DEGAUSSER
Degausser – D. Gray Man Fanfic
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship
Rating: T
Note: Thankyou to my reviewers and readers! Here is chapter two, I hope you enjoy! Lyrics belong to Brand New.
DEGAUSSER CHAPTER 2: Into the Unknown
"Well, take apart your head
And I wish I could inspire"
Lenalee placed the last of the mugs onto her tray and picked the items up carefully. The smell of coffee was strong enough to wake her up without needing to drink the dark coloured beverage and this she guessed was a benefit. She didn't like the idea of coffee staining her teeth yellow due to over-consumption. Yet standing over a tray of freshly brewed coffee each morning as she completed her rounds to the science department, her brother and any other exorcist that she knew would accept and enjoy the small gift gave the same effect as it would had she drank her own mug full.
Though on occasion; to actually drink a mug of her own coffee was a small relief.
She tapped the base of the door with her foot and it swung open for her, so she slipped out and left for the Ark-investigation room first. The door slowly closed again behind her.
The scientists working there had a hard job these days. They were constantly researching and doing tests on the strange device and often worked late into the night then started working again at very early hours of the morning. She also knew many of them had stayed awake all night on many occasions. The offering of a well-brewed coffee was all she could offer as a thank you for all of their hard work.
She had grown used to swiftly moving across floors and down flights of stairs over the years so she could get the coffee to everyone without it growing cold. Only one or two minutes passed before she stepped briskly into the corridor heavily signposted with 'Science Department only' and 'Do Not Disturb'. Naturally she ignored such signs, knowing she would be welcomed as many other exorcists were.
Thinking briefly of the exorcists, her mind settled upon Allen. He often went inside the Ark with no reason but to sit quietly to himself and occasionally play the piano. He played beautifully, but the melancholic melody never failed to sadden her whenever she heard it. Occasionally she would hear Allen's soft voice singing through the halls and it pierced her heart like a brutal knife. She hated to see Allen so sad and suffering and she hated the other for not letting her help to soothe the pain. She hated that he appeared to be too stubborn to see that because he was suffering, everyone else was. She knew that really he didn't mean to do it, but he couldn't bring himself to smile without a lie anymore.
It startled her then to see said white-haired exorcist emerging from the laboratory with a child-like eager smile upon his face. His eyes were closed, increasing the size of the smile and she felt her eyebrows shoot up in almost utter disbelief.
"A-Allen-kun?" She called, finding her tongue as the boy neared her.
"Oh, good morning, Lenalee~!" Allen said brightly, his smile never leaving him and eyes still closed in what looked like ecstasy.
"You're awfully happy this morning, would you like some coffee?" She commented, holding out a mug to the boy. She always prepared him some coffee and left it by the Ark's entrance each day, but whenever she made the second round to collect the empty mugs; his was always untouched. She would never mention it to him but it saddened her to think that small gestures like that were going unnoticed.
Allen shook his head, still brightly smiling, "No thankyou~! But thankyou very much for the offer~!" His voice was almost too happy and it made her frown. She hated to frown at such a real and delightful smile, but it was very unlike Allen to be like this at the moment.
Without her realising, the younger exorcist had brushed past her and was heading in the direction of the staircase. She bit her lip and called out to him again, meaning to ask why he was so happy. However when the other turned and smiled at her she couldn't bring herself to do so. She could cast a cloud of misery back onto the young boy and she really didn't want to do that - even if it did seem like too much to be true. A brief thought that perhaps the Science Department had slipped him something flickered in her mind but she quickly pushed the idea aside and chose to believe that he was happy for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. His smile was another factor that kept her train of thought clear of Science Department mischief; it was pure and true. Not fake.
Instead she found another feature to talk about briefly, "Allen-kun, you have some dirt on your forehead." She told him brightly.
The boy briefly opened his eyes and blinked then closed them again with the smile, "Oh~! Thankyou for noticing~! I'll go and clean it up~!" he answered, turning and climbing the stairs with a wave.
Lenalee stood watching until the other exorcist climbed out of her view. Now that she really thought about it, it really was too good to be true. Something just wasn't right.. Had it not been for Timcanpy floating beside the boy's head, the girl would have thought that the white-haired boy was an identical twin with the exact opposite personality, save for the politeness.
