Panic–stricken Wesley ran towards his sister. Lavi followed behind, slightly more hesitantly, anticipating the destruction. The lamp he had left on had turned off so Lavi fumbled along the wall to find the switch. Once he had it on, he immediately wished he hadn't.
Where his workstation had stood only minutes previously was a mess of scattered paper and broken glass. Lavi spotted the remains of the lamp in amongst it all and as if unaware of everything around her, Road stood in the middle of the chaos, purple hair all in a mess and blinking through thickly lined eyes away from the sudden light.
Wes found his voice first. "What happened?" He turned to Lavi, probably to apologise but he didn't get that far. Lavi's eyes were fixed on Road, Wesley followed his gaze to the grey pallor of Road's face and the way she held her arms tenderly over her stomach. "Oh god, hold it in Road!"
"My work…" Lavi looked on helpless as Road gave a violent heave and emptied the watery content of her stomach all over Lavi's floor and his nights' effort.
"Lavi, I'm sorry –" Wesley started.
"Just grab the bin before she does it again!" Lavi shouted at Wesley and turned his back on the siblings to go grab a tissue roll and bin bags from the kitchen. When he returned Road was dry retching into the bin. She looked up at him with large doe eyes. The same yellow eyes as her brother, Lavi registered briefly.
"Oi keep your head down," Wesley was knelt down beside his sister, holding her hair back. She whimpered weakly when her brother pushed her down back down towards the bin.
"It stinks!" The girl whined weakly back at him, a sentiment Lavi wholeheartedly agreed with. Tightlipped he threw open the window and tore tissue sheets by the handful onto the mess.
"You should have thought about that before you drank like a fucking fish!"
The sodden remains of a pair of body form in matching knit jumpers winked up at him, oblivious of their inevitable destruction. Frustration and exhaustion finally caught up with Lavi and a hot prickling began behind his eyes as he shoveled handfuls of sketches into a bin bag.
Hours… Days of preparation all ruined.
Two smart knocks rattled the doorframe. "That'll probably be my uncle," Wesley said pushing Road to aside so he could get up. Lavi cut him off with a shake of his head and dropping a final layer of tissue on the floor he went t answer the door.
The chain rattled lightly and metal scraped against metal as Lavi unlocked the door and welcomed in the fresh night air. After the stuffiness of the living, the breeze still carrying a hint of the rain was well met.
"Lavi?" Standing in the doorway, dressed the same as Lavi had last seen him standing by his car was Tyki, except now he was minus a waistcoat and the top two buttons of his shirt.
"W- what are you doing here?" White-knuckled Lavi gripped the door handle tightly. This was the last thing he needed, well past three in the morning, an under-aged drinker, a crazy best friend and his crush all under one roof. "It's really late for a visit…"
An apologetic smile tugged at the corners of Tyki's mouth and he let out a tired sigh. "It is late and I think I'm lost," he pulled out a phone from his pocket and passed it Lavi. "I must've read the address wrong. Do you know where I can find that address? It's got to be somewhere along this row…"
Lavi looked at the message numbly. The address was his. Tyki was not lost. In bold black lettering above the message was the contact ID: Wes Kamelot.
"No way…"
"Lavi…? Are you okay?" Tyki leaned in closer, concerned. Even in the dark light of night, Lavi saw that the man on his doorstep was peering down at him with the exact same yellow eyes as the two siblings currently in his living room.
"So those aren't lenses then?" Lavi said more to himself than to Tyki.
"Hey! What's taking so long? Come inside already," Wesley called out as he came down the corridor and reaching past Lavi, he grabbed his uncle and dragged him inside.
Puzzled, Tyki looked to Lavi for an explanation but the force of his worried nephew was too much and he disappeared into the room. Equally confused, Lavi let the door close with a click and resigned himself to cleaning up. That much at least was straightforward.
