Story: A Touch of Colour in the Gray

Book 1: Shading the Black.

Date: January 25, 2024 (bonus chapter)

Beta : Nobody

Fandom: D Gray Man

Disclaimer: No, I do not own D Gray Man and I am not making any profit from this story.

Summary: After landing in the 19th century, Estelle takes the name Eve and 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, Allen and even Earl Millennium arrive. Fortunately in human form. But the exorcist leaves for India and the twins are sent to boarding school. She meets Baroness Lucie Belle (Lulubelle) and reconciles with the Millennium Earl. She quarrels with Tyki, who nearly kills her with his Noah powers, starts a correspondence with Conan Doyles and again nearly dies of Tuberculosis. Yeah : D

And in the last chapter: Eve has a nice heart-to-heart talk with Tyki about her powers and tries not to develop (yet another) trauma.

Chapter trigger: Nothing, I think, but we're talking about sex education or lack of it.

Yup, you're not dreaming, this is a brand new bonus chapter that comes between the 41 and the old 42. It takes place after Christmas, when Eve officially discovered everyone's powers, but before she discovered her... er... spoiler. So the end of this chapter is the end of the chapter before it and so chapter 41 has gained a whole new ending too which will delight those who wanted a bit more of a bonding moment between Tyki and Eve.

Enjoy your reading!

Nuancer le Noir, chapter 42: My favourites things

Friday 14th January 1887

*Click*

Raising my head, I blinked several times, struggling to get out of my book. I'd been too focused on it to pay attention to my surroundings and hadn't even noticed that the Earl had sneaked into the library to take our pictures.

"My apologies for the interruption, but there was such a beautiful light!" He said shyly as he met our eyes.

Tyki and I were, unsurprisingly, in the library, comfortably slumped in the armchairs by the fireplace, an extra blanket on my lap for good measure. It was still January, after all, and it was certainly cold in this poorly insulated old manor house. That very morning, the Earl had returned to the Kamelotts' for the first time since New Year's Eve, servants laden with large trunks following in his wake. Beaming, he had literally flooded Tyki and me with heavy volumes of science with a smile that made me want to pat him on the head. Of course, I held back, all the more so when my brain kindly reminded me that this wasn't some cute dog in need of a compliment, but rather the Millennial Earl, creator of akumas, destroyer of humanity and all that.

"What is-... Chemistry?" Sheryl had asked confusedly as he picked up one of the books.

"Oh yes, I know you were looking for Physics books, but I brought a bit of everything! The sciences are linked, you might need other references... and it doesn't hurt to encourage this momentum!"

Tyki looked dubious and already tired from the sight of the books, but he thanked the Earl warmly all the same.

"Tyki, are you... studying?!" Sheryl exclaimed in disbelief. His exclamation was a little insulting, but not that surprising. While Tyki loved to read novels in his spare time, he wasn't the type to open a textbook. His little brother merely rolled his eyes, but that didn't seem to faze the master of the house. Suddenly seeming to remember my presence, Sheryl turned towards me all too quickly with an expression I'd never seen him make before. Did he look grateful? Brrr, it was so strange to see him like that.

After that, Tyki and I quickly took off, both of us not wanting to put up with any more Sheryl. Just as well, we had a ready-made excuse: books.

Locked away in the library, we'd already spent a good half hour sorting through the books by what most appealed to us. There was certainly a lot to go through... as Sheryl had noted, there was a wide range of subjects from Physics to Chemistry, not forgetting the humanities and mathematics. There also seemed to be all levels, from textbooks that Road could use to obscure treatises where I couldn't understand every other word. Anyway, we were probably going to find this atom thing in there and I was a bit curious to study everything else in my spare time. It certainly didn't hurt to have new sources of knowledge in the Kamelott library considering how much I'd already exhausted it. Strangely, though, some of the books had a thin layer of dust on them and smelt old. Others, on the other hand, looked as if they had never been opened, almost as if they were still warm from the press.

"Of course, I should have known..." muttered Tyki as he opened one of the books. At my questioning look, he sighed. "He always does that, if you ask him for something, he acts as if he has everything at hand and then at the first opportunity, he rushes to get anything that could be remotely related to your interest and offers it to you like it's nothing."

I pursed my lips, not liking it when people I wasn't very close to spent money on me. But then, it was for Tyki too and he was the Millennium Earl, so getting a few… a lot of books was certainly no sacrifice for him.

