**UPDATE** March 9 2013:
I've put a poll up on my profile page. I'm hoping you'll please tell me how YOU decide on what stories to read. Results will be viewable (except for any PMs I receive) once I close it. I will also make a special announcement about future plans on my profile at that time.
A/N: I was totally on-schedule to get this chappy out a week after the last and then LIFE happened (again). So yeah... OTL
But guess what? I think this must be the longest chapter of anything I've ever written. I hope that makes up for the irregularity of chapter releases a little bit. There was a (humour) scene I'd meant to have in this chapter but it looks like it'll be starting off the next chapter instead!
Now, it's time for some tricky and subtly symbolic card game fun...
Enjoy! ^_^
"It's so beautiful out today," Allen beamed, and Noise Marie could hear his giddiness. The sun and only lightly humid breeze warmed his skin, too. So he couldn't help but smile to himself as he and Kanda walked side-by-side carrying their luggage ahead of Allen— sandwiched between Lavi and Lenalee— and Raphael and Imelda trailed behind at the rear.
"Especially for autumn," Lenalee added from Allen's left.
"You said it, guys," Lavi chimed in happily from his right.
"Smells like dead fish out here."
"That's just the smell of the ocean, Kanda," Marie answered, rolling his unseeing eyes with good humour. "And I thought you liked dead fish… You do, don't you?"
"I eat them. Doesn't mean I want to smell their rotting carcasses," he groused back, but with hardly an edge to it. (If Marie didn't know better, he might hazard a guess that his old friend was in a good mood!)
Sometimes, he thought, Kanda's identification as Japanese was a little less… believable… than at other times. The mysterious young boy he'd met nine years ago had grown up content to allow others to believe being 'from Japan' meant he was born and raised there. Well… not quite.
Anyway, it wasn't like everyone in Japan loved the sea. But still…
"Where's our Finder supposed to be? On the boat?" Kanda demanded, impatient.
Imelda answered from two steps behind: "He said if he wasn't here, he'd meet you at the first ferry stop instead."
"That's even assuming our 'curse lady' is on the boat," Lavi commented.
"She definitely paid for it, though." Lenalee replied. "Timcanpy should be able to tell us if she doesn't board."
"Well~ that's settled then~!" Marie couldn't have been the only one noticing how ridiculously chipper Allen was, this morning. And it was genuine happiness. Not his usual polite but false cheer. "We'll have to get our stuff stowed soon but we've got some time to hang out by the docks for a while, don't we?"
"Why sure, I'd say so, Allen." Marie confirmed. "Sounds like a plan."
"Tch."
Kanda was scoffing at Allen's upbeat attitude in openly good humour, Marie noted— not his usual feigned disgust. Lavi and Lenalee, meanwhile, soaked that sunshine right up.
"Hey Allen, you guys have too much stuff for us to keep walking around, and that Finder might still show up fer all we know, so how 'bout we just stay right here?" Lavi suggested, and pulled Allen down to have a seat on the ground.
"Alright," Allen answered agreeably. The boy, it appeared to Marie, was quite pliable right now. From what he could sense, he offered zero resistance to Lavi's hand guiding him down by the elbow.
"What'll we do? Are we just going to talk?" Lenalee wondered, sounding a little antsy. She wasn't quite complaining, but Marie suspected she was probably eager to make some especially novel memories before seeing half her party splinter off. "Oh I know— cards! Allen, I've heard so much about how you're really good at card games…?"
"You could say that…" Allen grinned broadly to go with his mischievous tone of voice, and slipped a hand inside one of the folds of his coat—
"See, told ya he'd have cards on 'im! No worries about messin' up the luggage!"
"Actually, we don't really have time for poker— Or well, I like to get really errr… get into the game and play more than a few rounds at a go, you see—"
"Yeah, I'll say," Lavi scoffed to Lenalee in an undertone, inducing her to smirk a little.
