Exception
By: Aviantei
79. Where to Go Next
The prospect that Allen—a friend she'd gotten pretty close to all things considered—might have anything to do with some sort of inter-school conspiracy and then being notable enough to drag in an investigation that just happened to also involve Link of all people was too much for Ivy to care about and process in that moment. After a brief bit of conversation wherein Ivy said she did know Allen but not anything that would be helpful, Ivy offered Link her couch to sleep on and went the fuck to bed in the hopes that she'd feel much more ready to face the giant cosmic joke she'd been presented with in the morning.
And then morning came, and Ivy didn't feel ready at all. Even worse, a glance at her phone informed her that it was far too early to be waking up on a Sunday, and she collapsed back into her blankets in an attempt to stubborn herself back to sleep. She didn't know why she'd woken up in the first place, not whenever she was worn out and her bed was so comfortable, and she also didn't know why she was refusing to knock back out.
When a half hour later she had found no success, Ivy scowled and dragged herself out of bed. If the day wanted to start, then she could at least make it regret it.
Except when she opened the door to her room in an attempt to go make some tea, Ivy had the choice realization that she'd invited Link to stay over, and thus he was also sleepy but conscious and standing in her living room.
One might think that the two of them would've already processed any sense of awkwardness considering their chance encounter the night beforehand. But the trick what that the Noah party had been so far out of either of their norms that it had seemed like something much more spectacular than reality. Now, after some sleep and in such a mundane situation as waking up in the morning? It was a bit more complicated than that.
Even so, Ivy wasn't about to get embarrassed about someone she'd known since they were brats seeing her in her pajamas, so (once she was over the initial shock) she resumed her path to the kitchen. "I'm making tea," she said, not even bothering to look back at Link as she passed him. "Do you want some?"
Link, who had been considering rummaging through her cabinets to make breakfast but also not wanting to risk her ire, nodded and followed in Ivy's footsteps. "If you don't mind."
That said, when it came to these two, making some tea was never just making some tea. Sure, it would start that way, a small activity they could take on to just calm down. Usually, one or the other would be sulking for half the time, and that would leave the conversation suspended in silence until they relented and let it out. There wasn't any sort of pressure in those moments, just a way to let the other gather their thoughts until things settled enough to make coherent words.
Ivy and Link could both agree that the situation was more than enough to warrant needing some quiet time with no pressure whatsoever, and so they fell into the familiar rhythm. Things were a bit more stilted than usual, given that Link was unfamiliar with where things were in Ivy's apartment, but the two of them set the water to boil, got out the pot, and prepared their teacups without too much issue.
Taking seats at the table also went smoothly, Ivy and Link feeling almost like nothing had changed over the past few years. In some ways, they were the same two people as ever—but that also made all the other ways they'd changed more apparent. It went even deeper than just their appearances; watching each other across the table, they came upon the same realization at once:
I have no idea what he's/she's thinking anymore.
It was almost a sobering thought, but Ivy, for one, refused to be beaten down. The fact that Link had stuck around instead of just bolting was also plenty of evidence to his feelings on the matter. That just left the question of what the fuck were they going to do about it?
The timer from the kitchen went off, signaling that the tea was done steeping, and Link managed to reach out first. Ivy let him have the victory, though she was the one to make the first strike. "So. About this job you have now. Are you safe?" Because sneaking around parties you weren't invited to sure didn't seem all that different from their punk days, and Ivy would kill Link if he'd just jumped ship from one mess to another.
"I promise things like this aren't the norm," Link said, which wasn't a real answer. Ivy leveled him in an unimpressed stare, refusing to give anything resembling ground. Link conceded by pouring her cup of tea first. "Yes, it's safe. The case we're working on now is just a lot more complicated, so I volunteered to go to the party last night. You know Lvellie wouldn't have fit in—" Ivy snorted at the thought of the stern, middle-aged man she knew with his sharp gaze and small moustache showing up to a Noah party "—so I thought I could put my age to good use." Having poured his own cup of tea now, Link took a drink. "I think whatever is going on in this case is way bigger than we have any idea of, so I don't mind."
Ivy did mind, but she had no right to say it. "It's your life, so it's not like I can stop you." Short of anything violent, anyways, and that just wasn't her style. "Just…be careful, okay? It'd be a dumbass move to get yourself in trouble whenever the whole ass point was to get you out of trouble."
"Yeah, I know." Link felt there very much was no point in getting in trouble again if he was getting in trouble alone, anyways. "And you. About the boyfriend you mentioned. Are you happy?" It wasn't like Ivy would ever do anything as pointless as lie about having a partner to get someone off her back, so what she'd said at the party the night before had to have been true.
