M-0 [Part 6]
May. 10th, 2021 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonv2Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: M-21 and M-0 are saved from the Union by a blond stranger, who seems to know M-0 before he lost his memories. M-0's name used to be Muzaka...?
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 2,048
Total word count: 12,134
Status: Work in progress
M-21 couldn't get into the lab - he didn't have Frankenstein's fingerprints for that. Which left only the house to search through.
He waited until the next day, when Frankenstein had left for work and M-0 was distracted in the kitchen trying out a new recipe but...
There wasn't much he hadn't already seen.
The walls still had the same empty spaces, and that was all M-21 had really found. He poked around the living room and there was nothing of interest in any of the drawers. The light tapping of rain hitting the windows hopefully hid the sounds of M-21 rummaging through things while M-0 was busy.
It still left the rest of the house. M-21 hadn't been in all of the rooms yet. He hadn't tried, in case he wasn't meant to go anywhere he hadn't been shown.
He wasn't in the Union here. He knew that.
He still didn't know what made Frankenstein mad, and how bad it could be.
No.
He knew what made Frankenstein mad.
And that was taking Muzaka.
Frankenstein was willing to kill for that.
M-21 wasn't hurting Muzaka by doing this.
At least he would know.
That was if he even found anything.
And now he was just wasting time. The longer he waited, the sooner M-0 would finish making lunch and go looking for him.
It had to be now.
The first couple of doors M-21 looked at were cupboards for towels and linen. He paused when he found himself in a room that looked like an office, a computer sitting in the middle of a desk. That looked promising.
And the room hadn't been locked?
He kept the door ajar so he could hear if M-0 started looking for him as he headed for the computer. That was his best bet.
He switched on the computer, and sighed, seeing the password box appear on the screen. He didn't know Frankenstein well enough for that, though some people left their password written somewhere close by.
He looked around the desk to try and find...
It was a neat desk, with almost nothing on it: just the monitor, a pad of paper and a couple of pens in a holder.
The face-down photo frame next to the monitor seemed out of place. It couldn't have been knocked over, and if Frankenstein had been here recently, he would have righted it - M-21 knew him that much.
Maybe the password was written at the back of the photo? What was on it anyway?
He picked up the frame, turning it over.
M-0 smiled back at him, and M-21 almost dropped it out of surprise. It was M-0, wearing - the top M-21 was wearing at that moment.
M-0 hadn't worn that top, not here. And if Frankenstein had taken a picture of him, M-21 was sure M-0 would have told him. All M-0 talked about was him and Frankenstein cooking together.
The picture slid to the left, and the frame must be a machine that held multiple pictures in one. M-21's stomach sank. M-0 was in a different set of clothes, his arms outstretched as he stood at the edge of a cliff, grinning at the camera. Behind him in the distance was a sea of dark green. A forest.
M-0 wouldn't have been able to do this. He'd never left the Union before. With how M-0 was holding himself, M-21 had a clear view of his wrists. They were empty. There was no tattoo there.
He was looking at Muzaka.
This was who M-0 used to be.
M-21 had been right: M-0's deep scars that never healed had come from before the Union.
The pictures kept going. Different times of day, different places. Sometimes Muzaka was the person in frame; sometimes it was Frankenstein.
Muzaka and Frankenstein seemed to travel a lot together.
Was this what Frankenstein thought of every time he looked at M-0? How many memories had they built together?
M-21 stopped breathing as a new picture slid into view. The previous ones had been either Frankenstein or Muzaka by themselves, and M-21 had assumed the person not in the picture had been the one behind the camera.
This time, both of them were in view. On a bed. Frankenstein was laughing as Muzaka kissed him on the corner of the mouth, his lips curled up in a smile.
M-21 slammed the photo frame down before he saw any more.
Shit.
Shit.
*
It was raining. M-21 didn't care.
He was soaked through. He didn't care.
He didn't know how long he'd been running for, but his lungs were already burning, and he could say that it was the rain that made his face wet, but his eyes were hot.
Could he not breathe because he didn't know when was the last time he ran, or because he couldn't take in a proper breath through his tears? His chest ached with every breath.
He didn't even fucking know why he was crying. He knew Frankenstein and Muzaka had known each other! That was why Frankenstein had found them in the first place! He knew Frankenstein and Muzaka must have been close, or else Frankenstein wouldn't have gone looking!
He just-
He just hadn't known how close they'd been.
It made sense now. It made sense why Frankenstein kept looking at M-0 the way he did. Why M-0 could type in Frankenstein's number without knowing it.
And then M-0 returned, arm around another man's shoulders. How hadn't Frankenstein just fucking killed him on the spot?
Was he waiting for a better time?
Now Frankenstein wouldn't have to. Muzaka had been happy with Frankenstein. It was so obvious. M-0 was already showing he was getting closer to Frankenstein.
It would just. Be better without him. M-0 would be happy again.
"M-21!"
He froze at the shout, and then dashed away. It was useless, he knew that. He knew he couldn't escape, but he tried anyway.
M-21 skidded to a stop when Frankenstein hopped down in front of him.
Trapped. Couldn't escape. Not from Frankenstein. Not from someone who had taken out an entire fucking lab by himself and walked away with no fucking injuries.
"M-21," Frankenstein said, voice raised to be heard over the pouring rain, "what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" M-21 repeated, staring at him. "What's fucking wrong with you? Why the fuck haven't you told him?"
