Lavi stared at her silently, before he huffed. "Would you mind if we talked for a little while?" he asked, and she gulped nervously.
"No," she gently closed her book and set it on the desk. She planted her elbow on the table and rested her face against her hand, turned towards him. "What is it?"
A small smile tugged at his lips. She knew he was being serious and she was taking him seriously as well, which rarely ever happened for the two of them. "Why did you lie to me?" he asked quietly.
Devina's eyes widened, before she inhaled deeply. "L-lavi… we already talked about this…" she said slowly, trying to think of a way to get out of this conversation already.
"I know we did, but what you said didn't really convince me," Lavi asserted, mimicking her pose and leaning closer to her.
Her breath hatched and she withdrew only a little. "I didn't want you to- umm…" she struggled to formulate her words. "I don't know, Lavi… I wasn't thinking straight. I mean… you remember how it was back there. I wasn't even sure you were real, let alone the other way around… and I was just trying to help you, I guess."
Lavi watched as she stammered through her speech, and his mind couldn't help but scream at him repeatedly to notice how cute she looked as she tried to explain what she'd thought back then. "Why were you trying to help me?" he asked, almost inaudibly, but he knew she heard him.
"B-because you're my friend?" she seemed to be asking him, and he was fighting another smile. "Because… you…" she quieted down for a minute, and Lavi was about to ask her what was wrong when she opened her mouth again. "I'd already seen you… unresponsive when I was conscious. I just wanted to bring you back. You… you didn't see how distressed Lenalee was, and-"
"You were saving me for Lenalee?" Lavi asked suddenly, and she faltered.
"N-no… why are you asking me so many questions?" she finally fought back and he was reminded of all the times she stood up for herself. He broke into a smile, unable to help himself anymore.
"Answer my question,"
"No, baka usagi," she grumbled, annoyed. "I did what I did to save you. That's it. That's all there is to it. Okay?"
Lavi chuckled, "okay," his visible eye wrinkling at the corner.
"Jeez, you're annoying!" she continued to complain and then she suddenly winced.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
Devina debated for a moment, "that's what you called me when… when you weren't… you. I'm sorry, you're not annoying," she corrected.
Lavi was taken aback. "Did I say that to you?" he asked, his voice soft.
She bit her lip, "well… yeah, but it wasn't really you, so I didn't take it to heart." She gave him a small smile.
"I'm sorry, Devina, I…" Lavi's hand landed on her free hand. "I definitely didn't mean that."
He saw her eyes glance down at their hands and then back up to his. "D-don't worry about it. I told you, I didn't take it to heart." She reiterated, nervously.
"Is that why you jumped after me, too?" he asked.
"What?" she asked, puzzled.
"Did you jump after me, to save me, as well?"
Devina's hand retreated from beneath him, and his hand fell to her thigh. She turned away from him, lifting her legs up above the seat and wrapping her arms around her legs, burying her face into her knees. "Enough of that, Lavi," she whined.
Lavi retracted his limp arm and pouted. "Devina, don't get mad at me,"
"Ugh, you are such a baby," she muttered, but he heard her.
His fingers moved of their own accord, touching a strand of her dark hair. He twirled the lock around his finger and waited for her to react. He didn't know why, but the urge to keep touching her, to keep pushing her buttons, was too strong. He couldn't resist.
He jumped when she lifted her head quickly and slapped his hand away. "What the hell are you doing? Stop touching me so much,"
"Does it bother you, Devina?" Lavi asked, huskily, all humor gone from his face.
Devina swallowed as she blinked at him. She had no idea what he was up to, but she was sure he was just toying with her. "It does bother me. You're touching me a lot and I'm physically hurting," she lied.
"Does your hair hurt, too?" he asked, and she almost smacked herself.
Devina didn't break their eye contact, and stared right into his green orb stubbornly, refusing to back down, yet she didn't know what to say anymore.
The silence stretched before Lavi released her hair and rested his hand beneath his chin. "Did the Noah hurt you?" he asked out of the blue.
Devina couldn't follow his train of thoughts at all. "What? N-no… I mean… Tyki is always being nice to me," she heard Lavi's breath catch, "and I don't know why… I mean I attacked him once and he simply lifted me up to help me wrap my hands around his neck… I don't understand him, at all! And then there was Road, she…" Devina paused, her hands touching her hair out of reflex.
"What did she do?" Lavi's voice was so soft, Devina almost shivered.
"N-nothing much… she just pulled my hair a little,"
"Tyki did that, too, though," Lavi conceded.
Devina's face twisted in anger. "That wasn't Tyki." Lavi shifted under her gaze. "Just like… when it wasn't you. That wasn't Tyki," she defended.
"Why do you care so much?" he asked in response, and she froze. "That Noah nearly killed Allen, he made you destroy his Innocence with your own bare hands and you still defend him. What the hell is wrong with you?"
Devina hadn't seen Lavi so angry since the time he yelled at Lenalee on the ship.
"I know… I know what he did, okay? I was there… I can't explain this… it's just… I've been feeling so weird since I woke up in the Ark, and I keep having these visions about the Earl, and I don't know if they have any truth to them or not…" she babbled on, and Lavi could see how frightened she was.
"Visions about the Earl?" he asked curiously.
