Adapt [Find]

[esp_dragonv2]

Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: The house was quiet when Kentas returned from patrol.
Notes: Inspired by cat_t_wisteria's pic here
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 630
Total word count: 29,812
Status: Work in progress



The house was quiet when Kentas returned from patrol. It had been after dinner when he'd left, and it sounded like most of them had retreated to their rooms already.

Kentas opened his room do-

He furrowed his brow, seeing the empty bed. M-21 had went for a nap after dinner, which was why Kentas had went alone. Then where was he?

Frankenstein and his master had been in the living room when he'd passed, but that was it. Kentas could hear the rapid clicking of someone playing in the computer room and he went over, poking his head in.

"Yo!" Tao said, waving a hand before he yelped, diving for the mouse again. "That one didn't count, Takeo!"

"I already had you in my sights before you were distracted," Takeo said, his lips curled into a soft smirk.

"Hmph!" Tao jerked his head away from Takeo, not hiding his own twitching lips, focusing on Kentas again. "What's up?"

"Have you seen M-21?"

"Nah, last we saw he was heading for bed," Tao said, Takeo nodding.

"Hrm." Then where was he?

"You want us to help?" Tao asked, watching him.

Kentas shook his head. "I haven't looked everywhere yet." M-21 going missing didn't have to mean something had gone wrong.

"All right..." Neither Tao and Takeo looked convinced.

Maybe they were right to worry, if their tales of how often one of them was kidnapped wasn't an exaggeration. "I'll check around first." It shouldn't take too long.

Kentas could hear M-21's phone ringing in their room by the time he stepped away from the computer room. Wherever M-21 had went, he hadn't taken his phone with him.

That had to mean he hadn't left the house.

Start at the bottom then, in the lab. It was the next most likely place M-21 would be.

The lights were already on when Kentas got there, but that could just mean Frankenstein was testing something new. The training room door was ajar when Kentas reached it, and he exhaled, seeing M-21 slouched against the wall.

M-21's cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were a little dazed. It wasn't from training too much, though it wouldn't have helped.

M-21 squinted at him when he saw him, grumbling. It almost made Kentas smile - M-21 was all right.

"Hey," Kentas said, kneeling next to him. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah," M-21 mumbled, pulling himself to his feet. He didn't even get that far before he hissed, swaying.

Kentas caught him, and lifted M-21 into his arms, so M-21's head rested next to his.

"Oi," M-21 mumbled again, and Kentas could feel his temperature searing through him like this, "I can walk."

"Then do it," Kentas said as he stood up.

M-21 shifted his weight for a second and then sighed, wrapping his arms around Kentas' neck instead. "M'fine."

"I think you're sick," Kentas said as he left the training room. That must have been why M-21 had gone for a nap in the first place.

"No. Just...tired, from the training."

Kentas hadn't been gone that long, and M-21 hadn't even taken his shirt off. "Because you're sick."

He got a low growl from that, but no retort. M-21 really wasn't feeling well if he couldn't even do that.

Kentas' caught Takeo's eye when they left the lab, Takeo nodding.

M-21 curled up when Kentas tucked him into bed, looking at him blearily. "M'fine," he said again. "I've felt worse."

"Then tell me that again when you wake up again," Kentas said.

"Asshole," M-21 grumbled, his eyes already half-lidding. He was asleep within a few breaths, and Kentas exhaled.

Frankenstein should be arriving soon, and would know if M-21 was actually ill or if it was something else.

Until then, he'd keep an eye on M-21.