Adapt [Nightmare]
Mar. 20th, 2021 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonv2Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: M-21 has a nightmare.
Notes: I'd originally had this in three parts, but they were all along the same idea, so I'll post them together.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 2,192
Total word count: 29,182
Status: Work in progress
M-21 came to with a gasp, his heart racing. Someone loomed over him and shit. He transformed, trying to slash at the person, trying to get away. He was pinned down, tangled up in-
"M-21!"
Kentas?
"It's okay," Kentas said, and the looming body resolved into Kentas' more familiar form. "You're home. You're safe."
M-21's fingers were hot and slick, and- "Shit, sorry." He removed his fingers from Kentas' shoulder with a wet sound, letting go of his transformation.
"Heh, you've done worse in a spar."
He frowned. Being hurt in a spar was expected though - being attacked in the middle of the night just trying to wake him up was something different. "Come on," he said, tugging Kentas out of bed.
M-21 stumbled a step, his legs still shaking and unwilling to hold him up.
"Hey..." Kentas said, holding him up.
M-21 hissed, but held his tongue. No, he wasn't all right, and that was obvious. Kentas would point it out if he said as much. "Thanks," he mumbled instead as they made their way to the bathroom.
In the harsh bathroom light, the wounds were already shrinking as M-21 washed his hands. Good. Kentas was dealing with the blood, and that was good too.
When M-21 was done, he stepped closer, burying his face into Kentas' shoulder, wrapping his arms around his waist. Kentas was here. He was warm and M-21 felt every breath he took. He was here.
"Bed?" Kentas murmured, rubbing M-21's back.
"Yeah..." M-21 exhaled, closing his eyes for a second. "Yeah."
They left the bathroom, Kentas switching off the light as they did. They settled back into bed, M-21 facing Kentas.
Kentas draped an arm around M-21's shoulders, drawing him close, his breathing tickling M-21's skin. He dozed off almost immediately, and all right. Kentas hadn't been hurt. Not for long.
He was still here. Not like-
M-21 exhaled, closing his eyes as he snuggled as close as he could to Kentas.
He wasn't going to sleep any time soon, but he could listen to Kentas' breathing in the meantime.
* * *
Kentas furrowed his brow, waking up slowly. Something was wrong. He studied M-21, whose jaw was clenched, sweat beading on his forehead. M-21's whine was more than enough to make it clear he was having another nightmare and Kentas shook his shoulder.
"M-21."
M-21 stiffened and Kentas jerked his hand back, M-21's claws missing him by a hair. He caught M-21's wrist before he swung again. "M-21," he tried again. "You're having a nightmare."
M-21's eyes were wild and staring, not seeing him as he struggled against Kentas' grip. He wasn't using his transformation's full strength, and Kentas was able to keep a hold of his wrists.
"It's me, Kentas," he said.
All at once, M-21 flopped, taking in heaving gasps. "Kent-?"
He smiled, letting go of M-21. "Yeah, you were having a nightmare."
M-21 grimaced, his transformation fading. "Fuck. Shit."
"It's okay," Kentas said, rubbing M-21's shoulder.
"No, it's not," M-21 said, his eyes scouring over Kentas, looking for something.
"Why not?" It wasn't like M-21 could control that he had nightmares.
"I keep-" M-21 hissed, running a hand over his face. "I could have hurt you again!"
Oh, was that it? "You didn't."
"I could have," M-21 repeated. "What about the next time I have a nightmare?"
Kentas shrugged. "I dodge, or I don't." He would heal.
M-21 stared at him for a second, and then exhaled, closing his eyes. "Fine. All right."
It was a conversation they'd had before and neither of them budged on it.
M-21 seemed to fall asleep instantly for once. Kentas stayed up for a few minutes, double-checking M-21 didn't slip into another nightmare.
He didn't, and Kentas drifted back to sleep.
* * *
When Kentas woke up, he was alone. He blinked, reaching over. M-21's side of the bed was cold, hnnn.
It was still dark out, and the bathroom light wasn't on. He must have gone downstairs for a snack.
