#surprise Tiedoll is the other reason Kanda/Link happens

[tracing-in-gold]

It’s still Sunday hooray!

Actually, this is more than Six Sentences. I’m posting this snippet/Chapter 1 more to hype myself into finishing the story soon enough to post.

(Me: DGM Rare Pair Week 2k19 is coming you are going to finish writing this story you are going to post something YOU WILL FINISH THIS AND THERE IS NO WAY OUT--

Also Me: ok maybe that’s overkill but we’re dragging this story over the finish line anyway)

You’ve done it now, Link.

[...] Flashbacks

You’ve done it now, boy.

The Cardinal glared at the young man gasping in his grip. His skin still sizzled from the fiery blast that launched Allen Walker, the Noah and the golem out of the cell. 

“You’ve done it now, Inspector.” His voice was raspy. Hmm. His human form had burned off again. 

Despite shuddering in pain, feathers twitching from his eyes, a grim smile appeared on the boy’s face. 

Apocryphos’s eyes narrowed. “‘If, by doing this, I could leave some vestige of this monster, what it did to me, what the Order is up against--I would gladly sacrifice my life.’ If that is your idea, it’s a very pathetic one.”

He brought the human closer, face to face. Feathers, glowing with Innocence’s holy light, quivered from the space his eyes would be. 

“Anyone would believe it was the Noah or Allen Walker who killed you. Yourself included.” 

Still, the thought did not sit so easily with Apocryphos. The man who cast a doubtful eye upon everything--Malcolm C. Lvellie. He was no simple church deacon in the countryside. As humans went, he was most tenacious when it came to unfinished threads, following them like a bloodhound. Apocryphos could not be complacent with Lvellie this time around. Doing so had nearly ousted Apocryphos from his vantage within the church. All over that ridiculous Accommodator. A grown man, earnest yet so naive about his place in the fold--

By the light cast down from the hole’s flaming edges, Apocryphos saw it. A glimmer of moisture along the inspector’s cheek. Ah, the boy was fighting his power? He chuckled. Fighting against him always made it more painful.

“It appears you dislike the Director...” The audacity of that smirk. “‘Cardinal’.”

Apocryphos’s fingers almost shut tight around the inspector’s windpipe; had he done so it would have crushed it like a steel trap.  “You have condemned Allen Walker. He will fall to the Fourteenth without my help.” He could have FIXED him, Allen Walker could be SAVED. 

WHY did they reject his help? Why did they reject the Heart?

“...I trust Walker.”

“Do you now?” said Apocryphos. Something about the words tasted bittersweet. The feathers too, twitched with an emotion that stained their purity. Guilt. Apocryphose tilted the inspector’s chin so he could see what the feathers drew forth from his mind. He hefted the boy closer to him, scanning the source of that guilt.

He ignored the boy’s hands scratching at his arms to keep his neck aloft and clear. Images wound themselves backwards in time to Apocryphos’s searching.

 [Allen Walker sighed over the bowl of gruel. “Ahh, I wish I’d taken the time to get to know them better. If I’d known…”]

About the Third Exorcists? Apocryphos could have vomited on the spot. Allen Walker, the hope of the Heart! Verging on blasphemy!

[The inspector, Howard Link, reluctantly speaking...“The one who should atone to the Thirds is me…I was the one who…” ]

Apocryphos felt more than heard this boy’s sin. [Collecting the shards of the Dark Matter. Handing them to the Chief Inspector--]

The inspector yelped in pain, the Cardinal’s nails had sharpened in his outrage. He released his grip on his face before he ripped off the boy’s jaw.

This very human had touched such Akuma FILTH. On Lvellie’s orders! Moreso, that Lvellie was behind the abominations of the Third Exorcist Project.

Further insult to the Heart of Innocence!

The Cardinal’s hand closed fully around the boy’s neck in a vise. “What does it take for humanity to be grateful?” he snarled at the struggling inspector. “The Millenium Earl would have destroyed this world long ago. If not for the grace of the Heart of Innocence?” He shook the inspector, like a predator worrying the prey between its jaws, with each emphasis. “How dare you humans forget its gifts! Is the Heart of Innocence not powerful? Is it not merciful? Is it not kind?”

