Title: What Do You Think Of?
Characters/Pairings: Lavi/Allen, Kanda Yu, Lenalee Lee
Rating: PG-13 for implications.
Word Count: 1,590
Disclaimer: All characters depicted in sexual situations in this post/fanfiction/fanart (including material in the comments) are fictional and are intended to be and considered to be by the author of said material of the legal age of consent in the United States state of California, regardless of what age these characters may be in the material they are derived from.
Summary: AU. Allen meets Lavi over a Cosmopolitan magazine.
Notes/Warnings: un-betaed; the eighteenth in a series of 104 themes. "Love" is today's theme. Thank you stoneygeek, Aion Laven Walker, and Sazuka-Chan for the wonderful reviews!
Allen sat down in the lounge, bored out of his mind. Lately he had been under lock-down due to the fact that his guardian was absolutely crazy. He had finally gotten him to loosen up and let Allen go to the gym. He had already swam and was waiting for his hair to dry more before going on any of the equipment, and so he sat.
He crossed his arms, he fidgeted. He watched others come and go. Allen wished he had remembered to grab something to read. All that was available at the moment was a 'Cosmopolitan': a magazine specifically for females and fruity gay guys. Allen snorted; he might be gay, but fruity was beyond comprehension. There was no way he was picking up that magazine.
His silver eyes darted around. No one was around. He knew that Kanda Yu would be swimming laps for another hour at least and Lenalee was in the women's changing rooms. There was only a red head on the other side of the room, waiting for his hair to dry as well. He was immersed in a book on the Civil War. There was no chance this stranger would notice him reading Cosmopolitan.
Allen picked it up. He looked around one last time before flipping it open. He was so involved in a 'scandalous lovers' article that he didn't notice his hair was dry. He also didn't notice the red head across the room peering over his book at him. It took another ten minutes for the red head to say something.
"So what do you think of when you hear the word 'love'? Or have you not gotten to that quiz yet?"
Allen was jolted upright. His eyes were wide. The red head looked at him innocently. Allen swallowed and looked down at his hands. Slowly, he folded the magazine closed and put it back on the table.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The red head snickered behind his book. "Yeah, okay."
After a silent moment of fuming, Allen's eyes narrowed. "Wait, how did you know about that?"
The red head lowered his book. "You can't tell me that you think you're the only guy in the world who reads girl magazines."
Allen blinked. Then he turned sly. "So what do you think of when you hear the word 'love'?"
The red head slipped his book into his bag and fluffed up his hair. He stood, grabbing his bag. He walked towards the door, but paused with his hand on the knob. He looked over his shoulder, green eyes piercing.
"You."
-----
Allen struggled with that for a week. For a week he wasn't able to concentrate on his job, for a week Allen couldn't think of anything but that red head and what he said. Finally, Allen went back to the gym. He wondered if the red head was going to be there, but it was quickly forgotten as he started his Zune and the treadmill.
Allen was packing up his bag to leave when the red head entered the locker room. They glanced at each other. Allen thrust a handful of clothes into his bag.
"What do you think of when you hear the word 'smell'?"
The question came from across the room. Allen blinked, "Uhhh, laundry?"
A wry laugh came from the red head. "Nice one."
Just as Allen was leaving, he asked, "What do you think of when you hear the word 'smell'?"
The red head gave him a simple smile, "You."
-----
At first Allen thought he should be offended. Perhaps the guy meant he had bad B.O. He checked this out with Lenalee as they walked to the tennis court. She shook her head and smiled.
"You smell good, Allen, really!"
He smiled and tried to concentrate on the game. Later, he went home and did his laundry. He thought over what the red head answered with and came to the conclusion that he shouldn't be offended. The way he answered was soft, so of course he meant it in a good way.
He convinced his guardian to let him go to the gym twice a week. After two days of waiting, Allen went back to the gym. As he swam laps, he saw a red head swimming two lanes away. Allen's eyebrows rose, but the stranger was soon forgotten when Kanda smacked the side of his head.
