Okay, after forgetting about 5 times, I finally remembered to put this up! Be prepared for my probably quite bad attempts at a romance story ^_^"
The 14th, accompanied by his pet, Timcanpy, strolled along. The Earl was his master but the 14th always felt like an outsider amongst the other Noah's. They simply treated him as an anomaly. He missed his brother, Mana, but he knew he could never blend with human society. It wasn't his appearance so much as his mindset. When his Noah had first emerged, he had killed his best friend. It had been a true miracle when the Earl had come to him and told him what he truly was. But then he met his 'family'. They were certainly... unique.....
He walked along, enjoying the sun and Timcanpy's company. The golem was easily his best friend.
Then he saw Her. She was lovely in ways indescribable. He looked away, ending his silent inspection, knowing it would be foolish to give himself any false hopes. But then he felt her gaze upon him. Her gaze was a heavy brown that held intelligence like that he had never seen, he simply nodded and turned away, fearful of what would come if he held her gaze too long. She smiled lightly and continued on her way as well.
The 14th tried to forget her, her gaze, her presence. But he couldn't. It sounded like some sappy 'love at first sight' thing but it may very well have been just that.
Even though he was never paid much mind, the 14th could tell the others were alerted that something was wrong. Or maybe something was right. Who knew.
"Brother?" Road started, "Is something wrong?" She had always been the most empathetic and one of the few who was somewhat nice to him.
"Nothing. Just thinking is all." He smiled lightly. She nodded, looking unconvinced.
He ate in silence and went to his room on the ark for the rest of the evening, playing mismatched music. He had met plenty of lovely woman on his strolls, what was it about this one that haunted him so much?
He slept that night, dreaming about her. He woke refreshed and yet also more tired than usual. He ate again in silence, silently listening to the others speak of plans and random gossip. Road gave him a few concerned glances but mostly kept her ears on the conversation between Jasdevi and Tyki about some pesky exorcists that refused to die.
The Earl always ate with them but he usually sat and listened as well. The 14th excused himself quietly and went out walking again.
He always walked through the same park, everyday. He saw many familiar faces but also always new ones. He strolled, with his little gold golem resting on his head, through the park until he walked by the fountain. She was there. Sitting on the fountain, looking around, searching for something, or someone. Her eyes locked on his, she smiled and motioned him over. Had she been waiting for him?
He hesitated and then gave in, knowing he wanted to talk to her. He walked over and sat.
"Hi, I'm Aki." She smiled.
"I'm Dorian." The name felt weird leaving his mouth as his family all either called him brother or 14th...
"Okay, nice to meet you Dorian"
"So, what brought this on?" He had to ask.
"I don't really know. I just deeply regretted not talking to you yesterday. I thought I would see if you would come back and have a second chance."
He smiled with her, "Yeah." he chuckled and the silence grew awkward until Tim, being smarter than the average golem fluttered down and bit his ear. "Tim! Ow!" He scolded the golem while nursing his ear which Tim had torn the skin off of.
Aki chuckled, "Hello Tim." She smiled and he fluttered over and nestled into her dark brown curls.
"Well, if Time likes you, then you must be special." Dorian mused, knowing Tim got easily annoyed with most strangers.
Aki smiled and her cheeks got slightly pink as she stroked the golem nestling on her head. Dorian couldn't help but notice how pretty she was.
Then she started singing softly, a lullaby that made Tim somewhat purr, if golems could purr.
Dorian was mesmerized by her voice. Was she a singer? He started imagining a tune to go along with it. The words were gentle and lulling.
After she was finished, Dorian stared at her smiling like a fool. "Are you a singer?" He asked.
She blushed, "Yes, I sing and play the flute. My father makes me learn though I've come to love the flute more than anything. I sometimes get embarrassed when I sing but some tunes just seem right....." Dorian nodded.
"Well, you have a lovely voice." Dorian smiled, making her blush a deeper pink, his dark skin hiding his own. He glanced down at his watch and felt a slight stab through the heart. He had to go with the Earl and the rest of the family and attend to some private business. "Well, Ms, Aki, I'm afraid I must take my leave, we are departing on vacation for a while as of today. It was lovely meeting you." She looked somewhat sad at this, then shook it off and smiled.
