Lavi smiled brightly and ignored the headache pounding in his skull. "Did you enjoy your meal?"
"Yessir..." Allen replied sleepily. His stomach felt fit to explode.
He could remember the time when Cross fed him table scraps, but a full meal was not stored in his memory.
"Excellent." Lavi snapped his fingers and immediately everything began to be cleared away. Within moments, scurrying feet and nimble fingers had the table removed of its scraps and cleaned of its crumbs. Allen watched, remarking the way everything was done so efficiently.
"I must say," Allen smiled. "All of you are simply amazing! How do you get to be so fast?"
There was not a pause in movement, but a serious vibe had taken over the room. Allen mentally slapped himself for once again ruining the mood.
"Practice." Lavi smiled in a way that even he himself had no idea whether it was an act or not. "And now I shall take you to your room."
"Oh, why thank you. But really," Allen protested. "I only need a couch. I'm already imposing as it is."
Lavi laughed. "I could never allow you to sleep on a couch. Fireplace maybe, but never a couch! Your drool would tarnish the fabric."
Allen frowned, insulted, but Lavi laughed again, and Allen ignored the comment. It seemed to be Lavi's way to make fun of anything with ears.
"Now, let us depart." Lavi held out his arm in the right direction, and Allen followed his lead. He made sure to stay close, because as wide as the halls were, there were many of them and Allen was of course known to lose his way-often.
"Most of these rooms are unoccupied," Lavi started. "Nothing interesting I assure you, dusty furniture, rusty antiques, old newspapers...Ah, here is the kitchen-"
"'Night, baby cakes!" Jerry called out, and Allen lifted his hand in a wave and smiled.
"And down this way are Yuu's quarters."
"Yuu?"
"That is his name, yes, though you may want to address him as Kanda."
"Why?" Allen asked.
Lavi smiled. "He gets a bit put out when you call him by his first name."
"But you call him-"
"It's good he gets his aggression out every once in awhile," Lavi nodded. "Of course, I am a trained professional, and none of my practices should be practiced at home without parental supervision."
Allen shrugged his shoulders and walked on. "He's always like that?"
"Forever and all time."
"What's up his rear?" Allen asked, nose wrinkling.
Lavi laughed. "Good question, Beansprout."
"Speaking of names preferred to be ignored, I like to be called Allen." Allen said as politely as possible.
"All right," Lavi nodded. "'Brat' it is."
"Yes-wait, what?"
"These will be your quarters." Lavi opened a door to reveal an immaculately clean room, about twice the size of the home he'd just left. His eyes burst from his skull as he in-took the quality furniture-while estimating its net worth-and the four-poster bed that could have easily been the size of Tim's barn. "You're welcome to any and every thing here, but please, I must ask you to refrain from going into the West Wing for the moment."
"West Wing?"
"Yuu's quarters."
"Ah," Allen nodded, sitting down on the bed and jumping lightly.
"Well, m'boy," Lavi winked, grabbing hold of the door. "Sleep well."
"Thank you, good night," Allen smiled.
"Good night."
Lavi shut the door behind him, a gnawing feeling in his gut. It would be perfect or it would go completely astray.
The boy was curious, being banned from the West Wing would encourage him surely. Lavi fingered the watch again, tracing the etching softly with his fingernail. He was nearly sure that Kanda was within a tranquil state of mind now.
Perhaps...he thought, perhaps it would be all right.
Lavi swallowed the breath he was holding and walked down the hall, never stopping, pausing, or thinking. It was time to make the rounds.
Tap, tap tap tap.
Long slender fingers drummed against the lacerated arm chair. The moonlight shone on them, having them appear white as ice, and the only things visible in the darkness. Silence filled his quarters and even the quietest mouse dared not his luck to go near the West Wing tonight.
The master was thinking.
Tap, tap tap tap.
Someone had come today. Someone, a boy, that pathetic tiny wide-eyed naive boy had come. He brought something with him as well.
Not the horse. Something more important than that, something wretched, vile and smelled so fierce Kanda would never be able to get rid of from his household. He'd brought hope. His crew had already latched onto it, grasping it for all its worth and they wouldn't let go if snakes were on their heels, holding on with their teeth to that last bite of freedom they might have.
Kanda didn't care for it.
No, it was something else than caring, it was wanting. Kanda didn't want that boy there. He didn't want the promise of hope, he didn't want to think about the possibilities of the future, he didn't want freedom.
He wanted to be left alone.
Tap, tap tap tap.
Kanda shivered not from the cold, but another thought.
The thought that maybe this had been planned out. He wanted to scream in frustration, no one could dictate his life but him. They took his freedom? Fine, but he was still his own man and by damn he'd remain so in shackles or not. But the thought that this had been arranged, that everything was planned and going along as schedule, that Kanda was merely a pawn in someone's, perhaps that person's, game was so irritating, so mind-throttling it made Kanda want to hurl the table against the wall.
So he did.
He sat in the object that was once formerly a very grand chair, and leaned back.
