Exception

By: Aviantei

69. How Hard Could Compromise Be?

By the time Reever made it to the Lee household, Komui was already a mess. He'd been despondent most of the day, sure, but it had done nothing but get worse as the time crawled on, making it clearer that Lenalee wasn't coming home, and the final blow had been the fact that she hadn't responded to any of Komui's calls or messages, making it more than clear that she was, in fact, ignoring him. Komui had sunk down to the carpet in a puddle of pure devastation, crying an ocean of tears that poor Sir Komlin III was trying and failing to clean up.

Thanks to having a spare key, Reever was able to enter with no issue whatsoever, and he sighed at the sorry sight before him. At the rate that Komui was going, all that water was going to cause intense structural damage to their home, and no one needed to give him an excuse to further modify his home with more tricks. So Reever found a safe, dry place to put up his bags, hung up his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work to dragging Komui to the bathtub.

"Come on," he said, trying to be encouraging though he knew the chances of him getting help in the current situation were way past low and at rock bottom. "You don't want to be a mess whenever Lenalee comes home, now do you?"

"…Lenalee's cobing home?" Komui asked through his congestion, though the level of enthusiasm in the words was way below what anyone would have expected of the man. He sounded a lot like a kid who was desperately asking after their lost pet.

Reever recognized that tone, and he added another level of difficulty to his mental calculations. A Lee Komui in this state was one that you had to be truthful with so that he didn't get any ridiculous ideas, but also not so blunt as to bring him into an even further doom spiral. "No, she's not," Reever said, keeping his tone gentle but still having Komui's eyes begin to water again anyways, "but she's also not gonna be gone forever. Two days will be gone before you know it, and you'll wanna be in top shape by then, right?"

"Whad's the poindt?" Oh, great, it was this version of upset Komui. Reever didn't bother to be gentle as he hauled his partner up the stairs, hoping that maybe a few bumps would start to jostle Komui's brain into working again. "Lenalee saith she hathes me…There'sth dothing to libe for anymore…"

Tears starting to waterfall down the stairs, Komlin III was still trying not to drown in the living room. Reever hoisted Komui up on his shoulder and kept his eyes on the prize of the bathroom a few doors down. "You know I don't mind if you need to vent, but at least clear out that snotty nose of yours first—oi, I didn't mean on my clothes, dammit!" Reever liked this shirt, dammit; he swore to steal one of Komui's in retaliation.

At last at their destination, Reever kicked open the bathroom door, let Komui slump back down to the ground, and went to start the tub. Expecting Komui to be functional enough to take a shower was an impossible dream, so a bath it was. Komui, for his part, had enough awareness to hear the water running, but he still didn't have anywhere enough will to live to act on what he knew was coming.

Reever used far more willpower than he would've liked to hold back his sigh. Can't motivate him by bringing up Lenalee this time; that'll just make it worse. So alternative measures it was.

"Get ready for the bath or I'll tell Hevlaska about the secret stashes of banned experimental materials you have on campus." Because Komui very much was the type to want to keep working on things even when told not to by his boss, and Reever had no reservations about using said intel as blackmail when it came down to it.

"…Traitor," Komui said, dragging himself into a sit and doing as he was told. Reever proffered the laundry basket, wincing at the sound of tear-soaked clothes slapping against each other. "I thought you loved me."

"It's because I love you that I'm trying to help you pull yourself together." Their partnership wasn't an over the top one, instead built on the comfort of having company of someone who got them, and even admitting affection out loud was enough to make Reever feel a bit subconscious. That was his issue, though, and they had way bigger fish to fry at the moment. "I know this is the worst fight you two have had, and it's okay to feel upset about it, but I think it's about time you start to give Lenalee a break. Having you monitor her every little move and make a public spectacle about it at that age can't feel good."

Komui had managed to lower himself into the bath, the hot water fogging up his glasses that he'd refused to take off for some reason. The frown on his face made a lot more sense, though. "I'm just trying to look out for her. I'm her only family left, Reever, so keeping her safe is my responsibility…"

Leaving the laundry for another time, Reever found as comfortable of a seat as he could by the tub's side, his back leaning against the wall. "And I don't think that's so bad, especially when it comes to the bigger things like making sure she has a roof over her head and that she's fed and all that good stuff. But don't you think it's time to ease up on some of the other stuff? I've lost count of how many kids you've traumatized just for partnering up with Lenalee." It had been to the point that, while Lenalee had been in his classroom, Reever had made sure she hadn't partnered up with any guys to start with just to prevent the headache, but that wasn't a very good solution, either. Komui opened his mouth to give an immediate retort, but Reever already knew what he was gonna say, so talking over him it was. "No, really, babe, listen. Don't you think that Lenalee's smart enough to tell when someone's not safe to be around?"