Taking his time Lavi slowly walked back with bucket and mop in hand. He hesitated, afraid of interrupting the low murmur of conversation, Lavi hovered in the doorway. Wesley was on the floor, one arm held up across his face to block his gag reflex as he tried to simultaneously clear up the mess left by his sister and defend himself. Meanwhile Road lay on her side, her knees curled up to her stomach with her head resting on Tyki's knee. Tyki, their uncle, was listening quietly and absently stroking Road's hair.
"So you can't tell dad. Anything!" Wesley said through the fabric of his shirt. "He'll flip for no reason!"
"I wouldn't call this no reason… Wes, you're not a kid anymore. You'll have to stand up for yourself now. The both of you messed up. Big time," Tyki shook his head. "But no, I won't tell your dad, he'd murder you and those idiot twins." Tyki shifted and helped Road up into a sitting position, "Honey, are you going to be okay going to the bathroom?" Road nodded weakly at him, "Good, because you're going to go wash your face and then come back to scrub and mop the floor."
"What?" Road began to whine but Tyki cut her off with a look. "Wes take her to the bathroom and make sure she doesn't waste any time."
Wesley jumped to the task, happy to be away from the mass of soggy tissues. "It's all about responsibility little sister."
"Lavi," Tyki took his jacket off and rolling up his sleeves to the elbow he turned his eyes on Lavi, who stood up straighter suddenly feeling like a rabbit caught in the gaze of a wolf. "Grab the other end of this table."
Together they set the table upright and Lavi wedged the doorstep more firmly under the wobbly leg. Road must have knocked it loose when she got up in the dark, she was lucky the table didn't land on her.
"You've not slept at all have you?" Tyki asked as they both knelt down to sort the mess of papers.
"Neither have you. Wesley said you were having an old people's meeting with his dad," Lavi straightened a pile of clean sheets in his lap, trying his best to act nonchalant.
Tyki scoffed lightly, "32 is old? Yeah I guess it is when you're only 25. Those two should count themselves lucky I was awake to receive their little distress call."
"32 isn't that old…" Lavi said quietly while shuffling another stack of papers loudly and avoiding Tyki's gaze. He quickly changed the subject, "So your niece has single-handedly killed the brief"
Tyki whistled lowly as he took in the destruction, "You're not kidding. No back up copies?"
Lavi shook his head.
The siblings returned just then armed with cleaning fluids for the floor. Wesley shot daggers at his sister, who looked like she was in danger of gagging all over again. "I'll never drink again," she declared.
"Good!" Wesley and Tyki retorted together.
Maybe it was the exhaustion or maybe that there was someone else here who understood his stress but Lavi felt lighter and he couldn't help laughing at the identical expressions of concern, frustration and disgust worn by both men. "I can't believe you're Wes' uncle. Can't imagine you as someone's uncle."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tyki asked indignantly.
"Wait – do you two know each other?" Wesley looked from his friend to his uncle in confusion.
"What kind of friends are you guys?" Tyki raised an eyebrow at the pair and then clapped Lavi on the back. "You are looking at grandson of the CEO of Noah's Ark and this is the newest member of our family. Lavi, here joined the family business before you did. He's our new creative designer."
"You work for Noah's Ark!" Wesley was on his feet. "How come you didn't say?"
Lavi rubbed his neck suddenly awkward in front of his friend, the heir of an up and coming dynasty of the fashion world. "You never told me you were a Noah," he shrugged.
"Small world huh?" Wesley's mouth opened in a small 'o' as sudden realization hit him. "Hey that means I already know him, the hot guy!"
It was Lavi's turn to jump to his feet and catching Wesley around the wrist, Lavi pulled him into the small hallway. "Don't say another word," he whispered desperately. "Please." Of all things, why would he bring that up right now?
With his hand pressed against Wesley's mouth, Lavi wished he could fall through the floor and leave this whole messed up situation behind. This night just kept going from bad to worse to nightmare. Wesley's eyes were alight with question and he nodded once and dropped his hands.
"No way!" Lavi gestured frantically for Wesley to put his voice down. "Him? He's my uncle!"
Lavi could only hang his head, trying his best to hide the scarlet blush he could feel burning his skin. "I didn't know that did I?"
