Babysitting Sucks
Nightmares were supposed to be bad dreams that disappeared upon waking, a simple inconvenience that wasn't supposed to follow a person into the real world. Nightmares were supposed to be restricted to the night, hence the reason for calling them 'nightmares' in the first place; they had no business existing in the light of the morning sun!
And yet, there they were…
Tyn's eye twitched involuntarily as he glanced from couch where Emi sat holding her precious cat while watching cartoons over to the far corner of the living room where the crib for her baby brother had been set up.
Maybe this wasn't a nightmare after all.
Maybe this was Hell.
He could still vividly remember Tia's not-so-subtle way of breaking the news to him that she had agreed to baby-sit the two brats, how she'd made it sound like she was pregnant…he had only the vaguest memories of falling back and his head slamming against the floor, but he could clearly recall the sound of Neliel's giggling as he came back to consciousness.
The sound of Emi laughing at her cartoon began overlapping with the memory of Neliel's giggle and the twitch intensified. At least the baby was still asleep for now, but how long would that last? How the hell had Tia been talked into this nonsense? Why the hell did he have to be a part of it? What did either of them know about children, much less human children? Where was the justice in having this responsibility thrust upon him when he didn't want it?
"We can manage one night…" Tia whispered quietly as she came up beside him. "Two kids, one night…how hard can it be?"
"I vote we ship them off to Orihime's right now and let her deal with them," Tyn said bitterly. "Or Kurosaki's place; his crazy old man has experience raising kids, right? He can do this."
"But we're the ones who agreed—"
"No, we didn't…"
"Like you've never made a bad decision before," snapped Halibel defensively. She paused a moment, taking a deep breath to compose herself before speaking again, quieter this time. "Look, Emi's not that much trouble and the baby's sleeping, so there's nothing to worry about. Just calm down, and it'll be over before you know it."
Tyn gave a noncommittal grunt as Emi's cartoon ended and the girl released her cat, turning around on the couch to peer over the back and look at Tyn and Tia standing by the bar in the kitchen. The girl gave a silly grin and while Tia managed to force one of her fake smiles out for the child's benefit, the quinto was only able to give a very thin and decidedly unfriendly grin.
Not that Emi seemed to notice his misery as she grinned broader.
"I'm really glad mommy and daddy let me stay with you, Miss Tia…" she was saying. "And you, Mister Tyn! You're both really nice and you live right across the hall so I didn't have to go far at all!"
"We're happy to have you staying with us…" Tia lied smoothly, "aren't we, Tyn?"
"Oh yes, absolutely thrilled," said the raptor dryly.
"When is lunch?" Emi asked. "My tummy is growling."
"So is mine, actually…" muttered Tyn.
"Well, what would you like?" Tia asked the girl sweetly as she elbowed her roommate sharply for staring at the cat a little too long.
"Happy Meal!" squealed the girl excitedly, forcing Tyn to cover his ears as the high-pitched noise assaulted him.
"Well…your parents did leave us some money in case you needed anything; I guess a 'Happy Meal' counts. Grab your coat, and we'll run out and get one."
"What about me?" asked Tyn as his own stomach growled.
"Leave the cat alone, and we'll bring you back something," Tia said coolly. "And try not to scare the baby while we're gone."
Tyn scowled as a coat-clad Emi came bouncing back to Tia and wrapped her tiny fingers around the blonde woman's hand, babbling about how much she liked Happy Meals and WacDonald's and how Burger World food was gross…
That, at least, brought an almost-evil smile to Tyn's face.
He watched Tia and Emi leave before going over to the couch and sighed as he collapsed back into it. Babysitting sucked, but at least Emi was gone for a little while now and the baby was still sound—
"WAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Shoot me."
All parents, including the ones who had never wanted to be parents or who were only filling the role out of necessity, knew that eventually their child would leave the nest. They would grow up fast, find a mate, and leave the nest. Television did its part to instill parents with an irrational fear that their children were growing up and away even faster than originally anticipated, and even Coyote Starrk was not immune to such paranoia.
Oh, on the surface it seemed innocent enough; a boy from Lilynette's class had called and asked if she wanted to "hang out" for the day, perhaps visit the arcade. Starrk had been in the kitchen as his younger half talked on the living room phone, and while he'd only been able to hear her half of the conversation, it was easy enough to piece together.
Starrk had made sure to grill her with a dozen different questions about the boy: where he was from, who his parents were, what they did, how well did she know him…
The answers had been satisfactory enough, and so Starrk had forced a smile and conceded she could go out on the provision she be back by seven o'clock. He waved goodbye as she grabbed her coat and left the apartment door…and as soon as the door was shut he was busy putting his shoes on and grabbing his coat.
