#mod karma

So. Who’s excited?

Junge, du bist Gift, du bist Dreck, du bist Drama

Lächerliche Lügen, davon bist du voll

(Allen: Y/N, do your legs hurt? Because you’ve been running through my mind all day.)

Missions typically ran a little long. Or really long. Okay, usually they ran pretty long, even with the help of the Ark’s Gates. This was something Allen Walker made peace with long ago. Truthfully, it didn’t usually bother him much at all. It was just something you had to deal with when becoming an Exorcist.

Still, he missed you. No matter how much he reasoned with himself, he could help feeling a little downcast when your smiling face wasn’t around. It didn’t stop him from functioning on his own or anything, but he wouldn’t deny that you did make some things easier for him.

Allen let out a slow, deep sigh, visibly deflating as he exhaled, like a sad little balloon losing all its air. Crossing his arms on the table so that he could lean his weight against them, he rested his chin on them and let his eyes drift closed. No matter how hard he tried to focus today, his mind never strayed long from thoughts of you. Your smile, your laugh, your voice, the way you carried yourself. Everybody around him could tell that, in Allen’s mind, he had memories of you playing on the big screen, and anything he said or did was more of an afterthought than anything. His heart just wasn’t in any of his conversations.

“Mind if I sit here?” 

Allen pried his eyelids open to look up at the owner of the voice. Lenalee offered a little wave, making him smile. 

“Of course, go ahead.”

Lenalee sat across from him and mirrored a part of his posture, leaning forward on her crossed arms, the mahogany library table supporting all of her weight.

“Miss Y/N, huh?” Lenalee guessed, though it was mostly for Allen’s sake. She didn’t want to make it seem like he was too obvious, but, well…he kind of was.

“Yeah…Am I that much of an open book?” Allen cringed a bit, but only at his own behavior. 

“Well…just a bit, maybe,” Lenalee responded carefully with a little smile, though the way Allen groaned and dropped his face further into his arms showed that she wasn’t doing a good job at lying to him. “It’s alright, though, Allen! Of course you’d miss them. It’s been a month now, hasn’t it? And you haven’t been on a mission in at least a week, right? So you’ve had a lot of free time on your hands. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably be feeling the same way.”

“Thanks, Lenalee,” Allen mumbled into his arm, but it was genuine, despite his embarrassment at being caught looking like a sad abandoned puppy. Lenalee reached across the table to pat his head. She retracted her hand when Allen turned his head, squishing his cheek against his forearm. Sad gray eyes sought out Lenalee’s understanding gaze. “Has, uh, Komui or anyone in the department heard anything yet about when they’d be done?”

“That’s actually what I came to talk to you about,” Lenalee replied. “I just wanted to give you a moment to…compose yourself?” 

“I promise I’m not as helpless as I may look right now.”

“Of course, Allen,” Lenalee nodded, her cheeks dimpling from the wide smile tugging at her lips. Her eyes twinkled in amusement. “Reever caught me on my way to do a coffee run. While we were talking, I overheard my brother on the phone with somebody, and I heard him mention Y/N. It sounded like they were on their way back.” 

Allen perked up at this, lifting his head off his arms. If Lenalee thought he looked like a puppy earlier, the mental image cemented itself in her mind at his reaction. She could picture it now, Allen’s imaginary tail wagging in excitement at the news. She was glad that her small piece of news, as uncertain as it was, helped cheer her friend up.

“Really? Did he say when?”

“No, but before you get your hopes up, Allen, I didn’t hear the full conversation,” Lenalee warned.

“Well, as long as Komui didn’t look upset–did he look upset?”

“Allen,” Lenalee interrupted what would probably have become a barrage of questions, “Everything seemed fine. Brother didn’t look the slightest bit upset. I just don’t want to get your hopes up that they’ll be home that soon. Weren’t they in a rural town outside the reach of the Ark’s Gates?”

