midnightstar | A SURPRISE LENALEE APPROACHES; Command?

Despite all of everything the Black Order has been through, it was business as usual for the various teams. Lenalee and Allen were in one team with Miranda and a few Finders. Lucky them, their mission took them to the mountains - beautiful scenery, but cold weather. Fortunately they managed to find a small inn with vacancies, so they could stay indoors. Amazingly, Miranda was actually sleeping more peacefully than Lenalee at the moment.

Although after all of the scenarios and seeing all of the deaths in the war with the Earl and fighting the akuma, (...not to mention what she personally has been through), it really should come as no surprise that Lenalee's sleep was less than restful. While she managed to snatch an hour or two here and there of sleep, worries about her friends, her brother, and one exorcist in particular all contributed to making her nightmare particularly bloody and gruesome. When she jerked awake for the second time that night (or was it third, she wasn't sure), she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep right away, so she silently slipped out of her room, padding down the hall. Maybe a glass of water would settle her nerves.

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MUCH too late. Komui all but pounces on the agreement like a hungry ..animal, Or something. Just as Lenalee is turning to spear a bit of the chicken and lean over to feed Allen the snack - it's almost surprising how quickly Komui moves, because one moment he was in his chair, and the next he's between the pair of them, chomping mightily on the fork in Lenalee's hand.

"..." Lenalee blinks. "AH! Komui! You had yours!"

When...did he....Allen barely had time to blink before Komui materialized between him and Lenalee. It was honestly quite impressive which would account for the speechless gape Allen was stuck in.

Lenalee wants to know that too. When did her brother learn to move so fast!

Clearly she underestimated the power of a big brother.

Komui, for his part, chewed angrily on the meat from the fork and pointed a shaking finger at Allen. "...!! .....!!!!! .........!!!!!"

That was probably supposed to be a very eloquent speech if not for the fact that his face was slowly turning red - not from anger though.

Reever coughed slightly, "Uh.. Chief...?"

Jerry on the other hand, subtly slid around to Allen's side, leaning over to stage whisper, "Lenalee honey, was that the curry chicken you were going to give Allen?"

Allen, who at least had a tolerance for the nummies?

Allen quickly recovered and smiled innocently before he quirked an eye seeing Komui's face rapidly growing redder and redder. The answer came quick enough from the person who cooked the meal in the first place.

"Oh dear." Allen said looking a little worried. After all he could handle that kind of spice after living in india for a while.

Lenalee for a moment, felt a tiny bit guilty over the sneaky trick. But well, it was Komui's own fault! If he had left well enough alone, he wouldn't be suffering from spicy food right now. "Komui, you shouldn't have done that! Allen can tolerate those kinds of spices." She chided her brother, while reaching for a cup of milk that Jerry had thoughtfully provided, and pressing it into her brother's hands. "You're so sillyh sometimes, rushing in like that." She skirted a brief glance Allen's way, wondering if he was buying her innocent act as well.

If he wasn't buying it, Allen was really not showing it. The poker fiend knew his craft well so naturally one would need to look really deeply to see the truth. Lenalee would probably notice a very subtle difference in his eyes because of that.

Well he wasn't saying anything, so she'd take that. She smiled at him, a brief twinkle in her eyes before she turned back to KOmui, patting his back, "There there, drink this - is it getting better? Now you're not going to lunge for food off my fork again are you? It might be spicy - especially if it's Allen's."

"But Lenalee! If you feed food to that Allen, he'll get perverted thoughts!" L o g i c?

Lenalee gave her brother an odd look, "Don't be silly Komui! Now behave yourself - here Allen, try it."

"I'm WATCHING you Walker." Again, the effect of his 'threat' was diminished somewhat from a man chugging a large glass of water and puffing steam from spicy chicken.

Oh he wouldn't say anything to call her out. Especially not in front of her brother. That would be the closest thing to a death sentence in these circumstances. Even so the corners of his mouth quirked faintly before Lenalee decided to try again.

