Exception

By: Aviantei

60. Gossip is Good for the Soul

"Sooo, someone looks like they had a good time yesterday."

It was the promised meeting in which the most sacred of activities would take place: date talk, also known as gossip. Lenalee didn't care what you called it, so long as you acknowledged that the act of chatting about what was going on in yours and each other's lives had far more than the superficial value it seemed to represent to so many people. There was a power in telling stories to other, ones that could further build the bonds between people.

And in the case of the present moment, finding out about your best friend's romantic exploits so you could both live vicariously through and support him thoroughly.

Lavi, now under Lenalee's observant gaze from across the tea and snack laden table, scratched the back of his head. "Is it that obvious?"

Lenalee held a finger up to her chin in thought. "Hmm, I mean, maybe not to people who don't know you super well. But we've been friends since we were kids. I think if I didn't notice, it'd be a lot more concerning." She sipped from her teacup, making the action look as picturesque as a classical piece of art. "So did you get some, then?"

Having chosen to bite into a cookie at the exact wrong moment, Lavi choked, and Lenalee offered him his cup so he could drink away the snack debris threatening to snuff out his life. "N-no!"

"Okay, then, did you make out?"

"Lenalee!"

"Hehe, sorry." Her immediate quota of teasing satisfied, Lenalee backpedaled her line of questioning. "I know this whole liking guys thing is still new to you, so I don't expect you to rush into anything. But if you had scored, I super wouldn't blame you for it." There was no right way to come into your sexuality, after all. So long as you and your chosen partner(s) were safe, happy, and consenting, anything was fair game. "I'll be quiet for a bit. So what did end up happening?" Sharing was part of the deal, after all.

Lavi managed to compose himself, though his face and hair seemed to be competing for the right to be the reddest. "I mean, during the Fight Club, we just hung out and chatted and stuff?" Lenalee had a hungry for gossip face that indicated she wanted all the details, no matter how boring they might've seemed, and so Lavi filled her in. Lenalee cooed and squealed in all the right places, happy for her friend.

"Look at you, sneaking in a request for another date like that," she said, giving Lavi a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. See? And you were all worried about screwing stuff up."

"I mean, I've been on dates with plenty of girls before. It's not like it's super different in practice." Except it sometimes felt different, which was just his brain's silly way of attempting to adjust to the new situation, but that didn't mean it was bad, though. Feeling relaxed in the safety of his friend's room, Lavi leaned back, propping himself up with his arms. "Well, I dunno if what happened afterwards still counts as a date or not, but he introduced me to some of his friends."

Lenalee's purple-gray eyes went wide. "He took you to meet other Noah?" Sure, Lenalee wasn't about to dismiss Tyki as a romantic prospect for her friend just because of his school affiliation, but taking his Black Order date to meet other Millennium Private students seemed a bit risky so early.

Realizing the misunderstanding, Lavi shook his head. "No, he has friends outside of the school. He says it's boring to just hang out with private school kids all the time, so sometimes he just goes and hangs out with regular people. Oh, wait, you should've seen how he dressed yesterday—"

Lavi dug into his pockets for his phone, and soon he was showing off a selfie of him and Tyki together, the latter still in full hobo mode. Just visible in the frame behind him was a table filled with cards, as well as a couple of other people who seemed to be playing. Of course, the main attraction was Tyki himself, and Lenalee tried and failed to stifle a snort.

"That's adorable," she said in approval, passing Lavi back his phone. "I was wondering how you two managed to not cause a scene in the middle of an event with both of our schools crammed together. But if I didn't already know, it'd take me a while to guess that he was a Noah at all. He should probably not wear brand name shirts like that if he's trying not to make it obvious, though…"

Leave it to Lenalee's sharp eye for fashion to latch onto a detail like that. Lavi certainly hadn't noticed, but, in his defense, he'd been pretty preoccupied with other things at the time. "I'll be sure to let him know." Lavi flipped through the couple of other pictures in his photo reel, smiling at the memory of it. "But, yeah, we had a good time. They're all nasty card sharks, though, especially Tyki. I wonder if he could give Allen a run for his money…"

Lenalee whistled in appreciation. Allen's skills at card were notorious, to the point that whenever their group did happen to pick up a card game, it was really a competition to see who could win second place. Kanda naturally hated this arrangement, and tried to be the ultimate victor at every chance he got, but he had yet to be successful.

"But it was a blast," Lavi said. "Just a bunch of people having fun together and playing around. It wasn't the exact same as hanging out with you guys, but it did feel just as comfortable, so that was nice."

Glad that Lavi had had fun, Lenalee nodded. It was always nice to have multiple places where you could feel at home. "Well, you two already made one bet at Fight Club. Did that trend happen to continue the rest of the night?"

