Fic: And The Fox Walked By
Fic: And The Fox Walked By
Fandom: D. Gray-Man
Genre: General
Characters: Lavi, Kanda, Akuma, loss of visibility by darkness, and a mine shaft
Rating: PG
Summary: Being an Exorcist had its perks. Some of them were even good.
Notes: Short fic. Long sentences. Needed a bit of fluff and something to distract the other bunnies ^^;;
After his first year at the Black Order, Lavi quickly learned that being an Exorcist had its perks. Such as the chance to travel. Such as the chance to travel to places most of the human population would never reach (or in this case had abandoned for very good reasons). Such as the chance to travel for nearly a week by train and almost half as long on foot with a traveling companion that answered Lavi’s questions with grunts or “che” and answered any questions Lavi had about the boy himself with a glare that could chill the ice cap off a mountain and a hand twitching to the hilt of the black sword he carried. The Akuma were another lovely addition; nothing like trapped souls in torment and a few explosions to brighten up any dreary landscape. At least there were no bystanders milling around this time; that last trip to Porto Santo had involved more Finders than Lavi had ever seen in the same place at the same time that wasn’t the Order cafeteria doing damage control. The deserted mine shafts, on the other hand, he really needed to talk to management about that. Most unpleasant and rather disruptive. Especially when a swipe from one Akuma sent him flying into his mission partner when he tried to block the attack. More so when the momentum and impact of his swiped self had sent said mission partner flailing off balance (and Lavi hoped it was Kanda’s human side showing and the other boy had been trying to avoid impaling him on Mugen when he’d barreled into his chest. Whatever human side Kanda possessed was not likely to be around after said barreling so he’d take what he could get) and the both of them tumbling down one of the previously mentioned abandoned mine shafts.
Oh well. At least the trip had been funded by someone else?
**
It was rather dark, Lavi noticed, once he was sure it wasn’t his head or his eye. The ground was also surprisingly soft for what should be rock of some sort. It was also silky and smelled like green tea.
The ground groaned and Lavi quickly scrambled off it before ending up in a slumped position on hands and knees with a groan of his own. It was interesting how the dark could spin around even when it was all kinda dark. And spinny. And dark, but it was kinda sorta soft again which helped some and there was that green tea smell which kinda stopped the spinning too, so Lavi breathed in harder hoping it would help.
“What the hell are you doing, rabbit?!” Kanda barked in surprise at him, remembering to lower his voice level two words in, and Lavi raised a bruised and throbbing arm to Kanda’s shoulder next to where his face was currently buried and clutched at the uniform.
“Doan’ move, Yuu-chan, or I’mma gonna to throw up.” He could feel the sudden tensing of Kanda’s posture under his cheek before masterfully honed self-preservation instincts kicked in and Kanda froze as he was.
“You’re lucky Mugen didn’t slice off an arm when you fell on me, idiot,” Kanda bit out after a moment, and it seemed they had a truce for now.
It was better half curled up like that with his head leaning against something, and slow breaths later he’d inventoried that he was battered but otherwise mostly fine (or at least fine enough to hold out for another fight and back to civilization), and that it appeared the Akuma had decided to just let them be and were ignoring them (that or they were off finding a rock big enough to throw down and crush them or block the entrance with. He hoped not). He was fairly sure his hammer was down here with them in the dark somewhere because he’d had a grip on it until halfway down when he’d rammed his elbow into an outcropping, and once he found it he could leverage them out. They would just need to be ready to chase down or fight any Akuma that might be waiting for them above ground and he’d fought in worse condition before. Kanda however, was probably slightly less fine after functioning as a human landing mat if the occasional muted cut-off-intake-of-air noises ruffling near Lavi’s bangs were any indication, so when the other boy made to get up again Lavi-be-damned-they-had-a-mission-and-if-you-won’t-I-will, Lavi made the most pitiful moan he could manage and gripped the other’s arm warningly, and to plan, Kanda stilled again. According to his previous observations and what he could guess of Kanda’s current condition, with Kanda’s mysterious healing power the other boy should be decently fine within another ten minutes, and perhaps the other boy had finally had that thought as well, for Kanda stayed still for a whole four hundred seconds before he moved again. He stayed still long enough that he could breathe whole breaths without choking again, and he’d almost relaxed his body (as much as he could probably relax with Lavi leaning against him), and Kanda’s frame was a lot less spiny when he was relaxed, kind of like leaning on one of those jade-beaded pillow mats Bookman had for stimulating pressure points, and it was warm like that and rather comfortable and Lavi could feel the rise-fall of Kanda’s breathing through the shoulder against his cheek and hear Kanda’s breaths slowing and deepening to match his own and it was quiet and rather comfortable and the background rush of blood in his own ears was soothing and calm.
