Altair/Lee; Altair's explanation.
Altair
Lee
Tea. Tea was good. Tea was nice. Tea was currently in Altair's possession after a rather long visit to Cornelia's teahouse. He would be sure to offer Lady Lethe some during his shift this evening, but at the moment, the only thing on Altair's mind was returning to his rooms and enjoying a small cup by himself first. It was in this mildly tea-euphoric daze that Altair made his way to his rooms in, eyes unfocused on the area around him. Or the people around him. Or the guardian he'd been pointedly avoiding for weeks whom he was about to walk over.
Lee was tossing an apple in the air as he walked, watching it up and down instead of where he was going. Toss up, watch, catch, toss up, watch, catch, toss up, wa- walkintoaltair! He yelped and stumbled back, reaching out to grab the closest thing - which, unfortunately for the both of them, happened to be Altair's scarf. He fell with a thud, wincing when his head hit the floor and then grunting when Altair landed on top of him. "Owwwww," he groaned weakly, grimacing.
At the tightening of cloth around his neck, Altair immediately whipped a hand up to hold the scarf away from his neck. Strangulation by scarf was not the way to go. As a result of one hand holding cloth and the other holding a tea bag, Lee was spared no lost weight when Altair fell on top of him. The groan underneath him, as well as the press of a body against his frontside, sent him scrambling back. Or at least as far back as he could with Lee's hand still gripping his scarf. Which wasn't very far.
"My deepest apologies, but if you could just let go of my scarf, I would be able to get off." Altair mumbled from behind his scarf, which was threatening to slide completely off from around his neck. He'd only been able to get himself onto his knees, still crouched over the figure underneath him.
Lee grimaced, still not entirely sure what'd just happened. He'd fallen on the floor, there was a scarf involved, and Altair was talking to him. Scarf... in his hand. He wanted him to let go of the scarf. Oh! Right! He let go quickly, grinning sheepishly up at Altair. "Sorry, man, didn't see you..." Oh. Hey, they should probably... not be in this position, especially not if someone came by... He made a rushed scramble backwards and got to his feet with a blush. Yeah, that'd look really bad. And they got enough shit... "Where've you been, anyway?"
Oh no Lee. It'd been inevitable that he'd eventually run into Lee within the cathedral, but he'd been hoping it would have lasted a little longer. Say, after Lee got a girlfriend and no longer needed to worry about being accused of being gay. Their recent run-in probably wouldn't help the scenario any, but just hopefully, no one was around to see it. He hadn't seen anyone around.
"The apologies are mine; I was preoccupied," he said quickly as he stood, scooping up the fallen bag of tea and attempting to readjust his scarf as best he could with one hand. "I've been busy and I'm sure we're both busy now so I shall be on my way." With that, Altair attempted to skirt around Lee and retreat down the hall as fast as he could.
"Hey hey hey-" Lee protested, blinking at Altair's sudden attempted departure. He grabbed at the other guardian's sleeve. "I'm not busy, c'mon, just hang out for a bit. What've you been so busy with? I haven't seen you around here in..." He frowned. "Well, a long time." Why did he seem so weird? It was like he was nervous about something, but Lee couldn't figure out what.
The hand holding onto his sleeve made him falter, but he was sure that if he gave into Lee's requests, it would have just been harder to avoid him in the future. It was hard enough now avoiding Lee.
"Just things you needn't worry about, Lee. I apologize, but I'll be busy for a while longer."
He frowned. "C'mon, you can tell me. Just chill for like, five minutes? I've missed you, man." Yeah, he was acting weird. Even Lee could see that. What the hell was going on?
"Sorry," he repeated with a small sigh, feeling guiltier about his decision. He hadn't even told Lee why he'd been going to such lengths to avoid him, had he? "I was trying to fix something."
Lee blinked. "Oh, you break somethin'? I can help," he offered earnestly. Maybe he'd broken something expensive and he didn't want anyone to know it was him! But... then again, that didn't really explain why he'd been away for weeks.
