Home Again

Chapter 10: Arriving At A Cold Place

Tyki's POV

"Good evening, Lord Millennium", the noah said, casually. Although he was internally fuming that the man had allowed the boy to leave, he wasn't going to show that emotion. No, he knew the Earl couldn't be reasoned with. Especially not with anger. What he decided was final... not that everyone followed his unenforced rules. "May I ask why you allowed Allen Walker to leave the ark?"

They were in the phone room and the Earl didn't so much as look up from his knitting to meet the eyes of the younger man, though Tyki could hear a sort of edge to his words. "Attached, are we?"

The noah stiffened, he swallowed hard, and his eyes widened. Not only had he just realized how close he actually was to Allen, but he was worried about what the Earl would say or do, if he'd known. Is this why he's allowing him to leave? Because I'm getting too close to him?

When he didn't respond, the Earl sighed and looked up, finally letting go of the needles and allowing his hands to rest upon his lap. "You want to know: Why did I let him leave? Because he wanted to, of course."

A thread of doubt formed in the noah of pleasure's heart as he tightened his hands into fists and closed his eyes. He breathed out his impatience as silently as possible and relaxed his hands, opening his eyes with an unintentional glare."Earl, somehow I find it hard to believe that that is your only reasoning. What are you planning?"

The Earl chuckled slightly and the younger lifted his head slowly, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, as a response to the uncalled for laughter. "Because he needs to learn to rely on us, Tyki Mikk."

"Huh?" He perked up, suddenly, having to stop himself from tilting his head in utter confusion. Rely on us? Why would he do that? And how would leaving us be the source of such a thing? Surely this man has lost his mind...

The fat man stood up, sighing as he did so, and started walking toward the door. "Haven't you noticed, child? The world has abandoned him wholeheartedly. In his time of need, who will come to his rescue? Surely not those humans." As he opened the door and walked out, the younger trailing closely behind, he growled a mysterious, "And, of course, a troubling time will come."

Mother's POV

She was sitting in the kitchen, watching the sun set through the window, and drinking tea as Barba ran about gleefully, cleaning up and preparing dinner. Just as the idea of getting up passed through her mind, a shadow fled past the window. It was too fast for her to see who or what it was, but she knew that it had to be human. She narrowed her eyes at all of the possibilities and called for Barba to follow her to the door, ready to assist her, should it be a dangerous person.

She didn't fear humans and she barely feared the akuma and noah, due to the fact that she'd been involved with the order for such a long time, but something had her on a slight amount of edge. She could feel something dangerous nearby, though she didn't specifically know what it was. She had to at least be careful. I'm not a young woman, anymore, after all.

She opened the door to the short, white-haired man and widened her eyes in surprise. Allen looked exhausted and depressed, though he smiled slightly once he'd realized that the door was opened. Of course, the old woman knew that it was fake.

"Hello, Mother", he said, weakly.

She sighed slightly and waved him in. "Come in, come in", she groaned, turning to walk back into the kitchen, only to be stopped by the sight of a second shadow. This one was perched on the branch of a tree, hiding behind the leaves, though the woman could see more than just his golden eyes. A noah? I've heard of them but have never come face to face with one. According to Cross, those who see them don't live to tell about it, so why is one following Allen? Is he after him or is Allen siding with him? Are they here for me?

She walked to the kitchen and sat down, watching the boy's every movement from the corner of his eye.

Allen's POV

He was put in his room after Barba fed him well and he'd filled Mother in on his situation. Of course, he left out a few details, like how he felt he was slowly going crazy, with Neah inside of him, and how he had begun feeling a certain unwelcome emotion toward the noah. He was too afraid of how she would react. When push came to shove, he believed that she would side with the order. It's bad enough that she knows I'm slowly becoming a noah, myself. How would she react if I loved a noah? As he sat on his bed, he looked out the window and at the moon. "Love", right? Is it me who feels this? Or is it the noah in me? When did my love for him begin, exactly? He sighed in frustration and rubbed his head.

He laid down and wrapped himself in the blanket. It's so cold - sleeping alone.

Tyki's POV

Although the noah was told not to be out for too long, he stayed far past sunset and after the boy had fallen asleep. The Earl had asked him to not interfere with him and to not interact with him, saying that he would come back to them once he realized that he missed the noah's company. Of course, Tyki felt as though he wouldn't miss anyone but himself; the noah of pleasure. How could the Earl expect him to miss the rest of the family? He hated them! If he's going to miss anyone, he's going to miss the one he slept with, the majority of the time. He scoffed at the memory of the old man's words.

The Earl's plan seemed like a good one, but he feared that it would take too long. He'd intended for the boy to eventually be put in a situation where he was in such dire need of help, that he'd want their protection and they would swoop in to save him. But when does that fatso think that's going to happen? 10 years from now, should he live that long? How does he even know that he'd look to us for help? But, more importantly, the Earl sounded so sure that something bad was going to happen, soon. Does he have something planned?

He furrowed his brows and allowed a drop of sweat to roll down his temple, as the nervousness set in. Once the lights in the house had all gone out and it was clear that the old woman and the fat man were asleep, the noah phased through Allen's bedroom window and sat down on the edge of his bed, petting his hair and allowing the softness to bring a smile to his lips. It's alright. Whether or not it will be later rather than sooner, inevitably, he will be mine.