Inbok for @sticksandbones

[missinglink]

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Breaks open ur inbox with a sledgehammer

[godsfavourite]

[ Allen usually sleeps in without much disturbance from the other two in the morning. Kanda, who wakes up early to meditate, and Link, to cook or study or both, both have their routines, while Allen’s is “hope I don’t wake up with eyebags” and work out. He has a “routine” in the sense he does the same shit in the morning, but it’s never on the same time. The boy is plagued with nightmares, he’s lucky to be sleeping at all.

One morning, though, Allen gets up with his two friends. He greets them with a sleepy greeting as Kanda leaves to meditate downstairs, and Link is changing his top. It’s not unusual — Allen and him have shared a room for quite a while now. It’s funny, though. Today of all days, he sees… is that… in Link’s chest…?

Allen stands from his bed immediately, stepping towards Link before he’s able to finish putting on his shirt. ]

Wait.

Link…?

[missinglink]

[Link is an early riser, as Allen well knows. He's a morning person, so he doesn't typically have problems getting up...but like any normal human person, he's a bit eepy first thing in the morning. He's still trying to pry his eyes fully open as he changes pretty much on autopilot, picking up his shirt to put on...only for Allen calling his name to give him reason to pause.

He doesn't realize what he's staring at, so he just turns to look at him like ?]

Yes?

[godsfavourite]

[ He confirms it pretty immediately. That Innocence’d stained mark. But it’s different this time, there’s scarring. It’s not like it is with Kanda’s or Lenalee’s or… hell, even his own. Even though he knows that’s the Innocence mark, Allen still raises his hand and lines up the marks, pressing his red hand against Link’s chest. Perhaps under any other circumstance, Allen would recognize the inherent intimacy of such an action.

Given the way his face pales like he’s seen a ghost, he isn’t thinking about that right now.

He pulls his hand away with a hitch of his breath as frantic eyes go from the scarring to the floor to the wall. Never up. Never to Link’s face. He cannot bear to look at his eyes now. ]

Y-… [ He finally utters a single sound, but it stops, while Allen struggles to find the things to say among the chaos in his head. ] This is where he tried to kill you…

[ It’s no wonder people were so easy to believe Link died, with a wound like that. And it’s one thing, isn’t it? To be told Link died. He had stared at Kanda like he’d been lying, like he couldn’t believe it. It’s another to… see it. It might not have happened right in front of him, but it’s not hard, like this, for Allen’s imagination to fill in the blanks.

As someone who’s had his heart damaged by one Tyki of the Noah, he knows it’s a pain unimaginably devastating. ]

I. I should’ve come back for- I-I knew he-

Oh, God. I’m… I’m so sorry.

[missinglink]

[...oh. Now he understands.

Before he can really stop Allen, he feels his hand reach out to touch his chest, palm resting perfectly over the cross scar on his flesh. It really does match up with his own mark of Innocence, yet for Link it means something different...but it's weirdly similar at the same time. It was imparted to each of them by the same being, after all.

Because yes. Had intervention not taken place, and had Link not had Atuuda, he would have died. That grave wouldn't have just been a farce to make people think he'd passed away that day to later go on a cross-country undercover mission to protect the Fourteenth.

And he can tell, immediately, that Allen is taking the blame entirely on himself.]

Allen, look at me. [He's not going to force him, but like. Yk.] If you came back, Apocryphos would have killed us both, and possibly even more people that got in his way. I made a choice, even if my memory of it was tampered with.

[His gaze narrows, eyes falling half closed.]

You made the right decision. The only decision you could have. Do not blame yourself for this.

[godsfavourite]

But we could've all gotten out of there!

[ Or maybe left Tyki behind at least.

The exclamation is quick, very obvious that the static-y mess that Allen calls his thoughts aren't working right now. No thinking, only instinct. And instinctively? Well, Allen's a fucking mess. ]

Tim's fast enough, he could've saved you, too! You- you could've died! You basically did! A-and now you have something that hurts you when you heal people, and-

[ He chokes a moment on his next words. Or maybe it's on a sob. It's hard to tell. He knows there's tears that currently sting at his eyes. This feels like a joke. "You're just like Kanda," he wants to say. Just like him. So willing to risk himself, and for what? For someone like Allen? Why? What did he ever do to deserve something like that? Why are all of his friends so willing to risk themselves for him?

Why does he feel so helpless...? ]

...You know I care about you, don't you? Then why would you risk yourself? If you're dead, I won't see you again, you prick...!

[missinglink]

I do know that.

[He doesn't understand why sometimes, though. Not when Link has proven himself to have an agenda that doesn't necessarily align with Allen's wellbeing. He'd been honest with him, after all. He's to protect the Fourteenth...and Allen just so happens to be housing him, right now.]

