Things that go bump in the night

[zaibachs_best]

Who: Dilandau Albatou, Howard Link, Allen Walker
Where Link and Allen's apartment
When: Genderswap week
Summary: Link isn't happy when his former girlfriend turns up after a nightmare, and Allen has a front row view
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Dilandau's filthy mouth



Dark. Alone. The door so tall and unyielding as he hammered his hands against it. The dank scent seeping from the very walls of the place, which no amount of disinfectant could hide.

The muffled screams.

Dilandau knew this place, knew it too well. The door would never budge, no matter how much he hit or screamed or cried out for mercy. He was left with the dark until one of Them decided he needed nourishment, or worse, that it was time to put him to use.

When the door opened it would be a moment of gut twisting suspense as he waited to see what the reason for finding him was. But even though the pain would be terrible, he'd been alone in the dark too long.

What if They forgot about him? What if They all died and he was left here alone, without light, without food, with only a pathetic pail of water? His nails were digging into the door now and his voice was shrill, but still the sounds from beyond the door faded, growing more distant, dying away, until there was nothing left but him and he was going to die and-

Dilandau bolted upright in his bed, cold sweat dripping from him and his throat raw from screaming out.

"Jichia" He muttered, half a prayer and half a curse, as he roughly wiped at his eyes. It was just a dream, nothing more. Nothing but a stupid memory of a place he'd left long ago which meant nothing.

But that didn't make the emptiness surrounding him any less fearful. This was what he hated about going to bed sober, he was far more likely to wake up before dawn, when everything was silent. It was shameful. Him, Dilandau Albatou, captain of the Dragonslayers, almost ready to piss his bed in fear because he was alone in the dark. He growled, his pink eyes narrowed dangerously, just daring his fears to come for him.

The darkness face Dilandau's challenge, and it was Dilandau who broke first, scrabbling out to find someone, somewhere to keep him company.

In the depths of the night, when the halves of his personality were closer, certain company seemed to make more sense than in the cold light of day.

Link turn awkwardly on his-... her mattress, trying her level best not to think too hard about how awkward certain... parts felt as the inspector moved. She couldn't lay on her stomach without having to shift uncomfortably every few minutes, trying to make up for the unfamiliar weight on her chest, and laying on her back was almost as troublesome. She'd had a difficult time getting to sleep properly since the reset, unable to deal with the seemingly constant pulling of her chest.

The apartment that Link and Allen shared was quite large. Two bedrooms meant that they could each have their own bed if they so chose... but anyone who knew Link knew better than to expect that. She'd dragged the spare mattress into the room that Allen had claimed, setting up something similar to her normal cot in the usual facility. The new location and experiment of the week did nothing to change her orders as issued by Central, and Link had no intention of putting them off as he had in the weeks past. That reason was no longer here, after all...

Link huffed a bit to herself, pushing those thoughts away and shoving her face into a pillow. Now wasn't the time for such things. She needed to try and sleep.

Allen could hear Link tossing and turning on his mattress. She couldn't understand why the inspector didn't just go and sleep in the other room. It would likely be more comfortable and Allen had promised not to run off again. Link had become a light sleeper anyways and would likely hear any escape attempts whether they were in the same room or not. Allen stared at Timcanpy through the dark wondering how the golem always seemed to get to sleep so easily. At the moment Tim was curled up next to Allen in the sheets, but that didn't mean that he couldn't sleep on just about anything including the Link's head. Link who kept moving around and making little angry noises which Allen concluded was what was keeping her up.

Allen couldn't blame not being able to sleep entirely on the inspector's shifting about. The events of the past week were still bothering Allen. Though the exorcist had been able to push them to the back of his mind they seemed to creep out again at night when there was nothing else to do but lay there and think. The persistent fever that Allen had developed wasn't helping either. "Can't sleep?" The exorcist asked hoping that Link wouldn't just snap again. The inspector had been very touchy since Celena had changed back into Dilandau. It was understandable that (s)he was upset but that didn't mean he had to take it out on everyone else all the time.

Any answer Link could have given was interrupted by the sound of the door being firmly kicked, followed by a metallic scraping at the lock. Dilandau had never been a patient man at the best of times, but now, with the darkness looming close, he didn't see the need to wait for someone to unlock the door, especially since he had a convenient wire taken out of one of those stupid pieces of girl clothes infesting the apartment that was apparently his.

The lock clicked after a few moments of careful scraping ad Dilandau barged in, scowling slightly at the inhabitants.

"I'm staying here tonight." Was his only justification for his actions.

Link was sitting up on her mattress when Dilandau forced his way in, one switchblade drawn (the inspector had taken to wearing at least one to bed long ago, and her altered anatomy wasn't going to change that) and ready to spring to her feet to face the intruder. Her guard didn't lower when she recognized him either, and it was with a scowl that she forced her way out of whatever partially asleep state she might've managed before speaking..

