Holy fudge popsicles, guys. So many reviews. I feel loved. 60+. *cries tears of joy* You guys are the best.
I've begun responding to reviews through PM's. I hate having to wait to respond because chapters are becoming a bit irregular nowadays. They probably will be for a while, and this story is going to be longer than expected, yadda yadda yadda.
I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a month! I went to Texas, so things got crazy, but then I went to Kumoricon last weekend and things were even crazier! So, to apologize for my inexcusable absence, I have made this chapter with two POV's in it, and one is my own, (Skyla) so it was easy to write. Serious chapter right here, guys. Big realization on Allen's part, since he's such a dummy when it comes to how he feels. Thank Skyla and her way with words for that one!
I'm back, so updates should be coming a bit more regularly, though school has started and I'm working my butt off to finish a Roppi and Delic cosplay (any durarara! Fans out there?) so it might not come as often as you'd like. And for those that read Mercury, an update should be coming this week. For those of you that haven't read it, you might wanna check it out. It's… IDK. I'm tired. For starters, it's rated M. If that's not your thing, keep reading this one! It shall remain T and fluffy! For the most part. There's some tragedy in it… *smirks and cackles evilly*
To those I could not respond to, and the ninja readers:
Origami Lotus: It terrified me. Holy fricken chicken, a wasp? My mom once had a wasp fly down her shirt and sting her sides/back 27 times. And my granny sat on a bee. That was funny to watch. XD They actually are. I might take a few pictures next time I go there… probably not for a few months. I'm not exactly on speaking terms with the person who takes me there. *coughs*my asshole father*coughs* It's basically one big epic ball of shenanigans. Basically, when you walk in, directly in front of you is a counter with a bunch of yummy food, and they have a kitchen somewhere, so you can get really yummy sandwiches and stuff. I recommend the smoked ham and cheddar. *drools* though the food carts around town are really awesome too. I once went to a food cart and got a deep-fried Munster cheese sandwich. It was basically a heart attack in sandwich form, but it was damn good. Back on topic, on your right there's a mini seating area with extremely comfy couches and chairs and a stage. Diagonal to you in what can only be described as a huge amount of space, like a converted warehouse size, is a million tables and chairs with a small ring of computers. They also have a bar. Then, you go down a little hallway (they have two that basically go to the same place) to the 'computer area', dubbed the gaming room. The story about the chair is true, there is one like that there. The bathrooms are like what I described them as, and a lot of the computers are pretty messed up and require the assistance of a mod. Pretty epic place, if I do say so myself.
Ninja readers: thanks for your support, hope you like the chapter!
My foot is twitching. WTF.
"Awesome! We'll take you up on that! We should grab our stuff, but we'll be at your place around five. Sound good?" He asked. Aelita shrugged.
"Sure. Here's my address." She handed us a slip of paper.
"See you guys then!" Lavi jumped up, pulling me out the door.
Guess we're gonna meet Aelita's family.
. :Allen POV: .
"Wow, that was awesome. This is the best genre known to man."
"No way, the comedy totally ruins what should be a tense atmosphere."
"Lies, it enhances the story and makes it more fun to watch. My granny laughed so hard when she watched this, she had to hold her chest together."
"That's only because she had a chest wound and it would have split open and spilled her guts everywhere if she didn't."
"Touché, but my point still stands. This movie is epic as fuck."
I had been listening to Skyla and Luke argue for too long. Far too long. They were having a dispute about this movie called 'Tucker and Dale vs. evil'. I had to agree with Skyla, it was pretty cool. Horror comedy is my favorite genre too.
I suppose I should probably back up a few steps. Lavi and I went back to the house and packed our stuff for the night at Aelita's. We arrived at her place at five, so we went in and hung out. An hour later there was a knock on the door, and Skyla jumped up to get it. When I reached the door, Skyla and Sofie had tackled a short Asian girl to the ground. Skyla had her arms circled around her shoulders and her head on the girl's chest, laughing uncontrollably, while Sofie was straddling her waist and holding what I assume to be the girl's glasses above her head.
Aelita and the other girl who came with 'Asian chick' watched the scene unfold with minor amusement. The girl next to Aelita held her hand out to me and smiled politely.
"My name is Gracia, but people call me Gracie. That's Lillian, but she hates her name, so people call her Luke." I shook her hand and raised an eyebrow.
"Does this usually happen?" I asked. Aelita chuckled and answered.
"You kiddin'? They're always at each others throats. Recently Sofie and Skyla have been suspiciously pleasant with each other. It's always friendly. Quite entertaining, actually. We've been kicked out of the library quite a few times 'cuz they won't stop messin' around." Skyla shot up and clung onto Aelita's legs.
