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Lavi awoke on the ground beside the knocked-over chair, head pounding, body sore, to the strange sound of…a frog? He cracked his eye open, his mind confused by what his ears heard, knowing from the plush carpet beneath his cheek that he was still aboard the Ark. Sure as the sun rises, he found himself face-to-face with what appeared to be a large bullfrog. Said frog then released a loud croak before shooting out its tongue and hitting Lavi straight on his nose with a splat!
Though Lavi would later deny the fact fervently, he jerked backwards with an undignified yelp, shooting pain down his bruised body and putting a cherry on top as he accidentally slammed the back of his head into the toppled chair that was still behind him. He opened his mouth to yell at the slimy creature when a voice interrupted his train of thought.
“Rude. He’s not slimy, you know.” Lavi jerked his head up, regretted it, his eyes coming to rest on a platinum-blond haired teen lounging on one of the room’s many couches and who Lavi was sure hadn’t been in the room before Mr. Daddy-complex beat him senseless.
“I was. Probably just in your blind spot. I dare you to call Sheril ‘Mr. Daddy-complex’ to his face next time he comes in.” The teen’s smile raised the hair on the back of Lavi’s neck. “It’s good to see that Sleeping Beauty is awake again though,” he rolled lazily off the couch, crossing the room to sit cross-legged far too close for comfort, “does that make Gamako your One True Love, hm?” …Gamako…? “Yeah, my frog, the one that kissed you~” …he named th— “Of course I named him, he’s my pet!”
Now Lavi understood; this three-eyed fr— “Five, actually.” –was a min— “Took you long enough.” The teen finished for him, leaning back to rest his palms on the ground behind him, a lazy smile on his lips.
“Wouldja cut that out!” Lavi yelled as he tried to sit up, cringing when one of his probably-broken ribs protested the movement, but managing to hoist himself onto one elbow. “Jeeze, I wish the frog woulda been prince charmin’ instead—then maybe I’d have some decent company in this hellhole!”
Wisely scoffed, “Given your friends, I doubt you’d know decent company if it slapped you in the face.”
“Decent company wouldn’t slap—”
“Yeah, yeah, you know what I—”
“WOULD YOU STOP—”
“Nah.” Lavi let his head fall, clenching his teeth in frustration, wondering just who this kid— “My memory is far older than you, thank-you-very-much.” –wondering just who this assh— “Wisely—”
“FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!” He gave up, collapsing over onto his back, only to feel a finger poking at his side a few minutes later. What? He thought, indignantly. Silence. You’re the mind-reader, genius, not me. Wisely chuckled, flopping down beside Lavi and scooching as close to the redhead as he could, staring up at the same spot on the ornately decorated ceiling as the exorcist.
“It’s done in a decorated gothic style,” the noah said, answering the unasked question, “The Earl designed it based on the Exeter Cathedral. A lot of the windows in this section of the Ark are based on the church’s…I think he even has the astronomic clock from the Cathedral—he liked the inscription on it.”
Despite his determination to stay nonchalant and uninterested, Lavi was nothing if not a sucker for fun facts about historic architecture. He and Bookman had even visited the Exeter Cathedral during one of their previous records in order to make use of the church’s library. He even remembered the blue clock that Wisely was referring to—the bishop had been super proud to be able to show it off to Gramps. But if the Earl had it— “They probably have a fake, yeah.” Five-eyes over here was going to be the death of— “Wisely. And that’ll probably be Sheril, if your master keeps insisting on being so stubborn.”
Lavi rolled his eye. “So why don’t ya just go and read his mind, hm?” It was Wisely turn to sigh in frustration.
“I can’t.” Lavi almost laughed, swearing he saw the noah pout. “Your master’s mind is sealed up tighter than his mouth, the old toad…”
Now he really did laugh, “He’s a panda, Wise-guy.” Lavi momentarily forgot who he was talking to, nudging the other boy gently in the side with an elbow, laughing until it made his ribs ache, snapping him back into the reality of his situation.
Sensing the shift in the bookman’s mind, Wisely reached his hand around Lavi’s wrist that was closest to him, pressing fingers gently down into his pulse-point and closing his eyes in concentration. Lavi could feel the aches and pains fading, a numbness spreading from where Wisely’s skin met his. “It’s not healed,” the blond responded to the train of thought, “but I can block the sensation for a time.”
“Heh, think you can pull this trick again before Monocle-man comes back in here next time?” Lavi shuddered as Wisely pulled him to his feet, ignoring the comment but never losing contact with him as he pulled one of Junior’s arms around his shoulder to support him, ushering him over to couch that Wisely had vacated earlier. Not that it helped much since the kid was so sho— “I am perfectly average thank you kindly; you’re just a giant.” Short. I have half a foot on you.
The Demon Eye host did let go of him then, giving Lavi a shove onto the couch that wasn’t as gentle as it could have been, giving him a look that said you deserved that one. A dull ache returned with the loss of contact between the two, though nowhere near as bad as it had been before. When the exorcist had settled down into the couch, Wisely squished himself to one side, resting his own legs overtop of the redhead’s.
He watched as the tension left Lavi’s body, chatting and poking fun at one another until the bruised teen drifted into a light sleep. Wisely thought it was a shame, really. Under different circumstances he thought that maybe the two of them could have been something other than this temporary “decent companionship”. His tenacity and snark were endearing and his laugh contagious. His off-the-cuff humor kept Wisely on his toes mentally, while the depth and complexity of the bookman’s mind kept him thoroughly engaged.
Shaking the somber line of thoughts from his mind, Wisely settled himself down into one of the lighter corners of Lavi’s mind, watching with a gentle smile as his dreams tumbled down a rabbit hole and took his new friend far away from the dark depths of the Ark, if only for the night.