Mei slipped between the soft cushions of the comforter, immediately taken in by the warmth it provided. It's been too long of a day, but unfortunately she was out of her time zone and her body had yet to adjust to Europe's time. She sat up and examined her room briefly, she went to the window and undid the hinges so that they fell across the glass blocking out the night view. It was suddenly deafeningly quiet. Mei rubbed her arms and shuddered.
Contrary to her own beliefs, the European branch wasn't as awful as she thought it was going to be, people were friendly and already she had made a few friends. Still, they couldn't completely shield away the void that was already there left by her late parent's death. She was a horrible person even with all these friendly faces welcoming her to the Black Order she was still unsatisfied. The festering fear of being left behind again was the only thing that kept her going. She fell back onto her bed in an exhaustive sigh.
Mei let herself drown in her own misery when a small knock came from her door. She peered over her sheets to squint at her clock on the bedside table: 1:30 am. Who would come to her room at this godforsaken hour? She reluctantly slipped out of bed and made her way to the door. She cracked it open and peered out. A mess of red hair and a toothed grin greeted her at the door.
Mei immediately frowned, "Lavi, do you know what time it is? What the hell are you doing here?" her voice laced with irritation. Lavi raised a tray in his hands with an innocent smile. Two cups of steaming brown liquid topped off with foam sat on the wooden tray paired perfectly with a plate of what seemed like cinnamon sugar cookies. Mei's mouth salivated cinnamon sugar cookies and hot chocolate were her two guilty pleasures. She narrowed her eyes at him, how did Lavi know?
She leaned against her door, "Are you stalking me, Lavi?" Mei crossed her arms with an arched brow.
Lavi let a small chuckle out before leaning in towards her, "Mm, I wouldn't call it 'stalking', it's more like information gathering," he mused tapping her forehead with a finger. He tilted his head, with loose hair falling across his eyes, "And that's what I do best," Mei felt her face flush as the two of them stood by the doorway with him grinning at her with his shimmering emerald eye on her. This was definitely amusing him and it was annoying.
"So, are ya going to let me in? The hot chocolate is going to get cold and I went out of my way to get these for ya too," he cooed and without hesitation he pushed open her door waltzed in like he owned the place. Mei didn't fight, she knew it would be in futile attempt if she did. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
He placed the tray down on her desk and threw himself onto her bed, "Your bed is so much better than mine. I swear the girls get all the best stuff!" he bounced himself around.
She leaned against the wall with her arms still across her chest, "Are you always this fascinated with your co-workers?" he had a cookie in his mouth and smiled.
"Maybe," he replied cheekily placing his hands beneath his chin.
Mei snorted, "That's not an answer," she beginning to tire of his shenanigans.
Lavi didn't know why he was going out of his way for her, it wasn't like him but she fascinated him. Her immense dislike of him wanted to make him tease her even more. There was something about the way her lips would frown with her brows furrowed tightly together that made him want to frustrate her. Then there were her walls, he wanted to understand the girl behind it and help her.
"Of course it is," he teased further taking the hot mugs off the tray and handed her one whilst sipping on his. Mei again, hesitated before taking the cup from him and settled next to him on the edge of her bed, "Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to be a creep," he finally said giving her a wink. She felt herself turning red again, and it aggravated her to no end. Why did everything he say make her face feel so embarrassed? It was like he had read her mind from earlier, was her facial expressions that obvious?
"I was up studying late and noticed the lights in your room were still on. Couldn't sleep?" he simply asked taking another sip of his hot liquid.
"Pretty observant guy," Mei replied, "But yes, running on another time," she picked up a cookie and cocked her head at him, "How'd you know that these are my favorites?"
Lavi folded his legs with a chuckle, "I've always heard milk does the trick when one is having a hard time sleeping and as for the cookies you just didn't seem like the sweet type of girl so I thought what other alternative were there that offered the same comfort without the increasing amount of sugar content in it,"
She had underestimated just how smart and perceptive this Lavi Bookman was. Mei let the hot chocolate's warming sensation blossom itself from her throat to her abdomen. A sigh of happiness escaped her lips as nostalgic feelings bubbled up, "Why are you so nice to me?"
The boy leaned in, his face close to her cheek as he slipped a hand over hers, "You're our friend now and we have to look out for each other. Ya're far away from home and probably a little lonely and homesick, it's okay to accept some nice gestures from people from time to time ya know," He pulled away with a smirk, "Or else you'll turn into a grouch like my gramps, Panda," he laughed softly.
Mei couldn't help by laugh with him, "You're a strange one, Lavi Bookman,"
He clanked his mug with hers, "And I wouldn't have it any other way," he grinned.
They talked and they they shared stories of their lives as the clock continued to tick and the night got later. 4:00am rolled around and the two were strewn across the bed, Lavi ran his fingers through her hair softly. Surprisingly something she found to be quite comforting and didn't bother stopping him. His arm rested beneath his head as he gazed at her, taking in every little detail he could. The way her face curved and how her ears were so delicately small against her tufts of wavy hair. He loved the way she smelled of subtle lilac and vanilla and would smile when he stroked her at a particular sweet spot. She was stubborn, but ferociously independent to a flaw. She was directionally challenged as Lavi had witnessed but above all she was like everyone else: suffered greatly at the hands of the Order. Yet she persevered.
Mei felt the exhaustion seep into her as her eyelids started to feel heavy, the warmth of the body next to her made her feel safe and found herself inching towards the source, "Lavi," she mumbled and the boy answered with a soft hum, "Will you stay with me?"