Tap, tap tap tap.
Kanda wanted the stupid boy gone. He didn't want him here, reminding him of-what could be, it might just happen, it could! you never know till you try-things he didn't care to think about. He was causing tension and heat between Kanda's temples and it was annoying, aggravating.
It was pointless.
Kanda closed his sharp eyes and felt a small ticking in his brain. Something so small and insignificant, but going against his main logic so harshly it was as though it were a screaming David charging a dumb Goliath. It wasn't overpowering as much as threatening.
And Kanda did not like to be threatened.
He would remain here. Kanda would stay in his quarters for however long as necessary so long as he never saw that damn brat again. He ignored the small voice that told him he was being childish, that he was running away from his fears and for the love of God pull yourself together are you really afraid that some puny little runt will steal your hear-
Click.
Kanda paused in everything. He did not move, he did not breathe. Footsteps tapped quietly, hesitantly, curiously across the floor while Kanda remained motionless.
The eye before the storm, as it were.
Allen tip -toed inside, eyes squinting in the darkness trying to make things out. A corner, a rug, glass-
Shattered glass. A broken chair, ripped curtains. What had gone wrong in here?
As he felt the air squeezed from his lungs, Allen stepped in closer, remarking how the cold seemed amplified in here not by temperature, but by a foreboding aura Allen couldn't seem to pinpoint. Everything around him gave him the shivers, but...
...But his legs continued to move forward.
This place was inhabited by that man? What sort of room was it? Allen's eyes looked closer, but for what-blood, test tubes, anything that would fit in a suspicious room inside a suspicious castle-he didn't know.
A howl came from outside and Allen nearly dropped the chair he'd been righting. He glanced at the window, heart beating wildly even though the threat that sounded was far away, but found something quite curious beneath the light of the moon. Allen walked forward steadily, now having a purpose for his stay. The moonlight shone on a clear round glass, around the size of Allen's head. And inside, Allen beheld the most curious thing. No larger than his own fist, it appeared to be...
...Well, in all honestly the thing looked delicious. Allen took off the glass to get a closer look, as the thing most resembled a pink pastry.
Is it French? he wondered. Then, more intelligently, What's it doing here?
Allen touched it lightly and wretched his hand away immediately. It was hot! And it definitely wasn't something to be eaten. Allen frowned in disappointment and shock but leaned in closer.
What was it?
Pink, the color of lips from the center and steadily turning white at the tips of several triangle-like pointed pieces of tissue paper was its color. It could have only been an ornament of some sort, a place setting as it were, but Allen doubted that. It seemed to something else, something he'd never be able to truly guess at.
Appearances can be deceiving, Allen thought mildly, a slight frown on his face creasing wider at he thought of the owner of the castle.
The owner-
"Get out."
Ice slid down Allen's back and he turned sharply, sucking in his breath as he stared at glacier blue eyes from no more than a few centimeters away. There was something there, something so horrifying in that look that Allen clenched his stomach as though he would heave. A knot coiled around his insides, a snake tightening around its prey, and Allen was stunned to motionlessness.
"GET OUT!" The voice bellowed but Allen could only see those eyes, staring at him as though death had come. Allen's heart nearly stopped when a hand grabbed him by the arm harshly and through him to the floor. He winced as his head hit the edge of a table sharply, but it was ignored and he jumped to his feet immediately, running to the door.
A snap and a crash, Allen didn't bother turning as he felt the wind whip by him and the leg of a chair flew past his head to smash to splinters against the wall.
Allen rushed through the door and stumbled down the hallway searching for an exit.
There was no way he was staying.
Kanda stood before the open door, shivering in his anger.
That little bastard had the nerve, the nerve to come into his home, and then his room, and touch his things?
Kanda was not impressed.
In fact, he was pretty damn livid at this point. He ran over to the glass, sheltering the flower once more. He clenched the glass tighter than necessary, closing his eyes at the irony. Shutting up his curse with transparencies.
Was it so obvious?
"Sir?"
"Where are you going sir?"
"Your room is the other way!"
"Sir please!"
"Stop!"
"Whatever he did he didn't mean it!"
Allen ran past the apologize and cries of shock, making a beeline for the door and not even grabbing his coat. He burst open the doors and ran to the gate, forgetting Timcanpy in his fear.
"Allen wait!" He heard Lavi call out behind him, but as he ran it grew further away. "Please, come back!"
Allen didn't answer.
He pushed open the gate, using all of his strength, and the adrenaline did its part to aid him. He shoved it open by near sheer force of will and shut it behind him effectively, clanging with omniscience.
But then something went horribly wrong.
Allen clutched his chest, panting. He didn't know what it was, but something was tearing him from the inside out. His heart was barely working and yet it pounded in his ears too loudly. Allen fell to the ground and desperately tried to get up again. He held onto the gate, gripping it so tightly he felt his arm would fall off.
