Hello again to you beautiful readers~ I'm amazed that this was actually worth reading...thank you all so much ^.^

I hope you enjoy this chapter too, despite its lack of action -.- We'll get to see just why Allen 'joined' the Noah yay

D Gray-man belongs to Hoshino Katsura~

Broken Moonlight

Chapter 2: Impression

Sitting within the dimly lit recesses of his room, eyes staring distantly out of the window, Neah Walker contemplated calmly on his situation. Troublesome as it was, the Noah of destruction did not have the freedom to take action as he wished; instead, repressing his inherent urge to kill the Millennium Earl.

Rather, he couldn't help but find himself pitying the man. Humouring him, Neah opted to join the family of Noah, as he had nowhere else to go. At best, he would be locked up and guarded by that Link man that Allen was always seen with, did he resolve to return to the Black Order. The Noah was not about to run straight into captivity; not when the manipulation of the Millennium Earl was a much easier situation to resign himself to.

Another bothersome aspect was Allen's memories, which refused to lay dormant within him. A strange phenomenon, he determined, as his memories had not plagued the exorcist until he had inadvertently summoned them to reconstruct the ark before it fell into absolute devastation and took them with it.

It was doubtless that, were he to spend time in the presence of the Black Order exorcists, he would find himself afflicted by his innate animosity against innocence. That could only result in deaths on the exorcists' part. Not to mention the sight of Allen's comrades stirred the boy's memories of them within him.

Allen's relationships with his fellow exorcists confused Neah to no end, especially that boy with the long black hair and dark - or was it blue..? - eyes. The emotions that washed over his body at the mere thought of him could not be justified with words. Whether it was hatred or fondness, he was uncertain, but he didn't dare risk finding out.

A slight chuckle evoked from his lips. If he were to feel Allen's emotions each time he faced them, it would doubtless be tiresome. For now, since the boy's consciousness was still strong within him despite the state of slumber it had been resigned to, he would have to stay away from the Black Order.

His safest option at the moment was to remain with the Noah. The Millennium Earl was easily wrapped around his finger, he realized; the man was desperate to have him return, after all. Perhaps, when the time came, he would pilot his sway over the Earl.

An umber hand created a resting place for his cheek as he leaned against his propped up arm. Amber eyes slid over to the door of his room and a sigh left his lips. The moments were far and few in between when he had the opportunity to isolate himself with his thoughts. Much of the time, Road would be close to him due to her affection for his host, Allen, or that troublesome Wisely would read his mind without his permission.

Raking the gloved parasitic hand through his snow-white hair almost lazily, he allowed his eyes to slide shut. The lack of activity was rather nice, he supposed, and yet, he felt somewhat restless. Perhaps he would abandon his privacy for a little while longer to entertain his fellow Noah.

Pushing himself to his feet, he absently twined a lock of pristine hair around his index finger. It was growing rather long due to the lack of attention that had been granted it. It nearly fell to his shoulder blades. Shrugging off the thought, he pulled his tresses into a loose ponytail and strolled over towards the door of his room.

Laying a gloved hand upon the doorknob, he twisted it before pushing the door open in a quick movement. Stepping out of the door, he was almost immediately rammed by a pink umbrella with a jack-o-lantern at its summit. Grabbing said umbrella by its cane, he raised it upright and stared at it.

"Road is looking for you, Lero!" the object exclaimed, the carved grin hewn into the pumpkin seeming to leer at him. With a pleasant smile, he lobbed the golem away from himself with faint amusement.

"What does she need now?" he questioned genially. He did dearly hope she did not want him to play with dolls once again, especially not if those dolls were humans. He would have preferred to direct as little attention possible toward himself; Road was persistent as well, and rarely took no for an answer.

"Her homework, Lero! Everyone else is busy except you, so you'd better hurry, Lero."

A long-suffering sigh elicited from his lips as he stepped past the umbrella, subtly ignoring its urging for him to quicken his pace. "And why are you following me?" he questioned, the smile still present upon his dark features and a spark of annoyance present with each step he took.

"To make sure you go there, Lero!"

Grabbing Lero by the cane end, Neah began to twirl the umbrella lazily, humming absently to himself. Blatantly, he ignored the complaints from the golem, only increasing the speed of his movements.