"Sorry to bother you boys but," Tyki's silky voice cut into the conversation. "I don't think the fumes are agreeing with Road. I think you might need to take her back to my place Wesley. You okay to drive?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Wesley answered distractedly even though he was still staring at the mass of self-conscious humiliation that was Lavi. "Can't you drive?" He called back.
Footsteps creaked on the floorboard, letting Lavi know that Tyki was coming out to join them in the hallway. He swiped his hand through his hair quickly and tried to will the burning blush away. Tyki looked over the two were standing so close but didn't say a word about it or that Lavi was still holding his nephew by the wrist.
"I'm going to stay, I want to talk to Lavi about some of his sketches before I go. Is that okay?" Tyki held out his car keys for Wesley who took them hesitantly.
"You never let anyone drive your car," Wesley in awe as he weighed the keys in his hand almost reverently.
Tyki shrugged at him, "Maybe it's time I gave that car away…" and then he went back into the living room to help Road on to her feet.
"Are you going to be okay?" Wesley asked Lavi. "If I leave you here alone with him you're not going to forget to breathe are you?"
"Shut up," Lavi felt his shoulders relax a little bit even though his face was still burning. "Just go and look after your sister. And remember you owe me for that mess in there."
"Sorry for the hassle," Wesley squeezed Lavi's shoulder. "Seriously thanks for helping me out tonight. I really appreciate it. But him? Really?" Wes shook his head in disbelief.
Road came out meekly behind Tyki carrying two tied off bin bags and mumbled a low apology for her behaviour that night. The pinched look on her face made it quite clear it was a scripted apology. Very soon the door closed behind Wesley and his sister leaving Lavi and Tyki alone in the house.
"Right…erm…you said you wanted to discuss the sketches?" Lavi said awkwardly.
"Yes, yes I did," Tyki shook himself and led Lavi back into the room. "You're table is a mess, and you need a proper filing system Lavi. So this was everything?"
The time on the wall now showed 4am.
"It was," Lavi breathed in deeply. A part of him thankful now that the smell of sick was replaced by the stinging aroma of bleach and Lemon Fresh. "I listened to your advice, about keeping it simple, and drew a whole load of new ideas. It was going well until your niece knocked over my table and threw up over it all. Most if it sitting in the dustbins outside now."
Lavi buried his head in his hands, unable to bear the disappointed from Tyki who was no doubt regretting his choice of hiring him by now. Tyki was quiet for a long time.
"Well then," Tyki bent low over Lavi and squeezed his shoulder lightly. "All you have to do is talk me through it. Let see what we can save."
Lavi looked up at Tyki's smiling face, it was so genuine and encouraging that Lavi felt a bubble of warmth spread through his middle. He could sit here and feel sorry for himself, or he could work with this man to rebuild it all again.
"There he is, the stubborn takes no prisoners man who went toe to toe with Kanda Yu. Knew you were in there somewhere." Tyki sat down at the table and grabbed a pen and a blank piece of paper. "Where do we start?"
"Like you said we needed simple, a clean cut basics line would be a good start I thought, so I went back through all my previous notes and looked for the best match for autumn-winter. White tees, vests and simple sweaters and cardigans always work well for woman. Essentials. That would be the basic line." Lavi felt himself get into a flow and continued with more vigour and began to add to the brainstorm that Tyki had started. "Shirts, full length shirts for women. No I don't mean shirt dresses, actual shirts that can be worn open or over like jackets or cardis. And accessories. Hats, scarves and snoods to go with these looks. And for the winter end we'll go chunky…"
They continued in the same vein for most of the next hour; once the skeleton was made plain they moved on examining each sketch that had survived the purge. Tyki lined the drawings up carefully and took photos of each individual sheet. "Back up," he said with a wink.
It was after five in the morning when Lavi finally let a huge yawn escape him. If he went to bed now, he truly felt that he would be able to sleep all the sleep he'd been missing for the last week. Beside him, Tyki echoed him, both of them having not yet slept a wink. Tyki picked up his phone and began tapping away at the screen.
