Exception

By: Aviantei

22. Peaceful Progression

If there was one good thing about this date, it was that Ivy actually felt cute for once. She had never really been into the whole dressing up deal, and fashion was way out of her league. In the end, Ivy had decided to put comfort over everything else, so she had worried about having nice enough clothes to even get in the door to Millennial. Fortunately, she had been able to find a nice blouse and dress pants in the back of her closet from some event Cloud Nine had dragged her to. They even still fit, plus she actually looked pretty good since her figure had filled in a bit since then.

Part of her wondered if Kanda would even notice, but she decided not to focus on that.

Okay, there were some other good things, too. Like the fact that Ivy was actually on a proper date with Kanda, even if there was the snag of TRIangular in the background. Plus, Kanda had cleaned up a bit, too, dropping his hair into a lower ponytail and donning a dark blue suit that Ivy hadn't even known he had. And, well, Millennial was definitely worth the price tag, given that it was everything Ivy had imagined a swanky restaurant to look like dialed up to eleven.

Allen and Lavi had taken care of the reservations bit, and a text from Lavi said that Allen and Ari's table would be in an observable range. The timing on their reservation meant that Ivy and Kanda would get there first, and Lavi would presumably show up at some point to float around the background. Pushing aside the thoughts of the not-so-secret mission, Ivy smiled at Kanda, reaching across the table for his hand.

"This shouldn't be so bad," she said, trying to keep calm. Being the levelheaded one had its disadvantages sometimes, but it was worth it if they actually got to enjoy their evening instead of being pissed off all the time. "I know it's not an ideal first date, but as long as Lavi doesn't try to push anything crazy, we'll be fine."

Kanda exhaled sharply, his fingers curling to wrap around Ivy's. "That's what I'm worried about," he grumbled. "If there's anyone that can make this go wrong, it's him." Kanda sighed, pushing some hair out of his eyes. "Whatever, I'm not going to think about it while I still can. You…" He paused, and Ivy could have sworn she saw some red in his cheeks. "You look nice."

This time, Ivy was the one to blush. She had wanted him to notice, but it was a bit different to actually have it happen, especially for him to say it. Still, she had her own opinions on how Kanda looked, so she might as well share them.

"You look nice, too," she lamely answered. Ah, that was pretty stupid, but it didn't look like Kanda had minded. It was the truth anyways. "I mean… really nice. I like your hair this way…" Ivy let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "Jesus, how stupid can I sound, right?"

"No, it's okay," Kanda said, and he meant it. "I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing either, I just…" He paused, too, figuring it was okay. "I just wanted to do something small, then this got blown way out of the water. Sorry if I'm being a bad date or something."

Ivy waved her free hand in a stop motion. "No, no, no, it's not you." She resisted the urge to say it's me. "I think this is a bit more than either of us bargained for, so we're not quite sure what to do at all. Let's just…" She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second. "Let's take it slow. I mean, if we try to make tonight special, it's not going to be is it? Right now, I actually just want to spend some time with you."

Her voice trailed off with a nervous edge that Kanda hadn't heard from her before. Ivy was usually self-assured, or at least she seemed that way. If she was getting nervous, then it was okay for him to be getting nervous over this, too. "Okay," he said, lifting her hand in his. Ivy didn't like him because he was romantic—mainly because romance was a word even Lavi couldn't concoct a reason to associate with Kanda, save for the inclusion of the words "does not have." "We'll make it through this stupid night somehow, and we'll meet up tomorrow to do homework like always, alright?"

Ivy smiled, and Kanda had to smile back. "Right."

Now if only they could keep this peace for a while longer.

Millennial was a bit darker than Allen had expected. Then again, he had only ever heard rumors, and they didn't really do the place justice. It was closer to a mansion than a restaurant, just slightly compressed. Still, the place looked like a poster image for a movie set in a gothic era ghost story, with possibly less lighting. Allen tried his best not to gape as they were escorted to their table.

