Inbok for @sticksandbones

[missinglink]

ppppbtbtbtbt

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[missinglink]

I'd be disappointed if you weren't asking me for help. I wouldn't be a very good teacher then, would I?

[godsfavourite]

…? Would you?

[ Link think. Link think who his mentor is and say that again— ]

[missinglink]

[He doesn't like to think about your mentor if he can help it-]

Well...a rather inattentive one, at the very least.

[godsfavourite]

I just think that I was very hands-on with learning stuff, is all. Paperwork and memorizing stuff is... harder, I think? I'm not good at it. I know there's really not a better way to learn literacy, though.

[missinglink]

In my experience, the best thing for it is practice. You'll get better at it with time...but I promise I won't make you do too much.

[He doesn't want it to feel like he's back with the Order TOO much.]

[godsfavourite]

I appreciate it~ [ ... ] Ah, but... please also go easy on Kanda, too, Li.

[missinglink]

[OUGh...Li....Link feels his heart being stabbed.]

I will, don't worry.

Anyway, that's for later. Right now I want you to finish all of that so I don't have to throw anything away, okay?

[As if Allen has ever not cleaned his plate in his whole life.]

[godsfavourite]

[ You do NOT have to tell him twice, he is stuffing his face now, thank you. ]

[godsfavourite]

[ Okay. But consider. As lovely as it is that they're almost holding hands, the smell of food is really getting to Allen, and-

His stomach growls, and he puts his hand over it as he impatiently shifts his weight from foot to foot. ]

You said this wouldn't take... that long, right?

[missinglink]

[Link chuckles, shifting the pan with his other hand before giving the toast a flip by flicking the pan with his wrist.]

Few more minutes on the other side, then it will be done. We have a lot of toast to make, but you can go ahead and start eating while I cook the rest.

[In fact, he'll go ahead and grab a plate now, putting some bacon on it before sliding the toast on once it's good and crispy.]

We have honey and syrup.

[godsfavourite]

[ …!!!!!!!!!! Allen looks to Link with practically all the stars in his eyes. ]

How did you do that??? [ Gestures to the pan, before he takes the plate of food. He’s going to get a fork, at least, before he pigs out. ] Without the flipper? [ Spatula. ]

[missinglink]

Mm? Flipping the toast? You catch the weight of the pan with your wrist and just let gravity do the work.

[He flips the toast again. Higher this time. It flips a couple times in midair before it comes back down on the right side. Show off.]

It takes some practice, and you have to be careful if it’s something really hot.

[godsfavourite]

[ ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ ]

Can you teach me that, too?!

[missinglink]

Sure. Here, why don’t you stand where I am?

[He sidesteps a little so Allen can take the pan.]

You want to tilt the pan and let the bread slide to the edge. Then you just use your wrist to bump the pan and cause the toast to flip. You want to use a rocking motion with the pan, and not too hard or you’ll have toast on the ceiling.

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]

[ Excitedly, Allen grabs the pan. He steadies his hands on the handle and pokes his tongue out in that way that says he’s concentrating real hard. He gently tries to flip the toast with a little flip of his wrist. To his credit, he does not get hot butter everywhere, or on either of them.

He does, however, manage to get French toast stuck on the nearby wall.

…

He silently hands the pan back to Link— ]

[missinglink]

…

[…

He reaches over and picks up Tim, placing him down on the counter next to where the toast ended up.]

That’s…alright. We have plenty more to make…

[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.

[godsfavourite]

Well, save your praise!! I said that was the easiest one to tackle, didn't I?

[ Meanwhile, Allen hops up on the desk to sit, kicking his legs a little. ]

Next order of business... you read the whole Bible, right?

[missinglink]

[...Hm. Sensing the conversation shift, and the fact they might be here a while, he decides to close his notebook for now.]

I have, yes. Is there something you wanted to know?

[godsfavourite]

[ Allen folds his hands together, twisting his thumbs around one another as he talks. ]

I haven't really... I only really know what little I've bothered to ask about. So I know about Heaven, and I know about Hell, and I thought I knew about God, but lately, obviously, I've had some... uh, changes... in opinion there...

[ Once again, he doesn't really want to wane Link's faith any. He doesn't think he can do worse than what Apocryphos did, anyway, but if he can help Link reestablish at least a little bit of it, he thinks maybe Link would appreciate it, just a little?

Even if that meant it would make their relationship more strained... At the end of the day, though, Allen just wants Link to be happy.

But, first, he has questions that need answered- ]

I keep thinking about the people who... who've gotten upset with me about how I handle the Akuma. They're right to be angry at them. Of course they are. The Akuma have killed so many innocent people.

...

But so has God, right?