Give and Go

AN: Post Island Wars sequel to Behind the Scenes; wanted to give a more dialogue heavy fic a shot, so here it is! (Also, writing banter for these two is really, really fun, and I don't dislike Macross Delta as much it seems).

"… a ghost."

"For the fifth time, yes!" an aggravated Kijima Shia practically hissed over the line, making Lucas wince and hold the phone away from his ear. "If you don't believe me, then you should just come out and say – "

"Look, it's not that I don't believe that it couldn't have happened," the blonde said carefully, well aware of the minefield that he was stepping into. "It's just – look, I wasn't there, and you have to admit, it's a farfetched story without the benefit of witnessing it with your own eyes."

There was a brief pause as she digested his (shameless) dodge, and the grudging acceptance in her voice told him that he at least managed to offset the bulk of her ire.

"True enough," she grumbled, still not particularly pleased with his skepticism. "But it's not as if this has any other explanation, Nemesis! The girl was there one second, and the next…"

"I'll be honest; I don't know what to tell you," Lucas said, biting back a snicker when he heard her scoff. "Other than I really wish I had skipped out on the tournament to have come out there myself. Paranormal activity isn't an everyday thing, y'know."

"You don't wish that," Shia replied immediately, sounding faintly amused now. "For one thing, you have too much pride in the European title just to vacate it. Besides, we both know that my brother wouldn't have forgiven you for robbing him of the chance to dethrone you decisively."

He smirked. "Well, I don't think he's going to forgive me for denying him in the finals, so that's kind of a wash either way, don't you think?" and Lucas didn't need to see the smaller girl to know that she was smirking back.

"Pride cometh before the fall, Nemesis. If you want to keep that gaudy – "

"Hey, I happen to think it looks pretty damn regal when I'm holding it – "

"Gaudy," she pressed on smoothly, rolling past his interjection like it had never even been uttered, "monstrosity that our continent calls a trophy, you'd better be ready to battle at your best."

He gave a resigned smile and shook his head, sighing. "I'm always at my best when I face Kijima Wilfrid. He doesn't leave me with any other option."

"The same goes for him. He's been looking forward to this for quite a while now."

"So he told me when I saw him for the first time here. The way he's buzz-sawed his way through the field so far was a pretty big hint too – if that wasn't him serving some advance notice, then he's got a seriously sadistic streak that none of us knew about."

Shia chuckled, and he could damn near see the malevolent glint in her eyes. "Why not both?"

… All right, maybe she was on to something.

"… You know what? I don't think I need ghosts to scare me. You two do a fine enough job on your own," Lucas snickered, flicking a glance at the media player on his second monitor.

"Hmm. Should we take that as a compliment?"

"Take it however you like," he answered wryly, stretching out with a yawn. "But I do wish that I could have tested out the battle system with you all; not only did it sound like a great chance to see some new tech, everyone had new Gunpla to battle with."

He couldn't help but sound a little bit wistful, leading to a laugh from Shia. "Oh, that's a fair point. Sazaki's new Gyancelot is probably her finest work, and Minato Sakai's ZZ II was every bit as impressive as you'd expect it to be. As for the Try Fighters… well they've never failed to live up to expectations, have they?"

"See, talk like that isn't helping," he lamented, sounding more than a little put out. "Though I can't help but notice that you never mentioned yours."

"Oh, mine?" Shia parroted 'innocently'. "Nothing special, really – certainly nothing you should be watching out for the next time we face each other, nya~!"

"Hairball, huh? You should get that looked at," he commented airily, ignoring the indignant sniff. "I'd like to see how my Full Cloth would have fared, at any rate."

"We could have used you," she admitted readily, sounding like she was wincing. "The situation was far from ideal, and the battle wouldn't have been long enough for your particle supply to have been a major issue."

"From what you've told me though, everything wound up working out. All's well that ends well, I suppose."

A wry chuckle. "Thank you for that insightful observation, Nemesis," Shia quipped. "Phrase of the day calendar, fortune cookie…?"

"Hey, I read!"

"Car magazines and sports blogs don't count, no matter how many languages you can peruse them in," she teased, sounding amused at his mock outrage.

"… Modelling guides?"

"Half marks. Speaking of which, you should have seen Minato's other new design. It was… quite something."

His ears perked up. "Really? Was it anything like the Tryon III?"

"Oh no, it was much more graceful and elegant. It was also more efficient in terms of armament, the darker color scheme was a perfect contrast to the lighter parts of the chassis, and the bunny ears were the final cherry on top. I'm surprised Fumina found it so offensive, really."

Lucas fought every urge he had to let his head slam into his desk. "God, he made another one?!"

"Super Fumina, Titans Maid Version," she answered, sounding almost smug.

"So, I need to know – at what point does this go past tasteless running joke into legitimately creepy?"

"Again; why not bo – "

"All I'm saying is," he forged on, somehow managing not to laugh, "at some point she's going to snap, kick his ass and it's going to be 100% defensible. I mean, wouldn't you do the same thing if he – "

The sudden pause seemed to take her off guard.

