Football, a Fray and a Moment of Fey
Notes: Usual disclaimers apply, not for profit, for fun. I also just want more Daisya in canon ok.
..
Lavi is at lunch in the Order's refectory, alone today. He does not mind. His mind merely meandering, when he's shaken out of reverie by something slamming in front of him on the table.
"You! Me! We're gonna play football. Now!" Lavi gets a faceful of Daisya.
"What now? Jus' the two'f'us?" He says round a mouthful of food.
".. and whoever' else we can find." Daisya is in between missions and he is obviously bored and the only things that can stave off the boredom is either training - dangerously - or football. Sometimes alcohol is involved too but it is in the middle of the day.
"But … I don't know how to play football, and," Lavi says, licking off his spoon, "I'm probably not any good."
"Where's your spirit of adventure Junior? It's good to try. You might be really good you just don't know it."
"I can tell you it's history and how dangerous it can be and up until quite recent it was outlawed in places and …"
"Bookman, just shut up ok, you playin' or not?" Daisya leans close in again, "What else do you have planned anyway… nothing right? I checked?" Because, Lavi has found out that Daisya can be sneaky when he wants to be.
"C'mon then." He spins the ball that rudely interrupted Lavi's train of thoughts expertly on his right index finger. "Let's go find someone to play with."
In the end they cannot find any interest in their game of football. It seems that the Science Division are averse to sunlight, and Daisya's mood is beginning to fall a little. Lavi feels bad for him so he says, he is willing to kick the ball around with him anyway. So they head outside, where they know there is one person they have yet to ask. Its his favourite training ground they will be playing on, after all it is the perfect place to kick a ball around. Although he might have something to say about being ousted from his practice, their argument - their pre-emptive statement - is that it is a form of training. All that aerobic exercise. It will be beneficial to them all.
'But I don't want to kick a fuckin' ball round. It's pointless." Lavi wants to laugh because Kanda actually looks like he's pouting.
"Kanda, You've been here long enough, so now it's our turn. You can sit out under the trees for a bit, till at least I get a little bit tired."
"But you never get tired when you play football, and it's boring." Lavi gets a gauge of how comfortable Yuu is around Daisya because now he's almost whining too.
Daisya decides he's had enough of both the complaints and the whining; he just wants to play so he kicks the ball straight at Yuu's midsection and winds him.
"That. Is fucking illegal." There is a challenge in Yuu's dark eyes. "Okay then you're on."
They shrug off their coats and are just down to their shirts and trousers and start kicking the ball around. Lavi guesses there are no real rules and two trees at one end of the copse are their goal posts, whoever is in possession of the ball can try to shoot for it and the others will just wrest the ball away. Simple enough really. Except that Daisya is too good and Yuu does not like to lose and at some point in the game there is an unspoken agreement that it will be Yuu and Lavi versus Daisya.
He is still too good though, and Yuu decides that he does not like losing at all, makes a grab for Daisya and shouts for Lavi to aim for the goal. Lavi, uncertain about the whole thing, especially since it IS outright cheating, thinks that maybe he will play the Bookman card and claim impartiality. He really does not want to pick a side here, because it will be a lose-lose situation for sure. Instead of course that looks like betrayal on both sides and suddenly he is in the middle of a free-for-all. Which, the redhead decides, he can cope with. So he plunges in with absolute glee.
Thankfully, it does not last long. All in all, the game - if it can even be called such - and the fracas, take up a good thirty minutes, and they are breathless, bruised and cut-up. Nothing, they cannot survive. There is no other remedy to it than to wash in the stream by the trees.
"That was fun," in between gasps, Lavi laughs.
"Idiot rabbit, now I definitely know you're not right in the head." Yuu breathes out huskily.
"Yes, it definitely was interesting," Daisya agrees with Lavi.
They're lying down under the trees, their jackets folded into cushions for their heads. The breeze plays in the leaves above them and with the sun, cast dancing and dappled shadows over them. There is only the sound of nature and it is peaceful. Lavi, lying between Daisya - to his right - and Yuu, on his left thinks that Daisya might be dozing. Daisya is on his blind side, so he cannot tell truly.
He then angles a glance to his left and Yuu with his outstretched right hand, has a peculiar expression on his face. Following the swordsman's eyes and Lavi can only see that Yuu is looking straight up, possibly through the leaves. But the gaze is faraway, unseeing and lost in yearning. For a moment Lavi is lost himself because he knows he is intruding on something so private as to be almost visceral and he does not know how to proceed. He thinks that maybe it is one of those times the best course of action is to leave. Even if it seems like he is running away, but it seems that Yuu is aware - somehow - of his thinking.
"There's no need for you to go," his whisper is soft, "this will pass. Stay."
So Lavi does, the moment - indeed - passes and like a touch of fey, Lavi almost believes that it only happened in his head. They stay unmoving until Daisya awakes from slumber and gets them to shift their lazy asses, and truly the moment has passed. As soon as they get their things on and Daisya retrieves the ball from under the bushes where it rolled as their fray started, Yuu strides off without a backward glance. Lavi wants to follow, he wants to ask but a hand on his arm stops him.
"You just have to leave him be." Daisya shrugs, "sometimes he gets that way, and we've learnt to leave him be."
Lavi simply nods and in silence they follow that retreating back from a distance.
..
FIN
Notes: This is for posting date 31 Aug. If it was your birthday, Happiest of Birthdays to you for then!
A set involving Daisya would not be complete without football. So here is my tribute to a lovely character who was never given enough time in the series at all.
As ever, thank you for stopping by to read, you are all so loved! ^_^ - Zan
Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks!
Part 32 of the 49 Days series