That's Deneb, Altair, and Vega

[nightburst]

TITLE: That's Deneb, Altair, and Vega
FANDOM: Gundam 00
CHARACTERS: Lyle Dylandy, Graham Aker, Setsuna F. Seiei
WARNINGS: N/A
WORD COUNT: 2,199
CHAPTERS: 2/?
NOTES: Sequel to so that we may learn to love.
SUMMARY: Graham very obviously has a thing for Setsuna. Setsuna is Setsuna. Lyle wonders where this could possibly go.

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CHAPTER ONE

[nightburst]

the beginning of becoming overinvested in your coworkers' relationships

[nightburst]

The only thing Lyle can think when he realizes what’s going on is that he’s going to bear witness to a car crash in slow motion. Indeed, he holds a hand to his forehead and sighs deeply when he’s sure no one’s around to notice.

They've passed the threshold where hitting the brakes would be an option. The momentum hurtles them towards impact.

And there’s only idiots behind the wheels.

One of these metaphorical cars is being driven by a one Graham Aker: former enemy, current ally, perpetual maniac. This car is going far over the speed limit.

The other car -- that’s Setsuna’s car, and actually, it’s not even on the road. It’s parked. Stationary. And Setsuna’s not paying attention, since he’s not driving. He’s completely oblivious to the way the first of these metaphorical cars is on a direct collision course for his.

And, for the purposes of this metaphor, Lyle doesn’t think either of them have licenses.

He heads for the observation deck, its glass casing retracted. (They’re within Earth’s atmosphere, and it’s a nice evening out.) He’s going to need a smoke. He wasn’t prepared for this.

But maybe he should have been. This didn’t come out of nowhere, if he thinks back.

Young man this and young man that and something, something the red string of fate.

Graham Aker has it bad for Setsuna F. Seiei.

The last person to have it bad for Setsuna F. Seiei wound up with profoundly unrequited feelings, and while Feldt’s made her peace with it, good God is it going to be exhausting to watch this doomed scenario play out all over again.

Setsuna is many things, up to and including the bridge between humans and extraterrestrials that prevented the demise of all humanity.

He’s also one dense motherfucker.

There’s a beautiful irony to it; being all about communication and understanding only to hit a solid brick wall when romance becomes a factor.

That might be unfair, Lyle amends, taking a drag from his cigarette. Setsuna understood Feldt’s feelings in the end. He just couldn’t reciprocate them.

(Took him a damn long time to notice, though.)

And trying to tell Graham he hasn’t got a chance isn’t going to go anywhere, so Lyle’s not even going to bother trying. Graham is a man uninhibited by little things like common sense and reason. Good luck dissuading that guy from anything he’s set his mind to. He’s going to have to find out the hard way that this isn’t going to work.

Until then, it will be like watching a moth bash itself stupidly into a lamp.

”Celestial Being sure collects interesting people,” Lyle says to himself, and sighs a cloud of smoke into the open air. Ahh, nicotine. Such a comfort. Might give him lung cancer, sure, but he figures being a Gundam Meister is dangerous enough he might as well indulge this bad habit.

Lyle rotates the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, thoughtfully.

The conclusion he came to a long time ago was that Setsuna just isn’t the kind of guy who’s interested in anyone.

Feldt’s a good, kind, attractive woman that thinks of others and faces down death with the determination to survive. The princess of Azadistan is a gentle soul who's pretty by any metric. Miss Sumeragi's a genius tactical forecaster and she's beautiful.

Anew -

Lyle takes the nicotine in deep and leans back against the railing. He needs a moment.

Alright.

Even before Anew and Lyle were a couple, Setsuna was entirely professional with her. Not cold, no, but he sure as hell wasn’t flirting the way Lyle was.

Lyle blows rings of smoke and watches them waft through the air; a parlor trick he learned in the dormitories.

That’s just in terms the women. Lyle’s got eyes. He can see there’s objectively attractive men on board Ptolemy. Tieria’s got that cute-but-stern appeal. Laetitia has the same face with a more mellow personality. Allelujah’s taken, but he's ripped, and looking isn't a crime. Saji sure got close with Setsuna, but Setsuna did his best to reunite the kid with his star-crossed lover.