"'You younguns, get off the chandelier!' 'Hey you wackos, stop roughhousing!' 'Crazy tikes, get off that computer if you know what's good for ya!'" Sofie cackled at Skyla's impression of the librarian's voice.
"The chandelier was fun. Remember that guy who got hit by all the ping pong balls, though? Man, he was pissed. Threatened us with his katana for that." Lavi and I looked at each other with horror masking our features. Fuck. These were the psychos that put some kind of trigger to drop a bunch of ping pong balls on an unsuspecting target. Three guesses who that person is? The first two don't count.
Kanda.
We're fucked. Or they are, at least.
Kanda was really touchy for a week after that. Can tell you it was not good for my furniture. Mugen is really damn sharp… it cut my couch in half.
Anyways, back to the topic. After a few spats and arguments, everyone ended up in the family room, which was basically a mini-theater.
"Skyla picks the movie!" Sofie shouted. Skyla beamed.
"This one!" She pulled the wii remote across the screen and clicked on a movie. Aelita jumped up and flicked her on the forehead.
"Hold on, lemme go get the cop porn." Skyla giggled and paused the movie.
"'kay." Aelita dashed out of the room, leaving me blushing and Lavi looking confused.
"Cop porn?" He asked, causing all the girls to laugh.
"Long story, basically a while ago one of us accidentally called pop corn cop porn, and that name just sort of stuck." Gracie explained. My blush receded a bit, only to have it come back full force when Lavi shifted on the couch and decided to use my lap for a pillow.
"Err… L-Lavi? What are y-you doing?" I stuttered. He shrugged and buried his face into my leg.
"Mtr'd." He mumbled. Luke poked his side.
"Speak up. We don't have Vulcan hearing." He groaned and pulled his head away from his makeshift pillow.
"I'm tired~ now lemme sleep. Couches are hell for your spine." He whined, and Skyla turned around.
"Want me to give you a massage? My mom used to go to massage school, and she taught me things. While most kids grew up coloring mermaids and giraffes, I grew up coloring different muscles in anatomy books. Plus, I'm really good at it." She grinned. Lavi shrugged again.
"Fine. Do whatever you want." Skyla reached over and pulled a bottle of hand cream from a coffee table I didn't realize was there. She must have seen my confusion, because her grin widened.
"I give massages a lot." She turned to Lavi and jabbed a finger in his face. "Take off your shirt. I need to have access to your skin. Don't worry, I'm already dating someone. They'd kill me if I placed my hands wrong." Skyla held up her hands in a calming manner.
"Damn straight they would." Aelita declared, walking back into the room with two bowls of popcorn. Luke groaned and grabbed Skyla's ankles, making her trip onto Lavi's back.
"When are you gonna tell us who this mystery chic is? The only clues we have are: she's a girl, (Gracie muttered: no really? To that statement, earning a glare from Luke) we know her, she goes to our school, and she's funny. Do you know who this girl could be, Mo~ya~shi?" She drawled. I glared at her for the use of my nickname, firing back a response.
"Stop calling me that, I'm half a foot taller than you. It's illogical. And I already know who this 'mystery chic' is." I added air quotes to the mystery chic part for emphasis. Luke's eyes widen comically, and she turns to Skyla.
"You told the Moyashi (a glare) but not me? Oh Skyla, you wound me so!" Luke clutched her heart in mock anger and sadness. Skyla rolled her eyes.
"Oh, go fly a kite." She pulled Lavi's shirt off and rubbed some lotion on his back. She wrinkled her nose.
"You seriously should put lotion on your back more often. It's all flaky and gross." Lavi waved his hand in a dismissive manner, having settled back into a more comfortable position. Currently, I was leaning against the left arm of the couch with Lavi's head in my lap. Skyla was hovering over Lavi's back, rubbing and kneading in different spots. Lavi had his feet in Aelita's lap, who was sitting on the right side of the couch. Luke was sprawled about haphazardly on the floor, no rhyme or reason to the direction of her limbs. Damned hypocritical hyperactive double-jointed monkey demon spawn. Sofie was… nowhere to be found. That's not a good sign. No wait, she said something about going to the bathroom. Gracie was sitting on the floor, working carefully on a friendship bracelet that was pinned to her jeans.
Now that I think about it… Skyla has a bunch of those bracelets on her wrists. As if she read my mind, she pulled her right hand off Lavi's back and held it in front of my eyes. She waved it slightly before going back to work, pulling on Lavi's skin in a fairly complicated technique called skin rolling.
"See those bracelets? It's Gracie's tradition to make one when something bad happens in our lives. I've got… let's see… nine? Ten? I dunno. Lot's of shit went down over the past coupl'a years. The root of all evil started just before I was born. That's another story for another day, though. You should let someone else tell you, though. I'm a bit busy right now." She was dragging her thumbs across Lavi's shoulders, causing him to groan in pain.
