Lavi: 'Hahaha, Allen, that misunderstanding of you. It was great. You're really not used to having a relationship, are you?'
Allen: 'Shut up, I couldn't know what BaKanda was thinking. Wait, that's not even me! I'm not in love with him!'
Lavi: *grins teasingly* 'It seems you're still in denial here.'
Allen: 'I'm not!'
Me: 'Come on, guys, calm down. It's just a story. Can you finally just accept what I'm writing and start making useful comments on my chapters?'
Allen and Lavi: '...'
Me: *sighs* 'Right... Anyway, it's a bit short compared to the other chapters but at least I've written something. I hope you all like it. And there was someone who asked me to add a certain plot and I decided I will in the end, so the first plotpoint is in here, but I'm not going to say anything else. I don't want to spoil it. Though I decided to make it different from the manga, so don't expect it to be the same.'
Allen: *turns pale* 'I'm not going to like it, am I?'
Lavi: *nods* 'You've come to know her, Allen.'
Me: *smiles uncomfortably* 'I'm sorry, Allen.'
Allen: *looks really displeased and cries out* 'I knew it!'
Me: 'Have fun reading it and please keep sending all those amazing reviews. I love every one of them.'
For Allen it was like he was living in a dream. And a pretty weird but extraordinarily happy one, that is. It wasn't like much had happened, actually they had only brushed each other's hair and held hands, but Kanda's acceptance had been enough to make him feel like he was walking on clouds. Even the man's overly grumpy expression because Allen was dragging him to the dining hall for the Christmas breakfast, didn't bother him at all.
The only thing was that he had to remember not to show the others. Instead he let go of Kanda's arm the moment they entered the lively hallways and pretended to ignore him on their way. The man played the game with him and together they arrived at the dining hall without anyone suspecting anything.
It wasn't like they had discussed keeping it a secret, but Allen felt like his pride would be severely damaged if anyone found out. Kanda was supposed to be his rival and they still got into fights easily, so the others might not take them seriously anymore when they found out they actually had a relationship. Besides, Allen wasn't all that sure it would last. He didn't want to think about it, but it had just started an hour ago and that meant they didn't even know where they precisely stood compared to each other yet and with that uncertain position he felt too vulnerable to let anyone else know. Somehow he was sure Kanda felt the same and it was a relief the man indeed acted like nothing happened.
They took place at the table, separated from each other by their friends again and waited for Jerry and the other cooks to come in and serve their meal.
Allen looked around and smiled when he met some gazes from his friends, who immediately returned the favor.
The Order was so different today. Usually almost everyone was in uniform, but today was special. On Christmas they were asked to come in suits and dresses and everyone had listened to that request, even if it was just because everyone else did so as well. The only condition was that they would wear something that would remind them of their place in the Black Order and for that they had gotten badges. So Allen wore his rose cross proudly on his chest like usual.
Just when he thought his stomach would grumble loudly and embarrass him in front of everyone, the doors opened and people appeared with plates filled with delicious looking dishes.
Allen felt his mouth water and swallowed eagerly when they were put in front of them. There were a lot of tables in the room, so it would take some time for the last ones to receive their meal, but the rules were easy: the exorcists were served first, because without them this war would have already been lost. However, the others didn't need to fear, because there was enough. The cooks ran back and forth to put all their dishes on the tables and not forget anyone.
Allen dug in happily and stuffed himself with the heavenly food. Jerry had even taken into account that there were more than one parasitic weapon wielders, who always ate a lot, and had ordered his cooks to keep serving them until they would have had enough. Meanwhile a soft rumor of voices made the atmosphere cozy and warm.
In the end it took them all two hours to finally start leaving the room again. Allen stayed for a bit longer to clean out the last of the scraps that would be thrown in the trash otherwise anyway before following the others to the training hall, where couches had been placed just for the occasion so they could talk and socialize while the dining hall would be cleaned up for the next meal. No-one, except the cooks and cleaners, would work today and the day after and that created a really relaxed atmosphere, even with the people of the science department, who finally looked a bit well-rested.
However, just before Allen reached the training hall, in which he would finally warm up again after the ice cold corridors, a hand grabbed his arm and dragged him back in the direction of the exit.
'Kanda?' Allen looked at the dark-haired male who pulled him through the hallway in silence. 'What are you doing? Why are you wearing your coat?'
The man looked overly grumpy, but responded quite neutrally anyway. 'Come.'
They passed through the big doors and suddenly they were outside where a cold wind cut right through Allen's clothes, making him shiver uncomfortably.
'Why are we outside?' he asked, feeling how he was slowly growing grumpy himself.
'Because inside are all those idiots. Let's go to a quieter place.'
