"Is it morning already?" Allen muttered, carefully breaking away from Lenalee and Johnny to stand.

"Not just yet," a soft voice informed him, coming up from behind the couch. "It is hard to tell with the rain, though."

"Lavi," Allen smiled, standing to give his lover a kiss.

"Hey," the bookman grinned back. "Sorry I didn't tell you about-"

"Stop. We agreed we'd keep that stuff separate, especially if it was about me."

"Yeah, but at the time it was a joke. I never would've guessed…"

"Yeah. I imagine you and Bookman have been having quite the conversation."

"No, but not for a lack of trying. The old man knows something, but…"

"Your master is keeping secrets from you? I can't imagine how frustrating that must be," Allen remarked, barely keeping from laughing himself.

Lavi snorted. "You're adorable."

"Why, thank you. There's this really cute redhead that tells me that every other day," was the reply, leaning into the grasp again.

"That's a smart redhead," the older teen laughed now, giving the shorter male another kiss. "You're not letting yourself process any of this, are you?"

"The Fourteenth can piss off; I think I made that perfectly clear. Which reminds me," was the add before the other could interject, pulling out a folded-over piece of paper from his back pocket. "Something I know you've wanted, even if you haven't said so."

Confused, Lavi unfolded the offered page. It was Allen's handwriting, and seemed to be a poem of some sort. No, that was very not Allen. Something he'd… Oh. Lyrics. This could definitely be lyrics. "Are these the-?"

"Yes."

"To control the-?"

"Yes."

"I will guard this with my life," the bookman promised, holding it against himself while getting another kiss. He didn't know how many more he was getting; wanted to be sure to get as many as he could.

"You're welcome, but… could that be between us, at least for now?"

"Sure; the old man's keeping enough from me. It's beautiful, you know, like a lullaby. I bet a guy who'd use something like this for a key can't be all bad."

"Maybe, but if he's like the other Noahs, hating humans is going to be a big part of the bad."

"He had to have rebelled for a reason."

"I don't suppose you know that reason?"

"Gramps might, but I don't. I wish I did; I'd tell you everything you wanted to know."

"I know. Thank y-" Allen started, but Timcampy abruptly abandoned his shoulder to fly off. "Tim? Hey, Tim!" the white-haired teen called, following after.

Lavi followed too. There was only one person that little golden golem would leave Allen for, and doing so that suddenly left a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Yep, they were heading right for General Cross' room. And there were a lot of people around- people that paled at the sight of Allen, but not one stopped him. Lavi didn't either, staying close but giving his lover space. If he was about to see what the redhead thought he was, they were both in for a very long day. To say Allen didn't handle his emotions well was a massive understatement.

"Is that… blood?" he heard the quiet tone ask.

'No, please,' Lavi dared to silently plead. 'Not after everything he just found out. He needs Cross now more that he ever did.'

"Then… whose…?"

Lavi remained still when he saw Allen's mask slip and horrified realization embedded his features, only to be immediately be stashed and bottled.

"…Let's go, Tim," Allen muttered, and after a moment or two, the golem flew out again.

Komui tried to follow- Lavi held out a hand to stop him as Allen continued forward; the supervisor seemed to understand. "Take care of him."

The redhead gave a nod, but wasn't sure how much help he could be. Within the half hour, Allen was likely to be acting like everything was fine again. But he still followed.

The younger teen kept a slow pace another few feet- then took off at full speed the rest of the way down the hall. "Oh, no you don't," his lover hissed, catching up. He'd almost reached the other when they hit the stairs- and Allen hit an advantage, as he could hop up on the railing and propel himself to the next floor's railing. Lavi could take the steps two at a time, but still wasn't half as fast as Allen.

So he watched to see which floor his quarry stopped jumping on. The fourth, probably figuring it would take his pursuer forever to get up there, he'd be long gone, and Lavi would be out of breath.

Lavi still followed. He was very out of breath by the time he'd reached the floor, but he was better at finding Allen than Allen gave him credit for. He took a minute to catch his breath, calm his breathing again, and listened. The fourth floor was empty, quiet. Too easy to hear someone on the other end of the hall sobbing so hard they were borderline hyperventilating. Why Allen felt the need to hide that he had other emotions besides complacent happiness Lavi didn't know, but past experience told him Allen didn't respond well to people in his personal space while he was losing his mind. So the bookman remained where he was, and waited.

He sat down against the cold wall and slid to the floor, again taking out the paper his lover had entrusted him with. The paper that, until a few minutes ago, had been Allen's biggest problem.

Allen's careful writing. Just as the man himself was.

Lavi put it away and stood, walking down the hall.

