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Cody and Duncan were sleeping in the same bed. This was a normal occurrence for the two, who were consistently (annoyingly) adorable together. Duncan had put on his headphones, while Cody used his chest as a pillow, the pair still exhausted after the suffering Chef Hatchet had put them through with his bootcamp.
The alarm clock on the solitary wooden cabinet read 6:45am – no one was awake. Not even the birds. A lone brown bear made up the sum total of everyone awake on the campgrounds, the bear diving in a large dumpster filled with bags of marshmallows.
Someone really needed to put a lock on that bin.
Ooey gooey goodness collected, the bear turned and prepared to scarper off back into the woods – when from high above, it heard a low droning noise. Which got louder, and louder – and then turned into a roar.
A light airplane, looking in desperate need of repairs, came hurtling through the sky. It wobbled violently several times, coming in way too fast, and very low. The bear hurried away, while the noise woke the campers and sent them tumbling out of their cabins.
“Ugh…” groaned Cody, trying to bury himself deeper into Duncan’s chest. “Noooo…” Duncan pulled off his headphones, and stuck them on Cody’s ears, then wrapped his own head in a pillow. This did little to help the two sleep when Owen fell off of his own bunk and crashed to the floor, making such a racket that Bridgette threw something at the cabin wall.
“Fine…” Duncan sat up carefully, placing Cody to one side before shooting a glare at Owen. “This had better be goddamn good,” he growled. He dragged himself outside, spotting Chris just as the host touched down in a field, barely missing about eight of the other contestants as he did. He destroyed the outhouse, barely missed the bear hiding inside – and then mentioned that he didn’t have his pilot’s license.
Duncan quietly wondered if he could just flip Chris off and go back to sleep – but instead, he went and grabbed his boyfriend.
“Come on, Chris has got something for us,” he said, picking Cody up off the bed and standing him upright.
“Can we not?” groaned Cody, flopping over onto Duncan. “My legs still hurt.”
“I’m sure it’ll be ok,” Duncan replied. “Now get moving – he’s probably got some crazy challenge planned and some absurd punishment cooked up for if we miss his spiel.” That got Cody moving – then again, nothing got any of the contestants moving like a reminder that Chris McClain was the man running the show.
“X-TREME SPORTS CHALLENGE!” boomed a voice from outside. Cody groaned even louder, shrugging on his shirt while Duncan guarded the door. The teen had a feeling that he wasn’t going to get any more sleep.
And indeed, the moment he stepped outside he knew that the entire challenge – and thus the day – was going to be painful, because right as Cody stepped out into the day, Chef jumped into a couch-bed which folded in on him.
Ouch.
Cody would have had more sympathy for the man had he not put them all through hell three days prior. He was pretty sure that every single one of them still had mud in places where mud really ought not to be.
Still, at least the challenge was somewhat simple – survive and win the various events of ‘x-treme torture’ to avoid elimination. At least there was no food preparation in this one… or more to the point, at least there was no food preparation that involved Lindsay.
“It’s still too early for this,” Cody grumbled as he made his way to the dining cabin, flanked by Duncan on one side and DJ on the other.
“Agreed,” DJ sighed. “I wanna enjoy a morning in for once. Some time that doesn’t involve being thrown around by a maniac in…” the larger man leaned in, “…tacky pants.” Cody and Duncan both barely managed to suppress a snort at that; and followed DJ into the dining hall.
“Well,” mused Duncan as they got into the line, “I might be able to use this time to hunt for my knife.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah – it’s gone. I’m… ‘furious’ about it, but it’ll turn up. Hopefully.” Cody suppressed a shiver – there were a number of people in the dining hall with him that he really didn’t trust to be holding Duncan’s pocketknife.
After a breakfast of the usual slop, they were out on the beach shoving a couch-bed across the sand.
“Because of course this is the challenge!” Duncan kicked the couch-bed several feet to the left. “Oh yes, have your teammates go skydiving out of a plane using parachutes made during the Second World War and their only chance of a safe landing is a hunk of junk couch!”
“I mean, you’re not wrong,” sighed Bridgette. “But right now we need to focus on making sure DJ lands safely.”
“Well, we’re doing a damn sight better than the Gophers,” said Cody bluntly. “Look.”