Allen hadn't realized Kanda hated group-related activities this much. He knew the man often left on these kind of occasions, but he hadn't thought he would go outside in sub-zero temperatures to avoid them. Nor had he expected he would be dragged with him, but that idea also made him feel kind of warm, somewhere deep inside his already nearly frozen body.
'Couldn't you at least have warned me,' he grumbled when Kanda finally stood still in the forest and sat down on a flat stone. 'It's freezing outside. Or is this an attempt to dispose of me?'
'Sit down,' Kanda ordered while he began unbuttoning his coat.
Allen froze at that sight and suddenly felt a huge blush creeping up his neck to his cheeks. Even though he felt extremely cold, his face was glowing. Kanda wasn't doing what he thought he was, was he? Panic started growing in his chest until he didn't know what to do anymore. Wasn't this a bit too fast? He wasn't ready for this! Besides, this wasn't the place. Everyone could see them here. He had to find an excuse. 'Oi, Kanda, what the hell are you doing?! If you undress here you'll freeze to death!'
The man looked up in annoyance. 'Sit down already, idiot.' He pulled at his sleeves so they slid off his arms and revealed the suit under it. 'You said you were cold.'
'How is sitting down and seeing you undress supposed to make me feel warm!' Allen was nearly yelling and the embarrassing glow just didn't want to leave his face.
'What the hell are you talking about, Moyashi?' Kanda yelled now too, but in obvious irritation. 'Just sit down so you can use my coat!'
Oh… Allen felt himself go limp and stared at the man dumbfounded. Right… using his coat. Of course Kanda had to take off his coat if he wanted to offer it to him. Somehow that whole intention, that was obviously a lot more logical in this situation, had completely surpassed his mind.
Feeling numb and stupid he took place on the rock next to Kanda. Their seat wasn't very big and they sat so close together that their arms were pressed against each other, but that made Allen only feel warmer and he sighed in relief when the man draped his coat around them.
Suddenly the boy didn't regret that he hadn't had the time to bring his. Instead he laid his head on Kanda's shoulder hesitantly. When the man didn't react negatively, he relaxed and just stared into the silent and frozen forest.
The fabric that lay around his shoulder was still warm and bore the samurai's scent. He pulled it around him tightly to shut the cold out even further, then mumbled a soft thanks.
Kanda just reacted with a 'tssk' to show his annoyance of the scene from earlier. At least he didn't seem to understand what Allen had thought about and the boy preferred to keep it that way.
They sat like that for minutes and the silence was getting dominant. Kanda wasn't talking and Allen didn't feel like disturbing the good mood. Instead he felt like he had to break this quietness in a gentle way.
So before he even really realized it he had started humming softly, surprising not only himself because he didn't do stuff like that usually, but also Kanda and Tim, who looked at him in surprise and suddenly flew up and started circling around his head in excitement for some inexplicable reason.
'Moyashi, what are you doing?' Kanda's voice made him break off his melody and look up.
'It's Allen,' the boy clarified first before feeling the need to explain.
The man reacted with some surprise and annoyance, giving Allen the feeling that he actually had really forgotten this time and that only made the boy even more determined to keep repeating his name, because it would mean Kanda would even call him that in his mind and that thought made him feel kind of furious.
'I just felt like humming.'
Kanda looked at him like it wasn't enough of an explanation and Allen continued with a sigh: 'It has been stuck in my head for days, though I can't remember the lyrics or where it came from.'
'This is not really the moment for a lullaby,' the man grunted, seemingly determined to at least nag about something.
'Well, I'm sorry, grump,' Allen grumbled back, wondering if he had really done something wrong or it was just Kanda's extraordinarily short fuse that caused all this.
It stayed silent for a few seconds before the man uttered reluctantly: 'Just do it.'
These days Kanda could be so unclear sometimes. 'What did you say?'
'I told you to just do it, idiot.'
'Do what?' Allen snapped back in annoyance. And like that they were on the verge of fighting again. Really, they were a horrible couple. How could they even think about a relationship if they still couldn't stand being with each other. It all had just gotten worse. Now he couldn't only stand being with Kanda but also being without him. Somehow the man had managed to make him feel annoyed all the time.
'The humming, of course, stupid Allen,' Kanda spat. 'If you feel like it, then do it.'
Allen looked up in surprise and only then realized this was some kind of an apology. The man wanted to say that he shouldn't always mind that grumpy attitude and should just keep on humming if he wanted to. Maybe he even hadn't meant to criticize, but just make a comment. Could it be that Kanda actually liked the humming?
The silence grew awkward again and Allen sighed. He was done with it, no more heavy silences. He had to learn how to deal with this if he wanted them to make out. 'Thanks, I will next time.'
He let his right hand slide over Kanda's and stroked with his gloved fingers over the skin. 'And at least you remembered my name this time.'
Kanda grunted a grumpy and unintelligible answer, but the fingers responded to Allen's touch gently.