Story: A Touch of Colour in the Gray

Book 1: Shading the black.

Date: May 25, 2020, corrected February 2023

Beta: Nouillesverte (2020) and Nobody (2023)

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. But the exorcist leaves for India and the twins are sent to boarding school. She meets Baroness Lucie Belle, the twins' older sister and her feline counterpart, and then follows her employers to Portugal when Sheryl wins the election.

Chapter trigger: None, I think (let me know if you think it's necessary to add one!)

A little summary of the holidays in Portugal and frankly, go and see the beach clothes of the time and imagine Tyki in them, it's well worth a laugh X)

Enjoy your reading :D

Shading the Black Chapter 32: Portugal, Beach and University

Honestly, I wish I could say that Portugal was nice but... I hadn't seen much of it.

It had been two weeks since we arrived and I had been out of the manor twice. On the one hand, I was glad I wasn't accompanying the masters on their pilgrimage to the biggest cities where Sheryl would give speech after speech about his perfect family. On the other hand... there wasn't much to do.

It was a deadly boredom.

The manor was in a somewhat remote area and there were beautiful wooded hills all around, but with only my poor feet and my loneliness for company, it wasn't much fun either... I had become far too dependent on Tricia, I guess. Not seeing her or anyone else for several days in a row felt very strange. There were the other servants, but the ones already there didn't speak a word of English or French or even Spanish, and the other three who came with us were far too busy. Similarly, the library was pretty but was mainly in Portuguese or Latin and I couldn't understand a word of it...

I had been to the city once on my own, but the language barrier prevented a lot of things and made the trip even a little terrifying...

There was little left to do... well, there was always knife throwing. Tyki having diligently made me practice this last year, I had frankly become good at it. Which was... a bit strange? Knife throwing was clearly not a skill I thought I would ever have, and yet! I was hitting the centre of the target almost every time now. It was both incredibly rewarding and at the same time a little unnerving each time I thought the target might well be a human one day.

There was also the piano. There was a music room here too and I had never been so diligent with the instrument. I had been able to continue my transcription of the music from my old world into sheet music and Tiky liked to try them out when he sometimes came back in the evening. He had discovered a love for the slightly fast, jazzy styles, what I wanted to call Ragtime but still not knowing much about music, I was really unsure. So I tried to find music in the same style in my repertoire but it was complicated to find the common points from memory without being able to listen to them again. Which led me to dive into a pile of books the Earl had given me. Yeah. The thousand-year-old Earl had given me homework. I wasn't looking forward to it either. But the subject matter was interesting, full of musical theories, something I'd never studied before. Plus, some of it was in French, and even though I didn't really care for English after more than a year, it was still nice to study in your mother tongue.

Helping the local employees with their chores was one possibility but they seemed surprisingly reluctant to have another helping hand, much to my confusion. Okay, I wasn't the best but I wasn't a walking disaster either, far from it. I already knew how to clean up from my previous world (even if I didn't like it) and I had learned even more my first week as a maid and then helping out this past year. John had told me that it was probably because they saw me more as a guest of the Kamelotts rather than an employee. Which was understandable, my rank was already blurred at the main manor, but here it was even worse: I had travelled in first class, the housemasters, when they were there, didn't treat me like an employee and I didn't even have a uniform. Worse, Eliott had given tasks to everyone else but me. At least John didn't mind passing on some of his work to me, it kept me busy, got him finished early and then he had some bonus free time to spend with me: win, win.

Fortunately, there had been one time when Sheryl, not needing her family, had gone off alone to the country for a few days leaving Tricia, Tyki and Road at the manor. Tricia, in surprisingly good health despite all her travels, had wanted to organise one more and the four of us had gone to the beach to try sea bathing. It was a common thought at the time that they had a therapeutic virtue and Tricia was keen to try them somewhere a little warmer than England. Suffice it to say that Road had been ecstatic to be able to choose a new dress for me... yes, because in those days we bathed in dresses. Fortunately, the corset was not compulsory and one could even wear a kind of short pants underneath! The women's outfit was even quite pretty... I mention this because I couldn't stop myself from laughing when I saw Tyki coming out of the cabin in his multicoloured tunic. It wasn't ugly per se, but it was such a complete contrast to Tyki that I couldn't help myself. The bastard hitted my leg and made me fall in return… Good thing Tricia and Road were still getting ready or my lack of decorum would have received some raised eyebrows. As it was, by the time they had finally emerged from the booths, I had finished convulsing on the floor with laughter and was standing smiling next to a Tyki with the most pained expression I had ever seen.

Wow, now that I think about it, it's amazing how I wasn't even pretending with Tyki anymore. I was almost back to treating him like I would treat good buddies in the old world...

