Title: Playing with the Gold

Fandom: DGrayman

Pairing: for all pie lovers, pieshipping: AllenxLink

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM. Katsura Hoshino is the one and only.

Warning: Bad grammar, wrong wording, spelling mistakes, OOCness (if any), too much fluff.

A/N: I think this time I updated not as fast as I did before because I have some stuff I need to take care of since university winter term's coming close and I have so much I need to catch up. This chapter is the last chapter for the whole story (but I'll try to make one extra chapter, seeing things from Allen's POV (which might as well contain some M rated stuff. Nothing major but I guess once in a while something a bit naughty might spice things up). Anyway please enjoy the last chapter~

…

It was dark outside when they finally managed to get a place to stay for the night. It was a small and probably the only inn in the entire town. The celebration was still continuing, but Allen and Link decided to call it a day as they had to catch the first train. Since their inn was pretty close to the city hall, they could hear the noise and the music from their room. As they entered the room, Link took off his coat and hanged it at the wooden hanger next to the entrance while Allen just stormed off to open the window and pulled the chair next to it before sitting down, admiring the joyful scene from afar. Had it been the usual Link, he would be scolding Allen for 'not properly taking off his coat' and 'may cause wrinkles on the cloth', but this time he decided to hold back since he felt a bit bad towards the younger boy. It was him who ignored Allen's plea to stay for a bit longer in the city hall because they had to wake up early the next morning. The boy didn't sulk like he did before, but Link could see the disappointment in his eyes during their walk to the inn. Link gave a mental sigh to himself, the day had been strangely exhausting for him. Starting off with an awkward situation between him and sulking Allen, then looking around the entire city to find the missing boy only to find out that he had been tricked by him and his sly golem, and lastly having inner debate whether to make a purchase of the item that Allen showed an interest in, which was: a handcuff. Yes, a handcuff, which went with a dictionary definition of a pair of lockable linked metal rings for securing a prisoner's wrists. 'Why would Walker want a handcuff?', Link tried to convinced himself that he was seeing things earlier that day, but no matter how much he wanted to deny it, it was the truth: Allen had been staring at the handcuff for quite some time, which according to Link's observation, was unusual as the boy had never shown any interest in anything else other than money or food. At the end of the day, surrounded by the feeling of losing his rationality, he bought the handcuff. It was really awkward for him to face the shopkeeper, especially when he bought a handcuff from that kind of store. Recollecting the events of the day had only added the pain to his mind. Unconsciously he rubbed the temple of his nose for the nth time for that day. Link felt some sleep might be necessary for him to regain back his composure, but the only problem was he couldn't drive off to bed before Walker did, and he boy didn't seem doing so yet. Talking about the boy, Link suddenly remembered the reason why he went through so much trouble with his mental battle in the shop earlier: to buy Walker a birthday gift. Now he realised the more reason he couldn't just doze off. He had to hand the 'present' to Allen and congratulate him first, at least before the 25th ended. However, his pride was screaming to him a big no, 'What if I misunderstood Walker's intention? What if the handcuffs were not what he wanted? Even if it did, then what? Wouldn't it be really awkward? Maybe Walker had some sort of fetish that he didn't want to know, which is why he tried to escape from the surveillance earlier? But, if it was the case then I needed to record this in my observation.' Link did give some consideration to the option of putting the present next to his bed to make the giver seem anonymous, but since the only ones who were in the room were Walker and him, it didn't seem like a very bright idea. Sure thing, Timcanpy was there as well, but a golem buying out its owner a handcuff was just very wrong at all levels. So much thoughts were going on in Link's mind that he failed to notice the other boy was calling out to him.

"-ink!"

Link was startled when he noticed another person's presence really close to him. Allen had moved from the window and he was really close to Link now, separated by barely a few centimeters. "Link, are you okay? You were sighing a lot and looked a bit down. Did your fever come back?", asked Allen in a concerned tone. The boy looked genuinely worried if the inspector would collapse like how he did a few days ago.

"I'm totally fine, Walker. Now, if you may, please step aside a bit as it starts to feel a little bit uncomfortable when you have no personal space."

"Sorry.", Allen gave a wry smile and took a step back, "I thought you were feeling unwell again, but thanks God it seems you're doing just fine."

"Your concern is very much appreciated.", Link cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment. The boy way overly protective of him ever since the incident where he collapsed from fever. After that nobody said anything and the room fell in another awkward silence. The two boys just stood right in front of each other without any idea how to break the ice. Usually, Allen was the talkative one. He always managed to find some topic that the two could talk about and enjoy. But for some reason, this time the white-haired boy only stood still while facing Link without saying anything. For the first time in his life, Link felt lost. He didn't know what to say or what to do to change the heavy atmosphere between them.

