I learn all sorts of things from this story. Lots of mythology and stuff, of course, and many facts about sea creatures (barnacles freak me out). But I also learn about history and different countries. I have hits on this thing from places I've never even heard of. Which makes me sound like an arrogant American, I'm sure. But I'm willing to free myself from that ignorance, and I look up stuff about the countries I get regular views from. It's pretty interesting. So thanks for helping a hick like me to branch out. Also, I learned that you guys have a brother series. And I mean that in the worst sort of way. FF X has just as many bad OC-shippers and High school angst stories as DGM does...ugh.
BWAHAHAHA! Just. *giggle* I love this story, I fucking love it. Hahahahah. Mermen discovering penises is the funniest fucking thing I have ever written, at least to me. Seriously, I was sitting around laughing as I typed this up. Morning wood is gold. And, for those ladies out there that may not know, it's more annoying than exciting. Allen is so smart in some ways, but so dumb in others. I just wanted to remind everyone that he's still imperfect and naive, no matter how good his acting skills are. Also, I missed Kanda. Eventually I will lose the quotations around 'Neah' as he becomes more and more established.
A slight smut warning for this chapter. Though, it's not really smut, as opposed to badly masked comedy. I seem to be very good with masturbation...it's the only kind of smut that I regularly write. (For those of you that have read LTIS, you know what I am talking about.) Is that strange?
~0x0~
The first five days were all about getting used to his new body and learning about the completely foreign world around him. The sixth day was spent laying low and finally convincing his babysitter that he didn't need the annoying bandages anymore. The last night of the week was spent in silent celebration, because Link had to go away to make a report and would not be back until the afternoon of the following day.
The morning of the eighth day, Allen discovered something strange.
The odd little device that he'd discovered humans used to go to the restroom was behaving strangely.
Normally, it just sort of stayed there, in between his legs. In fact, it usually tried to get in his way when he was putting on his clothes. Allen thought that it was an awful waste of space and highly inefficient.
But today it was doing something that it had never done before. It was standing up. All on its own, without any help. Allen would have been jealous that it had made quicker progress than he had in that department, if it weren't for the distracting sensations that seemed to go along with this new discovery.
It was something almost like pain but not quite. The strange appendage tingled oddly, and left him feeling a bit hot and sort of impatient, but he didn't exactly know why.
Since Link wasn't around, Allen decided that he would just have to figure this one out by himself. At first, he wondered if the little thing was broken, since it was sort of swollen, but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. Perhaps it had been asleep this whole time and was only now waking up? He tried talking to it, telling it to lie down, because it wasn't a problem right now, since could just roll up his sleeping gown, but putting on pants with it in that position was going to be difficult. It didn't seem to want to listen. Well, Allen thought that maybe since it was attached to him, he could move it independently of the rest of his body, just like his other limbs. When he tried to move it, it twitched a bit, but he couldn't get it to lie down.
Well, this was troublesome.
He tentatively poked it. This had the interesting effect of making his legs jerk a bit, and it felt good, in a strange sort of way. He poked it again, and a third time before deciding that this was accomplishing nothing and felt decidedly unsatisfying for some reason.
He humphed at it, and crossed his arms. He held this pose until he noticed that it had become a bit red at the tip. Allen took this as a sign of defiance, which just made him angry. His own body was rebelling against him! He wouldn't put up with that.
Using his whole hand, he pushed the unruly little doodad down, forcing it to once again rest between his legs. Oddly, this also felt good.
Once he felt as though he'd punished it enough, he let go, but it just hopped right back up again. Allen was about to yell at it, until he saw that it was weeping. A single sort of clearish-white tear came out of the slit at the tip and dribbled down its length sadly. This made the white haired boy feel quite bad for acting so childishly and he apologized fervently to it, and whispered comforting words to the poor little thing, telling it that it was quite helpful when he needed to relieve himself, thanking it for its continued service. When it continued to cry, he began to pat it, in the hopes of cheering it up, which only made it cry more, but damn did it feel good.
It sort of felt like there was pressure building up down there, and Allen thought he understood.
"Y-You're crying because of that pressure, aren't you?"
He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw it nod.
"Well, let me see if I can help."
