Aetherium, Desmond Grey

DESMOND GREY

Minor glamour magic typically disguises Desmond while working in a formal capacity since his true form is so easily recognizable. Distinctly intricate tattoos in black ink decorate his otherwise pale skin, and piercing eyes with void-like sclera stare through his surroundings. His skin is also marked by piercings: a rod above his left eye, an assortment of metal on both ears, a ring through his lower lip, and even more below which are hidden by monochromatic clothes. Although just over 6 feet tall and physically fit, Dez tends to shroud the definition of his form in loose fabrics. He also feels no hesitancy about decorating his body in manners which are not traditionally considered masculine: painted nails, nape-length hair in a messy bun, jewelry such as bracelets and necklaces, and high heels are not uncommon sights. Dresses and makeup, however, he'll generally leave for others to enjoy. Although not immediately apparent, the blood which flows from his wounds and the nails beneath the polish are both colored black.

Those who know him as an advisor have seen him as a much different face, since he is careful to maintain a spell of minor glamor while being viewed in a public light. The tattoos seem to vanish as they lighten to match the color of his skin. This skin, in turn, is removed of all visible piercings. His eyes swirl into to a clear blue surrounded by white, while his hair adopts a similar snowy lightness. Generally, he unbinds his hair and moves his part to the right, concealing the shaven portion of his head with long hair. ( reference )

Before the boy called Desmond Grey was conceived, there was a forbidden affair occurring in the Isles of the Twins. There, lying tangled between the sheets of a seedy motel, lie a woman from a wealthy family and a man with not more than a meager handful of wealth to his name. Her family supported the Aetherium, though they practiced the magic of Noxio by tradition. He had no family, but was gifted with Chimeron's magic.

Perhaps what they had was love, or perhaps it was just a rebellious cry against their respective situations, but, regardless of their reasons, they had planted a new life. "Desmond," declared the woman who had told her family she was going on vacation for a few months, "I think Desmond is a lovely name." She, though, would not have the chance to name him. The couple had avoided hospitals to keep their secret safe, but they were not at all prepared for the complications during their son's birth. Although Desmond Leigh Grey survived, his mother did not, and his father, too, grew to wish that he had fallen with her.

When Desmond was a child, it was readily apparent that he wasn't wanted, but there was some reason he was being kept around. Although the young boy initially did everything he could to make his single father proud, he was usually just met with harsh complaints from breath reeking of alcohol. Questions were met with disdain. Disobedience was met with a swift, stinging claw. His father was often gone for long periods of time, allowing a very young Desmond to wander outside and get involved with some people he likely shouldn't have. But in exchange for bringing their medicines (as they called the funny bags of dusts and pills) from point A to point B, the men would buy him fresh food and fitting clothes that weren't stained and torn. Although little more than just a tool in the beginning, he steadily established a bond of brotherhood for himself in their black market organization. They taught him how to make secure deals through technology, how to handle himself in a fight, how to take what he wanted, and many other skills of a proper criminal. He lapped it all up eagerly, and those who knew him came to addressing him as Bones since he had such a skeletal figure.  

Desmond's eyes, nails, and skin developed their unnatural blackness when he reached puberty. When he asked his largely unfazed father about it, the only answer he received was "You got your mum's blood." At least, that had been the only verbal answer. Being pinned down by his father's spider-like legs became an increasingly regular occurrence, and provided answers through actions he would have rather not experienced.

Some of his contacts taught him shadow magic to make his appearance more regular, which Dez took to like a fish in water. He likely would have been able to learn a good bit more if events hadn't played out like they did. Being a practitioner of Beast magic, his father had always been under threat of the Aetherium's wrath, and one day it finally caught up to him. Both Dez and his father had been home at the time, and both noticed the uninvited presence before they had a chance to strike. Desmond became a hostage for his own father, who had not shown even a moment of hesitancy. Those unnatural claws were at his neck, biting into his skin while the strangers appeared to consider just ending both of their lives. Desmond moved before even thinking, fingers gripping around the bottle his father had been drinking from and swinging it around to shatter on his head. Dez doesn't remember how many times he stabbed his father's limp figure before his body was overtaken by shaking sobs.

To his surprise at the time, the Aetherium took him in under their care. He wasn't yet an adult in the eyes of the law, and they had provided overwhelming legal support to him for that incident. There was little reason for him to argue the issue.

Life with the Aetherium wasn't at all as he had expected. Although they taught him Ether magic, he also learned other skills he would have never associated with a benevolent church. He was being moulded. He could see it happening. He knew. He was being made into a pawn again, and with everything he knew at this point there was no way they'd allow him to leave.

But he didn't fight them, nor resist what they asked him to do. Instead, he did more. He returned to his shady acquaintances, spinning that web of connections for no other reason than that, in his mind, he hadn't been forced into it. He became acutely aware of the best sources of information, substances, and services. He had people everywhere acting as his eyes and ears, and for once in his life he felt some semblance of control.

But just as he had the eyes of others working for him, so did the Aetherium, and they had seen what he was doing. Instead of punishing him, as he had initially expected, they siphoned his influence over the flow of information for their own purposes. He was no longer a pawn, but he was still very much a piece in their game. With his vast web of influence, notable skill in Ether magic, and proven loyalty, he was a prime choice for one of the Luminary's advisors. His primary task is collecting and handling information, rather than providing his own opinion in their decisions. He now lives a fractured life: Bones- an alias attached to his illegal activities, Desmond Leigh- the name he uses among the civilian population, and Greyson Abbott- the blue-eyed white-haired advisor to the Luminary.

TOKYO GHOUL, uta as desmond grey