This just popped up into my mind when I was cycling from school to home some days ago (yes, I live in the Netherlands, so I have to cycle the eleven kilometers between school and home twice nearly everyday. Thus I always have a lot of time to let my imagination roam freely, resulting in fanfics quite often)
I have noticed that, as Hoshino hasn't really showed us much of Neah yet, resulting in ignorance of his personality for us, the fans mostly created their own character for Neah. I thought it was my turn this time and somehow the idea of sharing a body with someone others can't see made me wonder what would happen if that person was actually really irritating all the time. And like that I started this oneshot with a possibility for Neah's character and Allen's reactions on it. Although I had meant for this to be a funny fanfic, it somehow turned out a bit cute in the end, but well, I think it's better like this, as I couldn't really ignore the fact that the Noah and his host are kind of family.
I have also noticed that since I've read the manga Allen's sassy side shows up more often in my fanfics (I wrote Exorcist theater and Making up for Lavi's stupid mistake before I had read it (a few months ago), those are based on the anime and the first six volumes), maybe it's just because I let him interact much with Kanda and now with a annoying Neah, but I must admit I kind of like that side of him too and that that could also be the reason for it.
This story is just a oneshot with my own idea of Neah in it. It is probably not what Hoshino has in mind and some other details aren't right as well (for example that Allen is still with the order) but I hope you can overlook that. This is also the first time I wrote about Link, I hope I succeeded in picturing him as he is.
By the way, I (like nearly everyone) really have the feeling that Allen and Neah are going to work together later in the manga so in this fic they have already decided on that.

(I hope I rated this story right, because I'm really bad at deciding which rating it should have)

Allen: 'Wait, no roleplay this time?'

Me: 'Nope, I've said enough already, I don't want to bore the readers.'

Lavi: 'Well, actually, this is a roleplay already, as you're here Allen.'

Allen: 'Heh, it is?' *looks confused* 'Oh yeah, of course it is.'

Me: 'Enough of this already guys, give the readers a chance to read the oneshot.' *to the readers* 'Have fun reading it and let me know what you think of it.'

The bond between a Noah and an exorcist

Carrying a Noah inside of you, wasn't really what Allen had suspected. Though probably, it wasn't usually like this. The Noah of destruction was just weird and seemed to be infinitely bored. When someone says 'destruction' you normally think of an insane maniac, laughing evilly, but it was totally different. Now try to picture an childish idiot, that bullies others all the time and just can't shut his mouth when he needs to and is silent when he should talk: yes, that's a rough description of who Neah was in the daily life.

Allen's first impressions had been an evil man, serious and outraged, who only had betrayed the Noah for his own selfish purposes. But as soon as they had made a compromise together, the other side of his uncle had showed up. He wasn't a threat anymore, more like a pain in the ass. Actually, Allen sometimes even thought that fighting the Noah with his life was better than what he had to endure now.

For example: one day Allen was just brushing his teeth as he did every day. Link was standing next to him, observing him as usually, also cleaning his mouth with toothpaste. Then a movement in the mirror caught the boy's attention. He looked at it and frowned as he saw Neah standing there grinning. Then the image began to wave, make weird faces and acting like he punched Allen.

After some time the white-haired exorcist was done with it and closed his eyes. His uncle always loved to prank like this. He would irritate Allen long enough until he would scream out loud and everyone would back away a few meters because they thought he had gone mad.

However, Neah hadn't have enough yet and as his nephew didn't really react he just started calling him in his mind. 'Allen, oi, Allen, come on… Look, Allen, it's really important that you open your eyes.'

Neah knew Allen couldn't tell him to shut up. It was this actual stupid fact that they couldn't communicate without the body saying it out loud. The one who wasn't in charge could yell all he wanted, but once the one who was controlling the body wanted to respond, the others would hear. It was impossible for Allen to tell Neah to shut up without moving his mouth and really pronouncing those words. And Neah really liked to abuse that fact.

'Oi, ALLEN… OPEN YOUR EYES!'

