D. Gray-man Fan Fiction ❯ A Game of Poker ❯ Rumors ( Chapter 24 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Bookkbaby84 
Anime/Manga: D. Gray-man Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Angst | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 09.27.2009 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.1K | Visits: 371 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: D. Gray-man Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Angst | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 09.27.2009 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.1K | Visits: 371 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: This is my first multichapter fanfic for the DGM fandom! Yay! I’m fairly new to the fandom, but hopefully I haven’t made any unforgivable mistakes.
Warnings: YAOI, which means BOYS LOVING BOYS. If you dislike that, then the back button is easy enough to find. Please click that and leave. Limes are in the future, and lemons. Maybe some OOC, spoilers for the end of the anime later on.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these lovely characters, that honor belongs to Katsura Hoshino. (Though if Hoshino-sama ever has a sale, I call dibs on Tyki… what?) I don’t own anything but a copy of the anime series and all volumes of the manga in English. Anything you don’t recognize (like the plotline of ‘A Game of Poker’) does belong to me. Everything else… not so much. Please don’t sue.
Kudos to the awesome SisterWicked of AssHat Productions (a group I am now a proud member of), who got me started on Lucky and lets me use 'lovely'! Beta’d by N.H. Arawn and Misster Cackles! All remaining mistakes are mine.
Thanks to the 23 people who reviewed last chapter. (Far cry from the 53 I got the chapter before that… where did everyone go?) Oh! And I posted a shortfic for Halloween way early…
Last Time On ‘A Game Of Poker’:
If he was remembering correctly - and he would check the file to be certain - then he had something better than knowledge of how to create a blood-virus bullet at his disposal. If his memory wasn't failing him yet (and it shouldn't be, he was only 29!), then there was someone currently inside the Order building who knew how to create a bullet using on the energy of Innocence.
He would just check the files first. The Ghost of Matel was a fairly recent mission - hopefully the mission reports would not be buried too far down.
Almost giddy with excitement, Komui practically ran out of his office towards the storage room where the archives were kept.
And Now, The Continuation
A Game of Poker, Chapter 24
Rumors
"I hear that Reever got caught with Lenalee in the Science Department office after hours-" The voice belonged to a young redheaded woman with short hair, freckles and entirely too much chest. Her voice was high with excitement as she spoke to the young woman with dark hair who walked next to her.
"No way!" the brunette said, more a plea for details than any real disbelief. "Did the Supervisor have a fit?"
"Oh you KNOW he did! He was seen running from the office late last night - one of the newer Finders saw and told me. Rumor has it that he was going to get blackmail pictures of Reever and Kanda in bed."
Both women began giggling, probably picturing the usually stoic and untouchable Kanda in all sorts of unmentionable situations with Komui's second in command. The brunette was the first to get control of her mirth and she leaned slightly towards the redhead, obviously keen to keep their conversation quiet. "That reminds me; have you heard the latest?"
The other woman's eyes widened, her excitement almost tangible now.
"No! What is it?" she asked. Almost as if there was some sort of signal inaudible to all but those two, both women stopped in the middle of the mostly-deserted hallway. The brunette drew herself up to full height, grinning proudly.
"Well, from what Alex tells me, Lavi was in his room all night long," she said, drawing out the last three words and waggling her eyebrows suggestively to add lewd meaning to the phrase. Her friend shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth as if afraid someone would hear.
"You've got to be kidding - Alex? That Alex? I didn't think he had guard duty..." the redhead said, voice slightly muffled by her hands. However, it was clear that her tone was less disbelieving and more indifferent. Gossip was gossip, after all.
The brunette nodded, mouth curling into a bit of a superior smirk.
"Jeanette told me that she and Hisoka had a date and since it was Hisoka's turn to guard Mikk..." Her voice trailed off and she shrugged, more for effect than anything else.
"'Soka asked Alex?" the redhead guessed, looking extremely pleased with herself when the brunette nodded.
"I guess Lavi showed up around the middle of his shift and demanded to be let in. He was carrying certain... things with him, so it was obvious what he wanted to do." The brunette smiled widely when the redhead's eyes opened even wider.
"No. Way," the redhead said. "Seriously? What did he bring?"
The brunette shrugged again, a slightly petulant expression on her face.
"I don't know. Alex refused to tell me unless I agreed to go out with him, and we all know how his dates usually end." She rolled her eyes, making a small 'hmph' noise as though she disapproved. She began walking again. The redhead nodded, crossing her arms and following.
"I don't even remember how many girls he breaks up with after the first night. You can see some of them crying for days afterward."
The brunette nodded and from there the conversation deteriorated into a drudging up of several of Alex's (and other men's) most notable past scandals. Their voices faded as they moved further down the hall, leaving an unseen watcher standing alone in a small side hall. The watcher had overheard every word and his ancient fingers tightened their grip on the few books he was carrying with him to lunch.
Bookman stared at the wall across from him contemplatively for several long moments, posture rigid. Rumors were usually nothing more than that and while most were embellished upon, almost all had a grain of truth in them. The old man wasn't about to assume that the young woman's words were completely correct, but Lavi had been missing last night and had shown a particular interest in Mikk and the Noah's well-being...
Yes, the rumor was probably mostly fabricated, but there was a pattern in Lavi's behavior and it was too easy for Bookman to believe that his apprentice had indeed been with Tyki Mikk the previous night.
With a small, defeated sigh, Bookman turned back towards the library. He suddenly wasn't hungry any more.
<hr/>
Lavi walked down the hallway, wandering aimlessly and avoiding any place he knew Bookman liked to frequent. He had gone immediately to their shared room to try his hand at damage control only to find that Bookman had already awoken and had left. Now the only thing left to do was put the inevitable off as long as possible and hope that he came up with a legitimate-sounding excuse for what he was doing.
So far, he wasn't having any luck.
At least he had a reason to be wandering around, should anyone ask. He had run into Reever earlier and the man had asked him to send Allen to Komui's office if the redhead should happen to see the white-haired boy. Lavi had promised that he would, but so far he hadn't seen any trace of the British Exorcist. He honestly didn't expect to see his friend - Lavi was sticking to deserted hallways and places few people ever traveled in hopes of avoiding his mentor. He hadn't been to the dining hall all day and his stomach reminded him of that periodically by rumbling. He knew that he probably had some snacks hidden in his room, but he hadn't visited that place since that morning and had no intentions of going back until later. Much later.
His stomach rumbled particularly loudly just then and he stopped walking, putting one hand over the noisy organ as if that would help to quiet it or to assuage it. Perhaps he would have to risk a trip to the dining hall; maybe he could hide in a corner somewhere and hope that Bookman had either already eaten or wouldn't notice him?
Another minor complaint from his stomach made his decision for him. He sighed and turned in the direction of the dining hall, food, and possible detection.
He let his feet carry him forward, focusing his attention more on his surroundings. He would eventually start passing people and he would need to make sure he didn't end up running right into Bookman. His perfect mental map of the Order's Headquarters kept his feet on the right path and he turned down several more hallways and walked up a few flights of stairs before he saw anyone else.
His eye briefly passed over the Finder, taking in the shaggy brown hair and general face shape out of habit. He turned his attention back to the hall ahead, dismissing the Finder as a potential problem. Finders rarely spoke with the old man, so unless he passed an Exorcist or scientist, Lavi wasn't too worried about word of his whereabouts getting back to his mentor.
He passed the taller, darker-haired man and took maybe three steps more down the otherwise deserted hallway before an unfamiliar voice rang out.
"Wait, Red!"
Lavi stopped, turning towards the source of the sound. His brow furrowed slightly, a confused expression on his face.
