I will defend what is mine.

█ ▓ ▒ ░ 【 ♛ 】჻ K I N G

        ❝ That ball there… hand it to me? ❞

Suddenly hearing English, perfect or not, startled Elia. He looked up from his map and followed the voice, then the gesture, and found a volleyball at his feet. Folding his map back up Elia scoops the ball up and scans the teenager over. 

“Here,” he said in English, tossing the ball underhand to the boy. His hands freed again, Elia re-opens his map and switches to Japanese. 

“The map says there’s an arcade in the area, but I can’t find it. Could you point me in the right direction?”

“Care to explain yourself?”

“What were you thinking?!”

“I cannot believe you!”

“You made a big mistake.”

“I’ll never forgive you for this.”

“You are grounded for a month!”

“I wish I could say I was surprised.”

“I should have seen this coming.”

“I trusted you.”

“I thought you were better than that.”

“Why should I give you another chance?”

“You did what?!”

“I thought you learned your lesson last time.”

“You’ve really screwed up this time.”

“Don’t even bother saying you’re sorry.”

“You can’t talk your way out of this one.”

“Yes, I still love you.”

“We’ll move past this. Somehow.”

“You’re going to spend the rest of your life making this up to me.”

“I think you owe somebody an apology.”

“Because it’s fun! Come on, Elia. Don’t you know how to have fun?” Mihai has the other Hunter caged in the middle of the room. “Besides, we’ll have to attend some soiree or another if we go to Paris.” He keeps talking as he gets Elia into position.

“Besides, doesn’t Eve’s aunt organize a bunch of events? What if you dance with Eve? You don’t want to step on her feet, do you?” Mihai teases Elia, waiting for his face to turn bright red.

The music is getting away from them so Mihai readjusts and starts dancing for real this time, pulling Elia along with him. “Put some spring into your step!”

“I know how to have fun,” Elia protests. “I have simply never considered humiliating myself a very good form of it!” 

He’s almost helpless as Mihai grabs his hands and help them find the right position. Almost. If Elia really, truly wanted to abandon this activity, he could shove Mihai off or punch him in the stomach or break his wrists if he really, really had to. 

And he probably would, if some small part of him wasn’t, maybe a little, tentatively interested in learning just a couple steps, sorta kinda. And Mihai is right about Paris--Elia should at least be familiar with the very basics, so as not to make a complete ass of himself. 

Bringing up Eve, however, does poor Elia in. He splutters as heat rises up along the back of his neck, as panic--and realization--hit him together. What if Eve walked in and saw this? Would she laugh at him?

What if Elia couldn’t dance with her? Which would be worse?

Who was this person, and for what purpose Nodin wondered were they staring at him? All that the exorcist was merely doing was sitting minding his own business in the cafeteria eating a meal. Though, considering that the stranger wasn’t all too far from where he sat in the first place the deaf man would resort to staring back as well as poking the person in the arm with his fork in order to satiate curiosity.

Not the best mission, as his injuries would indicate. Not that Elia is much worried about the bandages wrapped up his arm and over his fingers, but they were also unable to recover any innocence. The Akuma had followed them to the tow-n, destroyed half of it in battle, and they didn’t even have an innocence to show for it...Perhaps not the worst failure, but enough that Elia was left frustrated. 

He’s jerked form his thoughts when the sharp prongs of a fork dig into his arm.

“Don’t worry, I won’t laugh!” Although his smirk is not promising. He bounds over to the side of the room and tugs out a phonograph on a wheeled cart. After a few minutes of fooling around with it, Mihai manages to coax a jaunty tune from the rickety machine.

Under normal circumstances, Elia would have been fascinated by the old machine–he would have delighted to learn how to work it and even to listen to the music it played. 

When he is supposed to be dancing to that music, he finds himself a lot less excited. 

“There is a huge difference,” Elia says, staring at Mihai’s outstretched foot. “Between you learning as a child, and me learning now. They say children can pick up almost anything new–and I’m fairly certain I have long since passed that point.”

But more importantly, he’s much too embarrassed. If Dante were to walk in on him? If anyone was to see him dancing like a newborn fawn learning to walk? He can imagine the humiliation now. 

There’s more…

Mihai listens carefully. He hears the skitter of claws on stone and a low, threatening growl. He draws his own weapon, but he’s a distance fighter. Firing his Circle Shot might collapse the structure and hurt the other Hunters. It’s too close for him to do anything but put up some Shield spell strips around him and Elia for protection.

“I’m not leaving you, and you’re not fighting. Hunters fight in packs. We look out for our own.” Mihai tightens his grip on Elia and hunkers down within the Shield. “I can’t do anything here but at least I can take care of you. We’re going back to Avignon. All of us.”