"A-hem!" Allen cleared his throat to regain their attention; "So how about this instead…"
Four inquisitive heads tilted with curiosity as Allen reached for Imelda's warm-toned hand and took it gently in both of his white gloved ones. The young woman gasped playfully with her other hand over her mouth, playing up the moment. Raphael suddenly squeezed Lenalee's right hand, which he was holding for now in his left— a rarity in public for those two— and she squeezed back a little too. (They played it safe by hiding their joined hands in the gap under the singular pile of luggage.) Lenalee and Lavi both laughed in delight. Marie smiled softly. Kanda's lip curled.
"Might I ask your assistance, my dear?" Allen crooned lightly, as if picking a beautiful stranger out of a crowd.
Imelda giggled a little, nodding her assent, but then sent a swift glance toward Kanda. Interestingly, the proud swordsman— the only one who remained standing at this point— had tensed up and was now crossing his arms tightly while Allen instructed his 'assistant' to choose a card from his fanned out deck. Kanda had turned to face three-quarters away, but looked back at the goings on often enough that despite the numerous competing reverberations of the immediate vicinity, Marie still noticed his constant frown.
Ever exuberant, Allen performed successive card tricks and sleight-of-hand to entertain their party. And it was indeed seeming more and more like a party until…
"Tch." Kanda stalked away in long, quick strides. Perhaps some form of in-joke was being made at his expense? Yet Marie hadn't detected anything of the sort in the entire time he'd observed everyone, this morning. Judging by his hurried pace, it seemed Kanda didn't want any company, so he couldn't exactly ask, either.
"Kanda?" Allen was between tricks, shuffling his deck, as he caught Kanda's rapid stride into the distance. There was a strange note of concern in his voice, but he added a hasty shrug to the confused furrowing of his brows. "Well um… let's see what else I can uhh… try next…"
Just then, Imelda unexpectedly shot up off the ground, patting an embarrassed and reddening Raphael's right shoulder in apology for nearly bowling him over.
"Where ya goin' Imelda? Chasin' after Yuu?"
"Just thought I'd see what Kanda's up to. I won't be long," she winked at the one-eyed Bookman apprentice. "Thanks, Allen. That was really fun!"
Marie always loved to hear Imelda speak. There was a calm, consistent, sweet sincerity about her that he found very charming. Not until he met Miranda had he seen a more selfless young woman, as well. But with her short history as an Exorcist— and the nightmarish experiences that came with it— he doesn't blame her for keeping people at a slight distance. It's just a pity since she understands others so well.
oOo
Marie, and perhaps Raphael, were the only ones not totally shocked when Imelda reappeared, smiling broadly in the midst of banter with none other than Kanda Yuu. But while not so shocked, he had to admit it was still somewhat surprising.
"I still don't believe you."
"Whatever."
"I think you should prove it."
"Says who?"
"Says me. I just said it, didn't I? So prove it."
Marie had to laugh. Kanda hadn't ever bargained on there being a girl around who might know how to handle him so expertly. Imelda had barely exchanged words with Kanda until now, yet she had already walked right into interacting with him in a manner vaguely reminiscent of Daisya's bravado or Allen's goading— but in her serene way, devoid any threat of nastiness or violence.
That was Imelda for you, though. Marie and Lenalee had each taken their time quietly building Kanda's trust. Lavi's warmth has gradually worn away at Kanda's resistant nature. Imelda, however, simply watched how he got along with the others, understood how he respected inner strength, and worked out how best to reach him in a very short period of time.
It was a pity they'd be leaving her behind with the others.
"I don't have to prove any—"
"Oh yeah you do, Yuu. Whatever it is you better prove it 'cause now the rest of us aren't gonna let you leave here until we know what the heck you two are talking about."
"Will you stop calling me by my given name, Baka-Usagi!"
"Glad to see you've cheered up again, Yuu. You looked kinda down, a minute ago. So got something to prove, have you?"
"He says," Imelda began skeptically, "He can tell how Allen does his tricks."
"Oh? Is that so, Kanda?" Lenalee inquired, covering her mouth to restrain her mirth.
"I actually really would like to know how they all work."
"I can't share all my secrets now, Raphy." Poor Raphael fidgeted in embarrassment at Allen's playful use of Lenalee's pet name for him. He obviously wasn't used to being called that by anyone else. (Possibly, Marie speculated, not even by Lenalee herself?) "Tell you what: if Kanda here can explain how I do any one of my final few tricks, you can take your pick of them all, and I'll show you how it works."
