Underlying Factors
A fan fiction by:
Overall, Lockon Stratos was a very laid-back man, especially when things went his way. With that being said, in the instance that things didn't go exactly as planned, he was much more liable to react out of character. So, when the twenty-four year old woke up from his cat nap that fine spring day and received the dead-set eyes of Setsuna F. Seiei instead of the expected invisible silence he was normally greeted with, it was more than normal to see him react the way he did.
Jolting out of his once peaceful slumber, Lockon cried out and bolted perfectly upright, narrowly missing slamming his forehead against the Middle Eastern teen's. Allowing a slight shiver to run through his body, Lockon looked the teenager over, his mouth twisted into the slightest of scowls. It was clear he wanted more time to slumber, rather than deal with whatever it was he had to do now. " G'Morning. " he grumbled. Setsuna's gaze did not change.
"Afternoon, actually." The boy corrected. Looking down at the watch strapped onto his right wrist, Lockon watched in mild interest as line creased over Setsuna's forehead. "4:12. We were supposed to get started seven minutes ago." Lockon, who at first seemed to have no reaction good enough to match Setsuna's sharp mind, paused in his thoughts. He had known the boy long enough- Well, as much as one could without knowing their real name- to understand that, if there was one thing Setsuna didn't do, was arrive late to anything. If only Lockon could remember what he was here for in the first place. Sliding his feet to the floor, Lockon looked up groggily at the boy standing in front of him, sunken into the tan couch he had been napping on. He wished desperately for slippers. "Hey…" he started, interrupted by a long, airy yawn, "Have you been here this whole time, or what?"
At first, silence. Finally, the boy's eyes slimmed, the already dark brown coloring of Setsuna's eyes growing darker in what seemed to be annoyance, or maybe even anger. "Yes." he responded, turning to his left to grab something off of the glass table behind him, "Unlike you, I can remember how to keep a meeting." Lockon smirked. So that's how it was going to be. Running a hand through his messy brown hair, Lockon yawned yet again. Setsuna glanced at him. "Please tell me you remembered why I'm here."
"To wake me up?" Lockon's joke was not accepted whole-heartedly. Setsuna didn't even allow him the satisfaction of an amused smirk. Standing, the long-haired brunette stretched, holding his straightened left arm with his right, bent at the elbow. "Sorry, Setsuna." Lockon said, looking around him with curious, spring green eyes, "I would have thought for sure Haro would have woken me up if it was that important…" Where was Haro, anyway? Lockon frowned. Normally, the basketball-sized robot would have woken him up about fifteen minutes from now, warning about…well…whatever it was that he needed to be awake for. Lockon's memory was never fully functioning until a good couple of minutes had passed since waking up. That's how it always was.
Just then, a low buzzing emitted from the pantry in the kitchen. Setsuna and Lockon looked each other over, the one as confused as the next. "What was that?" Setsuna asked, looking behind him. The buzz sounded again, low in pitch yet all too recognizable to Lockon Stratos. In a heartbeat, the brunette leapt from his seat on the couch, almost sending Setsuna flying backwards. Instead, the pilot took a cautious step back, watching in mild interest as Lockon ran to the kitchen, full speed ahead. He didn't need Dynames to fly.
Several moments later, Lockon returned to the living room, Setsuna sitting in a faux leather loveseat on the right of the couch. The brunette cradled his beloved robot under his right arm.
"Sorry about that." Lockon excused with an almost sheepish grin. "My partner here has taken to digging around in the pantry- Guess he got stuck in there." Setsuna didn't look the least bit amused.
"Maybe if you'd eat better, he wouldn't be so tempted." the boy almost spat, looking over the robot with little interest, brown eyes slanted as twin indications. Lockon laughed.
"Oh, spare me." the brunette joked, setting the happily beeping Haro to the floor. "I eat perfectly well, thanks. Plus, you honestly can't tell me you've never had a little snack before." Setsuna's glare was answer enough. Plopping himself down on the couch, Lockon was graced with Haro's presence, jumping up onto the cushion beside him. "Lockon, Lockon!" the robot beeped, "Late, late!" Lockon chuckled, running his hand over the orange robot's smooth surface. "I mean, the stuff couldn't kill you."
"Actually, it could." Setsuna's voice reminded the man of a teacher's, strong in belief and demanding attention. "If you eat too much snack food, you're going to start gaining body fat, which would eventually strain your heart and make you severely ill." A pause. "So…Yes, it could kill you."
Lockon only stared. "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" At Setsuna's simple nod, Lockon cracked a grin, it's size fully capable of making the Great Wall of China jealous. "Well, I'm glad to know you care so deeply about your teammate's health."
It was just then that a look shot itself across Setsuna's face, one Lockon himself couldn't put a name to. It was gone in the blink of an eye- Bad timing, considering Lockon had also just remembered how tired he truly was nanoseconds after. Yawning again, Lockon considered the strange way Setsuna's face had gone carefully blank, the twitch of his mouth that formed into a slanted frown much too quickly.
"Why shouldn't I be?" Setsuna asked, grabbing a futuristic device off of the end table closest to the loveseat. Lockon then took his chance and pounced.
"How about you answer my question first?" As the device in Setsuna's hands flashed blue, he looked up quizzically. Lockon leaned forward a bit, hands clasped over his knees. "What I want to know is, why didn't you wake me up if this meeting or whatever it is is so important to you?" Although the look on the Middle Eastern boy's face did not change, Lockon could definitely feel a change in air- Something had been said that Setsuna F. Seiei felt he could not answer to.
