Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass
This is the 2nd Chapter of the Grey Wing. I truly hope you enjoy it.
NOTE: I still have no idea how to indent so...ill just use linebreaks where things change up
Chapter 2: Protection From Flakes
The air units hanging along the alley walls spewed a constant steam of warm vapor that instantly mixed with the much colder draft. Snowflakes that happened to fall on these units instantly melted away and this warm water dripped onto the icy cold and broken concrete floor below to freeze again. Lelouch, who walked calmly through the heavy steam, with hands in his pockets, enjoyed the mushing sound of powder at his feet. The darkness, and the visibility, more or less, increased for him as an orange light at the end of the alley shown through the hovering air. The young man came to a stop at a graffiti laced door and turned around to check his surroundings. In the distant skies over head he could hear the sound of a chopper's blades and even light traffic beyond the walls of the surrounding buildings. Tucked behind a mountain of garbage sat an over turned trashcan, and next to that was a parked Nissan that was being claimed by a mountain of snow. With book in hand, and his coat beginning to fail him, he knocked on the door just once and stepped back to see just who'd open up.
A black woman, with curly hair and a set of large gold earrings, opened up the entry way and leaned on it for just a few moments; dogging Lelouch with brown eyes that appeared colder than the icicles forming along the rails of the small steps below the door. Lelouch, with his own perception blocked by his shades, smiled back and watched as she ran her long red fingernails across her face to move a curl of hair aside. He had been covered in the bright florescent lighting that shone out of the white room; which added life to the colors of his clothes. The woman had just enough of an angle to finally catch a peek at his pupils through his smoky lenses, and looked back inside at a man who wore a white jumpsuit stained in red.
"Dequan-your white boy is here!" She yelled back across the brightly lit garage to her large puggy brother who was using a towel to wipe his hands clean.
"Lelouch come here!" He shrieked over to where the boy and his sister stood, "Come over here I want you to look at this-Monique let his ass inside!"
"Get in boy its cold as hell out there," Monique sighed letting Lelouch enter and then quickly shut the door behind them both.
As Lelouch wandered into the warmer refuge through the immense garage of parked cars he was able to hear the chorus of clicking locks Monique had put back into place behind them. The orchestra of tumblers ended with one last "Bang" that made Lelouch cringe.
"Lelouch hi!" The red covered man, who was a few more inches taller than Lelouch, said as he grabbed a hose attached to a machine, "I'm working on that design you drew yesterday." He slid down a doctor's mask that had been resting on his forehead; over the length of his face, and then pressed the little trigger below a nozzle to spray even more blood red paint over a white sheet that lay out atop a car's hood.
"So the girl liked it didn't she?" Lelouch snickered, removed his shades, and looked at the other cars parked in the garage, then said, "You and Dominguez did great."
"Si! Pero Juanito is taking forever to put on those rims!" Chimed in a Latino man who took off his own blue covered mask, "He and Jesus over there have been taking forever."
"Well they're basically just changing a tire," Lelouch tried to console him but then heard a loud crash, "I think?"
"Hey what the hell are you boys doing in there!" Monique yelled but instantly backed away as a tire bounced out of a door way leading into the painting garage.
"Lelouch get over here while those jackasses fix that car!" Dequan complained and dragged the boy into the next room, "Check it out!"
Lelouch entered the room as his boss let him loose, and was witness to another picture that had come to life. He smiled widely at one of his angel drawings under one of Dequan's customer's skin. It was a beautiful tattoo that depicted an angel who had folded her arms across her stomach; with large wings that cloaked her bare body. Written below, in Old English lettering was the name "Esther Romos." The customer, who had taken the time to admire the piece in the mirror; turned around towards the two men with tears in his eyes.
"Thanks you two!" The light skinned man shrieked and hugged the two of them, too much of Lelouch's surprise, "This was for my babe!"
"It's just part of our Christmas gift giving," Dequan muttered and patted the joyful man on the back while Lelouch was feeling smothered by his strong arms, although he did manage to fold up his shades to put them in his pocket.
It had taken a number of handshakes and "Thank Yous" prior to seeing the newly inked man off into the cold and early Christmas hours. Lelouch suspected the man was about to dawn a long sleeved shirt that he'd roll up to surprise whatever girl he had next to the Christmas tree. Dequan's cronies had finished with their work, and the projects sat ready for the pickups to arrive. Lelouch had followed everyone into the lounge near the front of the tattoo pallor to celebrate the success of their work. The boy couldn't hold in his yawns and snickered at the jokes his cronies shared to pass the time just as Monique pulled out a tray of cookies. An array of food, some even cooked by him just prior to his trek to the malls, lay atop a kitchen table. That same table was responsible for almost breaking his back while he had hastily moved it into place.
