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 for her, ahem, charms.
Green Silk and Golden Orbs
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Chapter 9
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[2 days after]
The wedding was off.
... The wedding was off...
His freakin' wedding was called off. And he had a problem with it.
Lelouch had a big problem with it.
Nobody can just call off his wedding, even if the one who called out was the father of her fiancée; ex-fiancée, well, whatever C.C. was to him now. Nobody had the right to call off his wedding. It was his and her's and no-one else's.
Lelouch moaned frustratedly into his pillow. Two days have passed since Arthur Celeste called off the wedding - his wedding; two since he banned Lelouch from coming anywhere near his daughters; two days since he was single - free of the green haired Witch - free of his fiancée. He groaned once more before flipping over onto his back, staring at his unremarkable ceiling.
He was pathetic. He just stood like a pole allowing Arthur to yell at him for a good five minutes. After that, Lelouch just left the hospital and stayed at home. He hadn't dared contact C.C. once.
There was a knock on his door.
"Lelouch." It was Euphemia, poking her head in through the minuscule crack. "Are you okay?" She waltzed in, not caring that Lelouch remained silent. "Brother..." Nothing. He just sat there, face towards the heavens but eyes elsewhere. "Lelouch!"
"What?" He snapped at his younger sister. Lelouch didn't mean to. He was just irritated with the dilemma he was in. "Sorry." His face softened once Euphemia sat herself on the edge of his bed.
"How are you holding up?"
"I'm pissed off," he answered truthfully, running a hand through his raven locks. "I can't believe I just stood there like an idiot and took all that crap. I couldn't stand up for myself. I was too much in shock with what was happening. Now the wedding has been called off. And now, you can't get married..."
Euphemia giggled into the back of her hand sweetly.
"Don't worry about me," she informed him. "I'll be fine. I can get married two years from now; ten years from now. It doesn't matter. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Lelouch."
He frowned.
"How can I let my younger sister wait for marriage when it's practically at your door step?"
Another giggle.
"Look, Lelouch, I don't want you to worry about me. It was your wedding called off, not mine. My wedding wasn't even official yet." She looked at him calmly yet sternly. "I want you to get married because you want to not because of what I want. I want you to marry because you're in love not because you don't want me to wait..."
Lelouch blinked a couple of times at Euphemia's words of wisdom.
It wasn't just the fact that the wedding was cancelled that pissed him off. By cancelling the wedding, it meant that all connections with C.C. were cut. And he couldn't have that.
"I like her."
"I know."
"But I don't want to marry her."
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[2 weeks after]
After two weeks of not speaking with one another, Lelouch took it upon himself to cancel everything for the wedding; the venue, the cake, the entertainment for the dinner. Everything was cancelled. And everyone was upset by it.
There was no more wedding to hassle over. For that, he was relieved.
Lelouch wasn't so keen on marrying anymore anyway.
If he were to get married, Lelouch would make sure he courted the woman the old fashion way before proposing to her. With C.C., he didn't court her at all. They were merely friends who just agreed to marry one another because they were friends.
He went to the jewellery store he bought her ring from. The ring he proposed to her with and the ring he received in the mail a few days ago. Her father returned it on behalf of C.C. Lelouch felt like tearing the letter in half when he saw the ring in the envelope. It was her ring to keep. Her ring to send back.
The sales associate recognized Lelouch immediately even if it had been two months since they last saw one another.
"How are the wedding plans coming along, Mr. Lamperouge?" The sales associate approached Lelouch as soon as Lelouch began to eye the same showcase that held the ring he bought.
"They're not," Lelouch answered with a small smile. He held up the ring between his fore finger and thumb, twirling it.
The sales associate's eyes widened.
"Are you here to return then?"
"Nope." Another smile.
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[3 weeks after]
Arthur Celeste was waiting for his dinner date that even. His secretary informed them that he was invited to a fancy dinner by a hopeful business partner. Arthur didn't know much about the young man but the secretary assured him that the probable business partner was a good candidate. However, the future business partner already didn't make that much of a good impression on Arthur. He was more than thirty minutes late.
A waiter tapped his shoulder, prompting Arthur to turn around.
However, it wasn't a waiter like Arthur assumed.
It was Lelouch.
The last guy Arthur wanted to see.
Arthur's face fell at the sight of the young man.