The inspector gasps echoed feeble in the cell. Apocryphos felt the urgent pulse of his mortal heart, fading in his grip. So fragile, these humans. And yet so stubborn at their core. This human, this Link--hah--between Lvellie’s abominations and Allen Walker’s blasphemy. He felt it even now, the sense of self that made the human reject the Innocence’s memory wipe. 

But perhaps, that mistake could be remedied. His actions redeemed, even.

Apocryphos ruffled the blond bangs slowly with long fingers. “So I cannot make you believe a lie. But perhaps,” he grabbed the braid and the short hairs of Link’s neck, making him cry out, “a different version of the truth will suffice.”

Apocryphos sent his mental tendrils back into the boy’s mind, testing the strands of memory. [“The one who should atone to the Thirds is me.”] Ahh, not just stubbornness. How deeply guilt ran through this watchdog. More than he expected. Excellent. It would anchor the new memory with its own strength.

Within himself, Apocryphos borrowed the vivid blast of disgust Allen Walker that expressed. The curled lip, the rejection of salvation. [“You killed Master--!...the thought of…”] Apocryphos caught the edge of sheer scorn, began weaving the two memories together as tightly as he could. The rejection of Central, the rejection of the tool called Link, [“--YOU--!”]

Hmm, the memory was not taking. It hovered above the boy’s consciousness. Apocryphos needed more honesty, more conviction. He searched his own mind, the sharp tang of Allen’s words dredging up memories older than the boy. Memories even older than his present incarnation, like an anchor stirring the deep mire. Memories of past Exorcists who had not accepted his help, who in the end the Cardinal had devoured more than ‘become one’.

[“Damn you and the church’s ORDERS!”]

A quick flash of another Accommodator. Hah, Lvellie’s mistake--

--his fury meshing with Allen Walker’s words so well, two speakers in rhyme--

[“DAMN YOU and your ORDERS! The very thought of YOU--]

Apocryphos wove their words, their fury together. Memory--warp and weft--judgement as only humans could wield against each other--

(Their hearts aligned against Apocryphos...

...Against Link)

[“--IT MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE!”]

The boy’s body jerked, as though he had been stabbed through the chest. At that moment all fight bled out of the inspector. 

Good.

[...No matter what happens, it is my duty…]

Oh?

Within the memory, something still glowed. How could that be? The Accommodator’s consciousness had long gone. 

Only a fragment--Innocence?

Apocryphos could not believe it. Once the Accommodators became One with him, all Innocence submitted to Rest until their return to the Heart. Yet here it was, clinging to the memory.  The Innocence lurked on the edge of Apocryphos’ awareness, when its glorious light should have radiated like the sun.   

Why had this one not let go?

Apocryphos reached for it. Like a dulled ember pushed by a careless wind, it flicked away.  It touched on the human’s consciousness and immediately sank.

That was NOT supposed to happen. He reached for it again--

“Inspector Link!”

In the scattered rubble, the communicator burst into a static frenzy. “Inspector Link! What is your position? Inspector Li--”

It shattered under Apocryphos’s foot. Bah, Lvellie!

For a moment, the Cardinal considered simply ripping out the boy’s throat. The last thing he wanted was for Lvellie to possess a piece of Innocence. But from the way the remnant had fluttered weakly in the astral currents, the Innocence was barely awake.  

Apocryphos still held its true, powerful essence. It had no power to synchronize. It couldn’t bend the human to be its Accommodator, any more than a seed could sprout a fully formed tree the moment it touched the earth. Nor would it even try, once it saw this one’s unworthiness, the sheer pollution of this human’s actions.

Apocryphos would return for the remnant later. He tossed the inspector aside. Stepping over the limp body, he materialized his human form once again. The cool night air was refreshing after the smoldering ashes.

Perhaps he could use this accident for his purposes. To punish Lvellie for trying to bypass the benevolence of the Heart.

He, as the Cardinal, was made to search the hearts of those that were in danger of falling from their path. His smile was cold, cold in a way that had nothing to do with night’s darkness. Anticipating the hunt.

Allen Walker insisted on saving both Akuma and humans?

This inspector, Link, who trusted him?

He would put their resolve to the question.

(end Chapter 1?)...

[liketolaugh-writes]

I Believe in God I

Author: liketolaugh

Summary: Allen and Link strike out on their own. But Allen’s Innocence has its own plans. Stigmata AU. Linkllen Week 2018.

