A/N: Hehe, I bet you with this was the seventeenth chapter of The Aftermath. Well, you'll have to wait a little while for that. This story is the result of too much free time, waaay too much coffee, and too many airline peanuts. It will be a chapter work due to the fact that I can't seem to put down all the ideas I have in my head in a single chapter. It is set eight years after the original Gundam SEED and if any characters seem a bit OOC it is because eight years have passed and they have grown older and more mature (hopefully). This is mainly Yzak/OC and Dearka/Miriallia, but everyone else is in here. There will be some Kira/Lacus and Athrun/Cagalli. I would love to know what you think about this, so review please. Or I may just have to break your toes, and you don't want that. And if you do, call me.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Gundam SEED.
Anything You Can Do
Chapter 1: Anything You Can Do...
During the course of a man's life there are things that are expected of him as he grows older. For instance, during a young man's childhood it could be considered a severe blunder to kiss a member of the opposite gender on their own free will. Prepubescent boys have an uncanny fear of the opposite sex that makes people wonder why there are any young kids at all. But as a boy progresses in age, intimate encounters are something to boast about. And as the boy grows even older and mature, an encounter of such nature may be considered as natural as waking.
At boyhood, kissing is not expected, but at age twenty-five, having never received a kiss is a mark of shame. A mark made more visible than perhaps a fading scar on one's face. It is a mark of shame that certain blonde-haired, tan-skinned boys will never let you live down. It is a mark of shame that becomes more apparent to oneself when said tan boys come to brag about their romantic encounters and share relationship stories with you. It is a mark of shame that becomes painful when your mother always reminds you of your dead love life and when she always speaks about the grandchildren she will never receive.
It is a mark of shame that Yzak Jule wears.
It is a mark that Yzak cannot help but think about as he leans back in his big, black, over-padded chair and watches the watermarks on the ceiling. It is a mark that is the only thing he can think about in his small, quiet office located deep inside the recently finished space fortress Jachin Tre.
Yzak sighed for what must have been the thousandth time and scowled at the innocent watermarks on his ceiling. After being momentarily taken back when he thought one of them seemed to cower from his scowl he sighed again and looked back down at the paperwork scattered across his desk. When he sat down to work a little over three hours ago his desk was a lot more tidy than it is now. Yzak decided that the present state of his office was not fit to work in and decided to leave just a second before the door to his office opened and a smiling Dearka Elthman walked inside.
Dearka walked to the front of Yzak's desk looked at it's current untidy appearance. Dearka had changed in the last eight years so subtly that Yzak almost didn't notice it. He had grown a couple inches taller and his jawline was more distinguished. His neatly trimmed hair was combed back and his uniform was carefully pressed and clean. His violet eyes held more of a shine than when they were younger. And one other change that Yzak could never figure out was that the former buster pilot always smelled like cinnamon. Always. When Yzak asked the other man for the reason all he could do was smile like an idiot and say that cinnamon was a miracle.
Yzak sat back in his chair and waited for an explanation for the sudden intrusion. Dearka sat down in a chair across from Yzak and smoothed out his uniform before saying, "Tomorrow is the day, Yzak." He smiled meaningfully at Yzak as though he should know exactly what he meant.
Yzak just stared back and raised an eyebrow. "That's... great?" he replied hesitantly.
Dearka's smile vanished and he sighed and shook his head. "Do you ever listen to anything I tell you?"
"Not if I can help it," Yzak mumbled.
"Today is the day I am going back to Earth. Back to Orb," Dearka said with a far off look on his face.
"Back to Miriallia," Yzak finished for the other man.
"Ah," he blurted out immediately. "Well... Yes. That too." Dearka smiled again at the thought of Miriallia Haww. Those two had been seeing each other for what seemed like an eternity. They had parted ways and fell back together so many times it made Yzak's head spin thinking about it. They had been going steadily for the past two years without any potholes. Dearka was constantly taking time out of his work in order to make visits to Earth and Miriallia was coming to the PLANTs just as frequently. Dearka was even talking about leaving the military this year to move to Earth permanently to be with her. It was nice for them, but that practically left Yzak all alone up here.