He supposed it was his fault that Kanda moved in the end. He hadn’t meant to wrap an arm around Kanda’s waist and burrow against that loose hair. It had been an accident, it was just that it was so quiet and nice, and he really liked Kanda’s hair, and maybe...(and he’d kept perfect count of how much time had passed and the relative position of everything for what he could tell of their situation and he could write the most perfect record ever on this and that had to count for something? Right? Right?) Either way, Kanda quickly proved that he had been perfectly capable of dislodging Lavi and sending him flying (well rolling, but flying was more dramatic. Reaching the skies and stuff) before Lavi’s stomach could have even thought about heaving anything up all along, and Lavi was quickly grateful that he had stopped wanting to throw up long ago and that he had been sitting when Kanda had done his impressive thrash-shove or he would have landed against the ground again much harder than he had. Reorienting himself provided a stroke of luck, and he ignored Kanda’s offended-sounding hissing (and Lavi was somewhat impressed Kanda was keeping his voice down) in the background (it appeared today was The Day for Once-In-A-Lifetimes, better remember it, blue moons and summer snow, y’know) in favor of waving his hammer around in the dark (where no one could see it, but that was just a minor detail, really).
“Thanks, Yuu-chan! I found my hammer by landing on it! You ready to get out of here?” he called, just loud enough to get Kanda’s attention but every bit as Lavi-hyper-cheerful as if he’d shouted.
Kanda cut off his stream of muttered curses with a practiced “che” (an affirmative “che”, Lavi thought with a grin. And a bit of surprise. He’d done good. Kanda-speak was too much fun, even with the threat of the business end of Mugen) and Lavi shuffled on his knees in the direction of the sound until one hand came in contact with a boot. “Don’t move, Yuu,” he warned. The second hand found a knee, and Kanda gave another strangled squawk as the first hand met with the front of a bony hip.
“Lavi, I swear--”
“Sorry, sorry, was tryin’ to find your hand--” and Lavi clamped a hand atop said-hand-was-finding that had landed a none-too-gentle whack on Lavi’s head. Pushing to his feet, he commanded the hammer to grow and guided Kanda’s hand to grip the handle. Kanda huffed, but Lavi could hear the quiet swish of Mugen as Kanda tested his sword arm and prepared for the possibility of continuing the fight as soon as they reached the surface again. And Lavi couldn’t quite resist, because it was fun and Lavi could have fun even if Bookmen couldn’t (though he was using his Bookman skills of observation of space and distance and prediction of reaction, but hey, this was a record and there was no rule about not using Bookman training in other endeavors or he’d only be an Accommodator and never have made an Exorcist), so he reached out his own free arm and snagged it around Kanda’s waist again and pulled the other closer to him. “Y’gotta stand closer m’dear, you’ll pull your arm outta its socket that way!”
This time Kanda did yell, but they were already moving up through the mineshaft to open air. “Don’t ever call me that you stupid rabbit! And let go of me!”
“Sure thing, Yuu-chan!”
“Don’t call me that, either!”
Lavi debated pointing out that he hadn’t minded at all all the other times during their mining tunnel detour (when he was normally very quick to protest otherwise), but they’d reached the surface, and while the Akuma hadn’t been lying in wait, the activated Innocence had certainly drawn them back.
Fires, explosions, Japanese curses ringing in his ears. Another day of working for the Black Order. This one smelled like green tea.
