Work Text:
------
------
With no intention of harming anyone, it all happened very quickly.
Kamille asks with an air of astonishment, then a little arrogance, where the Lieutenant's bracelet came from. Teenagers are like that, somewhere between childlike spontaneity and adult restraint. Their remarks are all the more humiliating for being facilitated by the embarrassment they feel about everything, and their humiliating view of themselves is mercilessly conveyed in their words to insecure adults. They look for the thin line between charisma and ridiculousness, and Kamille, as he does every day, expresses himself unfiltered to deliver his judgment.
This was to be expected. Kamille admires the Lieutenant's masculinity. He doesn't want his model to start acting in ways he can't understand. That bracelet, on that firm, naked arm, makes no sense to him.
Bright isn't familiar with this kind of situation. But one of his defining traits is a natural benevolence towards the Lieutenant. He doesn't know the origin of this attention, a little too casual to be that of one man towards another, but he believes it's because of what he perceives in him: an attitude of constant withdrawal, like wounded animals hiding to die. An uncomfortable feeling forces him to push the thought away: maybe that's a bit extreme.
So, when the story of the bracelet unfolds before Bright, and he overhears Kamille making this remark, he snaps. Kamille wrinkles his nose, a little surprised, but he apologizes.
It's too late. The bracelet is discarded the very next day. Bright notices it since the Lieutenant has put his gloves back on, and the Commander no longer wonders about the strange delicacy of his hands, which he has no doubt often protected like this in the past. They don't resemble Amuro's thick, callused hands. Char Aznable has kept the aristocratic hands of Casval Rem Deikun. Perhaps he hides them to look more like a pilot...
------
------
After bringing Shinta and Qum on board, the Lieutenant began to visit Fa. Fa finds the habit quite strange, since it seems to her that the Lieutenant isn't discussing things that interest either of them, so their exchanges seem a little forced. It's the presence of the children that attracts him to her. She never would've thought a man like the Lieutenant would be interested in her daily routine with the children, but as she explained some quite banal things to him, he listened without a word, observing the curious look Shinta gave him.
The first time one of the children dares climb onto his lap, the Lieutenant stops for a moment to look around. It took some time for Fa to understand he was checking no one was there.
As the Lieutenant keeps visiting, slowly, Fa realizes that her status as a woman allows her to unleash this tenderness without fear. The Lieutenant, on the other hand, can't be so light-hearted. He doesn't even take off his sunglasses, and whenever someone else approaches, he turns his attention away from the children and moves on to something more suitable.
One day, all of this suddenly stops. For a while, the Lieutenant doesn't come to see Fa and the children. He's very closed off and serious again. Fa doesn't even know how to approach him, and doubts whether he's ever really come to see her in the past. Spending time with Kamille, she hears the story of the bracelet - and scolds him immediately.
"Not everything is about you, Kamille!"
"Huh?"
"Other people have the right to do things you wouldn't."
Kamille keeps quiet.
Fa wants to do something to fix this situation. She just doesn't know what. The Lieutenant isn't a man who accepts favors, nor is he someone narcissistic enough to physically express another kind of novelty.
After a detour to a colony, Fa finds him in his quarters and hands him a package. "I'm not sure if your family was religious, but it's decorative too. If anything, you can put it under your turtleneck; no one would see it. I thought it looked pretty."
The Lieutenant isn't used to receiving gifts, that much is obvious. Fa was afraid of this. She insists all the same. Ah, he takes off his glove to pick up the package politely... He really is mindful.
It's a necklace with a cross. The idea may seem strange, but Quattro immediately understands the appeal. No one can question such a piece of jewelry. He's a little embarrassed that Fa thought of something like this, but he'd be more embarrassed if he didn't wear it.
So he does. And nobody says a word.
He starts to come back to see Fa and the children, more and more exhausted, even though he says nothing. Fa sees it.
"Unfortunately, you're a man."
Behind his sunglasses, Quattro remains wordless for a few moments. Unreadable, although his silence says everything Fa needs to know.
"Of course." He just drops.
"Even if I go to the battlefield, when I come back I can be a woman." She elaborates.
"I don't mind."
"Really?"
"I'm used to it."
"Maybe a little too much."
Quattro doesn't answer. Qum, on his lap, touches the cross on the collar. He smiles imperceptibly.
"I don't understand how you can fight without ever-"
"It's what I know how to do best."
The Lieutenant had never cut her off. Fa noticed it just then. In fact, the Lieutenant never stops fighting, but his aura is calm. Almost a little too much, for a man who always looks like he never truly relaxes.
"That's not true." She says carefully, looking at his gentle grip on Qum.
The Lieutenant isn't looking at her. She continues.
"Don't you wish you'd been like us?"
He frowns.
"A woman, I mean."
Fa can't read his reaction. The Lieutenant remains silent for a long moment. Qum clings to his arm and stands onto his lap to reach Shinta, who is playing with Haro. The Lieutenant holds her by the shoulder without a second thought, steadying her clumsy frame again.
"No. I never thought about it."