Finally he did as he was asked, annoyed as he was with the voice that kept calling him. Maybe the Noah would be silent again if he gave him some attention by looking in the mirror.

When he had opened his eyes he saw Neah's smile widen and noticed the man was sticking out his fingers behind his victim's head, acting as if they were bunny ears.

Allen pulled up an eyebrow trying to say with it: 'Oh god, really? That's so childish.'

Neah grinned again. 'Come on, Allen, say something. Why don't you make a weird face. Stick out your tongue or something. Just brushing your teeth is so boring.'

Allen glared at the mirror to make the man shut his mouth, but it didn't work at all.

'Oi, Allen, put that away already, your teeth are already clean enough. Do something interesting instead: like playing the piano or something. Oh, and don't you dare to just start eating again, that's even more boring. Why don't you…'

The Noah just kept chatting about useless stuff while Allen glared as violent to the mirror as he could. He didn't notice Link, who was looking at him with one pulled up brow.

'Allen, why aren't you listening… Oi, I'm talking to you, say something.'

And then it was just too much, just when he spit out the toothpaste Allen couldn't hold it in anymore and snapped. 'Just shut the hell up already!'

Link cleared his throat. 'Uhm, Walker, is something bothering you?'

Allen looked up in shock as he realized his mistake. He shot a glance to his surroundings, noticing that a few finders had indeed moved away a few meters and were watching him cautiously as if he could attack them anytime. He blushed in embarrassment and smiled. 'I… I'm sorry, I was just really deep in thought, I didn't notice I said that out loud.' Unable to answer their glances he quickly returned his eyes to the sink.

And that was only a tiny example of the thousands of pranks Neah had pulled off on him since their truce. Allen actually really wondered how he couldn't have gone mad already. Especially when he turned his head a little and would immediately spot Link, who was always there like his shadow. He wasn't only stalked by some guard or his creepy uncle, but by both on the same time. There wasn't even a moment of private time for him anymore. When he finally had thought he lost one of them, then the other was always there. It wasn't that he hated Link or anything. Actually, he had grown rather fond of that guy, but a little bit of privacy wasn't that much to ask for, was it?

But when Neah finally would be silent for a moment, like when the Noah was deep in thought or something, then Link would stare at him like always and when he managed to shake off Link for a short moment, just to give himself the chance to clear his head a little, Neah just wouldn't stop blabbering. He would keep on talking about useless stuff, like he knew Allen only wanted a bit of peace. Oh, Allen was really sure he knew and that he was precisely choosing that time to chat to annoy him. But it was really exhausting sometimes. Neah especially liked to talk about food when Allen was hungry - he had found that sore point very quickly - causing him to give in to the urge to go to the dining hall after all, where Link would be waiting for him, knowing he would show up there sooner or later.

One time, when Allen had become really angry about it, his uncle had told him, suddenly sounding really serious, that he just tried to keep his nephew out of trouble. That he knew it was better for them to stay with Link, who made sure they wouldn't betray the order. It could be able to keep the trust of the higher ups. And maybe he was right, but this wasn't the way to help him!

There were some good times with the Noah too though. Sometimes they could talk a bit with each other, about serious, or less serious things, but those moments didn't turn up very often. He couldn't say anything to Neah when there were other people around, and even though Link knew about it, he didn't like the disapproving stare the blond man would give him when his observer knew he was talking to the fourteenth, as he still called him.

And right now Allen was helping the science department to move some boxes with unknown stuff to the storage room while Neah chose exactly that moment to fish for attention again.

'Oi, Allen. Hello. Oi, are you there?'

The boy rolled with his eyes, knowing the Noah could feel the movements of his body, as he was closely connected to it. Of course he was here, where else would he be? The only moment he got for himself was when he was sleeping and even then they mostly shared their dreams. It wasn't like he could go anywhere, how much he ever even wanted to.

'What's that? Are you just going to ignore me like that?'

Allen sighed. It all started over again. Didn't he ever get bored of this old game?

'Come on, Allen, please, say something.'

The boy grimaced.

