Noah of Innocence
Chapter 4
Tyki sat on the edge of the bed running his long fingers through the white locks, waiting for the child to awaken. Precisely twenty four minutes after the Earl had left, the boy began to show some movement. However, after he began to toss and turn, slowly becoming entangled in the sheet that lay beneath him, he realised the boy was suffering from one of his nightmares the oldest Noah had mentioned. Within moments of this revelation, the Noah of pleasure was attempting to wake the slumbering shounen, but every attempt failed. When shaking and calling Allen's name did not work, Tyki resorted to something he had never done before, at least not since becoming a Noah. He pulled the frail body into a hug and comforted the child as best he could, whispering calming yet nonsense words, meaningless yet peaceful in their own right. Eventually the sobs quietened and the child ceased to struggle. As the breathing evened out it also increased in pace, announcing that Allen was beginning to wake. Tyki continued to sooth the boy, combing his fingers through the silky hair and waiting for the shounen to finally find consciousness.
Allen quite suddenly jerked into full awareness, but felt himself in the embrace of slim sturdy arms which he allowed himself to relax into. Mana. He tried to say, but it remained as a thought. His throat was closed up and he could not speak. Beginning to panic now his breaths became shorter and more regular, becoming gasps as his body fought for oxygen. Black spots began to appear across his vision, and his tense body began to slump, as the panic attack came in full swing...
Tyki was alarmed to find the child hyperventilating in his hold.
"Hey! Allen, calm down. Its okay, everything's alright. The Earl sent me, I won't hurt you." The boy's body slumped against him, not in a relaxing manor, but one of weakness and defeat. "Shounen, listen. No one's going to hurt you, you're safe here, I promise." He turned the limp body so it was lying once again on top of the sheets of the bed and leant over the tiny frame, glad to find the boy still had his eyes open. Staring into the pair of grey grieving orbs, he looked long and hard. "Just breathe, okay? Come on, it's not that hard. In, and out."
He anxiously looked on as he began to wonder if Allen could even hear his desperate attempts to help him. However after a few more encouraging words the gasps evened out to pants and eventually a rhythmic series of breaths. The grey eyes lost their glazed look, becoming more focused. They looked up at Tyki hopelessly, craving the company of the man whom he now remembered would never return. A single tear escaped the lonely right eye.
"Shounen? My name's Tyki. Tyki Mikk. I'm a... friend, of sorts, of the Earl." Silence met his attempt at an introduction. "I know your name's Allen, but not much else. Want to tell me a bit about yourself?" Again he was just faced with two grey orbs gazing vaguely at him, slowly losing their focus as he fell into the child's background as the boy once again became lost within his own mind.
"Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"
"..."
"How about some cake?"
"..."
"Sweets?"
"..."
"Come on! I know kids like sweet things."
"..."
"Fine not up to talking then." With a soft hmph, Tyki also fell into a silence, sulking slightly. He had been so sure he could help the boy in some way and which he knew would please the Earl greatly.
Allen felt guilty about upsetting the man. He knew this Tyki person was just trying to help him, much like the Earl who had taken care of him for a while now, but he just could not seem to be able to talk. He had tried, however every time he opened his mouth and the words began to form his breath would stick in his throat and he would be incapable of even breathing until he gave up the attempt. So he resorted to other means to gain the man's attention. He slowly, hesitantly, leant forwards and lightly placed his pale right hand on the man's shoulder, quickly withdrawing it when the man turned sharply to take him in. Brown met grey for a few seconds before Allen put the next part of his plan into action.
Tyki watched in astonishment as the boy mouthed something to him.
"Sorry?" He said uncertainly, but was quickly assured by a tentative nod. "That's okay shounen." A grin fell with ease onto his features at the achievement of communicating with Allen. The child frowned slightly and mouthed something else.
"Shounen?" Once more the white haired boy nodded in confirmation. "It means boy." The frown disappeared in an instant and was replaced with a timid, yet breath taking, smile. Tyki was also certain he saw the eyes briefly flash to liquid pools of silver before they froze over, becoming a dull grey again. "Come on. Let's go make something to eat." Tyki decided holding his hand out for Allen to take, smiling kindly down at the thin figure. The boy stared warily at the offered limb, but when he say Tyki's grin fall a little he reached out to take it with his own tiny hand.
