Act IV: What Goes Up Must Come Down

Summary: Troubles are bound to crop up when things seem to be going well. They always do. But perhaps there'll still be a way to work to a happy ending. A series of semi-serious conversations, awkward moments, miscommunication of feelings and the stage is gradually set for the final act.

2.42pm, Fast Food Restaurant

Tyki chortled. It was a rather undignified chortle in Lulubell's opinion, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be seen in the company of such a man.

Unfortunately for her, Tyki headed her way and grinned winningly. "Did you see how the boy reacted?"

"Yes, I did. I'm rather sure it was not the most positive reaction he could have had," she said, her tone dry. "What is it that you're trying to do?"

"Oh, I don't quite know myself, Lulu – " He laughed weakly when he saw her glare. "I mean, Lulubell. But he is rather…interesting. Do you know, I think I might have seen him somewhere before?"

"Hmm." She was slightly more interested now. "Where and when?"

Tyki's grin slipped. Lulubell sighed. "You don't know."

"Hey," he protested, "I told you, it's a feeling I have. It's not the most comfortable of feelings either, but…I'm rather sure. But before that, let's follow them, shall we?"

Lulubell thought for a while. Then she smiled. "Only if we visit the Earl later."

Tyki's face fell. "They're here too?"

"At the performance tent, you know that. Well then, let's go, Tyki Mikk."

.

2.55pm, Bench On The Sidewalk

When all was said and done, and the bag of food emptied too fast for both boys' liking, they were left sitting on the bench without a word to say. Lavi fidgeted, fingers of his free hand playing with the wrappers. Allen was similarly quiet on the other side of the bench. Lavi soon realized, with dismay, that it was getting far too warm for them to hold hands comfortably, the sweat was already collecting between their palms.

Allen cleared his throat. Lavi turned and met Allen's nervous glance. "Um…Lavi, um, do you…"

Lavi swallowed. This might be the pivotal moment. In a totally unromantic carnival, with the painfully high screeches of excitable children near them, surrounded by hamburger wrappers…okay, so it wasn't the dream scene he had in mind, stolen from the trashy romance novels he secretly liked, but. Well. Maybe this was it.

"Uh," Allen looked highly uncomfortable from Lavi's silence. "Uh…what do you want to do next! There's uh, there's uh…more, more roller coasters to try!" He said quickly, averting his gaze to stare at the air in front of him.

Lavi blinked. Then his face fell, his free hand coming up to scratch at the back of his head. Did he misread Allen? When he held Allen's hand, did Allen not pull away only because he did not want to embarrass him? Oh…oh shit, was Allen now so nervous because he did not actually like-like him? Maybe…maybe he was too presumptuous, maybe Allen was only being a considerate friend by brushing off the salt from his palm in the first place, and he didn't let go only because…only because…well, he didn't know, but perhaps he didn't feel the same way in the first place.

Lavi felt like such an idiot.

He sighed. Yet, not wanting the day to go to pieces because of this, he slapped on a huge grin and stood up, slipping his hand out of Allen's as he did so. Allen looked startled.

"Yeah…it's only, what, three o'clock? We still have loads of time, sprout, let's go hit some rides," Lavi said cheerfully. He bent down and started gathering some of the trash, avoiding Allen's eyes as he did so.

Allen, on his part, replayed the last few minutes in his head and nearly wanted to hit himself. Maybe he was being too obvious and Lavi…didn't feel the same way. Well, he let go of Allen's hand, and he looked relieved as he did so. No but, wait, wasn't Lavi the one who first held his hand? What if…what if this was just some huge joke played on him? As in, he knows Allen likes him, so he didn't want to hurt his feelings and just…held his hand, because…because he really wanted to, and Lavi sensed that, and held his hand just to appease him? And now he's, well, maybe he's not disgusted, but he doesn't know what to do? Yes, that's it, Lavi is being a good friend by pretending that nothing is wrong, so that's what he should do too…pretend nothing is wrong.

Allen clenched his fists before relaxing and putting on a smile. Avoiding Lavi's eye, he cleaned up around himself and walked to the dustbin near the bench, feeling Lavi following with his own armload of trash. While Lavi could not see him, he looked straight ahead and spoke up cheerily, trying to hide his anxiety.

"Alright then, let's…well, there's still that roller coaster we've yet to try, but the queue's long so…maybe something else. The pirate ship, alright?"

