Wow, I am INCREDIBLY sorry for the lack of updates. It wasn't until I was reading the dates of Chapter Two's review that I realized how long it had been. I recently moved to a completely new city, and so it's taken quite a bit of time to get settled down again. Right now, I have a lot more free time, and so I'll probably be updating a lot more. But for now, all I can do is say that I'm very sorry about how long this has taken me to write.
Athrun opened his eyes, glancing briefly at his alarm clock. 7:25, 5 minutes before his alarm clock was set to go. As usual... He wasn't really an early riser, but he was a regular one. He usually woke up just before his alarm clock went off... it wasn't really there to wake him up, just as a precautionary.
On Weekends he liked to wake up a little later, but still around 8pm. He used to wake up earlier so that he could go jogging, but he hadn't really had time to walk around the city yet, and figure out where a nice place would be. Naturally, when he figured out whether such a place existed, then he'd probably start waking up earlier again. But as for now, he was content in being able to sleep in.
Taking a brief shower and going through the regular habits of getting ready in the morning, he wondered if he should bother going across the hall and checking to see if his likely, cranky neighbor was up for walking to work together. Deciding to go against it, for fear that she might even still be sleeping, he simply opened his door and got ready for a nice stroll to work.
His door met someone's face.
In shock, he quickly bent down to help the poor person up, only to find a pair of furious amber eyes glaring him down. "You just can't stop injuring me in this hall, huh?"
Athrun was at a loss of words. "It... would appear so."
Cagalli stood up herself and dusted off the loose grey sweat-shorts she wore. "Well if you're heading out, I suggest you take an umbrella. It's starting to rain."
"You were outside?" Athrun remarked, with a tone that resembled surprise a bit too much. Another glare.
"Yeah, I was jogging."
"You jog?" Again, a bit too surprised.
"Yes." She emphasized, annoyance growing. "I jog two or three times a week."
Athrun leaned against the wall. "Sorry, it's just that you struck me as those late riser types."
Meanwhile Cagalli was fishing for the keys to her apartment. Glancing up she shrugged. "I am... Just not on days I jog." She grinned a bit, then turned to enter her apartment, shutting the door promptly.
Athrun blinked, then turned to go back into his apartment to get an umbrella. The thought of waiting for her crossed him, but he decided against it, for fear of smacking her in the face with the umbrella or something.
Because for some reason, they really did have a habit of meeting each other in less than unpainful ways in this hallway.
An hour later, Athrun was already diligently at his desk, gathering background information on the next person he was going to interview. Suddenly, the entire floor stopped working at the sound of a very loud entrance.
Trudging to her desk, an enraged, muddy, and thoroughly drenched Cagalli looked ready to murder anything that came in her way. Lacus poked her head out of her office curiously, before quickly dipping back in, then re-emerging with a towel. Cagalli accepted in without a word and disappeared into her office. Athrun smiled in amusement.
"Fun walk to work?" He started, strolling casually into her office. "You were the one that told me to bring an umbrella..."
"Oh, shut up." She snapped angrily. "It broke on the way, okay? Now I'm tired, cranky, hungry, and I look like crap. A car managed to dump the entire content of a sludge puddle onto me as I was making my way here." She rambled heatedly, peeling the sleeves of her jacket off and throwing the wet clump of cloth onto the ground.
Athrun chuckled lightly, "Well, I don't know what I can do about the first two adjectives, but I can give you a banana and tell you that you don't look that bad at all."
Cagalli's eyebrow twitched in frustration. "Don't flatter me. I look like some sort of bog monster from one of those old horror movies."
Another chuckled. "You overreact. Actually it makes you look like a kid that was playing in the mud or something. Very endearing." He smiled fondly, reaching forward to wipe of a particularly large splotch on her left cheek. Carefully clearing it away a bit with his thumb, he noticed the color of her skin was quite flushed.
For the first time all morning Cagalli felt too hot, quite an event considering she currently resembled a wet dog that had been caught in a typhoon. Stepping back hurriedly, she mumbled some words about how she was going to find a change of clothes, and turned to leave.