Allen sulked a bit at this thought, nodding. Suddenly, as if emerging from the dust particles dancing around the old library, Lavi seemingly appeared out of no where–though he probably just turned the corner of one of the bookshelves and noticed the pair talking–and threw his arm around the mopey Allen’s shoulders, causing both Allen and Lenalee to jump in surprise.

“Hey there, Romeo! I was lookin’ all over for ya,” Lavi sang, but flinched at the harsh shushing of the librarian that seemed to echo throughout the large room. Lavi turned his attention briefly to the librarian and offered a quick, quiet apology, laughing sheepishly.

“Why were you looking for me, Lavi?” Allen asked with less mope and more intrigue. Lavi turned his attention back to his younger friend. 

“Haven’t ya heard the news?” 

“What news?” Allen cast a questioning look to Lenalee, who shrugged, just as in the dark as Allen was. Lavi raised his one visible eyebrow, an emerald eye glancing between the two. 

“I thought you’d have been the first to hear about it, beansprout!” Allen immediately tried to cut in and correct Lavi–no, my name is ALLEN–but Lavi charged on through what he had to say. “Y/N just got back. I saw them talking to Komui in his office.”

Allen stood abruptly, headbutting an unsuspecting Lavi’s chin in the process. Lavi staggered back, rubbing the underside of his jaw and chin where Allen’s head collided with his own. Allen offered a quick apology to Lavi as he was already on his way out of the library. Lavi took Allen’s now vacant seat and laughed in amusement, cringing when the lower half of his face twinged in pain. Lenalee, who had stood up so quickly she nearly knocked her chair over, cast a worried gaze at Lavi, who merely waved her concerns away with an amused smile.

Allen charged through the halls of the Black Order faster than he ever had before in his life. A trip that normally took him about five or so minutes on a normal day seemed more like a few moments as Allen quickly found himself outside of Komui’s new office. Said man was standing at the door, exchanging small talk with you. Allen’s entire soul seemed to light up at the sight of you. He felt much lighter than he had since he had last saw you. You didn’t even look terribly injured–just a small bandage here or there, probably for scrapes and cuts.

“Y/N!” Allen called out happily. You turned in surprise before beaming at him and waving a hand. Casting a quick glance at Komui, who gave you the go-ahead, you met Allen halfway, both of your weights colliding against each other. Allen squeezed you in a tight hug. “When did you get back?”

“Just now.” Your answer was spoken into Allen’s crisp button-down shirt, so it was muffled, but Allen hung on to every word. “Sorry I’m a little late, the weather was terrible and the closest Gate was still a ways away from the village. I couldn’t even call anybody for a week! But I’m home now,” you whispered, voice full of emotion as you clung to Allen.

“Welcome home, Y/N. I’ve missed you.” Allen’s tone matched your own. Oh how you had missed your wonderful boy. 

“I’ve missed you so much too.”

With perfect timing, both of your stomachs growled comically loudly. You both pulled apart just far enough to look each other in the eye in surprise before both of you broke out into a fit of laughter. 

“Dinner?” Allen offered. 

“It’s a date,” you agreed. “I’ll tell you all about my mission while we eat!”

Hey, everyone! Mod Karma here again wishing you happy holidays!

I also wanted to take a moment to thank you so very much for encouraging me to continue on my artistic journey and the kindness I’ve been given when sharing my characters with all of you. It means a lot to me, and it’s something I can look forward to which is amazing, especially at this time in my life.

I’m currently offering holiday cards (that could look like the one in this image) for $5 or other commissions (prices negotiable), but as a thank you for helping me through this year, I am more than willing to offer holiday cards and commissions for $2 (or less)! If you’re interested, feel free to contact me at @smokeandash95 or my gmail [email protected]. It feels kind of weird offering this, I haven’t done anything like it before, but I thought it might be a good way to offer thanks. I’m also open to BnHA holiday art requests for the month of December, so if that is something you’d like, just shoot me an ask! I’ve fallen a little behind on them lately, but I should have more time on my hands soon.

Thank you all again! You are all lovely, and I sincerely hope you enjoy your holidays with those closest to you. <3