"What are you doing here?" Arthur didn't sound as angry as Lelouch expected. Arthur was also shocked that his tone came out soft, friendly even. He cleared his throat roughly, trying to sound harsher than earlier.
"I wanted to speak to you about the wedding." Lelouch's tone was calm, mature and business-like.
Arthur frowned as he began to sip on his alcoholic beverage.
"What wedding? I cancelled it and I heard from a bird you cancelled all the preparations," he replied sourly, avoiding all eye contact with the younger male.
Lelouch went around the table for two and sat himself down. Arthur grimaced more, slightly turning towards the right. He was slumped over on the table, not showing proper table manners.
"I didn't come here to ask you to put the wedding back on," Lelouch said, startling the older male. "I came here to ask for permission."
"For what?" Arthur raised an inquiring brow.
"To become your daughter's suitor."
Arthur felt like he might have choked on his drink if he didn't control himself. The sentence came as a shocker. Arthur wasn't expecting it at all. From the months he knew Lelouch, Arthur knew that Lelouch hated the termsuitor. He always claimed he wasn't one when C.C. teased him. But now Lelouch wanted to be a suitor; suitor to his ex-fiancée.
"I cancelled your wedding. Now you have the audacity to ask me to become C.C.'s suitor." He was flabbergasted, utterly mind-boggled.
Lelouch nodded confidently.
"You see, I realized something when you cancelled the wedding." He paused.
"Which was?" Arthur urged him on, annoyed that Lelouch paused for no good reason.
A smile tugged on the corner of Lelouch's lips.
"That I don't want to marry your daughter."
Hearing that only made Arthur even more confused than he originally was.
"Then why are you asking me to be her suit-"
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[4 weeks after]
C.C. was at the dinner table by herself that evening. Her two sisters were out with their friends which left C.C. alone with pizza and Cheese-kun. It was her heaven on earth but she had no appetite. Which was rare. She only ate eight slices. Normally, C.C. consumed about two whole pies of pizza. Eight was odd.
Eight was sad.
Her father came home. C.C. didn't greet him. She ignored him like she usually did. Arthur expected this as he sat down at the end of the table; at the head of the table.
"I've planned a date for you tonight."
Her head snapped towards her father, stunned. Did her father just say what she thought he just said? She had a date. Her father set her up on a date only a month after cancelling the wedding - her wedding.
"Huh?" And that was all C.C. managed to utter.
Her father looked at her, eyes and lips smiling and jolly. Why was he so happy? A few weeks ago he was a grouchy middle-aged man.
"You have a date tonight."
C.C. scowled.
"No, you said 'I've planned a date for you tonight.'"
"Same thing." Her father continued to merrily smile, as if all his problems in the world disappeared in an instant. "Be ready by seven o'clock. You're meeting your date at the annual End of the Summer Carnival."
After each season, their city held a carnival to bid that season farewell and to welcome the upcoming season. Everyone attended the celebration. It was only a two day event. C.C. attended each season with her sisters but this season, she declined the offer to go. She wasn't in the mood to have fun.
Before the whole fiasco, C.C. planned to go with Lelouch. She even asked him.
And he said yes.
"I don't want to go."
"Don't be stubborn. You're going."
"What if I don't like this new suitor."
"Trust me, you will."
"And if I fall off a horse again, will you cancel my possible marriage with him?"
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[Carnival]
The driver dropped C.C. off by the entrance. Some date. She had to pay for her own entrance ticket, not that it cost a lot. From her father, C.C. knew she had to meet her date near the carousel. C.C. didn't blame Lelouch for what happened but she didn't want to be near a horse, inanimate or not. The feeling of falling was not a pleasant feeling.
The carnival was packed with people, mostly families and teenagers. Her two sisters came there with their own friends. Kallen must have been trying every single roller-coaster while Shirley was trying to win every single stuffed animal the carnival games offered.
If C.C. came there with them or with Lelouch, she would probably be by the corn-dog station, chowing down.
She walked towards the merry-go-round begrudgingly. She didn't want to meet another suitor when she wasn't even over the previous one.
C.C. sighed at the thought of Lelouch. Her mind began to question whether or not she'll see him again; whether he cared that their wedding was cancelled. She knew Lelouch cancelled all the plans but she didn't blame him. How could she? When her father was the one that called the wedding off while she just sat there, bewildered.
She stood in front of the carousel, waiting for some creepy suitor like Mao to approach her.
"Are you Miss Cecilia?"
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