He'd seen enough television to know what two kids were capable of when left to their own devices, and while conventional logic said they were both a little too young to getting intimate, paranoia trumped logic any day.
The primera followed them from a distance, his coat bundled around his body tightly and a scarf covering his face in case they should turn around.
Starrk grumbled to himself as he navigated the snow-laden and pedestrian-heavy sidewalks, thinking about how much easier this would be to deal with if it happened twenty years down the road or so; twenty years would be plenty of time to prepare for her to go out on her first date, but not a measly one year.
Lilynette had sworn that it wasn't a date, that it was just two friends getting together, but Starrk refused to allow himself to buy into it; television had taught him better.
He didn't know if humans and arrancars could crossbreed or not, and he damn sure wasn't ready to find out; the idea of Lilynette having children made him feel ridiculously old, and that was a sensation he didn't like. Sure, he couldn't recall when he'd died or how old he might really be and the only thing he had to go on were scattered sensations that came to him in dreams, but he was pretty damn sure that he couldn't be old enough to have grandchildren just yet.
Nieces and nephews were technically the correct terms given their cover story as an elder brother taking care of his baby sister in the wake of their parent's death, but on some days Lilynette felt more like a daughter than a sister.
Today was one of those days.
Today he was a father trying to protect his only child. Today he was—
"—the fuck are you doing stalking kids?" asked an all too-familiar and all too-annoying voice from behind loudly, and Starrk cursed as the kids began to turn around. The primera whirled around and grabbed his unwelcome 'friend' and dragged him into an alley quickly, cupping a hand over his mouth to keep the other man quiet.
"Grimmjow, shut up," he hissed into the sexta's ear. "This doesn't concern you, so just shut up and go away."
Starrk maintained a tight grip on the struggling Grimmjow as he cautiously peeked back around the corner, only breathing a sigh of relief and releasing the other Espada once the children had started walking again.
"Get off of me, asshole!" bellowed Grimmjow as Starrk released him finally, shoving the primera against the brick roughly. "The hell's your problem, anyway? You're the one creeping around and stalking kids like some kind of pervert!"
"I think Lilynette is on a date," he said growled bitterly, not happy to have Grimmjow involved in any way. "I'm following them to make sure nothing happens."
"You're an idiot, you know that? Why don't you just tell the stupid brat she's with that if he touches her, you'll tear his liver out and beat him to death with it?" asked Grimmjow as he simply invited himself to follow the kids alongside Starrk.
"I'd say it's a good thing these gigai hide our spiritual pressure, but Lilynette's never been too good at detecting me, anyway; we're too much alike, and most of the time she can't tell her reiatsu from mine," said Starrk, opting not to even think about Grimmjow's insane recommendations.
"If you're too chicken shit to tell the kid, I'll do it," offered Grimmjow. "Hell, I'll be happy to break his little legs right now!"
"Go bother Ulquiorra," spat Starrk, quickening his pace as Lilynette disappeared around a corner up ahead…and Grimmjow stayed right with him, grinning madly at Starrk's irritation.
"Ulquiorra's too boring, but this…this might be fun."
Halibel could hear the baby crying the moment she and Emi stepped out of the elevator, thanks to her sensitive hearing. The human child was oblivious to the noise at first, but by the time they'd reached the apartment door, even Emi could hear the infant's wailing. Tia offered the girl a reassuring smile as she unlocked the door, silently praying they wouldn't find Tyn shaking the baby and yelling at it to shut up.
Tia opened the door and stepped inside, glancing around the apartment and spying Tyn and the infant in the kitchen, with the baby in its high-chair and Tyn trying to feed it.
"Eat, brat!" growled Tyn, offering the baby a fork with a piece of chicken on it. "Come on, I know you're hungry!"
"He can't eat that, moron…" Tia sighed, setting the food she'd brought back for her roommate down on the bar, "He doesn't have any teeth yet."
"I noticed, but we don't have a blender, so…"
"Frapped fried chicken is not baby-food!" said Halibel, going over and digging through the bags of baby-care items left by Emi's parents and digging out a few small jars. "You feed him these things!"
Tyn took only a cursory glance at the jars before wrinkling his nose up in disgust and turning back to the baby.
"It's all vegetables and fruit; kid needs meat if he's ever going to grow up and be strong," he said, trying to offer the infant more chicken. "Red meat would be better, but I'm not sharing my steaks with a screaming little poop machine."
"Get out of the way and I'll take care of him," said Tia finally, yanking Tyn away from the still-screaming baby and dumping the plate of fried chicken into the trash before opening up a jar of fruity baby-food. "Just…go eat the lunch we brought you, okay?"
"Hey, I can do this just fine, thank you very much! Kid's better off with me, anyway!" Tyn declared defensively.