"I should call an Uber and check in on those kids." His voice husky from the fatigue. Lavi hummed a response, although he was sorry to let the man leave. Tyki put his phone back into his pocket, "Lavi, can I ask you question? You don't have to answer if it's too personal."
"Go for it," Lavi felt claws begin to grab at the walls of his stomach not feeling half as confident as his response made him sound. Had Tyki remembered what Wesley had said earlier?
"Are you," Tyki was having trouble getting this question out. "You and Wes, are you friends or friends?"
"No!" The claws turned into ticklish butterflies and Lavi couldn't hold back the relieved laughter. "Oh god no, me and Wes, no, we are just friends. Just regular friends. We were only standing so close because it's not a big house you know. Wes isn't gay," Lavi considered, but only for a moment, "but I am."
"Yeah I knew that already," Tyki propped his chin up the palms of his hands and peered side ways at Lavi a teasing half smile on his face, "I see the way you look at me with those big green eyes. Got me quite interested in what those eyes are thinking."
"Can I ask you a question?" Lavi hazarded.
"Fire away," Tyki replied.
"What happened between you and Kanda?" Lavi asked quietly. He hadn't realized until now, how much the little altercation bothered him.
Tyki leaned in a little closer, "Kanda seemed to think that if I drove you home then I might end up doing something I'd regret."
"Would it have been something I'd regret?" Lavi raised a brow, the butterflies grew more agitated.
Tyki grinned and shook his head, "I don't think you would have."
"Shall we find out?" Lavi found himself leaning in, closer, closer until Tyki's lips filled his vision and their noses brushed gently. Lavi wasn't the only one moving. One of Tyki's arms now resting on the back of Lavi's chair, and the other hand was on Lavi's cheek, a thumb tracing the along his jawline.
The loud ringing of Tyki's phone broke the pair apart as if a bolt of lightning had brought them back to their senses. Tyki was on feet and hovered by the doorway with his phone to his ear and a hand clasped over his lips.
"I-I'm sorry!" Lavi stood up, took a few steps forward but thinking better of it sat back down again. His own lips still tingling with short lived anticipation.
"My car's here. I should go?" Somehow the statement came out sounding like a question. For a split second, Lavi wondered what would happen if he said no.
"Yeah," Lavi surprised himself. "We're tired and we should stop before we regret it." What?! He screamed at himself mentally. His body was moving without him. Suddenly he was holding the front door open and Tyki was walking through it, out into the already lightening night.
"You're right," Tyki said in a strained voice. "And I have to check on Road and Wes too..."
"Tyki!" Lavi called out before the man disappeared up the stone steps.
"Yes?" Tyki turned on his heels.
"Thank you, for everything tonight." Out in the fresh air, things were slightly clearer, jumping in like that would only lead to more complications. Tyki must have thought so too, his stance relaxed and he smiled his usual smile. "No problem. See you Monday Lavi."
At the top of the stairs there was a dark blue sedan waiting for Tyki. He climbed in quickly and muttered a hoarse greeting to the driver.
"You alright mate?" The driver called cheerily into the back. "Looks like you forgot your jacket, you need to go back and get it?"
Tyki slapped a hand to his forehead. No wonder he left his jacket, his entire body was a flame with the possibility of what could have been happening right now. Instead he was sitting in the back seat of a cab. Alone.
Tyki looked back down the concrete stairs and considered for a moment, "No I don't think I should go back in there. Just get me home. Fast." It was hard enough coming up once, he didn't think he could manage it a second time today. Not without finishing what he started.
The driver whistled suggestively, "Mate if I was leaving this late – or early rather, I reckon I'dve just stayed. Especially this close to morning. Unless you're in a bit of a wink-wink situation…"
"Believe me, you have no idea."
Hope you liked!
Not sure when I'll next update. Hopefully not too long away!
Thank you to the Guest reviewer. Reviews are really appreciated. They make me feel nice :)