The Fine Line

Here it is the next, semi-meh chapter of The Fine Line!

Disclaimer of Distress: I don’t own D.Gray-man. If I did… Chibi Kanda wouldn’t look quite so fat.

WARNING!: Man-love, some crazy humor, and a complete disregard for cleanliness.
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Poetic Talent

Sticky – warm – happy – sore – tired.

Allen’s mind was not yet fully functioning when the sunlight in the open window woke him. He vaguely remembered having a splendid time the night before, and something about a poker game. And now that he thought of it, he was naked.

Oh yeah, He thought without opening his eyes. Kanda and I…made love last night. I guess that’s why I feel sore. And sticky. And why the chest I’m leaning on is bare.

Mmm, naked. Kanda: Breakfast of Champions.

He slowly opened his eyes to find the room filled with midmorning light, the drawn curtains blocking none of its golden brightness from his eyes. The sun had not been out in so long it pained his eyes to see it. It made him happy though, and the warmth slowly stimulated his mind into working.

Gently he turned his face toward Kanda’s. The Japanese Exorcist looked completely neutral with the soft yellow light on his face, his smooth skin glowing in the brightness. His long dark hair was knotted slightly in the back but otherwise he was a work of art, perfect in every aspect of Allen’s mind, his gentle expression broken only by a sleeping half-smile. Watching him sleep took Allen’s mind back to the night Kanda had insisted on sharing his bed and the morning he had spent studying those stoic features. Unlike then, he felt no guilt at staring.

Maybe I’ll go down and get us both breakfast, He thought as he followed the curve of Kanda’s eyebrows with his eyes. I think he’ll like that. Slowly as to not disturb his sleeping partner he scooted and sidled his way on to the floor which – without Kanda and without blankets – was very, very, cold. He made for the nearest garment that wasn’t soiled with oil or soaked with sweat, an Exorcist’s jacket on the back of one of the chairs.

Silently he pulled it on only to find that there was a gaping hole in the front and back. Kanda’s jacket. His arms weren’t even long enough to get his fingers out of the ends of the sleeves. He sighed quietly. It wasn’t the best thing to wear, but it would keep him warm until he had found something to put on while he got food. His bare feet made quiet sounds as he moved to the bed that was supposed to have been his, under which he kept his things.

He found his suitcase and opened it, watched Kanda from the corner of his eye to be sure that the sound didn’t disturb him. If he did things right and got food, came back, ate very little, and then suggested a shared bath, things could be interesting. But that would never happen if Kanda woke up and bathed without him. Or maybe he wouldn’t want to bath with Kanda, he did feel like his limbs were about to fall off they were so sore. He silently searched past his old ruined jacket and leaned down to look more closely at a white button up shirt that looked more or less clean.

Something fell from the ripped chest pocket of Kanda’s greatcoat. It landed on the floor softly, making a light crumbling sound.

Allen frowned at the neatly folded piece of paper, the outside had been splattered with blood, and the edges were bent as if Kanda had kept it for a long while. He didn’t want to be snoopy. He didn’t want to betray his lover’s trust. He didn’t want to do something like Cross would do. But the delicate white paper called to him, nagged at his curiosity. He wanted to know what it said on the inside. What could be so important to be carried around carefully by Kanda Yuu?

With agonizing slowness he picked up the paper and unfolded it, convinced that he would only read the very first part to see what it was, but his eyes had other ideas.

Slowly his lips formed the first word on the page, his features falling into a confused frown. “Mo…ya…shi?”
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Lavi yawned enormously, cracking his neck when he found it turned at a horrible angle against his chair’s arm. He remembered instantaneously that Sable had let him borrow her room for the evening, because Kanda and Allen… oh yes, he didn’t want to think about that. The mental images of his best friend and poor, sweet, brotherly, innocent Allen were just too much to think about directly after waking up. Besides, if he thought about it long enough, he might have started wanting something similar.

The light sound of breathing drew his attention away from trying not to think and back to the previous topic. He vaguely wondered if maybe she had slept, or was sleeping. She sounded kind of like it.

