Okay... so, the story behind this goes: anja-chan and SlvrSoleAlchmst1 RP Lelouch and Suzaku (respectively) with a full cast of other CG characters for fun. anja-chan and SlvrSoleAlchmst1 tend to get a little too wrapped up in the terribly angsty events of said RP and so anja-chan decided to write something that would remind the two of them that despite EVERYTHING, Lelouch and Suzaku have a reason to be friends. So, while I was busy with real life all summer, I asked SlvrSoleAlcmst1 for some prompts to get me started. I asked for a prop, a setting, and a phrase. Here's what I was given:
Prop: Magic Wand
Setting: Woodland Grove
Phrase: The light is/was green.
And then it sat there in my notebook for a long time while I pondered it and basically got carried away with other things. Until earlier this week when I found myself camping and... well, let's just say that waking up and having everyone go off for quiet writing time is very normal among my group of friends. Please enjoy and I hope this is a reminder to everyone that once upon a time, Lelouch and Suzaku were just that. Lelouch and Suzaku.
Thusly, the story is dedicated to my personal Suzaku, because it's more or less written for you.
Camelot
"Lelouch! Bring that pansy over here!" Milly called, waving both arms.
Lelouch looked down at the array of potted flowers at his feet, spread out like a fleet of miniature Knightmare Frames awaiting his orders. He blinked the image away and glanced up at Suzaku.
"You mean this one?" he asked cheekily, pointing at the Japanese boy.
Milly laughed as Suzaku batted Lelouch's hand down. "They're the purple ones!" She called for clarification, before another bubble of laughter rose up out of her throat.
"Like your eyes," Suzaku muttered so that the ex-Prince could hear. "Which means you're obviously the pansy."
Lelouch snorted good-naturedly and reached down to pick up the apparently cowardly flower. He brought it to Milly, bowing deeply as he handed it off. "There you are, Your Highness."
"Now that's more like it," she agreed delightedly. Lelouch watched as she added the pansy to the rooftop garden. It had come a long way since its first lonely tree and now the garden was nearly its own park. Milly finished and looked back to her Vice-President. Her eyes, however, quickly skimmed past Lelouch's face, caught by something behind him. She burst out laughing, holding her stomach.
Lelouch spun around, as Milly struggled to find words. "Su-Suzaku?! Wh-waht are you—?" Milly was interrupted by another bout of giggles. "An-and Arthur!"
Watching the scene unfold before him, Lelouch couldn't help himself either. Laughter rebounded through his body.
"Well, this is it," Suzaku said cheerily, putting his small hands together. Lelouch looked around.
The light was green as it filtered down through early summer leaves into the small clearing. The space was flat and covered by a bed of pine needles. It didn't exactly look like a campsite—no firepit or picnic table—but then it wasn't as if the young, newly exiled Prince had ever been camping before.
Suzaku was already unpacking their little three-person tent. "Lelouch, you can set up those poles."
Lelouch nodded and moved towards the tent. While he didn't enjoy being ordered around, Lelouch had to admit that he didn't know what he was doing in this situation; he had better listen to the other boy who did. If Lelouch were left to fend for himself in the wilderness, he'd probably die, even if it were just the woods surrounding the Kururugi shrine. He made a mental note to look up survival methods when they got back.
Lelouch finished snapping the poles together while Suzaku fumbled with matching the tent to the ground cloth.
"Left," Lelouch said finally, putting Suzaku out of his spatially-challenged misery. The Japanese boy shot Lelouch a sheepish smile, but aligned the pieces correctly.
"So now we put the poles through these slots," Suzaku explained, gesturing. The two boys got to work and with only several minor mishaps ("It came out of the hole!" "Lelouch, hold it steady!" "I'm trying!"), their tent was standing.
"That wasn't so hard," Lelouch said, grinning.
"Yeah, let's go inside!" Suzaku replied, unable to contain his boyish enthusiasm.
They tumbled in with a fit of laughter, shaking their sleeping bags out at each other and using their pillows as blunt force weapons.
"Let's go exploring!" Suzaku suddenly shouted, jumping up. Lelouch shot up next to him, skipping out of the ten first. He spun around in the clearing to face Suzaku.
"Which way?" he asked, twisting his arms around to point every direction possible, and some twice.
"Close your eyes and point," the Japanese boy instructed.
"Why?"
"Just do it, Lelouch."
With a small harumph, Lelouch did as he was told. A pair of hands clasped his shoulders and turned him around in circles.
"Are you dizzy yet?" Suzaku asked gleefully. Clearly, he was enjoying himself.
"No," Lelouch answered, deciding to stick it out as long as possible. Suzaku took the opportunity to spin his friend faster. Lelouch's head seemed to spin at a rate disproportionate to his moving feet and surely he was going to lose his balance at any moment now....
"Stop!" he shouted, needing a few more steps so he wouldn't fall. His and was still pointing in front of him. He opened his eyes, the trees rocking and swaying around him.
"Looks like we're going that way!" Suzaku shouted, grabbing Lelouch's outstretched hand and haphazardly dragging the still dizzy boy with him.
"Wha—Suzaku! Wait!" Lelouch yelled, tripping over a tree root. Suzaku just laughed and charged in faster.