The Finder he had just passed had turned around and was walking towards him, a slight smile on his face. For some reason, the smile seemed almost false and sent slight nervous shivers up Lavi's spine. Trusting his instincts, Lavi turned to fully face the man. Defense was simpler and quicker if he didn't need to turn and face the Finder first.
"Hello," Lavi said as the Finder approached, backing up a small step when the other man stopped just slightly within his personal space. "Have we met...?"
The Finder moved forward again, increasing Lavi's discomfort.
"I've seen you, but you haven't seen me," the Finder replied, smile switching to a smirk as though he found that statement incredibly amusing. "My name is Alex. You're Lavi, right?"
Feeling more uncomfortable by the second, but not wanting to appear rude, Lavi forced a smile onto his face and nodded.
"Yes, that's me!" he said cheerfully, taking another small step backwards. "So, Alex, are you new here? As you said, I haven't seen you before..."
Alex nodded slowly, taking a measured step forward. Lavi glanced over his shoulder, noting his distance (or lack thereof) to the wall. He felt like he was almost behind herded toward the solid structure and he bristled imperceptibly at the idea. He turned back to the Finder and smiled again, though he knew the expression was probably a bit strained.
"Nice to meet you," the redhead said, turning to go. "But it's lunchtime and I'm kind of hungry-"
He cut himself off abruptly when a large, solid hand grabbed his wrist and held him just firmly enough to keep him in place. Lavi turned to face him, annoyed.
"Was there something you needed?" he asked politely, if pointedly, as he tried to quietly tug his wrist free. This was sending all sorts of alarm bells off in his head and he didn't like it one bit.
"I just wanted to know what I had to do to get you to come visit me at night," Alex said, pulling Lavi a bit closer. The redhead, for his part, could not believe his ears. He stared, dumbstruck, at the brunet. Surely the man didn't mean...
"What?" Lavi said, reining in his instinct to draw back his fist and punch. Outrage was beginning to replace the shock, his anger getting a boost when Alex's smirk widened.
"Your little 'visit' to the Noah last night, Red," the Finder said casually, moving closer. Lavi felt the blood drain from his face, outrage banked sharply by something like horror. He knew that the story would spread, but he hadn't expected that the first person he'd encounter today would proposition him-
With that recollection, Lavi's outrage returned tenfold.
"What is that bastard using to buy you anyway? Information?" Alex continued, apparently oblivious to the Exorcist's mounting anger. "All I can offer you is myself, but as I've had no complaints so far..." His smirk took on a smug edge. "I can promise it will be a night you will never forget, no matter how many men there are after me."
The brown-haired man stepped even closer to Lavi, lifting the redhead's captured wrist to press his lips against the pulse there. Lavi clenched his free hand into a fist, biting his tongue to keep from responding.
"My room is just-"
That's it. He was done listening to this.
"What makes you think," Lavi interrupted coldly. "-that I would go anywhere with you?" He yanked his wrist free, much to the surprise of the Finder. Lavi turned to go, inwardly seething, but also now more anxious to get to the lunchroom. He wasn't hungry any more, but he did want to find out how far the rumors had spread already. He had thought he'd have more time before word spread to the rest of the Order about him and Tyki, but if someone was already acting off of it...
His wrist was grabbed again, this time more forcefully, and he was spun around. His other wrist was also captured this time and he nearly tripped over his own feet as he was shoved backwards into a wall. Lavi let out a low 'oomph' as he connected, wincing when the back of his head knocked against the stone. He could feel the warm heat of another body pressing into him from the front and was fleetingly reminded of that day in the alley with Tyki...
He glared at the Finder currently pinning him to the wall, the light trickle of fear coursing through him all but drowned out by the anger he felt. That day in the alley may not have been one of his better memories, but since it had been with Tyki, it had been all right. Tyki was the only one he had ever let so close, in more ways than one.
"Let go," Lavi warned, a cold, calm sort of fury filling him. Alex just grinned, a silent refusal.
"Don't play coy, Red," Alex coaxed, leaning forward. "Not when you were moaning so prettily for him last night."
Lavi wasn't sure to be shocked or horrified that the brunet pinning him had apparently heard him. He decided on simple anger, narrowing his eye into a glare that rivaled one of Kanda's best. Alex's grin did falter at that, expression going from amused to annoyed and slightly puzzled.
"You don't have any objections about me, do you?" Alex asked rhetorically, already sure he knew the answer. "If you'll spread your legs for a Noah, you'd do it for any-"
That was the last straw.
Lavi turned his wrists in the Finder's grip before yanking his wrists inwards and down, leading with the bony side rather than the back of the joint. His hands slipped free easily and he took full advantage of that, drawing one fist back before delivering a very satisfying punch to the brunet's face. He struck the side of the other man's nose and his eye, inwardly smiling coldly when the man went down instantly.
The Finder sat back up almost immediately, one hand going to his now-bloody nose. Alex removed his hand, wincing at the tenderness of his nose, then caught sight of the red liquid on his hand. he swore, pushing himself up to his feet and glaring murderously at the Exorcist. Lavi stared back, unfazed.
"I don't know where you heard that, but I'm no one's whore. My 'visits' can't be bought or sold." Lavi turned away, anger fading and leaving just quiet resignation behind. "And Tyki's better than you. Take that however you want."
The redhead had little doubt that Alex would take it in a sexual sense, but didn't care. He was fairly certain that Tyki was better than the Finder in that sense too, even if it wasn't exactly what he had meant by his comment. He couldn't imagine Tyki doing what the Finder had just done. The Noah was more refined than that; the only exception Lavi had ever seen was that day when he was cornered by the Pleasure and taken while pinned to a brick wall, and Tyki had more than made up for that.
The Exorcist began walking away, mini flashbacks playing in his mind with the vivid clarity only a Bookman's memory was capable of. Not just flashes of the Noah's dak head in between his thighs or the feeling of being connected to the older man intimately, but also of Tyki's face when the Noah had saved his life by disobeying a direct order from the Earl. The way the dark-haired man had shoved him into the Ark and then destroyed the door to protect him rather than allow the Earl to kill him. The way Tyki's soft kisses had felt against his lips, earnest and sweet and so very, very dangerous.
Tyki was a better man than Alex, no matter what way he thought about it.
The redhead jerked himself out of his thoughts when he realized that he had stopped walking and was running his fingertips lightly over his lips. Torn between anger and loss, he dropped his hand and started running away from the still-shocked Finder. He took the first turn he could, no longer hungry and intent on doubling back and heading into the depths of the Order building once more to find somewhere quiet he could relax and just think.
It didn't matter how far the rumor spread any more. Lavi wasn't sure he'd be able to choke down food at the moment, not even something as delicious as Jerry's cooking. It wasn't as if he had to prevent Bookman from finding out - the man must already know. Looking at it logically, the rumor could do no more harm than his absence in his room this morning already had.
With a muffled curse, Lavi kept running.
If only he could also outrun the images in his head that kept showing him what his actions had cost him.
<hr/>
Allen knocked twice on the door to Komui's office, a bit hesitant. He wasn't entirely sure why he had been called to see the white-clad man, but Reever hadn't seemed too concerned. It was probably something minor, though since the blond man hadn't said anything about a mission, Allen was pretty certain he wouldn't be sent out.
"Come in." Komui's voice was slightly muffled by the door and strained from what was likely fatigue. Curious now, Allen turned the knob and opened the door, poking his head around the side to see into the room.
The Chinese man was sitting at his desk, bent over a few different sheets of paper. At the sound of the door shutting, Komui looked up from his work. As soon as the older man recognized Allen through eyes blurred from lack of sleep, his face broke out into a grin and he sat up as straight as he could.