Miriallia walked into the office at that moment, briefly speaking with Cagalli who nodded in reply, before heading to Athrun.
"Let's go." She stated plainly, digging through her bag as if checking for something.
"Go where?" Athrun seemed surprised.
"Go to do the interview. That foriegn ambassador moved the interview to today, because apparently something came up and he can't make it tomorrow. I'm going to take photos. You and Cagalli are interviewing. Are you ready?" She explained briefly. "We're leaving as soon as Cagalli gets back."
The newcomer sighed and went to grab his laptop. "I don't think I have much choice, now do I?"
The interview had gone rather smoothly, despite both Athrun and Cagalli feeling uncomfortable with the idea of having to interview someone with another person present. Since they'd had practically no time to prepare together, they found they often had the same questions or got confused as to who should ask when.
Regardless, all in all, it had gone rather smoothly considering how much of a rush they were in. By the end, both of them had figured out a comfortable tempo at which to work with one another. When one asked a question, the other double checked to see if they had that question, and crossed it out if they did. And they simply began to alternate asking questions.
Since Miriallia was only there for pictures, after she was finished she rushed back to the office. Upon entering her office, she plopped into her comfy swivel chair and began uploading the pictures. Sai knocked on her door and entered.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The young photographer looked up and smiled. "Yeah. I'll have the pictures for you in a second, so just hang on, okay?"
Sai blinked for a moment. "Well, that is what I came for, but not what I was asking."
A puzzled look crossed her face. "What do you mean?"
The graphic designer adjusted his glasses and grinned. "I mean, knowing you Milly, are you okay with not being there to spy on Athrun and Cagalli?"
The young woman tensed visibly, then grinned. "What do you think?"
"I think that... It's killing you inside." He grinned back.
Milly nodded, then tugged at her hair a bit before laughing ironically.
"It IS killing me!"
Out in the hall, Lacus paused to listen and smiled a bit. "So you don't have anything for me to tell Kira?" She asked, stepping into the room.
"They were completely professional." Milly sighed. "I think they're both the more private type..." She added as a thought. "It'll be hard to get any concrete proof of a romantic feeling between them... though they seem to get along well."
"Well if it was easy, there wouldn't be any fun in it." Lacus commented with a smile. "We'll wait for them to get closer I suppose..."
Sai observed the conversation between the two ladies with feigned interest. "Well, if I may interject, your job was to take pictures of the ambassador, which I have yet to receive."
Miriallia pouted, and handed him a Flash-drive. "They're in there, spoilsport."
"Well I'm off to see Kira." Lacus smiled, exiting the room.
Milly waited until the sound of her footsteps stopped echoing down the hall. "There's something between those two, right?" She asked.
The only other person present in the room blinked, as if surprised by being addressed. "Athrun and Cagalli?"
"No..." The brunette shook her head lightly, before motioning slightly toward the door with her head. "Lacus and Kira."
Sai pocketed the flash-drive and gave her a look. "Of course." He replied as if it were the most obvious thing since gravity. Pausing thoughtfully, he grinned. "Not that either will admit it, of course..."
Miriallia sighed and leaned back in her chair. "People like them... they never do..."
Sitting in the back of a taxi on the return trip, Cagalli was listening to the tape of the interview, to make sure that nothing had been missed in her notes. Athrun was typing at his laptop, organizing questions in order of topic, then importance. However he seemed a bit puzzled by some of the questions that Cagalli had asked. What did they have to do with the feature story?
Lifting his head, he tapped Cagalli on a shoulder and picked out a few questions that he didn't quite understand. "I'm not sure why you asked these, and so it's kind of hard for me to organize." He explained sheepishly. Cagalli glanced at them for a moment, before a light flush rose to her cheeks.
"Those... are uh, personal questions that I wanted to ask." She responded after a moment of thought.
"...Personal?" An eyebrow was raised cautiously.
"Yeah... I'm doing an article. Separately." Cagalli elaborated slightly, apparently still hesitant.
""For the magazine?" Athrun was curious. Was this a separate project that had been delegated to her? Why hadn't he heard anything about it?
