"Why does everyone call me a Moyashi?" Allen asked furiously, sitting in between Tyki and Rhode, the girl giggling as she hugged Lero to her tightly and stuck her tongue out at Jasdero and Devito, sitting across from Allen and Tyki.

The Millennium Earl ate peacefully, ignoring Cross' drunken calls and attempts at wooing one of the women in their troupe. Mana sat beside the man, ignoring the idiocy next to him as he ate, his body tense (the man had picked up a strange cough that refused to leave him a few seasons back; thankfully, it had not affected his work as a magician too much). Sheryl sat across from Rhode, eating calmly despite the worried look in his eye that kept him glancing in the direction of the healing tent where his wife lay- - -she had picked up a strange illness before they reached the town, and Miranda had been working tirelessly to bring her health back up.

None of the adults took much notice of the children.

"Maybe it's cause you're so damn small." Devito taunted, shoveling food in his mouth and wincing slightly when Tyki kicked his shin. The younger stuck his tongue out at him, ignoring the warning look Tyki sent him. "I mean, you're already eight seasons old, and you're smaller than me and 'Dero."

"I'll get taller!" Allen made a face at Devito. "And you're not supposed to use bad words like that, Devi." Devito stuck his tongue out at Allen as well. Unable to resist, Allen retaliated before continuing. "Anyway, if I'm so small, why'd you give me Rhode's bear when I asked for him earlier today?"

"Lero!" Rhode added in a squeaky, high pitched voice, holding the bear in front of her face. "Yes, Lero! Why listen to such a small fry, Lero?"

"Rhode, Lero, not you two too!" Allen wailed. Across the table, Jasdero giggled madly, his tangled blonde hair falling into his food as he leaned over to draw invisible designs on the table.

"Too, too, to, two, two...five." He laughed insanely again at his own words. Devito shoved his face into the food in front of him, resting his arm nonchalantly on top of the blonde head for a moment before removing it.

"That's 'cause Tyki was behind you and he was giving us an extremely good imitation of the Earl's Look." Allen whined unintelligibly and turned accusing silver eyes on Tyki. Tyki, in return, raised an eyebrow at his cousin.

"I was nowhere in the vicinity." He lied smoothly, drinking from his cup. Jasdero had lifted his head from his plate, trying to get the food off his face and dumping some of it on Devito's head. "I had already been in the town..." At the sentence, Devito seemed to forget about attacking Jasdero; as one, they both turned, their gold eyes (honestly, how did the Millennium Earl find people with gold eyes?) sparkling in amusement.

"In the town, huh?" Devito repeated calmly, ignoring Jasdero as he giggled again, mimicking 'town, town, town...'. Tyki's eyebrow went further up, and the boy of eleven seasons leaned onto the table.

"You have a theory on what I was doing in town that does not include our normal obtaining of food." Tyki said; it wasn't a question. "You have a largely false assumption." Devito blinked, leaning back in his seat and twirling one of the gold guns that had been a present to the two on their last birthday; his golden eyes glanced quickly at the Millennium Earl before he opened his mouth.

"I don't understand half of what you just said." He started, almost whining. "It's not fair- - -we haven't started schooling with the Earl yet." Tyki shrugged, a small smile on his face.

"Kak Tyki means that you have the wrong idea about what he was doing in town." Rhode told them, sending a sweet smile at Tyki. Devito laughed, spinning the gun faster.

"I think it's right." He said smugly, a smirk growing on his face.

"Yes!" Jasdero giggled, choosing that moment to actually focus on their conversation, his own gold eyes wide. "Especially because you took so much longer this time, and you came home much dirtier than usual." Tyki opened his mouth to retaliate.

"Boys, boys!" The Earl said lightly, his joyous voice cutting all conversations and causing everyone to look at him. "Leave our poor Tyki-pon alone. However," his glasses glinted and there was a curious and slightly malicious aura around him. "Devito has a point, my boy. I had meant to question you after dinner, but what took you so long?"

