[Fic] Irrationally Competitive (PG-13, Allen/Kanda)
Title: Irrationally Competitive
Fandom: D.Gray-man
Pairing: Allen/Kanda with hints of Lavi/Allen and even some Lavi/Kanda if you squint. Pre-OT3, if you like.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,121
Summary: Right now it's the three of them. On a train. Chugging back to Headquarters.
Notes: This fic came about for three reasons: metaphors keep kicking my ass in other stories, I fell in love with Lavi, and there isn't enough of these three just acting like the perpetually exhausted and overly burdened teenagers they are. I hope I managed to keep them all in character. Also, thanks to sutlers for unwittingly providing the title and telling me this wasn't too silly to post. She is my DGM hero.
Lavi has discovered that while his training allows him to take in every aspect of a situation and repeat it back later, detail for detail, he's not necessarily a good story teller. He's trying to get better at it, he really is, but this whole metaphor thing that seems to evoke visuals for normal people is kicking his ass.
For example. Right now it's the three of them. On a train. Chugging back to Headquarters. The light in the car is turned down very low; it's late, and everyone's tired. Kanda managed not to do one of his self-sacrificing daredevil routines that end with him being comatose for a day, for once, but that isn't really part of what's happening at the moment. Well, it is, but it isn't.
That's another thing Lavi isn't so good at yet: knowing how much detail is enough and how much is too much, and how much of previous events he can incorporate without going off on a tangent. Sometimes he gets going on a story and can literally see someone's interest drifting away, no matter how hilarious each nuance of the frown on Kanda's face is to him.
Like the one draped over his mouth right now. Right now Kanda looks like a cat that has been dumped out of a lap. If he had a tail, it would be swishing, agitated. As it is his eyes gleam balefully at Allen, narrowing from time to time in that same way that a cat's do. As if it is plotting your demise in an idle sort of way in the back of its head.
The problem with that comparison is that although it is curiously fitting, it was not a lap Kanda was pushed out of, at least not in any sense that immediately occurs to Lavi. The thought of Kanda sitting in anyone's lap makes Lavi want to double over in laughter. Rather, he was pushed out of the way by Allen as Allen rushed an Akuma and ripped it to shreds. With his hand, that looks a bit like a claw when Allen's in action, which also reminds Lavi of a cat. Kanda stood there mid-swipe with his sword with a look on his face that was mouth-hanging-open for a split second and mouth-curled-in-outrage a moment later.
And while Kanda is gleaming and not swishing - because Kanda only swishes when he's stalking down a hallway, or somewhere that he's got ample room to swish, and swishing is a terrible word to use to describe Kanda if you value your life, no matter how apt it is - Allen is curled up, sleepy and improper, next to Lavi in the seat across from Kanda.
"He's sleeping again," Kanda says in disgust.
"Now come on, Yuu, you know it wears him out. I can't imagine having Innocence actually attached to your body. It must be exhausting." Lavi reaches over and ruffles Allen's hair, and Allen raises his head a little bit and smiles at him, then sees the look on Kanda's face and pillows his head on his arm again, glaring. Like a cat.
That's the problem with the whole metaphor thing. Everyone just sort of reminds Lavi of cats.
"Besides, Yuu," Lavi can't resist adding. "You're just jealous because you puke every time you fall asleep on a train."
"I do not," Kanda snaps.
"Ginger tea," Allen murmurs.
"Shut up," Kanda says.
"You shut up," Allen retorts, raising his head again.
"Ginger tea?" Lavi interrupts loudly, trying to slice the rising tension in the air with the power of his voice before someone tries to do it with a sword or a claw. He's only got a hammer, and at the moment he'd like to use it to beat some sense into someone. Amazing how he was the one that made the dig and it turned into an argument between Kanda and Allen. It happens every time.
Allen shifts around until he is curled the other way and rests his head on Lavi's thigh, then turns his face up to Lavi and pretends to ignore Kanda.
