A/N: Two weeks since the last update. And I did the last chapter for the other story I was working on in between so hopefully that means more frequent updates? Hopefully. ^_^;

BTW things will get rather steamy this chapter. Just a little heads up for ya... xD

After an endless afternoon of dull, uneventful patrolling, with Beansprout's freak of a golem zipping around between each of the three patrol groups, Kanda was relieved the sojourn in Sète was finally going to be coming to an end. And to that end, he and Marie were meant to spend the night passing the carafes back and forth between them. Maybe he'd even let the man do some reminiscing. Staying here for a fluke was a total waste of time. The akuma weren't coming back again. Six exorcists were present here that were surely required elsewhere. There was supposed to be a proper ending to all of this bullshit.

So why wasn't it ending?

"Sorry Yuu, but you know we still have to follow up on that last lead an' it's—" For once, the Bookman-in-training seemed to know what was good for him— he stopped there due to the impressively horror-inspiring look Kanda just gave him. "Nevermind."

"Just get on with it," he groused.

"He certainly had a sailor's mouth on him, didn't he?" Lenalee laughed, her back turned on the others as she spoke to Raphael. She was seated across the table opposite Lavi, who was at Kanda's right. "All 'putain!' this and 'femme maudite!' that…"

"WHAT? Did he call you a—"

"No, no Lavi, don't worry. He wasn't talking about me when he said that stuff—"

"All the sailors that spoke to us called her 'jolie chinoise,' actually…" Raphael chimed in somewhat proudly from the end of the table, to Lenalee's left. Then he quietly and bitterly added; "But 'Monsieur Lunettes' was what he called me."

If even Kanda could tell he was just barely managing not to laugh, the rabbit couldn't have been trying all that hard to keep a straight face. He resisted the slight urge to raise an eyebrow at them both. No one needed to know Kanda noticed such things.

A warm hand fell upon Kanda's left thigh, and familiar lips drew near to whisper in his left ear. Walker was seated to that side of him at their table— a booth. "'Femme maudite' means 'cursed woman,' and 'putain' means 'whore.' 'Monsieur Lunettes' would be 'Mr. Glasses,' which Lavi obviously finds amusing."

Leave it to Walker to use Kanda's limited knowledge of French as an excuse to sidle up close during a meeting. He'd have mentally rolled his eyes and left it at that, if it weren't for the fact Beansprout had begun absent-mindedly rubbing his inner thigh—

"Aw, Raphy, don't be upset. I think it's cute. He could have said a lot worse, after all."

It had only been a couple of days and the brat was going nympho on him again. Of course, he also had needs of his own… and this sort of contact wasn't exactly helping him keep it together. He was almost half hard already, as his mind slipped into thoughts of Allen whispering feverishly into his ear before biting that lobe; still more whispers between kisses trailed along his heated skin, while they—

Fuck, Beansprout. Not now!

With a warning look to his side, Kanda grabbed Walker's hand and lifted it off his lap, pushing it roughly back toward its owner under cover of the overhanging tabletop. The hand's owner shrunk back a little— but it was his own damn fault. It was neither the time nor place for this!

"—so basically, someone's going to have to stay behind in Sète and someone's got to go after her," Lenalee firmly stated.

'Her?!' Did Kanda Yuu actually miss something important? Damnit!

"So we'll split into two groups?" The idiot rabbit asked far too brightly.

Marie was next to speak up, from across the table at Kanda's left, opposite the Finder who was seated by Walker's other side: "I'll lead the search. If it's okay, I'd like Allen with me to help narrow things down in case I come up against any possible interference from akuma. I'd also like to take Kanda since there's a high chance of akuma involvement— possibly even Noahs— and we're used to working with each other—"

"So that leaves Lavi, Raphy, and I." That's not bad. Lavi and I can easily cover a lot of ground between us, and Raphy will support us as needed. What about you, Imelda? There's a chance they might be going to uhh— I'm so sorry, where was it you're originally from again?"