"Guess Reever found you. Good, good..." Komui said, mostly muttering to himself. He motioned to the chair across from his desk. "Please sit, Allen. I just have a few questions I'd like to ask you and then you can go."
Allen nodded then made his way across the room, careful to avoid the stacks of backed up paperwork and trying not to slip on the papers scattered at his feet. Once safely across the room - conscious of Komui's eyes on him - he sat down on the couch and rested his palms on his knees.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" the British boy asked, craning his neck just slightly to try and see what the Chinese man had been working on when he had come in. All he could make out were seemingly random sequences of letters and numbers and mathematical signs, but nothing he could make sense of. He relaxed back into the couch, somewhat reassured that he wasn't in any sort of trouble. For one thing, Komui would be much more serious and for another, the paperwork defining his most recent supposed wrongdoing would be on top of Komui's desk.
The supervisor seemed to debate for a moment, then sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"We've been trying to create an anti-Akuma weapon powered by Innocence for the Finders to use. Well, not exactly run off the Innocence-" Komui hastened to add, seeing Allen's eyes widen with alarm. The memory of Suman Dark was not one often visited, but it was never completely gone. Those not compatible with Innocence trying to use it...
Allen shuddered, hoping that Suman's soul at least managed to find peace in the afterlife, if there was indeed an afterlife.
"The Innocence gives off an energy that causes the phenomena around it to occur when it isn't built into a weapon," Komui continued, voice a bit quieter. "We'd use that energy, not the Innocence itself. We've run tests on the effects of the Innocence-energy on normal humans and it seems like there are no problems with anyone turning into a Fallen. The weapons we make using this would obviously not be as powerful as a true anti-Akuma weapon wielded by an Exorcist, but it would mean more protection for the Finders while they're out on reconnaissance missions."
The white-clad man turned his attention to his desk. The sound of paper shuffling filled the room for a few moments as Komui dug through the numerous sheets on his desk before apparently locating what it was he had been looking for. He tugged a sheet from the bottom of one stack free, then motioned for Allen to come and take it. Allen stood and walked up to the desk, accepting the sheet with his normal hand before sitting back down to study the drawing - for it was a drawing - in detail.
It seemed to be a picture of a gun, though a lot of the details seemed to be missing. It seemed to be some kind of revolver, but there was no chamber for the bullets and in fact it seemed as if the artist who drew the picture had never seen the chamber of a gun. The place where it should have been was drawn in light lines, as if the person who drew it wasn't sure how big the chamber was, or even the shape of it.
Allen looked up, opening his mouth to ask about the 'missing' part of the drawing, but then closed it when he saw the exhausted look in Komui's eyes. The British Exorcist looked at the desk's surface once more, taking in the incomprehensible calculations laid out on the sheet.
It wasn't just that the chamber hadn't been drawn in. That part of the gun hadn't been designed yet. It couldn't be designed, Allen realized, unless Komui and the other Order scientists knew how to create the bullets from the energy of Innocence.
With crystal clarity, Allen suddenly knew exactly why he had been called to Komui's office. Cross wasn't at Headquarters at the moment. No one else used a projectile Innocence or had ever used a projectile Innocence. No one still living with the Order, at any rate, except for Bookman and Allen doubted a supposedly impartial observer would help with weapons development.
The white-haired boy put the drawing on the couch next to him, giving it one last look before turning back to Komui. There was a hopeful look in the man's eyes, a desperate plea for information and a solution to the puzzle of how to create something tangible and deadly from something that was usually all but invisible.
Allen laid his normal hand over his other shoulder, thinking. The Ghost of Matel case was an old one, or at least it seemed that way. So much had happened since he joined the Order, his first mission felt like it had been years ago.
"You want me to... let you examine my Innocence?" Allen said slowly, more asking for a confirmation than truly questioning what it was Komui expected of him. The white-clad man nodded seriously, gaze focused and intense.
"I just need to run some tests on your arm when it is transformed into a gun - you can still form the gun, correct?"
Allen nodded, dropping his hand back to his lap. Komui smiled and stood.
"Excellent. I'd like to run the tests now. The sooner we solve this-"
Allen nodded, standing immediately. The sooner the Finders could be equipped with actual weapons for dealing with the Akuma, the fewer casualties the Order would have. He had no plans anyway, and if a few tests could really help the Science Department figure out how to create bullets from energy he was more than willing to spend his afternoon as a lab rat.
Komui began walking towards the door, effortlessly avoiding the many piles of paperwork. He seemed to be walking with a spring in his step and he was humming quietly. Allen smiled and followed the man out of the office.
<hr/>
Lavi walked quietly down the hallway, feet almost dragging on the stones that made up the floor. Each step was slow and heavy, each marginally smaller than the last as he headed for his destination.
His room.
He had managed to avoid Bookman all day but hadn't managed to come up with any sort of excuse that would convince the old man to let him continue visiting the Noah. He had, quite frankly, just given up on that idea hours ago and had spent his time prolonging the inevitable.
More specifically, he had spent the last few hours reviewing his memories of Tyki, both the good and the bad.
A Bookman's memory was one of his greatest tools, perfect to the last detail. He could still recall the first time he had ever seen the Pleasure, though he hadn't recognized the other man for what he was at the time. Their first fight, their second meeting; how easy had it been to hate the older man back then? Back before Tyki was Tyki and was just some guy with a beauty mark saying that Allen wasn't yet dead and challenging him to stay alive until the Level 3 brought Allen to Edo?
It had been easy. Too easy for someone who was supposed to remain impartial in all things, but Lavi could trace the beginnings of his change back to his first day at the Order.
He had certainly never expected the change to go so far or affect him so deeply, but he had seen it coming.
The first night they had been together... he had been curious about sex, about Tyki, about a lot of things. If he had had any clue that the events of that first night would lead him here, would he still have lied?
He didn't know. He just didn't know.
He sighed and put those thoughts aside. There was no use in metaphorically chasing his tail in hopes of catching it. The fact remained that his decisions all those months ago had landed him here and there was no changing the past.
Lavi glanced around the corridor, knowing his feet would carry him to his room but unsure of how much time he had before he would actually arrive and have to talk to Bookman. There was no way that the old man hadn't heard the rumors, not with how fast they had spread and how many people word had gotten to. Just under two hours ago, Lavi had walked into the dining hall and the room had gone quiet as people noticed him. Not totally silent, but there had been a definite drop in noise that had persisted until the redhead had ordered, forced half his food down his throat, and left. He had found that his appetite shrunk rather severely when tens of Finders were trying (and failing) to be subtle about watching him.
Upon recognizing the hallway he was in, he stopped short. His heart sank, the few bites of food he had managed to choke down feeling like lead weights in his stomach.
On his left, three doors down, was the entrance to the room he shared with his mentor. The door was shut tight, but the bit of lamplight showing underneath the wood proved that the old man was inside. Lavi swallowed thickly, heart beginning to pound.
He turned from the door, half-formed plans of going to Allen or Yuu - well, maybe not Kanda, since the Japanese Exorcist no longer tolerated him well - and asking for refuge for a night. He'd deal with Bookman tomorrow. That would be soon enough, or too soon, or too late... Lavi how to think anymore. Soon enough to stop whatever it was between him and Tyki from going further, too soon for him to be content, too late to prevent Lavi's heart from being corrupted. Were any of those options even the right way to think about this?
As he began to walk silently down the hallway, putting extra care into the quietness of his steps, he heard squeaky hinges sound behind him as a door opened.