"I think we should call it a day for now. It's been an exhausting day for both of us and we have to leave early tomorrow morning.", said Link who was so done with the awkwardness. He figured if he couldn't break the ice, why not end it immediately. He was about to get ready to sleep before he felt Allen's gentle touch on his wrist, holding him back from leaving.

"You know what, Link. I think it's still too early to end the day." Allen gave a little squeeze at Link's wrist, "The festival's still going on outside. Why don't we celebrate too? Dancing together here sounds nice."

"Walker, we-"

"It's my birthday today, Link.", said Allen with a smile, "I'm sure you didn't forget about that."

Link was surprised. He had thought the boy had completely forgotten about his birthday, but it didn't seem to be the case. Moreover, what confused him further was that the boy knew that Link remembered his birthday.

"Well, you looked like you wanted to say something to me earlier.", explained Allen as if he could read Link's mind, "You show more expression than you thought you would."

Now, Link was lost for words. His brain was too tired (and surprised) to register anything at that moment. He felt like he was standing in front of a totally different person at that moment, but he knew that wasn't the case. It was still Allen Walker who stood in front of him, not the fourteenth or some other personality that the boy could possibly have. But the boy seemed a bit different. His smile seemed a bit playful and somewhat…. Naughty? That was the only word Link could come up with when facing the current Allen. Feeling lost and defeated, Link finally gave a long sigh and took Allen's left hand, "Just one round."

Allen brimmed in happiness and quickly dragged Link to the center of the room, where Timcanpy could record the whole thing clearly. He closed the distance between the bodies by putting his right hand on Link's waist, causing the shorter man to have a slight pinkish tint on his cheeks. Although it was not frequent, sometimes Link was ordered by Lvellie to join the Black Order's upper class socialite party. That was how he learned how to dance: the techniques for precise turn, sharp spin, and coordination with the rhythm. Link might not be the best dancer out there, but many were still captivated by his beautiful movement. Everything he had learned in the ball was different with his current situation. The music was slow, but that was not the case with the dance. It was sloppy and uncoordinated, with frequent tumbling here and there. They were spinning all over the place, with the voice of their steps echoing though out the room. As weird as it may sound, for a perfectionist like Link, a coordinated ball dance should be his preference. But, he couldn't deny the enjoyment he felt at that precise moment. His dance with Allen, was by far the most enjoyable dance he had ever experienced in his entire life. He couldn't feel the weight on his body as he moved around and his mind was focusing at nothing but the boy in front of him. He didn't even realise when the corner of his lips went upward a little, forming a small smile. This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by Allen. Howard Link didn't exactly put a sour face like Kanda Yuu, but he didn't smile very much either. That was for sure. However, it didn't mean he never smiled. Sometimes, given particular situations, he did put on a smile, that most people would rather refer as smirk. That was why Allen felt like he was struck by a lightning. The white-haired boy was too captivated by the rare smile that he tripped on his own feet and fell onto the shorter boy, stepping on Link's foot on the process as well. Link, who was taken aback by the sudden pressure on his feet, failed to maintain his balance and took the whole weight that crashed onto him. Out of reflect, Allen immediately moved his hand that were holding Link's hand and placed it at the back of the inspector's head, protecting it from any possible crash. Fortunately, there was a bed behind Link. The two fell on the soft cushion with a loud thump. Allen lied on the top of Link, with his hands holding the other man securely.

"Are you okay, Link?", asked Allen with an overly concerned expression. He shifted his body a bit to give the man beneath him some space to breath.

"I'm fine, Walker.", replied Link with a soft grunt, "But I must say that it was very unsightly for an exorcist to trip on his own feet."

Allen gave a small chuckle at the response he got. He was rather amused by the fact the inspector could still nag at him even in this kind of situation. The room suddenly turned dead quiet with both men remained in their position, and Timcanpy frantically flying towards their side. Despite the loud noise from the music outside, at that precise moment, Allen could only hear the sound of Link's soft breathing, and the loud thumping voice from their heartbeat. If possible he would love to stay in the position for a little bit longer, however Link didn't seem to feel too comfortable with the entire situation. It was awkward for him to be under a boy who was supposedly to be under his watch. He gave Allen a light push, only to be taken into a tighter embrace.

"Walker, we've had a round of dance. Now we need to take a rest."

"Unn.", mumbled Allen while he snuggled at Link's neck.

"Wal-", Link was about to protest at the sudden 'inappropriate' behavior before Allen managed to cut him.

"Come to think about it, Link. I haven't gotten any present for my birthday yet."

Link furrowed his brows, "I thought you asked for a round of dance?"

Allen got up with playful smirk that actually resembled Lavi's on his face. He offered a hand to help Link got up from the bed and the two of them sat straight on the bed, facing each other.

"It's not a favour for birthday, Howard. It's a celebration."

Link twitched at the mention of his name. Allen had never called him by his first name before, and he found it extremely weird.