"Yes." He smiles. Lavi fishes his hand out from between Allen and the seat to run his fingers through the front of Allen's hair, away from his face so he can see his eyes. "It's good for motion sickness, like if you get sick on trains. I did when I was little." He tosses a haughty look in Kanda's general direction. Allen only looks that way at Kanda, Lavi has noticed; it's the only time that anything that could be classified as pride crosses Allen's face. Kanda doesn't exactly inspire Allen's nobler qualities. "I grew out of it."
Kanda snorts. "At least you grew out of something," he says, blowing his own bangs out of his eyes. Which doesn't make sense, but Kanda isn't known for his witty comebacks unless they're about how he's going to slice you up. Some of those are pretty clever. "I don't sleep on trains." Kanda's bangs are always too long, like he's trying to hide his eyes, and Lavi has often wondered what that says about Kanda.
"No one said you had to," Lavi says agreeably. If Kanda would allow a placating gesture like this once in a while, Lavi reflects as he continues carding his fingers through Allen's hair, he might be a little more relaxed in general. He wonders if Kanda's hair feels anything like Allen's. Probably not. It looks heavier and maybe a little more slippery in texture. Kanda wouldn't ever sit in someone's lap and he certainly wouldn't stand for someone stroking his hair. Or anything else.
Lavi realizes that he's thinking about petting Kanda and has to shake it off. That's the other problem he has with metaphors: they can be dangerous if you get too tangled up in them.
Kanda watches Lavi's hand in Allen's hair and then scowls. "Both of you shut up," he orders, even though no one has said anything for a while. He turns to the window and rests his chin on his palm, reaching up with his other hand to brush his own hair distractedly away from his cheek.
"I was just trying to help," Allen says, indignant.
Lavi pats him on the shoulder. "Now, Allen. You know he doesn't like help."
"I don't like help when it comes in the form of an idiot." Kanda turns to face them again, folding his arms. There it goes again. Lavi pokes at Kanda and Kanda pokes at Allen in response. And it's not like Kanda to be fidgety, Lavi notes. His fingers get a little twitchy sometimes when he's getting riled up, but that's about it.
If he didn't know better, he would swear that the way Kanda shifts in his seat again is a direct result of the contented sound Allen makes as Lavi strokes hair behind his ear, letting his finger trace the contour of it. He should really stop touching Allen like this, but it's hard when Allen clearly enjoys it so. He decides the ear thing was a little much and lets his hand rest somewhere near the bottom of Allen's ribcage instead, where he can feel the soft rise and fall of Allen's chest as he breathes.
"So, Yuu - "
"Quit calling me that."
Lavi brings his free hand - he is counting the one laying on Allen's chest as occupied for some reason - up to his forehead and rubs his fingertips there. "What I was going to ask was, why are you so pissed off? That mission went great. Better than usual, I'd even say. You didn't have to hole up anywhere, we got in and out of there fast - "
"It was a disaster," Kanda says flatly. He looks at Allen, accusing. "I had that completely under control. If you hadn't jumped in maybe you wouldn't be lying there like a child who needs a nap right now."
"I think he's more like a cat," Lavi suggests, patting Allen's chest.
"I think maybe someone else needs a nap," Allen mutters.
"What did you say?" Kanda's eyes narrow.
"I said take a nap, so we don't have to hear you bitch all the way home." Allen's eyes narrow too.
"Now, children," Lavi starts, but Allen bolts up into a sitting position. Lavi's arm slides off Allen and he puts it forlornly in his lap.
"I don't have to sleep," Allen informs Kanda. "I like sleeping on the train."
Lavi wonders if he should get out of the way now, or wait until it's imperative. He doesn't really want to get up. "I like sleeping on the train too," he announces. "Something about the sound of it."
"Maybe the two of you should just curl up together and do that then. I can't be bothered with either of you." Kanda makes a production out of pulling the briefing documents for the mission out of the inside pocket of his jacket and studying them.
"Jerk," Allen says, and Kanda glares at him again.
