because i can:
neah and lavi initially being very very wary around one another, because a noah who is prepared to kill anyone who gets in his way and a bookman with a tendency to abandon people if their record demands it doesn’t mix well (or at least it means they’re painfully reminded of the way of living they’ve been forced to live). but, that’s not all they are either - neah, a person with huge trust issues who also has a mischievous personality and a deep loyalty to people who prove their trust, lavi, a person who cares deeply for people he trusts and gets excited over numbers and books and old things gathering dust. neah finds lavi interesting, but also kind of scary, because the bookmen always kinda freaked him out with their “we’re above humanity and will watch the world burn” mentality, but lavi’s doubting and conflicted nature also drives him up the wall. and lavi finds his ruthless nature a little hard to swallow at times, but he grows to appreciate the company of someone who is familiar with his clan and can give him advice and knowledge when he feels lost. once they sit and work shit out they get on like a house on fire.
neah and link being a hilariously weird mix of “i find you scary and hard to work with” and “your pissed off expression just makes this all the more entertaining”. neah can’t stand link’s unquestionable loyalty (because it reminds him far too much of himself and what he’s trying very hard to get rid of) and finds his perceptions scary (same with lavi and bookman, their “all-seeing” gaze is hard to swallow), but he also finds pissing link off very amusing, and knowing this stuck-up but passionately loyal and kind person will support him no matter how many buttons he presses makes him feel a weird mix of surprise and fear. link feels like he’s babysitting a small annoying child most of the time, but if supporting neah somehow helps allen, he’ll put up with a lot.
neah and kanda clash even worse than kanda and allen did. kanda couldn’t stand what he saw as naivete in allen, but he grew to respect allen’s kind and stubborn nature to help people, as well as his strength. but neah? neah’s prepared to get rid of anyone who hinders him, and earning his trust is ridiculously hard (but then can you blame him, since the one person he trusted and cared for most picked a family he hated over him), and even if kanda doesn’t show it he would never abandon people as readily as neah does. but neah does slowly earn his trust, and neah really grows to respect (and fear) kanda’s strength.
lenalee really struggled with neah, someone who was so very different to the friend she cherished. he was ruthless, frightening even, and his casual disregard for other people at times really really pissed her off (neah’s had his ass kicked by lena more times than kanda’s tried to stab him with mugen, and that says a lot). neah sees lenalee as naive, someone who’s going to be hurt someday because of how much she cares for people. but lenalee is strong in a way neah isn’t, caring in a way that makes neah feel unsettled (because he doesn’t need reminding of the person he has lost, not when he has to continue being ruthless so he can make all of this come to an end), and even though he acts like he doesn’t give a shit about any of them, he finds he just can’t get rid of this weird motley crew of friends determined to stick around.













