Who: Lavi, Miranda, Smoker
What: Lavi has a gift for Miranda and Smoker has some questions about Allen.
Where: On deck
When: The other night
Warnings: Little boys that smoke
Lavi had his elbows propped up against the railing of the ship, his eye set on the night sky. It sort of reminded him of one of their first nights of hanging out on the deck when he first arrived - minus the booze, jelly beans, the actual Vongola ship, and..perhaps there were not many similarities after all. The sky seemed to be the same, at least. "Glad you could come." His mouth was curved into a smile as he spoke to Miranda. The way he was able to speak to her was so casual that is was as if they had never been separated. Perhaps he was all too used to it anyways, the missions back home would keep people from seeing each other for a good month or so.
Miranda stood next to Lavi, but instead of leaning on the railing, she was standing straight up, head looking towards the heavens. She always liked looking at the stars and trying to figure out which group was part of what constellation. She liked being here, with Lavi; it had been a while since they had seen each other and spoken face to face. As troublesome as he was, she liked having him around, and honestly did miss him, and the others, quite a bit when on the Vongola. Miranda turned her gaze towards the red head, and grinned. "Me too"
Looking away from the star filled sky, Lavi set his gaze on the other exorcist. The smile he had widened until it was a childish grin. When he looked at her, the red head almost found it odd that he had an attraction towards her before; not in the bad way, obviously. It may or may not have been confused feelings, but Lavi was able to reach the understanding that she was clearly a mother-like friend. Perhaps a sister, even. The fact that he sees her as family is what makes the little crush so odd, now that he thinks about it. Not that it was a touchy subject. In fact, thinking about it made him lightly chuckle. "So, I have something to give you." Naturally, he said it in a bit of a serious tone, just to tease her.
"Y-you do?" the woman asked, tucking a lose strand of her behind her ear in apprehension. Why did people seem to like to giver he gifts? She had never received anything from anyone since before she joined the Order, and even then, it was somewhat rare to receive something from someone, considering it was hard to see one another. Things certainly had changed a lot since Miranda appeared in this world. But then again... maybe it wasn't a gift. That tone in his voice suggested otherwise. What if it was bad news? Or... something similar? "W-what is it?"
Maybe he should kneel down on one knee? No, that would freak her out way too much. "You always said that you had bad luck." Lavi straightened up and hid his hand in his coat pocket, fingers trying to grab an object inside of it. Upon pulling it out, he was quick to conceal within his palm so the surprise wouldn't be given away too early. "Hold out your hand."
Oh, so it was a gift.... right? She was about to hold out her hand. Wait. Maybe she shouldn't. What if he just wanted to prove his point and drop a cockroach in her hand or something. No... she had to trust Lavi. Miranda hesitantly held her hand out to him, palm facing upward. Please don't be a cockroach...
After Miranda finally opened up her hand, Lavi opened his and dropped a small charm onto her palm. It was pretty simple and inexpensive. Though, that didn't mean it was a piece of nothing. "I thought you could use some good luck."
Miranda blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. A charm? She picked it up with her other hand dangling it before her face to examine it by the light coming from lanterns on the deck. It was so pretty... The woman looked at Lavi, brimming with joy. "T-thank you, Lavi!"
Lavi smiled lightly, leaning to one side and lifting his arms enough so he could rest the back of his head on his palms. "No problem." Knowing that Miranda was depressed for a chunk of her life and currently worried about many things, it was nice to see a smile on her face.
She kept admiring the trinket, wondering what she could attach it to. Maybe she could wear it as a bracelet? Or a necklace? She didn't really own any keys so it couldn't be a key chain... "Lavi" Miranda said, looking to him now, The thank you didn't feel like enough. "C-can I hug you?"
The red head's smile fell into a light frown due to being caught a bit off guard. Though, he quickly softened it into another smile. "Sure." He dropped his arms and took a step towards Miranda.
The older woman clutched the charm tightly in her hand, hoping she wouldn't drop it like she usually did. A light blush dusted her cheeks, and she hoped it wasn't noticeable in the darkness. Miranda took a step forawrd as well, spreading her arms slightly, wondering how they were going to hug. She didn't hug people often. She mostly hugged Rinali, and there was that one time with Renge, and that one accident with Gokudera. Miranda smiled at Lavi sheepishly. Top or bottom? Where would he go?