A minute or so later, Suzaku finally dropped Lelouch's hand and they both collapsed to the forest floor, panting.
"Stupid... samurai..." Lelouch panted.
"Slow... Brit..." Suzaku retorted as usual.
They looked up at the leafy branched above them, catching their breath. The wind rustled through the trees, a few birds joining in the soft melody.
"I wish Nunnally could be here, too," Lelouch said quietly to no one in particular.
Suzaku answered anyway. "Me too."
The three had been planning the outing together for several weeks, only to have Nunnally catch "the sniffles" as she called it. The boys had been willing to call it off, but the wheelchair-bound girl had insisted. Lelouch hadn't caved in until she had smiled and reassured him she could take care of herself for one night.
Lelouch heard Suzaku stand up next to him moments before the tanned face and bright green eyes blocked out the treetops and blue sky.
"C'mon, let's do something." He held out his hand and Lelouch took it, letting Suzaku pull him to his feet.
Lelouch stooped and picked up a fallen branch, absently fiddling with it. "How about...." his face scrunched up in thought, "...we're the Knights of Camelot!" Lelouch brandished his leafy sword.
Suzaku gave him a puzzled look. "Knights of what?"
"Camelot." Lelouch's tone was arrogant, clearly implying that everyone who was anyone knew about Camelot. "They're only the most famous Knights ever. You've got to have heard of King Arthur, right?"
Suzaku shook his head. Lelouch sighed.
"Okay, so King Arthur became King of all England by pulling a magical sword, Excalibur, out of the ground. Like this," Lelouch said, demonstrating with his branch and miming a feat of great strength while he did so. He next snapped off a couple of extra limbs and twigs, tossing them aside as he continued. "He gathered a lot of knights and went of quests."
"Okay," Suzaku said slowly, picking up one of the discarded branches. It was somewhat frail looking, with a single leaf clinging to the end. "You should be King Arthur, then, right? Because you're a Prince."
"There's also a wizard," Lelouch continued, nearly talking right over Suzaku, "named Merlin." There was a pause as the boy considered Suzaku's words. His voice was quiet when he spoke again, "I'm not a Prince anymore, Suzaku."
Suzaku didn't hesitate. "Well, when a Prince stops being a Prince, he becomes a King, right?"
Lelouch couldn't help himself and grinned. "Or an Emperor."
"Right." Suzaku nodded, then gestured with the stick at Lelouch. "From now on, you are King Arthur."
The single leaf at the end of Suzaku's make-shift sword bobbed gently in the silence after his serious pronouncement. Lelouch tried to stifle a laugh, but failed.
"That looks more like a magic wand than a sword, Suzaku. You should be Merlin instead."
Suzaku waved the wand around, the magic leaf on the end wobbling precariously. They both giggled in a way quite unbefitting a King and his Sorcerer.
"So, now we go on a quest?" Suzaku asked, once he could speak plainly. The wand was lowered and the leaf ceased to be a distraction.
Lelouch nodded. "We should go look for Knights to join us. Like... Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain, Robin... uh, there are more, but I forget when they're called."
"Okay." There was a pause as Suzaku considered how to go about recruitment. "...Can't I just magic them here? Or maybe us to them?"
Lelouch was perplexed a moment. Of course they should be questing, but they had no one to play the parts of the Knights. He hadn't intended to actually find them in any woodland groves in Japan. He faced Suzaku gravely.
"Never mind. We don't need any knights—we'll be fine as long as we have each other, Merlin."
Suzaku nodded once, bringing his wand-hand up in front of him to manage a vaguely European bow. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Lelouch rolled his eyes. "Since we're such good friends, you can just call me Arthur. C'mon, let's go on a quest. Maybe there's a dragon we need to slay or something."
They rushed off together, ready to face anything their imagination could conjure.
It seemed that in a stealthy attempt to sneak up on his favorite person to bite, Arthur the cat had fallen out of a small tree. The now somewhat hefty cat had taken a small branch to the ground with him. Suzaku had neatly grabbed the branch, smiling as he teased the cat with the single leaf bouncing at the end.
"Abracadabra!" Suzaku bellowed and in that moment, Lelouch suddenly realized....
"He must want Excalibur, Merlin!" Lelouch shouted, running over. He grabbed a suitable rake on his way.
Suzaku grinned, his green eyes fist on 'Excalibur,' before moving up to Lelouch as the ex-Prince slid to a halt. "No, the real King is the only one who can pull it from the stone."
Suzaku's words caught Lelouch off guard, but his smile was infectious. Lelouch grinned and looked up at the sky, remembering taller trees that had once blocked his view.
"Thanks for always staying by my side, Suzaku."
They shared a look, green eyes to violet, King to Sorcerer, and the seven years they'd spent apart hardly seemed to matter.
"It's like you said," Suzaku reminded Lelouch gently, "We'll be fine as long as we have each other."
Lelouch nodded, then glanced down, trying to hold back a bigger smile. "That's true, but Arthur is still going to bite you," he pointed out dryly.
"Aaaaah! Arthuuuuuur!"
Thankies for reading and I hope you feel kind enough to leave a review. 3