“No, I’m not. I did though, so you can stop starting to worry and just go straight to pretending to be fine.”

“Good morning to you too, Sable-chan.” Lavi tried to sound enthusiastic. It seemed to him that every day Sable got little or no sleep she became more and more irritable. And her habit of picking up other’s thoughts became more apparent. He wondered if maybe there was a relationship between the two, or if many she just wasn’t hiding what she knew anymore.

“Sorry,” She sighed, sitting up in her bed, the blankets draped across her knees, her braided hair hanging down fuzzily over one shoulder. He had never seen a girl so indifferent to morning hair or morning face or morning breath before. She was a lot like Yuu in that respect. Yuu would get up shirtless without caring that he hadn’t washed his face or showered and still acted like he was the ruling king of all the lands around them. Sure, Sable didn’t really have a queen-complex, but she had the same indifference. The same glaring sureness. “I’m still tired, that’s all.” But she still smiled sometimes, which wasn’t a Yuu trait.

Lavi shrugged, dislodging his bear from under his shoulder and sending it to the floor. “I’ll go down and get breakfast, if you want. That way you can try and sleep a little more if you like.”

“Eh,” Sable waved a hand at him, dismissing the idea. “You can’t carry enough food for me. Be—oh dear.” Suddenly her eyes were wide, her hands at her mouth in horror. She looked at the door unwaveringly for a long moment; fear the only emotion that was clear on her face. She also had serious mood swings, which was only vaguely Yuuy.

“Be what?”

“We’re dead. Kind of hard to explain now but we have to move.”

“Wha? Why?!”

“Because the farthest thing from Allen’s mind is you dying slowly of blood loss, and the farthest thing from Kanda’s is hugging you and saying thanks.”

“I don’t—why would—you mean…”

“They found us out! The poem! Kanda knows that Allen didn’t write it! But they think it’s only you. Quick! Quick!” She jumped out of bed and hurried to the door, locking it swiftly. “Hide! You have to hide!”

Things were happening so fast. He was a dead man. If they were unhappy without the things he had written, it wasn’t his fault! Sable had given him material, so why did they only want to kill him? He looked from the door to the closet to the bed and back again, wondering which was the better option. “Yuu-chan will find me! He always used to find me at Hide and Seek!”

“I don’t care. Unless you want to die painfully in about six minutes, you will find someplace to disguise yourself.” Her eyes were so intense he thought she was going to kill him if Kanda didn’t. A long line of curses rambled through his mind as he at last dashed under the bed, glad that he had slept with his slippers on as to not leave behind any proof that he was there. Just as his feet were completely under the bed skirt a short knock came at the door.

Sable threw her braid over her shoulder and took the time to spread the blanket he had used back over the bed. From his place he could see her feet as they went back to the door.

His heart almost stopped when he say the two pairs of booted feet, the smaller pair just in front of the bigger. An aura of blood thirst radiated from them like perfume, flower scented perfume, and their stances were as forward and sure as those of men going off to battle. Sable, the brave soul, just leaned on her door, more weight on one foot than the other, signifying annoyance.

“G’morning, boys,” She said thickly. She sounded more tired her than she had just a moment ago. “Did you need something?”

“Where is Lavi.” It was not a question from Kanda’s lips.

“Erm… you can’t find him?” She sounded surprised, almost surprised enough for it to be truth.

“No, we just searched his room.” Allen responded. He sounded less murderous than Kanda did, that was for sure. Indeed, he sounded somewhat worried. “As far as we could tell all of his things are in there. Just not him.”

Sable’s weight shifted to the other foot. “That’s odd…but you know what’s odder?”

Silence.

“Kanda-san’s out of bed.”

The murderous air wavered for a moment in the face of this realization. Surely Sable wouldn’t make Allen play poker if she knew the cause of Kanda’s walking about? Surely she was nicer than that? More logical? Less strict? And it wasn’t as though walking around while attempting to find and kill Lavi was any more work than what he had done in bed the night before.

