more fanfic...
Title: Fade (Chapter 9/14-15?... probably 15)
Author: Yurffles
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: AllenxLenalee, LavixLenalee
Disclaimer: Not my characters, but the fic idea is mine. =)
Summary: After the Millennium Earl has been defeated, the Exorcists must choose new paths for their lives. This fic is set three years after the start of the series, predicts the success of the Exorcists, and is in line with plot points revealed up to chapter 173 in the manga.
Notes: So, I spent the weekend at an anime convention. Anime conventions always inspire me to do anime-related things, like work on fanfics. =) Plus I’m totally exhausted, so it really makes me less inclined to go through the chapters many, many, many times and nitpick at word choice. (Seriously, this last step takes me a loooooong time. >.>)
As always, all chapters can be found [in my memories]
Chapter 9: Needs (Part 1)
As she watched Allen leave, Lenalee couldn’t help but let out a disappointed sigh. Staring at his retreating back was something that caused painful emotions to surface. She remembered the first time she had been left staring at his back; it was when she had briefly lost the ability to synchronize with her Innocence. Years had passed since that time, and at this point, she felt as if nothing had changed. He was always going to move foreword, whether or not she was there to follow.
She chided herself for being overdramatic, although she didn’t blame herself for getting a little depressed whenever Allen left on a mission.
“Hey, are you okay?” Lavi asked her from beside her.
Her attention snapped to the red-headed young man next to her. She found it slightly disconcerting that she hadn’t even noticed that Lavi had left his seat, but she recovered from her initial surprise easily. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, turning to him and flashing him the brightest smile she could muster. She kept the cheerful expression frozen on her face as she continued speaking. “I’m going to head back to my room. I’m a little tired.”
“Are you sure?” Lavi pressed.
“She said she was fine,” Kanda defended her gruffly. “Let her be.”
Lenalee didn’t hear anything else as she left the room. Numbly, she made her way back to bedroom and crawled into bed. Once she felt certain that she had complete privacy, she let the tears that she had been holding back fall, feeling the fat, warm droplets tracing the contour of her cheeks.
Why was she even crying? She understood that Allen needed to help others. She knew it was a key part of his personality, and she loved the kindness of his soul. If she was aware of this dominant characteristic, and she admired him for it, why was she hurt when it displayed itself? She simply couldn’t make sense of it.
Earlier today, in the courtyard, she had been positive that she had finally been getting somewhere with Allen, and that he had finally realized she needed him to be around more often and that she needed to feel as if she were important to him. But within the same afternoon, that feeling of understanding was shattered, as he again pushed aside her feelings.
Thinking in such a negative manner made Lenalee feel like a selfish child. He obviously cared for her and tried to make it clear whenever he was around. And she knew that she loved him, too, or else his constant departures wouldn’t affect her the way they did. It really wasn’t a question of affection…
“I wonder,” she whispered softly to herself, “if he can love me the way I need to be loved.” It was just a random idea that had been running through her head recently. However, audibly stating it made the possibility seem more real and tangible, and she felt something inside her crumple. She hadn’t felt this weak and needy since before her brother had entered the Black Order.
With time, Lenalee’s tears stopped; however, she couldn’t muster the energy to get out of bed. Lying alone in her bed, she asked herself questions that she couldn’t possibly answer. It made her feel miserable and helpless. She didn’t know how long she was lost in her own dark thoughts, but a knock at her door interrupted her solitude.
She chose to ignore it, but the person at the other side of her door was rather insistent, the knocks becoming more frequent and louder. Giving in, she finally called, “I’m coming!” When she wrenched the door open, she was surprised to see Lavi on the other side. He had a smile plastered on his face.
“Why did it take you so long to answer?” he asked. The seriousness his voice contrasted with the pleasant smile, which flustered Lenalee as she tried to process the contradictory expressions.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, I was taking a nap… I have this headache,” she finished vaguely. Even as she told the lie, she winced at how flimsy it sounded and how thin her voice was. Instinctively, her hands curled around the cuff of her sleeve, fingers playing nervously at the edge of the cloth. When she saw Lavi’s attention focus on her hands, she remembered Allen had told her she tended to fidget when she was nervous and forced her fingers to relax.