As he took his sweet time walking to Road's room, Lero had become nothing but a pink and orange blur at his side. At the speed in which he was whirling the umbrella that he would admit irked him somewhat, even the protests of the golem were muffled.

As he reached the door that belonged to the girl, he tossed Lero back down the hall and sighed in relief at the loss of his unwanted company. Troublesome thing...he really didn't like it at all, but it wasn't as though he would receive good report if it were to, say, suddenly disappear.

"Road - it's me," he called, knocking on the door. It was soon opened to him to reveal the child-faced Noah of dreams. A smiles took over her features as she glanced up at him.

"Allen! Great - come in and I'll grab my books…"

She disappeared into her room, and he followed her somewhat apprehensively. He barely caught two of the many books that were tossed to him, ducking abruptly as the other three struck the door, barely missing his head. Wryly, he picked up the remaining books and stepped over to her.

"Everyone is stupid, and the Millennium Earl is the only one that can actually do it properly," she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "But he's busy, and so is Lulu. Wisely's just lazy, even though he could probably answer everything," she explained petulantly. Her gaze met his, and a smile crossed her features once again. "But you'll help, won't you, Allen?"

A resigned smile crept along dark lips. Road refused to relinquish her use of the name 'Allen', despite the fact that the boy was sleeping somewhere within the recesses of his psyche. Poor child - he would disappear entirely some day, Neah knew. It wasn't as though that was what he wanted: it was merely a fact that he could not alter.

"Allen?"

Road's voice snapped him back to the present, and he nodded, flipping open one of the books that rested within his arms. Moving back, he sat himself down on a wooden chair, laying all the books, save the one he had opened, upon the ground.

"Do you have a pen, Road?" he questioned. His hand darted up a moment later to catch the object that had been lobbed towards him. He began to scribble down the answers to the questions written upon the papers.

As he worked, he could hear a sigh elicit from the child-like Noah. He didn't need to lift his gaze to know that her eyes were fixed on him. Absently, he wondered just what was going through her mind. No doubt many things - she did have a rather strange relationship with Allen after all.

"You know, you're a lot more boring like this." Her words caused him to look up from the book, tilting his head slightly in a wordless request for elaboration on her part.

She tapped her cheek languidly with a finger, resting her head against her palm as she lay on her stomach upon her bed. A frown spanned her lips as she observed him in silence for a few moments. She then shrugged and let her arms cross in front of her upon the mattress.

"Well, Allen always does things that no one expects, and he has the most entertaining reactions to things too. You...you're just predictable. And boring."

Neah's smile grew somewhat strained at her words and a chuckle passed his lips. "Maybe it's because you've known me for longer than you've known him?" he ventured, lowering his eyes down to the completed homework upon his lap.

He flipped the book shut and lowered it to the ground before grabbing the next in a lithe movement with seemingly practiced ease. Flicking through the pages, he set to work once again, scratching answers onto the blanks.

"Maybe…" she sighed, planting her face into the mattress for a few moments before lifting it to rest on her crossed arms. Her slightly narrowed amber eyes scrutinized him once again, silently, as a fresh pout traversed across her features at being ignored.

Neah tapped the blunt end of the pen against the book before shutting it and placing it atop the previously completed one. Grabbing the next, he commenced his moderately laborious task.

He doubted he was on good terms with many other of the Noah, save the Earl, as he was the traitor that had massacred the previous family. He deeply hoped that would not be the case with this family; his own fondness for them was beginning to grow - Millennium Earl excluded.

He still could not find it in his heart to erase the resentment towards the him. The man who had devoured Mana and assumed position as the Millennium Earl. That power should have belonged to Neah himself - not that faux man.

"Hey, Allen, what's wrong?"

Once again, Neah's train of thought was abruptly derailed by Road. He glanced up at her to find one bluish-black eyebrow raised at him. Looking briefly back down at the book, he found the pen within his hand to have snapped into two. Somewhat sheepishly, he set the writing utensil aside.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "I'll get you a new one sometime."

Slender shoulders shrugged as she slung him another pen to use. "You don't have to. It's not like it's something important."

Without a verbal response, Neah caught the pen and resumed his activity.

"You're awfully edgy. Are you planning to murder the family again?" Road questioned, her tone almost nonchalant despite the weight that the subject carried. Neah could not help but look up at her once more, surprise lighting his golden gaze.