"My apologies, Lord Millennium." Tyki said, placing his glass down on the table. He caught Sheryl's eye briefly, and his older brother smiled slightly. "I had noticed something rather new in town- - -there appears to be a carnival coming through town this month. It should be here within the next week or so." There was truth in his statement. Lavi had shown him the paper when they'd finally gone to get groceries, talking excitedly about clowns and games and such. Tyki hadn't said much at the time, but he had glared at the paper in the red-head's hands as if it had offend him personally (in a way, it had- - -he hated carnivals with a passion, as it seemed their mere existence took away from his family's lifestyle and gave traveling performers like them a horrible reputation).

The Millennium Earl's glasses flashed again as everyone began hushed conversations about the carnival that was soon to be taking up performance space; Tyki knew he was cleared.

"Don't worry too much about the carnival, everyone." He laughed, once again stopping everyone's conversations. They looked at each other then at him, curious. "They're fun things, things that should be appreciated. After all, nothing lasts for too long- - -chances are, they'll be on their way shortly. Eat, everyone, eat! We've got a big season ahead of us!"

As everyone resumed eating and their previous conversations, Rhode and Lero leaned over Allen, looking at Tyki curiously.

"Devi is right, Lero!" The girl started with Lero's voice.

"He is," She continued with her own, her tan face resting on the bear's head as her blue-purple hair framed her face. There was a blatant curiosity in her voice, her eyes demanding answer from her beloved kak. "Unfortunately. Just a bit, anyway, because it doesn't explain why you were so dirty coming back home, Kak Tyki. You aren't clumsy, so what happened?"

Tyki looked his niece over- - -the girl was seven seasons old now, the only one in their entire clan to have been born among them instead of found somewhere while traveling. She was one of the main family girls, one of the only ones in fact, and as such she was spoiled rotten by everyone. Even Lulubell, one of the first found, always found some way to get the girl what she wanted (at least, in her own roundabout, supposedly uncaring way).

"I must have been like that before I went to town." He said casually, picking up his glass again; despite being children, all they had were wine glasses to drink from, and so while he was not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages just yet, Tyki, as well as all the other children, were just as adept to using them as the adults were.

"Hm." Rhode didn't believe him; it was clear in the way her own gold eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but she sat back down and continued to eat without much of a second thought.

Tyki sighed internally with relief- - -despite his outward calm appearance, his heart was fluttering so loudly in his chest, he was surprised the Millennium Earl himself couldn't hear it.

He had run into Lavi in town again. Only this time, the red head had grabbed his hand and (completely ignoring the fact that Tyki hadn't had a chance to clean himself, or had no shoes, as he had taken them off as soon as they'd finished traveling) dragged him down to the forest at the edge of the Bookman estate. They had ended up playing some sort of running game where Lavi had to try and catch Tyki; Tyki had been so focused on not getting caught he'd ended up tripping over something, a tree root most likely, and behind him, Lavi had no time to stop.

He'd barreled into Tyki, and the two of them ended up wrestling on the ground. Every now and then Lavi would gain the upper hand; then Tyki would do something- - -twist his body just so, or use his weight to turn the red head that way- - -and then they'd be at it again. Tyki would pin Lavi down, and the red head would buck his hips, throwing him off balance and then roll them over, and their match would continue.

It ended when Tyki pinned Lavi down fully, one had against the ground firmly and the other holding the red head's wrists down on his chest in a gentle yet tight hold. Both boys had been panting harshly from exertion, trying to draw air into oxygen deprived lungs, their faces flushed. Tyki had sweat making trails down the dirt on his face, and Lavi had lost both his headband and his eye patch, his hair as wild as Tyki's. Tyki felt Lavi's heart beat erratically, knowing his own heart was pounding just as hard from the exercise (but glad nonetheless that the younger red head couldn't feel it). Their eyes met and Lavi had grinned, saying something about accepting defeat and issuing a challenge for another time.

And Tyki had felt the Tease-like feeling in his stomach again, the one that refused to be crushed, and had more or less thrown himself backwards off of Lavi. The red head had leaned up onto his hands, his arms shaking, and looked at Tyki curiously before something seemed to hit them both at the same time. Emerald eyes met gold again, panic filling them.

