Uh, about the end...it's kind of another cliffhanger. Please don't pick up your pitch forks just yet though, because I included something I've been promising for a long time now, so that should make up for it, right? *hides* Kanda and Lavi are kind of already a thing, you know? That relationship is relatively stable but sort of lukewarm at this point...really just a friends with benefits thing. (Mostly.) Allen is going to be the one to wake Kanda up, because Allen is ALWAYS the one to do that. Also, don't you think that Allen would totally be one of those people that just lays around naked all day? Like, he'd only put on clothes if he had to go out or people were around.
Random stuff: I wants fanarts. Any fanarts, even if it's just an uncolored scribble. I've never gotten any fanart, and I think it would be so completely awesome. My tumblr is kimbalionheart(dot)tumblr(dot)com, for those of you that wanted to know. BTW, I don't know how many of you have read the manga this far, but I...sort of...like Cross' hair in a ponytail, like in Extra Story: Maria's Sight. So. Yeah. Ponytail hair for him from now on. If any of you catch any point in the story where I refer to Lavi's 'eyes' tell me, because he wear as eye patch, so other people can only see one eye.
True to his word, Lavi called for Allen two days later. Even though he was still very sore, the white haired boy had to really focus on hiding the skip in his step as he was led to an unknown part of the huge complex they'd been keeping him in.
Link was walking briskly, all business as usual. Allen had begun to notice a slight change in the Inspector, nearly imperceptible. His posture was the same, his tone was normal, but his eyes seemed slightly vacant, as if he was thinking about something else all the time. Allen was a bit surprised to find himself actually worrying about the man. He actually liked most of the people around here, even though the only one they ever saw was Neah.
Allen still couldn't figure out exactly why the Order had been keeping him so long. Hopefully Lavi could shed some light on things.
The blonde man eventually stopped in front of yet another nondescript door and opened it without knocking.
This room was fairly small, with only a table and a couple chairs and a meager stack of books and a couple other things on the floor. Lavi was currently occupying one of the chairs and he smiled brightly and stood when the duo walked in.
Without preamble, Link began explaining things. "Through my own experience with you, I've seen that your amnesia has caused several lapses in general knowledge. We seek to remedy this by re-educating you on certain things. I've given that job to Bookman Junior. He will teach you everything to know. I will be back to fetch you in two hours."
"Okay." Neah said. Allen would have told him to go get some sleep because he seemed tired, but Allen wasn't the one in control at the moment.
The Inspector nodded and left with a meaningful look at Lavi.
Both occupants of the room held still for a moment while watching the door, making sure the blonde wasn't coming back. Then Allen flew forward and threw himself at his friend, flinging his arms around the redhead. It just felt so good to be able to take down all the walls, to strip away all this pervading human-ness and just be a merman who happened to have legs.
"I missed you!"
Lavi tensed and didn't respond for a moment before lightly pushing Allen away.
"I, uh, missed you too." Allen opened his mouth to speak, but Lavi beat him to it and changed the subject.
"We should get to work."
Eagerly, Allen nodded.
"I was thinking that we should fully take stock of what we are working with first..."
The merman cocked his head to show that he didn't understand.
"The changes that the spell caused. It wasn't just getting legs right? From what you said, it seemed to do a bunch of things."
"Oh. Yes, it did."
Allen started unbuttoning his shirt, taking a minute to admire his fast progress. He could even do the tiny little buttons with enough time now.
He glanced up when Lavi seemed to almost squeak in protest.
"What are you doing?" The man asked, looking almost panicked.
"You told me you wanted to take stock of everything, so I'm letting you. It's not like you haven't seen me without clothes before." Allen still wasn't too fond of having to go through the ritual of putting things on and taking things off all the time, so it would be nice to get out of these things and keep them off. He didn't have to pretend for Lavi. And maybe he could ask the other man what that gross white stuff that came out of him was!
The white haired boy swiftly stripped off his shirt, and reached down to start taking off his pants, when a hand shot out to stop him.
