Allen's POV
He'd snuck out of the infirmary to eat out in the cafeteria shortly after coming home from fighting in the ark when he noticed the shadow of a man staring at him from the hall. He froze halfway through his burger and stared at the shadow, only for it to disappear too soon for him to register a familiar shape or hairstyle. He raised a somewhat annoyed eyebrow and groaned to himself at the thought that someone might be stalking him.
Too hungry to care much, he brushed it off and opened his mouth wide to bite down once more, only to freeze once more at the second sight of the man, who this time stood out enough for his face to be recognized. Thankfully, no one noticed the grey skin before the man darted out of the room. Alarmed, Allen leapt from the table and followed after the noah, needing to sprint to keep pace with him. Although the shadow of him reflecting onto the wall was the only thing the exorcist saw, it showed how easily the man walked, as though taking a calm and comfortable stroll.
Lavi's POV
"Where's he going", Lavi wondered verbally, receiving a punch to the ground from Kanda in an apparent response.
"Shutup and we'll find out, rabbit", he grumbled, a tick of annoyance beating on his temple.
As Allen made his way out of the order's entrance door, the two stepped forward, ready to follow behind. They were stopped by the nurse, who angrily picked them up by the necks of their shirts and growled through her teeth, her eyes just about popping out of her skull, "Where do you two think you're going? You're injured, I can't let you go."
"Kanda? Lavi", Reever asked, hand in his lab coat's pocket as he walked toward them.
"Reever, help", Lavi whined dramatically, frantically flailing his arms and legs. "We have to follow Allen – he's acting suspicious! You have to help us! Come on!"
His eyes somewhat widened as he repeated back, "Suspicious?"
Allen's POV
Once they'd finally made it outside, he looked around frantically, unable to find him. The gatekeeper snored above him, apparently in a deep slumber, which somewhat eased his nerves, knowing that he could lure the noah into a place safer for the both of them to converse, seeing as Allen was already suspected of aiding them or, even, being a noah.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a gloved hand waving him off the edge of the cliff and, once he reached the edge, he spotted only the top of an opened, black umbrella as it seemed to glide across the ground, apparently being held by someone – Tyki.
His eyebrow twitched and he "tch"ed as he attempted to hurry down the cliff without killing himself, getting more annoyed by the minute with the way he wasn't seeming to be getting any closer to the noah and how said noah didn't seem to have any intention of turning around, despite being the one who first appeared. Is this a trap, he asked himself. I'm too weak to fight – maybe I should have brought back up. But how isn't he injured? And why is his skin still grey? Am I dreaming?
Although he hurried himself, the noah seemed to only get farther and farther as they made their way into a nearby, heavily populated city. There were so many people that Tyki seemed to disappear in the crowd. Allen stood still as people walked around him and he looked around the streets for any sign of the man he thought he was chasing. Just when he thought he'd disappeared and an ambush was sure to come, he watched as a carriage pulled up and an akuma got off the lead to open the door for the noah. As he took Tyki's top hat, Mikk looked over at him out of the corner of his eye, stepping into the carriage after they made eye-contact.
The carriage didn't move and the akuma didn't close the door, signaling to Allen that they were waiting for him to join. He cautiously made his way through the people, wondering exactly what was going to happen once he entered the buggy.
Kanda's POV
Lavi, Lenalee, Reever, Johnny, Kanda, Komui, and the annoying, nagging nurse stood at the edge of the city, looking around for their white-headed runaway as Lavi dramatically and loudly panted, bent over as though he'd done more exercise than ever – which everyone knew wasn't true. Still, he griped, "What are you trying to do? Kill us?" Though his eyes were closed and he faced the ground, his jab was obviously pointed at the samurai, who led the group in running to follow the beansprout.
Komui was being carried piggy-back style on Lenalee's back as he smiled down at Lavi and said in his usual annoyingly high-pitched voice he gave when he knew he was being childish, "Now, now, Lavi. Haven't you endured more than this? This should be nothing to you!"
Bookman junior's entire face was covered with tick marks as he screamed at Komui, "You aren't even walking! What do you know?"
"We don't have time to waste. If you aren't willing to put in a little world to find out what that idiot is up to then I suggest you go back", Kanda scolded, semi-annoyed by their obnoxious screaming, all the while scanning the crowd of people for any signs of their suspicious friend.
He hated that rabbit. They'd been on pretty bad terms since they met, but things got worse when Lavi confessed his feelings for Allen, which he had apparently harbored for a fairly long time. Coincidentally, Kanda happened to feel the same way. How annoying, he grumbled to himself.
He finally caught the boy stepping into an opened carriage before the driver closed the door and hopped back onto the lead, hurrying to snap the horses into speed. The group of people – except a complaining Lavi, who drug behind, exhausted – all rushed to follow the carriage as close as possible.
Allen's POV
He glared at the noah from across the carriage as they sat in silence, Tyki looking out the window with a frown on his face - arm on the window as he propped his head on his hand. The boy couldn't tell if he was angry or not, since he hadn't seen this expression before. He looks... tired. Or sad?
Despite his growing sympathy, he yelled at the noah, startling him so he shook slightly and lifted his head up, "What do you want, Tyki Mikk?"
The surprise left the noahs features and returned to his earlier position, appearing now to be uninterested. "You followed your enemy into a carriage and only then do you want to know what I want? How stupid, boy. I thought you were smarter than that."
He'd had enough. Anger burned his face as he hopped from his seat and wrapped his hands around the noah's neck, choking him violently and shaking him back and forth as he screamed, "Don't avoid my question, noah! Do you think that I trust you? I don't, so answer me before I slice this thing in half! Do you hear me?!"
