damned_institute | Day 40: Recreational Field

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Day 40: Recreational Field

Kio's breakfast ended on a much happier note than it had started. However, for once the announcement truly surprised him. He blinked as his nurse came to pick him up. Recreational Field? But.. but if they had a greenhouse, he wanted to go there. The prospect of gardening was a truly liberating one, an island of joy in this hellhole. He thought about going to the Sun Room and lying down, but it occurred to him that he hadn't had proper fresh air since being here. With a cheery goodbye wave to Honey, he followed his torturer outside.

It was much better than he had expected. The sun wasn't too hot (what time of the year were they in, anyway?), so he walked slowly along the walls, fascinated by the size of the field. He wondered if Sou-chan was alright. He hadn't even checked the board. Well, if Soubi wanted to apologize, Kio would be willing to listen. The place was so crisp and clean. He had to think if anyone had ever gone over the walls. What was out there? Freedom? Or a different sort of monster?

Leaning against one of the walls, Kio took as much advantage of the sun as he could. He desperately wanted a lollipop. One was quietly nestled in his pocket, but he would need to wait until the nurses were busy with other patients before he tried anything. Soubi had gone to some trouble to get them, the least he could do was make sure they didn't get confiscated. So with bated breath, Kio waited for a shift in the mood. He was, for once, content. Not happy, but not going crazy either.

[Sou-chan! Team Loveless deploy!]

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"Gohohohoho!" Porky laughed, pleased at himself, "I'm not going to lie, little Mr. Lelouch Lamperouge, my mind is as sharp as a steel trap! Not even the psychics I knew back where I used to live could confuse me! And if they couldn't, there isn't a prayer for you! I'm not going to lie, though. That power of yours barely made me break a sweat! It was so easy to focus myself that I was actually wondering if you were doing anything!"

Such a pity! After all that Porky had gone through, all the worrying, all the paranoia...In the end, Lelouch turned out to be nothing. No, Porky wouldn't have to worry about Lelouch interfering at all. Even if he did cross the line and try to halt the glorious progress of the Pigmask Club, Porky always had the knowledge that Lelouch had a power, and one that allowed him to manipulate minds, as well...It may just be confusing people, but there was no telling how everyone would react if they knew Lelouch was trying to further his cause via manipulation. Well, there was no point in revealing something like that if Lelouch was willing to stick to the status quo. No point creating unnecessary conflict, after all.

"You know, little Lelouch..." Porky said finally, "Perhaps I overestimated you. Now that I know your true colors, however, I'm sure that we'll be able to get along just fine. I won't interfere with your admittedly helpful but rather dull plans, and you won't interfere with mine. Does that sound good to you, little Lulu? Ah, it's alright to call you 'Little Lulu,' right? I mean, you're so very young compared to me, right?"

So young...so much to learn. Well, at least he had learned the valuable lesson that Porky was not someone you wanted to oppose.

Lelouch clenched his teeth and continued looking away, somehow managing to stay silent. That utter bastard-- he'd snap back in a second if it hadn't been clear that the instant he did, Porky would start perceiving him as a threat again-- or, more likely, as someone who needed yet more incentive to stay in his place. Lelouch detested being spoken of in such a dismissive way, but it was better than having to openly contend with Porky on top of all of his other plans. This version of the truce wasn't even remotely what he'd envisioned, but if the alternative was having this (fake) secret exposed, he'd have to accept it. That would at least give him the opportunity to build up enough support that he could convincingly claim that, should Porky divulge this "secret," it was defamation of character and nothing else. That would probably even work now, especially since Lelouch honestly hadn't used his Geass in any particularly condemning way as of yet (he'd panicked with Emmett and he hadn't made the man in the Sun Room do anything he shouldn't have done already), but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

The nickname made him visibly flinch, and although he tried to clamp down on the reaction as best he could, he was too late. Porky probably saw it, and that along with the muscles working in Lelouch's jaw would be enough to cement his supposed victory. On one level, that was perfectly fine with him, but on another-- "Don't call me that," he ground out, glaring balefully at nothing. Shirley had called him that. Mao had called him that, and although neither of them had been the sort to include the diminutive Little, having that tacked on was too much to bear. If Porky was going to remind him of Shirley and all of the mistakes he'd made regarding her every time they spoke, intentionally or not, that was all the more reason to destroy him. It honestly hadn't been personal before this, not when Lelouch had thought as little of Porky as the man apparently did of him now, but this would not be forgiven.

Porky might think they had a truce, but Lelouch had just declared war.

Heh. No need to worry at all, now. If Lelouch was willing to keep silent as Porky insulted him so, then he might as well be in the palm of Porky's hand. There was absolutely nothing that Lelouch could do to Porky at this point. Well, there were things he could do, but, compared to what Porky could do, they were nothing more than minor setbacks. After all, rumors or a potshot at Porky's reputation would be inconvenient, but revealing that Lelouch intended to carry out his no doubt ambitious plans via mind manipulation? That would be absolutely devastating.

