Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man with its wonderful characters was written by and belongs to the talented Katsura Hoshino. I do not own it.
"It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world." - Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump.
(Don't throw up; don't throw up; don't throw up.)
"Tyki-pet, I know you can be a bit daft at times, but please do remember to breathe."
Thump. Thump.
God, he hates this so much. The table is freezing; his insides are churning; the Earl's hands are way too fucking cold. His insides feel like they're being played with, being twisted and being placed in just the slightly wrong places. He almost gags, but he doesn't. He's starting to get used to this disgusting feeling.
There isn't much relief when the Earl pulls his hands out of Tyki's chest. His organs are still fucked up and he feels sick and dear God the Earl is licking Tyki's blood off of his hands. The older Noah's arms are covered to the elbow in the bodily fluid.
The Earl really is a sick man.
He turns away from where Tyki, holding back the bile rising in his throat, sits. Complete darkness fills the corners of the rooms, and only a few candles light the area around the Earl and Tyki. Next to the table Tyki sits on stands a desk with books and papers spread all across it, organized with what appears to be no rhyme or reason. The Earl scratches a few notes into the margins of one of the blood-specked books and returns to Tyki's side.
He attempts to plunge his hands back into Tyki's insides, but his fingertips only touch smooth flesh.
"Tyki-pet, you need to let me back in." His cheerful voice sounds infinitely loud in the dark, quiet room. He receives no verbal reply. The barely-perceptible faster intake of breath on the part of the younger Noah is answer enough though.
"We're not done here yet, Tyki-pet." He allows darkness and a touch of madness to invade his tone of voice, but he still keeps up the sound of a cheerful family member.
Slowly, the Earl's hands sink into Tyki's body. They roam over the lungs, the heart, and the brain; nails trace the length of arteries and veins and the spinal cord. It's difficult for Tyki to remain still, and often times his body spasms and he coughs and breathes deeply and tries and tries and tries not to vomit.
Again and again the Earl will suddenly stop what he's doing, pull out of Tyki's intestines or stop poking his brain or stop cradling his heart, and go back to that table to scribble some more notes down. Sometimes, he'll even draw a picture. Of what, Tyki isn't sure. He's too busy trying to ignore that awful feeling that the Earl pulled his heart a little too much to the right.
Thump. Thump.
Fuck, it feels like that thing is beating in the very center of his chest.
The Earl is taking a much longer time writing things down and much less time messing with Tyki's organs as more and more times passes by, so Tyki hopes that they're nearing the end of their little study session.
The Earl conducts these sessions for multiple reasons. Sometimes, he does it to punish Tyki for failures. Sometimes, Tyki thinks, the Earl does it for fun. But really, the main reason is science.
Science and magic. Two things the Millennium Earl truly excels at, besides wreaking havoc and destruction and despair. His knowledge has put him so far above all the other pitiful humans. Perhaps, he dares to think, it has even put him on par with God. He can snatch souls away from the man, can't he? All thanks to his science and magic. Oh, the study that was required to bring his Akuma to life! He did accomplish it eventually though. Imagine what more he could do once he got rid of those pesky exorcists!
Ah, but now was the time for study. And so he plunges his hands into the warm and sticky insides of the living body (living body! how lucky was he to have such an opportunity!) before him, and he learns. Learns the anatomy, learns the way the body reacts, sees how far he can push and prod before the body reacts negatively. Perhaps soon he will be able to improve his Akuma and give them even more complex designs, something more complex than what God could ever create.
Thump. Thump.
And suddenly Tyki is violently spasming again, and he finally can't take it anymore, and he's vomiting blood and stomach acid everywhere. He continues to heave even when nothing comes up anymore, and fucking hell it hurts it hurts it feels sick and gross and disgusting.
The Earl rubs Tyki's back soothingly and whispers to the man about how he did good today. Once the younger Noah stops retching, the Earl goes to pack up his books and notes.
Tyki doesn't move at all for a few minutes.
God, I hate studying.
A/N: I've had this sort of idea in my head for a pretty long time, but I only just now wrote it 'cause I didn't have any inspiration to write it until I finished reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. If you haven't read that book, I recommend that you do! It's pretty interesting, and Victor is such a drama queen omg. Anyway, I wrote this pretty quickly and only read it a few times to check for errors so please point out any obvious errors I need to fix! (But some weird grammar stuff was done on purpose for *emphasis* and ~effect~) The Earl and Tyki may not exactly be completely IC in this; idk I mostly wrote it for my own amusement. Also, what genre do y'all think this should be under? "General" just seems like the best fit. Also, also, should I think for more than two seconds about the summary for the story and change it? Thank you to anyone who responds. Please review if you liked 'Anatomy'!