He opted to just feign fear at Komui's threat before 'hesitantly' taking the morsel of food from Lenalee's fork. He had the mischievous urge to make his withdrawal have some suggestive undertones but he suppressed them in the end.

"Mmmmm~ MMMM! THis is delicious!"

Darn tootin'. Lenalee was still plenty pleased when Allen took that bite and praised the food - even though she didn't cook it. so maybe that pleased expression was more for Jerry than anything else!

Reever however, made the mistake of sighing wistfully, "Awww... I want a pretty girl to feed -me- food too.."

"*I'll* feed you, Reever!~" Jerry cooed, teasing.

Reever waved a hand, "Ahaha, no thanks... Lenalee, how about me next?" He called over to the other girl, clearly joking.

Komui, however, couldn't take a joke. Or maybe it was his way of joking as well. In any case, what was now in his hands was not a fork and knife, but a contraption that looked almost like a bazooka. "What was that, Reeeeeeeeveeeeeeeeer..?"

"Er.." Pls to not have a gun up his nose, boss.

"I KNEW IT! ENEMIES ALL AROUND ME! Komurin Mark...XVII! ATTACK!" Komui may have..had even less sleep than he led on. But nothing happens -- yet. That bazooka on the other hand...

Allen had wanted to warn Lenalee about that the moment she moved to feed reever but Komui reacted far too quickly so the Exorcist could only helplessly shake hsi head before looking sharply at the gun in the man's hand. That...gave him a really bad feeling.

He quickly transformed his inhuman hand and covered the nozzle of the weapon.

"Please don't. You're going to ruin dinner time for everyone." Allen said before his fingers closed around the barrel of the weapon.

"Allen is quite right - and the name 'mess' in mess hall pertains to the food, and not anything more unpleasant." Jerry echoed, scowling.

Komui still looked like he wanted to trigger the weapon, which -even under Allen's hand- seemed warm and almost like it was moving.

Reever, hands up, chuckled awkwardly in the sudden silence of the mess hall, "It was a joke, Chief, a joke.. Calm down, would you?"

"Komui, you're making a scene," Lenalee whispered to her brother - some eyes on him, others on Allen ..and most making a break for the door JUST in case. A few risk takers stick around to see how this turns out.

Komui's attention shifts between his little sister, Reever, Allen and Jerry, eyes narrowed. "...Fine. THIS time. Komurin XVII stand down -" the weapon in Allen's hand went still on that note, as Komui relented on the situation.

Lenalee watched her brother a little worriedly, "You need to sleep - you're getting paranoid again! How long have you been pulling all nighters?" Shame shame. "Come on, I'll take you to your room - Jerry can you keep my food warm? I'll be right back~" That was a promise for Allen as much as for Jerry. She didn't get to finish her dinner, but she wanted to see to her delusional sleep-deprived brother too before he hurt someone in his crazed state.

Allen breathed a sigh of relief when Komui finally chose to stand down. However he didn't let go of the gun right away in case Komui decided to do a surprise attack. But with Lenalee offering to take her older brother to his bedroom.

He finally let go of the weapon and flashed Lenalee a small hidden smile but stayed silent until Komui and Lenalee left the cafeteria proper.

"Haaaaah. That was close." he said, slumping in his seat a bit.

Reever let out a similar sigh, "You're telling me. I thought I saw my life flash past my eyes." He slumped, a bit overdramatically in his chair. "Chief is scary when he hasn't had any sleep."

"Ahaha, I'm just glad nothing came of it. I'd hate to see food wasted from one of you boys' scuffles." Jerry agreed, grinning at the pair.

"Still I'm surprised you were actually bold enough to ask Lenalee to feed you too with Komui right here." Allen retorted smiling from behind his still sizable mountain of food. He wasn't eating again though, wanting to do so with Lenalee.

