Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

Summary: C.C. is a lazy and gluttonous girl who only cares for pizza. And Lelouch is the man that may fall for her, ahem, charms.


Green Silk and Golden Orbs

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Chapter 2

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C.C. never understood why her father was so keen on following tradition. They did not live in the olden days any more. Their time was quite modern. But C.C. knew her father. She knew that her father wasn't about to break something their entire family followed. He was a loyal man and followed rules entirely by the book. It wasn't a revelation to learn that her father had tried to set up C.C. with numerous suitors. Being the eldest, the familial tradition was mostly referring to her. What C.C. couldn't wrap her mind around the most was why her father was trying to set her up now. There wasn't a purpose to get married; Shirley and Kallen weren't planning on marrying any time soon and most importantly, C.C. wasn't in love with anyone.

Her list of suitors were long. Only a few made a dent in her memory. C.C.'s most notable suitor was Mao, a Chinese Suitor whose father owned a renowned Chinese restaurant chain. After a long pursuit, Mao eventually gave up. Actually, C.C. bullied him so much, he was pushed to the brink of sanity. One day, Mao just woke up, insane, paranoid and suffered anxiety attacks every time C.C. was mentioned. Mao was eventually put into a mental facility, in China, faraway from C.C. and anyone who knew of her.

Besides Mao, no other suitor left an impression on C.C., negative or positive.

"Do you always eat this much pizza?" Lelouch watched C.C. chow down on her ninth slice of pepperoni pizza. His face held a look of disgust as his mind began to process how such a slim girl could eat so much junk. It bewildered him. "That's your tenth slice now," Lelouch noted when C.C.'s hand reached to pick up the last slice on her plate.

"No."

They were at a dinner party, a dinner party held in honour of the Mayor's wife's forty-fifth birthday. Both their families were invited since they were prestigious folk. Once their fathers learned that both their families would be attending, they took it into their hands to make C.C. Lelouch's date and vice-versa. The two had no idea they were their respective dates until they arrived at the Mayor's mansion. Marianne shoved them towards a table made for two, near the buffet as well as being in a private corner.

Chewing the last piece of pizza in her mouth, C.C. dabbed her lips with the napkin that was originally placed on her lap. "I always eat more." Once her lips were clean of any tomato sauce, C.C. moved the napkin onto the table and went to pick up her plate.

"Wait!" Lelouch reached from her arm, preventing her from going anywhere near the table. "You can't go back there again! This will be your third time. You have to at least leave some food for the other guests!"

C.C. looked over at the long line of multiple buffet tables. They were filled to the absolute brim with food. Not only were there an abundance of pizza, there was a large sum of other delicious dishes as well: turkey, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, pasta and much more. C.C.'s eyes could not see the ends of the food chain. Anyway, her eyes were only looking at one thing, pizza.

"Lelouch, food won't run out if I return for another slice or six." She made a move to leave again but Lelouch's grip around her wrist didn't weaken.

"Do not leave." His tone was ordering. There was no way Lelouch would have C.C. get up once again. It annoyed him to no ends every time C.C. returned for more food. He was scared that other people noticed her gluttonous ways. If C.C. wasn't sharing his table that night, Lelouch wouldn't have a care in the world but he was stuck with her and her strange obsession for pizza.

C.C. frowned at him. "You're being paranoid. Now let me go, Lelouch."

"No."

Her gold eyes slanted down at him. "Do you want me to kiss you again?"

Lelouch felt his heart stop beating for a minute and his grip immediately loosened. Taking the opportunity, C.C. turned on her heel and glided towards the stack of multiple pizza dishes. Even if his life depended on it, Lelouch would not have C.C. kiss him again. For two weeks his life was lived with nosy and boisterous people asking about his love-life. It aggravated Lelouch when people without their own lives began to speak about those with lives. At that moment, Lelouch disliked life altogether. The more when C.C. returned with six slices of pizza.

Looking down at his own plate which he hardly touched, Lelouch found himself wondering again how C.C. could be able to eat so much. Even he couldn't eat that much. Nobody Lelouch knew could eat that much, well, except until C.C. came into his life. Ah, Lelouch really disliked his life.

