My first and probably only D. Gray-Man fic, written awhile ago when I was too lazy to type it up. I have no idea wher eit might fit in the plotline, so pretend there was some free time somewhere after Allen and Lavi' meet. Enjoy!

When Komui said to come back ASAP, he really meant it. Thus, Allen and Kanda found themselves on a steamer together and headed back from Egypt. Sharing a cabin. Granted, they were sleeping on opposite sides of it, but it was still too close; both spent large amounts of time on deck and as far away from each other as they could manage for the first couple of days. The sea was calm and the weather warm. They saw each other at meals and early in the morning. Otherwise, they had no contact with each other.

On their fourth day out, they hit the tail end of a storm, which left the water choppy and their paced slightly reduced.

Allen, utterly at home with the constant motion, saw Kanda briefly at breakfast, then vanished into the hold for a lesson on how the ship ran. He made himself useful and surfaced only when it was time for dinner that evening, where he saw Kanda again, apparently deep in conversation with the captain. Content to leave his companion alone, he headed off to the bow to enjoy the spray of windblown rain and the amplified tossing of the ship, courtesy of the clouds overhead. It was looking like it wasn't the end of the storm after all.

Sometime later, Allen slowly made his way back to the cabin. Before he could get there, the door to the stairs slammed open and Kanda bolted out. He nearly knocked Allen over on his way and wound up at the deck rail, clinging to it with a white-knuckled grip.

"Kanda? Are you okay?"

"No," Kanda grunted. Allen stepped up beside him and placed a cautious hand on Kanda's back.

"Seasick?"

"No." Kanda's voice sounded slightly strained. Allen sighed.

"You aren't going to win a fight with yourself," he chided. "Quit trying to control your stomach; you'll only make it worse."

Kanda tensed under his hand. Remembering something from his first travels with Mana, Allen brought his other hand up and began to knead the space between Kanda's shoulder blades, silently willing him to relax. After a moment, he did. Then he made a frantic sort of squeak sound and vomited over the rail.

"Come on, Kanda. Let's go back to the cabin."



Back in the cabin, Allen coaxed Kanda into dry clothes and onto his bunk with a minimum of argument. Too miserable to care about what Allen was saying or doing, Kanda curled into a ball, clutching his stomach.

"Here," Allen said, setting a bucket on the floor by Kanda's bunk. "There's not much that can be done except wait it out and hope you get used to the movement of the ship."

"Won't happen," Kanda mumbled. He shifted to lean against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Why not?"

"It doesn't matter how long I sit here, or how many times I've wound up on a ship, I always-" Kanda stopped and clapped one hand over his mouth. Allen picked the bucket up and handed it to Kanda, who took it with a shaky hand, tucked it between his knees, and was sick again. Allen waited until he was finished before speaking.

"Wait it out then," he said. 'Want me to stay with you?"

"No," Kanda snapped.

Allen shrugged and slid off the bunk. Kanda's hand just barely caught his wrist as he went. Allen looked back at him, and he nodded.

"Just let me get these off, then," he murmured, gesturing at his still wet boots and jacket. Kanda nodded and let go, withdrawing back into his corner.

After changing, Allen climbed back into Kanda's bunk and began fussing with the swordsman's hair. When Kanda tried to swat him away, Allen explained that he was just getting it out of the way. Kanda was tempted to argue, but he retched instead and that was the end of that argument.

Much later, the storm passed and the water calmed. Exhausted, Kanda slumped against Allen, who smiled faintly and put an arm around him.

"Why?" Kanda asked, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Why not?"

Kanda was quiet for a minute, considering this.

"Thanks."



Morning dawned, clear and sunny. Allen's internal alarm clock rang, but he chose to ignore it and bask in the luxurious semi-conscious state preceding full wakefulness. He was lying comfortably against Kanda's side, and he liked the close warmth Kanda provided. It was nice to be able to do this, just lie here and pretend Kanda didn't actually loathe his very presence.

Kanda shifted a little, nuzzling the side of Allen's neck with a soft sigh. Allen smiled and ran his fingers through the end of Kanda's ponytail.

"Mmnn?"

Deciding to take a chance and hope that last night had earned him a few points with Kanda, Allen propped himself up on one elbow to address his bunkmate.

"Good morning."

"'s too early…g' back t' sleep," Kanda mumbled. When Allen didn't do as he was told (he was preparing to climb over Kanda and get to his side of the cabin as fast as possible, assuming that Kanda's groggy words were an indication that he didn't like him any better than he had the day before), Kanda opened one eye to fix him with a look. "What?"

"You actually want me here?"

"I was comfortable, bean sprout. Get back down here." A little unsure, Allen settled back down. Kanda made a small noise of contentment and pulled him closer, more or less back into the position they'd been in when Allen woke up. "Stay put this time," he growled.

"Do you have a fever or something?" Allen asked, beginning to worry about the reason for Kanda's off behavior.

"Do I need one?"

"For what?"

"To keep you here. If I do, then I'll go out and stand in the rain until I catch a cold."

Allen snorted.

"What?"

"The skies are clear; you might have noticed that if you had bothered to roll over."

"Heatstroke, then."



"I'll stay without, if it's all the same to you."

"Good. This is better." Kanda paused, apparently considering something. "Tell Lavi about this and you'll regret it."