Well, that was interesting, Lavi thinks as Allen stretches back out with his head on Lavi's leg again, drawing one of his legs up, foot on the seat and crossing the other one over it. Allen seizes Lavi's hand and plants it on his chest where it was before. Lavi looks at Kanda, who is still looking at the papers in his own hand. Or it looks like he is, anyway. Hard to tell through his bangs. He hasn't flipped a page since he pulled it out. Lavi doesn't remember Kanda being that slow of a reader.
He shrugs and watches Allen, who is now toying with the fingers of Lavi's right hand, tangling them with his own before letting both of their hands rest back on his chest.
Allen has a way of making affection seem effortless, as if it's the most natural thing in the world for him to be doing what amounts to holding Lavi's hand. Lavi remembers this only when he glances back up at Kanda, who is watching them and scowling again over his papers. Kanda looks back down quickly when he catches Lavi's eye and at last flips a page.
"Fuck!" Kanda explodes.
"What?" Lavi and Allen ask in unison. Allen sits up.
"There were two! I told you it was a disaster. Disorganized - neither of you know what the hell you're doing. You're both idiots. We have to go back."
"Two what?" Allen asks, concerned. He moves to Kanda's side, his head leaning close to Kanda's as he reaches for the paper in his hand. Kanda snatches it away.
"Innocence, Walker. You know, the thing we're supposed to be bringing back to Headquarters. It isn't Akuma, so maybe you're not interested. Go back to sleep." Allen's eyes narrow. "I'll go back alone," Kanda says in a decisive tone, holding the paper up high, out of Allen's grasp, and Allen lunges up onto his knees for it, somehow ending up sprawled with one leg over Kanda's thighs and a hand on his shoulder.
Lavi holds up an encapsulated cube. He doesn't want to look so smug, but he really can't help it. "No, you don't need to. I think we're good." Allen stops mid-reach and cranes his head back to look.
"When did you get that one?" Kanda shoves Allen into the window with a thump so he can see Lavi, but Allen is still on top of him. Kanda's face is starting to turn pink.
There's another thing Lavi is still iffy on with this storytelling thing: this is the sort of detail he is never quite sure is important. The way that flush is starting to creep across Kanda's cheeks and forehead. It seems like it would be, but he supposes it depends upon whom he's telling the story to and what the point is.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kanda demands.
"You're not in charge of anything," Allen reminds him, dropping down onto Kanda's thighs. Kanda shoots him a dark look. Lavi wonders how on earth Allen has managed to stay on top of Kanda this long and stay alive.
"Don't you remember?" Lavi asks, still smirking. "The statue?" Kanda looks at Lavi blankly. "The one that had the fountain, it was a naked woman - the one with the - " Lavi mimics an hourglass figure with his hands.
"Of course you would get that one," Kanda sneers.
Well, yes, Lavi thinks. As if he wouldn't notice a statue with breasts like that. "My point is, you were too busy fighting with Allen about how he took out the first Akuma to bother with it, so I grabbed it. I told you, but you, uh. Kind of weren't listening to me. You were too busy yelling into each other's faces." Lavi sighs melodramatically. "No one ever listens to me."
"Shut up," Kanda orders again. Lavi's thinking about getting a parrot for Kanda for his birthday, one that he's taught to say "shut up" and "idiot" and make that tsking noise. It would almost be worth it. Although, he reflects, Kanda might kill the parrot. Or him. Maybe he should give it to Allen instead. He's not sure why that makes sense, but it does.
"I got the other one - " Allen starts.
"I know," Kanda grates out.
Allen digs into his pocket, shifting his hips a little bit. Kanda's face is more of a crimson now, Lavi muses, cocking his head as he watches. "It's right here." Allen pulls it out and settles himself more firmly over Kanda's legs. "Right after I saved you from that - "
"Will you get off me?" Kanda pushes Allen, who slides off his lap and onto the seat next to Kanda, still pressed up against him: too close for Kanda's comfort, Lavi can tell from the sour look on his face. He decides maybe the cat metaphor doesn't apply so much to Allen after all, since he doesn't get agitated when he's dumped off a lap. "And you didn't save me," Kanda snaps. "Are you blind? I told you I had that under control."