Lavi’s smile dropped off of his face as he focused his gaze on her face. The way he was looking made her feel too transparent, and she just had to stop him from looking at her like that and from figuring out just how upset she was.
“If there wasn’t anything you really needed, I think I’m going to go lie down again until I feel better.” She moved to shut the door, but his reflexes were quicker than her actions. Before she could get the door closed he had wedged his cast-enclosed leg into the space between the door and the door frame.
He shot her a look, as if daring her to close the door on his hurt leg, which she was sure he knew that she wouldn’t. Without giving it a second thought, she relented, opened the door, flicked on the light, and invited him in. “What is it, Lavi?”
“You didn’t look okay,” he told her simply, as he entered her room and shut the door behind him. “I would have been here to check on you earlier, but I had to get rid of Yu first.”
“Oh,” she replied. She knew her response was short and unsatisfying, but she didn’t want to say anything else, not until she was sure she was ready to share her emotions.
“I meant what I said that night you came to talk to me before you and Allen got together. I’m willing to talk to you whenever you need someone to talk to. I’ll gladly lend a sympathetic ear. Please, don’t bottle up your emotions.”
He was saying everything she wanted to hear as if he were psychic, but Lenalee chose not to take the bait. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she said, taking a seat on her bed. “I really am fine.” She forced the corners of her mouth to turn up and flashed him a thumbs up.
“I can make myself smile when I don’t want to, too,” Lavi told her, taking a seat next to her and resting his crutches at the foot of her bed. “Look, I’m just trying to help.” He scratched his head and looked confused. “I don’t know how to put this delicately, so I’ll just be blunt with you. I can tell that you were crying. I can tell you still want to cry. I see that you get depressed whenever he leaves.”
“That’s great,” Lenalee said, not bothering to deny any of his statements. “But what’s talking about it going to help?”
“Maybe another mind can help you think of a way to get through to Allen. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the two of you are crazy about each other. It’s just that you need more of his time and affection. It’s true that he hasn’t been very mindful of your needs. But on the flip side, you have been overly cautious of his. If it’s not clear to him that there’s a problem, how can you expect things to get better?”
“But I have told him,” Lenalee said before she could stop herself. And then she grew silent.
“And what have you told him,” Lavi prodded, waving a hand encouragingly.
“I’m sorry,” she said after an awkward pause. “I just don’t think that it’s right to discuss matters concerning Allen’s private life in a one sided manner.”
“Don’t you care about right or fair, you should focus on what you’re feeling. Normal girls have girl friends to talk to. I know that I’m not a girl, but I am a friend. I’ll fill the role the best that I can … if you’ll let me. Or, you know, you could always discuss your feelings with Komui.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Lenalee exclaimed, resisting the urge to hit him over the head with her pillow. “He’s the last person I’d tell.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that to you. But seriously, why don’t you give talking things out a try?”
Lenalee felt her desire for solitude crumble, as she considered Lavi’s offer. “Okay,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “But I’m counting on you to keep everything I tell you in the strictest of confidence.”
“Of course,” Lavi responded. “You can count on me.” He raised a hand and held out a pinky expectantly to her. She matched his gesture and joined their pinkies together in an unspoken bond and promise.
“So,” Lavi started. “Does Allen really understand how often he’s leaving on these missions?”
“Doesn’t he have to?” Lenalee asked. “He’s here for a day, gone for two, here for three, gone for four…”
“You know Allen feels more for Akuma than either you or I ever could. He has seen the soul of every Akuma he has come in contact with. I’ve only seen one, and that was enough for me.”
“I understand that, and so I try not to fault him for that. I really try to be lenient,” Lenalee attempted to explain her position.
“But you do so at the expense of your emotional well-being,” Lavi countered. “You suppress what you’re thinking and feeling, which isn’t fair to either of you. I mean, you obviously don’t get out what you’re feeling, which results in you begrudging him for getting everything he wants. Even if you don’t think that you’re begrudging him, I can assure you that you are subconsciously.”