"Maybe," he mused aloud, shifting the bag of tea under an arm to finish rearranging his scarf back to its previous position. He was sure Lee was thinking of something completely different, but it would have been easier to avoid Lee if Lee was doing the same to him.
"Great! Show the way!" He beamed at his fellow Guardian, shoving his hands in the pockets of his oversized coat. Maybe he wasn't being weird after all!
It was going to kill him to have to say this while Lee was smiling like that. "To fix it, we would need to continue not spending time together," Altair said quietly.
Lee blinked in confusion, his grin slowly fading. "Wh- What do you mean?" Had... had he done something? Freya, what....
"So people will stop saying weird things." It was for the better, really. People would stop teasing Lee, at least about that, and Altair wouldn't have the title of 'pedophile' added to the 'gay' that already hung over his head. Things were just easier if they didn't make people question their friendship.
... It was hard for even Altair to believe his own words.
"Wh- That's bullshit!" Lee shouted, balling his fists. That was why he'd been avoiding him? 'Cause Sei and Mike and Marcine kept calling them fags? "Just fucking ignore 'em, Altair. You ain't a pedophile, and you ain't gay." He paused, hesitating for a second. "Right?"
He gave Lee a pointed look. "I'm not. But that doesn't stop people from thinking it, does it? Even you questioned it." If even Lee wasn't clear about things, all hope was probably lost.
"But- They're gonna keep saying it, even if you keep staying away," Lee argued, a note of desperation in his voice. Fuck them, he wanted to yell, but he was too bewildered. Lee had no idea how to handle himself when he was angry. "That's stupid!"
"They haven't said anything recently." At least, since Altair'd taken to avoiding Lee, he hadn't been hearing anything. On the other hand, he'd been avoiding most of the cathedral, so he hadn't been around to hear anything.
Actually, he couldn't remember them saying anything recently, but that wouldn't help his side. "It doesn't matter! Just stop it, okay? I'd rather get called shit and have you around." The last was said with a vicious pout, Lee crossing his arms and scowling imploringly up at his fellow Guardian.
Though Lee was doing his best at an angry pout, the sight itself was amusingly cute and made Altair smile behind his scarf. It also made Altair miss his time spent with the smaller Guardian. Lee was one of a kind in the cathedral.
No, steel yourself, Altair. Steel. "Doesn't it bother you? Even the maids used to say things."
"Yeah it bothers me," Lee mumbled, his shoulders slackening for a minute as he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I ain't a fag, and you don't pedo me or whatever, but... Y'know, fuck them." He looked up at Altair, mouth quirked to the side. "We're friends, right? I want y'around."
Another small, scarf-hidden smile. "We are. But friends also do things for each other." I'm doing this for you so you don't have to be bothered by it all.
"I have to go, Lee."
Lee frowned, hurt. "You wanna do something for me? Stay here." This was bullshit. He was going to fucking kill Sei.
"Can't do that. Sorry." He started walking again, heading back toward his room and feeling insanely guilty for hurting Lee like this. But it was for the best and all, right? This sounds like something out of a bad romance flick.
"Altair!" Lee shouted, hurrying after him to grab his scarf like a leash. "Freya, stop it! The fuck is wrong with you! This isn't helping, okay?" Is this the part where they make out?
He was jerked back at the scarf grabbing, barely managing to catch the loop of scarf around his neck and keep it over his mouth. He needed to lose Lee somehow, but he didn't have it in him to knock the younger Guardian out and leave him in the hallway. That wouldn't look very good.
"It's just temporary." Five years wasn't that long. And have make-up sex in the middle of the hallway?
"How temporary," Lee growled, tugging on the scarf. He didn't believe that. He was just tryin' to get away. I'm good for it, you?
If Lee kept tugging at his scarf like that it was going to fall off. He gave a small tug of his own on his end of the scarf, keeping as much of it raveled around his head as possible. "Until one of us is no longer a Guardian?" So long as Altair gets to top.