Anyway, the whole thing had been a rather surreal experience, it must be said... partly because the modesty of the time clashed horribly with the whole affair but also because the Noahs had no such modesty. Here, women waited until the last second before taking off their upper gowns, men looked curiously up at the sky so as not to be caught leering at the opposite sex and children were awfully quiet next to their parents. On our side things were a little more... wild.

We weren't even halfway across the strip of sand leading to the sea when Road took off her dressing gown, threw it at Tyki's head with frightening precision and ran at full speed to the sea to throw herself down with a resounding thud and a joyful howl.

Before Tricia could even voice her strong disapproval, I was the one taking the robes to my chest as Tyki strolled out to the waves and unceremoniously joined his niece.

Exasperated, but nevertheless with her chin raised in all dignity, Tricia followed the movement without worrying about the angry looks around. Road had trained her well...

Offering to keep her bath upper robe as well, I stood at the edge watching the others wade, Tricia not looking very reassured. Could she even swim? I thought worriedly when I saw her lose her footing for a couple of seconds before being immediately caught by Tyki who kept her out of the water.

"Eeeeve!" Road shouted a few minutes later, not caring in the least about the killer looks the other tourists were sending. "Come for a swim!"

"I'm fine here, I keep the bathrobes!" I replied, holding up the clothes in question like a shield. Road frowned, looking terribly displeased, before she quickly got out of the water and ran towards me, sending sand everywhere as she skidded by my side.

"Road!" I choked as I tried to push her away when she hugged me, cold water streaming from her hair and freezing the back of my neck.

"There you go, you're wet now, no reason to stay on the edge !" She sang before taking my hands to pull me to my feet. The little pest, she knew me too well... I shouldn't have gone with them to the lake so often last year, she had understood my weakness for cold water...

Shivering, I carefully placed the dressing gowns next to the towels, making sure to put Road's robe underneath on the sand in petty revenge. Nervous, I followed Noah to the water, yelping as a strong wave hit my thighs.

Trying to hold back Road who was trying to pull me into the water too quickly for my liking, I eventually joined the other three in the open sea with a few awkward quick hands movements. Swimming still wasn't my thing... I felt like it was even worse, each arm movement took a barely surmountable effort and I almost drank water more than once. I didn't know if it was my lack of practice or the dress that made it so difficult, but I was glad when Tyki held my arm up while I remembered how to kick effectively.

Paddling for a few more minutes, Tricia eventually wandered off towards the shore, freezing, and I immediately took the opportunity to splash the two Noahs with the biggest waves I could create. Years of swimming at school had taught me at least to make good water attacks if not the crawl.

It may have been the worst idea in the world as the other two immediately started attacking me back and, you know, human vs. Noah and all that, but I wasn't sorry. Road's outraged face and Tyki's bewildered one more than made up for my near drowning/attempted murder a minute later.

But anyway, all that to say that apart from that afternoon at the beach, the trip to Portugal had been pretty dull so far. I, who was used to being dragged around by my sister to every place with an ounce of interest when travelling, was disappointed.

And then, one day while I was working on the Earl's homeworks, Tyki knocked and entered my room. With a pile of folded clothes in his arms, he asked, "Ready for an adventure?" with a positively mischievous grin, and I knew at once that he was leading me into something very illegal.

...well, it all depends on the level of illegality. I wasn't too keen on murder, but knowing that even wearing trousers for a woman here was against the law, it depended on what he was proposing, really.

Monday 3rd May 1886

It turns out that I was, in fact, going to wear trousers, but unlike our other adventures in the East End, this time the clothes were singularly better quality. As in noble quality, in fact.

"People see what they want to see." Said Tiky with a shrug. "No one wants to see a woman in their oh-so-prestigious academy so they won't see one."

"Hmmm..." I hummed doubtfully as I fixed my eyes on my chest. Even bandaged (and how fun it had been to do it alone...) there was too much of a curve for it to pass for a man's. Putting on the waistcoat, then the jacket was already less conspicuous and with my hair firmly tied up under a fashionable hat and Tyki's glasses on my nose, I admitted that I could make a credible young boy. If I could at least imitate their body language, which was less easy... Fortunately, I had a man perfectly willing to show me how to do it and it was only a matter of a few tries before it became more or less believable. Now I just had to remember it... But, well, Tyki was right, it's not like we were going to interact with anyone so I just needed to not look too suspicious from afar.

Slipping out of the mansion was stressful but not very difficult as there weren't many people there. Tricia had gone with Sheryl to a friend's house, Road was with them, so that left Tyki, me and the servants. Outside the manor, Tyki pulled a horse out of the stable and we rode to the nearest town at full throttle, with me clinging to his jacket and moaning in fear at the slightest turn. Tyki was dangerous on a horse, know that.

...

Yes, well Tyki was dangerous all the time, but you know what I mean.