Her hand covered her mouth, as she caught herself saying something she realized she shouldn't have, and her eyes widened simultaneously. "I- I-"
"Devina, I'm not going to tell on you. Come on, don't you trust me at all?" he gave her a half smile.
Devina took in a deep breath. "I do, but…" she paused. "I really don't understand what's happening to me. Tyki kept throwing in these weird comments and he kept asking me to remember something but I don't know…"
Lavi didn't like how Tyki's name kept popping up in their conversation. He also hated the fact that she was calling him by his first name. What's that? Could it be jealousy? a voice whispered to him, and he shuddered.
"Well, he could be toying with you," he suggested meekly, and Devina's eyes sharpened.
"Really? Really? Do I seem that dense to you?" she challenged and he laughed, a sound that came out too harsh. "I can't believe you. I don't even know why I'm talking to you," she stood up and was about to leave when he caught her wrist. She felt something rush through her blood, and for a brief second, she almost believed Lavi was experiencing the same thing because his hand tightened around her wrist.
"Stay," he breathed, looking up at her.
Devina breathed in and out before she relented, sitting back down. "You should behave, then,"
"I will," he promised.
"What else do you want to know?" she asked impatiently.
Lavi didn't speak, and the two of them were basked in silence again. His eye didn't leave her for a second, though, and the two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Devina broke the connection.
She picked up the book and tried to carry on from where she'd stopped earlier, trying to ignore him and everything he had managed to say.
He didn't move nor speak for a while, and instead watched her read. She could feel his gaze piercing the side of her face, and she tried her best to refrain from snapping at him. It was so disconcerting and it made her heart beat a little too fast.
"What now?" she asked, shutting her book with a little more force than necessary.
Lavi looked at her, feigning innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about,"
"You've been staring at me for a while, now," she huffed.
"Does that bother you, too?" he asked, amused.
"Yes, it does. I can't concentrate," Devina ran a hand through her hair, feeling a migraine approaching. Her fingers were caught within the knots and she gave up, letting her hair be.
"I was able to concentrate just fine when the tables were turned." Lavi said calmly.
Devina could feel her heartbeat accelerate and she couldn't hide her blush from him. "I- I didn't stare!" she shouted defiantly.
"You didn't?" he asked, noticing how red her face was.
Devina chose not to answer him. Instead, she turned back to her book and decided to completely ignore him until he left her alone. The silence stretched, and once again, she found herself immersed in Alice, chasing after the white rabbit. She was finally getting distracted when he spoke.
"I don't understand you sometimes," he admitted, and Devina caught something, a waver in his voice, which made her ache.
"What?" she asked, Alice forgotten.
Lavi sighed, "I said, I don't understand you sometimes," he repeated.
Devina didn't know what to say. She wanted to come up with a snarky comment, something to keep him at bay, but there was some vulnerability to his statement, and she couldn't shake it off. "I don't understand you at times, either," she decided to be honest.
That seemed to spark up his interest. "Why's that?" he asked.
She thought before she answered. "This is complicated,"
"Un-complicate it, then. I'll wait,"
Her fingers drummed against the page she was on, her nervous habit breaking out. "I just don't… You're really nice sometimes, and friendly, and sociable and dorky and you're always trying to light up the mood," she smiled slightly, and Lavi's stomach turned, having nothing to do with hunger at all. "But then… you're… not." She finished.
"When am I not nice?" Lavi's asked in an undertone.
"It's not that you're not nice," Devina amended, "it's just that… sometimes, I can't tell whether you're genuine or not." His breath latched in his throat. "Sometimes I can't tell, whether you're here or not. I look into your eye and all I see is my own reflection, and I think it scares me,"
Lavi shifted in his seat. He was absolutely speechless.
"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Devina stammered, but Lavi shook his head, smiling at her. She could see it wasn't a genuine smile, and that hurt her somehow.
"Don't be. I'm grateful. I want to know what you're thinking," his hand reached for her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. He was reminded of cats and how they reacted when their owners petted them. She really did act like a cat, too.
Devina realized what she was doing and she straightened, standing up. "I think I should go to bed, now," she said quickly and was about to run for the door.
"Devina," Lavi stopped her and she turned to look at him. "You forgot your book." He had stood up, and held the book in his hand, his arm stretching towards her to give her the book.
Devina grabbed it, but their fingers brushed and she felt another jolt run through her. What the hell is wrong with you? she yelled at herself. "Thanks, Lavi," she mumbled tiredly.
"My pleasure," he replied. She was almost at the door, when she heard her name called again. She stopped but she didn't turn because she feared she wouldn't leave. "You're easy to talk to, so let's do this again sometime," he stated, but it sounded like a question.
Devina's lips formed into a smile, and she was out the door. As soon as it closed, her back rested against the hard wood, and she slowly slid down until she hit the floor. Her heart was beating so fast, and she couldn't bear how hot she was feeling.
The door opened behind her, and she jumped.
Author's Note: Hello again! I can't believe this story has lasted this long - 25 chapters. This is something I've never done before. Since the last chapter was really short, I thought I'd update again with something new. This scene is one of my favorites. I remember having so much fun writing it. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and for your understanding and enthusiasm even after a few months hiatus. I'm really grateful to how kind everyone's being. Thank you for reading.