'Is there something wrong, Allen?' He looked up and saw Johnny observing him thoroughly. 'You look like something is bothering you.'

The exorcist faked a reassuring smile to hide his irritation. 'Oh, I'm sorry, there's nothing wrong. I was just deep in thought.'

'You use that excuse far too much you know,' Neah protested. 'If you're going to lie to people, then at least do it good.'

Allen pushed his lips together to resist the urge to snap a response at the invisible voice.

Johnny let his eyes dart over him one more time. 'Well, if you say so. But don't forget you can tell us anything.' Then he looked in front of him again to avoid a crash with any of the other people that were walking through the order's corridors.

Allen sighed softly in relief and kept walking.

Meanwhile Neah chuckled. 'You got yourself out of it this time. It's really funny to see you struggle like this, why don't you tell them more about me already? Come on, they deserve to know.'

'Shut up, Neah,' Allen whispered annoyingly now.

This time Reever turned his head. 'I'm sorry, did you say something, Allen?'

The boy shook his head hastily. 'Nothing at all.'

'Oh, must have been my imagination then.' They walked on again.

With a lack of the person it was meant for, Allen glared at the box he was holding. Couldn't his uncle just be silent for a moment? He was nearly done with helping the science department by carrying these boxes, then he could find a spot where he could talk with the Noah, but this wasn't the right time and place.

Neah seemed to sense these worries, as he kept on teasing even worse than before. Instead of only calling Allen's name twenty times, he suddenly poked him with his mind. It wasn't like they could actually hurt each other, but it was possible to catch the other's attention by sort of poking their mind. It felt a bit uncomfortable and made their attention shift unwillingly. Allen had tried to use it as a weapon before, but it only made Neah even more annoying.

Now Allen growled quietly, which he regretted immediately after, as he could feel Neah smirk on the other side of his mind. Great, now the pest had found something to really annoy him with.

'Hmm, something wrong Allen?' the Noah asked while poking him again. 'Is something bothering you? Why don't we play the piano? It's been days since we've played the piano. Come on, we don't have to move the ark and two spots, as the redhead likes to call him, can even keep watch on us.'

Allen ignored him and kept on walking, trying to keep his eyes fixed straight in front of him with a neutral expression. But it just was really hard to ignore the person who kept poking his mind and whining to play the piano.

'No, we can't play the piano,' Allen hissed when he lost his self-control after all. 'I'm busy with helping the science department, so just keep quiet for a while, then I might actually CONSIDER the idea later.'

Link cleared his throat demonstratively, like he always did in such occasions. 'Walker, it would be nice if you keep your thoughts for yourself, we're not really interested in what you want to do.'

Allen looked up from the box he was glaring at in shock. Right, he had done it again… For – what was it – the hundredth time or something? Neah somehow had managed it again to make him say something in the presence of others. He rolled his eyes and thanked the Noah sarcastically in his mind for bringing him in embarrassment again.

Why was he the one that had to be the host of such an idiotic Noah? Couldn't it have been someone serious, with who he could actually cooperate easily without having the urge to punch him all the time? He even considered once to punch himself, but somehow it didn't seem to him that he would hurt Neah with it, the more himself. He knew it could have been worse. He was once told by his uncle that the Noah of wrath was much harder to handle. It filled the host with rage and made him eat himself up with hate, eating his nails until he ended up biting off his fingers. The Noah of wrath was nothing more than hate and fury, it was probably really painful to feel those negative feelings all the time. They actually killed the mind of the host already before the memory of wrath had totally returned, leaving the body with a mad and broken soul to control it in the meantime. But this was just ridiculous. Sharing your body was already hard enough without being victim to the boredom of your other side all the time!

The other members of the little group they had formed to transport the boxes looked at him with worried frowns. A silence had fallen, although Allen didn't experience it as such as Neah's loud laughter crossed his mind at the same time.

'Allen, you're sure nothing is wrong?'

The boy felt himself blush under the attention and scratched the back of his head. 'Yes, just a bit tired, I guess.'

