The presence of a body lying next to Suzaku slowly eased its way into his awareness. He frowned. He'd gone to bed alone, he was sure, and Arthur would have bitten something of his by now if the cat had crawled in later.

And Arthur didn't shiver uncontrollably.

Suzaku slowly rolled over to face the body, feeling a rush of relief at the familiar dark hair and thin, pale shoulders. "Lelouch?"

There was no answer, other than the continued shivering. Suzaku reached over and wrapped his arms around him, expecting to embrace something cold or wet. But it was like embracing nothing – not the usual warmth of Lelouch's body, nor the cool sterility of sheets or pillows, and certainly nothing that would explain the shivering. It… he felt like he was being kept at room temperature to Suzaku.

Suzaku tried again. "Lelouch?"

"Le… louch…" The shivering didn't stop, but just hearing Lelouch's voice was reassuring. "Lelouch." …or maybe not, if that was all he was going to say.

Suzaku was getting scared. He'd figured out this was a dream by now, but it wasn't a nice one. Part of him (most of him) wanted to wake up, but he couldn't just leave Lelouch here like this, even if this wasn't really Lelouch. And "here" didn't really exist. Suzaku frowned; did that make "here" real to this "Lelouch"?

Either way… "Lelouch, yeah. That's your name." Suzaku tugged at Lelouch. "Roll over, c'mon…"

It took some doing, but eventually Suzaku got Lelouch on his back. It was really only at that point that Suzaku noticed Lelouch was naked, but that mattered far less than the vacant expression in his eyes.

Or the large gash on his chest. It wasn't bleeding, but it was still open. It looked like it hurt.

"Lelouch, hey." Suzaku lightly slapped his cheeks, wanting a reaction, any reaction. "Lelouch, it's me. It's Suzaku. Lelouch!"

Lelouch blinked and finally focused on Suzaku's face. "Su… zaku."

"Yeah." Suzaku smiled, relieved. "Yeah, it's me."

"Live… on…"

It might be nonsense, but at least it was new nonsense, rather than just repeating something Suzaku had said. "Yeah, okay. I will."

Lelouch laughed and it sounded wet, like as if he had a really bad cold. "Yes, you will." He coughed for a long moment, then pushed against the bed, trying to sit up. Suzaku helped.

"You okay?"

This time the laugh was drier, but just as unamused. "I suppose that would depend on your definition of 'okay'." Lelouch lightly touched his wound. "I would have thought this would have been fixed."

"It looks pretty bad."

"Fatal, I'd say." Lelouch smiled. "Not immediately, though. That wouldn't be dramatic enough." He looked at Suzaku. "How old are you?"

"Eleven."

Lelouch shifted, guarding his wounded side, but not wincing. "A good age. As long as you can turn twelve." He smiled wryly. "Of course, one might say the same of eighteen." Suzaku frowned, confused, and Lelouch's smile gentled. "Never mind. I apologize for earlier. I had rather expected not to dream."

"But this is my dream."

Lelouch shook his head. "It's our dream, Suzaku. I suppose this answers the philosophical question as to whether the dead dream." He flinched, grasping at his side as the wound closed itself, leaving an angry red scar behind. His hand moved from the scar, up his chest to his throat. "Or perhaps not…"

Suzaku gasped as another gash appeared just over Lelouch's collar bone, two curved cuts and a dip just over his breast bone. "Lelouch…"

"That answers that question." Lelouch looked irritated as he dropped his hand. The wound looked less angry than the other one, the redness not of underlying flesh but almost sparkly. Again, there was no blood.

Suzaku reached out and Lelouch watched him carefully, but didn't move away as Suzaku pressed his fingers against the bird-like mark on his throat. "What…"

"It doesn't matter." Lelouch smiled reassuringly as Suzaku stroked the strange looking, but normal feeling, skin. "It's nothing that concerns you."

Suzaku crawled into Lelouch's lap, gently nosing at the mark, smelling it. It smelled normal too, like Lelouch. Lelouch's hands settled awkwardly on his shoulders, as if he didn't know how to hug properly. Suzaku looked up at him. "Does it hurt?"

"Not physically. Why are you in my lap?"

"'s comfy." It wasn't, exactly. Lelouch still didn't feel warm and cuddly like he usually did. Suzaku rested his head against Lelouch's shoulder. "Pet my hair."

After a moment's hesitation, Lelouch did just that. That made it a bit better. "I wonder why…"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing." Lelouch snorted. "Do you realize that in eight years you'll be older than me?"

"…I'm pretty sure that's not how it works."

"That's not how it's supposed to work, no." Lelouch's smile faded. "It'll only take three years for Nunnally to be older."

"Who?"

"Never mind." Lelouch's petting was getting better. "I suppose my more immediate future is more important right now."

Suzaku looked up. "Why?"

Lelouch shrugged. "Well, if everything went according to plan, I now have two options. Either jumping out of a floating fortress before it breaks orbit or burning up with it on re-entry." That sounded… "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Lelouch sighed and threaded his fingers through Suzaku's hair, petting him properly for the first time. "No matter what happens, I'll always be fine."

Well. That was reassuring. It was odd that Lelouch sounded so sad when he said it, though.