Work Text:
Lazarus has been acting off. You've noticed this for a while now. Around you and the others, he's his usual calm and collected self, but there's someone.. someone that makes him freeze up completely.
Sitting at the bar with Lazarus, you hear the elevator rattling down from upstairs, bringing a tired looking Chandrelle with it. From the corner of your eye, you see him getting up and checking his watch. He rushes past you, mumbling about "a thing", before disappearing onto the teleportation pad. You catch a glint of disappointment on Chandrelle's face, before she quickly hardens it again, and hurriedly shuffles out of the front door. You hear Bryce sighing from the kitchen's doorway.
"Those two..", he shakes his head and mumbles to himself.
"What's up with them?
He shoots you a confused look.
"You don't know? I thought you two were stationed together?"
You shrug.
"He didn't tell me shit."
"Well," he starts, sauntering over to the bar, "let me fill you in."
~
"So, you're telling me they knew each other before?"
Bryce looks up from the glass he's cleaning and nods.
"That's right, from Secrets of Legendaria. Laz' first game."
"Rad. Shame he never told me."
"Yeah, well, he doesn't like to talk about it. Being roped into abetting a serious crime tends to spoil the good times you had, you know?"
"..So who told you? About what happened, I mean."
"Chandrelle."
He ignores your questioning look, pretending to be really into cleaning the countertop. You huff expectantly.
"So..?"
"I'm not telling you anything, boy. Go ask her yourself."
An image flashes in your mind of her smacking you on the head. You shake the thought away.
"..No, no thanks. I think I know enough."
Now it's your turn to ignore his questioning look. He sighs and shakes his head as you get up to leave.
"You don't know what you're getting into, kid."
Somehow, you're not too concerned.
~
"Are you listening to me, old man?", you spit out, snapping your fingers.
Lazarus snaps back to face you with a frazzled look.
"Huh? Yeah, sure, what were you saying?"
It's hard to ignore Chandrelle and FPP by the vending machine, talking excitedly and gesturing wildly. Lazarus seems to agree. Unless you're seeing things (which, honestly, you might be), you swear you can see him watching her from the corner of his eye. It's not subtle, despite his best attempts.
"Like what she did with her hair?"
"Hm.", he says, glaring. "I was just checking out the noise."
You grin at him, trying your best not to look smug.
"The noise, or her?"
He grimaces. "..You're up to something."
"Whaaat?! NoI'mnot!", you try and fail to say convincingly.
He narrows his eyes at you.
"You've been acting different lately. What's up with you?"
"What's up with ME? What's up with you and her?"
His face drops.
"Huh?"
"I said, what's up with you and her? Bryce told me you two knew each other, y'know. I'm not completely clueless. What's with the cold act?"
"..You should mind your business, kid."
"This IS my business, man! You two are killing the vibe here!"
"We had a falling out. That's it." He shakes his head. "I don't want to talk about this any more."
"You're clearly not over it though."
His fist clenches and shakes.
"Drop it. Please?"
"Just tell me! It can't possibly be that hard!"
"No. Please, kid, please just leave me alone.", he says, his voice shaking. "I don't want to get into this. Not when she's right over there."
"What, can't you talk when she's around?! All you do is stare and sigh like a wuss. Talk to her, or at least tell me why you won't!"
"She ruined my life, okay?!" He gets up and points his scarred hand directly at Chandrelle. "That WITCH ruined my life!"
He makes a beeline for the kitchen the second you open your mouth. You stare at the door longer than you should.
The gossiping behind you has come to a halt. You turn to see Chandrelle's blank face, also staring at the kitchen door. FPP pats her on the back. You're not sure she notices.
Bryce shoots you a look from across the bar. You can hear someone start to sob as you leave.
~
You can't make out much of what she's saying over the sobbing and sniffling, but it's clearly about your old man. Bryce seems kind of helpless with it all, occasionally patting her back, offering her a napkin or sprinkling in a "there there" here and there. He knows you're there. He knows you know he knows you're there. You two have been making very awkward eye contact for the past 5 minutes. He sighs reluctantly.
"Now, this sounds crazy, but I know someone who'd probably be willing to help."
"Wh.. what?"
He points at you, sneakily hidden (or so you thought) behind a cabinet.
Her face goes pale the moment she spots you. Her sadness is quickly replaced by a cocktail of rage and embarrassment.
"You, what, YOU-"
He puts a hand on her shoulder and she looks at him, releasing you from her death stare.
"Chandrelle, give the boy a chance. I think a fresh perspective is just what you need."
Looking her seething face over, he adds: "You can get mad at him later."
She stares at you for what feels like an eternity, before finally relenting.
"Fine", she sighs, "come sit at the bar."
Willing yourself not to do a victory fist pump, you quickly hurry over and take the seat next to her.
"So!", you say a little too enthusiastically, "What's the deal?"
Bryce cringes, clearly regretting his decision. Oops.
"Want to try that again?", she sneers.
"..My bad. You and Lazarus, huh?"
She nods slowly, eyeing you suspiciously.
"I've heard some things from him. Let's hear your side."
After a beat of silence and her fiddling with her hands, she sighs.
"Well," she starts hesitatingly, "I don't think he and I would entirely.. agree, on what really happened."
"Go on."
"I was trying to save myself from being run dry with infinite sequels." She gives you a sympathetic look. "You know how it is."
You raise your eyebrow at her.
"I did what I had to. It's just a shame that he had to take the fall for it."
"You're getting vaguer and vaguer, lady."
"Why do you care anyways?"
"I don't like the old guy walking around with a long face all the time, but it doesn't look like he's gonna approach you himself anytime soon."
She chuckles.
"You care about him, don't you?"
"As if.", you huff, "I just want to know what's going on."
"Sure you do, kid. You just want to make him feel better again."
You cross your arms and give her a look. "He took the fall? What'd he take the fall for..?"
"Well, I kind of screwed him over. Made him help me break the game. Gameworks got on his ass for that."
She shifts a bit, looking ashamed.
"You know. Vicious Galaxy and all that." She sighs. "I don't think he'll ever forgive me. Not that I can blame him for that."
"But you want him to forgive you, right?"
"Sure, but it's not about what I want. Last time I made him do what I wanted-"
"Coward."
Bryce shoots up to look at you like a man possessed.
"..Huh?", she says dumbfoundedly.
"He doesn't want this either, Chandrelle. He's miserable. You know that. And yet you're too much of a coward to talk to him."
"Well," she starts, "he doesn't WANT me to talk to him. You know that! He runs out every room I enter and if he doesn't he glares at me the whole time."
"It shouldn't be up to him to approach you, y'know. YOU should apologize to HIM."
Before she can stammer out another word in her defense, you add: "A REAL apology. None of that half-assed pushing the blame onto others shit. Say it like you mean it. Because you should."
She stares down at her hands. One of her hands fiddles with a ring on the other. You can see her eyes well up again, before she shakes her head and looks at you.
"No, you're right. I've been avoiding it for too long."
She sighs. "It can only get better from here. I hope."
After a long pause, she manages a faint smile.
"..Thanks, kid."
~
It's not all fine. There's still some resentment there, in the cracks, but it's slowly getting better. They're talking to each other now. Brief conversations, but it's something. Sitting near each other. Looking at each other, openly, with no ire. Lazarus catches your eye and gives you a thumbs up.
Maybe meddling in other people's business isn't too bad after all.