Kentas waited, listening for M-21's return.
It didn't happen.
He frowned, getting up. Maybe M-21 couldn't sleep and had went elsewhere to not disturb him?
M-21 wasn't at the balcony, and he wasn't in the gaming room either.
He went downstairs and poked his head into the living room.
There. The soft, deep breathing of someone sleeping.
Kentas padded in, peeking over the top of the sofa.
M-21 was curled up there, arm tucked under his head.
He looked around. No plate or cup anywhere to say M-21 had fallen asleep having a snack. Hnn.
"M-21?" Kentas said, and M-21 startled awake.
"Wh-?" He saw Kentas and froze, his gaze sliding away. That wasn't like M-21 at all.
Kentas sat down next him, M-21 moving back to give him room. M-21 still wasn't looking at him properly. "What is it?" Had he had another nightmare and Kentas hadn't woken up during it?
M-21 didn't say anything for a minute, picking at the hem of Kentas' trousers. "I don't..." He stopped, letting his hand drop. "I don't want to hurt you."
"I'll heal," Kentas said, interlacing their fingers. M-21 knew that, had seen it every time they sparred: no matter how much damage they did to each other in the spar, they walked away from it after five minutes once they'd caught their breath again.
M-21 tried to pull his hand away, scowling. "And what if you don't? What if I attack you before you're awake properly? What if I hit something you can't heal from?"
Oh. That was it. Hm. Repeating that it wouldn't happen didn't work. So was there a way they could sleep together, but M-21's claws couldn't reach him in a moment of panic?
...Yes, there was.
"Turn around," Kentas said, gently pushing M-21 closer to the back of the sofa.
M-21 stared at him. "What?"
"Turn around," he repeated, nudging M-21 again. "I want to try something."
M-21 studied him for a second, and then turned over, facing the sofa.
Kentas lay down behind him, wrapping an arm around M-21's waist. "Can your claws hit me lethally here?"
He felt M-21's hands on his arm, patting there and he nodded. M-21 going first for what was pinning him - that was what he normally did when he woke up.
M-21 reached back over his shoulder, his fingers grazing Kentas' forehead and Kentas reached up to gently guide M-21's arm down again.
"By the time you aim for my head or you've turned around, I'll be awake," Kentas said, nuzzling the back of M-21's head.
M-21 wriggled, his elbow tapping Kentas' side. Another hit that would definitely wake Kentas up if it was at full speed. "I don't - are you sure?"
"Yeah." Neither of them moved that much when they slept - Kentas moved more than M-21, and that was usually to do exactly what he was doing here.
M-21 relaxed, leaning back against Kentas. "Okay. I can... I can try this."
Kentas rumbled as he smiled, pulling M-21 closer for a proper hug before they got up.
Once they were in their bed, Kentas lay his arm around M-21's waist.
Neither slept right away, and M-21 kept shifting every few minutes, testing where his hands could go. Bit by bit, M-21 relaxed, and Kentas dozed off.
* * *
M-21 woke up to sunlight coming in through the blinds, Kentas' arm still around him as his rumble thrummed through M-21's entire chest.
He'd slept...well. No nightmares. It could have been because he'd already had one, but he'd just have to see what would happen over the next couple of nights.
* * *
Before breakfast, Kentas headed down to Frankenstein's laboratory. His nose told him Frankenstein was already there, the scent of food greeting him.
Frankenstein was pouring over some small bits of meat when Kentas found him.
"Oh, morning," Frankenstein said, smiling at him. "Can I help you with something?"
"Not me," Kentas said, giving him a small shrug. "M-21's been having a lot of nightmares recently."
The smile slipped from Frankenstein's face. "Ah..."
"But he seems more worried about hurting me? I don't get it - what am I missing?" M-21 knew he could heal, so it wasn't just that, was it? Frankenstein had to have a better idea, didn't he? Was this something else he didn't quite understand about how humans thought?
"We don't want to hurt those that we care about," Frankenstein said simply.
"But I'll heal?" Why was this so important?
"It's that you were hurt in the first place that's the problem."