"Walker, you're acting like a spoiled kid now."

"Well, I'm technically a 'kid', am not I, Link? I'm still fifteen – no, sixteen-year-old brat after all."

There was never a moment where Link wished he could just head-butt Allen like now. He felt the birthday boy's demand was getting more and more unreasonable now. And he couldn't retort back to Allen like how he always did because the boy DID have a point there. He gave a long sigh, probably the longest sigh he had ever gave and surrendered completely.

"You do have a point there, Walker."

Allen gave him a toothy grin.

"So, there's something that I've been wanting for a while now."

"Uh-huh."

"And it's not food."

"Hmm."

"Or money."

"… Okay."

"I want-"

'Handcuff?' Link thought to himself, but decided not to say it and just wait for the boy to finish his sentence.

"-to play with your hair."

Now, that was something Link had never expected. He was so surprised at the boy's answer he didn't even realise the face he was making. Allen had to hold out a laugh at Link's expression.

"So, it's not a handcuff?"

Now it was Allen's turn to be surprised. He blinked a few times before a naughty smirk appeared across his facial feature.

"Why would I want that? Are you sure it's something that I want, not some weird kink you have, Link?"

Link's face turned red, both from embarrassment and from rage.

"Sure I do travel with THAT Cross Marian for years, but for your information, never have I developed any weird preference like that.", a short pause," Although I have to admit, probably you would look good in that."

"That was not very nice, Walker.", protested Link in a stern voice. His face was boiling red, resembling a tomato.

"I'm sorry, Link. I didn't mean to upset you.", Allen gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry that my joke went too far."

Seeing the boy looking reflecting on his own words softened Link's heart. His rage was instantly calmed down. These days, Link realised that the boy had become more than someone to observe. Allen had become an important part of his life, he could see it from the way he pampered the boy so much and always went easy on him. He cared and trusted the other more than how he should have been, thus making a part of him became somewhat 'motherly' to Allen.

"Your apology is very much appreciated, Walker."

"Thanks, Link."

"Also", Link mumbled a little, "regarding your request. Why would you want to play with my hair? I didn't know you have a hair fetish. Kanda Yuu's or Lenalee Lee's hair would be a much better option if it was the case."

Allen laughed a bit, "It's not that I have hair fetish or anything, Link." The younger boy gave a wry smile before continuing, "Kanda and Lenalee sure do have beautiful dark hair. But I think yours it prettier. It has a nice golden colour."

'Ah, right. He has an excessive obsession towards yellow-coloured-things.', Link thought to himself before a sudden realisation struck him. It was true that Allen had been looking for a handcuff earlier that day, but Link's mind was too preoccupied on Allen's secretive kinky fetish that he failed to notice that the handcuff was golden coloured! The boy didn't see the item because he wanted it, but rather he was admiring the colour (also, at the same time Link finally realised the reason why the item was pretty expensive for a handcuff. Probably he was still too much in daze for not realising it). Link felt so embarrassed he felt like digging his own grave now and there, but remembering that he still had so much duty to finish, the only thing he could do now was face palming. Allen was a bit taken aback at Link's weird reaction at his compliment.

"Link? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Walker. I just…. Need a moment to appreciate my very own foolishness. I can't believe I can't figure something so simple like this immediately.", said Link with a soft sigh, "Anyway, back to our conversation. Usually I don't like other people touching my hair, but given this is a special occasion, I shall give you the permission to do so."

Allen's face immediately brimmed in happiness. His grey eyes were sparkling like and he gave the other male a big hug, "YAY! Thank you so much, Link!"

"I appreciate the joy, Walker. But we must hurry as it's getting late."

"Okay~ I promise it'll be quick."

Allen quickly got off the bed and made his way towards his luggage. He quickly went through the content of his bag to find a comb and went back to the bed where Link was waiting.

"Do you mind if I loosened up your braid?"

Link gave a small nod.

Allen carefully took off the hairband Link was wearing, letting the slightly wavy strands to fall at Link's back. He took his time admiring the hair of hair in front of him before gently running his fingers through the golden locks. Link's hair might not be as silky as Kanda's or Lenalee's. But it was still soft compared to most people's. The golden colour it had reminded Allen of the wheat field that shone beautifully under the sun, or the star that shone brightly at night. Allen combed the end of each strands slowly, making it straight from the waviness the braid had caused. The white-haired boy took his time to mend Link's hair, while Link decided to read a book to distract his mind from the tingling sensation he got as Allen's fingers ran through his hair. The two stayed like that for quite a while, eventually neither even noticed that the music from the festival had already died down and people were saying goodbyes to each other before scattering from the city hall. After some time, Link started to feel sleepy and his mind were dozing off. Allen's fingers on his hair started to feel too good, and before he realized he had fallen into deep slumber. It was a few minutes later when Allen noticed a soft snore coming from Link. He smiled softly before putting the comb at the table next to the bed. He quietly stepped away from Link's back and positioned the other male to the proper sleeping position, careful not to make him awake. After doing so, Allen made a soft yawn.