Allen silently congratulated himself on how steady his voice was. The trash dumped and with nothing else to give him an excuse not to look at Lavi, he turned and smiled at him. Lavi grinned back. There was another of those awkward silences that Allen hated, which made him really want to ask the question he meant to but…

He nodded in the direction of the rides and started in that direction, desperately latching onto another topic.

"Well…what, um, what has been happening your side, Lavi?"

"Nothing much…hmm, there is this one play we're preparing for…"

He felt like such an idiot.

.

"How…how did that happen?" Maria looked dumbfounded. Mana was equally perplexed.

"Weren't they, wait, wasn't Allen just suggesting what to do next? I mean, they were holding hands…weren't they?"

Maria tugged the scarf off Mana's head and looked at him properly. "He backed out, Mana." Maria actually looked a bit upset at that. Mana frowned.

"Hey, don't…I mean, yes, he's my son and all that but, they have to figure it out on their own, right? Don't be upset," Mana tried to cheer her up. "Allen's brave, he'll probably confess at his own time. And Lavi, well, if he knows what he wants, he won't leave it at that."

Maria let out a little laugh and rubbed a finger quickly against her temple. "They were so close, Mana," she sighed. "They were going to confess, and then they would have continued this day on a romantic trip! And what's the Ferris Wheel for if not for them to go on at night, under the stars and, and…"

She stopped and looked away. Mana looked astonished. "Woah woah, hold on a sec, Maria, you're scripting out everything they're gonna do! I mean, these kids, they should do it their own way, their own pace, right?"

Maria sighed and for a while, Mana's brain whirred at how strangely she was acting. Technically, she hardly even knew these two boys, so it was rather weird what she just said. She suddenly sat up straight. "Yes, I suppose they do…well, Mana, what are we going to do, then?" There was a strange little smile on her lips and Mana couldn't, for the life of him, know what to do. He had a feeling that going in the direction of the rides would be the wrong thing to do.

"Let's…" Maria looked at him with a calm gaze. "Let's check out the stalls, shall we? I haven't had a good shot at those games that always cheat you out of your money. You know, those flimsy bullet games?" He chuckled when Maria's gaze suddenly lightened and her smile widened. "And then…let's grab some things for a picnic near the outdoor performance, yes?" Mana said, feeling a little more emboldened.

Maria laughed a little, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Nodding, with her eyes shining a little, she took Mana's hand and tugged him up.

"Let's go then, Mana Walker," she said with a light lilt in her voice. And Mana smiled, sensing that he did something right this time.

.

3.26pm, The Performance Tent

"We're here rather early, aren't we?" Tyki commented, looking downcast. Lulubell merely continued to walk down the wooden steps, heading straight for the backstage in her impractical high heels.

"Complaining is unbecoming of you, Tyki. In any case, they weren't doing anything interesting," Lulubell said. She knocked on the door of the backstage area. "Yes, looking for the Earl, Lulubell and Tyki Mikk here to see him," she said to the man who answered the door.

"The Earl is going to make a fuss and make us stay here," Tyki pointed out while the guy hollered out for their family.

"Then we're just going to have to stay, aren't we – "

"Lulubell! And Tyki, m'boy! What a pleasant surprise!"

With an ever-present grin, the Earl shooed them in, calling for the twins and Road along the way.

"Really, there's no need to – " Tyki hastened to say.

"Nonsense, m'dear boy! It's rare enough that you take time out from your job to visit us. And Lulubell, my dear, sweet girl!"

"It's wonderful to see you, Earl," Lulubell said, accepting his smooch on her cheek.

"Tyyyyyyyyki! You never said you'll be here!" Road, energetic as ever, jumped on Tyki's back. "What made you come!"

"Ah, well, it was a good day to take a break – "

"Don't listen to him, Road. He's here stalking a fifteen year old boy," Lulubell said with a straight face.

"Lulu, you traitor – "

"Tyki-Tyk and Lulubell!" Jasdero called out, giggling, his arm around Devitt.

"Why, if it isn't our stuffy old man! What's this about you stalking jailbait?" Devitt called out loudly, leaving no doubt to the rest of the troupe that Tyki was a certified pedophile.