In any case, that's how the Earl found Tyki and me a few hours later, completely immersed in the books he'd brought us. I was about to thank him politely once more when he cut me off and told me it was nothing. "No need for thanks! They were gathering dust at the manor, I'm glad someone is interested in them again!"

From behind the Earl, I saw Tyki roll his eyes as if to say "did you see? Just as I told you!" And I bit my cheek to stifle a laugh. I must not have been very discreet, though, because the Earl turned curiously to Tyki. Damn, a distraction!

"I see Tricia's present..." and Sheryl, but I still didn't dare say his first name out loud. "...was appreciated!"

Beaming, the Earl immediately faced me again. "Immensely! I had a similar device, albeit less advanced, but I broke it last year. I was waiting for this new colour model to come out so I could get one, but Sheryl was quicker."

Oh, that was interesting, I didn't know he already knew how to use one. Although, he hadn't had much trouble taking that first photo at Christmas. "So you like photography?"

This new question prompted Tyki to pick up his book again, surely deducing that we were off for another great conversation in which he didn't need to be an active participant. And he was right, because the Earl immediately approached, happily sitting down on the sofa beside me to show off his camera up close. He was clearly an enthusiast, explaining in detail how it worked and not hesitating to let me try it out on an indifferent Tyki. And as usual, I drank in his words, feeling immensely involved. The Earl was a very good speaker and it was always easy to become interested in something when someone was talking so passionately about it.

"It's fantastic!" I exclaimed, impressed, as I looked at the shots he had already developed. I lingered for a long time over the first one, with the scarf, fascinated by the detail and the colour. I had photos of my great-grandmother in the other world, and they certainly weren't as good.

"Isn't it! It's a fabulous invention." Assured the Earl cheerfully. And then, no doubt seeing my gaze lingering on a photo of Road and Tricia, he added: "Feel free to keep any picture you like, I can always make some more."

"If you're sure..." I muttered as I looked at the photos again. There were several that had been taken without my even being aware of it, depicting peaceful and happy scenes of everyday life at the manor. Tricia and Road having tea, Sheryl looking at papers in an armchair, the twins and me leaning over a table... Besides... "Why take so many photos of everyday life? They're not important events."

The Earl smiled, a pucker of the lips that seemed to know more than I could ever understand. "They are to me," he explained. "I'm afraid I'll forget all those good times... but even if I do, the photographs will be there to remind me of them."

It was a good reason, particularly understandable considering that I myself still hadn't recovered my memories of my last few months in the other world. And even, now that I thought about it... I was beginning to forget a lot about my life as Estelle. It had been two years since I'd been at the manor, after all, I suppose that was the order of things. But I was sad that I couldn't remember the exact colour of my sister's hair or the taste of my grandmother's mushroom soup or even the surprising comfort of the crushed beanbags at school. Clutching the photos a little too tightly, I felt incredibly jealous. I wish I'd had some of my old life too.

"Watch out!"

Jumping up, I barely had time to raise my head before a hairball pounced on my calves. It was Road who had screamed, smashing open the door even though it was already half here.

"Road? Shouldn't you be at school?" Adam asked, surprised.

"Oh no, they told us to come home early today." Road replied, waving her hand as if it was no big deal. The Earl seemed to accept her answer without concern, but the same was far from true for Tyki and me. We exchanged meaningful glances, well aware that Road must have done something crazy again to get school out early. But, well, it wasn't our problem, so...

More importantly, whimpers led me to see what was moving under my skirt and it was with a certain lack of elegance and very little modesty that I lifted it to see a white ball of fur. "Berlingot?" I noted, confused, as I bent down to wrap the trembling mess in my arms.

"What have you done to him now, Road, he's terrified." Tyki noted. He had put down his book to approach me while I tried to calm the dog down.

"Nothing!" Road shouted as she trotted towards us. "We were playing with the dolls and he just took off!"

Well aware of how terrifying Road could be with her dolls, I wisely said nothing, smiling as Berlingot shyly licked my fingers. Still sitting beside me, Adam leaned over gently, letting the puppy sniff his hand before stroking him gently. Immediately, the dog stopped fidgeting, sinking into my lap with a yawn, suddenly completely quiet. What... was this some kind of Earl power or something?! It usually took me much longer to calm the puppy down.

