Oh dear God. I was trying really hard to get the next chapter of my other fic out and it totally stalled this one, then I went and Homestuck'd, then Christmas...sorry about that guys. FML. DeatheStar asked a question, and I guess I haven't answered it really well, so I'll respond to that that review up here. The question was about the seme/uke order, so let me lay it all down. Any situations where I decide to switch things up for fun notwithstanding, Lavi is in the middle of the boysmut sandwich. Kanda's top bread, and Allen is bottom bread. If we put it into a boysmut equation, assuming that the first factor's dominance continues down the line for all subsequent factors, it would look like this in shorthand: Kanda(greater than)Lavi(greater than)Allen. Or, in longhand: (Kanda penis into: Lavi) is greater than the subsequent value of (Lavi penis into: Allen). Alternately, Kanda is seme to Lavi, Kanda is seme to Allen, Lavi is seme to Allen, Allen gets it up the butt a lot. Hope that helps. It's just hard to write all that stuff out in the summary.
Speaking of summaries- Can anybody think of something better than mine? I don't think it properly conveys what I'm writing...it sounds too Little Mermaid-ish. It kinda sucks. The character limit is just god-awful.
I also have to give a shout out to NightshadeTwiningThe Rosary and River Flows Backwards! I adore all my readers, but you guys are the ones who showed me that you are thinking beyond the given plot. You asked questions and made theories, which is exactly what I wanted my readers to do, and also why I have left out so much critical detail. It's so hard to write from the POV of someone who is undoubtedly a total dumbass, but doesn't actually think like a dumbass. It takes more planning and padding around issues than I am used to. Thank you for being awesome. Ohhhh godd...this story is going to be so long. SO. LONG. And my FMA AU Highschool thing is SO. LONG. And I am SO. SLOW. *whimpers at the thought of writing the same two stories till age 30*
Lastly, a little hint for you. I don't know if you guys have noticed, but Neah is not Allen. Allen and Kanda fight and probably want to get in each others pants. Allen and Lavi have a sort of luke-warm friendship/attraction thing going on. Neah and Kanda/Lavi don't. That's an important fact to keep in mind. I'm also building my own Neah as I go, since most aspects about that character have not been revealed by Hoshino yet, so he'll probably be really OOC. Then again, I think my Allen tends to lean toward a Black Allen OOC with a personality disorder, but everyone says he's in character, so I'll just keep him that way.
Allen was restless.
He'd already spent almost two weeks here, and he was no closer to finding a solution to any of his problems.
He'd been sort of hinging his immediate future on Lavi's intervention, but he still hadn't seen the man. Miranda had told him that Lavi was away on a mission and that nobody had any idea when he would be back. This had led to Allen asking exactly what missions from the Black Order entailed, which had lead to a bunch of stammering and an awkward silence, which had led to Link telling the white haired boy to mind his own business. Which was not helpful in the least.
Allen was starting to wonder exactly what it was that these people did.
However, his musings on that took a back seat to his musings on a certain dark haired swordsman.
The merman with legs had taken to watching Kanda during his lunch period. He observed the man out of the corners of his eyes, still a bit too unnerved by their last encounter to try to initiate conversation again. The dark haired man came in at about the same time every day, his customary scowl in place. He would get his noodle-dish, sit down, eat, leave. No conversation with anyone. It seemed sort of lonely.
Day by day, Allen moved closer to Kanda. First it was three tables away, then two. Finally, Allen moved to the table adjacent to the one the Japanese man always used, making sure to situate himself so that he would be able to watch Kanda without anyone noticing.
Then again, there weren't loads of people in here anyway. There were a scattered few that ate their lunch in little clusters beyond his own, and Allen was absolutely convinced that they were watching him. Observing his movements, trying to detect any hint of a lie. However, 'Neah' knew nothing about this, and was enjoying every day.
Allen was really beginning to get scared at just how well his mask fit. It was almost like there really was another established personality within him sometimes.
No one saw through it. Even Link had started to let his guard down.
The Inspector had started taking his lunch with Allen and Rohfa as soon as he was able, and Allen found that with each passing day, he was loosening up, his posture a bit less stiff. He'd even started letting the white haired boy go to the bathroom on his own, though he did impose a time limit (which Allen thought was absolutely ridiculous). Neah had him completely fooled.