"Listen!" Tyki hissed. "I merely find him interesting, and I think I remember him from somewhere, so if you'd all kindly keep quiet – "

"Oh, m'dear boy, I understand," the Earl said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I really, really understand."

"You…do?"

"It's not that difficult, it's jailbait!"

"Jailbait, jailbait!"

"I wanna see him too!"

"Road, please, Sheryl will kill both him and me if you run at him. Twins, quiet. Lulubell, please stop looking at me like that. And, Earl…"

"Well, see, if he comes to see the performance, then all we have to do is to get you into our performance, for you to call him out as the volunteer and voila! Interaction and a chance for us to see him too!" The Earl looked utterly convinced of his plan. "And you can impress him with your tricks too! Then after that you can mingle with him and reveal it's you, he won't be so scared anymore, and you can ride off into the sunset!"

There was silence for a while. The circus master coughed pointedly, having at some point snuck up behind them.

"Um, Earl…I'm not quite sure what the matter is" – which was an utter and complete lie, anyone within the backstage area had heard the discussion loud and clear – "but you do see that I have to agree to the performer before he actually, uh, performs?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that!" The Earl said cheerfully. "Tyki here is very skilled at both cards and illusions. He can make it seem like his hand is going through your body!"

The man raised an eyebrow, suitably doubtful. Tyki exchanged glances with Road.

"Show them, Tyki-Tyk!"

"I'd thank you not to call me that," Tyki muttered, but in the end he sighed and obliged. Telling Road to stand still, he concentrated and – just a second later – there was a hand sticking out of Road's stomach, Road perfectly unhurt and unaffected. Despite their profession and the things they saw everyday the ladies around the room still screamed.

The master blinked. He struggled not to look too impressed. "Um…does that work for anybody he chooses, or just Road?"

The Earl beamed. "Anyone, of course! Tyki-Tyk?"

Tyki sighed. "Yes, I can do this for anyone. Within reason, of course. I haven't mastered it for a…rotund person yet."

"Well…then I see no reason not to accept. You will, of course, be paid for the day's work. Please start getting ready as soon as you can." Having said that, he ran off to holler for make up artists and clothes, apparently eager at seizing this money making opportunity.

Road giggled at Tyki's stunned face.

"See, you can do it! Just peek out before this and see where the boy is sitting! Wait," she narrowed her eyes, "he is coming, isn't he?"

"I, I did overhear them talking about coming to the four-fifteen show…"

Road rolled her eyes. "You really are a stalker. Come on then, we need to show you where to stand and perform!"

With an excited tug, Road started to drag Tyki off, Tyki trying desperately not to look at Lulubell's who was sure to be smirking at him.

.

4.00pm, Behind The Shooting Stall

"Well." Lenalee folded her arms and contemplated her companion. Fou mirrored her, arms crossed and frown on her face. After an hour or so of witnessing the painfully awkward interaction between the boys, they finally decided to settle down and analyze the situation.

"So. Walker chickened out or what?"

"Wait, I thought it was Lavi that pulled his hand away that time?" Lenalee countered. Fou waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

"No no no, it's Walker, he said something that made red back down."

"I don't think it's Allen's fault," Lenalee frowned. "It's a two way thing, I think Lavi should have continued holding his hand if he were so sure, right?"

"You're just defending the sprout! Look, we know that Walker didn't even dare to call this a date, right? So he's just destroying his chances by not even continuing to just hold hands. Just, shit, it's so simple, so why can't he do that, huh?"

"Hold on, are you saying that Lavi is better? If he wanted it, then why didn't he take the initiative instead? Aren't we giving him too much credit here?"

"Then aren't we giving the sprout too much credit too, darling? Lena, I've known the sprout longer, he isn't going to change soon, he's still a coward."

Lenalee frowned again. "That's not fair. Look at what they've been doing. You can't say they didn't achieve something by holding hands! We've got to give him credit for that!"

"Yeah, and then he probably said something stupid and caused red to pull away. Wonderful." Fou met Lenalee's glare with her own.

"It's impossible to talk to you like this, Fou," Lenalee said tersely. Fou laughed, causing Lenalee to flinch.

"That's rather rich there, Lena! Ah, damn, this is all not working out…" She ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. Lenalee was indignant – it was not as if she was wrong! But still, calming down, she started to feel a little guilty at her loss of composure. It wouldn't do any good to argue like this, this was supposed to be fun. And so they could tease Allen later, not like this, not all the stress that came from a problem that was supposed to belong only to the two boys.