Kentas was trying to understand, but he still wasn't getting it.
Frankenstein hummed, removing his glasses and sliding them into his labcoat pocket. "In a spar, it's expected that you hurt each other, yes?"
Kentas nodded. "Of course." A spar between equals where no blood was spilled was one where the fighters hadn't given it their all.
"That's the setting for that. Is there any other situations where it's expected to hurt your partner?"
Kentas mulled it over. "...No?" Things could be settled with a spar, but that was the closest thing Kentas could think of, and that still involved a spar.
Frankenstein nodded. "It's less about the fact that you're able to heal from the injuries you've sustained, and more that you were hurt when you weren't meant to be. You may have a higher pain tolerance, but that doesn't mean you don't feel it at all."
Kentas absent-mindedly rubbed where M-21 had stabbed him with his claws. It didn't hurt, but he could remember how M-21's claws had felt inside his flesh.
"And as M-21's nightmares are reoccurring," Frankenstein continued, "that also means it increases the amount of times you could potentially be hurt." Frankenstein exhaled. "Frankly, I would have been concerned if M-21 hadn't been worried about hurting you.
"The human body isn't as robust as a werewolf warrior's," Frankenstein said. "When a human is hurt badly enough, even once, they could potentially die from it." He glanced at where Kentas was rubbing himself. "If an unmodified human was attacked there or lower, they would have bled out in under a minute."
Kentas glanced down in surprise. It was that easy? He knew humans didn't have the same kind of enhanced regeneration as werewolves but...
"And most people wouldn't want to be the cause of death of the person closest to them, especially accidentally."
To wake up and be your partner's killer... Yeah, Kentas couldn't imagine how M-21 would feel. "Is...there anything that can help with the nightmares?" So then M-21 could stop worrying if he didn't have nightmares anymore. If anyone knew how, it had to be Frankenstein.
"He's getting the help he needs," Frankenstein said. "Though talking about his nightmare and what's troubling him can help him to process what he was dreaming." He shook his head. "The nightmares won't disappear instantaneously, nor will they be gone permanently, considering what M-21's gone through - this isn't something his enhanced healing can deal with, however."
Clearly, or else M-21 wouldn't have more than one nightmare. "Thank you for telling me." There was so much he still had to learn about humans and how they thought.
Frankenstein smiled. "Thanks for asking."
Kentas left the lab, mulling over what Frankenstein had said.
* * *
Kentas woke up, frowning. M-21 was stiff in his arms, his breathing quick and shallow. Damn. The nightmares were becoming more frequent - it had only been a day since the last one.
He traced M-21's arm, finding his wrists and holding them.
Once he was sure he had a firm grip on them, he rocked M-21 slightly. "Hey, wake up," he murmured. Trying to wake him up gently seemed to work better than startling him awake. "M-21."
M-21 jerked, almost headbutting Kentas, and all at once he was moving, trying to escape Kentas' grasp.
"You were having a nightmare, M-21!" he said, holding on tight, M-21's fur pressing against his palms.
M-21 froze, gasping. "Kentas?"
Kentas relaxed, rumbling. "Yeah. You awake now?"
"Yeah? I-" M-21 swallowed. "I'm fine. Let me go."
Kentas did and M-21 turned over, studying every bit of Kentas' skin. "You didn't even scratch me," Kentas said.
"Hn." M-21's fingers were restless, rubbing each other as M-21 continued looking.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
M-21 scowled, his gaze snapping to Kentas. "I dreamed I killed you."
...Oh. M-21 really had been worried about it, huh? "You haven't," Kentas said, drawing him into a hug. "I'm still here and you didn't hurt me when you woke up. Seemed the sleeping position helped a lot."
M-21 was stiff in his arms and Kentas rubbed his back.
Bit by bit, M-21 relaxed, his breathing going easier. "Yeah. Yeah it did."
M-21 didn't say anything for a few minutes. "I...don't think I'll be going to sleep any time soon but... Thanks." He turned over and pressed his back up to Kentas' chest.
Kentas rumbled as he wrapped his arm around M-21 again, nuzzling the back of his head. He'd try to stay up to keep M-21 company through the night.