“Che, it is necessary.”

“How come?”

“I can’t kill Lavi if I’m in bed, now can I?”

“Kill Lavi!” She sounded stricken. “Why would you do something like that?”

There was a moment of awkward silence that no doubt included miming, blushing, and lots of wondering how to say things right. Lavi kind of wished he could see them all the way. The bed skirt only let him see so much, and then the spring box itself blocked yet more of the view. The floor was hard against his face as well.

Allen chuckled softly, trying to sound less violently inclined. “We’re not going to kill him,” There was a distinctive yet left off of that sentence. “Just thank him for his poetic talents and insight.”

“Poetic talents and insight?”

“He’ll know what we mean.”

“Ok then!” Sable sounded rather happy with that statement, a smile was in her voice, but her tone was somewhat confused. “I guess I can pass on that message for you.”

“What?”

“Well, I’ll tell him that you liked whatever poem he wrote when he’s clothed.”

Allen and Kanda shifted momentarily, the angle of their feet suggesting that they had exchanged glances. Sable…what on earth are you saying? Lavi thought bitterly. She couldn’t have meant to suggest…

Lavi felt his blood run cold. That was so like her.

“I’m sorry?” Allen chimed. “I thought you didn’t know where he was.”

Sable laughed airily, rocking back and forth slightly with the motion. “No, I never said that. I know exactly where he is, sort of. Most likely crawling around looking for his pants or something. He doesn’t really pay much attention when he takes them off, you know?”

Silence.

“You mean he… slept…”

“Yeah, he slept here.”

Cold. Dead. Awkward silence.

Somewhere in the inn a cricket chirped.

There were sounds like someone trying to speak, but no words were actually formed. A pale, shaking hand came into view, pointing at the floor. Lavi followed it with his gaze to see his teddy bear, face down; lying on what must have been one of Sable’s forgotten shirts. It was incriminating evidence that what Sable was saying was true.

Sable-chan, you are the best liar I have ever known in all my life. He thought thankfully. Though saying that wasn’t the most innocent way to go about saving my life…

Kanda growled lowly in his throat, but he didn’t argue. “Che, if you can hear me baka, I’m angry with you. Even if everything you wrote is true now, at the time you had no right to say that Allen felt those things.”

“I doubt he can hear us, Love. There’s no point thanking him.”

“Che, as if I’d thank him.”

“You know you mean to.”

“After I kill him I will thank his corpse.”

Lavi swallowed hard, knowing that what he was about to do might just end his life.

Sable, who was winging every bit of her story, just smiled at the couple standing outside her door. They believed her. They actually believed that Lavi would have some reason to be in her room, naked, looking for his clothes. I guess stranger things have happened. Look at them, they’re pretty strange. And the thought made her giggle on the inside. Lavi would kick her when he got out of from under the bed, she knew. Or maybe he’d thank her.

“Oh look! I found my pants!” Lavi’s voice rang out like thunder from under her bed. He crawled out boldly, shirtless; one bunny slipper in his hand, his hair far more rumpled than it had been before he had gone under. His three friends stared at him in muted horror, stuck between embarrassment, amazement, and down right giggles. His headband was pulled down over his eye patch, his pants far lower on his hips than normal. “I haven’t the slightest idea how they got under there…”

His eye passed from Sable to Kanda to Allen. She seemed the least surprised, though her eyes were still round. Kanda was the color of paper, his mouth open and his eyes glaring evilly. Allen just blinked at him shyly, a deep blush on his cheeks. Lavi would have given anything in that moment to have a camera. It was priceless. He mentally snapped a picture of them and grinned.

Sable recovered first. “Heh, heh. Well, how about we go down and talk about this over breakfast!”

Kanda’s eyes went from Lavi to Sable, his jaw still slack. On some level he had suspected the girl of defending the apprentice Bookman, but now he knew otherwise. It was perhaps the most horrifying thing he had ever thought of, imagining the two of them like that. Lavi only made it worse when he threw his arms around Sable’s shoulders and pulled her back into him, smiling with glee. Lavi was like his brother and knowing that he…that they…that anyone would find enjoyment in him…

“Che, I’m not hungry.” Kanda said quietly.

