CG: "A Clever Disguise/Weather"
Shirley likes Lelouch. Suzaku thinks this is a problem, because Lelouch doesn't exist. When Leloucia completely fails to help the situation, he steps in.
This was written with 10_switched in mind. That means genderswap. You've been warned!
.a clever disguise: weather.
"Lelouch Lamperouge!" called a teacher, and Leloucia's eyes snapped open.
"Yes, Miss Walden?" she asked, unruffled.
The teacher strode down the rows of desks to put her hands on her hips, standing over Leloucia, who leaned back to keep the woman in her calm sights. "You wouldn't have been sleeping in my class, would you?"
"Of course not." Leloucia offered her a cool smile, the kind that charmed all her teachers, but for once, playing the good girl -- the good boy, rather -- didn't have an effect.
Walden demanded, "Then what were we just talking about?"
"Using a compass to measure the electrical field generated by a wire and solenoid."
A quiet rush of sound rippled across the classroom, whispering from her classmates, male and female alike, although also very different. The men whispered That Lelouch, he always lands on his feet! and the women whispered Lelouch is so clever -- and gorgeous, too, and giggled behind their hands.
Walden straightened self-consciously and after a notable beat, just said, "Very good, Mister Lamperouge. Carry on."
Leloucia leaned her jaw on her hand and closed her eyes again. Having hacked the curricula for all her classes made it very easy to sleep through class without penalty. It carried a cost of its own -- now the attention of the entire class was on her, and people would talk about her, and she could feel Suzaku giving her a concerned look from the next desk over as if his stare left a mark in her skin -- but at least it let her catch up on the sleep she wasn't getting while playing terrorist.
When the bell finally rang and she was free for the day, she gathered her things and stepped out into the aisle and was immediately shouldered back into her desk, off-balance. Kale gave her a dark look as he stepped past, muttering, "You could at least pretend to be trying," and then brushed on.
I'm trying to save what's left of your country, if it's all the same to you, she thought, but then Shirley brushed up next to her, hands on her hips and face drawn into a fierce scowl.
"That is so rude," she exclaimed. "You'd think that a Stadtfeld would have better manners! Aren't they supposed to be really noble and classy?"
Leloucia straightened, brushing her hair out of her face. "He's just jealous that he can't pull off the same trick," she said slyly.
Shirley turned to face her, frowning. "Don't rationalize it!"
"I'm not rationalizing it. I'm applying rational thought to it."
"That's the same thing, Lulu!"
It wasn't, but Leloucia wasn't about to show any overt interest in Kale. It was better for both of them that he didn't know who she was and she pretended not to know what he was. She shouldered her bag and said mildly, "It looks like there's going to be a storm, doesn't it?"
Shirley glanced out the window, briefly confused. "You're worried about the weather?" she asked, dubious.
A small smile came to Leloucia's face, quick and involuntary. She just said mildly, "I like clear winter nights. From the academy roof, it feels like you can see every star."
That, and the weather had been interesting her more and more ever since she'd become a general. During rain and storms, visibility for the troops was reduced. Traditional wisdom held that this would be to her advantage with her guerilla tactics, but in this instance the advantage was Britannia's: they could completely compensate for the atmospheric interference with their advanced technology and immense manpower, while her limited resources were already strained to the maximum. But it was, on the other hand, the ideal weather for her men to infiltrate, disable, sabotage.
It was all very interesting.
"O, oh. That sounds -- beautiful," Shirley was saying, red-faced. It brought Leloucia back to herself, enough to cover for her distraction with an easy, affable smile.
"It's probably much flashier if we were to set up fireworks. But the stars are amazing. You should see them."
"Maybe-- maybe you could show me sometime. Like -- maybe tonight?" The redhead was doing something odd with her fingers, playing with them for some reason.
Leloucia glanced away at her watch and said distantly, "I have plans with Nunnally tonight." Plans to fulfill a promise I made to her, anyway.
She didn't really hear Shirley's reply, if there was one, already gliding away down the empty rows of desks. She was surprised to find Suzaku waiting for her, hovering at the door with a complicated expression, both affectionate and concerned, like a fond frown.
"What now?" Leloucia asked him, amused.
Suzaku turned to fall into step with her without missing a beat, his long strides easily keeping pace. "You should be more sensitive, Leloucia," he murmured.
She flicked him an irritated glance, frowning. "If you can't call me by my name," she stressed, "at least stick with Lulu."
His lips quirked up, but she could tell that he wasn't going to do it. He wasn't going to use that silly nickname, and he wasn't going to use the name she was registered under; he was just going to keep calling her a girl's name until someone noticed and started asking awkward questions.
"Idiot," she said, soft.
So was she, of course. For not disliking it.
"But you should be more considerate of poor Shirley," he said, still quiet. His eyes were searching the hallway, alert, at least. "She has a crush on you, you know."
"I know."
"You do?" Suzaku glanced at her, and then added, with a reluctant smile, "She didn't want me to tell you."
