D.GRAY-MAN | systematic shutdown {lavi/lenalee}
TITLE. systematic shutdown
FANDOM. D.Gray-Man.
PAIRING. Lavi/Lenalee.
PROMPT. "Your hair was long when we first met." -- peekaydee
RATING. K+.
NOTES. I love. This pairing. So much. *__*
He is fifteen when they come up with the plan. His name is Deke, and they’ve been living in a tent near the outskirts of Cairo. Bookman is sitting at his desk with his pensive frown. Deke steps inside and brushes sand off his clothes.
“I believe it is time we join the war,” Bookman says. Deke grunts. “Which side should we fight for?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if one of us were on either side,” Deke murmurs. “Then we would have the whole story.”
Bookman smiles at him in an objective, yet approving way. “Excellent. Who will you join?”
“The Noah,” Deke replies, and is already threading together another alias. “I could use a little bit of excitement.”
--
Her name is Lenalee Lee; she is sixteen and Rhode is fiddling with her hair. Her hands are limp on the armrests. Allen Walker is a furious mess across from them, his arm red, throbbing, and cursed. Lavi memorizes their weapons and their heights, how Lenalee’s boots glow and what Allen’s one eye can do. He jots down notes in his head, and watches the shine of Lenalee’s hair, the pale skin of her collarbone exposed by the dress.
Allen is looking at him like he’s done something wrong. “You aren’t Akuma,” he yells, “and you aren’t a Noah, either! Why are you fighting for them?”
Rhode answers for him, with that silly school girl crush in her voice and her lips curling back over her teeth. “He doesn’t fight for anyone, Allen-kun,” she breathes. “He doesn’t even have a heart.”
Lavi watches the nails sink into Allen’s skin, glances at Lenalee’s pretty-doll face, and doesn’t feel a thing.
--
Deke gets into the Noah easily. He is Rhode’s favourite toy, the only one who’ll play poker with Tyki and not cheat, the Earl’s advisor, Cyril’s help in the kitchen, Skin’s sparring partner and Jasdevi’s source of banter. He is cool and calm. He makes it perfectly clear what his intentions are.
“I won’t fight for you,” he tells a room full of Akuma. They bustle and hiss. Tyki looks on, interested, at the back. “But I won’t fight you, either. I’m just here to record history.”
“How do we know you won’t feed any information you get to your friend on the Exorcists' side?” David asks. Deke’s first impression is he wears too much make up. Skin cracks his knuckles by the entrance.
“Easy,” Deke goes, “I’m objective. I’m a Bookman. I don’t care who wins or loses. I’m just here to make sure the rest of the world knows how it happened.”
Rhode orders him to play with her that very night, and Deke-now-Lavi learns how to drink tea.
--
He runs into Lenalee at the market, once. She doesn’t know who he is - she’d been unconscious the entire time - so her smile is bright and kind when she catches him watching her. Their groceries end up scattered all over the ground not minutes later.
“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry.” She fumbles to pick up her things. Lavi looks down at the top of her head - she is delicate and strong underneath all the lace and silk. She isn’t wearing her exorcist uniform, today. He can see her collarbone again.
“Don’t worry about it,” he goes, calmly, and bends down to grab a loaf of bread. His fingers brush her wrist, maybe by accident, maybe on purpose. Her skin is soft, unlike Rhode’s, and her eyes are purple. How he knows this, he can’t figure out.
She’s biting her lip when she looks at him. “I broke your eggs.”
He almost snorts. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not!” She shakes her head and gets to her feet, smoothing out her dress. Her waist is impossibly tiny. When she grabs his hand, he forgets what breathing is. “C’mon! I’ll buy you some new ones.”
“Uh,” he goes, and gets dragged down the street by a girl half his size in thigh high boots.
--
“Laviiiii,” Rhode drawls. “I’m bored, and Lulubelle is too vain to let me play with her hair.”
