tampered | [ log ; ongoing ]

When; March 25, near noon
Rating; PG
Characters; Lelouch [

lel0uch ] & Shirley Fenette [

refrainingly ] ~~but lol, interference is totally okay. J-just ping-a-ling me?~~
Summary; Because some things will always demand special attention, with or without a rebellion to worry about on the sidelines. Women are just that.
Log;

Rebellion plans or no, Lelouch had to admit that he had been carelessly regretful. He didn't even have the luxury to use a packed schedule for forgetting the important date ten days ago; it had been his own failure that lead to his situation right now. And he'd been failing for a while now, falling into that disgusting state of stagnation that he so despised, and forgetting the importance - no, disregarding the importance of establishing social networks, and upholding friends. He was going to rectify that. Didn't he promise to do so a few days ago?

Of course, that day had been a waste because he found himself completely unable to decide on what exactly to gift someone who he, admittedly, didn't know as much as he would have liked. Add the fact that this was a girl in the equation and Lelouch was admittedly, or had admittedly been, stumped. And there was that recruitment to add to that day--

In any case, Lelouch was sure that it would be most wise to return what had been gifted to him, and as soon as possible too. He wasn't going to dwell on the fact that it still boggled him somewhat why women even gave out chocolates and confectionaries on Valentine's Day; had he made any indication that he wanted a gift?

There was, naturally, the option of simply forgoing any attempts to conform into societal norms regarding the Japanese Valentines/White Day practices... but--

No, Lelouch was sure he was making a right and wise decision by doing this. After all, he reminded himself, he had more reason to keep social relationships in check now. The more allies the better; and what better way to keep them than by being their friend?

Friends exchange gifts on special occasions.

And a wise person knew exactly where his limits lay; which was why Lelouch eventually ended up at Shirley's doorstep, confident that he would not be crossing paths with anymore old friends from their world in doing so. Shirley would know what to give another girl.

He pressed the doorbell and waited.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From hearing the doorbell, Shirley immediately headed towards the door to greet whoever it was that came to visit her.

She wasn't sure who to expect since as far as she was aware, she hadn't made any plans to meet up with them or something along those lines.

She opened the door and she was more than surprised to Lelouch standing at the door. "Lulu? What bring you here?"

She wasn't sure what to make of the fact that he came to her apartment, considering how they rarely see each other due to certain circumstances, but she was happy to see him.

Lelouch was silent at first; the moment Shirley opened the door, he found himself momentarily speechless. He wasn't sure if this was an effect of having never seen Shirley in such a long time, or because of the favor he needed to ask. Of course, he was aware of the other factors that could have caused that, but he wasn't going to waste his and Shirley's time by doing so, at her doorstep no less.

And especially not when Shirley looked delighted to see him. Perhaps that was his guilt resurfacing, but that effectively pulled him out of the minor stupor he had fallen into. He automatically smiled back; the perfect classmate Lelouch smile.

He hadn't meant to smile like that, really, but it came easily that moment because of all the situations he'd been forced to do so in the past few weeks. "I just decided to... visit," he began, because a part of him was acutely aware that, perhaps, beginning a visit with the blatant admittance of one's need to be indulged of a favor wasn't quite the right way to do things.

"How have you been?"

"Just decided to visit?" Shirley looked at him curiously while inviting him inside, because it seemed so unlike something he'd to do, especially since he did originally tell her they shouldn't meet that much in the City.

He just continued to smile though because really, why question the fact that he actually came over to visit her? That would be stupid, since it had been a while since they last met. "You could have at least told me that you were coming, you know. But anyway, I've been doing well. It's good to see you, Lulu"

Yes, there was that. However, considering the fact that he had a request to ask of Shirley, it didn't seem like a good idea at all to inform her immediately about it on the network. And it had been a while, after all. He needed to face her eventually.

"Well, the element of surprise is one of my best tools," Lelouch said simply, still smiling, as he stepped into Shirley's apartment. A few seconds after that delivery, a part of him was aware of how pathetic the statement was. He was stalling; that was for sure.

"Mm, well you did surprise me" Shirley paused, not really sure what to say. "Well since you're over, did you want to do something?"