Summary: M-21 has a nightmare.
Notes: I'd originally had this in three parts, but they were all along the same idea, so I'll post them together.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 2,192
Total word count: 29,182
Status: Work in progress
M-21 came to with a gasp, his heart racing. Someone loomed over him and shit. He transformed, trying to slash at the person, trying to get away. He was pinned down, tangled up in-
"M-21!"
Kentas?
"It's okay," Kentas said, and the looming body resolved into Kentas' more familiar form. "You're home. You're safe."
M-21's fingers were hot and slick, and- "Shit, sorry." He removed his fingers from Kentas' shoulder with a wet sound, letting go of his transformation.
"Heh, you've done worse in a spar."
He frowned. Being hurt in a spar was expected though - being attacked in the middle of the night just trying to wake him up was something different. "Come on," he said, tugging Kentas out of bed.
M-21 stumbled a step, his legs still shaking and unwilling to hold him up.
"Hey..." Kentas said, holding him up.
M-21 hissed, but held his tongue. No, he wasn't all right, and that was obvious. Kentas would point it out if he said as much. "Thanks," he mumbled instead as they made their way to the bathroom.
In the harsh bathroom light, the wounds were already shrinking as M-21 washed his hands. Good. Kentas was dealing with the blood, and that was good too.
When M-21 was done, he stepped closer, burying his face into Kentas' shoulder, wrapping his arms around his waist. Kentas was here. He was warm and M-21 felt every breath he took. He was here.
"Bed?" Kentas murmured, rubbing M-21's back.
"Yeah..." M-21 exhaled, closing his eyes for a second. "Yeah."
They left the bathroom, Kentas switching off the light as they did. They settled back into bed, M-21 facing Kentas.
Kentas draped an arm around M-21's shoulders, drawing him close, his breathing tickling M-21's skin. He dozed off almost immediately, and all right. Kentas hadn't been hurt. Not for long.
He was still here. Not like-
M-21 exhaled, closing his eyes as he snuggled as close as he could to Kentas.
He wasn't going to sleep any time soon, but he could listen to Kentas' breathing in the meantime.
Kentas furrowed his brow, waking up slowly. Something was wrong. He studied M-21, whose jaw was clenched, sweat beading on his forehead. M-21's whine was more than enough to make it clear he was having another nightmare and Kentas shook his shoulder.
"M-21."
M-21 stiffened and Kentas jerked his hand back, M-21's claws missing him by a hair. He caught M-21's wrist before he swung again. "M-21," he tried again. "You're having a nightmare."
M-21's eyes were wild and staring, not seeing him as he struggled against Kentas' grip. He wasn't using his transformation's full strength, and Kentas was able to keep a hold of his wrists.
"It's me, Kentas," he said.
All at once, M-21 flopped, taking in heaving gasps. "Kent-?"
He smiled, letting go of M-21. "Yeah, you were having a nightmare."
M-21 grimaced, his transformation fading. "Fuck. Shit."
"It's okay," Kentas said, rubbing M-21's shoulder.
"No, it's not," M-21 said, his eyes scouring over Kentas, looking for something.
"Why not?" It wasn't like M-21 could control that he had nightmares.
"I keep-" M-21 hissed, running a hand over his face. "I could have hurt you again!"
Oh, was that it? "You didn't."
"I could have," M-21 repeated. "What about the next time I have a nightmare?"
Kentas shrugged. "I dodge, or I don't." He would heal.
M-21 stared at him for a second, and then exhaled, closing his eyes. "Fine. All right."
It was a conversation they'd had before and neither of them budged on it.
M-21 seemed to fall asleep instantly for once. Kentas stayed up for a few minutes, double-checking M-21 didn't slip into another nightmare.
He didn't, and Kentas drifted back to sleep.
When Kentas woke up, he was alone. He blinked, reaching over. M-21's side of the bed was cold, hnnn.
It was still dark out, and the bathroom light wasn't on. He must have gone downstairs for a snack.
Kentas waited, listening for M-21's return.