"Of course my Lenalee's smart, but that doesn't mean—"

"And don't you think," Reever pressed on, lowkey wishing he'd brought one of the beers he'd bought upstairs with him, "that if something did happen, she'd be incapable of taking care of it herself? I hear about her kicks from gym kids all the time, and you two can switch to the threat of violence pretty quick. Now, I don't want anything to happen to her just as much as you do, but that doesn't mean you need to shield her from everything. This is pretty dark to think about, but what if something happens and you can't be there?"

As expected, Komui didn't like that thought at all. As not expected, he fell into a contemplative silence rather than launching into a rant. Reever let him take his time, not wanting to interrupt the possibility of progress happening then and there. Komui poked at the rubber duck he always kept on hand in the bath, as if the toy would give him any answers, but none were forthcoming.

After the loss of their parents, things had been rough. Komui had barely been old enough to have a legal claim to taking over guardianship of his sister, and without that right there was every chance the siblings would've been separated. Lenalee had even been sent to a temporary foster home while the legal system decided things. She'd been so small and so scared, and Komui's heart had broken over and over at the possibility of being apart. Lucky for them, things hadn't worked out that way, but it was still too close of a call for either of them to forget.

Komui knew that incident was part of why Lenalee had always been well behaved when she was younger. So long as there weren't any problems, Komui's ability to raise her would never come into question, and custody would be secured. She'd done it not just because she didn't want to go, but because she was looking out for him just as much as he was looking out for her. In return, Komui had done everything he could to take care of her, to make sure she was safe so that there wasn't a chance of them ever being apart again.

But Lenalee's growing up, isn't she? And soon she's going to want to make her own path instead of staying home, I'm sure. She's been well-behaved for me, but I shouldn't be making her do things for my sake…

Komui ducked his head under the water and blew out a very dissatisfied stream of bubbles. Reever listened close to make sure his partner didn't drown, and then Komui had surfaced with enough force to almost spill water off the edge of the tub. "Being a parent is hard, Reever."

"I don't doubt that at all."

"…Maybe Lenalee's right and I've been going a little too far for a while." The a little was an extreme understatement, but Reever didn't want to cut off what sounded like rational thought, so he set that concern aside for a while. "I know she wouldn't ever do anything on purpose to get herself in trouble, but my acting like this doesn't show that. And if anything were to happen to me and Lenalee were left alone—" something Komui didn't want to imagine, but the loss of their parents was plenty of proof that you couldn't control the world "—I'd want her to be able to handle herself."

Reever smiled, proud of Komui's growth. "So what does that mean for you two now?"

"I can talk with her. Let her know I'm sorry and I'm going to work on it, and see what she wants me to do." A fond smile slipped onto Komui's lips. "Lenalee's a smart girl. I'm sure she'll be willing to compromise."

"Look at that. You can do it if you try." The two men shared a chuckle, the mood lightening just enough that there was hope the downstairs would be dry and could stay that way by the time the evening was out. "But I mean it, 'Mui. You can trust Lenalee to start taking care of herself. But if you give her that freedom, she'll still be willing to come to you when she needs it."

"Yes, you're right." Komui adjusted, tapping his head against the back of Reever's and resting there. "Thank you for coming to knock some sense into me, Reever."

Reever smiled, leaning back into the contact. "I'm just impressed you still have some sense that can be knocked into you," he said, full of affection. "Alright, come on, you're in the water. Might as well get washed up, and then we can order in dinner and drink the beer I brought."

"In a minute. I just burned through a ton of emotional energy. I need close contact and affection to recharge before I can do anything else."

Well, when he put it like that, Reever supposed the beer could wait.

Despite the unusual circumstances, the rest of the weekend passed in relative peace. On Lenalee's side, she and the Bookman siblings watched movies all through the night, stuffed themselves silly on snacks of all kinds, commiserated on the woes of being teenagers, and slept half the next day. On Komui's side, he and Reever got a little tipsy, which might've seemed like begging for disaster, but Komui was a sleepy drunk, and thus was far more cuddly than anything until the two fell asleep on the couch at less than optimal angles that made for the unpleasant experience of waking up with tons of neck and back cramps the next morning, but neither of them were too serious in their complaints about the fact. Komlin had managed to clean up the flood after all. The events of Saturday and Sunday morning, while not following the same sequence events, had enough of the same energy that there was no point in going over the details. Not whenever the real event was about to come.

Lenalee was coming home, after all, which meant that there was going to be a Discussion, one of which would determine their upcoming fates.

