A/N: First story, nasty attempt actually. Written on a depressing day while I found myself in need of a magical red hint to light me up.
Who better than Lavi? I love this multifaceted character with his hundreds of faces and millions of traits. But he caught me lingering in a strange mood, thus he turned out to be the bad guy of this one shot.
I like it, somehow, even if I have a loooong way to go. Well, trying is working and working is improving. Yay!
Disclaimer:DGray Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino. The song Down belongs to Brad.
EDIT:I've finally discovered how to edit a published story [I'm the worst ._.] and fixed some spelling mistakes. Hope they'll hurt a bit less now.
Raise this spine, run from bottom on up
Colour come on, bring your blessings outside
Step round a window, huddle self game bare
Shiver pause for falling, trance to ingest lava dust
Ease trust catalyst
SPIN THE RED CIRCLE
The streets were full of people converging to the town square, like rainbow shots irradiating from everywhere. Ridiculous how, each of them, moved like they know exactly where to go, as if born with an innate sense of intuition. A day of feast, a day of celebration involving the entire country dressed in strange funny suits, something so distant from their habits that Exorcist and Finders found themselves rather surprised by the boisterous parade. Crowds in a rush roamed from side to side like huge streams of colors, shapes and voices; laughter and yells punctured through sensitive ears like a white noise constantly scratching the bottom, unstoppable pushy, floating at different levels and far from resting.
Lavi, despite the pulsing nuisance in his head, was rather amused by the figures crossing his path: in the bright mirror of his green eye what went reflected was a huge animated library, piles of living papers. Books, of every form and type, issue, nature, material. Breathing knowledge, that was all was coming down to, hundredth of walking stories passing him by. Ink on paper and no names, the old man had taught him. Damn, old man. The cruel preaching Bookman had deserved to him, days earlier, still injured the redhead's pride. Yeah, I've skipped some work to stalk him. Then what? Shit, he didn't want to think about it and ruin the easy mood. He kicked it out of his head and smacked on his own lips the cheeky smile so characteristically belonging to the public 49th, before discarding the mass and paying devoted attention to the precious, rare, unique tome walking by his side. The best of all stories, wrapped up in an ivory scarred cover. The one who unintentionally gained him a brutal scolding.
Was Allen speaking? Damn, he was. The androgynous voice kept blabbering in a morbid register, reaching some high pitch now and then and still without scraping an annoying girlish tone. What more, he was complaining about Lenalee, and that in Jr's mind ringed a certain approval. With a measured glare he registered the only part of Walker left to sight by the white locks: a strip of pale skin, the tail of a red scar and moving lips perpetually parted in sounds. The redhead smiled again with his thoughts recharged and his friendly curve went somehow sordid, a clean line of white stained by the shadow of a hidden, unusual, appetite scratching the back of his throat.
' .. honestly. She's too oppressive lately, really. I might try and understand why she needs so desperately to worry for everybody, but winding up severely scolding her most dear friends every five minutes, and just because they're trying to have a life after all, it's not the best way to show us affection. It's even less appreciated than her punches of love ..' Lavi missed the rest of the statement but wasn't a problem, he got the concept anyway. He preferred to live up to the charming aura the pure white at his side radiated constantly, as if he had looked at him for the first time. Oh, how lucky he felt to testify such a sight .. but, well, feeling lucky didn't feed off the filthy curiosity.
Under the livid sun of a late afternoon there were no comparisons, not with anything dead or alive on this earth; not even a diamond as big as his fist could have been so bright and captivating, and surely it wouldn't have had more faces than the boy himself had. Open. Open him. The brief thought of a snowflake crossed his mind. How about fixing a chain on it? Sounded improbable but not impossible to him - metal digging through a flesh so tender it could have melt, took mental note - and he peeked back at Walker to make sure the younger wasn't actually melting under the sun. He wasn't, he was the real and - not even sweating - thing, the one and only Destroyer of Time .. they didn't make stuff like that so often, sure shit.