Lavi looks up from his book, ink smudges on his fingers. The pen in his hand taps against the tabletop almost impatiently. “Why don’t you just ask Tyki to find you a human girl? They tend to like dressing up.”
Rhode beams at him. It isn’t anything less than malicious. “Great idea!”
The next day, they are searching for Miranda Lotto. Instead, they find Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee.
--
She talks a lot, he’s noticed. About everything. Her brother, her friends, what the weather’s like, her favourite stores, how annoying her boss can be, a boy named Kanda, a man named Leverrier - she tenses here, and her eyes go sad, and he is a Bookman, he’s meant to be observant, so this doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t -, how hard her job can be, how much she hates her uniform skirt, how much she loves making coffee.
Never about the scars on her wrists, though. Never about those.
He listens the whole time, and when she hands him the carton and they’re about to go their separate ways, he says, “My name is Lavi.”
“Lenalee,” she goes, blinding, like the sun, with her perfect teeth and pink lips and long eyelashes. “Lenalee Lee.”
“I know,” is his reply, and then he’s gone.
--
The next time he sees her, her hair is short and her eyes are furious, and she looks at him so betrayed he suddenly wishes he were on the other side. He knows about her fight with the Level Three. He knows she won, and he knows she wishes she hadn’t, and he knows that Allen Walker is out there somewhere, stitching himself back together slowly. Heroes didn’t die as easily as Tyki and Rhode seemed to think. He’d read enough stories to know that.
Jasdevi and the vampire-like exorcist fight, and Lavi is put in charge of her.
“Why,” she asks, and that’s all she says. He sighs.
“I’m a Bookman,” he repeats, because he’s told this story - excuse, maybe - a thousand times before, to all the girls before her. “I’m objective -”
“No,” she interrupts, arms wrapped around her waist, eyes level with his. Her legs are bandaged and her skin is scratched and she’s something he’s never encountered before. “Why did you bother to tell me your name, if you knew you were on the wrong side?”
“… I don’t know,” he says, and then the world crumples.
--
Rhode tries to make him fight for her, starts messing with his head when Allen shows up and Lenalee is still in the bubble. Her illusions all turn into Lenalee and Deke, and he doesn’t know why either of them matter that much.
“I’m what you should be,” Deke is snarling, with his hand at his throat. Behind him, Lenalee is sneering. In the real world, Lenalee is screaming.
“I’m just a girl,” Girl-who-is-not-Lenalee goes, and Lavi gets it, he does. He shouldn’t know why this girl isn’t the real-girl. He shouldn’t know that real-doll-girl at all. “Why do you care so much?”
Lavi doesn't answer, but when he kills Deke, Lenalee fades, and he wakes up deciding he is no long working for the Noah.
--
He gets interrogated a lot, and a robot occasionally pops up outside his room sometimes, but the Order isn’t bad. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to brush off the glares and disapproving looks. He’s objective. He’s over it.
“How’re you holding up?”
She’s standing on the other side of the hall, smiling at him. Her hair is short and her skin is pale, and she’s not looking at him with anything but gentleness. He closes the door to his room and shrugs. “I’m fine.”
“Really?” She cocks her head at him. “Well, that’s good. People here can be a little… um… harsh, sometimes.”
He looks at her, doesn’t reply. He knows this already. He knows a lot more than she does. He says, “Your hair was long when we first met,” and doesn’t know why.
Her smile softens even more, if possible, and she steps towards him. “Things change, you know.”
“Yeah.” His heart is somewhere in his throat and when he went got one he can't remember, but it’s here now and so is she. “Yeah, they do.”
Her fingers are soft, hesitant, on his palm. “I’d like to start over, if you don’t mind. My name’s Lenalee Lee.”
When he shakes her hand, they’re a perfect fit. “My name’s Lavi,” he replies and grins wider than he can ever remember doing. Something in her eyes sparks, flickers, brightens. “It’s nice to meet you, Lenalee.”
He likes saying her name, and if the sight tremor that races through her is any indication, she likes it, too.