'Hmm, we could have known you was,' Reever answered while his expression relaxed a bit. 'You're just back from a mission after all. Let's hurry up and put these boxes away, then you can rest.'

Again they continued their journey. This time Allen was sure to whisper so softly that not a person, even Link not, could hear. 'Someday I'm going to kill you, Neah.'

The threatened person didn't seem scared at all, instead he laughed again. 'Come on now, Allen, don't get suicidal now. We can't have you die yet.'

The exorcist growled slightly in response again. This guy was really getting on his nerves now.

Suddenly Link grabbed his arm and lead him away for the others for a moment. 'Walker, just what is wrong exactly? You're talking and grimacing a few minutes now already and I get the feeling you're lying at us. What is bothering you?'

'Well, what do you think it is?' Allen growled more violent to his observer than he had intended too. 'It has skin in the color of ash, black hair and it has stigmata's on the head.'

'Oh, oh!' A voice in his mind suddenly interrupted. 'Can I guess, can I?'

'No you can't!' Allen snapped back.

'Is it Tyki? Well, did I guess right?'

'You know pretty damn well who it is, you stupid pest you are! And now leave me alone before everyone thinks I've gone mad!'

Link cleared his throat again. 'Well, I think I know who you mean now, Walker. Should I worry about it?'

Allen quickly shook his head. 'No, not at all. He's annoying but not dangerous. I just wish he would shut up for once.'

Link pulled up an eyebrow again, but didn't say anything.

'Oi, are you two done talking? Actually we really want to be done with this too!'

They turned around as Reever's voice reached them.

'Oh, I'm sorry, Reever, we're coming!' Allen ran back and was relieved that there was finally a silence in his head for the next few minutes.

He had been thinking about the reasons for Neah's behavior a lot already, but couldn't come to a definite conclusion. Probably the Noah did it because he was a bit evil, but Allen could also recognize something different. When he looked in the mirror there were times when he suddenly didn't know whose eyes he was staring at anymore. The silver and gold would blur together and he would notice the similarity in the expression they were holding. Yes, Neah knew what pain was, and instead of giving fake smiles like his nephew he went to pranking it away, or at least, that was what Allen thought it was. Neah probably just wanted to forget about it, to live his life to the fullest, even now that no-one except Allen couldn't see him anymore and he spent nearly all his life in the head of his nephew. He just got bored and depressed and used the bullying as medicine. Allen also had to admit, that there were times he felt it was a way for his uncle to show his affection for his only family member. The teasing was well-meant, although he sometimes took it too far and really hurt his host. But well, he would always be a Noah after all. He wasn't used to being on the good side.

'You know, Allen,' Johnny said so unexpectedly that the exorcist nearly jumped through the roof. 'I think I know what's the problem, and we all do. Don't let it bother you. We just have to get used to it that you have a second mind with you.'

Allen's eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled again. 'Oh no, nothing's wrong, Johnny, really. I'm just tired.'

'Oh god, Allen, seriously?' Neah criticized. 'He really gave you a great chance there and you still deny it? Sometimes you have to tell people about your problems when they say things like this.'

'Yeah,' Reever agreed with Johnny now. 'It takes some time to think of it as normal. It's actually pretty scary to hear you talking to yourself sometimes, but don't feel bothered by that. You can talk to him if you want, we know you're not crazy or something. Just give us a chance to get used to it.'

Allen was aware of the disapproving glare Link was sending them, but tried to ignore it. 'It's fine, really, but thanks.' He felt his face turning red and quickly hid behind his load. His friends were always so nice to him, even since they knew about him being a Noah.

Neah laughed. 'So that's why you don't tell them, you're just shy.'

The boy didn't answer, although he would have really liked to disagree somehow.

They finally entered the storage room and sought a place for their stuff. After that Allen quickly moved out and strolled through the corridors alone, with only Link tailing him.

'Okay, you're done now, right Allen?' The teasing tone of the Noah had disappeared and made place for impatience. 'Let's play the piano. We found that book with some good sheet music in it the other day, remember? It's still in the piano room of the arc. Let's go there and play it.'