She wondered when this had turned from a simple stalking mission to an argument with one of her best friends.

"Fou…look, I'm sorry," Lenalee sighed, knowing that the argument was going nowhere. Fou looked up and gave the faintest hint of a smirk.

"Yeah, whatever," she said. Lenalee knew that was the closest to an apology she was likely to get; she suppressed her indignation again. "Just, alright, so…let's just continue with this. Where the heck are Shi Fu and Ri Kei anyway?"

Lenalee took out her phone. "They didn't leave a message…maybe they're still looking for Lou Fa."

"That silly girl," Fou sighed. "Alright, look, they're going to that stupid clown's tent now, are we going or not?"

Lenalee smiled faintly. She was starting to wonder about the point of all this herself. "Well…we came all the way here anyway, let's just…see this through to the end. And we still have twenty dollars to settle," she said in an attempt to somewhat lighten the mood.

Fou grinned, grabbing onto the change of topic eagerly. "I bet I win," Fou said confidently, taking a short-cut to the tent to reach there before the boys did. Lenalee laughed.

"So you're admitting that Allen might actually do something after all?"

"Red will, I'm sure. Oh, damn, stupid clown," she cursed as the same clown that had interrupted them before stood near the entrance, ushering and entertaining customers. Lenalee giggled, the sound coming out slightly high. Since when did her voice get stuck in her throat? Clearing it, she grasped Fou's tensed shoulder and followed her into the semi-darkness of the tent, a still silence hanging between them.

.

4.11pm, The Performance Tent

Allen quieted down as they entered the tent, taking in the sight of families everywhere and the children's excited murmurings. He smiled and relaxed in spite of what happened earlier. Beside him, Lavi himself smiled when he saw Allen relax a little, thinking that maybe Allen had forgotten all about just now.

"Well, sprout, been to a circus before?" He asked as he led them down the steps to seats somewhere near the aisle.

"Yeah, Mana brought me to one before. But it was kinda scary, cause I was very small. I thought the lions would eat us," Allen grinned, eyes soft. "Mana had to endure me gripping his hand so tightly. I think he complained for days afterwards. And the clowns were scary. Well, they are still scary now…" He looked at a couple of clowns that were entertaining the crowd, huge red smiles painted on white faces that distorted their looks. Lavi shuddered a little and Allen nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, just imagine looking at that when you're eight. Kids these days are braver."

Lavi could not for the life of him see how the kids the clowns were entertaining found them funny. He smiled though at the thought of an eight year old Allen clinging tightly to Mana, eyes wide and astonished at the acts the troupe must have been performing.

"I've never been to one," Lavi said. Allen turned quickly towards him, mouth open.

"Never? But…why not?"

Lavi smiled easily. "Gramps never found it necessary to bring me to one, so all I know about circuses are what I saw from the TV. Seems like fun though, I wish I'd been to one when I was younger."

"Oh…" Allen bit his lip. He had a determined look in his eyes. "Well, you're at one now, I hope this does justice to what you imagined it to be."

"I'm sure it will," Lavi said just as the lights began to dim down. He could feel Allen sit up straighter beside him, eyes excited, and involuntarily he felt a smile pull at his lips again. The circus master came out, a beam on his face and his top hat gleaming in the spotlight.

"Welcome, one and all, to Noah's Ark! We have a fantastic show lined up for you today…"

.

4.37pm, On The Main Street

"No," Doug said firmly, shaking his head. "The Platonists have it right when they said that math is to be discovered. How else can we explain the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics?"

Kanda frowned. "How can you be sure that much of the applied mathematics isn't invented by man? Why else would mathematicians have slaved over formulas for years if not because they had to invent it?"

It was amazing, Doug thought to himself, how much Kanda could talk once they hit upon the right topic. He batted the big bear and several miscellaneous items out of the way to talk more easily. Kanda fingered a pi-shaped pendent, a memorabilia he got from one of the many game stalls they'd been to.

Just as Doug was about to speak, however, a figure bumped into Kanda and the gifts that had been on a precarious balance spilled onto the floor. To Doug's amusement, stuffed toys and robots flew out of the figure's coat as well. He bent down to pick the items up, waving away the person's apologies at the same time.