"At your dinner party two weeks ago you were eating pizza." Visions of the party flashed in his memory and the forced kiss. His head shook, shaking the memory faraway from his mind as possible. "A few days later I dropped you off at Pizza Hut." His face winced as she chewed stoically on her eleventh slice. "And now you've at least consumed a quarter of the pizza here!"

"I don't see what's the problem," she replied, her voice unemotional.

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose as a vein in his head began to pop. "Don't you care about anything else but pizza?"

C.C. smirked. "Do you want me to care for you, Lelouch?"

"Die," Lelouch hissed as he stabbed his roast beef with his fork.

"Your temper is back."

"You're the only one that comments on my temper," Lelouch informed, his voice deadpan. "Maybe you're the only one capable of enraging me in a short amount of time; maybe you're the one with a problem."

"Says the boy that stabbed his slab of meat a few seconds ago."

"Shut up."

To clear things up, Lelouch didn't have a bad temper. He didn't go on a rampage when he was angry. Lelouch just got annoyed easily but he hardly showed it when he did become annoyed. Of course, then C.C. came into his life and his patience always seemed to balance on a fine line.

"Aren't you going to eat?" C.C. wondered after her- well, Lelouch finally lost count how many slices she engulfed. "It's a shame to waste food, especially free food. There are a lot of people starving in this world."

"Thank you for your insight," he replied sarcastically. Picking up his fork and knife, Lelouch began to carve away at this roast beef platter. But before he could even place a piece of meat into his open mouth, Lelouch paused. C.C. had stopped eating and left behind three slices, something Lelouch didn't think she was capable of doing. "Are you done eating? I thought you would have at least eaten twenty slices at the rate you were going on earlier."

"First, you complain when I eat too much," C.C. began, "Then you expect me to eat more and complain when I don't. You're mind is quite fickle, isn't it Lelouch?"

"I just didn't expect you to leave food on your plate." His eyebrow raised. "Free food at that."

A smirk befell on her pink lips. "I'm not done yet anyway. I'm just digesting."

Lelouch's face dropped. How could she not be done yet? Did C.C. have two stomachs like cows? That was the only explanation. She would be a good contestant for an all-you-eat competition. And his face only continued to drop when C.C. picked up her umpteenth slice.

Before Lelouch could even say anything violin strings and piano keys began to fill the packed dining/ballroom. It stopped Lelouch from taking a bite out of his own meal. He looked over to the area under the staircase, the orchestra was going on full blast under the instruction of an odd looking conductor. The music persuaded people to dance with their dates. Suzaku and Euphemia were a couple of them.

"Hey, aren't you going to dance?" Shirley asked, mostly C.C. since she was too shy to speak with Lelouch.

"When I have ever danced?"

"You always dan-" C.C.'s foot made contact with Shirley's shin cutting her off short. "Actually, I have no idea what on earth I am talking about. I'm just going to go now and play with Kallen."

"Have a nice night, Shirley," Lelouch bid the young lady farewell, causing her to trip over her own two feet.

Shirley's face was lowered when she turned around to reply. "Y-you too Lelouch. I'll see you later, C.C."

"So, you dance?" Lelouch questioned, eyes purple eyes twinkling from the bright chandelier. Even if Shirley wasn't able to finish her sentence, Lelouch got the gist of it.

"Not when I am eating," she replied coldly. "Do you dance, Lelouch? You don't look like the dancing type. You look like one of those guys that sit around watching the pretty girls get twirled around by capable men."

"What are you trying to say?" Lelouch knew that he wasn't the dancing type himself. It's not like he couldn't dance, he just didn't enjoy dancing at all. It tired him out too quickly and every time he danced with a girl, it was like he was swinging around a corpse. But Lelouch didn't know it was obvious he wasn't fond of dancing.

C.C. cleaned her lips from any pizza stains before answering. "You have good height and posture but it seems like you tire easily. I mean, at my dinner party weeks ago you got tired right after you danced with Nunnally. And you only danced for about thirty seconds."

"You saw that?" Automatically Lelouch's face paled. His shook his head, trying to regain some of the colour on his cheeks. "Never mind. Why were you watching me that night then?"

"Because you looked handsome."