"So that is today," Yzak said bitterly. "Why are you so happy about tomorrow then?"
"I-" Dearka stopped himself and gave Yzak a funny look. "Hm. Maybe you're not the best person to tell." Dearka's voice held a level of amusement Yzak was not comfortable with. This conversation would probably result in a few stabs at his pathetic personal life. "I mean, when discussing relationship matters, it helps to talk to someone who can relate, you know?" Yzak scowled at him. "Right... I guess you wouldn't."
"Either tell me or leave so I can go home," Yzak snarled.
Dearka sighed in defeat and dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small black box and set it on the desk in front of Yzak. Yzak reached out and picked it up. He opened it and saw a gold ring with a rather large diamond protruding from it. Yzak stared at it for a moment, then looked back at Dearka. The other man was smiling gleefully and Yzak scowled again. "Is this your idea of a joke?" he asked angrily as he threw the ring back at Dearka.
"What are you talking about?" Dearka asked as he made a desperate grab for the ring. He caught it and place it back into his pocket.
"This is just another one of your games, isn't it? Just because I may not have the best love life you have to come into my office and pretend to propose to me for laughs? That is real low. Well, I hope you kept the receipt for the ring because I'm not amused! Why don't you get it all out now and just say it all you want? I have never been with a woman, I have never been kissed, and I have never even gotten a hug from anyone but my mom and that really creepy guy that hangs out by the water cooler down the hall!"
Dearka stared at Yzak for a long, long time before his eyes started to water and he burst into explosive laughter. After a long fit of laughter he sat up straight and looked at Yzak, still smiling ear-to-ear, and said, "This wasn't a joke Yzak. The ring isn't for you. It's for Miriallia. I had no intentions of poking fun at you today. I just wanted to tell you I was finally going to propose."
Yzak's face turned bright red and he swallowed hard. He put a scowl back onto his face and said through clenched teeth, "Congratulations."
Dearka chuckled and thanked him. After a few moments of silence that was excruciating for Yzak, Dearka said seriously, "Why don't you come to Earth with me? Miriallia has some pretty cute friends. We could find you a girlfriend in no time."
Yzak studied Dearka's face, looking for signs that he was joking, but found nothing but sincerity. "I can't leave now," he said shaking his head. "There is too much work to be done around here. Plus, if we both left than that would mean Julio would be in command of the Pascal. Knowing him he'd probably take it out and run it into an asteroid."
Dearka chuckled again. "You give Julio too much credit. He wouldn't even know where to put the key. Plus, the rest of the crew would know better than to do that." Dearka leaned back in his chair and breathed heavily. "You are far overdue for a vacation Yzak. When was the last time you took one?"
"I never took a vacation," Yzak mumbled.
"See? I was right," Dearka said with a triumphant smile. "Come to Earth. You get way too tense just sitting around up here. A change of scenery will do you good." Yzak had to admit he made sense. "Plus, there is always the possibility you will find someone down there."
Yzak thought about it a moment and groaned. "I guess you are right." He hated admitting defeat. Especially to Dearka.
"Good," the blonde said cheerfully as he stood up. "The shuttle leaves in a couple hours. I suggest you go home and pack." He walked out of the door with a short wave over his shoulder.
Yzak let his head fall down on his desk.
He was going to Earth.
The shuttle ride to Earth was far too long and the company far too boring. Yzak sat next to Dearka staring out at the stars with an unpleasant look on his face. He had said barely four words since they took their seats. If he stayed like this during their stay on Earth Dearka was going to have to kick the other man in the head just to get a word out of him. Yzak's silence was the result of the hatred for long rides he had developed over the years. Those long rides left people with too much time to think, and thinking was never a good thing.