It could have been any door. Somehow, Lavi knew it was the one door, three doors down, that had opened. He froze in place, heart thudding in his ears, as the sound of two footsteps echoed in the mostly-empty hallway. The steps were light and almost silent, as if they belonged to a young girl or a very old man.
"Lavi."
At the sound of his name, the redhead's whole body went cold. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion as he turned around, painfully aware of his breathing as it shuddered and ground to a halt.
As he had expected, Bookman stood in the doorway to their room. He was backlit by the light coming from the lamp inside, making it impossible for the redhead to read his mentor's expression. Even so, he could tell that the man was angry with him from the icy tone he took. The old man's voice was cold enough to freeze a desert.
"Follow me." With that, Bookman turned and walked back into the room. He left the door wide open, voice demanded absolute obedience from his apprentice. Swallowing heavily once more, mouth suddenly bone dry, Lavi did as told. He took in a slow breath and walked slowly forward, more than half tempted to just cut and run. He already knew exactly what Bookman would say and how he would have to respond. He already knew that, after this talk, he wouldn't be allowed to see Tyki again 'for his own good'.
The temptation to run steadily grew, hands almost trembling with the desire to just turn and run. His feet slowed down as he approached the door, stopping entirely when he reached the threshold of the room.
If he was going to run, now would be his last chance. Once he entered that room, he would not be able to leave until Bookman had said his piece. Once Bookman said his piece...
Memories of Tyki, of his touch, his scent, the feel of him deep inside, began flooding Lavi's mind. The way the Noah smirked while playing poker, always so confident of his victory, the way the older man looked so peaceful when asleep; the good memories both warmed his heart and tore it apart in the same fell swoop.
Lavi rubbed at his uncovered eye a bit, feeling both water ever so slightly while his throat closed up. He wasn't crying, not even close, but the emotion was there. As much as he cared for Tyki - he could admit that he cared, since it no longer mattered one way or another - he couldn't continue this with him. Even if there were no barriers between them, the fact remained that the Pleasure's track record was not one littered with many long-term, committed relationships. As far as Lavi was aware, the older man rarely went on a second 'date' with anyone. It was a fluke that had kept them together for more than just a few nights.
Even without knowing that it was only a matter of time before Tyki left him, whether or not Bookman made him give Tyki up, there was still the fact that he owed Bookman. His mentor had taken him in, raised him, groomed him as the heir to the Bookman legacy, and he couldn't just throw that all away for something he knew couldn't last. He couldn't be so selfish as to end the Bookman line for something as fleeting as his relationship with Tyki.
With a heavy heart and a clogged throat, he stepped forward into the room and shut the door behind himself.
It swung shut slowly, making a very final sounding 'thud' as it closed fully. Bookman, standing and looking out the window on the other side of the room, didn't even turn around.
Lavi looked down at the floor awkwardly, feeling more like he was visiting a new acquaintance's house than standing inside his own room. Even without looking, he could still see the scene perfectly in his head. The bunk beds up against one wall, the desk covered with papers, pens, and ink against the wall opposite, and Bookman staring out the window in between, coming up with how best to convey his displeasure of recent events to the redhead. The many well-balanced, neatly stacked and organized historical documents in the corners of the room just seemed to make the heavy silence more oppressive, shrinking the available space in the room until Lavi felt like it was suffocating him.
There was a sound of cloth rustling and the redhead knew that Bookman had just turned around to face him. There was dead silence for several more heartbeats and then the older man spoke.
"Lavi." Bookman's voice was serious, as though already certain of the young man's guilt and just required confirmation before his execution. "You were missing last night."
Lavi nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"I've heard several rumors about where you spent the night, but rumors are an unreliable source of information. Still, the one connecting thread is that you spent the night with Tyki Mikk." Bookman fell silent for a moment, tone almost free of accusation. "Is this true?"
Lavi stared at his feet, opening his mouth to reply and closing it when he realized he had no answer. His silence would speak for him.
"'A Bookman does not have any attachments; this means no partners, family, children, or friends,'" the old man said quietly but with utmost conviction. Lavi flinched at the words, turning his head as though looking at the floor to the side of his feet would help cushion the blow better than looking at the floor in front of his feet would. It didn't help.
"How long has this relationship with Mikk been going on? Without my knowledge?" Bookman asked. The redhead inhaled slowly, still unable to bring himself to look at his mentor.
"A few months," he answered vaguely, hoping his mentor would be satisfied with just that. To his surprise, Bookman let the indefinite answer pass without comment, moving right along to the next question.
"In that time, how many times have you engaged in sexual relations with him?"
Lavi's hands tightened into fists.
"A few times," he answered weakly. He could sense and almost see Bookman's eyes narrow.
"Numbers, Lavi."
The redhead swallowed, finding the task more difficult that he had first thought.
"Around four months. We... we've had intercourse at least six times." He couldn't look at his mentor. He had never felt more vulnerable and defenseless than he felt now, having to reveal details he would never have disclosed in any other circumstance to Bookman.
"Have you become emotionally attached to him?"
Lavi didn't reply, just bit his lip and stared at the floor. His teacher could see through his lies in an instant and the truth would not help him now.
There was the sound of cloth rustling again and the redhead looked up briefly to see what it was. Bookman had turned back to face the window, apparently no longer wanting to look at his apprentice.
"You are not to see him again," the old man said firmly, allowing for no argument. Lavi nodded. It was what he had expected, though now that not seeing the Noah was his reality...
It suddenly seemed so much more difficult. His throat developed a sudden, worrying lump he instinctively tried to swallow and failed. His chest felt like it was hollow, completely empty with nothing but a numbness to show it even existed.
Tyki's hands, Tyki's smirk, Tyki's chuckle; the quiet moans of pleasure the older man made when Lavi did something he liked; the way they would 'bet' on poker games Tyki was almost sure to win; 'I spared you because I was becoming fond of you. I believe you call this feeling an attachment...'
He was so distracted by the memories of what he had just lost that he almost missed Bookman's quiet words as the man continued.
"By dawn, you are to have cut all ties with him and are never to see him again after."
It was as if the breath had returned to his body with force, leaving him light and disoriented. He looked up, lips slightly parted in shock and eye wide.
"What?" he asked, staring at the old man. Bookman didn't move, didn't even tense.
"When the sun next rises, you are never to see the Noah again," he repeated. "Is that clear?"
Lavi could only stare, rooted to the spot. The words seemed to dance around his head, shifting and changing the moment he got his hands on them. The words echoed in his mind until they no longer made sense and were only jumbles of syllables strung together incomprehensibly. The disorientation increased, head feeling light and airy while his eyes glazed over, staring at nothing while he tried to make sense of Bookman's words.
Was Bookman actually...?
"Is that clear?"
The world abruptly snapped back into focus, sense and purpose returning to Lavi with the force of a train. He nodded, blinking rapidly, and hugged himself across his chest to try and keep the suddenly warm, explosive feeling inside of him from spilling out. It was a bittersweet feeling, one of utter jubilation mixed with impending loss.
"Thank you, Bookman," he said simply, bowing as a gesture of both respect and gratitude before turning towards the door. He dashed towards it, barely slowing down to open it and half-tripping over his own feet as he ran into the hall. The door slammed shut behind him.
Bookman stood, staring at the window, as he listened to his apprentice's footsteps fade. When they were gone completely, he sighed quietly and turned towards his desk. He walked slowly towards it, feeling his age in every joint and muscle as he reached the chair and lowered himself in to it.
He picked up his pen and tapped it absently on a blank sheet of paper, mind and gaze both distant.