“I think he knows. Today he asked if I was lonely, and then he apologized. That doesn’t exactly sound like a guy who doesn’t know what I’m feeling.”
“How did you reply? Did you just brush it off, or did you tell him that you were lonely and specify why you feel the way you do.”
Lenalee thought back to the conversation. “I … think I told him ‘maybe’.”
"'Maybe' is not a definite affirmative. You should try to explain it clearly, like how you were breaking down his days at headquarters and away form headquarters."
"I've told him before," Lenalee said softly. "Just today, I thought I was getting through to him."
"What did you guys talk about?" Lavi asked.
Lenalee hesitated. It was the first time she was about to discuss her personal life with someone else, and she still felt a little strange about it. However, she had always wanted someone to confide in, and Lavi was offering himself to be that confidant. Coming to the decision that she truly trusted Lavi, she loosened the lock on her emotions decided that it would be best to be completely honest. "After he apologized for making me lonely, he tried to explain how the civilians and Akumas alike needed him. And I understand; I've always understood that part about him… So why is it so difficult when he leaves?"
"Sometimes we aren't aware of things that we need right away," Lavi told her. "Compromises can be made and should be made in any good relationship, though."
Lavi was being so supportive, and Lenalee really appreciated his efforts. However, she just couldn't get something that happened today out of her mind. "I told him that I needed him today, and he still left," she said softly. The tears welled up in her eyes again, and she drew her knees in close to her body and rested her forehead on them. The last thing she needed was for him to see her crying.
From next to her, Lenalee heard a heavy sigh, and the next thing she knew, a warm arm pulled her in for a brief but comforting hug. "I'm sorry that you're going through painful times, but you need to talk to him. You really need to be honest with him about what you're feeling."
"But I can't!” Lenalee cried out, her voice breaking with emotion. Taking a breath, she continued with wide, piteous eyes. “I can't limit his freedom. He needs it, and I won’t be the one to take it from him. With the way I was brought to the Order…” she trailed off, as she recalled painful memories about how her own liberty had been snatched from her, when she had first entered the Order. Terror bubbled through her as she remembered the feel of thick restraints on her wrists… and of Leverrier’s awful presence looming over her. When she tried to speak, her voice failed her. After pausing momentarily to collect herself, she returned back to the original topic. “I just can’t be that person," she stated, feeling all of her energy drain out of her.
Sympathy flickered in Lavi’s eye, and his features softened. She could tell he knew what she was referring to. He hesitated, as if he knew he needed to tread carefully around her emotions. Finally, he said, "What about your needs? Don't be unfair to yourself. Like I've told you before, it's okay to be selfish sometimes. This is one of the times you should definitely be selfish."
What Lavi was saying made perfect sense, and Lenalee wondered if he had always been so logical. "I guess you're right," she relented. With a deep breath, she asked, "Do you really think we'll be able to come to some sort of a compromise?" She lifted her head so she could look at him and make sure he wasn't lying to her.
"Honestly?" he asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know, but it's worth a try, isn't it?"
He winked at her, and she felt something in her heart lighten. "You're right," she said, managing a watery smile. Drying her eyes and taking a few deep breaths calmed her frayed emotions. "I was just a little upset already and was making things worse in my head. Once Allen and I get the chance to talk, things will be better."
"Good girl," Lavi said, patting her on the head like an obedient puppy.
Lenalee couldn't help but giggle at his gesture. "Did you know that nii-san used to do that a lot?" she asked.
“Ehh, really?" Lavi asked, looking interested.
"Yeah!" Lenalee said, perking up. "When he first came here, I needed a lot of reassurance and a lot of cheering up. It… just felt really familiar."
"Well I'm glad to have helped." Lavi paused and scratched his head. "I only did it, because you seemed sort of like a child then."
"Hey!" Lenalee cried, grabbing a pillow and smacking him lightly with it. "You're only a couple of years older than me."
"But!" Lavi exclaimed in a comically exaggerated manner. "I have more than a couple years of wisdom on you."