He began to clumsily rub it again, beginning to pant as the tingling sensation grew stronger and the temperature seemed to increase. It felt as though the pressure was increasing, but he just couldn't seem to stop his hands, and he brokenly begged the little thing to bear with it just a bit longer, because he somehow knew that it would all be over soon.
He continued to rub, using both hands.
Through the haze of heat and pleasure, he distantly recognized that something was coming. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he knew that he very desperately wanted to find out, and he quickened his pace.
After a few more seconds, he could no longer seem to control his legs or his vocal chords and the former began to shake, while the latter led him to release some breathy moans. This buildup was horrible torture, Allen distantly thought.
Still, he continued, praying to Neptune that he didn't hurt himself in the process. After just a few more moments, something inside him snapped, causing him to cry out. Overwhelming sensations washed over him, a huge rush of pleasure and warmth. Allen's whole body jerked upward and remained in the position for the better part of 30 seconds until he collapsed back onto the bed, gasping for air.
It took a couple minutes for the white haired boy to pull himself together. Once he was able to think properly, he wondered what the hell that was all about. Looking down, Allen noted with satisfaction that his little thingy had deflated and laid back down. However, there was something else there that hadn't been there before.
Allen examined the curious white substance, sniffed and subsequently wrinkled his nose. He decided right then and there that humans were just downright disgusting.
Being trapped in such a messy body was exceedingly troublesome.
~0x0~
After dashing to the bathroom to clean up (and vowing to figure out a different way to get the stupid little thing between his legs to behave), Allen went wandering.
He rejoiced in not having anyone to stop him.
He went down the hall, passed his and Link's room, passed the little sitting room that he met with the Bookman in (though the visits were less frequent now) and then he was in unfamiliar territory.
He walked for a while, until the hallway dead ended and spilled into another perpendicular hall. He wasn't really paying attention in from of him as he rounded the corner and ran right into something.
"Oh!" the sound was the came out of Allen's mouth was echoed from whatever he'd bumped into.
He fell backward onto his bottom.
"A-are you okay?"
Looking up, the grey-eyed boy saw a familiar face. It was the skinny, pale woman with the lovely dark hair.
"Yes, I'm okay." Allen answered, pushing himself up and standing once more.
"Oh, good. T-They sent me to make sure you were okay, since the Inspector is gone today. Why are you out of your room?"
"Hm? Oh. No one was around, so I went looking. I was worried." He lied.
"Oh...well, you shouldn't do that. Y-You could get lost..." the woman muttered.
'Lies. I shouldn't do that because the Order can't keep track of its prisoner that way.'
"Yeah." Allen pasted a big, easy grin on his face. "I think I am a bit lost. I'm glad I ran into you. It's nice to see you again, Miss..."
"Oh. Miranda. My name is Miranda Lotto."
"Hi Miranda. I'm Neah." He bowed slightly.
"Yes. Well...shall we go back?"
Allen decided to press his luck.
"Well, actually, I was wondering if we could go someplace else? I know that I'm supposed to stay up here, since I am still unfamiliar with everything, but I'd like to be able to see more. Maybe that would help me remember. I think talking to more people would help."
"Uh. I-I don't know..."
"Could we ask?"
Miranda hedged for a moment, looking as though she was contemplating running away. Finally, she sighed and took Allen's hand.
"Come with me." she said, and without waiting for a response, she began to drag him through the halls.
Miranda toted him through several hallways that Allen had trouble keeping track of until they came to the large central room with the glass roof. They walked on the platform and went up some stairs (Allen had a bit of difficulty with them, but he didn't fall) and went down yet another hallway. Eventually, they came upon a large set of double doors. Miranda pushed one open and pulled him though the small opening, letting the heavy door falls shut behind them.
Allen was in awe. Books! From floor to ceiling, piled on the many scattered tables, on chairs. He'd never thought that there would be this many. They were all different sizes and colors and thicknesses.
"Uhm...Bookman?" Miranda timidly called out.
The little old man walked out from behind a stack of books that was at least twice as tall as he was.
"Neah. What are you doing down here?" he asked, sending a very pointed look to the woman beside Allen. She shifted uncomfortably.
"I asked Miss Miranda to take me." Allen answered, feeling a bit defensive for the woman.
