"Code Geass"
Come Morning
Synopsis:
Time, he supposed, changed everyone. Lelouch has greeted the morning as three very different people throughout his life.
Time, he supposed, changed everyone. Whether it was for good or bad, nobody is the same person they were a year ago—or even yesterday. When he was a student, Lelouch hated getting up in the morning. The realm of the early bird was always Nunnally's realm, and she fortunately knew well enough to leave him alone until at least mid-morning. He simply had nothing to get up early for.
The clothes were also very easy to wear as a student, in a mundane student life oriented around studying and keeping up with his associated social circles. The most exciting thing that ever happened was gossip about who liked who; how that person was dating this person; how the upcoming test would ruin them all because no one studied. And then all the gossip would recycle itself again with different names and faces he couldn't possibly be bothered to keep up.
The simple, black uniform was comfortable and easy to wear, and Lelouch had no trouble wearing it. It gave him the identity of a student, and though he sometimes looked at it with disdain for what it represented—what wearing that uniform meant day in and day out—the feeling ultimately passed.
When Lelouch woke up one day as Zero, he wondered when he had started to live off that passing feeling, when that passing feeling became a lived thing in his life. He wondered when he started waking up in the early morning with vengeful purpose.
He wondered when the nightmares would start at night.
The mantle of Zero was heavy, but light at the same time. He held the weight of life and death in Zero's hands, in Zero's voice. His mornings as Zero were filled sometimes with frantic action, emergencies of life-threatening danger, and simple plotting—watching everything slowly weave together under the command of Zero. Lelouch had made the Zero costume himself. Dark purple: For royalty hiding in plain sight. And so it could help hide the blood.
This morning, as Emperor, Lelouch woke up early from another near-sleepless night, fighting the dying nightmares with only encroaching wakefulness to keep them at bay. With a sigh, he finally roused himself enough to get up from the large, lavish bed that often felt too large. He took a long, hot shower, until the steam fogged up the mirror and his reflection was nothing but an amorphous, unidentifiable blur.
When he left his shower, he would always find the Emperor outfit ready for him, hanging off its mannequin, as prepared by some maid. Lelouch didn't sew the clothes this time, but they were made under his direction. Dressing himself, he ran a comb through his hair, and read off his morning schedule, choosing to relax a bit longer in the seclusion of his bed chambers. After getting the day's agenda memorized he put his contacts in last, and glanced himself over in the mirror one last time to check his appearance before he left his room, promptly ignoring the stiff salutes the two Geassed puppets at his door gave him.
A hovering aide nearby scrambled into activity after seeing the Emperor emerge and walked quickly to catch up until he fell into step beside Lelouch.
"Good morning, Your Majesty. More rebels were caught last night."
"How many does that make since last count?" he asked without glancing in the man's direction.
"Just over sixty, Your Majesty. What shall we do with them?"
"Execute them in the street," Lelouch ordered without hesitation. "Make an example of them. None shall defy the Emperor of Britannia."
The aide had the grace not to falter in his step, but his eyes flickered for a moment before they turned down to tap the instructions into his digital clipboard, sending them out at once. "Very good, Your Majesty," he said quietly. "It shall be done as you say."
Ironically, it was this white cloth that hid more blood than his school uniform or Zero costume ever could, because his mornings as Emperor held only death.
Comment:
This is by request from a Devout Follower of All Things Orange: Lelouch getting dressed in the morning or otherwise going through his morning routine. Or Suzaku. Or both of them.
They know who they are. I had maybe three other ideas for this. And then there was the inclusion of costumes, and then I had three more ideas, but this is what happened.
Please R&R.
- Minute Maid
Beverage of Queens.