Allen heard him coming, but in the state he was in, Lavi easily caught him. "Don't," he gasped, trying to pull away.

"You first. It's like you think you'll be rejected or something if you dare be anything but nauseatingly pleasant." His lover still didn't look at him, but his head drooped further. "Shit, you don't actually think that, do you?"

Allen tried tugging again.

Lavi tightened his grip, pulled the younger male closer to himself. The mop of white hair stubbornly refused to rise. "Allen."

Nothing.

His own temper mounting, the bookman jerked him back against the wall, forcing that head to meet his gaze. "You're allowed to be in other moods besides happy. Everyone get frustrated- it's called being human."

There wasn't a voiced reply, but Allen broke down into fresh tears, wrapping his arms around the taller teen's neck.

"There you go," was the calm state.

"Why now, Lavi?!" his love sobbed. "Who would-? Okay, stupid question," he sniffed. "Lots of people were mad at Master, but if he's dead, he can't pay them back."

"I think this goes a lot deeper than a few debts, Allen."

"A few debts?!"

Oh, right. No one ever made light of money in front of Allen Walker, least of all when it came to the amount his master owed. "You know what I mean."

"…Yeah." He sniffed, eyes swollen and red. "Any idea… what could've happened?"

"Oh, I have plenty of ideas, but no evidence any one of them could be closer to the truth than the other."

"That's annoying."

"Agreed."

"Lavi… I know it's horrible and disrespectful, but could you help me forget? Just for a little while?"

"Pretty sure General Cross is the last person with the right to bitch about being disrespectful, and in this case, I think he'd approve. Come here."

Despite already being in the other's arms, Allen did lean closer to take the kiss Lavi offered. And took, until his lover was good and riled; and found himself pinned between the warm body and cold wall. "Gonna take me out here?" he breathed.

"Can't think of a reason I shouldn't," was the immediate reply, fingers unbuttoning the new uniform's coat.

"People?"

A light scoff. "No one's up here, Allen. That's why you came up here, right?"

"Y-Yeah," he managed back, the other's hands sliding into his pants after getting the coat open.

"Have I mentioned how incredibly sexy you look in this uniform?"

Flushing hard, Allen pulled the redhead's bandana down over both his eyes despite one already covered.

"That's what I get for giving you a compliment, huh?" Lavi laughed, pulling it down the rest of the way to hang around his neck.

"Maybe I just like your hair better down."

"Do you?"

There was a nod, then, tentatively, the younger exorcist reached up to bundle the vibrant bangs from the bookman's face- and leaned up to place a soft kiss on his eye patch. When Lavi stiffened in surprise, he tried to explain. "I don't know what you're hiding under there and I don't need to, but you're always kissing my scar, and, um…"

His skin was flushing so brightly, looked so embarrassed at what he'd admitted, the bookman couldn't stop a smile. "Thank you, Allen," he spoke, and gave the upside-down star above the other's left eye a kiss- as noted, not for the first, or hopefully last, time. "Really. Thank you," was the add, and pulled him into another kiss. "If there's anything I don't deserve, it's your love."

"Right back at you."

"We really do have to work on how we view ourselves, don't we?"

"But later, okay?"

"Definitely later," was the agreement, and pulled the white-haired male into another deep kiss, keeping the shorter body close, hands skating over him until he heard his favorite sound in the world- a breathy, needy moan that that spoke that his partner was gone, and finished unbuckling his lover's pants to drop to the ground himself and immediately take the length he found down his throat.

Allen's strangled cry sounded more pained than pleasured, but it always did. Lavi was sure, deep down, the other felt he didn't deserve this kind of attention, let alone this kind of affection. He'd keep showing him otherwise as long as he was allowed.

Needy fingers started grasping his hair, almost too tightly, but Lavi didn't mind- another sign Allen was getting exactly what he wanted, a temporary reprieve from logical thought. "Lavi, Lavi, please, take me."

"Sure you don't wanna come first?"

"I want you inside me when I do."

"Gonna take a lot of time to get those boots off."

After biting his lip and turning red again, Allen turned to lean against the wall, legs spread. "Like this should be okay, though, right?"

"Aw, that's just not fair," the redhead groaned, getting to his feet again to mold his body against his lover's own.

"Oh, Lavi, don't," the other begged, feeling the older teen grind against him. "I'll… I'll…"

It took every ounce of willpower he had, but the bookman drew back. "You're not gonna last long with my fingers inside you either, then."

"Please," the other pleaded, gratefully sucking on the digits gifted to him. Lavi used his free hand to ease down the remaining fabric obstacles between them, grateful himself that he hadn't changed into his own uniform yet.

He drew his fingers back from Allen's hot mouth, loving the cry that elicited from him when they slid inside him. Lavi moved and stretched the muscle, noting the large drops of fluid dripping not only from his partner's leaking member, but salvia from his mouth as well.

Allen was gone. And wanted to stay that way as long as possible. Slowly, he withdrew, heart breaking a little at the whimper that followed. "Don't you worry, we are a far cry from done," he informed his lover, taking a condom from his back pocket. He tried to always have a couple on him; never knew what kind of state his moody little clown was in. "Ready?"

"Yes, yes, please. Hard, so hard…"

Lavi slid inside him, moving instantly, not halting for a second, even as his lover finally let himself shudder out his orgasm. His cries were echoing loudly down the empty hall, and the back of his own mind warned of the danger there, but the forefront was too intoxicated to care. Let him scream; he'd earned the right.

"Oh, yes, Lavi, I, again-" he managed before adding to the mess on the wall, the redhead completely sheathed inside him for the duration.

"Think you got another one in you?" he breathed in the shorter male's ear.

"For you, I can do anything."

"I don't want you pushing yourself."

"I have at least one more, Lavi, trust me; you're close, right?"

"The second I feel you squeeze around me again-"

"Oh, you mean like this?" Allen asked coyly, and he groaned at the sensation.

"Yes, but, it's so much harder when you're coming."

"Keep taking me then."

So Lavi did, hands leaving his lover's narrow hips to lean flat against the wall, forcing Allen even closer, and resumed his pace.

The younger teen cried out again, hands finding his own arms and hanging on. "Lavi… not much…"

"Y-Yeah," was the agreement, and thrust sharply as he came, more messy shudders from his partner- who started slipping. Lavi immediately adjusted his position so his arms supported the shorter body as well as his own.

"Th-thanks."

"Looks like I might've pushed you too far this time."

"No. You pushed just right; just like you always do."

"Good to know," was the reply, nuzzling close. Allen always smelled like sleeping in on a summer day, even just after sex. That summer day was just a lot warmer, like when you stayed under the blanket too long.

"Think I'm going to try and move now."

"Okay, go easy."

"Will not be a problem."

Lavi carefully moved as Allen stood straight again, withdrawing and pulling back as the other got his boundaries- and he his own.

"Ugh, what are we going to do about this mess?"

"I have no problems walking away from it."

A snort.

"What? They can't trace that back to us. Here, lemme help."

"I can button my own coat, Lavi; I did it not an hour ago."

"Closer to two at this point, thank you."

"…Were you spying on me?"

"What am I gonna do, extend my hammer's handle to the exact height of your window just to watch you change? Really Allen, don't you think my schedule's full enough?"

"Yet that was oddly specific. And I totally saw you."

"I knew you were moving like that on purpose," the bookman stated, finishing with the buttons.

"Like what?" Allen asked, a picture of innocence.

"Stop; you knew exactly what you were doing."

"And if I heard correctly, made you lose your balance a few times."

"If you mean grabbing the windowsill so I didn't fall and die, yes."

"You're so dramatic."

"…So you didn't mind me spying on you?"

"Once I realized it was probably because we hadn't slept together in two months and you weren't sure if I was mad at you, actually, no. Probably should've let you in, but teasing you was pretty fun too."

"Sadist."

"You love it."

Lavi opened his mouth to retort, then sighed. "Dammit. You're right, I do," he admitted, and stole another kiss.

"Come on; let's go before Link starts looking for me."

"He probably already is." A chill went down Allen's spine; Lavi laughed. "Two-Spot getting on your nerves?"

"…Anyone would start to get annoyed when they never have time on their own, especially when it's because the place they consider their home considers them a threat."

"It's not you they-"

"I know. It's still gross."

The redhead gave that upside-down star a kiss and pulled his lover close. "Just remember not all of us think that, okay? In fact, those that do are in a low minority."

"I hear people talking, Lavi. I know it's the opposite."

"But there are people who care about you, Allen, and no one more than me. If you ever have the audacity to forget that… Hell, who am I kidding? Even then I couldn't bring myself to turn on you."

"But… if…"

"I would sooner kill him that let him masquerade around in your body, but I know you won't let it come to that. You're too damn stubborn."

Allen choked out a laugh. "Thank you, Lavi."

"Come on; you look like you haven't slept in a year."

"I don't really feel much like sleeping."

"And I don't doubt it, but humor me and my aggressively cuddly ass, okay?"

Allen snorted despite himself. Lavi offered his hand and he took it, smiling at the warmth he felt. Everything wasn't magically okay again, but he was starting to hope that someday it might be. Maybe even someday soon. "Yeah, okay. That does sound nice."