Missing: one golden golem (tag to Lavi, open)

[hopefulgaze]

Allen trudged to the cafeteria with less enthusiasm than usual. He always liked meeting with his friends, but he was weighed down with the feeling that something was wrong. He didn't know what it was, but it was making him incredibly anxious - which was something he typically never was. The not knowing was the worst, he decided, and he glanced

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[roaringhistory]

It was distressing for all of them, even the finders. The air was thick with the feeling of anxious tension. Suspicious eyes darted back and forth, taking in everything, believing nothing. For the first time anyone could remember, the Order was against itself.

Lavi found it incredibly interesting. He didn't know where this bitter edge to his thoughts was coming from, but he couldn't help but acknowledge that it was there. And that he was sort of enjoying all of this hostility. But that was the Panda in him talking, and not who Lavi was. That's what he told himself, anyway.

Regardless of his fascination, Lavi was loathe to admit that he just as bothered as the rest of them. There was something really wrong going on. That feeling of "forgetting" ate at his insides, and he knew the feeling wouldn't abate until he remembered.... whatever it was that he had forgotten. Something big. Something important. What was it

[hopefulgaze]

Allen smiled brightly when he heard the familiar voice and turned, then blinked when he saw the golem seemingly intent on knocking Lavi unconscious. He threaded his way through the people, feeling the discord but choosing to set it aside for now- there was nothing he could do without talking to his friends and figuring out what was going on.

"Bookman," he finally said, tilting his head. "Uh, your golem..."

He paused for a moment, then smiled slightly. The slight smile grew until his shoulders were shaking and he had one hand over his mouth, but the more the golem knocked into Lavi's head, the harder it was to hold back his laughter.

"Maybe you should turn it off," he suggested, half-open eyes sparkling with glee, barely able to contain his giggles.

[roaringhistory]

"What, this?" Lavi waved his hand dismissively, "Eh, I barely even notice the thing!" Then after a beat, he added, "But, uh. There's no reason for us both to have golems if we're together, right?" Lavi turned to smile dangerously at the golem. Sensing the coming de-activation (or, more likely, continuing its destructive pattern), the golem rammed itself into Lavi's nose HARD before Lavi could swipe it out of the air and press its power button a little more viciously than necessary.

"There!" He grinned widely at Allen, a line of blood running between his eyes. "And when Komui gets on my ass for it, I can blame you, Bean sprout!" He laughed, pocketing the golem. "Thanks, Allen!"

[hopefulgaze]

Allen twitched a bit at the nickname, half thinking that perhaps he should have let the golem keep at its antics. "It's Allen," he replied, sitting down across from Lavi with an exasperated roll of his eyes. "Don't you think I'm a little too old - and a little too tall - for that name now?"

He looked up at the golem hovering over his shoulder again and his anxiety seemed to return all at once. "Have you seen Tim?" he asked again, almost as though he hadn't just asked ten minutes ago. "And what about Kanda? He was sick yesterday, or at least he sounded like it, and..."

For some reason - no reason that he could explain - his anxiety was growing. He clasped his hands tightly together beneath the table and managed a small smile. "And how are you?"

[roaringhistory]

Having just stood up and too anxious to just flop back into a chair, Lavi pulled a chair over and sat on the back of it instead, his feet on the seat of it. He draped his arms across his knees and leaned forward, though he was still a good head above Allen. "C'mon, you're never too old for nicknames!" Even if Allen really had filled out beyond his bean sprout status in the last... ten years? Was it really less than ten? Somehow Lavi felt like he'd known Allen for much longer than that. But being in a war had a way of messing with time, he supposed.

The nickname, with Allen's prompt reminded Lavi. "Eh, don't worry about Yuu. He's always like that." And though it was true, and Lavi knew it was true, his stomach still jumped at the thought. Why did he feel like... It was stupid. Kanda was just sick with a cold, or something. "It's not like he's on his deathbed, or anything." The words left his mouth tasting like ash. Lavi was quick to change the subject

[hopefulgaze]

"Something in the water?" Allen mused quietly over the question. It would certainly make sense if that were the case, but without even doing so, Lavi had admitted he felt the same - or at least partially the same. Allen lifted his gloved left hand and rested it on the table, looking down at it with a slight frown. "Ah..."

After a moment of quiet, Allen stood and looked at Lavi with a charming smile. He'd reached the redhead's height, if not a tiny bit more, but that could easily be attributed to his boots. "Let's go outside," he suggested. "Maybe getting some fresh air will settle our nerves."

He knew better than to hope for such a thing, but at least it was worth saying. He felt the same tremor at the mention of Kanda on his deathbed, the same rush of doubt at waking up... somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

Shaking it all off, he offered his right hand to Lavi with the brightest smile he could muster. "We can sit and watch the clouds!"

[roaringhistory]

The outdoors wouldn't make any difference, he knew. But at least it would give them something to do. "I'm up for anything right about now."

Lavi looked at Allen's hand with a raised eyebrow, then grinned. "You know that statue of the first exorcist around the back? I'll race ya to it." Without waiting for a response, Lavi shouted, "Ready, set, GO!" and took off running, his red scarf bouncing wildly as he went.