"The groceries!" They'd cried, and then they were racing each other back to the marketplace, Lavi laughing at who knows what. Once in town, Tyki had searched his pockets, breathing an internal sigh of relief when he found the wallet still in his pockets. He hurriedly grabbed what they needed, Lavi behind him and getting what he was told to grab.

They looked at one another when they finished getting what groceries Tyki need, and with nothing to talk about, Lavi brought up the carnival. He chattered endlessly about it until they reached the edge of town; once there, Tyki had promised to meet him later so that way the boy wouldn't follow him.

The last thing he wanted was another of the Earl's reminders to be on guard around this boy who was so willingly open with Tyki.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oi, Tyki." The brunette turned curiously from the mirror he had in the room he shared with Allen. Devito had stuck his head in, Jasdero's just below it. Both boys were grinning. "There's some kid out front looking for you."

"Now?" Tyki sighed, adjusting the sleeves so that they didn't fall so far past his fingertips- - -he still got his clothes from his older brother.

"Yes now." Devito snapped slightly, while Jasdero sang 'you, you, you' over and over again under his breath. They both ignored the blonde. "He's been going around, asking where to find you."

"All right, all right." Tyki sighed as his mind raced- - -was Lavi looking for him? "I'll be out shortly." The boys nodded and disappeared at the same time. With a slight sigh, Tyki grabbed his black hat and placed it on his head. After a moment of thinking, he also grabbed his jacket, just in case he didn't have time to return for it before the show.

As he stepped out, a few other people reminded him of the boy searching for him. They remembered the general direction he went in after they finished speaking with him, but by the time Tyki appeared there, he was gone. With a noise of frustration, Tyki turned on his heel- - -

- - -and nearly ran right over the red head looking for him.

"Tyki!" Lavi cried out, startled. He stepped back a bit, his cheeks flushed darkly as they nearly collided.

"Lavi." The gypsy said calmly. "Did you need something?"

"You said you'd come back, and you haven't come to town yet." Lavi said, turning darker. "So I came here." As Lavi spoke, Tyki noticed a young woman looking at the two of them out of the corner of his eye. She pretended to be intent on working, but every now and then he saw her lips moving as if she were talking to the old woman beside her.

With a slight scowl, Tyki took Lavi's wrist and pulled.

"Come, we'll go to the field to talk." Lavi agreed and followed, his choice hindered by the fact of Tyki holding his wrist firmly.

As soon as they reached the tree, Tyki climbed up effortlessly, Lavi following pursuit. The red head inched his way out to sit on the branch, hanging above the ground as he talked endlessly about the past couple of days. Tyki stayed by the trunk, standing on the branch and watching the red head out of the corner of his eye. He felt something strange, something he hadn't felt before, as he ignored Lavi in favor of his unasked question.

He wasn't sure Lavi would believe his sincerity, or if Lavi would even accept. There was another Tease-like feeling in his stomach again, but this was worse than it usually was, something that wouldn't go away. Before he could decipher what it was he was feeling- - -

"Suppose something comes from this." Tyki said suddenly in the midst of Lavi's nearly one-sided conversation, causing the red head to pause and look at him curiously. The gypsy ignored the look, watching the sun set in the distance. "Suppose something came from us being some...some type of friends, or such. Would you come with us if you could?"

"What are you talking about?" Lavi asked incredulously, pulling off his eye patch so he could see Tyki better. Tyki looked at him now, his gold eyes narrowed slightly.

"I could ask Lord Millennium, and you could join us." He said seriously. Lavi gaped at him emerald eyes wide. "Since you're still a child, it wouldn't be too hard for you to join, I'd think. So I ask once again, if you could join us, would you?" Lavi blinked once before smiling widely.

"Of course I'd go!" He cried out. "I wouldn't pass the opportunity to go out and see the world, especially if it's with you!"

Tyki felt his nerves (nerves! As if he'd been nervous or afraid to ask; Tyki scolded himself quietly as he pondered what it was about this boy that made his heart flutter and his nerves, of all things, act up), as on edge as they had never been before, calm down greatly at the red head's answer. He touched the trunk of the tree they were in gently, feeling a small smile forming on his face.