Lavi wrapped his arms right around Miranda, bending down very slightly so he could pull her into a hug and keep his arms just above her waist. Normally, he might pull her into a tight hug by clinging around her shoulders. She wanted a real hug though, not some silly one. "I'm glad you like it ~" He could feel her dark hair against the side of his cheek, the all too familiar scent of the woman mixed with the smell of the Vongola ship poking at his nose.
Miranda, seeing how Lavi took bottom, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hand still firmly grasping the charm. She felt her blush deepen at the flirtatious tone in his voice, but shrugged it off, knowing he didn't mean it. "Of course I like it; I just hope it works" she chuckled, glad he had his hair up. If it was down she probably would have a very itchy nose right now.
He tightened the hug for a second before loosening his hold and taking a step back. "It'll definitely work." Lavi spoke as if he himself had put a magic spell on it. "Just look at it when you're having a bad day or something."
Miranda released the redhead, also taking a step back. "I'm actually planning to carry it with me" she admitted sheepishly, looking at it again. Necklace or bracelet. Necklace or bracelet...
Lavi chuckled, placing his hand on top of Miranda's head. Though she was the older the one, sometimes he felt like an older brother rather than younger. "I'm glad. And don't lose it. I'll be sad if you do." With that said, he gave her a fake pout.
She playfully swatted away his hand, chuckling at the pout. "I guess a necklace would be better then, right? it might fall off if I turn it into a bracelet..." she trailed off, examining how long the string was. It was her turn to pout. It wasn't nearly long enough. Miranda would need to acquire some cord or string or a chain or something similar.
Lavi slightly shook his head back and forth. "You could just leave it on your shoulder and it still wouldn't fall off. It's lucky, remember?" He smiled childishly, proud of his own little joke. "But seriously, turn it into whatever you want. I don't think you'll lose it."
"...ehehehehe" Miranda's face fell, clutching the charm tighter. She thought she would lost it. She was almost certain she would lose it. "A necklace it is then" the Exorcist decided aloud, dropping the charm into her pocked and patted it. There. It was safe... right?
"Stop looking so nervous." The red head placed his hand on Miranda's shoulder reassuringly. "I don't think you'll lose it," he said again. All she needed was a confidence boost.
"I really hope you're right" she smiled back, trying to seem confident. But of course, this was Miranda, so it wasn't going to work out.
Smoker wandered out on deck for a breath of fresh air. He couldn't smoke the way he wanted to but that didn't mean he was going to stop trying. "Hi," he greeted Miranda and Lavi shortly upon seeing them. "I'm not intruding am I?" It was his ship so he wasn't going to apologize if he was but he would go do a different deck.
Lavi's hand slipped off from Miranda's shoulder when he heard the voice of a younger Smoker. "Nope." He took a step back from the girl and directed his attention at the younger Marine. "What's up?"
"Just thinking," Smoker replied softly as he stuck the cigar determinedly in his mouth and lit it. He tried not to inhale his usual level, just a tiny puff but it was still too much. He yanked the cigar out harshly. "FUCK!" he swore loudly, furious with the overall situation.
Miranda looked down at the Commodore sympathetically. "You can't smoke? It hurts your lungs?" she asked, head cocked slightly to the side. She frowned, wondering if Fujiko had actually saved any of the purple lettuce and how much it cost.
He arched an eyebrow at the reaction and decided not to prod at Smoker for it. He's already gotten into a bit trouble so he'd tease him later.
"Doesn't hurt," Smoker glared as much as he could in the chibi state, "Just burns. Without the logia..." he scowled more and rubbed his temples. "I'll be fine." Miranda was mothering him and it made him jumpy at best. "I needed to talk to you both anyway. What's the deal with Allen's innocence arm?"
Miranda stiffened slightly at the mention of Allen's Innocence. She had seen it first hand and it made her uneasy at best. But then again, everything made her uneasy. "W-what about it exactly?"
Lavi crossed his arms and blinked, thinking about how to answer the question - he obviously wasn't as uneasy as Miranda.. "It's a parasitic weapon," he said simply. "What else do you want to know?"
Smoker snorted. Everyone got evasive about it he noticed. He pulled himself up to the railing, small weight actually able to balance on it for once, that way he could manage eye level with them. "How much is it like devil fruit? The more someone relies on logia power, the more they BECOME that element. It takes over. There are plenty of pirates missing arms. Wouldn't it be safer if he didn't use it except when 100% necessary?"
