Rika T. Strange, with my third chapter! I'm amazed I've gotten this far... Usually I loose interest in a fic or fandom by now! Y'all should count yourselves lucky, 'cause normally by the second chapter you'd be waitin' six months or more for an update! [/southern twang] Just kidding, of course. I love you guys! Anyways, this one's TykiXMiranda. I PROMISE I'll start doing more on other characters (I actually have a Lavi and Allen friendship!chapter planned out for after this), but this one has been bugging me for a while so I HAVE to finish it before I start the others.
Anyways. New chapter! Disclaimer's in the first one.
-----------------------------
The former Noah sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This really was getting dull, not being able to leave Headquarters to so much as buy groceries or slum with the local vagabonds. And then there were the daily tests by the science department- they were either annoying or painful, with a strong tendency towards the latter. Plus the frequent interrogations by that mustached freak and the "Crow" guys...
All things considered, Tyki had come to the conclusion that having a woman would at least make things bearable. But Lenalee was off-limits: not only was she (rather covertly) Allen's lover, but his current situation at the Order was shaky at best and the last thing he needed was that sister-obsessed supervisor breathing down his neck on top of everything else. Then there was General Cloud, of course, but she was hardly present enough to make pursuing her worthwhile. Well, that and he had killed her students.
This left a handful of nurses, and Miranda Lotto. When he thought about it, Tyki realized that she was probably the most interesting of the women, if far from the most feminine. Her strength as an exorcist was quietly invaluable, while her strange fits of panic and clumsiness were alternately funny and charming. When added to her romantic inexperience, she made for an interesting challenge. No, wooing her would not be boring.
The first day after Tyki Mikk made his decision, he left a potted pink lily in her room (Jerry had procured it for him; the cook had been all-too-willing to help Tyki in his "quest for love~!" as he had called it). Now he stood outside in the hall and smiled to hear her exclamations of surprise and confusion. A few moments passed and Miranda poked her head out from the doorway, holding the plant's pot tightly. She spotted Tyki and gave a nervous smile- he still unnerved her, it seemed, though his skin was human-toned again and the only marks of a Noah he bore were the now-jagged crosses on the palms and backs of his hands.
"Did you see anyone come in my room, Mr. Mikk?" She asked, her voice wavering.
He winked lazily at her and smiled conspiratorially, delighting to see her blush. "I did indeed, Ms. Lotto." Tyki strolled over and took the plant from her without asking, and she was too surprised to protest. "It matches your blush, don't you think?" He glanced at her sideways and she slammed the door in a panic. Tyki laughed and set the flower down outside her door. "Take good care of the flower," he called as he walked away. Inside her room, Miranda's heart was pounding.
She waited until she was certain he'd gone before she opened the door and snatched up the flower. "I will take good care of it," she said quietly, setting it on her windowsill. Her words were soft but there was annoyance and determination beneath them.
The next day Miranda was ready to put the whole incident behind her as a joke, as she'd learn to do with any display of affection directed towards her. Of course Tyki had a much different agenda, so at breakfast Miranda found herself not only in the company of Lenalee, Allen, Lavi, Noise and Krory, but of Tyki Mikk as well. This wasn't as unusual as it might have been, since he got along well with the exorcists, but normally Tyki slept in far past regular breakfast hours and consequently ate alone. Miranda blushed when she saw him at the table and sat down between Lenalee and Noise. Arms pressed tight to her sides, she tried to make herself as small and unobtrusive as possible. But she felt the former Noah glancing at her with almost indecent frequency, in-between teasing Allen and playfully commenting on the length of Lenalee's skirt.
Finally, just when she was beginning to relax a little, he turned his attention to her completely. "And how is the flower I gave you doing today, Ms. Lotto?"
Miranda choked on her milk and Noise had to slap her on the back until she could breath again. "I-it's fine," she sputtered, red in the face from coughing and having the gift mentioned.
"You gave her a flower?" Allen asked. His voice was casual but there was a cautionary, protective vein beneath it.
"Yes, a lily," Tyki answered, unperturbed by the boy's tone. "Pink, like her lovely face."
Miranda's face got redder. Krory excused himself from the table.
