The Fine Line

Niamh is dying slowly… but is taking Advil so she can update her fic… bleee

Sorry that I invented my own stress induced problem… and sorry this really has very little to do with the plot… and sorry that I ended on such an incomplete note…
I LOVE REVIEWS!! They make my day brighter :)

Disclaimer of Dipodies: I don’t own D.Gray-man. If I did… Anita never would have bit the dust QQ

WARNING: Man-on-man! Shounen-ai! If you are insulted by gay men, stop reading!
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Kitten Plan

The snow falling outside of Allen’s window was completely silent, the flakes curling in slow circles from the sky like fallen petals, gathering in heaps on the ground bellow. Watching them reminded him of his ever distant childhood, Mana, how he felt before his foster father had died. It all seemed so far away now, like a broken dream slipping through his fingers.

Unconsciously his right hand wrapped around his left arm, pulling the sore limb close.

He tensed when a pair of warm bare arms came around his shoulders and pulled him backward into and equally warm and bare chest, hard muscles cradling him as he relaxed with a sigh. He had spent Christmas night curled beside his lover, sharing a bed – their bed – and waking in the morning without the worry of another day’s travel or another day’s wounds was like breathing in a cold breath of fresh air. He had not known that he was so worn out, but the morning made him realize. There was no need for him to throw his things together or to sit next to his wounded friend or to hold his memories back because he needed to focus on now – he had time enough to do his exercises and then go about his normal day, the routine of which he had all but forgotten.

“Che, you look sad, Moyashi-kun.” Kanda’s chest rumbled as he spoke, Allen leaned backward so that his head rested on that slab of protective heat.

Allen gave a small smile and put his hands in Kanda’s. “You’re wet.”

“I showered. It’s what people do it get clean.” As he spoke he leaned his head on Allen’s – which seemed to be becoming a habit – and his down, damp hair fell across his shoulder and onto the younger boy’s. If it hadn’t have been cold he would not have minded. “Why are you sad?”

“I’m not,” He said half-honestly. “I was just thinking about things. It’s nice to have a day off, you know?”

He felt the head on top of his give a slight nod. “After nearly a month in Sweden it is rather odd to come back here, to not have one of us dying or the floor rocking beneath our feet. It’s strange and yet,” He arms became tighter. “Good. It’s…” Like our time together has changed me.

The British boy didn’t look up, he just turned so that his hand could snake its way around Kanda’s hips and he could press his forehead into his chest. He stopped short when his fingers traveled over naked flesh. “You’re not wearing any clothes.”

“Che, your sleeve just knocked off my towel, baka.”

“Oops.” Allen gave a small, mischievous grin playing shyly behind his tired expression. “You know… if you hadn’t gone completely rapist the other day, I might not actually mind doing that again right now.”

“But I did.”

“But you did.”

“So you mind.”

“So I mind.”

“And you won’t let me do that again for a week.”

“Have I really said it that many times?”

“Che, if you said it anymore I would think you were reminding yourself.”

Kanda looked down at him, running a hand through his hair and cupping his face gently. He had no qualms of standing there naked, his towel over his feet, the fully clothed boy just leaning on him like some sort of well built wall. Allen blushed at him though. “You don’t think I can seduce you in that time?”

Allen narrowed his eyes at him. “You overestimate your seductive power.”

The older of the two raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you blushing?”

“You’re naked! That’s hardly fair.” But even as he said it the younger Exorcist did not push himself away or try to turn back to the window. He stayed as he was.

“If I was trying you wouldn’t last ten minutes.” Kanda gave his hair a little ruffle and gave him a tight squeeze, his face breaking into a sideways smile. “Should I try, Moyashi-kun? Or shall I give you a few days to build up hormones?”

“Neither.” Allen glowered. “Can’t you put some clothes on? What will you do if someone comes to the door?”

Kanda turned away from him, walking to the dresser even as he recalled the words his lover had used when offered a similar question. “I’ll wave.”

