Where is this going?¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Tyki Mikk had seen better days. Really.

Stepping out of the shower, he found himself feeling nowhere near as refreshed as he would have hoped, and the sight of the intruder snoozing on his bed did little to alleviate his current stress levels. It made for a peaceful picture though, if one disregarded the context and the uncanny guard dog.

Said guard dog had doubled, possibly even tripled, in size while he had been gone, in order to look more imposing. Probably. In any case− "That's still my bed, you know," Tyki muttered, in the process of drying his hair.

The golem snapped its jaws shut and then opened its mouth back up, as if to demonstrate just how easily it could take off a finger or just about any limb that got within striking distance.

Tyki briefly considered testing just how indestructible the thing was. Simply because. Still− "I get it, all right? You don't like me and I don't like you, and that's all fine and good. Seeing me, you must've been confused. Me, I'm honestly a bit nauseated, knowing I'm the dead ringer of that guy. I mean, in hindsight, things make a tiny bit more sense now, but in general, it feels like some higher power is fucking with us. No, I know that some higher power is fucking with us; it's fact, not speculation."

Predictably, the golem said nothing. Not that Tyki cared or anything; he was just venting. Rather, receiving any sort of vocal response would have been creepy. That said− "You're a pretty strange one yourself though, aren't you? Far sturdier and more independent, not to mention stubborn, than any other golem I've ever seen. That guy certainly did a good job on you, even if he fucked up on so many other things…"

The golem regarded him warily; how he could tell this was anyone's guess, because there were no eyes to be seen yet he could still feel its gaze resting upon him. A gaze, a presence, a consciousness of sorts. Looking at the thing, Tyki could not help but wonder if that consciousness was a result of magic coupled with mechanics or if there was actually something like a proper soul in there. Because if so, then whose was it? It could hardly be the Fourteenth's after all. Or could it? Tyki found that he would rather not think about it. Still− "It could be a programme," he mused, rubbing his chin, because that was certainly an idea. "Like with the Akuma…"

Going by the sharp wing beat and the bared teeth, the golem did not appreciate the comparison.

That said, even though they ran on a sort of programming, Akuma still required souls to function, did they not? As fuel.

Tyki spared a glance in the golem's general direction. Then, he stepped up to the window, putting more effort into drying his hair while quietly contemplating just what that golem could possibly be running on. Tyki might not be an expert on magic, but as with everything, it had to have a limit. Granted, that Cross Marian could certainly have been reinforcing whatever the Fourteenth might have originally put in place. But still, in terms of behaviour, that thing seemed to be a whole lot more alive than it should have been. Alive and effectively immortal. Well, more or less. It could be destroyed but it reformed quickly, meaning that the magic that had gone into making had to have been strong, and that the energy it was feeding on had yet to run dry. Tyki could tell that much without being an expert; a fire required fuel to burn.

He lit a cigarette, positioning himself over by the window. "This is such a pain in the ass."

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This was such a pain in the ass. Enduring, and bordering on the edge of what could be considered chronic.

That said, maybe Tyki should be glad? The boy seemed to have taken those words about sharing information with his allies to heart. Because he was certainly talking now, words spilling rapidly over his lips, enunciated and occasionally accompanied by dramatic gestures. Tyki might or might not have asked a question about the boy's refusal to join the Order. Tyki might or might not be regretting this decision.

"Getting me into the Order was Master's idea. Not following through with it was mine, as was tagging along with you. And if that guy's got a problem with it, then he can bloody damned well show up in person and explain to me why he deemed it necessary to send me into all this fucking blind. I mean really, send the host of a dormant Noah into the Order? Also, I sure as heck haven't forgotten what happened back when the higherups got just a wee bit suspicious about my ability to control the Noah's Ark."

Yeah, Tyki would rather not be discussing this, not even in a private train compartment. Because the walls were thin and even if they did not have eyes and ears, there were plenty of those beyond it that did. Still− "What happened?"

Allen Walker's up until then mildly exasperated expression darkened considerably. "He basically gave them the go ahead!" the boy exclaimed, throwing his hands out slightly to accentuate his words. "Like sure, why not? It'll be fun. Bring on the Inquisition!"

Exasperation and bitterness. Quite a bit of it too, if Tyki's ears were not mistaken. "Really?" he offered up, because potentially hazardous topic or not, it was still a chance to glean some information from his recent ally.

"Really! If it hadn't been for Komui and Bak, then I would've−" The boy trailed off at that, then waved his hand as if to dispel the thought and pulled one of his knees close to his chest. "Well, in any case: He's the one who told me that a path isn't just something that you follow but also something that you leave behind as you make your way forward. And as you and I both know, that last path was a dead end. And so, we have to find a way to work around it."

Coming to think of it, Tyki had to have skimmed through the exorcist's file at some point, because something about all of this definitely rang a bell. However− "How exactly does this translate into abandoning the official exorcist route? I don't get it. That matter with the higherups aside, I always had the impression that you were awfully attached to the rest of the Order, those exorcist friends of yours in particular. They might even be useful to our cause, and besides, if you stick with me, how will you be able to protect them?"

Hand cushioning his chin, Allen levelled his gaze upon Tyki. His expression was fairly neutral at first, open, but was all too soon split by a dark leer.

"You don't get it, do you, Tyki?" he said, unwittingly reminding Tyki of Wisely. "He is indifferent to the Order. At worst, the Order is a mild nuisance, powerful enough to slow him down occasionally, but seldom capable of posing any real threat to his ambitions. And at best, they are useful to him in finding the Heart."