Understanding that logic, Ivy didn't even bother to question Link's question, her expression instead easing into a smile that was far gentler than anything Link had ever seen on her before. "Yeah," Ivy said, her voice quiet but no less genuine. "I'm happy."
"So how come you look so worried?" Ivy tried to protest—because that was pretty much her default after so much time, but Link wasn't having it as he returned her earlier deadpan stare. "Don't you try that with me, missy. I know you're dating someone and all now, but that doesn't change the fact that I've known you for the longest." He was right, too, and Ivy wouldn't ever be able to deny that, no matter how hard she might try in the heat of the moment. Link maintained his unflinching stare for a few moments longer to ensure that he got the point home, and then he offered a smile. "You don't have to bottle that up. Come on, isn't this sort of stuff what sharing tea is all about?"
Though Ivy might've bitten off the head of anyone else who talked to her like that, Link had been just about the only one who she'd ever answered to, the fact that Klaud Nine was her guardian notwithstanding. Even so, that didn't mean she relented right away, but part of the sacred rule of teatime was the waiting for the other to find their footing, so Link could wait a bit for Ivy to decide just what she was going to say, if she was going to say anything at all.
"Alright," she said in the end, "but if you tell me this sounds stupid, I'm kicking you out." Link didn't look too worried by the threat. Well, at least, Ivy considered, since Link wasn't in her immediate friend group, bringing it up to him was a bit less awkward than talking to, say, Lenalee or something. Warning given, Ivy continued, "I'm happy, yes. But I can't help but wonder if he could be happier with someone else." She took a long drink from her tea, stopping once it became too hot to handle, and steam dances across her face.
"Well, I already know if he did something to make you feel that way, you would've dumped him already." There was also no discounting the possibility of violence being involved, but it didn't feel right to make those kinds of jokes given the larger circumstances. "And if it was just a stray thought you had on your own, you would've already talked to him and hashed it out. So what's making you think that?"
Something about Link's practical logic was refreshing, made Ivy more able to step just the slightest bit outside of her conflicted feelings and engage in a bit mor rational thought. "Because I met one of his friends, and they told me they loved him." The echo of Alma's voice was almost engraved in her mind, and it hadn't been a mistake when he said it. "But they also said they weren't going to burden him with that, since they were sick."
"And you told them to say something about it." It would've been scary how well Link could read Ivy if that ability meant she didn't have to admit what she'd done out loud. Link sighed, but it didn't sound beyond exasperated, so there had to be some hope yet. "You're doing that thing where you worry yourself into the ground over things you have no control over again."
"I know."
"If this person does confess to your boyfriend, he's the one that will get to choose the path he wants. You won't be able to change it, whether it's positive or negative for your relationship."
"I know."
"So what you should be doing is decide what you're going to do."
Link's gentler tone was enough to make Ivy stop her staring contest with her teacup and look up. She'd thought it a number of times beforehand, but Link's patience to put up with her bullshit was almost unreal. That it hadn't taken a dent in the two years they'd been apart was even more impressive.
Now, there was no way to predict every possible way Kanda could react to Alma's confession, but there were two major possibilities Ivy could think about.
"If…Yū-kun decides to stay with me, I'll be happy. I won't fight him about it." It would be sad for Alma, sure, but it seemed pointless to tell the boyfriend she wanted to stay with they needed to break up, so that was a simple enough answer. Where things started to get tricky was when you flipped the scenario in the opposite direction. "And if he chooses Alma instead…"
Ivy's words faded out, and that was more than enough for Link to understand her feelings on the matter. It seemed that this Yū-kun was someone she cared a lot about. Even so, Link wasn't about to act like it was enough to just linger on the thought; he, at the very least, needed to know for sure her intentions so he could provide support as needed.
"If he chooses Alma instead," Ivy started again, taking a deep breath to keep her voice steady, "I also won't fight him. I started this because I thought Yū-kun deserved to be able to decide for himself, so that would defeat the point. But I think…I'll be sad if that does happen." While she'd known she cared about Kanda, Ivy was a little bit surprised at just how much her chest ached at the idea of losing him.
Both their teas long forgotten, Link offered the best supportive look he could muster. "And if that happens, I'll be there to comfort you." There was a pause as both of them processed those words, and Link cleared his throat. "What I mean is…we won't be able to go back to how things were before. I don't think either of us wants that." Not with everything it would mean they'd have to give up in the process. "But if you'll let me, I'd like to still be your friend, Ivy."
