of his own, trying to avoid mimicking the boy. He didn't want to be teased about that as well. He leaves Francis to his own devices,
going to change in the bathroom down the hall. Sure they dressed together for practice, but when he could avoid it he wanted to have some privacy.
focuses on the next question, filling it out and only realizing at the click of the door that Gregory's left to change. He's a bit amused by that but shrugs it off, finishing off the last of his questions
quickly before sitting up to stretch out his back. He's tempted to snoop around, but changing clothes doesn't take too long so he knows he'd get caught.
Gregory makes his way back quickly, aware of how dangerous it is to leave Francis in his room alone. When he opens the door, it's suddenly, as though expecting to catch Francis in the act of snooping.
_The surprise that strikes him when he finds Francis behaving himself makes him take a step back before entering fully. "Are you ready to go?" he asks, trying to brush it off.
looks up when he heard the door open again- ah yes he was right- the look on Gregory's face encouraging him to tease again however. "I didn't find your porn," he fake sighs, tucking his book away and
standing up, stretching out his back before grinning. "You look pretty cute for a mall date~"
Gregory clenches his jaw, knowing that a denial would look far too guilty under the current circumstances. He cleans away his stuff haphazardly. "This isn't a date."
wouldn't judge... too much. After all he had his own forbidden stash too. He laughs at the denial, shaking his head a bit. "I know, I'm just teasing. We should find you a girlfriend," he hums, stepping
back, ready to go.
grumbles something under his breath. That wouldn't be very likely with Francis, the pretty boy, about. Wait... did he just call Francis pretty?!? He shakes his head, banishing the thought as he follows Francis
_out. "Try to be quiet... my Ma wants to meet you and we'll never get away if she catches us." He doesn't need his Mum telling how wonderful Francis is.
.is oblivious to Gregory's inner turmoil, though perking up a bit at the mention of his mom. "You told your mom about me?" he laughs as he heads down the stairs. "Shouldn't I thank her for allowing me over?"
shakes his head, expression grave. "Don't. I'll never hear the end of it."
pretends to debate it, faking like he was about to shout.. before making the motion of zipping his lips and winking at Gregory. As much fun as it was to tease, he didn't really want to deal with adults at
the moment.
Gregory has a moment of pure horror, reaching to cover Francis mouth. He stops short when Francis zips his mouth however, clenching his jaw. "You're a dick."
He grumbles, pushing Francis down the stairs and to the door. It's only as their just exiting the door that he shouts out to his Mum, "Me and Francis are going out! Bye!"
The door shuts with a slam behind him. They were free.
can't help but laugh at the look of horror on Gregory's face, trying to get his feet to keep up with the pace as Gregory shoves him down the stairs. "Thanks Mrs. McIntyre!" he calls out, just before the door
shuts behind them, taking a deep breath as he calms his laughter. "My goodness, you'd think you were embarrassed or something," he teases, straightening up and shifting his bag on his back. "Shall we?"
Gregory darts down the path, expecting Francis to follow. "She just makes a big fuss!" He exclaims, voice tailing off into a whining tone. "Doesn't your mum?"
blinks as Greg's already gone, dashing after him with a laugh. He seems surprised by the question though. "Ahh...oh, I guess so!" he answers, trying to hide his hesitation with a cheery tone. His mom used to
make a fuss over his friends, but lately she had been a bit more preoccupied...
Gregory looks over, brows furrowing for a moment before shrugging it off. "Anyway... what are you wanting to buy anyway?" Because of course going to the mall meant you had to actually be buying something.
blinks at the question, returning the shrug. "I don't really need to buy anything," he hums.
makes a face, nose scrunching up. "Then why are we going to the mall?"
laughs. "Because where else would we go to hang out?" he asks back, as if it's obvious.
is at a loss for an answer... if he loitered, he tended to do it at the park while playing footy. Something that seemed rather unlike Francis. "..." He rubs at the back of his neck, suddenly extremely_
in the gardens of the houses they were passing.