Lawli: This chapter is shorter than I intended it to be. D: But every time I tried adding more it just didn't sound right. Hopefully next chapter will be longer.

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The Charlatans of Circumstance
-Chapter Nine-

The dress Suzaku wore was pink, like Euphemia's hair and the flowers planted by the garden at his younger sister Nunnally's insistence. Such a pretty color, made even brighter and more magnificent thanks to the rich tan of Suzaku's skin. It was made of silk, which meant it had to be expensive. But it tore very easily.

One decisive tug from Lelouch made the fabric tear, creating a wide slit along Suzaku's leg, exposing more and more as Lelouch continued to pull at it. The dress unraveled, useless scraps of pink falling to the ground, until Suzaku stood almost naked in a pool of silk.

A blush colored Suzaku's cheeks as he wrapped his arms around himself, shielding his body – almost completely visible through the white underskirt – from view. Lelouch would have none of that. Gently he lowered Suzaku's hands to his sides, noting they felt softer than he remembered, like a real woman's hands.

"Lelouch," Suzaku gasped as the hem of his slip was pushed up. He tried to turn his face away, to hide his embarrassment from Lelouch, but the gentle touch against his cheek kept him from doing so.

Lelouch kissed him without warning, causing Suzaku's body to freeze in surprise before relaxing against his own, willing lips parting to allow the kiss to deepen. It was so much sweeter than he remembered, Suzaku's lips tasting of the deserts he'd eaten at the dinner party – creampuffs, as well as something like honey that had to be a flavor entirely unique to Suzaku.

Those hands that seemed so unlike unusual slid up his chest, feeling Lelouch through the thin shirt he wore. Lelouch sighed against Suzaku's mouth.

Somehow they reached the bed and Lelouch broke the kiss for the brief amount of time it took to lower Suzaku down onto the mattress and cover his body with his own. Suzaku's arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer, and he whispered something in his ear that Lelouch couldn't quite make out.

"What?" he asked, a frown on his face as he leaned back. Suzaku stared up at him with that same triumphant smirk he'd had after their meeting Sarah Fenette. All of the sudden, Suzaku was on top of him, his legs on either side of Lelouch's hips and the slip bunched up around his upper thighs, revealing just enough to leave the other male with a significant ache and a yearning desire to touch him.

Grasping his shoulders, Suzaku roughly shook him. "I said, wake up!"

And Lelouch did.

With a sharp gasp he bolted upright in bed. There was sweat along his brow, the air of the room far too cold against his heated body, making him shiver. His bed sheets had been kicked on to the floor at some point in the night but Lelouch felt as though they were clinging tightly to him, stifling him.

When he tried to move he became aware of an ache between his legs.

Violet eyes widened to an almost impossible degree, Lelouch drawing in a slow, shaky breath as one of his hands drifted down to hesitantly feel the hardened flesh, as if to convince himself this wasn't a part of his dream.

"A-ah!" he hissed, a bolt of pleasure shooting through him in reaction to the touch. Quickly he tore his hand away, curling his fingers into the pillow to keep them from venturing back to his erection. He refused to touch himself. It was undignified enough that he'd awoken in such a state (he pointedly ignored the dream that caused his arousal for the time being, too disturbed to even go near it at the moment); he would never resort to finishing the act himself.

At the same time, however, he couldn't just wait for it to go away on its own. Not only was he unsure of how long that would take, but it was also certain to be a lot more unpleasant than other methods.

Moving his lower body as little as possible, Lelouch reached for the telephone on the nightstand, pressing the star key that directed him immediately to Sayoko's private line.

"Master Lelouch," the servant greeted respectfully, "good morning. Would you like me to bring you your tea?"

Lelouch held back a groan as, with his free hand, he struggled to retrieve the blankets from off the ground. "Not just yet, Sayoko, but thank you." He grinned triumphantly as he grasped the edge of the sheets and in one swift movement managed to pull most of them back onto the bed. "I was hoping you could run me a cold shower."

"Cold, master Lelouch?" There was a grin in Sayoko's voice, as if she knew something he didn't.

"Yes, cold," he all but snapped in reply. "That will be all."

He hung up the phone without waiting for her to say anything else, all but throwing the receiver back onto its holder as he gingerly lowered himself down onto the bed. The second he closed his eyes an image of Suzaku drifted into his mind. His already swollen member throbbed. Lelouch's eyes flew open and he glared, both amazed at and disgusted with himself.

Something was wrong with him. Seriously wrong.

Lelouch spent almost an hour in the bathroom. His problem went away after not even three minutes in the water (Sayoko hadn't just made it cold, she'd made it positively frigid – to the point where Lelouch yelped the instant he stepped into the tub). The rest of the time Lelouch spent half-submerged in the bath, going over his dream and trying to make sense of it, as well as thinking of an excuse for it.

By the time he got out of the bath some forty minutes later he'd decided it was Suzaku's fault.

Suzaku acted too flirtatious, too comfortable with the intimacy they were forced to share as a part of their act. Suzaku said things that were suggestive, wore dresses that could make any man's imagination wander. Suzaku was the one who straddled him on the bed the previous day in an attempt to assert dominance in a relationship that was supposed to be strictly professional (with Lelouch as the superior).

Lelouch pointedly ignored the fact that it was because of him that Suzaku did all these things.

Because it was Suzaku's fault.

Lelouch stared at his reflection in the mirror. He shook out his hair, brushed his teeth. Applied a dab of cologne to the underside of his jaw.

