C'yeah, Poker Pair Week ftw. Although, I only have two stories written...and I take a while to write...-; So I doubt I'm going to have all seven up this week. SO UHM...Expect them, just not immediately. XD I PROMISE I WILL FINISH...

Meanwhile,

Theme for this one: Homosexual Card Games. Ohyeah.

DGM copyright to Hoshino. C:

Enjoy.

Lesson learned the hard way #1, Allen thought, sighing, when exploring a train, always bring a buddy.

And the reason he was recording this mental note was currently blocking the only exit in the train car, grinning like the maniac that Allen (and basically the rest of the world) assumed he was.

"Well, fancy meeting in a place like this," Tyki, for of course it was he, said, locking the door.

"You might, but I don't," Allen responded, frowning. He also rather missed the irony of the previous statement.

"Oh come on, where are your manners, boy?"

"I must have left them in the other train car. Would you like me to go get them?"

"No, no, it's fine," Tyki said, taking a step forward. Allen, in turn, took a step back. "Oh come on, no need to be shy, boy."

"I'm not being shy."

"Then what are you being?"

"Eh...evasive?"

"And why is that?"

"Because, ah..." Allen thought for a moment, before deciding, "because you smell bad."

Tyki made a face, obviously offended. "I do not."

"Okay, no, you smell fine, actually, the truth is that you scare the living pants off of-- er, actually, no," Allen decided to revise his sentence after seeing Tyki raise an amused eyebrow, "you, uh, rather unnerve me, so if you wouldn't mind taking a step back..."

Tyki defiantly took a step forward, instead. So, reflexively, Allen took a step back, but his foot missed the floor and hit a crate instead, which caused him to loose his balance and fall rather suddenly into a sitting position on the box that made him loose his balance in the first place.

So, Tyki decided to take this opportunity to stride over and pull up a crate in front of Allen to sit on for himself.

Allen scooted as far back on his own crate as he could without falling off.

"Oh come on, I don't bite," Tyki said, leaning forward slightly. "Well...much."

"It's not you biting that I'm worried about, it's those butterflies of yours. Not to mention the ripping of the arm and crushing of the Innocence and all...And...and also..."

"Hm?"

"Your mole."

"What about it?"

"It's...it's, well...it's distracting."

"You like it."

"I do not."

Tyki smirked. "Well, in any case, I'm not here to kill you."

"Well, you didn't kill me last time, either, but that was still pretty gruesome."

"Okay, well, I'm not here to injure you. Happy?"

"No, I'm not, and I won't be until you let me leave, but while I'm here I might as well ask; what are you here to do?"

Tyki shrugged nonchalantly, and then produced a deck of cards from his pocket. "Fancy a game of cards?"

"I guess. Well, more than I fancy you, in any case."

"Oh come on, that was uncalled for..."

Allen smiled. "So," he said, "name the game."

"Well, I don't have any particular game in mind...although, considering the circumstances," Tyki said, looking Allen up and down in a way that would have made anyone feel uncomfortable, "a game of 'English Stud'?"

"Oh, I'm flattered," Allen said, sarcastically. Then he, rather unexpectedly, smiled politely. "But why just think about me? How about a game of 'Psycho', instead?"

"Huh. Sounds like someone needs to play 'Have a Heart'."

"'Scum'."

Tyki frowned for a moment, mentally going through a list of card games he knew.

Then he smiled rather wryly. "'Screw Your Neighbor', perhaps?"

"'I Doubt It'."

"'Between the Sheets'?"

"'Bullshit'."

"'May I?'"

Allen sighed. "No. And since we're having such a hard time, er, deciding what game to play, Poker is always something to default back to."

Tyki shrugged, shuffling the cards. "I suppose that's true," he said, and dealt out a hand.

- - -

"So," Allen said, examining his cards, "what's the catch?"

"Why whatever do you mean?" Tyki asked innocently. Too innocently.

Allen just scoffed.