It didn't happen.
He frowned, getting up. Maybe M-21 couldn't sleep and had went elsewhere to not disturb him?
M-21 wasn't at the balcony, and he wasn't in the gaming room either.
He went downstairs and poked his head into the living room.
There. The soft, deep breathing of someone sleeping.
Kentas padded in, peeking over the top of the sofa.
M-21 was curled up there, arm tucked under his head.
He looked around. No plate or cup anywhere to say M-21 had fallen asleep having a snack. Hnn.
"M-21?" Kentas said, and M-21 startled awake.
"Wh-?" He saw Kentas and froze, his gaze sliding away. That wasn't like M-21 at all.
Kentas sat down next him, M-21 moving back to give him room. M-21 still wasn't looking at him properly. "What is it?" Had he had another nightmare and Kentas hadn't woken up during it?
M-21 didn't say anything for a minute, picking at the hem of Kentas' trousers. "I don't..." He stopped, letting his hand drop. "I don't want to hurt you."
"I'll heal," Kentas said, interlacing their fingers. M-21 knew that, had seen it every time they sparred: no matter how much damage they did to each other in the spar, they walked away from it after five minutes once they'd caught their breath again.
M-21 tried to pull his hand away, scowling. "And what if you don't? What if I attack you before you're awake properly? What if I hit something you can't heal from?"
Oh. That was it. Hm. Repeating that it wouldn't happen didn't work. So was there a way they could sleep together, but M-21's claws couldn't reach him in a moment of panic?
...Yes, there was.
"Turn around," Kentas said, gently pushing M-21 closer to the back of the sofa.
M-21 stared at him. "What?"
"Turn around," he repeated, nudging M-21 again. "I want to try something."
M-21 studied him for a second, and then turned over, facing the sofa.
Kentas lay down behind him, wrapping an arm around M-21's waist. "Can your claws hit me lethally here?"
He felt M-21's hands on his arm, patting there and he nodded. M-21 going first for what was pinning him - that was what he normally did when he woke up.
M-21 reached back over his shoulder, his fingers grazing Kentas' forehead and Kentas reached up to gently guide M-21's arm down again.
"By the time you aim for my head or you've turned around, I'll be awake," Kentas said, nuzzling the back of M-21's head.
M-21 wriggled, his elbow tapping Kentas' side. Another hit that would definitely wake Kentas up if it was at full speed. "I don't - are you sure?"
"Yeah." Neither of them moved that much when they slept - Kentas moved more than M-21, and that was usually to do exactly what he was doing here.
M-21 relaxed, leaning back against Kentas. "Okay. I can... I can try this."
Kentas rumbled as he smiled, pulling M-21 closer for a proper hug before they got up.
Once they were in their bed, Kentas lay his arm around M-21's waist.
Neither slept right away, and M-21 kept shifting every few minutes, testing where his hands could go. Bit by bit, M-21 relaxed, and Kentas dozed off.
M-21 woke up to sunlight coming in through the blinds, Kentas' arm still around him as his rumble thrummed through M-21's entire chest.
He'd slept...well. No nightmares. It could have been because he'd already had one, but he'd just have to see what would happen over the next couple of nights.
Before breakfast, Kentas headed down to Frankenstein's laboratory. His nose told him Frankenstein was already there, the scent of food greeting him.
Frankenstein was pouring over some small bits of meat when Kentas found him.
"Oh, morning," Frankenstein said, smiling at him. "Can I help you with something?"
"Not me," Kentas said, giving him a small shrug. "M-21's been having a lot of nightmares recently."
The smile slipped from Frankenstein's face. "Ah..."
"But he seems more worried about hurting me? I don't get it - what am I missing?" M-21 knew he could heal, so it wasn't just that, was it? Frankenstein had to have a better idea, didn't he? Was this something else he didn't quite understand about how humans thought?
"We don't want to hurt those that we care about," Frankenstein said simply.
"But I'll heal?" Why was this so important?
"It's that you were hurt in the first place that's the problem."
Kentas was trying to understand, but he still wasn't getting it.
