The Misadventures of Raising Allen Walker

~1~

"Mana, what are you doing?" Tugging his scarf away from his mouth to question his elder twin, he made an attempt to move closer to the wall of the building, not wanting to get pushed around by the other patrons on the walkway. Catching the other's eye as he pulled his scarf back up, he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his shoulder up against the bricks. He couldn't help as his eyes drifted between the crowd of patrons walking by, busy running between shops and holding their purchases close to their bodies. Only a few spared the two of them a glance before continuing on their way, not that he minded. He'd rather not have all the unwanted attention. Feeling his coat sleeve being pulled at, he let his eyes wander back to his brother, the other's brown eyes wide in what he could only guess was shock.

"Nea, come over here and look at him. He's so little and cold…" Rolling his eyes, he assumed that the elder had found yet another stray within the alley, but still moved to the other's side to see what had grabbed his brother's attention. He thought he'd see a scrawny animal within the other's gloved hands, instead he was taken aback by the almost too small body in Mana's arms.

"Is that a baby? Wait a second, was your first reaction to check what he was." Sending a look to Mana, he pursed his lips as he knelt beside his brother.

"Of course I didn't check right off the bat, it just happened. Do you see the blanket he was wrapped in? I'm surprised it stayed on him for this long. And what did you think he was? A shaved cat?" Taking a glance at the poor excuse for a blanket, he let out his breath. Okay he had a point there, though calling it a blanket was a grave overstatement. It looked more akin to a worn washrag littered in holes than its generous title of blanket.

"Alright you have a point." Closing his eyes for barely a second, they opened at hearing buttons being pulled apart, the metal snaps audible despite the loud ambience from the concrete walk less than a foot away. "What are you doing Mana?!" Watching as the small boy was set back into the cardboard box for a moment as Mana removed his coat, Nea could finally see the child's full body. The little boy was probably small for how old he was, let alone malnourished if him being able to see the infant's rib cage was telling enough on that point. It was almost scary how fragile the little baby looked. Blinking quickly, he watched as his brother set his coat on the ground, barely managing to haphazardly wrap the baby into the warm fabric.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm not just going to leave him here to freeze to death. Do you see how small he is? He probably wouldn't have survived the night with how cold it is." Watching his brother's long brown hair move through the cold air with him, he sighed bringing both hands up to the scarf around his neck.

"Well what are the both of us going to do if you get sick Mana. Here, wear my scarf, it's too cold to be out here in just your long sleeve and gloves." Unwinding the thick fabric from around his neck, he took care to not catch his older brother's hair in the scarf as he wrapped it around Mana's neck, helping the elder to his feet after standing himself. Watching his twin's eyes blink a few times, he couldn't help but mirror the smile that graced Mana's face after a moment.

"Thank you Nea." Laughing a little, he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets, both eyes closed as he leaned back a little.

"It's no problem, someone's going to need to take care of the kid. Not saying I'm not going to help, but would you really trust me with taking care of him? And anyway I've got my hands full with Tim and keeping the rest of Adam's kids from bothering us." Hearing his brother's light laughter, he managed to pull his sibling into the fray of hurried people on the walk, trying to get away from the alley.

"I keep telling you that you don't need to do that, I wouldn't mind Tiki, Sheril and Road visiting us every once in a while." Scrunching up his face a bit at the three mentioned, he sighed, his breath turning white in the air.

"I mind though, Sheril is so weird. But I guess Tiki and Road are alright, just as long as Tiki stops trying to get you to gamble with him." Pausing at noticing his brother stop, he turned to face the young man. "Mana?"

"Maybe we should grab some things for him, at least enough for tonight." Glancing to the shop the other had stopped by, he froze up a little before moving closer to his brother.

"We don't even know what a baby needs in general, especially not this one! We don't even know his name or when he was born." Watching hazel eyes turn to him after a moment, he was pulled up against the wall before feeling the light weight being set in his arms.

"There's no harm in guessing and trying, Nea. I'll be right back so just stay there." Watching as Mana walked into the shop, he glanced down into the bundle, freezing up as his eyes met a set of silver staring back at him. The little boy must've woken up at some point while they were walking. Taking a breath through his nose, he couldn't help but smile at the little body in his arms.

"Hey there kiddo, you're finally awake. We haven't figured out a name for you yet, but I'm your uncle Nea I guess. My brother Mana is getting things you're going to need, he's the one who found you in that alley back there." He had started branching off on a tangent, unable to let himself and his now self proclaimed nephew stand in silence till Mana returned. The silver eyes watched him, and he watched them in return. Nearly jumping as he felt a hand on his shoulder, he held the boy closer to his chest as he looked over to whoever had touched him, relaxing a bit at seeing his brother's laughing face.

"Come on let's get home, I'm sure Tim would like to meet Allen." Blinking a few times, he glanced to Mana for a moment before falling in step with the long haired brunette.

"Allen? Is that what you're naming him?" Watching Mana nod, he glanced back down to the silver eyed bundle in his arms.

"Yeah, and since we don't know when he was born I was thinking it could be today, the day we found him." Blinking a little, he couldn't help but smile as he watched Mana unlock the door to their home, watching as Tim ran through the open door and around his legs in greeting before dashing back into the house.

"Well I guess Tim missed us." Handing the bundle of coat and baby back to his brother, he moved to find where Tim had run off to, picking up the golden retriever pup off the floor. Hearing the other's soft voice, from the other room, he couldn't help but glance over to the tree in the corner of the room.

"Happy Birthday Allen, and Merry Christmas."