"Albatou, what the hell are you doing in here?!"

"Who said you could spend the night?!" Allen said glaring angrily at the new arrival. She had jumped up so fast that Tim was sent tumbling out of the bed and onto the floor flailing his tiny legs in the air. It seemed like there was no such thing anymore as a room being hers. There were always other people invading it. Normally she wouldn't mind if some one had a reason and wanted to spend the night, but it was Dilandau. The guy was always such a jerk and Tim didn't seem to like him much. Tim managed to right himself and flew to perch on Allen's shoulder baring his big pointy teeth.

Dilandau's face hardened at the lack of welcome. It jarred deeply with a part of him that had prompted him to come here, a memory lost in the cotton cloud of the last few weeks that remembered this place as a safety.

"I wasn't asking for permission." He stated, sauntering into the bedroom and baring his teeth back at Timcanpy. "I was informing you."

He eyed the two beds. How-no, Link was sitting on the mattress on the floor. There was something about how it was made that just screamed the Inspector. The military straightness of the sheets, of the way the mattress was perfectly squared with the walls. Dilandau approved, but was more concerned with how comfortable it would be. Completely ignoring the man, he flopped face first onto the mattress, very quickly discovering that it was still warm, quite comfortable and smelt vaguely of Link. That was... comforting. He writhed on the bed, working himself under the abandoned covers and settled himself on one side, curling round Link's now far fatter hips.

"Stop fussing like the women you are and sleep. I'm tired." He demanded.

Link jumped out from under the covers and off the mattress, face red in the dim light and blade still drawn. Had he really-? He'd just jumped into Link's bed! Flopped into her bed and attempted to curl around her as if it was the most natural thing in the world! It was embarrassing and unsettling and entirely unacceptable! ... But part of him remembered that this used to be Celena. This used to be someone who, while he still wouldn't be entirely comfortable with in this particular situation, might be able to get away with such actions.

"Stop fussing?! Get out of my bed!" Link yelled, ignorant of the odd way he moved beneath his sleeping shirt, a look of outrage focused on the boy in his bed.

Allen tried to stifle a laugh at Link. If Dilandau was just going to bother him then it wouldn't be so bad. The boy didn't seem to have any intention of even really talking to her. It was still annoying that he was in Allen's room, but this could at least be amusing. Allen grinned at the inspector and settled back into his own bed. "Well he has to sleep somewhere if he's staying here. Maybe you two should go sleep in your room." He said laughing to himself and wrapping an arm around Timcanpy.

Dilandau rolled over, ignoring the fussing from Link to look at Allen. He was torn between punching the bastard for daring to laugh at him and wondering if that could be manipulated to convince that idiot sparring partner of his that he was overreacting. Normally he would have sprung into a mixture of both, but he was still feeling the after effects of the dream.

"I'm not moving a damned millicosta. I'm comfortable. If you want to play with that body of yours, you leave." He stifled a yawn, sinuously stretching to look over at Link again.

"You didn't used to fuss like this." He muttered. He didn't remember, but he was damned sure of it.

"I don't want to sleep with him!" Link yelled at Allen, enraged, sheathing her switchblade with practised ease as she took up a solid stance next to her mattress, arms crossed over an ample chest. The inspector had no idea just how feminine the position made her look, but that wasn't what was important. What was important was this man. In her bed. This man who wasn't who he was supposed to be (as far as Link was concerned) and was making himself perfectly comfortable in Link's sleeping space!

Wheeling on the intruder in her bed, Link sputtered for a few moments before intelligible sound came out.

"I don't!-... You didn't-!... You're not Celena! Get out of my bed!"

Allen scowled at Dilandau's remark. "Just because that's what you would do doesn't mean I would." She grumbled sitting back up again. The boy seemed to be just making himself right at home. "This is my room you know! You're the one's intruding!"

Then Allen turned her attention back to Link. "He's your girlfriend do something about it!" She said pointing at Dilandau. Allen was starting to feel more than a little cranky and wasn't bothering to hold it back given the present company. The exorcist didn't want either of them there. Link was usually quiet at least but this time they were both being loud and Allen just wanted to get some sleep.

"Celena." Dilandau let out a dry chuckle, dragging an arm to cover his eyes. "I'm beginning to hate hearing that name." Too many people looked at him with disappointment or disgust since he'd come back. He couldn't see why, since from what he'd read his... parasite? Less valuable self? Whatever she was, she was insipid and irritatingly shallow. Reading what she'd written was incredibly discomfiting, but he'd forced himself to go though everything. All the posts. All the videos. All the idiots deciding to call her a friend because she was too weak to look after herself. All the confessions.

"You said nothing I did would make you think less of me." Dilandau shifted his arm to look up at Link with unreadable eyes.

