Skies As Grey As Battleships
- Chapter 42: Compromise -
Cheren started heading towards the door, looking like he expected to leave immediately. He stopped and turned to look at Touya once he noticed that he wasn't being followed. "I need to grab something," Touya explained, hurrying out of the kitchen. By the time Touya had retrieved the books, Cheren had made it to the door and was impatiently waiting beside it.
"Are you having a date or a reading session?" Cheren asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at the books Touya was carrying. Servine seemed curious about the books as well, and as she followed closely behind her trainer, she kept her eyes on them.
"They're N's, and I'm returning them." This response actually seemed to catch Cheren's interest, but only slightly.
"What sort of books did he lend you?"
"I asked for fiction, so, um… all fiction." It really wasn't a fantastic reply, and when Cheren looked back at him to confirm that he wasn't planning on saying more, he didn't seem terribly impressed.
"Any specific type of fiction?" They'd since exited the apartment building, and Cheren picked a direction and started walking. Touya presumed that he knew where he was going - Cheren had always been good with directions, and Touya wouldn't have been surprised if Cheren had a map of Castelia completely memorized.
"Two were sci-fi, and one was historical fiction. Kind of," Touya amended, remembering the story.
"'Kind of'?"
"Well…" Touya paused as he tried to figure out how best to describe the book. "It took place in an alternate universe where Crane never became president. I thought it was interesting."
"I don't believe I've heard of it before."
"N said that it wasn't in print for long."
"I'd imagine not," Cheren responded dryly. Cheren stopped walking for a second, but he quickly resumed his pace. "What do you know about the time before Crane assumed power?"
The question was unexpected, to say the least, and Touya had to think for a moment before answering. "Uh… there was a dictator before her. He didn't want to fight, so Unova was cut off from the rest of the world. The region didn't grow at all, and a lot of people were unemployed and starving."
"Do you know why he didn't want to fight?"
"The textbooks said that it was because he was a coward."
"And what do you think?" From Cheren's tone, it seemed like he was actually somewhat interested in knowing the answer, which was unlike him - he could usually not care less about what someone else thought of a given subject.
"I think that maybe he didn't see the point in fighting."
"You're right," Cheren agreed. "Unova joining the war never made much sense to begin with. Even the former dictator realized that, and he was an idiot."
"Then, um - why did we get into it?" Touya was genuinely curious now; he obviously knew that Unova had joined the war, because that was a fact that would have been pretty hard to avoid, but he'd never learned why. Since Unova was so isolated from the other regions, he supposed he should probably have wondered about it earlier.
Cheren opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again. Touya was going to ask him why, but as Cheren entered a nearby set of automatic doors, he realized that they'd arrived at the government office. Touya had the feeling that it seemed familiar, and after spending some time glancing around the lobby waiting for the elevator, he remembered that it was the same building that housed the records office that had so plagued him upon his arrival in the city.
An elevator finally arrived, and Cheren, Touya, and two random people all got in. Touya personally wasn't thrilled about sharing the elevator with strangers, so he knew that Cheren was probably pissed. As long as the strangers didn't start talking or initiate physical contact, though, it likely wasn't going to be a problem. Still, Touya knew that Cheren hated elevators even more than he did, so, really, anything could happen.
Luckily, nothing did happen, and the two of them soon reached their destination. It wasn't the same floor that Touya had gone to when he'd been there, but, if memory served, it seemed to follow approximately the same layout.
Touya took a seat in what looked to be a waiting area while Cheren approached the nearest counter. Touya could hear Cheren and the woman manning the counter talking from where he sat.
"Name and citizen ID number, please," she said, voice dull and with a rehearsed sort of pleasantness. Cheren gave his full name and number, not even hesitating at reciting the long string of numbers. While Touya had his own ID number memorized like everyone else, he always had to stop and think for a second before saying it.
The woman asked for Cheren's identification card, which he handed over. After being scanned, the card was handed back. "Would you like to fill out the forms here or at home?" Cheren seemed to mull this choice over for a moment.
"Here," he replied, having evidently made up his mind. The woman printed out the necessary forms, and soon Cheren was walking over to the waiting area, pen, papers, and clipboard in hand.
"Why here?" Touya asked once Cheren had picked one of the chairs to sit in.
"I don't want to have to make a return trip," Cheren responded, as if that should be obvious. While it did make sense, it also left Touya waiting there with nothing to do besides watch Cheren go through the forms.
There weren't any magazines or anything, which Touya took as a sign that people didn't usually drag their friends to government buildings. After a few minutes, Touya was starting to get really, really bored, and he decided that Cheren could put up with being bothered.
