Wax-play

Lavi groaned as the light hit his eyes- rather, eye. With the dull haze of confusion clouding his mind, he tried to piece his memories together. The last thing he remembered, the old man and the Noah called Sheryl were talking about the Fourteenth, then the other Noah- the one called Fiddler- had sent waves of pain throughout his body with his parasites, and he had lost consciousness. Now, here he was, lying on something undeniably soft, and wondering where he was and how he had gotten there.

As his sight adjusted, he realized that the light had not been nearly so bright as he had first thought. The room he was in was pretty much barren in terms of the usual furniture (couches, tables, and the like), but well stocked in the area of candle sticks, as evidenced by the impressive display on the sideboard in the corner. The sideboard seemed to be the only real piece of furniture besides the bed on which he was lying. The rest of the space was filled with standing candelabras, whose sole purpose, unlike the freestanding candles, was lighting up the room. When he noticed this, Lavi felt the sick sense of dread well up in his stomach.

Just what was the purpose of those unlit candles.

Though did he not expect anything to happen, Lavi tried to move. Just as he had suspected, he was chained to the bed; though only by his wrists. He was able to sit up, and thereby get a little more of a view of the dimly lit room. There wasn't much to notice beyond what he had already seen. The only new things to see were the soft pelts making up the blankets on the bed; a bed big enough for two or three people, he might add.

His heart leapt into his mouth as a door opened to his left, and none other than Tyki Mikk stepped through it. The Noah had cut his hair again, he noticed, and was carrying his shirt over his shoulder, rather than wearing it. The sight made Lavi even more nervous. This man was the Noah of Pleasure after all, who knew what his shirtless status might signify?

"Good, you're awake." The Noah's ability to keep up such a polite and cheery tone in front of his enemies never ceased to amaze him. Then again, Tyki's entire clan were General-level fighters, so maybe his nonchalance was all that surprising.

"I was getting a little impatient" he went on as he slid on to the bed, a small smirk decorating his lips. His amber eyes suddenly flicked downward, and the smirk broadened into a satisfied grin. "I see I made the right decision with your attire."

Lavi followed his line of sight, then felt heat race up his cheeks. Like Tyki, he was completely devoid of a shirt, but beyond that, his uniform breeches had been replaced with a pair of cotton trousers- meaning he had been stripped by the man sitting next to him.

"You bastard" he growled, pulling one of the pelts over his legs.

"I was just trying to make you more comfortable, my dear Bookman" Tyki said, completely unabashed. The Noah trailed a finger down his chest, making him shiver. "I'm quite enjoying this, though."

"What are you planning?" Lavi demanded, smacking his hand away. "Where's the old man?"

"With Sheryl, of course" Tyki told him, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. Leaning forward, he kissed his shoulder, then whispered, "you were left in my care."

He shivered again. "Get off me."

"You keep shivering." He had completely ignored Lavi's request, and kissed his shoulder again. "Shall I warm you up?"

His stomach flipped as he thought about what Tyki might be implying. "No way in hell, bastard" he snarled. "I am not like that."

Tyki laughed, a low, seductive laugh. "Oh, my dear, I did not mean to mislead you" he said. "I know you are quite the skirt-chaser, and I am a ladies' man myself, though I'm not too picky when it comes to whoever I take to bed." He rested his chin on his shoulder now. "No, I mean do something fun, with the full understanding that our relationship is completely platonic."

"More like antagonistic" Lavi grumbled. He lifted up his wrists. "I'm assuming we're still in the ark, and that you still have my Hammer. That being said, is it really necessary for these?"

"No, but I liked the aesthetic of it" Tyki said. "They're going to stay."

Eager to get away from the Noah's touch, Lavi lay back against the pillows. He was completely resigned to whatever was going to happen, but he couldn't help but ask, "what did you have in mind? Am I wrong in thinking those candles are involved in whatever it is?"

The Noah grinned. "Indeed they do" he said. "Roll over."

"What?"

"Roll. Over." He made a twirling motion with his finger.

"Why?"

"For our game, of course. I figured your back would be less sensitive, but if you really want to start with your stomach…"

Lavi stared at him. "You're joking!" He wrenched at the chains. "I am not- you can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am." Tyki yanked of the chains, flipping him over with ease. He then ripped the pelt off of his legs and tossed it aside, removing the others from the bed soon after. "It wouldn't do to get anything on such fine furs."

He tried to roll over again, but the Noah was too quick for him. In less than a moment he had tightened the chains, splaying his arms so they were pulled taught on either side of him. He then added a pair of shackles to his legs, making any sort of movement nearly impossible. To make matters more humiliating, as soon as he tried to protest, Lavi found his words stifled by a thick wad of fabric cleaved between his teeth. Turning his head sideways, he pointed his most murderous glare at the man straddling his back.

"Come now, it would hurt if you accidentally bit your tongue, wouldn't it?" He made it sound like Lavi was the one at fault, which just made him even more furious.