'You know I can't read it.'

'But I can!'

'I'm not letting you use my body!' Allen said determined.

'Come on, at least play some piano.'

The boy sighed and looked at Link, who had been following the conversation as good as he could. However, Allen didn't think he could make out much of it. It was like trying to understand what people were saying on the phone while you could only hear the person of one side of the line.

'Can I play the piano for a moment?' Allen asked Link, knowing Neah wouldn't leave him alone for a second if he didn't at least try to get permission.

'Walker, you know we don't want you to do that.'

'Please, just for a minute.' He gave the man the best pleading look he had.

Link narrowed his eyes. 'Only for a moment. But don't even think of moving the arc or whatsoever, and don't forget I'm keeping an eye on you.'

Allen smiled and nodded, while he could hear Neah cheer in his head.

They hurried to the piano room and arrived a few minutes later.

Link went to sit in a corner in one of the snow white chairs, giving Allen enough privacy to feel comfortable enough to talk freely with his Noah.

The boy went to the piano and sat down. Meanwhile Neah urged him to pick up the music sheet: 'Come on, Tim only has that one particular song. Let's at least put it in front of you, it would look professional, don't you think?'

'I don't care,' Allen answered while he put his fingers on the keys.

'Well, I won't stop talking until you put it where it belongs.'

Knowing that his uncle would exactly do as he had said, the exorcist sighed, picked up the worn-out book they had found in the library earlier and laid it open on the piano. 'Happy now?'

'Hé, I know that song!' the Noah said happily instead. 'Let's play it!'

Allen grimaced. 'Well, I don't know it, so we can't.'

'Come on, Allen, you know that when I know it, you'll be able to know it too. We can exchange memories remember?'

'Yeah, so I can disappear when I get sucked in by yours, right?' was the bitter response.

'Are you still worried about that? I told you I wouldn't let you vanish, who would be able to keep that stupid left arm of yours under control?'

'It isn't stupid, it's innocence, and it might be really helpful when we try to beat the earl.'

He could feel how Neah waved the protest away. 'Allen, just trust me a bit. We can't be partners in a fight when we don't share trust. Being able to exchange memories might make us able to exchange thoughts too, don't you think that would be amazing? It could be really useful when we're fighting! It might even make us able to control the body at the same time.'

'Not a chance.'

'Come on, just one moment. Just open up your mind slightly and let me show you how the song goes, you will be able to take over soon enough, I promise I won't try anything funny. You can keep me from taking control for always after if I do, okay?'

Allen shuffled a bit in discomfort. Neah might be right. Maybe he should try to cooperate with his uncle. Exchanging memories with each other could help them to understand each other better.

'Fine, but only a moment and I'll kill you if you take advantage of it.'

Neah gave him a smile, that appeared on Allen's face as the boy slowly let him take the body over. The Noah flipped over a page until he had found the beginning of the song and studied it for a moment.

'I thought you knew this song,' Allen said grumpily, 'then why do you need to look at the pages?'

'I know it, but it is quite some time ago, I needed to refresh my mind.' Neah put their hands on the piano, breathed in deeply for a moment and then began playing.

Suddenly a beautiful sound filled the room. It traveled through the air and reached their ears. If they would have looked behind them, they could have seen Link sitting up in surprise as the melody he was hearing wasn't one he had heard before.

The Noah let his hands travel over the keys, his eyes sometimes closed, other times fixed on the notes on the pages.

'This sounds beautiful, Neah,' Allen admitted with a voice that was filled with admiration.

'I know,' the other smiled. 'Come, try to open your mind. Try to see through my eyes, to feel the keys like you would do when you would control the body, but don't try to be the one in charge. Try to learn how to play this song from experiencing it.'

Allen felt a bit reluctant at first, but the melody was tempting and he unexpectedly felt the urge to be able to play it himself. He concentrated and tried to follow Neah's instructions.

