Summary: Allen convinces Lavi to tell him the story behind his eye patch. Unfortunately, Allen didn't realize just how complicated Lavi's past was. Pairings: Lavi/Allen

A/N: This is my first fic, so let me know if it warrants a chapter two or not!

I don't own DGM.

It bothered Allen so much. He didn't know why he couldn't stop thinking about it. He looked across the table at Lavi. Actually, it was Lavi's eye covered by the patch that was the focus of his gaze. The redhead seemed to not notice, currently eating some unfamiliar dish that looked like a giant glob of yellowish-orange slop.

The only hint to behind the patch that Lavi had ever given was that it was not an injury. He had known the Bookman-to-be for a long time now, and it concerned him that he would not share this bit of information. However he was afraid to ask, worried he may upset his companion.

Lavi finally noticed Allen looking at him. Giving a slight blush he lifted his plate a little.

"Do you want to try some?" Lavi asked, smiling. When Allen made a weird face, he continued: "It's Indian Curry. It's really good!"

"What's in it?" Allen asked, glad to have an excuse for staring.

"This is a vegetable curry, so there are different vegetables in it with many different spices." Lavi answered, obviously not wanting to recall every ingredient. "Try it!"

"No thanks…." Allen politely declined.

"Suit yourself." Lavi shrugged taking another bite.

They were staying at an inn not too far from Istambul, the owner of which was from the border region of India and Pakistan. Lavi loved Indian food and was excited to get a chance to enjoy it on their mission. Although much of Lavi's past was still a mystery to Allen, he guessed that Lavi had spent a good part of his life in or around India and Nepal, probably training with Bookman. Bookman himself seemed like he was from the area, but Allen knew that if he asked he wouldn't get an answer.

"So where have the akuma been spotted?" Lavi asked pulling out his map.

"Somewhere near a small town called Sinop. It's along the shore of the Black Sea." Allen replied.

"The forests around Sinop are very thick." Lavi said. "We may need to get more lantern oil before we go."

Allen just kept staring at the eye patch Lavi wore, not saying anything in response. Lavi glanced at him.

"Hello? Allen? You in there?" He mockingly called out, throwing a curry covered piece of broccoli at his face, successfully hitting him in the cheek and awaking him from the daze.

"Y-Yeah… I'm ok, sorry." Allen stammered.

"You know, you are acting kinda funny. You sure you are feeling up to this mission?" Lavi questioned. "I don't want to have to carry you back if I can help it."

"I'm fine." Allen said. "Just thinking."

"Might I inquire what about?" Lavi asked in a very Bookman-like manner.

"Your eye." Allen said before he could stop himself.

"My eye?" Lavi reached a hand up and rubbed his left eye, pulling his hand away to investigate and see if whatever Allen was talking about could be removed. Satisfied that there was nothing apparently ON his left eye he quizzically looked over at Allen. "What about it?"

"Your other eye, the one covered by the patch." Allen said. "Why exactly do you wear that?"

Lavi looked around the dining area of the inn. Allen's comment got the group of women next to them to hush up fast and the innkeeper to glance at them, obviously listening in.

"This is neither the time nor the place for that explanation." Lavi stated, taking a bite. He could feel Allen's gaze striking him like a knife. "Why exactly do you want to know?"

"I-uh… I'm not sure. I just can't stop wondering." Allen admitted.

"Why do you think I wear it?" Lavi asked, curiously.

"My guess is that it is blind." Allen stated. "I also thought that you might be covering it because it may look different."

"I guess you are somewhat correct." Lavi mentioned, not giving away which part Allen may be correct about. "If it's bothering you that much I can tell you later."

"Really?" Allen's eyes lit up.

"Don't get too excited." Lavi said, obviously a little irked at himself for promising to tell. "It's not exactly a glorious reason."

Allen nodded and went back to eating. The idea of finding out was thrilling, even though it looked like the thought of it was making Lavi sick, as he didn't eat anything else and just moved his food around the plate with his fork.

….

Three days had passed and the two had reached the town of Sinop. Allen was very annoyed as Lavi had promised to tell him about his eye, but hadn't yet. Each time Allen asked, Lavi put it off by saying he was trying to think of the best way to tell him. Allen had had enough.

The two walked west of the village in search of akuma in the woods. The forest was very dark, not letting much light in through the tree tops. It was when they were far from the town that Allen asked again.

"Lavi, can you please tell me about your eye?" Allen asked. "You promised three days ago."

Lavi visibly tensed, then sighed.

"Alright." Lavi said, continuing in the direction they were going. "My eye is cursed, like yours."

"Like mine?" Allen asked, surprised that Lavi didn't put up much of a fight for telling him. "You mean you can see akuma too?"

"Well yes and no." Lavi said, looking to him. "The curse I have is somewhat different. Yours focuses on detecting akuma in disguise. Mine has no focus. No matter what I look at, I get flooded with more information than I can handle. Just looking at a person causes me to pass out."

Allen seemed puzzled and Lavi seemed to notice. He pulled out a coin to show Allen.

"Take this coin, for example." He said. "Looking at this coin, I would first be struck with information regarding what it is and what it is made up of. Then I would get molecular descriptions about the elements used to make it up, the history behind this individual coin as well as all other coins like it. I would get an entire history of how these coins have been used, both good and bad, the economics regarding the value and politics… I would also get a history of everyone who ever touched this coin, the makeup of whatever product it has purchased before coming to me, and so on. That's not including the fact that not only will I get that information from the coin, anything else I see, like in the background, will do the same thing."

Allen just stared at Lavi, not knowing what to say.

"If I were to look at an akuma disguised as a human I would be able to tell it's an akuma, but all the extra information would be too much at one time and I'd pass out. If the person was an akuma, passing out would not be a safe thing to do. I've been struggling to control it most of my life." Lavi said, not liking the silence Allen was giving him. "All I want is to be able to focus it."

"What about the eyepatch?" Allen asked. "Can't you see the inside of that?"

"No, the inside of the patch is cushioned in a way that forces my eye shut." Lavi said. "And even so, if I look at an item enough, when I go back to look at it again it will just give me any new information. The problem is that it's very hard to stay conscious during it and it usually results in extremely bad headaches."

"I had no idea." Allen mused.

"It's no big deal, but I don't like telling people." Lavi said, his head tilted down.

"Does Bookman know?" Allen asked.

"Yes, but I hid it from him for years before he found out." Lavi stated. "He has been trying to help me control it, but it's hard for him since he doesn't really understand how it works."

"How did it happen?"

Lavi went quiet, obviously feeling like too much was already said about the subject.

"Another time." Lavi said, almost inaudible, but Allen heard and nodded as they continued through the forest.

….

Their journey was very quiet. It was evening and the two had been forced to pull out their lanterns early because of how little light was allowed through the trees. Allen was so focused on what Lavi had told him that he didn't notice the taller boy stop and ran right into his back, causing Lavi to almost fall forward.

"Watch it, short-stack." Lavi said. "You almost knocked me into the river."

Allen looked at the river in front of Lavi.

"Maybe we have gone too far…" Allen mused, pulling out the map.

After a few minutes of looking over the map they decided to head back to the town. It was obvious that the akumas that were reported in the region were no longer there.

"What a total waste!" Lavi whined with a yawn. "Then again it's not like it's a desirable area for akuma. These thick forests make it hard for them to move around in."

Before turning to walk back the direction they came, Lavi saw a large bush clinging onto the riverbank. Allen saw Lavi staring at the bush and sighed.

"There are no akuma there, Lavi." He said after checking with his eye.

""I know." Lavi said not breaking the gaze. "You may want to be prepared to cover your face."

Allen watched as Lavi walked over to the shrub quietly and carefully tapped his boot against the base of the plant.

Suddenly, about two dozen bats came swarming out of the bush in all directions, a few narrowly missing hitting Allen, who was in complete shock. Once he recovered he saw Lavi staring after them as they disappeared into the evening sky over the river.

"LAVI!" Allen yelled, annoyed. "You knew those bats were in there!?"

"Yeah." Lavi said quietly, not paying much attention. "They are a type of Vesper bat… They are too quick to identify which species, though."

"I hope that isn't a bad sign." Allen said, still trying to recover. Bats creeped him out and he'd refer them not be anywhere near him.

"Only European cultures and some Mesoamerican cultures view bats as a bad omen." Lavi stated turning to walk the direction they came. "In China they are seen as good luck. American Aboriginals see them as heroic and self-sacrificial. Did you know that bats make up more than twenty percent of all mammal species?"

"Um, no…" Allen responded, following the red head.

"Add that onto being everywhere on earth besides to Arctic and Antarctic, and you have a very successful group of taxa." Lavi seemed to be talking to himself more than to Allen.

"So, why do bats only fly at night?" Allen asked, partly because he wanted to know and partly to humor Lavi. He did this every time he found bats, would point them out and then talk about them for a while. He did it with other animals too, but it was more obvious with bats. It was easy to tell that the red head was fascinated by the small flying mammals.

"What we know so far is that they see with their ears by making small high pitched chirps and listening to what the sound bounces off of. They probably choose night over day because of all the bugs that come out at night and less competition for food from birds. Outside of that we don't know for certain, but some of the legends are fun to entertain." Lavi said, recalling old stories. "Some say the bats were birds who lost their feathers and are embarrassed to come out during the day. My favorite legend, albeit definitely not true, is that there was a battle between the birds and the beasts, and being neither bird nor beast, the bats didn't choose a side. Being unbiased, they were shunned into the night by all the other animals."

(A/N: Silverwing reference! Kudos to those who caught it!)

Allen just listened, taking notice in how Lavi chose his words.

"Besides, not all bats are nocturnal. Some fruit bats and larger megachiroptera are generally diurnal and active during daylight." Lavi added.

"I didn't know there were species that flew during the daytime." Allen said, feeling nervous about the idea of there being big bats.

The two didn't talk much after that as they headed back into town.

….

They arrived back in town just after dark.

"We will stay a night just to be sure the region is clear, but there is no reason to stand guard in a place that is unlikely to have any akuma." Allen said, scanning the horizon for any glimpse of the creatures.

