Kiss Me, My Pretty
Part Twelve
Silence reined supreme between the three individuals in the dark kitchen. Kanda was casually moving about the cooking area, cleaning up his mess and adding whatever was needed into the makeshift stew he started. Upon seeing Allen, he knew he would probably benefit from simply adding the rest of the vegetables and broth he pulled—instead of putting it back. Allen could vacuum what ever was left over, easily. And if for some reason Allen didn't have room for it, he could simply hold Timcanpy open and pour the rest of it in his new flying garbage disposal.
He was completely unaffected by Lenalee shooting her mouth off about things she didn't really know, but the strange way the bastard beansprout responded was confusing him…Extremely so. It wasn't like his usual outburst of denial. Normally, he would have growled and made some snide comment about his face being too girly. But when Lenalee had made that comment about Allen being more likely to confess his undying love, Allen only told, "Lenalee….d….don't be silly. Kanda's too much of a…haha, a jerk."
It wasn't like the little tardmuffin was being discreet in how awkward he felt. Perhaps it was because of the events of the day that managed to ruin Kanda's sleep pattern, or maybe beansprout had finally lost his mind. Kanda did not know. Kanda did not care. He had enough shit to deal with in Timcanpy, who was persistently flying around picking things up to hand to him so he could put them away.
Allen's dumbass reactions could be put aside and saved for later analyzing; or possibly simply to be forgotten. It wasn't something that he really had any business in anyway…though, he really was confused and curious at the near passiveness Allen had. It could also be because of Lenalee's presence. He was generally nicer around her…It could also be because it was the middle of the night. Any sane person would be mellower in the middle of the night…
Of course, Lenalee had made a point about finding sane people in the Black Order.
"It's almost ready," he muttered, searching for bowls to put his concoction in—grabbing a larger one for Allen without even thinking about it. By the time he placed the bowl on the table, he'd realized he'd actually taken Allen into consideration and it made him snarl a tiny bit.
A loud clank in front of him nearly made him jump back and he balled his fist up and prepared to cram it into the thing that created the sudden noise. He restrained himself with a growl and eyeballed the golem that had dropped into Allen's bowl and curled up in it. His body and tail fit in the bowl comfortably and Kanda nearly considered pouring the stew in and serving it anyway.
"Get the hell out of there, you fucknut. That's a bowl not your bed," he grunted and lifted the bowl to dump Timcanpy out of it. He set the bowl back on the table and watched the silly little golem hop right back in it. "Timcanpy...what the fuck did I just say?" With a flick, he tossed Timcanpy out of the bowl and right into Allen's head. It wasn't on purpose actually…Allen's head just happened to be in the way.
"Nnnng! Ow, BaKanda! Are you trying to give me a concussion!" The white haired boy rubbed the bruising spot on his forehead, making a face at the uncaring man who was still armed with a ceramic bowl.
"It's not my fault your head was in the way of your damn critter. And it's not my fault he's fuckin retarded!"
"You keep smashing your fist into him, it's your fault! You're retarding him!"
"It's a goddamned golem! I can't retard a golem!"
"Well, he was fine before you retard punched him!"
"This fuckin thing was always retarded, and so are you!"
"Look who's talking captain retard!"
"Say that to my face, fuckbag," Kanda growled and leaned over the counter, bowl still dangerously poised. The little beansprout bastard was testing his patience again, like he always seemed to do and he was not above making him eat the ceramic bowl.
Allen jumped up and moved into a threateningly close proximity to Kanda, eyes blazing with challenge and almost dancing with a quiet delight at the prospect of a fight with the bitchy swordsman. Kanda's eyes reflected the same itching desire.
Not that either of them noticed it in their boyish fury, but Lenalee was a quiet observer. She saw the way the two of them only seemed to tick each other quite like they did. They were masters at picking each other's fuses down, then lighting a giant match. She knew somewhere in all of that menacing gruff, the two of them would be very good friends. Perhaps not right away, but she knew—somewhere inside her, that they had some kind of bond…
"You little maggot, I hope you drown!"
…Maybe.