It was awkward. A few months ago, when he met with Shirley last, things were easier because he had a reason to stay away. Now, there really was no reason to stay away but his own hesitance to really face her.

"Well," Lelouch looked away and focused on a nearby inanimate object; a sofa. "There was something."

It was really weird how awkward it was between the two of them just then, but Shirley figured it was just from not having seen each other in a while so she didn't think too much on it.

However, when she noticed Lelouch looked away when he responded. She couldn't help but wonder what that something was.

"Okay,...what is it then?"

It took a lot of will to turn to face Shirley with a smile. "I need your help," he admitted, with a less-than controlled expression. "I may have possibly incurred the wrath of a certain friend by forgetting the existence of White Day."

His face grew serious then but when he continued, his eyes wandered elsewhere. It was... awkward. Lelouch was well aware of how utterly paradoxical this situation was. He was supposed to be a master of persuasion, and yet, when it was for matters like this, he still somehow faltered. It would have been so easy to simply put up a mask of falseness for Shirley. However, as matters stood, Lelouch had no desire to lie anymore to someone who had undoubtedly reaped the fruits of his recklessness. He understood that there were situations to come where he was inevitably going to lie to Shirley again, but this was no situation to play the heartless liar.

"I went on my own the other day, but I thought it would be better to have your advice," he finished before pausing and then smiling. "Of course," he added with a wave of a hand and with a tinge of dismissal in his voice; it was an automatic course of action because he was well aware of what it was exactly he was going to propose. "I'm not asking this for nothing... which is why I'm here."

He extended a hand, dramatically, "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, offer to be your companion this afternoon, Miss Shirley Fenette."

"A friend?" At first Shirley couldn't believe what she was hearing and that was probably evident in her face that she felt slightly annoyed by that fact alone. It wasn't the fact that he asked her to help him that was the problem, but the fact that he came over to ask her help to get another girl something for White Day. Especially when he didn't really give her anything. It wasn't like she expected anything in return really, that's just how she was. In this instance, it did bother her that he was more concerned about this other girl but she figured Lelouch didn't have picked up on that before asking her because some things never do change.

Maybe it was partially because of that, that she wasn't all that mad at him His last statement surprised her too as he extended his hand to her "...You mean, like a date?"

That certainly caught Lelouch off-guard for a moment. He blinked, in surprise, but was thankfully able to recover quick enough to mask that momentarily failure in his part. A date? There were far too many things... reason... he really shouldn't do this, but--

His expression softened and he smiled. "If that's what you want it to be, then it can be a date, Shirley," he said, hand still extended.

She momentarily looked nervous as she realized that was totally not how Lelouch meant it. In retrospect, she probably should have at least considered that possibility before directly asking him and assuming that was what he meant, mostly because she wanted it to be a date given how she felt about him. But with his response to her question, she was glad that he agreed, in a way.

"Oh, are you sure?" She blushed slightly as she said this, while taking hold of his hand "I mean...I shouldn't have assumed, especially if that's not what you meant"

"Well," Lelouch paused and momentarily looked elsewhere... because truthfully, he wasn't sure if this was the right way of going about it. "It was close."

And then he drew her closer, but not too close that it would have been awkward for both of them. "And, I do have something else up my sleeve," he added quietly before kneeling to the floor. "So where do we go first, Miss Shirley Fenette?"

This time, at least, he wasn't using her entirely.

Well if he said it was close, then she was glad she wasn't that far off from her assumption.

"You do?" She blinked in surprise as he came closer to her, only to kneel to the floor and ask her where she wanted to go. It left her speechless for a few moments before. She never really did get the chance to actually go on a date with him, so she hadn't really thought out that far ahead to where to go if he did agree.

"Oh-- well, didn't you say you wanted my help to look for something for your friend. We can do that first, then we can decide from there, I guess"

Lelouch nodded once in agreement before standing up straight. "Yes--" he paused and then looked away briefly. "I had thought that perhaps, purchasing some kind of confectionery would be enough... but then, I realized that, I'm not entirely sure what girls like to begin with..."

"The bossy kind, especially," he added, and then when it dawned to him, continued. "What would you give someone like the President, Shirley?"

[ log ; ongoing ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject