Laven Week 2015~ Day Four: A Moment in Time
- x -
Allen takes out seven akuma in one minute and another five in the next with barely a second of rest in between while Lavi waits off to the side, idly twirling his hammer and bored out of his mind. Sometimes Allen throws him a bone and lets him kill a few, but for the most part it's not exactly fun watching Allen's back on the off-chance he gets overwhelmed. Still, Allen's almost hit Lavi with a stray shot in his haste to quickly take out akuma more than enough times since they've gotten to China for Lavi to voluntarily resign to the sidelines for his own safety.
The street falls silent once Allen finishes the last akuma off, him and Lavi the last living things left on the street. Only the distant bustle of the town reminds Lavi they aren't alone, but that seems so far away in comparison to the loud gunfire from a minute before. It's almost eerie how still everything has become. It's peaceful, yes, but the peace is as frail as glass. He doesn't expect it to be shattered by a soft, fleeting sigh that could easily be mistaken as the wind.
Lavi looks at Allen, who for once doesn't make any effort to hide the slight, tired slope of his shoulders. When he notices Lavi looking, the calming smile that's been glued to his face since this morning doesn't immediately make an appearance, leaving his exhaustion is clear to see.
Then Bookman and Krory come around the corner and the smile is back in an instant.
- x -
They're all taking shelter under a bridge in what was formerly Edo, Miranda diligently seeing to all the wounded as low conversation buzzes in the air. Allen's happy to see her hands are steady when using her innocence. She moves among the exorcists with more confidence than Allen's ever seen her have, and she even offers him a slightly shaky smile in greeting when she catches his eye.
Lenalee is resting fitfully beside Allen. He keeps watch as he listens Tiedoll and Bookman discuss Cross, ignoring his gut reaction of rage each time his master's name is mentioned. He doesn't notice Lavi sitting down beside him until their knees knock together.
Allen glances over at Lavi, but his head is turned towards the conversation behind them. Still, even with the firelight only lighting up half of his face and body, Allen is able to watch a small smile appear on his friend's face and all the tension drain out of his body. Allen turns back to watch Lenalee. Their knees remain touching.
I missed you, too.
- x -
"Lavi? Hey!"
"Allen?" Lavi starts, snapping out of the daze he wasn't even aware he was in and nearly dropping the books tucked under his arm. He hadn't realized he reached the cafeteria, the uncharacteristic silence fooling him as he wandered half-asleep through the order.
It's late enough that most of the crowd from dinner is gone. Only the people who where too busy working and Allen are eating now. Still, it takes Lavi a second to locate Allen. He can't even see him behind the piles of plates stacked in front of him, only Timcampy napping on top of a pile betraying Allen's position.
"Where were you all day, Lavi?" Allen asks. There's a soft clank of glass as he adds another plate to the piles.
"Doing some work in the library before the old panda gets after me," Lavi says, sitting next to him. "It gets kinda boring in the infirmary. "
Especially since you keep sneaking off somewhere, he thinks. It's been a week since the battle, and Allen's left everyday for at least an hour. Probably sitting in the Ark.
There's silence between them as Allen continues eating.
"You look tired," Lavi says.
Allen shrugs and pops a handful of grapes in his mouth. Lavi's almost positive he swallows them without chewing. "So do you. Can't sleep?"
Lavi shakes his head. It's not so much he can't sleep so much as he gets too distracted trying to sort out his thoughts to sleep. It feels like he hasn't been able to shut off his brain ever since Road's mind games. Ever since Allen saved him.
"Nah. Hey," Lavi says, "have you heard Krory's stomach lately? I swear the sound changes everyday."
"Really?"
"I'm telling you, it wasn't that high-pitched yesterday!"
Allen follows along with Lavi switch the topic without any reaction, easily slipping into their usual banter until Lavi makes to leave. He wordlessly offers Lavi a biscuit as he gets up.
Lavi accepts the food, surprisingly touched by the gesture. "Getting full, Allen?"
Allen raises an eyebrow and stuffs another three in his mouth. "Go sleep."
- x -
"Morin'…" Lavi intones, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Good morning, Allen Walker," Bookman says with a little more alertness.
"Good morning," Allen says, trying not to show his surprise as Lavi and Bookman take up two more sinks. He hears Link mutter a greeting and can almost imagine the suspicious look in his eye. Not that he can exactly blame Link. Allen can't remember ever seeing Lavi voluntarily up before eleven.
The sound of water fills the bathroom as they brush their teeth, the atmosphere unusually strained thanks to Link's new presence. Or maybe it's the shadow in the mirror that's setting Allen on edge. Either way Allen already misses his peaceful mornings when he could enjoy a moment or two by himself without someone hovering over his shoulder.
"Come on, Allen," Lavi says, throwing an arm around him. "Let's get breakfast." He turns Allen away from the mirror and steers him out the bathroom, stifling a giant yawn as he ignores Link's protest. "Can't let you suffer all alone now, can I?"
- x -
Lavi wakes up with stack of books leaning precariously on his arm and a pencil balanced on his nose. He can hear Allen scribbling away close by, but when he cracks open his eye to look up at Allen, he's not surprised to see a smirk on his lips.
It's not too hard to fix the books without moving too much, but it takes some effort to rebalance the pencil on his nose before he goes back to sleep. The sound of Allen's quiet snickers and Link's disapproving sigh more than makes up for the effort.
- x -
The whispers gain volume as they gain supporters. What once were hushed conversations that halted with Allen's appearance now get louder when he's in the vicinity. Eyes that used to dart away nervously now watch his every move, daring him to challenge them.
Allen can say that he doesn't care all he wants. In all honesty it's nothing new, but it'd be a lie to say the steadying hand Lavi presses into the small of his back isn't grounding.
- x -
They've misstepped somewhere. One of them has moved wrong, or maybe both of them have moved out of their usual alignment, but now the air has shifted and they are too close in a too private corner of a deserted hallway with Link nowhere to be found and has it always been this tense between them?
Their eyes are locked in a stalemate, both struggling to keep their breathing even, to not display any tells to one of the only people who know them. Time stretches between them longer than they've ever allowed it. One minute becomes two, then three, both extremely aware of time ticking away, but neither is exactly sure how to resolve it, what to do now that the usual mold is broken.
Then Lavi's eye flickers to Allen's lips and the standoff is broken, Allen moving forward to crowd Lavi against the wall, fist curling into his shirt to yank him down to his level.
Their breaths ghost over each other, noses nearly touching. Allen draws back just the slightest bit. His grip loosens.
"Well?" Allen says, just a hint of uncertainly leaking in.
Lavi swallows. "Well?" he echoes, unsure.
The sound of footsteps walking by. Laughter drifts from somewhere. Allen sucks in a breath and leans in.
- x -
Allen sees Lavi coming up the stairs as he goes down, the other boy not noticing him in his exhaustion. He looks asleep on his feet, headband already hanging around his neck and eye drifting shut even as he drags himself slowly up the stone stairs. It's unclear whether he'll make it back to his room before he decides to just give in and sleep on the ground, but he's clearly returned from his mission unharmed.
They're just missing each other again. Allen sighs. It seems like everyone is gone these days.
Lavi doesn't even offer a greeting as Allen goes by, but the brush of Lavi's hand against his is as warm as it is fleeting. A promise of meetings to come.