More colour rushed to Lelouch's face than he was comfortable with. He couldn't even think of a remark to answer. Surely, C.C. was a strange girl. Despite only being acquaintances, she teased him to no end. And now she just called him handsome. Lelouch couldn't understand her; he was sure nobody could, not even her own family. The name 'Witch' definitely suited her.

"Did I make you speechless, Lelouch?"

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After a while the majority of the guests were on the dance floor, twirling around merrily under the influence of the classical music filling the ballroom. There were a couple of people standing around, just being bystanders. To name a few, Lelouch and C.C. were some of them. C.C. didn't want to dance right away, she was still digesting and Lelouch was afraid he would tire out once again. Plus, his only partner, Nunnally, was playing around joyfully with Shirley.

Kallen neared the a pair, a wine glass filled with water in her hand. "Aren't you two going to dance?"

C.C. looked at her, eyes slanted. "Aren't you? You've always danced before."

"There's nobody to dance with." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "Shirley left me."

"You can have Lelouch," C.C. pointed out monotone. "But beware, he will faint after thirty seconds of dancing."

"That's not true."

Kallen shook her head. She didn't want to get involved with the pair; she didn't even like standing beside them but there was nobody else to converse with. Everyone else had somebody else to dance or speak with except her. Even her own father had found a nice lady to spend time with. It made Kallen feel pathetic that her own father was enjoying the party more than she was.

"How about that blonde waiter over there?" C.C. gestured at the tall handsome blonde clearing up a few plates from a table on the other side of the room.

"I swear, wasn't he at our party a few weeks ago?" The red-head wondered, memories of the blonde waiter invading her mind. "I don't think there are other extremely tall blonde waiters in our city."

"Oh, so you've met before, might as well introduce yourself properly." Grabbing Kallen's shoulders, she pushed the girl onto the dance floor. It was the only way Kallen would get from their point to the blonde waiter.

Kallen left but not to introduce herself to the blonde. She left to just get away from C.C. and her cynical ways.

"For somebody that seems to dislike me, you're spending an awfully amount of time with me," C.C. commented smugly. "Have I grown on you in these few times we've hung out, Lelouch?"

Lelouch blew a few stray bangs from his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. There's just nobody else here to speak with."

"Anti-social."

"I am not!"

Lelouch's cell-phone rang, stopping the conversation or bickering short. It was Rivalz calling. The young blue haired boy had been calling Lelouch more frequently. No, he wasn't pestering Lelouch about his love-life, Rivalz was pestering Lelouch about a certain blonde named Milly. Lelouch had never met the young lady that stole his good friends' heart but he had an idea what kind of person she was. All Rivalz could talk about recently was her. It annoyed Lelouch.

But Rivalz was a good friend, so, Lelouch excused himself. "I have to take this. I'll be right back." He walked over to the terrace since the ballroom was too loud with music.

And as Lelouch waltzed off, leaving C.C. alone, a young couple got off. The girl, tripping over her own feet, headed towards the ladies' room. Her date, the young male dressed in navy, tried to look suave as he approached C.C. His steps were awkward since he was trying to hide his drunken nature. To C.C.'s eyes it was obvious the young stranger was beyond wasted. Normally, C.C. didn't mind drunks but she hated it when they tried to speak with her.

They weren't in their right minds to keep a proper conversation. Plus, C.C. thought they all seemed delusional and their egos inflated way too much for her liking.

"Are you here alone?" The man asked. His breath reeked of alcohol.

C.C. ignored him, her eyes looking at the couples that remained dancing.

That didn't deter the man from bothering her. "You're probably with that scrawny fellow that just left. What kind of man leaves a beautiful young woman alone? What an ass-hole."

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

"Don't you speak?" His words were becoming slurred. "Are you deaf? Hello!"

Having enough of his breath, C.C. slapped his hand away as he waved it in front of her eyes. "Go away."

"You're a little witch, aren't you?" The man grimaced as he neared her.

"I said-"

"She said go away." Lelouch's voice was loud, deep and manly, completely different from his regular voice. It was if he was a different person entirely. "I don't appreciate you bothering my date. Leave."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" The man growled, almost lunging towards them.

C.C. stopped him before he could get any closer. Her foot made contact with something between his legs. For the man, the pain was immediate and excruciating. He wasn't sure if he would be able to have kids any more. Doubling over, the drunk began to rock back and forth as he held onto his precious 'little men'.