"Go for it, Yuu!" Lavi cheered, only for Kanda to snarl back at him to shut up.
To start, Allen somehow coaxed three coins from the begrudging Kanda's person. Each disappeared in turn, leaving Kanda several pence short of British currency, and still unable to guess where they went or how they vanished.
"Now then, I wonder if you can guess how they'll return, Kanda." Allen taunted.
Kanda griped that he was talking about card tricks really, so Allen had him choose a card from his fanned-out deck, just as he'd done with Imelda.
"Now, my lovely assistant will show the card to everyone but me."
"You better not be talking about me, bean sprout."
Giggling, Imelda passed the card before everyone else's eyes, and very thoughtfully offered to whisper it to Marie. He politely refused, however, as he was seeking at least some form of surprise by the end. (He had been able, up until now, to track where each of Allen's cards and props had slipped to, so he wanted to preserve what little mystery he could.) Allen had Kanda cut the deck, return the card, then cut the deck again. As he adroitly shuffled, Marie could tell the card in question had already been removed and stashed for later… along with some others?
"As you can see, I didn't mean you, BaKanda, but don't worry, you're quite 'lovely' yourself~" Allen winked… flirtatiously?
Even Marie couldn't stifle his laughter at that. (Though, unlike Lavi, he at least tried.) Fortunately, his muted chuckles were outdone by everyone else busting up right alongside him.
Kanda drew Mugen in anger; Allen readily blocked with his innocence arm, having hiked its sleeve up just in time. "Maybe I'll cut those sleeves off, Moyashi, and we can see how you pull your stupid tricks off then."
He'd be on the right track, Marie figured, but that sleeve's got nothing in it…
"Are you serious? This is my Exorcist uniform! …And it's ALLEN!"
"Tch. Like I care, Baka-Moyashi." He mocked haughtily and, with a flick of his sword, put a vertical slash into the fabric anyhow. Literally and figuratively, his opening warning.
While everyone else gasped in horror (except for Lavi, who burst into renewed gales of laughter), Marie grew very curious as to why he just caught Allen surreptitiously stuffing something into that very sleeve. Kanda ran a deliberate finger along the inside of the slit he just created and, interestingly, was in fact able to procure a single playing card.
"B-BaKanda! How could you—" Allen appeared quite flustered.
"Ah ha! So this is where you—" he stopped abruptly as he turned the card over.
"Oh my word, the Joker! What on earth was it doing in there? Not your card though, was it?" Allen cooed, suddenly sounding cocky.
"No," Kanda scowled, catching on that Allen had tricked him. "It was yours."
A bit weak a comeback by Marie's estimation, yet Kanda sneered in momentary triumph as Allen shrugged innocently.
"No way, that one should be for me!" Lavi cried, playing offended, then casually rested chin on hand and elbow on bent knee. "By the way Yuu, got something up your sleeve?"
Kanda's left hand immediately flew to his own right sleeve now.
"Slice my clothing up further, Kanda, just try it…" Allen began softly, floating strangely faraway a moment before snapping back again to finish his warning; "…all you'll find is a uniform replacement bill from the Order."
Lavi laughed aloud again, probably at the tone of invitation to Allen's words of caution. The boy really knew how to get under Kanda's skin, Marie mused.
Actually, no one should have been able to trick Kanda in such a way, but somehow, Allen had managed to distract him enough to cut a retaliatory slit in his right sleeve, perhaps with one slim, spiked finger. Marie's attention had also been diverted, so he couldn't be sure exactly what transpired. Lavi was an observant one, however, and hadn't missed it. Dumbfounded, Kanda felt along his own arm, discovering for himself another card there, which he drew out via the fresh cut in his own uniform.
He growled gutturally at the turned over card, which no one else could see.
"Well, was it your card, then?" Allen prompted, smugger than ever.
"No," he grouched back, wearing that 'constipated' expression that amused General Tiedoll so much.