Lee gave the scarf a hard yank. "No, fuck that!" he snarled. "That's fucking stupid! You aren't gonna avoid me for five years 'cause Sei and the rest of 'em are assholes!" Lee protests and points to Altair's usernname.
"In a secluded place like this, it'll be better to just get rid of the rumors then ignore them." Stop giving them something to talk about and they'd stop talking. That was that. Altair says he didn't pick the username. And he's taller.
"There are better ways to get rid of rumors than fucking hiding," Lee snapped. Another yank. He hoped he was choking him. Lee says alsjdlaskdjaslj about the height comment and that Altair better get smoochin' before he strangles him to death.
"This way is working well enough." Either he was going to have to get Lee to let go of the scarf or he was going to have to just unwrap the whole damn thing; it was starting to get way too tight. Please, Lee, just let it go. Lee is into necrophilia just so he can top Altair?
"No it's NOT!" He tugged as hard as he could in time with his yell, his eyes blazing. "Just fucking STOP IT, okay? Your plan is RETARDED! I don't CARE what the fuck they SAY just STAY HERE! Freya!" What the fuck was wrong with him? Quite possibly!
Can't breathe. Altair forwent a response in favor of saving his own life, letting go of his edge of the scarf to unravel it from around his neck. Oh Freya thank you air. He kept his back to Lee and began quickly walking away, leaving Lee with the scarf.
"HavetogoLee,bye," he rushed out, holding onto the bag of tea leaves and breaking out into a full run now. Totally smooth. Pervert.
Lee blinked down at the scarf in his hands for a moment before his outrage returned. "Altair! Fucking-" He ended in a frustrated snarl, throwing the scarf down on the ground and stomping away. Fuck him, he thought angrily, even as he had to pinch his palm to keep his eyes from filling with tears. Avoid him. See if he cared. Fucking... fucking asshole. He sagged against one of the windows that lined the tower walls. Friends: minus one, 'cause Sei and company didn't fucking know when to stop a joke. Fucking... He pinched his palm harder, but this time, it didn't work. Fuck them.
Lee
Tea. Tea was good. Tea was nice. Tea was currently in Altair's possession after a rather long visit to Cornelia's teahouse. He would be sure to offer Lady Lethe some during his shift this evening, but at the moment, the only thing on Altair's mind was returning to his rooms and enjoying a small cup by himself first. It was in this mildly tea-euphoric daze that Altair made his way to his rooms in, eyes unfocused on the area around him. Or the people around him. Or the guardian he'd been pointedly avoiding for weeks whom he was about to walk over.
Lee was tossing an apple in the air as he walked, watching it up and down instead of where he was going. Toss up, watch, catch, toss up, watch, catch, toss up, wa- walkintoaltair! He yelped and stumbled back, reaching out to grab the closest thing - which, unfortunately for the both of them, happened to be Altair's scarf. He fell with a thud, wincing when his head hit the floor and then grunting when Altair landed on top of him. "Owwwww," he groaned weakly, grimacing.
At the tightening of cloth around his neck, Altair immediately whipped a hand up to hold the scarf away from his neck. Strangulation by scarf was not the way to go. As a result of one hand holding cloth and the other holding a tea bag, Lee was spared no lost weight when Altair fell on top of him. The groan underneath him, as well as the press of a body against his frontside, sent him scrambling back. Or at least as far back as he could with Lee's hand still gripping his scarf. Which wasn't very far.
"My deepest apologies, but if you could just let go of my scarf, I would be able to get off." Altair mumbled from behind his scarf, which was threatening to slide completely off from around his neck. He'd only been able to get himself onto his knees, still crouched over the figure underneath him.
Lee grimaced, still not entirely sure what'd just happened. He'd fallen on the floor, there was a scarf involved, and Altair was talking to him. Scarf... in his hand. He wanted him to let go of the scarf. Oh! Right! He let go quickly, grinning sheepishly up at Altair. "Sorry, man, didn't see you..." Oh. Hey, they should probably... not be in this position, especially not if someone came by... He made a rushed scramble backwards and got to his feet with a blush. Yeah, that'd look really bad. And they got enough shit... "Where've you been, anyway?"