"You don't know the first thing about kids!" Tia scoffed.
"I know enough to know that sharks have a tendency to eat their young!"
The silence between the two adults was deafening as Halibel narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"No more Discovery Channel for you, ever," she growled finally the spoon full of baby-mush like a weapon. "Now go eat your lunch and let me take care of the baby before you scar it for life."
Mentally cursing the entire situation the entire time, Tyn grabbed his lunch and made his way to the couch, leaving Tia to try and feed the baby…with Emi's assistance, of course.
"Open up!" prompted Emi, trying her best to help. "Come on, it's good for you!"
Curiosity got the better of him, and Tyn turned around just in time to see Halibel successfully dump a spoon of applesauce into the baby's waiting mouth. She smiled triumphantly and Tyn knew she was just about to gloat…and then the baby promptly spewed the soggy food out, covering Tia's face with mushy apple goop.
"Not one word…" she growled at Tyn as applesauce slowly dripped down her nose and onto her shirt. Tyn bit his lower lip and turned back around to face the television lest his self-control finally shatter and incur his roommate's wrath. The baby, meanwhile, was shamelessly laughing and clapping its tiny hands together. Emi just giggled at her little brother and grabbed a paper towel for Tia.
"He does that to mommy sometimes, too," she said. "Mommy says I did it when I was little, but I can't remember."
"That would have been nice to know beforehand, dear," said Halibel with a forced grin as she toweled her face off. "Let's try this again with less spitting."
It took another fifteen minutes to get the infant to eat his applesauce, but much to Tia's happiness (and Tyn's chagrin), there was not another spitting incident. Halibel smiled as she wiped the baby's mouth off and picked him up, rocking him back and forth in her arms until he drifted off. She favored the quinto with a smirk as she carefully made her way over to the crib and gently sat the sleeping child back down inside.
"You'd still be struggling to get him to eat," she said smugly as she made her way over to the couch and sat down.
"Oh, shut up," said Tyn sourly, crossing his arms.
"Admit it; I'm better."
"I think you're a better mommy than Mister Tyn is!" chirped Emi, plopping down on the cushion between the two arrancar.
"I would hope so, kid…" Tyn growled. "She is the one with the boobs, after all."
"Watch your mouth!" snapped Tia. "You can't talk like that in front of kids!"
"Why the hell not?"
"Tyn!"
"What?" he bellowed.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"You woke the baby, moron!" said Halibel angrily, rising from the couch.
"I did not! You did!" he snapped back before pausing a second and sniffing the air. "Do you smell…ah, crap."
The duo made their way over to the crib and the squalling infant, each wrinkling their nose at the unmistakable smell of feces.
"I…I don't know what to do," said Tia slowly.
"Then why the hell did you agree to this shit?" demanded Tyn bitterly, earning him a solid, painful punch to the shoulder.
"Watch your mouth in front of the kids, idiot!" she hissed again before finally retrieving the small child, handling it cautiously. "Go grab a fresh diaper and the notes Miyo left for us; we can figure this out."
Tyn grumbled as he went and grabbed the notes off the coffee table before scouring through the bags of baby crap they had been left, and he bit his tongue to keep from cursing as he found the diapers at the very bottom of the last sack. He grabbed a fresh one and turned back around, just in time to see Tia laying the child on the bar where they ate.
"No! Not there!" he cried in horror.
"Relax; I've got his blanket and a newspaper under him, and I'll wash the counter down when we're done… Where's the baby powder and wet-wipes?'
"You didn't say anything about baby powder or wet-wipes!"
"What, did you expect me to just change the diaper without cleaning him? I've seen enough TV to know that much at least!"
Tyn grumbled as he handed her the diaper and baby-powder before trudging back over to search through the bags again, finding himself wishing he was working the weekend shift at Burger World for once rather than being home. It didn't take quite as long to find the wet-wipes or baby powder as it had the diapers and when he returned to Tia to hand her the goods, she in turn handed him the diaper.
The used diaper.
"I don't want this!" he cried, holding it out at arm's length and fanning the smell away from his face with his other hand. "What the hell, Tia?"
"Dispose of it!" she ordered as she took a wet-wipe and began to clean the infant's bottom. "I'm busy over here."
Tyn looked at the loaded diaper long and hard, realizing it was too big to flush and far too smelly to simply throw in the trash can…how the hell was he supposed to get rid of this? He glanced over towards the sliding glass door and the balcony beyond it before looking back at Halibel for a second; she was too busy cleaning the baby to notice him opening the door, and she hadn't exactly specified how to get rid of the diaper…
It wasn't easy being the unsung hero of the war.
Everyone always talked about the contribution of that silly, orange-haired substitute, but never him. They talked about Renji, but not him. They talked about Zaraki, both Kuchikis, Yamamoto, Soifon, Ushii, Kyōraku, Hitsugaya, Komamura, and that damned ex-Espada, but never him.
