~(Pfft alright Rhode xD)~

The blonde haired exorcist had taken a leaf out of Kanda's book and was ignoring him by this point, just as he was ignoring her, which was probably just as well. This particular argument had gone on all morning, much to the dismay of people in the cafeteria; Not that anyone was willing to step in.
Lenalee's presence however, had put a stop to the tirade of insults, glares and death threats between the two of them, and even after the younger exorcist had retreated from the cafeteria, Maya felt she had no energy to continue against pretty boy... Not now, anyway. Instead, she'd chosen to simply keep her eye on the door, her thoughts roaming to the very person Lenalee had been looking for. Lavi.

That one hadn't been too well lately, if "well" was the right word for it. His aura wasn't as "stable" as it had been before Allen left on his mission... Like he was confused, unsure...
Maya pulled a face. Knowing how people felt and not knowing why was such a pain, not that she minded. She'd dealt with this more or less her entire life, she was used to simply ignoring such things. Unfortunately, this time, it happened to be a friend... She brought her gaze away from the door and back to Kanda.

"You don't know what's going on with Lavi, by any chance?"

~~~

Lenalee smiled as Allen approached. It was such a relief to know he was okay, despite his look of weariness.
She looked from Allen to the door of Headquarters as the silver haired exorcist asked about Lavi. She wasn't entirely sure how to asnwer. Sure, she'd noticed the way he'd been acting lately, only to have been confirmed by Maya and that peculiar ability of hers. Of course, none of them knew exactly why, and it hadn't seemed like that big of an issue.

She shook her head and looked back at her fellow exorcist.

"He's been okay... He just... Seems to have been thinking alot lately." She replied slowly, allowing her gaze to wander back to the door. She truly didn't know whether or not she should be concerned, afterall... Lavi was a Bookman in training, and she already knew about the events recorded by them... Was it possible it was something Bookman himself had revealed?... Then again, it could have been something else entirely... Sighing quietly, she grasped one of Allen's hands and started for the door.

"Come on Allen-kun, let's go see the others."

~~~

The Noah sat himself at his desk again, smiling at his daughter and ignoring those papers still waiting to be filled out and completed. He allowed himself to glance at them, before putting them to one side and crossing his arms over the area they had occupied.

"I'm surprised you havn't heard from Tyki lately yourself, Rhode~ Your usually around him when the Earl wants you." He leaned back, glancing over his shoulder to look through the window behind, revealing the splendor of the garden and grounds.

He looked back at Rhode, falling quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Come to think of it... Has the Earl even called such a meeting recently?"

(( I'm sorry this has taken me song long to post D: ...just been a really busy week with school and all ><" ))

Kanda gave it sometime to soak in the question the blonde just asked him. The Japanese male felt as though he shouldn't oblige to her question about the red-head. He lowered his eyes at the now half-empty cup of tea. Holding on to the cup tightly, as if his life had depended on that single piece of ceramic. The topic of the rabbit and beansprout really tended to get on his nerves.

However, the blonde was no help to his problems with the other two exorcists. She asked him the question about Lavi, as though Kanda kept track of noticing these things about the bookman-to-be.Deep down inside though, the angered exorcist did care about his fellow exorcist, though he tends not to show it. He continued to think about that question the blonde had asked him; was there something wrong with Usagi? Kanda spent little thought on the question, figures, why would he waste his time on such a subject.

In response to Maya's question he simply shook his head, trying his best not to look too annoyed at the blonde.

~--~

The day was going by slow, slower than what the disguised Noah wanted. Still on his break Tyki took out some water and a smoke to help his craving. Intoxicating his lungs with smoke, the thought about visiting his brother came to mind again. His company would help this wretched work day. Tyki let a sigh, having the smoke escape pas.sed his lips. "Maybe the Earl gave Cyril something to do..." he thought, finishing the cig and throwing it on the ground, grinding it into dust with his foot.

Tyki decided that he would ditch his mining job to go visit his one and only brother. Clearing his throat, he looked over at his fellow miners, giving some excuse how his second job was awaiting him and couldn't afford to be late again today. They were slightly disappointed that Tyki was absent so much, but said a friendly farewell to the disguised Noah as he walked away from the mines.

