Author's Notes: Behold! The continuation! Send all of your thanks to the lovely Possholl for helping to convince me to finish this story. Also, having been writing all seriousness for my "Ghosts and Guardians" fic, I feel so left fielded when writing this very lighthearted fic. Its almost alien. Its feels so weird. But pretty nice, too. I'm currently working the next Ghosts & Guardians chapter, I'm maybe a third of the way finished with it. So please be patient with me, its coming, I promise! Now-enjoy, folks!
Lavi and the Beanstalk
Ch. 8 "Here Be Magic"
"Hi there. I'm Allen."
The gears in Lavi's mind were spinnning erratically. He did not hear that right. That couldn't have been right. There was no way-no way in hell-that his insanely gorgeous, earthreal, and downright adorable piano playing crush was a GUY! So Lavi did the only reasonable thing and checked to be sure.
CRACK.
"What the hell was that?!" Allen cried out. He, yes HE, didn't appreciate having his chest groped by the slightly manic red head.
Lavi was lying motionless in the palm of Eliade's giant hand. Having been quickly struck down with a killer left hook. He whimpered in pain as he processed everything that had just occured.
"Oh my," Eliade gasped. Allen was doing his best to save the boy, even going so far as to cut a deal with her, and she would be collecting on it, she certainly didn't expect Allen to quickly turn so violent against him.
"You know, Allen, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Unless that's how you two want to play it." Eliade said, deciding to sink some proverbial knives in.
"Just shut up and drop us in the Ark already!" Allen shouted at her.
"Ooh, I'll drop you somewhere alright," Eliade growled as her voice turned dangerously dark. Even her eyes had a menacing glint to them.
"Just stick to the deal, Eliade. And I'll keep up my end of the bargain." Allen, not to be outdone, shot the woman his own equally menacing look. Which had the unintended consequence of frightening and further confusing Lavi to no end.
This was supposed to be his silvery dream-girl. Soft, beautiful and refined. Not some androgenous albino whose acting scarier than back alley card sharks. A single heart broken tear rolled down Lavi's face. His dream-girl was truly gone.
"Don't think I won't be collecting, kid." And Eliade planned on enjoying every second of it, too.
"I know, I know." Allen growled at her. He was couting down the seconds till they reached the Ark. Allen turned his head and noticed that Lavi hadn't moved an inch. He continued laying there, in the palm of Eliade's hand, utterly defeated and broken.
"Hey." Allen called to the red head, who was clearly to busy with his self-pity to hear.
"Hey." Still no reply. not even a twitch. Allen stepped closer.
"HEY!" That got his attention.
Lavi's knee-jerk reaction extended to his whole body. Spazzing his limbs and jumping upright.
"Huh? Huh? What?! Uhhh, hi?" Lavi stammered out. Blinking, unsure of what to do or say anymore.
"What's your name?" Allen plainly asked.
"What? What?" Lavi's mind blanked for a moment.
"Name, please." Allen growled. His patience wearing thin again.
"Oh! Uh, its Lavi. I'm Lavi. H-hey?" Lavi feeling, strange and small and ever-so-confused, held out his hand for a shake.
"And as you already know, I'm Allen. Allen Walker." The teen chuckeld as he shook Lavi's hand.
Lavi felt his spirits lighten again. Allen's eyes were gentle again and his smile seemed so serene. It was wonderful to look at. It was like the boy's entire face was framed with a dazzling halo of light.
Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all. Lavi told himself.
"Alright. We're here, midgets!" Eliade called out. Unceremoniously ruining the good moment, Lavi noted. Even Allen looked particularly annoyed at the woman, which Lavi was happy to note, at least compared to the moments prior.
Allen motioned for Lavi to follow him. The two walked to edge of of Eliade's palm and Lavi was greeted with another awe-striking sight. The room was sprawling and utterly massive, but was also plain and devoid of absoluetly anything, save for the 30-foot long table that held an entire scaled down model of a gorgeously carved town. The town itself was intricately carved and completly contained within a marble box that rose from the very edges of the table it rested on. Eliade held the two from some distance away, so Lavi could see how the town's geography was hilly and sweeping. With the largest and most grandeous buildings located at the far end of the table, where the hills were tallest.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Allen asked, his voice was soft. Almost like a whisper.
"Yeah," Lavi was breathless. The giant castle he'd been roaming in the past two days now paled in comparison to the miniature town before his eyes.
Allen smiled happily at his response.