"What's on the forms?" he asked. Cheren had picked a seat diagonal to his, so there wasn't any way to catch a glimpse of the papers unless he wanted to get up and walk over there.
"Words," he responded blandly, not even looking up.
"What kind of words?" Touya was fully aware that he was straying to obnoxious territory.
Cheren actually did look up this time, expression communicating a sort of tired annoyance. "Words that are read faster if no one's talking." He was right, at least; by annoying Cheren, Touya was really only prolonging their mutual suffering.
Touya kicked his legs a little, eyes trained on the ceiling. He was counting the ceiling tiles, and if that wasn't a testament to his boredom, he didn't know what was. Oshawott had, mercifully, fallen asleep - before, he'd been running in circles around a nearby table, and it had been starting to drive Touya slightly insane.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably only twenty minutes, Cheren stood up and handed over the forms.
Touya had already preemptively picked up Oshawott and pressed the elevator's call button by the time Cheren returned, and pretty soon they were out of the building and on the streets once again. Touya immediately started walking to the right, but stopped once he noticed that Cheren wasn't following.
"Where are you going, exactly?"
"Um." Touya had to think about it before he realized that he'd automatically started heading towards the Team Plasma headquarters out of force of habit. Other than his workplace, it was really the only building he ever visited. "To hea - er, to where N is."
Cheren raised an eyebrow at Touya's odd phrasing; even ignoring the fact that he'd almost blurted out the word 'headquarters', describing the location as N's apartment would have been far less suspicious.
"Am I coming with you?"
It wasn't that Touya had a problem with Cheren and N meeting. It was just that he had a problem with the two of them meeting within that particular building. He wasn't sure if it would be okay to bring Cheren, as he had the feeling that it would be improper for a member to bring a guest in. Even though N likely wouldn't mind it in this case, Touya didn't want to do something that another member couldn't.
Besides, Cheren didn't even know that N was a member of Team Plasma - much less its leader - and bringing him by the team headquarters would probably at least reveal that much.
"I won't stay the entire time," Cheren said, partially misinterpreting the reason for Touya's hesitation. "I'd just like to meet him, and then I'll leave you two alone." Even though Cheren hadn't been teasing at all, Touya still blushed slightly at the latter part of that statement.
Touya still didn't really know how to respond, and Cheren's eyes narrowed. "Is this an issue with me? Because -"
"No!" Touya assured him emphatically. "It's not a problem with you. It's just - right now, it's really not a good time. Or place. I'd be doing the same thing with anyone else."
"So what is the issue?" Cheren seemed curious, and Touya was afraid that he was going to hound him until he got more information. Touya decided that saying nothing would probably be the safest while he worked at an acceptable answer.
Cheren evidently did not see this silence as much of a problem, as he merely cocked his head and closed his eyes, clearly very much wrapped up in his own thoughts. Touya was somewhat used to it, but he was still glad that the streets were relatively empty, as most other people would've been at least somewhat weirded out by the sight.
Cheren turned to look at Touya, apparently having come to sort of conclusion. "N is either working at a place that is neither government-run nor a normal private business, or he lives in an unusual location. Which is it?"
"Um, neither?" Touya offered weakly. He wondered how Cheren would react if he found out that both of his scenarios were actually correct. He also couldn't help but try and think of how Cheren had arrived at his conclusion, but asking about it would only encourage him.
"… Really," Cheren deadpanned, unamused by what he perceived to be a lie. Not that he was wrong, of course. "Are you aware that you've lied more to me more these past two weeks than in all the years we've known each other?"
Touya winced; he was pretty sure that Cheren wasn't actually offended, but, since he was completely right, it still stung. "I know, and I'm really sorry. But I can't bring you there until I ask N about it."
"If I don't come with you, you have to provide an explanation before I return to the army."
"… Okay," Touya agreed. Chances were that N would be fine with Cheren visiting, so it shouldn't be a problem for Touya to explain about what was going on. Still, he didn't like committing himself to things he wasn't sure about - and yet it was probably the easiest way out of the situation that he'd gotten himself into.
A/N: I don't really have much to say about this chapter, actually, except that it was written faster than usual. It's probably because of Cheren, as he's one of the easiest characters for me to write for.
Sorry about this chapter being uploaded so late in the day. I just got back to my dorm about fifteen minutes ago (blame the freshman orientation program, not me), and I still had to do the second proofreading. Luckily, I got it done quickly, so the chapter is still technically uploaded on Sunday (where I live, at least).
Also - I literally just noticed this a second ago, but the story's reached 100 reviews. Considering that that's way, way more than I've gotten for anything else, I'm extremely thrilled. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!