Today: Pride/Humility

Next: Envy/Kindness

Here was the thing: Allen knew how to pick a lock.

Here was the other thing: Johnny’s handcuffs weren’t resistant to all attempts to interfere with them. Just- most of them.

Allen loved his friends – he sincerely did, and the fact that they’d come after him was enough to bring genuine tears to his eyes. The days they’d spent travelling together were a balm on his soul, and the soul-heavy exhaustion that had started to drag at Allen had all but faded.

Kanda was alive and as tenacious as ever, unflinching in the face of certain death and countless enemies. This was a boon Allen would never have expected or asked from an unfeeling God, and he was grateful. Johnny – stubborn, loving Johnny – was kinder than Allen deserved, but also exactly the kind of person Allen went to great lengths to keep out of danger.

All of that was true. This was also true- Allen needed to do this alone.

Mostly alone, at least.

At one in the morning, when moonlight filtered through the bare window to cast light on the floor, Allen quietly slipped off the cuff he’d loosened three days before. He set it on the sheets and leaned down, picked up his shoes, and slid onto the ground, bare feet silent on the wooden floor.

This room had two beds; one of them he shared with Johnny, to keep the cuffs from activating. Johnny was a heavy sleeper, and when Allen glanced over he was splayed across the sheets, mouth open and face looking a little funny without his trademark glasses. A smile quirked at the corner of Allen’s mouth, and he looked over at the other bed, where the reason he was being so cautious slept lightly, stiff even in sleep.

He knew better than to speak, but he tipped his head, smiling sadly, and thought, Please move on without me. You can do so much better. I’ll miss you, but I’d be happy for you.

Then he turned and moved toward the door. He bent down and picked up his pack, and Kanda frowned in his sleep and turned slightly, while Allen paused, wary. But Kanda made no more movements, and Allen made it the rest of the way to the door without incident.

His ears just caught the sound of rapid footsteps as he shut the door behind him, quietly as a mouse, and Allen let out a soft sigh of relief before continuing down the hall, still carrying his pack and his shoes.

The hallways were eerily silent after that, but as he reached the front, he saw the door finish closing just as he reached the lobby, a flash of blond hair passing by the window. He ducked his head and smiled wryly.

You’ll stay with me, won’t you, Link? he asked silently, eyes lingering on the window.

That was a surprise, too, just as much of a relief as Kanda’s survival. It had hurt, of course – it hurt that Link had made his move at last, and not in Allen’s favor. It hurt more that he hadn’t told Allen himself, that he had let Allen think he was dead.

But that just meant that Allen wasn’t Link’s ‘most important’. And he knew that already.

He took a breath, forced his shoulders to relax, and bent down, sliding his shoes onto his feet. He was still in nightclothes, but he could change elsewhere – there was no one out who would care at this time of night, anyway.

He smiled to himself a little, almost in laughter. It wasn’t as if Link hadn’t seen him in nightclothes a hundred times or more already.

Out the door and onto the street, and of course Kanda wouldn’t put up with any part of town rife with streetwalkers, so there were only a few stragglers on the road, most of them drunk. When he was halfway down the road, another man joined them, and Allen didn’t look back.

He needed to be out of town tonight. He was tired – the day’s journey and arguments with Kanda and a fight with a half-dozen low-level akuma dragged at his bones – but he kept walking, smiling distantly at the sky above, and the thick, waxing moon hanging among the pollution-dimmed stars.

When they – and Allen counted it as ‘they’, because he knew it would ward off the loneliness for that much longer – reached the town boundary, he started to talk.

“I hope everyone at the Order is okay,” he said to the air, knowing that Link would have pulled close enough to listen, that his voice would carry in the silent night. “I haven’t seen any of them since General Tiedoll helped us escape. He would have told us if anything had happened before then, don’t you think so, Link?”

He smiled again, just faintly, and imagined Link’s flinch at being addressed. He didn’t apologize, but he did soften his voice a little. Link would listen, he reminded himself.

“I’m wondering how the Noah are doing,” Allen added. They were out of the town now, and he thought it would be falling out of sight if he dared look back. “Isn’t that strange? I should hate them, but I don’t. They make me very angry. But I can’t hate them. I wonder if-” He swallowed and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”

Once, Link would have reached out and stopped him there, and asked him to finish his thought. That didn’t matter either. Move forward.