"I see." The old man continued to half glare at Miranda until he seemed to remember Allen's presence and put his friendly mask back on. "Why would you want to come down here? You can't read can you?"
"No, I can't. I just wanted to ask you something."
"And what is that?"
"I want to be able to go more places. I think talking to more people and seeing more things may help my memory."
"Hmm. Where, exactly, are you planning on going?"
Allen shrugged. "I dunno. I'm certainly not ready to leave the Order yet, but it would be nice to be able to walk around more..." The white haired boy let his sentence trail off nervously, hoping the innocent act would win him a bit more freedom.
"Perhaps...It would be better if you didn't go wondering around...not everyone in the building knows about you. Rather than that, why don't you start taking two hour breaks in the second Mess Hall every day?"
"Mess Hall?" Allen wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. He'd been messy enough that morning.
"Yes. You can take your lunch there."
Lunch. That was a word Allen recognized, and a subject he was quite adept at.
"Oh, okay."
"The Cafeteria is open all day, so there is no set time you have to be there, but we will send someone for you at about the right time. That will be a couple hours from now."
Allen grinned behind 'Neah's angelic smile.
~0x0~
Allen answered the knock at his door with much anticipation.
"Hello, Neah." Rohfa greeted him with a shy smile and a slight blush.
"Hi there." Allen gave her a genuine smile. She was nice, for a human.
"Ready?"
"Yes. I'm starving."
Together, they walked down the hall at a leisurely pace, and Allen was secretly happy that Rohfa had been the one to come get him. He liked Miranda well enough, but she tended to drag him around.
As they walked, he paid special attention to the route they took, determined to start memorizing his way around this place.
"So..." Rohfa began to speak, then trailed off, blushing even more than usual. Allen still hadn't quite figured out the strange need for useless conversation that humans seemed to suffer from. He had been relieved to find that Link wasn't like that, which was one of the few positive traits the man possessed.
"Uhm," She tried again, "I heard you are starting to take lunch in Cafe B because you think it might help your memory?"
Allen nodded and then posed a question of his own. "Cafe B?"
"Oh. It doesn't really have a formal name, it just happens to be the second Cafeteria reserved for certain Order members, so we call it Cafe B."
"I see...what kinds of people are allowed to go there?"
"Oh, typically just members that are more involved with the workings of the Order. It's better than the first Cafeteria, trust me." she nodded sagely, her braids bobbing a bit.
"Why is that?"
"Well, for one thing, everybody that goes there should at least be aware of your existence, and they won't pressure you...and then there's the chef. He makes some of the best food I've ever had."
Allen liked him already.
"Will there be a lot of people there?"
"At times. People tend to just come and go, and since you have a two hour break, you'll be there for a while. The crowd won't bother you, will it?"
Allen shook his head. "No, just wondering."
"Well, I'll be there with you the whole time, so if something bothers you, just tell me." Rohfa said earnestly.
"Thanks." Allen thought that it was kind of cute that she seemed to be under the impression that he had some sort of social phobia.
"Actually, there is something you can help me with." The girl perked up, glasses shining.
"I'm looking for a couple of people," Allen continued, trying very hard not to laugh. "Maybe you could help me find out if they go to lunch around this time."
"Oh. Who are you looking for?"
Allen cocked his head to the side, pondering how much information he could give her without making it seem like he really knew anyone here.
"Well, one of them was there the first day I came here. He had red hair and an eye patch."
"You mean Lavi. Why would you want to talk to him?"
"He said he knew me, or at least someone that looked like me. Maybe if I talk to him, I can find some clues about my past."
Briefly, Allen marveled at how easy it was to fall into the character of 'Neah'. Somehow, he was able to hide his true self completely behind this stranger that somehow felt so familiar. It was almost like there were two separate people in his head. Very, very odd.
"Neah?" Rohfa's voice shook him from his reverie.
"Huh?"
"I asked who the other person you are looking for is."
"Oh. Well, Bookman told me that the person who saved me when I was bleeding to death was named Kanda. I want to thank him."
"Ah. Yes, I can help you find him. Assuming he isn't away on a mission, he'll probably come in for some soba. Lavi will probably be there too. He's pretty sociable."
