⋙( ◃ ◕) [Turned Tail .. Chapter 14] ◕( ▹ )⋘
"How long do you think it'll be before Gramps figures out where I am?"
"Let's make a bet?"
"Get that black aura away from me, I'm allergic!"
"C'mon! Face your fears, Lavi. Please?"
"I'd rather not end up like Tyki, thank you very mu-Where did those cards come from?! I thought you wanted to bet on Gramps, not play poker!"
A simple, innocent shrug. "Texas or-"
Lavi and Allen turned from their spots on the couch to face the interruption that had opened the door. Lenalee smiled at them as she stepped in, Kanda glowering as he walked in with her.
"So this is where you are; we didn't see you in the dining hall for breakfast." Lenalee remarked.
"Those crows are assholes," Kanda grumbled, glaring onto someone through the crack of the door before it closed up. "They're suffocating. There's one behind every damn corner."
Lenalee patted his shoulder compassionately, biting her lip. "I know, Kanda. All of us are on edge because of them." Her violet hues became misty, thoughts trailing on the path of dark memories. Home did feel like a prison...
Kanda let her lean into him when she, without realization, started searching for him. He hugged an arm around her, rubbing her arm firmly to soothe her vibrant quivers while offering his strength for her to take and forge into her own. She pitched her forehead into his shoulder, forcing him to smell the sweet heaven of lilacs that arose from her hair.
Lavi ruffled Allen's head of white hair, both of them sharing a fond smile. They couldn't be more happy for their development.
"About time, huh? And Yuu does look like one comfy teddy bear," Lavi whispered with a grin into Allen's ear. Allen cringed away with a disgusted face when slobber made contact with his skin. Lavi blinked once to find the sharp end of a blade on the tip of his nose, and it sparkled as if to say hello.
"I-I meant 'you' as in YOU. I was referring to Allen, I swear!" Lavi immediately hugged Allen close to him to emphasize, petting his hair nervously. "He's just so soft and comfy. Who wouldn't want him as a teddy bear?"
"Thif ish haraffment." Allen growled through Lavi's suffocating forearm.
"Shh, my teddy bear, shh… Ow! Shit..." Lavi hissed sharply, flinching away from Allen to rub tenderly at his offended limb. "Did you have to bite me?"
Allen smiled sheepishly before shrugging, not really concerned.
"Too bad I don't praise Beansprouts." Kanda muttered. Allen turned to glare back at him, unimpressed.
"My name is Allen, Bakanda!"
Lenalee hastily dragged Kanda onto the couch with her, wordlessly telling him to calm down and not feed the fire that had already lit between them. Once he was settled, she brought her stocking legs up to cross idly, placing her folded hands on top like a cherry. She was ready to say something, but then paused.
"What was that?" She asked, violet hues glancing around skeptically. She couldn't find proper words to explain what she had exactly heard.
Allen frowned, immediately on his feet. "We must've woken them." Internally, he harshly scolded himself for his carelessness. It shouldn't have surprised him that all this was enough to disturb them even through the shield of water.
Now in front of the tank, Allen swallowed hard when he saw them. They were freaking out; confused and scared and not understanding why they were alone. Avery was looking in every direction of the tank with full eyes, hoping to find his mother, and Jake was whimpering softly with him, clutching Lavi's scarf as hard as he could and burying his nose in it. They were both holding onto each other for support, creating a trembling and crying ball inside the folds of the orange scarf.
Allen felt his heart jolt painfully and exhaled deeply. This was his fault.
He gently tapped the cold glass, letting them know that he was there. The sound was piercing in the water and their little auburn heads quickly snapped to him, their odd eyes switching to relief when they realized it was him. They immediately swam in his direction and Allen hastily reached a hand over the glass to stop them from colliding into the invisible wall between them. He could feel their hearts beating wildly as he held them, their little minds still holding onto fear. For only being as big as few week old kittens, they held onto him tightly enough to bite a bit at his skin. He didn't care about that, though.
Allen heard Lenalee gasp from behind him and he was glad when she didn't lose herself to her excitement. He smiled at her in appreciation when she slowly came forward with great care, keeping her distance to not add further upset by surprising the pups with her unfamiliar presence.
"Congratulations!" She cheered softly, feet bouncing but not leaving the ground.
"That's Avery and that's Jacob," Lavi's spoke from over her shoulder, pointing out each pup as he introduced their names.