Fandom: D. Gray-Man
Genre: General
Characters: Lavi, Kanda, Akuma, loss of visibility by darkness, and a mine shaft
Rating: PG
Summary: Being an Exorcist had its perks. Some of them were even good.
Notes: Short fic. Long sentences. Needed a bit of fluff and something to distract the other bunnies ^^;;
After his first year at the Black Order, Lavi quickly learned that being an Exorcist had its perks. Such as the chance to travel. Such as the chance to travel to places most of the human population would never reach (or in this case had abandoned for very good reasons). Such as the chance to travel for nearly a week by train and almost half as long on foot with a traveling companion that answered Lavi’s questions with grunts or “che” and answered any questions Lavi had about the boy himself with a glare that could chill the ice cap off a mountain and a hand twitching to the hilt of the black sword he carried. The Akuma were another lovely addition; nothing like trapped souls in torment and a few explosions to brighten up any dreary landscape. At least there were no bystanders milling around this time; that last trip to Porto Santo had involved more Finders than Lavi had ever seen in the same place at the same time that wasn’t the Order cafeteria doing damage control. The deserted mine shafts, on the other hand, he really needed to talk to management about that. Most unpleasant and rather disruptive. Especially when a swipe from one Akuma sent him flying into his mission partner when he tried to block the attack. More so when the momentum and impact of his swiped self had sent said mission partner flailing off balance (and Lavi hoped it was Kanda’s human side showing and the other boy had been trying to avoid impaling him on Mugen when he’d barreled into his chest. Whatever human side Kanda possessed was not likely to be around after said barreling so he’d take what he could get) and the both of them tumbling down one of the previously mentioned abandoned mine shafts.
Oh well. At least the trip had been funded by someone else?
**
It was rather dark, Lavi noticed, once he was sure it wasn’t his head or his eye. The ground was also surprisingly soft for what should be rock of some sort. It was also silky and smelled like green tea.
The ground groaned and Lavi quickly scrambled off it before ending up in a slumped position on hands and knees with a groan of his own. It was interesting how the dark could spin around even when it was all kinda dark. And spinny. And dark, but it was kinda sorta soft again which helped some and there was that green tea smell which kinda stopped the spinning too, so Lavi breathed in harder hoping it would help.
“What the hell are you doing, rabbit?!” Kanda barked in surprise at him, remembering to lower his voice level two words in, and Lavi raised a bruised and throbbing arm to Kanda’s shoulder next to where his face was currently buried and clutched at the uniform.
“Doan’ move, Yuu-chan, or I’mma gonna to throw up.” He could feel the sudden tensing of Kanda’s posture under his cheek before masterfully honed self-preservation instincts kicked in and Kanda froze as he was.
“You’re lucky Mugen didn’t slice off an arm when you fell on me, idiot,” Kanda bit out after a moment, and it seemed they had a truce for now.
It was better half curled up like that with his head leaning against something, and slow breaths later he’d inventoried that he was battered but otherwise mostly fine (or at least fine enough to hold out for another fight and back to civilization), and that it appeared the Akuma had decided to just let them be and were ignoring them (that or they were off finding a rock big enough to throw down and crush them or block the entrance with. He hoped not). He was fairly sure his hammer was down here with them in the dark somewhere because he’d had a grip on it until halfway down when he’d rammed his elbow into an outcropping, and once he found it he could leverage them out. They would just need to be ready to chase down or fight any Akuma that might be waiting for them above ground and he’d fought in worse condition before. Kanda however, was probably slightly less fine after functioning as a human landing mat if the occasional muted cut-off-intake-of-air noises ruffling near Lavi’s bangs were any indication, so when the other boy made to get up again Lavi-be-damned-they-had-a-mission-and-if-you-won’t-I-will, Lavi made the most pitiful moan he could manage and gripped the other’s arm warningly, and to plan, Kanda stilled again. According to his previous observations and what he could guess of Kanda’s current condition, with Kanda’s mysterious healing power the other boy should be decently fine within another ten minutes, and perhaps the other boy had finally had that thought as well, for Kanda stayed still for a whole four hundred seconds before he moved again. He stayed still long enough that he could breathe whole breaths without choking again, and he’d almost relaxed his body (as much as he could probably relax with Lavi leaning against him), and Kanda’s frame was a lot less spiny when he was relaxed, kind of like leaning on one of those jade-beaded pillow mats Bookman had for stimulating pressure points, and it was warm like that and rather comfortable and Lavi could feel the rise-fall of Kanda’s breathing through the shoulder against his cheek and hear Kanda’s breaths slowing and deepening to match his own and it was quiet and rather comfortable and the background rush of blood in his own ears was soothing and calm.