TBC…
A/N: Yay for another chapter finished! I hope you all enjoyed it - please let me know what you thought by reviewing! (And to those who are planning on Favoriting this story - please do review. If you don’t, I will PM you and ask what you thought.) ^_^
The next chapter will be out once I get it written and proofread.
Warnings: YAOI, which means BOYS LOVING BOYS. If you dislike that, then the back button is easy enough to find. Please click that and leave. Limes are in the future, and lemons. Maybe some OOC, spoilers for the end of the anime later on.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these lovely characters, that honor belongs to Katsura Hoshino. (Though if Hoshino-sama ever has a sale, I call dibs on Tyki… what?) I don’t own anything but a copy of the anime series and all volumes of the manga in English. Anything you don’t recognize (like the plotline of ‘A Game of Poker’) does belong to me. Everything else… not so much. Please don’t sue.
Kudos to the awesome SisterWicked of AssHat Productions (a group I am now a proud member of), who got me started on Lucky and lets me use 'lovely'! Beta’d by N.H. Arawn and Misster Cackles! All remaining mistakes are mine.
Thanks to the 23 people who reviewed last chapter. (Far cry from the 53 I got the chapter before that… where did everyone go?) Oh! And I posted a shortfic for Halloween way early…
Last Time On ‘A Game Of Poker’:
If he was remembering correctly - and he would check the file to be certain - then he had something better than knowledge of how to create a blood-virus bullet at his disposal. If his memory wasn't failing him yet (and it shouldn't be, he was only 29!), then there was someone currently inside the Order building who knew how to create a bullet using on the energy of Innocence.
He would just check the files first. The Ghost of Matel was a fairly recent mission - hopefully the mission reports would not be buried too far down.
Almost giddy with excitement, Komui practically ran out of his office towards the storage room where the archives were kept.
And Now, The Continuation
A Game of Poker, Chapter 24
Rumors
"I hear that Reever got caught with Lenalee in the Science Department office after hours-" The voice belonged to a young redheaded woman with short hair, freckles and entirely too much chest. Her voice was high with excitement as she spoke to the young woman with dark hair who walked next to her.
"No way!" the brunette said, more a plea for details than any real disbelief. "Did the Supervisor have a fit?"
"Oh you KNOW he did! He was seen running from the office late last night - one of the newer Finders saw and told me. Rumor has it that he was going to get blackmail pictures of Reever and Kanda in bed."
Both women began giggling, probably picturing the usually stoic and untouchable Kanda in all sorts of unmentionable situations with Komui's second in command. The brunette was the first to get control of her mirth and she leaned slightly towards the redhead, obviously keen to keep their conversation quiet. "That reminds me; have you heard the latest?"
The other woman's eyes widened, her excitement almost tangible now.
"No! What is it?" she asked. Almost as if there was some sort of signal inaudible to all but those two, both women stopped in the middle of the mostly-deserted hallway. The brunette drew herself up to full height, grinning proudly.
"Well, from what Alex tells me, Lavi was in his room all night long," she said, drawing out the last three words and waggling her eyebrows suggestively to add lewd meaning to the phrase. Her friend shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth as if afraid someone would hear.
"You've got to be kidding - Alex? That Alex? I didn't think he had guard duty..." the redhead said, voice slightly muffled by her hands. However, it was clear that her tone was less disbelieving and more indifferent. Gossip was gossip, after all.
The brunette nodded, mouth curling into a bit of a superior smirk.
"Jeanette told me that she and Hisoka had a date and since it was Hisoka's turn to guard Mikk..." Her voice trailed off and she shrugged, more for effect than anything else.
"'Soka asked Alex?" the redhead guessed, looking extremely pleased with herself when the brunette nodded.
"I guess Lavi showed up around the middle of his shift and demanded to be let in. He was carrying certain... things with him, so it was obvious what he wanted to do." The brunette smiled widely when the redhead's eyes opened even wider.
"No. Way," the redhead said. "Seriously? What did he bring?"
The brunette shrugged again, a slightly petulant expression on her face.
"I don't know. Alex refused to tell me unless I agreed to go out with him, and we all know how his dates usually end." She rolled her eyes, making a small 'hmph' noise as though she disapproved. She began walking again. The redhead nodded, crossing her arms and following.
"I don't even remember how many girls he breaks up with after the first night. You can see some of them crying for days afterward."
The brunette nodded and from there the conversation deteriorated into a drudging up of several of Alex's (and other men's) most notable past scandals. Their voices faded as they moved further down the hall, leaving an unseen watcher standing alone in a small side hall. The watcher had overheard every word and his ancient fingers tightened their grip on the few books he was carrying with him to lunch.
Bookman stared at the wall across from him contemplatively for several long moments, posture rigid. Rumors were usually nothing more than that and while most were embellished upon, almost all had a grain of truth in them. The old man wasn't about to assume that the young woman's words were completely correct, but Lavi had been missing last night and had shown a particular interest in Mikk and the Noah's well-being...
Yes, the rumor was probably mostly fabricated, but there was a pattern in Lavi's behavior and it was too easy for Bookman to believe that his apprentice had indeed been with Tyki Mikk the previous night.
With a small, defeated sigh, Bookman turned back towards the library. He suddenly wasn't hungry any more.
<hr/>
Lavi walked down the hallway, wandering aimlessly and avoiding any place he knew Bookman liked to frequent. He had gone immediately to their shared room to try his hand at damage control only to find that Bookman had already awoken and had left. Now the only thing left to do was put the inevitable off as long as possible and hope that he came up with a legitimate-sounding excuse for what he was doing.
So far, he wasn't having any luck.
At least he had a reason to be wandering around, should anyone ask. He had run into Reever earlier and the man had asked him to send Allen to Komui's office if the redhead should happen to see the white-haired boy. Lavi had promised that he would, but so far he hadn't seen any trace of the British Exorcist. He honestly didn't expect to see his friend - Lavi was sticking to deserted hallways and places few people ever traveled in hopes of avoiding his mentor. He hadn't been to the dining hall all day and his stomach reminded him of that periodically by rumbling. He knew that he probably had some snacks hidden in his room, but he hadn't visited that place since that morning and had no intentions of going back until later. Much later.
His stomach rumbled particularly loudly just then and he stopped walking, putting one hand over the noisy organ as if that would help to quiet it or to assuage it. Perhaps he would have to risk a trip to the dining hall; maybe he could hide in a corner somewhere and hope that Bookman had either already eaten or wouldn't notice him?
Another minor complaint from his stomach made his decision for him. He sighed and turned in the direction of the dining hall, food, and possible detection.
He let his feet carry him forward, focusing his attention more on his surroundings. He would eventually start passing people and he would need to make sure he didn't end up running right into Bookman. His perfect mental map of the Order's Headquarters kept his feet on the right path and he turned down several more hallways and walked up a few flights of stairs before he saw anyone else.
His eye briefly passed over the Finder, taking in the shaggy brown hair and general face shape out of habit. He turned his attention back to the hall ahead, dismissing the Finder as a potential problem. Finders rarely spoke with the old man, so unless he passed an Exorcist or scientist, Lavi wasn't too worried about word of his whereabouts getting back to his mentor.
He passed the taller, darker-haired man and took maybe three steps more down the otherwise deserted hallway before an unfamiliar voice rang out.
"Wait, Red!"
Lavi stopped, turning towards the source of the sound. His brow furrowed slightly, a confused expression on his face.
The Finder he had just passed had turned around and was walking towards him, a slight smile on his face. For some reason, the smile seemed almost false and sent slight nervous shivers up Lavi's spine. Trusting his instincts, Lavi turned to fully face the man. Defense was simpler and quicker if he didn't need to turn and face the Finder first.
