First off, a quick thank you to the other half of Momosportif, my own dear twinsu, for typing up all this. :3 Thanks for hanging in there too, my dear H! You are a great typing-demon! XD

To everyone else, please enjoy! :3 Thank you so much for reading!

-bows-

-S

"Tyyyki!"

"Tyki, he!"

The addressed party jumped a fair foot as the duet of his name woke him from his deep reverie.

"Jasdebi? Do you- Jasdebi!" Tyki, taken wholly aback as the invincible duo flung themselves onto his lap, let the hand he'd been resting his chin on fall to return the embrace loosely. "What's all of this?"

"We're sorry we teased you earlier, he!"

"About a uh… girlfriend and all…"

"Yeah, he! So we brought you a present to make up for it, right, Debi?"

"That's right, Jas!" Debitto reached into his over-sized jacket and produced a pair of identical rubber ducks, tied together at the neck by a gaudy pastel bow.

"So you can think of us fondly all the time, he!"

"Or at least when you're in the bath-"

"TWINS, OUT!" the Lust of Noah sauntered into the study without warning and waved a hand at the pair. "Tyki and I need to have an adult discussion."

"Blegh!"

"Icky, he!"

Jasdero rolled off in an awkward front somersault as Debitto hastily jumped up, using the chair's arm like a gymnast's horse vault.

"Later, Mr. Adult, he!"

"Yeah, but keep us in mind for the best men!"

Debitto saluted with a wink as he stepped over the log rolling Jasdero and out of the door.

"Keep you in mind for what?"

"Heeeee!"

A smart slam cut off the final echoing sound of the twins and Lulubell pivoted smoothly holding a hand out to a mildly surprised Tyki.

"Here's the paper, dear."

"Thanks, Lulu."

"And here's twenty pounds."

"What?"

"The bet."

"What are you talking about, Lulu?"

With a huff of impatience, Lulubell put her hand on the corner of the desk opposite Tyki, sliding her rear onto it slightly for extra support.

"I was positive you would chicken out and run like I said. Usually, I would have made a wager with Skin, but seeing as he's dead," Tyki cringed as the heartless beauty callously continued after making a brief pause to scratch at something or another on the tabletop, "I made a wager with myself. And you won, so there you have it."

She raised a slim finger to indicate the notes on Tyki's knee.

"Twenty pounds."

Tyki, still in a slight state of shock merely nodded dumbly as Lulubell tossed her hair to hide a smile.

"I must say, Tyki… you always surprise me; me, the one who thinks she knows you best." Three swings of perfectly proportional hips brought the Lust to the armchair where a still speechless Tyki vaguely registered a rare embrace from his most distant sibling. "Guess I'll be displaced one day soon though, hm?"

Gilded eyes followed a playful digit as it passed over the bridge of his nose.

"Lulu…" he managed at last as she slid fluidly from the arm of his chair while the sound of poorly muffled footsteps carrying a massive weight became louder and louder.

She purred.

"You didn't do too bad of a job either! He's pretty cute, you know…"

The library door to the hall creaked slightly as it was pushed fully ajar. Lulubell paused in her retreat to one of the other exits to intone dangerously, "Which, by the way, means I'll be seeing to it that you treat him properly! Boyfriends are not past times, they are idols to be worshipped. Use that money wisely; I'm not going to allow you to screw this up."

A small shiver woke the previously stunned Pleasure up from his state of shock at the lingering threat and he was able to turn, dismissing all fear with a slight twitch of the eye, to face his next visitor with some semblance of composure.

"Earl-samma…"

"Sweet, Tyki-pon!"

Unprepared for the use of one of several bizarre superpowers, this one being super-speed that no creature of the Earl's girth should have been capable of, Tyki had no chance to even consider escape before finding himself buried more deeply in the satin seating than he ever had believed was possible.

"Guh!"

"Tyki-pon! My little Tyki-pon!" The Earl rose to take in the smothered object of his affections, tears streaming down the gray-green cheeks like waterfalls.

Tyki coughed, struggling to breath again while massaging protesting ribs.

"You made me so proud yesterday, Tyki!"

"Eh?" This sincere statement was almost more surprising than the pile-drive love tackle he was still recovering from.

"Oh, yes, Tyki! Very, very proud!" The Earl went on, raising clasped, gloved hands to his chin as his glasses sparkled with adoration. "You know I worry so, Tyki… you seem so uninterested and detached sometimes and I start to believe the worst, and yet," Tyki blinked dumbly as the master of all evil made a dramatic pause, "you always turn around and surprise me so, Tyki!"

A pristine pearly hand disentangled itself from the other to pat the curl-bedecked cranium of the Earl's favorite pet. "Oh, Tyki! So brave! So creative! So sweet!"

I wonder how much he really knows…

The corner of Tyki's lip lifted a minute distance in a sneer of suspicion, mild revulsion, and overall abashment.

"I can't wait to have him over!"

Cooing apparently complete and task, though still unclear to the over-adored Noah, evidently accomplished, the Earl of the Millennium began waddling excitedly back from whence he came.

"Ho!" a soft version of his favorite multi-purpose exclamation curtailed his exit as he turned, hand over mouth (or as much of it as he could cover with one hand). The top hat adorned head tilted in cute yet simultaneously sinister inquiry.

"You will be having him over, won't you, Tyki-pon?"

The command poorly disguised as a question had only one right answer, and Tyki was far too tired to fight this particular battle at the moment.

"Of course!" he exhaled halfheartedly, any chance of elaborating dying as the Earl immediately chortled.

