rakuen | (no subject)

Characters: Lelouch and the rest of the Code Geass cast present at dinnertime the first day of Round -1. Except Gino. ~~But he's welcome to crash~~. Sorry Rolo.
Format: Prose
This log is: open
Location: Home Ec room
Summary: Lelouch cooks dinner, and the hungry masses were pleased. Also, some catching up is in order for some Princes, Princesses, Knights, and siblings. Also, Lelouch and Kallen need to talk. There's two threads here, one with Lelouch and Kallen, and the other with the dinner. When the others arrive, Kallen's already there, natch.
Warnings: Either saccharine or angst. Or sacchariny angst. You never can tell with this group.

His cooking just didn't seem right. Sure, the flavors were good, and it wasn't like he'd burned anything. He had lost none of his skill, but something seemed off in his measurements. There was an element of precision that was missing. But he couldn't overcome it. The others wouldn't likely notice, but it was distinctly off-putting. And he just didn't like not being able to overcome this.

There was another problem during the planning stages of this meal. He had wanted to incorporate things he knew everyone enjoyed very much, but he could not remember Nunnally's favorite. He knew what she disliked, which was a very short list, but he could not remember her favorite food. He'd settled on something that ranked highly with her, but it still was not her favorite. Out of all of the possible memories that could have been taken, did it have to be that one? Never had cooking been such an annoying process before.

But he went on with his plans, dressing up the room a bit, and borrowing a large table from another classroom that had a better dining-room feel to it. He pulled together as many resources as he could, eventually creating a table arrangement that would suffice. Five place settings and four chairs would do just fine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm glad you think this is funny, Gino." Except she wasn't. Here she was, trying to trust Gino with a serious situation on her hands and she had forgotten that the male could never be serious. Maybe she was placing her trust in the wrong person.

"Forget it." She said, ignoring his question which to her had nothing to do with the conversation they were having. Kallen just continued to walk down the hall, with or without him.

"Kallen." First name? Oh dear. He matched her pace in a few strides, and caught her shoulder. "You think I'm not taking this seriously, right? You want me to forget about it? That's just it. I can't remember half of the stuff you just said."

He didn't mind helping her - hey, without a fight or a cause, they were allies here. It was what he'd been gunning for all along in a way - but without memories, he couldn't be of much use to anyone. And if it was hitting him, who didn't really have much invested in the group back there... He looked back down the corridor, then tried to get her to meet his eyes. "You have all the information for once, and the rest of us are flying blind. That's what I meant just now. you've gotta look at this like a mission."

The hand on her shoulder caused her to stop but also whip around and remove his touch with her arm pushing his off. "I'm not saying you should! But don't joke about the things I remember. You would never understand how painful they are!"

She grabbed the fabric at his chest despite their height difference. "I can't pretend... I just can't." The flame in her eyes met his cool blue ones. "A mission to play pretend? To not break down every time I see Lelouch?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." He didn't bother to ask her what her deal was with Lelouch, it was just one of the many things that didn't add up. It could get in line. He folded his arms, but didn't knock her hand away. "It's not like you can avoid the guy in a place like this, so what other options do you have?"

He paused, then added with a flare of his usual smile, "Want to punch me? I bet it'll make you feel better, and you won't break your hand like you would if you took it out on the wall."

Hey, it had worked for her last time he could remember her this upset, and the Knight of Seven wasn't here this time.

Edited 2011-01-22 21:26 (UTC)

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Kallen yelled at him, gritting her teeth. She wanted to hit him, she REALLY wanted to. But she knew better. Hitting Gino wouldn't solve a damn thing.

She pushed against him, releasing her hands's grips. Slowly she backed up and placed her back against the wall, sliding down it. Knees drawn to her chest, head resting against them. "Don't ask the impossible of me," she whispered, not really caring if Gino heard it or not. "Just leave."