He looked and sounded so ridiculous that Lenalee couldn't help but laugh at him. Torrents of giggles escaped her, and it felt wonderful. She hadn’t felt so lighthearted and at ease for as long as she could remember. When she finally managed to stop laughing, she was short of breath, and her side hurt. "Thank you, Lavi," she told him, genuinely glad the other boy stopped by. "That's the hardest I've laughed in a while."
"It's good to see a smile on your face," he told her. "And with that, I should probably get out of your hair. I'm sure Allen will be back soon, and the two of you will have plenty of things to discuss."
"Yeah," Lenalee said, her mood sobering slightly. "I'm sure we will. But thank you for this, really."
"I'm just trying to be a good friend," Lavi said, grabbing his crutches and heading for the door.
Lenalee followed him, her attention drawn to his crutches. "Hey, you get rid of your cast soon, don't you?"
"In five days!" Lavi said, looking back at her with a smile. "I'm a bit bummed that I've had to have on for nearly eight weeks, but the time passed more quickly than I had imagined."
"I'd like to be there with you when you get if off … that is if you want some company," she offered, opening the door for him.
"Yeah, that'd be nice of you," he said, his grin widening. He turned around a looked down the hallway to his left. "Wow," he commented, "My timing is perfect."
Lenalee followed his gaze and saw that Allen was coming down the hall. As he neared her door, she waved. "Allen, come on in."
"I guess I really will take my leave now," Lavi said. "Lenalee. General Beansprout." He nodded with mock formality before heading on his way.
"It's ALLEN," Allen muttered through gritted teeth, as he shot Lavi an annoyed look.
As the red-headed boy retreated, he sent a wave back but didn't turn around.
"Come on in," Lenalee offered, inviting Allen in once more. For just a moment, the white-haired boy didn't move. A ripple of disquiet spread through Lenalee, as she caught a glimpse of an unaccustomed scowl on Allen’s face. His narrowed eyes were focused on the path Lavi had taken.
TBC
Is some drama about to start? Only time will tell… =D
Thanks to everyone who’s still reading… m(_______)m
I’ll keep on doing my best!
Author: Yurffles
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: AllenxLenalee, LavixLenalee
Disclaimer: Not my characters, but the fic idea is mine. =)
Summary: After the Millennium Earl has been defeated, the Exorcists must choose new paths for their lives. This fic is set three years after the start of the series, predicts the success of the Exorcists, and is in line with plot points revealed up to chapter 173 in the manga.
Notes: So, I spent the weekend at an anime convention. Anime conventions always inspire me to do anime-related things, like work on fanfics. =) Plus I’m totally exhausted, so it really makes me less inclined to go through the chapters many, many, many times and nitpick at word choice. (Seriously, this last step takes me a loooooong time. >.>)
As always, all chapters can be found [in my memories]
Chapter 9: Needs (Part 1)
As she watched Allen leave, Lenalee couldn’t help but let out a disappointed sigh. Staring at his retreating back was something that caused painful emotions to surface. She remembered the first time she had been left staring at his back; it was when she had briefly lost the ability to synchronize with her Innocence. Years had passed since that time, and at this point, she felt as if nothing had changed. He was always going to move foreword, whether or not she was there to follow.
She chided herself for being overdramatic, although she didn’t blame herself for getting a little depressed whenever Allen left on a mission.
“Hey, are you okay?” Lavi asked her from beside her.
Her attention snapped to the red-headed young man next to her. She found it slightly disconcerting that she hadn’t even noticed that Lavi had left his seat, but she recovered from her initial surprise easily. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, turning to him and flashing him the brightest smile she could muster. She kept the cheerful expression frozen on her face as she continued speaking. “I’m going to head back to my room. I’m a little tired.”
“Are you sure?” Lavi pressed.
“She said she was fine,” Kanda defended her gruffly. “Let her be.”
Lenalee didn’t hear anything else as she left the room. Numbly, she made her way back to bedroom and crawled into bed. Once she felt certain that she had complete privacy, she let the tears that she had been holding back fall, feeling the fat, warm droplets tracing the contour of her cheeks.