In weeding out the Heart to be exact, but in any case− "Just because they are a tiny bit useful to His cause doesn't mean they'll be spared."

The smile melted away, but the gaze remained intent. "He won't attack them either, not like last time."

"How so?" Tyki asked, because that kind of confidence had to come from somewhere.

The boy finally averted his gaze, shifting his posture and attention towards the window. The golem perched on top of his head shifted slightly, and Tyki felt as though unseen eyes were staring him down.

"He is obsessed with the Fourteenth," the boy said at last, still looking out the window. "The only times he really launched any large-scale operations, it was in direct relation to the Fourteenth and to the Fourteenth's legacy."

The List. "In other words, he started out targeting people who'd been involved with the Fourteenth… before zeroing in on you, for obvious reasons."

A slight smile split the boy's face. "Well duh. I hijacked the Ark and stole away the Akuma Plant. I wasn't exactly subtle."

No, but− "How does this translate to Him not attacking the Order?"

Allen huffed. "The strike on the Order was launched because of the Akuma Plant, the Egg. If the Egg never gets to HQ to begin with, then there'll be no good reason to launch the strike in the first place."

Fair enough. Still− "You sound awfully sure of that."

The boy's eyes flickered briefly towards Tyki before turning back towards the landscapes passing by. "I obviously can't account for the actions of the rest of the Noah, but He won't strike."

"How can you be so sure?" Tyki persisted, because even if the argument was sound enough, there were no actual guarantees.

"Because he'll be busy−" the boy started, positively leering now. "−chasing the shadow of the Fourteenth."

Tyki did not like the sound of that and made no secret of it. Because really, no.

"It doesn't have to be anything big," the boy insisted. "Just a few sightings of a cloaked figure wielding the Sword of Exorcism."

"Yeah…" Tyki's attention naturally drifted to the other's limb. "Why do you have that?"

The boy shifted again in his seat, pulling off the glove to reveal the hand Tyki had already glimpsed. The cross in the middle of his palm was glowing faintly. "Innocence responds to the strength of your emotions," Allen explained, displaying it proudly. "I am very determined. And loved. That too."

Well, determined was just another word for stubborn though, wasn't it? "Loved?"

"It wants to protect me," Allen elaborated, flexing his fingers.

Yeah… "So long as Apocryphos isn't in range."

There was a visible cringe at that. Tyki did feel a bit bad about it. A tiny bit, granted, but still. "Well, I'd be perfectly willing to rescue you from his clutches. Again. I still think tearing that arm off would be easier though."

"Except we'll bloody need it by the end of it all," Allen snapped.

Tyki shrugged. "It could be reattached. It's been done before."

"It could also be used to slash you," Allen countered. "Awaken your latent Noah potential and whatnot."

Yeah, no. "Like you could handle me then. Also, bad idea if you're going for subtlety."

"But an excellent idea if I want to draw His attention away from the Order, no?" the former exorcist readily countered, looking entirely too comfortable with the idea.

"Yeah, yeah, except it could backfire bigtime, driving Him to have the Order infiltrated in order to gain info on a general-class renegade exorcist," Tyki countered in turn. "Besides, non-aggression pact, remember?"

"Non-stabbing pact," the boy corrected. "Slashing not included."

Ugh. "Slashing included save for during extreme circumstances."

"So, I'm allowed to slash you if the situation grows dire enough?"

Tyki let out an exasperated sigh. "I wouldn't encourage it, but yeah, sure. I won't be held accountable for what comes after it though."

For a brief while, the boy was silent, staring thoughtfully out the window. "Potential hazardous effects aside, it'd have quite an impact though, don't you think?" he said at last, eyes flickering back towards Tyki. "I mean, an unknown general-class exorcist attacking you, the Noah who is the spitting image of the Fourteenth?"

Spitting image. Knowing what he did now, Tyki felt forced to re-evaluate or at the very least consider re-evaluating past experiences. Before, in the back of his mind, he had always thought that the Duke had given him the List as a way to prove himself and his loyalty to the clan, thereby forcing him to put more distance between himself and his human companions, and with humanity himself. Now, Tyki had inevitably come to question whether or not his looks had played any significant part in the Duke giving him the mission to hunt down the Fourteenth's former associates.

On one hand, Tyki kind of wanted to ask. On the other, he found that he would rather not know. Besides, even if Tyki's looks had originally played some part in it, the mission had since been postponed, with that thing about the Ark, with the Akuma Plant and with the nuisance that was Allen Walker, and then, inevitably, the Fourteenth.

"−ey, Tyki."

He looked up. The boy was standing now, hands inside his coat pockets and the golem still riding on top of his head. It must have shrunk down again, because Tyki thought it was decidedly smaller now than just a minute ago.

"I know it must really suck to wear his face, but imagine having him inside of you."

Whoa. Unintentional innuendo. In any case− "Kudos to you for not throwing up all the time."

There was a mild shrug at that. "I'm not into the habit of wasting food."

Food. "Coming to think of it, I blew the last of my allowance on these train tickets." Because first-class tickets were expensive. "How about you?"

"I'm pretty much broke," Allen announced, visibly unbothered by the fact. "But I've got an idea."

"An idea?" Tyki echoed, bracing himself.

"We're on a train, Tyki, and there are still many hours left to kill," the boy stated, holding out his hand, palm facing upwards. "We're both bored and broke, but we don't have to be."

Train. Time. Money. Entertainment. Tyki reached into his pocket, pulling out his deck. "This?"

"That," Allen affirmed.

It was still a pain in the longer term. For now though, there was poker to be played, people to con and money to be gained.

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