Something twitched in the depths of his being - the one he once shared with so many other - stinging down to reach his stomach and strangling it, wringing it like a wet rag just seeing the delicate profile of the young Exorcist walking by his side. The vision somehow lit a tad of delight. Fix your chain on him. Open him. Fingertips burning with the urge to feel winded up buried in the pockets of his pants, digging deep and deeper as to eagerly grasp the illusory taste of the morbid ivory he couldn't touch. His lazy eye turned and focused on Allen's shoulders. Were they ever been so small? God, you sure have a sick sense of humor for having placed a load this huge on his features so far from being a man's ones. My regards. I share your taste, man. To think that a body so small and tender could carry so much damnation, even stand to be violated by a crazy bunch of different issues, from Innocence to Dark Matter, suddenly threw Bookman Jr in a sort of intimate frenzy. And his neck, his graceful neck .. Lavi silently cursed himself for not being able to see the round upper knots of his spine.
He wondered if that pale skin, now shining stricken by the light of day, could have tolerated the pressure of the redhead's fingers. Most likely they would have left red marks on it, a different scar from another type of course. He suddenly had a vision of snakes. Crimson snakes spreading around like tongues of fire flickering from one's skin to another's, pouring the boy's blood with pure terror for the lack of air and the shock of being touched in such a violent manner by someone he used to call 'friend'.
Hell, the dear insane loss of control was knocking hard at his brain claiming its place in. The wave of thoughts was going uncontrollable, so much he felt himself waiting to be engulfed in the tide. The edginess of his fingers became unbearable, thus he literally scratched down the fabric of his pockets, trying to calm the itchy thumbs and the pain that was crying aloud from a lower inside. But the warmth became hotness. It was bad, really bad. Not even swinging hands and hips at the pace of his long slender legs did the trick. No break for the unknown child with no name, the one who discovered the white book and placed it on the higher pedestal, just for the enchantment of dying to reach up to it and grab something untouchable.
"Looks like you're spacing out .. am I annoying you, Lavi?" Jr lift the look from his neck to his polite smile. Reality, wearing the refined sound of Allen's voice, quickly sucked him back from the tidal wave.
"Nope, I was thinkin' about whatcha just said. Ya know, in the end she really resembles Komui with that despotic obsession. Though the subject is a bit different, strangling her beloved ones with love authority seems to be the best shot for our lil' girl. Just as it is for her bro." Lavi grinned just like he knew a lot of things. And hell, he did. Naïve. Despite this, the more he knew and the less he would have said to Walker. Certain kind of knowledge was a fiery disease contaminating venomously fast, it bit the flesh of pure hearted people and made the morbid turn adamant. Petrifying from inside.
Now, now .. say my name again, cry it out like the world is ending now and I'll be the one to cushion the impact of your struggling fall. Because you'll fall, that's for sure. Say it again so I can open you wide.
Allen, happily ignoring the redhead's mental digressions, nodded slightly while looking curiously at the pushing people all over them.
"That's exactly what I think. See, she can't stand us choosing separate paths, distant from hers .." the white-haired one kept talking, the redhead kept wanting with a brilliant facade smile on his face. He closed all but Allen outside of his own curtains, a private sphere with a core so thick and black he could have almost touched its desperate compression. He even felt it down his womb, ready to explode at the slightest spur.
A chance, a tiny chance. A brain trained to be efficient wouldn't have lost its skills when they were much more needed, when missing a tad of attention could have turned into a missed opportunity; a brain like this just wouldn't have missed a beat. When the chitchat noise outside reached its uttermost, and the people rushed to hurry somewhere for something - he just didn't care, the whole crowd stretched all over the two Exorcist risking a big smash. So Lavi did it, took his first chance. Between the yelling and the jostling, he took advantage of Allen's bewilderment and reached quickly to grab his right wrist. He pushed the younger onto himself. That's it, I've been quiet enough for today. Even the other hand left the pocket, jolting with keen thrill more than being quietly unthread, and laid itself on the boy's back with an exasperatedly slow movement, as to imprint, across the palm, the first concrete sensation of its curve in Jr's memory.