FANDOM. D.Gray-Man.
PAIRING. Lavi/Lenalee.
PROMPT. "Your hair was long when we first met." -- peekaydee
RATING. K+.
NOTES. I love. This pairing. So much. *__*
He is fifteen when they come up with the plan. His name is Deke, and they’ve been living in a tent near the outskirts of Cairo. Bookman is sitting at his desk with his pensive frown. Deke steps inside and brushes sand off his clothes.
“I believe it is time we join the war,” Bookman says. Deke grunts. “Which side should we fight for?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if one of us were on either side,” Deke murmurs. “Then we would have the whole story.”
Bookman smiles at him in an objective, yet approving way. “Excellent. Who will you join?”
“The Noah,” Deke replies, and is already threading together another alias. “I could use a little bit of excitement.”
--
Her name is Lenalee Lee; she is sixteen and Rhode is fiddling with her hair. Her hands are limp on the armrests. Allen Walker is a furious mess across from them, his arm red, throbbing, and cursed. Lavi memorizes their weapons and their heights, how Lenalee’s boots glow and what Allen’s one eye can do. He jots down notes in his head, and watches the shine of Lenalee’s hair, the pale skin of her collarbone exposed by the dress.
Allen is looking at him like he’s done something wrong. “You aren’t Akuma,” he yells, “and you aren’t a Noah, either! Why are you fighting for them?”
Rhode answers for him, with that silly school girl crush in her voice and her lips curling back over her teeth. “He doesn’t fight for anyone, Allen-kun,” she breathes. “He doesn’t even have a heart.”
Lavi watches the nails sink into Allen’s skin, glances at Lenalee’s pretty-doll face, and doesn’t feel a thing.
--
Deke gets into the Noah easily. He is Rhode’s favourite toy, the only one who’ll play poker with Tyki and not cheat, the Earl’s advisor, Cyril’s help in the kitchen, Skin’s sparring partner and Jasdevi’s source of banter. He is cool and calm. He makes it perfectly clear what his intentions are.
“I won’t fight for you,” he tells a room full of Akuma. They bustle and hiss. Tyki looks on, interested, at the back. “But I won’t fight you, either. I’m just here to record history.”
“How do we know you won’t feed any information you get to your friend on the Exorcists' side?” David asks. Deke’s first impression is he wears too much make up. Skin cracks his knuckles by the entrance.
“Easy,” Deke goes, “I’m objective. I’m a Bookman. I don’t care who wins or loses. I’m just here to make sure the rest of the world knows how it happened.”
Rhode orders him to play with her that very night, and Deke-now-Lavi learns how to drink tea.
--
He runs into Lenalee at the market, once. She doesn’t know who he is - she’d been unconscious the entire time - so her smile is bright and kind when she catches him watching her. Their groceries end up scattered all over the ground not minutes later.
“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry.” She fumbles to pick up her things. Lavi looks down at the top of her head - she is delicate and strong underneath all the lace and silk. She isn’t wearing her exorcist uniform, today. He can see her collarbone again.
“Don’t worry about it,” he goes, calmly, and bends down to grab a loaf of bread. His fingers brush her wrist, maybe by accident, maybe on purpose. Her skin is soft, unlike Rhode’s, and her eyes are purple. How he knows this, he can’t figure out.
She’s biting her lip when she looks at him. “I broke your eggs.”
He almost snorts. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not!” She shakes her head and gets to her feet, smoothing out her dress. Her waist is impossibly tiny. When she grabs his hand, he forgets what breathing is. “C’mon! I’ll buy you some new ones.”
“Uh,” he goes, and gets dragged down the street by a girl half his size in thigh high boots.
--
“Laviiiii,” Rhode drawls. “I’m bored, and Lulubelle is too vain to let me play with her hair.”
Lavi looks up from his book, ink smudges on his fingers. The pen in his hand taps against the tabletop almost impatiently. “Why don’t you just ask Tyki to find you a human girl? They tend to like dressing up.”