“I want to know how this war started,” he told the air – no, told Link, he admitted to himself, his gaze falling to the path in front of him. The night breeze ruffled his hair, and he imagined Link brushing his bangs out of his eyes, frowning as he listened. “None of us at the Order know, or if they do they’re too high up to bother telling us. But I bet the Noah do. No one hates anything as much as they hate Innocence without reason.” He paused. “You know where we’re going, don’t you, Link?”

Campbell Manor. The only place he could expect to get answers.

“I’m going to make sure this war ends soon. No matter what it takes.”

It was a promise.

[icharchivist]

yulma for otp questions ! (yes fresh wound still open, will never close)

OTP Questions!

Send me “OTP + Number(s)” or “OTP+All” if you want me to reply only a few questions or all of them

Oh my god you’re really suffering aren’t you :’D

I’m doing them all since we talked about it in private and... let’s go!

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other?

They would both, tbh, especially Alma. I think Kanda would have a better understanding of hoarding money and Alma would just go “but Yuu I need to buy it for you.” That being said, Kanda does it a lot too so how can he blame Alma.

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap?

Alma. Kanda doesn’t often initiate affection, not the way Alma does. Not that Kanda minds tho

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes?

..... I don’t trust any of them to be honest. They would probably both do this kind of things and both would have to call each other out. 

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway?

Kanda has the most trouble sleeping, so Alma is often the one to call him out and tell him to rest. But Kanda would cake up from nightmares eventually, and Alma would always wake up after that to keep him compagny.

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies?

I have this headcanons that Alma is super enthustiast about cooking but often makes a mess, while Kanda just knows how to do the basic necessity (ways too much Sôba, stop him). But when it comes to cookies tbh, Kanda doesn’t like sweets, so I’d see Alma cook them and try to have Kanda taste them - and Kanda would because what wouldn’t he do for Alma.

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”?

Alma is the “that’s us” person. Kanda  would grumble “Eh not really” because he’s a grumpy cat.

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes?

Alma! Definitly! Although in a “Alma survived AU” I think Alma would probably burn Kanda’s uniform and act like the uniform never existed all by stealing the rest of Kanda’s clothes.

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?”

I think Alma would run everywhere? Like, Alma seems to be the most curious about anything from the outside world, so going outside will take h o u rs and it’ll be so distracting! Kanda has to make tons of reminders.

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions?

huuuh hard to say. I wouldn’t trust either with a car and I wouldn’t trust either into giving the good directions. They’d be fighting after 5 minutes because “I told you we had to go right!” “I went right, just, not your right!”

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws?

ngl I picture Alma drawing more than Kanda, it would help keep the agressivity in check y’know. Kanda gladly takes the pose, he just do the bare minimum complaining that Alma will tease about later.

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips?

Huuuh hard to say. Canonically Alma sneaked up into heavy infrastructure much more than Kanda ahah. Kanda would be like “oh time to be sneaky? Okay. I’m gonna destroy this place.” 

So I’d say, Alma would be the one to be sneaky. But Kanda wouldn’t be eating a bag of chips, he would look at the whole thing and think “It would have gone quicker if you let me destroy it.”

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking?

In canon they both have the regenerative ability to not get a hangover, even if it’s failing lately for Kanda. So in the end, Kanda would probably be the one overdoing it and Alma having to keep him cool ahah

13: Which one likes to surprise the other with a lot of small random gifts?

Both, but especially Alma. Alma would always find a reason to give a gift - like there will be a picnic planned or something like that. Although, I love to think that since Alma loves the little things, Everytime Kanda would go outside he’d find something really silly like, a rock or a seashell and brings it back to Alma because he knows Alma likes this kind of stuff and it’s always nice to see Alma smiles.

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own?

That’s kinda the tricky one since in canon their last name only happened later and they didn’t have any for a while (Alma became Alma Karma because of what happened to the Asian Branche, Kanda started using Kanda as a way to sneak from the Order when he was with Tiedoll and distance himself from the trauma linked to his name imo, which is why he reacts this badly at being called “Yuu” since only Alma and his abusers called him this way)

So taking that into account, I think Alma would hate the name “Karma” for a while because of how it’s associated to such horrible things. “Kanda” became a comforting name though, so eventually Alma would probably ending up picking it up.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside?