"Too cute," Lenalee sighed with a smile. "Makes me want one."
Lavi almost lost his composure right there when Kanda tensed with his expression unnaturally twisting into a flustering panic. His one eye was twitching in disbelief at Lenalee, mouth not sure what else to do but gawk stupidly at her while representing a drowning man out of water. Lavi's own face was beating red for trying to choke down his laughter (He wanted to preserve his life). Allen didn't bother with trying to control himself - he was howling.
"I think you broke him, Lenalee." Lavi wheezed, choking on a laugh. He drunkenly wobbled over to Allen, throwing an arm around his shoulder to keep his quivering body from meeting the floor. Only Lenalee could destroy the great Kanda Yuu.
Lenalee giggled, lightly patting Kanda's cheek to guide him back down to Earth.
"Relax. You're thinking too much into it, Kanda. A little Kanda would be awfully adorable, though." She sang sweetly.
"Stop confusing the easily confused, Lenalady!" Lavi broke and crashed to the floor, almost dragging Allen with him when Kanda buckled to his knees as if his precious Mugen had just broke in front of him, his terrified eyes locked on Lenalee like she was some monster. The samurai looked so badly conflicted, his mind unable to process the obvious teasing from Lenalee. Lavi's mad crackles joined Allen's, both their eyes streaming mirthful and unrelentless tears.
The twins cocked their heads to the side while watching nervously, wondering if they were okay.
"Lenalee, Kanda," Allen made to straightened himself, hopelessly kicking the still wiggling and noisy redhead on the floor. He coughed a few times before smiling at them. "Since there are two, I feel that I need to ask on behalf of both of them, now. Would you like to become the godparents of Avery and Jacob?"
"I would have forced you to if hadn't asked, you know. Of course we will, Allen!" Lenalee grabbed his hand in both of hers, promising him that they were there for him and Lavi.
"I didn't even agree the first time." Kanda scowled, finally caught up on the situation.
"Your eyes haven't left them, you know. You like them, just admit it," Lenalee turned to him with a knowing smile. "You like kids. I can see you under all those layers, Kanda." Kanda simply glared at her, neither admitting nor denying her claim.
"You can come closer, if you'd like. They are very… wary, but need to learn to get used to others." Allen smiled.
Lavi was beside Allen, using his fingers as pliers to gently pry the vice grip Avery had on Allen's arm who briefly fussed before guiding him out of the water. The pup instantly tensed when breaching into the open air, gasping a few times and almost panicking for not understanding the sudden change in his ability breathe. He shortly relaxed when his gills closed and he adapted to the new environment, taking in soft breaths naturally. He cooed and snuggled his nose into the damp shirt he was up against, melting into Lavi's calming touches.
Before Kanda knew it, Lavi was handing the fish over to him. In his dismay, he adjusted his grip on the pup as best he could, confused on how to handle the tail. He finally settled with Avery secure in the crook of his arm, his other arm reaching around to cradle him from behind his head. He started to sweat when those big blinking green-silver eyes peered up at him, reading his face curiously like some owl. Kanda's first thought was that he was gonna cry, and he held himself deathly still, afraid to do anything that would set the little bomb off.
"That's the first time Avery hasn't freaked out over meeting someone." Allen commented, giving Kanda a thumbs up.
"I think Yuu's afraid of him, Allen." Lavi said.
"Shut up, Lavi!" Kanda barked back loudly, before panic crossed him and he hastily looked down, worried his shouting had set off the 'bomb'. He deflated when Avery didn't seem bothered, folding his tail back and forth innocently. With the thumb attached to the hand supporting Avery's head, Kanda rose it gingerly across his soft brow line. The pup reacted, nuzzling into his warm touch with a pleased coo. Time became lost on Kanda, but when he finally looked up from his arms, his eyes connected with those pleasant violet hues. He scowled with heat in his cheeks, releasing the fish back over to Lavi.
He would never vocally admit that he judged the little thing as cute. Lenalee saw right through him brilliantly, though. It was true that he had a weakness for kids.
"Here's Jake, Lenalee." Allen handed the eager girl the clear faced pup. Lenalee cupped him gently under his arms, smiling gently at him.
"Hello, Jacob," Lenalee's smile grew when Jake smiled back at her, glowing in her attention. He happily giggled when she nuzzled noses with him, tail swishing gleefully underneath him. "You have Allen's smile, don't you?"