Lyle, in his humble opinion, thinks he’s a pretty good looking guy, thank you very much, and by the way, Anew happened to think so too.

There’s no shortage of options, is the thing, and Setsuna’s never considered a single one of them.

Either he’s waiting for his soulmate -- yeah, right, that sounds like Graham’s thing -- or he just couldn’t have any less interest in the world of sex and romance on the days he even remembers the concepts exist.

In the end, it’s none of Lyle’s business. If that the way the guy is, that’s how he is.

It just means that Graham’s going to collide with him hard.

All Lyle can do watch this play out with a wince and hope it doesn’t end too painfully. If these cars are doomed to crash, then crash they shall. Lessons will be learned, and everyone will ultimately move on with their lives.

Lyle takes one last drag from his cigarette and crumples it into the ash tray he brought with him. (Tieria's insistence. "Don't put your cigarettes out on the railings!" Jeez, fine.)

--What happens, though, if the cars don’t crash?

He pauses, frowns, misshapen cigarette still in hand.

Those are lottery odds. Not worth betting on.

But the thing about the lottery is that someone always wins.

Despite the odds, despite all reason, the stars align and somebody hits the jackpot.

Lyle spontaneously lights up another cigarette, holds it between his lips, and rests his elbows on the railing.

The trouble with Lyle Dylandy is that the more things aren’t any of his business, the more he wants to know about them.

Call it a side-effect of having been a spy.

(You could call that an excuse, and Lyle wouldn’t blame you.)

So he’s a little nosy, yes. He’s intrigued by this collision in progress, and that sense of intrigue is nearly enough to eclipse the sense of imminent disaster.

Okay, Graham Aker, Lyle muses. Let’s say your crazy luck hasn’t run out and you’ve actually got a chance with Setsuna F. Seiei. What’s your next move?

Whatever it’ll be, Lyle suspects he’s going to have to stock up on smokes.

CHAPTER TWO

[nightburst]

when you are now absolutely overinvested in your coworkers' relationships

[nightburst]

It’s not eavesdropping, per se. Graham and Setsuna are having a conversation out in the open and Lyle innocently stumbled upon them. It would be rude to interrupt, so there’s nothing wrong with hanging back in this here corridor where he can conveniently just so happen to overhear what they’re both saying. Again, Lyle would like to emphasize, this not a private area. Therefore, the conversation is not private! It’s not eavesdropping.



Okay, fuck it, it’s eavesdropping, but spying took all the guilt out of that a long time ago and his curiosity has been officially piqued. What might Graham be discussing with Setsuna?



”What’s your star sign?” Graham is asking.



Suddenly, Lyle wants to say to hell with everything he was thinking a moment ago and interrupt them. An act of unarmed intervention. Graham's not seriously using that as a pickup line, is he!? Lyle doesn’t care how into astrology Graham is, that’s a cliché among clichés! Does he want to sabotage himself?



But Setsuna doesn’t seem to know or care that it’s a cliché, and answers sincerely with, “I’m not sure.”



”Then let’s find out,” Graham says, not deterred in the least. “Tell me your birthday, and I’ll tell you your sign.”



”April… seventh,” Setsuna says in a ponderous way that makes Lyle think he hasn’t actually thought about his own birthday in a good long while. Depressing. Lyle still notes his own birthday, even if it doesn’t much make him feel like celebrating.



”Aries!” Graham proclaims. “The ram -- and trailblazer of the zodiac. That alone makes it suit you.”



Setsuna seems not to react to the compliment. Unsurprising. But he continues the conversation.



”What are Virgos known for?”



”Virgos are said to be down-to-earth people, and not especially outgoing.”



”That doesn’t sound like you at all,” Setsuna says, and Graham laughs as if he is delighted.



”The truth, young man, is that I don’t put as much stock in astrology as it may seem,” Graham says, and this is a shock to Lyle. “But that’s no reason not to derive enjoyment from it.”

Setsuna does not react as if he is shocked. Perhaps this is something he sensed about Graham.



Not because he’s an Innovator, but simply because he knows him.



”Horoscopes are written vaguely,” Setsuna says, “so that they can apply to anyone.”