"Well, I hope you have a great vacation. Are you going with family?"
"Yes, family. We are visiting some old," he paused, "acquaintances." They both smiled at each other and Dorian began walking away but he felt a hand grasp his jacket.
"I-I'm sorry but," she stammered, "Will I ever see you again?" was her question.
Dorian smiled, that was a promise he could keep. "Of course. We'll be back two days from now." She looked relieved.
"Meet me here then? At noon on the third day?"
"Noon on the third day. I promise." And with that, Dorian kissed her hand gently and began walking towards the ark that he would be driving.
The 14thentered his room, along with Timcanpy and the score. He sat and began playing. The same song, nameless and lovely, he played but once he hit the chorus, Aki's lullaby entered his thoughts and he realized her words fit the tune perfectly. He sung them quietly to the tune as he played, enjoying his small job as a Noah more than usual. Road and the Earl could control the ark but he was the only one with full knowledge of every room, nook and cranny. He was its true master and it obeyed him over anyone else. They were going to pay the Black Order headquarters a little visit. An exorcist by the name of Cross was causing the Earl some rather large drops in numbers. He was a free thinker this Cross and he had just been appointed general.
They were not here for usual reasons, no, this was an assassination mission.
They arrived soon after setting off and departed the ark. Dorian and Road were left to guard the ark, basically meaning the others had already called dibs and Dorian and Road were the two extras that were slightly unnecessary.
"Hey, think they'll be able to kill him?" Road stunned Dorian by talking after almost a half hour of silence.
"I'm not sure how well an exorcist can stand against 5 Noah and several akuma but I suppose there is always a chance. Why didn't the Earl come anyways?"
"Oh, he had some business to attend to and decided that we could handle it." She blinked and started getting one of those looks in her eyes that meant she was daydreaming. Dorian just sighed. He was perfectly happy not having to go into the blood-bath the others would surely make out of the exorcist's headquarters. He also wondered what the Earl was up to. Timcanpy fluttered up by his head, resting at the top.
Dorian heard the shrieks and screams from the headquarters, Road came back into consciousness looking peaceful until she heard what Dorian did and smirked a bit. Her and most of the others loved the sounds of pain and sorrow. Dorian found it sickening. Dorian knew it was justified, their Noah had awakened amongst humans and humans had done horrid things to them. But He couldn't empathize considering he had never experienced any of that.
After all the noise had died down, Dorian let his mind wander again. He looked around and saw a middle-aged man clad in an exorcist uniform sprinting away from headquarters. But it wasn't just any exorcist uniform, it was a generals uniform. The red hair gave him away, General Cross had escaped. He could just see the fury etched into the other 5's faces when they realized his body wasn't among the corpses.
He looked over at Road who was sucking on a piece of candy and not paying attention to the window at all. Yes, the ark had a window. It could only be seen when they were landed somewhere but it was still a window.
Dorian thought about telling Road about Cross but decided against it, knowing that if he escaped the other 5, she was no match for him. He could be the Earl's problem.
Eventually, the other 5 emerged from the building, looking thoroughly furious. Mainly Jasdebi, who was known for their tantrums.
"We couldn't find any exorcists! Not one! Isn't this a headquarters? We took it out on finders and scientists." Debbitto stormed, a very sadistic grin on display during the last comment.
"Oh, and we are to stay here tonight and monitor repairs. If anyone on the Earl's 'list' shows up, we are to take them down." Tyki said nonchalantly.
Road smiled, probably at the aspect of her not missing all the fun. But Dorian was panicking. What if they stayed longer than planned? He would miss his meeting with Aki!
They all slept in their consecutive rooms on the ark, Dorian dreaming of all the things that could postpone them.
But luck was on his side and the repairs were just a bunch of hired human help. The others saw it fit to let them regroup and put up more of a challenge next time. Dorian had just rolled his eyes and begun playing.
They arrived in No-time and found the Earl back already.
He was both excited and nervous about tomorrow. He wanted to see her but he also feared putting her in danger, or hurting her.