"That's unfortunate, but fortunate it's not the Rabbit's. Every time he smiles someone dies," Kanda rolled his eyes.
"Stop talking about yourself, Yuu," Lavi eagerly fired back.
"I don't smile."
"Silly, aren't they?" Lenalee whispered to Jacob with a smile. The pup twitched his ears in response as if he was nodding and agreeing to what she had said.
'Cree'
New bodies moved into the room, permitted by the swaying door. One by one, Bookman, Komui, Mira and Leverrier had entered.
Kanda scowled when Komui galloped over to Lenalee, gushing a happy good morning with a warm hug. "Careful, brother…" Lenalee gently pushed him back, moving her occupied arm up a bit to show him what she was concerned about. Komui blinked when an odd pair of green and silver eyes blinked curiously up at him.
"Well…" Komui finally said.
"Remember what we talked about?" Lenalee spoke to him softly, shooting a wary glance at Lavi and Allen.
Komui nodded before smiling widely. "Oooh! My sweet Lenalee~!" He hugged her again. "I'll take care of it, don't you worry!"
Lenalee rolled her eyes good naturally when he practically skipped out of the room, hearing her name being shouted in the hallway.
Leverrier's stood by patiently beside the doctor, hands clasped behind his back.
Bookman spoke when his dark eyes caught Lavi. "So, you were here all morning?"
"I wanted to get the jump on these guys once I heard they had hatched," Lavi nodded to the little one in his arms. Avery had expectantly tensed up, overwhelmed by all the new faces. Lavi worked in kneading a consoling rhythm onto his back, doing what he could to keeping him calm. It was a good thing Avery was looking away from their new guests; he had his face once again buried under Lavi's chin.
"How did you even find out, anyway? I only called Mira." Allen muttered. The question had been egging him all morning but he had never really asked.
"I intercepted your golems," Lavi grinned proudly, not showing a hint of guilt.
"Why didn't you wake me?" Bookman asked calmly.
Lavi almost didn't respond, trying to carefully choose his words. His hesitation may have been unwise on his part, though. He needed to relax. "I didn't think I needed to bother you. Do you not trust me enough to handle this simple record?"
"Oh good, you have them out," Mira said with excitement, beating Bookman to whatever he wanted to say. "You can bring them over here so we can get started."
Feeling Leverrier's authoritative and powerful eyes on him, Allen finally moved to take the pups from both Lenalee and Lavi arms and into his, wandering over to the examining table and gently lowering them into an awaiting small 5 gallon bowl of water that fit them comfortably enough, but confined them to limited movement. Bookman's eyes grew when Allen had passed him. Green eyes…?
Allen stayed close by when Mira came around the table, earnestly reaching for the first pup. Jake yelped painfully when he was snatched roughly.
Allen immediately seized his arm, putting pressure on it none too kindly, forcing him to release Jake back into the bowl. Mira gasped and tried to cringe away, but Allen wasn't letting him go.
"Don't just grab them!" His silver eyes were bold and seething dangerously, and they terrified Mira.
"You-you're overreacting! I wasn't-gah!" Mira hissed. "Can you please stop?"
"I'm not dumb to your greedy game-" Allen suddenly cried out in pain and unwillingly let Mira go, staggering from the aftermath of the electric shock that had just scorched through his system. He heaved a few times through his excited chest, a shaky hand over his convulsing heart. The collar...
Jake and Avery immediately battled the sides of the bowl, effectively distressed with the treatment of their mother. They were crying out desperately.
"Oi!" Lavi exclaimed. "Was that necessary?" He drilled Leverrier furiously. Bookman watched him silently.
"Quite, actually." Leverrier replied. "He is very dangerous, after all." He let his words float in the air, knowing the others understood his implications well.
Lenalee glared hatefully at him, her entire body screaming at him that he was wrong. They trusted Allen. The bonds they shared were strong, they wouldn't give up on Allen so easily. Leverrier was the ignorant fool who didn't know anything about them!
"You're not holding them," Allen affirmed, having calmed himself down from the shock. "You can look them over but I'm holding them the entire time. Got it?"
"You really are overreacting…" Mira pouted, but agreed.
"Hey, Lavi?"
"Yes, Allen?"
"Was I overreacting?"