"Well, if you really must know," the Noah finally resigned and said, "since we're not betting and all, I've decided on a different sort of reward."

"Ah. Have you," Allen mumbled, suddenly deciding that he'd better wait to trade in his cards.

"Yes. I have."

"And it is...?"

"Well, for every, say...five. Five sounds good. For every five hands you win, you get to...er..."

Allen raised an eyebrow.

"You get to make a request of the other person."

"Is that so."

"Yes, it is so. And said other person is required to indulge this 'request'."

"So, let's say that I win five hands," Allen said, "and I tell you to let me leave."

"Then I would have to let you leave," Tyki answered, shrugging. "Simple enough?"

Allen grinned.

"Simple enough."

- - -

Eight hands later:

"Full house," Allen said, revealing his hand with a smirk. He was pretty sure that he had won this one, and that put him at five wins, which meant adeus, creeper! That's right, no more--

"Four of a kind."

Allen blinked. Wait, what? Seriously?

Yeeap, those were definitely four three's that Tyki had in his hand.

Bugger.

"Lovely," Allen grumbled, laying his cards on the table. Foiled by three's.

"I do believe that puts me at 'five'," Tyki purred, looking oh-so pleased with himself.

"Yeah, yeah...whadd'ya want..."

The Noah grinned.

"Close your eyes."

"Sorry?"

"Close your eyes. And keep them closed until I say otherwise."

Allen frowned, but after a nervous glance around the room, he shut his eyes, hoping for the best.

Although, he wasn't entirely sure what 'the best' was, in this situation...

Time crawled by as Allen tried his best to listen for any clues as to what was happening, but all he heard was the train.

He did, however, quickly get the eerie feeling that Tyki was extremely close to him.

And his suspicions were quickly confirmed when a hand was placed under his chin, turning his face to look at...well, presumably Tyki.

Allen itched to open his eyes and see what was going on, but decided against it. If he looked now, then he would have broken the rules of the game, and god knows that sleazy bastard Tyki would use that fact to keep him there...

Besides, he didn't have to wonder for long. Because all in one moment it became suddenly clear.

In fact, it became so clear that Allen was momentarily shocked and it took him a moment or two to finally realize that Tyki was kissing him.

And at this point, either he didn't care about the rules or he just plain forgot, because Allen's eyes flew open in shock as his face turned red and he let out a surprised sort of squeak, and with all this going on plus the Exorcist already being in a rather shaken state, it was all very confusing and Allen's mind was grateful for the breather after Tyki let off.

"You..." Allen said, looking rather disgusted.

"Me?"

"You kissed me!"

"Yes. I did. And you opened your eyes before I told you to, so we're even."

"We are not even!"

"Well, fine, then you kiss me then."

Allen frowned, crossing his arms. "Not bloody likely."

"Well, who knows what I'll ask when I win again..."

"When you win again? In one more hand I'm getting out of here!"

Tyki seemed amused by this for some reason, but just quietly dealt out another hand.

- - -

Two hands later:

"Flush," Allen stated, placing his cards on the table.

Tyki frowned at his own cards, and then silently revealed them. Nothing but a pair.

"Okay, five, finally, now let me leave."

The Noah seemed to think for a moment. Then he simply said, "okay."

Allen blinked.

"What? You're just going to let me go?"

"Yeah. Damned if I don't follow my own rules."

"You're just...hm." Allen seemed oddly disappointed.

"Listen, boy," Tyki said, "You told me to let you leave, so I'll let you leave."

"Well, I guess I'll--"

"But I didn't say I'd let you leave now."

Allen frowned.

"Er, uh...can I modify my original request?"

"Nope," Tyki said, smirking.

"...Bugger."

"Bugger indeed."

- - -

Five hands later:

"Aha!" Allen said triumphantly, "five hands in a row, blimey. Well, I guess I'll be going now..."

"No, you won't."

Allen frowned. "Oh, what is it this time?"

"You cheated."

"Prove it."

Tyki smirked.

