Thinner Than Water

Well, here's a oneshot in what seems to be such a long period of time that I was absent from writing fanfic. I hope many of you will continue to read them!

Also, I owe a great deal of gratitude to Kami Senpai for working hard through all those plans to make time for this and for making it even better!

ooooo

This soon? I couldn't believe it. Had it not been only a couple of days before that I had been summoned? I healed fast, of course, but nowhere near as quickly as Kanda. If this kept up, it would be the end of me for sure but I couldn't fool myself: I knew I would keep going back.

Nonetheless, I reached a hand up to pluck the dingy yellow sticky note from its placement on the inside of my jacket and pulled it off to read it. I didn't really have to read it though: the place had always been the same, and would always continue to be so and the same issue with the time. After all, he was a very particular and routine man was he not? However I could not help but wonder when he had managed to have the message delivered and why I had only now noticed it.

I was used to his demeanor, but I was not at all surprised to see my bare hand quiver uncontrollably at the note as its material rested. I knew what was to come, though the method and the reason were always so absolutely and undeniably unpredictable. Still, the time was approaching soon and it was always best for me not to keep him waiting. As such, I stood from where I was sitting and excused myself from the dinner table. A trip to town, I tell them. It was the same thing I always told them. At this point I could never be entirely sure about whether or not they believed in my words but I wouldn't claim it as an issue until they brought it up themselves.

For now, things were best left how they were.

Ooooo

A loud noise reverberated through the room I currently resided in and I knew it could only be his arrival once more. To retrieve something, he said. It was such a strange thing to hear in the stillness of the night and in this empty room. Well, that wasn't entirely true and the screaming soreness and the promise of bruises on the insides of my arms attested to that. It was always hard to catch a pattern concerning what would be here when I arrived: a couch, a bed, a desk… I would never be able to tell. This time I had the frigid yet comforting support of a steel chair made much less comfortable by the ropes burning into my ankles that kept my legs spread open for him, or the sharp spikes burrowing into the flesh around my wrists and keeping my arms at this unusual angle behind both the chair and myself.

He had tied me up like this soon after his first entrance into this room, which was usually the only part that remained constant in what we do here. I was always expected to arrive before him, and to strip and place myself in or on whatever he had chosen to place here in advance. This time the chair's back had been facing the door, which was usually what he did if I wasn't allowed to see much of him in our session.

However, it was still too early to tell his mood. This was the usual, and only the position was ever different.

I was graced with a solitary moment of his figure before he reached up with a piece of cloth and tied it around my head. A blindfold? My rising panic only intensified at this new development. He had never used this before. My heartbeat pulsed painfully inside my chest and I could not force myself to calm down. I couldn't deny the excitement that began to build up alongside this fear, knowing I would only want to feel his soft skin against my own.

My heart beat rapidly in its mixed emotions at the sound of rustling fabric hitting the floor. The sound repeated a few more times before there was utter silence. It was more than one would expect from the usual person, but it was typical of him. He always dressed particularly fancy, no matter what the occasion. In the silence I could hear his light footsteps as he approached me from his position in the room. And then again, silence.

I was startled by the sound of undeniable friction of steel on steel as I felt the edge of something graze up the edge of the metal chair I sat on and the outside of my thigh. I had no control over the shallow, rapid breaths that escaped from me as the slight pain blossomed and liquid began trickling down my leg. Something was wrong, for a knife had never been presented so quickly in any of their sessions. The increasing beat of my heart and the fear clouding my mind made the small cut on my leg ache that much more.

"Do you know why I've called you here so soon, Allen?"

Tyki… The mere sound of his voice sent chills running up and down my spine and caused me to break out in a cold sweat. His exterior was always nothing short of dignified and presentable, but his heart held a bloodlust I could not satiate and a temper that really made my fears concerning him flow. No, I did not know why my presence had been required so early and I was afraid to find out for myself.

When I didn't answer Tyki drew more blood with the knife, this time across my upper arm and the backing of the chair resulting in a larger slice than the first and a louder scrape. I couldn't help a small whimper from escaping at the contact. I could almost feel the smile from his face as his footsteps sounded around to the back of the chair and he nuzzled his face into the snow-white color of my hair. Perhaps this is what made me so uncertain and hesitant when dealing with him. He would always do something to cause pain and follow it with something that was supposed to put him at ease. And I was the poor soul to always fall helplessly into his sick little traps.

"Allen, you know I expect you to answer me when I ask you a question."

I felt his pressure leave the top of my head before he shifted to nip at the edges of my ear. It made me shiver in anticipation at what he had in store for me today. I suddenly began aching for him, as only he ever could do to me. The line between the pain and pleasure he gave me had been blurred and I could never tell the one from the other. The pain he presented could always end as the most unimaginable of pleasure and it always had the opportunity of being the other way around as well.

"N-no, master Tyki…"

"Well…"

I screamed, though it quickly turned into a moan. The cold, hard steel that was sunken into my flesh caused a spike of fear that also caused the length of flesh between my legs to ache for the Noah's touch. My length trembled as the knife hissed out from its resting place, slicing new tendons and muscles along the way. I heard him chuckle before feeling his slick tongue lap up the blood pouring from the wound he'd just created on my upper right arm before probing around the edges of the wound. He knew what he did to me, and often did such things just to see that he had trained me well.