Suzaku's fault.

Unfortunately by the time he reached the dining room he found Suzaku already there. He had been hoping to avoid the brunette for at least a little while, until the images from his dream weren't so vivid, but it couldn't be helped. Lelouch took in a deep breath before making his way to his seat. The long dinner table from the previous evening was gone now, replaced by a far more adequately sized one fit to seat six. Suzaku occupied the second chair to the left. Lelouch made a point to ignore his stare and sit across from him.

A newspaper lay between them, along with several plates of food. Lelouch reached for it.

Suzaku, realizing he was being ignored, frowned. "Good morning," he said, an offended edge to his voice. When Lelouch only mumbled something in response, Suzaku narrowed his eyes. "Sleep well, darling?"

The word darling made Lelouch raise his eyes briefly from the newspaper and glance at the brunette. Suzaku's thoughts were easy enough to read by his expression alone:

Don't start this again.

Suzaku made it perfectly clear he wouldn't tolerate any attitude on Lelouch's part; Lelouch didn't feel the need to repeat that particular lesson (although, Suzaku's body over his own felt rather nice – no, no it didn't).

"Sorry," he apologized quickly. "No, I... I didn't sleep well." That was a complete lie; he'd slept almost too well.

Suzaku nodded in sympathetically. Lelouch couldn't understand how the brunette could switch moods so sporadically. "I was a little nervous," he admitted, and Lelouch raised an eyebrow.

"Nervous?"

"Yeah." Suzaku's cheeks flushed. "It's so much nicer than what I'm used to, I felt uncomfortable. And this morning taking a shower – I tried not to touch anything; I was afraid I would break something."

From the sound of it, he'd tested out the bath tub. Lelouch tried not to picture Suzaku naked in a pool of warm water, but... in the end, he couldn't help himself. Yet again disturbed by his lack of self control, Lelouch shook his head.

"I see," he replied after clearing his throat. "Well I'm sure you'll figure it out. You have a lot of time."

Emerald eyes lowered to the table. "I guess..." Suzaku pushed a plate of food towards him next, changing the subject. "Croissant?"

Lelouch took a marmalade croissant from the platter just as Kaguya entered the dining room, still donned in a night dress – which, both men noted, was a great deal more modest than the ones given to her cousin.

"Good morning, love birds!" she greeted happily, looking as if she felt a great deal better than the day before, when her cough had worsened to the point Suzaku refused to let her attend the dinner party. "Sleep well?" Lelouch was about to give her the same answer he'd given to Suzaku but she spoke over him. "Didn't sneak into each other's rooms, I hope?" She winked at her cousin, who blushed darkly.

"K-Kaguya!" Suzaku sputtered. "Stop saying things like that!"

"Yes," Lelouch agreed without hesitation, face red as well – though probably for an entirely different reason than Suzaku. "It's highly—"

"improper," Kaguya sighed. "I know. I'm just teasing. I like seeing Suzako's reactions. Are there chocolate ones?"

She was pointing to one of the plates. Suzaku pushed it toward her without a word and she gladly searched through the croissants until she found a chocolate-filled one.

"Good morning!"

Euphemia stepped into the dining room, smiling brightly as she seated herself beside Suzaku. "It smells delicious in here. I hope you enjoyed your first night, Suzako," she added politely. "I hope it wasn't terribly hard for you to adjust here?"

Suzaku blinked. "It's... a little difficult." Euphemia nodded her head, having expected so. "But the house is very beautiful; I love it. Of course," he sent Lelouch an endearing smile, "I'd be happy staying anywhere, so long as I was with Lelouch."

Lelouch's eyes widened, surprised at how Suzaku had thrown himself entirely into the act. He swallowed the lump in his throat, realizing only then how the words – as untrue as they were – affected him; he forced a smile in return, reached across the table and grasped Suzaku's hand.

Kaguya giggled.

"You two are so sweet," Euphemia commented with a glance between the pair. There was an emotion in her voice that Lelouch wasn't accustomed to hearing: sadness. But when she spoke next it was gone, making Lelouch wonder if it had even been there to begin with. "Lelouch, what are you and Suzako planning for the day?"

Planning? Lelouch hadn't given any thought to activities he and his pretend fiancée could do together. Really he wouldn't mind parting with Suzaku for a while so he could clear his head of those ridiculous thoughts of the brunette.

Euphemia continued without an answer from him. "You should show her the city," she suggested. "Maybe a carriage ride?"

Lelouch frowned. "I don't think-"

"That sounds like fun," Suzaku interjected. "I've never been on a horse-drawn carriage."

Hearing this, Euphemia tilted her head to the side, lips pursed thoughtfully. "Really? I thought my brother said that was one of your first dates?"

Suzaku met Lelouch's eyes in a silent plea for help and Lelouch coughed loudly. "It wasn't much of a carriage ride," he explained. "Poor Suzako hadn't been feeling well that afternoon."

"Right," Suzaku followed his lead. "I felt so terrible, but I just couldn't enjoy it; I had to ask Lelouch if we could get off."

"That's too bad. Lelouch, you have to take her now!"

Lelouch laughed softly, relieved at having avoided the potential disaster. Thankfully Euphemia was not the smartest of his siblings. If it had been Schneizel or anyone else he didn't think he'd be able to get away with the lie.

"I will." He smiled at Suzaku. "I will."

Lawli: -sigh- again, my apologies for the shortness.

Question! Anyone attending NarutoTrek this weekend? X3 Let me know~