"Say, Allen: savin' ya from Akumas might be ok, but savin' ya from rushin' people in an ol' town square really is something! I bet Yuu'll laugh his ass out if I tell him." Oh, what a funny lie. Curious. The only one laughing was actually Lavi, his whole chest vibrating with a pure pleased roar while he took a look down on Walker's expression, since the kid's face was almost buried into his orange scarf. Priceless. Precious. Oh how he loved to stun the kid, to see those platinum eyes widened with unpleasant surprise for something so sudden and so inappropriate like a public display of affection. No need for the white-haired Exorcist to know from where Bookman Jr satisfaction was leaking out. Thin and delicate.
Once taken hold of it, the firm clenching of Lavi's long fingers just tightened around the wrist without the slightest intention to let go. The other hand pressed more on the younger's back, imprisoning him. Allen's face was still half buried, his own whining and complaining fed the scarf while he inhaled involuntary intense flows of the redhead scent; his blush rose furiously and Lavi knew that the fact he was almost on the verge of choking wasn't the only reason. He knew and he smiled a heavenly - damn satisfied - smile, because the intense coats of blood gushed on the other's skin deserved his whole attention, his entire devotion. No matter if the kid's glance had shifted through hundreds of different showed emotion, no matter if he had begun to writhe to get away from the awkward embrace. He just wouldn't let him go despite his clearly displayed disapproval. Nobody around was paying attention to them. And the sweet boy became a gallant bold.
"Let go of me, please! Let me go .. quit teasing me, Lavi! I Don't care who'll laugh about it, take your .. hands off of me!" Allen looked up and scowled deeply, his loud shuddering voice half muffled through the scarf, even if he had held his head back to cry out his dismay. Unfortunately for him, the so close molten metal of his eyes was too much of a sight to bear with for the redhead. Goddamnit, like a platinum fist punched up straight in my face. How can I restrain myself if you keep looking at me with those furious eyes .. ah, such a delicate wrist. He could have flicked his and the turn would have left him gagging for the dry cracking of a joint. Fuck, that would have made Bookman Jr feel powerful enough to open him.
"Sure thing but I'm afraid you'll have to wait 'til there's enough space, Allen." He did nothing but answered, breathing in warm air that burnt his dry throat, closing his eye for a brief moment just to force himself to smile friendly, again, at Walker. He pointed the nose around, showing clearly, candidly, to the younger one what was that he was taking rude advantage of: nothing more than a massive flood of people ready to enclose them. The white-haired one looked frustrated, he exhaled hot quivering air which hit Jr's neck like an inflamed needle; the kid was angry, enraged and humiliated, wriggling again in Lavi's strong arms. Too strong to escape from without his left one activated.
"Lavi .. Lavi!" He hissed again with no more than a whisper, a raged one, so low Jr had to stare at his lips to get it. Exquisite, all this fighting for his dignity, the redhead paid his respect with a wicked grin. Oh yes, he had noticed the infuriating reddish on Allen's whole face, the anxious wobbling of his restless limbs. Not slightly satisfied with that he began to trace a small part of the younger's spine with his thumbs, caught between the attempt of a reassuring hug - perhaps less imposed - and the urge to dig his nails so deep they could have spilled blood. A flick of the wrist. My fingers running down your spine and then ..
"Watcha mean, Allen? Do ya prefer to be smashed here, between buddies hurryin' around for whatever? Meh, that's a coward end for an Exorcist, ya know." An affable attitude, a wide smile, and yet a roguish look hazed a sinister insinuation in the depths of his only one emerald eye left to sight. I think I'll run my fingers down your spine and crack you open to see what you're about.
