Tyki leaned against the wall of the car park, smoking his second cigarette and trying to clear his head. It was bad enough having Cross show up out of nowhere. Ordinarily, it would be an honor to come in second to Cross, because then people would compare them, talking about how wonderful he'd be when Cross finally retired, but the Earl was bound to take it personally, and Tyki was dreading that.
Unfortunately, that wasn't Tyki's worst problem. His worst problem was an Apple product covered in disturbingly mutilated sparkly stickers: Road's phone.
He should have just held onto it for her when he found it, but when he got back to the green room after washing off his make-up, she was texting someone. This might have been okay if it weren't for the fact that everyone she ordinarily texted was in the green room with her, if they weren't at home in bed.
Then he looked up at the monitor, saw the real Marian Cross, and nearly pissed himself.
Road set her phone down to hug him, apparently forgetting that she hadn't put it in her purse. Shortly after that, she left the green room with her purse but without her phone, and Tyki made the worst decision of his life. He picked up the phone, messed around with likely passcodes until he unlocked it, and checked every possible app for messages. He hit paydirt on Hangouts.
Allen?
Allen, I just saw Cross. Are you okay?
ALLEN
ALLEN
ALLEN
ALLEN
ALLEN
I'm okay calm down!
Where are you?
Backstage. I'm going to kill him.
＼ (^o^) ／
lol thanks.
That was kinda lame. Maybe I have something better. When's your birthday?
December 25.
Crap! Well, I guess it doesn't matter, because I'm not waiting a year to give this to you. It will be an unbirthday present.
You don't have to give me anything.
Too late. I'm already working on it. You're getting a present whether you like it or not.
I don't need a present.
Presents aren't something you need, silly. They're something you get and give.
You don't have to give me one.
I know. I want to, and now you have something nice to think about.
Thanks, I guess.
You're welcome. Are you going to be okay?
Once I kill him, I'll be fine.
Don't do that. You'll be arrested, and then we won't be able to play anymore.
It will be worth it.
No it won't. Wait brb
ok.
And that must have been when she put the phone down to console Tyki.
Tyki would have written it off as the sort of disaster that might happen if Road developed a crush, except for that damned icon smiling at him from under it's slipping coronet, the poker face of one of the most effective cheaters he'd ever encountered.
He took a deep breath and switched to his own phone, logging into his poker account. A few swipes of his finger confirmed it. Crowned Clown hadn't logged in since the Order arrived in China, and the icon was identical. In fact, now that he looked at it, the clown's make-up followed the zig-zag line of Allen Walker's scar.
This was a problem. This was a serious problem, the sort that required actual cigarettes, which he was smoking in the car park as he mulled the problem over.
He could hardly confront Road. If he did, he'd have to confess to breaking into her phone, which would set off a shitstorm of epic proportions, and he doubted Road would be dissuaded by something like cheating at poker. Knowing Road, she knew enough about Tyki's hidden vices to point to Tyki himself as an example of why this wasn't an issue, but that sort of nuance wasn't her strong suit.
There was also the scar. None of the Order dancers were innocent. They were chosen for their guilt, or at least their complicity. Allen was involved in something more than online poker, and whatever it was, there was a good possibility that it involved violence, enough to maim given the severity of that injury, if not to kill. Tyki wanted Road well away from that sort of thing.
He could hardly confront Walker, though, because once again, he'd have to admit to breaking into Road's phone. Also, there was the very real likelihood that anything he said to Allen would get back to Road, which would be a shitstorm to outdo the previously considered shitstorm. Maybe it was better to just give her her phone back and pretend he never saw anything.
Sherrill never said as much, but there was this understanding on Tyki's part that his brother was entrusting him with Road on trips like this. Sherrill adored his daughter, but he could hardly take time off work every time Road needed to be somewhere, and Tricia couldn't handle Road at all. That left Tyki. Clearly, he wasn't doing his job, and the reason he wasn't doing his job was because he was afraid of a little girl.
He dropped his cigarette butt on the concrete, ground it out with his toe, and lit another.