Oh no Lee. It'd been inevitable that he'd eventually run into Lee within the cathedral, but he'd been hoping it would have lasted a little longer. Say, after Lee got a girlfriend and no longer needed to worry about being accused of being gay. Their recent run-in probably wouldn't help the scenario any, but just hopefully, no one was around to see it. He hadn't seen anyone around.
"The apologies are mine; I was preoccupied," he said quickly as he stood, scooping up the fallen bag of tea and attempting to readjust his scarf as best he could with one hand. "I've been busy and I'm sure we're both busy now so I shall be on my way." With that, Altair attempted to skirt around Lee and retreat down the hall as fast as he could.
"Hey hey hey-" Lee protested, blinking at Altair's sudden attempted departure. He grabbed at the other guardian's sleeve. "I'm not busy, c'mon, just hang out for a bit. What've you been so busy with? I haven't seen you around here in..." He frowned. "Well, a long time." Why did he seem so weird? It was like he was nervous about something, but Lee couldn't figure out what.
The hand holding onto his sleeve made him falter, but he was sure that if he gave into Lee's requests, it would have just been harder to avoid him in the future. It was hard enough now avoiding Lee.
"Just things you needn't worry about, Lee. I apologize, but I'll be busy for a while longer."
He frowned. "C'mon, you can tell me. Just chill for like, five minutes? I've missed you, man." Yeah, he was acting weird. Even Lee could see that. What the hell was going on?
"Sorry," he repeated with a small sigh, feeling guiltier about his decision. He hadn't even told Lee why he'd been going to such lengths to avoid him, had he? "I was trying to fix something."
Lee blinked. "Oh, you break somethin'? I can help," he offered earnestly. Maybe he'd broken something expensive and he didn't want anyone to know it was him! But... then again, that didn't really explain why he'd been away for weeks.
"Maybe," he mused aloud, shifting the bag of tea under an arm to finish rearranging his scarf back to its previous position. He was sure Lee was thinking of something completely different, but it would have been easier to avoid Lee if Lee was doing the same to him.
"Great! Show the way!" He beamed at his fellow Guardian, shoving his hands in the pockets of his oversized coat. Maybe he wasn't being weird after all!
It was going to kill him to have to say this while Lee was smiling like that. "To fix it, we would need to continue not spending time together," Altair said quietly.
Lee blinked in confusion, his grin slowly fading. "Wh- What do you mean?" Had... had he done something? Freya, what....
"So people will stop saying weird things." It was for the better, really. People would stop teasing Lee, at least about that, and Altair wouldn't have the title of 'pedophile' added to the 'gay' that already hung over his head. Things were just easier if they didn't make people question their friendship.
... It was hard for even Altair to believe his own words.
"Wh- That's bullshit!" Lee shouted, balling his fists. That was why he'd been avoiding him? 'Cause Sei and Mike and Marcine kept calling them fags? "Just fucking ignore 'em, Altair. You ain't a pedophile, and you ain't gay." He paused, hesitating for a second. "Right?"
He gave Lee a pointed look. "I'm not. But that doesn't stop people from thinking it, does it? Even you questioned it." If even Lee wasn't clear about things, all hope was probably lost.
"But- They're gonna keep saying it, even if you keep staying away," Lee argued, a note of desperation in his voice. Fuck them, he wanted to yell, but he was too bewildered. Lee had no idea how to handle himself when he was angry. "That's stupid!"
"They haven't said anything recently." At least, since Altair'd taken to avoiding Lee, he hadn't been hearing anything. On the other hand, he'd been avoiding most of the cathedral, so he hadn't been around to hear anything.
Actually, he couldn't remember them saying anything recently, but that wouldn't help his side. "It doesn't matter! Just stop it, okay? I'd rather get called shit and have you around." The last was said with a vicious pout, Lee crossing his arms and scowling imploringly up at his fellow Guardian.