"No, it's for this... Journalism Contest thing. The Annual Foreign Affairs Journalism Contest." She continued, biting her lip slightly. If Athrun was entered as well, it might be wise not to reveal too much. As partially expected, a flash of recognition passed Athrun's eyes.
"You're entered?" His tone of voice didn't please her at all.
"Yes." Cagalli confirmed, with a slight edge to his voice. Athrun laughed a bit. "What? Do you find it amusing that I am?"
The young man nodded slightly, before shrugging a bit. "It's just that most entrants are considerably older. Not saying that you don't have enough experience, it's just. I suppose... Yes it was a bit surprising." He acknowledged.
Cagalli frowned a bit. "Well you knew about it, right? So then-"
"I'm a judge." Athrun cut her off before she jumped to any conclusions, which he had discovered to be quite a tendency of hers.
Amber eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. "YOU'RE WHAT!"
"I'm a judge." He repeated, returning to his laptop to find the evidence he was looking for. Shortly, he pulled up an e-mail sent by the organizer of the contest, requesting that he be a judge.
Cagalli glared at him. He had to be joking... If most entrants were already older, why would such a young person be allowed to judge?
Athrun smiled, apparently reading her mind. "If you're wondering about my age, it's not really that. I may look young, but I'm actually pretty accomplished, especially in this field. Also, I knew a couple other people on the judging panel and so I had a few connections. Finally, one of the initially selected judges withdrew at the last moment, and so they asked me to fill in. It's not a big deal, really." He shrugged it off, then tapped his laptop screen. "See? And if age is still the question, then I might as quickly be asking you why you've entered."
The female entrant blinked, looked at the screen, then looked away. "That's just for my own reasons."
He shrugged and decided not to press the issue. In any case, he'd find out. As a part of the entry, it was required that every entrant explain how they would put their prize money to use, if won. It helped them pick out a winner in close cases, to see how the money would be sent.
Cagalli leaned over to look at his laptop again, and something else on the desktop caught her eye.
"'Erotic Homosexuality in Foreign Nations?'" She read aloud, noting the name of a document. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Really Athrun? I never thought that you were... Not that there's a problem with that. But if you're not comfortable I can pretend-" Athrun turned pale, then bright red.
"Tha-Tha'ts not- it's nothing personal! It's an article! One of the entries! I'm supposed to read it and send in the evaluation." He explained quickly, clicking on another icon which opened up an evaluation file. "See? We judge the entries as they come in. It helps us keep a clear mind when reading, and avoids a last minute rush. Then in the end, we just figure out ones were given the highest rating and then re-read those, compare, and pick a winner."
Cagalli's face still had a visible smirk. "So then... you're not..."
Athrun shook his head vigorously. "I'm not! Really!" He cried desperately. The person seated beside him was still grinning ear to ear, looking like she was about to erupt in laughter. Apparently satisfied, she shrugged.
"All right then. I didn't think you were anyways... you can tell me all about your personal life later. But for now, I think we need to finish up this work."
Athrun raised an eyebrow, somewhat eager to continue the banter. "Now why would you want to know about my personal life?" He wondered, purposely aloud, pretending to return to his work. A cursory glance to the side revealed that her cheeks were turning a light pink again.
"I'm not interested!" She protested. "I was just saying..."
"Do you want a self-portrait or something?" he continued torturously.
Cagalli tried a few more incoherent words before falling silent. Athrun took a final look at her, and smiled.
"How about lunch again tomorrow?"
The blonde turned a bit more red, and didn't answer. The young gentleman shrugged. "I'm not saying you have to, but I'd like to get to know the area a bit more. Are you willing to be my tour guide for a bit longer?"
Cagalli face seemed to have returned to its normal color... well not really, but it was as good as it was going to get with him still in the car. Cramped space, with a guy that seemed all too capable of making blood rush to her face, didn't make for an easy time calming down really...
She turned to him and smiled. "Sure."
