[Things Lelouch should probably have seen coming: that, but much like Suzaku's fist and the ensuing and inevitable journey to the ground, the idea that a different choice of words might maybe have yielded a more favorable result is an epiphany that comes far too quickly for him to do anything about it.
... Or too late, possibly. Difficult to know with how his ears are ringing, but the far greater concern for the moment is how hard he'd landed, how his torso had bounced with the impact, and how quickly his lungs and chest are burning right afterward, straight through and back to just the left of his spine.
If you were expecting a swift comeback, you clearly haven't met him, but quite possibly, curling over onto his side and clutching at a certain, specific spot wasn't a desired response, either.]
cw: suicide/suicide-adjacent
... Or too late, possibly. Difficult to know with how his ears are ringing, but the far greater concern for the moment is how hard he'd landed, how his torso had bounced with the impact, and how quickly his lungs and chest are burning right afterward, straight through and back to just the left of his spine.
If you were expecting a swift comeback, you clearly haven't met him, but quite possibly, curling over onto his side and clutching at a certain, specific spot wasn't a desired response, either.]