Oh, Ivy thought, in that moment also processing just how much she'd missed Link's presence the past few years. "I…think I'd like that, too." Her tea had cooled past its optimal temperature by now, but it was still warm whenever she downed the rest of it to hide her awkwardness. "You owe me more of an explanation, though. About Allen-san. And about what you've been doing."
"Only if you tell me what you were doing when you left in return." It was a fair enough compromise, so Ivy nodded. "Alright, we can figure that all out after we get some breakfast in us. Depending on what you have, I should be able to pull some stuff together. I've been working on my recipes, you know."
To watch him almost puff up in pride at the mention was more than amusing, and Ivy didn't even bother to hide her smirk. "We'll see how that goes whenever—" A knock on the door cut off her words, and Ivy blinked. It was still early enough on a Sunday morning that there were a very limited amount of people she could imagine visiting, and there was one option that was the most awkward of them all.
The answer's not gonna change just 'cause you're putting it off. With that lovely motivation in mind, Ivy stood up and went to the door, checking through the peephole first.
Sure enough, it was Kanda.
With the absolute whirlwind of activity Lenalee had gone through in the past week, let alone the past twelve hours that had encompassed the party, it was no surprise that once she'd bathed and been offered some pajamas and a bed to borrow, she was down and out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Waking up in the morning was a little bit disorienting, but no more disorienting than sharing a room with Road had been, so she adjusted well enough. It was a bit unfortunate that she didn't have any of her skincare stuff with her, but it wasn't the end of the world. She untangled herself from the blankets (and also from Ari, who had half snuggled, half grappled her in her sleep), and stretched, sneaking out of the room to find the bathroom.
She succeeded, and it was in the aftermath that she crossed paths with Mahoja, who invited her to the kitchen for breakfast. Even while camping out in the MPHS dorms, Lenalee hadn't been denied food whatsoever, but it had been a while since she'd had a good Chinese breakfast. Once combined with the coffee she'd received, it was enough to make her almost nostalgic for home.
I bet Nī-san's been worried. And who knows if even Reever can make him take care of himself. Plus, even when he's obnoxious, he's still there to take care of me… Lenalee let out a sigh so heavy that it almost left her out of breath.
"Well, that's not a sound we tend to hear from someone eating Mahoja's cooking," said Anita, who had managed to walk into the room at that exact moment. Lenalee flushed, both because the older woman looked beautiful so early in the morning and also because she'd been misinterpreted. "Relax, relax. I know that wasn't on purpose. Something on your mind? I promise I'm good at keeping secrets."
And then there was a wink that all but decimated Lenalee's ability for rational thought. Still, if she could confide in someone… "Um, please don't do anything drastic, but I'm kinda running away from home right now?" Anita, who'd gotten into her own fair share of trouble in her youth, didn't blink, instead waving for Lenalee to continue. "I did it because my brother's being super overprotective and even when we talked it over, he just didn't get it! So I left because I just couldn't take it, but…"
"You still miss him?" Admitting that out loud was too embarrassing, so Lenalee just nodded. "Well, if you don't mind some advice from someone who's lived a bit longer than you, I can say that sort of messy feelings are normal. Plus you seem that you're getting close to being an adult, so I'm sure it's even more frustrating. But if you can hold on just a little bit longer, it'll be done, and you can start forging your own path, then. Does that sound like something you're willing to do?"
"I…don't know." Lenalee still felt like a mess, but running away from Komui wasn't about to solve the problem, now was it? "I think I can do it? But I also don't want to be stuck with this same dynamic forever, either." Dealing with Komui's nonsense would no doubt drive her up the wall. "But maybe…if I try talking to him, it'll get a little bit better?"
Anita offered a smile, accepting the tray of food that Mahoja had brought over for her without even needing to be asked. "You won't know for certain unless you try. But you're a friend of Elizabeth's, so if you ever need a place to run away to for a little bit, you're always welcome here." Somehow, that the promise of not being stuck in one place seemed to help settle something inside Lenalee's chest. "You seem to have come to a decision over there, hm?"
Lenalee nodded, affirming the answer to herself, but not needing to say it out loud. She knew what she would be doing, and that was enough.
It was time to go back home.
[Author's Notes]
Alright, here we are! We've got one more chapter left in the Lenalee Rebellion arc! It's about time for the Lee siblings to try and work things out. Sometimes, you need space before you're ready to talk again.
Next Time: "80. Hey Look It's That Compromise Thing Again." Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[14 September 2024]