They then walked hand in hand along the hall, down several flights of stairs and past many rooms until, finally, they found themselves in a large kitchen. Tyki lifted Allen to sit on the counter as he rummaged through the fridge.
"I'm not much of a cook, so a sandwich will have to do. Okay?" He said glancing up to see the reply which came as a nod of the head. "What do you want in it? Cheese? Ham? Chicken..." He was cut off by the boy's lips moving to form the word of his choice. "Cheese it is." Tyki said brightly and set to work, slicing the bread and cheese and buttering it. Lastly he cut the food into four triangles before placing them on a plate and handing it to the child. Allen ate two whole sections and a bite of the third, but then came to a halt lowering the segment back to the plate and the plate to the counter beside him. Tyki observed this and put down his own dish.
"What's wrong? Did it taste that bad?" He said faking a hurt expression. His was quickly met by protests from the small child, shaking his head viciously whilst waving his hands in front of the scrawny body. "Perhaps you'd like something else then?" The Noah of pleasure turned back to the fridge ignoring the shaking head he caught out the corner of his eye. "Hmmm..." Reaching in, he found a few Mitarashi Dango, sickly sweet syrup covered Japanese deserts that he had seen Road and Skin, dreams and wrath, enjoying on occasion. Most probably Wrath would be outraged by the disappearance of one of his sweet treats however he was not about to let Allen starve himself. He picked up one of the sticks and pulled a single sweet off tentatively pushing it past his lips and handed the rest to the boy. He watched in his peripheral vision as the boy first sniffed the sweet and then took an experimental bite. It was quickly followed by another and then another until sweets were disappearing every few seconds. By this point Tyki had discarded his spying and had turned to watch openly, and in awe, at just how fast the food was disappearing. When there were no Dango left, Tyki opened the fridge a third time and brought out the rest of the skewers, each with five of the treats stabbed into place. He handed the plate to the eager child and watched with wide eyes as they also disappeared soon followed by the previously discarded sandwich and the glass of milk the Noah had fetched earlier.
"So what should we do now?" Tyki wondered after they had made their way back to the Earl's chambers. They still had another hour until he returned and had nothing in particular to do. The boy, however, seemed to have renewed energy after emptying the fridge of anything edible. He looked upon everything with new curiosity and was currently looking at a bookshelf in the corner that Tyki had a suspicion had not been there before they left. "How about I read you a story?" He said, deciding to play along with whatever someone was playing. The boy looked up at him in confusion. "What you don't want me to?" The boy quickly shook his head and pulled a book at random off the bottom shelf, mainly, Tyki noted, because it was the only shelf he could reach. "Hmmm..." he murmured as he looked from the book in the pale hand and back to the shelves, "maybe this one would be a better choice?" Reaching out he took out a book of fairy tales and replace the biography the boy had picked. Allen nodded. "Can you read?" He asked out of curiosity. This received a nod but the boy mouthed a 'sort of' to him.
The Earl dashed away from his 'office' the second the last call had been received and bounded to his quarters. The sight that met his weary eyes was one of great comfort and happiness. Allen appeared to have fallen asleep on Tyki's lap and a book, held in the other Noah's slackened grip, proved the effort he had gone to in his lunch break had been worth it. As he shut the door gently behind him, Tyki, who had also been dozing, jerked into full awareness, but quickly relaxed when he remembered the child on his lap.
"Lord Millennium." He greeted quietly, barely above a whisper.
"He's sleeping." The Earl was truly amazed by the peaceful slumber Allen was currently in.
"Yes. He hasn't had any nightmares yet either. He also ate a... proper lunch?" He trailed off, and his voice rose a little toward the end of the statement, turning it into a question. The questioning look he received encouraged him to explain. "Well... we need to go shopping. He emptied the whole fridge. I don't even want to think about what Road and Skin are going to do to me when they find all their cakes and sweets gone!" he Earl chuckled a little louder than their previous hushed conversation and Allen stirred in pleasure's arms.
"Put him on the bed, we'll talk outside." Lord Millennium said returning to a low voice. Tyki did so, and they continued the exchange behind the door so as not to wake the finally peaceful child, as he slept, free of nightmares, for the first time in the last ten days, since Mana's second death.
Please review! I wanna know what everyone thinks of the story so far, and if there are any questions i will try my best to answer unless they involve spoilers. Also please point out any mistakes so i can correct them. Thnx xxx :)