He stiffened and loosened his grip, staring surprised at the smiling and laughing noah, who appeared to be more relaxed than he'd ever seen him. It was as though they were old friends, bantering over a meal or game. He stepped back into his seat, unwilling to allow himself to relax too much in the presence of the man who had nearly succeeded in killing him on several occasions.
As his bottom met the seat, he simply yet sternly commanded, "Talk."
Tyki cleared his throat, apparently still unable to retain his smile, even as he spoke, causing the boy's heart to flutter in a way he never thought could be possible after finding out that this man was partnered with his father's murderer and mankind's worst enemy. I hate him so much for what he did to me and for siding with the Millennium Earl, so why is it that I want to be around him like this more often every time I meet with him?
As though the man had been reading his mind, he asked cheerfully, "How'd you like to play another round or two of poker?" At the surprised "huh" he received from Allen, Tyki continued with, "This carriage is going to stop at a nearby inn who's room I've managed to acquire despite my inability to hide my grey skin. What do you say? I am injured, after all. You don't look too well, yourself." He looked down at the bandages that covered the boy's chest, arms, and face with a look that seemed to mix between curiosity, concern, and annoyance.
At the promise of a game of cards with the one he favored playing with the most, he nodded in agreement, returning the noah's gaze by staring at his chest. Although he was dressed well in a suit, the exorcist had to wonder if there were bandages under his clothing, as well.
Reever's POV
"Lenalee, slow down! You're going to make me sick – Lenalee~", Komui whined.
Everyone hung onto each other and onto Lenalee as she flew them through the air, to follow the carriage. Because of the strength she gained with her dark boots, handling these many men wouldn't have been such a problem, if it had ever been. The only problem was with the motion sickness that even Reever was somewhat catching. She wasn't going very fast because she only needed to keep pace with the carriage, but the height had made things difficult for everyone involved. Even Lenalee seemed somewhat annoyed with her brothers' crying.
Eventually, she lowered them all on top of the roof of a building in the middle of the city. Although it was dark out, there seemed to be a lot more people around than before, making it hard for them to keep track of Allen. Reever shushed everyone and pointed their attention to the carriage. The doors opened to reveal an obvious noah, though no one seemed to say anything or, even, notice his skin color. He took his top hat from the driver and held his hand out with a wide grin to help the other person in the carriage to get out. Allen hopped out and brushed passed him, sticking his nose in the air, though his cheeks flushed red at the noah's gesture.
"Tyki Mikk", Lavi asked, suddenly serious as his gaze narrowed on the noah.
"Tyki Mikk? As in the noah Allen tried to save", Komui asked, seeming to serious up, himself, though he still left hints in his voice and tone that he'd been crying moments earlier about his sister's flying.
"How come I haven't heard about this", Kanda grumbled, frowning more than seen before.
"You were supposed to be healing", said the nurse, arrogantly. "How could you receive any information, let alone something like this?"
As a bead of sweat rolled down the back of his and Lavi's hair, Lenalee calmly asked, "So are they together-together? They don't act like normal friends."
As Tyki took Allen's hand and hurriedly led him around the back of the inn, everyone turned their widened eyes to Lenalee and simultaneously yelled, "What?!"
Tyki's POV
He phased them through the inn's wall and ran them up the stairs, into a room he stole the key from in order to remain hidden from the view of ordinary humans. At least until he could change back into his "white" form again, since the attack in the ark had significantly weakened his abilities, though the Earl claimed it to be temporary.
From behind him, he heard Allen mutter under his breath, "you're despicable", which, of course, a made him snicker a little. He knew what face the boy was making and he'd known the boy for long enough that he felt like they were close friends, despite them being mortal enemies, and he was sure that Allen felt the same way. But he wanted to know him better and wanted to know him as a friend since, so far, they had only met as acquaintances and enemies at war.
Upon entering the room, realization hit him and a bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he groaned aloud, "Ah, it seems I've forgotten the cards – how inconvenient." Planning to turn the situation into his favor, he put on a flirtatious smirk and turned on his heel, saying as he did, "Well, I guess all there's left to do is-"
But he stopped as soon as he recognized the black and white checkered deck in the exorcist's hand, which he held up as he looked at the noah, visibly puzzled.
"You still have those", he asked, leaving behind his flirtatious jokes without even a mention.
Allen stuck his nose in the air and blushed brightly. "Yeah, so what? Are we gonna play a game or not?"
It was Lord Mikk's turn to be surprised, this time, and he stared at him with an opened mouth for several seconds. It wasn't until Allen's cheeks puffed up with embarrassment and annoyance that Tyki finally coughed out thick, free, and true laughter, which he hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing in ages, despite being the noah of pleasure. Instead of responding, he walked up to the wide-eyed exorcist and planted a pleasant kiss on his forehead.
Johnny's POV
They all crouched at a nearby rooftop and watched the room's window that they'd found after a pretty lengthy time of circling the inn. Johnny gawked with binoculars, Lavi stomped about, childishly throwing a tantrum, Kanda grumbled in the corner inaudibly, Lenalee blushed and attempted to get her hands on Reever's binoculars, and Komui began whining as though Lenalee was the one he'd seen in the window, "No, Allen~! Not him! He's such a good boy! So innocent! And that noah! No!"
Apparently, the yelling was enough to get the attention of the noah, though Allen didn't turn toward the window as Mikk made his way to it and closed the blinds, not long after making eye-contact with Johnny.
He clenched his hand into a fist and raised it triumphantly, yelling and grabbing everyone's attention, "I've decided! I'm going to support Allen's decision!"
The nurse, Lenalee, and Reever sweat-dropped at Johnny's proclamation, ticks of anger covered Kanda's face as his grumbling became louder and more intense, and Lavi and Komui – who were hugging each other as they cried before the scientist's outburst – dropped to the ground with a thump.