The Price of Solitude
Summary: Devit was never alone.
Prompt 016. Solitude
Disclaimer: D. Gray-man series and characters do not belong to me.
1
Devit was never alone.
He never gave this any thought. Jasdero was always with him, and he was always with Jasdero. Anything else would be unnatural.
But he always noticed when they were not alone.
They had not been alone since they’d met the others in the Noah Clan. No, it had been before that-when the change had come over them and shown them that they weren’t like ordinary humans. That was when the Noah Clan learned of Jasdero and Devit. And the Noah Clan never abandoned its own.
When he met them, Devit didn’t believe that the Noah Clan was his family. His only real family was Jasdero. The strangers had to be lying-this couldn’t possibly be his and Jasdero’s home. Afraid of being deceived, Devit was desperate not to admit to any trust.
But the strangers were powerful, in the same way Jasdero and Devit were since the change. They were alike in that, them and the strangers, and Devit would admit this. And that they had nowhere else to go-he would admit this too, if only to himself.
Besides, sometimes it was nice for them not to be alone.
2
Devit came to understand that connections other than blood existed between Jasdevi and the Noah Clan.
The strong and unbreakable connection between Jasdero and Devit had spidered out into weaker connections between them and the other Noahs. That was how it felt, when Devit was in a generous mood. Not quite a real family, but more than an artificial group, the connections between Noahs made certain that none of them ever had to be alone.
Sometimes, Devit wondered if even weaker threads were strung from the Noah Clan to the world. But if there were, they could easily be cut.
This reassured him.
3
There were two kinds of solitude, and one of them didn’t exist.
The one that existed went like this: Jasdero and Devit and nobody else. Nobody trying to fuck with them, nobody controlling them, nobody hurting them.
Devit sought this kind of solitude. The Noah Clan’s mission would bring it to him, and all it cost was the end of the world.
Sure, the world wasn’t that bad, seen from far away-vast and complex and full of interesting things. But if it had wanted Jasdero and Devit to remain a part of it, it shouldn’t have fucked with them.
Devit could deal with a little boredom. He and Jasdero had minds filled with just as many interesting things. They could think up a new world, and theirs would be better.
(And now they weren’t alone.)
4
When Devit realized that he enjoyed being with the other people in his and Jasdero’s new family, he was truly surprised.
He would never tell them that he enjoyed their company, but he suspected some of them guessed. Cautiously, he expanded his idea of solitude just enough to fit them in. When we’ve finished our mission, we’ll finally be alone, he would think, and we would stand for more than the usual two.
Jasdero knew when Devit said we and meant more than two people, and he grinned when Devit said it this way.
On one point Devit was confused. He was unsure whether the Earl was part of his plural. Was he inside where Devit and Jasdero and the rest were, being left alone, or was he outside, leaving them alone? He was not a Noah. His powers were not the same-if anything, they were stronger. Rhode would not tell Devit or Jasdero who he was, and Devit was afraid to think that she might not know, that there was any chance he and Jasdero wouldn’t get what they wanted just when their path seemed clear.
Devit dismissed these worries. They only distracted him from his part in the dying world. Now that he and Jasdero were Noahs, they agreed with Rhode and Tiki: the world was a game, and the Earl helped them win. If they won, Jasdero and Devit’s prize was solitude, at last.
They were all in it together.
5
Devit never realized that the Earl was always alone.
Prompt 016. Solitude
Disclaimer: D. Gray-man series and characters do not belong to me.
1
Devit was never alone.
He never gave this any thought. Jasdero was always with him, and he was always with Jasdero. Anything else would be unnatural.
But he always noticed when they were not alone.
They had not been alone since they’d met the others in the Noah Clan. No, it had been before that-when the change had come over them and shown them that they weren’t like ordinary humans. That was when the Noah Clan learned of Jasdero and Devit. And the Noah Clan never abandoned its own.
When he met them, Devit didn’t believe that the Noah Clan was his family. His only real family was Jasdero. The strangers had to be lying-this couldn’t possibly be his and Jasdero’s home. Afraid of being deceived, Devit was desperate not to admit to any trust.
But the strangers were powerful, in the same way Jasdero and Devit were since the change. They were alike in that, them and the strangers, and Devit would admit this. And that they had nowhere else to go-he would admit this too, if only to himself.
Besides, sometimes it was nice for them not to be alone.
2
Devit came to understand that connections other than blood existed between Jasdevi and the Noah Clan.
The strong and unbreakable connection between Jasdero and Devit had spidered out into weaker connections between them and the other Noahs. That was how it felt, when Devit was in a generous mood. Not quite a real family, but more than an artificial group, the connections between Noahs made certain that none of them ever had to be alone.
Sometimes, Devit wondered if even weaker threads were strung from the Noah Clan to the world. But if there were, they could easily be cut.
This reassured him.
3
There were two kinds of solitude, and one of them didn’t exist.
The one that existed went like this: Jasdero and Devit and nobody else. Nobody trying to fuck with them, nobody controlling them, nobody hurting them.
Devit sought this kind of solitude. The Noah Clan’s mission would bring it to him, and all it cost was the end of the world.
Sure, the world wasn’t that bad, seen from far away-vast and complex and full of interesting things. But if it had wanted Jasdero and Devit to remain a part of it, it shouldn’t have fucked with them.
Devit could deal with a little boredom. He and Jasdero had minds filled with just as many interesting things. They could think up a new world, and theirs would be better.
(And now they weren’t alone.)
4
When Devit realized that he enjoyed being with the other people in his and Jasdero’s new family, he was truly surprised.
He would never tell them that he enjoyed their company, but he suspected some of them guessed. Cautiously, he expanded his idea of solitude just enough to fit them in. When we’ve finished our mission, we’ll finally be alone, he would think, and we would stand for more than the usual two.
Jasdero knew when Devit said we and meant more than two people, and he grinned when Devit said it this way.
On one point Devit was confused. He was unsure whether the Earl was part of his plural. Was he inside where Devit and Jasdero and the rest were, being left alone, or was he outside, leaving them alone? He was not a Noah. His powers were not the same-if anything, they were stronger. Rhode would not tell Devit or Jasdero who he was, and Devit was afraid to think that she might not know, that there was any chance he and Jasdero wouldn’t get what they wanted just when their path seemed clear.
Devit dismissed these worries. They only distracted him from his part in the dying world. Now that he and Jasdero were Noahs, they agreed with Rhode and Tiki: the world was a game, and the Earl helped them win. If they won, Jasdero and Devit’s prize was solitude, at last.
They were all in it together.
5
Devit never realized that the Earl was always alone.