Ari on the other hand, looked like she fit right into the scenario, smiling widely and walking with confidence. Maybe that sort of self-assurance was a family trait, but that didn't mean Allen was any less impressed by it. Somehow, she looked like she belonged here as she sat down at the table, illuminated by the light fixture just enough to be visible but romantic.

And, well, she had dressed up to knock things out of the park, too. The dress was a dark purple, which worked surprisingly well with her hair. The waves of the skirt reached down to the floor, and even though it didn't show off much skin, it still managed to highlight Ari's looks excellently.

Was it a sin to think that way about your date when her brother was more than likely watching on from the sidelines? Allen didn't think so, but he decided to be careful about it nonetheless.

At least Allen had dressed the right amount to match. His usual wardrobe was highly presentable on a normal day, but Allen had a few suits tucked away in his closet for special occasions like this. Even if Cross hadn't, Mana had taught Allen how to dress well, and it was something he upheld to this day.

Ari had no complaints, though, none at all. This was better than she had imagined. If only Lenalee could see him now, she'd be jealous. Not bragging on Monday might be a hard endeavor. Of course, maybe she would calm down by then, too.

Without meaning to, Ari let out an excited giggle. Yeah, so much for the idea of playing this whole thing sophisticated.

"You're really cute, Allen-san," Ari said, getting straight to the point. Allen automatically blushed, but that just made it even better. "I mean it. You get this surprised look on your face and that's just the best!"

Allen wasn't exactly sure how to take that. Sure, that sounded like a compliment, but it was a bit different than what he had been expecting. Even Ari's smile didn't alleviate that worry, but that was okay. Surprisingly, all his jitters from the morning had gone and disappeared. Sure, he was wary, but this was surprisingly not much different than just hanging out. You know, if you ignored the price tag.

"Well, I…" Stammering was still going to happen, though, no stopping that. "This was really nice of you to invite me out, Ari."

"Oh, no problem!" Ari chirped. She seemed really giddy, and Allen could have sworn she was swinging her legs underneath the table. "I was really happy that you said yes!" Of course, something would have happened anyway, but Allen didn't mind this outcome. "You know, I've liked you for a long time, Allen-san, so this is like a dream come true."

Allen's blush only grew darker. It didn't help that Lavi and Ivy were probably watching in. Great, he was lighting up like a Christmas tree and two of his friends had front row seats. "You've liked me that long?" he asked, just to make sure. Lavi had said so, but Lavi was also a troublemaker. Allen had to be sure before this went any farther. "I mean, sorry, but…" He scratched the back of his head, trying not to let out a nervous laugh. "I didn't actually notice?"

Ari probably should have looked disappointed, but wasn't really a big deal. Even though she could've sworn she had dropped hints the size of the Eifel Tower (at least) in his direction. "No worries. You know now, and that's the important part." An absolute beam. The surrounding area got just a little bit brighter. "Then again, I don't think Allen-san knows if he likes me or not."

Allen flinched without meaning to. She had noticed? Of course she had, she was a Bookman, and even Lavi noticed everything. "Sorry," he apologized, though Ari immediately shook her head. "To be honest, I've never really sorted out my feelings, so this is probably kind of unfair."

"No, no, that's fine." Ari folded her hands, resting her chin on top. Her smile had loosened, but it wasn't any less pleasant. "So then, Allen-san, why don't I help you figure it out?"

As far as Lavi could tell, things seemed to be going pretty good for Allen and Ari. At the very least, Ari was smiling a whole lot, and there wasn't much else an older brother could ask for. However, the other part of Lavi—the TRIangular president and instigator of this whole love triangle shebang in the first place—wanted to know just what was going on in Allen's brain. That sort of data would be useful in getting to the endgame, but that sort of information could wait until a post-date meeting. For now (and to be in compliance with both Ivy and Kanda's previous threats), the redhead would have to be content with observing.