She returned Allen's mug to the tray and turned to continue giving out the rest of the coffee. She would need to confront Allen about the sudden change, as much as she hated the desire to rain down on his happy mood.
My, she hated a lot that morning.
Having smelt the overpowering scent of coffee, the fourteenth had suspected that someone was about to walk past him before they saw him. It gave him the ability to keep a smile attached to his face that was indeed genuine, but also hiding a thick grimace at the stink of the steaming liquid. He never would understand how anybody could enjoy such a horrible beverage and he knew for a fact that his host liked it.
He turned to face the new arrival in the corridor as she called out to Allen, being sure to wear a wide smile that made him squint or close his eyes. The colour would surely raise huge suspicions.
The girl herself he could recognize through her voice. It was his host's first friend in the Black Order: Lenalee Li. She carried with her what smelt like a whole tray of coffee and it was taking a great deal of his control not to lose the smile and gag instead. He needed to act like Allen.
He returned her greeting with a polite attitude and ignored her next comment. He knew Allen wouldn't be the happiest of exorcists at the present time so perhaps he wouldn't have a delighted smile plastered to his face but he was far too happy to tone the expression down. Instead he focused on the second half of her speech. "Would you like some coffee?" It was accompanied with a strong focused burst of coffee and there was no way in the Noah's Ark that he could take the steaming cup from her. "No thankyou~!" he insisted, resisting the urge to throw the liquid over her head, "But thankyou very much for the offer~!" he added quickly so to keep up his appearance's good manners.
Sneaking a squinted glance at the girl he found Lenalee looking distracted so he hurried past the female, gulping in air that didn't hang groggily with the stink of coffee.
"Allen-kun!" The fourteenth's hand twitched with annoyance and his entire mind screamed at the girl but he smiled on the outside; keeping up appearances. He turned towards her voice wordlessly, his expression not having changed but he could feel himself straining to keep up the façade. Perhaps a smile wasn't the best idea for the strain to keep it so wide and looking genuine was beginning to hurt.
What she said caught him off-guard and he lost the smile immediately, blinking in surprise, "Allen-kun, you have some dirt on your forehead." Then remembered the issue of his eye colour and smiled his wide smile once again, closing his eyes to increase the happy look of the smile. Thankfully she appeared not to have noticed.
"Oh~!" he began, searching for something to say. He would need to check the marks that Lenalee claimed to see as he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what they were; the stigmata. To prevent her from seeing any more of the markings he rubbed them with a gloved hand.
"Thankyou for noticing~! I'll go and clean it up~!" He turned quickly to the stairs with a wave, hoping that the gesture was something that Allen would do. His smile dropped and eyes peeled open upon his first step. He felt disgruntled and annoyed that the girl had cast a cloud on his excitement and all he could feel now was agitation. Sneering at the mental image of the Lenalee, he hurried towards the bathroom using what he could of his host's memories to guide him there. He needed to get a close look at those marks.
The fourteenth lifted the soft white bangs above his forehead and studied the markings etched across it. The thin crosses were faded grey in colour and looked old compared to the stigmata worn by the Noah Allen had seen. Such stigmata marks stood proudly across their brows and their eyes shone gold. The fourteenth grinned to himself as he found his own eyes in the mirror. His didn't just shine, they were aglow with a brilliant golden hue and they were better than any of the other Noah's eyes.
He stepped back from the mirror and turned the silver tap to let water run then cupped his hands to catch the water and brought the liquid to Allen's face calmly; the feeling of the ice-cold fluid refreshing his senses.
He picked up a small hand towel beside the basin and dried his host's skin. It saddened him to think that he wasn't washing his own face, but he brightened again at the counter thought that everything he did felt real enough to be his own. He brought the towel down and looked across at his reflection. He smiled happily and couldn't help but laugh, "There now, isn't that much better than a frown~?" he chimed.
He had stared at Allen through countless windows and mirrors and found the young exorcist always had a sad or lost look upon his pale face and compared to the bright smile the fourteenth was making him wear currently; it almost made him look ugly. A smile could bring out the handsome boy he was, yet Allen seemed unable to find it in himself to smile.
The fourteenth knew it was his own fault, but it really wasn't fair in his eyes. He was practically the boy's uncle and Allen feared him greatly, enough to despise him which was very out of character for the young exorcist. It was unfair that Allen hated him! Whatever had he done to the exorcist to deserve such hatred? He'd helped to save his friends after all! Had it not been for him even Allen would have perished inside the Ark, not just Kanda, Lavi, Chaoji and Krory. It really was quite bizarre.