"Hello," Lavi said as the Finder approached, backing up a small step when the other man stopped just slightly within his personal space. "Have we met...?"
The Finder moved forward again, increasing Lavi's discomfort.
"I've seen you, but you haven't seen me," the Finder replied, smile switching to a smirk as though he found that statement incredibly amusing. "My name is Alex. You're Lavi, right?"
Feeling more uncomfortable by the second, but not wanting to appear rude, Lavi forced a smile onto his face and nodded.
"Yes, that's me!" he said cheerfully, taking another small step backwards. "So, Alex, are you new here? As you said, I haven't seen you before..."
Alex nodded slowly, taking a measured step forward. Lavi glanced over his shoulder, noting his distance (or lack thereof) to the wall. He felt like he was almost behind herded toward the solid structure and he bristled imperceptibly at the idea. He turned back to the Finder and smiled again, though he knew the expression was probably a bit strained.
"Nice to meet you," the redhead said, turning to go. "But it's lunchtime and I'm kind of hungry-"
He cut himself off abruptly when a large, solid hand grabbed his wrist and held him just firmly enough to keep him in place. Lavi turned to face him, annoyed.
"Was there something you needed?" he asked politely, if pointedly, as he tried to quietly tug his wrist free. This was sending all sorts of alarm bells off in his head and he didn't like it one bit.
"I just wanted to know what I had to do to get you to come visit me at night," Alex said, pulling Lavi a bit closer. The redhead, for his part, could not believe his ears. He stared, dumbstruck, at the brunet. Surely the man didn't mean...
"What?" Lavi said, reining in his instinct to draw back his fist and punch. Outrage was beginning to replace the shock, his anger getting a boost when Alex's smirk widened.
"Your little 'visit' to the Noah last night, Red," the Finder said casually, moving closer. Lavi felt the blood drain from his face, outrage banked sharply by something like horror. He knew that the story would spread, but he hadn't expected that the first person he'd encounter today would proposition him-
With that recollection, Lavi's outrage returned tenfold.
"What is that bastard using to buy you anyway? Information?" Alex continued, apparently oblivious to the Exorcist's mounting anger. "All I can offer you is myself, but as I've had no complaints so far..." His smirk took on a smug edge. "I can promise it will be a night you will never forget, no matter how many men there are after me."
The brown-haired man stepped even closer to Lavi, lifting the redhead's captured wrist to press his lips against the pulse there. Lavi clenched his free hand into a fist, biting his tongue to keep from responding.
"My room is just-"
That's it. He was done listening to this.
"What makes you think," Lavi interrupted coldly. "-that I would go anywhere with you?" He yanked his wrist free, much to the surprise of the Finder. Lavi turned to go, inwardly seething, but also now more anxious to get to the lunchroom. He wasn't hungry any more, but he did want to find out how far the rumors had spread already. He had thought he'd have more time before word spread to the rest of the Order about him and Tyki, but if someone was already acting off of it...
His wrist was grabbed again, this time more forcefully, and he was spun around. His other wrist was also captured this time and he nearly tripped over his own feet as he was shoved backwards into a wall. Lavi let out a low 'oomph' as he connected, wincing when the back of his head knocked against the stone. He could feel the warm heat of another body pressing into him from the front and was fleetingly reminded of that day in the alley with Tyki...
He glared at the Finder currently pinning him to the wall, the light trickle of fear coursing through him all but drowned out by the anger he felt. That day in the alley may not have been one of his better memories, but since it had been with Tyki, it had been all right. Tyki was the only one he had ever let so close, in more ways than one.
"Let go," Lavi warned, a cold, calm sort of fury filling him. Alex just grinned, a silent refusal.
"Don't play coy, Red," Alex coaxed, leaning forward. "Not when you were moaning so prettily for him last night."
Lavi wasn't sure to be shocked or horrified that the brunet pinning him had apparently heard him. He decided on simple anger, narrowing his eye into a glare that rivaled one of Kanda's best. Alex's grin did falter at that, expression going from amused to annoyed and slightly puzzled.
"You don't have any objections about me, do you?" Alex asked rhetorically, already sure he knew the answer. "If you'll spread your legs for a Noah, you'd do it for any-"
That was the last straw.
Lavi turned his wrists in the Finder's grip before yanking his wrists inwards and down, leading with the bony side rather than the back of the joint. His hands slipped free easily and he took full advantage of that, drawing one fist back before delivering a very satisfying punch to the brunet's face. He struck the side of the other man's nose and his eye, inwardly smiling coldly when the man went down instantly.
The Finder sat back up almost immediately, one hand going to his now-bloody nose. Alex removed his hand, wincing at the tenderness of his nose, then caught sight of the red liquid on his hand. he swore, pushing himself up to his feet and glaring murderously at the Exorcist. Lavi stared back, unfazed.
"I don't know where you heard that, but I'm no one's whore. My 'visits' can't be bought or sold." Lavi turned away, anger fading and leaving just quiet resignation behind. "And Tyki's better than you. Take that however you want."
The redhead had little doubt that Alex would take it in a sexual sense, but didn't care. He was fairly certain that Tyki was better than the Finder in that sense too, even if it wasn't exactly what he had meant by his comment. He couldn't imagine Tyki doing what the Finder had just done. The Noah was more refined than that; the only exception Lavi had ever seen was that day when he was cornered by the Pleasure and taken while pinned to a brick wall, and Tyki had more than made up for that.
The Exorcist began walking away, mini flashbacks playing in his mind with the vivid clarity only a Bookman's memory was capable of. Not just flashes of the Noah's dak head in between his thighs or the feeling of being connected to the older man intimately, but also of Tyki's face when the Noah had saved his life by disobeying a direct order from the Earl. The way the dark-haired man had shoved him into the Ark and then destroyed the door to protect him rather than allow the Earl to kill him. The way Tyki's soft kisses had felt against his lips, earnest and sweet and so very, very dangerous.
Tyki was a better man than Alex, no matter what way he thought about it.
The redhead jerked himself out of his thoughts when he realized that he had stopped walking and was running his fingertips lightly over his lips. Torn between anger and loss, he dropped his hand and started running away from the still-shocked Finder. He took the first turn he could, no longer hungry and intent on doubling back and heading into the depths of the Order building once more to find somewhere quiet he could relax and just think.
It didn't matter how far the rumor spread any more. Lavi wasn't sure he'd be able to choke down food at the moment, not even something as delicious as Jerry's cooking. It wasn't as if he had to prevent Bookman from finding out - the man must already know. Looking at it logically, the rumor could do no more harm than his absence in his room this morning already had.
With a muffled curse, Lavi kept running.
If only he could also outrun the images in his head that kept showing him what his actions had cost him.
<hr/>
Allen knocked twice on the door to Komui's office, a bit hesitant. He wasn't entirely sure why he had been called to see the white-clad man, but Reever hadn't seemed too concerned. It was probably something minor, though since the blond man hadn't said anything about a mission, Allen was pretty certain he wouldn't be sent out.
"Come in." Komui's voice was slightly muffled by the door and strained from what was likely fatigue. Curious now, Allen turned the knob and opened the door, poking his head around the side to see into the room.
The Chinese man was sitting at his desk, bent over a few different sheets of paper. At the sound of the door shutting, Komui looked up from his work. As soon as the older man recognized Allen through eyes blurred from lack of sleep, his face broke out into a grin and he sat up as straight as he could.
"Guess Reever found you. Good, good..." Komui said, mostly muttering to himself. He motioned to the chair across from his desk. "Please sit, Allen. I just have a few questions I'd like to ask you and then you can go."