"I was trying to help," Allen says through clenched teeth.
"We've got both of them; just settle down," Lavi interjects. He still doesn't really feel like getting up, and he kind of misses Allen sitting next to him, but at least now anything dangerous will be contained to their side of the seat. Then he notices that Kanda isn't reacting with any of his usual hostility.
Kanda slumps down, which is not like Kanda at all. He looks like he's in shock. "I should have seen that there were two," he says, sounding disgusted with himself. Lavi watches Allen's expression change from anger to dismay when he sees the look on Kanda's face. And that's the problem with Allen, Lavi thinks, he's a sucker for anyone in distress. Allen puts a hand on Kanda's thigh and Kanda looks at it with a resigned scowl on his face.
"It's okay, everyone makes mistakes. It all turned out all right in the end," Allen tells Kanda, patting his thigh in a kind way.
Lavi winces, waiting for Kanda to do something disproportionately violent.
"I don't," Kanda says, matter-of-fact, drawing himself back upright and looking at Allen.
Allen's mouth turns down again. "That's a bit harsh, isn't it? You're never going to live up to your own expectations if you never let yourself make a mistake. You have to make mistakes to learn."
"That makes no sense," Kanda retorts.
"You make no sense," Allen says, emphasizing with a squeeze of Kanda's leg just above the knee. Lavi shakes his head. The moment was nice while it lasted.
Kanda jerks and then grabs Allen's wrist. "Stop it, you idiot."
"I'm not an idiot," Allen protests, his face inches from Kanda's. He's at a disadvantage, Lavi notes, because his left arm is squished between the two of them and Kanda's sort of holding it back with his own arm. Which is a bit odd, considering that Kanda seems to want Allen to keep his distance.
Lavi sits back to watch this with interest. And then Allen does something that surprises Lavi but intrigues him just the same, although he feels a tiny bit indignant. Allen leans forward and kisses Kanda. Nothing fancy, just presses their lips together, and Kanda is apparently so surprised that he loosens his hold on Allen's wrist long enough for Allen to wriggle it out of his hand and bring his fingers up to slide through the loose hair that frames Kanda's face.
Kanda stands for all of this about as long as can be expected. Maybe a little longer. Four seconds at the most, Lavi surmises, and then he wrestles a grinning and flushed Allen back until he's pinned to the seat. It occurs to Lavi that the whole cheeks turning pink thing that he was going back and forth about is definitely key to this story.
"If you ever do that again," Kanda says, "I'll kill you." Which, again, is pretty much what Lavi expected. Although he did expect Kanda's sword to be involved in a more prominent way.
Allen starts laughing, and Kanda lets go and jumps up, storming away down the aisle. Not swishing, Lavi reminds himself. Allen comes over and collapses next to Lavi.
"Was that one of those mistakes you have to let yourself make? You know, to learn?" Lavi asks wryly.
"Oh dear," Allen gasps, clutching at Lavi's shoulder, still laughing so hard that he has to wipe away tears when he finally calms down. He sits up and sobers. "Oh. I probably embarrassed him. I should go talk to him."
That, Lavi decides, would be a terrible idea at the moment, because he likes Allen very much and he would be sorry if Allen were dead.
"Wait," he says. "I have a question. Just for posterity's sake." He puts an arm around Allen and hauls him down so that he's lying with his head in Lavi's lap again, sliding a hand down his arm. Allen makes a pleased noise and settles there comfortably, bringing his legs up again. Stupid cat metaphor, Lavi thinks.
"Oh, well, I - I don't know what I was thinking," Allen admits, a fresh stain of pink starting to spread across his cheeks. He looks a little remorseful, but there's still mischief dancing in his eyes as Lavi brushes the hair away from his face once more. "I just sort of wanted him to shut up."
Lavi shakes his head dismissively. "No, not that." He scratches the back of his neck. "What does Kanda's hair feel like?"
