Chapter 4: Cold Hearts
"Timcampy! Come back here!" A loud scream and a crash of expensive China followed the unheard order.
"Clown Belt!" Many strips of white flew across the room, trying to grab hold of the dodging golden ball. But Allen failed miserably. He scratched his head in pure frustration, since Timcampy doesn't seem to be in a cooperating mood. He slammed the brush down, just about giving up when Timcampy decided to land on the top of his fluffy bed. Wearing his evil face with those silver eyes twinkling darkly, Allen summoned Crown Clown again while tip-toeing ever so slowly.
"That's right... Rest your tired little wings, Tim... Just a little closer..."
"ALLEN!" Another louder voice joined into the once-quiet room. With a bang that showed the newcomer's presence, Allen found himself cursing at the redhead for his stupidity.
"Lavi! Close the damn door before-" and Timcampy took the golden opportunity to fly out of the open door. Allen, against his usual gentleman-politeness, flew into a blind rage and started to tear his petite white hairs out. Lavi dropped his bags of groceries when Allen threw himself at him, the younger male crying out in anger and began beating his chest helplessly.
"Ssh, s'alright, Allen. Calm down, calm down..." Lavi rubbed small circles around Allen's shaking back, knowing that his young lover loved having his back massaged just like that. Allen rubbed his red eyes and coughed softly, telling Lavi that he was already in a stable and not on-a-rampage-to-destroy-everything position.
"Screw you, Lavi.." Allen pouted.
"Woah, woah, where did my little shy Moyashi go to?" Lavi laughed, but Allen did not join in the joke.
"It went flying out of the door with Timcampy... Now it'll be impossible to catch him; it already took me all morning to get that mechanical ball into my room,"
Arranging his groceries onto Allen's desk, Lavi's eyes feel upon a large basin of water that was filled with... Bubbles? Taking what seem to be a rubber duck, Lavi chuckled out loud, "it's his bath time, isn't it?"
"Yeah, and Tim's as stubborn as a mule when it comes to bathing!" Allen plopped his aching backside on his welcoming bed, his arms falling to rest comfortably on his knees for good manners. Lavi was intrigued that Timcampy's bath time required a rubber duck since that flying ball had no hands to play with, but held his tongue back. Instead, he preferred to ask the simpler question,
"Tim's a mechanical being. Does he really need to take a bath? I mean, does he even get dirty?"
Allen nodded his head, reminiscing the times where he had to look after the said mechanical being, "Tim rarely gets dirty, that's for sure. But on the times where he does get dirty, the mud will stick to his gears and it'll make it hard for him to fly and function. He's also in need of a new polish coat, because someone decided to play tennis using Tim as the tennis ball!"
Lavi chocked on his soda as he was caught red-handed by his glaring lover. Hey, it wasn't his fault that HQ ran out of tennis balls and Timcampy just so happens to be at the scene of the crime (tennis court) so innocently! Heck, Krory hit harder than he did, why should he get all the blame?!
"Oh, no, this is your entire fault, Lavi Bookman. Don't you dare blame this on anybody else!"
Damn Allen for knowing him so well!
Lavi ran his fingers through his wild hair that wasn't restrained by his normal headband, "Timcampy's gonna be just fine. I mean, it's not like he's going to fly away from HQ. The furthest he could fly is the nearby town, which I doubt so because it's raining snow out there,"
"That's not the point, Lavi..." Allen sighed heavily, his eyes drooping as his face put on a more painful look, and "Tim's the only thing I have that connects me to my Master. Albeit, I want nothing to do with Master (after all the bloody debts he threw at me!), but he gave me Tim nonetheless. If anything were to happen to Tim, I won't rest easily. He's the only thing I treasured from that Baka Master... And Mana, too.."
"-Still doesn't change the fact that Tim's not going anywhere," Lavi mumbled. Allen's head shot up with a hurt and angry look painted on his face,
"Lavi, you've got to be the most inconsiderate, incorrigible and undeniably the worst bastard that ever lived!"
"Hey, at least I'm not overreacting! Come on, you act as if Tim's gonna get shot and die from a stray bullet!"
Allen forced himself to swallow his retort because he knew that fighting would only do so much in his current situation, only to find that his head was spinning dizzily.