Allen sighed while Kanda dressed, turned back to the window that had occupied is eyes before bare skin had distracted him. The snow still came down in wet flakes, sticking to the trees and building up in mounds, clogging gutters and blotting out the darkness of the paved path that ran to the edge of the cliff. The falling crystals shined dimly in the overcast light, the gray sky offered no liveliness; the four black swallows that flapped across it did nothing to make the day seem brighter. The winter was like a soft white blanket, cloying on the earth, pressing down, down, down, never letting up, never letting go, growing warm only in passing. The season had lost the luster it had had only moments before.

His left hand gave a painful twitch and his right moved to clamp it down, hold in the trembling. What’s wrong with me? He thought with a frown. First I’m being melancholy, then I can’t even properly tease Kanda, and now my arm wants to do things on its own. I don’t understand. Yesterday was normal, but today—

“Oi, Moyashi,” Kanda’s voice derailed his train of thought and his anti-akuma weapon gave another twinge of pain; he tried not to cringe. “Do you have plans today?”

I shouldn’t say anything, Allen decided immediately. Not today, at least. “Yup – sleep in, eat lots, and lounge around wa-er-re-eh-and that’s it.” He had almost finished with ‘watching you’ but that seemed a bad idea when he was not planning on offering himself up to the secret nymphomaniac his lover was. The Japanese man’s eyes grew wide when he heard that list of objectives.

“Che,” Kanda rolled his eyes as he pulled a brush through his hair, frowning at the few strands that broke off as he did. “That is not a plan for the day. You exercise in the morning and then do nothing? You might as well just not shower, not get dressed, and curl up in bed with that sort of plan.”

“And what’s wrong with that, exactly?”

Kanda shrugged even though Allen wasn’t looking at him. “But for the serious lack of physical activity, mental stimuli, and purpose…nothing.” By now he was standing behind his lover again, and he could see the reflection of those distant silver eyes in the glass. He did not look at the snow nor did he study the sky; his gaze took in the odd expression of sadness and worry on his lover’s face. “Allen,” When he said the name it sounded foreign, but it made the boy look at him all the same. “Are you seriously alright?”

“I’m fine!” He chimed back, smiling. “Just tired is all.”

The taller man draped his arms around the smaller, setting himself down on the window seat as he pulled him into an embrace. For a moment Allen did not respond to the touch, his head falling onto Kanda’s shoulder wordlessly, his left hand held tightly in his right. He didn’t understand. He did however, know that Kanda never would have done this a month prior, never would have continued to ask questions after he had given his answer, never would have placed himself here, like this, as a stone foundation. He would have pulled out his sword and threatened Allen’s life for moping.

“Just because you smile all the time doesn’t mean you smile the same, Moyashi,” He said twining his arms around him. Allen wished beyond reason that he could trust his left hand long enough to do the same. “It’s not that you are tired. It’s not nothing. It’s not that you are thinking of your depressing childhood. Now stop worrying about how it might make me feel to find out what it is, and just say it.”

What the hell, Allen thought, blinking stupidly. Since when is he sensitive to my emotions? Since when is he sensitive to anyone’s emotions?

Since he started caring.

“I’m sorry,” He let go of his left hand so he could take hold of Kanda’s open jacket with his right and lean his head on Kanda’s. Together they were looking down at the object of his discomfort, their foreheads supporting each other. “Between everything that’s happened…and the time of year, I’m just kind of down, I guess. And my arm hurts for some reason.” He flexed his fingers, amazed that his almost scaly limb would perform the action, if only a little more slowly than usual. “I don’t think it’s serious though. Maybe just sore. Or moderately over used.”

He stopped when Kanda took hold of his deformed hand, turning it over slowly until his palm rested on his, Allen’s wrist trembled ever so slightly. He silently amazed at Kanda’s willingness to touch it.