The four looked up – and there, lying on the Gophers’ couch-bed, was Owen. Asleep. And none of the girls had noticed, shoving against the back of the couch with all of their might and not moving an inch.
“Trent’s gonna need the hospital after this challenge.”
“Geoff!”
“It’s true, Brig!”
Cody and Duncan shared a look.
“Ok, so DJ will likely remember the right order to pull the cords for the parachute,” Cody pointed out. “So all we need to do is be in the right place to catch him.”
“Right – so maybe a little bit further along? Uh…”
“Definitely further along – the wind’s blowing that way, so it’ll carry him right to us.” The two grinned at each other, and began shoving the couch as hard as they could.
Which was good, because they got out of the way of a plummeting Trent just in time.
“Ooooo…” winced Cody. “That’s got to hurt.”
DJ pulled his parachute a moment later – and like Cody predicted, began to float with the wind up the beach and away from the campsite. The four Killer Bass shoved the couch-bed as hard as they could, pushing it forwards just far enough to unfurl and catch their teammate.
Bridgette cheered, Geoff reached out to a shivering DJ for a high-five, and Cody pecked Duncan on the cheek.
"I knew you were so strong, my big, sexy delinquent," breathed Cody, straight into Duncan's ear. The delinquent’s face turned as red as a cherry, and he grabbed the smaller teen by the wrist and began tugging him away.
“You’re going to ruin all of my self-control, I swear,” muttered Duncan darkly. Cody sniggered, and did his best to look innocent.
The two vanished into the woods, practically sprinting down a dirt path. They rushed past thick firs and massive oaks that rose up into the air, before Cody suddenly tugged on Duncan’s arm, pulling him off balance and giving Cody the chance to push him against the trunk of a particularly large tree.
“Oh? Think you’re able to take me?” smirked Duncan. Cody grinned up at his boyfriend, licking his lips just to watch Duncan’s eyes trace the motion.
“Depends – how good are you?”
“You’ll just have to find out.”
Cody leaned up just as Duncan leaned down, the two paused just a breath away from each other for a single beat before locking their lips together. Cody closed his eyes, feeling every ridge on Duncan’s chapped lips, savouring them before leaning just a little more into the kiss and darting out his tongue to beg entrance into Duncan’s mouth.
Duncan smirked, chuckling deep in his throat and letting his arms wrap around the shorter teen to rest on his hip and on the back of his neck, drawing Cody in closer until their bodies melted together. Then, Cody begged entrance again, his tongue sliding against Duncan’s lips for a moment before Duncan granted him that access he so greatly desired, letting the brunet lick into his mouth before intertwining their tongues. Cody moaned deeply, perching up on his toes to try and draw Duncan in more, grasping at the delinquent’s mohawk to drag him down further. Duncan groaned, a full-bodied shudder wracking him as he let the whole world melt away, focusing solely on the teasing that Cody’s tongue was doing to him.
The cameraman blushed, before quietly shutting off the camera.
“Their moment,” he mouthed to the sound recorder, turning and leaving the pair alone.
Duncan didn’t even notice, shifting his hands downwards to lift Cody into the air and reverse their positions, planting his hands in Cody’s back pockets and leaving them in there as he pushed Cody into the tree trunk. Cody gasped, breaking contact and tilting his head up to gift Duncan access to the juncture of his throat.
Duncan leaned in…
… and Leshawna bounded past, screaming her head off as she tried desperately to stay on the back of a bucking moose.
“Uhhh…”
“We should probably get back to the camp,” sighed Cody, not making a single move towards getting Duncan to put him down.
“Yeah,” agreed Duncan, not putting Cody down.
“Get me offa this thing!” screamed Leshawna, thundering past with a team of interns sprinting after her and the enraged moose.
Duncan switched his grip, tucking Cody into one arm (and flexing just a little for Cody to feel the raw strength hidden under his shirt) before starting back towards the camp.
“Chris’ll want to film the final challenge soon,” sighed Cody. “I don’t want to do this.”
“What, get dragged about by Heather?” asked Duncan.
“Yeah.”
“I’d take your spot if I could,” Duncan said. “But instead, I’ve got to somehow keep Airheaded Alice from winning.”
“Oh, that reminds me – one day we have to read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland together.” Duncan raised an eyebrow.
“Why? Isn’t that a book for dweebs?”