Fandom: D.Gray-man
Pairing: Allen/Kanda with hints of Lavi/Allen and even some Lavi/Kanda if you squint. Pre-OT3, if you like.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,121
Summary: Right now it's the three of them. On a train. Chugging back to Headquarters.
Notes: This fic came about for three reasons: metaphors keep kicking my ass in other stories, I fell in love with Lavi, and there isn't enough of these three just acting like the perpetually exhausted and overly burdened teenagers they are. I hope I managed to keep them all in character. Also, thanks to sutlers for unwittingly providing the title and telling me this wasn't too silly to post. She is my DGM hero.
Lavi has discovered that while his training allows him to take in every aspect of a situation and repeat it back later, detail for detail, he's not necessarily a good story teller. He's trying to get better at it, he really is, but this whole metaphor thing that seems to evoke visuals for normal people is kicking his ass.
For example. Right now it's the three of them. On a train. Chugging back to Headquarters. The light in the car is turned down very low; it's late, and everyone's tired. Kanda managed not to do one of his self-sacrificing daredevil routines that end with him being comatose for a day, for once, but that isn't really part of what's happening at the moment. Well, it is, but it isn't.
That's another thing Lavi isn't so good at yet: knowing how much detail is enough and how much is too much, and how much of previous events he can incorporate without going off on a tangent. Sometimes he gets going on a story and can literally see someone's interest drifting away, no matter how hilarious each nuance of the frown on Kanda's face is to him.
Like the one draped over his mouth right now. Right now Kanda looks like a cat that has been dumped out of a lap. If he had a tail, it would be swishing, agitated. As it is his eyes gleam balefully at Allen, narrowing from time to time in that same way that a cat's do. As if it is plotting your demise in an idle sort of way in the back of its head.
The problem with that comparison is that although it is curiously fitting, it was not a lap Kanda was pushed out of, at least not in any sense that immediately occurs to Lavi. The thought of Kanda sitting in anyone's lap makes Lavi want to double over in laughter. Rather, he was pushed out of the way by Allen as Allen rushed an Akuma and ripped it to shreds. With his hand, that looks a bit like a claw when Allen's in action, which also reminds Lavi of a cat. Kanda stood there mid-swipe with his sword with a look on his face that was mouth-hanging-open for a split second and mouth-curled-in-outrage a moment later.
And while Kanda is gleaming and not swishing - because Kanda only swishes when he's stalking down a hallway, or somewhere that he's got ample room to swish, and swishing is a terrible word to use to describe Kanda if you value your life, no matter how apt it is - Allen is curled up, sleepy and improper, next to Lavi in the seat across from Kanda.
"He's sleeping again," Kanda says in disgust.
"Now come on, Yuu, you know it wears him out. I can't imagine having Innocence actually attached to your body. It must be exhausting." Lavi reaches over and ruffles Allen's hair, and Allen raises his head a little bit and smiles at him, then sees the look on Kanda's face and pillows his head on his arm again, glaring. Like a cat.
That's the problem with the whole metaphor thing. Everyone just sort of reminds Lavi of cats.
"Besides, Yuu," Lavi can't resist adding. "You're just jealous because you puke every time you fall asleep on a train."
"I do not," Kanda snaps.
"Ginger tea," Allen murmurs.
"Shut up," Kanda says.
"You shut up," Allen retorts, raising his head again.
"Ginger tea?" Lavi interrupts loudly, trying to slice the rising tension in the air with the power of his voice before someone tries to do it with a sword or a claw. He's only got a hammer, and at the moment he'd like to use it to beat some sense into someone. Amazing how he was the one that made the dig and it turned into an argument between Kanda and Allen. It happens every time.
Allen shifts around until he is curled the other way and rests his head on Lavi's thigh, then turns his face up to Lavi and pretends to ignore Kanda.