“Ah, there it is,” He said softly. “You have a stress bug.”

“A what?”

“A stress bug. Sometimes, if an Exorcist is thinking too much, worrying too much, or just generally feeling low, this can happen.”

“What does it do?”

“Anything it can to try and make you feel less worried – or at least it tries. Usually they make you feel worse, which isn’t the purpose of them and just makes them bigger.”

The blood was starting to drain from the younger Exorcist’s face. “What do I do to get rid of it?”

“You have two options,” Kanda touched the tendons in his wrist, giving the tender skin a massage with his ivory pale fingers. “You can go down and have Komui cut it out for you—”

“Uh…no thank you.”

“Or you can let me handle it,” He gave the British boy a little smirk, straightening to give him a small kiss on the forehead. Allen raised a quizzical eyebrow at him, half disbelieving that Kanda could be so…nice and half wondering if Kanda was just as angry and stoic as he had ever been beneath his amused expression. “Che, don’t look at me like you think I’m crazy.”

Well, he still said ‘che’. That never would change.

Allen tilted his head to the side, blinking at Kanda for a moment as he thought about it. “What does ‘you handling it’ mean, exactly?”

The Japanese man gave a little shrug. “Breakfast, maybe… something like this,” He placed his hands firmly on the other boy’s shoulders and gave a light squeeze, working his fingers from the wrong angle as he felt the tension in Allen’s muscles. Before he could stop himself Allen sighed at the contact. “Perhaps a soak in a warm tub. Some time in the library, where you can attempt to ignore that stupid bunny-boy.” And, even though he had just insulted Lavi, he said it in a perfectly friendly voice.

“Love,” Allen chuckled. “Who are you and what did you do with Kanda?”

Kanda frowned at him, his old serious glare returning almost at once. The transformation was so instantaneous Allen could hardly bite down the urge to giggle at it. His lover narrowed his already glaring eyes and poked him in the chest with his index finger, his cold expression never faltering. “He died when I started loving you. Now get better or I’ll cut off your arm with Mugen.”

“Aw, that’s the murderous samurai I’m used to…”
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“And if you like action I suggest you read this one! Oh, and this one has historical background, so it’s not like one of those completely ridiculous violent ones.” Lavi bashed the leather bound tome on the tabletop, too busy talking to notice Sable’s unrepressed glare. “After all, everyone likes a little plot with their gore, ne?”

With a gentleness that was all too much like the calm before a storm, Sable closed her book and took it in her right hand, turning it so that the pages were pinched between her fingers. “Lavi,” She brandished the book dangerously, her green eyes hooded for the coming execution. “If you don’t stop suggesting books that I’ve already read, I’m going to beat you into submissive silence. Understand?”

The red head scratched his bandana for a moment, his jaw only momentarily slack as he blithered. “B-but how am I supposed to know what you’ve read?!” He demanded at last with a pout.

“Ask me?”

“But you won’t even tell me what kind of books you like!” He whined.

She sighed, leaning back in her chair and pointing at the title of her current selection. “Can you read this?” She tapped the letter’s lightly, one of her eyebrows lifted slightly above the other.

“Er… Lay Saint-a Bib-lie-a.” Lavi failed.

“La Santa Biblia,” She corrected, the words flowing off her tongue like water. “It’s the Bible, Lavi, and it’s in Spanish. Do you know how hard it is to read in Spanish with you babbling on about adventure books in a different language? It’s not fun, trust me. And how do you think God would feel about you distracting me from His sacred Word?” She opened the book again, shaking her head in mock disgust. “Que horrible…”

For a moment Lavi was actually distracted enough by here scolding to not speak. He was reading the Bible. Sable Adair – Queen of All Things Evil – was reading The Holy Bible? In Spanish? It perplexed him. He had known that she spoke English, Japanese, and Swedish, but Spanish as well? Wasn’t she a bit young to know all of those?