Eliade walked the two to the highest point of the mini-town. She lowered her hand near a small pavilion. Suddenly a silver column of light shot up light a reverse bolt of lightning. Lavi jumped back in fear but Allen pulled him forward.
"Don't worry." Allen encouraged him. "That'll be what brings us into the town."
"Really?! I mean, jus' how exactly?" Lavi turned to the teen, dumbfounded.
"Its a magic spell where-"
"What th' hell's with you guys and magic? Huh?" Lavi griped.
"Bring it up with Master Cross. He' the one who's border lined obsessed with the stuff." Allen said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.
"Another 'master,' huh?" Lavi mumbled, inspecting Allen suspiciously.
"What's that look for?" Allen growled. His bad temper emerging again.
"There's definietly something wrong with this place." Lavi stated.
"Ya think?!" Allen snapped back at the older teen.
"So you agree then? That's it! We're running away together!" Lavi exclaimed all too cheerfully.
"Wait. We're what?!" Allen blsuhed furiously at his proposal.
"Yeah. We should totally run away together. Only we'll have to live back at my place. 'Cause I promised Gramps that I wouldn't move out like my dad did. And you'll have to work on the farm with us, of course. But its all easy stuff. And the town is kinda boring. But it should still be fun 'cause you're so new to everythin' an' all. Oh, and-"
"Save it for the Ark you two! You both can make out in there." Eliade barked at the boys before dumping them out of her engormous hand and straight into the column of light.
For the umpteenth time that day, Lavi screamed his lungs out. Clinging to Allen for dear life as they began to fall.
"Jeez! Calm down will you?" Allen pushed the red head away as to not be inadvertantly suffocated by said teen.
But Lavi wasn't having it. Both he and Allen and the giant golden bird (Lavi had forgotten all about him) were falling to their supposed deaths. Except, they really weren't. Once inside of the light, their momentum greatly reduced. They were no longer falling but hovering. Gently descending down to the carved stone floors of the town's pavilion.
Once his feet were on solid ground, Lavi tentatively let go of Allen. Testing the ground by tapping with his foot. He felt more assured that they wouldn't be sucked up by the column of light.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Lavi did a double take. The look on Allen's face as so damn smug and just so, so goddamn condesending. His posture even changed from the usual prim and proper to a more aloof guant with some serious swagger happening. He looked positively wicked.
"Do you know how much I want to call you an 'asshole' right now?" Lavi grumbled at the teen. His anger bubbling up. Everything was turning into a nightmare for Lavi and here was his former dream-girl/rescuee slowly pushing the daggers in.
"You'd hardly be the first." Allen replied, which sounded more like bragging than making a statement to Lavi.
"Hardly somethin' ta' be proud about." Lavi huffed. Allen just chuckled, still looking as smug as before.
More than a little fed up, Lavi spun around on his heels and examined the town around him. Everything was marbled and white. It reminded his of the rest of the mansion but this town looked much more natural. Like every bit of material came from the same quarry. The stones under his feet were roughed, hued, and weathered down. Plants of varying states of decay were planted in boxes all over the streets. The hand-painted street signs were old but well kept. And all of the buildings had small personal touches, like clothes lines dangling from the windows, vendor carts and baskets were left in the streets, personal names and addresses were written on the buildings, and windows were filled with vases and small trinkets. This miniature town just looked and felt like a real town, only frozen in time. And devoid of all its inhabitants. Save for the young albino who stood no more than six feet from Lavi, tending to his gigantic pet bird.
"Say, uhh, Allen?" Lavi tentatively spoke.
"Yes, Lavi?" Allen turned to the redhead.
"Where in th' hell are we exactly?" He asked.
"We're in a small district of Liverpool city nicknamed Southtown." Allen's face dropped. His voice turned soft and somber. "Its a rather prominent neighborhood with lots of high-end apartments, boutique shops and avenues, and its own music hall. Its where Master Cross and I first met. Its also where my father and I used to live."
"O-oh," Lavi was taken back. Suffice to say he'd "fallen in love" while knowing absolutely nothing about Allen. He'd fantasized and imagined several scenarios as to how Allen wound up in the mansion, but he never imagined something so tragic.
The between air between the two was quiet and heavy. Lavi shuffled his feet as the weight of Allen's situation sunk in.
"Lavi. You said something before about your dad leaving home, right?" Allen asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, four years before I was even born, my dad up and left gramps without so much as a goodbye." Allen turned to Lavi, looking horrified. "No, yeah. That's exactly how the old man felt about it. But ya see, my dad returned with a baby me after my mom died. Dad opened up a woodshop in a townage that was all but wiped out by a viralent fever, my mom included. Dad spent all his money on givin' mom a proper funeral before returning home with me."