"Lelouch-you should get some rest man," Jesus, a mechanic he would usually work side by side with, whispered and put his hand in his raven hair, "It's not healthy being up for so long you know?"
"Forgive me; too much happened since yesterday morning," Lelouch yawned again and sat down on a black leather couch near the shop's front desk. His body sunk into the plush cushions and their soft sensation allowed him to calm his overactive nerves.
"Why'd you come so early...I mean all you said on the phone was, 'I didn't want to be at home'" Dequan questioned as he lifted up some wrinkled foil paper that was wrapped over the top of a bowl of food, "You were supposed to come to talk with the radio boys at ten so we could eat and take pictures."
"Just something…I wanted to come early for my own good," Lelouch said with his hands on his knees and let out a breath of air he had built up in his lungs; while allowing his stress to leak out of his fingertips like a faucet.
"Oh come on kid; take a cookie…you're gonna be like Santa today- 104.3 will be here…remember? So get excited"
Lelouch nodded lightly to Dequan and looked to the grinning Monique; who now sported a set of red earrings. He fought against exhaustion from the lack of sleep to lift his arm and snatch one of the homemade cookies. The warm dough turned to mush in his mouth and the white chocolate chips melted on his tongue allowing him to savor the sweet flavor. Lelouch felt a shiver from the taste and moved his head side to side to hear a popping sound.
"Thanks Monique," He uttered and stood up to walk towards the table where others sat getting ready to eat, "I feel a bit better-nice baking by the way."
"Mhm-big momma gave me the recipe; me and Dequan over here would kill the whole plate back when we was kids," She laughed with her brother who nabbed two of the cookies from the tray with lightning speed despite his size.
"Hey the snow stopped outside," Dominguez said aloud after having moved one of the suspended blinds aside to see, "It's not a full out blizzard…but hey it sure fits the Christmas scene."
"Si, pero necesito mi caro!" Juanito complained and walked in while taking his gloves off his near frostbitten fingers, "It's buried in snow out there-I got Jesus trying his best just to get the tires free."
"Don't worry Juan-that antifreeze inside should hold up," Lelouch laughed and made his way towards the hot tea maker, "But when you do go outside again I'll help you get the white stuff off; just don't use any hot water though, unless you want me to take the time to put a new windshield on."
"Eh will do it in a bit before those nuts pop up," the man surrendered to the threats of the freezing temperatures outdoors with his numb hands as a chilling reminder. "Besides Lelouch I think you should ease up already," Juanito added and saw Lelouch pull a tiny styrofoam cup from a stack that sat in the corner.
The boy closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he pulled a pink packet of sugar. After shaking it and tearing off the paper, he poured in the crystals into his drink and mixed it with one of the plastic sticks.
"Lelouch," Dequan called on the youth and waved a white envelope, "I got your pay-and we're damn glad that you did what you did."
"Well you're welcome," Lelouch thanked him sincerely and took the envelope with just two fingers, "How many customers did we have?" The boy took a sip of the hot steaming tea and winced a bit when the hot drink burned his throat.
"Well before the other artists went home; we had: six or seven cars painted, five cars that needed modifications, and six inked tattoos," Dequan informed and folded up his log book that, despite having sprinkles of cookie crumbs, had lied open on the table in front of him .
"We used your drawings, made stencils, and put on the paint; people just want a good looking car with a bow on top to put in the driveway," the tall Logan laughed and whipped some cookie crumbs caught in his mustache, "Their presents are waiting right in there; oh and good job on tuning that V8 yesterday, without you in there Nick wouldn't have been able to get going."
"You had your hand in every project here kid," Dominguez said happily while pouring some soup into a bowl, "Oh and when those folks do come in; why don't you-bask in the accomplishment."
"Well I've got something really important to say about me being here…remember?" Lelouch uttered and put his empty cup down. "I think this is my last pay-check here everyone. When Dylan comes in; I've got to tell him that I'm heading straight for LA on the first."
After breaking the news; Lelouch hung his head as the waves of gasps came from those who sat at the table, but didn't expect what the response he got.
"Well shit-aint you lucky," Monique said happily to her younger friend, "I'd love to check out the West Coast if it weren't for my children tying me to the house."
"Lelouch!" the portly Dylan shrieked in amazement and dropped an armful of presents to the floor as he was sneakily strolling in, "I'm glad to hear it boy!"