"Woah there, Allen. Take it easy, you overworked yourself again," Lavi jumped to catch Allen from falling off the bed. Allen pushed himself up to get out of bed and walked lightly to the door.
"Go away... I've. Got.. To find. Ti-" Allen fainted right on the carpet, his breath drowning heavily to signify a deep sleep.
Lavi found himself sighing once again at the sheer determination that was forever etched into his own lover. No matter rain or shine, day or night, Allen would always put others before himself. Lavi found that part of Allen most endearing, but also a tad bit annoying. This lying boy on the floor was proof. As Lavi carried Allen gently and laid him on his bed, he tucked the exhausted boy in and put a thick blanket over him. It was snowing like a blizzard outside, Lavi could see, but still... Sighing for the 3rd time, Lavi turned his back and exited his lover's bedroom.
After a long and great power nap, Allen stretched his refreshed muscles to hear the satisfying pop sounds. He felt more energized, in higher spirits then before he went to bed... Wait, since when did he go to bed?
Changing his clothes at breakneck speed, Allen quickly came to his senses when he remembered what had happened. He was in a fight with that idiotic rabbit, and he was feeling woozy. The last thing he felt before he had succumbed to darkness was a soft caress on his cheek. Taking a look around, his heart paced at the absence of his important Timcampy. He still wasn't back yet, and this made Allen feel all the more panicky. Just as he was about to go full blasting mode on his blockhead boyfriend, he heard knocking on his door.
"Krory? What's up? Is something wrong?" Allen asked, worry for his friend visually readable on his creamy face. The elder man was slumped on his shoulders while putting on a pouty face, giving the strict yet innocent man a look that you might see on a lost puppy.
"Good morning, Allen... Well, I heard that Lavi and you got into a fight yesterday... About us using Timcampy as our tennis ball,"
Quirking an eyebrow up, Allen was about to ask something when Krory intervened,
"Please know that it is also my fault, for agreeing to his idea... I felt so guilty when I heard about you scolding Lavi-"
"That's the thing, Krory. How'd you know about our fight?"
Krory looked away sheepishly before clearing his throat, "I saw Lavi coming out of your room after I heard you two fighting over something. I didn't know it at first, but Lavi started mumbling something about 'cursed machines' and 'soft hearted, weak person' when he took off,"
So now he thinks I'm a weak and soft hearted person?! Ooh, Lavi was sooo going to get it! First he'll make Lavi beg for mercy, then he'll slowly cut him and-
"Wait, what do you mean 'when he took off'? Where is he?" Allen suddenly asked, catching Krory off guard. This time, however, the older of the two smiled knowingly. He grabbed Allen's hand and pulled him away from his bedroom.
"Maybe it's best if I showed you," Leading Allen away, Krory guided him to the entrance of HQ.
Allen exited HQ and saw that everything was covered with a large blanket of white snow. The trees were decorated with clumps of snow that threatened to fall anytime soon, and the road leading to the nearby town was also thrown into a sea of whiteness. It was only snowing just a little, but even with his snow coat on, Allen felt the icy grip of winter taking hold of his spine. He can practically see his breath when he exhaled, swearing that Jack Frost must've had a fun day yesterday too. Allen stopped his musings as soon as he took in the queer and surprising sight before him.
Hunched down and already half buried in the cold snow was nobody but Lavi himself. He was wearing nothing but his usual black shirt on, and his arms were obviously vibrating in sheer coldness. But what touched Allen's heart the most was that small packet of sandwich ham beside his frozen form. Why? Because Timcampy was happily munching said sandwich hams while perching comfortably on Lavi's red hair, messing them up to make a temporary nest. Allen walked nearer, but Lavi was in deep sleep as his eyes were shut tight. He must have been here all night! Timcampy jumped from his comfy place and into Allen's jacket, where he took immediate warmth from his body. Allen knelt down and kissed Lavi's pale cheeks and lips till they themselves became warm, assuring Allen that Lavi was only sleeping and not dying. He laughed lightly, touching his forehead with this dozing lover of his.
You really are an inconsiderate, incorrigible and undeniably the worst bastard that ever lived..
"But I still love you.. After all, I am a weak and soft hearted person,"