Author's Note- I worte this so long ago, it's not even funny. I think it's been on my hard drive for a little over a year. Oh well, better late than never. If we can have Christmas in July, we certainly can have it in April too.
Oh, and just to note, this is set something before the Cross Unit's great expedition to find him.
Disclaimer - D. Gray-Manand its characters are property of Katsura Hoshino. I don't own anything.
It's hard to shop for a sixteen-year-old girl, Allen decides rather quickly. To start off with, there are so many possibilities to choose from, and the amount of stores is endless. Besides, he's not a girl, and neither has he had any experience before. And... well... would his master really be willing to help him out if he asked? Never mind that fact. That wouldn't turn out very well, probably.
"What do you think Lenalee would like, Tim?"
If any of his fellow comrades were present, they'd probably think he was insane. Except Kanda. He would never go shopping; and he thought of him as an annoyance, not as insane.
"You don't know?" The golem shook his head in response, enjoying the scenery from his place on top of Allen's head. In case you were wondering, yes, Allen was able to hold conversations with Timcanpy. As to why you never read it in the manga, or watched it in the anime, well... can you really hold a conversation when you're saving Akuma? Yes, his point exactly. Suddenly, he stopped in the middle of the road, however. "What's that you say? Oh... you think Lenalee needs a stuffed panda?" Allen suddenly frowned. "Timcanpy! You can't just listen in on others' conversations, even if they are about the possible endangerment of pandas!"
"Mommy, that guy's talking to himself!" A girl a few meters ahead of him squeaked, clinging to her mother's skirt. "And there's an antenna growing out of his head!"
He'd heard manycomments about Timcanpy, but never, never had he heard that phrase before. On the bright side, she hadn't commented about his hair, though.
"And his hair's white! That's not normal!"
Never mind, he was lying. Yet, cheating was worse. He'd gotten better at that, though. Cheating was only allowed when paying off Master's debts... and the occasional time your friend screwed up. Badly.
"Honey, it's impolite to insult others... even if they look strange."
Allen nervously slipped into a random shop next to him. "I hope Lenalee likes pandas," he muttered to himself.
"You're looking for a panda, sir?"
Anyone who'd known Allen for a week would know that speaking suddenly from behind was the best way to startle him. The man was obviously oblivious to the fact that he had almost put the young Exorcist in the hospital, and promptly continued with his discussion.
"I'm afraid we don't sell pandas here. If you're looking for one, you'd be better off looking in China. Perhaps the province of Sichuan. Better make sure you've got a year's supply of bamboo on you. Those guys eat like there's no tomorrow."
Apparently, Allen could easily befriend a panda.
"Uh... I was actually looking for a stuffed panda. Not that I don't appreciate your country's pandas, though! It's just that... where I live, they'd die of starvation of hypothermia!"
The Chinese man laughed to himself heartily. "Oh! Silly me! Of course you wouldn't be looking to capture a living panda. Right this way, young man."
Allen quickly followed after the man, who was making his way to the back of the store, which was filled with shelves of pandas. "There you have it, kind sir," the man told him, "I'll be at the front counter when you're ready."
Timcanpy immediately darted over to a small stuffed panda, picking it up with his tail and nearly shoving it into Allen's face. Blinking, the white-haired teenager caught it before gravity dragged it down to the floor, studying the object. It was on the small side, only being as large as the palm of his hand, but he was able to understand Timcanpy instantly.
"This is your gift to her?" Timcanpy bobbed up and down excitedly. "Alright." Timcanpy immediately yanked the panda from Allen's hand, pointing to the shelf. "Ah, I get it. You want to give it to Lenalee soon." After much thought (and protest on Timcanpy's behalf), Allen finally chose a stuffed panda with a green and red scarf and green Santa hat sewed onto it.
"This for your girlfriend?" The store owner asked him a smile as he wrapped the gifts. Allen's face immediately burned up.
"N-No! It's for a friend. Just a friend."
"Ah, I get it. You have a crush on her."
Timcanpy bobbed up and down, while Allen shook his head furiously.
-
"Allen-kun? Where'd you go?"
Allen sheepishly hid the gifts behind his back. Honestly, he wasn't quite ready to give her his gifts yet. To say the truth, he was actually beginning to think they were childish.
"Nowhere," he quickly lied.
"Then, why is your coat covered in snow?"
"Yeah," Lavi popped up beside Allen, looking at him with a grin. "Don't tell me you still make snow angels. Who are those presents behind your back for?"
Allen tensed. Could he lie? "They're... for..."
"Lenalee?"
"Yes--I mean 'no'! Wait. How'd you know?"
Lavi plucked the gifts from Allen's hands. "The tags are addressed to Lenalee."
"Well..."
"Really?" Lenalee was smiling. "Oh, Allen-kun, you shouldn't have."
"Yeah, a real gentleman wouldn't try to lie his way out of it. It makes the ladies feel unloved--"
"Lavi!" He protested loudly, but the packages had already been ripped out of his hands by the older boy. "Alright, alright. Here you go, Lenalee."
Allen opened his mouth to make an excuse to leave - perhaps that he would die of starvation if he went another minute without food in his stomach - but as he made to turn, Lavi grabbed hold of the collar of his jacket, dragging him forward. "Yup! Bean Sprout sure went through a lotto get you a Christmas present. He could've died from hypothermia!"
"Lavi!" he hissed. "What are you doing? You can't make a lady guilty!"
"Yeah, well they say you can't call Yuu by his first name, yet I haven't died yet. Speaking of the devil, hey, Yuu! Bean Sprout finally got Lenalee a present!"
Kanda's threats directed toward the red-head were drowned out as Allen screamed his protests, "It's Allen!" As smoke was pouring out of his ears, Lenalee covered a hand over her mouth, chuckling softly. She was holding the panda he'd picked out for her while Timcanpy held onto his present, hovering above her head with a sense of pride emitting from the golem.
"Oh," she murmured as he looked at her, "forgive me, Allen-kun." She held out the gift. "Thank you very much for the panda, though. It was very sweet. If you don't mind my asking... how did you know I liked pandas? Not even my brother knows they're my favorite animal."
"Ummm... luck?"
"Maybe." She smiled. "Would it be childish if I named him?"
Allen blushed, pulling at his collar. "N-No, not at all, Lenalee."
"That's great! I already know the perfect name for him."
"What is it?"
"Moyashi."
His mouth dropped to the floor. "Wh-what?! No, no, Lenalee! Not you too!" He may not have known any Japanese, but he knew any word, no matter the language, when it came to Kanda's annoying nickname for him.
"Come on, Allen-kun. It's cute." Leaning closer, she kissed his cheek quickly before rushing off. "Meet me at the cafeteria," she called out, "I'll get us some hot chocolate."
Just as Allen thought he was alone and let out a sigh, Lavi popped up beside him, whistling. "Wow. Didn't see that one coming."
"La--Lavi?" He narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here? And my name's Allen!"
Lavi let out a happy sigh. "So romantic. Lenalee's your precious panda, and you're her sweet, sweet Bean Sprout..."
"What?!"
"Ahh, young love. The old man's favorite... oh! I'll go get the mistle toe for you guys!"
"NO!"
Lavi was already gone, though. Growling in frustration, he thrashed his head against the wall, only to realize it wasn't such a good idea when he cried out and rubbed the sore area. "Bean Sprout..."
He crossed his arms, making his way to the cafeteria. "Only Lenalee can call me that."