"This is not even remotely funny, not anymore. I'm really getting sick of you, let me off!" A detached Allen complained for the hundredth time, snapping with a rather hostile shove, though it was clearly just a bad taste joke to him. The same old Lavi teasing his British discretion as always, again. Jr looked down exhibiting a half murky smirk, searching for a rush of enticing outburst on the younger's face. Retorting his previous thrust with a harder pressure of his own fingers around the other's wrist. The last whim before he pushed the boy away with a sudden but gentle movement. As if to confirm that, yes, it was a damn nasty hoax. That, yes, he was the usual, dear Lavi. Get a grip 50th, game is over. For now. The crowd was quickly storming over, flocking to the colorful stalls, and now the lack of space wasn't a good excuse anymore. Hell of a day, he would have been better off soon finding another gathering place to squeeze Allen in, or an empty room to squeeze him out, whatever.
"Here ya go, princess." Lavi's hands were back in his pockets, roughly pushed down to scratch again - and tormenting relentlessly - the white sacs of cloth while a new injection of tacit excitement pierced sharply through his skin and hastily reached his core, making his blood boil: the younger one was slowly kneading his own right wrist while arguing about spoiled royal children. There. There, between the coat's cuff and the glove - oh God, look there - Lavi's aggressive touch was almost carved with scarlet stripes on china white. Jr was about to crack miserably. My mark on your skin, see? I laid a dirty hand on your cover, shouldn't but I did it. Too bad it'll disappear quite soon. Too bad you're trying to dispose of it. And maybe later on I'll clearly explain you why.
"You're horrible Lavi. Your pranks are too much over the limit, I don't even know why I keep tolerating your boyish behavior." Allen was exceedingly bothered and sulked, Jr just swayed lazily in the cradle the pronounce of his fake name made and chuckled quietly.
"Aw, let's head back to the inn. I bet ya starving for some good food, Allen .. aren't ya?" The name spilled out with a curious malicious allusion, soon washed away with a slight pat Lavi reserved to the mop of white hair. He didn't wait for an answer. Shifting in place he changed direction and begun to walk without hurrying much, turning his back to the luring call of an inner combustion. Walker followed him quietly, now thoughtfully enclosed in his own private orb of polite distance. None of them shared a look with the other.
Do you want to know why you tolerate me? Because you need this.
Despite his resolution pure white was still a child, no matter how passionate and determined he was about his principles. He knew solitude, disgrace. Marginalization. War and aftermaths. He was a damn tricky kid fond of playing, ready to fuck you off at any time. And yet, when all was coming down to people and relationships, the boy was lost. Simply lost, when a candy was enough to cheer him up and let him forget his own misfortune; when a friendly touch could have scared him to death and left him intimately craving for more at the same time. And it was right then, when crossing humans and emotions not knowing how to deal with them, that his striking light stood off like a heavenly cross. Something so harmonious and blinding that sent everything - and everyone - else beyond a gray pale. Sacred. Something Lavi was in need of, thus he agonized to open that vivid book and leaf through his pages with trembling fingers and a growing pulsation. He imagined them black, yeah. Inside all was black, sheets of skin paper so thin a glimpse could have teared them off, but with a strange glowing shade of translucent pearl. He bet the ink was white like the cover. Not really appropriate, a deep crimson would have been much better. Surely more scenic and powerful. His most precious tome, definitely. Because you need this, you whine and protest and complain but you need this. I give you cold water and you swear it's wine, so you try a sip of what you misunderstand for affection while struggling to break the glass. Unintentional coming to terms with yourself, huh? Bookman Jr sneaked a glance beyond his own shoulder, then sent an apparently quiet smile to Allen.
"What?" The white-haired Exorcist caught him fast and glared back, sweetly barking his disappointment. Still angry, wasn't he? Resolute in claiming respect. Was he trying to be rude? Lavi just found him delicious. I'll crack you open and burst your innocence open wide to see what you're about, that's what.
"Meh, Allen, dontcha be upset for somethin' so stupid!" The redhead slowed his pace and waited for the other. He slid an arm around the boy's shoulders, hugged him with a lively and light hold while pointing the free hand toward the already nearby inn's entrance. "Ya see, we're here." Allen's platinum eyes followed the same direction and blinked, going nervously wide. Under the rusted sign a handsome young man was waiting, not really patiently though. The black-haired one froze them with a dense and mighty gaze lacking all kind of decent manners, as if he had tossed humanity right under his boots.