"Well, we've each got five cards, which means there should be 44 in the deck. So, would you like me to count, or are you going to save me the trouble?"

Allen sighed.

"Alright, fine..." he mumbled, and pulled the few cards out of his sleeve, tossing them at the deck. "But..."

"But what?"

"You...never said I couldn't cheat..."

Tyki laughed. "Well, I think 'don't cheat' is kind of a given, actually."

Allen sighed. "Yeah, yeah..."

- - -

Six hands later:

"Full house," Tyki declared proudly.

Allen stared at his own cards. Then at Tyki's.

That put them at...10 to 7. Shite.

"Flush," Allen mumbled, putting his cards on the...crate.

"Indeed so," Tyki said, not looking at Allen's cards, but instead at his slowly reddining face.

"Oh ha ha," Allen said sarcastically. "Well, that puts you at 10...so..."

Tyki crossed his arms in thought. Let's see...

"I think you should return the favor."

Allen blinked.

"Huh?"

"Well, I kissed you earlier, so it's only fair..."

"Wha...it is not fair!"

"Says the habitual cheater."

"Yeah, well...that has nothing to do with this!"

Tyki smirked.

"Well, fair or not, that's my request."

Allen frowned, folding his arms.

Tyki beckoned him over.

"Sooner or later, boy."

"Later. Much, much later."

"Well, fine, but you can't leave until then."

At this point, Allen was beginning to be rather distraught.

"But...nygh..."

"I'm waiting~"

"Shut up, you."

So Allen crossed his arms and thought for a moment.

And after exhausting possibilities one by one, he finally gave up and walked around to the front of Tyki.

He sat on the crate they were using as a table, and stared at Tyki for a good while, not really inclined to do anything much.

Eventually, Tyki leaned forward until their noses were no more than an inch apart, raised an eyebrow, and with considerable effort, restrained himself from making a smart-ass comment.

So, Allen, with a moment's hesitation or two, finally leaned forward and kissed him.

And, although he would never admit, he enjoyed it quite a bit more than he was letting on. Half a while later, (Allen's passing of time seemed to slow considerably, so he couldn't quite make out how long) he found that he was still kissing Tyki, and wasn't much inclined to stop.

Although, soon an opportunity arrived that Allen had no choice but to act upon.

Chomp.

Allen momentarily delighted in Tyki's exclamation of pain, and all of the sudden they were separate again.

Allen smirking with near infinite satisfaction, and Tyki with his eyes watering and his hands cupping his mouth.

"You bastard," Tyki complained, "you bit my tongue."

"I was trying to make you mute."

Tyki ignored this comment.

"I mean," he started again, "I'm generally not all that object to that, but..." he stuck his pinkie in his mouth, and it came out red, "Fuck---I'm bleeding."

"Serves you right."

"Bullshit, you were having fun."

Allen flushed. "Sh-shut up and deal."

- - -

Five hands later:

"Two pair," Allen proclaimed.

Tyki frowned. "I got nothin'."

Allen grinned triumphantly. "That brings me up to ten. So, good riddance."

And he got up and made to leave.

"What, you're just going to go? After all we've been through together?" Tyki asked, disappointed.

Allen rolled his eyes. "Yes. I'm just going to go."

"Don't I even get a goodbye?"

"It's not like I'm not ever going to see you again."

"Ah, but what if you don't? It's a dangerous world out there..."

"Yeah, what if I don't, then?"

"Then I think you would regret not properly saying goodbye."

Allen sighed. Then he walked back over to where Tyki sat.

"Yeah, I think I would," he mumbled, and then leaned down to Tyki and kissed him.

"Goodbye, Tyki."

"Goodbye, boy."

Allen took a couple steps towards the door. Then he turned back.

"I'll see you later," he said, rather forcefully.

Tyki smirked. "I'll look forward to it."

And Allen was almost out the door, before being stopped once again.

"I love you, Allen!"

The Exorcist was silent for a moment.

"I love you too, Tyki..."