Hell, even those two nobodies from Squad Five got more recognition than the great Zennosuke Kurumadani!
It was a slap in the face, an insult to his greatness!
It was he who was in charge of protecting Karakura Town after Rukia was 'relieved' of her duty, and it was he who first dared to stand against Aizen when he came to destroy the city! Sure, he may have lost that battle, but in his heart of hearts he knew that he was the reason Aizen had been defeated. He had weakened the traitorous ex-shinigami, had rendered him mostly harmless so that upstart substitute Kurosaki could finish the job…
…and not a single one of them ever thanked him.
It hurt to not be acknowledged alongside his peers, but he swallowed his pride and dealt with it; sooner or later, all would see just how great and powerful the mighty Zennosuke Kurumadani was!
The Soul Reaper sat perched on top of a light pole, watching the human traffic go by as he idly ran a hand over his afro and sighed. It was all thanks to his diligence in Karakura that no powerful hollows dared sneak into Karakura, and his diligence alone; for all his supposed power, the substitute-shinigami was still just a substitute and Zennosuke…
…well, he couldn't quite understand why he had yet to be offered a Captain's position.
He supposed that, in time, the truth about the war would come out and Yamamoto would hear of his heroic exploits and reward him accordingly. Until then, all he could do was wait and protect the town. Someday, everyone would know his name. Someday, he would get everything he deserved and more…
Wait, what was that? Was that a bird falling out of the sky? He raised a hand to shield his eyes against the glare of the sun, straining for a better look at the flying object.
*SPLAT!*
"Starrk, I think this is pointless."
"Then leave," hissed the primera as he peered out from around an arcade machine, watching Lilynette and her 'male-friend-from-school-who-had-damn-well-better-not-be-a-boyfriend' play a fighting game against one another.
Starrk had been darting from arcade machine to arcade machine over the past couple of hours, being careful to stay out of sight as he followed the two kids around the building. Every now and then he'd pretend to play a game just to keep from being asked to leave by the manager, but most of the time he forced Grimmjow to play the game while Starrk kept an eye on his younger 'sibling.'
"They're just two stupid kids playing nerdy games, dumbass," said Grimmjow, rolling his eyes as Starrk dropped two more tokens into the machine and directed Grimmjow to play it. "They're not on a date, and I don't think she really gives a shit about him as more than an idiot to follow her around."
"Maybe you're right, but…" Starrk began, but trailed off as the boy hesitantly put an arm around Lilynette's waist. "That's it; I'm killing him."
Grimmjow released the joystick abruptly and turned to watch, grinning madly at the anticipation of blood and carnage…but Starrk stopped after only a couple of steps as they watched Lilynette bat the boy's hand away and inform him that she wasn't comfortable with being touched.
"Smart girl…" Starrk muttered with a proud smile as he backed away quietly and hid once again.
"Still, you should go break his arm…" Grimmjow prompted. "You know you want to."
"Shut up, Satan."
"And what are you going to do if he tries to force the issue, huh? Nothing? Come on, Starrk, even you can't be that pathetic!"
"I'll do whatever needs to be— crap! They're coming this way! Move, move!" hissed Starrk as he roughly grabbed Grimmjow and dragged him away from the arcade machine, moving deeper into the darkened game room and seeking refuge at another machine standing against a column in the room, facing away from the two kids.
"You won't do a goddamned thing, Starrk; you've gone soft! Not that you were ever that strong to begin with, but you're absolutely pitiful now!" Grimmjow cackled cruelly, eyeing a pair of older teens making their way towards Lilynette and her friend.
"See those two? They've been bullying other kids and taking their stupid tokens ever since we've been here, and now they're going for the brat; what are you going to do about it?"
"This is different…" Starrk said, watching the teens closely. "Lilynette can take care of herself if she needs to. I'm just worried about her making a stupid mistake."
"And what if she decides to tear their heads off and roll them down the street?"
"She's not you," countered Starrk coldly. "She'll control herself…just watch."
To his credit, Lilynette's boy-who-was-a-friend-but-had-damn-well-better-not-be-a-boyfriend made sure to step in-between the young arrancar and the two bullies, puffing his chest out and refusing to give them anything. It was brave, considering the teens were considerably larger and a few years older…brave, and ultimately foolish; the duo shoved him back against a wall and drew their fists back, threatening violence if he didn't cooperate.
That was as far as they got before Lilynette intervened, abruptly kicking one of the bullies in the chest with enough force to knock him off his feet and send him flying back some five feet where he landed on top of an air hockey table.