Dearka was left to drown in his own thoughts which made him regret taking this vacation, and he didn't want to regret it. The ring that he had bought — the very expensive ring — was burning a hole in his pants. He was starting to have doubts about his plan. What if this was too sudden? What if Miriallia said no? He doubted he would be able to take rejection, so perhaps he should just set the ring aside and wait for a better time. Why should they get married now when everything was already so nice?
The only problem was that everything wasn't so nice.
Granted, Dearka and Miriallia loved one another, but the huge distance between them made their relationship quite difficult. Dearka always talked about moving to Earth permanently, but he never made any real steps towards doing just that. Miriallia loved her home too much to move to PLANT. She was close to her family and friends on Earth, and all Dearka really had was Yzak, so it was obvious who was going to move where. Getting married would mean Dearka would have to rush and move to Earth as soon as possible. Having to adjust to the new life and deal with a wedding was a bit much.
It would be best to wait.
Dearka sighed and dug into his pocket and retrieved the ring. He looked at it and flipped it over his fingers a few times. "Having doubts?" Yzak said off to the side, still gazing out at the stars.
"I think I should wait a while before I do this," Dearka replied, his eyes still stuck to the ring.
"Why?" Yzak asked, looking over to Dearka.
"It is all a little too sudden. What if she says no?"
"You are making excuses. She wont say no, and it isn't too sudden. You two have been together for practically eight years. How do you know she isn't just sitting at home waiting for the day that you propose?" Yzak's eyes drifted back out of the shuttle's window.
Dearka shook his head. "Maybe you are right. Maybe I am just making excuses, but I still think I should wait a while."
"I wont let you," Yzak said evenly.
Dearka looked at Yzak and said, "What?"
"I said," Yzak started, "that I wont let you. I'll make you propose to Miriallia or I'll do it for you."
"Why do you even care?" Dearka demanded, baffled by his friend's words.
"Because it isn't right for you to stall like this. I know you didn't buy that ring recently. It's been sitting at your house for over a year. You have to let your balls drop and take a chance Dearka. Trust me," Yzak said looking back at Dearka. "She wont say no."
"But what if she does?" Dearka groaned.
Yzak shrugged and said, "Then I'll make her marry you. You can get pretty pathetic sometimes, sitting around thinking about her instead of working. Frankly it makes me sick. She will marry you and maybe then you can do an hour's worth of work without going off into your own little world for once."
Dearka blinked at Yzak a couple times. It is pretty funny how Yzak can help out a friend without actually sounding like he is helping. Now Dearka was firmly resolved to propose to Miriallia. He smiled and leaned back in his seat and decided to sleep for the rest of the ride, but unfortunately for him, Yzak was still in the mood to talk. "Why do you always smell like that?"
Dearka gave his light-haired friend an odd look. "Smell like what?"
"Cinnamon."
"Oh," Dearka said as he smiled at the fond memory. "Cinnamon is-"
"Don't even say it," Yzak growled. Dearka was taken back by his friend's comment and looked at him. "If you say that cinnamon is a miracle then I will be forced to hurt you."
"What are you talking about?" Dearka asked in wide-eyed surprise.
Yzak narrowed his eyes and answered, "I always ask you about your scent and you always say the same thing. I want to know why you always smell like that. It is creepy."
Dearka chuckled lightly and shook his head. "It is a personal story."
"We are friends, aren't we?" Yzak said while turning his face away from Dearka.
"Oh," Dearka said in a low tone, "and I suppose it is perfectly normal for friends to threaten their friends with physical harm for almost everything they do?"
Yzak glared back at Dearka. "Fine, don't tell me."
He looked back out of the window and didn't say another word for the rest of the trip.
Currently Listening To: This Could Be Love by Alkaline Trio
A/N: Ah, there isn't anything quite like finishing a chapter for a story. Well, there's getting reviews for said story. That has to be ten times better. (Hint Hint) Look forward to the next chapter sometime soon. I am officially on summer break so I have plenty of free time to write my fingers off.