“It is – but I thought we could play a game where we try and match Alice’s dialogue to things Lindsay’s actually said.”
Duncan grinned.
“Now that sounds more fun.”
***
Heather sat in the confessional, filing her nails for a brief moment while humming to herself – then stopping. She looked up at the camera, then back at her nails.
“Look, right now Cody and Duncan are the big couple on the set. And they adore each other.” Heather gagged. “Look – it’s Total Drama, not Total Lovefest – I don’t understand how they managed to forget that. But they’re useful. Duncan’s a strong competitor, and Cody’s recently proven himself to be surprisingly cunning. When the teams merge, they are going to be powerful people to ally with…” Heather considered her nails for a moment.
“But don’t forget – when this little competition started, Duncan flirted with me; wanting a bunk under me like the creepy delinquent he is. That means that when the time is right…” Heather smirked, grabbing her nailfile and holding it up to the camera, “… I can break them.” And she snapped the nailfile in two.
***
Cody had not changed into his swim trunks. That was the first thing Duncan noticed when his boyfriend stepped out of the temporary change rooms that the crew had set up. No; instead, he was in surfer-leggings… Surfer leggings that left nothing to imagination.
And wow was Cody hiding some nice legs.
“Don’t start drooling, caveman,” snorted Leshawna. “You already have him.” Duncan grinned.
“You’re right. He’s mine.”
Cody stepped up and hooked himself into the skis. He grabbed the handle, took a deep breath, and nodded to Chris.
“Action!” called the presenter. A moment later, the cameras started rolling as Heather revved the engine and violently sped away, dragging Cody behind. The teen barely managed to stay on his feet, losing a ski less than a second into the challenge and instead balancing on the other like it was a snowboard.
“Oi! That can’t be fair!” shouted Duncan furiously. Chris just shrugged, watching intently as Cody wobbled precariously, barely managing to snag the first flag, then the second. Heather kicked the jet ski, trying her best to foul up the rope and send the poor teen hurtling along behind her spiraling out of control.
“She’s being more blatant than usual,” murmured Gwen from beside Duncan. The delinquent raised an eyebrow.
“Eh?”
“It’s almost like she’s trying to point out how much she’s screwing with Cody… like she wants him to lose, but her to be the one who takes the blame.”
Duncan just grimaced, rolling his eyes and wandering back over to his team. Cody would understand Gwen’s odd strategic garble better than he ever could. Instead, he focused back in on his boyfriend, who was barely managing to snag each flag as they came speeding past – the moment he had the fifth in his hand, Heather let out an enraged growl, propelling the jet ski even faster, before turning around with a manic glint in her eye.
“If you won’t fall, I’ll just have to cut you loose!” And with a swift flick, she held up Duncan’s pocketknife, letting the light gleam off its steel blade for a moment before she shimmied backwards on the jet ski.
Duncan took a step forward, his eyes narrowed to slits.
The jet ski swerved, a low-hanging branch catching on the back of Heather’s crop top. With a rip, the entire skimpy piece came off, Heather screaming in horror as she was exposed. Cody also screamed, dropping the flags to cover his eyes. Everyone stared in shock as the jet ski slammed into a rock, Heather being sent flying by the momentum while Cody wiped out in the middle of the mud, doing several somersaults before landing on his back.
Duncan sprinted into the mud; DJ, Gwen and Leshawna close behind.
“You okay?” asked DJ.
“Cody… come on, let’s get you up,” hummed Duncan, gently lifting the teen up out of the mud.
“Hi…” groaned Cody. “Ow…”
“I’m gonna get Heather for this,” snarled Leshawna.
“After the challenge,” reminded Gwen. “But… will Duncan still be able to drive?” Duncan’s responding glare was harsh enough that even Chris flinched.
“Right… so… Geoff’s driving!” called Chris. Bridgette threw her hands up, annoyed at being forgotten about. Geoff strode up and helped to set up the jet ski (while the crew grabbed nose-plugs and tried their best not to puke). No one but a single cameraman looked at Heather – and it was a good thing too, as she was straddled on the stomach of a bear… topless… and the bear had gone and lost yet more marshmallows to the show.
Needless to say, Heather sprinted back for the cabin, passing by Lindsay as she did.
