Lavi knocked on the boy's door. He'd promised he would take him out to see the town today. But after last night, he was rather reluctant.
Why had he been in Lavi's room in the middle of the night? Hovering over his bed, no less...
Why hadn't he pushed the boy away the moment he had woken?
"Wake up!" He yelled, before opening the door and walking in. The bed was empty. Odd. The covers weren't there either. He looked at the floor and saw the boy curled up in a pile of blankets. Lavi blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. But no matter how many times he opened and closed his eyes, the boy didn't move.
Lavi knelt down, shaking his shoulders. "Wake up."
Kanda jumped, stumbling to his feet. Unable to retain his balance, he fell forward. He would have landed face down on the floor if Lavi hadn't caught him.
Kanda pulled away. Straightening his back and trying to pretend it hadn't happened.
Lavi grinned, but Kanda noticed it was lopsided.
"We'll head out soon. There're some clothes in the dresser. Try not t'hurt yourself. M'kay?"
Kanda nodded, already half way through pulling the nightshirt over his head.
"I'll give ya some privacy, then?" Lavi said quickly, averting his eyes from the pale expanse of Kanda's stomach.
Kanda rolled his eyes; it wasn't as though Lavi hadn't seen him naked before. Why were his ears bright red?
When he was dressed, Lavi lead him to the carriage that had been prepared for their trip. It was small, only big enough to fit two humans, and led by several odd looking animals. They stood on all four limbs, had long faces and were covered completely in fur. Kanda walked up to one, poking at a flared nostril. It blew a gust of air on his face, making him sneeze.
"She's pretty, ain't she?" Lavi commented, looking at Kanda, "We only buy the best horses."
Lavi helped Kanda into the carriage, before sitting in next to him. He picked up a pair of ropes that were attached to the headgear worn by the 'horses'.
Kanda gripped the edge of the carriage as it jostled along the cobblestones. He watched Lavi and recognised to movements easily. Controlling these creatures was the same as controlling dolphins underwater. The headgear was similar and so were Lavi's movements. How hard could it be?
Kanda poked Lavi's shoulder to gain his attention, then motioned to the reins with the other.
"You wanna go? Do y'know how to control 'em?"
Kanda nodded slowly.
Lavi reluctantly handed him the reins. "If you're sure..."
Kanda flicked the reins and smirked as the beasts went faster. He looked over at Lavi for a moment. The redhead was gripping the side of the carriage and looking worried. Kanda flicked the reins again. The horses put on another burst of speed. He repeated the action once more but they didn't go any faster.
"Good enough."
Kanda watched a cliff come up on the path ahead of them. His smirk grew as Lavi's eyes widened in horror.
"STOP!"
Kanda egged the horses on and watched in satisfaction as Lavi's face paled. The horses' feet left the ground in a powerful leap and pulled them across the large gap in the road. He pulled the animals to a stop when they were safely on the other side and handed the reins back to Lavi. His expression was sour at Kanda's obvious amusement.
"What were you thinkin'?! Y'coulda killed us!"
Kanda shook his head and shrugged.
"Where did y'learn to do that? How long 'ave ya been doin' it for?"
Kanda pointed in the vague direction of the ocean and held up ten fingers.
"Wow. How old are ya, then?"
Kanda held up ten again and then another eight.
"Well I just turned nineteen." Lavi smiled, puffing out his chest. "And as your elder, I forbid ya from doin' that ever again."
Kanda rolled his eyes.
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The Millennium Earl was not pleased.
He hadn't expected Kanda to find the prince, let alone have them get along so well. They were already bickering like an old married couple and Kanda couldn't even speak. Well if he was going to get the boy for himself, he was going to have to start playing more seriously.
Luckily he had the perfect person to deal with a problem like this.
"Road," he called, "I need your help."
A small, black haired mermaid swam into the cave.
"Earl!" She yelled, locking her arms around his waist.
"Hello," he said, hugging her back. "I need your help."
"What do you need?" She smiled.
"I need you to keep these two from kissing." A glowing orb conjured an image of two figures seated at a small table. Another boy stood near them.
"Sure. If I do it, can I have something too?"
The Earl laughed. "Of course you can! Anything for my favourite little mermaid." He ruffled her spiky hair with a tender smile.
"Show me a close up of the white haired boy." She giggled, as the image zoomed in on his smiling face. "Who is he?"