[hopefulgaze]

"Wait!" Allen barely had time to call out before Lavi took off, then he was jumping up and racing after him. He knew he wasn't going to win unless he cheated - which he didn't really have a reason not to do, because it was Lavi and these things were for fun - but he decided to just lope along after him and observe the people in the Order instead.

When he reached the statue, he put his hand on it and pouted. "That was unfair," he muttered, but he was smiling. "That was fun, though! At least nobody yelled at us for running this time."

[roaringhistory]

"Yeah!" Lavi laughed, leaning casually on the statue's knee and trying not to pant. He'd expected Allen to really go for it, so he'd sprinted his lungs out. When Allen had ambled up a moment later, barely breathing hard at all... He couldn't help but feel a little childish. Who had tried his hardest to win? Nope, not Lavi! Definitely All fun and games, for sure!

Lavi breathed as shallowly as he could manage without choking and struggled not to talk until his heart had slowed down a bit. Rather than comment, he simply nodded in agreement with Allen's remark.

[hopefulgaze]

Allen couldn't help but grin a bit as he crossed his arms and leaned against the statue. "Are you getting out of shape?" he teased. "Maybe we should spar together so I can make sure you're still in good form."

Those words made him pause, and his eyes drifted downward to Lavi's thigh. "You do... have your Innocence, right?"

He didn't even know why he asked, but for some reason... it had been destroyed once, he knew, and there was no reason for Lavi not to have it now, but with all the strangeness going on, it seemed a valid question. "With you, I mean?" he asked hurriedly, to cover up any misgivings he may have had.

[roaringhistory]

"Spar?" The idea jolted Lavi for some reason. Not because he didn't have his Innocence. He did (his fingertips casually brushed the hammer's spine in reassurance that, yes, it was still there). And it was in perfect condition, if he said so himself. So why did the idea of practicing with it feel so... foreign?

He was an Exorcist. This was a war. Allen was a comrade. They needed all the training they could get. So what was Lavi afraid of? He was... There was something...

"Come on, Allen," he excused, his smile as wide as ever. "It's no fight. I'd flatten you like a pancake."

[hopefulgaze]

Now he knew for certain that something was wrong. "Lavi," he murmured, lapsing into the old habit without even thinking about it. He looked down at his left hand and clenched it into a fist, then looked back at the redhead with eyes that pleaded for an answer. Lavi was smart, he knew things - shouldn't he be able to say what had happened?

"I feel strange," Allen finally said, leaning against the statue and closing his eyes briefly. "Everything seems so wrong..." He shook himself quickly and smiled, but the smile was weak and forced. "Maybe I ate something strange!"

[roaringhistory]

It was a testament to the strangeness that Lavi didn't bother to correct Allen's mistake. That, or he took comfort in the familiarity of his final alias. He was all off-balance, thrown out of his comfort zone. This whole situation, this not-knowing... It was impossible. But what kind of answer was, 'It's impossible' ? There had to be SOME explanation.

And since the Panda wasn't around to fill him in, what was left but to. Well. Talk about it? And Lavi couldn't think of anyone he'd rather confide in than Allen. Allen didn't have the answers most of the time, but at least he could make you feel good about not knowing.

"Could be," Lavi intoned, shifting his weight and crossing his arms behind his head. "But we all ate different things. It's gotta be something we have in common." He leaned back further, his face to the grey-green sky. "You an' me, Yuu and Daisya and Maria, and everyone else. What do we have in common?"

[hopefulgaze]

"In common?" Allen frowned and crossed his arms, also looking up at the sky. That was a good question, really, and of course the most obvious answer was we're all Exorcists. He had no idea what that might have to do with anything at all, unless...

"Innocence!" He blurted out, pushing away from the statue. "Did someone bring back a shard recently? Maybe this is its effect, and the science department just hasn't neutralized it!"

[roaringhistory]

"Hey," Lavi looked back at Allen, grinning. "You know, that might just be it!" It made sense, for one. Whatever seemed inexplicable, hadn't the Innocence always been behind it? The idea brought back memories, at least. About "ghosts" and "vampires," strange towns and even stranger townspeople. Innocence made the impossible possible. Why couldn't it be messing with their memories?

But there was the problem. Lavi couldn't remember the last mission he'd been on. Whether he found Innocence then or not... He couldn't remember. It was all really fuzzy, and all mixed together in his head. Like a dream.

But a Bookman who couldn't even remember what he'd had for dinner yesterday? What kind of joke was that? No, he couldn't admit it. He'd just... play along for now. Pretend he remembered. If he was lucky, maybe Allen wouldn't even notice.

"Let's try Hevlaska," Lavi offered. "If anyone knows about rouge Innocence in the Order building, it'd be her, right?"

[hopefulgaze]

"Good idea," Allen replied, pushing away from the statue with a smile. He'd known Lavi would be able to come up with an answer, or at least part of one. He stretched a bit, then frowned as he wondered once again what had happened to Timcanpy... and why Kanda of all people was sick.

He glanced at the redhead again, wondering why it felt like he hadn't seen him in ages.

"I hope this gets resolved soon," he muttered. "I'm going to lose my bloody mind over this." He flashed Lavi a bright smile and held out his hand, hoping that he wasn't going to inadvertently start another race. "Well, let's go!"