Howard Link's pen moved purposefully across the pages of his notebook. Every couple of seconds his eyes would flit upwards from those enticing pages and glance at Allen who was staring back curiously.

The slightest pink of tongue poked out timidly from the corner of the inspector's mouth and he chewed on it thoughtfully, furrowing his brow and tapping his pen on the book's rim.

It's been several months since Link has been assigned to watch over the suspected exorcist. Allen had become accustomed to his rampant stalking, observations and note-taking but he had to wonder…

What does he write in there?

Allen crossed his legs, and reclined in his chair while tickling the groove between Timcanpy's wings as the bright golem nestled into his tail on the table beside him.

Suddenly, the dutiful scribbles halted and Link slammed the notebook shut.

"I'm going to make some chocolate, would you like-"

"YES!" Allen accidentally swatted his poor pump, golden friend clean off the table in his excitement.

"O-oh… Sorry, Tim." Allen helped him back up as the golem growled with annoyance. Despite dealing with the scrutiny, Allen loved this aspect of Link's job.

Link shook his head with a smirk hidden behind his white glove as it pretended to itch the tip of his nose.

"I've never known someone to be so eccentric about food." He watched Allen blush lightly at his own avarice for Link's pastries. "I'll be back." He waved and left the boy alone.

Allen froze. His eyes fell directly to the notebook Link had so carelessly left out in the open! How could he? The inspector was so careful all of the time, especially regarding Allen.

It wasn't as though he didn't trust the boy, they had gotten past that a while ago… In fact Allen felt as though they were very good friends now, but he still took his job so seriously that he would never let something such as this log he's kept since they began investigating to be compromised by the suspect.

Perhaps he was just over thinking it… Link is only human after all… He must have just forgotten it.

Regardless, Allen was not going to pass up the chance to take a peek!

He practically lunged for the bound pages and flung it open to the first hard cover, not wanting to miss anything. It had some personal information along the side.

It recorded Link's name, his title and the date the book was issued.

Nothing of real interest… The boy pressed on and began with the first couple of pages. It was dated for when Link had first transferred from Central. There were lots of bullets and dashes and times next to short statements.

Like:

6:00 PM-subject files paperwork.

It seemed rather boring. He flipped ahead several weeks.

He slowed in his page flipping as he noticed his name begin to pop up. He turned back and forth, to be sure of the difference. Yep, there it was. "Suspect" became "Allen". It was clearly unintentional as it swapped, using the terms interchangeably for a while. It was like Allen was growing on Link as a person rather than a criminal.

The edges of Allen's lips curled slightly, tugging into an unprovoked smile. The phrasing started to change also. There were less bullets and dashes and more paragraphs.

The shaping of their friendship took place in Link's notes as well as in actuality.

Allen paused at an entry that seemed utterly complete like a novel, no abbreviations or shortened statements to strengthen the discipline of the text. It was very informal, not work-related in the slightest.

Allen and I played chess today. He's getting very good at it but he still hasn't beaten me. To heal his ego we have been playing a lot of poker before bed or during meals. He smiles this - smile whenever he wins.

Allen connected his eyebrows as his face scrunched up in thought at the scribble. Was it a misspelling? A wrong adjective? He raised the page to the light and squinted trying to see past the marks to the word beneath.

"C… C… C u….? Damn!" Allen muttered, crazily turning the page for a better look…

"Cute?" His face flooded from pale to a deep red. The word stuck and it took Allen minutes to recover from the realization.

It was just one word but damn if it didn't change everything! Link thought Allen was… cute.

At least Link thought Allen's smile was cute in this particular situation…

And with that disappointing follow-up thought, Allen desperately wanted more solid proof.

Frantically, the young exorcist tore through the pages to the most recent entry. It was dated for today but also yesterday… As Allen began to skim the sentences he realized why.

This happened yesterday. At least most of it did. The more Allen read of it the less he remembered and by the end of the passage… he understood that this wasn't at all what really happened yesterday…

Allen and I were deployed on a mission just a little south of the Black Order. It was some minor akuma damage control in this nearby village but the number of enemies was deemed too high to go unchecked. When we arrived the situation was resolved quickly. Allen-talented as he is-rid the town of all the akuma within seconds.

This much was true, Allen smirked to himself. He enjoyed being praised by Link considering how infrequently a compliment was thrown his way by the inspector.

After the battle, the residents offered Allen and I a room for the night since the travel back to the Order was over a day by foot and it was already nightfall. Allen was hesitant at first but the promise of food secured our stay at the village's inn. We were put up in a pleasant room for the night however there was only one bed.

That part was also true.

I attempted to sleep on the floor but Walker refused and scooted over on the small bed, gesturing to the spot he left, lifting the covers invitingly.

That part was not…

I crawled into the sheets with him, his body was so warm and his smell it was how he always smelled… an indescribable scent that's distinctly Allen but not in a bad way at all. It makes you want to bury yourself in that smell-just nestle in it and never leave.

Allen's intoxicating that way and that's probably why I climbed into that bed. I couldn't stand it any longer. I needed to be with Allen, My Allen! I wrapped my arms around his slender waist and pulled him against me. His hands gently reached up about my face, cupping it sweetly as he smiled at me.

"Link." He breathed my name lightly right against my lips.