Even the overly skittish Miranda seemed comfortable enough around the hapless youth to come eat her meals with him, when she had the time.
All in all, Allen was getting more used to the world around him, falling farther and farther behind the mask he wore. Now that he was more or less settled in, and didn't feel like there was an overt amount of suspicion being thrown his way, he allowed his mind to wander. While Neah chatted with his new friends, Allen sat in contemplation of recent events.
It was hard to believe the strange twists that his journey had taken him on. He honestly couldn't figure out a way to get out of this mess. His people needed him to mate. But he couldn't kill. He couldn't go back without letting his mating magic run dry so he could get his fins back. This was a problem, because he needed to be in the ocean to be able to use any form of magic, and he didn't think that there was any convenient body of salt water nearby. What would he use it for anyway? That particular kind of energy didn't seem to respond to anything besides a mating ritual. Allen supposed that he could just let his reproduction cycle run its course and hope for the best. But that would take a whole year. Funny how that very insignificant amount of time suddenly seemed so large.
He also felt a bit bad for being so selfish. He couldn't find it in him to regret not killing the humans that had been selected for culling, but he knew that his people needed children badly. Unfortunately, Allen was not practiced in the bigger, more ancient forms of magic, and he was positive that he would never be able to come up with another way to produce offspring in time. At least, not without help.
The white haired youth decided that his first steps should be finding Lavi and trying to figure out how to get to the nearest ocean. He knew he couldn't afford to wait, or he'd risk his mating cycle running out while he was on land.
He would figure out what to do about not having any children when the time came.
A few days after Allen had moved as close to Kanda as he dared, someone new showed up in the cafeteria.
The newcomer was certainly strange looking, even compared to all the odd things that the merman had seen since coming to the surface.
He was abnormally tall, and thin. He stood ramrod straight, making his already bony appearance razor sharp. His hair was mostly black and spiky, but he had one odd stripe of white that fell over his face. Even his clothes were a bit off.
The stranger walked right over to their table, responding to Miranda's small wave and Rohfa's smile with a nod.
"Y-You're back. How did it go?" Miranda asked.
"Fine," The stranger responded in a surprisingly wobbly baritone.
Abruptly, the man turned toward Allen.
"Salutations. My name is Arystar Krory III."
Allen blinked a couple times, expecting him to go on. After a moment or two, he realized that, while this person had certainly begun the right way, he couldn't possibly have known of the greetings made in Oldspeach, and that he was probably done and awaiting a reply.
"Oh, uh, hello. My name is Neah."
Allen held out his hand, and Krory shook it, reminding the boy of his time with Lavi which made him smile a little more genuinely.
"Ah. I have heard much about you. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Neah grinned. This guy was strange and awkward, just as he had been (and probably still was, from a normal person's point of view). He sort of liked him. Allen, however, didn't quite trust this guy. He was really beginning to wonder what this ominous entity known as The Order did with all these strange, but surprisingly genuine people. He was starting to suspect that some of them were just as good at acting as he was.
"Would you like to have lunch with us?" Neah offered.
The taller man nodded and moved to sit next to Miranda.
"I haven't seen you around here before...were you away on one those mission things?" Neah asked.
Allen observed just the slightest flash of something in his eyes that told him he was right and that this person didn't want him to know something.
'So this one has been sworn to secrecy like the others. I wonder how much he can say...'
To his credit, Krory covered it up fast.
"Indeed," He began, "Even though it involves work, I find that traveling with friends is always a good experience."
"Speaking of friends," Link interrupted. "Where is Bookman Junior? He was supposed to be with you."
"Yes, he was. He's making a report. He'll be ready to help the Bookman with his work by this evening."
The Inspector nodded, apparently satisfied with this.
"Bookman Junior?" Neah questioned, confused.
"It's the Bookman's apprentice's title. He's the one you were asking about earlier. Lavi, remember?" Rohfa added, apparently not catching the sharp look the inspector gave her.
"Oh! The man that talked to me some on that first day. Yes, I remember." Neah said, with a smile.
Inside, a spark of something Allen couldn't quite identify burst to life. He desperately wanted to speak to his friend, not only to have help in figuring all this out, but just to see him again. He'd become oddly attached to the redhead in their time together.
