History: A Touch of Colour in Grey
Book 1: Shading the black.
Date: 25 octobre 2019, corrected March 2022
Beta: KnK
Fandom: D Gray Man
Disclaimer: No, I don't own D Gray Man and I'm not making any money on this story.
Summary: After landing in the 19th century, Estelle, taking the name Eve, becomes Tricia Kamelott's lady-in-waiting. Eve quickly becomes aware of the social and gender differences of the time and begins to fear for her future, especially when Road, the twins, Tyki and even Allen arrive. As she got to know them, Eve became closer to them and so, farther from the other employees.
Chapter Trigger: None I can think of
It's october :3 Like last year, I'll post more things throughout the month ^ ^ The usual NlN, UAPV and STB chap but also Vagabond Vacation and two one-shots ! For you, english-speakers, it'll be At the end of the Alley which is a Thimothy POV drama fanfic with Allen, Wisely and a little bit of Miranda but also Friendly Kleptomania, a Thimothy, Allen and Tyki crack traited seriously fic where Allen teach Tim how to pickpocket… with Tyki as a (non-intended) target.
Also please, tell me if you do fanart of this fic! If you post them on tumblr I'll reblog (as I did the other ones) and if you're okay, I'll put them directly in the fic in AO3 too :) You can also send them directly to ennael. whistler (a) gmail. com Do not hesitate to send me a PM if you have any questions!
Enjoy your reading!
Shading the Black 25: Chestnut hunt
Sunday 25 October 1885
"Let's go get some chestnuts" I suddenly declared in the middle of a Sunday afternoon.
The twins had returned this weekend, the second time since they left in September. The first time, they had returned excited enough to gush about their new adventures at school. But they must have exhausted their stock of childish excitement for the year, because by the second visit they were already saying nothing. I did get a few vague, disjointed descriptions of Jasdero but Devit had gone into full teenage mode and barely grunted when addressed. Well, yes, he had been doing this before, but I thought it had become much more pronounced... or maybe it was just that I hadn't seen them in a while.
In any case, it was terribly annoying and I was mentally apologising to my parents for my past silence... in my defence, I really couldn't find more than one sentence to say about my days, it wasn't a lack of good will I assure you! But I admit, it was pretty incredible considering I was capable of pages and pages of bullshit without even stopping to think...
So all this to say that Road, the twins and I were sitting in a small living room and we were horribly bored. Tricia had gone to bed an hour earlier and we'd already spent yesterday playing everything they could think of. We had even finished all their homework early for once! Well early... just not last minute on Sunday night. And yet, it wasn't for lack of wanting not to take care of it, but as usual, I had helped them anyway when Jasdero had used his puppy dog eyes, Devit with a sulky pout as support. So we sat at the usual table in the library, Road on one side, the twins on the other and me going back and forth between the three recalcitrant children. At least Jasdero was making a minimum of effort, seriously bent over his spreadsheet, eyebrows furrowed and fingers rising one after the other as he muttered the numbers. But then, even his most seriousness didn't make up for the fact that he couldn't understand a thing and always ended up with completely impossible results. Unfortunately, after at least a year away from school, my level of mathematics had dropped drastically. It was enough to understand what they were supposed to do but not enough to remember the exact formulas to use. And even then I could have managed with a book unfortunately... well, I had learned maths in France about 150 years later. And there was quite a lot of specific vocabulary that wasn't the same, especially since... well, they didn't seem to learn things the same way I did. You'd think, maths is maths, it must not have changed too much at the basic level in the last decades. And yet, one had to believe, because even if I could painfully get the result right, my reasoning was nothing like their tutor's examples, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what he was doing.
"It's okay, teach me your method!" Jasdevi had reassured me but I wasn't too keen. Maybe there were just several ways to do it and I just didn't know about them, but maybe what I was doing hadn't been invented a hundred years earlier and in that case, introducing it to a teacher at the prestigious Noble Boy Academy seemed like an incredibly bad idea. So I had kept my techniques to myself, well, almost all of them. Before I came to that conclusion, I had been quite happy to teach them how to solve complex multiplication without bothering with mental arithmetic. And Jasdero was infinitely happy that he only had to draw a picture and count the intersecting lines to solve his math problem. I had to demonstrate the trick half a dozen times to Road though, because she didn't seem to want to believe that it actually worked. Besides, for Road, it had been more complicated... her only homework that time had been English grammar exercises and as much as I was incredibly bad at French grammar, well... I was worse in English. After a good half an hour of tearing our hair out trying to figure out what they wanted us to do (or they wanted Road to do, rather) we ended up staring at the sheet of paper with a blank stare. When Road offered to just answer everything randomly, I wisely accepted.
