"Allen...?" Lavi ventured, opening the door slowly as he heard a loud creak from it. There was no answer. "Allen?" he tried again, firmer this time. Still, no answer. Perplexed, he swung the door open fully and stepped into the room, taking in the surroundings. It was a musty-looking (and smelling) room with a poorly chosen colour scheme of browns and greens that gave off a sort of moldy appearance. There were papers, yellowed and old, tossed carelessly along the floor and tables. Shelves, covered in a nearly a decade's worth of dust, lined the walls. He noticed a small, pink, faded stuffed rabbit sitting on the floor beside the worn couch. Wondering how it had found its place there, he knelt down and scooped up the bunny in his arms. Its fur had patches torn out and was a faded, nearly-white, pink and there was stuffing protruding from where the seams had ripped. It had two uttons for eyes and a small, red bow around its neck. It was just as old as everything in the room. He set it down again because he had found what he had been looking for. "Allen!" he cried out, running to the boy. Said boy turned around to face him, no smkile, no twinkling eyes, only a bland expressionless nd hauntingly beautiful face. Lavi's jaw went slack and no further words were spoken. After a long and awkward silence, Lavi raised his hand up to the other's face. Allen only swatted it away, still not speaking.
A whimper-like sigh made itself known upon leaving Allen's lips. Immediately, Lavi responded. It was an instinct and almost reflex-like.
"What's wrong, Allen?" he beckoned for Allen to reply. Allen still stood motionless and uncooperative. It wasn't like him. None of this was like him. Lavi was about to open his mouth to ask again when he saw Allen raising his left arm—the mutilated one (so Lavi thought)—to his face. He brushed a finger over the curse mark Mana had given him, shivering. Perplexed by this motion, Lavi leaned closer.
"Lavi," Finally, Allen spoke. "do you know how I received these marks?"
Lavi shook his head, he didn't know. How could he know? Allen had never spoken of this before. A strand of white hair was brushed behind Allen's ear only further revealing the mark. Lavi winced.
Allen continued, "It's useful as an exorcist, I suppose." Here, he took in a shallow breath. "But, it's a constant reminder of what I must do." Lavi opened his mouth to speak but found that the words he thought would come out naturally had faded in the back of his throat and he was left speechless—it wasn't like him.
"My...dying adoptive father, Mana, gave it to me," A fresh tear had fallen from Allen's eyes. "and the arm...I was born with." Lavi could no longer control this incoherent desire to throw his arms around Allen, so he did. No words of comfort came from his mouth—they found solace in the silence, this time around. The comfortable quietness that hung all around them was not broken until Allen pulled away and whispered, "Sorry..."
Lavi raised a hand to Allen's cheek and ran his fingers slowly over the marking. Allen shivered, almost jerking away but found that he couldn't. "Mana loved you very much, didn't he?"
"I don't know, he might have only loved me because I was the reincarnation of the Fourteenth, I don't think—" Before Allen could finish, Lavi had brought a finger to his lips telling him that it wasn't true. Allen felt strangely reassured.
"And the white hair?" he asked, running a hand through Allen's silvery strands of hair.
"It was," Allen's breathing hitched. "with the curse..."
Lavi's face came closer, inches from Allen's. He hesitated for a moment before placing a tentative kiss on Allen's lips, barely ghosting by them as if afraid they would fade away like a mirage if he moved in any more than he already had. Lavi pulled back slowly, opening his eyes that had closed on contact. No words were spoken—no words needed to be spoken. There were no confessions of love or anything of the sort for they had already come to a mutual understanding—they needed each other.
"Thank you." Allen said, genuinely grateful. He, in turn, put his arms around Lavi's torso in a gentle embrace.
Lavi smiled, copying the motion. The Allen he knew was back. "No, thank you." The smile that Lavi offered Allen was irresistible. Another tear escaped from Allen's eyes along with a whimper. Lavi looked worried as he leaned in and carefully brushed the tear away. "Don't cry, Allen." he murmured.
Allen nodded slowly, chuckling to himself. "It's just that," he said, wiping the tears that had started to fall, "I'm so happy. I mean, for so long....you're the only one who's close to me and I— What I mean is that, you're special and—" He was beginning to ramble on. Lavi just nodded, bobbing his head up and down, though he couldn't help but laugh himself.
"Oh, blast," Allen exclaimed, "none of this is coming out bloody right."
Lavi held Allen's hand tight in his grip. "It's alright." He assured him with a soft kiss on his cheek, "I know what you mean and I'm just as flabbergasted."
Allen cocked his head to the side in confusion. Lavi adored Allen's adorable gestures and mannerisms—everything about him. He patted Allen on the head. "You see," he began to tell his side of the story, "I am to be a Bookman, correct?" Allen didn't quite understand where this was going, but he nodded anyway. "Well," Lavi took in a deep breath to buy himself time to sort out his thoughts. "a Bookman has no need for a heart or what we record becomes biased. We cannot take sides, we cannot grow attached, but, most of all, we cannot love."
Allen gasped almost instinctively. "I'm so sorry!" He finally wrapped his head around what Lavi's words meant for him. "I-...I don't know what to say...You were working so hard to become the next Bookman and I just popped into the picture—"
"The best thing that's ever happened to me." Lavi pointed out. "Allen," he murmured, "I was just as...devoid of love. I need this now—I need you. You don't know what it's doing to me."
Allen shook his head. "I must consider your goal to become the Bookman."
"We're comrades, friends, and I don't know what else...it's already too late. Don't you see, Allen?" Lavi opened his arms up to the sky. "I've found a new ambition—something that means more to me. And, that ambiiton is you."
"You're too much."
"And you're all I need." Lavi retorted, the same lopsided grin that Allen knew and loved gracing his features.
Allen sighed contentedly. "You're such a bloody drama queen, Lavi." He stepped into a clumsy embrace, burying his face into the nape of Lavi's neck and inhaling in the warm, welcoming scent. Lavi was about to protest the "drama queen" comment before Allen added, "And, I love that about you—everything about you."
"Glad to be of assistance." Lavi quipped.
"You're a dear, you big oaf."
Lavi gave him a toothy grin. "Good."
"Very good." Allen corrected.
"Ah, pardon my mistake." Lavi responded, taking a deep bow.
The previous depressing mood seemed to have completely dissipated. Lavi was more than thankful. He liked Allen the way he was right now—happy and smiling and, now more than ever, in love. Love was a powerful force.
Allen had kept his promise to Mana—he was still walking. He had strong legs that would carry him on the rest of his life and strong friends that would always be there to support him.