"Oh, good! I knew you would, Tyki-pon! Such a good boy… I'll make arrangements for tea sometime…"

Praying that 'sometime' did not mean today, Tyki reclined after opening one eye to scan for any other possible disturbances. As much as he appreciated the support of his family, he was in dire need of some, he felt, well-deserved beauty sleep.

The strange lullaby of household activity lulled the slightly smiling Pleasure to the semi-conscious state he'd been enjoying before the twins interrupted, and he would have given into the cozy escape of rest entirely had a sound only he could perceive above the rumble of a bustling mansion not caught his attention.

"Oi, borboleta…"

"Hey, Tyki." Road's voice was soft with respectful and aloof affection. She was somewhere behind him at a bookshelf.

"Homework?"

"Yeah."

"Need any help?"

"No, it's just literature. Earl-samma said he'd help me."

"Okay."

A comfortable pause came and Tyki deliberated whether or not to pose an inquiry that had been gnawing at him since last night (he tried to think quietly as Road seemed able to read his mind when he pondered without prudence). With a fraction of a frown he finally decided to put the question to his niece, "You didn't do it on purpose, did you? That whole stunt last night?"

He'd thought too indiscreetly; he could tell by the tone of her answer and how he could practically hear her grinning.

Dammit…

"Hee hee! Don't be silly, Tyki! How could I have known any of that would happen? I didn't even know who you brought with you, right? It was just as surprising to me as anyone else, of course."

He never could tell what was true and what was a boldfaced lie with Road.

A deep sigh levered his eyes open in time to catch the Dreams as she slipped between the left chair arm and the writing desk, resting her chin by his elbow. It really didn't matter though, reflected Tyki as he ruffled her slicked down hair. In the end, she was always his cute little niece, wasn't she?

"Ah, borboleta… we'll make it out one day, huh?"

She giggled.

"We'll see, Tyki… You made a nice choice though, I think." Large, lazy eyes betrayed her honest humor. "The little bookman isn't so bad! Plus, I still get Allen-kun…"

"Hm!" Tyki smiled fondly after her as she dislodged herself from the crevice between furniture and retreated to the door leading to one of the many useless sitting rooms.

"You think he'll help me with his history if I ask very nicely, Tyki?"

"Probably, Road…"

"Hm!" With a small secret smile only she understood, Road took her leave of the library and its one and only frequenter.

Tyki settled back into his seat and, with a flash of divine inspiration, picked up a discarded newspaper that was under Jasdebi's ridiculous ducks on the side table and propped it up before him to deter any other passersby.

Some people simply cannot be deterred, however.

"How long?"

Tyki found his newspaper folded down to reveal a delicately concerned visage he was none too thrilled to see.

"What?"

"How long are you going to wait?"

Tyki blinked incredulously at his pining brother.

"What the hell can you possibly want from me now? Didn't I meet your terms? Didn't I-"

"But, Tykiiiiii!" Sheryl threw himself into the armchair melodramatically, wiggling bony hips to force his awed and appalled sibling to make room where none existed.

He blinked in a maudlin fashion, magnified by the monocle.

"He's so adorable! How on earth do you plan on resisting for any substantial length of time?"

Tyki, having no room to elude the willowy limbs he suddenly found flung around his neck, could do nothing but grunt in disgust at this blasé invasion of his personal space, demanding sharply, "Sheryl, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." He tried, sans success, to shove the daintily crossed legs from his lap as he continued crossly, "What exactly am I resisting in your little," the Pleasure struggled for an appropriately condemning adjective as he gave up the struggle to remove Sheryl from his person and crossed his arms, "gay fantasy world?"

This choice was a massive failure as it only incited a squeal and tightening of the grip on his neck as Sheryl explained emotionally, "Your lover of course! How are you going to survive not seeing him for days on end? It must be torture, you poor, sweet thing!"

He released the instantly distrustful Noah of Pleasure at long last as he stood, staring passionately out into space.

"Sheryl," began Tyki in a dangerous tone, "don't even-"

"That's why- hm. Yes. Yes, it must be done. That," the object of a fearful but violent death glare turned his contented countenance to his brother once more, "is why I am going to give you a little push in the right direction!"

Tyki's weary and fury-clouded mind raced to decode this cryptic declaration as Sheryl traipsed to the door, but an answer from his source of anguish came before he could discern some solution.

"You have until Saturday."

"What?" Tyki's eyes widened, face going slack in disbelief.

Sheryl gave his most sinisterly sweet smile, eyes forming two perfect little arches of elated evil and mouth curving upwards to the point that it looked fit to collapse on itself.

"Until the wedding, dear brother! I'll get started on the guest list right away!"

With a waggle of his fingers, Sheryl all but ran from the room, pausing at the door to give a little shrug of delight and sigh, "Ah, first love!"

Tyki let his head fall to greet the table top with a hollow think. The newspaper fell to the ground and raced the bedraggled bachelor's (an appellation now in questionable standing) spirits in deflating.

Perdão, borboleta, perdão.

If he had been unsure before, he was now convinced; Allen Walker, as it turned out, was not the only master cheater in the great wide world. Nor was he the best.

Whew! So ends this little ill-fated prize fic for kaenu! :3 Hopefully, it was a decent ending, but if not...(you know the drill)...

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Homicidal urges? Stick it to me in a review and a thousand thank yous to you all for reading!!!

-bows-

-S

p.s. According to my nifty Berlitz phrasebook, "perdão" means "sorry" :3 This thought is directed at Lavi (of course 3)