Allen nodded then made his way across the room, careful to avoid the stacks of backed up paperwork and trying not to slip on the papers scattered at his feet. Once safely across the room - conscious of Komui's eyes on him - he sat down on the couch and rested his palms on his knees.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" the British boy asked, craning his neck just slightly to try and see what the Chinese man had been working on when he had come in. All he could make out were seemingly random sequences of letters and numbers and mathematical signs, but nothing he could make sense of. He relaxed back into the couch, somewhat reassured that he wasn't in any sort of trouble. For one thing, Komui would be much more serious and for another, the paperwork defining his most recent supposed wrongdoing would be on top of Komui's desk.
The supervisor seemed to debate for a moment, then sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"We've been trying to create an anti-Akuma weapon powered by Innocence for the Finders to use. Well, not exactly run off the Innocence-" Komui hastened to add, seeing Allen's eyes widen with alarm. The memory of Suman Dark was not one often visited, but it was never completely gone. Those not compatible with Innocence trying to use it...
Allen shuddered, hoping that Suman's soul at least managed to find peace in the afterlife, if there was indeed an afterlife.
"The Innocence gives off an energy that causes the phenomena around it to occur when it isn't built into a weapon," Komui continued, voice a bit quieter. "We'd use that energy, not the Innocence itself. We've run tests on the effects of the Innocence-energy on normal humans and it seems like there are no problems with anyone turning into a Fallen. The weapons we make using this would obviously not be as powerful as a true anti-Akuma weapon wielded by an Exorcist, but it would mean more protection for the Finders while they're out on reconnaissance missions."
The white-clad man turned his attention to his desk. The sound of paper shuffling filled the room for a few moments as Komui dug through the numerous sheets on his desk before apparently locating what it was he had been looking for. He tugged a sheet from the bottom of one stack free, then motioned for Allen to come and take it. Allen stood and walked up to the desk, accepting the sheet with his normal hand before sitting back down to study the drawing - for it was a drawing - in detail.
It seemed to be a picture of a gun, though a lot of the details seemed to be missing. It seemed to be some kind of revolver, but there was no chamber for the bullets and in fact it seemed as if the artist who drew the picture had never seen the chamber of a gun. The place where it should have been was drawn in light lines, as if the person who drew it wasn't sure how big the chamber was, or even the shape of it.
Allen looked up, opening his mouth to ask about the 'missing' part of the drawing, but then closed it when he saw the exhausted look in Komui's eyes. The British Exorcist looked at the desk's surface once more, taking in the incomprehensible calculations laid out on the sheet.
It wasn't just that the chamber hadn't been drawn in. That part of the gun hadn't been designed yet. It couldn't be designed, Allen realized, unless Komui and the other Order scientists knew how to create the bullets from the energy of Innocence.
With crystal clarity, Allen suddenly knew exactly why he had been called to Komui's office. Cross wasn't at Headquarters at the moment. No one else used a projectile Innocence or had ever used a projectile Innocence. No one still living with the Order, at any rate, except for Bookman and Allen doubted a supposedly impartial observer would help with weapons development.
The white-haired boy put the drawing on the couch next to him, giving it one last look before turning back to Komui. There was a hopeful look in the man's eyes, a desperate plea for information and a solution to the puzzle of how to create something tangible and deadly from something that was usually all but invisible.
Allen laid his normal hand over his other shoulder, thinking. The Ghost of Matel case was an old one, or at least it seemed that way. So much had happened since he joined the Order, his first mission felt like it had been years ago.
"You want me to... let you examine my Innocence?" Allen said slowly, more asking for a confirmation than truly questioning what it was Komui expected of him. The white-clad man nodded seriously, gaze focused and intense.
"I just need to run some tests on your arm when it is transformed into a gun - you can still form the gun, correct?"
Allen nodded, dropping his hand back to his lap. Komui smiled and stood.
"Excellent. I'd like to run the tests now. The sooner we solve this-"
Allen nodded, standing immediately. The sooner the Finders could be equipped with actual weapons for dealing with the Akuma, the fewer casualties the Order would have. He had no plans anyway, and if a few tests could really help the Science Department figure out how to create bullets from energy he was more than willing to spend his afternoon as a lab rat.
Komui began walking towards the door, effortlessly avoiding the many piles of paperwork. He seemed to be walking with a spring in his step and he was humming quietly. Allen smiled and followed the man out of the office.
<hr/>
Lavi walked quietly down the hallway, feet almost dragging on the stones that made up the floor. Each step was slow and heavy, each marginally smaller than the last as he headed for his destination.
His room.
He had managed to avoid Bookman all day but hadn't managed to come up with any sort of excuse that would convince the old man to let him continue visiting the Noah. He had, quite frankly, just given up on that idea hours ago and had spent his time prolonging the inevitable.
More specifically, he had spent the last few hours reviewing his memories of Tyki, both the good and the bad.
A Bookman's memory was one of his greatest tools, perfect to the last detail. He could still recall the first time he had ever seen the Pleasure, though he hadn't recognized the other man for what he was at the time. Their first fight, their second meeting; how easy had it been to hate the older man back then? Back before Tyki was Tyki and was just some guy with a beauty mark saying that Allen wasn't yet dead and challenging him to stay alive until the Level 3 brought Allen to Edo?
It had been easy. Too easy for someone who was supposed to remain impartial in all things, but Lavi could trace the beginnings of his change back to his first day at the Order.
He had certainly never expected the change to go so far or affect him so deeply, but he had seen it coming.
The first night they had been together... he had been curious about sex, about Tyki, about a lot of things. If he had had any clue that the events of that first night would lead him here, would he still have lied?
He didn't know. He just didn't know.
He sighed and put those thoughts aside. There was no use in metaphorically chasing his tail in hopes of catching it. The fact remained that his decisions all those months ago had landed him here and there was no changing the past.
Lavi glanced around the corridor, knowing his feet would carry him to his room but unsure of how much time he had before he would actually arrive and have to talk to Bookman. There was no way that the old man hadn't heard the rumors, not with how fast they had spread and how many people word had gotten to. Just under two hours ago, Lavi had walked into the dining hall and the room had gone quiet as people noticed him. Not totally silent, but there had been a definite drop in noise that had persisted until the redhead had ordered, forced half his food down his throat, and left. He had found that his appetite shrunk rather severely when tens of Finders were trying (and failing) to be subtle about watching him.
Upon recognizing the hallway he was in, he stopped short. His heart sank, the few bites of food he had managed to choke down feeling like lead weights in his stomach.
On his left, three doors down, was the entrance to the room he shared with his mentor. The door was shut tight, but the bit of lamplight showing underneath the wood proved that the old man was inside. Lavi swallowed thickly, heart beginning to pound.
He turned from the door, half-formed plans of going to Allen or Yuu - well, maybe not Kanda, since the Japanese Exorcist no longer tolerated him well - and asking for refuge for a night. He'd deal with Bookman tomorrow. That would be soon enough, or too soon, or too late... Lavi how to think anymore. Soon enough to stop whatever it was between him and Tyki from going further, too soon for him to be content, too late to prevent Lavi's heart from being corrupted. Were any of those options even the right way to think about this?
As he began to walk silently down the hallway, putting extra care into the quietness of his steps, he heard squeaky hinges sound behind him as a door opened.
It could have been any door. Somehow, Lavi knew it was the one door, three doors down, that had opened. He froze in place, heart thudding in his ears, as the sound of two footsteps echoed in the mostly-empty hallway. The steps were light and almost silent, as if they belonged to a young girl or a very old man.