He remembers the first time he met Elia; a failed mission that left Mihai as the only survivor. Just barely. Elia saved his life. While his wounds are less serious than Mihai’s were, he’s bound and determined to return the favor.

But he’s brought back to his knees, instead, as Mihai grabs his arm and pulls Elia close to his side. By the time Elia can focus on his comrade’s movements enough to figure out what he’s doing, Mihai has already set up a Shield around them both. Elia blinks at the barrier, panic rising slowly through his chest. His grip tightens on his sword, but Mihai firmly has his arm. 

“I can’t just wait here--do you really expect me to watch everyone fight from inside a shield?!” Elia tugs against Mihai’s grip, but he sways under his own weight, falling back against the fountain. He hisses softly and refuses to look at his arm--it hurts, and he can smell blood, but as long as he doesn’t fully assess the damage he can tell himself he’s perfectly fine to fight. 

The sound of crashing metal and the shrieks of the beasts make Elia’s heart race and his hands wrap into fists against the ground.

“This is pathetic...If Hunters fight in packs, I should be out there with them--not hiding! I’m not mortally wounded, I can still fight.” He can try, at least. He could one of the beasts, just one, one less, at least, for the others to worry about...Elia wraps his good hand, even though it’s not his dominant, around the handle of his sword. 

“Dammit! Mihai, please, I’ll fight--I don’t want to be protected!” 

“Here, I saved some for you. Try it?”

“I just really need a hug right now…”

“You. Me. Movie marathon. Get all the snacks you can carry.”

“Join me in the blanket fort. We play until dawn.”

“It’s cake, how difficult can it be?”

“Sure, it *looks* safe, but watch what happens when I do this.”

“I had a nightmare… can you stay up with me?”

“We’re going to have to raid the neighbors if you want more pillows to turn this into a Pillow Fortress Castle.”

“This would look so cute on you!”

“Okay, but if you turn the lights off for this playthrough, I’m not being held accountable for anything I do when spooked.”

“I said we could share a blanket, but if you put your cold feet on me *one more time*…”

“You’ve been working too hard and I’m calling a Netflix intervention. Not taking no for an answer.”

“I’ve got a gallon of ice cream and if you don’t get a spoon my tummyache will be all your fault.”

“Fight me. Pillow fight. And by fight I mean cuddle.”

“My hand is cold. Unless we find somewhere to stop soon, it’s going up your back.”

“Oh my god, just pet my hair already.”

“After that movie you’re staying for a sleepover. I know you don’t want to go home and sleep alone anyway.”

“Is there a reason you’re gnawing on me?”

“C'mon, I need a Player 2.”

“I bet you can’t make it all the way through the movie without screaming at it.”

“If you put that in the microwave uncovered I swear I will beat you to death with a plastic spoon.”

“What was that flavor of cake you liked? I need to know because reasons.”

“When we get that house you’re handling the spiders.”

“Going to the mall alone is boring. Besides, I need someone to tell me how great I look in all the clothes I try on.”

“It’s not MY fault you scream like a schoolgirl on a rollercoaster.”

“It’s an arcade, do you need more reasons to go?”

“Please tell me why you were napping in my freshly dried blankets *while they’re still in the dryer*.”

“Can we please take cheesy best friend pictures in that photo booth? I promise to keep silly faces to a minimum.”

“I’m singing along to this song and you can’t stop me, so either deal with it or join me.”

“C'mon, with anyone else this would be too weird.”

“I hate this game so much. Here’s a link, you should totally play it.”

“I take no responsibility for any smells you may or may not encounter from this point forward.”

“HELP I HAVE A SPLINTER”

“Okay, but consider that if you don’t watch this show with me, I’ll still rant to you just as much about the feels it gives me.”

“If anyone turns that fan off again I swear someone’s going to bleed.”

“Help me, the computer’s making sad beeps again. Make it happy, please.”

“THIS MOVIE MAKES ME CRY EVERY TIME WHY DID YOU LET ME CHOOSE IT?!”

“I have in front of me: One DVD, seven remote controls, and an entertainment center. This will be a voyage of discovery.”

“If I die, you get my cat. So make sure I live through this.”

“I need someone to cling to in the haunted house, and you’re it.”

“Yeah, but you’re *my* nerd.”

“The remote is two feet thataway and I don’t feel like moving. We’re stuck with this.”

“You are aware this was the worst idea ever and you’re lucky you’re my best friend, or else I’d leave you alone to deal with this.”

“I’d say sorry my mom tried to adopt you again, but it was kind of my idea.”

“There is a perfectly good reason I’m eating these mini marshmallows right out of the package, I’m certain of it. Probably.”

“Okay but hear me out: Fluffy. Sharks.”

“Please keep your sick away from me and get better soon. I made you soup.”

“That sounds like a bad idea. I’m in.”

“If you don’t come up and sing with me, I will sing and point at you. The entire. Time.”