Written for Sherry-Doll for the Secret Santa exchange at rabilina at LJ. The prompt was Horror Movies, which turned into horror stories instead of movies which I hope is okay. Anyway. Sorry it's so short, but quality is more important than quantity, right? :D Hope you like it, and have a Merry Christmas! Since I've never written for this series before and am still kind of new to it, any sort of con-crit would be greatly appreciated, especially in terms of characterization. How can I improve? :D Beta-read by the fabulous obsessed_love at LJ!
A Fear of Falling
"So, are you the kind of person who gets really freaked out by horror stories?" Lavi asked, leaning towards her over the back of his chair, which was teetering dangerously on its back legs. Lenalee shot him a disapproving look and shook her head.
"Not really. Why?"
He shrugged, scratching his cheek and smiling sheepishly at her. "Dunno. You just seem like the kinda person who'd be afraid."
She raised an eyebrow at him, cocking her head to the side. "Oh? So you think I'm a scaredy-cat or something?"
Lavi's eye widened and he shook his head, fiercely. "No, no, nothin' like that! I just, I dunno, I thought maybe you were-" He paused for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, feeling incredibly silly for having brought the topic up. He didn't mean to offend her or anything, he just wanted to know! "Sorry," he muttered, offering her a goofy smile. "Didn't mean to say you were a scaredy-cat."
Lenalee shrugged and Lavi knew that was her way of saying he was forgiven. She probably hadn't been that bothered by it to begin with, more caught off guard by the question. Which frankly Lavi thought was quite silly of her. She should have grown to expect this kind of behavior from him by now.
She frowned a bit and glanced off to the side, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Instinctively, Lavi leaned forward on his chair again, as if the closer he got to her the easier it would be to read her mind. "I used to be really easily frightened," Lenalee said, slowly, and Lavi almost fell off his seat from leaning too close to her. She reached out and caught him before he that could happen and pushed the chair back up onto both legs. "Don't do that anymore," she said, warningly, and he grinned at her in appreciation. Once Lavi was settled securely back in his seat, Lenalee continued: "I used to be easily frightened. Not just of stories, but everything. There was a long period of time when I was so paranoid that every shadow on the wall scared me to death."
"Not a fan of the Grimm fairytales, then?"
Lenalee grimaced a bit and shook her head. "Not at all. Those were some of the worst."
Lavi nodded in understand. "But not anymore, right? You're not still scared."
She smiled, sadly, and gave a small nod. "Right. Not anymore. Somewhere along the line I realized that all the scary things in those stories and in my head just weren't real. They were just that: stories." Lenalee sighed, glancing up at him with a sad smile on her face. "Truth be told, I found that the real world was much, much more frightening than any fairytale could ever be."
There was a long pause as Lenalee sat silently, watching Lavi for his reaction and Lavi in return sized her up. Lenalee never spoke to Lavi about her past, and a part of him figured she never would. The Bookman inside him said that was all for the better.
"Makes sense," he said, shrugging. "I kinda have the same problem. I can't take 'em seriously since I know everything in 'em ain't real, or, uh, is incredibly inaccurate. They're still good for a laugh, though."
That made her laugh, softly, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "I would expect nothing less from you."
He leaned forward on his chair again, staring at her curiously. Then his lip curled up in a smile. "Oi. Lenalee."
She glanced up at him, expectantly. "Hmm?"
"Listen. Next time you're afraid of something, come find me, okay? I'll point out all the things that are wrong about… well, whatever it is, and we can laugh about it together. Okay?"
At first she didn't react, she just looked at him. Then she grinned at him, appreciatively. "Will do," she said, before adding, "thank you."
"No problem," Lavi said, jovially. "I figured that might make you feel better."
"It does," said Lenalee, nodding. "Actually, my older brother used to do something similar with me when I was younger. It really did help quite a bit, so, really, thank you for offering."
"Don't mention it," he said, leaning forward in his chair again. A quiet moment passed, and then, "And if after we've laughed about it, you're still scared, don't worry, I can always hold your ha-"
There was a loud CLANG! as Lenalee reached forward and grabbed Lavi's chair, pulling it towards her off it's front legs, causing it to fall backwards and sending Lavi to the floor in a confused heap. As he tried to scramble back up and gather his composure, Lenalee calmly stood and walked away, a fond smile still gracing her lips as she went.