Meanwhile, a very amused taxi driver in the front could only sigh. The things he saw, just driving around people all day…
Pulling up to the office, Athrun handed the driver money for the ride, adding that he could keep the change. The rest of the ride back had been generally pleasant, in a way that had made Athrun wish that the trip back had been longer. But of course, as all good things end too quickly, he soon found himself staring at the familiar building at which they both worked. As the cab pulled away, he turned to face Cagalli who was rummaging through her bag.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Paying you back for the fare." She responded naturally, handing him some bills. "I think that's about half."
Athrun smiled, then pushed her hand away. "Forget about it."
She blinked in response. "What do you mean, forget about it? We both sat in that taxi so we both pay." Another shake of his head added to her annoyance. "For the love of... Come on! Stop acting so chivalrous and take the money."
Athrun shrugged. "I don't really feel like it. Don't worry, this doesn't add onto your running banana-tab." He grinned. Cagalli felt tempted to smack him with her digital recorder, or find something blunt to strike him with.
"Be careful Zala... I know where you live." She warned, dangerously, half amused by how much truth was in that sentence.
The addressed person laughed. "Gratefully noted."
Kira looked up quickly at the sound of a knock on his door. "Come in." he replied automatically, quickly checking to see if he looked somewhat presentable. Lacus entered and smiled.
"What can I do for you today?" He asked, cordially.
"Just wondering if I should be editing Athrun's articles as well, from now on." She responded, professionally.
"Sure, but if you feel like it's too much work feel free to pass it on to someone else." Kira shrugged. "Just make sure you read the final draft, at the very least." The chief editor nodded and then appeared hesitant to leave. "Something else?" Kira prompted.
"Just about... A very curious e-mail that ended up in my inbox today." Lacus suppressed a smirk. "Something about dinner Saturday."
Kira blushed a bit, unexpectedly.
"Well." He started, in what he hoped sounded normal and nonchalant, even shrugging for effect. In reality nothing but a string of babble was running through his head, accompanied by occasional swears due to the fact that he should totally have been prepared for this, but still wasn't. "I happened to have reservations for two..."
Lacus laughed melodiously. "As opposed to the reservation for one, that you originally planned to make?"
Kira sighed. "Look, it sounded pretty good in my head, okay?" He admitted. "I still think it's a decent first try."
Blue eyes glittered happily back at him. "Well... It took you long enough."
As had started to become the usual habit, Athrun and Cagalli once again walked home after work together. Similar to al the rest of their walks, they teased and bantered with one another, amused by each other's reactions and pleased by each other's company. Finally arriving at the apartment complex, both bid each other good night. Suddenly Athrun remembered something that he'd been meaning to ask all day... Hesitating for a moment, he called out her name as she had started to walk into her apartment.
"Hey, Cagalli?"
"Hm?"
"You said that you jog right?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I was wondering where. I usually do too, but I haven't been able to find a place to." He explained, feeling inexplicably, yet mildly embarrassed and nervous. It felt like he was asking out a girl on a date, for the first time again.
Cagalli studied him for a moment. "Come jogging with me on Saturday." She replied plainly, shouldering her bag, frowning mildly at the weight. Athrun nodded, accepting her terms.
Entering his apartment, he placed his umbrella by the door, for a moment forgetting why he had it in the first place. Despite the less than ideal weather the morning had presented, the sky had become increasingly clearer during the course of the day. Afterwards, he took off his jacket and went to hang it up in the hall closet, before pausing for a moment. Funny... He didn't remember putting anything in his pocket. Pulling out whatever it was, he found exactly half the fare for the taxi.
"Now when did she sneak this in?..." He mumbled softly to himself, a smile slowly spreading over his face.
Great... Now he'd have to find some way to pay her back for this. Strangely enough, he could wait to.
So then, how will morning jogging go between the two neighbors? And what about Kira and Lacus? Next update should be decently soon. I have a lot more time now, so I think I'll manage it.
Of course much thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter. I'm always happy and grateful to hear from you. Also, thank you in general, to people who have been reading this fic. Your attention is much appreciated.
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Thanks again! Until next chapter!
Periodic-Prose