"Yes." He smiles. Lavi fishes his hand out from between Allen and the seat to run his fingers through the front of Allen's hair, away from his face so he can see his eyes. "It's good for motion sickness, like if you get sick on trains. I did when I was little." He tosses a haughty look in Kanda's general direction. Allen only looks that way at Kanda, Lavi has noticed; it's the only time that anything that could be classified as pride crosses Allen's face. Kanda doesn't exactly inspire Allen's nobler qualities. "I grew out of it."
Kanda snorts. "At least you grew out of something," he says, blowing his own bangs out of his eyes. Which doesn't make sense, but Kanda isn't known for his witty comebacks unless they're about how he's going to slice you up. Some of those are pretty clever. "I don't sleep on trains." Kanda's bangs are always too long, like he's trying to hide his eyes, and Lavi has often wondered what that says about Kanda.
"No one said you had to," Lavi says agreeably. If Kanda would allow a placating gesture like this once in a while, Lavi reflects as he continues carding his fingers through Allen's hair, he might be a little more relaxed in general. He wonders if Kanda's hair feels anything like Allen's. Probably not. It looks heavier and maybe a little more slippery in texture. Kanda wouldn't ever sit in someone's lap and he certainly wouldn't stand for someone stroking his hair. Or anything else.
Lavi realizes that he's thinking about petting Kanda and has to shake it off. That's the other problem he has with metaphors: they can be dangerous if you get too tangled up in them.
Kanda watches Lavi's hand in Allen's hair and then scowls. "Both of you shut up," he orders, even though no one has said anything for a while. He turns to the window and rests his chin on his palm, reaching up with his other hand to brush his own hair distractedly away from his cheek.
"I was just trying to help," Allen says, indignant.
Lavi pats him on the shoulder. "Now, Allen. You know he doesn't like help."
"I don't like help when it comes in the form of an idiot." Kanda turns to face them again, folding his arms. There it goes again. Lavi pokes at Kanda and Kanda pokes at Allen in response. And it's not like Kanda to be fidgety, Lavi notes. His fingers get a little twitchy sometimes when he's getting riled up, but that's about it.
If he didn't know better, he would swear that the way Kanda shifts in his seat again is a direct result of the contented sound Allen makes as Lavi strokes hair behind his ear, letting his finger trace the contour of it. He should really stop touching Allen like this, but it's hard when Allen clearly enjoys it so. He decides the ear thing was a little much and lets his hand rest somewhere near the bottom of Allen's ribcage instead, where he can feel the soft rise and fall of Allen's chest as he breathes.
"So, Yuu - "
"Quit calling me that."
Lavi brings his free hand - he is counting the one laying on Allen's chest as occupied for some reason - up to his forehead and rubs his fingertips there. "What I was going to ask was, why are you so pissed off? That mission went great. Better than usual, I'd even say. You didn't have to hole up anywhere, we got in and out of there fast - "
"It was a disaster," Kanda says flatly. He looks at Allen, accusing. "I had that completely under control. If you hadn't jumped in maybe you wouldn't be lying there like a child who needs a nap right now."
"I think he's more like a cat," Lavi suggests, patting Allen's chest.
"I think maybe someone else needs a nap," Allen mutters.
"What did you say?" Kanda's eyes narrow.
"I said take a nap, so we don't have to hear you bitch all the way home." Allen's eyes narrow too.
"Now, children," Lavi starts, but Allen bolts up into a sitting position. Lavi's arm slides off Allen and he puts it forlornly in his lap.
"I don't have to sleep," Allen informs Kanda. "I like sleeping on the train."
Lavi wonders if he should get out of the way now, or wait until it's imperative. He doesn't really want to get up. "I like sleeping on the train too," he announces. "Something about the sound of it."
"Maybe the two of you should just curl up together and do that then. I can't be bothered with either of you." Kanda makes a production out of pulling the briefing documents for the mission out of the inside pocket of his jacket and studying them.
"Jerk," Allen says, and Kanda glares at him again.