"Of course not," he denied swiftly. An amicable smile crossed his dark facial features once again. "I'd hate it if you judged everything now by what happened then, you know."

"It isn't like you can blame me for thinking like that," she retorted in a monotone almost, no edge to her voice. He nodded in agreement.

"Understandable...it's all right if you don't trust me."

"I'd trust Allen more than you any day," she voiced, a moue decorating her young face.

"And to think the boy is on the enemy side," he replied casually.

She shrugged. "It makes things more interesting, don't you think?"

"I think that Tyki might be rubbing off on you," Neah jested light-heartedly. He chuckled as she slid off the bed and stepped over to poke his umber cheek with a slender finger.

"I'm smart enough to not answer all my homework with the number twelve," she pointed out.

"But don't you make all of us do your homework for you?" he queried.

A flush painted over her discoloured, dark face as the truth of the inquiry. She poked his face again with noticeably more strength than earlier before reaching down to pick up the last book. "I do some of it myself too!" she denied fervidly.

Neah watched in amusement as she embarked on her self-appointed task of finishing her homework for the remaining book. A chuckle must have passed his lips, as an embarrassed frown plastered itself gracelessly onto her face.

"I'm going to get you back for this one," she warned, a faint pout decorating her lips once again.

"Don't go too far, please," he requested pleasantly as he shut the book that he had completed.

She glanced over at him, a smile beginning to crawl onto her face. "Oh…?"

He sighed and chuckled. "I'll give you a month's supply of candy."

"Deal," she interjected without a thought. Ah, he forgot how much he missed the child-like attitude of the girl. He had never truly hated her after all.

"Did you need me for anything else?" he questioned, folding his hands atop the closed book that remained stationary upon his lap.

"Well...not really," she admitted, frowning down at the pages of the book and scrawling down a few answers.

He nodded and set the book aside before beginning to stand. "Then maybe I should leave." Near soundlessly, he strode over to the door.

"You don't have to," Road called after him.

He opened the door partially before turning to look back at her and smiling. "I'd be a disturbance if I stayed while you were trying to do your homework," he responded before stepping out of the room and shutting the door before him.

No sooner had he done so did a certain golem ram into his torso once again, almost causing his back to collide with Road's door. Reaching out, he grasped the canopy of the umbrella, compressing it against the pole in barely tangible annoyance.

"Yes, what do you want this time?" he questioned, his still present smile visibly strained.

"Let go of me, Lero!" the golem yelped in comical protest to the actions of the Noah.

Neah loosened his grip around the umbrella, allowing it to free itself and immediately fly out of his arm's reach. "It's chasing me, Lero!" The umbrella promptly turned and dashed off in another direction. Neah sighed. Sometimes that golem seemed to run into him purposefully in order to annoy him. Well, it seemed to be working at the very least.

Traversing the short hall, he made his way back to his room at a leisurely pace. Upon turning a corner, he felt something else collide with his figure. Glancing down, his amber eyes were met with the sight of a certain golden sphere shaped creature with a discolouration shaped like a cross fleury. Neah blinked.

"Timcanpy?"

The golem seemed to bare his tiny fangs at him, but it did not move away. He reached out and cupped the creature in his hands, staring down at him. Without a word, he resumed walking in the direction of his room once again.

A slight stinging sensation at his ungloved hand caused him to look down. He was met with the sight of Timcanpy with his small teeth buried in his hand. Crimson began to bead at the small puncture wound, and he sighed, carefully prying the golem from his appendage.

"That wasn't very nice of you," he stated simply. "I thought you wouldn't be able to follow Allen all the way over here."

Opening the door to his room, he stepped in and quickly shut it behind him. Leaning against the door, he held the golem at eye level and watched him carefully. He felt a sudden rush of affection flow through his body and resisted the urge to hug the creature.

"Why are you here? Allen isn't here."

Timcanpy was motionless for a few moments before flying off his hand and over to his bed. Lowering itself onto the mattress, the golem curled up and stilled once again. If Neah had to guess, he could almost assume that Timcanpy was distressed about something or the other; if a golem could even feel distress, that is.