"Fuck, woman. Can't you see-" He was cut off by Sofie's fist connecting with Skyla's shoulder, knocking her onto Luke's stomach. She then proceeded to shove me onto the floor, Lavi coming down with me. Luke, Skyla, Lavi and I all ended up in one huge pile, appendages bruised and pointed out from all directions, like a huge snowball with sticks in it.
"Start the movie already. Stop yapping, and Lavi, get a room." She flung herself onto the couch, grabbing the remote and pressing play. Lavi looked at her dumbfounded.
"There's nothing going on between me and Skyla." He stated, causing Sofie to roll her eyes.
"No sh-duh, Sherlock. I was talking about the Moyashi." I was too stunned to get angry about my nickname. Then I blushed, along with Skyla and Lavi. Aelita and Luke started laughing, while Gracie just shook her head.
"Sofie, just how much candy have you had?" Sofie seemed to contemplate this, holding up her hands and counting on her fingers.
"Well, this morning I had fruit loops, (insert dramatic groan) and you guys know what those do to me. Then I had a donut, some ice cream, three sodas, four cookies, the last of my Halloween candy, and I think 1/3 of my huge rice crispy treat." Gracie smiled lightly at this.
"Lavi, Allen, don't take anything she says seriously, she gets kinda delusional when she's had too much caffeine and sugar. Wait about an hour, she'll pass out. Trust me." Aelita explained. I pressed my hands to my eyes, I was so embarrassed. Lavi and I are just friends! Why can't these girls get that through their thick skulls?!
Skyla placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, Allen? Could I talk to you for a minute?" She whispered in my ear. I peeked through my fingers and nodded, tentatively. She gave and encouraging smile, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door. Aelita and Lavi shot a confused glance towards us, but Skyla mouthed something I couldn't make out and Aelita smiled.
"We're gonna start the movie without you guys!" Luke shouted, and Skyla made a face.
"Okay, but we're gonna restart it when I get back!" She replied. I heard some curses being tossed at us from the other room, but I couldn't understand it very well because Skyla pulled me out the back door and into a garden before I could blink. We weaved through bushes and trees until we came to a small pond with a stream running towards the woods. She stopped and smiled at me, waving me forward.
"Come meet Eridan and Fefferi… My cute little fishies." She leaned down and poked the surface of the pond. I looked down and saw two koi fish, both with strange markings and color.
"I come here when I need to think. Isn't it nice?" She leaned back and looked at the sky, which was a nice shade of blue without a single cloud marring its endless canvas.
"You're probably wondering why I brought you here." She looked at me and I nodded.
"There's a few things, the main one being that I know." I raised an eyebrow.
"… Know what, exactly?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.
"That you like Lavi, and don't try to deny it, I'm perceptive and you don't exactly hide it very well, no offense." I stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Uhh… I don't know what you've got through your head, but I don't like Lavi. Really. We're just friends… I'm serious." She smirked.
"But is that all you want to be? I know what happened… Between you and him. Bookman and Cross are acquaintances of mine, and before you ask, it's a long story. Anyways, I'm up to speed with what's happened. I get that he's your friend, but if you only felt friendship for him, do you really think you'd have been waiting all these years? Most people would have given up and forgotten. But you… you waited. Why do you think you did that?" I shook my head.
"He was my best friend for as long as I can remember. I couldn't just give up... He was too important. He was the one thing in my life I couldn't bear to lose, after Mana died. He was the only person that could put a genuine smile on my face." Skyla closed her eyes and looked up at the sky again.
"You know, you might not have understood it at the time, you can't really grasp it now, from what you're telling me, but you seem to really care about him. You'd trust him with your life. Am I right?" I nodded.
"So let me ask you something. Say he got a girlfriend," She turned her head towards me and continued.
"And say he didn't talk to you about it beforehand. How would you feel?" I rubbed my left hand.
"Well… I'd feel betrayed. He's my best friend, so why wouldn't he ask for my opinion on her? If I thought about dating someone, he'd be the first person I went to. Why are you asking me this?" She ignored my question and went on.
"Now say he started dating a guy without your input. How would you feel?" Her eyes twinkled with what could only ne mischief.
"Well, first of all, I'd be extremely surprised. He's straight as a stick," before I could continue, she reached over me and ripped a small branch off a tree.
"Well, look at this. Does this stick look straight to you? I think it looks rather curved…" She pulled on one end of the stick for effect. I rolled my eyes.
"So, what, you're saying he's gay?" She stuck her tongue out.
"I never said that, and no, he's not gay, but he's not straight either." Realization dawned on me.
"He's bi?" She smirked again.
"Ah, cheers. The little Moyashi got it right." I flicked her forehead.
"Stupid, we're the same height." She looked outraged.