"Ahaha, I was a little jealous," Reever admitted, scratching the back of his head. "You stole the princess right out from under our noses and all." The sound of the door closing heralded Lenalee's return, and she quickly retook her spot next to Allen. "I don't know if he's going to stay asleep, but he's resting for now," she informed the group. "I'm a little concerned about that Komurin he had though. I've never seen one like it before."

"Come to think of it, neither have I." Reever mused. "But I wouldn't be too worried. It doesn't look like something you guys can't handle."

"Hahaha well I wasn't trying to do it in the first place it just happened. I guess that's why it happened at all." Allen chuckled modestly, a faint cheeky smile plastered on his lips. He felt simply too good about the fact that He had found such a place in her heart.

"It seemed to have a pretty long wind up time. As long as we see it coming it shouldn't be a problem." Allen agreed with Reever.

"He guesses," Reever echoed, scoffing good naturedly. "You're so lucky it's sickening." He grinned, "Just try not to rub it in the rest of our faces too much."

Not that he ever would, let alone Lenalee. She tucked into her plate, thoughtful on those words. "Hrmm, you're probably right. At least it didn't look very strong - but a lot of those would probably be a pain to deal with."

"I would never do that." Unless someone ticked him off just enough with their envy or jealousy. Then all bets would be off. But as long as everyone stayed polite and respectful of his bond with Lenalee, Dark Allen would remain sealed.

"Hmmm yeah. It's probably a good idea to keep an eye on that Reever." Since he was the one closest to the mad scientist with a sever sister complex.

It would no doubt be one of the more distrusting of those at the Order to do such a thing - but so far they were keeping heir mouths shut. "Right, you have a good point there." He mused, glancing at Allen next, "Just what I was thinking. In fact, maybe I should poke around the office and make sure he doesn't have a bunch of those things stowed away and ready to pop out at a moment's notice. Besides, I doubt you kids want me hanging around all through your lunch hour here." He grinned, "So Jerry and I will get out of your hair."

They would be quickly on the receiving end of a lot of difficulties from several people as well as Allen himself so most were smart enough to try and avoid that situation especially seeing how close Lenalee was to Allen. The girl had quite a bit of sway in the hearts of most people in the HQ. Those who didn't come from the cold heartless Central division.

"Eh? Well um okay." The fact that he didn't deny that or try and make them stay was more incriminating than he realized.

Reever chuckled, "Enjoy the rest of your lunch you two." He waved at the pair, turning to saunter off - and dragging Jerry with him. As much as jerry wanted to stay and coo at the cuteness that is a new couple. ;.; NO FAIR REEVER.

Lenalee giggled softly, resting her chin against her cheek as she watched them go, "You have a really good friendship with those two, you know."

"Yeah I suppose I do. But they are even closer to you. Like a second brother and in some regards a mother." Jerry was very motherly and the skills he shared with Lenalee were very mother like too. So the mental image fit quite nicely in Allen's mind.

Lenalee giggled at the comparison, "Put that way, you're absolutely right. Reever and Jerry were always kind to me when I was brought to the Order." They knew how unfair things were for her and that she didn't want to be there; at least until Komui showed up. "And I was always envious of Jerry's cooking. Still am, actually." She admitted with a smile, taking another bite of her food.

He smiled adoringly while listening to her talk about those two. He knew they were precious to her as well. Precious than most except Komui and him. Which was understandable really when one thought on it some more.

"Well you're definitely getting closer and closer. I can attest to that as your official taste tester."

They were the envy of the room, sitting so close and looking so cuddly as they did nothing more than have an innocent conversation about food and their appreciation for their friends.

Anyone could have the same kind of conversation - except the smiles and looks shared between the two were far more affectionate and intimate. As would be expected. "Do you really think so?" She grins, pleased at that. "Then, as my official taste tester, you should be the one to pick the next thing you want to try the next time I borrow the kitchen."