Still don't own DGM, much as I'm sure we all want to.
"I've hated you since the moment I met you, moyashi." Kanda hissed, closing his eyes even as he turned away, jerking his coat off and throwing it across the bed he claimed. Kanda just wanted to go home, now that this mission was over and done with; Innocence safely in their packs. They had at least a week of traveling before they got back to the Order and the fighting was enough that their Finder had actually vacated the room, though he didn't go far enough to lose them.
"Then why do you keep letting me in?" Allen shot back, choosing to ignore the slight in favor of looking at the myriad of cuts, scrapes, and bruises on his normal arm; lingering reminders of their mission. "I don't think you mean 'hate' like the rest of humanity does, baKanda." The silver haired exorcist swallowed a grin at the sudden twitch of the swordsman's shoulders. He knew the other detested that name, probably more than he hated being called 'moyashi'. All was fair in war. Allen divested himself of his coat in a more controlled manner than his ill-tempered teammate, folding it neatly at the end of his bed.
"I mean hate as in I would love nothing more than to kick you in the face." Kanda growled, turning his back on the other. He wobbled on one leg, swiftly pulling his boot laces undone before switching legs and then kicking them off. They hit the floor with muffled thumps, and Kanda sighed quietly. He could just feel the migraine on its way. Talking to Allen Walker always left him tense, angry, and ready to break something. Pity Lavi wasn't there for him to chase down.
"I find it funny that you, of all people, can even say 'love' without choking on it." Allen chuckled, sitting on the slightly uncomfortable mattress to untie his own boots, shooting at glance through his hair to see what Kanda was doing. The other was glaring over his shoulder at him, much as Allen had suspected.
"Tch." Kanda sniffed, pulling his hair tie loose in one quick motion and letting his blue-black hair fall from the high ponytail it was normally kept in, hissing softly when his shoulder protested angrily- the deep muscle bruise there refusing to heal quickly. He could always force it to, but that would just tire him faster and make him even more irritable. Something he couldn't really afford to be right now.
Allen paused in the middle of yanking off his shirt, struck again by the irony that someone as nasty, pessimistic, and outright unpleasant as Kanda could have hair that pretty. Allen often wondered why the other wore his hair so long, he was not the kind who took to luxury; preferring to keep things quick and easy to take care of. Having hair that long, for it easily reached mid-back on him, could hardly be easy to care for.
"Besides, if you 'hate' me so much, why haven't you actually tried to do more than shouting matches? I don't think you've ever actually hit me with the intent to actually cause harm." Allen muttered, more to himself than anything, as he pulled on a tank top to sleep in. He wasn't expecting a response from the other and he didn't receive one, at least not right away.
"Komui would probably kill me." Kanda remarked drolly. "With you being Cross' apprentice and Hevlaska's prophecy and all that crap- and you're forgetting. I tried to kill you the day I met you." Allen raised an eyebrow at the other, who chose to pointedly ignore him in favor of pulling a brush through his hair, before twisting it into a low ponytail. Allen made a small face of amusement, he had never seen Kanda's bedtime ritual before- having never shared a room with him before, so this was all rather entertaining. At least it was until he realized that Kanda was glaring at him, belligerent expression back on his face in full force. "What."
"Just wondering why you have long hair when you hate to be bothered by anything." Allen shrugged, thankful for Cross' 'schooling' (for once). It enabled him to be a master at poker, and very good at hiding what he was actually feeling. Kanda wasn't one to look under the initial expression, so he probably wouldn't catch the curiosity that the vaguely disinterested face was hiding. And the accusation that was dancing on his tongue, wanting to be let loose- Kanda had dodged the question.
"I like it." Kanda answered Allen's newest question and turned his back on the other. Allen's silver eyes widened slightly in surprise of getting a response, and one that was actually revealing something about the other exorcist- instead of the usual crap Kanda tossed out to keep everyone at a distance with his ill temper. Allen watched as Kanda carefully loosened the belt that held Mugen's sheath, sliding the sword loose and dropping it lightly to the mattress; the belt clattering loudly onto a chair. Allen bemusedly shook his head, he found it ironic that the only things Kanda was ever gentle around were a killing weapon and Lenalee.