Lavi froze when the words slipped out, Mei lashes gave one last flutter before she drifted off to sleep tucked safely next to him. Again, Lavi felt the unfamiliar warm sensation build from his abdomen and spread itself throughout his body leaving him feeling tingling all over. He sighed realizing he didn't want to leave her side either. The young Bookman then did the unthinkable, he pulled her closer letting the soft aroma of her scent take over and kissed her forehead.
"I wish I can," he whispered into her hair, "But I can't," with that he reluctantly pulled himself away from her and tucked her warmly into bed. Lavi glanced back at her before sighing, this was bad news and he needed to steer clear away from her. The boy then slipped out of her room unnoticed by the slumbering girl.
x x x
There was a swift knock on her door that awoke Mei with a start. The girl rubbed her eyes and looked at her clock, 6:30am. She groaned turning back into her bed, too early to answer the door. The knock came again and Mei whined, can't a girl get some decent sleep around here? She tossed her blankets aside and hobbled to her door. The sunlight that streamed in made her hiss as Lenalee waved good morning with a apologetic smile.
"Sorry to have to come get you so early. Brother actually wanted to give you the day off to get accustomed to the new time, but there's a new job that just came in and we're short on exorcists right now and he needs you to be briefed in his office as soon as possible," she explained. Lenalee noticed the dark circles that were forming under the girl's eyes and how exhausted she seemed, "Are you… okay?"
Mei merely nodded scratching her head, Lenalee peered over the girl's shoulder and noticed two cups of liquids on the floor and some spilled cookies on the floor, "Are you sure?" she asked again, something told her that there was something else going on.
Mei smiled weakly at her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Give me a few minutes, I'll be right down,"
Lenalee twisted her hands thinking of pursuing the subject some more but thought otherwise, "All right, I'll see you at breakfast then," With that Lenalee hopped off to what Mei could only assume was the direction of the cafeteria. Mei retreated back into the dark depths of her room and shut the door. It was about an hour later did Mei emerge fully refreshed from the bathroom. She had taken a shower to wake herself up and donned on her new uniform. She strolled down to the cafeteria when she found Lenalee.
"Ah, there you are. I was starting to wonder if something had happened to you," she chuckled, "The others are already in line getting food, come join us," Mei followed Lenalee into the mess hall, thankfully it wasn't too crowded at this hour. She saw Lavi not too far off laughing next to Allen whom had a wide grin on his face as well. The red head saw her and gave her a small wave.
Mei suddenly felt self-conscious as she attempted to look normal and waved back. Lenalee saw the color rush to the other girl's face as she glanced at the young Bookman and furrowed her brows comically. Something strange was afoot. They gathered their foot and found their seating next to the boys, everything was normal as it should be. They ate and they talked and for once Mei was starting to feel like she belonged.
As Mei tossed her trash and placed her empty bowls and trays in the sink area, Lavi hopped up next to her gently bumping her arm, "Mornin', sunshine," he chipped happily.
"I see you're a morning person," Mei replied attempting to slowly put away her things.
The boy shrugged nonchalantly, "When ya travel as much as me and gramps does, rising early becomes routine,"
"Lucky you," she mused, "Oh um," she faltered before she gazed up at him, "Thanks for last night," Mei said rather quickly before anyone heard her, "And sorry for keeping you up late. Wasn't my intention to ramble on,"
Lavi nudged her shoulder, "All worth it, I got to see your sleeping face," he winked causing her face to light up in flames, "I'm just kidding," he teased walking off. Oh how he pushed her buttons.
After breakfast Mei proceeded to follow the directions written down by Lenalee to get her to Komui's office in one piece. Thankfully she made it and
gave it a gentle knock and opened it to see Komui busy writing something into a file before closing it and throwing into another pile of files. His office was getting kind of messy, "You called, Komui?" before the older man can answer a gruff voice from behind her made her jump.
"Move," Mei turned around and her breath stopped mid way when their eyes met. His dark ebony orbs met her golden ones. Time froze as voices ghosted out of the walls and ceiling, Mei felt herself stumble. Voices of children then footsteps, running footsteps. She felt a sudden pressure on her arm, the voices dispersed and she looked up at the younger man. He was holding onto her arm, he must've caught her when she tripped.
She heard him growl under his breath, "Move," he said again. He let go of her arm and Mei sidestepped to let him pass. She followed suit, but not too close just in case he was the source of what had just happened to her. She watched him from the side as she sat down on a chair. He had sharp features, a strong jaw line and very poised posture. He was handsome, she'll give him that with his stunning long black hair cascading down his back in a long ponytail. But that glower and sour attitude was definitely due for an upgrade.
"Ah, Kanda! So nice of you to join us this fine, beautiful morning," Komui stated pushing his glasses up, "I see you haven't met our newest addition, Mei Chang," he turned to Mei, "This is our ray of sunshine, Yuu Kanda, he's bit on the nasty side. But he's tolerable," he then handed the two of them separate files, "Your assignments," Mei's heart sank, that would mean Kanda was her partner for her first assignment. Awesome. She had a feeling that this was going to be just great.
Komui sat back in his chair with folded arms, "There's a high presence of akuma sightings in Venice and I need you two to go check it out, you leave in 1200," Kanda flipped through the files and closed it without another word before turning to leave, "Kanda, are you sure you're going to be okay? I know you just got in," the Japanese man turned to face Komui and frowned. Komui threw up his hands in surrender, he pursed his lips, "Got it, you're okay," the door clicked and Kanda was gone.
Mei peered at Komui with a slight frown of her own, "He doesn't speak much does he?"
Komui chuckled, "He'll grow on you," She wasn't sure if there was some truth to that or was it all just sarcasm. She sighed and rubbed her temples, well this was going to be interesting.