"Well, from this unbiased Bookman's point of view, I conclude your actions to be within good reason, Allen." Lavi's eyes were as emotionless as his tone; he was quite upset as well. Allen smirked darkly when Mira's face colored in annoyance.
"Unbiased, my ass." Kanda said from under his breath.
"How childish, Walker," Leverrier said with a disapproving tone. "Get on with the proceedings, Mira."
Lenalee, Kanda and Lavi along with Leverrier were now crowding around the table. There was not one spot open; every direction of the table was occupied by a person. Bookman had to stand back, relying on Lavi and his hearing to document everything.
Allen gathered up Avery first, holding his back to his cupped palms and facing him towards the doctor. Mira eyed Allen apprehensively as he cautiously took the pup's small hand in his fingers, testing the flexibility of the joints and the entire arm that went with it. Avery was for the most part alright with him, only a scrunching his nose a few times in mild agitation, probably because his mother was right there. Mira's trained eyes expertly noticed something.
"Ahh," He hummed thoughtful.
"What?" Allen asked, concerned.
"See these," Mira flipped Avery's hand over, palm facing up. "They are a little hard to see, but there a little suction cups all over the inside of his hands."
Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda, leaned curiously over the table, but Lavi being the person closest to Allen, could only get the best look.
"Oh... So that's why the twin's hands always felt so sticky," Lavi mused. Lenalee's face held a look of astonishment. Kanda decided to turn away, deciding to give some attention to Jake who was expressing boredom in the bowl.
"They are used to hang onto their parent's because they are not strong enough keep up with the pod," Mira explained further.
"Simple enough." Lavi nodded.
Mira moved on, observing the obviously premature fins along Avery's forearms, the feel of them on his thumb were as delicate and as soft as butterfly wings. There were no barbs present, but those would develop.. The ears were mostly round, barely showing the jaded edges that would grow longer and sharper with age.
"The eyes are definitely something… they seem healthy though as far as I can tell? which is a positive. Now, I just need a blood sample. Distract him if you will?" Mira said the last part to Allen.
Allen turned Avery around so he was facing him, and gave him a warm smile. "Hungry?"
Avery was triggered to giggle when Allen tickled him with his left hand, his pudgy hands tapping on the Innocence. He stopped mid-giggle and gasped when a warm green glow entered him, making him feel stronger.
"Good, good…" Mira pulled back the used syringe. "He didn't even notice. What's this one's name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Avery," Allen answered.
"And the other one?"
"Jacob."
"Jacob?" Lavi jumped and turned towards Bookman, nervous. He had never heard the old man speak in such a fearful tone, and it easily unsettled him. Lavi gulped when he was then pierced with a disbelieving and cold, angry look.
Allen tried to kid himself into not noticing, and carved on a smile, moving to replace Avery with Jake from the bowl.
With Jacob, the proceedings went initially the same as Avery's, and that was a good sign. Both of the boys were healthy and happy and Allen himself was happy with those results.
"You're really good with them, Allen," Lenalee smiled at him from beside Kanda. "You're a good mother." She giggled when Allen grimaced and rolled his eyes at the term. He knew he would never be able to get away from it, they would make sure of it.
"You have everything?" Leverrier regarded Mira.
"Ah, yes," Mira gathered his notes, stacking them neatly into his folder. "We can leave now."
"We're also leaving now, Lavi." Bookman's tone was clear. Lavi gritted his teeth and ran a nervous hand through his hair, following him out. He shared a meek look with Allen before disappearing, leaving behind a wordless goodbye to the room's occupants.
Allen sighed with a shake of his head, trying to distract himself from his mind's rampaging worries and racing thoughts of makeshift scenarios that were never anything good, for Lavi specifically. He drew mindless circles in the bowl below him with a finger, watching with some amusement as Avery and Jake were hypnotized by the simple motions on top of the water.
"What did you expect?" Kanda said dryly.
"I know. You're right, Kanda." Allen smiled thinly. "I'm actually a bit relieved, it was never fair to lie to Bookman like that, or to the others."
"Everything could still be okay; Bookman might not give Lavi too much trouble. We can't assume anything yet," Lenalee encouraged.
"Meditate or something. Go distract yourself." Kanda suggested. Allen smiled, touched. It always blew him away when Kanda showed he cared, even for someone like him.