"Keep swimming, Moyashi!"
After the two friends cursed at each other a few times, they went separate ways to finish their laps. As Allen caught his breath, the red head appeared in the lane next to him.
"What do you think of when you hear the word 'happiness'?"
Allen put his hand on the wall to steady himself as he pulled himself from the water. "Ummm… a world without Kanda Yu?"
This caused the red head to chuckle. "I can see that."
"What do you think of?" Allen sat on the pool's edge; the red head treaded water in front of him.
"You." The red head answered simply enough, and with a smile.
Allen was puzzled by the stranger's answers. He stood and left, but looked over his shoulder at the red head. The red head watched him back.
-----
As soon as Allen entered the gym the next week the question was asked from the nearby sign-in sheet.
"What do you think of when you hear the word 'muffin'?"
This was a bizarre one. It made Allen stop in his tracks and smile. "I'd have to say 'Yum'." He nodded and took the pen, offered by the red head. He signed his name and began walking into the gym. The red head followed until they reached the weights room. They split up and did their separate exercises. Allen had plenty of chances throughout the morning to ask the stranger what he thought of, but he didn't. When the red head walked towards the sign out sheet, Allen did too. But he was silent. The red head waited for him to finish writing his name. They walked out to the parking lot. They stopped.
"Why haven't you asked me yet?"
Allen smiled, "I know what your answer is."
The red head smiled back. "But that takes the fun out of it."
Allen shook his head and relented. "Okay, what do you think of?"
The red head laughed lightly and started walking towards his car.
"I think of you, Allen. Only you."
Allen snorted and walked to his own car. It only occurred to him after he sat in his car. The red head honked his horn and waved as he left. Allen waved back. He watched the car disappear. Allen got out of his car and ran back inside. He looked at the name above his own. 'Lavi Bookman'.
-----
The second time he went to the gym that week, 'Lavi Bookman' wasn't there. The next week Allen was on the treadmill when the red head entered: circles under his eyes. He coughed a few times as he went through his warm ups. Allen watched him. The red head left early, without talking to him.
The next time he went to the gym, he checked the sign in list for the red head's name. It was there: scrawled four names above his own. He frowned and entered the locker room. He swam, the red head wasn't there. He waited for his hair to dry. No one else was in the lounge. He picked up Cosmopolitan. He flicked through the pages until he found the quiz. Allen smiled.
Allen went out to tennis and was surprised to see the red head there, partner-less. Without a word, they started towards their own court. They served the ball a few times before Allen ventured the question.
"What do you think of when you hear the word 'naughty'?" He had a sly smile.
The red head sent the ball back to him and laughed.
"I'm not sure how you would react if I answered that one."
Allen scoffed and hit the ball. "I know you think of me. I'm just not sure how you know that bit about me." He winked at the red head.
The red head missed the ball. They stared at each other.
"You?"
"Me." Allen was smiling when he confirmed it.
The red head howled in laughter. After he stopped, they both walked up the fence. The red head stuck his hand over the fence. Allen took it and shook hands with the relative stranger.
"Hi, I'm Lavi Bookman; it's a pleasure to meet you, Allen."
"Nice to finally be introduced, Lavi." Allen stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth.
"Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?"
"I'd love to." Allen grinned.
-----
That night, after dinner had ended and Lavi was dropping off Allen at his guardian's house, Allen stopped before getting out of the car.
"What do you think of when you hear the word 'love'?"
Lavi tilted his head to the side. "I still think of you, Allen."
That made Allen smile. He unbuckled and got out. He was half-way to the door when Lavi called out behind him.
"What do you think of?"
Allen paused, then turned to face the car, Lavi watching him from the rolled down passenger side window. Allen considered it.
"I think of the dinner I shared with you tonight, Lavi Bookman. I think about how much I would love to do it again. I think of the fact that I could be falling in love with you."
Tomorrow's Theme: "Tears"