Lavi chuckled nervously. Lenalee really was too perceptive for everyone else's own good sometimes. "Yeah, but it didn't work out super well for me. I mean, I'm pretty decent at cards, but they outclassed me." Ooh, that sounded like a ripe ground for plenty of juicy options to come through. Snacks and tea thoroughly abandoned for the time being, Lenalee leaned forward, her hair (down from her usual pigtails) almost slipping into her drink. "It was just small stuff like 'go get the table drinks' or 'give the winner some of your chicken wings.'" Tyki had his friends had a pretty lax policy on what they could bet, especially since one of the others was looking after a kid that played with them, too, and food tended to be the main currency in place of actual cash for the sake of keeping things relaxed. "But, uh…he might've won the right to drop in on me at least once to take me somewhere without warning, and I have to go along no matter what I'm doing?"

"Oh, how awful for you," Lenalee said, looking smug, and Lavi stuck out his tongue.

"Look, give me a break! We took anything like kissing or whatnot off the table since he didn't wanna put pressure on me or whatever, so that was the most we could do! Which was kinda sweet, but also dumb, 'cause I would've kissed him if he asked, but like…" Cutting himself off mid ramble, Lavi buried his face in his hands. "Lenalady, I wanna kiss him so bad."

"I know."

"He's just so hot!"

"I know, I know." Lenalee patted her friend's back in consolation, though it was questionable just how much that would actually help. "You know, you're an adult perfectly capable of telling him that you want to kiss him."

"I know!" While Lavi was half playing things up for the extra dramatic flair, part of his was, in fact, panicking, and it didn't feel like there was anything he could do to stop it. For lack of anything better to do, he threw his arms up into the air. "I thought about saying it. But it also didn't feel like the right time, but then I got home, and I felt like a dumbass for not doing it! Like, this is me we're talking about, Lenalady. I don't think about doing stuff, I just go for what I want!" At least he was self-aware. "And I think I should've, but I also think I shouldn't've, because aside from the whole making out thing, I dunno what I want!"

This is the problem with Lavi. He has so much brainpower that he uses it to think himself in circles. Lucky for him that he had a super amazing friend in the form of one Lee Lenalee who was more than ready to provide some outside perspective on the situation. "Okay, first up, take a deep breath, and then drink your tea." Lavi, recognizing from Lenalee's gentle tone that it was probably best to listen, followed instructions. "First up, I need you to acknowledge that this is a solvable problem, okay? It seems messy, but once we break it down, we'll figure it out, and I'm gonna help you, alright?"

Lavi swallowed his tea and nodded. "Alright."

"Good. Now, I think what you're lacking in this situation is clarity. So, what do you want out of this, Lavi? Think about it for a while before you answer."

And so Lavi thought, sorting out the different ideas in his head. Just like Lenalee thought, Lavi did have a tendency to think about so many options and possibilities that sometimes it was difficult for him to think about what was real and what was just an option he was coming up with. With how quickly things had been going, he hadn't even had a chance to break things down and come to a conclusion. Lenalee waited with intense patience, though said patience was also supplemented by the two cookies she worked her way through.

"Okay," Lavi said after several minutes, half to her and half to himself. "Okay, okay. I think I have a little better idea of what I'm thinking now." Lenalee gestured to give him the go ahead. "So, like, yeah, I wanna kiss him? In fact, I think I'd be way more concerned with myself if I didn't want to kiss him." Lenalee nodded, fully agreeing with that statement. "But like, I don't know if I want anything beyond that? I mean, I wanna hang out with him more. And I'm def gonna go on a couple more dates with him. But I don't know if I wanna date him, you know?" He'd never thought about it super deeply before, but there was something about considering himself someone's boyfriend that didn't quite feel right. "And I haven't asked him about it, which I def should, but I get the feeling he doesn't want something like that, either." Tyki was a very free spirit, no way around it, and Lavi didn't want to take that sort of freedom away from him. "But also I still wanna keep doing this? God, that sounds kinda awful, doesn't it?"

"No, not really," Lenalee said, putting her teacup down to give Lavi every ounce of her attention. "People want different things, and not everyone wants the same sort of relationship. There are plenty of people out there with more open relationships, or people they're seeing without being conventional partners or anything." Which was all stuff that Lenalee had mostly read about online in forums and whatnot, rather than experiencing it in person, but the world was way more than the bubble around her and her friends. "I can't say what Tyki would want or anything, but it's way better to be upfront and honest from the start so you don't have any misunderstandings later."

Lavi could recognize the truth in those words, and they kinda helped. Of course, he was kinda on the verge of spiraling, so there were like twenty more concerns lying in wait now that one of his worries had been addressed. "But what if I change my mind?" he asked, the possibility concerning him more than anything else.

"Then you bring up the change and talk it out again," Lenalee answered, perfectly matter of fact. Hoping to soothe some of Lavi's anxiety, she reached out across the table and took his hands in hers. "People aren't gonna be the same forever, and you probably will change what you want. That's okay. I'm sure Tyki will understand. And if he doesn't and is an asshole to you, I'll come and kick his ass for you. Either way, you'll be okay."