"You know, Road, Berlingot is still very young, he's discovering the world around him, you have to be patient with him." Adam said and Road pouted. "You know how to be gentle, don't you?"

Road gave me a quick glance before nodding. What did that mean? That she wanted me to confirm? Or, wait, that she was being nice to me? Because, yes, I suppose Road had her moments and while I didn't have to deal with the bloodthirsty Noah, I was doing just fine, but to say she was gentle was a world away.

"But I want to play with him now! And it's not fair, he likes you better than me." She groaned, doing her physical age very well for once.

"If you'd stop chasing him around and throwing balls in his face, he'd probably like you a bit more." Tyki muttered, but Road pretended not to hear him.

Surely sensing that the conversation was taking a turn for the worse, Adam stood up, pushing us all quickly towards the small lounge for tea a little too early.

Saturday 5th February 1887

It was more the murderous howl than the sight that made me hurriedly close the door.

To be honest, I hadn't had time to make out much before Devit screamed his lungs out, but it wasn't hard to guess what he was doing. No, what surprised me more was that he didn't get dressed as soon as he heard me crabbing down the corridor. Busy as he was, he wasn't a Noah for nothing and I'd have thought he'd have been more on the lookout for the slightest noise... On the other hand, having never come across anyone in these toilets myself before, I can understand why he felt safe. Because yes, I was actually in the corridor, in the guest wing, in front of the now closed toilet door. These were usually reserved for guests, so when they weren't any, they were left completely unused. After all, there were restrooms on the ground floor and in the family wing, so there was no reason to go all the way there. What's more, the employees weren't supposed to use them either so, yes, I suppose, in the end it wasn't stupid of Devit to have hidden there.

But all the same, he could at least have tried to block the door if he was so afraid of being seen jerking off.

I heard the door creak behind me and saw Devit come out, his cheeks flushed and his gaze downcast. He may have been almost my size now, but he still looked very childish like that. We stood there for far too long, neither of us knowing what to say.

"Sorry." He finally mumbled, making me jump.

"Oh, no, I should have knocked, it's my fault."

Immediately, his usual mischievous air resurfaced and he threw himself on the excuse like a drowning man. Arms folded, lips pursed, he raised his nose in the air saying that yes, it was my fault, that I should be more careful. And then he stormed off just as quickly without giving me time to reply.

Not that I knew what to say. Or rather, what I was allowed to say. Sexuality was still a complicated subject in my day, and the way Tricia danced around the subject of periods, it was even more so now. And besides... had anyone explained anything to Jasdero and Devit? Did they know the biological differences between male and female bodies? How children were made? Or even sexually transmitted diseases? Could we even protect ourselves from these things now? When was the condom invented?

Hu. Clearly, I needed a refresher course too.

But how to find this information... I doubted that the manor would have a book on the subject. Although... perhaps there was one in the mass of books the Earl had brought us? Or at least some sort of explanation in the anatomy treatises? But there were dozens of them... Well, it was an idea, but perhaps it would be better to ask someone first? Louise was only sixteen, so I doubt she could help me. Jean wasn't a good option either, he was far too shy and traditional, he'd never talk to me about such things. Clarisse would probably be the best choice, but unfortunately she wasn't in this afternoon, something about negotiating with suppliers, I think. Nor was Tyki, for that matter, another case for Sheryl, no doubt. Road could have been useful, but she'd gone out with her father that Saturday for Sheryl's birthday. It was a fortnight ago, but he'd already been to the opera with Tricia last week and hadn't been able to make some time again since. That left... Tricia. It was going to be incredibly awkward but... at least she would answer me to the best of her ability and that would allow me to gauge the level of knowledge at the time.

So I did. Fortunately for me, these days Tricia slept much less in the afternoons. That didn't mean I had less free time, though. Like last summer, or on days when she was feeling particularly fit, she would take a little nap in the early afternoon and then concentrate on the internal affairs of the manor. So it was at the door of her boudoir that I knocked a few minutes later.

"Eve? What is it?" She asked curiously after giving me permission to enter. Assuring myself that she had a few minutes to spare for me first, I sat down in the chair she indicated, using the seconds it took her to reach me to order my thoughts.