"That's okay Lenalee, but what little of my roots I can remember is best applied to the Horn of Africa— Abyssinia— the northeast. My few fragments of knowledge won't be of as much use in West Africa. I'd suggest they depend on Luke for that, since he's spent time living in that region. Also, if I can, I'd like to support the rest of you here in Sète, since Allen will be leaving and I can at least usually identify akuma when they're in hiding as human beings."

"So it's true you can spot hidden akuma, Imelda? That's amazing!" Walker crowed, as if he wasn't able to do the same himself. "Raphael was telling me you—"

"Thanks, Allen," she kindly but firmly interrupted, "but my skill isn't nearly as useful as your… curse… is at tracking akuma. I can only figure out if a person is an akuma-in-hiding by checking facial expressions and body language."

"She's amazingly accurate though," Marie remarked, nodding approvingly. "She'll be a real asset to have with you."

"Really, it's not much," she looked down, genuinely abashed a moment, but then rapidly looked up again to scan everyone's eyes at the table, adding with conviction: "But I'd like to be as useful as I can."

Now they were getting somewhere. Even if Kanda still didn't know where the fuck that 'somewhere' was.

oOo

Allen had been worried. It wasn't on purpose, what he'd done at their dinner meeting! But Kanda looked really pissed when he shoved his hand back. He realized now that he'd overstepped their boundaries, but it still kind of hurt to have Kanda push him away.

Thankfully, albeit in very disgruntled and grumbly tones, and in the endearingly halting pace indicative of Kanda-brand embarrassment, he had asked to be 'filled in' on their search mission, so Allen figured he couldn't be too mad. It wasn't really like him to be missing mission details, but he wasn't about to complain or make fun. In return, hopefully Kanda wouldn't make fun (or call him a 'nympho' again) because he had just a liiiiitle bit of trouble keeping his hands to himself. Being around the object of his every desire for so much of the last few days without being able to do anything to… relieve tension… was like some kind of torture. Hopefully Kanda understood that.

"So we're just going along with what the sailors say? Akuma only attack when she comes to town?"

"Yes."

Kanda's eyebrows furrowed with heightened skepticism. "But there are no reports of this 'cursed woman' being present during akuma attacks wherever else she goes?"

"Nope."

"Except this time the attack came when she left— and now that she's back, there's been no attack for a day." Allen let those words hang in the air, unsure how to answer anymore. "Or so they say."

"Yeah, it's kinda… mysterious like that," Allen scratched his head nervously and smiled in what he hoped to be a placating fashion. "She's only been a few hours out of town each time she leaves, but this time they claim she's travelling somewhere by boat."

"Sounds like a wild goose chase to me."

"Maybe," Marie interjected as he reentered the room, towel over his shoulders. "But there might be a golden egg in it for us as well. I have a feeling there will…"

Allen grinned at the room's latest entrant, but then wondered if the man would be able to notice. "Right. I think it's a pretty good lead, actually."

"Tch. You would, Moyashi."

Allen's grin widened further, though he wasn't exactly sure why. "Marie, have you seen Lavi?"

"Oh he's still downstairs with the others. He seemed to be having a pretty good time chatting with the girls— but Raphael's there so don't worry, he's not about to try anything," Marie laughed, though still half-serious.

Allen frowned to himself in concern. But how are you holding up now, Lavi?

"Actually, as I was leaving, he said to pass on that he would just shower in the morning since his party will be staying in town anyway. —It's a bit of a shame, since it's really nice down there right now. Perfectly still and quiet— you know they still have the entire bath area reserved for us until morning bathing hours begin for all guests."

"So no Usagi in the showers or baths tonight?"

Did Kanda almost sound eager there?

"Afraid not."

"At least I can have a peaceful soak in the baths then…"

As Kanda began gathering his toiletries and towel, Allen eyed him longingly, biting his lip all the while. Kanda displayed no reaction at all. Not a smirk or a harsh look, no freezing in place, nothing. Allen's cruel mind supplied him with an unpleasant memory of the words spoken by a certain deep and velvety voice, the night before; 'Hey. Stop looking at me like that, Baka-Moyashi.'