Miranda shifted uneasily. She looked to Lavi, wondering how much they should tell about their home world and about the circumstances that surrounded Allen's arm. "I-it's not really like a devil fruit... I mean, it does evolve the more than you use it but... it's supposed to get stronger. Allen..." Miranda sighed heavily. "Allen needs to have his arm destroyed before it gets stronger and goes back to normal"
"Actually, it is sort of like the devil fruit." Lavi pointed out. "Miranda, think about how Krory can be with his innocence. There are times where it does take over him completely." He looked down as if he were thinking then looked up at Miranda. "Destroyed?"
"Eh... I guess you're right there" the Exorcist said, leaning against the railing. Krory always seemed to have a different personality when his Innocence was activated. She met Lavi's gaze. "...yes. Tyki destroys it. Didn't you hear about that after the mission from Japan? He was training in the Asian headquarters without an arm while he were on our journey. And then... somehow he did something that brought it back together, stronger, and then he met up with you and Kanda and the others in the Ark"
"Of coures I did." Lavi rubbed the back of his head. "I was just wondering if there was a different way to make it stronger." He looked at Smoker who may or may not be confused over the whole thing. "Anyways, Smoker, we need our innocence so we can fight Akuma. For the most part, Allen already does use it when it's one hundred percent necessary."
Frowning, Smoker watched the discussion. "He has to have his arm destoryed to heal it?" he rubbed his temples more. He certainly wanted Allen to get stronger at whatever costs but he was about to break the kid's arm on purpose either. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.
The brunette fidgets again uncomfortably. "I... I really hope that he's able to get better without having to have it destroyed but... what happened back home is..." she sighed, frustrated. "I think you first have to understand that the whole of his arm isn't human. It's entirely Innocence. That being said, back home there was a war and a hunt going on..." she looked to Lavi, unsure if she should be saying this and wondering if he had also shared this information with Smoker.
"We're in no rush to find out as of now. It's not like there are Akuma to worry about here. We could wait a bit and see what happens before we decide to take any action." Lavi sighed when Miranda shot a glance at him. He nodded approvingly knowing what her concern was. As long as everyone in the Grand Line wasn't caught up in their personal business..
Smoker bit hard into a pair of candy cigarettes. "There may not be akuma yet, but there are devil fruit users and a lot of things coming here from other worlds. I don't want his life to be as hard as it was in your world but it's not easy either. If he's going to get hurt, I need to know what to do. I want him to train without that arm so he doesn't rely on it. Would that make it worse?"
"I... don't think so. He trains his other arm quite a bit anyway" Miranda says, recalling him train by doing push-ups with one arm while balancing vertically on a chair. "I don't think he would rely on it too much anyhow. I think he's ambidextrous anyhow" she says with a sheepish grin, trying to lighten up the situation.
No Akuma. Yet. Lavi snorted at that thinking that there was no way in hell that an Akuma would just pop out of nowhere. "I'm sure Allen can fight without it," he said leaving his other thoughts behind.
The chibi marine sighed and a ran much smaller than usual hand through his hair. "I'm putting it in a sling then. Whenever possible. Yachiru already broke it once, it snapped when he landed on it, either he needs to learn to do with out or save it for when necessary." He chomped the candy irritably. He didn't like having to ask for advice on what to do with his own crew but this was outside his field of knowledge and at minimum they cared about Allen enough not to let him get hurt. "You two," Smoker frowned again, staring at them very seriously. "This doesn't leave the you and the other exorcists. But I counting on you to make sure he doesn't mess up. That I can keep him out of harm. If I'm missing a vital piece of information that gets him killed..."
"I-I think he'll be ok" At least that's what experience has told her. Allen was very strong; he had lived through a lot, even if this wasn't the same Allen that she and Lavi knew, it was essentially the same person. "I don't think there's anything else to say-" she shot a glance at Lavi, in case he wanted to add anything. "-unless you have something you want to ask?"
Lavi chuckled and couldn't help but flash a grin. "Allen wont die, you can count on that." And that's all he had to add.
Smoker nodded. "Good. I know you've seen a lot but don't underestimate the Grand Line. Only one man made it to the end for a reason. Everyone else dies trying."