He was startled when Kanda spoke with barely suppressed surprise.

"Komui?"

"Huh, what…Kanda!" The figure, apparently named Komui, gasped and stood from where he had been picking up his things. "I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been? Why didn't you call us? Where are you now? Oh," he quickly hid a robot which Doug couldn't help but find rather aesthetically displeasing. "Right, Kanda, you haven't answered my questions!"

Kanda growled. "I don't need to answer any of your questions, you insufferable sister complex."

Komui suddenly straightened up, looking around frantically. "Oh yes! You reminded me, where the hell are those deviants?" He cracked some of his knuckles, making Doug wince at the sound. "That redhead is more dangerous, I have to get rid of him first…" He muttered to himself.

Doug stood up, having finally gathered everything back into the same precarious balance. Knowing that Kanda wouldn't bother to introduce the two of them to each other, he spoke up. "Hi, Mr. Komui, I assume?"

Komui turned to him with a dangerous glint in his eyes before he calmed down slightly, looking Doug up and down. "Ah, yes. Apologies for knocking into you just now, uh…"

"Doug," he said with a smile. Komui nodded. Then he blinked.

"Doug, Kanda, have you seen a white-haired boy and a redhead just now?" He said as he fingered a boomerang that he must have gotten from one of the carnival's many souvenir shops. Doug gaped a little at the strange form of coincidence.

"Are you…surely you aren't referring to Lavi and Allen, are you, Mr. Komui?" He said.

"Allen? Lavi? Are those their names…yes, Lenalee mentioned their names before! Oh dear god, so they are after her! Quick, tell me where they went!"

"Lenalee?" Kanda said, and Doug was surprised and amused to see Kanda visibly shocked this time. "Komui, you idiot, what's this got to do with Lenalee?"

"Everything!" Komui waved his arms around wildly. "Lenalee came here today because of two boys, they must be after her! They are the ones who, oh god, they must have seduced her, those dirty things, and now they both want to make a move on her! I must stop them! And you two know them." He had a scary glint in his eyes, making Doug take a step back. Knowing that he was likely the more diplomatic of the two, he hastily corrected Komui first.

"Mr. Komui, I'm afraid you've made a mistake. You see, if it's the same two people we're talking about, I believe they aren't interested in, uh, your sister?" Doug guessed from what Kanda called Komui. "Well, I believe so because Lavi seems to be more interested in Allen himself, and vice versa, meaning…they are kinda not straight."

"Wait, what?" Komui blinked, stopping the caress of the deadly looking boomerang. "How sure are you?"

Kanda sighed. "That rabbit did not shut up all week about this stupid date with the stupid girly boy, idiot. He never mentioned Lenalee once."

Komui suddenly relaxed. Doug wondered how trustworthy Kanda must be to Komui, if Komui could so easily believe what he said. Then Komui started laughing sheepishly.

"Oh dear, and to think I bought all these to scare them…" Doug grimaced at the sight of one of those projectile shooting robots. "But!" Komui had a glint in his eyes again. "I will still need to protect her from the men. All those filthy men…and at the carnival, too! Now where did she go…" He put a hand to his chin, obviously thinking through some diabolical plan to destroy the men in a mile's radius around Lenalee. Doug shared a quick look with Kanda and went to Komui, placing a hand on the man's arm.

"Mr. Komui…why not let's calm down and have a coffee? I assure you your sister won't be harmed in the meantime," Doug said with a calm smile. Komui blinked.

"But how do you know-"

"Just shut up, idiot," Kanda growled and started off in the direction of a café, leaving Doug to firmly drag Komui behind them, resolutely ignoring the whines of the man about how he had to "save" Lenalee.

The rabbit will pay for all the trouble he had to put up with. He hoped his roommate was suffering, circus tent or wherever the hell he was.

.

5.20pm, The Performance Tent

"And now, we have a very special performance, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! If you've ever wished for the ability to walk through walls…this is the very man for you! Give it up for…Tease!"

"What a name," Lavi muttered. Allen snickered and agreed.

The lights dimmed and, with some suspenseful music these type of performances were known for, a spotlight flickered onto the center of the stage. A man stood there in a top hat and – as per performance style – heavily made up in near clownish make-up.

Allen and Lavi couldn't help but get the feeling, unanimously, that they had seen the man before. They just couldn't pin down the identity.