“I’m ready!” announced Lindsay, posing with her skis and a thin, tight green bikini. Geoff’s eyes went wide; and so did Lindsay’s… for a completely different reason. “And what stinks?”
“Geoff,” the rest of the cast replied as one.
They set the jet ski up and tied on the rope, Lindsay put on her skis – and then the cameras started rolling.
To absolutely everyone’s shock and amazement, Lindsay aced the challenge, capturing all flags while doing flips in the air. And Geoff’s attempts at evasive maneuvers ended up with him in a tree (where several birds took one whiff and hightailed it) and Lindsay sailing across the finish line to win the trailer.
“Ouch,” winced Duncan.
“Sorry Greg!” called Lindsay. “I just really wanted that shower!”
“I really could’ve used that,” groaned Geoff.
“Me too,” muttered Cody.
Duncan looked down at his own muddy legs and couldn’t help agreeing.
“Well,” mused a voice just dripping with artificial sweetness, “I could convince the team to let you two have a shower or two.”
“Why would you do that, Heather?” asked Cody, his eyes narrowed.
“Because I’ve seen reality TV before – and I just know they’re going to want the teams to merge eventually. I need allies, and so will you.”
“So what, you get us multiple free showers, and we give you…” Cody said slowly, emphasizing the importance of the pair getting multiple showers.
“A favour,” Heather replied with a smirk. “Deal?”
The pair shared a look.
“Deal,” they said, feeling not unlike they were making a deal with Mephistopheles for their souls. Heather beamed.
“Great! I’ll get you that shower. You two wait, and I’ll call in that favour later.”
Heather strode away, a devilish smirk showing off several of her teeth to the camera. Cody and Duncan sighed.
“So… we just agreed to that. What now?”
“Now, we keep our heads down and hope we can double-cross her before she betrays us,” sighed Duncan.
Cody could only agree, watching with trepidation as the other campers wandered away, and a trio of interns hurried over to where Geoff was stuck in the tree. Now, they could only wait and see what happened next.
***
The bonfire ceremony that night was a somber affair. Geoff had to sit in a tree high above the rest to keep his disgusting smell away, while Cody and Duncan held hands and held their breath. The first marshmallow went to DJ, followed by Bridgette. DJ shot a guilty glance over at Bridgette – and that was when Duncan knew.
Heather had done something to get DJ to vote Geoff out.
She had to have – though what he wasn’t sure of. DJ would probably have voted for one of them – most likely him – if it came down to it. Geoff wasn’t as much of a threat as Duncan was. But Heather knew that she needed that favour to keep her position as the manipulator of this game, and that meant keeping them on the island.
Had she also offered him free showers? Or perhaps…
Ah.
DJ had a letter in his pocket. And seeing as people were only allowed to send out one letter per fortnight (to keep the show from being spoiled), DJ hadn’t been able to send many letters to his mother. Furthermore, it was Heather’s week to send a letter home.
Clever, she’d gotten DJ onside and had DJ not been hiding the letter, no one would likely be any the wiser.
And so it was no surprise when Geoff was the one sent home. They said their goodbyes – DJ even getting a little teary as he tugged the party dude – and then watched as Geoff sailed away. Bridgette didn’t let go of his hand until he was on the boat, in spite of the smell still clinging to him. It was touching, and Chris even let it happen at a natural pace to catch the best shots of it all.
“So… Geoff’s gone now…” mused Gwen aloud as the defeated team wandered back to the camp. “I wonder what that means?”
“It means none of your business,” snarled Duncan. “It’s not fun watching your friends get eliminated. Especially when it means he gets split up from his girl.” Gwen nodded, her eyes darting over to Trent.
“I guess it wouldn’t be,” she admitted. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Cody and Duncan said together, stumbling up the rickety wooden stairs and into the cabin.
“That was rough,” groaned Cody, collapsing into their shared bunk.
“Yeah,” agreed Duncan. “But it had to be done. We’ve got One Hundred Thousand Dollars to win.”
Cody sleepily agreed, curling up in the crook of Duncan’s arm and drifting off.
As he did, Duncan stayed awake, staring up at the bottom of the bunk above.
“I hope that we’ll still have this afterwards,” he murmured quietly to himself, before his eyes darted down to Cody’s sleeping face. “Cause I’ve fallen too deep too quick to let go now. What the hell did you do to me?”