Lelouch immediately was embraced by his boss who nearly suffocated him, but the show of affection was bittersweet. Jesus, having surrendered to the cold as well, ran in as he too heard the news.
"Thought you could sneak up on us didn't you Dylan?" Juanito asked jokingly at his friend's spoiled surprise.
"Man I haven't been to Long Beach since I was a kid," Dequan said, admiring his days passed, "Boy it be sweet to go along with yah."
"Shit; we could go out there and see Vili and Sean-hell I wouldn't mind talking to Noel," Dylan began to draw up one of his vacation plans.
"Wait wait-get off," Lelouch demanded and slipped out of the embrace and wiped his drool from his cheek, "Why are you all happy? I'm going to be gone." The young man took a few steps back slowly but was stopped when he got close enough to rattle the medium sized Christmas tree's ornaments.
"You're the one who always talked about going to college over there and getting your B.A in Engineering or…English…or Art- right?" Logan questioned sarcastically and gave Lelouch a light pat on the back.
"Lelouch son; I know what you're getting at," Dylan uttered just as everyone began surrounding Lelouch, "You got an opportunity moving on out there…and I know you might want to cry about saying 'Good bye' but you can't let those feelings tie you down."
"Si mijo you wanna go out there," Jesus tried to console Lelouch as the boy slouched his head in the midst of the moment, "There's a ton more people out West who could use you."
"I-I know…it's just so very sudden," Lelouch lamented and flicked his hair out of his eyes and asked, "You'll miss me won't you?"
"Course we will boy; but we've been doing this for years, one man gone aint gonna bring us down," Monique laughed and picked up one of the gifts Dylan had dropped to dust off the wrapping paper.
"Hey I just told you about my cuz out there-she's got the same kind of operation," Dylan remarked to try and convince Lelouch of some security, "I just gotta make a call and you got a job on the West Coast."
"Sorry," Lelouch said and fell to his knees with exhaustion to much of everyone's surprise, "I just wanted to go to California by my own choice…after everything I needed to do here was finished-it's my mother's decision to move us; so what I want isn't really going to go according to script."
Jesus and Dominguez quickly plucked him up off of the floor feeling concerned. Monique quickly put down the cookies and tried to help the young man up.
"Oh you'll be writing plenty of those in L.A too kid-and you might even be reading one just before your agent calls you and says, 'You're on!'" Dequan joked and tried to lift Lelouch up off the floor but couldn't.
"I understand…everything-" Lelouch murmured and yawned heavily but managed to say, "Call my mother…and tell her I'll be at my grandpa's later." His body slipped from the two Latino men's arms and onto the floor.
Everyone stared at the young man who lost the fight against exhaustion; on the floor in a pile of green pines that had sprinkled from the tree. His older friends looked at one another and then at the smiling boy who folded himself up into a fetal position. Jesus shook his head and gestured for Dominguez to help him lift up Lelouch, who now had needles stuck to his clothes. The two men gently placed him on the same couch he'd almost succumbed to sleep on the first time.
"You sure girls love sensitive guys? Cuz all these emotions don't seem to be worth it," whispered Dylan and saw his brother Dequan put Lelouch's red sketchbook in between his arms as he lay asleep. "I mean the boy just knocked himself out right now cuz of one of them," he added tucked one of the couch cushions, to act as a pillow, behind the boy's head.
"Hey if I could write poetry like Lelouch I'd be down the street saving them borders stores from closing down or I'd be with more girls than he's got," Logan joked and tucked in the white envelope, that held the check, in between the pages of the booklet, "But come to think of it-I don't know if this kid ever did have a girlfriend."
"School boys like him got their eyes on a prize-not a girl's chest or what's under her skirt," Dylan laughed and set more presents beside the tree.
"Well I'm not a school kid hehehe," Dominguez snickered mischievously while the others rolled their eyes at his remarks.
"Hush up D.G," Monique sneered and placed a white blanket over Lelouch, "This boy should have a little girl for him to hug as tight as that little book. Did you see him in the kitchen the yesterday making the roast…and that cake? I love a man who knows his way around the kitchen."
"Yeah that cakes right behind you and I'm gonna dig into it pretty soon," Dominguez giggled and whipped away his drool for the layered sweetness.
"His poetry made me cry," Jesus admitted and took out his black and white rosary that was tucked under his shirt.