"You gonna be alright, Lenalady?" Lavi asked, leaning out his car's window while the vehicle idled in the Lees' driveway. "Ari and I can come in for backup, or I can keep the car out here." After a whole weekend of bonding, Lavi might've already had half formed fantasies about embarking on an epic quest together to help Lenalee find herself, but that might've just been the movie marathon talking.

Ari was much in the same vibe, though her methods weren't quite as harmless as offering a ride in case of emergencies. "My offer to steal his kneecaps is still on the table," she said, leaning over her brother from the passenger seat.

Lenalee smiled, but in the end shook her head. "Don't worry about it. You guys have helped me plenty already." It was incredible what hanging out with your friends could do, and most of Lenalee's stress from before had dissipated. She wasn't about to lie down and take whatever nonsense Komui threw at her, but she could at least have a conversation like a rational human being, and that was the most important part. "You guys head on home. I'll update you on how things end up going at school tomorrow, okay?"

"'Kay," said the Bookman siblings in unison, and so they exchanged their goodbyes as Lenalee marched up to the front door, taking deep breaths to steady herself. She was about to enter uncharted territory, and she didn't know what to expect. Eventually, she turned the handle and stepped inside. It's kinda silly to be intimidated to go into my own house, huh?

"Lenalee, is that you?" came Komui's voice from further back in the house. There was then an ensuing racket that was the norm as Lenalee toed off her shoes at the entranceway before stepping into the house proper. She hadn't gotten more than a few steps into the hall before Komui came barreling at her in his customary greeting hug. Lenalee grunted at the impact, the embrace having much more force than usual. "I missed you so much! I didn't know what to do when you didn't come home!"

A little bit relieved to see him, too, Lenalee returned Komui's hug with a fond smile. "I let you know I was safe, didn't I?" Sure, she'd communicated it through Reever, rather than talking to Komui in general, but she hadn't just up and gone missing. "I just stayed with friends, Nī-san; nothing happened. Why don't we go sit down and have a talk, okay?" As serious as Lenalee was about getting things done, being combative right out the gate didn't seem like a good idea.

Komui (on the verge of tears after seeing Lenalee again) nodded into her shoulder. "Yes, that's fine, just let me go get my coffee and we can sit do—what happened to your hair?!"

Having been in such a rush before, Komui hadn't noticed Lenalee's new haircut, but he was noticing it now. What had happened? Wasn't it a trend for girls to cut their hair whenever they had a breakup?! Had Lenalee been dating someone that Komui didn't know about?! The thought was enough for Komui to almost start panicking, but he caught himself before he could hyperventilate. This was the exact sort of thing Lenalee had gotten upset with him before, and he was here to try, dammit!

Lenalee tilted her head with a half-pout on her lips. "Do you think it looks bad?"

"No, no, no! Nothing could ever make you look bad, Lenalee, you're an angel! I was just surprised since I didn't know you were thinking about cutting it… Is, um…is everything okay?"

Lenalee offered a smile. "I think you're going to want to get your coffee first."

Komui went and got his coffee.

A few minutes later, the siblings had sat down upon perpendicular couches in their living room. Komui had also brought a cup of coffee for Lenalee, but both mugs were left on the table untouched. It was the first time in a while that Komui felt like he was in trouble, which was kind of silly, considering that he was the guardian in the situation. Then again, chatting with Reever had made it plenty clear that Komui had made his fair share of mistakes as well, so maybe it made sense that he felt a bit guilty. But that was why they were gonna talk things out, after all. Things were gonna be a-okay!

Except, the more he looked at Lenalee, the more obvious her agitation was. Sure, it wasn't as explosive as it had been on Friday, but Komui was her brother. He knew how to recognize the signs that she was on edge but holding back the full of her wrath from politeness. And on Lenalee's end, while she had had time to chill out from the heat of the moment, venting to her friends had also done a number to remind her of every little thing she'd ever been frustrated with Komui about, working her up into a state of pure teenage indignation. Still, she, too, was trying to keep calm, since a shouting match wasn't about to get them anywhere.

Compromise, the Lee siblings thought, resolving to keep to that ideal as best they could as they opened their mouths to speak.

How hard could it be?

(Take a guess, dear reader, and buckle up.)

[Author's Notes]

*insert chapter 69 nice joke here*

I think my favorite part of this chapter is all the Reever POV. It's also fun to make things a bit more exaggerated than I would in a lot of my other fics. Nothing like having a project you can just have fun with. Other than that, I'm rather sparse on notes - I'll get back to you more whenever the semester wraps up and I get to enjoy the freedom of summer.

Next Time: "70. So Close and Yet So Far." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[27 April 2024]