The second bully threw a punch, but he was woefully outmatched by the smaller girl as she ducked underneath it and shot a hand up to seize his wrist. Lilynette tightened her other hand into a fist and plowed it into his gut, driving the air from his body. Then, with only the faintest grunt, she picked up the larger, heavier teen and tossed him over on top of his buddy, and the impact broke the air hockey table in half. Both bullies hit the floor with a loud 'thud' as the other patrons of the game room erupted into cheers for Lilynette.
"You guys aren't done already, are ya?" she asked with frightening smirk that made her look a little too much like 'uncle' Grimmjow for a split second, and the beaten bullies quickly scrambled to their feet and made a hasty retreat.
The primera and the sexta both ducked back around the column out of sight, and Grimmjow gave Starrk a broad grin that somehow managed to reek of pride.
"So what was that bullshit you were saying earlier?" he asked smugly.
"Okay, maybe her control needs a little more work…"
Halibel fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably, glancing down at the little girl that was currently leaning against her as they watched television. This wasn't right, it wasn't natural, and it upset the very delicate balance that made her humble apartment into a home. She glanced over at Tyn on the other side of Emi, his irritation evident by the way he sat slumped against the arm of the couch.
Emi, for her part, didn't notice anything as she snuggled closer to 'Miss Halle Bell.'
For most of their time living together, the middle cushion where Emi sat had been designated as No Man's Land, a place where only throw pillows would be piled on top of one another in a makeshift wall as the two roommates would sit as far away from each other as possible. Even when the hostility between the two had finally faded away and the pillows were no longer piled up into a wall, No Man's Land had remained as in invisible, impassable barrier.
It was only in the past couple of weeks that the wall had come down as she and Tyn had begun using the middle cushion to sit nearer to the other. That had been a welcome change, something that made them both feel more at ease…and now there was a human child sitting in between them.
The sappy, mind-numbingly family-friendly crap on the television screen didn't help things, either; Tia understood her roommate well enough to know that his stomach was most likely churning from the sickening-sweetness of it all and she was having a hard time finding fault with such a point of view. Still, they couldn't watch anything more entertaining because of the child that was wedged in-between them.
Halibel suppressed a bored sigh as they watched an elderly man on his deathbed telling his young grandson to remain strong and never lose faith in himself, that he knew the boy would make him proud… It was meant to be a sad, emotional scene, she knew that, but Tia thought back to her own mortal death and couldn't make herself feel anything other than a small pang of jealousy; really, the old man should feel privileged to die so peacefully.
On the screen, the young boy began crying as the life faded from his grandfather and Halibel looked down at Emi as she felt warm, wet droplets impact against her bare arm.
"It's not fair…" Emi was saying, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Why did he have to die? It's so sad!"
That's not fair? Halibel thought bitterly, What about dying young? What about drowning in terror?
She bit her tongue to keep from actually saying anything as she instead tried to think of something more human and reassuring to tell Emi, something that would stop her tears.
"Oh, give me a break!" snarled Tyn in disgust. "He was lucky! Plenty of people die much younger and much more violently than that! Christ, I wish I had went that peacefully but no, I had to go tumbling down a rocky cliff and break every bone in my body!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Emi, rubbing her watery eyes as she looked up at Tyn.
"Just ignore Tyn; he had a nasty nightmare about dying once, that's all," said Tia hurriedly, glancing at the raptor for a brief second before addressing Emi again. "It's fine, sweetie; why don't you go in the bathroom and wash your face off, okay?"
Sniffling, the little girl pried herself from Halibel's side and made her way to the bathroom, and as soon as Emi was out of sight, Tia turned to face Tyn.
"You remember?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah…" he admitted gruffly. "What of it?"
"I remember, too…" she said, looking away. "The ocean is so beautiful and blue from above, but when you're down below looking up, it's black and terrifying…"
"I'm sorry…" he muttered, reaching across and gripping her hand, squeezing gently.
"I thought only I remembered anything… Szayel did a 'survey' some time after you left, and his report found that I was the only one to remember my death or anything about my life at all…Starrk has fragmented dreams, but he doesn't know if they're pieces of a memory or just dreams," said Tia, squeezing his hand in return.
"I thought the same…" Tyn said. "No one else I've ever spoken to remembered their deaths. I thought I was the only one."
"We can talk about it later, maybe; for now, let's just not have any more outbursts like that in front of Emi," suggested Tia. Tyn nodded silently, withdrawing his hand just as the girl finally returned, plopping down on the couch in-between the two Espada once more.
"Miss Halle Belle, do you have any ice cream here?" asked Emi, still sniffling. "Or popcorn? Movies are better with snacks."
"I think we have some ice cream…let's go see," she said with another forced smile, leading Emi to the kitchen. "I think we might even have some chocolate syrup if you like."