"Is there any chance of me being able to talk to him? He seemed to know something about the merman that did this to me." Neah continued.
"You can't go bothering people while they're working." Link said.
Allen snarled in frustration, but Neah went with a small pout.
"But I want to talk to him! I want to find out more about why this happened to me..." Allen made 'Neah' trail off waveringly, hoping to make the Inspector feel bad.
The man just rolled his eyes.
"Maybe he'll come in for lunch. You can speak to him then..." Neah looked toward Miranda and smiled.
"Yeah. I guess you're right."
But, as time wore on, it became obvious that he wasn't coming. For once, Allen and Neah both felt the same thing: disappointment. But Neah just shrugged it off and jumped into conversation with his friends, leaving Allen to stew.
The merman wanted to see the only human he actually considered a friend.
The next day, Allen was beside himself with his need to speak to 'Bookman Junior'.
He was on edge all day, just barely keeping his mask in place. He had the feeling that Link sensed something was off, but the Inspector didn't say anything about it.
At lunch, Allen couldn't keep his eyes from roaming the cafeteria, nearly wincing at the pang of disappointment when he didn't see that tell-tale head of red hair.
He ate his massive amount of food, chuckling when he Krory came to the table with quite a bit himself. Eventually, Miranda showed up, Rohfa in tow. The small group chatted, and Allen found that Neah was easily blending into this rag tag social group.
Just as Allen was about to give up on Lavi coming in, the doors opened, drawing his attention.
For a moment, his mind went totally blank, registering the familiar bandana and eye patch before short circuiting.
Then the man began to walk toward Allen's table, and his brain switched back on, his palms becoming a bit clammy, and his heart hammering in his chest.
'LaviLaviLavi! Finally!'
The redhead drew closer and closer until he was finally a mere arm's length away, then he walked right past the merman without so much as a second glance. He waltzed over to Kanda's table and plopped down, and began to talk to the swordsman.
Allen felt oddly snubbed by this, but he shook it off.
'I wonder why Kanda hasn't tried to eviscerate him yet. Maybe they're actually good friends?'
"Neah?"
His head snapped to his left at the sound of his name, a small shard of icy panic going through him once he realized that wasn't really his name.
Allen smothered the reaction quickly and scolded himself for being so overly emotional.
"Yeah?"
Rohfa looked at him worriedly. "We lost you there for a minute."
"Mmhmm. Sorry, I guess I spaced out there."
She gave him an uncertain smile, which he returned, grateful for her easily accepting personality.
For a few minutes, the chatter returned to normal, with Allen keeping an eye on Lavi and distantly wondering how these people kept finding things to talk about, when he knew they were all censoring their words around him.
Once a passable amount of time (or what Allen's impatience deemed passable) had elapsed, Allen excused himself to go ask a couple questions, ignoring Link's stern gaze.
Shakily, he stood. He walked the short distance between tables, reestablishing his mask, hoping he could keep it in place. He had to convince Lavi to meet him in private, so they could talk freely.
"Uh, excuse me?" Allen began, interrupting whatever they had been talking about.
The two men turned toward him, and suddenly, Allen was reminded of the time he'd first laid eyes on them, in Neptune's Pearl. Once they had both registered exactly who was speaking, Kanda's eyes flared with something that was almost rage, and Lavi's eye became flat and cold. This struck Allen as strange. Normally, Kanda gave the impression of being the icy, detached one, and Lavi was of the warmer variety, but their eyes were showing the exact opposite. The juxtaposition would have been funny to the white haired boy, if it hadn't made him so uncomfortable.
"Uh...I just had a couple questions...I-Is this a bad time?" Neah asked.
"It sure as hell is."
"Not really."
The merman blinked when they both responded at the same time. Lavi just shook his head and reiterated his response, ignoring the low growl that Kanda let out.
The white haired boy tentatively sat down next to the redhead, and proceeded to have two conversations.
"You're Lavi, right?" Neah asked, lips forming the most important question at the moment.
'Lavi! It's me!' Allen shouted in his mind, trying to convey his real thoughts through his eyes.
"Yes, I am. Is there something you need?" Lavi's visible eye were still deadly still, and his voice was hollow.
"Oh, I was just wondering..."