But can you tell me, in all honesty, that you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were in my shoes? Or worse?

[Allen...is a hypocrite here, and they both know that. Allen is quite often risking his own life for others, and would do so without hesitation for someone he just met.]

My duty has always been to protect you. To stay at your side. If I had turned and fled like a coward back then, I couldn't have lived with myself. I would have been abandoning you along with my own principles, and that is something I cannot abide.

It wouldn't have been a life I would have wanted to live.

[godsfavourite]

...You know I'm not as selfless as others say, Link. I put that on display when we were at Zoogle, didn't I? [ Granted, at the time, Allen did not know 1) that there was a cure that shortened the life of the person who bestowed it, and 2) Link would try to use Atuuda even knowing that Allen just took A Death Sentence in fruit form. ]

Besides, it was never your duty to "protect" me. Just to watch. Your protection became something you decided on. Even now, there's no need for you to! I'm not the Fourteenth!

...

But we're friends. And I get it. I want to protect my friends, too. But I haven't done anything for you to be so bloody reckless! So...

[ He's just staring at the scar now, with such a genuine sadness in his eyes that it seems like it'll bury that natural sparkle it has normally. But then, suddenly, he looks back up at Link, and like flipping a switch, there's a fiery determination in it's place. ]

Don't do anything like that again, okay? I'd rather you have a life to live, okay?? Okay??? I have to see you tomorrow! And all of the tomorrows after that!

Breaks open ur inbox with a sl--- (I'm here again)

[godsfavourite]

[ Allen is using Timcanpy to replay his conversation with Kanda, basically over and over until he can get a grasp of everything he did wrong and make a mental note of it. He's buried in his bed with the blankets all kicked off and hanging over the edge.

He closes Tim's mouth the moment Link enters, though, and lulls his head to the side to look at him. ]

Link. What do you think about this place? Our situation and such? I feel as though... you don't talk much about your opinions.

I'd like to know them.

heehee tee hee

[missinglink]

[By this point, Link has poured over every piece of information that's available that he can. Reading back years worth of writings in the notebooks, putting tabs on pages and dogearing even more to make sure he doesn't lose the important parts. While he wouldn't call himself an expert, he feels more confident now knowing he has a better grasp of what's going on. The situation with Suri, the Gods and Goddesses that preside over this world, and the inadvertent role they play in all of it.

Allen is right in that he hasn't had much opportunity to speak on it, less because he's felt like he can't, and more because it just didn't present itself. When he isn't cooking, he's studying. Reading, going through the archives, talking to people. The one thing he hasn't done yet is try to explore the forest on a deeper level, which he's already decided not to do unless he can get both Allen and Kanda to come with him. It seems a difficult task anyway without the proper item to help you along, which he hasn't purchased yet, so...it's a work in progress.

In the meantime...Link hasn't been completely unaware of what his roommates have been going through. He's not sure if they'd intended their conversations to be private, exactly (not that he's been intentionally listening in), but they often get so loud that it's hard not to overhear. He hasn't heard everything, but...some snippets have come through. It's strange, because he wouldn't be the first to claim Allen and Kanda are close (not in the same way Allen and Johnny are, surely), but at the same time the two are butting heads like brothers near constantly. He's stayed in the same room with Allen for months, meanwhile, and their altercations have typically been a lot fewer and further between...not in the least due to the fact Kanda has a temper on him, but they're all in a stressful situation. It just makes sense that emotions are running high.

He doesn't know what he should be doing, but he certainly feels like it isn't enough.

He walks in with one of his notebooks tucked under his arm, not the netbook but a blank one he's been writing his own notes and thoughts in. He pauses as Allen addresses him, frowning just slightly as he sets the book down on the bedside table before having a seat at the foot of the bed.]

It's been as difficult as anything else to comprehend, but I feel confident saying that you, Kanda, and myself were not singled out for the purpose of being brought here as I initially feared. This world's situation is divorced from the Holy War as far as I've been able to tell. There has been no record of mention of Akuma here, though it's not uncommon for this settlement to be overrun by monsters not unlike them.

[He takes a slow breath.]

Furthermore, judging by accounts from both past and present residents, time doesn't pass normally back home as it does here. If we were to wake up back in our world tomorrow, I think we would come to find that it would be as if we'd just fallen asleep for the night. We can take some solace in knowing that the War will not progress in our absence, for better or worse.

[godsfavourite]

[ At least they didn't bring up the kiss while here. Then again, both of them have the intelligence to NOT talk about that in the house with Link. They know, they're aware--

Allen sighs in relief, leaning his head back into the pillow and letting out a sigh of relief that almost visibly makes him relax for the first time in... fuck, years, probably- ]

That is good news. A huge weight off my shoulder, in fact. It means we don't have to feel bad that we're not rushing in to fight that forest entity.