"Lavi."
At the sound of his name, the redhead's whole body went cold. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion as he turned around, painfully aware of his breathing as it shuddered and ground to a halt.
As he had expected, Bookman stood in the doorway to their room. He was backlit by the light coming from the lamp inside, making it impossible for the redhead to read his mentor's expression. Even so, he could tell that the man was angry with him from the icy tone he took. The old man's voice was cold enough to freeze a desert.
"Follow me." With that, Bookman turned and walked back into the room. He left the door wide open, voice demanded absolute obedience from his apprentice. Swallowing heavily once more, mouth suddenly bone dry, Lavi did as told. He took in a slow breath and walked slowly forward, more than half tempted to just cut and run. He already knew exactly what Bookman would say and how he would have to respond. He already knew that, after this talk, he wouldn't be allowed to see Tyki again 'for his own good'.
The temptation to run steadily grew, hands almost trembling with the desire to just turn and run. His feet slowed down as he approached the door, stopping entirely when he reached the threshold of the room.
If he was going to run, now would be his last chance. Once he entered that room, he would not be able to leave until Bookman had said his piece. Once Bookman said his piece...
Memories of Tyki, of his touch, his scent, the feel of him deep inside, began flooding Lavi's mind. The way the Noah smirked while playing poker, always so confident of his victory, the way the older man looked so peaceful when asleep; the good memories both warmed his heart and tore it apart in the same fell swoop.
Lavi rubbed at his uncovered eye a bit, feeling both water ever so slightly while his throat closed up. He wasn't crying, not even close, but the emotion was there. As much as he cared for Tyki - he could admit that he cared, since it no longer mattered one way or another - he couldn't continue this with him. Even if there were no barriers between them, the fact remained that the Pleasure's track record was not one littered with many long-term, committed relationships. As far as Lavi was aware, the older man rarely went on a second 'date' with anyone. It was a fluke that had kept them together for more than just a few nights.
Even without knowing that it was only a matter of time before Tyki left him, whether or not Bookman made him give Tyki up, there was still the fact that he owed Bookman. His mentor had taken him in, raised him, groomed him as the heir to the Bookman legacy, and he couldn't just throw that all away for something he knew couldn't last. He couldn't be so selfish as to end the Bookman line for something as fleeting as his relationship with Tyki.
With a heavy heart and a clogged throat, he stepped forward into the room and shut the door behind himself.
It swung shut slowly, making a very final sounding 'thud' as it closed fully. Bookman, standing and looking out the window on the other side of the room, didn't even turn around.
Lavi looked down at the floor awkwardly, feeling more like he was visiting a new acquaintance's house than standing inside his own room. Even without looking, he could still see the scene perfectly in his head. The bunk beds up against one wall, the desk covered with papers, pens, and ink against the wall opposite, and Bookman staring out the window in between, coming up with how best to convey his displeasure of recent events to the redhead. The many well-balanced, neatly stacked and organized historical documents in the corners of the room just seemed to make the heavy silence more oppressive, shrinking the available space in the room until Lavi felt like it was suffocating him.
There was a sound of cloth rustling and the redhead knew that Bookman had just turned around to face him. There was dead silence for several more heartbeats and then the older man spoke.
"Lavi." Bookman's voice was serious, as though already certain of the young man's guilt and just required confirmation before his execution. "You were missing last night."
Lavi nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"I've heard several rumors about where you spent the night, but rumors are an unreliable source of information. Still, the one connecting thread is that you spent the night with Tyki Mikk." Bookman fell silent for a moment, tone almost free of accusation. "Is this true?"
Lavi stared at his feet, opening his mouth to reply and closing it when he realized he had no answer. His silence would speak for him.
"'A Bookman does not have any attachments; this means no partners, family, children, or friends,'" the old man said quietly but with utmost conviction. Lavi flinched at the words, turning his head as though looking at the floor to the side of his feet would help cushion the blow better than looking at the floor in front of his feet would. It didn't help.
"How long has this relationship with Mikk been going on? Without my knowledge?" Bookman asked. The redhead inhaled slowly, still unable to bring himself to look at his mentor.
"A few months," he answered vaguely, hoping his mentor would be satisfied with just that. To his surprise, Bookman let the indefinite answer pass without comment, moving right along to the next question.
"In that time, how many times have you engaged in sexual relations with him?"
Lavi's hands tightened into fists.
"A few times," he answered weakly. He could sense and almost see Bookman's eyes narrow.
"Numbers, Lavi."
The redhead swallowed, finding the task more difficult that he had first thought.
"Around four months. We... we've had intercourse at least six times." He couldn't look at his mentor. He had never felt more vulnerable and defenseless than he felt now, having to reveal details he would never have disclosed in any other circumstance to Bookman.
"Have you become emotionally attached to him?"
Lavi didn't reply, just bit his lip and stared at the floor. His teacher could see through his lies in an instant and the truth would not help him now.
There was the sound of cloth rustling again and the redhead looked up briefly to see what it was. Bookman had turned back to face the window, apparently no longer wanting to look at his apprentice.
"You are not to see him again," the old man said firmly, allowing for no argument. Lavi nodded. It was what he had expected, though now that not seeing the Noah was his reality...
It suddenly seemed so much more difficult. His throat developed a sudden, worrying lump he instinctively tried to swallow and failed. His chest felt like it was hollow, completely empty with nothing but a numbness to show it even existed.
Tyki's hands, Tyki's smirk, Tyki's chuckle; the quiet moans of pleasure the older man made when Lavi did something he liked; the way they would 'bet' on poker games Tyki was almost sure to win; 'I spared you because I was becoming fond of you. I believe you call this feeling an attachment...'
He was so distracted by the memories of what he had just lost that he almost missed Bookman's quiet words as the man continued.
"By dawn, you are to have cut all ties with him and are never to see him again after."
It was as if the breath had returned to his body with force, leaving him light and disoriented. He looked up, lips slightly parted in shock and eye wide.
"What?" he asked, staring at the old man. Bookman didn't move, didn't even tense.
"When the sun next rises, you are never to see the Noah again," he repeated. "Is that clear?"
Lavi could only stare, rooted to the spot. The words seemed to dance around his head, shifting and changing the moment he got his hands on them. The words echoed in his mind until they no longer made sense and were only jumbles of syllables strung together incomprehensibly. The disorientation increased, head feeling light and airy while his eyes glazed over, staring at nothing while he tried to make sense of Bookman's words.
Was Bookman actually...?
"Is that clear?"
The world abruptly snapped back into focus, sense and purpose returning to Lavi with the force of a train. He nodded, blinking rapidly, and hugged himself across his chest to try and keep the suddenly warm, explosive feeling inside of him from spilling out. It was a bittersweet feeling, one of utter jubilation mixed with impending loss.
"Thank you, Bookman," he said simply, bowing as a gesture of both respect and gratitude before turning towards the door. He dashed towards it, barely slowing down to open it and half-tripping over his own feet as he ran into the hall. The door slammed shut behind him.
Bookman stood, staring at the window, as he listened to his apprentice's footsteps fade. When they were gone completely, he sighed quietly and turned towards his desk. He walked slowly towards it, feeling his age in every joint and muscle as he reached the chair and lowered himself in to it.
He picked up his pen and tapped it absently on a blank sheet of paper, mind and gaze both distant.
TBC…
A/N: Yay for another chapter finished! I hope you all enjoyed it - please let me know what you thought by reviewing! (And to those who are planning on Favoriting this story - please do review. If you don’t, I will PM you and ask what you thought.) ^_^
The next chapter will be out once I get it written and proofread.