9A/N: Look another chapter. Yey. Also, this is an UA (of all things to forget to add in the first chapter…*sigh*) so everything is the same as in DGM up to about the Zombie arc. But this fic takes place after that, more in the Phantom Thief G arc.
And to PipeDream: No, Allen, at the moment, isn't really a Noah. So he still looks the same. I honestly have no idea what's going on either, but I know what I want to explain. I will explain the things you mentioned, so enjoy more Noah family fluff until the plot gets to that point! Thank you for the review!
Warnings: mentioned injuries, violence in future chapters, Sad Komui :'(, OOC, my extreme lack of knowledge about formal clothing.
I don't own DGM.
XxX
A clean desk. Too clean, in his opinion, and the fact that work was being done in the room scared him. After all, a lazy, procrastinating sis-con inhabited the room. Said sis-con was nothing like the hardworking man with bags under his eyes that sat at the same desk, with the same drills stashed underneath it, and used the same name. They were different. Painfully different.
"Reever?" The tone was polite, "do you need anything?" He sounded exhausted as well.
"Supervisor. Take a break," he pleaded. The man in front of him blinked.
"I will soon."
"Komui... Please..."
XxX
"Come on, Nea!" Rhode dragged him through the dirty streets, expertly dodging a wagon, and crossing the cobblestone road to reach their destination, a small shop. "I love this town! It's so cute!"
He nodded, but had to disagree. It smelled awful due to the lack of space. The town was relatively small, just a Dutch settlement formed in the northern United States, simply to provide all the nearby farmers a place to drink and stop at while transporting , at the same time, the town was expanding rapidly due to its residents' prosperity. It was almost as if it was too small for everything happening in it. Factories had formed outside the city, close enough to keep from angering the farmers, but far enough to keep the city's air rather clean.
"Do I have to dress up, Rhode?" he asked, "it's just a dinner, right?" Rhode laughed, amused by the question.
"It's like a second introduction to the family! Anyways, you're our new 14th! They'll be excited!" she insisted, pulling him inside the store.
Allen blinked, "14th?" he questioned, confused by the term. It was obviously significant in some way if Rhode brought it up, but he didn't recognize it as anything important.
"You'll figure it out!" He sighed at her response. He knew that she enjoyed being vague, but it never stopped being annoying. "Anyways, you need cuter clothes." She pulled him inside the store, giving him no more time to protest. "We're nobles, Allen, nobles. We need to look nice." Rhode waved cheerfully at the cashier, who gave Allen a sympathetic look as he got tugged across the room with the over excited girl.
"Allen?" The name rolled off his tongue, too familiar, yet too distant. It, like every other memory in his useless head, was meaningless; gone. Rhode didn't seem to notice his confusion at first, as she was too busy admiring various suits.
"Not white…" Rhode mumbled to herself, "maybe red…? No…" She left his question unanswered, unaware of her mistake. "Nea~ What do you think?"
"I don't know…" he admitted truthfully. He didn't remember what he wore in the past and the Noah had given him simple, semi-formal clothing. It was the traditional basics, too boring and impersonal for someone to wear on an everyday basis.
"I think black could work," she decided, tugging Allen to the tailor. "The basics," she told the man, smiling. He nodded, apparently already acquainted with her. "But, make sure he looks good in it."
Another nod answered her. He looked at Allen and cleared his throat.
"Follow me, please," he said, his voice mild and polite. Allen glanced at Rhode, uncertain. The idea of being left alone around him… It was unappealing. Rhode nodded, rolling her eyes. Allen followed him.
XxX
"You look so nice, Allen!" Rhode exclaimed, complimenting him despite the silence at the table. The twins, Jasdero and Devitto, if Allen remembered correctly, were glaring at him. Rhode's father looked put out as well.
"Thank you," he answered, happy that she hadn't forced him into anything too uncomfortably yet. His current outfit was stiff, too stiff for his taste, but he didn't mind it much. "Your skirt's new, right? It's very cute," he added, giving Rhode a quick smile.
"It is cute!" She agreed as the servants-Akuma as Tyki called them-brought in their dinner. The instant they entered, Allen's eye started twitching, and he rubbed at it to alleviate the itchiness. He eagerly started eating the large amount of food he had been given, despite his throbbing eye. By the time he was done, most of the group was staring. "Nea eats a lot," Rhode stated, still working on her own meal, occasionally glancing up to check on Allen's eye. They didn't need the seal blocking the curse's effect to break.
"He does, doesn't he?" The Earl agreed, "It's because of his Innocence." His expression turned sour as he said Innocence, as if the concept of it offended him.
"Errr…. What does my innocence have to do with this?" Allen wouldn't refer to himself as innocent. Honestly, living on the streets as a demon taught one many things, few of which were pleasant.
"You're silly, Nea," Rhode giggled, "We meant your arm." He stared at her blankly.