Why was she even crying? She understood that Allen needed to help others. She knew it was a key part of his personality, and she loved the kindness of his soul. If she was aware of this dominant characteristic, and she admired him for it, why was she hurt when it displayed itself? She simply couldn’t make sense of it.
Earlier today, in the courtyard, she had been positive that she had finally been getting somewhere with Allen, and that he had finally realized she needed him to be around more often and that she needed to feel as if she were important to him. But within the same afternoon, that feeling of understanding was shattered, as he again pushed aside her feelings.
Thinking in such a negative manner made Lenalee feel like a selfish child. He obviously cared for her and tried to make it clear whenever he was around. And she knew that she loved him, too, or else his constant departures wouldn’t affect her the way they did. It really wasn’t a question of affection…
“I wonder,” she whispered softly to herself, “if he can love me the way I need to be loved.” It was just a random idea that had been running through her head recently. However, audibly stating it made the possibility seem more real and tangible, and she felt something inside her crumple. She hadn’t felt this weak and needy since before her brother had entered the Black Order.
With time, Lenalee’s tears stopped; however, she couldn’t muster the energy to get out of bed. Lying alone in her bed, she asked herself questions that she couldn’t possibly answer. It made her feel miserable and helpless. She didn’t know how long she was lost in her own dark thoughts, but a knock at her door interrupted her solitude.
She chose to ignore it, but the person at the other side of her door was rather insistent, the knocks becoming more frequent and louder. Giving in, she finally called, “I’m coming!” When she wrenched the door open, she was surprised to see Lavi on the other side. He had a smile plastered on his face.
“Why did it take you so long to answer?” he asked. The seriousness his voice contrasted with the pleasant smile, which flustered Lenalee as she tried to process the contradictory expressions.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, I was taking a nap… I have this headache,” she finished vaguely. Even as she told the lie, she winced at how flimsy it sounded and how thin her voice was. Instinctively, her hands curled around the cuff of her sleeve, fingers playing nervously at the edge of the cloth. When she saw Lavi’s attention focus on her hands, she remembered Allen had told her she tended to fidget when she was nervous and forced her fingers to relax.
Lavi’s smile dropped off of his face as he focused his gaze on her face. The way he was looking made her feel too transparent, and she just had to stop him from looking at her like that and from figuring out just how upset she was.
“If there wasn’t anything you really needed, I think I’m going to go lie down again until I feel better.” She moved to shut the door, but his reflexes were quicker than her actions. Before she could get the door closed he had wedged his cast-enclosed leg into the space between the door and the door frame.
He shot her a look, as if daring her to close the door on his hurt leg, which she was sure he knew that she wouldn’t. Without giving it a second thought, she relented, opened the door, flicked on the light, and invited him in. “What is it, Lavi?”
“You didn’t look okay,” he told her simply, as he entered her room and shut the door behind him. “I would have been here to check on you earlier, but I had to get rid of Yu first.”
“Oh,” she replied. She knew her response was short and unsatisfying, but she didn’t want to say anything else, not until she was sure she was ready to share her emotions.
“I meant what I said that night you came to talk to me before you and Allen got together. I’m willing to talk to you whenever you need someone to talk to. I’ll gladly lend a sympathetic ear. Please, don’t bottle up your emotions.”
He was saying everything she wanted to hear as if he were psychic, but Lenalee chose not to take the bait. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she said, taking a seat on her bed. “I really am fine.” She forced the corners of her mouth to turn up and flashed him a thumbs up.
“I can make myself smile when I don’t want to, too,” Lavi told her, taking a seat next to her and resting his crutches at the foot of her bed. “Look, I’m just trying to help.” He scratched his head and looked confused. “I don’t know how to put this delicately, so I’ll just be blunt with you. I can tell that you were crying. I can tell you still want to cry. I see that you get depressed whenever he leaves.”
“That’s great,” Lenalee said, not bothering to deny any of his statements. “But what’s talking about it going to help?”