Rhode beams at him. It isn’t anything less than malicious. “Great idea!”
The next day, they are searching for Miranda Lotto. Instead, they find Allen Walker and Lenalee Lee.
--
She talks a lot, he’s noticed. About everything. Her brother, her friends, what the weather’s like, her favourite stores, how annoying her boss can be, a boy named Kanda, a man named Leverrier - she tenses here, and her eyes go sad, and he is a Bookman, he’s meant to be observant, so this doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t -, how hard her job can be, how much she hates her uniform skirt, how much she loves making coffee.
Never about the scars on her wrists, though. Never about those.
He listens the whole time, and when she hands him the carton and they’re about to go their separate ways, he says, “My name is Lavi.”
“Lenalee,” she goes, blinding, like the sun, with her perfect teeth and pink lips and long eyelashes. “Lenalee Lee.”
“I know,” is his reply, and then he’s gone.
--
The next time he sees her, her hair is short and her eyes are furious, and she looks at him so betrayed he suddenly wishes he were on the other side. He knows about her fight with the Level Three. He knows she won, and he knows she wishes she hadn’t, and he knows that Allen Walker is out there somewhere, stitching himself back together slowly. Heroes didn’t die as easily as Tyki and Rhode seemed to think. He’d read enough stories to know that.
Jasdevi and the vampire-like exorcist fight, and Lavi is put in charge of her.
“Why,” she asks, and that’s all she says. He sighs.
“I’m a Bookman,” he repeats, because he’s told this story - excuse, maybe - a thousand times before, to all the girls before her. “I’m objective -”
“No,” she interrupts, arms wrapped around her waist, eyes level with his. Her legs are bandaged and her skin is scratched and she’s something he’s never encountered before. “Why did you bother to tell me your name, if you knew you were on the wrong side?”
“… I don’t know,” he says, and then the world crumples.
--
Rhode tries to make him fight for her, starts messing with his head when Allen shows up and Lenalee is still in the bubble. Her illusions all turn into Lenalee and Deke, and he doesn’t know why either of them matter that much.
“I’m what you should be,” Deke is snarling, with his hand at his throat. Behind him, Lenalee is sneering. In the real world, Lenalee is screaming.
“I’m just a girl,” Girl-who-is-not-Lenalee goes, and Lavi gets it, he does. He shouldn’t know why this girl isn’t the real-girl. He shouldn’t know that real-doll-girl at all. “Why do you care so much?”
Lavi doesn't answer, but when he kills Deke, Lenalee fades, and he wakes up deciding he is no long working for the Noah.
--
He gets interrogated a lot, and a robot occasionally pops up outside his room sometimes, but the Order isn’t bad. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to brush off the glares and disapproving looks. He’s objective. He’s over it.
“How’re you holding up?”
She’s standing on the other side of the hall, smiling at him. Her hair is short and her skin is pale, and she’s not looking at him with anything but gentleness. He closes the door to his room and shrugs. “I’m fine.”
“Really?” She cocks her head at him. “Well, that’s good. People here can be a little… um… harsh, sometimes.”
He looks at her, doesn’t reply. He knows this already. He knows a lot more than she does. He says, “Your hair was long when we first met,” and doesn’t know why.
Her smile softens even more, if possible, and she steps towards him. “Things change, you know.”
“Yeah.” His heart is somewhere in his throat and when he went got one he can't remember, but it’s here now and so is she. “Yeah, they do.”
Her fingers are soft, hesitant, on his palm. “I’d like to start over, if you don’t mind. My name’s Lenalee Lee.”
When he shakes her hand, they’re a perfect fit. “My name’s Lavi,” he replies and grins wider than he can ever remember doing. Something in her eyes sparks, flickers, brightens. “It’s nice to meet you, Lenalee.”
He likes saying her name, and if the sight tremor that races through her is any indication, she likes it, too.