'Stop looking at me like that,' he said. 'Stop looking at me like that, Baka-Moyashi.'

Goddamnit, Allen Walker! Stop being so paranoid!

Allen decided he should really go check on Lavi, just in case…

oOo

…but Lavi insisted there was nothing to worry about, and hinted he had chosen to bathe in the morning for a reason— before shooing a blushing Allen right away again.

Now, unclothed, he found himself entering the deserted shower area for a quick wash before hitting up the baths. After choosing one of the stalls at the far end of the centre aisle, Allen began to walk over. He paused briefly where Kanda's feet were visible below a curtain that was billowing slightly, releasing steam around the edges. Quickly peering through the gaps, he was able to ascertain the man was currently rinsing his hair. God was he tempted to step inside that stall. As in really tempted. Kanda probably wouldn't mind… but wait, what if he did? What if it wasn't just the lack of privacy during their mission causing him to keep his distance?

Confused and frustrated, Allen completed his course to the far stall. Yet he had no sooner picked up a bar of soap and begun to reach for the tap than a firm hand took grasp of his wrist and yanked him back toward the stall he'd just passed up on entering.

"K-Kanda?" Allen was never happier to be so roughly slammed up against a wall. He could even deal with the verbal lack of response in favour of lips pressing up against his own. "Mmmmm…"

"What the fuck took you so long?" Kanda hissed into his ear. A hand left one of Allen's shoulders to grasp and lead one of his own hands down to cup Kanda's very erect cock.

Allen could only moan into his neck in reply. He was rapidly becoming unbearably hard, himself, and they both had to do something about their shared state. Adjusting for height by standing on his toes, Allen brought their erections together, wrapping his softer right hand around them both. Kanda eased things a little by both bending his legs a little and bracing Allen's upper body just above his waist. It was still very awkward, but Allen didn't really care. He just needed release. Judging by how he'd started swaying— slightly fucking Allen's hand— Allen soon became confident Kanda needed the same.

Having decided Kanda's question was rhetorical, Allen slowly began to jerk them off. And damned if he didn't try, but Allen just couldn't shut up. Something about the intensity of this moment took such a hold of him that he couldn't stifle his cries of pleasure. He was gripped with a level of hypersensitivity that rendered him unable not to exaggerate his response.

He expected Kanda to begin berating him at any moment, but instead came a soothing "Sssshhhh. It's okay, just whisper to me, Allen."

Overjoyed at that unexpected tenderness, Allen kissed him hard enough right then that they nearly lost balance, but then switched to doing as he was told, sighing out a wanton "Aaaahhh, Kanda…" before commencing to whisper: "God yes, fuck yes, yes, yes—"

Allen had no idea if Kanda could hear a single word of his lustful litany above the shower noise and his own heavy breathing, but he was hardly even thinking about what he was rambling anymore, himself. The point was that the trick worked like a charm— he wasn't crying out at all anymore, and his occasional uncontrolled moans vibrated unobtrusively against Kanda's lips with each well-timed kiss.

"Oh yes, oh please, ahhhh… aaaaahhhh… Kanda."

Climax drew maddeningly near…

"Mmmm, Alllennn—"

He pumped them both faster and faster and with another licentious sigh, Allen came hard, hips thrust forward and head rolling back against the wall, mouth hanging open so bits of shower spray entered from every direction around Kanda's sides. He was still mumbling deliriously as he came down: "I needed this, I needed you, I need you, I…"

I love you.

…

Fuck.

A/N: Uh oh... poor Allen's just come to realize something rather important, hasn't he? ^^;

Wondering where this might take them? And then there's that pesky mission too. Too bad, I'm not telling. :P

(Stay tuned for more, next chapter...)

**THANK YOU to my REVIEWERS for your awesome words of encouragement and inspiration. I appreciate you all!**