Venturing out further away from his human friends, he took off his gl*censored*es that hid his dark brown eyes; making them vanish into vapor. With a smile he placed his hands in his pockets, glad to get away from the labor he puts himself through to only make it look like he's human. He closed his eyes and walked the path that led him to Cyril's estate.

((...))

BIC|| Allen gave a heavy sigh and a slow nod of his head, rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his right hand."All right, Lenalee-chan..." he spoke, giving her a small bow before stepping back into their headquarters.

He shot Kanda a glare and bowed politely to Maya before meandering aimlessly down to the cafeteria, keeping a slow pace as though he was hoping someone may decide to follow him.

~*"*~

His hands were bound, shackled with heavy chains.

“Bring me a dark night!” he cried, straining against the metal that bound his wrists. “All you cowards and dream-breakers! How can you possibly know me?!”

Lavi woke with a start, realizing that he had fallen asleep. He gave a low groan and rolled over onto his back, studying the underside of his master's bed with little interest, his single green eye flickering open and closed with sleepiness.

What was that dream?

He shook it off and slowly sat up, giving a long, lazy yawn. A book narrowly missed his face, and the frightened jump the motion caused made the redhead fall off of the bed and into the pile of books, newspapers, and other important documents that was their floor.

"What are you doing in bed, pup?" Bookman snarled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently on the floor in front of his apprentice's nose. Lavi smiled nonchalantly and pulled himself to his feet, brushing off the front of his coat and adjusting his scarf around his neck.

"I must've overslept~"

Both Lenalee and Maya watched Allen's retreating form with a slight confusion on their faces.
Lenalee, naturally, jumped to the conclusion that something just wasn't right... Allen seemed out of it on the surface, and the way he'd been acting suggested he had something weighing heavily on his mind.

She took a hesitate step forward then sighed, before following after the seemingly downtrodden exorcist with quick steps.

"Allen-kun! Wait up!"

The blonde headed Maya crossed her arms. Unlike Lenalee, she had caught more of the inner workings of that silver haired boy thanks to his aura. Confusion, fear, uncertainty... There was a great amount of tangled emotion with him at the moment, and Maya had not bothered to try and read it all or unravel it. It wasn't her job to do that, besides, she figured she probably wouldn't get anywhere with it, and even if she could... It probably wouldn't do much good.

