unknownrival | [RL with Tyki]

"If you like." Issei left the water, a smile on his face.

Tyki was more than happy to follow, amazed at his good fortune. How often did one get a monk to agree to strip dance for you for pretty much no reason at all?

The community really was an amazing place.

He grabbed some towels and stretched out on his stomach on one of them with a contented sigh. "Don't burn," he said. "You're so pale."

"Yes, I know. I don't get out much." Issei lied down on his back. "Mmm, I think I'll just fall asleep like this, wake me up later..."

Tyki chuckled and reached for the bottle of sun screen he'd brought. The stuff didn't exist in his time, but Zechs had taught him that humans needed to use it in spectacular fashion by turning into a lobster one hot afternoon.

He poured some into his palm and shifted over to the boy to rub the lotion into his chest. "Just go to sleep," he murmured. "I'll make sure you don't burn."

Issei purred, curling trustingly toward the hand. "You'll take care of me..." he mumbled, and then was out like a light on the island beach.

Tyki smiled and took his time, drying the boy off with gentle buffs with the towel, then rubbing the lotion into his skin from head to toe.

"So trusting," he murmured thoughtfully, brushing a lock of blue hair out of Issei's face, then removing his glasses and setting them on a nearby rock.

With a sigh he stretched out on the beach, content to feel the sun's rays while letting the UV rays warm the sand and the towel under him so it wouldn't burn him.

Some time later, Issei woke up. He wiped the sleep from his eyes, then turned to look at Tyki stretched out near him.

"Good afternoon," he said, fumbling for his glasses. "Or is it evening now?"

Tyki shifted and opened his own eyes, smothering a yawn. In the warmth and comfort of the beach, he'd been lulled into a nap also, and he was a bit befuddled as he first awakened.

He blinked at Issei for a moment, then smiled once more. "Looks like it's getting on to evening," he said, sitting up slowly and nodding towards the sun, which was beginning to sink towards the west. "Let's see what Alice has made us for dinner, shall we?"

He was referring, of course, to the maid robot that Hakuba had given him for Christmas.

"Someone lives here?" Issei asked as he put on his glasses, confused. He rose shakily to his feet. "A good friend of yours, I presume."

"Hmm?" Tyki asked in confusion, then realized what he meant. He got to his feet and rolled up the sandy towels.

"Oh no, no one lives here full time," he said. "We have a robot maid, though. Saguru gave her to us, and she keeps the place clean while we're gone and cooks our meals while we're here. She's terribly convenient to have around."

"A robot maid?" Issei laughed. "You really are living the good life! Very well, then, I'd love to see both her and our dinner. Lead the way."

Tyki laughed in response and turned, leading Issei back towards the house. Long before they reached it, the scent of cooking meat reached them, and Tyki lifted his face as he sniffed the air. "Smells like she's making hot dogs," he said, then blinked. "Ah... you eat meat, right?"

He pulled the glass door open to let them into the patio, and a blond girl wearing a maid outfit came out of the kitchen and curtsied to them gravely before moving forward to take the towels from Tyki.

"Yes, we eat meat - much as my father seems to think we don't," Issei complained, shaking his head as he stepped inside. "This is a nice place you have. I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to live here, unless your home is even nicer."

"We do spend a lot of time here," Tyki agreed, beaming around at the open-seeming beachhouse. "But we have a big house in Switzerland, which is also beautiful, though we may end up selling that one eventually. We mostly live on Gaia, because my husband works for Rufus ShinRa."

He flung himself onto the sofa and Alice placed a glass of wine in his hand, then offered one to Issei.

Issei shook his head. "I don't drink except after catastrophes." He had been listening intently to Tyki as he took his seat next to him. "ShinRa? I don't have the pleasure of his acquaintance in more than one or two conversations. I hope the work goes well, at least?"

"Would you like something else, sir?" Alice asked quietly. "We have juice, soda or water."

Tyki nodded, taking a sip from his glass as he slipped an arm around the boy. "He's a pain in the ass, but the work keeps Zechs busy. He needs to feel like he's accomplishing something, protecting someone."

He shrugged helplessly, not having that urge himself.

"Water is fine," Issei answered, leaning closer to Tyki. "Mm, I understand. A monk's duty is to help, as well, so my job leaves me fulfilled, just like his does."

Alice departed soundlessly and returned quickly with a glass of ice water and a plate of veggies and dip. Tyki leaned against Issei as well, humming softly.

"What kinds of things do you do to help people? Or do you mean..." He waved his glass vaguely. "Spiritual assistance."

"There is that, but there's also more material things to consider," Issei explained, munching on a carrot. "We take people in who need shelter. We feed those who need food. We're willing to provide whatever the community needs."

"Hmm, that's nice," Tyki said thoughtfully. He snagged a cherry tomato and popped it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

"And they don't have to be your kind of religion to be helped, right?" he asked curiously. There were some aspects of organized religion that didn't suck.

"No, of course not. They just have to be in need," Issei answered, smiling gently. "It's one of the few things I'm proud of in my life, that I've genuinely been able to help people."

Tyki settled back on the couch and swirled the wine in his glass. "I guess it feels good for you to help people," he said quietly.

"It does for me," Issei replied. "Everyone is different, of course."

Tyki nodded. He really didn't get the whole point of helping people for the gain of nothing more than some kind of vague sense of accomplishment. He could believe it was enough for Issei, though. He didn't seem to need much more than that.

"Everyone is different," he agreed, giving the boy a squeeze. "And you're very accepting of different people," he added thoughtfully. "It's nice."

"I'm glad that you think so," Issei answered cheerfully.

He understood that Tyki was a different kind of person, and not necessarily a nice kind either. But as long as the side of him that Issei liked, the fun-loving, gentlemanly side, wasn't a fake, Issei could accept the flaw of having a side that killed.

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