"He is not not my girlfriend! What's wrong with you?!" Link yelled, glaring at Allen and only just barely holding back the urge to stomp her foot for emphasis.

She looked down at Dilandau for a moment, feeling almost guilty at that expression. It was so familiar to what he'd seen before, and on a nearly identical face. It pulled at his heart for a moment. He had said that, promised it to Celena, but this... he was not Celena. He wasn't! "You're not the person I made that promise to," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yes he is!" Allen yelled right back. "If you two are going to have a fight go do it in your room so I can sleep!" The exorcist did feel a little bad for the both of them. It had to be uncomfortable for the both of them to say the very least and Allen could sympathize with Dilandau to an extent. Their situations weren't exactly the same, but he knew what it was like to have some one else there that could take over do whatever they wanted. He would have said something to try and cheer him up but it was Dilandau. The guy was likely to just mock her for being weak or something like that rather than take any comfort from anything Allen could say. She would also prefer it if they took their bickering elsewhere. It wasn't likely to stop anytime soon unless Link gave up and either slept somewhere else or just accepted it.

"I'm not a girl." Dilandau growled at Allen, shifting his arm so he could look at the other. "You two are the girls here." That was part of the problem, wasn't it? That thought was tamped down as soon as it reared it's head. No, he didn't want that. Why would he want to be weak, be dependent on others, be helpless and useless and only defined by whatever man eventually chose to fuck him?

He realized then that he was gritting his jaw, his fists clenched tight enough that his nails were beginning to cut into his palms. He took a deep breath, loosening them with some effort and looked up again.

"I'm not going to molest you, Howard." He muttered up at Link. "Stop being a stubborn prick and come sleep." Those teats were unattractive on the other, he decided. Completely unbalanced and top heavy. Why would anyone want to fondle sacks of fat? At least his own hadn't been like that, if the lacy undergarments he'd found tucked into drawers were any indication. All he wanted was the closeness.

Link shot Allen a pointed stare. "You know quite well that that's not possible,Walker," he replied, not bothering to dignify Allen's first exclamation with a response.

"I have every right to be stubborn." Link frowned and rubbed at one temple with two fingers. She could feel a headache building and... had Dilandau just called him "Howard"? Dilandau had only ever called him "Crow" before, or just whatever rude word first escaped his filthy mouth. "Why can't you sleep in your own room?" she asked. She just wanted to try and get a few hours of sleep, however many of those were left in the night.

"Yeah. Why are you here?" Allen asked joining in on Link's questioning. She raised and eyebrow and crossed her arms waiting for an explanation. From what Allen knew of Dilandau it wasn't like him to just seek out company without wanting something from them.

This was just what Dilandau didn't want to have to deal with. Explaining. Admitting to his weakness. More likely than not, if he explained it would be spread around half the prisoners before sundown the next day. If he'd heard it about another person, he wouldn't have hesitated to laugh at them.

He groaned and pulled the blanket up further, covering him up to the eyes.

"Did that... woman I was ever give reasons why she came over?" He muttered at Link. "This is familiar, so I know she did. Did she ever say why she wanted to sleep near people?" He gave Link an incredibly pointed glare, hoping it was enough to make the stubborn idiot catch on and not actually make him say it out loud.

Link took on a contemplative expression, thinking back on the few times that Celena had come calling during the night. It was actually rather similar to this situation if she thought about it... though Celena did at least ask for permission. In a rush while practically shoving her way in the door, but permission nonetheless.

And with those memories came recollection of panicked explanations and frightened clinging. She'd had nightmares and was afraid. She didn't want to be alone... Link had never imagined that that trait would carry over to Dilandau. Then again, she'd never imagined that Celena would change back into the boy before her either...

She was quiet for a few moments before sighing heavily. "... You have no where else to go?"

Allen watched the exchange between the other two occupants of the room and got the feeling that she was missing part of the picture. Link seemed to know what was going on so Allen decided that it had to be a personal matter. It had to be something important since Link was actually considering letting him stay. This wasn't the sort of thing the inspector was prone to doing. Allen was sure it had to be breaking some obscure protocol or another that Link would know. She didn't feel like she should be prying if it was really something that Dilandau didn't want to talk about. So Allen just sighed and waited to see what would happen. Any objections she had would just be ignored at this point anyways.

"No." Dilandau answered quickly. Technically, it wasn't true, since Sado had never complained about him stumbling in at all hours while in the other facility. But Sado was being all moody from his girl-hormones and Dilandau wasn't quite sure where the boy had settled. Why wander round in the dark outside when there was a convenient person in the apartment opposite?

"Will you just lie down and stop making faces?" DIlandau asked, a definite whine edging his voice. He knew there was no way he'd be nightmare free unless he was touching someone.

