AN:Ah, so the time jumps begin... I've been sitting on this one for yeeeeeeears (4 years!), so it's not chronological...
But, I really love this one, so I'm glad I could finally tweak it and finish it and post it :3 It's set only a couple months after the nightmare that starts this entire series...
General Cross Marian had decided after waking, tanning and smoking, and getting dressed... That today would be one of the days he stayed in his room and just drank. He took to a soft armchair by the window, curled into it with his liquor, and sunbathed as he drank.
He had a nice pile of bottles going, when he noticed the door open... And his little Idiot Apprentice slipped inside. It was the second time in the past couple months that Allen had broken the never spoken yet always understood rule that he wasn't allowed in his Master's room, but Cross didn't care at the moment, and just watched as his apprentice went to a bookcase in the corner.
Cross, being a somewhat closet bookworm and a science nerd, had previously checked the bookcase, but to his disappointment, all he had flipped through had been fiction, aside from a few Bibles that he had skipped upon reading the spines; he knew that collection of books quite well enough.
Allen sat and opened the book he had chosen, one bound in a blue cover that had been one of the more interesting of the ones The General had scanned, to a random page. Cross watched as Allen showed intense concentration on the opened page... But after about ten minutes he decided to break the silence in the room.
'...So how is it?'
Allen jumped as he turned to look at his Master, and his hair spiked with surprise as his face turned as white as his hair; even the red scar on his left cheek and forehead had lost color...
So, his Master reiterated,' How is it? You've been on the same page for ten minutes.'
Allen, in his blank state, began to shiver. His Master stood, and walked over to where he was towering over him, and Allen began stuttering an apology. Cross looked down at his apprentice...
...Then it hit him, and it hit to the point he almost fell over; no wonder his Allen was such an idiot... Being raised in the circus, then in the streets, no one had ever taught Allen to read or write... Even basic Arithmetic alluded him, and Cross decided he couldn't stand the thought of his Idiot being uneducated.
So, he picked Allen up, and he held back an automatic smile as he thought about the night over a month ago, in which he had felt a fatherly connection to Allen... Noticing that Allen had become even more frightened for some reason, then finding himself smiling despite himself, he returned to his normal grim self, but Allen seemed even more unnerved then... Of course, Allen was confused by his Master's sudden changes in attitude, and was worried his Master had thought of the perfect, and probably vile, way of punishing him for breaking into his room a second time... But, Allen found that his Master had simply placed him in a chair beside a small table, and that he was now looking for something. Timcanpy alighted on the table beside him, content to wait by Allen's side.
General Cross was looking for paper. He never thought he'd be teaching his Idiot to read, write, and do math, but he'd been the one to take him in, so it just came with being his master, he thought. He slid the paper in front of Allen, and held out a pen; when Allen realized his Master meant for him to take it, he immediately reached... With his left hand, and so the pen dropped, practically flew out of Allen's hand, really, right into Timcanpy's mouth; while his hand had been rehabilitated enough to have feeling and some grip, it wasn't fit for writing quite yet.
'...You'll have to use your right hand. God, this is gonna be a pain in the ass...But, on the bright side, it'll be easier on you since I'm right handed...'
Cross began writing in script print, first writing the uppercase and lowercase of each letter, then writing numbers zero through nine. When he was done, he looked at Allen, and Allen timidly began trying to copy the letters... Which were God awful, as he had never written before, and using his non dominate hand didn't help.
Cross Marian spent the rest of his day teaching his little Idiot Apprentice to write, and when lunch and dinner came about, they ate together. While it was, indeed, a pain in the ass teaching Allen to form his letters correctly, Cross secretly enjoyed the time spent with his apprentice.
Allen had begun nodding off, as had happened before, and Cross thought again back to the night he had let Allen sleep in his bed.
There was a slight, dull pang in his heart as he left the room and Allen to sleep. He asked Tim to watch after Allen while he was gone, and closed the door softly.
He was going to drown that feeling in the nearest pub he could find.
Lol. So, how's everyone been doing? Here's hoping well, or better, if not...
College is a thing for me. A very large thing for me. If I'm not doing homework, I'm sleeping...
Or working on houses with my dad for money that's not specified for school...
Or nerding out, like any Chemistry major such as myself would...
Or avoiding doing worklike things like writing, hahaha XD
It's amazing to me that I started this series when I was a sophomore in high school at 15 and now I'm a sophomore in college at 20... Sheesh! XD
Well, Dearies, I'm not done, not yet, anyway XD
Really wanna write a chapter about the wheat fields from the newest manga chapters...
Anyway, Lovelies, love n' hugs from Neko! ;P Thanks, as always!