The Gentleman's Affair

Chapter 2: Escort

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

I clipped my wings just for an excuse,

For not putting myself to better use.

The mug of tea in his hands was warm.

An enthusiastic yelp jolted him from his reverie. But you couldn't really call it that; he was sure one didn't call the state of thinking about just how boring this day was going to be (in all of its mundane business as the day before) a reverie.

"Are you serious?"

Lavi looked up. He hadn't paid attention to what the white-haired boy and Mr Conrad had been speaking of until the former's exclamation. Allen stood before their boss, seemingly excited.

The redhead wondered what was going on. He sipped his tea quietly.

"Yes. For today and the rest of the week until the World Peace Meetings begin, a few select valets, for we are short on limousine taxi drivers that can be hired the whole day at current, will be allowed to escort the delegates' families to wherever they wish to go around the country."

Lavi eyed Allen lazily as the white-haired boy leapt up and threw a punch in the air, a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. He looked excited, for some reason. What was so exciting about taking care of a bunch of old politicians? He wasn't one who denied the world's political shenanigans his concern, but he wasn't all for babysitting grown men and listening to their rambling.

… In fact, most of them were probably snobbish. The redhead sighed, his eye fluttering shut momentarily.

Well, the Prime Minister wasn't a snob. Nor were he and his sister old politicians. Especially not the Prime Minister's sister. She had seemed younger than him. She wasn't even a politician…

The twenty year-old had no idea where his thoughts were going.

Allen continued to parade around the room in elation. Lavi assumed that perhaps it was alright. The poor kid was still seventeen, after all. He probably didn't even know what the extra job entailed. The redhead sighed. Even so, teenagers needed to have some fun, he thought bitterly, or at least to think they did.

"Awesome!"

Currently, the two valets were off duty, having their breakfast before beginning the morning shift. Now that the redhead knew what Allen was talking about, the idea didn't seem as 'awesome', to quote Allen, as it should to him. Should it even seem awesome to him in the first place?

"Later, I'll be putting up a table of who these very carefully selected will be escorting about."

The white-haired teen turned, smiling eagerly at Lavi, who shrugged.

"Now, you guys look out for that bulletin, alright?"

The older man winked. The redhead raised an eyebrow at this. Wasn't the boss a little too old for that kind of thing?

… Perhaps he was a pedo in disguise.

Lavi nearly fell off the chair he was balancing on two legs. It was better to keep those kinds of thoughts and, unfortunately, images at the back of his mind. Or even out of mind. That would be even better.

… Maybe the boss was gay?

An image of his grandfather popped up in his head, his saggy cheeks drawn up in a cheeky looking smirk. The redhead shook his head vigorously. That was just… wrong. And this was not the time to be thinking of such things.

… It just went to show how deprived he had been of a normal hormone-driven teenage life. Not that Lavi wanted to be gay, or aspired to be a pedophile-

The redhead sighed heavily, wondering faintly what was wrong with his head. Maybe the Panda had whacked him in his sleep. He almost started feeling for a bump on his head when he realised what he was doing.

A fleeting image of the beautiful angel – uh, girl, he'd seen yesterday flashed in his head. Maybe she was driving him crazy. He hadn't managed to get much sleep, after all.

…. It was cold. That was all. Last night had been cold and he'd given his blanket to the old man. That was it.

He shook his head one last time before looking up at his boss who was just about to enlighten he and Allen a little more on the escort assignments. He sipped his tea.

When his boss smiled again, he tried not to choke, but failed miserably, spilling milk tea down the front of his shirt.

Great.

Mr Conrad looked at him with concern momentarily.

"Careful, my dear boy," he said.

It only served to give Lavi a headache.

"Well, on with today's work then. Remember, only the best, most polite and capable valets have been chosen. Good luck to you both."

Lavi looked down at his newly stained white button-down shirt. He would have to borrow Allen's. Granted, it would probably fit him better than his own did at the moment, considering how he had been cutting back on meals to pay for the Panda's medication. But that was the problem. More people would be staring at him today, and the redhead was nowhere near comfortable with that.

He sighed

… Luck he most certainly needed indeed.

He wasn't extremely excited.

Hadn't the boss said only the 'best, most polite and capable valets' had been chosen? After what the Prime Minister said – that he would mention Lavi's and Krory's names to the management – he'd been expecting this.

…But that didn't mean he wanted to have an extra job.

Especially not when it meant that he might be stuck with the world's –or country's – biggest snob.

A few minutes ago, when lunch break officially began and the part-time valets took over for the lunch shift, Lavi had been unceremoniously dragged to the bulletin board by his seventeen year-old colleague.

"Screw this," he muttered under his breath.

As he dragged his feet to the paper, he wondered which delegate he'd be serving. Would they be arrogant? Would they make him take them to bars and come in drunk and assault him? Maybe they would be abusive, whacking him upside the head every time he tuned out their boring conversations, or listened to them at the wrong time.

Lavi sighed. He looked on as Allen took up the entire space in front of the notice, his head blocking the redhead's view. Not that he was eager to see who he was going to be chauffeuring around town.

Allen was tapping his chin with a finger, his gaze trained on the notice newest to the bulletin board.

"Yu Kanda…? A delegate from Edo, Japan… Say, Lavi, have you heard of him?"

Just because he didn't have a positive outlook on his extra job didn't mean he couldn't give Allen one. The redhead had taken a temporary Japanese language elective back in high school. He could perhaps give Allen some insight on this Yu Kanda fellow.

"Well, I have no idea who that is, but if it makes a difference, the term 'Yu' is more commonly associated with the word 'gentle' in Japanese or something to that effect, I think," he said absently, poking his head over Allen's head (for all his vertically challenged stature). He placed his chin on top of the younger boy's head affectionately – Allen was like a brother to him – even though the white-haired boy protested momentarily with a whine ("H-Hey-! Your chin's really sharp, dammit! And you're making me feel short!").

His pale, long-fingered hand on the bulletin board next to the sheet of paper, the redhead's one visible emerald eye scanned the sheet of paper for his name, and found it situated next to the name of one Dr. Komui Lee (and family).

Slowly, the redhead drew away from the bulletin board, his mouth set in a straight line. Allen, now free of the weight on his head, bounded away like the teenager he was to the lunch table to grab some of Head Chef Jerry's signature blueberry muffins – or rather a whole plate of them – before they ran out.

Again the twenty year old felt the pieces of his heart crumble momentarily. A lump in his throat threatened to choke him up, and his composure slipped slightly.

Clearing his throat, Lavi ran a hand through his stunning crimson locks. He walked as calmly as he could over to sit next to Allen at their usual spot with Chaoji and Krory. They were enjoying simple conversation about a customer from earlier that day, and the redhead slid the carefree smile he reserved for such situations into place. Paying half a mind to the conversation going about around him, he let his mind wander.

Eventually, he fell into a state of semi-consciousness, sleep consuming him. His one visible eye fluttered shut.

… He had no inkling as to who this Dr Komui person was. And his family. Who the hell were they? Whoever they were, the redhead didn't particularly care. But somehow, somewhere in his empty shell of a heart, he hoped it was the prime minister and his sister. Even if he wasn't worthy enough to look at her, and they were worlds apart.

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