The image of Lenalee stomping up to Tyki and kicking him into oblivion was enough to make Lavi burst out into laughter, and Lenalee joined him, though her giggles were much quieter in comparison. Once he was done, Lavi let out a long sigh, squeezing Lenalee's hands. "Thanks, Lenalady. I always know I can count on you."

"Of course you can. That's what best friends are for. All it costs is your love and updates on what happens next." Lenalee winked, and Lavi grinned, feeling relaxed about the whole deal for the first time in a while. "I'm happy for you, Lavi. You seem like you're having fun, and you're learning about yourself in the process."

"You keep talking like that, and I'm gonna start questioning which one of us is the older one, you know." Sure, some of that was Lavi's own fault for only acting a portion of his age sometimes, but it didn't take away from the fact that Lenalee exuded a certain maturity to her regardless. "But thanks, Lenalady. I appreciate it. I'm glad you're my friend."

Between the praise from Ari and Allen the day before and now this, Lenalee was feeling particularly overwhelmed by positive emotion. "I'm glad you're my friend, too, Lavi." For a moment, she considered saying, I wouldn't get as much good gossip without you, but it felt like it would break the moment, so she decided against it.

Which of course meant that none other than Komui decided to burst into the door, shattering the door to pieces.

"Lenaleeeee!" he shouted, causing the two teens to jump and almost knock over their tea party in the process. "Why is Komlin telling me that you invited Lavi into your room! I won't stand for it!" Komui's eyes managed to fall on where Lavi and Lenalee where still (platonically) holding hands on the table, and the elder Lee sibling gasped, right on the verge of collapsing in a heart attack. "Are you dating? Is that what this is? No, no, I won't allow it! Komlin, bring the drill; I won't allow you to defile my little sister—"

"Nī-san, knock it off!" Lenalee shouted, standing up and using her power move of putting her hands on her hips and glaring. Komui's health bar immediately took seventy-five percent of its max total in damage. "Lavi and I aren't like that. And even if we were, it wouldn't be any of your business what we do."

"Of course it's my business. Don't you know that he's a giant flirt?" (Lavi couldn't deny that in the slightest, so he chose to say quiet.) "I wouldn't put it past him to lure you in with friendship to make you lower your guard!" Komui, already too far gone, had already started crying,

"Yes, that's why I'm giving him advice on what to do with the person he's flirting with right now." Komui opened his mouth to retort, but Lenalee cut him off. "I get that you're looking out for me, but you're going too far. You're going to have to trust me that I know what I'm doing and stop making up a conspiracy for every person that I talk to. If you can't do that, then I'm not gonna forgive you!" Those words would've been enough on their own to cause fatal damage on their own, but Lenalee went far enough to add the fatal blow, "I hate it when you act like this!"

And, knowing full well that Komui would be in too much of a state of shock to stop her, Lenalee marched over to the door, slammed it shut, and locked it for good measure before stomping back to her seat and promptly shoving a whole cookie in her mouth.

"You, uh…" Lavi said, glancing at the door and feeling distinctly paranoid the Komui on the other side. "You sure you don't need me to go?" Lavi was more than glad to stick around, but he also didn't want to get his friend in trouble by hanging around.

"No," Lenalee said, her voice coming out harsher than intended. It was a sure sign of her mounting frustration that she didn't rush to apologize right away. "If Nī-san wants to be like that, he can worry all he wants. I'm sick of giving in every time he has a panic attack over nothing." Another full cookie was stuffed into her mouth, the sweetness only doing so much to soothe her mood. "I just turned seventeen, you know. He could stand to stop treating me like a little girl already."

Since the Panda was his guardian, Lavi had never experienced such overprotective tendencies, so he couldn't say he knew what Lenalee was going through. "I'm sure he'll figure it out, eventually. You're more than capable of standing on your own, so it'll work out." However, he couldn't make any promises that Komui would figure that out quickly, all things considered. "Well, if you still wanna hang out, I'm down. But, um, if you don't mind, I think I'll leave through the window when I go."

Lenalee considered the amount of dangerous technology in Komui's lab, along with the fact that Sir Komlin IV was parked in their garage. "I think that's a good idea. Okay, so, other gossip! Did you hear that…"

[Author's Notes]

Happy fifteenth anniversary Exception and my fanfic career. What the fuck. Also: greetings from Hawaii.

We will now be resuming the bi-weekly schedule for this fic. The alternate weeks will be this years [Shibuya Operation - Story Storm], for which I'm producing season three of my Moriarty the Patriot fic, you could have my heart (and i would break it for you). I'm hype for this, so please go check it out.

Next Time: "61. From Grey to White." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[23 December 2023]