[ Timcanpy turns around from Allen's stomach and flies up to land on Link's head. Hello, he is here :) ]

But I didn't mean about new information, you know. I meant your opinion, as a whole. What your thoughts are, not just your observations.

[missinglink]

[Oh, hi Tim. Link will let him sit there as always, crossing his legs and looking down into his lap as he tries to come up with a better answer.]

It's clear this place is dangerous. We just haven't been here long enough to see it yet. I think we might get a better sense of how dangerous once we canvass the Forest.

[And inevitably like. Die about it probably.]

And I'm still unsure what to make of this world's past, and the idea that we have always been intrinsically linked to it.

[He folds his arms, eyes falling closed.]

...however. Strange as it may be...I wholeheartedly believe we are safer here than back in our world. At least here, we are universes away from the Noah, the Earl, Apocryphos...

[The only thing Allen cannot escape is Nea.]

We have been afforded the blessing of time.

[godsfavourite]

[ ...Ah.

It's unsurprising to hear how much Link has thought about things, and even more unsurprising that he's tied a lot of his opinions to fact and refused to untether the two. Even now, he starts to spout more fact at Allen... until he says that. That they're safer here. That they've been afforded a blessing. What Allen hears is... realistically, what he was oh-so selfishly hoping to hear from Link for some time. He shouldn't have wanted it, shouldn't have been waiting, shouldn't have tried to pull it out of Link, but it is hard not to, when he so desperately wanted to hear it from him.

"I want to be here for you, not Nea."

It isn't those words exactly, but it's what Allen hears. He picks himself up to sit up on the bed, scooting so he's sitting next to Link on the bed. His smile is... calm? No, something else. It carries the weight of someone who's putting together just how much someone cares for him. It's a smile he's worn a few times lately. How foolish he is to not have seen it before. How foolish he is to not realize he means something so deep to his friends. He doesn't quite understand why. He feels he has not earned such affection, such love. All the same, his heart feels so... warm.

He gently puts his head against Link's shoulder. ] I see.

...Thank you for sharing. [ Allen isn't sure he wholly agrees. After all, he's well aware that people suffered quite a lot here. But, he can see where Link is coming from. More than anything, he's happy to hear Link talk about it, unfettered from any biases for once. ] I can agree somewhat... you seem a little happier, you know. Maybe it's just because we're not in such high stress situations at the moment, but it's nice to get to see you relaxed. I didn't think Howard Link would have an off switch, haha~

[missinglink]

[Link is definitely not aware that Allen is seeing directly through him, but...he isn't wrong. Link has been struggling with the two parts of himself for the last half-year or so that Allen has been on the run. One half, the half that is devoted to Central, has a duty given to him by his Commander to protect and ally with the Fourteenth by whatever means necessary...to be prepared to give up his life for him. The other half...just as prepared to give everything, but not for Nea.

For Allen. Allen Walker. Allen, who he desperately- selfishly- hopes can find his way to freedom. He isn't sure how possible it is, for him to pull his own identity out of the mire Nea is creating inside of him, but he has to hope that if anyone could find a way, it would be Allen.

Link looks at Allen out of the corner of his eye as he lays his head on his shoulder, the smallest hint of a smile pulling at his lips.]

I wouldn't call myself relaxed, per-say...but we have had the chance to rest more than I think we have in a long while.

[It helps to not literally be constantly moving so you aren't spotted or captured but you know. This calm before the storm will not last.]

May I ask how you are feeling, right now?

Breaks o—-

[godsfavourite]

[ Allen didn’t think about putting two seats in Link’s study, considering Allen and Kanda likely wouldn’t be bothered with this specifically, but Allen is a little sad he didn’t now, since he doesn’t have anywhere to sit. Still, he goes up to where Link is currently researching and leans himself against the desk in lieu of sitting.

Allen has a book in his own hands, and he’s vaguely leaning over Link to see what he’s doing currently. ]

Do you have a minute?

[missinglink]

[Fortunately, extra chairs are easy enough to come by. Link would very much approve of the idea, since he’d love to see Kanda and Allen in here studying more as it is.

For now, he’s still busy making notes from the notebook on his own personal notebook (non magical), making sections for the dieties, the various phenomenons the Grove has experienced, and more. He’ll pause and put his pen down inside to mark his place when Allen approaches, nodding.]

Of course. What do you need?

[He’s writing a section about the moon shards, currently.]

[godsfavourite]

A couple of things. For starters, since this is the easiest to get out of the way…

[ Allen pulls out a sheet of paper from the book. He’d been doing his own studying, though specifically of the townsfolk. He puts the paper down for Link to see. He has a whole list of names and roughly where they live in town. Each with identifying descriptions to tell them apart besides name. A few are written in red ink, however.