In town, Tyki left the horse with a friend (or an akuma, possibly) and we took the train for a good two more hours. At this point I was getting really curious and the other guy wasn't saying a word, so the whole thing was more annoying than it should have been.

But finally, finally, we arrived in Coimbra. The name may ring a bell, but I must confess that before this day I had never heard of it. In fact I didn't know much about Portugal in my previous life and I hadn't learned much about it since I arrived here too. So I was quite impressed when we arrived at the University of Coimbra.

"Wow." I whistled suitably surprised as we wove our way into the large square courtyard amidst a rowdy group of students. The square was huge, especially after I'd become accustomed to the winding alleys of the city below, and gigantic stone steps led up to what appeared to be the bastard son of a Greek temple and a Roman church . A few carvings and mouldings adorned the walls and a large clock tower beat to the rhythm of the students.

"Have you been here before?" I asked Tyki curiously as he confidently led me through the crowded corridors.

"I should have." He said with a shrug. "Sheryl had signed me up for my studies there but I never showed up. It was the first time I went on a trip on my own, Sheryl was livid when I got back, I thought he'd never stop screaming." He said with a small smirk before pushing open another door taking us into a darker hallway. "Normally, there shouldn't be anyone at this hour..." He muttered as we took yet another hallway, our surroundings now deserted.

At last we came to a large, finely crafted wooden door and Tyki opened it slightly, glancing at it before a satisfied smile spread across his lips and he opened it fully, revealing a large baroque bookcase so opulent it almost stung the eyes.

Everywhere you looked, the wood painted with gold leaf formed arabesques and scrolls that delicately surrounded old illustrated volumes. The bookcases, on two floors, ran the length of the walls in two rooms separated by a massive stone archway. Heavy tables of weathered wood lay among the shelves, and at the far end an old harpsichord could be seen sitting proudly beneath a life-size painting.

"Who is it?" I whispered to Tyki with respect. Not so much for the painting, but for the place being so impressive.

"I haven't the faintest idea." He replied nonchalantly as we walked towards him until we stopped at the foot of the harpsichord. "But he doesn't have a good face... "

Laughing softly, I left Tyki there to explore at my leisure. Here there were no glass cases or barriers to prevent us from touching the works and I could caress everything with my fingertips, whether it was the golden mouldings or the old parchment books. It was nice to feel the material and I loved feeling the change of textures from marble to wood and breathing in the old books and wax. Even the ceiling was impressive! Totally painted, it crushed the room with its weight and even if it was impressive, it was still pretty damn...

"Exaggerated." Tyki sighed as I moved closer, shaking my head.

"Yes, it's a bit too bright for me, I doubt I would be able to work effectively in such an environment." I conceded.

We made a few more turns, finding a secret passage behind a shelf and Tyki told me some historical anecdotes. Then we headed back to the mansion, strolling through the city on the way to the train station. All in all, it was a very good day and I was glad that Tyki took me on a tour of the university. It was nice to share interests and just... hang out. Tyki had really become a good friend over the months, he was the one I went to when I was sad or something funny had happened to me. It was with him that I debated my readings, made fun of the habits of the nobles, went on adventures in the filthy streets of London, played with the three demon kids, ran away from the Earl... I had never had a relationship like that with anyone else, even in my other life. I mean, it's hard to do half those things in the 21st century... but really...

"I'm glad I met you, Tyki." I whispered suddenly, sitting next to him on the train, my head resting against the window.

"Ivy... you... um...?" He stammered causing me to look at him, puzzled, before I realised what my sentence might imply.

"Of course no, you idiot." I replied, rolling my eyes and nudging him for good measure. Not very effective against a Noah but it at least had the merit of getting my feelings across. "But, I'm really glad I met you. I love Tricia and Road and the twins but… Life would have been a lot less fun at the manor without you." I told him seriously as I stared into his eyes, his golden orbs filled with confusion before a certain softness sets in.

"I'm glad I met you too." He said quietly, causing me to flinch a little. I hadn't expected anything from him and deep down I knew he must have liked me at least a little, no reason for him to seek my company otherwise but... well it was warm to hear him say it. Seeming to notice my confusion, he looked disillusioned and went on in a falsely desperate tone. "No one likes literature at the manor, it's a shame..."

"Terrible." I laugh.

"Awful," he added.

"Pitiful!" I insisted.

"Ahah, Terrifying."

And we spent a few more minutes skimming our synonyms before settling into a comfortable conversation.

The 19th century wasn't so bad after all...

If some of you read the french version or read it again after 2020 yeah they're FRIENDS, I swear it XD

Here we are, a quiet chap, but at the same time, what a cushy life Eve has... Better for her, you'll tell me. The next chapter is Eve making peace with the Millennium Earl. One-sided because it's not like he has anything against her...

Anyway, have a good day, think about the reviews and see you on the 25th of next month!