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.