Settling on not disturbing the yellow creature, he strode over to the window and crossed his arms atop the sill. The sight outside was nothing short of dreary. Rain fell down upon the scene and the sky was painted in grey. Nea did prefer sun to rain, if he were to be honest. Rain was a depressing state of weather.

Extending his ungloved hand, he laid it flat upon the cold glass that shaped the window. Drops of water hung off the exterior side of the window, dripping down every now and then, catching other droplets and spilling off onto the sill.

Feeling a sudden weight fall upon his head, he reached up to find Timcanpy perching within his white locks. Carefully, he plucked the golem off himself, and stared down at him. Almost immediately, he pressed closer to Neah's chest.

A soft clucking of the tongue exited dark lips as the Noah felt the slight tremor that was displayed by the golem in his hands. Shifting his arms slightly, he hugged the creature to his chest, careful to not do it any harm. Within the span of a few moments, he felt the shaking cease.

"Silly Tim," he admonished quietly. "Allen isn't here any more, and if you stay, you'll only get hurt."

He felt the golem merely nuzzle against him, and a faint smile plastered itself upon his monochrome skin, although it didn't quite reach his golden eyes, which seemed to emanate a faint glow within the dullness of the room that he occupied.

"You're so foolish; like a child," Neah murmured, poking Timcanpy between the two minuscule horns that protruded from his crown. The golem didn't seem to pay much mind to the criticism, instead remaining quietly in Neah's grip.

"But then again, like owner like pet, I suppose...your Allen was foolish, and see what happened to him." As a prickle of pain erupted through his hand once again, Neah could only chuckle and pry Timcanpy's teeth off his hand once again. "All right - no more talking badly of him," the Noah responded to the unsaid accusation.

Timcanpy grew more passive at the promise, settling back into Neah's grip comfortably. Holding onto the gold-hued creature with his left hand, he raised his right to summon the gate to the piano room of the old ark. Perhaps he could manage to convince the golem to leave him; the sentiment that flooded his body that the spherical creature had instilled was troublesome. He could do without it.

Stepping into the pristine white piano room, he sat himself down on one of the couches, sitting Timcanpy down on his lap. The golem seemed to be staring up at him curiously despite the obvious lack of eyes. A fake smile spanned his lips.

"Why don't you go back to the Order, Tim?" he suggested. "I'm sure that that's a place you're more familiar with, yes?"

As if in protest, the golem flew up to his shoulder and lodged himself there with his small feet-like appendages. The counterfeit smile remained on Neah's lips, but he made no move to pry the creature off himself.

"It's a better place for you, isn't it? Why don't you go back to that Lenalee girl instead of staying here?" If Allen's memories served him correctly, Timcanpy tended to hover around the dark-haired girl when Allen was absent. He felt the grip on his shoulder tighten, and a patient sigh rested on his lips.

"I know you want to be with Allen, but I'm not Allen," he continued. "And worst case, I might end up hurting you. Won't you leave for his sake?"

An unexpected sharp pain at the side of his head caused a slightly comical yelp to leave Neah's lips. Immediately, a hand flew over his mouth in embarrassment. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Timcanpy, teeth lodged in his ear. He lowered his hand and poked at the golem. "That hurt, Tim," he stated, tugging lightly on one golden wing.

Eventually, the teeth were removed from his ear, and the golem crouched on his shoulder almost querulously. Neah pulled languidly at one of Timcanpy's 'cheeks' with a sigh. "What will it take for you to go?"

Almost irritably, teeth nipped his fingers sharply. He merely pulled his appendages away only to poke the golem once again. It didn't seem like he wanted to leave anytime soon. How troublesome. He turned to look at Timcanpy, only to find the beginnings of tears forming at where his eyes would have been. Neah blinked.

Prying him off his shoulder, the Noah smiled once again, the barest hint of sincerity within the expression. He rubbed his hand over the golem's head and held him to his chest.

"You really are like a child," he commented. His gaze drifted up from the creature to stare out one of the windows in the room. Golden eyes narrowed vaguely as a faint, pale reflection stared emptily at him with dull grey eyes.

Oh dear...I hope this was an okay chapter at least...it mostly seemed to explore Neah's character a little more. Neah is currently in Allen's Noah form, so basically everything's the same but his skin is dark and his eyes are amber ^.^

Good? Bad? Ugly? Please tell~