"I'm a little upset because of the company you keep, my love. Didn't I ask you not to spend so much time with that Lavi character?"

My mind whirled at the accusation that Tyki presented to me. I had done what he asked, even at the cost of Lavi's despair and the questioning of the other Black Cross members as to why I slowly stopped hanging with the guy who could be considered my best friend. I put it off as being ill and not feeling so well, and that seemed to somewhat pacify the curious nature of my companions. But again, it was only a temporary excuse and I knew I would have to invent a much more plausible reason as to why our friendship had been thrown away in such a manner.

I also knew better than to let my mind wonder when Tyki was being so kind as to give his undiluted attention to me, and he reminded me of that with a swift slap across my face. I gasped in surprise at the contact and could feel the sting as it lingered on my cheek. Almost as if to make amends for the harsh move, I instantly felt the soft curves of his lips pressing against my own. I craved the touch and eagerly leaned as much as my restraints allowed towards his body. The barbs in my wrist only dug in deeper and blood began seeping through the miniscule puncture wounds. I felt him smile into the kiss just before he pulled away and ran his long, thin fingers through my hair.

The peaceful moment was short lived by the violent tug on my pale hair and the sharp point of the knife tracing a clean cut down the side of my neck. I gasped at the sudden change in his demeanor and whimpered as I felt his hot breath next to my ear. For once, I was more afraid than I was in adoration. Though his voice remained calm, I could feel the anger now as it rolled off in waves from his dark body. I tried and I wanted to please him, but I had not worked hard enough to appease his anger.

"You know you can't deceive me. I see everything you do, and I know the way you allow him to look at you. Sometimes I think you give him too much of an endearing look as well, and you know I can't tolerate any of that."

The knife's steel trailed up the scar on my left eye as light as a butterfly. Blood began trickling out and was again replaced by Tyki's tongue as he swept up the slow path of the coppery liquid. He had told me before that he enjoyed the taste of my blood, and how he took pleasure in getting many samples of it himself. His habit frightened me for the first time in a long time. He usually never caused this many injuries, nor drew so much blood. His bloodlust was insatiable, which only meant that I really had highly displeased him. This time I cowered from his touch.

That velvety voice of his let out an amused laugh. He knew I understood what he'd spoke of, just as he always understood everything I did. So perhaps he was right, as sometimes Lavi would look at me in such a longing way, but was I allowing myself to look to hopelessly back? No, no I couldn't be because I knew…

"You are the only one, Master Tyki."

I could hear him hum, though whether in approval or disagreement I couldn't tell. His footsteps lightly faded away and I could hear him rustling through what sounded like paper of some sort. I hadn't noticed it before… What else did he bring this time?

"Tilt your head back."

I immediately did as I was told. I had learned long ago that disobedience was never the path to tread when Tyki gave one a command. As I craned my neck, I felt something drip onto my lips and I instinctively licked at it and immediately regretted it. I knew this taste. I had tasted it on the battlefield from myself and had smelt it in the air as my comrades and companions had perished at the hands of Akuma. Something round probed at my lips in a silent command for me to open my mouth once more and I obliged. The fleshy object disappeared behind my teeth and the same taste blossomed through my senses. This time it was accompanied by something equally as sweet as I chewed on the object.

"Like them, Allen? Grapes, if you haven't already figured that out. I spiced them up a bit just for you, though I'm sure you already recognize that as blood. Mine to be exact. Just thought maybe you'd like to have part of me with you."

He paused here, another of his low chuckles exhibiting both his signs of sensuality and madness.

"I know I am the only one, Allen. I only wish that you would show it a bit more than you do sometimes. But that's okay!"

I couldn't help but jump at the incline of his voice at the end. He almost sounded happy, and the idea would be welcome except for the fact that Tyki never truly got happy. Another grape appeared at my mouth and I silently followed his unspoken command. The sharp and tangy taste assaulted me once more with that immediate sweet aftertaste.

A lustful gasp escaped from me as his weight suddenly settled on top of me, causing friction between our two lower bodies. He was leaning so close enough so that our chests were touching and I could feel the even rise and fall of his breaths. I felt the soft touch of that deliciously dark flesh of his as he leaned completely against my body and wrapped a hand around my restrained ones. The barbed wires there loosened before falling to the floor with a chaotic rattle. His long, slender fingers intertwined with my own and he raised the hand up to kiss the knuckles that lay there.

"You know where to start. In the meantime, I'll give you a reminder to behave more often in public."

Dim lighting filled my vision as the cloth around my eyes was removed and I blinked until my sight had adjusted. Lamps stood in each corner of the room which was the source of the lighting. Now was not the time to be distracted. Looking forward I was greeted by those brilliant yellow orbs as they looked at me. Gods, every time he observed me I felt like he was staring deep into my soul and it absolutely drove me nuts. As always his hair was disheveled in that way that looked purposeful.