Allen nodded and thanked her.
They continued to walk and went downstairs at some point and came to yet another pair of Double doors, though these weren't nearly as fancy as the ones from before.
Rohfa put her hands against the door, then paused and turned to her white haired counterpart. "I should warn you-Kanda isn't very nice."
'Tell me something I don't know.' Allen internally grumbled.
But 'Neah' just nodded.
Rohfa smiled and pushed open the door. As soon as it was cracked, Allen found himself drooling. The smell coming out of this room was heaven.
Allen stepped in without asking, totally driven by the grumbling of his stomach. He followed his nose to the source of that wonderful smell and found himself at a counter with a window. But the window did not offer him a view of the outside. Rather, it looked in on what Allen assumed was the kitchen.
A dark skinned man with dark glasses and hair even stranger than Rohfa's swung into view.
"Weeeell, aren't you cute? Haven't seen you around before. You new?"
"Uh..." Allen responded intelligently.
"Hi, Jerry." Rohfa walked up from behind Allen and put her hand lightly on his arm.
"This is our guest, Neah. Neah, this," she gestured to the other man, "Is the Head Chef, Jerry."
"Nice to meet you." Allen nodded at him, doing his best to keep his mask in place. He was positively ravenous and the smell was driving him crazy.
"You look hungry, honey." Jerry said. "Tell me, what can I get you? I can make anything, so don't be shy."
20 minutes later, Allen was toting a gigantic tray of food to one of the many tables. He had very promptly decided that Jerry was his favorite human when the man had asked if he wanted anything else after the first five minute order and seemed to have been quite ecstatic when Allen had asked for more.
He dug in, only vaguely registering Rohfa's question about where he put it all.
After a few minutes of simply stuffing himself, Allen slowed down a bit and actually took in his surroundings. They were in a huge room, with dozens of long tables like the one he was currently sitting at. There was a long row of floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room, letting in plenty of light to see by, though there were fixtures on the wall for holding torches if necessary. There were only a couple people here and there taking an early lunch, but Allen had a feeling that they were watching him out of the corner of their eyes.
After a few minutes of slightly uncomfortable silence as Allen finished his meal and looked around, Rohfa tapped him on the shoulder.
"Neah. Look." She pointed over his shoulder.
And in walked Kanda. As with the first time he'd viewed this particular human, his first thought was, 'He's beautiful.'
And he was. His hair was tied up and looked like it would be heavenly to run one's fingers through. His face was serious, all hard lines. He wore a simple white dress shirt along with black pants. Even though they shared some of the same serious disposition, Kanda didn't really remind Allen of Link. Where Link's clothes were completely formal and his movements stiff, Kanda's clothes were clearly worn for convenience and mobility, and the way he moved was fluid and graceful.
He looked fantastic.
Allen watched him as he walked, mesmerized, and slightly afraid. He knew that Kanda could kill him easily, should he discover his identity. Almost as soon as he walked through the door, there was a steaming bowl of something waiting for him on the counter. He took it and nonchalantly walked to a table and sat down by himself.
Allen swallowed hard.
'Here goes nothing.'
"I'm going to go thank him, Rohfa. I'll be right back." Allen told the girl as he stood up. She only gave him a slightly worried nod.
Slowly, deliberately, he trudged over to where the dark haired man was sitting. He really didn't want to speak with him, but deep inside, Allen knew that he had no choice. He needed to talk to the man, needed to find out why Kanda had saved him rather than let him die.
"Hello." Allen said, once he was near. All that earned him was a glare, but he wasn't going to give up so easily. "May I sit down?"
Kanda simply turned back to his food, and Allen took that as a yes.
The white haired boy sat down and smiled pleasantly.
"You're Kanda, correct?"
No response.
"Did you hear m-"
"Look." Kanda growled, sending Allen a glare that reminded him so much of his Master that it made his hair stand on end. "Leave me alone, and let me eat my soba in peace."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Allen said, trying not to let his agitation show. "I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'll just wait until you are done."
"You think I can eat with you breathing down my neck?"
"Oh, please, don't mind me."
The taller man rolled his eyes and began to angrily go at his food, using little sticks as his utensils. Allen thought that it would be a lot easier to just use a spoon or a fork, but he kept quiet about it.