"Actually, I..." oh no, I couldn't talk about Devit! Er... improvisation... "...was reading an anatomy book that talked about the physical differences between men and women and they implied their role in creating babies. But they didn't elaborate much and I was wondering if you could explain more?"

Wow, judging by the sheer horror that spread across Tricia's face, that must have been even more taboo than I thought.

"Where did you find this book? Was it in the ones Adam brought? My goodness, that's not something for a young girl..." lamented Tricia.

Had I just thrown the Earl under the bus named Tricia? Oops. I was desperately trying to save the day. "Oh, it was only a paragraph, I can't even remember which book it was in. It just intrigued me a bit, that's all."

Tricia shook her head before taking my hand. "It's not something you need to worry about right now, don't worry about it."

Well, that wasn't reassuring at all. Even good old college sex education was more useful than that. Sensing that I would only worry her if I asked for more, I thanked her and left as quickly as politely possible.

Well then.

I was in for dozens of hours of research. And that's how Tyki found me an hour later, cross-legged on one of the big armchairs by the fireplace, stacks of books as high as me on either side.

"What's got you frowning so much?" he asked, putting a hand on the armrest so he could look over my arm. "A medical book?"

"No," I growled, "I mean, yes, but it's not..." I shook my hand, not quite sure how to phrase all this after Tricia's reaction. Oh hell, it was Tyki, I was already irredeemably nuts in his eyes, no need to beat around the bush. "Actually, I'm looking for information on sex, but I can't find anything."

I hadn't even finished my sentence when Tyki jumped up, slipping his arm out of the armrest, his eyes round. "Um… you want…I thought..." he stammered and I shook my head in pity.

"No, no, I was looking for resources for the twins. I saw... well, I thought learning more wouldn't hurt them."

"Ah." Tyki replied not very eloquently, blinking. "I suppose it's not a bad idea considering their age. But you won't find anything useful here, it's not the sort of thing you learn from books. Not these ones anyway."

"Where, then?" I asked as I closed the heavy volume.

Tyki seemed to have more or less recovered from his surprise and didn't even raise an eyebrow at my attempt to push the subject. More relaxed, he frowned, thinking. "It's not that easy to get hold of and I'm not sure they need that much detail... I suppose I could talk to the twins about it, if you like?"

Sure, it would be less awkward for all of us if he was in charge, but... I didn't doubt his practical knowledge, but as for the theory, I was a little more sceptical. "It will certainly be better than nothing." I concluded all the same.

Or maybe not, because when we arrived in the twins' room and Tyki told them in his drawling voice to put their coats on because they were going to the red-light district... well, the question deserved to be asked.

"Wait, wait, wait, red-light district? You want to take them to a brothel?" I interrupted, my voice a little too high-pitched. Tyki squinted his eyes, sensing that I wasn't expecting a positive response, but having only this in stock. I held back a sigh, biting my lip. "Without explaining anything to them first?"

"Well... the girls will tell them what to do?" Tyki replied.

"But... what about biological differences? Menstrual cycles? Babies? Preferences? Sexually transmitted diseases?" I worried. And all this was without even mentioning the terrible murder of consent that this plan entailed.

Tyki just looked at me blankly, his eyes unfocused.

A horrible doubt suddenly assailed me. "Is this how you learned?" I asked, the twins following our exchange like a tennis match.

"Well... when I was a bit younger than them, I ran away from home and ended up in the red light district. I stayed there until Sheryl found me and in the meantime... let's just say I had time to see a lot of the world," replied Tyki with a shrug.

It was... quite worrying. But it didn't seem to affect him too much and with the twins present, it wasn't really the time to talk about it in more detail. However... "Running away?" I asked in spite of myself.

"To be exact, Sheryl's mother had kicked me out, but hey, I wasn't far from running away myself."

"...Sheryl's mother?" I continued weakly.

His gaze flew to the right, his arms came back close to his body and his shoulders rose a few centimetres: for the first time in this very strange conversation, he looked uncomfortable. "Ah, I thought you already knew, Sheryl is my half-brother, we don't have the same mother."

No, no, clearly I didn't know. Now that I thought about it, we weren't aware of anything about Tyki's past. But I certainly wasn't going to react when he seemed so uncertain. And as much as I wanted to expand on the subject, it still wasn't the time. So... "Oh, all right." I replied lightly before frowning. "Anyway, I don't think starting with a brothel is a very good idea for learning when you don't know anything about it."

