Originally a request for a Neah/Lavi smooch scene.

Song the fic was written to: Forbidden Colours (piano ver.) by Ryuichi Sakamoto + Rainymood.

Warnings: very slight past!Lavi/Allen if you squint hard enough

Rain created a steady stream of sound upon the roof above.

An otherwise foreboding silence was softened by the rain. The room was dark, a lone candle fighting off the darkness, illuminating the two figures nearby. One lay asleep, silver hair alight with orange hues, while the other lay awake, listening to the rain with a pensive expression.

Lavi stared up at the ceiling, too tired to move, but not tired enough to go back to sleep. He rubbed at his face with a sigh, knowing sleep was impossible at this point. Lavi pushed himself up, stretching his arms above his head with a grimace. Sleeping on wooden floors was unpleasant at the best of times, even more so when it was a regular occurrence.

Lavi turned his attention to his sleeping companion. Neah's face just about peeked out from underneath his blanket, eyes closed, chest rising and falling with each breath. For all his imposing presence while awake, Neah seemed different to Lavi in that moment; smaller, more vulnerable.

Neah shifted a little, a strand of hair displaced by the movement and falling across his face. Almost without thinking, Lavi raised a hand and tucked the loose strand behind Neah's ear, a soft smile gracing his features. He considered withdrawing his hand, but Neah's skin was warm and soft beneath his fingertips, and there was something about this unguarded intimacy that clutched at his heart.

Neah was always on guard, always pushing away those closest to him. Lavi had spent countless days with him; helping him fight, helping him walk along his chosen path. He had watched him suffer, watched him try to regain all that he had lost in the years since his death. To be this close to him, to see him unguarded and at peace, was so at odds with all that Lavi had seen and experienced with Neah in recent days.

The face held in his hand was familiar to him. He'd seen that face smile, laugh, and cry. He'd seen that face contorted by pain, covered in blood, cheeks stained by tears. Allen was gone, Lavi knew that, and he knew nothing would ease that feeling of grief.

But in that moment, it wasn't loss that drove him to lean forward. It was something else, something that clutched at his heart and refused to let go.

Lavi was close enough to feel Neah's breath ghost upon his skin. He hesitated. He could feel his hand shake against Neah's cheek. With a sigh, he pulled back, only to find himself kept in place by a hand buried in his shirt.

Golden eyes opened. Lavi blinked once, then twice, and opened his mouth to speak, trying to think of an excuse, anything that would rescue him from the nameless, overwhelming feeling taking root within his heart. Neah cut him off, voice husky from sleep, an emotion in his eyes that Lavi couldn't place.

"If you won't do it, I will."

That was all the warning Lavi was given before Neah pulled Lavi downwards and placed a kiss against his forehead. It wasn't the most gentle of gestures, but the meaning behind it was crystal clear, leaving Lavi breathless.

When Neah pulled back, there was embarrassment in his eyes, an awkward manner to him that Lavi found strangely endearing. He couldn't help but laugh, tension and fear and doubt dissipating within him. He shook his head a little, a soft smile gracing his features.

"You missed."

Neah blinked, opened his mouth to speak, and was cut off by Lavi leaning down to place a gentle kiss against his lips. Whatever he had wanted to say disappeared from his mind, too focused on his thudding heartbeat, Lavi's shaking fingertips against his cheek, the lips upon his own.

Lavi pulled away and rested his forehead against Neah's own. They both sighed, eyes closed, caught up in a feeling of such gentle intimacy that it was breath-taking. Intimacy became awkwardness, and eventually the need for some sense of normalcy took over. Neah pushed Lavi away, just enough to give them both some room to breathe, and muttered words so quiet Lavi almost didn't hear them.

"This… this doesn't change anything."

Lavi raised an eyebrow. "And by 'anything' you mean…?"

Neah huffed, visibly embarrassed. "It - it doesn't mean you get to -"

Lavi cut him off, rolling his eye a little. "Alright, alright, you still gotta keep up that heartless bastard act, I know." Neah opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, and then gave up. Lavi smiled, a teasing lilt to his voice. "If the kiss was that bad, just say so, I won't do it again if ya want."

"H-hey, I never said that!"

Neah pulled a face as if he hadn't meant to say those words aloud. Lavi laughed, delighted by the embarrassment showing clear as day upon Neah's face. He cupped Neah's cheeks in his hands, unable to keep the pleased grin off of his face.

"Well, I guess Mr. Heartless Bastard is just gonna have to make an exception for some kisses, then."

Neah grumbled but didn't say anything, pulling Lavi down into another kiss. Lavi laughed against his lips, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that 'heartless' was not the word he'd choose to describe the person he was kissing, not by a long shot.