The lie of living

     He stares and looks back at his frozen patty that’s yet to be thawed out, not truly knowing how to go about this. His hands holds a bag of bread in one and the other holds a knife, contemplating if he should start covering the bread in mayonnaise first or not. Would that ruin making the chicken patty or making his bread and mayo cold? It didn’t seem like a great loss so he sets down the bread and begins to open the bread. Untwisting the tie around the opening, he does this carefully since he’s only minding his business.

     Hm.. I wonder if toasted hamburger buns are better..

     SO he muses this to himself, scratching that plan and putting the tie back on the bread, twist, twist, twist and there! Its back on! He walks over to the hamburger buns that have yet to be open and twist, twist, twist! They are open for him to take one of them out of, oe left bun and one right bun! There! He got his buns! His happy buns! And now he goes back to his chicken patty, it’s quite not done yet? What should Slaine do to fix his chicken patty?

…      …      …

     He has to fry his patty! Yes! He has to but after his puts mayo on his buns! A 1, 2, 3 and a 4! Mayonaise! Spread-y, spread-y! Mayonnaise! Spread-y, spread-y! Spread-y, spread-y, spread-y, spread-y, spread-y, spread-y, spread-y, mayon~naise! Let’s make a cicken patty today! Uhuhuh! It’s fun to do, it’s a filling way! Take all the patties that you want to eat, it’s going to be a chicken patty treat! The first step: spread your mayonnaise, the second step: toss it in a pan, the third step: chop up the tomatoes..! Shake your salt and pepper on your tomatoes on your pla-ate!

     Now we’ve made it, it’s time to eat it! It tastes so goooooo~d that you just can’t beat it! Uhuhuhuh! Give everyone… a plate and a sandwich! We’ll all be eating it.. very soon! The first step: eat up your bread, the second step: eat up the tomato, the third step: eat up the patty! Eat the crumbs and now there’s nothing on your pla-ate! Now we had our chicken patty today, it’s time to put the food away! Wash the plates and your hands! Let’s do it again all real soon!

     Chicken Patty! Yummy, yummy! Chicken Patty! Yummy, yummy! Chicken Patty! Yummy, yummy! Yummy, yummy, yummy, chicken patty!

    Even if Nunnally can’t even be with Lelouch right now… At least he would have precious pictures of her face. With a clenched fist, he feels sudden determination flow through him. He must, absolutely must get that picture back. There’s no way he can lose Nunnally, the most precious girl in the world, to this feline. So, there Lelouch goes, continuing his chase… Alone, for Nunnally’s sake.

    He sees the white tail disappear under the couch in the living when he makes a complete circle, returning to the same room. He crouches down in an attempt to try to catch the cat with his hand, but the cat bolts away as soon as he kneels down on his knees, even. Aha! He sees the cat head towards the bedroom, a perfect opportunity to corner the feline. Then, the dear picture of Nunnally shall be in his grasp again.

    Off on quick feet again, he makes his way to the bedroom, where he sees the white fluff of fur on the bed, still triumphantly carrying the picture in its mouth. Lelouch felt rather ridiculed, he can just sense the mockery the cat is giving him, with a mischievous gleam in its eye. No. This cat is trying to make a fool out of him, that won’t do at all! He lunges at the cat, but in that instant, it jumps off the bed; easily dodging Lelouch’s attempt to catch it, and there it goes again— running away in victory of yet another escape. Thankfully, Lelouch didn’t lunge into a wall or anything, but there’s no hesitation, he exits the room and follows the cat down the same hallway…

    Which brings up a thought in the back of his mind. This apartment isn’t that huge, why is this cat so difficult to catch anyway!?

    After about four seconds, he finds himself slowing down, and entering the same kitchen. That sprint slowly turns into an uneven walk, and his breaths became heavy. With hands on his thighs, he bends over to take a few breaths.

    “That… Damn cat…” He begins to curse in between every heaved breath, “Why is it… So hard to catch…”

    This is so exhausting.

    Why is this happening to him! Why!

♘ It was that time of the year again! A time to dress up as whatever and for kids to go around to people’s front doors and ask for candy. But more importantly, it was time to play pranks on people and get a certain someone to dress up with him~

“Trick or treat, Lelouch!!”

The doors opened to a young brunette wearing a kitty costume and a beautifully wrapped box in his hands. There was a huge grin on his face. Suzaku was having fun, probably a bit too much fun for his age actually. But, it didn’t matter to him. Today was meant for some fun, and with work and a family to take care of, he deserved it and he was going to spread some that fun to his best friend. Even if it meant he was going to have to force him. After all, he had the perfect costume for Lelouch and he’d be damned if he let this chance go to waste!

“Suzaku…?!” This obviously can’t be a trick… Or a treat, really! This is more like a big surprise, really! He stands there at the door, staring at the brunet with a present in his hands, and wearing one of the most ridiculous costumes ever. Well, this is normal for Suzaku, guess Lelouch shouldn’t really be too shocked by this, right?

It takes a moment for him to recompose himself, but then he finally speaks towards the brunet, “Aren’t you a little too old for…” He gestures at the costume, “…this?” Though, mix feelings are present, it’s rather relieving. It almost felt like old times; no tension in the air can be felt, or ill-will. Well, right now there’s really no point in asking too many deep questions. Besides, it’s Halloween, as much as Lelouch isn’t one to really celebrate it.