He supposed it was his fault that Kanda moved in the end. He hadn’t meant to wrap an arm around Kanda’s waist and burrow against that loose hair. It had been an accident, it was just that it was so quiet and nice, and he really liked Kanda’s hair, and maybe...(and he’d kept perfect count of how much time had passed and the relative position of everything for what he could tell of their situation and he could write the most perfect record ever on this and that had to count for something? Right? Right?) Either way, Kanda quickly proved that he had been perfectly capable of dislodging Lavi and sending him flying (well rolling, but flying was more dramatic. Reaching the skies and stuff) before Lavi’s stomach could have even thought about heaving anything up all along, and Lavi was quickly grateful that he had stopped wanting to throw up long ago and that he had been sitting when Kanda had done his impressive thrash-shove or he would have landed against the ground again much harder than he had. Reorienting himself provided a stroke of luck, and he ignored Kanda’s offended-sounding hissing (and Lavi was somewhat impressed Kanda was keeping his voice down) in the background (it appeared today was The Day for Once-In-A-Lifetimes, better remember it, blue moons and summer snow, y’know) in favor of waving his hammer around in the dark (where no one could see it, but that was just a minor detail, really).
“Thanks, Yuu-chan! I found my hammer by landing on it! You ready to get out of here?” he called, just loud enough to get Kanda’s attention but every bit as Lavi-hyper-cheerful as if he’d shouted.
Kanda cut off his stream of muttered curses with a practiced “che” (an affirmative “che”, Lavi thought with a grin. And a bit of surprise. He’d done good. Kanda-speak was too much fun, even with the threat of the business end of Mugen) and Lavi shuffled on his knees in the direction of the sound until one hand came in contact with a boot. “Don’t move, Yuu,” he warned. The second hand found a knee, and Kanda gave another strangled squawk as the first hand met with the front of a bony hip.
“Lavi, I swear--”
“Sorry, sorry, was tryin’ to find your hand--” and Lavi clamped a hand atop said-hand-was-finding that had landed a none-too-gentle whack on Lavi’s head. Pushing to his feet, he commanded the hammer to grow and guided Kanda’s hand to grip the handle. Kanda huffed, but Lavi could hear the quiet swish of Mugen as Kanda tested his sword arm and prepared for the possibility of continuing the fight as soon as they reached the surface again. And Lavi couldn’t quite resist, because it was fun and Lavi could have fun even if Bookmen couldn’t (though he was using his Bookman skills of observation of space and distance and prediction of reaction, but hey, this was a record and there was no rule about not using Bookman training in other endeavors or he’d only be an Accommodator and never have made an Exorcist), so he reached out his own free arm and snagged it around Kanda’s waist again and pulled the other closer to him. “Y’gotta stand closer m’dear, you’ll pull your arm outta its socket that way!”
This time Kanda did yell, but they were already moving up through the mineshaft to open air. “Don’t ever call me that you stupid rabbit! And let go of me!”
“Sure thing, Yuu-chan!”
“Don’t call me that, either!”
Lavi debated pointing out that he hadn’t minded at all all the other times during their mining tunnel detour (when he was normally very quick to protest otherwise), but they’d reached the surface, and while the Akuma hadn’t been lying in wait, the activated Innocence had certainly drawn them back.
Fires, explosions, Japanese curses ringing in his ears. Another day of working for the Black Order. This one smelled like green tea.