"Allen Walker. He works for Lavi."
"I want him."
"Absolutely. A fine choice. Now watch the two of them and make sure nothing happens. Please be careful."
"Okay. You're the best!"
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Kanda watched as Lavi's eye darted over the area surrounding their boat, his feet tapping restlessly as he rowed. Crickets chirped loudly as the sun began to set.
"I'm bored!" Lavi whined, releasing an oar and poking Kanda's side. The boat wobbled.
Kanda glared.
"What do you expect me to do about that, idiot!"
"Oh right, y'can't talk," he paused, "I know! I'll guess ya name. We're friends now, yeah? So I have a right to know. "
Kanda looked at him incredulously, raising an eyebrow. How exactly did he plan to do that? Lavi smiled knowingly, stilling the oars and letting them float on the mild current.
"'ere's how this is gonna work: I'll ask y'a question and you just gotta nod or shake your head."
Kanda nodded slowly.
"Good. Okay, how many names 'ave y'got? One?" Shake. "Two." Nod.
"How many letters in your first name? One?" Shake. "Two." Shake "Three." Nod.
"Second name? One?" Shake. "Two" Shake. "Three." Shake. "Four." Shake. "Five." Nod.
"M'kay, now I'm gonna go through the alphabet and you put up your hand when I get the right letter."
Kanda nodded.
"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R. S. T. U. V, W, X,Y-" Kanda raised his hand.
"Y?" Kanda nodded.
"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R. S. T. U-" Kanda raised his hand once more.
"U?" Kanda nodded and raised two fingers. "So yer first name is Yuu?" Another nod.
They repeated the process until they had his second name.
"So you're Yuu Kanda. That's an odd name." Lavi grinned. "Okay Yuu, let's play another game."
Kanda's eye twitched. "Don't call me by my first name."
"What was that. Yuu? I can't hear ya!" Lavi laughed, raising his hand to his ear and pointing it exaggeratedly in Kanda's direction.
A low growl pushed its way out of Kanda's throat (apparently he could still do that) and he punched Lavi lightly on the forehead.
"Ouch!" He complained, rubbing the sore spot, "Anyway, new game: How 'bout ya point at something and I can tell y'bout it."
Kanda thought for a second, looking around. They were surrounded by calm water, overgrown with strange plants that had large circular leaves and pale, cupped flowers. He pointed at one.
"That's called a lotus," Lavi said, reaching into the water and plucking one. He handed it to Kanda, whose lip twitched upward slightly. Lavi grinned, the closest thing he'd gotten to a smile all day. "They grow all over the world in still, freshwater pools. They are beautiful, but quickly take over the water's surface if they're not cut down occasionally. Anything else?"
Kanda saw his chance and pointed at the hammer. Lavi followed his gaze downwards.
"Wait, what?!" Lavi balked, ears turning red again. Kanda rolled his eyes, reaching across and prodding the hammer at Lavi's thigh.
"...Right, the hammer,"
Kanda nodded.
"Gramps got it for me ages ago. It's my weapon. I was taught t'use a sword and stuff but I wasn't really good at it." Lavi scratched the back of his neck. "But this is my kinda weapon. I was a natural." He twirled the hammer around his fingers. "It's great fun, all I gotta do is whack stuff." A big grin stretched across his face. "Can you fight?"
Kanda nodded.
"Cool. When we get back t'the house I'll show ya the armoury. You can point t'your weapon of choice. Maybe y'can take me on." Kanda smirked and his eyes gleamed.
"I'm good y'know. You won' be able t'beat me." Kanda only shook his head.
"We'll settle this later. Anymore questions?"
Kanda pointed at the eye-patch.
Lavi's good eye widened in surprise and he raised his hand as if to touch it. Then he caught himself, and put it down again.
"I've had this since I was little," he said sadly, "I don't wanna talk about it."
Kanda inclined his head, and they fell into silence.
After a moment, he leant towards Lavi, reaching out and gently running his fingers over the dark material of the eye-patch. The redhead sighed, placing his hand just below the hairline of Kanda's neck and leaning in slightly. Lavi's lips brushed against his for the barest moment before there was a sharp jolt and they were both thrown into ice cold water.
Road smirked from beneath the boat. That Kanda was good at this, but she was so much better.
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