Happiness In Slavery R2

TURN 3

Suzaku swept silently past the open door to the Knight’s private lounge, but somehow it didn’t surprise him seconds later to feel a pair of hands land heavily but playfully on his shoulders.

“Oh-ho… you’re back early today! Not turning in already are you?”

Suzaku sighed. “That was the plan...” he said, reluctantly turning to face the broadly grinning face of the blonde-haired berk who had accosted him.

“But you’ve hardly been around all week” Gino pouted. “You used to spend at least some time with us before, come into the lounge for a while.” He dropped his voice to a secretive whisper and leant in close to Suzaku’s ear. “We’ve got cake!”

Irritated as he was, Suzaku didn’t want to take it out on Gino - the good natured Knight seemed genuinely concerned. Out of all the Knights that Suzaku had encountered so far he was by far the most open and amicable. A couple of them Suzaku didn’t care for all, and others still he had never met, spending much of their time abroad in other countries. Gino made perfectly genial company, it was Suzaku’s moroseness that was to solely to blame. He slid back his suit sleeve to look at his wristwatch. Only just gone midday, and Gino was right, far too early to be going back to his room to mope around, he hadn’t even eaten yet. There was little point in making his health suffer as well.

“Umm… sure…” he gave in, allowing himself to be shunted boisterously by Gino back down the hallway and into the lounge.

It was a spacious, grandiose lounge on a definite par with the rooms used by the Britannian Royalty itself. A variety of seating was available around the room, plush armchairs tucked in beside the bookcases for quiet reading time, and long ornate sofas in the center, surrounding the low table currently spread with a light lunch of sandwiches, cakes and tea. The sunlight shone in brightly through windows that stretched right from the floor the very ceiling, perfectly illuminating the quality and color of every carefully chosen artwork and furnishing in the room. The only other occupant beside themselves was the young female Knight Anya, curled up in her usual favorite chair quietly doing something with the small electronic device she was vary rarely without… some sort of palmtop, organizer type thing.

“Do you want the TV on or anything?” Gino plopped down on the sofa beside Suzaku as he seated himself and started looking around for the remote.

“No, this is fine… the peace and quiet is good.” Suzaku stopped him, so instead he turned his attention to pouring Suzaku some tea. “Anya, you need a top-up?”

“Nope.” came the soft reply as Anya remained engrossed in her device, peering at something on the small screen so intently that her fringe was almost brushing against it. Gino handed Suzaku a cup and saucer and picked up the cake knife, eyeing the plates of treats like a child trying to decide which of his Christmas presents to open first.

“Ahhh, lemon meringue pie..” he decided after his brief but thorough assessment. “Suzaku, what do want, there’s strawberry cheesecake, summer pudding, fruit flan…”

“Whatever you’re having” Suzaku said distantly, taking a sip of tea as he gazed out of the nearest window at the immaculate gardens beyond. As he gradually brought his attention back to the room his gaze lingered on the chess table to the side of the window.

“Fancy a game?”

“Gino, I’m fine as I am” Suzaku exhaled with mild exasperation as he took the plate that was handed to him. “You’re going to drive me mad with these questions…”

“Okay, okay!” Gino held up his hands in mock defeat before collapsing back in an inelegant sprawl against the far armrest, balancing his plate of cake precariously on one raised knee as he resumed leafing through the magazine he had presumably been reading before.

Suzaku took up his fork and started on his own slice, suddenly aware that he was very hungry, and the cake was every bit as delicious as it looked, sweet and creamy with the sharp, clean tang of fresh lemon.

“Pretty good, huh?” Gino’s blue eyes sparkled with amusement as he watched Suzaku over the top of his magazine.

“I can’t disagree with that”.

“Without just coming out with it and saying you look a bit haggard, you look like you could do with some lazy, cake munching time. This secret project of yours not going so well or something?”

“No, it’s not that… I just don’t know… really…” Suzaku couldn’t quickly think of plausible reason to fob Gino off with, so he tailed off rather lamely. Not much point in lying to Gino anyway, he was pretty sharp and would probably know anyway.

“Ah right, maybe a touch of insomnia or something.” Gino knew when not to press a matter. “You can’t go wrong though with a full active day, hot evening bath and early night though, right?”

“Yeah” Suzaku said quietly, gazing into his teacup. “That would help…”

“Except today though” Gino winked and waved a finger at him “Today is a pure mooching day.”

Gino replenished the tea as Suzaku stood and wandered over to the nearest bookcase. He scanned a few titles. War… horror… romance… tragedy…. He pulled a face and finally selected a nature book to take back to his seat.

The book turned out to be an interesting read, and Suzaku’s weary soul appreciated the occupation of his mind for a few hours. The light outside was beginning to fade by the time he put the book down. Anya had quietly slipped away at some point earlier, and now Gino was fully sprawled across the opposite sofa, snoring quietly beneath the magazine tented over his face. For a moment he considered waking him, but decided to take the opportunity to slip quietly away himself. After all, this would be the night to get to bed early, since he would be on watch again the following night.

***

“Brother, this is delicious… you’re such a good cook”.

“Hmm?” Lelouch looked up quizzically, his fork still in his mouth. “This? It’s just the rest of the risotto we made today in class. I’ve never made it before… you think it’s alright?”

“It really is.”

A light, embarrassed blush suffused Lelouch’s cheeks. “I’m glad you like it, but I don’t think I’m quite up to Cordon Bleu standard yet.” He smiled. When Lelouch smiled like that it seemed to light up his whole face.

“I’ll wash these few dishes and then we could watch a movie if you want” Rolo suggested hopefully. He had been granted four uninterrupted days at his own request, to spend entirely on the Academy grounds. Most team meetings recently hadn’t raised any issues directly connected to his role, and he had means of communication should he need to contact the group. More than anything, he wanted some time, even if it was just a few days, to indulge himself in a total immersion of school life. To maybe spend time with… his brother… instead of tailing a target.

“Sounds good. Maybe a comedy, you choose though”.

***

Dressed in his pajamas ready for bed, Rolo snuggled contently under the comforter blanket and reached for another handful of toffee popcorn from the bag that sat between them, and tried not to choke on it as the pair of them burst out laughing again. Lelouch really seemed to be enjoying the movie, and Rolo was enjoying both the movie and the company. If he had ever had a real brother, he would have done this as often as he could. He edged a little closer to Lelouch, faked a yawn, and laid his head against Lelouch’s shoulder under the pretense that he was becoming sleepy. Lelouch glanced down at him with a fond smile that made Rolo feel so warm inside, so wanted for nothing other than being himself, being a brother. In fact, now that he was so warm and comfy, he could feel his eyelids genuinely drooping.

He was woken by movement. He had actually nodded off in the end and the movie had finished, and he was now cradled a little awkwardly in Lelouch’s arms as the slight Prince tried his best to carry him gently over to his bed and not disturb him. He must not have wanted to wake him and send him down the hallway to his own room. Rolo pretended to stay asleep as Lelouch placed him on his own bed and pulled the covers up around him, and he could barely contain his excitement as Lelouch brushed his teeth in the bathroom. When he returned and crawled under the duvet beside him Rolo worried that his pounding heart would give away that he was still awake, but Lelouch only settled close beside him and fell asleep himself soon after. In the darkness, Rolo thought his heart might burst with joy.

He also had to turn away from Lelouch and curl up slightly to conceal the tented fabric of his pajama bottoms.