Allen tossed his clothes onto the other chair in the room, flopping back onto his chosen bed to stare contemplatively at the ceiling. There was a dynamic he couldn't figure out entirely. Kanda and Lenalee. How did that even work? He'd always assumed that Kanda was only a semblance of friendly to her because she was Komui's sister and no one wanted to prod at that particular part of the chief's awkward personality. Kanda always treated Komui with a cold sort of grudging respect; and fear whenever Komui was in one of those moods, moods that always ended up almost destroying their home with the results. But, Allen wondered idly, was there more to it than just that? Kanda wasn't as rough with any of the girls they worked with, and when they had to fight against a woman… he always looked a lot more annoyed than usual. Maybe the man did have morals, afterall.
A soft click drew Allen's attention from his wandering thoughts and across the room. He rolled his eyes when he realized that Kanda had merely leaned Mugen against the wall near the headboard. He shook his head slightly, feathering his longer bangs over his eyes to hid them incase Kanda caught him staring again. That wouldn't do, since the set of the older man's shoulders betrayed how on edge he was already. Kanda had his shoulders almost hunched in, almost imperceptible to anyone who didn't make a habit out of trying to socialize the unwilling swordsman- or any of their small group. Lavi never noticed anything unless he could twist it to his benefit; but it seemed like he went out of his way to annoy the hell out of Kanda. They had known each other for a fairly long time, which might explain why Kanda put up with the lighter of Lavi's schemes. There was a line to it, though, and Lavi tended to cross it every few days. Allen snorted softly, he had no idea how the redhead was even still alive after half of what he'd pulled.
"Tch…." Kanda growled softly to himself, resting his hands on his hips and tilting his head to the side slightly as he regarded his possessions. Satisfied that everything was where he wanted it, he deftly pulled his long-sleeved shirt off, intending to change into a sleeveless shirt that he usually slept in- to keep from overheating. People generally referred to him as a cold person with a heart of ice, but it was just his personality that was so cold. He almost wished he was one of the people who needed to wear a ridiculous number of layers in winter, rather than waking up with just a sheet on and still feel like he was inside an oven. Kanda rolled his eyes, sparing a glance down at the tattoo that covered the left side of his chest. He made a noise of quiet contentment, pleased that everything looked alright; despite how much he had used that to stay alive. He leaned over, intending to dig through his bag to locate his shirt when he caught Allen's eye briefly, before the younger jerked his head away to stare at the ceiling. Kanda scowled, hiding his confusion behind anger as was his usual method. He had no idea why it looked like Allen was blushing, and he decided that it didn't really matter so long as the other kept his thoughts to himself. Kanda warned the boy time and time again, he did not care to hear the troubles of another, and he would not help him anyway. Or so he tried to tell himself.
Allen snuck a peek at the swordsman, eyeing the tips of the black tattoo that peeked over his shoulder, the way muscles moved easily under pale skin… Allen decided that it wasn't fair that Kanda was as pretty as he was and with a perfect hunter's body; built from years of swordsmanship and hard fighting.
"Why are you staring at me?" Kanda snapped, and Allen jumped with a startled squeak. Chagrined silver eyes met annoyed and confused cobalt before looking away. "Moyashi? Answer me."
"Nope. You never answer me." Allen replied, rolling to put his back to Kanda. An irritated frown pulled Kanda's eyebrows down and narrowed his eyes as he jerked his shirt on. That was not normal. Allen always answered him, usually with some manner of smartass reply or another question Kanda would then ignore, never an outright evasion like that. And the way the other's ears were a burning shade of red…. What the hell is going on in that mind of his? Kanda wondered, staring at the back of Allen's head. There was obviously something about him that bothered the other, and it was clearly more than Kanda's personality. That displeasure had been expressed more times than Kanda cared to count.
The sting of hurt that lanced through Kanda's chest took him by surprise at the thought that Allen might genuinely dislike him, since when did he care what the kid thought? Kanda dove into his covers, snapping off the light on his side of the room along the way, and dragging his blanket up over his head. He was starting to get an idea about several things, and he wished that this particular epiphany had waited to make itself known. As in, forever.
AN/ I'm not sure how my update schedule is going to be for a while. I'm trying to get to a point where I can lengthen the chapters a bit more- it stings my pride that these are under my self-imposed minimum of 3,000 words. Blah. Thanks for reading!