She glanced over her shoulder at Kanda, her face retaining it's confused ex
pression. She then shrugged, continuing to walk down the hallway that led to the grounds outside.
Allen, eventually, would have to face whatever it was that was doing this to him, but for now... The best any of them could do was to simply be there.

~~~

In response to his daughter's question, Cyril glanced at the intricate design on the cieling above his head. Now that she mentioned it... No... The Earl had been rather quiet. Very quiet, in fact.

He looked back towards, smiling and shaking his head.

"Strangely enough. No... Perhaps your right... He may be planning something..." The Noah turned his back, his eyes roaming over the vast amounts of paper on his desk. He'd already had plenty of opportunities, what with the whole "creating akuma through war" plan. The Earl would probably see little need to interefere anyway.

Hmm~ Just what was he up to?...

((...))

BIC|| Allen quickly turned a corner, desperately trying to avoid the girl following him. 'I'm sorry, Lenalee...but I can't let you into my life right now...!' The thought of crying popped into his burned-out mind, but he quickly tossed it back into his archives and ignored it. Tears would not save him now.

Exasperation began to set in. What if Lenalee was still on his tail? How could he explain his odd behavior to her when he couldn't even explain the majority of it to himself? Out of fear and despair he activated his Innocence and extended it to the ceiling, using it like feet and hands to crawl along the wall and up into the highest reaches of the dark castle. There he found a rafter to sit on, where he curled up into a ball and withdrew into himself. His Innocence swirled comfortingly around him, the silver mask sliding down over his beautiful eyes as the hood crept up onto his head. He sat there like a white gargoyle, motionless and almost silent...save for the sound of his gentle weeping.

---

Lavi crossed his arms behind his head as he meandered out into the hall. The morning sunlight was just beginning to creep into a nearby window, and he reveled in the warm feeling of the rays on his skin. As he walked he p*censored*ed Lenalee, who appeared to be in somewhat of a hurry.

"Lenalee-chan!" he called, giving her a wave and turning around to follow her. "Is everything okay? Where's Allen?"

((....yeeeah....)) 

Kanda glared at the path that Allen had walked down, why was everyone so concerned over him. He let out a heavy sigh, letting his gaze return back to empty table he sat at.  The young samurai knew for a fact that the others had to make sure everything was ok, not only just with Allen, but with everyone. They were all so nosey...wanting to be in other people's business.

it sickened the Japanese male, they should learn to leave people be. Kanda stood up from the table and started to exit the cafeteria. While everyone had their own search party for the white haired exorcist, Kanda headed back upstairs to be alone in his room. He crossed his arms as he walked down the long hallway that seemed like it stretched out for miles. 

Kanda hoped that he wouldn't run into the others, he most certainly was not in the mood to hunt down moyashi. 

~--~

The Noah walked up to the large manor that belonged to his one and only brother. He had wondered what Cyril could be up to, perhaps he has spoken with the Earl. He knocked on the wooden entrance to signal his arrival. Being impatient for someone to open the door for him, Tyki decided to walk straight through the door. 

Standing on the tile flooring, in the main entrance way, he met his niece waiting for him. He walked over to her, placing a hand on her head and smiled "Hello Rhode~." 

Stopping in her tracks, Lenalee glanced around in a hurried manner, looking for the boy she had wanted to talk to. Unfortunately, she was unable to follow him past this point due to the fact he'd dissapeared.
Sighing, she headed off in one direction without any idea of whether Allen had pas.sed this way. After a moment or two she heard Lavi, turning to face him as he approached.

She blinked, then shook her head at his question. "Everything's fine.... I think... As for Allen, I don't know. He didn't look too well and I followed him here." She looked over her shoulder. "I don't know where he went though..."

~~~

Stopping to look at Rhode at the mention of Tyki's name, Cyril returned his adopted duaghters smile, before straightening the papers on his desk out of habit before following her out of the office.

Excellent. Tyki had a way with timing, that much was certain.
The tall Noah followed the hallway, coming to a stop just beside the stairs, overlooking the hall and front door below. He leaned on the banisters just as his brother came into the building, welcoming Rhode as he did so.

"Well well. It's about time, Tyki dearest. I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me." He said to the Noah below, grinning as he placed his head on a hand.

Lavi blinked, a confused look crossing his usually relaxed face. He frowned after a moment, his single green eye narrowing intensely as he regarded Lenalee with a look that resembled a kicked puppy.

"Allen was fine when I talked to him this morning..." he mumbled. "Maybe he's avoiding Komui 'cuz he doesn't want to do the after-mission paperwork." He chuckled lightheartedly and rested a hand on her slim shoulder, keeping the other one behind his head. "He'll come out. I'm sure of it. He just needs a little time to himself, I suppose. Don't worry, Lena-chan~"

Inside, however, Lavi was very concerned. What if Allen had left the castle? What if he was out fighting akuma on his own? Of course he had to be strong for Lenalee and couldn't let her see his concern. That would spell disaster.

---

His mind was not a comforting place, nor was it helped by the looming fact that he was utterly alone. He shifted on the heavy beam he was situated on, leaning back against the cold stone of the wall. How ironic it seemed that the Order's greatest as.set was acting like the child that he was.

Allen gave a petulent sniff. Of course no one would want to see him--he was cursed, after all, and he had a Noah living inside of him. He raised a hand and brushed it over his left cheek; the scar on his face had grown in his absence from the Order, and it almost touched the line of hair that separated his cheek and his ear now. The pentacle on his forehead seemed to be such a small problem in lew of his sudden loneliness. There had to be more than this ugly little mark. Was it his lack of flexibility? Was it that he would not bend to the wills of others? What was it that left him feeling so alone, so spent?