Allen blushed and shifted in his seat, crossing and uncrossing his legs as he turned the page to keep reading. He couldn't stop himself. His eyes had lingered on the phrase where Link had called him "My Allen". It sent chills up his spine but in the most delightful way possible.

For some reason… Allen wanted to be his. The thought of Link being possessive of him caused his heart to palpitate and palms to sweat. The passage continued on and became even more heated, along with its reader…

I pushed my mouth against Allen's and he pushed his body against mine. That young, hard being was all I ever dreamed of pressing to me in that tender moment. Did Allen even know

The door opened and Link re-entered the room. Allen instantly threw the notebook on the bed and whirled around with wide, damnably guilty eyes.

Link froze in the doorway with his platter of chocolates and his inscrutable gaze narrowed upon the sight he'd just witnessed.

"Allen…?" He spoke slowly through his teeth.

"O-oh, thank you! These look delicious!" Allen rushed for the chocolates but Link shoved him back with a heavy push to his chest, forcing the boy to trip backwards nearly toppling to the floor.

"Were you reading my journal?" Link shouted, throwing the platter to the ground with a clang. He slammed the door behind him and glared at Allen. This made the boy a little nervous, the assassin had just cut off his only escape…

"No! Well… Yes but… I didn't read anything important!" Allen lied, fearing for his life at this point.

"What do you mean important? What did you see?" Link asked.

"U-um I didn't really read it, I just opened it and saw your name and information on the inside cover… I-I'm sorry I ever opened it I was just curious…" Allen waved his arms defensively. The inspector eyed the boy, scanning him wholly for any sign of deceit.

Satisfied, Link snatched the book from the bed and heaved a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry. It's just regulations, you know? If I find you've read any reconnaissance on yourself it compromises the mission and your profile, pointing you towards suspicion." Link rambled on. Allen rolled his eyes at the inspector, assured that the teen couldn't see him. Regulations, rules, and discipline… It never ends with him.

"Can I have the chocolates now?" Allen whined, eyeing the few that survived the attack and were left jumbled on the platter sitting on the floor.

"You'd still eat those?" Link scrunched up his nose in distaste, yet he picked up the plate and offered them to the boy. Allen nodded and seized the plate, rushing off to the bed with them as if he were saving them in his hideout.

Link snatched his journal from the bed's covers and flipped through it for a moment. Allen paused with a face full of chocolate, lips smeared with the ridiculously delicious, bordering on gourmet assortment Link had prepared just for him and watched the inspector carefully.

Link was deeply engrossed, maybe trying to figure out what Allen may have read but he was flipping quickly and he seemed worried.

Suddenly he began tearing out several pages. Allen couldn't tell exactly their location in reference to the beginning of the journal but he had to guess it was the embarrassing fantasies…

"What are you doing?" Allen frowned.

"Just…" Link never finished the sentence. He honestly could not think of a viable answer, not a single one that didn't involve what he was really trying to hide.

He'd been keeping the urge to write down these little daydreams deep, deeeep down inside but today he just couldn't stop himself! The other night at the inn all he could think about was climbing in that bed with Allen as he shivered on the floorboards.

It started out as an innocent enough thought, just to escape the cold and the uneven planks of wood digging into his back and sides but it escalated into this horrible vision that just kept going until it haunted Link as he lay there.

He'd had little scenarios play out in his head like this before. Allen kissing him or confessing some sort of affection for him, but nothing like this. He had to find an outlet that wouldn't be too obvious and the journal seemed safe enough.

He could write these fantasies without Walker knowing and hopefully just leave the emotions on the page. If not for these sessions then who knows when Link would snap and act on these impulsive urges?

Of course this system is severely flawed and that showed a little too soon for Link's liking.

He just had to slip up and leave the damn thing right out in the open for the boy to pick up and read.

"Link?" Allen's voice broke through Link's panicked musings.

"Yeah?"

"What happened after we kissed in the bed together?" Allen smirked as Link's face went completely red.

"YOU DID READ IT!" Link shouted, feeling as though he could literally die of embarrassment. He wanted to curl up and die, just shut himself off to everything especially this kid.

His most personal and irrevocable thoughts! OF ALLEN!

"Yeah, I did." Allen got up and walked over to Link, confident that the tables had turned and now he wouldn't be murdered for the invasion of privacy. No definitely not, Link was far too lost in his humiliation to even see the intentions forming in the exorcist as he crossed the room towards his huddled form.

Allen bent over and picked up a few of the torn pieces of paper. Link didn't stop him. He smiled at his luck of immediately finding the place he'd left off.

"Did Allen even know how badly I had wanted him to share his bed with me since the day we'd met? Each day I see him he's never looked more beautiful but god… tonight he was perfect…" Allen let the paper drop to the floor again. He didn't need it anymore. If that wasn't enough proof of Link's desire he couldn't care less.

"What are you doing?" Link retracted from Allen as the boy boxed in the assassin against the wall, putting up both of his arms on either side of him. He leaned in and quickly forced their lips together.

Link's knees nearly gave out, causing him to stumble in place for a moment and leading Allen's kiss down with him. He tasted of that chocolate… A dark, delicious and sugary treat but with the moisture and softness of a boy's lips.

Allen chuckled into the closed seal of their mouths before pulling back to answer him.

"Giving you something real to write about."

End.