He stares at the gift that’s in his hands [paws?] now, as he takes a moment to decipher all the possibilities.

❝Oh goodness, I can barely get all the colors on one side to match…❞ A soft admittance, confidence in herself weak enough to label her current puzzle solving skills as a lost cause.

    A light-hearted chuckle emits from his lips at the compliment, “Why, thank you.” With a simple thanks, his fingers reach a halt, then takes a moment to admire the work. There’s a moment of silence to think over her request, there’s obviously no harm doing so.

    “By now, actually, this has all turned into muscle memory.” He mentions, at first it’s always by executing algorithms in his head, then putting all that information into the turns of his wrist with the cube to make the solving time quick.

    It’s pretty difficult to get into the nitty-gritty, there’s actually a lot to say, though he presumes she’s only looking for the simple- perhaps? “Like everyone says, practice makes perfect, right?” he says rather, in a cheerful tone, “It makes it a bit easier if you look ahead, and plan everything. Then you usually don’t run into mistakes that may be hard to backtrack with. In a sense, maybe it’s like chess. Except you can’t really take back any mistakes- of course.”

His actions are done with simple ease, the way he walks is in an elegant fashion, as if he holds himself rather high above anyone else. He doesn’t really care about much, his thoughts on much more important things. The females that walk past him and he will rate them from one to ten to who catches his eyes more. The thing about him is, he loves women (’s breast) of all sizes, and when he believes himself to find a suitable one, he slips his arm around their’s and before he can speak, the God notices that he’s missed.

Of course, the other’s frame is slender and anyone could have went amiss at this but his eyes close and a shrug follows. His eyes look onto the sheet of paper that is hanging on a window, something the male was reading before disrupted by curious hands. The paper reads something about a job, in which, Hakutaku laughs lightly to himself. ❝A restaurant, running register wouldn’t be your thing since,❞ he places a finger against the window indicating someone is jumping up and down as if they won a grand prize. ❝…you’re too late.❞

    By a stroke of chance, he figures he found an opening when violet eyes spot an advertisement on a window. Stopping in his tracks, he decides to peruse it- mostly to see if it’s something to his liking. Register is definitely something not too demanding, and also allows him to stay in one place as opposed to move around so often, so it’s something likely he’d take up.

    A stranger’s arm, making its way around Lelouch’s arm. The black-haired teen takes a step away to break it, but it appears the arms are locked, and he furrows his eyebrows at this stranger, mostly taken aback by the, what it seems to be, ‘friendly’ gesture. Who are they— to him? Such a gesture is awfully suspicious towards him, especially considering he has never seen this person at all in his life.

   Before Lelouch could interject, that stranger begins to speak.

   “Well, you’re pretty good at these guessing games. Maybe I should be impressed.” He replies, lifting his shoulders to give him an uncaring shrug. Actually doing the work isn’t much his thing, but sometimes a king needs to get their hands a bit dirty to strive in the world, right?

   The way he describe his dress to be ‘fancy’ isn’t as ideal as Lelouch believes. Maybe to an untrained eye, perhaps, they wouldn’t see it as a school uniform; so in a crowd of people that wears the same form of dress he’d just be a carbon copy, “Isn’t that unfortunate. I guess I just got unlucky.” He sounds surprised for the most part, giving off that cheery sense though that any happy-go-lucky student would probably use, “I don’t think you just came here to tell me I’m out of a job though. By the way…”

The situation wasn’t something he would have ever imagined himself in. — It was odd, in so many ways, but not entirely unwelcome.

Neil was actually excited at the thought of being together with others, as a family. The only one he had ever known was having his Mother by his side and he could argue that being with Brett and Iris and all the dragon children in the police force was likewise, a second family for him. While he wasn’t sure where they were now, he knew in good faith that they were alright.

Neil cuts any other thoughts short, faced with the decisive numbers of his new home. He’s not nervous, rather…he’s more curious about who “Lelouch” and “Judai” must be and what they’re like, if they’ve ever heard of dragons before. He hopes they have, it’d be easier to explain if they have though he’s not necessarily unwilling to explain about what he is — he has to admit it’d only be difficult to demonstrate his born ability.

    A small throb of pain in his chest, that’s been occurring ever since he woke up in this place reminds him… Then brings up another train of thought. Is this place punishment, or reward? Or perhaps it’s just a hell specifically made for him? Though maybe to someone else that’d be such a conceited thought of him. Still, it’s rather odd. The way this world is constructed isn’t ideal, however it’s quiet, also peaceful. Other citizens he has seen are clearly content with its setting.

    Confronted by the other male when entering the room, he acknowledges him. A hand slides over the back of a laptop that's placed simply on a coffee table before the couch, slowly pressing it close, and with eyes looking at the other; he makes a conclusion, “Ah, and you’re… Neil Masefield?” a kind smile appears on his features when he greets him. Of course, there’s no way he’ll live with these people without his research, though his resources are low so he can only find so much information, ah well. If Iunctum wants him to play family, then playing that part is something that can be achieved easily.

    His smile soon fades, and he raises an eyebrow as he takes notice of a few things. From a quick glance he notices his abnormal height [natural? Disorder?], also the eye patch he wears [a scar? Missing eye? For show?], then the pair of pointed ears [well… Now that’s probably more abnormal than the height].