Well, that was interesting, Lavi thinks as Allen stretches back out with his head on Lavi's leg again, drawing one of his legs up, foot on the seat and crossing the other one over it. Allen seizes Lavi's hand and plants it on his chest where it was before. Lavi looks at Kanda, who is still looking at the papers in his own hand. Or it looks like he is, anyway. Hard to tell through his bangs. He hasn't flipped a page since he pulled it out. Lavi doesn't remember Kanda being that slow of a reader.
He shrugs and watches Allen, who is now toying with the fingers of Lavi's right hand, tangling them with his own before letting both of their hands rest back on his chest.
Allen has a way of making affection seem effortless, as if it's the most natural thing in the world for him to be doing what amounts to holding Lavi's hand. Lavi remembers this only when he glances back up at Kanda, who is watching them and scowling again over his papers. Kanda looks back down quickly when he catches Lavi's eye and at last flips a page.
"Fuck!" Kanda explodes.
"What?" Lavi and Allen ask in unison. Allen sits up.
"There were two! I told you it was a disaster. Disorganized - neither of you know what the hell you're doing. You're both idiots. We have to go back."
"Two what?" Allen asks, concerned. He moves to Kanda's side, his head leaning close to Kanda's as he reaches for the paper in his hand. Kanda snatches it away.
"Innocence, Walker. You know, the thing we're supposed to be bringing back to Headquarters. It isn't Akuma, so maybe you're not interested. Go back to sleep." Allen's eyes narrow. "I'll go back alone," Kanda says in a decisive tone, holding the paper up high, out of Allen's grasp, and Allen lunges up onto his knees for it, somehow ending up sprawled with one leg over Kanda's thighs and a hand on his shoulder.
Lavi holds up an encapsulated cube. He doesn't want to look so smug, but he really can't help it. "No, you don't need to. I think we're good." Allen stops mid-reach and cranes his head back to look.
"When did you get that one?" Kanda shoves Allen into the window with a thump so he can see Lavi, but Allen is still on top of him. Kanda's face is starting to turn pink.
There's another thing Lavi is still iffy on with this storytelling thing: this is the sort of detail he is never quite sure is important. The way that flush is starting to creep across Kanda's cheeks and forehead. It seems like it would be, but he supposes it depends upon whom he's telling the story to and what the point is.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kanda demands.
"You're not in charge of anything," Allen reminds him, dropping down onto Kanda's thighs. Kanda shoots him a dark look. Lavi wonders how on earth Allen has managed to stay on top of Kanda this long and stay alive.
"Don't you remember?" Lavi asks, still smirking. "The statue?" Kanda looks at Lavi blankly. "The one that had the fountain, it was a naked woman - the one with the - " Lavi mimics an hourglass figure with his hands.
"Of course you would get that one," Kanda sneers.
Well, yes, Lavi thinks. As if he wouldn't notice a statue with breasts like that. "My point is, you were too busy fighting with Allen about how he took out the first Akuma to bother with it, so I grabbed it. I told you, but you, uh. Kind of weren't listening to me. You were too busy yelling into each other's faces." Lavi sighs melodramatically. "No one ever listens to me."
"Shut up," Kanda orders again. Lavi's thinking about getting a parrot for Kanda for his birthday, one that he's taught to say "shut up" and "idiot" and make that tsking noise. It would almost be worth it. Although, he reflects, Kanda might kill the parrot. Or him. Maybe he should give it to Allen instead. He's not sure why that makes sense, but it does.
"I got the other one - " Allen starts.
"I know," Kanda grates out.
Allen digs into his pocket, shifting his hips a little bit. Kanda's face is more of a crimson now, Lavi muses, cocking his head as he watches. "It's right here." Allen pulls it out and settles himself more firmly over Kanda's legs. "Right after I saved you from that - "
"Will you get off me?" Kanda pushes Allen, who slides off his lap and onto the seat next to Kanda, still pressed up against him: too close for Kanda's comfort, Lavi can tell from the sour look on his face. He decides maybe the cat metaphor doesn't apply so much to Allen after all, since he doesn't get agitated when he's dumped off a lap. "And you didn't save me," Kanda snaps. "Are you blind? I told you I had that under control."