Lavi really was looking a bit crazed now, seeming oddly flushed.
"No! No, I understand that you have legs, you don't need to take those off."
"But I hate having to wear them all the time," The merman whined.
"Well, just-just keep them on. For my sanity. And once I'm done looking you over, put your shirt back on."
Allen just rolled his eyes. "Why do humans have such an aversion to nudity? Who even came up with the concept of 'being naked'? Whoever they were, they weren't very bright."
"It's because of the Bible...Adam and Eve and all that."
"The what?"
"The Bible...as in, the religious text."
Allen vaguely recalled a few people talking about such things, but the merman had trouble understanding it. Clearly, that showed on his face, because the redhead just shook his head and said to forget it.
Lavi moved in and examined the odd scar on his face first, then held his arm and appraised the strange markings on it. Allen had to admit, these changes were unsettling, even to himself. His arm was almost totally black until the middle of his upper arm, where the color cut off and a couple lines sort of traced the contours of his shoulder and and what looked like little spikes pointed inward toward his collarbone. But it was the scar that really bothered him. It went straight over his eye in harsh, jagged strokes and down his face in a macabre rendition of a falling tear. It looked like some sort of curse brand.
After a few moments, the redhead spoke.
"What purpose do these serve?"
"I dunno. Master said there could be side effects for such a large spell." Allen pouted when Lavi motioned for him to put his shirt back on, but did so to spare the human from the strange social awkwardness that they all seemed to suffer from.
The other man cleared his throat. "Can you tell me precisely what this spell entailed?"
Allen explained it as best as he could, trying his best to recall the exact words that his mentor had used.
"So, basically...if we want to get you out of here, you need to be in the ocean when your magic runs out."
"Yes. But, they aren't letting me out of here. I don't even know where 'here' is. Explain this to me Lavi, I don't understand."
"Okay, Okay. Let's sit down."
They did so, and Lavi held his hands in front of him on the table, his voice taking on a patient tone as he spoke.
"You are in the European Branch of the Black Order, in the country of England. The Order is an arm of the Catholic Church, meant to keep the tides of evil at bay. Its purpose is to serve as a barrier between normal people and the supernatural."
"...What?"
To his credit, Lavi didn't get frustrated with Allen's inability to understand such things, he just sighed a bit and tried again.
"England is the name of an area in the larger continent of Europe. It's just a big piece of land. The Church is a religious entity-it's an organization meant to lead people in worship and give them some sort of spiritual sense of peace." Lavi's nose wrinkled a bit at this. Allen didn't quite get it, but he could tell that Lavi wasn't a fan of this Church thing. "The Black Order is a militarized group within the Church, built to keep things like magic and generally anything that isn't human out of the everyday lives of normal people."
"But why would you want to do that? Magic is a good thing."
Lavi actually stopped short at that, looking very much like he was going to blurt something out, then stopping to rethink what he was going to say.
"Humans...don't have magic. We don't really understand it. People tend to be afraid of what they don't understand. So, the Order intervenes, keeping people separate from everything else to prevent panic among the masses."
Allen nodded grimly. He'd seen plenty of evidence of that himself. But it did bring up an interesting point...
"You're human. Are you scared of magic?"
'Are you scared of me?'
Those words went unsaid, but they were clearly there, and Allen was sure that Lavi had heard them too. Suddenly, this question seemed very important, and Allen was very tense while Lavi took his time formulating an answer.
"I don't...understand it. It is a bit out of my comfort zone. But I'm not nearly as biased against the unknown as most people tend to be. I was taught to seek knowledge rather than shy away from it," He took a deep breath and closed his eye, then opened it again. "It's unfamiliar territory, but I don't necessarily think magic is bad."
That left Allen feeling a bit better, but also slightly unsatisfied for some reason.
They spoke for a while longer about this and that, and eventually Lavi cut off the serious discussion and started explaining everything there was to know about rabbits so they would have something to show for their time if the Inspector asked about it later.