So if we'd already wasted our Saturday night doing the little monsters' homework, we'd really run out of ideas to let off steam. So, naturally, the last half hour had been very long, consisting simply of looking out the window while drawing a card when it was my turn. This had allowed me, a few weeks late, to realise that, yes, it was autumn.
And that autumn, obviously for me, meant chestnuts.
And so, logically...
"Let's go get some chestnuts," I suggested as Road looked furiously at her deck, hesitating on which card to put down.
"Chestnuts? I'm not sure we have that in the kitchen..." she replied doubtfully. I looked at her sideways for a second before finally understanding what she was implying.
"No, no." I replied, waving my hand. "In the forest! I saw chestnut trees when we went swimming this summer."
"What for?" Jasdero asked as he lowered his cards a little, allowing us to see his entire deck. Well, better not to play the nine in the next round...
"Are you kidding? It's cold." Devit practically groaned, making a weird grimace before immediately bringing up a sulky look on his face.
"Hardly." I replied with a roll of my eyes before throwing a jack on the pile. "Actually, we should really get going, it will prepare you for the real winter cold." I teased him before turning to Jasdero. "And what for? To eat them of course!"
"If you crave chestnuts, why not just go and ask for some from the kitchens? John can go and buy them or Peter can get some." Road offered, not looking too keen on the walk. She usually liked to go for walks! "Besides, why do you want to go to the forest all of a sudden? I thought you hated walking." Unlike me.
"I don't hate it!" I almost took offence. "I just find it boring if there's no purpose. And very uncomfortable in those dresses too, it takes away at least half the fun."
"You're exaggerating." Road replied at once. This was not the first time we had discussed the admittedly very pretty, but particularly impractical, fashions of this century.
"Absolutely not. And then the fun part about chestnuts is not so much eating them like that, but the whole process that goes with it! Going to get them with family and then cooking them and eating them all together." I replied, my eyes glazing over a little as I mentioned the family part. "Same as with mushrooms or shellfish."
"I like mushrooms! Can we go and get some too?" Jasdero asked, suddenly much more interested. Even Devit seemed a little more attentive.
"Unfortunately, I don't know enough about mushrooms." If at all. "They can be poisonous, best not to touch them unless someone can appraise them afterwards" Just like in pharmacies in my day. Uh, wait, can Noahs die from mushroom poisoning? In fact, can they die of anything other than innocence? Old age perhaps?
"Oh..." sighed Jasdero sadly.
"I think Philip might know." Said Road suddenly in deep thought causing Jasdero to practically bounce with hope. Wow, strange... I had no idea he liked mushrooms that much. He didn't look like a fourteen year old at that point... he looked awfully young, like a child being presented with a new toy he had been dreaming about.
"We could go and ask him?" I suggested and the children agreed. Immediately, we abandoned the card game and headed for the stables. Philip was there looking after the horses with his son Peter. Fortunately for Jasdero, Road was right and Philip knew a lot about mushrooms. He offered to go with Peter as a guide but said it was a bit late for both mushrooms and chestnuts.
"Well, you can always catch some ceps and boletus*." He said with a laugh as he looked around for usable baskets.
And so, an hour later, guided by little Peter, we were looking for mushrooms, a basket already full of chestnuts.
"So..." began Road to my left as we picked up the mushrooms Peter had pointed out to us at the base of a tree. He himself was a few bushes over explaining something to a bright-eyed Jasdero, Devit at his side. "You were doing this as a family, right?"
"Hmm" I hummed as I considered a peculiar looking mushroom. "The forest wasn't too far away, but when you've lived in the same place since birth, you soon come to know it by heart... so the chestnuts were one of the only ways I'd come on my own on a walk." I replied before wondering for a second if I shouldn't have kept my mouth shut. Fortunately, they seemed to believe, for some reason, that I came from a village that had been destroyed shortly before my arrival and were considerate enough not to ask me for details... as a rule. Well, too bad. It was all going to come crashing down on me at some point, but in the meantime I was going to make the most of it. I wasn't cut out to be a spy, that's for sure...
"But you often accompany Mother on walks now, don't you?" Road insisted as she brushed the dust off her dress.