"Nuh uh! I'm an inch taller than you! I can prove it when we get back to the house. Anyway, back on topic. Lavi's bi and got a boyfriend. How do you feel?" I rub my chin.
"Well… The same, I guess. Gender doesn't matter, right? But how can I know he's really bi? I mean, no offense, but I don't know you that well and neither does Lavi, so how could you know that for sure?" She heaved a dramatic sigh.
"Do you want me to explain my thought processes behind it or can I just remind you that I figured you out faster than you could blink?" I closed my eyes.
"I guess I'll take your word for it. You do seem… tuned in with things going on around you." I felt her stand up next to me.
"Why thank you. Now moving on. You feel betrayed, but is that all? This guy you barely know is taking up all your time with him, and Lavi doesn't even care. He only cares about how this guy feels. What now?" That… couldn't be. It just couldn't.
"Well… he wouldn't do that. I know he'd make time for just the two of us… it's always been that way. We've been first on each others lists forever." I said, my voice sounding confident.
"But what if that's changed? What if he really liked this guy, and wanted to be with him? If he meant more to Lavi than you do?" It's not possible. Lavi is my whole world… doesn't he feel the same?
"But… he means the world to me. I wouldn't let that happen… nothing can come between us… right?" I opened my eyes to see Skyla facing away.
"You never know. Things happen that we can't control, and it splits people apart. I'll admit you and Lavi have a strong bond, but it's not unbreakable. The life you've built for yourself rests upon sand, Allen. Lavi could pull away from you at any moment, and what would happen then? Your entire being would crumble. Could you really go through all that again?" I felt my heart sinking to someplace below my stomach.
"No… I couldn't. He's everything to me. You're right… If he left, I wouldn't be able to handle it." She turned towards me.
"So, now that you know you need him to keep breathing, what do you feel? What emotion do you think that is? To need someone by your side, just to go on?" She asked. I felt my mind go numb.
"… Love…" I whispered. She walked over and hugged me, pulling back and looking into my eyes.
"So now that you know you love him, and that you have a chance, what are you going to do?" She gave a reassuring smile to me, urging me to speak.
"I guess… I'll try and get him to feel that way about me too. If he loved me back… That's all I really need, right?" I said with confidence I didn't truly feel.
"Good. To be honest, I think your chances of getting him to love you back are pretty good. Now, let's go watch that movie, shall we?"
. : Skyla POV : .
As Allen and I walked back to the house, I was about ready to jump for joy. My plan worked perfectly! I got Allen to realize his true feelings, and we're going to be watching a movie, so that gives him some time to stew over his thoughts… Lenalee will be so happy to hear our plan worked! Now I get to watch the yaoi unfold… My fujoshi (My computer corrected that to fajita. XDDDD Failcheck is fail.) thoughts were interrupted by Luke screaming from the house. I smirked. Guess she realized I put mayo in her bucket of popcorn… heh.
"DAMMIT SKYLA! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" She screamed, making Allen jump while I simply cackled.
"Uhh… what did you do?" My smirk widened.
"Let's just say mayo and cop porn are some inside jokes of ours… ones you can work out for yourself." Allen blushed and hung his head, hiding his face with his bangs. I walked inside, stepping out of the way of the rampaging Chinese girl.
"Fuck, Skyla! That's not funny at all!" She screeched, trying to tackle me but missing. I ran over to Aelita, who had tears streaming down her face she was laughing so hard, and jumped in her arms.
"Ai-chan! Save me! BakAlois is trying to kill me!" I wailed dramatically, burying my head in her shoulder and pseudo-sobbing.
I whispered in her ear "Did it work?" She could only nod her head and laugh.
"You should've – god, her face! You should've seen it! Best – one yet!" She barked out between fits of giggles. I smirked into her neck and whispered again.
"It worked… now we just have to do the tricky part. Thank god we have Kanda on our side." I felt her set me down.
"Well, that's nice. Let's watch that movie, shall we?" She held out her hand and I grabbed it, pulling on Allen's elbow and into the living room where Sofie was poking Gracie and Lavi was passed out on the couch.
Oh, yes. Now to stir up the drama… Allen's realized his feelings, but Lavi hasn't. Now to get Kanda to act the part of Allen's boyfriend. Nothing like a dash of jealousy to kick start a relationship! Yes… this little game of Lenalee's would be fun~
M'kay, so that's it for this chapter. Allen realized he loves Lavi ('bout damn time) and Skyla plans to get Kanda to act as Allen's boyfriend, in turn making Lavi jealous and admit his feelings. Heh, this is gonna be so much fun to write! Not what I had originally planned, but I quite like this idea. More… DRAMATIC! And it's still a Yullen?! Arc, so everybody wins!
Please review… they make updates come faster and make me happy! Again, I'm so sorry for not updating in forever! GOMEN! I hope you can forgive me!