Now, if Lyle were in Graham’s shoes, he’d take that as a sign (ha, ha) that he ought to change the subject. Nobody who likes horoscopes wants to hear about how they’re bullshit even if they’ve admitted to not taking them too seriously.



Graham does not take it the way Lyle would.



”Good observation,” is what Graham says. “I’d venture to say that there’s an art to crafting a horoscope that anyone can relate to.”



”People want to know what their future holds,” Setsuna says.



”Do you find it deceitful, then, for horoscopes to be written as they are?”



”It’s deceitful,” Setsuna says, “for the people that believe them. But most people read them for entertainment.”



”In other words, most people are in on it,” Graham says. “Would you think me a fool if I did believe utterly and wholeheartedly in astrology?”



”No,” Setsuna says. “I wouldn’t.”



Without even having to think about it.



That easy acceptance of others is why they’re all still alive.



Lyle gets it.



He understands why Feldt and Graham fell for this guy.



”Setsuna,” Graham says, and that catches Lyle’s attention. “You don’t know the stories behind the constellations, do you? In that case, you must permit me to tell you those tales sometime.”



”I want to hear them, Graham Aker,” Setsuna answers.



Experience tells Lyle that this is either the end of a conversation or a segue into a more personal exchange.



In other words, it's his cue to get out of here.

---

 

The next sighting of Graham and Setsuna together is later that evening in the cafeteria. Setsuna gives Lyle a look of knowing.



Right. Innovator senses. Of course. What else did Lyle expect?



But Setsuna doesn’t call him out on it. He doesn’t say a single thing about Lyle’s eavesdropping.



Lyle feels that Setsuna’s a little too permissive at times. Getting chastised wouldn’t be unfair.



That said, if Setsuna’s going to pretend he didn’t notice anything, Lyle’s not going to contradict him.



”Hey there,” he says, raising a hand in greeting. “Hope you don’t mind company.”



”Lockon,” Setsuna says, inclining his head. That, Lyle knows, is Setsuna-speak for “go ahead, it’s fine”.



”The more the merrier,” Graham says, and he means it. This guy’s such an extrovert it’s hard to believe he’s the same man they called Mister Bushido. Graham’s spoken of those days -- the chapter in his past where he was obsessed with defeating Setsuna and cared naught for anything else.



What is it they say -- that love and hatred are two sides of the same coin?



The truly important thing here is that Lyle didn’t interrupt a secret romantic dinner intended to seduce Setsuna or anything like that.



(Not that he wouldn’t have wanted to see that, because the mental image it conjures up is hilarious.)



”We’d better make the most of this downtime,” Lyle says, grabbing himself some food and joining them at the cafeteria table. “Miss Sumeragi’s thinking we might be needed again soon.”



”Graham Gundam is awaiting me with bated breath,” Graham says. Lyle casts Setsuna a sideward glance, and Setsuna shrugs.



Seems he doesn’t mind his beloved Exia being called by that ridiculous name. Or he’s resigned himself to it.



”Setsuna, how are things going on the ELS front?” Lyle asks.



”All ELS have officially evacuated their home planet,” Setsuna answers. “We’re determining the best course of action going forward. A significant portion is interested in peaceful assimilation with humanity, but there are more willing ELS than willing humans.”



”So they’re still looking for a place to really call home...”



Setsuna nods.



”But the ELS are optimistic,” Graham says.



Graham Aker -- a human that fused with the ELS, and was brought back from death.



”They share their information with me, as I am both one of them and not,” Graham continues. “Their prospects for survival are far better now than they have been in a very long time. They trust that a permanent home can be found, and that their relations with humanity will improve given time.”



”Change can’t happen all at once,” Setsuna says. “It’s a process. A choice you keep making.”



Lyle doesn’t know when the smile appeared on his face. It crept up on him.



”Looks like our metal friends are in good hands!” he says lightly; he doesn’t want to get all sentimental here. “Pick out some luxury real estate for them. A nice three-storey beachfront planet.”



It’s a stupid, nonsensical joke, but Graham thinks it’s funny and the corners of Setsuna’s mouth are upturned.



Setsuna and Graham.



They’re on the same wavelength for sure.