"Yeah... I guess losing people changes your outlook." I replied wisely before a less beautiful thought occurred to me: it was also probably because there were no more screens to distract me otherwise.
Um, anyway.
"Do you think we can take this one?" I asked Road to change the subject by pointing to a reddish mushroom.
"I don't think so," she said doubtfully, graciously accepting the change of subject. "We've had enough anyway, let's get back to the boys before they get into trouble." She says, pulling me by the hand to get up and follow her. "I wish Uncle Tyki was here with us..." muttered Road suddenly as we walked towards the others. Devit was up a tree, throwing chestnuts in Jasdero's basket. I kinda wanted to do like him but, well, it looked dangerous in those dresses. "Well, he'll have to go home soon anyway, we'll do that again with him later. It won't be chestnut time anymore but Peter said there were other mushrooms growing in the spring."
It's true that Tyki had been gone for a long time. Two whole months and no sign of a return. Tricia had received a letter a couple of weeks ago, but apart from the usual platitudes, there wasn't much substance... The Earl had also brought us some "news" (I put that in commas because I know they're not together at all.) but he too was beating around the bush without really addressing it. So I was quite surprised by the Noah's affirmative tone.
"How do you know he'll be home soon?" I asked, curious, before slowing down slightly. There was a small clearing behind Road and a tree bigger than the others occupied the centre. As I looked at it, I suddenly felt a great weight on my chest and a terrible urge to build a treehouse tightened in my throat. But I had no sooner thought of this than Road was already far away and I hurried to catch up with her, putting aside this strange reaction.
"It's his birthday soon, he won't dare go home afterwards or Daddy will tear the country apart to find him." She said, shrugging her shoulders as if it was completely normal.
"Oh yes? When is it?" I asked lightly, December 25th running on a loop in my head. No, no, that was Allen, we never knew Tyki's birthday or at least it wasn't in the Gray log.
"The twenty-fifth of December, like Jesus! Mother's face when she found out! Ahaha, she was so impressed for nothing." She chattered on, full of laughter.
As for me, if I wasn't pulled by Road's hand, I would have stopped dead in my tracks. What the... I thought it, didn't I? December 25th, before she even said it! The word had popped into my head when I thought of "birthday" and "Tyki". What did it mean... a simple déjà-vu? An incredible stroke of luck? An info I had forgotten?
...my thoughts influencing the world?
As much as I tried to reassure myself with the test of pinching yourself to see if you were in a dream or not... I couldn't really be sure that it was very effective... It also meant that it was hard to be sure that I wasn't, in fact, in a dream. Very long dream, and very detailed too, but... to find myself in the world of D Gray Man, like that, all of a sudden, was still pretty damn unlikely.
But wait, maybe the dream had just begun? And that everything I thought I remembered about this world was actually false memories! Maybe I was in a virtual world and...
"Vivi?" A thin voice at my side suddenly asked.
"Hmm?" I mumbled as I slowly untangled myself from my rope of far-fetched theories. Okay, maybe I was being a little too paranoid. "Excuse me, I was lost in thought... what were we talking about again?"
"Uncle Tyki's birthday." She replied as we followed the three boys to a clearing a little further on.
"His birthday? When is it?" Jasdero asked, slowing down to walk at our level.
"The twenty-fifth of December." Road replied again, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, did you hear Devit? He was born just four days after us!" Jasdero suddenly exclaimed, grabbing the arm of his brother who was talking to Peter in front of us.
"Yes, yes," he growled with annoyance before softening considerably as he met his twin's gaze. "But mostly a few years before." He replied with a small smirk. "At least a dozen!"
"He's an old man!" Laughs Jasdero.
"So what, I'm an old woman too? We're only two years apart, him and I, you know, watch what you say!" I teased them, a smile on my face.
"Two years is a really long time." Road says, patting my hand as if trying to reassure me.
"Sure... but if I'm old, what does that mean for Tricia? What about Sheryl? And the Duke?"
"Tricia is young!" Jasdero immediately screamed, and I was almost offended that he didn't defend me this much.
"Sheryl is super, super old though, he's already got grey hair." Devit replied very seriously and how could they really be fourteen? They were so young even in the way they acted!