And yet he had. Probably because he assumed, with good reason, that Shirley's feelings were based on the complete illusion of her beautiful, disaffected, male classmate. He was trying to protect her by revealing her hopeless crush. Bleeding heart Suzaku.
Leloucia relaxed as they came into the student council chambers and away from the general population. She said, "Of course I knew. She's transparent."
Suzaku took her elbow firmly in hand, stopping her in her tracks. They stayed in the doorway then, speaking quietly.
"Then why aren't you more careful?" he asked, soft, pleading for her understanding more than anything else. "Why did you lead her on like that if you know how she feels?"
That took her aback. "Lead her on?" Leloucia echoed.
She hadn't been talking about romance, or dating, or anything like that. Just the weather. It was quite literally prosaic enough to turn stomachs. She wouldn't have done anything to make Shirley think that they were more than friends.
"You--" Suzaku started, and then fell quiet. "...Leloucia... Don't you know anything about girls?"
It felt like she'd been judged for something, and Leloucia couldn't help bristling defensively. "I guess not," she said, tightening her jaw. "If only I could somehow learn the inner workings of their alien minds."
Suzaku frowned again, this time reluctant. "I didn't mean it that way."
"Then how did you mean it?" Leloucia yanked her arm back. She knew that she was far from a prime example of feminity. Even aside from the obvious fact that she'd lived almost the last eight years solid as a male, she had never been very good at behaving like a normal girl: too belligerent and analytical, competitive and proud. She was almost completely flat and hardly needed to disguise her chest. Probably she didn't seem like much of a girl in Suzaku's eyes.
"Don't get like that," Suzaku said, and his expression was taking on a plaintive, kicked-puppy quality now.
"Don't get like that!" she snapped, and bristled further when he started to laugh helplessly.
The door upstairs shut with a loud sound that made Leloucia jump, and her gaze darted up to the higher level. From the sound of the ringing heels she knew that it was Milly even before the blonde girl leaned on the railing, peering down at them.
"Lelouch..." she drawled. "You're late! I'm not reviewing all of these disputes by myself~ That's your job."
Leloucia closed her eyes and sighed. "It's your job, Ms. President." She turned and started to head for the stairs while Milly cheerfully rattled off a reminder that the vice president was supposed to take over the president's responsibilities whenever the president had an excuse why she couldn't do it herself. Suzaku didn't try to stop her again; just looked after her with a fond smile and his arms folded over his chest with exasperation.
He didn't understand. She didn't have time for that minutiae in the life of some fake man. She had more important things on her mind.
As she climbed up to the next floor, she glanced out the window. The sky was paler than before, grayer, a wintry calm descending over the world viewed from Ashford's tall and narrow windows.
It was definitely going to rain.
Her men would need her to direct them through it.
This was written with 10_switched in mind. That means genderswap. You've been warned!
.a clever disguise: weather.
"Lelouch Lamperouge!" called a teacher, and Leloucia's eyes snapped open.
"Yes, Miss Walden?" she asked, unruffled.
The teacher strode down the rows of desks to put her hands on her hips, standing over Leloucia, who leaned back to keep the woman in her calm sights. "You wouldn't have been sleeping in my class, would you?"
"Of course not." Leloucia offered her a cool smile, the kind that charmed all her teachers, but for once, playing the good girl -- the good boy, rather -- didn't have an effect.
Walden demanded, "Then what were we just talking about?"
"Using a compass to measure the electrical field generated by a wire and solenoid."
A quiet rush of sound rippled across the classroom, whispering from her classmates, male and female alike, although also very different. The men whispered That Lelouch, he always lands on his feet! and the women whispered Lelouch is so clever -- and gorgeous, too, and giggled behind their hands.
Walden straightened self-consciously and after a notable beat, just said, "Very good, Mister Lamperouge. Carry on."
Leloucia leaned her jaw on her hand and closed her eyes again. Having hacked the curricula for all her classes made it very easy to sleep through class without penalty. It carried a cost of its own -- now the attention of the entire class was on her, and people would talk about her, and she could feel Suzaku giving her a concerned look from the next desk over as if his stare left a mark in her skin -- but at least it let her catch up on the sleep she wasn't getting while playing terrorist.
When the bell finally rang and she was free for the day, she gathered her things and stepped out into the aisle and was immediately shouldered back into her desk, off-balance. Kale gave her a dark look as he stepped past, muttering, "You could at least pretend to be trying," and then brushed on.
I'm trying to save what's left of your country, if it's all the same to you, she thought, but then Shirley brushed up next to her, hands on her hips and face drawn into a fierce scowl.
"That is so rude," she exclaimed. "You'd think that a Stadtfeld would have better manners! Aren't they supposed to be really noble and classy?"
Leloucia straightened, brushing her hair out of her face. "He's just jealous that he can't pull off the same trick," she said slyly.
Shirley turned to face her, frowning. "Don't rationalize it!"
"I'm not rationalizing it. I'm applying rational thought to it."
"That's the same thing, Lulu!"
It wasn't, but Leloucia wasn't about to show any overt interest in Kale. It was better for both of them that he didn't know who she was and she pretended not to know what he was. She shouldered her bag and said mildly, "It looks like there's going to be a storm, doesn't it?"