There was an end in sight to this whole debacle, now that Lavi was helping Allen out. Strangely, he didn't feel quite as ecstatic about that as he thought he would.
The next day found Allen excusing himself once again from lunch, though this time, he really did have to use the restroom. After relieving himself, he decided to take his sweet time getting back, just to annoy Link. Maybe he could give the man something to think about other than whatever had been bothering him so much lately.
He wanted to see Lavi again. Allen wanted to figure out how to get out of this place and maybe figure out some way to keep everyone back home from being completely disappointed in him. He wanted to get home.
'No. No, that's not quite right.'
Allen stopped in his tracks, trying to puzzle out what exactly he was feeling. If he was being honest with himself...it felt more like he was required to, rather than he wanted to. It was a really strange revelation...when he'd been captured on the ship, he'd longed for the ocean in a way that had kept him up all night, but now he felt sort of...detached. Ambivalent. He certainly wasn't opposed to going back, and he did want to see his friends again, but the spiritual aching, the pull of the tide just wasn't there.
Why hadn't he noticed before?
He hadn't been dreaming of the ocean at all recently. He hadn't even really thought of it with any feeling the whole time he'd been here, he'd just been trying to figure out how to not be killed.
'What is wrong with me?'
Allen had just been standing stock still in the middle of the hallway, having a mental melt down, when a pair of fingers snapped in front of his face.
Startled, Allen reeled back and barely managed to avoid falling.
He opened his mouth to speak, not really even aware of what Neah was going to say, but no words came out when he saw who was standing there.
Yuu Kanda.
And just like that, Neah was gone. Somehow, Allen couldn't bring himself to keep up the charade with this man anymore. Not after last time. His mask always got torn off when dealing with Kanda anyway.
Allen straightened his spine and half-glared at the taller man.
Kanda seemed to recognize the challenge, judging by the fire that flared in his eyes. Despite his best efforts not to, Allen shivered. That look was just...
Neither of them spoke, but they seemed to be communicating better than they ever had. Allen wasn't quite sure what it was, but something was happening between them, something abruptly different form their other encounters.
The swordsman stepped forward and Allen held his ground. Until the second step. Three more paces, and Allen's back was against the wall, his mind helpfully letting him know that he was faltering beneath this predator's gaze and letting himself get cornered.
Now that Allen had no more room to back up, Kanda closed the foot of distance between them and loomed over the white haired boy with an unreadable expression on his face and a primal threat of challenge in his eyes.
Allen didn't back down this time, though his heart was beating faster than was probably healthy and his brain had essentially shut down by this point. He gathered his wits about him (what wits he had left, anyway) and glared hard at the beautiful dark haired man, not knowing what this duel of will was for, nor did he know the consequences of the outcome, but he knew he needed to meet it head on. How he knew that, he wasn't sure.
Something akin to approval showed in twin black orbs for about half a second, then nothing for about a second more then something within the other man roared. Allen could see it unfold behind the other man's eyes, bursting to life in terrifying glory, turning his eyes almost blue from the force of it.
Then there was a breath and lips and the scent of something unidentifiable and musky.
Allen's last thought before he sank into blissful mindlessness was,
'Lenalee's lips have nothing on Kanda's.'
To My Reveiwers:
lil' fayri grrl- Awwh, thank you for so many lovely reviews! Uhm, okay, let's see...in chapter three, yes, he just kind flopped onto the deck. Like those fish that sometimes jump into boats. As for 'Neah'...I don't know either? I never watched the anime, only read the manga. In my head, the 'h' is silent. You won't be able to translate any Seaspeach without asking me. The 'translator' is not really a translator, and not for 'real' elven...it just makes words that could possibly sound elven and there is no way to translate that made up language back into English. It's a one way deal. I'll be happy to tell you, if you tell me which part you are talking about though. I just decided to leave it untranslated to keep some of the mystery in it. ;)
Queen Yanna- Lol, I'm glad you are enjoying it. I didn't want them to just get together right away...that's not how life works. Just because the premise of this story is fictional doesn't mean the emotional development has to be completely impossible too. The Order is essentially Holy Ghostbusters. Split personalities are fun, aren't they?
