In a kinder world, Lavi opened his eyes to the sound of a staticy radio at three am, groaning and rolling onto his side. He waited through a song before pushing himself out of bed and turning off the morning news that came on. As he dragged himself to the bathroom, Lavi thought about applying for some other job- anything else- that wouldn't have starting times at 4:30 am on a friday.

Shower. Brush teeth. Dry hair. Put in contacts. Dress.

Lavi yawned and headed out the door after grabbing an apple from his fridge. It was still dark, but the stars were starting to fade away as a strip of red peeked over the horizon. It was only five blocks or so from Lavi's apartment to his place of work, and another five if he had to walk to class , August had just started and he had some time before that particular hassle became a part of his day to day life again.

He'd gone three blocks when he remembered that it was Friday and he had the weekend off, making him grin as he jogged the last couple of blocks to the little coffee house. His coworker greeted him sleepily, waiting for Lavi to unlock the door and let them both in.

Lavi started humming as they turned on the lights and music, then started warming up the machines for their early customers. The day started smoothly enough. The morning rush was handled and Lavi started cleaning for the lunch rush, humming along to the pop song of the summer as it played on the speakers. He only had an hour left on his shift and Lavi was already dreaming of taking a nap before actually doing something fun during the day.

He was considering slipping into the bathroom to text his roommate, Kanda, to see if he was willing to go out for a few beverages in the evening when someone caught his eye. A slim young man was putting in his order, smiling as he tucked a lock of his bleached white hair behind his ear. He laughed lightly at something Lavi's coworker said and Lavi felt his heart skip a beat as he kept sweeping the same spot over and over.

The young man glanced at Lavi briefly before taking his coffee cup from the counter and heading for the door. Lavi followed him with his eyes for a moment, then jumped when his coworker teased him about ogling the customers.

In a kinder world, Lavi made it home that afternoon for a long nap, and headed out that evening with is roommate and a few friends for a night at the pub. He was walking back to the table with a round of drinks when he saw that a local band was setting up for a set. He spotted a head of bleached hair and stilled for a moment, before hustling back to the table.

"Yuu! The person I was talking about earlier is here!"

"What?" Kanda replied, taking his cider from Lavi. Lenalee leaned in curiously, looking around the bar to see if she could spot anyone.

"What person?" She said, accepting the Sangaria Lavi handed her.

"Oh, you weren't here yet, Lena, I was just telling these two about someone I saw earlier at work."

"Yeah so the dude shows up here? I guess that means one of you is a stalker." Alma said from their spot beside Kanda, grinning mischievously.

"Excuse me." Lavi said, pressing his hand to his chest.

"You did invite everyone out." Kanda agreed, making Lavi sputter in mock outrage and Lenalee laugh.

"I didn't know he was going to be here, God." He said finally, taking a sip of his gin and tonic, "I can never catch a break with you guys."

"You bring it upon yourself." Kanda said, ignoring Lavi's whining in response.

"So are you going to talk to him?" Lenalee asked with a glint in her eye. Lavi laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh! Nah, that would be weird. Walking over and being like hey! I saw you at work, what's your number."

Alma rolled their eyes, "Alternatively, you could not do that but still talk to him."

Lavi fidgeted and sipped his drink again to avoid the crushing eyes of his friends. Or at least, the crushing eyes of Lenalee and Alma. Kanda was far too busy pretending to be too cool to care.

"I guess I could do that. I think he's part of the band or something though, so, I dunno I would have to wait."

"Avoidance." Lenalee tutted, and Lavi tossed his lime at her. She squawked at him and threw it back with much more force, moving the table to other avenues of conversation. They ordered food and laughed, the conversation flowing out of them.

Lavi excused himself from the table to use the bathroom, slipping out of his seat and heading towards it. On his way out, the lights dimmed a bit as the band started. A keyboard, drums, a guitar, playing something Lavi was pretty sure wasn't a cover.

In a kinder world, Lavi walked around the corner and stopped, seeing the white haired man lean into the microphone and begin to sing. It wasn't the lyrics that captivated Lavi- at least, he couldn't remember a single word of the song later- but the way the vocalist held himself, putting everything into the words he was singing without seeming like to was trying too hard.

Lavi wished that whoever had set up the mics had done a better job, because the young man's voice sometimes got washed out by the instruments around him. Lavi stayed there for three songs before he realized his friends were waiting for him and scurried over, red faced. They immediately tore into him and Lavi started complaining that he needed better friends.

The night wore on and eventually the band wrapped up. Lavi was thankful that his friends seemed to have left that part of the conversation alone.

"Geez it's hot in here." Alma complained lightly, taking a swig of the glass of water they'd switched to.

"Nah, that's just me, sorry." Lavi said playfully, making everyone at the table snort, "Wow, okay first of all."

"Oh get over yourself." Lenalee teased, prodding her friend's side until he gave in and laughed, swatting at her hand.

"Okay, okay, well, seriously I am probably going to sweat to death. I'm gonna step out for a second; anyone want to join me?" One by one, Lavi's friends turned him down and he shrugged, heading out through the door by himself and inhaling some of the night air. It wasn't particularly fresh air, as it was a downtown street on a Friday, but it was cooler. Lavi tugged on the collar of his shirt a little then rolled up the sleeves, glancing to the side when he heard a shuffle.

The white haired man was there, frowning at his phone and tapping out a text and Lavi froze, watching him for a little too long. The young man looked up from his phone and blinked, glancing over his shoulder then back at Lavi.

"Hi?" He said, in a distinctly uncertain tone that had Lavi tripping over himself.

"Oh! Um, hey, what's up. I liked your show."

The boy blinked and relaxed a little, smiling, "Oh, thank you."

"T-the third song was uh, my favourite, I think." Lavi said, stepping a bit closer to get out of the way of someone walking into the pub.

"You think?"

Lavi blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah! The um… do do do…" he mimicked the movements of the piano and the other man laughed, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Ohh, right, the do do do, that one is my favourite too."

"I'm pretty sure you're making fun of me." Lavi said, pretending to pout.

"I might be, a little." the white haired man said, and Lavi laughed, leaning on the brick wall beside the other boy, offering his hand.

"I'm Lavi Bookman."

The man looked at it, then at Lavi's face as he shook it lightly, a smile dancing on his face, "Allen Walker."

In a kinder world, the two of them exchanged phone numbers that evening. They did not face each other on a war torn field, one a living puppet, and the other long past caring. Instead, on that summer's evening, with the August air a protective blanket around them, they began something new, in a kinder world.

AN: aaand done! thank you all for reading. please review if you feel so inclined to! this is like, the first time I've actually finished something since like 2009. incredible.