"Geh fif ow a ma maof!" Somehow, he managed to force the words passed the gag. "nao!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tyki purse his lips. "Hmm, if you can talk, that means you can move your tongue" he mused. "If you can move your tongue, that means you might bite down on it by accident." Next thing Lavi knew, the Noah had shoved another scarf between his lips, effectively silencing him except for muffled snarls and shouts.

The weight on his back disappeared, and he heard Tyki moving toward the sideboard. "Hmm, what color to start with… well, I don't know your tolerance, so I suppose we'll start toward the bottom of the spectrum: white."

Lavi tried his utmost to at least loosen his gag as he heard the telltale noise of a match against a matchbox. So long as he could curse out the Noah while he was tortured, he'd be somewhat satisfied. Unfortunately, the bastard had knotted the fabric far too tightly for him to do much more than exhaust his jaw. Defeated, he screwed his eyes shut, and determined not to give his captor the gift of hearing him scream.

To his surprise, the sensation wasn't that bad. In fact, it was kind of pleasant, like some sort of heat therapy. The wax that drizzled onto his skin was hot only for a moment, then it cooled, and brought a relaxing sensation to his muscles. He couldn't help it, he gave a satisfied sigh as the wax dropped between his shoulder blades.

"You like that, do you?" He didn't like the tone in Tyki's voice. It was far too devilish. "How about we take it up a tick, and move on to red."

This time, the sensation was not nearly at pleasant. Lavi groaned and flinched as the new candled dripped onto his back. It was hotter than the last one, and he did not like it. At least it wasn't burning him –that much he could tell.

Then Tyki switched candles again. Lavi squirmed and whimpered into his gag like a pathetic puppy. His back was getting unpleasantly stiff and hot, and whatever color he was using now was once again hotter than the last. He wanted to arch, to at least break up some of the wax building up on his skin, but the chains made that impossible.

Thankfully, Tyki noticed. "You need a break, love" he said. Lavi heard him set the candle down, then he saw the Noah come back with a flat piece of plastic. With a little jingle, he loosed the chains on his wrists. "Inhale."

Lavi did so.

"Exhale."

Again, he obeyed.

"Now arch your back."

It felt so good to feel that wax break. Tyki then wedged the plastic between the now solidified debris and his skin. After a few minutes, the layers were gone, and the Noah was wiping away the extraneous pieces.

"Now for the real fun."

He tried to twist, to tell Tyki that enough was enough, but he didn't react fast enough. The Noah had already readjusted the chains, immobilizing him again.

What came next was a living nightmare. The wax from this candle was far, far hotter than the first three. Lavi screamed, and fought to escape the hot liquid falling on his already sensitive skin. Tears of pain streamed down his cheeks, and he cried out for it to stop, but Tyki just kept going. He writhed in pain for what felt like hours before the insidious wax finally ceased, leaving his back completely caked, stiff and immovable.

As Lavi struggled for breath, he felt a hand gently sweep back his hair. "We're done for today, pet."

Lavi nodded, letting out a sigh of tired relief as his gag and the shackles on his ankles were removed. Tyki arranged the chains on his wrists so that, after removing the wax form his back again, Lavi could roll over. As soon as the layer of wax was gone, he made to do just that, but the Noah stopped him.

"We need to treat your back properly before you lay down on it" he told him, draping a damp cloth over his skin. Lavi practically reveled in the cool sensation, though he couldn't help but wonder why Tyki would even bother. After all, they were natural enemies, and Lavi was technically a prisoner of war. The Noah had no reason to treat him like a human being, much less with such gentleness. Hell, he even helped him roll over after he was done treating his back. What was more, he actually tucked him in.

Sleep was heavy on his mind as the candles around him dimmed. The last thing he remembered was Tyki placing a kiss on his forehead and wishing him a good night before leaving.

~/~

Tyki stepped out in the hallway, tugging on his shirt and smiling to himself. Tonight had been successful on all accounts. So long as he kept administering after care to the boy, he could quite easily bring him over to their side. After all Bookman Junior had been raised with the belief he had to leave a solitary life in order to succeed in his profession, but there was no denying he still had needs. Boys his age were usually out courting young women and getting married, and Rhode had proven he had grown attached to his comrades at the Order. Being separated from contact now must be killing him inside.

He must be lonely.

And that was the hypothesis that had lead to Tyki's experiment. If he could play on the boy's need for companionship and care, he could mould him into a quiet, obedient pet, and sever him from the Order. The situation would work out for nearly everyone. The Noah would have one less Exorcist to worry about, he would have a new pet from which to get all sorts of information, and Lavi would have his need for companionship fulfilled. Of course, the Order would suffer, but with any luck, the old man would follow Lavi's desire to stay, giving them access to even more valuable information.

It would take time, but Tyki was a patient man, and, besides, each moment of this was going to be highly enjoyable. After all that Lavi boy had a gorgeous body, not to mention an inner darkness he would love to explore. So much about the red headed youth intrigued him- not as much as Walker, but still… he really was quite the specimen.

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he continued down the hall, lighting one of his cigarettes as he went.

Platonic? Well, perhaps he had been lying when he'd said that.