the sun decided to arrive on the lakes set bright and early, waking up all the participants in the show. it took a lot of convincing to get lando out of bed, as apparently he was too comfy and it was extremely early for his body clock. breakfast arrived earlier due to this, and as lunch was light, the producers decided it would be a good idea to set a challenge to the team. they all walked to the small clearing which they were directed to by the arrows set out for them, and alex took responsibility to read the note.
"hello, lakers. today you have a challenge which could cause some cracks in the group. each of you will choose a name out of the box, and that is the person you are representing, in a way. you are responsible to make sure that the egg with your 'chosen' laker on stays away from harm, and complete the mini trivia quiz based on your laker. if you manage to get 5 questions right, they get the reward, which is a small banquet instead of dinner tonight. however, if you get a question wrong you will get splatted with slime, making it more difficult for you to keep the egg safe. if you drop the egg, that person will be left alone in base camp with nothing but water and plain rice. in order to decide who goes first, spin the multi-coloured wheel. good luck, lakers, and don't make a yolk of yourself!"
"they're literally trying to split us up already, and it's what, day 4?" george declared, somewhat annoyed at what they were forced to do.
all of them walked up and select their names. adriana got george, pierre got charles and charles miraculously got adriana. hailey spun the wheel, and it landed on lando, who had olive. lando entered the little building, which had a tv screen built into the wall, with 3 boxes with buttons on top, labeled a, b, and c. the screen played through questions, and through guessing them, lando got the first 5 he was endured correct. he walked out, clean, and had a clean egg in hand.
"yes lando!" olive cheered. they both embraced, before the wheel was spun by lando. it landed on pierre.
unsurprisingly, pierre classed charles as his best friend, so got all of them right. it followed on with everyone who participated getting through, even if many were inevitably slimed, until it got to charles.
"what on earth," he mumbled, extremely anxious about this, as he only wanted adriana to get through more than himself.
he stumbled though the questions, quite literally, as the floor was covered in green goo. he got many wrong, causing the other lakers to get scared as to if he got a question wrong or not, or if he had broke the egg. unfortunately their gut feelings were right, as for one of the questions he was adamant and really certain he got it right, and the slime poured down the back of him. out of shock, he 'jumped', his hands reaching the top of his head, dropping the egg when trying to protect himself. charles endured the walk of shame, out of the room, and adriana's face dropped similar to charles did with the egg.
"i'm sorry, i'm so sorry. i was so sure that i got it right, and thought i heard a ding, but i obviously was hearing things, as the slime poured on top of me. i wasn't ready for it, so i was shocked and dropped it. i'm so sorry,"
"charles, don't worry about it," she said, hand resting on his shoulder, one lifting his chin up so they gained eye contact. "there'll be other opportunities for me to get something. we're really early into this, and i'm sure that there will be other treats along the way. please don't beat yourself up about it. people make mistakes all the time, and this time it just came with a consequence."
"thank you," he whispered, bringing the girl into a hug as she had already had her go and also had been slimed too. "if only pierre hadn't been chosen earlier. i would've asked him to drop mine so you could have some company."
everyone else had their turn, leaving adriana to be the only one in the main camp, after they all had showered and settled in. a bell dinged, indicating that adriana's meal had arrived and that the others had to go to their banquet.
"enjoy it, please don't worry about me. i'll be fine," she spoke, hugging the rest of them to go to their food.
"we'll raise a toast to you, adri!" charles suggested, making the girl smile that he was still wanting her to be involved in some way.
"second that!" hailey, her best friend, reiterated, somewhat wishing she could be with her as she wasn't that close with the rest of the group.
the group set off to where they had been previously, with a large table and bench set in the middle of the ground, set up with non-alcoholic champagne in a bottle with wine glasses and dome plates (the silverware with a plate on the bottom and a lid in the shape of a dome with a handle on the top of it) and general plates placed on the table. the cast sat down, and begun lifting the domes off the plates, revealing pizzas, salads, soups, and bread and butter. maeve, the designated person to pour the champagne, ensured there were equal amounts of the bubbling liquid in each glass, and giving them to each member.
"to adriana!" charles announced, raising his glass in the air.
"to adriana," the rest of the table raised their glass, and all of them clinked in the middle, before they all got stuck in their meals, enjoying the luxurious taste the food provided.
back at main camp, however, was a desolate adriana, with a pot with the rice and water in it over the fire. she was sat there, her head in a hand, stirring her meal which she will soon eat. of course, she had fomo as everyone else was enjoying a properly cooked meal with flavour. once the rice had finished cooking, she put it in a mess tin and ate in a loud silence, with distant birds chirping, deep in conversation.
it was relatively late when the rest of the group got back, with hailey leading the pack.
"omg adri you should've been there!"
"how was it?"
"heaven on earth. there was pizza, salad, non-alcoholic champagne! literally i can still taste it now. it was so good, like. the flavours popped in your mouth and it genuinely felt like that one scene in ratatouille where remy tastes the food and it has colour and shapes and everything. and i wish you were emile and i was remy so i could show you what it tastes like." she bragged to some extent, as she started to feel something happen to adriana which didn't sit right with hailey.
this only felt like salt in an open wound to adri, as she was starting to become more jealous of the meal they experienced, but couldn't lash out as she thought charles to be sweet, and arguably the kindest man she'd ever met. "well, i'm glad you enjoyed it, hails."
charles wandered over to adriana once hailey had finished over-exaggerating the spread of food. he sat down on the horizontal log, and patted the space next to him to beckon her over. she noticed, smiled, and sat down next to the monegasque.
"how was the meal for you, adri?"
"well, it was plain rice. nothing more to add, really. i didn't mind it though, even though it was bland. sometimes it's nice to stick to the basics. how was it for you? i heard there was non-alcoholic champers,"
"champers?"
"champagne."
"oh, that makes sense. yeah it was good. but i still feel so guilty i dropped that fucking egg, and it sounds so stupid."
"charles, forget about it. it's over with now. you can't go back and replace it, so why are you still fretting over it? seriously, if i was that bothered, i don't think i'd be talking to you this kindly."
"i suppose you're right. i'm gonna make up for it though,"
"what are you going to do?"
"spend more time with you,"
"oh, you're joking right? i have to deal with hailey, and now you, ugh," she rolled her eyes, smiling, but charles seemed to not be in the room as his face was a picture; completely surprised and rather upset.
adriana broke out in complete laughter, further confusing the ferrari driver. "it's a joke, charles, i don't mind spending time with you,"
"oh! thank god, i actually was starting to get worried then,"
the duo stayed there for most of the night, chatting into deep darkness. eventually, they went to their beds, and charles made sure to hug her goodnight and walk her back to the girls cabin before sorting himself out.
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a/n: if you're confused by the reference to ratatouille, here is the clip: