Happy holidays!
I made this one a little longer (for me at least) since I haven't updated by the time I initially wanted to have

Faces inches from one another the exorcist and noah gazed into the eyes of the other. They didn't dare say a word out of uncertainty. Where would they go from here? Neither wanted to be enemies.

Both waited for the other to speak up.

The luggage, although not at all heavy, felt like it was suffocating Tyki. He let go of the cigarette that he had forgotten he held in his left hand. Running his tongue along the bottom of his lip before biting it, he reached his newly freed hand to move a strand of loose hair behind Lenalee's ear.

She watched each movement carefully: the focused look in his eyes before they made contact and darted off to look anywhere else, the minuscule twitch of his hand right before his finger ghosted against the skin of her earlobe, the way his mouth parted ever so slightly — hesitant to say a word.

In an instant, the moment was over with a pound on the door. It reverberated, breaking the silence between them.

"Can we come in or are you two busy?" Momo questioned, though muffled by the door.

Tyki sat up as Lenalee rushed to open the door. "We're not busy. Should we be?" She inquired.

Tyki propped himself up with her bag. "I see you're back early," He slouched over it in a rather uncomfortable manner — arms hugging it close. "What happened you all right?"

Of the three, none were sporting pains or aches. Eeez hopped to Tyki's side and plopped down. Clark explained while walking in, "We wanted to make sure the two of you were doing all right, so we took off early."

Lenalee retrieved her jacket from Eeez, sidestepping around the now crowded space. "I'm going to go into town and pick up ingredients for dinner." Once ready, she reached for the door handle. "Is there anything you want?"

She left with a mental list that to work with for something warm, fish, no fish, and 'whatever you want.' Short, but not the most helpful list she had to say.

Tyki's friends quickly questioned him about his recent time with their new lady friend. Tyki didn't want to have to explain the innocence and noah aspects and summed it up the best way he could. "She got lost and I found her. When she was in there she got cut by some glass so I gave her a piggyback."

"Really, that's it? I don't think you mentioned what happened when you got back here." Clark's tone of voice holding less than subtle not-so-PG undertones.

"We're just friends!" Tyki said, shrinking away as if he could avoid the questions he was sure to hear next. The next words were nothing more than a grumble, "…Besides, I took a nap while she went to get clean..."

"…Dude," Momo said while scrunching his eyebrows. "You've got it bad."

"I don't have anything, Momo."

"Stop moping, just tell her how you feel."

Tyki's head shot up — eyes narrowed, brow scrunched — in disbelief. He leaned his head forward, not certain he heard right.

"I think Lenalee likes you too." Eeez chimed in. He too was greeted by Tyki's quizzical look.

"There's no way, we're just friends and her boyfriend would probably try and kill me." The red-head already had a beef with Tyki from trying to kill Allen and he did not want this to be added to the list of reasons to hate him. If he got in a fight with the eyepatch kid, Tyki reasoned, he would undoubtedly want to kill him. That would totally screw up his new friendship.

That would totally screw up his new friendship.

After another moment of thought, he added, "What does she see in him?" It was more to himself than anyone else.

Clark laughed, "What does she see in you?"

"Not much," Tyki mumbled, resting his head on her luggage.

The three looked at one another, none of them were sure how to deal with their noah friend. Tyki was never known to act like a mess when it came to girls. In fact, he ignored them a good chunk of the time.

"Do you want to be friends with her?" Momo asked.

The muffled reply was a drawn out yes.

"Do you want to be anything more?"

"No."

"Alright, sure… just friends."

They were getting nowhere, that was evident. The conversation served to confuse Tyki's emotions further and the more they thought about it, if Tyki couldn't sort this out by himself they couldn't be of much assistance.

Tyki leaned back and slapped his hands against his face. Eeez was about to ask him if he was alright, though didn't have the chance before the man leaned over and onto him. "I just want to sleep," he groaned.

Without warning, a bag was dropped on his back. "Go to sleep and you are not eating my cooking." The look of surprise on his face was clear as day. "You have no self-awareness after you wake up," she continued, one brow up.

Momo and Clark burst out laughing at the sight. Lenalee, having only come in while they were in the silent part of their inquisition, was rightfully confused. She looked to Eeez for some explanation.

He looked at Tyki then back to her and shook his short locks. His lips were sealed.

Rolling her eyes and sighing, Lenalee picked the bag back up and got to work in the kitchen. Momo offered to help with the meal, though he was turned down. Lenalee didn't want to ruin the surprise she had planned.

She carefully made the food, every so often, straining to hear what they were talking about. It was curious. In the four days that she got to know them, the exorcist never heard them speak in such quiet tones. There wasn't anything that she was aware of that was considered a secret amongst them.

Tyki was sitting cross-legged with Eeez on his lap, Tyki's weight was shifted onto the arms behind his back. Clark was on a chair, back towards her, leaning his head on the body of it. Although Momo wasn't in view, by the way they managed to stay hush-hush, he was somewhere near the two men.

The conversation was difficult to hear, though that was understandable since she was cooking. Lenalee could only hear when things were heated, mostly from Clark. They were probably talking about crushes she guessed. It was like how many of the guys from the order acted when they were talking about it. They weren't ever good at hiding it. Lenalee thought it was a tad rude of them to have these conversations in front of her but now it was more humorous than anything. If men have trouble with women, what better way is there to figure out what to do than ask another woman? Nothing was stopping them.

Lenalee put her after dinner surprise in the oven before bringing their dinner out in one hand. The other holding their dishes and cutlery. "Voilà!" Lenalee exclaimed while setting the pan down. The triumphant tone of her voice got them intrigued by her creation. "This is my first time making it in a pan but I think it came out well."

She returned to the kitchen as they took their places and eyed the contents. There were lots of vegetables to see: broccoli, carrots, onions, and cabbage. Momo saw the meat and called out to their beloved chef, "Please tell me this isn't fish." His apprehension was more than clear.

"It is, it's um, bal…? ba… bacalhau? I think that that is what she called it." Lenalee emerged with another pan, thought this one with rice. "You don't have to have any if you would rather not." She started to fill each of their bowls with rice. With a sing-song voice, she added, "Tyki looks more than happy to eat the fish you don't want."

"I- I do not!" The noah protested. He huffed and grabbed a scoop to put on top of his rice. "I just like fish okay…"

Lenalee smiled, eager to see how they liked this dish. It was the first way she ever learned to cook. The others mimicked Tyki, not entirely sure how to eat this. They were a little unsure how to ask, with how excited she was to see them take a bite. He seemed to know what he was doing at the very least.

"It tastes great!" Eeez beamed at her once he finished chewing. All were in agreeance, nodding their heads as they continued to chow down. Lenalee rubbed the back of her head and thanked them before starting to eat herself.

The idle chatter didn't last very long. Clark addressed Lenalee in a stern tone, "Are you alright? I didn't think about it before but you were real beat up when the two of you were headed here. We shouldn't have had ya go into town again."

They looked to her, all but Tyki. He cast his gaze to a chip in the table to his right, knitting his brow. "I'm fine," They looked at her unsure. Putting her hands up she continued, "honestly! I took a nap shortly after we got back. I only looked so bad because I was tired. That and Tyki is very bad at first aid." She took another bite. "He made it look worse than it was because he bandaged me significantly more than need be."

"I just wanted to help…" Tyki replied. He looked up and was surprised to see her smiling back at him. It was small but still there.

"What were you talking about while I was in the kitchen? It seemed serious." Lenalee asked.

"Nothing much," Momo replied.

Eeez elaborated without prompt, "girls." The others gagged and coughed.

"I figured as much," She said to herself before standing. "If you need any advice I'm here." It would probably be rude to press the issue more than that, she reasoned.

After Lenalee returned to the kitchen to check the oven, she poked the cake she made with a knife for later in order to check if it was done. Once removing it to let cool, Lenalee returned to her seat. They asked her what was up to which she simply said, "it's a secret," with a wink.

Dinner continued with ease. None of the rice or fish was left over when they finished. Very little of any of it was remaining for that matter.

Lenalee brought out the cake as they started to clean up. "Who wants to help me frost this?" When producing the sweet treat, Eeez almost dropped the mask that he was in the middle of putting back on. His eyes were wide like the other three in the room.

"I'm so sorry." Lenalee apologized. "You're probably full— I didn't think to ask if you like sweets." She set it on the pastry on the edge of the counter. Moving a hand to rub at her temple she let out a sigh.

Quickly they jumped to respond in a jumbled mess.

Momo was first, "No, thanks, we're just surprised is all!"

Clark inquired tensely, "How much did you spend on all this?"

Tyki added on, "Yeah, you didn't need to do this for us."

Eeez was still in awe and hadn't said a word. Lenalee was also shocked by their sudden outburst. She jubilantly laughed after a moment.

She responded in a light voice. "Don't worry. I didn't spend that much on any of this. I work for the Black Order. The pay is not much but when I'm on missions my expenses are covered by them." She raised her hand to cover up another small giggle. "Plus, I thought this could be a nice way to thank you for letting me stay with you."

After shifting her weight from side to side and messing with the hem of her shorts she sat down to wait for their responses.

Clark and Tyki continued to clear the dishes off the table. Momo searched for the right words. Something they couldn't quite place was off about what she said.

Eeez spoke up with concern heavily laced in his words, "Are you leaving already?"

They all stole a glance at the exorcist from his question. Her expression said it better than she felt she could have. Her refusal to lock eyes with any of them, only watching the shadow beneath her that she wished would just swallow her whole.

They knew she wouldn't stay forever but it was strange. They knew they were going to say goodbye but not after so short a time.

"You have to come back when you get a chance or on another mission then," Momo said.

The others slowly but surely agreed. Lenalee closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Eeez grabbed her hand. "Let's frost the cake," he coaxed.

They tried to ignore the disheartening atmosphere when they sat down with her again. Tyki cracked a few jokes as they decorated it. They were badly timed puns. After a few misses, he got her to laugh.

Eeez and Lenalee focused on one side of the cake while Clark and Tyki did the other. Momo wished to just do the dishes.

It looked lopsided when they finished. She and the eleven year old's side had been done with more visible care. It had a leveled amount of icing on it and little cornelli by Lenalee. It was also scattered with dots and flowers that Eeez made with piping. The other side was the complete opposite, it was uneven in places and been made by them only using knives. Clark tried to even out Tyki's mess, created as a result of putting globs of frosting on and his general inconsistency with how much he used.

They all had fun though. Tyki was almost making it a point to not take it seriously. Momo told him to, "cool it on the frosting," that wound up motivating him to make a bigger mess with the decorating.

After each having a slice they went to lay down. It was hours before any of them slept as they relived their antics in words.

In the following morning, Lenalee woke with them and followed the routine of two days prior. Tyki that day somehow managed to put his suspenders on wrong and smack the door frame within a minute of leaving the bed.

Before heading to work they say their goodbyes to her. Eeez hugged her until Momo pried him off, Tyki gave her a half-hearted grin and another hair ruffle, and the other two gave her an awkward side hug each.

She spent the time before her departure repacking her suitcase. The ripped skirt she used to pack the innocence more securely.

Johnny said it was supposed to have been sturdy enough to hold up in battle. Sadly, the only battle it saw was a noah trying to make a quick fix for an exorcist. Not that she would ever tell him that.

The town was relatively quiet as Lenalee walked to the station leaving her to her own thoughts. Her side still bothered her but it was a mild discomfort. The trip wouldn't take long to the order either. The ark gate she came from was just two stops from this town's platform. Soon she'd be at her new home and wouldn't likely have another mission right away due to her afflictions. While glad to be with Komui again, she knew she'd miss this time.

The idiosyncratic time with the noah was a nice break but she knew things would return to how they were before her mission. Enemies.

As she prepared to board the train, Lenalee heard her name called out. Thinking it was a trick of the mind, she ignored it continuing to the edge of the station platform.

Again she heard it, multiple times. She could pick out at least two voices screaming her name at the top of their lungs. The noise was quickly coming towards her, louder with each call.

"Will you be boarding today Miss?" A porter asked. Lenalee had one hand ghosting the rail leading to the carriage and one foot paused in its movement.

The man beside her repeated the barely registered question. "...Yes, please give me a moment." Lenalee said back.

The train whistled as Tyki ran up with Eeez on his back panting. They were followed by Clark and Momo a short ways back. "We aren't late are we?" Eeez asked.

"The train will be leaving soon. I advise you to finish your business fast." The porter urged. He left with her bag.

Winded, Clark spoke, "We meant to give you this earlier."

With Tyki leaning over holding onto his knees to regain his breath, Eeez slid off his back with ease. He gave Lenalee a small bag and card that he had held close to his chest with one arm.

"The guys picked it out on the way home yesterday," Tyki sucked in a large breath, "It's not the same as the other-"

The train sounded again before starting to move slowly. Lenalee grabbed on and hopped on. She ran up to open the window as fast as she could. "I'm sure it's great," She cried above another whistle.

In unison, they called out to her one last time before waving till the exorcist was out of sight, "We hope you have a safe trip!"

I hope you liked this chapter!

(Bacalhau is just the Portuguese word for cod if you wanted to know)