The fifth instalment (wherein Lavi tries to mend relations)

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Insurance and Assurance

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"I can't believe this…"

Quite frankly, neither could Allen, but for now, his priorities lay elsewhere.

Allen had eaten a lot of chicken noodles in his lifetime, but none that had tasted quite as good as these.

"Hey."

Delicious.

"Hey! Would you mind helping me out here? My nose is really itchy."

Allen slowly lifted his gaze from the bowl and, while chewing, levelled it upon Bookman Junior, who was handcuffed to one of the kitchen radiators. Then, after swallowing, Allen continued to dedicate himself to his latest meal.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! I'm not asking you to pick my nose for me, because I would very much like to pick it myself, and− How come you're so damn chill about all of this?"

Said the supposedly benevolent abductor to the abductee.

Allen gave a slight shrug, because− "I seem to have run out of fucks to give. They'll replenish eventually." Or not. Possibly not.

"Don't you care about the fact that that squatter guy could very well be stealing your inheritance right now?"

Well− "So could you," Allen noted, eyeing Lavi from over by the table.

The redhead gave a dramatic eyeroll at that. "Oh, puh-lease. If we wanted to keep the money to ourselves, then we could have simply put a wee bit less effort into tracking down the designated heir instead of going through thirteen different Allen Walkers to no avail."

"Thirteen?"

"Fourteen, counting you," Lavi elaborated, giving him a very intent look. "But you do seem to be the real deal."

Draining what little still remained of the noodles, Allen opted to forego that comment, at least for now. "This place's insured, right?"

-.-.-.-

'This place's insured, right?' An unnerving question if Lavi ever heard one. Still− "It is. Why?"

Allen Walker shifted slightly in his seat, regarding Lavi with newfound interest. "So, hypothetically, if this place burned down−"

Whoa. "Whoa, whoa, no. Don't."

"Don't what?" Allen asked, very innocently. Very.

"You're planning on burning the house down."

There was a slight head tilt at that. "Did I say I was?"

Really. "You were definitely thinking it."

There was a mild shrug at that. "Accidents happen. Especially in old houses with old wiring. And dust. That too."

Yeah… "I'll have you know that the wiring in this place is in excellent condition."

Allen's gaze shifted slightly to the side. "Someone could leave the stove on."

Yeah… "Someone could just buy a microwave instead. Heck, I'd even buy one for you."

Heck, Lavi would buy fifty of them. In any case− "Hey, where is that squatter guy anyway?"

Allen perked up slightly at that. "Tyki?"

Lavi did not like this, and he made no great secret of it. "Yeah, Tyki."

"Tyki's uploading some footage to his laptop," Allen stated, depositing the now empty bowl into the sink.

On one hand, some part of Lavi recognised the fact that he would rather not know. On the other however− "Footage?"

"Urbex stuff. I think," Allen muttered, scrolling through his phone.

The fact that the phone was no longer dead indicated that the squatter had told the truth about something at the very least. Still− "Say…" Lavi began, trying to choose his words carefully. "If you honestly cannot withstand the urge to commit arson, at least have the decency to check out the secret passages first."

It was a gamble, sure, but considering how Allen immediately looked up, it seemed to be paying off. "Secret passages?" he said, attention now on Lavi rather than the phone.

If anything, then Lavi would very much like to keep it there. "Yes, and a few hidden rooms as well. I had a friend of mine hook up my phone to an experimental radar sensor a while back."

Speaking of which, Lavi really had to give Johnny a call; he had been way too caught up in his search as of late and thus neglected keeping up with one of the few people he regarded as a friend and who regarded him as a friend in return.

"Why?"

It took a few moments for Lavi to recall what Allen was asking about. "Because it's my job," Lavi responded, thinking about the lock pick hidden in his left sock, so close yet so far away, given that his arms were tethered above his head. It was not comfortable, not at all.

"It's your job. To snoop," Allen said, eyes narrow.

It was not a question, not really, but Lavi still felt the need to clarify. "To ascertain the whereabouts of assets and to keep them safe until distribution; that is my job, or at least a decent part of it."

"Yeah, whatever."

Yeah, well− "Really though, you better help me unlock these cuffs."

The look sent his way was dismissive. "What happens if I don't?"

What indeed. Lavi forced a smile onto his face. "Are you really sure you wanna wait and find out?" he asked, deliberately flippant.

Allen simply tilted his head again, eyeing him seeming thoughtfulness. "For me, the question is: Which is worse?"

On one hand, Lavi felt bad about having inspired this kind of caution. On the other though, well− "Look, I promise not to drug you again." Maybe not the smartest thing he could have said, but in any case− "I would never harm you. Not intentionally at any rate."

If anything, then it was the opposite. Now if only the brat would realise this for himself.

"Because I'm too valuable?" Allen asked mockingly, tilting his head the other way. "Besides," he added, smiling. "You can't, because Tyki's already confiscated your gun."

To be fair, Lavi could think of at least a dozen ways, just on the top of his head. Still− "To be fair, you are valuable, but you're also a kid. Also, the Old Man would kill me."

Probably. The old man had not actually uttered anything along those lines, but Lavi had the distinct feeling that the man might kill him twice if anything untoward happened to the long-awaited beneficiary. Speaking of which−

The beneficiary was crouching down before him now, regarding him through narrowed eyes. "I don't trust you," Allen said.

That much went without saying. Still− "We'll work on that." They would have to, because there was no living with this in the longer term.

"What happens if I decide to leave you like this?"

Unpleasant or not, it was a perfectly valid question, and so, Lavi opted to answer it with some degree of sincerity. "For now, nothing. I'd be annoyed, yes, but nothing too horrible would happen. Give it a few more hours however…"

He very deliberately trailed off before looking back at the beneficiary to deliver the most essential piece of info. "I was supposed to check in with the Old Man roughly fifteen minutes ago."

The eyes narrowed even further. "Liar."

"Well, technically, the deadline was ten minutes ago, but the clock back at the office is about five minutes off," Lavi explained, perfectly sincere. Well, more or less.

"That doesn't mean he'd be able to do anything," Allen argued. "He's in London."

"There are phones," Lavi dutifully notified him.

"He wouldn't call the police…" Allen said, sounding less certain now.

"Perhaps," Lavi acknowledged, tilting his head slightly to one side. "But there are others."

"Others?" Allen echoed; Lavi could tell that he was unnerved now.

"Are you sure you want to find out?" Lavi asked, smiling now, because the situation, which had up until then proven rather unfavourable, was about to turn in his favour.

"What guarantees are there that you won't bring them in anyway?" Allen asked at last.

None. Still− "Isn't my word good enough for you?"

The expression that crossed Allen's face said a whole lot about what he thought about that, and the words that followed it only added to it. "You say one thing and do the other."

It was a fair assessment, really. Still− "I might diverge from my word at times, but only on special occasions."

"Such as?" Allen questioned, tone somewhere in-between annoyed and something else.

Nevertheless, Lavi had a ready answer at hand. "How about preventing my volatile charge from getting involved with something really risky? As much as you might've taken a shine to that squatter guy, he might just be an addict, and evicting squatters can be a really messy affair, so…"

The beneficiary levelled him with a serious, considering look. Because Lavi knew that in spite of recent evidence of the contrary, Allen was still cautious, generally speaking. Which in turn made it so very interesting and also unnerving just how quickly Allen seemed to have relaxed his guard around the guy. It was eerie, to be frank, and so was the fact that Lavi was positive that he had seen the guy somewhere. He hadn't realised it at first, with the glasses and dishevelled hair and all, but now−

He needed to gather information. And check to see if his phone was still in working condition, of course.

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