A/N: Thanks for all your reviews and support! ^^

Play by Play
by N. Silvutra Mayhem

2: The Next Step

Rolo watched his brother. Oh sure, he was eating breakfast, but Lelouch took longer than usual to bring what were once scrambled eggs to his mouth – especially considering he was breaking them into oblivion in an absent effort to pick them up.

Another clatter of steel on ceramic, and Rolo sighed. Lelouch looked up.

"Is there something wrong, Rolo?"

"Not really." Except watching you stab the plate is really annoying. "Are you worried about something? Are the negotiations going well?"

Lelouch shook his head. "They're fine. It's almost as if Kaguya was born a diplomat."

"Maybe you should take today off," Rolo suggested. "Sayoko can replace you again."

"No, no. I'll go to school."

At those words, he placed his utensils on the now-empty plate before him and got to his feet. He began to leave the room, but he hesitated at the doorway.

"Brother?" Rolo asked.

Lelouch half-turned to face him, an oddly distracted look on his face. "Rolo—I... Can I try something?"

"Of course, brother. I trust you."

It was to his surprise when Lelouch walked around the table to his side. Before Rolo could blink, his brother cupped his face with both hands, the ends of slim pianist's fingers tickling his ears, and gently pressed a kiss to his forehead. Rolo opened his mouth, couldn't say anything, then closed it. He tried again, and a small whisper of something wiggled past his throat, too soft to be heard.

"Was that..." Lelouch began. "Was that okay, Rolo?"

"It—It's fine. I... I..."

Rolo turned away when he felt tears gathering in his eyes. He blinked – it was far too early in the morning to be crying – but the tears only kept flowing.

"Rolo!"

At Lelouch's exclamation, Rolo shook his head; his brother didn't need to worry, he was fine. But when Lelouch let out an aghast, strangled half-gasp under his breath, Rolo realized he'd accidentally done the opposite. For someone who rarely showed such affection it must have been tantamount to rejection.

"Nobody's done that before, nobody's cared that much about me," Rolo said by way of explanation, his words tumbling out in his hurry to speak. He rubbed his eyes on his sleeve and stared down at the un-eaten toast sitting on his plate, then changed his mind and looked up to his brother. "Thank you—I love you, brother."

"I love you too, Rolo." Lelouch smiled. That his expression quickly changed to alarm when he spotted the clock. "I have to go now, Ms. Viletta will kill me. See you later."

"See you."

After Lelouch's silhouette disappeared from view, Rolo decided his toast wouldn't be eaten after all.

Lelouch, to both his surprise and his chagrin, had been the second person to arrive in the Student Council room. And when he saw Milly wink at him and lick her lips... things clicked.

"There wasn't a meeting, was there?" he asked, walking over to her and placing his bag onto the desk she sat on.

"Couldn't everyone else just be late?" Milly retorted.

"All of them? By ten minutes?"

"Well, you never know."

Lelouch rolled his eyes and took a seat, pulling out his laptop. May as well get some work done, considering Zero needed to appear in person for the rest of the week. "The possibility of such a thing occuring is slim, especially considering Rolo lives here."

"You're no fun, Lulu," she sighed, and flicked his forehead.

"What do you want?"

Another sigh. If they were all real, she would have likely fainted by now. "Well, a little birdie told me that you and Shirley were on a da~te."

How he should have known.

"I fail to see how this should concern you," he said.

"You know, Lulu, the fact that you're talking formally is pretty much a sign I'm right." Milly leant over so she was eye-level to him, despite the fact that she was sideways and her eyes were thus perpendicular to his. "So, did you?"

"I what?"

"Did you kiss?"

Once upon a time, Lelouch would have flushed hot pink and stuttered at the question. Milly noticed, with slight approval, that Lelouch just looked up from his computer screen lazily, with the most uninterested look on his face.

Aww, her Lelouch was all growing up! She felt so proud.

"Milly."

"Hmm?"

"With all these questions about my love life, I have to wonder if you're wanting to be a part of it."

"Oho?" She'd let his line of questioning wander a little further, if only to find where it led. "Couldn't I be interested in Shirley?"

"If you were interested in Shirley, you wouldn't be asking me."

"Not even as an unbiased third-party?"

Without warning, the laptop clicked shut and then Lelouch's face was far too close—oh god, far too close—

"It's funny you consider me as an unbiased third-party," he said, his breath tickling her skin with every word. "Especially since this unbiased third-party was the one who asked Shirley for a date to begin with."

Milly opened her mouth to retort, but the instant she did she became painfully aware of the distance between their mouths.

Or lack of.

Her breath hitched when she realized – at such a close distance – she could see every last spoke and every last splash in those startling purple irises. She'd known that the calculating glint in his eye had been what made her drawn to him, rarely seen outside of chess matches and the occasional mental challenge (which was why she didn't protest too much at his gambling, after all), and for her to see it so close... it were as if she'd only just switched to high definition.

And then... and then those irises disappeared, tucked under closing eyelids, and then he leant forward and then there wasn't any distance left between them and she closed her eyes—

And Lelouch kissed her on the cheek. He withdrew and then opened his laptop again as if nothing had happened.

Except something had happened.

"L-Lelouch...?"

He looked up. "Yes?"

"You kissed me."

"Yes. I did." For the first time since he'd entered a slight blush dusted his cheeks. "Now you have your kiss, would you mind letting me work now? I may as well be productive since I'm here."

"Okay."

Milly mentally hit herself. Hard. Why was she getting tongue-tied when Lelouch was not? Was it because she actually... well... liked him?

Ridiculous.

She coughed a little to clear her throat, and reminded herself that she was the Ashford heiress – which meant she needed to have some pride – and engaged to one Lloyd Asplund – which meant she was, well, engaged. Not that the thought helped much at all. "So I presume you'll be away for the Student Council meeting tomorrow?"

"I never said that."

"Right." Well. Jumping to conclusions, go her. "I'll leave you to your work now, then. Those treasury reports are always the highlight of your day."

"When Rivalz doesn't finish them?" He looked up at the too-long pause to see her raising her eyebrow, and got the point. "Right. Always when Rivalz never finishes them."

Milly pat him on the head, secretly enjoying the feel of silky hair under her fingers. "You're learning. Good boy."

He shooed her away.

(Retreat: Success.)

A/N: A bit too descriptive with Milly? Yeah, probably. But I think I'm getting the hang of this romance thing, and I think I'll stick with the two pairings per chapter thing for at least a little longer. Don't reinvent the wheel, as they say.

As always, I'd love to hear from you! If you want your favourite Lelouch pairing to appear, even if it has already (I can just explore it more, ne?) then please, do say so – I can't read minds, you see. ^^