It took some time for him to be able to feel without taking over, causing the Noah once to start all over again because they suddenly stopped playing, but as he could feel how loosely his uncle's grip on the body was he was a bit reassured and opened his mind somewhat further.

Suddenly he could feel the pressure of the keys beneath his fingers, as they moved over them under Neah's guidance. He followed the melody and tried to be aware of the notes he was using.

When the Noah looked up at the music sheet again, Allen realized it weren't just black figures without sense anymore. He saw a pattern he had never seen before, understanding that Neah's memories with the knowledge of the notes and the related tones were crossing his mind and making him able to read them.

He also noticed that he remembered the rest of the song. He suddenly knew exactly how to continue and as they moved on he became aware of his uncle stepping back slowly letting Allen take control again and finish the music they had started.

'That was wonderful,' Allen whispered with a smile. 'Let's do that again.'

Neah smiled back from behind the mirror that covered one wall of the room. 'Alright, let me look for another song.'

Allen let the Noah take over again and page through the book.

At that moment Link decided to stand up and walk over to the boy. He had come closer without them noticing and a nearly unnoticeable shock of surprise traveled through their body as he began to speak: 'Walker, I thought you couldn't play the piano apart from that specific melody at all.'

Neah looked up at their observer with a neutral expression. 'Oh no, I can play piano for a lot of years now already. I'm just teaching my nephew.'

'Oi, Neah, you can't just talk to Link like that, stop it!'

The Noah ignored the boy's voice and just kept staring at their guardian, who narrowed his eyes.

'You're not Walker, are you?'

'I am,' the other answered with a grin. 'Nice to meet you, Neah Walker's the name.'

'Neah, stop that now!' Allen yelled in rage. 'You're making everything worse.'

'Oh, come on, Allen, let me talk to him now too sometime. I've never really had the chance. I see him every day and never get the chance to speak to him. Don't you understand how frustrating that is?'

'I don't care. Give my body back immediately!'

'Oh, by the way, Link,' the Noah continued undisturbed, 'I'd like it if you would call me by that name from now on. The fourteenth sounds so unfriendly, you know.'

Link's eyes had grown twice as large at first, now they had narrowed in a hostile expression again and he had suddenly taken out a talisman from his pocket.

To Allen this was enough. With a rough movement he freed himself from Neah's grasp and threw the Noah on the chair in his mind he had been sitting on (although unchained, as his uncle hadn't been so forceful). He pulled at the chains around it and began wrapping them around the man as tightly as he could.

'Oh, come on, Allen, is that really needed?' Neah asked while looking at his bound arms and feet with a sad expression. 'I was just having a bit of fun. You don't have to be so angry.'

The exorcist ignored it and continued binding the other to the chair until he was finally satisfied, then he focused on what was happening outside of his head and faced Link.

'I'm sorry, Link, I'm back. Neah was just trying to play a prank on us.'

'I wasn't pranking!' A voice in his mind protested. 'I was socializing.'

'Shut up, Neah.'

Link took another moment to glare at Allen until he was sure the boy spoke the truth and then relaxed. Suddenly a frown appeared on his face and he looked mad. 'Walker, make sure that never happens again. If this occurs one more time I'll have to report it to the higher ups. Do you understand?'

Allen nodded quickly, then glared at the mirror where Neah laughed a bit uncomfortably. Good, it seemed his uncle had finally realized he could better not try this again. Then he looked back at Link.

'Let's go,' he suggested. 'I'm pretty hungry, let's eat.'

Neah sighed, but didn't protest for once. He probably thought his nephew was still really angry right now.

Before leaving the room Allen shot a quick glance back at the piano, with the sheet music still on it. It had been nice to play like that with his uncle. He hadn't experienced any of it before. He had felt bonded and reassured. Somehow the warm feelings of the Noah for his only family member had seeped into him and made him happy from the inside out.

For now he would act like he hadn't forgiven his uncle yet, to make sure he would learn his lesson, but he was sure they would do this again. What he had experienced was indeed the bond Neah had been searching for. The bond between the Noah and exorcist, who would end this war together.