"How about you go eat, Allen," Lenalee chided softly. "You've been in here all morning. We'll watch the twins for you, so you don't need to stress over them. They'll be okay."
"..."
"Beansprout!"
"Alright, alright. You win!" Allen rolled his eyes. "I need to go visit Link, too, now that I think about it. The head nurse said there's a chance he'll wake up from his coma in the next few weeks."
"Take your time. It's our turn to hog these cuties now." Lenalee teased with a laugh, shoeing Allen away so she could take his spot by the twins.
.
.
.
"Jacob. "
Lavi looked up, surprised. "So you do know that name. Can you tell me about it?"
"If I did, you'll have a mind relapse and you'll lose the self who is 'Lavi'. I don't think you want that." Bookman's back was to him, and Lavi stared at it blankly, defeated with the heavy atmosphere.
"It doesn't matter anymore, anyways." Bookman closed his eyes tiredly. "You've ruined everything, Lavi."
Lavi angrily stuffed his hands into his pockets, eyes only moving to meet the older's when he finally turned around. The old man looked more exhausted than his age betrayed, and Lavi would have preferred to be struck and yelled at, instead. He was used to that. He could handle that. Not this deep sadness and hurt the other was haunting him with. It only drowned him in more guilt.
Lavi rubbed a hand stressfully over the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry for betraying you, Gramps. I really am." But I couldn't look away from them…
"I can't trust you anymore. But I can't give up on you, Lavi. You're the only apprentice I have left and my time is very limited." Bookman felt as tired as he looked, even quietly asking for an early eternal rest. Like 35 years ago, he went wrong somewhere with his apprentice.
"We're staying, then?"
"We're leaving."
Lavi's eyes widened. "W-wait, wait! Gramps, think about it. I know I'm an idiot, you know this, the whole world knows this in fact-" Lavi didn't think he took a breath. "But we can't properly record the war if we leave. I know it's hard to consider, but we can maybe make something of this. Maybe when the twins are old enough, I can take them on as apprentices. We are a bloodline clan, after all." (1)
"You being an idiot is no understatement. I can't even consider you taking on an apprentice as it is clear you are nowhere near ready to succeed me."
A pause.
"They aren't the problem, Lavi." Bookman finished
"What?" Lavi blurted.
"On the day we came here, what did I say to you?"
"...It's not like that! It's not what you're thinking, Gramps! I'm serious, open your damn eyes geezer - we were both under the spell!"
"Junior!" Bookman hissed.
"My name is Lavi!" He screamed, pulling at his hair. Who was Lavi though? Just a bookman persona? A temporary existence? A father? A friend? An Exorcist?
...It was getting harder to ignore all the aspects and different sides of him. All these things made him who he was. And he liked them, he liked being Lavi. He didn't want to give it up yet.
"Please. Give me another chance, Gramps."
"You might as well, Bookman." Leverrier walked up, trailed by crows." I know we're breaking our contract and the bookman law, but we can't let you go. Losing anymore Exorcists will be too detrimental to this war. Don't resist."
"Leverrier…" Bookman growled lowly, taking a wary step back. Lavi turned his furious glare onto the approaching man.
"What would be the point of recording history if humanity has perished? Detached or not, you are apart of humanity." Leverrier said.
"The Noah's have more respect than you. The know and understand our standing." Bookman snapped sharply.
"After you switched sides? I'm not so sure. It doesn't matter, though. As long as you are accommodations you belong to the Order." Leverrier said sternly. "You are far too involved, ironically speaking."
"Why are you even here, Leverrier?" Lavi spat.
"When Mira told me of your real position with the pups, I couldn't take my chances. I'm not naive to the Bookmen practices" Leverrier replied. "I'd rather not get physical. Reconsider your decision, Bookman, and don't resist."
"..." Bookman hesitated only for a minute, before sighing into his defeat. Lavi glowered harshly, posture radiating his fury.
"You have always been a very wise old man." Leverrier smiled.
.
.
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(1)Yeah, I believe the Bookman to be a blood related clan. Bookman is supposedly Chinese according to the character book, and Lavi's apparently mostly asian, which I suspect to be connected to Chinese, and in turn connected to being related to Bookman. Not much to go by, but that's just what I believe -shrugs-. Looking forward to find out more about them when Lavi's arc finally begins!
Hope this chapter was okay.
Please share with me your thoughts!