"I guess I also need to sleep now, ne?", spoke Allen softly to Timcanpy, who were sitting on his shoulder the whole time. Before going to his own bed, Allen took a short glance towards Link. He reached a strand of Link's hair and gave it a soft peck before moving up to give a quick, but passionate kiss on Link's forehead, "Good night, Link. Thank you for the wonderful present."

…

The next day, Allen and Link went back to the Order with the first train. It was frantic morning as both boys overslept from staying up too late the day before and almost missed the train. Inside the train, Link made sure to give Allen an one-hour long lecture on how his selfishness the night before had almost caused them trouble. In addition, he also made sure to add another one-hour long lecture on Allen's behaviour for the past two days by calling him being completely 'immature' with 'no particular reasonable reason' and would look over Allen's 'disobedience' by 'intentionally slipping under his watch' this time for once, but would never do so in the future. Link also made sure to give the golem a good lecture on how its behaviour would also effect on Allen's surveillance, and if the two couldn't keep them selves together, he would 'make a request to separate the two of them', which apparently worked well to scare the golem and its master. All in all, it summed up to a two-hours lecture, which meant Allen spent the whole journey in the train getting lectured by Mother Hen Howard Link. As soon as they got off the train, they immediately went to the check points for the Ark's Gate and went back to the Order. Upon arrival, Link realised there was something weird going on inside the Order. It was unusually quiet, there was no supervisor who tried to run away from his job, nor there were the supervisor's teammates chasing for him. There were only finders walking around moving things, and some unfamiliar scientists carrying their report.

"We have to give this document to the Science Department."

"We can do that later, Link~ Let's go to the cafeteria first! I'm dying with hunger!", whined Allen while he ran off to the cafeteria, leaving Link behind to catch up to him.

"Walker, wait-"

Link chased after the boy, who had stopped at the entrance of the cafeteria, looking rather stunned.

"Aahhh…. Allen's back already!", shouted the thick-glasses man known as Johnny, "Everyone, Allen's back already."

It was quite a sight, Link had to admit. The usually plain looking cafeteria was decorated in colorful decorations such as colorful pattern paper and balloons. There were mountains of food, that were mostly Allen's favourite at the dining table. At the back there was also a banner with huge handwriting: 'WELCOME BACK AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLEN WALKER', and people from the Science Department were gathering there, putting on the decoration.

That was when Link finally realised that the two of them were actually sent on an unimportant mission in order to surprise Allen when he came back. Although it seemed the plan kind of backfire a little bit as the pair managed to come back a bit earlier than the initial plan, thus discovering the party when it was still in preparation stage.

Everyone immediately stopped their activity and approached Allen to congratulate him with huge smile and lots of hug.

"Happy birthday, Allen!"

"Congratulations on getting a year older, Walker!"

"Happy birthday, Allen-kun!"

Even Lenalee Lee who was supposedly to be on mission was there, congratulating Allen cheerfully. Most likely the Science Department had been lying to both of them on the Exorcists come back schedule in order to hide the birthday surprise.

"Thank you, everyone.", said Allen with a huge smile on his face. The boy clearly looked very happy and was in a brink of tears.

"Congratulations, Allen~ How was it? Having a mission on a birthday?", said a certain red-head who appeared between Allen and Link, out of nowhere.

"Ah Lavi.", Allen's face immediately darkened upon noticing the red-head presence.

"C'mon Allen~! Don't look so scary! I didn't mean to upset you two days ago!"

Allen gave a long sigh and gave Lavi a dark look saying: 'are-you-joking-when-you-say-that-?-You-have-clearly-crossed-the-line'. It seemed for now any kind of plea and apology coming from Lavi's mouth will fall on deaf ears.

"Anyway, Allen. That thing aside, how was your birthday yesterday? Did you get any good present from the inspector?", asked Lavi secretively, dragging Allen a little bit away from the crowd.

Allen took a short glance at Link, grey meeting crimson. A smile appeared across Allen's face.

"I did. I played with the gold."

.

Allen Walker loved yellow, to an extend of unhealthy obsession.

Maybe because the colour reminded him of gold, or maybe because it was the colour of his precious golem, Timcanpy.

Whichever reason was true; Link knew both were.

Yet he didn't know.

Allen Walker loved yellow,

Also because it reminded him of Howard Link.

…

And that's it for this fanfiction! I hope you have had a good time reading the whole story (;w;)

It was a bit long but I'm glad I could make it!

I would post an extra story that sees things from Allen's POV (if I still have time and motivation to do so), so please give me some support to build up my motivation!

Anyway, that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading this story!