Shirley glanced out the window, briefly confused. "You're worried about the weather?" she asked, dubious.
A small smile came to Leloucia's face, quick and involuntary. She just said mildly, "I like clear winter nights. From the academy roof, it feels like you can see every star."
That, and the weather had been interesting her more and more ever since she'd become a general. During rain and storms, visibility for the troops was reduced. Traditional wisdom held that this would be to her advantage with her guerilla tactics, but in this instance the advantage was Britannia's: they could completely compensate for the atmospheric interference with their advanced technology and immense manpower, while her limited resources were already strained to the maximum. But it was, on the other hand, the ideal weather for her men to infiltrate, disable, sabotage.
It was all very interesting.
"O, oh. That sounds -- beautiful," Shirley was saying, red-faced. It brought Leloucia back to herself, enough to cover for her distraction with an easy, affable smile.
"It's probably much flashier if we were to set up fireworks. But the stars are amazing. You should see them."
"Maybe-- maybe you could show me sometime. Like -- maybe tonight?" The redhead was doing something odd with her fingers, playing with them for some reason.
Leloucia glanced away at her watch and said distantly, "I have plans with Nunnally tonight." Plans to fulfill a promise I made to her, anyway.
She didn't really hear Shirley's reply, if there was one, already gliding away down the empty rows of desks. She was surprised to find Suzaku waiting for her, hovering at the door with a complicated expression, both affectionate and concerned, like a fond frown.
"What now?" Leloucia asked him, amused.
Suzaku turned to fall into step with her without missing a beat, his long strides easily keeping pace. "You should be more sensitive, Leloucia," he murmured.
She flicked him an irritated glance, frowning. "If you can't call me by my name," she stressed, "at least stick with Lulu."
His lips quirked up, but she could tell that he wasn't going to do it. He wasn't going to use that silly nickname, and he wasn't going to use the name she was registered under; he was just going to keep calling her a girl's name until someone noticed and started asking awkward questions.
"Idiot," she said, soft.
So was she, of course. For not disliking it.
"But you should be more considerate of poor Shirley," he said, still quiet. His eyes were searching the hallway, alert, at least. "She has a crush on you, you know."
"I know."
"You do?" Suzaku glanced at her, and then added, with a reluctant smile, "She didn't want me to tell you."
And yet he had. Probably because he assumed, with good reason, that Shirley's feelings were based on the complete illusion of her beautiful, disaffected, male classmate. He was trying to protect her by revealing her hopeless crush. Bleeding heart Suzaku.
Leloucia relaxed as they came into the student council chambers and away from the general population. She said, "Of course I knew. She's transparent."
Suzaku took her elbow firmly in hand, stopping her in her tracks. They stayed in the doorway then, speaking quietly.
"Then why aren't you more careful?" he asked, soft, pleading for her understanding more than anything else. "Why did you lead her on like that if you know how she feels?"
That took her aback. "Lead her on?" Leloucia echoed.
She hadn't been talking about romance, or dating, or anything like that. Just the weather. It was quite literally prosaic enough to turn stomachs. She wouldn't have done anything to make Shirley think that they were more than friends.
"You--" Suzaku started, and then fell quiet. "...Leloucia... Don't you know anything about girls?"
It felt like she'd been judged for something, and Leloucia couldn't help bristling defensively. "I guess not," she said, tightening her jaw. "If only I could somehow learn the inner workings of their alien minds."
Suzaku frowned again, this time reluctant. "I didn't mean it that way."
"Then how did you mean it?" Leloucia yanked her arm back. She knew that she was far from a prime example of feminity. Even aside from the obvious fact that she'd lived almost the last eight years solid as a male, she had never been very good at behaving like a normal girl: too belligerent and analytical, competitive and proud. She was almost completely flat and hardly needed to disguise her chest. Probably she didn't seem like much of a girl in Suzaku's eyes.
"Don't get like that," Suzaku said, and his expression was taking on a plaintive, kicked-puppy quality now.
"Don't get like that!" she snapped, and bristled further when he started to laugh helplessly.
The door upstairs shut with a loud sound that made Leloucia jump, and her gaze darted up to the higher level. From the sound of the ringing heels she knew that it was Milly even before the blonde girl leaned on the railing, peering down at them.
"Lelouch..." she drawled. "You're late! I'm not reviewing all of these disputes by myself~ That's your job."
Leloucia closed her eyes and sighed. "It's your job, Ms. President." She turned and started to head for the stairs while Milly cheerfully rattled off a reminder that the vice president was supposed to take over the president's responsibilities whenever the president had an excuse why she couldn't do it herself. Suzaku didn't try to stop her again; just looked after her with a fond smile and his arms folded over his chest with exasperation.
He didn't understand. She didn't have time for that minutiae in the life of some fake man. She had more important things on her mind.
As she climbed up to the next floor, she glanced out the window. The sky was paler than before, grayer, a wintry calm descending over the world viewed from Ashford's tall and narrow windows.
It was definitely going to rain.
Her men would need her to direct them through it.