Frankenstein hummed, removing his glasses and sliding them into his labcoat pocket. "In a spar, it's expected that you hurt each other, yes?"
Kentas nodded. "Of course." A spar between equals where no blood was spilled was one where the fighters hadn't given it their all.
"That's the setting for that. Is there any other situations where it's expected to hurt your partner?"
Kentas mulled it over. "...No?" Things could be settled with a spar, but that was the closest thing Kentas could think of, and that still involved a spar.
Frankenstein nodded. "It's less about the fact that you're able to heal from the injuries you've sustained, and more that you were hurt when you weren't meant to be. You may have a higher pain tolerance, but that doesn't mean you don't feel it at all."
Kentas absent-mindedly rubbed where M-21 had stabbed him with his claws. It didn't hurt, but he could remember how M-21's claws had felt inside his flesh.
"And as M-21's nightmares are reoccurring," Frankenstein continued, "that also means it increases the amount of times you could potentially be hurt." Frankenstein exhaled. "Frankly, I would have been concerned if M-21 hadn't been worried about hurting you.
"The human body isn't as robust as a werewolf warrior's," Frankenstein said. "When a human is hurt badly enough, even once, they could potentially die from it." He glanced at where Kentas was rubbing himself. "If an unmodified human was attacked there or lower, they would have bled out in under a minute."
Kentas glanced down in surprise. It was that easy? He knew humans didn't have the same kind of enhanced regeneration as werewolves but...
"And most people wouldn't want to be the cause of death of the person closest to them, especially accidentally."
To wake up and be your partner's killer... Yeah, Kentas couldn't imagine how M-21 would feel. "Is...there anything that can help with the nightmares?" So then M-21 could stop worrying if he didn't have nightmares anymore. If anyone knew how, it had to be Frankenstein.
"He's getting the help he needs," Frankenstein said. "Though talking about his nightmare and what's troubling him can help him to process what he was dreaming." He shook his head. "The nightmares won't disappear instantaneously, nor will they be gone permanently, considering what M-21's gone through - this isn't something his enhanced healing can deal with, however."
Clearly, or else M-21 wouldn't have more than one nightmare. "Thank you for telling me." There was so much he still had to learn about humans and how they thought.
Frankenstein smiled. "Thanks for asking."
Kentas left the lab, mulling over what Frankenstein had said.
Kentas woke up, frowning. M-21 was stiff in his arms, his breathing quick and shallow. Damn. The nightmares were becoming more frequent - it had only been a day since the last one.
He traced M-21's arm, finding his wrists and holding them.
Once he was sure he had a firm grip on them, he rocked M-21 slightly. "Hey, wake up," he murmured. Trying to wake him up gently seemed to work better than startling him awake. "M-21."
M-21 jerked, almost headbutting Kentas, and all at once he was moving, trying to escape Kentas' grasp.
"You were having a nightmare, M-21!" he said, holding on tight, M-21's fur pressing against his palms.
M-21 froze, gasping. "Kentas?"
Kentas relaxed, rumbling. "Yeah. You awake now?"
"Yeah? I-" M-21 swallowed. "I'm fine. Let me go."
Kentas did and M-21 turned over, studying every bit of Kentas' skin. "You didn't even scratch me," Kentas said.
"Hn." M-21's fingers were restless, rubbing each other as M-21 continued looking.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
M-21 scowled, his gaze snapping to Kentas. "I dreamed I killed you."
...Oh. M-21 really had been worried about it, huh? "You haven't," Kentas said, drawing him into a hug. "I'm still here and you didn't hurt me when you woke up. Seemed the sleeping position helped a lot."
M-21 was stiff in his arms and Kentas rubbed his back.
Bit by bit, M-21 relaxed, his breathing going easier. "Yeah. Yeah it did."
M-21 didn't say anything for a few minutes. "I...don't think I'll be going to sleep any time soon but... Thanks." He turned over and pressed his back up to Kentas' chest.
Kentas rumbled as he wrapped his arm around M-21 again, nuzzling the back of his head. He'd try to stay up to keep M-21 company through the night.