“Maybe another mind can help you think of a way to get through to Allen. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the two of you are crazy about each other. It’s just that you need more of his time and affection. It’s true that he hasn’t been very mindful of your needs. But on the flip side, you have been overly cautious of his. If it’s not clear to him that there’s a problem, how can you expect things to get better?”
“But I have told him,” Lenalee said before she could stop herself. And then she grew silent.
“And what have you told him,” Lavi prodded, waving a hand encouragingly.
“I’m sorry,” she said after an awkward pause. “I just don’t think that it’s right to discuss matters concerning Allen’s private life in a one sided manner.”
“Don’t you care about right or fair, you should focus on what you’re feeling. Normal girls have girl friends to talk to. I know that I’m not a girl, but I am a friend. I’ll fill the role the best that I can … if you’ll let me. Or, you know, you could always discuss your feelings with Komui.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Lenalee exclaimed, resisting the urge to hit him over the head with her pillow. “He’s the last person I’d tell.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that to you. But seriously, why don’t you give talking things out a try?”
Lenalee felt her desire for solitude crumble, as she considered Lavi’s offer. “Okay,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “But I’m counting on you to keep everything I tell you in the strictest of confidence.”
“Of course,” Lavi responded. “You can count on me.” He raised a hand and held out a pinky expectantly to her. She matched his gesture and joined their pinkies together in an unspoken bond and promise.
“So,” Lavi started. “Does Allen really understand how often he’s leaving on these missions?”
“Doesn’t he have to?” Lenalee asked. “He’s here for a day, gone for two, here for three, gone for four…”
“You know Allen feels more for Akuma than either you or I ever could. He has seen the soul of every Akuma he has come in contact with. I’ve only seen one, and that was enough for me.”
“I understand that, and so I try not to fault him for that. I really try to be lenient,” Lenalee attempted to explain her position.
“But you do so at the expense of your emotional well-being,” Lavi countered. “You suppress what you’re thinking and feeling, which isn’t fair to either of you. I mean, you obviously don’t get out what you’re feeling, which results in you begrudging him for getting everything he wants. Even if you don’t think that you’re begrudging him, I can assure you that you are subconsciously.”
“I think he knows. Today he asked if I was lonely, and then he apologized. That doesn’t exactly sound like a guy who doesn’t know what I’m feeling.”
“How did you reply? Did you just brush it off, or did you tell him that you were lonely and specify why you feel the way you do.”
Lenalee thought back to the conversation. “I … think I told him ‘maybe’.”
"'Maybe' is not a definite affirmative. You should try to explain it clearly, like how you were breaking down his days at headquarters and away form headquarters."
"I've told him before," Lenalee said softly. "Just today, I thought I was getting through to him."
"What did you guys talk about?" Lavi asked.
Lenalee hesitated. It was the first time she was about to discuss her personal life with someone else, and she still felt a little strange about it. However, she had always wanted someone to confide in, and Lavi was offering himself to be that confidant. Coming to the decision that she truly trusted Lavi, she loosened the lock on her emotions decided that it would be best to be completely honest. "After he apologized for making me lonely, he tried to explain how the civilians and Akumas alike needed him. And I understand; I've always understood that part about him… So why is it so difficult when he leaves?"
"Sometimes we aren't aware of things that we need right away," Lavi told her. "Compromises can be made and should be made in any good relationship, though."
Lavi was being so supportive, and Lenalee really appreciated his efforts. However, she just couldn't get something that happened today out of her mind. "I told him that I needed him today, and he still left," she said softly. The tears welled up in her eyes again, and she drew her knees in close to her body and rested her forehead on them. The last thing she needed was for him to see her crying.
From next to her, Lenalee heard a heavy sigh, and the next thing she knew, a warm arm pulled her in for a brief but comforting hug. "I'm sorry that you're going through painful times, but you need to talk to him. You really need to be honest with him about what you're feeling."