'Lavi, please. I really need you right now.'
But Neah just continued on, unaffected by Allen's internal begging.
"They tell me you had communicated with the creature that took my memories. Could you tell me more about it?"
Something flared in emerald depths, bright and powerful. Almost as soon as Allen saw it, it was snuffed out, leaving that eye cold and dark.
"There's not much to say. That thing was a monster."
For a moment, all Allen could do blink in shock. Then the pain set in.
That one word hurt far more than he would've ever imagined.
Allen panicked. The hurt left him reeling, unable to react. In desperation, he gave in and let Neah take over completely, pulling the fake persona about like like a suit of armor, using the familiar stranger to hide his pain.
For a while, Allen cowered in the corner of his mind, unaware of anything but the revulsion in Lavi's words, wondering how a human could hurt him so much.
'What will I do now?' He thought brokenly.
When Allen next came into awareness of his surroundings, he was talking to Link. He wondered how that had happened and decided that it didn't matter.
"-and that's kind of stupid anyway," The Inspector continued with whatever he'd been talking about until he seemed to notice something was off. "Neah? Are you all right?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I'm just...going to run and use the restroom real quick, eh?"
The Inspector raised an eyebrow, but nodded, looking rather sympathetic. Allen was suddenly rather thankful for the strange bouts of digestive problems that humans tended to get, as they offered a great excuse for time alone.
He headed out of the room blindly, not having any particular destination, other than away from everyone else. Smirking slightly, Allen realized that Rohfa's imagined social phobia that she'd assigned to him might have been coming to fruition.
About ten feet from the cafeteria, Allen simply ran out of steam and slumped against a wall, sidling down to sit on the floor. He put his head against his knees and tried very hard to not think about anything for a couple minutes. He was glad that there was nobody out here. He didn't want to deal with 'Neah' right now.
It wasn't long before Allen heard the door open.
Wearily, he looked up, expecting Link or Rohfa to have come looking for him. Instead, his eyes alighted on silken black hair and pale skin.
Kanda.
A few seconds passed, the two of them simply staring at each other, neither moving or showing an overt amount of emotion. For Allen, the silence was comfortable, a needed pause where he could admire the man as himself before dredging up the strength to call upon his human persona.
Neah smiled, wearily. "I'm sorry for chasing you the other day. I went a little overboard."
The swordsman snorted unattractively and rolled his eyes.
"Che. Baka Moyashi."
"I'm sorry?"
"It's Japanese for 'Stupid Beansprout', moron."
"I beg your pardon?" Allen stood, a bit miffed. Perhaps it was due to all the emotional turmoil he'd experienced today, but he let his mask slip a bit in defiance and didn't really care.
"I'm not stupid. And I'm not a sprout."
"Whatever. Stop being so fake and formal. It's annoying."
"Well, excuse me for being polite." Allen sneered, fed up with the taller man's attitude.
Kanda barked out a short, sharp laugh. "Well, it seems there is some fight in you. Come find me if you ever want to get your ass kicked."
And with that dubious invitation, he walked away, leaving Allen fuming, but oddly relieved.
He'd had an argument-a far cry from a real conversation, but still-as himself. The first in two weeks. And had felt good to be able to get angry and not have to keep himself in check. He knew Kanda expected nothing of him.
Allen began to seriously consider taking the other man up on his offer, if only to release his frustration.
AN: I don't like Japanese used in English fanfiction except under very certain circumstances, which I felt fit the situation here, so I hope you will have the brief language swap forgivable. I'm sort of basing Neah on the earliest versions of Allen in the manga, where he was all stiff and polite.
To My Reviewers:
AzureBlue98- All night? Wow. Well, I hope you get some sleep, and thanks for the review!
sammi117- I'm really glad you like it.
XxGothicXxXLolitaxX- I haven't quite decided if there will be Noah or not. Road holds a special place in my heart, so maybe just her and Tyki? I dunno. I'm the kind that never really has a story planned out once I start writing it.
Fireotaku18- Glad you are enjoying it!