Allen got the sense that the man sitting across from him was eating a bit faster than he normally would have, just so he could get away.
Eventually, he finished his food and immediately stood with his dishes. Briskly, the taller man walked, dumped his tray into a peculiar hole in the wall that seemed to lead toward the kitchen and walked out the doors. Allen bounded after him, ignoring Rohfa's startled call.
"Hey!" He called out to the dark haired man. Allen still wasn't particularly good at running (not like he had much room available to him for practice) but he managed to keep up all right. "Wait!" Allen reached out without thinking and made to grab at Kanda's sleeve. One moment, Kanda was right in front of him, and the next, Allen's fingers were closing around air.
Before he could really understand what was happening, Allen felt something hit him from one side then almost immediately after, felt something else slam up against his back and completely stop all movement. He gritted his teeth against the pain and closed his eyes, waiting for his ears to stop ringing before opening them again.
He found himself being held up against the wall by a very strong arm. Following the arm, his sight collided with two very dark, very hard eyes. The image before him was no longer that of a man, but of a god. Flowing hair seemed to swirl about him. The air around Kanda froze in terrified reverence. Fury blazed in black twin orbs, and there was nothing else. Nothing behind that simple, primal emotion, nothing further to unravel. Everyone Allen had ever met came with layers. He considered himself pretty adept at reading people and he'd found over the years that there were always other emotions swimming at the bottom of people's eyes, always something hidden behind the obvious. But that wasn't the case here. There was no hesitation, no crack in conviction. Just a simple, bestial fire.
That fucking terrified Allen in a way he'd never experienced before.
At the same time, it captivated him.
The white haired boy swallowed, unable to speak.
"Stay. Away. From. Me." The other man ground out.
"I-I just wanted to thank you from saving me." Allen managed, released from the spell he seemed to have been put under.
The expression in those fiercely beautiful eyes shifted, from pure rage to pure apathy.
He dropped Allen.
"Don't mention it."
Without another word, the man walked away, leaving Allen huddled up against the wall until Rohfa came to get him.
As she ushered him back to the cafeteria, apologizing profusely for something that wasn't her fault, 'Neah' smiled and told her it was no big deal. But Allen could focus on nothing but the image of a dark haired deity that was burned into his mind.
'I never knew that humans could have that kind of presence...'
~0x0~
To My Reviewers:
Dawnfoot- It wasn't either a mistake, or my misunderstanding...it was the wrong hand to use, because Lavi doesn't shake properly and he offered his left hand.
XxkogainugamixX- Link/Allen is always a fun time, eh? I'm really happy you like how I portray Allen.
vinecaper- I would get tired of writing nothing but drama. Fun is important too.
Miso Ramen-sama- Thanks for pointing out the typo. I fixed it. His short hair is super cute, isn't it?
Conrii- If you look up 'Allen Walker tattoo' on Google, you should be able to find a picture. In the manga, it wasn't really a tattoo, just the dormant form of his innocence.
Total Amuto- I KNOW, RIGHT? LOL, ALLEN DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PAPER-YOU MUST READ!
Tintaglia In Flight- Link is a bit of a creeper sometimes. But I luffs him anyway.
Felnore- Link is good at making pastries, good at hair dressing...jeesh, could he be any more metro?
Shadow Storyteller- More Yullen than Laven? Hmmm...no. I really want to balance out all the relationship stuff. I'm going to focus mostly on Kanda for a while, but eventually, it will even out.
Jasper-Jazz- *points up* There's Kanda! Just for you!
Hinata's Shadow1- Awww...send me links to your cosplay, if you have any! I miss going to Cons...*sigh*
ivory-fanged-goddess- *Link noms Cookie* Allen's hair was to the middle of his back. Mermaids are always about 5-8 inches longer (and thus, taller) than they would be as humans.
scrletfyre- Hehe, Link is just really good at his job.
kurazilssia- Hello, loves! I'm glad you all seem to like the chapter. Did you have a happy Halloween? I don't eat sea food, so I've never had any orange sushi. *pets Razill*
LizluvsSpongebob- Link still has emotions, he's just emotionally constipated, so sometimes he has a hard time pushing them out. XD