"… Lucas?"

Kijima in a maid outfit.

Hmm.

Possibilities.

"Uh, never mind. But on a totally unrelated subject, would you happen to know if Minato Sakai is currently accepting commissions?"

(The tone she took was quite a few degrees colder, he noted with no small amount of amusement).

"… Why?"

"Oh. You know. No reason. I'm asking for a friend, actually."

"Really. Do I know this friend?"

"I don't think you do."

"Are you sure? Because I have a sneaking suspicion that you're lying."

"Would I do that?"

"Yes."

"… All right, fair enough. But really, Super Fumina needs a rival, and I'm pretty sure injection molds for whatever Minato comes up with wouldn't be that expensive – "

A strangled gasp. "Nemesis, don't you dare – "

"It'd definitely sell."

"That's not the – "

"I'd buy one. I might even army build."

"You know, I'm hoping it hurts when you lose your title," she murmured, low and dangerous. "I'm hoping it hurts a lot."

He paused for a second, weighing his options.

"Not going to happen," Lucas finally replied, serious now. "Your brother's good – amazing, even. But I absolutely refuse to lose in my last year of competing, no matter who's across from me."

The sudden declaration took her off-guard, to say the least. "Wait, last year – you mean…?"

Time to get it all out, he supposed.

"I told Kamiki Sekai I'd eventually be waiting for him in the Open division before the end of the tournament last year," Lucas answered honestly, all traces of mirth gone. "I've thought about it, and I'd rather jump in sooner rather than later. Call me a masochist, but I've always preferred sink or swim."

"That's… certainly aiming high."

"I'm aware. If I'm good enough, then it's not going to matter when I do it, and if I'm not good enough – "

"Don't be foolish. You're good enough. You're more than good enough. Anyone calling that into question knows nothing about our sport," Shia told him fiercely, pure belief in her voice.

He smiled gently at that. "I'd like to think so. But there's only one way to find out."

She sighed. "Indeed. Have you told my brother yet?"

"I plan to tell him after the finals. I won't be joining him in the Open qualifiers this year when they start in a few days, but..."

"He'll be excited nonetheless. The arena doesn't matter - he just wants to compete against the best."

Lucas nodded as she trailed off. "Sounds about right."

Shia hummed fondly. "Indeed. You're both surprisingly alike, truth be told."

"Should I take that as a compliment?"

"Take it however you like," she replied with a warm laugh.

"Having my words thrown back in my face; if that's not a cue for me to let you get some rest, I don't know what is."

"Oh, no need to spare my feelings, Nemesis. I'm not offended if you need to go and do whatever it is you do over there – watch sports, drool over cars, drool over sports while watching cars – "

"I don't only do those things, and did you flip those on purpose?"

Mischievously, "Maybe."

"Okay, you definitely need some sleep," the blonde teased, looking over the clock and doing some quick math in his head. "And for the record, what I'm watching right now ticks the 'none of the above' box," he continued, unmuting the speakers and letting the sound of explosions and J-pop fill the room.

"… Wait a second, is that – "

"Yeah, Alto's rescuing Sheryl right now. I know that's not very specific, but – "

"I take it back," she groused dramatically. "As a Gundam fan, I'm duty-bound to be a little offended now. You're hanging up on me for Macross?"

"Macross Frontier, to be fair. At least it's not Delta."

"That's a horrible defense."

"As horrible as Delta was as a series?"

"I don't know. I've never seen it."

"Ouch. I can feel your contempt from here, but you honestly didn't miss much. Frontier was better, anyway."

"I suppose it appeared to be more tolerable."

"Wow, tough crowd."

"Don't fault me for having good taste in mecha franchises. Be honest; did you watch it for Sheryl or Ranka?"

His answer came immediately. "Ranka."

"... Really."

"You sound surprised."

"I had you pictured as more of a Sheryl fan, for some reason."

Had he taken a second or two to think about it, he probably wouldn't have said what came next.

"No," he said with a grin. "I've always been a sucker for the cute ones, so…"

Approximately two seconds later, he completely froze. Having your brain catch up with your mouth had a tendency to do that.

"… Um."

Silence, then…

"Is that right?" Shia finally said faintly, a note in her voice that he couldn't quite identify.

"U-Uh – "

"I'm not judging. You have good taste."

Well, wasn't that something to dwell on?

"… Yeah," he admitted, his cheeks warm. "I'd say so."

"That makes two of us," and Lucas swore she sounded happier than she had two seconds ago. "But all joking aside, I should be getting to bed. I'll let you know how the battle system tests turn out tomorrow?"

He smiled. "I'll be here."

"I look forward to it," she murmured, low and soft. "Good night, Lucas. Pleasant dreams."

"You too, Shia."

He stared at his monitors long after he had hung up, and couldn't stop himself from shaking his head when he saw a flash of green.

"No doubt," he decided. "Definitely the cute ones."