"Rhode. He doesn't remember," Tyki cut in, giving her a warning look, before returning to eating his steak.
"Oh yeah," she sighed, focusing more on the meal than the conversation.
"But what does my arm have to do with my innocence?" he asked, confused. He didn't enjoy knowing nothing. It was his life, his body, even if he couldn't remember most of what happened to it.
"We can talk about it after dinner. Okay, Nea?" The Millennium Earl assured him, smiling creepily while eating what looked like an ice cream sundae. Allen didn't understand the Earl's ability to eat so many sweet things. One would think that the Earl would grow tired of them, but he didn't. That was the thing about the Noah; they were eternal beings, ones who, in Allen's mind, were stuck in one instant, forever remaining the same. He hadn't been around long, around three months as fall as he recalled, but things were bland, average and organized. Nothing stepped out of line, and nothing dared to interrupt their schedule. He didn't plan on making any daring moves, either.
"Okay," he said, "May I be excused?" The Noah stare at his empty plate for a moment.
"Of course you can," the Earl answered, unfazed by both his appetite and the lack of manners required to satisfy it. Allen got up, looking back as the Earl spoke again, "Don't forget to take your pills."
"I won't." He left the room, deciding to visit the Earl for their 'after-dinner' talk later.
XxX
"Millennie, have you thought about my suggestion?" Rhode mentioned, looking up once Allen left. The rest of the group, Tyki, Sheril and Jasdevi silently observed. They weren't involved in the conversation, yet.
"Of course, my dear Rhode," he confirmed, "We'll have a vote because it's a family matter. In fact, Lulu and the others have already made theirs." The Earl smiled. The rest of the group looked relieved. Rhode, in particular, seemed glad. "Every knows what we're voting over?"
Various affirmative answers rang out. Devit and Jasdero exchanged glances for a moment, before nodding in unison.
"All in favor, raise their hand." Sheril's hand shot up, soon joined by Tyki and Rhode's. "And all against~?" Jasdevi raised their hands after checking with each other again. "The others voted similarly," the Earl sighed, accepting the decision.
"As stated by Rhode, Allen Walker shall stay with us."
"But," Rhode added, "we will have to change a few things to prevent a repeat of 35 years ago. Right, Millennie~?"
"Of course."
XxX
The pills were gross. The weird smoky color didn't reassure him either. At least they were small. Still, they, quite literally, burned his mouth and throat. No matter what he said to Rhode, she insisted that he had to take them, and that they were doing him good.
"It's the dosage," she would tell him, "It's really concentrated, so it feels like it's burning you."
He wasn't so sure about it, but the Earl was adamant that he took them. Rhode was scary, but the Earl was far more intimidating, in a sickly sweet, fake smile kind of way, so he listened.
He knocked on the door three solid times, taking the second black monstrosity of a pill while he waited for the Earl to answer.
"Nea! Come in!" The Earl greeted as he opened the door. Allen followed him inside the room. It was an odd place. Otherworldly, almost. The floor was covered in phones, and the ceiling somewhere far above them. Why anyone would need an endless room filled with phones was beyond him, but the Earl had one. A small table with two chairs sat in the middle of the phones. "So you don't remember anything about the Noah, what we do, or what Innocence is?"
"No, why?" Allen answered, wondering how important it had to be to require a one-on-one talk with the Earl.
"Tell me what you know, I'll fill in the blanks."
"Uhh...You guys are Noah. You're… different from normal humans somehow. Your skin turns gray?" Allen offered, digging through his fragments of memory hoping to find some information. Nothing came up.
"In a sense," the Earl chuckled, "We are apostles of God-" Allen blinked- "So we have abilities the 'sub-humans' don't. We wish to save the world from sin. The humans dislike us, and created an organization called the Black Order to fight us. They use a weapon called Innocence and claim to fight for God, but they're lying… do you understand?" Allen stared at him. 'Apostles of God?' It was true that the Noah were odd, but God? How could a god exist in a world that dumped children on streets and forced them to fight for food, for shelter and for their life? No, God wasn't a concept Allen understood, whether there was one or not.
"I think so?" He went down the safe route. Angering the Earl wasn't the best idea.
"Okay," the Earl smiled, "You, Nea, are both a Noah and an Innocence accommodator. Your Innocence is your arm. Eventually, that arm will start hurting you and then we will have to remove it. Until then, you may keep it."
"But… It's my arm… how?" Allen questioned hesitantly. It wasn't something that was easy to believe. An arm that was a weapon… Truly, it seemed like a joke.
"Bad luck, perhaps~" the Earl answered, "Anyways, Nea, you need to start taking these pills as well." He handed Allen a small container filled with violet pills. Allen nodded, and left soon after. Conversations with the Earl were always complicated. It always felt like the Earl was leaving something out. As for what… Allen could only guess.