Title : Careful

Author : DnKS – giRLs

Rating : PG13

Pairing : SuzaLulu

Disclaimers: The characters involved in this story do not belong to us and we hold no claim over them.

Warning: Um… it's somewhat… surreal… maybe… but not really…

When Lelouch shopped, he was very careful. He would examine every package of food, noting the expiry date printed on each item cautiously. He would then make sure that every item did not have any defect on them. He was willing to spend a minute longer than normal people just to make sure that his apples were perfectly round and whole. And though he was sometimes felt like he was a real cheapskate, he would always be on alert if there was any discounted item on sale.

Picky, Suzaku used to say to him during the times he managed to drag the said boy to accompany him shopping. Yet he said that with laughter in his eyes that Lelouch just could not manage to be angry at him. And no matter what, Suzaku was still the one to patiently wait for him selecting the vegetables, sorting the fruits, deciding on what brand of butter would be best to go with that type of bread. He even hold Lelouch's basket for him.

'So you would not get tired.'

And with his other hand, he held Lelouch's hand.

'So that you know that you would never get lost.'

He blushed every time those words were whispered into his ears. Then he would scold him for behaving so childish. Yet he would never reject that hand every time it reached for his. He would never let go of that hand once it managed to capture his.

When Lelouch cleaned the house, he was very careful. He would mop every inch of the floor. He would dust every piece of furniture he had in the house. He would scrub every surface he came across until it became so clean he could see his face reflected on them. And when he did catch his reflection, there would always be another face there accompanying him.

The face would smile and say to him how much of a hygiene freak he was. He would only pout and say that he was not. It was just that 'you are so exceptionally unsanitary, Suzaku, that anyone else would look sterilized being compared to you!'

Suzaku, that unsanitary being would only laugh. Should he still have the feather duster in his hand, he would surely throw it onto the other's face. Though more often than not, he could not manage to pull such act. Not because he did not have the feather duster, but instead because Suzaku would sooner tackle him to the ground and pinned him there.

A brute, on top of being unsanitary, he would say. But he would speak no more as Suzaku kissed him, or as he kissed Suzaku, whichever came first.

When Lelouch washed the clothes, he was very careful. He would separate the whites and the colored clothes. He would then measure the detergent so carefully so that he would not waste it. He would read the tag of each article of clothing so he might know which should go with cold water and which should go with hot water, which should go with bleach and which should never go with it.

Suzaku would watch him and tilted his face to the side. He never knew how to read those tags, he admitted to him.

He did not have to, Lelouch knew, because he was the one washing their clothes both. Still, Suzaku made himself useful when he carried the laundry basket to the backyard and helped him drying them under the sunlight. Suzaku was still able to carry the laundry back should the rain suddenly fall. Suzaku was also fully capable of carrying Lelouch back to the house after they finished with the laundry.

When Lelouch ate, he was very careful about his food. He would use his forks and knives to separate things in his plate. This section he would eat, this section he would give to Suzaku, this section was going straight to the dustbin. But sometimes, he would eat everything placed on his plate.

'You are tired today, right? I've cooked dinner for us.'

There were always conversations during their dinner time, his and Suzaku's dinner time. The conversation ranged from one topic to another, then to another, and to yet another until they forgot what they initially talked about. But it did not matter, for they finished dinner already. And then they were ready to bed.

They were ready to bed.

When Lelouch chose his lover, he was also very careful. That was why he chose Suzaku. That in itself was enough explaining. Because Suzaku was Suzaku and Suzaku was his Suzaku. Suzaku was the one to teach him how to be happy, how to be sad, how to plead, how to grant, how to love, how to be loved, how to dream…

But never did Suzaku teach him how to wake up from dreaming. So he was dreaming, forever dreaming. When the war raged on, he dreamed. When blood spilled on the land, he dreamed. When everything went terribly wrong, he dreamed. He dreamed of Suzaku, his Suzaku.

In everything Lelouch do, he was very careful, so it was not much of a surprise should he be careful when he dreamed. When he dreamed, he would always make sure never to wake up. Because wake up meant to give up, to give up Suzaku, his Suzaku, and he did not want that.

No, he did not want that.

And so Lelouch dreamed, carefully, ever so carefully, lest he should wake up and face reality.

- end –

(A/N: uh, yeah… so that's it… hope you have a good reading and should you leave your review we will be forever grateful… thanks for giving this fic a chance.)