"So I'll tell Bookman that I'm going to go with you guys and be a gypsy now." Lavi continued, swinging his legs as this time, he stared out at the sunset. "I'll meet you out here tomorrow, but way before showtime," Lavi grinned apologetically, and Tyki waved off the silent apology, "and I'll tell you what the panda says, ok?"

"Agreed." Tyki nodded once. Lavi beamed at him, and with it came the return of the cursed feeling. Tyki cleared his throat, touching the brim of his hat as he tried fervently to ignore it. "Lord Millennium will be looking for me soon. I should be going."

"Right." Lavi watched as Tyki jumped off the branch, mindless about high they were, and easily land on the ground. Lavi began making his way towards the trunk of the tree so he could climb down as soon as the gypsy boy landed. "I need to talk to Bookman as soon as possible anyway. See you tomorrow, Tyki!" He waved.

"Until tomorrow, Lavi." Tyki called back, waving once and then touching the brim of his hat and bowing, a Tease appearing on his shoulder as he did so. The purple butterfly bit his shoulder, making him wince subtly as he began walking again. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He murmured to it. "Calm. We'll make it before the show starts."

The next day, Tyki waited for Lavi to come- - -they had not really set a specific time, so Tyki had gone out after lunch and climbed into the tree to amuse himself. As the hours passed, Tyki felt himself growing more and more bored. He kept an eye on the sun- - -he'd have to leave when the sun hit the horizon, as he still had to get ready for that night's show. If he stood, he could see the carnival setting up just a ways away. They weren't prepared to open just yet, so Tyki imagined they had a couple of days to perform before everyone went to the carnival.

He glowered at the colorful set up, but didn't move from his spot.

Hanging upside down on the branch, Tyki made a slight face when a Tease landed on his nose. With little effort, Tyki pulled himself more firmly onto the branch, moving back until he met the trunk of the tree. Settling himself comfortably against the trunk, Tyki tried to reason with the Tease on his nose.

"Just a little longer, then we'll go." He promised. The Tease bit his nose. "OW! I could stay here all night if I chose to, you know." The purple butterfly bit harder. "OW! Will you stop that?" Tyki snarled slightly, letting out another pained cry when the Tease bit even harder before he could yank it gently off his face. Holding the wings spread open between his hands, Tyki glared at it. "You aren't helping." He sighed, lowering the Tease into his lap and releasing its wings. It fluttered them slowly before taking flight and perching itself on his shoulder. "I suppose it's my fault, though, isn't it?"

The Tease fluttered on his shoulder, its wings brushing Tyki's face. It seemed that the older and bigger Tyki got, the bigger the purple butterfly got as well. It was still just bigger than his palm, but his palm was slightly bigger now that he was eleven seasons instead of just eight.

"Maybe this was wrong, asking him to join." Tyki tried rationalize. "After all, we hardly need the gajengi baxt that would come with his joining." The Tease fluttered again, almost encouraging, as Tyki stood once more and watched as the sun touched the horizon. "It'll be showtime soon. Let's go."

With that, Tyki jumped effortlessly off the tree branch and headed towards his family's camp, determinedly ignoring the disappointed feeling slowly filling him up.

I have newfound inspiration for this story! XD haha no, I kid. I just know where it's headed now- - -I have something of a plan in my mind. Anyway, I suppose this can be dedicated to last chapter's reviewers, two of whom have been reviewing with dedication on my other LUCKY story. To d-gray-geek: darling, you need a profile. XD I could get back to you so much faster that way. Haha, but yes, I did a bit of research for this. It's still horribly inaccurate, because I only really learned a little bit about a gypsy's occupation, and a few words, but I suppose research is research. XD And to Yueaifeng, who started following me with the start of this story and has been reviewing as diligently as d-gray-geek, as well as to Voltairey, who truly stunned me with her review of last chapter. XD thanks, guys! XD

According to the website I found:

Kak=uncle

Gajengi baxt=bad luck, luck of a non-gypsy