"Yes, I do!" exclaimed Devit, startling me. They had remained astonishingly silent for so long that I had almost forgotten they were there.

"So tell me, what do you know?" I asked, sceptically. Immediately, Jasdero turned suspiciously red and Devit stammered.

"I can't tell you that, stupid!"

"Devit!" Jasdero shouted before I could react. Oh, it wasn't very violent, but the surprise had made me jump. I couldn't even remember the last time one of the twins had insulted me. I really had to calm down, just because it was a trivial subject for me didn't mean it was for everyone else, especially in those days. I had to be careful if Devit was going to regress like that.

"Sorry..." muttered Devit with a pout.

"I'm sorry too, I was a bit too frank. But it's an important subject, you know? It's... like a maths exercise! It's something you can't solve just by going at it, you have to learn how first."

I wasn't sure my comparison was very apt, especially when the twins exchanged a sceptical look.

"You may be exaggerating a little, Eve, it's nowhere near as complicated as maths," Tyki scoffed.

I squinted in response. "Oh, really? Then you're going to help me explain it to them. Go and get me some sheets of paper and something to write on, I'll be right back." And without leaving them any other choice, I ran off to my room to fetch the anatomy book where I'd found diagrams of the human body.

Sitting at the twins' round table, I then spent the afternoon explaining everything I could remember about the subject. Admittedly, the impromptu lecture wasn't very structured and three quarters of the vocabulary ended up in French because I had absolutely no idea of the English translation. But anyway, I reassured myself, no matter what I stuttered, it would always be better than what they would have got otherwise. As it was, I began by explaining the biological differences between men and women. Despite my best efforts, Devit made a terrible face, looking half traumatised. Jasdero, on the other hand, was much more interested, asking a bunch of questions whose answers I could barely remember. As for Tyki, he did raise an eyebrow when I mentioned the clitoris, but otherwise he had his chin in one hand, clearly listening with one ear and only to please me. However, when I began to explain the menstrual cycle, he suddenly raised his head.

"Babies can't be created at any time?" he asked, surprised.

"The chances are minimal. I nodded. "The day before and during ovulation are the fertile days for the woman. Sperm can survive for up to five days, I think, so over a month there are about six particularly favourable days. But, as I said earlier, the cycle can vary enormously from one person to another and is even affected by external events such as stress, physical effort or temperature. So even with careful analysis and calculation, you can never be too sure. This means that pregnancy is not impossible the rest of the time, it's just less common, particularly during periods. "

"Uh." Tyki replied, blinking. From then on, he listened much more attentively. Even when I strayed a little from the curriculum to complain.

"It's random, so it's totally stupid to blame the mother! Worse, if we really had to blame someone, considering that the egg is XX anyway and it's the man's sperm that brings either X or Y that decides whether the baby will be a girl or a boy, it would be more the man's fault'." I grunted before muttering under my breath. "Well anyway, there's no blaming anyone, a boy or a girl would be the same... if society wasn't so sexist."

Tyki patted my arm with a grimace.

Stopping myself from going off on another tangent about inequalities, I took a deep breath and moved on to sexually transmitted diseases. A subject which, admittedly, I didn't know very well. Not feeling very concerned myself, I hadn't bothered to take a deeper interest in the subject after the compulsory lessons. But, I thought as I looked at Tyki, for him at least, it would be good if I remembered. Although... could the Noahs even catch it? Or get sick at all, for that matter? Well, at least for their partners, it wasn't a bad thing for them to know.

"What's that?" Jasdero asked suddenly, cutting me off at a tangent. Blinking in surprise, I looked at him without understanding. Was it "transmissible" that he hadn't understood? Or was it...

"Homosexual?" I suggested, and Jasdero nodded very quickly. Hu. Er... "It's when someone is romantically and/or sexually attracted to someone of the same sex. More specifically, it's Gay for men. For women attracted to other women, it's Lesbian. For women attracted to men and the opposite, it's straight." I spouted on, well aware that they weren't listening to me any more. I was ready to go down the whole list, but Tyki interrupted me.

"I didn't know the word homosexual. Lesbian yes, but that's not very polite, is it?" he replied and I held back a grimace because... when had these words been invented? Was Lesbienne like the word queer: a reappropriated insult? I missed Internet so much...