He bit his lip as the thought of aloneness consumed his already weatherbeaten and exhausted mind. He wanted someone to break him from his loneliness, but he could not ask that of anyone. Such a feat would surely kill the person who wanted to endeavor a try.

So all that Allen Walker could do was lower his head to his knees and cry. He sobbed like he had when Mana had left him, clutching the material of his pants between his shaking fingers like it was his last grip on reality. His starlight-colored hair fell over his face like cascades of pale moonlight, the small amount of sunshine trickling in through gaps in the stone ceiling giving it an eerie shine like water on rock. Even in his aloneness the boy could have been called 'beautiful'.

And in his mind the Fourteenth laughed.

Finally reaching the door to his room, Kanda placed a hand on the cold knob. Turning it and pushing the wooden entrance open. He pressed back against the door, closing it. Using his body as a barricade, to make sure no one could enter. He arched his head up, having it lean against the now shut off entryway. Finally some peace and quiet, it wasn't everyday the young samurai could have these moments. Kanda closed his eyes taking in the minute of silence, knowing that it wouldn't last too long. 

A single hand slid down onto the knob next to him, pushing in the lock button. Now it was certain no one was able to disturb him with their annoying drama. Leaving the same distinct frown that he always wore on his face, he walked away from the door. 

He sat on the edge of his bed, leaning forward so his elbows rested on top of his knees. His gaze fell down, staring blankly at the floor beneath him. At the moment he wasn't sure what to think of…it was almost as if he finally reached the point of being peace in mind, no bad thoughts going in, yet no good ones either; but he knew that wasn't possible for him.

He sighed, lifting his gaze at the lotus that was planted within the hourgl*censored* on top of his desk. Two petals had dropped…but that was nothing new. He sent a burning glare at the hourgl*censored*, he couldn't spend his entire life worrying about such a flower. Yet…his life…is part of that flower.

"It's a lotus, a flower born that blesses the world, It's born from mud, pointing upward to heaven."  the voices begun to echo inside his head.  Kanda, gripping tightly on to his scalp with both hands, he cursed under his breath. 

 ~--~

Tyki blinked up at his brother who grinned down at him from above."Of course not~ How could I forget my favorite brother." he grinned back, dropping his hand off of Rhodes head and placed it in his pant pocket.

"Tell me, Cyril…has the Earl talked to you recently" scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "Because he's been awfully quiet with me…" Tyki looked away in annoyance at his creator's behavior. 

Lenalee could only nod at Lavi. Maybe she was just over-reacting... Though strangely enough, she seemed to jump to the conclusion that Allen was probably more torn up than he ever let on... Afterall... He had left in such a hurry, clearly not wanting to speak to anyone...

She sighed, then smiled at Lavi before turning on her heel and heading back the way she had come, her destination being her own room. She couldn't help but worry about the Silver haired exorcist, and she was feeling slightly hurt at the fact he had wanted to avoid her. Caught up in her thoughts, the chinese exorcist pas.sed Maya without so much as a second glance, and the blonde exorcist simply watched Lenalee without so much as opening her mouth.

Clearly, the younger exorcist wanted time alone, and Maya abided by the girl's aura; Simply leaning against the wall just outside the door that led to the Cafeteria and watching Lenalee as she dissappeared around a corner.

Glancing over the way Lenalee had come, the blonde exorcists gaze landed on the red-headed Bookman, who seemed tp harbour his own lump of uncertainty and concern. Clearly... Allen had got them all into a worrying state...

~~~

Cyril didn't have time to reply to his brothers question before Rhode had said her piece, and as such, the tall Noah simply smiled and shook his head in reply; Stepping away from the barrier and making his way down one of the two flights of stairs.

"He's probably just coming up with another plan." The Noah replied with a quiet chuckle, placing a hand on Rhode's head in a similar fashion to Tyki, smiling at his adopted daughter in an encouraging way.

"As for Rhode's little idea, I think it would be excellent of you to join us for lunch. If your not busy elsewhere, naturally."