Link frowned again and let out a heavy sigh. She couldn't recall any specific protocol to cite in denying Dilandau other than her general distaste at the idea of sharing her bed with another man (because the inspector would be damned before actually thinking of herself as a woman), but that was quite likely because she was very, very tired. Of course, the biblical "a man shall not lie with a man" argument could be used, but she doubted that would get her anywhere with her current situation and audience. Technicalities would be brought up and the fighting would begin. Link just didn't have the motivation to bicker about this all night.

A few hours wouldn't kill her. The mattress was big enough to leave each of them plenty of room.

"... Walker, do you object to him spending one night?" she asked, turning her attention to the exorcist on the bed. This was Allen's bedroom technically. It would be very rude to give Dilandau any sort of permission without consulting the boy... girl first.

Allen laid back down and turned so that her back was to the other two. "So long as you're quiet I don't care what you do." She grumbled pulling the sheets up over herself. She knew that this argument could go on all night if she said no and she would rather get some sleep than fight with Dilandau. Allen closed her eyes and decided to just ignore the two people that had invaded her room and tried to get to sleep.

Dilandau glanced over at Allen, nodding briefly in acknowledgment. Maybe the noble brat wasn't too bad. Or, at least, that noble streak was manipulable. He scooted over on the mattress, lifting the covers off expectantly.

Link sighed again and dropped her arms from where they were crossed over her chest, looking vaguely defeated. She was very tired, and one night wouldn't hurt anything. They would sleep, Dilandau would go, and Link could pretend like none of this had ever happened. With Allen's permission given Link moved back over towards the mattress to lie down, settling as far over on the side of the bed opposite Dilandau as possible before pulling the blankets over himself.

Dilandau waited for Link to settle and immediately scooted over, wrapping his arm around Link's waist and resting his head on his shoulder. Much better. He knew, now, with the sound of a beating heart under his ear, that he'd have a night free of those particular dreams. He really ought to start seducing people again so he didn't have to come up with these excuses. But for now, this would be fine.

Link had only just begun to relax on the mattress when she felt an arm around her waist, and she started so hard that were it not for said arm she might've rolled right off the edge of the mattress. "What are you doing?" she asked, stiffening immediately, her voice rising up an octave from where it had settled for the week. "Get off me."

"No." Dilandau muttered, stiffening his arm against the wriggling. He had no intention of letting his pillow escape. "Stop moving, you're keeping me awake."

"I'm keeping you-?... Let go of me!" Link attempted to sit up part way, pushing at the arm around her waist. "I agreed to let you sleep here. I never said you could touch me. Get on your side!"

"Why do you think I'm here?" Dilandau snapped back, yanking Link back down. "Did she stick to her side? You know what you're agreeing to!"

The inspector went red in the face. She remembered Celena's visits, and the girl didn't have any problem with sticking to Link's side until her nightmare-induced tremors had passed (usually longer), and now that the problem had transferred to Dilandau... She felt a bit guilty, but she still didn't want him to touch her!

"Do you have to cling? Can't you just... hold onto my arm or something?"

"..." Dilandau glared at a spot on the wall, his face pinching. He didn't want to admit it. He really didn't. Especially not with Allen here. He turned, glaring terribly at the other bed.

"If you repeat any of what's happened tonight, I'll slaughter your friends and eat that little pet of yours." He warned. It was with a huff he turned back, muttering as lowly as he could to Link.

"If I don't hear a heartbeat, I won't know you're alive when I'm asleep, and I'll just have the dreams again." He explained, not quite looking Link in the eyes.

Link frowned deeply. She understood the logic of it (as lacking in logic as dreams could be). Dilandau wasn't the sort of person who would cling needlessly, especially not to her. It was a sign of weakness, something he knew the other would normally never permit.

"... We don't speak of this again," she said quietly, drawing in a deep breath, though unable to quite shake that stiff posture.

I didn't matter. Either way, she wasn't getting any sleep tonight. At least this way she'd save herself the headache of a fight.

"You couldn't do either if you wanted to! And stop threatening me you jerk! If you have such a problem then leave!!" Allen yelled with his back still turned to the boy. He didn't want to get up again. Instead he just tightened his grip on his sheets and pulled them closer to himself. He felt a little bad for Dilandau after hearing his explanation, but it was late and Allen was more annoyed with him than anything else.

"Could if I had my guymelef." Dilandau muttered in Allen's direction. He met Link's eyes, serious as he could be. "Never again. This is one off." He was seriously going to have to get a convenient bed partner he could generously offer to let stay with him. This had just been hassle. With one last huff he settled himself down again, leaning against Link's soft chest and closing his eyes.

Link listened to the exchange with some exasperation. He was a woman, sharing a bed with another man, and said man had his head on her breasts! The entire situation was completely unacceptable and totally inappropriate... but there was nothing to be done now. She'd already agreed and it was the only way to get any peace at the moment. At least two of the three of them could get some sleep.

She was thankful Inspector Rouvelier wasn't around to see this.