Aki-chan26- Ahh~ Your icon makes me happy...I'm writing a story about Cloud right now as sort of a back burner project...maybe I'll actually post it soon.
insipidfairytales- I know, right? I really wanted to give people something that was at least spell checked.
makeitamission- It makes your soul hurt? Why? Kanda is a huge time bomb, you're right. He has the added problem of not knowing how to deal with emotions, be they from others or his own. He simply channels everything into a physical outlet (sex or violence, mostly) rather than actually addressing any of his problems. It's one of the more interesting parts of his character.
Krystal Nite- Fuck the Little Mermaid. Especially the Disney version. I mean, I like Ariel and all, but with the way her hair was animated, it looked like a bad toupee that wasn't put on properly. Her hairline was like, in the middle of her head. Kanda is not the huggy kissy type, but hard core sloppy makeouts are par for the course. ;)
Soushite Bouya- *Giggle* Isn't that just the funnest thing ever?
setsuko teshiba- Uh, I dunno if you read the thing at the beginning of chapter one, but there will be no Mpreg or kids. At least, not for any significant amount of the story. If I do wind up putting in fishbabies, they will be born outside Allen's body through magic and will not be a focus of the story. More like a footnote in the last chapter or soemthing. But I dunno, I haven't decided yet.
Kinkylittlewolf- Gosh, thanks! I really try to keep my character's personalities at least a little close to the original, because the originals are the ones I fell in love with. If it aint broke, don't fix it, right?
Kichi Hisaki- Anything with Kanda and Allen is violent at this point, even kissing. PS- Allen's lips are gonna be so effing bruised later, you have no idea. Well, I've decided a bit more about the order and I'm pretty sure Exorcists are gonna be a thing, but I don't think Akuma will be...maybe regular old demons, but not Kishimoto's Akuma. As for the Neah stuff...you will just have to wait and see. *evil grin*
blackirishawk- Hehe, I think he's super cute when he;s all rag-dolled.
anicraze009- Yeah, I have a problem with long chapters, sorry about that. But, judging by how short the first few chapters were in comparison to this one, I think I'm getting a little better about it.
TotalAmuto- I KNOW, RIGHT? I WAS FREAKING OUT WHEN I STARTED TYPING STUFF OUT BECAUSE OHHHHH MY GOD, IT SOUNDS SO COOL!
Pawliine- I'm glad!
wierdsquirrelgirl- Hehe, I'm glad they are talking again too.
scrletfyre- Lavi's reaction to Allen was super sweet, no?
BeArOcKpRiNxEsS- It's not a real language, it's some D&D geek thing that is supposed to sound like elven words, but it's really just random syllables. It's fun though!
iceyxstrawberry- Kanda and Allen are a bit slow...I'm thinking of making the next chapter a Kanda POV to explain a little of what happened here.
Hanashi o suru- *blush* Thank you...*hug*
AzureKurashin- I super glad it makes you happy. I just want everyone to have a good time reading this, you know?
Tantaglia In Flight- Ahh, I love that your reviews are so long, those kind are the best...Nah, Kanda's getting left out of the loop for this one. At least for a while. I like the Seaspeach too...I think it adds just a touch of mystery, enough to remind us that Allen is still an otherworldly creatures with powers and a background that we can't imagine. I want readers to be able to relate to him, but I don't want people to be totally comfortable with him. He's not like us, he isn't human, and the other language helps me mark him as different. If I start using it too much though, be sure to let me know. Yes to both of those things.
Kayday- Yay!
sammi117- But cliffhangers are so fun, that's why I'm including one here. *evil grin*
Oaken Wren- The connection between Lavi and Allen is about to get turned the fuck upside down, so enjoy it while you can.
Shadow Storyteller- It-It's not really genius.../blush.