With role's reversed, Lavi was now wearing the downcast look upon his face. Allen watched Lavi with a mixed look of concern and horror as Lavi continued his story.
"I was nine when dad up an' died from the same fever that took mom away. I always remembered dad havin' this big, happy smile on his face. But I don' ever remember him and gramps talkin' to each other all tha' much. I guess the two never really buried the hatchet."
"So, you two don't talk about it much?" Allen asked.
"Nah. I always knew it was too painful for him. Hell, I never heard the story from either of 'em but from the preacher in town. No one in town's ever talked about it out of respect." Lavi explained.
"Did they not get along well before? Is that why your father left without warning?" Allen further inquired.
"Not as far as I can tell. Don't know why he would've done such a thing but he went an' did it any way." Lavi shrugged. "Thar aren't just enough answers is all."
"My father didn't get along well with his family either." Allen, in turn, explained. "The ruling patriarch didn't like my mother. He said that my father would be 'marrying below his station,' which he would never allow. And soon afterwords my parents married regardless and were disowned. My parents loved the theatre, heh heh, its even where they first met. That's also how they made their living together. Growing up, I performed with them as part of a family act."
"Was it here, that y'all performed?" Lavi asked, gesturing to the nearby theatre on the hill.
"It was. It was," Allen's voice shook slightly. With a sad, heavy smile on his face, he continued on, "There would have even been four of us performing on that stage. Except there were complications."
Lavi turned to Allen, looking horrified. He remembered back when Daysia's mom had those same "complications." Everything changed after that. Even though he was young at the time, the wild and carefree Daysia had changed after that day. But at least his mother survived. And Lavi also remembered Allen only mentioning his father.
"It was, ah, umm, after the funeral when father and I first met Master," Allen choked on his voice as he forced himself on. "At the church while talking with the Mother Superior, she introduced us, saying he was an old friend of hers. He and father hit things off pretty well. So much that he named Master Cross as my godfather just in case anything should happen. He wanted me to be safe."
"So, what? After he took you in, he made you his apprentice an' taught you magic?" Lavi asked.
"Yes. As it turns out my father's family is proficient in magic, too. I guess things just clicked," Allen emphasized by clicking his tongue, "together."
Lavi was at a loss for words. Sounds like Allen lived a helluva hard-knock life. And here he was, imagining himself coming in like Sir Lancealot himself and rescuing poor defenseless Allen. But it wasn't something so simple. Allen didn't even need the rescuing anymore. His "master" had already done just that who knows how long ago.
"Come on, Lavi. Let's get out of here. I'll take you up to my room." Allen said, taking Lavi by the hand.
"Yeah, sure." Lavi gripped Allen's hand back, trailing behind the younger teen. "Say, where exactly are we goin'?"
"Up to the music hall. Behind there is a building where Master built mine and Timcanpy's quarters." Allen answered.
"Do ya two always live in here?" Lavi asked.
"No, not always. But I like it here. It always makes me feel safe when I'm lonely." Allen elaborated.
"Okay." Lavi quickened his pace as to walk beside Allen. The two still holding hands. Lavi gripped the younger's hand tightly, while gently rubbing his thumb across the back of Allen's knuckles. He had no intention of letting go anytime soon.
Allen led the group as the giant bird, Timcanpy, hobbled along. Like Allen has said, there was another grand building behind the music hall. They had barely ascended the front steps before the doors magically swung open. The foyer was grand and large, and stylized more like the mansion Lavi had seen earlier.
With little ceremony, Allen next lead Lavi up a set of sweeping stairs and to a set of gilded doors.
"This is the elevator that'll take us to the rooms of the building." Allen explained.
"Exactly how big is this place?" Lavi asked with a dubious look on his face. It was one thing to find a giant's castle sitting on top a bed of clouds (which he still needed to ask Allen about-magic can't explain everything ya know), but to include a recreation of an entire town inside a single room with a magical dumwaiter to boot?! Things were getting way too confusing for Lavi now.
"About as big as it looked from the outside actually. Of course, Master changed things around so instead of just out tiny apartment room I got the whole building to myself." Allen said.
"Oh. That's nice of him." lavi whistled.
"Yeah I guess so. It wasn't really necessary though." Allen responded.
"Yeah, but it'd be awkward just to come in and out of the one room all the time, wouldn't it?" Lavi mused.
"Maybe. But that's always been the norm for me. Its what I've always done." Allen huffed.
