Francois climbed his tree and checked that his muskets were still where he left them. He pulled one off of its branch and brought it back down to the ground. He then began to disassemble and reassemble it. This was something he usually reserved for when he was irritated, but he also did it when he was upset or anxious.

He was going to have to face Klaus in just a few nights, and this really upset him. He was going to have to face his past, and he wondered if Klaus had given up on him now that he had a new boyfriend. If Klaus was still interested in Francois, it was going to make the mission difficult. Plus, he needed Klaus to be over him and completely in love with this new boyfriend.

In order for his revenge to actually hurt, he needed Klaus to be madly in love with this boy so that it would destroy him when Francois decapitated him. Hopefully the dumb trashcan of a blonde wouldn’t misunderstand his motives. He didn’t want Klaus to think it was because he was in love with him. He wanted to make sure that Klaus understood it was revenge for Ari.

After disassembling and reassembling his musket a few times, he put it back on its rightful branch. To protect his muskets from the weather, he had a plastic tarp-like sheet over them so that they wouldn’t be damaged.

His muskets were his only true love in his current life. They provided him with everything he needed and wanted. They protected him and comforted him. They are there for him when no one else is. They were his saviour from the front lines during the war. He owed muskets his life.

With his musket safely tucked away, he slipped out of his clothes to enjoy the night feeling on his bare skin. Naked, he climbed onto his sleeping branch and settled for the night. He was going to need all the energy he could get for the next day. If he was going to see Klaus again, he wanted to make sure he looked his best. He needed to bathe and shave. Maybe even go get a haircut. He wanted Klaus to want him, which conflicted with his wish that Klaus was madly in love with his new boyfriend.

Francois woke with a scream and was prepared to choke whoever just touched his tree. It was early in the morning, and the sun was barely up. With visibility low, it took Francois a hot minute to realize no one had touched his tree. It was just a fluffy squirrel jumping branches.

With a heavy sigh, he untied himself from his branch and literally rolled out of the tree. A normal person would probably land face first into the ground, but thanks to his life in the war, Francois became nimble like a cat. In midair, Francois managed to right himself and land superhero style on the ground in a crouch and a fist on the ground in front of him.

The first thing on Francois’ list of things to do was to bathe. He had used up the last of his soap a few weeks back, so he was going to have to get more. Luckily, he knew just the place.

Schmidt didn’t live far from his tree. In fact, Francois' tree was on Schmidt’s property. It wasn’t at first, but Schmidt wanted to ensure Francois’ safety and bought the land that had the tree. It was only a twenty minute walk. It would be easy to steal a bar from Schmidt, and it wasn’t like he would notice a single missing bar.

Franocois thought about putting clothes on, but decided against it because it wasn’t like anyone was going to see him, and he was just going to have to strip again. Looking like a man who gave up society, he made his way to Schmidt’s house and walked in like he owned it.

He walked to the spare bathroom and grabbed the first bar of soap he could find, which happened to be the one by the sink. He thought he was in the clear, but sadly, Schmidt caught him.

“What are you doing here?” Schmidt demanded.

“I was just borrowing some soap. I need to bathe.”

“So you take my soap, but don’t use my shower? Just get in my damn shower. It’s disgusting that you use the stream for your cleansing needs. And why are you naked in my house?”

“Why put clothes on when I’ll just have to take them off to bathe.” Francois responded as he exited out of the backdoor of Schmidt’s house.

Francois had closed the door behind himself, but Schmidt opened it back up to shout at Francois as he ran back to his tree. “That doesn’t answer why you would rather bathe in a stream instead of an actual tub. Get back here, you dumbass.”

Francois didn’t turn back. He just gripped the soap tighter and got back to his tree as quickly as possible. Once back to his tree, he took a moment to catch his breath. It didn’t take him long to catch it, he was in good shape after all, but it was still nice having a moment to steady his heart rate before continuing his day.

He was about to go to his stream when he decided he would also need to wash a suit to wear the next day for the meeting. He landed on the same suit he had worn the previous night. It was his best suit after all, and he wanted to look good when Klaus saw him.