"What about me?" asked Tyn, right as the baby woke up and began crying, the scent of urine wafting over from the crib.
"You can change the diaper; it's your turn, after all," said Tia sweetly, her forced smile becoming very real and very smug as she looked over at Tyn.
Her keen ears could hear him swearing under his breath as he made his way from the couch to the crib, but at least he kept his voice too low for Emi to hear him. Halibel prepared two bowls of ice cream, one for herself and one with a generous helping of chocolate syrup for Emi as they watched Tyn try and figure out how to change the diaper on his own.
"You and Mister Tyn really don't know much about kids, do you?" asked Emi as Tyn used too much baby-powder and began coughing and gagging inside the suffocating white cloud. "Is that why you two don't have any kids of your own?"
Tia looked at the girl and hesitated, unsure of how to answer the question.
"Oh God, Tia, it peed on me!" yelled Tyn in disgust, holding the baby out at arm's length as Halibel just sighed.
"It's one of many reasons."
It was a race against time and second place just wasn't going to cut it.
The primera barreled down the sidewalks at breakneck speed, running as fast as his legs could carry him short of popping his soul candy and using his sonido. He sprinted across the street and cleared a pile of snow in perfect form, never breaking stride as he came back down and felt his feet touch the ground. Other pedestrians looked at him as if he were crazy and while most had the good sense to get out of his way, a few hesitated and found themselves getting bowled over and plowed into snow drifts.
He'd lingered too long in watching Lilynette and now it was a quarter till seven, and now he had to beat her home or else she would know that he'd been trailing her.
Starrk thought about stopping to grab some food as an alibi in case Lilynette did manage to beat him home, giving him the excuse of having only been gone fifteen minutes to pick up dinner. Lilynette was young and a bit naïve, but he wasn't convinced she would be that naïve; no, his only option was to beat her back to the apartment and act casual.
Ignoring even the pretense of being cautious, he darted across the busy street in front of the apartment and forced three cars to come to a screeching halt to keep from running him over. He swung open the doors to the lobby and made for the stairwell, not trusting the elevator to be speedy enough. Starrk was sure that he'd beat Lilynette home, but by how much was up for debate: two minutes, five minutes, seven, or ten?
As long as she remained clueless about him shadowing her all evening, it didn't matter if the difference was five measly seconds.
Starrk burst out of the stairwell onto the fourth floor of the complex and hastily made for the apartment door, unlocking it and quickly ducking inside in the blink of an eye. He gave a short laugh as he collapsed back against the door, panting heavily. He'd done it! He'd beat her! Lilynette would never know—
"Busted!"
Seven-twenty was way too early for any reasonable person to be getting ready for bed, but young children apparently didn't count as reasonable people; the note from Emi's mother had mentioned the girl's bedtime as being eight o'clock and so Tia found herself standing in the bathroom making sure Emi brushed her teeth thoroughly. She glanced out in the living room at Tyn, who stood over the baby's crib watching the tiny human sleep.
"I can't believe that we were probably that small and helpless once, too…" he muttered, shaking his head.
"A lifetime ago…and I find it very easy to believe when I think back to how helpless you were when you got sick," Tia said with a teasing smirk as she walked over to stand beside him. "That was just like taking care of a big baby."
"All finished!" announced Emi cheerfully before Tyn could retort, beaming her tiny smile for both adults to see.
Halibel complimented the girl on doing a good job and took her to the bedroom, tucking the girl in. With only two bedrooms in the apartment, it had made sense to let Emi borrow her own bed for the night while she slept on the couch, and the little girl quickly worked her way over to the center of the large bed and made herself comfortable, giggling.
"Are you going to tell me a story, Miss Tia?" she asked, and the tercera faltered.
"I…don't really know any good stories," she said slowly.
"But mommy always tells me a story before bed!" whined Emi, pouting. "Does Mister Tyn know any good stories?"
"Let's not find out…" said Tia with a forced smile as the raptor in question appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame heavily. Any stories Tyn might know would almost certainly be unfit for young children and would probably give the poor child nightmares for the rest of her natural life.
"You don't know any good stories about princesses and castles and stuff?" asked Emi almost pleadingly.
"I might know one…" Tia said hesitantly. "Have you ever heard the one about the Shark Queen and the Raptor Prince?"
She ignored the questioning look Tyn was casting her way as Emi shook her head enthusiastically, begging to know more.
"It might be too long to tell it all tonight, so let's start with the beginning of how they met and the day they were forced to say goodbye…" Halibel began. "The Shark Queen was powerful, intelligent, beautiful—"
"—and vain and moody," added Tyn with a mean-spirited grin. "The Prince, meanwhile, was handsome, clever, strong and fast—"
"—with the brains of a Fruit Loop," Tia fired back as Emi giggled, completely oblivious to the verbal jabs her two babysitters were throwing at each other. Tyn simply snorted and disappeared back into the living room, and Tia's sensitive ears could hear the television being turned back on, the volume sitting at whisper-level so as to not wake the baby.