"Aw, well let's see it then," Imelda requested, taking the card from Kanda's stiffened arm. "Queen of Hearts?"
"Perhaps that's a better-suited card for you, BaKanda—"
"Not Lenalee?" Raphael piped up.
Lavi's head turned sharply to face the newest Exorcist, who sat a short distance to his right, on Lenalee's other side. "Nah, this card's got Yuu written all over it. 'Cause he's all 'Off with your head!' all the time."
Lavi drew a finger across his neck to represent his impending execution.
"I knew I couldn't be the only one here who'd read those novels," Allen grinned.
"Lenalee, however," Lavi continued, turning more serious as he faced the girl now; "is Queen of Diamonds. She's precious to us all."
No one had any idea how to react to that until Lenalee blinked in surprise. Raphael appeared as if he wanted to say something, before Kanda interrupted the odd moment: "So? Let's see it. Where's my card, Moyashi?"
"You're not going to cut open any more of my clothing are you?"
"Don't get your hopes up, bean sprout," Lavi laughed, as if that bizarre silence hadn't just happened. "Or actually, never mind, this is Yuu we're talking about."
"Just get on with it."
"Right. Now where could that card be?" Kanda rolled his eyes as Allen patted the ground to make a show of searching for the 'lost' card.
Soon he reached the nearby shadowed space under Kanda's crossed legs, from which he was able to pull two more cards, dragging them out slowly along the outside of Kanda's leg as he pulled his hand back. Marie found himself a little perplexed at Allen's method of getting a rise out of his rival, furrowing his brows in confusion as he listened.
"Ah, here we go."
"Did you just—"
"Okay, this'll be my last try. Is one of these cards yours, Kanda?" Allen prodded, slowly turning them over before Kanda's eyes.
"No. What kind of random card 'trick' is this?"
"What cards are they, this time? Lenalee pressed, gesturing impatiently. Allen angled them around for all to see. "Jack and King of Hearts?"
Lenalee and Raphael seemed perplexed, but Lavi smiled and explained; "Jack— or Knave— is the lowest face card, and represents a servant to the King. He can also be an unscrupulous liar, or duplicitous scoundrel."
"The king looks like he's killing himself with that sword," Raphael observed, alarmed.
"It might look like that, but he'll be just fine," Allen assured him, chuckling darkly.
Imelda pointed at one card. "The 'K' on that one could be for Kanda!"
"But who's the Jack supposed to be?" Raphael wondered aloud.
"Who indeed," Imelda agreed, raising her eyebrows at Allen.
"Hmm…" Allen hummed mysteriously. "Oh dear, it actually seems there's another card stuck to that one. Kanda— would you mind?"
"Tch." To Marie's surprise as well as Kanda's, he was able to pull another card away from the back of the Jack of Hearts. He guessed it had been carefully held in place all this time. "Oh you're fucking kidding me…"
"Could it be…?" Marie was already marvelling… "Is that his card?"
"Hold it up for us Kanda, and then you can proceed to explain that whole trick."
Fed up, Kanda tossed the card to the ground face up, so that everyone gasped in surprise. As everyone else began to cheer for Allen now, he crossed his arms angrily.
Despite the fanfare, Allen's lips flattened into a thin line. "It's… your card, right?"
Kanda only tightened his arms across his chest grumpily.
"That's it! Nice one, Allen."
"The Ace of Hearts!"
"I knew he could do it!"
Allen's energy seemed to have dropped off a bit as he travelled their little circle, drawing each of Kanda's coins from an ear a nose and a pocket of the other spectators. When he turned back to Kanda to return the coins, the hotheaded samurai had calmed down a bit. He'd already picked up the Ace which had been lying on the ground since he tossed it there, trading the card to receive his few pence back.
"I'll figure out the trick," he said, voice low. "And just expose it later."
"I'd like to see that, Kanda," Allen murmured, smiling with renewed energy.
"Don't worry, then. You will."
A/N: BTW anyone wondering about the sequel to Love is Double Blind (the AU I did for Yullen Week 2012)? Well I have plans for that too. Don't think I can keep it T-rated though. Prolly heading into M-rated territory with that one... ^_^;