Shrugging at the thought the fourteenth left the bathroom, "I do hope you can hear me, dear Allen. I do think you should consider what I am saying." He almost sang his words in delightful song, finding himself holding back the urge to skip along the corridor.
He felt so free and so relaxed! He really was enjoying himself and in truth he had the white-haired boy to thank as had he not fallen into a deep and confused sleep the Noah would never have managed to gain such easy control.
He found a long window and paused beside it to stare into it. He could no longer see himself in it, but the smile he wore contorted into that of a Noah in his reflection and his golden eyes shone brilliant white as they had done in his earlier days inside Allen's mind.
"It's really quite charming~!" He decided happily, continuing down the corridor with light and bouncy steps. For a reason unbeknownst to him, the fourteenth really liked to speak. He loved the feeling of the words flowing from his throat and hearing them in his own ears. It was quite the forgotten experience and he quite enjoyed it.
He brought himself to an elegant pause, knitted his eyebrows into a light frown and bit his lip softly. He forgot his reasoning for a moment and chewed the lip gently. The feeling was so strange and he almost began to laugh. It had been such a long time ago that he had bitten his lip, washed his face or even walked and he felt surprised that he had forgotten most of these senses.
The fourteenth shook his head and returned to the reason that he had stopped in the first place. He was lost. Allen had a habit of getting lost and these days he rarely looked around well enough to memorize any corridors or workrooms so the fourteenth also had trouble trying to locate anything. He needed someone to show him around and show him where everything was.
Unfortunately it didn't feel as though anyone would do that willingly.
Everyone would be concerned if Allen turned up asking where to find the library as an example and would therefore find out immediately who he was. He sighed with irritation. He'd just have to find a map or create a mental one by wandering around headquarters for the rest of the day. He couldn't see it being too difficult. It was like an adventure!
He smiled brightly and bounded up to a door on his right.
The first step into his self-made map of the Black Order would begin here; he decided and grasped the cool handle. He felt a tingle of excitement and giggled like a child before biting his lip and opening the door. He poked his head inside and gasped in awe at the sight before him. The room was enormous! Thick stone rose up in four high walls, each supported with tall columns that rivalled the height of the old church spire in the old village from his childhood. Across the room were no less than twenty long, oblong wooden tables with oak benches lying beside them and at the centre of the wall furthest from him opened a wide window from which various clanging and sizzling was heard. A wave of smells brushed against him and for a second, even he was tempted to try a bite or two despite the fact that moments ago he really could not have cared less about consuming anything but the mind of dear little Allen.
The cafeteria was a delightful start to his self-guided tour and left him hungry for more. The thought here passed through his mind and he chuckled merrily to himself at the little play on words he had created.
He closed the door gently and felt his excitement escalate as immediately he was met with a staircase. He let his lips curve into a grin and almost skipped up them gleefully. Like the walls around him, the steps were made of grey but smooth stone and his footsteps made soft slapping noises each time he brought his foot down.
Reaching the top of the stairs in a rather giddy state, the fourteenth jumped out into the middle of another empty corridor and twisted his body from left to right then completed a full rotation and decided to go left. His choice was not one that disappointed him as almost immediately he came across a second door. He took the handle once again and swung it open; revealing a very untidy room which he had to guess was a bedroom.
The bed itself was lost underneath stacks of both tattered and shiny books; crisp and slightly crumpled files; and assorted paper to make it look like every other piece of furniture in the room. He was amazed to find a piece of the floor underneath the infinite hoard of information stacked up into mountains around the small space. Even more amazed to find a body lying across said floor.
At his first glance he thought the other male was dead, but after his golden eyes flickered over to the teenager's chest and found it rising and falling steadily he understood that the other was sleeping.
The fourteenth brought his gloved hand to his chin thoughtfully and leaned against the door frame. He let his eyelids droop as he searched his nephew's memories for a name and identity of the body lying in blissful unconsciousness before him. He thought that it may be fun to wake up the sleeping boy, but should he be an undesirable playmate the Noah wasn't too fond of the idea of awakening an enemy so soon into his free time.
Finally he came across a small profile and after peering into it his eyes snapped open and he grinned widely down at the teen. He was perfect.
Maybe even tour guide material.