"Tch. Always bitching around the two of you, like you don't know we're still on a mission .. damn bastards." Kanda's not so warm welcoming came along with an irritated expression stuck on his asian, beautiful features. He stared at them, swinging the aim of his deep blue eyes from one to another. A disappointed Sprout, a grinning Rabbit. Surely he was calculating something; the idiocy of his so called comrades, most likely. Walker had had enough of that look that increased, no, doubled his already abused patience. He parted quickly from the redhead grasp and furrowed severely, stomping straight toward the swordsman.
"Hey .. the hell you're saying, huh? We ran through a lot of people, the town is crowded in case you didn't noticed! The streets were so impracticable and .. " Allen snapped, though still lingering in his politeness limits, but Kanda didn't care and had no intention to listen to him.
"Shut the fuck up, I didn't ask you a damn crap." He hissed, cutting off the voiced complains, growing hastily mad about the younger one. Walker swallowed sharply the rest and stood there, biting down his lips with raising anger 'till the bottom one got livid from the pressure; in his eyes, genuine fury was gathering fast. Lavi, having eagerly followed every move of the two, caught soon the violent shade on Allen's face and lost a good part of his own amusement: the lump of pure, raged envy knocked him definitely out. Only Yuu's offenses could had lit the boy ablaze this way, only Yuu's violence could had slid so naturally on Allen's pale and sweet traits, as if they were somehow linked by invisible, cryptic bonds. Something Lavi hadn't been blessed with. I can't stand it, damnit.
He looked at Kanda again and the japanese returned his tough glare; nobody talked, a cruel and heavy tension spread all around. Something strange sneaked through the mutual glimpse they shared silently. There were a lot of things in one and maybe a couple in the other, so different and at dissimilar degrees, but one hint in particular seemed belonging to both: burning jealousy. Hey, no .. wait. Was it possible? Really? Aw .. what a day. Kanda, best friend of his 49th self. The violent little devil that doesn't read gray lines. The one without enough patience - not even the will - to scratch the polish on the surface and take a look to my corroded core. Jealous of who? Oh, he had more than a slight idea about that, and sure it was a surprise. He inhaled evenly and regained the lost idiotic grin, just because the latter thoughts were hilarious enough to smile again.
But he was still in advantage after all, Yuu hadn't sensed yet about the happy circle of dead redheads smashed in Jr's head, he ignored the menace. That amused him even more. He raised a hand and waved a childish greeting to Kanda, while fully recovering his crooked smile. Allen, nubile Allen, was still fuming and on the brink of crashing everything around him with his stubborn rage when Lavi leaned forward to his shoulder, breathing in from the elegant curve of his neck and whispering a bit too low in his ear. His slow and warm sigh tickled the boy's pale skin.
"See, Allen? Safe for now! I'll wait inside, dontcha be late." Walker probably took it for sarcasm aimed to Kanda. He hadn't had the slightest suspect about what Lavi had really meant. Then the redhead left, slipping lazily through the inn's threshold. Leaving a bit confused Allen and an infuriated Yuu busy arguing some more, but in a lower tone and with less annoyance.
The sick sun of sunset had a strange intense hue, it reminded him of infected blood. Its rays, seeping through the shapes of the street around the two Exorcist, projected a multitude of imperfections on Allen's face. Stains. Stains like fresh bruises. Lavi, not fighting the urge of a last peek, saw this. Was enough, he made up his mind.
See, old Bookman, I don't give a crap about your theories. I'm running late. The world is breaking down, 'tomorrow' is an ambitious thought. My best friend is about to nail my blood-lust magnet and the white winged rose could fade soon safely changing its color. So, time is up.
I'm not Bookman Jr, I'm not Deak. I'm not Lavi. I'm nobody you've known before .. but be sure I'm the last. I've buried 49 children and taken my chance, tonight I'll even take my damn time. I'll sit and crack my favorite book open so I dare you, I fucking dare you old man: come and see your supposed apprentice screwing up really bad, come and watch your little red sheep running. Running and ruling.