"Anyway…" she continued as she took a seat on the edge of the bed, "they lived far, far away in a magic land called Hueco Mundo where the night never ended, under the rule of an evil man called Aizen…"
"I can't believe you followed me all day! Jesus, Starrk, what the hell is wrong with you? Don't you trust me at all? I'm not some little kid, you know!"
Starrk winced under the verbal onslaught of his younger half, not sure if he felt more foolish for having not trusted her or for allowing himself to be lectured by the loudmouthed Lilynette. She'd been ranting for almost ten minutes now and while at first he'd thought she'd run out of steam and quiet down, he was beginning to have his doubts now. He opened his mouth to try and get a word in for his defense, but the smaller arrancar quickly cut him off.
"And with Grimmjow! What, were you going to have him kill anyone who looked at me funny? Were you going to have him kill my friend? Maybe the bullies at the arcade? You don't treat me like this when I hang out with Karin and the others, so why the hell is this so different?"
Starrk looked away and scratched the back of his head, waiting for her to catch her breath and launch into another tirade before he realized that she was done for the moment and actually wanted him to try and answer.
"Because I worry about you. Because you're family," he said finally. "I trust Karin and the other kids because I know them…I don't know this boy, and the two of you went off alone, without someone like Karin."
"Karin is my best friend, not a babysitter!" Lilynette snapped, clenching and unclenching her fists as if she wanted to bash Starrk's head in.
"I've seen enough television to know what kind of trouble two young teens can get into on their own and—"
"I'm not a stupid little kid!" roared Lilynette, giving in to her impulses finally and slamming a small fist down onto Starrk's skull. "I know better!"
"Doesn't mean I'm not going to worry…" he said, rubbing his aching head. "You're the only family I have."
"The others—"
"Blood family," Starrk clarified. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? Next time, I'll have more faith in you… It won't be easy, but…I'll let you go on your own."
"I'd actually be less pissed if you'd actually just showed up to hang out with us…" she said finally. "We never do anything together, Starrk! You won't play soccer with me, you hate shopping, you won't go with me to the arcade… I feel more like a pet than your 'sister' anymore!"
Ouch.
That comment may have actually hurt more than the punch to the head. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with his younger half, but Lilynette was just so vastly different in the things she enjoyed and it was hard to find a middle ground.
"You're right…" he admitted guiltily. "I don't spend enough time with you, do I? Hell, I'll bet even Kurosaki spends more time with his sisters than I do with you, and he's trying to juggle being a student and a shinigami…"
"He does!" Lilynette agreed. "It's actually fun when he's around 'cause Karin beats him up sometimes! He can be pretty goofy at time, but he's an okay guy and he's there for his sister!"
"We'll start 'hanging out' from now on, then," Starrk offered. "Maybe we can go do something tomorrow if you want."
"And no more stalking me like a creepy old man?" she asked.
"No more stalking you like a creepy old man," agreed Starrk.
"Deal!" grinned Lilynette.
"Just one more thing; how did you know I was following you?"
"Grimmjow caught me and ratted you out," shrugged Lilynette and Starrk gave a forced smile as he made a mental note to punch the troublesome sexta in the face first thing Monday morning.
"…and that was the last time they saw each other for a long, long time," finished Halibel gently, brushing a stray strand of hair away from Emi's face. The girl was already fast asleep and had been for the past several minutes but Tia had become too caught up in the story, reliving the memories in her head as she verbally told Emi a much more toned-down, kid-friendly version of what had happened.
To Emi, it was all just a fantastic fairy tale of magic lands and monsters but to those who had lived it, it was something else entirely.
Halibel remembered the last time she'd seen Tyn in Hueco Mundo; she could vividly recall how she had chased him from the palace alongside Starrk and Ulquiorra and how Tyn had plowed through a small army of numeros to make his escape, leaving a trail of blood and destruction in his wake. She remembered how he had used the forbidden Gran Rey Cero to blow a hole in the outermost wall of Los Noches and escape into the desert and the long chase she had given alongside two of her fellow Espada. She remembered coming to a stop far out in the dune sea, realizing just how futile the chase was; Starrk, predictably had been the first to give up, followed shortly by Ulquiorra on the "logical" basis that they could never match the raptor's speed.
Halibel had been the last of the trio to give up, partially out of anger that Tyn had not heeded her earlier advice to stop questioning Lord Aizen and partially out of an unspoken desire to see him one last time, to perhaps talk sense into him and convince him to return to the palace with her…
Or more precisely, to return to the palace for her.