“Oi, Sable-chan,” He said quietly.

“If you suggest I read anything by Charles Dickens I will be forced to beat you to death with a Bible.”

“No, I was just wondering… how do you know so many languages? I mean… I’m trying to be a Bookman and you’ve got one more than I do. And you’re not old enough to have learned them all fluently from nothing but context, I don’t think.” He stopped when her gaze caught his from across the table, his thoughts ground to a halt. “What?”

She gave him a small smile as she put the book on the table, threw her braid over her right shoulder only to pull it back to her on the left. “Remember when we were in Sweden, and I threw fire using my Innocence?”

He slowly nodded.

“What did I say when I did that?”

He thought for a moment, calling up that day easier than he might have thought possible. “You said pyre, and later, when you turned off the lamp in the inn, you called it denki. But why is that important?”

“You have a skull like a brick.”

“Bricks don’t have skulls.”

“Not the point. In order to do those things I have to have words. And in order to learn those words I have to learn the languages they belong to. Thus, to increase the power of my Innocence, I must learn as many languages as I can as quickly as I can.” She said this so matter-of-factly that it almost seemed normal. She flipped the pages of her book idly and she smirked at his expression. “Make sense now?”

Lavi shook his head. “No. Isn’t your Innocence supposed to tell you how to fight with it?”

“It can’t talk to me with words that I don’t know. So I absorb superfluous synonyms and ridiculous amounts of language in the hope that I’ll learn something new from it.” She sighed, flipping open the book again, headed swiftly in the direction of ignoring him. “Now leave me alone, I’m training.”
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After what might have been ten minutes of attempted massaging, Allen gave up on his week of celibacy. Not only was it impossible to be on the same bed with Kanda without thinking lecherous thoughts, it was also impossible to keep from acting upon them, or so it seemed. When the large hands on his shoulders slid onto his sore sides he didn’t move away, instead he leaned into the touch, silently hoping that Kanda would notice his willingness to go back on his vow. The samurai however, did not seem to have eyes for such things. He worked like a disciplined monk, throwing himself into every tense place the boy had to offer.

His hands were tender when he helped Allen to get up, even more so when he offered him a shirt. It wasn’t as if Allen was incapable of doing such things, he just wanted to be sure his lover wasn’t forced to do them on his own. Kanda hadn’t lied about the bug thing – he had seen it happen to many young Exorcists, including Lavi, and had learned over time what worked best to cure them. With the apprentice Bookman it had been library time and slowly sharing personal information – because he had felt hopelessly alone. Logically, because Allen had been faced with carrying the weight of Kanda’s life, charged with defending corrupted Innocence, frightened by the chance that his friend had been seen with a Noah, he needed reassurance. Kanda wanted nothing more than to spend the day giving him what he needed.

But he also felt like doing… other things. And Allen’s decision that they not touch each other for a week was the only thing keeping him from giving in to those… other things. I wonder if I can seduce him. It doesn’t seem too impossible. He has been staring at me whenever he can for a while now…

“How are you feeling?” He asked when the British boy sat for a long moment on the edge of the bed, blinking slowly. It brought a crooked grin to his lips when Allen’s eyes closed and opened again repeatedly, like a kitten falling asleep on its paws.

Kitten… why does this sound familiar?

“Like I could fall asleep…just sitting here…” He sighed, falling sideways onto the mattress.

Just like a kitten… but why does this ring a bell? God damn it Yuu, think!

“Would it ruin your plans if we napped for the rest of the day?” As he said it, the white haired boy tucked his hair behind his ear.

Ears! But could that…
I couldn’t… but…
Oh screw it.

I am an evil bastard.

I am a horny evil bastard.

And I now have a plan.
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Oh Kanda… it hasn’t been that long and already… //sigh

Well, I hope you’re enjoying it! I shall do what I can to update as soon as humanly possible. Hard to say when though, being I’m dying of the plague…

Reviews are love!!!