"But if you're the only one in here then you should have the whole place up to yourself. Not just a tiny room!" Lavi exclaimed.
"You sound just like Master!" Allen scoffed. "I swear, red heads,"
"Well its either that or you go rumaging through all the individual rooms. Which is totally what I would do, but you seem like you'd be better than that." Lavi then noticed the sketpical look on Allen's face. "Huh? What is it?"
"You really think I wouldn't do anything so lowbrow?" Allen asked of him.
"Well, you can act like a smug jackhole, but I don't think you're the type to commit felonies." Lavi admitted.
"What if I told you that I'm an expert card shark?" Allen asked, earning a good laugh from Lavi. "'Cause I am." He stated plainly, smiling so confident and coyly.
"Crap!" Lavi hissed. Jumping back away from Allen but still never letting go of his hand.
Allen looked down, feeling the tug, and blushed. So did Lavi. The two teens pulled further away and still neither let go of the other's hand, instead their grips tightened. Allen twirled his hair with his free hand as Lavi coughed nervously.
What are we doing? Lavi asked himself as they both stood there in awkward silence and avoiding each others' eyes.
Timcanpy chirped, waiting for Allen to open the doors to the elevator. The giant bird cocked his head to the side. He looked intently at the smaller teen, who had all but forgotten him. Fed up, Timcanpy squawked and indignantly shoved at Allen's back with his beak.
Allen had accidentally pulled Lavi forward with him, but the two quickly righted themselves out.
"Oh, sorry, Tim. I didn't mean to forget about you. Here, lets get you to bed now." Allen cooed the bird, gently petting its brow. He then stepped forward and swung the gilded doors open to reveal a lavish, velvet lined elevator.
Timcanpy had barely waited for the doors to open, the giant bird quickly scampered inside. And with all the patience of a petulant toddler, Timcanpy angrily squawked at the two teens outside. Allen and Lavi shared a laugh at Timcanpy's expense. Timcanpy retaliated by squawking even louder and stomping his clawed feet onto the floor. The teens only laughed more.
Still holding hands, and laughing, the two boarded the elevator. They giggled like silly little children as their shoulders bumped together.
Lavi dreamily watched as Allen brought his free hand to cover his mouth as he chucked. The young teen's lips curled into an enchanting smile as hues of pink danced across his face. Lavi just drank the sight in. He was immediately reminded of when he first saw Allen. That spellbinding enchantment was still there, simply radiating naturally from Allen. Like light does from the sun.
Between laughs, Allen caught Lavi's looking longingly at him. Allen's blush deepened. Having been caught, Lavi sheepishly turned away and blushed in turn. He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling before tentatively turning back to Allen, only to find the youth looking serenely back at him. With an inviting languid smile and silver eyes sparkling. Lavi felt the air instantly leave his lungs. Allen looked nothing short of stunning. And all of that jaw-dropping gorgeousness was looking directly at Lavi.
Lavi's jaw went slack and his throat dried out. His mind was going blank, save only for thoughts of how beautiful Allen looked. He felt his whole body shaking as he unconsciously moved closer to the younger teen. Allen's grip on his hand tightened as he, too, moved ever closer to Lavi. Allen's eyes went wide as they filled with a wonderous clarity. He tilted his chin up and stood on his toes as Lavi lowered his head to meet Allen's lips.
Lavi's heart pounded against his chest, threatening to break apart his ribs. Allen's lips were the softest of all of God's creations. Lavi felt like he was lost in Heaven. He could feel all of Allen's life pulse throughout him as the two drew closer. Their two bodies thrummed as their bodies melded into one.
The long-forgotten Timcanpy had been drawn into the moment. As impatient as the golden bird was, he was highy devoted to Allen and gazed in wonder as the two teens deepened their kiss. Full of emotion, Timcanpy made a strnage noise. A combination of a squawk and choked sob. If he could, he'd be crying right now. Hard.
The teen boys ended their kiss when the strange sounds didn't stop. To their surprise, they found Tim hovering over and watching them intently with wide eyes. The giant bird cooed as he continued to watch them.
Allen and Lavi both felt a little awkward for not realizing that Timcanpy was still there. The two looked at each other, deep scarlet marking their faces, and feeling more than a little self-conscious, wondering what to do next.
Lavi gently took hold of Allen's other hand and gave the teen his best reassuring smile. Allen's expression softened in turn. Allen stepped even closer and embraced the goofy redhead. Lavi sighed contently as he held the young teen. This-this is all that he ever wanted and more. And he wasn't about to let Allen go any time soon.