While she had refused to openly admit it to anyone at the time, Tyn had made for good conversation and company; he'd been a good friend, a far closer friend than she'd ever dared to admit to anyone, including her own trusted fracción. If things hadn't changed, if he hadn't been exiled, maybe…
She pushed away the thought of what could have been and went back to recalling what had been, how Tyn had returned for a brief second, right before she departed to head back to the palace. He had kept a relatively safe distance between them; physically either one of them could have closed the gap in a split-second, but the emotional divide the day's events had torn open was another story altogether and that gap might never be closed again. She remembered the look of sorrow and hurt in his amber eyes, the look of someone who felt betrayed by his closest friend…and before she could say anything to try and explain herself or to plead with him to come back and beg for Aizen's forgiveness, he was gone again.
If he had at least said something out of anger or spite, maybe it could have alleviated some of the guilt swelling in her chest.
It had been a long, lonely trek back to the palace and the next few days had been spent agonizing over if she had made the right decision or not, if choosing to stay loyal to Aizen was worth the hefty sacrifice she'd made. Back then, she had eventually managed to convince herself that it was the right call but here and now, with the benefit of hindsight…
Tia sighed and took one last look at the sleeping child as she pushed herself off the edge of the bed and turned to leave, only to find Tyn standing in the doorway again wearing the same sad expression from so long ago.
"I didn't mean to reopen old wounds…" Halibel offered quietly, unable to look her friend in the eyes.
"Don't worry about it," Tyn grunted in response as he turned and headed across the living room for his own bedroom. "What's done is done."
She sighed as he disappeared into his bedroom, making sure to shut the door behind him gently so as to not disturb the baby. Tia sat down on the couch and fluffed her pillow, glancing from the crib sitting in the corner to Tyn's closed door and feeling as if that immeasurable gulf was still there between them. Wasn't it finally time to start trying to close that distance?
She tucked her pillow under her arm and tiptoed her way over to Tyn's door, carefully pushing it open and stepping inside. The quinto was already on his sleeping mat, facing towards the wall instead of having his back pressed against it, another sign that the feral paranoia he'd gained in his exile was finally beginning to leave.
"Thought you were sleeping on the couch tonight…" he said gruffly over his shoulder as she settled down in the floor beside him.
"Are you saying you don't want me here?" she asked softly.
"I didn't say that…I just thought you were sleeping on the couch since Emi's in your bed."
"If you're not kicking me out, then shut up," she mumbled, laying on her back and gazing up at the ceiling. After a long moment, Tyn finally rolled over to face her, propping himself up on one arm as he looked down at her.
"Look, if you're here because of some kind of misplaced guilt over what happened back then, forget about it. It doesn't matter anymore," he said.
Sure; now he says something spiteful...
"I'm here because I want to be here, stupid," she said icily, trying not to let her own temper flare up at his tone. "But I'll be happy to go back to the couch if I'm not welcome."
"Let's not be hasty…" Tyn said as he cautiously laid back down and draped an arm over her waist, keeping a watchful eye on the tercera in case she didn't appreciate his gesture.
"Smartest thing you've said all day…" she smiled, relaxing into his embrace a bit. "Good night, Tyn."
"Yeah, yeah, good night…" he mumbled, his cheeks blushing. "And for the record, I think I hate kids; I swear, babies are nothing but disgusting, screaming poop machines."
"For the record, I don't think I'm too fond of them, either," Tia agreed with a small chuckle. "I mean, Emi's okay, but babies—"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"—are demon-spawn," finished Tyn for her.
"It's my turn, isn't it?" sighed Tia, slowly getting to her feet and making her way to the living room.
She made her way over to the crib and grasped the railing, looking down at the crying infant inside for a moment before reaching inside to pick it up. Tyn stopped her and she looked up at him, about to question why he'd bothered to get up when he used his head to silently gesture towards Tia's bedroom door, where an exhausted-looked Emi stood rubbing her tired eyes.
"I'm not sleepy yet, Miss Tia…" the girl yawned. "I want to hear more of the story."
"Okay, sweetie…" said Halibel with another forced smile as she made her way over to the child and left Tyn to care for the baby.
"Did the Shark Queen and Raptor Prince ever see each other again?" asked Emi as Tia tried to usher her back to bed.
"Oh yes…they found each other again many years later when he came back to rescue her."
"And then they lived happily ever after, right?" asked Emi hopefully, and Tia glanced back at her roommate who was busy gagging and wrinkling his nose as he held the baby out at arm's length.
"How the hell can something so tiny shit so much?" Tia heard him grumbling under his breath, and she couldn't help but smile faintly as she turned back to the young girl.
"I don't know, Emi; their story isn't finished just yet…"