He couldn't breathe. He thought he heard shouting, but it must have been his heart shuddering, desperately trying to get blood to his brain. Allen trailed away from the gate, and took two steps. His feet were numb and he kept walking, kept moving.
He never noticed he'd collapsed after those two steps.
His muscles twitched, and with each twitch came a spasm that sent needle-like sensations to Allen's brain. He cringed and his forehead contorted into a mess of wrinkles topped with sweat. Allen continued to clench his fists, willing himself to run with the last breath he took.
He didn't hear the shouts anymore, and he didn't feel the hands reaching out for him from behind the gate.
Kanda almost let him go. He didn't need him. He didn't want him there, but when Allen fell to the ground with an unceremonious plop, Kanda automatically found himself running. He looked down, seeing the young man just beyond the gate, hardly more than an arm's length away from Kanda.
So close, but it was hopeless.
Allen gasped out, eyes bulging and fists coming to clench his hair. He was turning blue, Kanda noticed, but there was nothing to be done. It was too late.
Kanda scoffed, but didn't turn around. He didn't move and he didn't look away. Allen rasped out some more breaths, trying to stay alive. Kanda had no idea what was affecting him.
He only knew he could not reach beyond that gate.
"Yuu," came a deep voice from behind. Kanda scowled as he felt the presence of more surrounding that voice, all looking on him, while he looked down at the fate that could not be changed.
Allen hadn't been the one, Kanda was sure of it.
Which was how Kanda answered the question as to why he was reaching for the boy between the iron bars. Kanda's expression froze as what felt like a hoard of bees invaded his body, stinging and scorching his insides with a pain so hot he wanted to vomit. His hands stretched out farther, but it was hardly extended, and still couldn't reach Allen.
Allen gave one last breath, and his body stopped moving.
Kanda reached out farther. He decided not to look at his arm, which was now bloody and swelling three times it normal size. His nails grew black and what appeared to be vines leaked through his skin-his veins were popping and he could feel each one bursting. The heat was unbearable and he could hardly move his arm, but he continued forward.
Because Goddammit now it was just about his pride.
If he wanted to reach that damn brat he could do it-cursed or not. If he wanted that runt to live with him and spill stupid flowers wherever Kanda walked then he'd make it happen. If he wanted that moron Beansprout to fall in love with him and remove this fucking curse, Kanda would do it.
Because he could.
The edges of his fingers grasped dirty cloth and Kanda gripped onto it as though it was his soul escaping. He brought Allen back harshly, hard and quick enough to slam Allen's head into the gate and create a nasty bruise later on, surely. Kanda grit his teeth as his arm felt as though it'd explode with any more movement, but he carefully twisted Allen and brought him through the bars, Allen's thin form sliding easily between the metal.
Kanda pulled him through the gate and allowed himself one minute of rest before hauling Allen to his feet and throwing him over his shoulder unceremoniously.
Wet eyes followed Kanda, but dared not rush to greet him. The entire household stood at the door, waiting for what seemed an eternity before their master entered and dropped Allen to the ground.
Kanda kicked Allen's form out of his way, and walked to his room slowly.
The servants' reactions were immediate. Linali grabbed hold of Allen and Lavi checked his pulse. The head nurse shouted orders and brought Marie over to pump his heart. The rest of the congregation wrung their hands and shook their heads. Miranda burst into tears and Crowley followed suit.
Allen lay motionless on the ground, not breathing, and face stuck in a final moment of excruciating pain.
1, 2, 3, faster. Marie pumped harder and people chomped on their nails zealously. Allen couldn't be dead-their hope and their light could not be extinguished. Marie pumped harder and Miranda wailed louder.
1, 2, 3-
Marie stopped. The head nurse held onto his shoulder and everyone's chests were twice their normal size, all holding in a breath that dared to be life.
Allen's eyes opened, slowly, and the entire world seemed to revolve again. No one smiled and no one laughed-it was much too soon for that-but everyone stared down at Allen, seeing him for who he was.
A young boy.
Kanda looked down from the stairwell and frowned. His arm protested at him being so lax, but Kanda hardly cared. There had never been anything to worry about.
A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!
Writer's block is a damn whore and it knows it. D8
Sorry folks, I'm busy scrubbing floors and cats and have other fics to write. Especially my special one that won't see the light of screen until I finish. I'm honestly sick of staring at my computer and waiting for my brilliance to strike. It puts me under too much pressure, or something. Oh fuck it, I'll post it when I feel like it. D8 Gawd, I'm really bitchy today.
And I'll be further honest with you-reviews make my soul pure and fingers nimble.
A.K.A. I write when you write. So click the button and let me know you care. Oo;
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Did you know that hundreds of writers go to sleep every night waiting for reviews, waiting for someone to speak up that cares?
And did you know that many of those writers wake up and find there is nothing in their mailbox the next morning?
Thousands of people will hit one story and not one will review, because they don't think it matters.
Review. Make a difference in a sad pathetic fanfiction author's life.
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Do you understand the pai-OMFG THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE!