There is something about Allen Walker that Kanda simply doesn't like. Actually, there are a lot of things about Allen that he simply doesn't like. The kid is an enigma, and not the healthy kind. It isn't just the way he looks, with hair that shade of white and the bizarre scar down his face, it's in the way he moves, smooth and easy yet entirely too cautious, as though he expects anyone and everyone to turn on him at the drop of a hat. His smile is the worst of all; it's hollow, displaying emotion that never reaches his eyes no matter how he pulls it. He seems to be able to charm most everyone else with it, but Kanda couldn't accept it. The kid is dangerous, and he's determined to find out exactly how.
It doesn't help that the guy is inherently annoying. From what Kanda had seen, he always seems to be able to stick to people's good sides, especially when he wants to, but for some reason it was a different story with Kanda. It's like the brat actually wants him to beat the living shit out of him, to which he would happily comply if he wasn't being held back by consequences. If the other two are going to be bringing him along and making Kanda deal with it whenever he's in the general vicinity, then this was going to be a long year.
Allen doesn't really have a problem with it either way, because he is practically an adult, he's on his own in the States, and one shitty teenager isn't going to have that big an impact. His life is hard enough as it is without the added stress of dealing with Kanda's apparent attitude problem. He isn't interested, and Kanda doesn't seem to be either.
Lavi, on the other hand, seems to be intent on learning literally everything there is to know about Allen and his entire life up to now. He's less than forthcoming with the information, given that there's little about his life that he is remotely willing to share with others, and while Lavi appears to accept his refusals ("Everybody has their secrets, I can understand that," he'd said), he also makes what could only be a threat, claiming that he would discover the finer points of Allen's life one way or another. He isn't the kind of guy that would resort to foul play, Allen thinks, but then again, most people think that about him, and his whole life is foul play.
Most of the questions are harmless, simple ones about his background and history and current status (which is poor and alone with nothing but a piano and a couple of boxes of Cross' belongings that he daren't go through), but eventually, no matter how much Lavi tries to make it subtle, the question Allen had been dreading rolls off his tongue; "What happened to your eye?"
He doesn't really have time to think of an excuse decent enough to satiate him, so he settles for simple distraction. "What happened to yours?" he quips back, barely breaking stride as he wonders what it would take for Lavi not to ask again.
He laughs, seeming out of place given Allen's current state of mind. "Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you what happened to mine if you do the same."
"Deal, as long as you go first."
"You drive a hard bargain! Mine's a funny story, really," he begins, and Allen knows he's in for a good one. He's already begun to recognise the look in his eye. "See, I was doing some training out in the Himalayas, endurance stuff and what have you, and one day while I was foraging these two bears attacked me, out of bloody nowhere! Great big grizzly things, these bears, they weigh a fucking tonne. Must have been mating season or something, because these two were obviously a couple and they smelled of sex and old fish, which I guess is about the same thing. So there I was, fighting off two full-grown bears with nothing but a knife, and boy was it a rough one. I managed to fend them off, but not before ol' Papa Bear took out my right eye with a well aimed wham!" He swings his fist for extra effect, almost knocking a girl passing them in the hallway. "I got a glass one to fill the hole, but there's gnarly scarring, thus the patch."
By the end of it Allen is doubled over with laughter, Lavi standing proud as he tries to compose himself. "Alright," he gasps, "Ignoring the fact that your story is a load of complete bollocks, that is the worst story I've ever heard!" Lavi huffs at him, and he laughs again, patting the older man on the back. "Sorry mate, it's the truth. You're a great actor though, maybe you should get into drama."
At this Lavi perks up a little, even though he'd been in a good mood to start with. "I'm already taking drama, actually," he says with an air of superiority. "Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. You should totally join me, it'd be rad acting with you."
"No, thank you," Allen replies, wondering what it would even be like performing for schools. "I'm already stuck with my electives, and I finished clowning around years ago." Not entirely, he thinks, but Lavi doesn't need to know that.
"It's not clowning around," he rebutts, "It's an art form. Does that mean you did it when you were younger?"
Allen's mind flashes back to a time before Cross, when things were much simpler, busking on the streets of London with Mana, sitting backstage or in the audience at some of his performances, playing around with his makeup to try out different styles. "Sort of," he replies, almost wistful. Lavi cocks an eyebrow, but doesn't ask further, and is thankfully distracted from any other train of thought when Lenalee arrives to escort Allen to class.
"I don't like him," Kanda states as Lavi sits down beside him, as simply as stating the weather.
Lavi's eye snaps up to him, surprised, then returns to his bag as he fishes around for his textbook. "Who?" he asks, pretending he didn't already have a strong idea.
"The new kid."
"What's wrong with Allen? Just because he struck a chord with you when you met him doesn't mean he's bad."
"It's not that," he says, and Lavi looks at him, genuinely curious. Kanda's expression is schooled into it's usual bored scowl, but he seems almost contemplative. "Surely you've noticed. Everything he does is fake, the way he moves and the way he talks and that creepy permanent smile. Makes me want to knock his teeth out."
Lavi would make a rebuttal on the topic, but Kanda's right. Allen has something he desperately wants to hide, and the fact that he doesn't know what nags constantly at Lavi's mind. "He's probably had a rough childhood," he offers, sorting out his own thoughts by bouncing them off Kanda. "From the way he always avoids talking about it, I'd assume some weird shit happened to him. He's probably just being cautious."
Kanda snorts, clicking his pen and beginning to scribble in notebook. Lavi takes that to be the end of the conversation, and he's almost glad; there is only so much mystery he can take in one day, and Allen certainly provides enough of that.