"Is that possible?" muttered Devit, interrupting my thoughts. "To like boys?"

"Yes, but it's the sort of thing we don't usually talk about. As long as you don't admit it publicly, it's fine." Tyki interjected and Devit immediately frowned, but it was hard to know if it was because the answer annoyed him or just because it was Tyki who had given it to him. When in doubt...

"It really depends on the era and the culture. In ancient times, for example, homosexual relationships were legion, even though they were highly codified. In France, ma-... two centuries ago, many artists and even the king's brother were openly homosexual and it was in fact completely decriminalised at the end of the 18ᵉ century." I explained, catching Devit's attention. "But yes, currently in England, anything that isn't strictly heterosexual is pretty much frowned upon. Worse, I think homosexuality is classed as a mental illness. So is asexuality, for that matter." Although now that I thought about it, maybe we were even too early for that. Darn.

"Asexuality?" Tyki asked with a frown.

"Ah that's... well, that's little or no sexual attraction to anyone. There's its romantic counterpart in aromanticism. They sometimes go together, but not always." I replied, looking away without really knowing why. Although maybe it was because I'd just said it was classified as a mental illness. But then, I doubted the Noahs would throw me in an institution for that when they hadn't done it for... everything else, really.

"Is that what you are?" Tyki asked.

"Well... I think so. For asexuality anyway, I'm still not sure about aromanticism." I mumbled before meeting his eyes. "It's hard to tell the difference between friendly, familial and romantic love when you're not sure what it should look like." Because butterflies in the stomach are fine and all, but knowing that with Tyki it could well be literal, I wasn't so keen to compare to be sure.

"Are there any others?" Jasdero suddenly asked, making me drop my gaze from Tyki to look at the boy.

"Plenty!" I replied too cheerfully, glad to get away from a subject that was a little too personal. "And it's not just the types of attraction, there's also everything to do with gender that needs talking about. I'm afraid I don't know them all, but I can tell you what I do know."

Jasdero nodded very seriously, looking incredibly concentrated for once. Well... I just hoped I wasn't going to say anything stupid... well, it'd probably be better than what's in the books here.

"It's amazing that you know so much about the subject when you're not interested." Tyki said suddenly as he helped me put away the books and explanatory scribbles spread out on the table. The twins had gone to keep Tricia occupied while Tyki and I put away the evidence of our clandestine conference. Not that with her level, I thought Tricia would recognise the diagram of a uterus for what it was, but hey...

"I would say it's the minimum you need to know to be able to treat your own body and that of others with respect." I replied. And honestly, I didn't know much about it, just what school, two, three YouTube videos and my parents had taught me. But I suppose the body could be such a taboo that, yes, I must have known more than the average person in my time... and especially here.

Tyki let out an indistinct sniff as I frowned. Speaking of knowledge... Jasdero had seemed particularly interested in the notion of gender. Unfortunately, I didn't know any more than I'd already told him, which, to be honest, wasn't much. I'd never been too concerned about being a girl or not, even having trouble defining what the differences were supposed to be apart from the biological ones. Probably due to my not very gendered environment growing up. Although here, I could feel the difference... there was no doubt that there was a variation in society's expectations depending on your apparent gender. In any case, just the fact that you might not feel like the gender you were born with or even be a boy or a girl at all fascinated Jasdero. I had no doubt that he would come and talk to me about it later and that some experimentation would be in order.

Tuesday 22nd February 1887

A huge black spot was growing more and more on the page. I knew it was due to capillary action, I didn't need to experience it again, but everything was more interesting to watch than my lack of progress. I was blocked, completely blocked. It wasn't uncommon, I had a very bad memory and if I remembered the melodies fairly well, I usually only had scraped of the lyrics. Having faced the problem dozens of times over the last two years, I'd got into the habit of simply skipping the lyrics if I couldn't remember them well enough. The songs were pretty enough without them, there was no need for me to butcher them by trying my own version. But this time it was a bit more complicated, as I was tackling "My favourites things" and skipping the lyrics would be a shame. The worst thing was that I remembered a lot of them... but not in the same language. I had about a third in English, a third in French, and a third that was just a jumble of vaguely English sounds whose words I couldn't make out.

Suffice to say, it was incredibly frustrating.

"Stop biting your lip, Vivi." Road admonished me as she dropped onto the sofa beside me. Blinking, I let go of my abused bottom lip. I hadn't even noticed the unpleasant iron taste until little Noah warned me. Holding back a grimace, I smiled at her, my lips tightly shut, afraid I'd smeared blood on my teeth. We were in the small sitting room, enjoying a quiet evening in the warmth of the fireplace. A little further into the room, Tricia and Lulubelle were chatting around the round table. Apparently it was Lucie Belle's birthday today and Tricia had made a point of inviting her when she learned that the Earl was away on business. I wasn't complaining, the meal had been even better than usual without being too boring, as Sheryl wasn't there. What's more, I'd even managed to have a few words with Lulubelle! Without it being too weird, I mean, although Tricia certainly made things easier. In any case, after the feast, we retired quietly to the living room where the two women were deep in conversation. Road had kept them company so far, but I guess she was bored. I envied her a little, her apparent youth gave her all the power, I could never have just slipped away from a conversation in progress. Fortunately, I'd cleverly evaded it from the start and I was glad I had, having reached the limit of my social battery for the day. On my right, slumped in one of the big armchairs that Tricia and Sheryl usually took, Tyki was hungrily plunged into one of the books that the Earl had brought back for us. As for me, I'd decided to leave them to rest for once and was instead trying, as best I could, to find my words.

"What's bothering you?" she asked, pressing her pointed chin into my arm to get a better look at the notebook.

"I can't remember all the words to that song. It annoys me," I admitted half-heartedly. As much as I could complain to Tyki and Road, I tried to speak a little more politely when Tricia or Lulubelle could hear me.

"Raindrop on roses, blah blah blah on kittens?" reads Road, raising an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"It's about a woman who lists all the little things in life that she loves to reassure herself when she's scared. But as I was telling you, I can't remember all the words."

"Why don't you put your own favourite little things in it?" asked Road but before I could reply, Tyki intervened.

"Eve doesn't like to change her songs," he says without looking up from his book.

I squinted in his direction, pretty sure he was being mocking. "Yes, because they're not my songs, I'm just redoing them," I insisted. He shrugged, clearly not convinced. Having no desire to argue about something so silly, I settled for agreement on disagreement.

"Let's say so." Road cut in. "But then if you never remember them, you just leave them as they are?"

I opened my mouth. And then closed it very quickly. before opening it again, hesitantly. "Yes, well no, well... it's just that I'm leaving them for later, when I remember."

"But I thought you hated leaving projects unfinished? If they're just going to sit in a dusty drawer anyway, wouldn't it be better to tweak them a bit to make them complete?" asked Road and I pursed my lips, undecided. I really didn't want to spoil other people's songs... on the other hand, I'd done it before with fairy tales when I couldn't remember all the details... "And if you ever really remember them later, you can always change them, can't you?"

"I suppose..." I mumbled, staring at the big ink stain on the page. I really liked that song, it would be a shame to hide it in one of my desk drawers...

"Really?!" exclaimed Tyki as he lowered his book. He looked far too surprised, was I really that stubborn? From the look of satisfaction on Road's face, maybe a little.

"So what do you like to do? Raindrop on roses and...?" encouraged Road.

"Hmmm... reading by the fire?" I almost asked, a little surprised by her support. "Oh, but wait, I have to say it in such a way that it fits in the verse..." I mumbled and spent the next thirty minutes trying to come up with words to complete my gap lyric. It was pretty cool, a bit like a puzzle really. The problem was that after a while I ran out of ideas. A lot of the activities I really liked to do weren't that possible in the late XIXᵉ century and the others didn't all fit within the confines of the song. Frustrated, I was quick to ask other people what they liked.

"Little things?" Road asked, frowning.

"Yeah like... having tea with Tricia?" I encouraged.

"Or torturing hu-... your dolls." mumbled Tyki, immediately taking a kick from Road.

"Road!" Tricia exclaimed with stormed eyes. The sudden movement must have caught her attention, pulling her out of her conversation with Lulubelle. The woman gave us a vaguely bored look before turning back to Tricia.

"Sorry, Mother," Road crooned without a hint of remorse. That seemed to be enough for Tricia, who nodded and resumed her conversation. "Tea with the family is always nice... Oh! I like going for walks in town too!"

"You want me to sing that I like walks? Me?" I laughed.

"You may say you don't like it, but you don't seem that bothered when we go." Replied Road.