Finally, he shook his head. "That's…not important." he decided on at last, crossing one leg over the other. Lockon almost pouted. Well, that most certainly would not do. Giving a slight huff, Lockon smiled as he felt a brown bang raise slightly over his eyebrow as an effect, floating back into place soon after, it's soft texture tickling him. He then turned his attention back to Setsuna.
"Come on." Lockon nearly whined. "I wanna know…" When Setsuna's face did not change, Lockon chuckled, patting the cushion next to him. "Fine, have it your way. But, can you at least sit over here? I can't see what you're doing." Setsuna, now much more cautious than before, only gave a slight nod, and that was only after seemingly eons of time. He lifted himself from the loveseat, walking in strides around the glass coffee table and sitting down almost gracefully next to the Gundam Meister, Haro rolling neatly into Lockon's lap. The Irish man admired this with an arched brow, eyes sparkling in amusement. " I'm not a king, you know."
Setsuna was clearly not in the mood for jokes. "Yes, I've come to realize that fact." Was that sarcasm? Lockon chuckled. Maybe the kid had a funny side, after all. Leaning closer to the boy's shoulder, the Irish man felt his cheek brush against Setsuna, the material of his red scarf silky against his skin. Setsuna's skin temperature rose faintly in response, something Lockon chose not to comment on. "What does Miss Sumeragi have for us today?" Setsuna sighed.
"We don't have a new mission." Setsuna informed, his tone almost cold, "If we did, Tieria and Allelujah would be here." Lockon took a mental step back. Setsuna, known for his not-so-friendly demeanor, was acting…well…Even more not-so-friendly. Lifting a hand, Lockon poked Setsuna in the side, causing him to fidget- He had forgotten about Setsuna's touching rule.
"Oi." he muttered, his voice sprinkled in laziness to decorate his blooming concern, "What's up with you?"
"Nothing." The answer was too sudden. Not looking up from the item in his hands, Setsuna continued to speak. "And even if there was, it shouldn't be any of your concern. That's not why we know each other." Lockon clicked his tongue. The kid was harder to talk to than a brick wall. Rolling his eyes, the brunette chuckled.
"Right, of course." he said, his voice quite clearly showing he wasn't as expectant as Setsuna was, whose desire for all things orderly was present even in his eyes. Draping an arm about the back of the couch, Lockon's eyes flickered over the boy, considering. "So…remind me. Just what are we supposed to do, again? Because if it's not that important, perhaps you'd like to join me for a nap…"
Lockon didn't know what had caused it, but suddenly Setsuna was up on his feet, fists curled tightly at his sides. There was a wild look in his eyes as he stared at the still-sitting Lockon, reminding him of a lion. It was the most emotion he had ever seen out of the quiet, studious Middle Eastern boy. There it was again; that odd look that Lockon couldn't seem to place. "Uhm…Did I say something wrong?"
"Of course you did!" The answer was snapped back at him, a near shriek- It seemed Setsuna, despite the look of things, still had some form of mental control over his reactions. " You just…That…It was a total lack of consideration for a teammate! Are you insane?!"
Apparently, Lockon deducted, If I can't even figure out what I said. Cocking his head to the side a bit, Lockon's blue eyes blinked in confusion, concern written all over his face. "What?" All it had been was a friendly invitation…
That's when it hit him, a ton of bricks. Staring up at the boy as he continued to rant, Lockon allowed his eyes to widen. That…It was a total lack of consideration for a teammate! Last Lockon could remember, all of the times he had curled up with Haro on the couch, the robot tucked into his arms as securely as any teddy bear would, he never cried out, never fled from his arms. Was it because he was a robot, 'incapable of feeling', or…?
Leaning back into the couch, a slow smile appeared on Lockon's face. As he left the boy finish his rant- His reddened cheeks the cause of running his mouth for so long, or so Setsuna would like him to believe- The Irish man chuckled. Now that he thought about it, it was almost cute, the way he acted. Concerned about what he ate….Thinking he was some sort of pervert (Was he the one watching Setsuna taking a nap? No!)…Still wearing that confident smile on his face, Lockon spoke, his voice sharp and clear. "Setsuna." he started, his voice gentle yet pressing, "Why were you watching me sleep?" Setsuna, shockingly still standing from his rant, saw that this was going nowhere fast. He scowled.
"You looked too peaceful." He almost snarled, his words meant to be biting. "For somebody like you to be sleeping so peacefully like that, I was beginning to think you were dead."
As totally unfitting as the reaction had seemed at the time, Lockon couldn't hold himself back- He put a hand over his eyes and laughed. Not just mild chuckling, a polite gesture in response to an unfunny joke, but full-out, straight from the gut laughter. Setsuna was certainly perplexed, or at least from the tone of his voice. "What? What's so funny about that?!"
"Nothing!" Lockon replied, breaking into a new fit of laughter. Managing to calm himself with a few most rounds, the Irish man was soon reduced to small chuckles. He put his hand over his mouth as the last few die. Oh, that had been rich. He was even going to let the 'Somebody like you' comment slide, whatever that meant. "It's just…I wasn't expecting that out of one of the best pilots we've got." As Lockon stood from his seat, Setsuna stared, a brow raised at the older man's words.
"Expecting that?" Setsuna repeated, a rare insight of confusion revealing itself. Now standing closer to the Exia pilot, Lockon nodded. "Yeah."
It all happened so slow, neither one of them had really felt it. Wrapping an arm around the young man's waist, Lockon noticed that it was almost like watching a movie as he felt himself bend his head, gracing his junior was a soft yet full kiss on the mouth.
When their lips parted, Lockon was still smirking. Their faces still so close that he could feel the warmth of Setsuna's blush on his lips, he spoke. "For somebody as skilled as yourself…You're a very bad liar."