Allen took hold of his hand and gave Lavi a shaking smile. “We-we’ll be going now.” He took a step backward, his face unreadable. His downcast eyes did nothing to hide his blushing complexion. “And th-thanks.” With that simple acknowledgement he turned away from them, dragging Kanda back toward their room. Lavi wasn’t sure if Allen was scared to disgusted or laughing at Kanda’s reaction or what. Either way though, Lavi was still breathing and he still had all of his body parts, which made him very happy and even more thankful.

Lavi sighed deeply.

“Get off me. Now.”

“Oh, right.”
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It took all of his will not to giggle ridiculously. Kanda’s face had been so priceless, and Lavi had worn that expression that spoke of impending doom from more than one direction. It was like Lavi had expected Mugen to slice through his head while someone else roasted him over an open fire. And Sable had just smiled like she was completely content with it all.

He was so busy trying to gain back control of himself that he forgot where he was going and Kanda began to drag him along toward their room. It was not until Kanda kissed him that he realized they were actually in their room, standing in front of the door to the bathroom.

“Che, you haven’t been listening to me at all, have you?” The Japanese man asked with a playful half-frown. Allen gave him a very small smile and kissed him back.

“No… why, what are we doing? What about breakfast?”

Kanda grinned at him and pulled him toward the bathroom. “We can eat after I get these images out of my head. And then I’ll kill Lavi.”

“Images?” Allen’s booted feet made hollow sounds on the tile floor when the came into the bathroom. “You mean Sable and Lavi? How are you going…to…” But Kanda was looking at him, his eyes hungry for more than just food.

Kanda took hold of his collar and pulled him close, his left hand falling to the small of Allen’s back. The shorter boy’s face tilted upward when his lover pulled on his collar. “We can make our own images.”

“Kanda, I’m sore…” But he was being kissed and he wasn’t able to argue with that. His hands floated up to Kanda’s face of their own volition, touching it gently as the force on his back pulled them together. When the kiss broke he looked at Kanda’s pleading eyes and smiled. “Really sore…”

His lover’s hand reached over and dropped the plug into the bath’s drain, turned on the water. The vapors of steam that rose from the tub made his muscles ache with yearning, promised soothing in the places he needed it. “Che, alright then,” He ran his fingertips up the boy’s spine and grinned when Allen leaned into him despite his reluctance. “Just let me wash you. I’ll be nice about it, I swear. Make all your aches and pains go away…”

“Aw,” Allen blushed up at him, “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were being romantic.”

Kanda snorted his obvious disapproval of such an assumption. “Che, if wanting to make you feel better is romantic, yes.”

Allen sighed, feeling the gentleness of Kanda’s hand on his back as it started rubbing in slow, lazy circles. “Thank you, Love.” He fell into Kanda’s shirt covered chest. “For everything.”

“Che, everything?”

Allen nodded into his shoulder. “I told you that I didn’t write that… horrible poem and you just took it in stride. I tell you that I don’t want to have sex and you offer to rub my pains away. You’re like… Lenalee and Mana and every nice person I’ve ever known wrapped up in a big, protective samurai.” His arms traveled to Kanda’s chest where they wrapped around his ribcage and pulled tightly, pressing until he could feel the other man’s heartbeat steadily against his face. “But at the same time you’re like none of them. Because they don’t love me like you do, or accept me regardless of my faults. I mean, Lenalee might, but she’d die if she knew what I did to you last night.”

His monologue ended when Kanda laughed lowly at him, an odd expression on his face. Die, eh? Right, die of a nosebleed. “Take off your clothes, Moyashi. And stop hugging me before I do something stupid.”

“And you say I don’t listen…”
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Duuun-dun-dun! The end of yet another chapter. I know, I know, very little plot movement, but you did get to see what Allen and Kanda did about the poem thing! But the question remains… what will happen when the letter is discovered? *cheesy fanfare*