He had found a cozy alcove connected to an empty cabinet that still smelled faintly of wine. There was no way he would have been able to afford getting a proper table and meal, not once he had to chip in on Ivy and Kanda's bill. He got the sense Kanda would eat expensively just to spite him. The logical thing would be to cut down his other planned expenses, but not even running out of space in the kitchen again could convince Lavi to stop buying books.

That just wasn't realistic.

So he would have to go with the spy option, which was just fine with him. The suit he had worn to get in the door took away impact from his usual ninja approach, but this way he was a little like James Bond, or at least Spy Kids.

Ari and Allen had settled into chatting, and the Brit looked casual enough. Ari was even happier, bouncing about with her usual energy while still staying seated. She was definitely cute from a relative distance, and Lavi got one of his uncommon responses to actually dote on her, though the feeling was sure to pass by the end of the evening. Allen certainly knew how to dress, too and Lavi took more than a few moments to appreciate the other boy's sense of style. No wonder Ari and Lenalee liked him.

All in all, things were smooth. There would be some trouble maybe getting out of here, but nothing Lavi couldn't handle. He would just watch and keep track on his phone, just in case the Brit needed to text him for advice.

Too bad the cabinet door opened. At least the lighting was dim enough outside that Lavi didn't get blinded, not that the sight in front of him was any better.

A tall skinny man dressed as a waiter was in front of him. The waiter's face was a bit cubby, and his hair was a bright orange that gave Lavi's own red a run for the ridiculous money. The two stared at each other, Lavi's brain racing to come up with an excuse he should have prepared before him.

"Who are you, lero?"

Lavi stood. Now, running away wasn't an option. Oh no, that would just make too much of a commotion, no matter how you put it, and pumpkin face would be the least of his worries. Now, acting casual as one could after stepping out of a cabinet and trying to walk away at a moderate pace—that, that he could manage.

"Wow, you've had Timcanpy since back then?" Ari asked between bites of her pasta. "That's amazing; Asian Paradise Flycatchers don't normally live that long." She giggled a bit at how proud Allen seemed to be at that fact, even if it wasn't really his accomplishment. "He looks healthy, too, so he should live a lot longer."

Well, Allen couldn't say he had expected the encyclopedic knowledge of a Bookman to come in handy over something like that. He actually hadn't worried about Tim, not knowing how old the bird was, but extra reassurance was always good. "That's good to hear," the Brit said, and Ari had to resist the urge to sigh at how cute his accent sounded. "To be honest, I think Tim's what keeps me sane half of the time." Then again, he had to live in a house where Cross could come back at any time, so he needed whatever help he could get. "You and Lavi don't have any pets do you? I've never seen any."

"Lavi doesn't have one, but I have a pet lobster." Ari practically declared the words, and Allen suddenly felt guilty for his choice of fish for a meal. "Relax, fish and shellfish are totally different. Besides, Crab Cakes is special."

Crab Cakes?

"You see, it's okay because he's not a crab." Ari nodded, and Allen felt compelled to go along with her. That didn't seem quite right, but if she said so… "I got him while I was in France, anyways. Grandpa doesn't know, but I don't think he'd really care."

Allen let out a small cough into his gloves. "Lobsters aren't common as pets, though. Did you get him at a specialty store?"

Cue one Bookman-trouble-brewing grin. Allen had to resist a shiver. "You could say that."

Why do I have an even worse feeling about this than her sense of names?

Ari set her fork down, putting her hands together. "We went out to eat at this seafood place. You know, the ones with the tanks where you get to pick your dinner?" Allen nodded, distinctly glad that Millennial didn't have one of those—at least not out in plain sight. "So we were in the waiting area, and I saw him. Crab Cakes is so cute, I just had to have him! It was actually pretty easy to accidentally knock over the tanks…"

Coming up with crazy schemes just had to be a Bookman trait. Even worse, they consistently acted on them. Allen wasn't sure he could handle that on any more of a regular basis than he already did.