Grabbing C.C.'s hand, Lelouch pulled them away from the scene before anyone noticed. Personally, he didn't know the man but he was scared the man might have been an important figure. Good thing the man was drunk, he would forget everything in the morning anyway. But Lelouch still didn't want to be seen with a man silently crying in pain.

"You shouldn't have kicked him," Lelouch spoke as they were now in a private corner of the room. The large red curtains were blocking them from view, just in case there was a witness. "You might get in trouble."

Looking at him from beneath her thick green bangs, C.C. smiled or smirked. It was hard to tell. C.C. rarely smiled; Lelouch hadn't a clue what her smile looked like exactly. And she smirked everyday; C.C. smirked as much as she inhaled air. Her smirks appeared so often Lelouch just learned to ignore them.

"Worried about me, Lelouch?" She asked, her voice playful. "You are actually quite the gentleman."

He smiled. "I'm not worried. And yes, I am a gentleman."

"Your ego is inflating," C.C. started, her hand raising up to Lelouch's face, "Let me pop it." She popped his ego with a slap to his forehead.

"C.C.!" Lelouch's hand went to caress the stinging red spot on his forehead.

"I should thank you for standing up for me earlier," C.C. spoke up, her eyes looking up towards the ceiling, as if an idea was tugging her mind. Her amber eyes sparkled as she looked back at Lelouch. "Kind sir, would you do me the honour of dancing?"

Lelouch looked down at her suspiciously, purple eyes sharp like a fox. "You're not planning to step on my feet, are you?"

She waved a finger in front of his face. "Tsk tsk. What kind of girl do you think I am, Lelouch?"

"You're not a girl, you're a Witch," Lelouch chuckled.

C.C. reached out her hand, waiting for Lelouch to place on his hand on top. She wanted to take the lead. However, Lelouch had other plans. Instead of placing his hand on top for her own to take, he slid his hand bellow hers' and held onto to it as he brought them towards the outer skirts of the dance floor. Once they were standing in front of each other, arms' length apart, Lelouch cautiously placed his free hand onto C.C.'s waist. In retrospect, C.C. gently laid her hand on Lelouch's shoulder.

Lelouch was swift on his feet as he glided them slowly.

"Thirty seconds have passed," C.C. noted. "Do you feel faint yet?"

He refused to look down at her. Lelouch was certain C.C. was smirking again. He could feel it.

"Shut up."

A silence fell on them as if they were simply enjoying each others' presence. They looked like they did, if you were on the outside looking in. In reality, the two had nothing to say to one another. They've spoken enough. They weren't friends that had a million things to speak about, they were just two people in similar positions; their family wanted them to get married to one another. One, for the benefit of his younger sister. The other, for the benefit of her father who feared that if she didn't marry now, she never will. They had that similarity and probably their only similarity compared to their infinite amount of differences.

The people around them stopped dancing as they saw the two slowly make their way towards the centre of the room. The two weren't aware of their movement, their eyes were shut. That didn't help their situation. It only further supported the idea that they were in a romantic relationship and not a forced one.

"You might want to open your eyes." C.C.'s cold voice snapped Lelouch out of his thoughts. He was thinking about the orchestra and admired the pianist and her wondrous talent.

He frowned when she disturbed him. "Why?"

"Everyone is staring."

"Nosy people."

She laughed which caused Lelouch to open his amethyst eyes. Because of her usual humourless laugh and teasing smirk, Lelouch often forgot that C.C.'s laugh was quite pleasing to the ears. Luckily, Lelouch opened his eyes at the right time; he got to see her smile. And it was pleasing as well.

C.C. noticed him staring at her causing her smile to falter a bit. "Take a picture, it lasts longer."

Suddenly annoyed, Lelouch bit the corner of his bottom lip. "Shut-OW!" He looked down at his aching right foot that C.C. had just stepped on brutally. But before Lelouch could call her out on it, his left was soon assaulted. "C.C.!" Lelouch cried, his vision blurry. Her stomps were extremely painful. "Is this why you kicked Shirley before she could finish what she was saying? You didn't want her to mention that you step on your partners' foot!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Why you- OW!"

Thus, the once assumed romantic scene ended with Lelouch limping off the dance floor.

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