"Ooooh!" Porky said gleefully when he saw Lelouch react to the nickname, "Did I strike a nerve? I certainly don't mean to offend!"

Porky could barely help but laugh at Lelouch.

"I...I'm sorry..." Porky said finally, wiping a tear from his eye, "I just didn't think that you'd get so bent out of shape over something like a nickname! Here, I'll come up with a new nickname for you...Hmmmm...Oh, how about 'Lucifer?' That's cool sounding! No, no...maybe Lampy? No, that's lame...hmmmm...Nope, I can't think of anything. Looks like I'm going to have to stick with Little Lulu! Unless, of course, you really don't want to be called that, Little Lulu."

Calm. He had to remain calm. Porky wasn't nearly the same threat Mao had been, not when there was no Nunnally here for him to terrorize, but if he kept using the nickname in that tone, Lelouch was going to do something violent. And Shirley-- no, he couldn't think about either of them. Porky didn't know exactly what memories he was dredging up right now, but he could tell he was getting a reaction. The best way to make him stop would be to nullify the effect the nickname had on him. Lelouch should have done that sooner, but with how enraging it was to see that smug satisfaction coming from one of his inferiors, he hadn't been able to.

He turned his mind to the thoroughly delightful prospect of bringing Porky down for good to distract himself, turning over the possibilities for his next move as meticulously as he could while maintaining the appearance of anger. He couldn't recover too quickly without Porky growing suspicious, and as irritating it was, continuing to pretend that the nickname was a weak spot even after he could finally sever any and all attachment to it would work in his favor. The more advantages Porky thought he had over him, the better. That carried with it the unpleasant idea that he might become so secure in his "superiority" that he start demanding concessions of Lelouch, but as that would violate their (unfair, unfair, horribly unfair) "truce," he'd be allowed to move freely then. Besides, even with the comparisons to Mello one could make, he was the more trustworthy of the two. That along with the fact that he'd tried using his power on Porky, a bastard if there ever was one, rather than one of the comparatively innocent patients would count in his favor. If the only evidence was Porky's word, there would be suspicions, but it was clear whose side would win.

... At least, that was what he told himself as he slowly but surely began to calm down. There would still be obstacles-- many of them, in fact-- but he had time before that would become an issue. Playing along with Porky now would ensure that. It was revolting in ways he couldn't possibly articulate, but it was what was needed to be done to bring this place down. As long as he kept that in mind, he could do anything.

"I don't," he said shortly, nothing in his body language or tone to suggest that he was anything less than infuriated at this treatment and his inability to prevent it. "But that isn't going to stop you, is it?"

After Porky watched Lelouch lie there frustrated for a good while, Porky sat down on the grass and looked up at the sky. Mocking Lelouch was fun and all, but if he was just going to deal with it all quietly, then it wouldn't be amusing in the least. Hell, Porky only messed with people when they were either cocky or easily provoked, and since Lelouch was now neither of these things, something like this got old pretty quick.

"I dunno," Porky said eventually, "I might stop, I guess. I'm not a complete douchebag, you know. Sometimes I'm a pretty nice guy. To be perfectly honest, I walked into this meeting wondering why you were so suspicious of me. I mean, besides our little exchange on the bulletin board, you didn't even know me. In fact, I actually help a lot of people out on the bulletin board...unsigned, of course. No one would believe what I said if I told them it was me saying it. As an example, you know that little question you had about time traveling? The guy who was talking about the time tunnel was me. And yet you still don't trust me...Now I guess you have a pretty good reason to be wary, though."

Porky gave a small chuckle.

"To be fair, though," he began, "I now have a reason to be equally suspicious of you Lelouch. To be honest, I'm a little jealous, too. It must be nice having such a convenient ability to work with. Me? I don't have anything except the brain in my head. It's worked well enough, though."

Porky laid down on the grass and sighed.

"Well, you still hate me, and there's no way I can change that, I guess," Porky said, "Anyway, you don't mess with me and I won't mess with you. It's as simple as that. I may not seem too dangerous, but there are ways that even the most worthless or disliked people can cause damage."

Lelouch didn't believe any of it for a second. Certain things-- the fact that Porky was the one who'd told him about the time tunnel, for instance, and the admission that he was dangerous-- he could accept, but wondering why Lelouch was so suspicious of him? Did he really think he was that subtle? The fact that someone so stupid had nonetheless managed to corner him made it that much harder to hold on to the thread of calm Lelouch had managed to capture, but it wasn't impossible.

Remaining quiet would probably clue Porky into the fact that he was planning something, unfortunately, so after heaving a soft sigh of his own, Lelouch glanced over him and replied, "I won't mess with you. Like I said, we have a truce. It would be foolish of me not to honor it." The implied "because you're smarter than me," if a total lie, left a bad taste in his mouth, and he looked away once more. He couldn't wait for the shift to be over. The meeting with Porky had ended up being the worst way to spend it, and if all he had to look forward to now that things had gone downhill was feeding the man's ego, he wanted to get out.

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Day 40: Recreational Field

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