"At least I'll stay dead!"
"Good. Less of you to deal with later!"
"Hey! Hey! Both of you stop it!" She finally intervened. As much as she enjoyed watching them pick at each other like angry harpies, she didn't really want them creating any disturbances, especially when they probably were not supposed to be in the kitchen area when it was closed. "Can't you both be nice?"
"Him? Nice. HA."
"Allen!"
Both of them made faces at each other, but didn't speak another hostile word for the sake of the intense glare being given to them both by Lenalee. She was joined by Timcanpy, who fluttered about her shoulders for a moment—before darting back to Kanda and placing himself back in the bowl in Kanda's hand. Two pairs of eyes stare down at the golem and then back to each other—each with an accusatory glint.
"I told you it was retarded."
"Because of you."
Kanda swung his arm and Timcanpy hurled back out of the bowl and flopped into Allen's face—this time, not hard enough to hurt. The man turned with a soft "tch" and moved to take his food concoction off the heat before it burned or boiled over. It was almost done, anyway. "Whatever, just shut up and keep it busy while I dish food out, you numbnut. Or you'll be eating Timcanpy Stew."
"How can I keep it busy? It's obsessed with you! He'll just flit away from me."
"Timcanpy…" Lenalee's voice filtered into the air, reaching toward the yellow flying ball. She smiled and reached her arm out to try and connect with Tim before he could even attempt to dart back to Kanda. This action succeeded in getting the golem's attention and offered a distraction long enough for Kanda to fill the bowls and keep him out of them.
"W…why does he go to you, but not me?"
"Maybe because you're annoying, beansprout."
"Oh shut up, BaKanda!"
"You two…" She puffed her cheeks and gave them her warning look. If they didn't stop cutting each other's throats, she would be forced to give them a reason to behave. They could really be little brats. "Stop that. We're supposed to be quiet! You'll get us in trouble if you don't behave."
"If we're not in trouble already, then I don't think anyone is going to bother," Kanda spoke, adding a quiet grunt to the end of his statement. "Besides, who is really going to stop us?" His eyes went from Lenalee, to Allen, then back to Lenalee. "Between us, we could probably slaughter this entire Black Order if we were deranged enough."
"Kanda…" Lenalee's eyes cast over him before dropping down into her lap. "Don't say stuff like that. We're a family."
"I'm not part of this family business. I'm just a fellow exorcist and that is all. I'm here because I have to be."
An uncomfortable silence trickled into the room and Kanda set about shooing the returning golem away while he dished out food for the two fellow insomniacs that decided to join him in his middle of the night food run. He really wasn't feeling like socializing, but it was simply easier to let them exist in his presence until they went away. He was too tired to put forth the effort to kick them out.
"Kanda."
Great. The annoying moyashi's voice.
"What do you want?" He snapped, placing the bowl in front of the brat and setting one for Lenalee. If the damned beansprout kept that up, he would make him clean the kitchen after.
"I just…Sorry. I just don't see you as just another exorcist."
Sitting at the table across from Lenalee, Kanda shot a bored look at the silver haired boy who seemed to be floundering for words. "What nonsense are you pouring out of your face now?"
"You can be such a dick, yeah," Allen nodded at his own statement to emphasize his point, "but you're not just a stranger. You're more than that, BaKanda. Lenalee will tell you…Lavi will tell you."
"And what about you, moyashi. Are you going to tell me I'm the big brother you never had?"
"No. You're more than that," the boy answered before taking a mouthful of the stew. His attention seemed drawn back down to the food before him, as if his words hadn't actually come out like they came out to Kanda.
For once, Kanda really was at a loss for how to respond.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Ah yes, it's been a while. I hadn't forgotten, I just kinda…derped real hard and forgot a part I wanted to put in, so I spent a long time trying to re-step my original thinking process to try and remember where the idea had popped up and make it re-pop up. OTL
All your reviews are so much appreciated. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate it! I shall be quicker on the next chapter. I will say, there won't be entirely too much of this left, before I flop around to the sequel, where I break Kanda again. So thanks for hanging out on the ride!