AKAZA - Infernal, haven’t approached
MYSTERY — Infernal, amiable
VILDRED — Infernal, friendly
NICOLE — Divinity, amiable
AIN — Divinity, amiable
RAS — Divinity, haven’t approached

(Notably, Ezell and Flamebringer are on the list noted to be “angel and Demon in appearance only, not by soul.”) ]

My… eye caught wind of this, and I thought you might want to know, too, as to not get caught off guard…

[missinglink]

Hm…

[Well at least one of these names is a surprise, but he keeps that to himself for now. He taps the back of his pen against the page, looking up at Allen without lifting his head.]

Ras is friendly. I was immediately more hostile to him than he was to me.

[He sighs, brushing his fingers through his bangs.]

Thank you for this. If your eye reacts to anything else, let me know so we can document it. I have no reason to believe any one of these people are dangerous, at least not yet…but obviously you can sense that more than I can.

[godsfavourite]

Yes, well… I’m hoping once everything calms down, my eye will stop activating altogether. I’m not wholly comfortable seeing everyone’s souls now, haha…

[ Except around the demons, anyway. That’s unavoidable. They still register to Allen’s eye as Akuma, after all. Allen does at least cross out the previous statement to write “amiable” next to Ras’ name. ]

I get the feeling a lot of them are just as keen to fix this situation with the forest. So if nothing else, being in the same boat makes them all accommodating in some respect, right?

I just… wanted to be careful. I also didn’t want you to be caught off guard by any of them, if avoidable. They’re not from our world, so…

[missinglink]

I appreciate your forethought, Allen. You're really put a lot of thought into this.

[He inclines his head in thanks, sitting back in his chair a little with one leg crossed over the other. Fruit.]

I think it is safe to say that the Akuma cannot reach this place, at the very least. If we do see anything like an Akuma, it's not like the ones we know from the Earl.

B—-

[godsfavourite]

[ continued from here

Allen doesn't interrupt his word stumbles, grinning at him. There is a light dusting of pink to his cheeks, and Link will very likely feel his heartbeat thumping just a little faster than usually as he leans into him. Allen does eventually relent though. Even if Allen does just intend to kiss Link, he should be comfortable.

Also because there's a very real chance that Link's knees give out if he isn't sitting.

So, Allen guides him over to the bed, taking a seat first with an overdramatic flop and then pats the spot next to him. ]

You don't have to be nervous, Li. I'm still new to all this too. Even if we mess up a little, that's all part of learning, innit?

Sends u a bill for my broken windows

[missinglink]

[In stark contrast to Allen’s flopping, Link sits politely next to him, only bringing his legs up onto the bed once he’s kicked his shoes off first.]

It is…you’re right. I just don’t want to let you down, that’s all.

[Can’t be anything less than perfect etc etc etc]

Fuck. Shit. Runs away and eats ur bill

[godsfavourite]

You haven’t. And you couldn’t. We could have the worst, messiest, everything-gone-wrong kiss in the world… [ Allen gently takes one of Link’s hands once again, with his Innocence, while his human hand settles against Link’s cheek, with his thumb ghosting against his bottom lip. ] …but it would mean everything to me, because it’s from you, Li.

[ He lets Link sit with that for just a moment before Allen leans in to close the space between his lips and Link’s. ]

MY BILL

[missinglink]

[Why is Allen so fucking sweet? Link feels like he’s melting just from his words alone, to the point where there’s no room for nerves this time as Allen kisses him. For once he relaxes, letting the other lean against his front a little given their position on the bed.

He realizes in that moment he doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Preciously he’d just been putting them on Allen’s face, but…

It feels a little risqué- though lbr anything would for Link- but after a moment, he takes the risk and lays his hands on Allen’s hips.]

[godsfavourite]

[ He is absolutely fine with the hands on his hips, thanks. The way they’re sitting is… well, not uncomfortable, but it’s definitely both of them trying to be respectful of one another, while also giving in to their desires a little. Not quite in Link’s lap, but also not quite at his “side”, for that need to be closer. And Link, hands hovering, in that clear sign of “where put???” before deciding.

It’s clumsy. It’s sweet. It’s very… them.

Allen keeps himself steadied with one hand on Link’s shoulder, the other against his cheek, and very gently brushes their lips together for a couple innocent kisses, before he finally decides to let his tongue ghost along his skin instead. Not forcing, just asking. He’ll even hear it in his head:

Can we? ]

[missinglink]

[Oh. That...is definitely new territory that's never been explored. In fact, it's not something Link has ever considered. He feels every fiber of his being sort of lock up with surprise both in and out, and for a moment he's frozen, unable to do anything but sit there shuddering beneath Allen's gentle touch.

He may not be able to think back for Allen to hear, but he does nod just slightly. It's quiet invitation and consent for more, even if he can't quite find his voice at the moment.]