Oh, Tyki… He smiled at me and the whiteness of his teeth contrasted sharply with the odd, dark color of his flesh. The metal of the knife in his hand glinted as he twirled it. It was bigger than I had expected, though I shouldn't have been surprised by the amount of pain that throbbed from the wounds he had inflicted on me.

"Go, Allen. Don't expect me to wait."

Ignoring the throbbing pain in my arm, I reached down between us and grasped his length of flesh. For the first time since he'd come here today, I had elicited a gasp from him. Emotion: It was what I had learned to crave from him. The motion was slick from the blood coating my hands that still gently flowed from the holes circling my wrists but it only seemed to affect him more, causing him to arch into my hands. Blood was his calling and I was only eager to give him what he wanted.

The knife held in his hand suddenly obscured my vision, its sharp point digging into the skin of my right chest. Never looking up into the sure insanity I would see in Tyki's face, my hands began moving up and down on his shaft. As the motion continued I could feel the Noah tensing under the sensation before he continued whatever it was he had set out to do.

The knife dragged across my chest, breaking my skin with frightening liquid speed. Blood sprayed and pain erupted like lava from my chest at the first incision. Black spots threatened to cloud my vision, but I couldn't let myself succumb to it. But yet… It was hard to steel my mind against this. I had faced countless Akuma, yet feeling the pain from something at the level of an emotional obsession made it feel impossible to resist anything that Tyki could ever possibly want to make me feel.

My pause had caused Tyki to pause as well. The first half of an inch of knife was still dug into the slash, blood leaking and dripping down the flat expanse of my heaving chest and trembling abs. When I looked up at Tyki, the same blood was sporadically covering his face and, at my attention, he reached up and licked a bloody finger. The madness I had imagined remained clear as day on the smooth features of his face. Now that I had looked into the part of him I tried not to see for myself, I could not force myself to look away as I continued what I had been doing. The resumed motion galvanized Tyki to continue what he had been doing as well.

The slow methodical pain was unimaginable. The more that blood sprayed and seeped out his cuts, the more Tyki reached his edge. I could always tell- his body always became more eager as the blood satisfied his craving. His cuts became even more fluid and the pain only seemed to intensify. I could no longer keep track of the lines he was making with each of his swift strikes.

Tyki's only warning was an almost nonexistent grunt before I vaguely felt the familiar warmth spray across my abdomen and my hands. Following the Noah's earlier example I lifted the strange mixture of blood and semen to my own mouth and licked in every drop. It was "unacceptable to waste such a precious fluid of a superior race," he had said. It was not something for me to be able to object to.

Without any warning, Tyki's body eased off my lap and I tensed as the chair was tilted back suddenly, quickly connecting the chair's back- and my head- to the ground. My thoughts scrambled at the blunt force as Tyki leaned over me to plant one last kiss on my lips.

"Remember Allen: Behave. I'll see you around."

His face disappeared and I only faintly heard the rustle of clothes as he went to put them back on before the black completely overran my vision.

Ooooo

"…Allen?"

I started awake from the fitful sleep I had been in. Sleeping had become difficult the last few days, many past memories of Tyki and I replaying almost constantly behind my lids and on the walls and ceilings even when I was awake. Especially this last excursion… I didn't remember how I got back to Headquarters, but the first time I regained consciousness was in Lenalee and Lavi's presence.

They were the ones who told me all about finding me in mine and Tyki's room. Of course, they don't understand that's what it was. They merely believe that I was ambushed and tortured by Tyki and a few of his higher level Akumas. Lenalee had fumed for a bit about how the Noah had chosen to gloat by leaving directions for where to find me. I can only assume that Tyki made a small effort to eradicate the evidence of his specific part in the meeting.

Thinking of it made my hand jump up to my chest as I turned to face Lavi. The cuts were still very tender and would take quite a bit before they healed, like the other injuries. All of them were rather deep and bloody, Komui came to tell me. However, this one was personal and most likely how my team mates knew it was he who caused the damage. Being careful not to re-open the wounds, I let my fingers trace over the carefully-placed incisions.

Tyki.

It was only fitting for him to give me a reminder in such a way. He wanted me to behave. While everyone else would clearly see this as him branding his work, I understood it to be an entirely different kind of message.

"I'm sorry Lavi, but could you leave?"

That look of pain was there again, but the exorcist complied and quietly left through the door. Once the door had fully shut behind him, I twisted my right arm to view the underside. Another note from Tyki before he had left: a date for another week from now. I wasn't entirely sure if anyone else had caught it, or overlooked it due to my more serious problems. It had surprised me at first to see the coordinates of a different place, but I knew it was only understandable. Tyki was a very routine man, but he wasn't stupid.

I knew I should never go back, and how I should alert my team as to what had been happening between the two of us. It was the smart and the right thing to do. Still, I knew I would never follow through with this idea and it had nothing to do with pride over the matter. With how much time I had been spending with Tyki it had all boiled down to one thing:

In the end the lines separating my right and wrong, and my good and bad had blurred. To me, those lines had become thinner than water.