As the music started, the man started doing simple things. Holding up his cane and grasping it firmly, running his hands down it, and even tossing it to an audience member for them to check that it was authentic. When it was tossed back to him and the music started getting a little more sinister, that's when he ran his hand through it and allowed the cane to drop to the ground audibly.

Gasps of surprise and titters ran through the crowd, the previous silence replaced by sounds of wonder. To put a dent in the romantic atmosphere some realists tried desperately to explain the illusion in their minds. Lavi whistled.

"That is quite something," he murmured in Allen's ear. Allen nodded and tried not to shiver.

Tease went through several more items. A book, a plate – apparently his head can go through objects too – and at one point of time even a dog brought into the stage that jumped through him with a look of utter confusion on its face. Cheers were ringing out by the time a young girl with spiky hair danced through Tease and out again.

But how do we know it's not all premeditated, Lavi thought.

At that exact moment, Tease called out in a voice that tugged at Lavi's memory. He had heard it somewhere before. "Now, I'm sure you're all thinking, it must be just some trick of the light," he said smoothly. There were some nods in the audience although the children were far too excited to really care. "I will have to ask for a volunteer then."

Smiling, Allen sat back and watched all the excited faces in the audience. The children were obviously hoping to be chosen. The girl who had assisted Tease walked amongst the crowd and grinned, picking a girl who was wildly waving her hand around and then – to Allen's astonishment – picking…him.

"Me?" He asked just to be sure. She smiled and nodded.

"Go, Allen," Lavi said, laughing, giving him a push. Allen stumbled out of his seat to the brightly lit stage area.

"The lady first, then," Tease said gallantly, bowing and offering a hand to her. Allen, in his confusion, was meanwhile ushered to the side of the stage.

.

"Was that...Allen?" Lenalee asked, stunned. "He raised his hand?"

"Didn't know the sprout was for these kinda things," Fou muttered. "And Lavi just let him go so easily. He does realize that that gay Tease will be putting his hand in the sprout, doesn't he?"

.

In no time at all, it was Allen's turn as the young girl was ushered off the stage, utterly ecstatic and clutching what looked like a giant purple butterfly plushie in her arms.

"The gentleman, if you please," Tease called out. Allen swallowed and walked out, allowing Tease to take his arm.

Up close, he looked even more familiar – to Allen's frustration, he just couldn't place it. The grin tugged at his brain and made him shudder a little. He wondered at the chances of his pedophile being the same man before him…nah, couldn't be.

But to his utter dismay, unlike the simple motions Tease used for the girl (understandably, since she was obviously a child with her worried parents in the same place) it wasn't quite the same for Allen.

He was first made to hold Tease's hand, which was alright as Tease ran through it after a while. Then he had to hold still – that was still fine, he knew about performance etiquette and could guess what was going to happen – and Tease ran his hand from one end of his shoulder to the other end. Then it was Tease's foot through his ankles, which was still…alright…and then – oh, who was he kidding? Allen wanted to shudder, again. He was quite sure Tease put his hand nowhere near the girl's chest.

.

"Lavi looks like he's gonna burst a vein." Lenalee looked amused.

.

"Excuse me, Mr. Tease," Allen muttered low enough so that none of the audience could hear. Just in case, he kept up his too-bright smile to assure them that everything was fine. "Just – I am starting to feel violated, here."

"Oh?" Tease raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "Do not worry, it will end soon."

Allen thought he caught a glimpse of an unnaturally blinding grin from the backstage but when he looked again, properly, it was gone. Then Tease was guiding him to dance through his body like the girl during the performance did (except that this time, oh god, was it him or were his hips uncomfortably close to the man's? Was it within performance etiquette to accuse the performer of being a molester? Why the hell was everybody cheering for this?) and finally, finally, it was –

.

"Oh," Fou said, wide-eyed. She glanced from the stage to Lavi. "I think the redhead's gonna kill something." She looked rather impressed. Lenalee smothered a full-blown laugh.

.

His hand was kissed. Him. A man. His hand. Kissed.

"Thank you very much to this gentleman! A round of applause, please!" Tease called out and Allen was ushered off the stage to the sound of cheers and with a plushie stuffed into his arms in the meanwhile. He stumbled, dazed, back up to his seat.

Lavi was gritting his teeth.