"I was trying to help," Allen says through clenched teeth.
"We've got both of them; just settle down," Lavi interjects. He still doesn't really feel like getting up, and he kind of misses Allen sitting next to him, but at least now anything dangerous will be contained to their side of the seat. Then he notices that Kanda isn't reacting with any of his usual hostility.
Kanda slumps down, which is not like Kanda at all. He looks like he's in shock. "I should have seen that there were two," he says, sounding disgusted with himself. Lavi watches Allen's expression change from anger to dismay when he sees the look on Kanda's face. And that's the problem with Allen, Lavi thinks, he's a sucker for anyone in distress. Allen puts a hand on Kanda's thigh and Kanda looks at it with a resigned scowl on his face.
"It's okay, everyone makes mistakes. It all turned out all right in the end," Allen tells Kanda, patting his thigh in a kind way.
Lavi winces, waiting for Kanda to do something disproportionately violent.
"I don't," Kanda says, matter-of-fact, drawing himself back upright and looking at Allen.
Allen's mouth turns down again. "That's a bit harsh, isn't it? You're never going to live up to your own expectations if you never let yourself make a mistake. You have to make mistakes to learn."
"That makes no sense," Kanda retorts.
"You make no sense," Allen says, emphasizing with a squeeze of Kanda's leg just above the knee. Lavi shakes his head. The moment was nice while it lasted.
Kanda jerks and then grabs Allen's wrist. "Stop it, you idiot."
"I'm not an idiot," Allen protests, his face inches from Kanda's. He's at a disadvantage, Lavi notes, because his left arm is squished between the two of them and Kanda's sort of holding it back with his own arm. Which is a bit odd, considering that Kanda seems to want Allen to keep his distance.
Lavi sits back to watch this with interest. And then Allen does something that surprises Lavi but intrigues him just the same, although he feels a tiny bit indignant. Allen leans forward and kisses Kanda. Nothing fancy, just presses their lips together, and Kanda is apparently so surprised that he loosens his hold on Allen's wrist long enough for Allen to wriggle it out of his hand and bring his fingers up to slide through the loose hair that frames Kanda's face.
Kanda stands for all of this about as long as can be expected. Maybe a little longer. Four seconds at the most, Lavi surmises, and then he wrestles a grinning and flushed Allen back until he's pinned to the seat. It occurs to Lavi that the whole cheeks turning pink thing that he was going back and forth about is definitely key to this story.
"If you ever do that again," Kanda says, "I'll kill you." Which, again, is pretty much what Lavi expected. Although he did expect Kanda's sword to be involved in a more prominent way.
Allen starts laughing, and Kanda lets go and jumps up, storming away down the aisle. Not swishing, Lavi reminds himself. Allen comes over and collapses next to Lavi.
"Was that one of those mistakes you have to let yourself make? You know, to learn?" Lavi asks wryly.
"Oh dear," Allen gasps, clutching at Lavi's shoulder, still laughing so hard that he has to wipe away tears when he finally calms down. He sits up and sobers. "Oh. I probably embarrassed him. I should go talk to him."
That, Lavi decides, would be a terrible idea at the moment, because he likes Allen very much and he would be sorry if Allen were dead.
"Wait," he says. "I have a question. Just for posterity's sake." He puts an arm around Allen and hauls him down so that he's lying with his head in Lavi's lap again, sliding a hand down his arm. Allen makes a pleased noise and settles there comfortably, bringing his legs up again. Stupid cat metaphor, Lavi thinks.
"Oh, well, I - I don't know what I was thinking," Allen admits, a fresh stain of pink starting to spread across his cheeks. He looks a little remorseful, but there's still mischief dancing in his eyes as Lavi brushes the hair away from his face once more. "I just sort of wanted him to shut up."
Lavi shakes his head dismissively. "No, not that." He scratches the back of his neck. "What does Kanda's hair feel like?"