Though Lee was doing his best at an angry pout, the sight itself was amusingly cute and made Altair smile behind his scarf. It also made Altair miss his time spent with the smaller Guardian. Lee was one of a kind in the cathedral.
No, steel yourself, Altair. Steel. "Doesn't it bother you? Even the maids used to say things."
"Yeah it bothers me," Lee mumbled, his shoulders slackening for a minute as he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I ain't a fag, and you don't pedo me or whatever, but... Y'know, fuck them." He looked up at Altair, mouth quirked to the side. "We're friends, right? I want y'around."
Another small, scarf-hidden smile. "We are. But friends also do things for each other." I'm doing this for you so you don't have to be bothered by it all.
"I have to go, Lee."
Lee frowned, hurt. "You wanna do something for me? Stay here." This was bullshit. He was going to fucking kill Sei.
"Can't do that. Sorry." He started walking again, heading back toward his room and feeling insanely guilty for hurting Lee like this. But it was for the best and all, right? This sounds like something out of a bad romance flick.
"Altair!" Lee shouted, hurrying after him to grab his scarf like a leash. "Freya, stop it! The fuck is wrong with you! This isn't helping, okay?" Is this the part where they make out?
He was jerked back at the scarf grabbing, barely managing to catch the loop of scarf around his neck and keep it over his mouth. He needed to lose Lee somehow, but he didn't have it in him to knock the younger Guardian out and leave him in the hallway. That wouldn't look very good.
"It's just temporary." Five years wasn't that long. And have make-up sex in the middle of the hallway?
"How temporary," Lee growled, tugging on the scarf. He didn't believe that. He was just tryin' to get away. I'm good for it, you?
If Lee kept tugging at his scarf like that it was going to fall off. He gave a small tug of his own on his end of the scarf, keeping as much of it raveled around his head as possible. "Until one of us is no longer a Guardian?" So long as Altair gets to top.
Lee gave the scarf a hard yank. "No, fuck that!" he snarled. "That's fucking stupid! You aren't gonna avoid me for five years 'cause Sei and the rest of 'em are assholes!" Lee protests and points to Altair's usernname.
"In a secluded place like this, it'll be better to just get rid of the rumors then ignore them." Stop giving them something to talk about and they'd stop talking. That was that. Altair says he didn't pick the username. And he's taller.
"There are better ways to get rid of rumors than fucking hiding," Lee snapped. Another yank. He hoped he was choking him. Lee says alsjdlaskdjaslj about the height comment and that Altair better get smoochin' before he strangles him to death.
"This way is working well enough." Either he was going to have to get Lee to let go of the scarf or he was going to have to just unwrap the whole damn thing; it was starting to get way too tight. Please, Lee, just let it go. Lee is into necrophilia just so he can top Altair?
"No it's NOT!" He tugged as hard as he could in time with his yell, his eyes blazing. "Just fucking STOP IT, okay? Your plan is RETARDED! I don't CARE what the fuck they SAY just STAY HERE! Freya!" What the fuck was wrong with him? Quite possibly!
Can't breathe. Altair forwent a response in favor of saving his own life, letting go of his edge of the scarf to unravel it from around his neck. Oh Freya thank you air. He kept his back to Lee and began quickly walking away, leaving Lee with the scarf.
"HavetogoLee,bye," he rushed out, holding onto the bag of tea leaves and breaking out into a full run now. Totally smooth. Pervert.
Lee blinked down at the scarf in his hands for a moment before his outrage returned. "Altair! Fucking-" He ended in a frustrated snarl, throwing the scarf down on the ground and stomping away. Fuck him, he thought angrily, even as he had to pinch his palm to keep his eyes from filling with tears. Avoid him. See if he cared. Fucking... fucking asshole. He sagged against one of the windows that lined the tower walls. Friends: minus one, 'cause Sei and company didn't fucking know when to stop a joke. Fucking... He pinched his palm harder, but this time, it didn't work. Fuck them.