"That's because he's under a lot of stress." Explained Road and I saw Peter stifle a laugh in front of us. "Do you want to know a secret?" then asked Road in a sly voice. Of course, the twins rushed over to her, nodding eagerly, and I also got closer despite myself, curious as to what little Noah had to say. "Daddy is far from the oldest! Grandpa Adam is suuuper old!" She said, exaggerating the syllables. "Old as in centuries!" She finished, almost shouting it out as she spread her arms to show how much it was. Immediately, a laugh was heard and I looked up to see Peter laughing out loud, not having been able to hold back any longer.
For my part, my face had frozen and my laugh was a little too robotic to be real. Did Road made a lot of private jokes like that? How much important information had I overlooked because I had taken it as a joke? Anyway, it confirmed the one thing I hadn't doubted for a long time, that Duke Adam Campbell was indeed the Millenium Earl.
"When are their birthdays? I know yours and Tricia's and Tyki's but not the Marquis and Duke's." I inquired as we picked up a new batch of mushrooms, surely our last before heading home.
"Call Dad, Sheryl, Eve, he won't mind." Road replied, waving her hand. What she meant instead was that added to the rest of my indiscretions, it wouldn't do much good if I called my boss by his first name... and I'd already done that inadvertently but better not to repeat it if possible. "He was born on the 20th of January. But he doesn't really like to celebrate his birthday, we only do a family dinner usually, maybe that's why you didn't notice last year." She explained and oh indeed, now that she mentioned it, I vaguely remembered that he and Tricia had gone to the Opera after I had arrived and Tricia had mentioned his birthday.
"What about the Duke?" Jasdero asked again.
"There's no way of knowing! He never tells his age." She moans. "It's not funny, we can never celebrate his birth..."
"He doesn't like birthday parties either?" I asked curiously as I stood up now that our baskets were full.
"I don't think that's it." Road replied. "Or maybe it's just his? He really likes to celebrate other people's thoughts! He always makes super awesome handmade gifts!"
"Ah ah, I used to do that too." I smile sadly. "My friends must have been fed up with it, but I've always found that something you've spent time and effort on shows your feelings more than something you've bought, even if it's usually much better."
"Ho, I wouldn't have the patience, I'd rather buy!" Road replied with a groan.
"Sounds like a poor idea." Devit muttered behind me.
"Or a cheapskate." I added with a shrug, having already had the thought.
"I like the idea." Jasdero smiles shyly. "But what were you doing, for example? I don't see what I could make..."
"Little things..." I replied, racking my brains for nineteenth-century equivalents. "I made a jumper once, and some carved wooden medallions. A stuffed animal, a painting and some small metal jewellery too and... I can't remember right now, let me think about it... anyway, if you like it, I'm sure we can find something you can make!" I replied, sliding my hand over his shoulder to give it a gentle squeeze. He smiled in return and I was reminded of Allen. In fact, I thought, I shouldn't wait too much if I wanted to send him a gift in time! Long distance parcels weren't as fast as they were in my time here... but what to do? It didn't have to be very heavy or bulky and as they were travelling in rucksacks, it would be nice if it was something useful...
Maybe a card game? Well, a board game, but it wasn't great if he was alone to play it... On the other hand, that was an idea for the twins! Oh Merlin, their birthdays were coming up too... and Tyki's too... I was going to have to rack my brains to find a good idea! Although, as an employee, was I even supposed to give them a present? I did get one when it was my 'birthday' (and a nice one at that, a trip to Paris is not cheap) and I'd been involved in the employee gift for Road and Tricia so it should be fine right? Argh, the social niceties of the time, I didn't even want to think about it...
Sighing, I readjusted my overflowing basket. With our harvest, we were probably going to spend the whole afternoon in the kitchen. It was fine, there was enough to keep the little monsters busy and I could think about it quietly...
KnK: Happy Halloween everybody!
*ceps and boletus – a type of mushroom, otherwise known as Porcini, Penny bun, or King bolete. They have a very short season where they grow very quickly. Apparently very tasty raw! (I learn something new every day.)
Nël:A chapter that is a bit short and a bit slow but that sets up a lot of things for the future plot! Next chapter, Eve reconciles with the Millenium Earl (I was supposed to do it next year, but I just realised that it wasn't 4 years between NLN and NLB but 2 and a half so the plot will speed up... yeah?)
I hoped you liked the new DGM chapter (just come out a few hours ago !) Don't hesitate to check At the end of the Alley and Friendly Kleptomania my two new english DGM one-shot :3
Think of letting a review and see you on the 25th of next month!