"Lelouch stayed up all night fixing each of the windows on my Mustang," Logan snickered as he listed another accomplishment, "And that was after he put on the new rims, tires, and the stereo system those nuts stole from me-hell he did all of that in the same night."
"He drew that cute girl swimming up a waterfall," Monique whispered, "He's got so much potential."
"Yup he's the jack of all trades-" Logan laughed but was cut off by a knock at the shop's front door.
"Oh hey it's them!" Dylan shrieked and quickly set aside the presents in stacks; then ran to the front door. Almost immediately; the owner made a reach for the keys trapped in his pocket, and ignored the burning sensation around his knuckles as they brushed against the grove of the mouth. After unlocking the door he opened up to see a line of persons shuddering; although after looking at their faces, he could tell they were in good spirits. "Merry Christmas everyone…come inside your rides are ready!" The joyful shop owner greeted his customers who quickly piled in.
"I'll help em out," Logan laughed and waved for them to follow, "The rest of you have to hold on for now."
"We've got the time Logan," a familiar customer said with a yawn and watched him head into the garage.
A good chunk of the folks who had entered the shop had followed Logan into garage and left the remnants while they had first peek at the new art.
"Oh I'm really eager to see what that youngster did for my son's Mitsubishi!" An old gentleman said and was followed in closely by a number of others who admired the atmosphere.
"Same here for my brother and those eighteen inches I bought from you guys," one man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, said in excitement, "Where's that dude I met earlier though? I got this sweet case for his Iphone I got him."
"Asleep," Junito said nonchalantly and pointed to Lelouch who was already knocked out.
"Seriously?" A girl outdoors said as she and a few others brought in handfuls of gifts for Lelouch, "We all pitched in and got you all a few things…hell we had a surprise for him too."
"Let the boy sleep girl-he's been up since yesterday," Monique said with a laugh and slid a Santa hat over the sleeping boy's hair. His soft conditioned hair tickled her fingers, much like a kitten's fur.
Lelouch yawned lightly and slumped aside, causing the plush hat to slide over his eyes. For some reason the happy atmosphere and all its laughs went quiet, as if it was only for him. His yawn had snared their attention, much like a spider's web. Every one of the customers and his friends were glad that he wasn't awake to see the expressions on their faces. They admired him in almost the same manor a family admires a new born.
"Shit-whose gonna be the first to go 'Aww?'" Dequan asked jokingly and waved a few more of the customers into the garage.
Their shoes tapped along the floor, and this rhythm gradually diminished; so much so that Lelouch's co-workers could point out the instant they dissipated into thin air.
Logan and Dylan wandered back into the room after having led the customers to their wheels and came face to face with Monique who wore a grin. She lightly put her finger to her lips and gave a light, "Shhh" then pointed to the sound asleep Lelouch. A few of the customers, who wanted to pay and give their thanks, ventured back inside but were caught up in the vacuum of silence.
"This is the boy right?" A rather good looking brunette girl asked and nudged the Santa hat that was falling off, to see Lelouch's hair, "He looks cute."
Dequan admired the young woman and watched as she tenderly stroked his hair with a smile. The girl looked no older than Lelouch himself, and it was clear to see that the attraction was there when he caught glimpse at her blush.
"Go ahead and take care of him then," Monique whispered to her and then walked back to the table to pick up her tray of cookies that her brother had spared from his gluttony. "Oh-he's single by the way," she coyly added and watched the brunet blush.
"Uh…I can't stay," the teenager stuttered but reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper, "Do you have a pencil?"
Dominguez's eyes widened at her question and even more so when Logan left his side to hand her a cheap ball point pen. Dylan wandered back inside the room and saw exactly what she penned on the paper, and immediately pointed to her and gestured with his head to his sister. Monique snickered and walked off to try one of her own cookies.
"Tell him I said thank you…and that I might be back for the radio show later," the girl giggled and handed an envelope to Dequan.
"Thank you for the business," the portly man said and took the payment happily, then watched as she skipped back towards the garage where he could hear the echoes of happy patrons.
Dequan took one glance at Lelouch who was still resting and took his time to study the teenaged girl for her looks. In an instant he felt some sort of envy, but was more surprised that the young man didn't even have to exchange words with the girl to woo her. It seemed that all Lelouch needed to do to snare a woman's attention was merely be present. The boss continued to ponder just how that could have been. As he was delving further into his concise to understand a love stricken woman; there came a sound from the garage that lightly funneled into his ear from the grooves leading to his drum. It was at that moment Dequan was able to feel full out jealousy for Lelouch, because the teenaged beauty had only seen a mere shard of what he could do.