Escape Me

"I'll have to refuse", Allen monotonously responded, much to Tyki's dismay. "I take my time to eat, when I have it."

He sighed a small smile onto his face. I guess that makes up for it - I'll just pretend that was his only reason. "Oh, time? Don't you want to know how much time you have left?"

They rushed over to the window, obviously distressed at the sight of the disappeared town. Road slammed the doors shut and chained them so the exorcists couldn't escape. "Sit down", she commanded them.

"Take a seat, exorcist", he echoed, lifting his drink to his lips and being sure to make it obvious he was only talking to the boy, not the other three who had so rudely barged in on their "date".

When he received no response, he paused and teased with a smirk, "Or are you scared?"

Just as he planned, Allen marched over to the table and slammed his hand onto the table, glaring over at the noah with that look of his he'd always loved. That look which was fearless and fierce, challenging Tyki to do his worst unlike anyone before him.

"It looks like we can finally take our time to talk, boy", he said. Allen's glare seemed to deepen to one that almost convicted the noah, like he'd just wronged a good friend of his. Of course, we're not good friends, are we? He sighed semi-loudly, slouching in his seat as though it was the Earl who'd just scolded him, and spoke with absolute ease, no longer hiding his affection, though he merely hinted at it in order to prevent Road from gaining suspicion. "Don't make that face, boy. I haven't set any traps. Didn't I say that there'd be no cheating?"

"On this tower's top floor, my door is prepared properly and everything", Road said, smiling flirtatiously at the white-haired one.

"It would be pleasing if it lead outside properly, as well", he responded, sounding even more relaxed and kind than before. She giggled in response, apparently happy that he was speaking to her so pleasantly. Jealousy pricked at Tyki's heart, watching the two.

Allen's POV

"What was it that you wanted to discuss, Lord Tyki Mikk", he said without emotion. "Or is it Mr. 'Sticky-Fingered and Immoral Orphan and Tramp'?" The insulting nickname was meant to be somewhat of a joke while still being a genuine jab at the one he'd once seen as a friend and now was sure he'd have to fight to the death. But he didn't want to kill him. He didn't want Tyki Mikk to die.

"Don't be so cold, boy", the noah said, leaning on the table and smiling that adorably relaxed smile that he both loved and hated. "An exorcist made a noah strip down to his underwear. Was that the first time you did it? Do you think it was destiny for it to be us?"

He knew the noah was obviously flirting with him in his own weird way and he would have normally responded with the same attitude, but he was angry at the idea that the man was a noah who had not only nearly destroyed his innocence, but he'd been out to kill his friends. And that's what mattered the most to him. This noah was trying to take away his family and he wasn't in the mood for pleasant conversation. "Not really", he responded confidently, intending to push the noah away with his words. "There are a lot of people that I've made strip down to their underwear in cards."

Tyki's POV

The noah was stricken by the boy's words and he hesitated before responding with feigned arrogance, "Ohh! What a dark thing to say!" He lowered his head and smirked down at the ground, speaking as though his words were meant to be a joke, though he somewhat meant them. "I'm jealous, boy. Why are you so mean to me and not Road, huh?"

Dodging the question, Allen held up his left arm and asked, "Is it about this innocence?"

He slouched against his chair and huffed out his pent-up excitement, smirking through the laughter which threatened to break through. "The truth is, I was pretty shocked. I'm sure that I broke it down."

The boy mirrored his expression as he politely asked, "But you couldn't break it down, right? After all, it's right here."

They stared at each other as the rest of the room stared at them. "Oh? Have you gotten interested in the innocence now, Tyki?"

"Just a little bit", he mumbled, leaning forward and holding his chin, now wondering how many steps it would take for him to remove that pesky innocence from the boy and free him from his so-called God, making it possible for him to stand by his side along with the noah family. "So anyway, boy, is it because of that left arm that you're alive, even though the tease ate through your heart?"

The exorcists freaked out, yelling at the boy because he'd apparently not told them about this. The worry they showed irritated Tyki more than anything and it only made things worse that Road had been hugging him this entire time. It was as though she had taken a similar interest in the boy to Tyki. But he's mine, the noah of pleasure thought, lighting another cigarette, his expression darkening as he spoke. "Road, isn't it about time you let go of the boy?"

She hugged him tightly, screaming, "Eh?! But I love him!"

Mikk was thankful to see a disturbed look on the boy's face. "Nothing's going to come out of a love between an exorcist and a noah - don't climb onto him." Although his words were true and he knew they were, he didn't intend to suppress his own feelings for the boy. If he's no longer an exorcist, it won't be a problem for the noah to be with him, right? But, of course, I don't intend to let you have him, Road.

He stood from his chair, speaking as he did so and placing a hand on his hip as the other hand held his cigarette to his mouth. "You know the Lord Millennium's scenario of demise? Half of me's taking part of it just to have fun - as expected, you gotta be evil to have fun. Yeah... thanks to you, boy, I'm a little self-conscious, now." He looked away from the boy as he continued speaking, the weight of his situation now holding his heart heavy at the idea that his options are either to save or kill Allen. His words were a mumble and more so meant only for him to hear, since they were for the Earl and not the boy. "Extermination? I see that you're going to seriously try and do it."

He allowed one of his tease to flutter over toward that Lenalee girl - the one the boy always seemed so fond of. Should I start with killing his friends or taking his innocence, hm? The boy jumped onto the table faster than lightening, so fast that no one - not even his friends - had noticed him until his claw nailed the tease to the chair behind the female exorcist's head. Allen's expression darkened with absolute rage that only increased Mikk's jealousy until his heart ironically lifted with hope at the boy's following words. "Tyki Mikk, I have something to say, as well. If you lay a hand on my comrades any more than this... I may end up killing you."

Although his words were meant to be a threat, the idea that the boy had also wanted them to get out of this together gave him hope and joy that they could be together, if things worked out as planned. Yes... I must free you from that wretched innocence.

As the white-haired exorcist ran toward him, he soothed, "I don't hate you, boy, but..." He pulled out a horde of tease and let them flutter around them, pulling out his dark matter to shield him once the exorcist reached him. As they collided, their fight initiating finally, he smirked at the boy, happy to finally get on with the show and begin his own plans. "Let's have the last dance, Shounen."