NightshadeTwiningTheRosary- Heh. You are the only person to do exactly what I wanted you to do. (Which probably reflects horribly on me as an author.) I wanted all of my lovelies to ASK QUESTIONS! A story that makes you think about things is the best kind, don't you think? Anyway. You aren't being picky. That's the reaction I was hoping for. I'll address a couple of your concerns here. Firstly, rest assured that those details have not been overlooked. I've been leaving them out on purpose. Well, except for the walking thing. Most mermaid stories don't even really address that at all, so I wanted to make sure to put some of that in, but I didn't want to take months and months about it. This story is slow enough without bogging it down with subliminal details, and I really didn't feel like dealing with it. Sorry for that I guess, but I want to get to the good stuff to you know! Unfortunately, my exuberance must be tempered by the reality I have created in my head. Yullen is slow. Steamy bits with dumb mermen and dumber Japanese dudes is horrendously slow. For the story to progress this far, Allen has just had to stay isolated and do a lot of fact churning, in order for me to not overlook other, more important things (like discovering his penis). It will get here. Patience. As for your other things-I can't give you any spoilers, but I will apologize for Allen's retardedness. Only writing from one POV at a time, and not working from omniscience means that I have to omit things to stay in character. I can only reveal things as fast as Allen thinks about them. He just hasn't had the time. Well, and some other stuff, but you will find out about THAT clusterfuck soon enough. ;) Thanks again for being wonderful and actually having the balls to do a real critique. It makes me feel like I am writing something worthwhile. Hopefully, this chapter assuaged some of your curiosity and desires.
anicraze009- One of your favorites? Wow! Thanks!
JustHappenedToBeHere- Allen with long hair is damn sexy.
Tintaglia In Flight- Creeper Link is always a good time. And I thought it was pretty fucking funny too.
violindreamer- Silly masturbating merman. XD
Kurazilssia- I rabu yew! *cuddles you all* Thank you for your reviews. They are soooo cute, and they always make me smile. *glomps Razill and nuzzles the crap out of her*
vinecaper- Yes, the more love the better. *hug*
blackirishawk- Yeah, I was really getting sick of the generic mermaid thing, so I decided to beat the fuck out of that stereotype and take a fully functional love triangle on for size too. I guess I'm ambitious.
Silvermanel- Thanks.
moshimellow- Because he is an ass. A hot one. XD
xx-Yuu-Chan-xx- I love you for reviewing!
Miso Ramen-sama- Lol, I hope you didn't laugh too loud. Allen is perfectly correct in speaking with his genitalia. I talk to my mangina all the time. XD
River Flows Backwards- I love your long reviews. They make my day. About his hair-yeah, I know, for us it works that way. But merpeople have constant exposure to salt water and have evolved to adapt to it over hundreds of years, so I assume that their hair texture prevents tangling. Or something. Glad you liked the touchy scene. I had a great time writing it. As for your theory, I won't confirm or deny it, but I think it's great that you are contemplating these things. *BIGMANLYHUG*
scrletfyre- I hope they kiss soon...I dunno, I'm not really in control of my muse.
EXO718- Morning wood is awkward. Especially the first time.
Kayday- I have no idea what it was, but when I read your review, I spit all over the screen I was laughing so hard. 'Shh, Shh, Allen's dick, It's okay.' I just-I love you. Haha. Kanda is not a softy squish like Lavi.
JayPay- Kanda is really hot. I luffs him.
yurithefurry- I'm attracted to Kanda, and I'm the author. XD
TotalAmuto- I LOVE RESPONDING TO YOUR REVIEWS, BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE WE ARE YELLING AT EACH OTHER LOVINGLY FROM ACROSS A ROOM.
Conrii- Hehe.
Oaken Wren- You caught that, eh? XD Glad you thought it was funny. I like awkward, imperfect sex-type scenes.
LizluvsSpongebob- His 'thingy' is a source of constant entertainment for me.
wooooooooooooxj- I am hypocritical. I don't mean to bash but it's really frustrating when I try so hard and I see these other authors that don't even bother using spell check. I don't get everything right, and I never will, I just...wish people would at least try to show they care. It makes me sad.
Felnore- Aww. I'm glad you enjoyed his odd little device, I know I did.
Hinata's Shadow1- You cosplay is adorable. ^_^
sweetkakes35- Wow, thank you so much for your praise. Allen's cute, no?
ivory-fanged-goddess- Kanda is a little bi-polar sometimes.