"Uh…"

"Oh, Allen. Uh…interesting, wasn't it?"

"Look, it wasn't my bloody fault!" Allen finally burst out, dumping the plushie on the ground and looking at Lavi, hurt. Lavi was startled.

"No, no, I'm not blaming you, sprout – uh, why would I blame you anyway?" Lavi did look honestly confused.

"Well, I don't know, you were just…looking angry, and…oh, I don't know," Allen shook his head. "I think it's just me."

"Ah, you were kinda…defensive there, sprout," Lavi tried, starting to realize maybe…something.

"I was not!" Allen snapped. "You were the one looking jealous!"

Lavi blanched. "No! I was not! It's just, you were looking uncomfortable when that man was touching you everywhere!"

Allen was about to retort when he paused, raising an eyebrow. The beginnings of a smirk tugged at his mouth. "Were you…jealous, Lavi?"

"I told you I'm not!" Lavi said, glaring at him as best as he could while flustered. "Look, people are staring, let's just watch the show, okay?" Lavi huffed and resolutely turned his attention away from Allen, closing their argument.

Allen was suddenly – despite being sure that he was just violated – quite…happy. Ridiculously happy. He examined Lavi's side profile and was amused to see Lavi nearly pouting, his cheeks slightly red. He wondered – but then, the hand thing in the morning – he shouldn't risk it in this place – it was the wrong time, he was moving too fast – but they were just arguing like a couple…

Lavi felt Allen bump his shoulder against his, an old way of them communicating when they had their disagreements. After a while, Lavi grinned weakly, bumped back and, just for good measure, he reached up to ruffle Allen's hair. Maybe a little harder than he usually would – he still wasn't happy that…Tease…touched him all over…

Allen gave him a half scowl, his eyes holding a mixture of his usual defiance at having his hair ruffled and some sort of, well, happiness? Well. Lavi didn't know what he was happy about – him no longer pursuing their previous topic? That…Tease? – but he just grinned back and after a moment's hesitation slung his arm over Allen's shoulder. He still wasn't quite sure their disagreement over something so silly was over yet, but he resolved to let it stay there lest any performance called for a volunteer again. Allen didn't seem to mind too much anyway, the boy relaxing under the weight of his arm, eyes focused on the contortionists who were dancing out onto the stage.

Lavi allowed himself to relax for the first time in hours, entertaining the hope that things might be…alright, just alright again.

Notes:

Oh, Lavi. You were jealous, you so were.

Erm… *inserts apology and flees* No, wait, that won't work. I'm very sorry this took so long! D: Please forgive me? The good news is that the school semester is over and I can work on the final chapter! It can be a Christmas present! :D *feeble attempts at appeasement*

A shorter chapter for once (since Act I anyway). It was combined with Act V at first, but the mood doesn't fit completely, plus the chapter was far too long for my liking. And I have an aesthetic reason for making it five acts – Shakespeare plays and maybe other traditional plays have mostly taken place in five acts, let's see if this can be done here too~ Your player presents to you our "conflict" Act, which is also my transition Act, I decided.

Let's pretend I did not rewrite and discard scenes *sobs* It took me so long to get Tyki where I wanted him to be. I really adore him, stalker tendencies and all, and he was sorely neglected and seen as a pedophile all around in Act III. Guys, he's not just a pedophile. He's a sweet guy who's bullied by his family and who had entirely too much fun dancing with Allen. Oh, please don't ask me how he did his illusions in real life, I have absolutely no clue, it is a skill directly imported from the manga. Oh, forgive me for the math argument between Doug and Kanda too, it was dug out from some horrific memory of a mathematical module I just suffered through, it probably has tons of inconsistencies.

Finally, things are on the mend, rest assured – I mean, look, Lavi got jealous and Allen got defensive! And we must thank Tyki for inadvertently pushing them to this stage! The hand-dropping incident? What? Oh, that…it was kinda…necessary :D

Comments are always loved, thank you for the lovely reviews for last chapter! And thank you for waiting so patiently! (:

P.S. In the long struggle with school I somehow managed to post an Allen/Lavi ship manifesto *g* I'd be stoked if you check it out: community. livejournal. com/ ship_manifesto/ 250333 .html :D Just do the usual of removing the spaces~ Thank you dear readers! I hope you enjoy it! Lord knows I enjoyed writing it (: