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esp_dragonv2) wrote2020-07-03 03:55 pm
esp_dragonv2) wrote2020-07-03 03:55 pm
Retrieved
Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: Frankenstein finds Muzaka again.
Contains: Frankenstein/Muzaka
Notes: Written for Madame Azure.
This is set after Gaining Strength. There's no big spoilers for it, but a couple hints of things that haven't shown up yet.
One other future verse is one where Muzaka never disappears and the third is where Frankenstein finds Muzaka near the start of where canon starts. Dunno if I'll write that them yet.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 2,941
Status: Complete
Tao poked his head into the recovery room, seeing Boss sitting next to the silver-haired werewolf they'd brought into the house.
"Boooss?" Tao drew out softly. It wasn't likely the werewolf would wake up any time soon, not with the injuries Boss had given him. But it was weird, because the werewolf wasn't hooked up to any monitoring machines like he or Takeo or M-21 would be if they were recovering from something and Boss hadn't even bandaged the werewolf up either.
Because the wounds had already healed, leaving technically unmarked skin underneath. There was still the deep scarring that had been there before their fight, but that was it.
Frankenstein had hooked up some IV fluids to him though.
"Mm?" Boss didn't look up from his laptop, still answering whatever emails that were coming in at this time at night. Or day, for the sender.
"You need anything? Like a beeed?" Because Tao wasn't sure if he'd seen Boss sleep in the last couple days and sure, Boss didn't sleep that much anyway, but Tao knew he did sleep. At times. More like naps, but it at least involved closing his eyes for more than half a second.
"No," Boss said, his voice distant, "I need to be here when he wakes up. If he loses himself again... I need to be here."
Repeating himself wasn't a good sign. "Are you gonna be able to do anything if you fall flat on yer face?"
Boss hesitated, his typing slowing.
"There's a bed right there, Boss," Tao said, nodding towards it as he came into the room fully. "Juuust three whole steps behind you."
"How small do you think my stride is," Boss said, looking at him, amused, over his glasses.
Tao grinned. "With how tired you are, you might be shuffling. Turning counts as a step, doesn't it? It's moving your legs. And getting into bed counts as another step 'cause you hafta lift your leg to do it. It makes perfect sense!"
Boss didn't say anything for a few seconds, his gaze returning to the laptop screen. Then he exhaled, closing the laptop with a soft 'click'. "Very well."
"Awesome!" Tao said as he perched on the edge of the table.
"If he stirs-"
"Yep, wake ya," Tao said, nodding. "Go sleep, an' dream of all the e-mails you'll have when you wake up."
"Are you telling me to dream or to have nightmares," Boss said wryly as he took his glasses, setting them on the bedside table.
"You'd be thinkin' of them either way, and you're happiest when yer kept busy, sooo both?"
"Hn."
Boss lay down and instantly he relaxed, his breathing deepening. He had been ready to drop, huh... Or maybe that was just Boss, and he could switch his brain off instantly. It wouldn't be very efficient if he wasted time getting to sleep, after all.
Tao looked over at a soft knock, seeing Takeo and M-21 there.
"Are we doing this in a rotation or together?" Takeo asked, his voice soft.
"Together," Tao said, grabbing a chair. "Boss won't be sleeping for long even if he's exhausted."
Nodding, Takeo and M-21 came in.
* * *
"Stop cheating," M-21 said, not looking up from his hand of cards.
Tao spluttered, placing his palm against his chest. "Me? How could you say I'm cheating?"
M-21 looked at him. "I can see the card under your sleeve."
Tao snickered, pulling the card out. "Damn, caught. What gave me away?"
"If you're going to cheat, don't wear dark clothes if the cards are light," M-21 said, placing a card down.
"And your sleeve is soft enough the card shows its shape through it," Takeo added.
"Gah, guess I'm going to have to be more prepared next time," Tao said, squinting at M-21 and Takeo's sleeves.
He froze, hearing a soft sigh. It hadn't come from his left, but directly behind him. From the silver-haired werewolf.
Would they have time to wake Boss? The heavy aura pressure wasn't in the air, and when the werewolf opened his eyes, it was to stare blankly at the ceiling, not narrowed in a glare.
The werewolf turned his head towards Boss, and he stared at him. "...Not dreaming...?" he murmured.
"Nope," Tao said, and whoops, the werewolf's attention snapped to him. Tao raised his hands, showing they were empty, cards stuffed down his sleeve. Empty hands were still kinda threatening to a werewolf with their transformation and all.
The werewolf seemed to be staring at M-21 though than looking like he wanted to start a fight.
"What?"
Unless M-21 started the fight instead. Tao nudged M-21 under the table, who huffed.
"Your aura's like Frankenstein," the werewolf said, pulling himself up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Facing Boss, and uuuh, well, the werewolf was talking now, so that was a good sign?
"Mnn," Frankenstein said, sitting up, "you're late." He smiled at the werewolf and hmm.
Tao had seen Boss smile. Boss smiled when they did a good job, when his experiments went well, he had a proud smile for them when they improved.
But this one was different, a softer one that Tao hadn't seen before. A fond one.
"Heh, yeah, sorry I took so long," the werewolf said, ruffling the top of his head.
"I think I know one way for you to make up for it," Boss said, his voice full of teasing, and uuuhm.
Tao gathered up his cards without looking, hearing Takeo and M-21 do the same. Time to skedaddle!
* * *
Muzaka let out a shuddering breath, burying his nose in Frankenstein's shoulder, holding him tightly as his arms trembled slightly. It had been so long...
Frankenstein breathed a soft chuckle.
"Mmn?"
"They decided to give us some privacy."
Muzaka looked out the corner of his eyes and the table was empty, the door shut. Huh, he hadn't notice them leave. "Who are they anyway?" Two humans and someone in between human and werewolf like Frankenstein.
"People who had nowhere else to go," Frankenstein said as they let go.
Muzaka nodded. Of course Frankenstein would take them under his wing without hesitation. "At least you weren't alone all this time."
"I wasn't," Frankenstein said. "The others made sure of it - I hope you won't disappear again?" he said, eyebrow raised.
"I'll try not to, heh," Muzaka said as Frankenstein guided him back to bed. "...Were you really waiting all this time?" It was hard to tell time when he was stuck in a room with no windows to see the sun passing, but with how much things had changed since he had last been free to walk where he wanted... It had been a long time.
"I know you," Frankenstein said, sitting next to him, Muzaka wrapping an arm around his waist. "You wouldn't disappear for no reason, and there's not much that would kill you so you had to still be around somewhere."
Muzaka leaned in, nuzzling Frankenstein's neck, drinking in the scent he hadn't smelled in so long. It wasn't quite the same, Frankenstein must have enhanced himself further while they'd been apart, but it was still familiar enough.
"You should rest for now," Frankenstein said, kissing his forehead. "Get your strength back."
"Hnn, all right."
* * *
"Sooo, that answers that question," Tao said as he pulled out the water jug, hearing Takeo dig around in the fridge. "They do know each other." Very well.
M-21 snorted, buttering the bread. "You think Frankenstein would just bring in anyone here?"
"He did with us," Takeo said, carrying over sandwich fillers.
M-21 paused as Tao snickered. "Exactly!"
It didn't take them long to finish making the sandwiches together.
"Do we go in," Tao said, "or do you think they'll be busy for a while?"
M-21 rolled his eyes, picking up the plate. "Frankenstein doesn't want us jumping up to the roof when we're recovering - he's not going to make anyone do any kind of 'exercise', no matter how much either of them want it."
That was a good point. Their health came first, every time.
It would still be good to be cautious beforehand. Just in case. "Knock knock!" Tao called out as he tapped on the door.
There was no flurry of movement on the other side.
"Come in," Boss' amused voice came through.
"We come bearing gifts!" Tao said, opening the door, Takeo and M-21 bringing in the food and water and leaving it on the table.
Boss and the werewolf were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the bed and yep, best to give them some time alone together.
* * *
"Are you all right?" Frankenstein asked, watching Muzaka eye the walls. His equipment was in his lab, but if it made Muzaka uncomfortable after all the time he spent in a lab, he could do with less accurate results.
"Yer lab's underground again," Muzaka said with a sigh, walking in with no hesitation.
Ah, of course. "There's more space available that way," Frankenstein said. He could continue digging down when he needed to.
"There's still no windows," Muzaka grumbled.
Frankenstein led him to one of the scanners. "Current technology means that I can be well ventilated here, and with work, the maximum I stay in here at one time is two days."
"Huh. Good."
Frankenstein smiled.
* * *
Tao caught movement in the corner of his eye as he dug into the fridge. It was Muzaka, wearing a suit, sans the shirt. Huh, too hot for him?
"Hey, Muzaka," he said, waving, "how's it going?"
Muzaka stared at him wide-eyed for second and then beamed at him. "It's going great!"
Thaaat was a little strange reaction, but it wasn't as if anyone in house reacted to things that most people would consider 'normal'.
* * *
"Boss, is Muzaka okay?" Tao asked, swinging his legs as he perched on the scanner. His, Takeo and M-21's check-up had just finished, Boss peering at the monitor at their scans.
"What is your definition of 'okay'," Boss said wryly.
"Aahm, he seems kinda twitchy about his name." Was it associated with something bad, or a fake one like M-21's?
Tao saw Takeo and M-21 nod. They must have noticed it too.
Boss chuckled softly and okaaay, that had to mean a good thing. Somehow? "He's more than fine - he's just getting used to hearing other people say his name without his title."
"He has a title?" Tao said. "Hmmn. He likes just Muzaka?" He'd seemed happier after Tao called him by name.
"Yes."
"Heh, got it," Tao said, saluting in acknowledgement. There was no point asking what the title was if Muzaka didn't want to hear it.
* * *
"Frankenstein," Muzaka said, making Tao look up from his plate, "what're you doin'?"
"Just answering some emails," Boss said distractedly.
Right, there wouldn't have been emails and laptops when they'd last been together -a horrible fate Tao never wanted to go through- but Boss was usually done halfway through the meal since he could type almost as fast as Tao could.
Muzaka sighed, leaning his chin on his fist. "No work at meals."
It had the patient drone of a reminder that had been repeated a hundred times before and okay, even if there hadn't been electricity back then -an even worse fate to live through- Tao could see Boss scribbling in books at meals.
"Yes, but-"
Muzaka reached over and Tao stilled, wide-eyed not sure how Muzaka might mishandle the laptop. If he just lifted it by the screen or shut if with the power button or-
Muzaka lifted it up by the keyboard, away from Boss' hands, and Boss stared at him.
They held each other's gazes for three long seconds, and then Boss sighed. "Right."
"No work at meals," Muzaka repeated as he stood up and placed the laptop on the kitchen counter, the screen facing away from them.
"You can breathe again," Takeo murmured, and right right.
There had been no tech massacre in front of him. He could breathe.
* * *
Takeo slowed as he walked through the living room, seeing Muzaka sprawled out over the sofa. Had he just dozed off there? But Frankenstein was sitting in the opposite chair, reading a book. Takeo was sure he would have sent Muzaka to bed if he was starting to look tired?
Frankenstein raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement at Takeo's questioning look. "He likes hearing people around him."
Sometimes soft noises was better than the silence of a lab but... "Won't we wake him up?"
Frankenstein smiled. "Who said he's asleep?"
He wasn't...? But his eyes were closed. Which wasn't always a good indicator and now that Takeo was paying attention, Muzaka wasn't breathing as deeply as he had been in the recovery room.
Muzaka raised a hand and waved at him, his eyes still closed, a small smile curling his lips.
Oh.
* * *
M-21 paused when he saw Muzaka cooking something when he entered the kitchen. He shouldn't get underfoot though so he headed for the fridge.
"Do you wanna try a bit?" Muzaka asked as M-21 reached for a bottle.
"...Sure?" He hadn't been used to taste test before.
Muzaka grabbed a teaspoon and scooped up a portion of it, holding it out for M-21 to take.
It was meat, M-21 could tell that much but aside from that, M-21 couldn't say. Not that he could say the same of Frankenstein's meals either.
When he ate it, M-21 paused. Huh.
"Good?" Muzaka said, nodding.
"Yeah..." M-21 frowned. It went down easier than Frankenstein's meals.
"I saw you were playing with your food over the last couple meals," Muzaka said, turning his attention back to his cooking.
"I ate it all." He might eat slower than Takeo and Tao, but he still cleared his plate.
Muzaka nodded. "Sure, you can eat it, but it's still pretty strong, right?"
"Frankenstein makes really rich food." He was still getting used to the difference of the food he'd used to have in the Union compared to the meals Frankenstein made.
"As much as Frankenstein's enhanced himself, his tastes stayed human." Muzaka shrugged. "We can eat each other's meals, but it's different enough we notice."
Oh. ...Had his tastes always been like this? It was hard to compare if his body had been changing at the same time.
"I can teach ya how I cook my meals and what to avoid using if ya want?"
M-21 studied him for a second and then nodded, setting his bottle down. "All right." It would be good to know.
* * *
Muzaka watched Tao, wide-eyed. "How do you do that?"
Tao called the cable to him, retrieving the remote control. "It's part of me," Tao said, making the cable wave.
"Things really have changed..." Muzaka murmured, still enraptured by Tao's cable.
"Dooo you wanna see more?" Tao asked. Muzaka was due for a crash course in technology anyway, right?
Muzaka nodded.
"All right!" Tao said, hopping to his feet. "Shopping trip!"
* * *
Ping.
Ping.
Ping.
Frankenstein glanced at his phone. "Who taught Muzaka how to use a phone. And input his number into my phone already."
Ping.
Ping.
Frankenstein was smiling fondly at the screen though.
"Me," Tao said, raising a hand.
"I'm not going to be able to concentrate on my work," Frankenstein said.
Ping.
Ping.
He didn't move to silence his phone, still smiling.
* * *
"-aka."
Tao froze. He dashed for the corridor where the shout had came from and then stopped, Takeo having to slam his hand into the doorframe to not run into him.
"You'd saved and made your - oh hey," Muzaka said when he saw them, nodding.
He had Boss thrown over his shoulder.
"-notes. It's time for bed," Muzaka continued like he hadn't interrupted himself, heading for their bedroom.
"Arrrgh."
Tao had never seen anyone make Boss speechless like that before. Or be so comfortable with him to just toss him over a shoulder and keep talking with him while Boss let him.
"I go missin' for a couple centuries and you fall back into yer old-" The bedroom door clicked behind Muzaka and Frankenstein.
"Well..." Tao said in the silence, "it's good there's someone making sure Boss is lookin' after himself." They could suggest to Boss to go to sleep, but it was Boss who decided if he agreed or not.
"Mm."
"That looks familiar..." M-21 said as they went back into the living room.
"Huh?" Tao said. "No, it doesn't." They'd never seen Muzaka carry Boss out before.
Takeo and M-21 shared a look. "Yeah, it does," Takeo said, nodding.
When had they ever - oh. With him, when they'd dragged him away from the security pcs. No wonder Boss had looked so amused whenever they passed him as Takeo and M-21 were taking him from the security room. "Time for bed?" he said sheepishly.
"Yeah."
Just in case Muzaka came back out and started carrying them to their rooms too.
* * *
Tao paused when he saw the garden door open. That wasn't usually...
Boss and Muzaka were sitting on a picnic blanket under the shade of the tree as they chatted. Muzaka had an arm around Boss' shoulders as Boss played with a lock of Muzaka's hair, twirling it around a finger.
Tao smiled, backing away to give them privacy. It was good to see them so happy.
He ducked back to snap a picture of them before leaving them completely. He'd send it to Boss later.
Yet another 'Oh, this will be a quick fic'.
1k outline and 16 scenes later...
'Maybe not...'
Especially when it didn't even include the scene I was intending to write? This was supposed to be Frankenstein playing with/brushing Muzaka's hair, and then I had to explain it, and then the scene that started it all didn't happen, haha.
Summary: Frankenstein finds Muzaka again.
Contains: Frankenstein/Muzaka
Notes: Written for Madame Azure.
This is set after Gaining Strength. There's no big spoilers for it, but a couple hints of things that haven't shown up yet.
One other future verse is one where Muzaka never disappears and the third is where Frankenstein finds Muzaka near the start of where canon starts. Dunno if I'll write that them yet.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 2,941
Status: Complete
Tao poked his head into the recovery room, seeing Boss sitting next to the silver-haired werewolf they'd brought into the house.
"Boooss?" Tao drew out softly. It wasn't likely the werewolf would wake up any time soon, not with the injuries Boss had given him. But it was weird, because the werewolf wasn't hooked up to any monitoring machines like he or Takeo or M-21 would be if they were recovering from something and Boss hadn't even bandaged the werewolf up either.
Because the wounds had already healed, leaving technically unmarked skin underneath. There was still the deep scarring that had been there before their fight, but that was it.
Frankenstein had hooked up some IV fluids to him though.
"Mm?" Boss didn't look up from his laptop, still answering whatever emails that were coming in at this time at night. Or day, for the sender.
"You need anything? Like a beeed?" Because Tao wasn't sure if he'd seen Boss sleep in the last couple days and sure, Boss didn't sleep that much anyway, but Tao knew he did sleep. At times. More like naps, but it at least involved closing his eyes for more than half a second.
"No," Boss said, his voice distant, "I need to be here when he wakes up. If he loses himself again... I need to be here."
Repeating himself wasn't a good sign. "Are you gonna be able to do anything if you fall flat on yer face?"
Boss hesitated, his typing slowing.
"There's a bed right there, Boss," Tao said, nodding towards it as he came into the room fully. "Juuust three whole steps behind you."
"How small do you think my stride is," Boss said, looking at him, amused, over his glasses.
Tao grinned. "With how tired you are, you might be shuffling. Turning counts as a step, doesn't it? It's moving your legs. And getting into bed counts as another step 'cause you hafta lift your leg to do it. It makes perfect sense!"
Boss didn't say anything for a few seconds, his gaze returning to the laptop screen. Then he exhaled, closing the laptop with a soft 'click'. "Very well."
"Awesome!" Tao said as he perched on the edge of the table.
"If he stirs-"
"Yep, wake ya," Tao said, nodding. "Go sleep, an' dream of all the e-mails you'll have when you wake up."
"Are you telling me to dream or to have nightmares," Boss said wryly as he took his glasses, setting them on the bedside table.
"You'd be thinkin' of them either way, and you're happiest when yer kept busy, sooo both?"
"Hn."
Boss lay down and instantly he relaxed, his breathing deepening. He had been ready to drop, huh... Or maybe that was just Boss, and he could switch his brain off instantly. It wouldn't be very efficient if he wasted time getting to sleep, after all.
Tao looked over at a soft knock, seeing Takeo and M-21 there.
"Are we doing this in a rotation or together?" Takeo asked, his voice soft.
"Together," Tao said, grabbing a chair. "Boss won't be sleeping for long even if he's exhausted."
Nodding, Takeo and M-21 came in.
"Stop cheating," M-21 said, not looking up from his hand of cards.
Tao spluttered, placing his palm against his chest. "Me? How could you say I'm cheating?"
M-21 looked at him. "I can see the card under your sleeve."
Tao snickered, pulling the card out. "Damn, caught. What gave me away?"
"If you're going to cheat, don't wear dark clothes if the cards are light," M-21 said, placing a card down.
"And your sleeve is soft enough the card shows its shape through it," Takeo added.
"Gah, guess I'm going to have to be more prepared next time," Tao said, squinting at M-21 and Takeo's sleeves.
He froze, hearing a soft sigh. It hadn't come from his left, but directly behind him. From the silver-haired werewolf.
Would they have time to wake Boss? The heavy aura pressure wasn't in the air, and when the werewolf opened his eyes, it was to stare blankly at the ceiling, not narrowed in a glare.
The werewolf turned his head towards Boss, and he stared at him. "...Not dreaming...?" he murmured.
"Nope," Tao said, and whoops, the werewolf's attention snapped to him. Tao raised his hands, showing they were empty, cards stuffed down his sleeve. Empty hands were still kinda threatening to a werewolf with their transformation and all.
The werewolf seemed to be staring at M-21 though than looking like he wanted to start a fight.
"What?"
Unless M-21 started the fight instead. Tao nudged M-21 under the table, who huffed.
"Your aura's like Frankenstein," the werewolf said, pulling himself up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Facing Boss, and uuuh, well, the werewolf was talking now, so that was a good sign?
"Mnn," Frankenstein said, sitting up, "you're late." He smiled at the werewolf and hmm.
Tao had seen Boss smile. Boss smiled when they did a good job, when his experiments went well, he had a proud smile for them when they improved.
But this one was different, a softer one that Tao hadn't seen before. A fond one.
"Heh, yeah, sorry I took so long," the werewolf said, ruffling the top of his head.
"I think I know one way for you to make up for it," Boss said, his voice full of teasing, and uuuhm.
Tao gathered up his cards without looking, hearing Takeo and M-21 do the same. Time to skedaddle!
Muzaka let out a shuddering breath, burying his nose in Frankenstein's shoulder, holding him tightly as his arms trembled slightly. It had been so long...
Frankenstein breathed a soft chuckle.
"Mmn?"
"They decided to give us some privacy."
Muzaka looked out the corner of his eyes and the table was empty, the door shut. Huh, he hadn't notice them leave. "Who are they anyway?" Two humans and someone in between human and werewolf like Frankenstein.
"People who had nowhere else to go," Frankenstein said as they let go.
Muzaka nodded. Of course Frankenstein would take them under his wing without hesitation. "At least you weren't alone all this time."
"I wasn't," Frankenstein said. "The others made sure of it - I hope you won't disappear again?" he said, eyebrow raised.
"I'll try not to, heh," Muzaka said as Frankenstein guided him back to bed. "...Were you really waiting all this time?" It was hard to tell time when he was stuck in a room with no windows to see the sun passing, but with how much things had changed since he had last been free to walk where he wanted... It had been a long time.
"I know you," Frankenstein said, sitting next to him, Muzaka wrapping an arm around his waist. "You wouldn't disappear for no reason, and there's not much that would kill you so you had to still be around somewhere."
Muzaka leaned in, nuzzling Frankenstein's neck, drinking in the scent he hadn't smelled in so long. It wasn't quite the same, Frankenstein must have enhanced himself further while they'd been apart, but it was still familiar enough.
"You should rest for now," Frankenstein said, kissing his forehead. "Get your strength back."
"Hnn, all right."
"Sooo, that answers that question," Tao said as he pulled out the water jug, hearing Takeo dig around in the fridge. "They do know each other." Very well.
M-21 snorted, buttering the bread. "You think Frankenstein would just bring in anyone here?"
"He did with us," Takeo said, carrying over sandwich fillers.
M-21 paused as Tao snickered. "Exactly!"
It didn't take them long to finish making the sandwiches together.
"Do we go in," Tao said, "or do you think they'll be busy for a while?"
M-21 rolled his eyes, picking up the plate. "Frankenstein doesn't want us jumping up to the roof when we're recovering - he's not going to make anyone do any kind of 'exercise', no matter how much either of them want it."
That was a good point. Their health came first, every time.
It would still be good to be cautious beforehand. Just in case. "Knock knock!" Tao called out as he tapped on the door.
There was no flurry of movement on the other side.
"Come in," Boss' amused voice came through.
"We come bearing gifts!" Tao said, opening the door, Takeo and M-21 bringing in the food and water and leaving it on the table.
Boss and the werewolf were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the bed and yep, best to give them some time alone together.
"Are you all right?" Frankenstein asked, watching Muzaka eye the walls. His equipment was in his lab, but if it made Muzaka uncomfortable after all the time he spent in a lab, he could do with less accurate results.
"Yer lab's underground again," Muzaka said with a sigh, walking in with no hesitation.
Ah, of course. "There's more space available that way," Frankenstein said. He could continue digging down when he needed to.
"There's still no windows," Muzaka grumbled.
Frankenstein led him to one of the scanners. "Current technology means that I can be well ventilated here, and with work, the maximum I stay in here at one time is two days."
"Huh. Good."
Frankenstein smiled.
Tao caught movement in the corner of his eye as he dug into the fridge. It was Muzaka, wearing a suit, sans the shirt. Huh, too hot for him?
"Hey, Muzaka," he said, waving, "how's it going?"
Muzaka stared at him wide-eyed for second and then beamed at him. "It's going great!"
Thaaat was a little strange reaction, but it wasn't as if anyone in house reacted to things that most people would consider 'normal'.
"Boss, is Muzaka okay?" Tao asked, swinging his legs as he perched on the scanner. His, Takeo and M-21's check-up had just finished, Boss peering at the monitor at their scans.
"What is your definition of 'okay'," Boss said wryly.
"Aahm, he seems kinda twitchy about his name." Was it associated with something bad, or a fake one like M-21's?
Tao saw Takeo and M-21 nod. They must have noticed it too.
Boss chuckled softly and okaaay, that had to mean a good thing. Somehow? "He's more than fine - he's just getting used to hearing other people say his name without his title."
"He has a title?" Tao said. "Hmmn. He likes just Muzaka?" He'd seemed happier after Tao called him by name.
"Yes."
"Heh, got it," Tao said, saluting in acknowledgement. There was no point asking what the title was if Muzaka didn't want to hear it.
"Frankenstein," Muzaka said, making Tao look up from his plate, "what're you doin'?"
"Just answering some emails," Boss said distractedly.
Right, there wouldn't have been emails and laptops when they'd last been together -a horrible fate Tao never wanted to go through- but Boss was usually done halfway through the meal since he could type almost as fast as Tao could.
Muzaka sighed, leaning his chin on his fist. "No work at meals."
It had the patient drone of a reminder that had been repeated a hundred times before and okay, even if there hadn't been electricity back then -an even worse fate to live through- Tao could see Boss scribbling in books at meals.
"Yes, but-"
Muzaka reached over and Tao stilled, wide-eyed not sure how Muzaka might mishandle the laptop. If he just lifted it by the screen or shut if with the power button or-
Muzaka lifted it up by the keyboard, away from Boss' hands, and Boss stared at him.
They held each other's gazes for three long seconds, and then Boss sighed. "Right."
"No work at meals," Muzaka repeated as he stood up and placed the laptop on the kitchen counter, the screen facing away from them.
"You can breathe again," Takeo murmured, and right right.
There had been no tech massacre in front of him. He could breathe.
Takeo slowed as he walked through the living room, seeing Muzaka sprawled out over the sofa. Had he just dozed off there? But Frankenstein was sitting in the opposite chair, reading a book. Takeo was sure he would have sent Muzaka to bed if he was starting to look tired?
Frankenstein raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement at Takeo's questioning look. "He likes hearing people around him."
Sometimes soft noises was better than the silence of a lab but... "Won't we wake him up?"
Frankenstein smiled. "Who said he's asleep?"
He wasn't...? But his eyes were closed. Which wasn't always a good indicator and now that Takeo was paying attention, Muzaka wasn't breathing as deeply as he had been in the recovery room.
Muzaka raised a hand and waved at him, his eyes still closed, a small smile curling his lips.
Oh.
M-21 paused when he saw Muzaka cooking something when he entered the kitchen. He shouldn't get underfoot though so he headed for the fridge.
"Do you wanna try a bit?" Muzaka asked as M-21 reached for a bottle.
"...Sure?" He hadn't been used to taste test before.
Muzaka grabbed a teaspoon and scooped up a portion of it, holding it out for M-21 to take.
It was meat, M-21 could tell that much but aside from that, M-21 couldn't say. Not that he could say the same of Frankenstein's meals either.
When he ate it, M-21 paused. Huh.
"Good?" Muzaka said, nodding.
"Yeah..." M-21 frowned. It went down easier than Frankenstein's meals.
"I saw you were playing with your food over the last couple meals," Muzaka said, turning his attention back to his cooking.
"I ate it all." He might eat slower than Takeo and Tao, but he still cleared his plate.
Muzaka nodded. "Sure, you can eat it, but it's still pretty strong, right?"
"Frankenstein makes really rich food." He was still getting used to the difference of the food he'd used to have in the Union compared to the meals Frankenstein made.
"As much as Frankenstein's enhanced himself, his tastes stayed human." Muzaka shrugged. "We can eat each other's meals, but it's different enough we notice."
Oh. ...Had his tastes always been like this? It was hard to compare if his body had been changing at the same time.
"I can teach ya how I cook my meals and what to avoid using if ya want?"
M-21 studied him for a second and then nodded, setting his bottle down. "All right." It would be good to know.
Muzaka watched Tao, wide-eyed. "How do you do that?"
Tao called the cable to him, retrieving the remote control. "It's part of me," Tao said, making the cable wave.
"Things really have changed..." Muzaka murmured, still enraptured by Tao's cable.
"Dooo you wanna see more?" Tao asked. Muzaka was due for a crash course in technology anyway, right?
Muzaka nodded.
"All right!" Tao said, hopping to his feet. "Shopping trip!"
Ping.
Ping.
Ping.
Frankenstein glanced at his phone. "Who taught Muzaka how to use a phone. And input his number into my phone already."
Ping.
Ping.
Frankenstein was smiling fondly at the screen though.
"Me," Tao said, raising a hand.
"I'm not going to be able to concentrate on my work," Frankenstein said.
Ping.
Ping.
He didn't move to silence his phone, still smiling.
"-aka."
Tao froze. He dashed for the corridor where the shout had came from and then stopped, Takeo having to slam his hand into the doorframe to not run into him.
"You'd saved and made your - oh hey," Muzaka said when he saw them, nodding.
He had Boss thrown over his shoulder.
"-notes. It's time for bed," Muzaka continued like he hadn't interrupted himself, heading for their bedroom.
"Arrrgh."
Tao had never seen anyone make Boss speechless like that before. Or be so comfortable with him to just toss him over a shoulder and keep talking with him while Boss let him.
"I go missin' for a couple centuries and you fall back into yer old-" The bedroom door clicked behind Muzaka and Frankenstein.
"Well..." Tao said in the silence, "it's good there's someone making sure Boss is lookin' after himself." They could suggest to Boss to go to sleep, but it was Boss who decided if he agreed or not.
"Mm."
"That looks familiar..." M-21 said as they went back into the living room.
"Huh?" Tao said. "No, it doesn't." They'd never seen Muzaka carry Boss out before.
Takeo and M-21 shared a look. "Yeah, it does," Takeo said, nodding.
When had they ever - oh. With him, when they'd dragged him away from the security pcs. No wonder Boss had looked so amused whenever they passed him as Takeo and M-21 were taking him from the security room. "Time for bed?" he said sheepishly.
"Yeah."
Just in case Muzaka came back out and started carrying them to their rooms too.
Tao paused when he saw the garden door open. That wasn't usually...
Boss and Muzaka were sitting on a picnic blanket under the shade of the tree as they chatted. Muzaka had an arm around Boss' shoulders as Boss played with a lock of Muzaka's hair, twirling it around a finger.
Tao smiled, backing away to give them privacy. It was good to see them so happy.
He ducked back to snap a picture of them before leaving them completely. He'd send it to Boss later.
Yet another 'Oh, this will be a quick fic'.
1k outline and 16 scenes later...
'Maybe not...'
Especially when it didn't even include the scene I was intending to write? This was supposed to be Frankenstein playing with/brushing Muzaka's hair, and then I had to explain it, and then the scene that started it all didn't happen, haha.