"But I can't!” Lenalee cried out, her voice breaking with emotion. Taking a breath, she continued with wide, piteous eyes. “I can't limit his freedom. He needs it, and I won’t be the one to take it from him. With the way I was brought to the Order…” she trailed off, as she recalled painful memories about how her own liberty had been snatched from her, when she had first entered the Order. Terror bubbled through her as she remembered the feel of thick restraints on her wrists… and of Leverrier’s awful presence looming over her. When she tried to speak, her voice failed her. After pausing momentarily to collect herself, she returned back to the original topic. “I just can’t be that person," she stated, feeling all of her energy drain out of her.
Sympathy flickered in Lavi’s eye, and his features softened. She could tell he knew what she was referring to. He hesitated, as if he knew he needed to tread carefully around her emotions. Finally, he said, "What about your needs? Don't be unfair to yourself. Like I've told you before, it's okay to be selfish sometimes. This is one of the times you should definitely be selfish."
What Lavi was saying made perfect sense, and Lenalee wondered if he had always been so logical. "I guess you're right," she relented. With a deep breath, she asked, "Do you really think we'll be able to come to some sort of a compromise?" She lifted her head so she could look at him and make sure he wasn't lying to her.
"Honestly?" he asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know, but it's worth a try, isn't it?"
He winked at her, and she felt something in her heart lighten. "You're right," she said, managing a watery smile. Drying her eyes and taking a few deep breaths calmed her frayed emotions. "I was just a little upset already and was making things worse in my head. Once Allen and I get the chance to talk, things will be better."
"Good girl," Lavi said, patting her on the head like an obedient puppy.
Lenalee couldn't help but giggle at his gesture. "Did you know that nii-san used to do that a lot?" she asked.
“Ehh, really?" Lavi asked, looking interested.
"Yeah!" Lenalee said, perking up. "When he first came here, I needed a lot of reassurance and a lot of cheering up. It… just felt really familiar."
"Well I'm glad to have helped." Lavi paused and scratched his head. "I only did it, because you seemed sort of like a child then."
"Hey!" Lenalee cried, grabbing a pillow and smacking him lightly with it. "You're only a couple of years older than me."
"But!" Lavi exclaimed in a comically exaggerated manner. "I have more than a couple years of wisdom on you."
He looked and sounded so ridiculous that Lenalee couldn't help but laugh at him. Torrents of giggles escaped her, and it felt wonderful. She hadn’t felt so lighthearted and at ease for as long as she could remember. When she finally managed to stop laughing, she was short of breath, and her side hurt. "Thank you, Lavi," she told him, genuinely glad the other boy stopped by. "That's the hardest I've laughed in a while."
"It's good to see a smile on your face," he told her. "And with that, I should probably get out of your hair. I'm sure Allen will be back soon, and the two of you will have plenty of things to discuss."
"Yeah," Lenalee said, her mood sobering slightly. "I'm sure we will. But thank you for this, really."
"I'm just trying to be a good friend," Lavi said, grabbing his crutches and heading for the door.
Lenalee followed him, her attention drawn to his crutches. "Hey, you get rid of your cast soon, don't you?"
"In five days!" Lavi said, looking back at her with a smile. "I'm a bit bummed that I've had to have on for nearly eight weeks, but the time passed more quickly than I had imagined."
"I'd like to be there with you when you get if off … that is if you want some company," she offered, opening the door for him.
"Yeah, that'd be nice of you," he said, his grin widening. He turned around a looked down the hallway to his left. "Wow," he commented, "My timing is perfect."
Lenalee followed his gaze and saw that Allen was coming down the hall. As he neared her door, she waved. "Allen, come on in."
"I guess I really will take my leave now," Lavi said. "Lenalee. General Beansprout." He nodded with mock formality before heading on his way.
"It's ALLEN," Allen muttered through gritted teeth, as he shot Lavi an annoyed look.
As the red-headed boy retreated, he sent a wave back but didn't turn around.
"Come on in," Lenalee offered, inviting Allen in once more. For just a moment, the white-haired boy didn't move. A ripple of disquiet spread through Lenalee, as she caught a glimpse of an unaccustomed scowl on Allen’s face. His narrowed eyes were focused on the path Lavi had taken.
TBC
Is some drama about to start? Only time will tell… =D
Thanks to everyone who’s still reading… m(_______)m
I’ll keep on doing my best!