"Let's try that inn by the fountain." Lavi said, waking towards where he remembered seeing the fountain earlier.

The two found it and reserved a room for themselves. As they entered the room, both of their hearts sank as they gazed at the one bed in the room. It wasn't like they were used to always getting their own bed, but it was nice when the opportunity arose. However the sound of the fountain outside the window did make them feel more relaxed.

"At least this bed is big enough to share." Lavi said, earning himself a questioning glare from Allen.

It was true, most inns they came across that only one bed didn't care to offer one larger than a single person's bed. This one was definitely big enough for two people with room to spare.

"Just so long as you don't kick me out of bed and steal the covers in your sleep." Allen threatened.

"Would I do that?" Lavi smirked, knowing full well that that is what happened last time they shared a bed together.

"Very funny." Allen mused, setting his things down. "Do you want to go look around a bit?"

"At what? The prison?" Lavi asked, remembering seeing a very large stone prison looking like it was almost finished being built. "No thanks."

Allen sighed and turned to leave.

"I'm going to get some dinner then." Allen said before leaving.

Lavi collapsed onto the bed, kicking off his boots. He thought about everything he had told Allen and debated with himself if it was worth telling him the whole story or not. He worried about Allen telling the others at the Black Order, and the last thing he needed was Komui launching a little science experiment on him… However, if he told Allen the whole story, maybe he would understand exactly WHY he didn't want people to know.

Lavi sighed as he reached up to touch the patch. Being a Bookman, he would normally escape this type of scenario by running off and adopting a new persona with a new name, but he knew he couldn't do that this time. He looked out the window to the streetlight, where the moths were gathering. A bat came out and snatched a moth before it flew away into the night.

Lavi smiled.

….

Allen quietly opened the door to the room and snuck in. He saw that Lavi was already in bed, so he quickly undressed and slipped under the covers on the empty side of the bed. He tried to be as quiet as possible, hoping not to wake Lavi up, and mentally cursed himself when he heard Lavi stir. He could feel the dip in the bed where Lavi was moving a little.

Suddenly, Allen felt an arm snake around his waist and pull him close so that his back was up against Lavi's chest and stomach. He gasped in surprise and Lavi rested his face in Allen's white hair. Realizing that both of them were only wearing their boxers, Allen thought Lavi MUST still be asleep and unaware of what he was doing, so he tried to wriggle free, until he heard Lavi speak.

"It happened when I was really young." Lavi said, not loosening his hold on the smaller boy. Allen stopped, realizing Lavi was talking about his eye. "I never knew my parents, growing up in a different foster home every few months. At the time, I was in a small town in Northwestern Australia. The town was attacked by rebel forces and I was taken hostage along with other children. They kept us in a small dark room and we were not allowed to go outside. The only time we left the room was when… when those men needed their urges satisfied." Lavi moved his hand below Allen's navel to the lining of his boxers to gesture exactly what he meant. He heard Allen gasp, but did not remove his hand.

"B-but you were just a kid, right?" Allen asked, obviously horrified.

"It didn't matter to them." Lavi said. "Whenever they got angry they would use us as their personal punching bags as well. I must have had over six broken ribs in the first week and it seemed like I was always bleeding."

Allen listened closely as Lavi's voice and arm started to quiver a bit as he moved his hand back to its original position.

"I watched as other children started dying all around me until I was the last one." Lavi continued. "A little over a month went by like that before they decided they didn't need me anymore. Then they beat me to the point of no recovery and left me for dead."

Allen's hand reached up to touch Lavi's arm to show he was listening and as a mild gesture of comfort.

"That's when I saw it… him…." Lavi paused and thought about his words. "… I made a deal with the devil, I chose a cursed life over an early death."

"…I had no idea…" Allen spoke softly, not sure what to say exactly. He felt Lavi's grip tighten very slightly. Allen wiggled a bit, not to get away, but to turn around and face the redhead. It was dark, but what little light came in through the window gleamed off the moisture in his left eye. His right eye was covered by a different patch, a softer, more secure one that Allen knew Lavi usually wore at night.

Lavi's arm pulled Allen close so their hips joined together.

"Allen…" Lavi started, a grin appearing on his face. "You look ridiculously adorable when you are troubled."

Allen was caught off guard by the statement that he didn't notice Lavi's face get closer until their lips met. Once Allen realized what was happening he closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Lavi's shoulder. The two remained in that position for a bit, neither pulling away or deepening the kiss.

"Allen…" Lavi said, finally pulling away.

"Yeah?" Allen asked.

"… Bookman is gonna kill me…"

A/N: So? What do you guys think? Is this story worthy of a 2nd chapter (or more)? I have a plan for the whole story, but currently it doesn't look like more than 5-10 chapters, but that could all change. I haven't even started chapter 2 yet, mainly because I want to see how the response to the first chapter goes. Oh, and if I decide this fic is worth continuing, there IS a purpose for the bat scene! It was not placed randomly! There is also a lot more I have planned for Lavi's past that wasn't included in this one.

Forgive my typos, my wireless keyboard tends to skip and I sometimes miss them in the proofread. -.-'