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“You were in love with him.”
It wasn't a question, Link was certain of that. Neah watched him from his seat on the window sill. The weak light penetrating the blinds gave him a somewhat elegant and dangerous presence. Nothing he didn't already know.
Link didn't reply and averted his gaze.
“I saw you”, Neah continued and raked his fingers through his hair, “I mean back then, when I wasn't free yet. How you used to look at him. How often you laid awake at night and just watched him sleep. How you looked at the future Bookman and the samurai when you thought they got too close to him. How you tended to talk about him when you were asleep.”
Link's hand trembled once they clawed into the crook of his arms. His teeth ground together.
“You were in love with him.”
Link looked back up: “So? What's your point?”
There was pity in his eyes when Neah continued: “Why are you helping me? I took the person you love... why are you supporting me?”
“I told you already: It's an assignment Leverrier gave to me. It's not about my preferences but the overall good.” At least that was what he kept telling himself for months now, hoping he would finally be able to accept it.
Neah frowned and glanced to the ground. Then he sighed and leaned back onto the heels of his hands.
“You humans are really weird creatures. On one hand you're easy to manipulate and bound by your feelings, on the other hand you can slug down everything and keep on going like nothing ever happened. You're creepy.”
“You're one to talk”, Link retorted and pulled his legs closer to his body to stand up. The floor was getting pretty uncomfortable. He walked closer to Neah and slightly pulled down the slats behind him to chance a look onto the street. The Finder were still looking for them, together with Johnny and Kanda.
Latter was standing right in front of their motel, his back turned to them. If he knew his beloved beansprout wasn't even twenty feet away from him, he would move heaven and hell to capture them. But for now he was just standing there, Mugen leaning against his shoulder and scanning his surroundings.
Did he know that by now Allen wasn't Allen anymore?
“He loved him, too, you know?”, Neah mentioned seeming like he wasn't waiting for an answer, “These gazes he cast at him: Full of sorrow, full of love. It's sad it had to end like this.”
Link huffed and let go of the slats: “You can't give Allen back, can you? Then you wouldn't have to let it end like this.”
Neah closed his eyes and scratched his temple – just like Allen used to do: “No, that's something I cannot do. But I can pretend to be him.”
Surprised Link looked at him. A smile crossed Allen's... Neah's face.
“I hate it when my subordinates are sad. I can act like Allen for you. And if you pretended I was Allen... you could make your most desired dreams come true.”
He turned his whole body towards him and put a hand on his chest.
“You don't need to live with the thoughts of 'what could've been?' and 'what could've it felt like?'. I can show you that.”
Link hesitated for a moment, then bat the hand away: “No.”
Neah grinned: “When you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
With a small twitch of his face he walked away. No, he would never do it. Never.
It would only be an act without proper feelings.
An act Allen would have never agreed to.
He'd only end up hating himself.