"Tyki..." Allen was outright warning him now.
The former Noah only laughed. "Perhaps a red rose would have been better?"
"Tyki." It was Lenalee now, her voice laced with threats if he continued to tease her friend. Though she and the others had befriended the former Noah, they knew full-well his frivolous attitude toward women and romance. They thought the last thing Miranda could handle was putting her heart on the line in such an unpredictable game, and they wanted to protect her.
"You play me for a villian," Tyki replied easily. "I assure you, I mean Ms. Lotto no harm." He winked. Miranda frowned deeply and stared at her plate until she worked up the nerve to speak. She could hear the warning tones in her friends' voices, and knew they were trying to protect her... But she couldn't let them do everything for her. She was a woman, damn it, and if she wasn't willing to take a risk or two then her own flower would wither before anyone appreciated its bloom.
"If you just intend to use me for your amusement... I won't have it. I-I won't let you." She forced herself to meet Tyki's gaze with eyes both terrified and defiant. He was surprised and enthralled with this turn of events; she spoke again: "But if you're sincere..." Her expression softened by half an inch and she suddenly she lost her resolve. "I-I ah, I..." She spluttered and Tyki grinned, happy to fill in his own words..
"I'll meet you for lunch at one."
In the silence that followed she swallowed hard and nodded, hoping all the while that she wasn't getting into something too far beyond her level of experience.
After breakfast Miranda returned to her room with Lenalee; the younger woman was determined to try and convince her friend out of meeting Tyki for lunch.
"He's not like Allen, or Krory or Noise," she insisted. "He's just bored..."
"And?" Miranda almost snapped. "So what if he's merely bored? It's... It's better than having nothing at all. I should at least try."
"Oh, Miranda..!" Lenalee took her friend's hand and squeezed it tight. "Please don't say that. You're wonderful. I'm sure some day soon, a kind man will come along and you won't have to-"
"I'm twenty six, Lenalee," she interrupted quietly. "'Soon' is too long."
Lenalee was taken aback by her friend's interruption, then relented slightly and shook her head. "Just... Be careful." Miranda nodded and slipped into her room.
The time exorcist met Tyki at the cafeteria ten minutes late; not intentionally but because she had needed the extra time to compose herself. She was wearing her black and red uniform as usual- she didn't want to give the wrong impression, and it wasn't like she had much else to wear. Miranda noticed the table was set for two with an assortment of German dishes. She raised her eyes to smile at him but frowned instead when she saw the strained expression on his face.
"Is something wrong?" she asked as she sat down, her concern overriding her nervousness.
"N-nothing," he grunted, giving her an exaggerated smile in an attempt to hide it his discomfort. But Miranda noticed anyways and saw the way he carefully kept his arms beneath the table. She glanced briefly down at her own hands- gloved, like they always were, to hide the scars.
"...Are your scars hurting?" Tentatively, she reached out.
"They're fine," he was steadfast in his desire to keep his arms out of sight.
"You can't eat if you don't move your hands," Miranda noted quietly.
"I'll make due." Tyki's face was serious now.
"I didn't come to eat by myself," she answered. She felt the blush creeping up her neck.
"...Fine." He pulled his hands out from under the table and Miranda chanced a glance at them. She gasped when she saw the palms were wrapped 'round in bandages, a dark red radiating from their centers on either side.
"What happened? Why are they bleeding again?"
"Testing," Tyki stated casually. "Science department wants to know why I still have them, so every now and then they cut them up and draw blood from the veins that feed them."
Miranda turned pale. She knew it was probably Central's doing, but... It was terrible, that the side she was fighting for could be so cruel.
"I-I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry you have to endure that..."
Tyki laughed. "No, I should apologize. If I'd known this was on today's schedule, I wouldn't have made a date so soon after. They probably look disgusting. But then it would be foolish to waste the chance to spend time with such a pretty lady, so I couldn't rightly cancel." He was trying to distract her, smiling winningly.
She shook her head, refusing to be distracted, and gently took his hands in hers. He immediately tried to pull away and she let him. The blood from his bandages smeared onto her white gloves. He stared at her hands for a long while before speaking again.
"I suppose yours are almost gone, now," he stated quietly, then turned and asked brightly, "show them to me, won't you?"
"They're ugly," Miranda protested.
"I don't care," Tyki insisted. "I showed you my hands."
"Fine," she answered after a pause. Miranda hid her hands beneath the table and slowly pulled off her gloves; she folded them carefully and set them aside before she finally let her naked fingers poke over the edge of the table.
"That's hardly fair, Ms. Lotto," he said with a laugh. "You can't keep them half-hidden."
She flushed but placed her hands on the table; she clasped them together nervously all the while. Her blush spread when he carefully picked them up, running the exposed tips of his fingers over the discolored splotches her scars had faded to.
"They're not ugly," he told her softly. "They're natural... Human. Almost look like dandelions."
Miranda shivered and in the corner of her mind hoped he would continue to caress her hands. When he did and she began to relax and simply enjoy his touch; her eyes started to close and Tyki smiled. He reluctantly let go of her hands and spoke.
"Your food's going to get cold, Ms. Lotto."
Her eyes snapped open and she nodded hastily. "R-right!" Miranda rushed to find a distraction from her (what she considered) embarrassing behavior, and cut at her food furiously before all but shoving it into her mouth.
Tyki laughed out loud. "A woman after my own heart." She choked on her food in response and Tyki laughed harder, getting up to help her by slapping her on the back as Marie had done earlier that day. He ignored the pain in his hands.
When she could speak again she was practically crying. "Y-your hands!" She wailed. "You hurt them!"
"It's fine," he answered dismissively, waving off her concerns and dripping blood on the floor. "I've suffered worse."
Miranda shook her head purposefully and stood up. "I'm taking you to the medical wing. They'll take care of you."
"No!" Tyki was suddenly frantic. "That old woman is crazy. I won't go near her, even if you cry."
Miranda's eyes welled up despite his words. "P-please?" She begged, gently taking hold of his wrist. "I don't want you to hurt worse than you already are!"
"I'm fine," he soothed, then smiled mischievously as he got an idea. "Although if you want to take me back to your room and bandage me up, I wouldn't mind..."
Miranda was too worried to pay attention to the implications in his statement. She dutifully took him back to her room, where there was always a plethora of first-aid supplies (mostly for treating her own bumps and bruises that she acquired throughout the day). "Here," she said softly, letting go of his writs. "Sit down, please." Miranda motioned to her bed and walked over to her bookshelf where the majority of her bandages were kept (on a lower shelf, of course, so she wouldn't fall when reaching for the top). She walked back a moment later and sat down beside him. Tyki smiled and leaned in closer. Too concerned to notice, Miranda carefully unwrapped his hands.
"They'll never heal, if they keep being cut up like this," she said softly. "I'm afraid to think what... what would happen if they were to become infected."
"Mm." The former Noah's smile remained on his face even as Miranda dabbed at his wounds with disinfectant. She smells nice, he thought. Like... Grapefruit and thick honey. He leaned even closer and soon was resting his head against hers.
Miranda blushed fiercely but kept working. He's probably just tired, she told herself. And when his hands were bandaged and her job completed, she found herself reluctant to move. But it wasn't a proper situation, so she felt obliged to speak up. "Mr. Mikk," she started softly, "I-"
"Just call me 'Tyki'," he interrupted lazily, not moving an inch.
"T-tyki," she started again.
"Can I call you Miranda?" He interrupted again.
"Y-yes that's fine, but-"
"Good, because I like it much more than 'Ms. Lotto'. That's too formal, I think."
Miranda gave a small, only half-defeated sigh. "Tyki..."
"Yes?"
There was a pause. "...Are your hands feeling any better?"
He laughed inside himself. "Yes, they are."
Miranda smiled a little. "That's good." She'd given up on trying to make him move. "Proper behavior" be damned, he didn't want to and neither did she.
On the windowsill, her lily stood blooming.
-----------------------------
Rika says: This chapter's song was "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John because I love its flippancy. It fits human!Tyki well, I think xD Speaking of, though, I'm not entirely sure if I portrayed him right *sweatdrop* So as usual, give me constructive reviews! Tell me what I can do better.