Before I could retort that it was just a question of politeness, Tyki interrupted me.

"Anyway, it's not like you're going to be the one singing it."

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.

"Tyki's right. In the more than two years you've lived here, I've never heard you sing," Road realised thoughtfully.

"What? No, I must have... uh." I stopped in mid-sentence. Because yes, now that I thought about it, I couldn't even remember the last time I'd done it. It's not that I used to sing a lot in my previous life either, but still. The most I'd had to do here was whisper the words under my breath. At the same time, wouldn't that be a bit embarrassing? "Maybe... but I'm not a very good singer, I'd hate to put you through that."

Road rolled his eyes violently, revealing a little too much white for a human being. "Aren't you the one who's always saying that you can only improve by trying? And that failure is just another step towards success?"

Well. Yes. But it wasn't pleasant to have her words thrown back in my face. Although, she was right, I wasn't usually so sensitive about my weaknesses... and I'd always enjoyed singing karaoke before. But the thought of even pushing a few notes out of my vocal cords immediately tightened my throat. It was as if a hand had wrapped itself around the back of my neck, tugging at my glottis until I wanted to vomit.

"Eve?" called Tyki and I gasped, sweat beading on my forehead. Wow, that was weird. Very weird.

"Ah, it's nothing. But you're right, I'll have to try. Another time." I laughed nervously. There was no reason for it to make me so uncomfortable. Unless it was to do with the months that I couldn't remember? What, had I choked while singing? Ahah.

Hum...

Fortunately for me, neither Tyki nor Road insisted any further. Better still, they helped me complete a first version of the song. Although, Road didn't believed me when I told her that I put 'When the thunder rumbles' only for the rhyme and certainly not because I was afraid of it. Because I was not, for the record. No, instead she patted my hand sympathetically and I resolved to be Eve, the girl who had a panic fear of fire and thunderstorms and potentially of singing, too. It was a lot of unexplained fear but... we weren't going to think about it any more for the moment. Once again: denial.

It was only as I was scribbling the last point on my score that I realised how tired I was. Nodding, I glanced at the clock and was surprised to discover that we were well past Road's bedtime, Tricia's bedtime, and a few minutes away from my own. Usually at this time of day I'd finish my last page before switching off the light. But I didn't dare interrupt Tricia. She had too big a smile on her face, chirping about various dresses in the magazines spread out between her and Lulubelle. I couldn't blame her, unfortunately I wasn't a very good gossip companion and despite my best efforts, fashion left me baffled. No wonder she took advantage of Lulubelle's sharp tongue whenever she could. So I waited patiently for Tricia to realise what time it was, joining Road in front of the fire to stroke a dozing Berlingot. It didn't take much longer and I was soon walking Tricia and Lulubelle back to their rooms before stumbling into mine. Unzipping my dress in a flash, I casually slipped on my nightgown before falling into the sheets, ready for sleep.

... Unfortunately, we must have really taken too long to get back, as the room, which was usually pleasantly warm when we went to bed, was already starting to get awfully chilly. It was still February and it was terribly cold at night. Staring sadly at the extinguished fire from under my duvet, I reached a hand out from the sheets before snapping my fingers with an air of intense concentration. "Incendio"

Nothing.

I dropped my head onto the bed with a muffled groan. Of course I couldn't start a fire with my thoughts, but I don't know, with all this talk about Tyki's powers... being in DGM...

Sighing, I propped myself up on one elbow, mentally preparing to get out of bed, when a new idea floated into my mind. Reaching my hand towards the chimney again, I squinted at the embers as I racked my brain. What were the words again? Abata, ura, mazar... massara? If I'm going to use magic, I might as well use the magic of this world! With one foot halfway out of bed, preparing to leave after another failed attempt, I mumbled the words as I stared at the fireplace.

"Abata... ura... masarakato...On!" I hissed as I snapped my fingers at the last word.

Immediately, huge orange flames burst into life in the arch.

A second later, I was screaming at the top of my lungs.

Well shit... Two years I've been here... maybe I should have thought of testing this earlier.

Voilààààà :D It looks like the summary is no longer up to date... oh wait, I'd marked "not directly" :p Expect a lot of trouble on Eve's side, it's going to be fun... I hope X)

Don't forget to leave a review when you leave, and see you on the 25th of next month!