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

Comments

[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.

"I'm fine, too." He cleared his throat, wiping his face on his shoulder to get the spot of wetness between his eyes. "Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, you know?" After a beat, he said more seriously. "But there's definitely... I don't know. Something in the water, you think?"

[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!"

[roaringhistory]

"We'll figure it out, no problem," Lavi lied through his teeth. He couldn't help but hope it was something as simple as Innocence behind all this. But his instinct was telling him it was something much, much more sinister. He looked at Allen's hand with a smile, but inside, he was full of suspicion. When had he become so paranoid? Was it just the foggy mind doing this to him? At any second, he could imagine Allen's face twisting into a mask, that harmless left hand becoming a claw.

Lavi bowed his head under the guise of reproach, though it was really just to get Allen out of his sight. Where were these thoughts coming from? What was happening to him?

He forced his head back up and elbowed Allen's arm before grabbing his hand. "The sooner we get there," he called to the air in front him, "The sooner we'll know!" And he jogged off towards the elevator, pulling Allen along behind.

[hopefulgaze]

Allen yelped a bit as Lavi tugged him along, but he trotted after him without any protest. He was worried now, moreso than he'd say out loud - for Lavi, not for himself or his own situation. He'd always known Lavi to be loud and almost obnoxious at times, and it was something that never failed to make him smile and lift his spirits... but sometimes, on rare occasion, he'd see Lavi looking at him as though he didn't even recognize him.

This felt like one of those moments, and Allen couldn't shake the feeling now that whatever was wrong - it was only going to end badly for all of them.

It angered him, the fact that his friends might be in danger from something as simple as Innocence. It was easy to forget that the substance wreaked havoc in the wild, sometimes, and it wasn't supposed to be able to do that here - not at the Order, not at their home.

With a bit of alarm, Allen realized that thinking of this place as home felt just as wrong as everything else had. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on Lavi's hand, willing the redhead not to disappear into thin air.

"Lavi?" he said, his voice small as he bowed his head, letting his hair hide his eyes. "I'm glad you're here."

[roaringhistory]

At the sound of Allen's voice, Lavi's pace slowed almost to a halt. They were deep inside the order building, in one of the long, spiraling staircases that led to the basement that served as Hevlaska's chambers. It took Lavi a long minute to consider Allen's words, the gravity of the situation.

He should play it off, he knew. That's what Lavi would do. Joke around, make fun of him for being too sentimental and, what, did he think this was the end of the world, or something? They'd died and come back too many times to count! How was this anything knew? But just thinking the words gave him cold shivers. Lavi couldn't get them past his teeth.

"Allen," he finally said, still facing forward, his arm still held behind him, his hand still gripping Allen's hand. He knew why he wanted to shove Allen away. That's what the old man always wanted. Bookmen are always alone, and blah blah blah , the same old bullshit. Lavi understood all that. But why did he-- He found himself hugging Allen without meaning to, his arms wrapped around Allen's shoulders and holding tight. It felt like embracing a ghost.

Lavi pulled back completely as if he'd been physically shocked, and he laughed hollowly, scratching the back of his neck and looking anywhere but Allen's eyes. "You had a... A thing on your shoulder. I got it, OK? Let's just-- We're almost there, c'mon!" Lavi turned and tromped down the stairs without waiting for a reply. Running away? Yeah. He was running away.

What the hell had gotten into him today?

[hopefulgaze]

When Lavi hugged him, Allen went very still. He barely had time to lift his arms and put his hands on the other Exorcist's back when he pulled away, and Allen was left feeling confused and almost a little cold. He let his breath out slowly, then watched as Lavi headed down the stairs.

"All right," he said softly, following along without any ceremony or thought. If he just quit thinking, maybe things would get better.

He ran down the stairs to catch up, but he didn't speak - he just walked side by side with Lavi, forcing his mind to any other subject.

"What do you think our next mission will be?" he asked, forcing the smile back to his face. "I haven't gone on one with you in awhile, have I! Do you remember when we went and found Krory in that castle?"

He was babbling and he knew it, but Allen didn't mind so much as long as the haunted look left Lavi's typically cheerful gaze.