Kanda screams about the spiders and tries to kill it - Alma tries to bring it outside safely. 

16: Which one gives the other their jacket?

Huuuh both? Both. Honestly they’d probably both fight because “keep the goddamn jacket you’re the one who’s cold”

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling?

Well Alma only have Kanda, while Kanda has the Order, so... I think so, in Kanda’s side, Lenalee would probably expect the both of them to be the  bigger person, and she will always hear both of them all the time to know who to lecture. Komui basically saw Kanda grew up, and I wouldn’t be surprised he’d be lowkey protective at time. Tiedoll would be a total mess and wouldn’t be overprotective, he’d be mostly crying on how his son is now a grown up. But let’s be real he has adopted Alma as soon as they met ahah. Marie is always extremely gentle with Alma, and would most likely lecture Kanda instead of lecturing Alma.

The thing is that honestly? Allen would be the one to start threatening Kanda as a protector of Alma. It would drive Kanda nuts because he’s half convinced Allen just takes Alma’s side to go against Kanda ahah.

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other?

To their face? Huuh hard to say. In canon it had been such a mess for them to tell each other their feelings, so it’s a mess to think about how a proper declaration would come. I think eventually, in a normal setting, Alma would have more chance to remind Kanda all the time of how he feels for him and it’d take some time for Kanda to declare it back.

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting?

They probably would be okay? In their past lives, they wanted children. But after all they’ve been through on the canon timeline, I think that they wouldn’t even think about it. Even in an au where they have no problem and all, I don’t exactly see them raising kids, at least not in the setting of a holy war. In a modern au, eventually, but it’d take them more maturity and it’s a little hard to picture when their lives had been shapped by the war so far.

While Kanda would be a grumpy dad, I think he’d be really sweet if not awkward with his children. Alma would always be very sweet I think.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters?

Hard to say? I think Kanda writes well, but not perfectly, he often uses words to rudely and doesn’t care much. Alma would probably try harder with grammar.

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them?

.... well in canon, it’s Kanda who gets attacked and Alma who gets to protect him. And honestly I think that’s how it’d go generally. Kanda is always up to pick up a fight, but Alma doesn’t really let people bully them. But if Kanda gets lowkey attacked? Alma would unleash hell. Fear Alma.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun?

Alma makes the bad puns, Kanda would be pained. in an “Alma survives” Au you can’t tell me Allen and Lavi wouldn’t team up to teach Alma new puns to use against a very grumpy Kanda.

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy?

It’s canon that it’s Kanda who loves dog ways too much, so honestly, I think one day Kanda will come back home with three puppies and be all “I didn’t bring them here” while he totally did. Alma rolls with it tho, it’s cute. 

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired?

Both, but Alma does it more often. when Kanda pushes his limits, he pushes them ways too far so Alma would probably have to look out for him. ... also if Alma ends up too tired, Kanda would probably carry them bridelike style *coughs* like in canon *coughs*

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering?

Mostly, Alma cheers on everything Kanda does- it annoyed Kanda a lot when they were younger, but now he just like it and only pretend he doesn’t. When Alma does stuff, Kanda often sneaks cheers, but they are far less loud than Alma’s. But every words Kanda would say would cheer up Alma tbh.

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder?

Alma. Definitly Alma. In a more modern AU you can’t tell me Alma wouldn’t be obsessed with taking pictures of everything, especially of Kanda.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked?

I don’t think Kanda would want one, Kanda would let Alma bread his hair though, but that’s the further he’ll allow. Maybe Alma would ask for a makeover and Kanda would help with whatever Alma wants.

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of?

Kanda sticks to cute doggos - Alma comes back home with huge spiders and say its their friend and Kanda would not be pleased. I mean. He’d let Alma do anything but why this

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains?

Huuuh I don’t see one doing it more than the other. Eventually Alma I think?

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures?

I’m still holding to my headcanon that Alma always wanted to see the world, so they’ll visit any places Alma wants to visit. Alma would take all of the pictures. It makes Kanda happy to see Alma that happy though. They deserved a break and be happy, didn’t they?

Here you go ❤ Thanks Sweetie!!