"…I didn't get to eat dinner that night and ruined my dress, but it was so worth it. Oh, you think Johnny could make me some waterproof clothes? For special events? He already adjusted the mobility in this one, but you can only do so much with certain fabric types." Ari sighed and resumed eating her spaghetti. Allen seemed content with stuffing his face, and Ari was equally content to watch. Behind him, a couple of waiters seemed to be looking around for something, and a flash of red seemed to move from the other side of the restaurant.

Ari had to blink.

Was that my brother?

Allen had easily finished up his own plate—not even a sense of guilt could stop him from filling his stomach up. Ari offered him the remains of her spaghetti, starting to feel a bit on the full side. Well, if she had been seeing things, it had nothing to do with what was going on in front of her.

"So," she asked with substantially less care than would have been sane at that moment, "what's for dessert?"

Ivy was glad that things had been going well enough, save for the on and off nature of the conversation. Ivy personally thought she was trying too hard to not sound nervous, but that was fine. The food was good and what she could see of Ari and Allen's trouble, nothing drastic had happened, not even on account of Allen's stomach. Ivy seriously envied the younger girl's pocket money. They were moving on to dessert, and soon the evening would come to a close.

No incident from Lavi, either. Ivy hadn't even seen or heard from him since he had sent the text to let them know Ari and Allen had safely arrived.

"What's wrong?" Kanda asked, and Ivy knew she had been distracted. "You look worried." Of course, that was plenty of reason for him to worry, too, but he wasn't about to show that. That might only make things worse.

"It's not that anything is going wrong," Ivy said, toying with some of her hair as she tried to find the right words for this feeling. "It's more like things are too peaceful." The idea made her stomach twist up more than it should have.

Kanda nodded. He understood that feeling well. It was usually instinct meaning that something was going to happen soon, and it would likely be the Rabbit's fault. "Well, I don't know what to say about that one, since I kind of constantly live with that feeling." Ivy laughed a bit, and Kanda smiled. Good, he could still do that. "But nothing should happen if the Rabbit knows what's good for him."

"Kanda, what did you do?" Kanda only smirked more, leaving his date to raise an eyebrow. She looked ready to press for details until the single buzz of a phone vibrated, and Ivy reluctantly reached to her pants pocket for her phone. "You've got to be kidding me," she deadpanned.

"What?" Kanda asked. Ivy held up her phone as a waiter sped by, looking almost as angry as a certain pair of Japanese teens were about to be. Kanda moved to stand up, only to be stopped by Ivy resting a quick hand on his shoulder. "Tch," he scoffed, tightening his fingers into fists. "One way or another, I'm going to wring his fucking neck." The sad part was that Ivy couldn't disagreed with him.

Really, she just had to say something, hadn't she?

This chapter gave me a lot of trouble getting back into the swing of things, plus getting all the sequencing right. I apparently had the bright idea to make this date only one chapter. Yeah. Not quite happening.

Thanks to Chronic Guardian and YaoiPandaz for their respective reviews, favorites, and follows! I know it's been a long time coming, but we're starting to make some progress on this bad boy!

It's actually kind of surreal to be posting these chapters. Like, have I actually gotten to the point that I can get to work on new material? Plus these chapters haven't sat around quite as long as some of my other updates, so they're relatively fresh... In any event, hopefully the chapter was an enjoyable one. Lemme know if anything feels off!

And another big thanks to CG for (I'm assuming) taking this thing one chapter at a time and giving me feedback, like the nice and amazing CG he is. Also, bonus props to the [Sauce Project] crew for cheering me on and up at our meetup last weekend. If you wanna hang with some chill people, maybe swing on by [Equinoctial Stars over Seasons], yeah?

That being said, I'm kind of running on fumes at the moment, so I'll leave it at that. The second part of the date will be in chapter twenty-three, posted next Saturday! Please look forward to it!

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