He could barely think, his thoughts circling around that one image. He was going to die here, so who fucking cared what the fuck he was saying to Frankenstein. It wouldn't matter.
He saw Frankenstein still. "Told him what?"
"What you fucking were before he lost his memories! You weren't just friends - you were together." He could barely choke the words out past his tight throat.
Frankenstein's eyes widened, his jaw going slack. "How did you-"
He was right. He was fucking right.
"I..." Frankenstein exhaled. "I wanted him to find his feet more, to settle who he was without my influence."
"Isn't it obvious what he wants?" M-21 scoffed. It was so clear.
Frankenstein just kept looking at him, not doing anything. "And that's why you decided to run?"
M-21 clenched his hands into his fists so hard he felt them shake. "I didn't want to get between you two. He loves you." It was obvious who he would choose. Why would M-0 want to stay around a person he only knew for a couple months?
"Is it really that obvious?" Frankenstein said softly.
"Yeah?" M-21 spluttered. "Shouldn't you be able to tell since you knew him so long?"
"Precisely."
The simple answer stopped M-21 in his tracks, giving Frankenstein enough time to sigh.
"I knew M-0 from before he lost his memories," Frankenstein said. "I don't know him as well as the person he is now." He gave M-21 a piercing stare, and it felt as if Frankenstein was looking right through him. "That honour belongs to you." He looked away for a second. "I do, however, know Muzaka's core as a person, and I know that he would utterly refuse to leave a person behind unless he was made to."
M-21 stared at him, the photo resurfacing to his mind again. "...Like you?"
Frankenstein let out a soft chuckle. It wasn't the same one he made when he was with M-0, more like a wheeze of air. "Yes, quite. I knew Muzaka wouldn't have disappeared for no reason, so I went looking for him."
Oh.
"Now then," Frankenstein said, shaking his head, "what do you think M-0 would do if you simply disappeared?"
The answer was easy. "...He'd look for me." M-0 had protected him all this time; there was no way he would just stop.
So that was it, huh.
They stood in silence for a minute, the hissing rain the only thing filling the quiet.
"Why...are you here?" M-21 asked. Frankenstein was meant to be working now - that was why M-21 had chosen this time to search through the house.
Frankenstein gave him a soft smile. "M-0 called me in a panic when he couldn't find you."
...Right. Call Frankenstein if something ever happened.
He saw Frankenstein glance to M-21's left and that was all the warning he got when he was slammed into.
"Where'd you go?" M-0 demanded, his arms around M-21's shoulders. "Kid, I thought the Union had grabbed ya! Are you okay?"
"M'fine, old man," M-21 said, wanting to laugh, feeling lighter.
M-0 peered at his face, his brow furrowed. "No, you're not. What happened?"
"I..." Shit. He didn't want to look at Frankenstein and give M-0 a hint, but what could he say?
"I think," Frankenstein said, walking up to them, "we should continue this conversation back inside, out of the rain, mm?"
M-0 nodded. "Yeah, sure."
As they walked back, M-0 kept an arm around M-21's shoulders, checking on him every other minute as if he would disappear again.
*
They dried off a little inside, though they still left puddles when they entered.
"So what made ya run off?" M-0 asked as they went into the living room.
And M-21 wouldn't be given the time to dry off fully either.
"It's because of me," Frankenstein said, returning with an armful of towels.
"Eh?" M-0 frowned, taking a couple of them. "You weren't here."
Frankenstein smiled tightly. "That doesn't mean my presence can't affect anything." His smile faded, and he exhaled. "I...haven't been upfront about everything."
M-21 took a towel, and he wanted to melt into a corner, leave the room, let them talk, but he knew M-0 would check on him, want him there.
"Yeah?"
Frankenstein settled a towel around his shoulders, but didn't move to dry his hair. "Muzaka and I, we weren't merely friends. We were in love, for many, many years."
Decades? That made it sound like decades. Then, how old was Frankenstein?
M-0 turned to M-21, his brow still drawn in confusion. "That made you run?"
"I wasn't really thinking," M-21 mumbled, trying to hide by ducking his head and drying his hair. "I thought...Muzaka and Frankenstein had been happy, so you and Frankenstein would be happy too. I just..."
He heard M-0 sigh, and then felt M-0 ruffle the towel on top of M-21's head. "You really weren't thinkin'. Why'd you think I'd be happy without you around?"
It had made sense at the time.
"So why didn't you say anything?" M-0 said, and when M-21 peeked, M-0 was looking at Frankenstein.
Frankenstein huffed a short laugh. "Because you didn't want to know. It wouldn't have been fair to you, at any rate." He sighed, shaking his head. "I loved Muzaka, and he loved me, but you aren't him. I didn't want to inadvertently force any expectations about how you were to act with a stranger."
"Oh."
They were silent, and all M-21 could hear over drying his hair was his own breathing and the rain beating against the glass panes.
"That makes sense, yeah," M-0 said, "but, what if we learned more about each other until we weren't strangers anymore...?"
M-21 looked up in time to see the unguarded hope on Frankenstein's face, before he smiled. "I...would very much like to try, M-0."
"All right!" M-0 grinned at M-21. "What do you think, kid - do you think we'll work out?"
M-21 didn't know Frankenstein very well, but he did know M-0, and M-21 had seen what Frankenstein was willing to do for someone he cared about. Just like M-0.
"Yeah, I think you will."
M-0's grin widened even further.
Just the epilogue left. :)
Summary: M-21 and M-0 are saved from the Union by a blond stranger, who seems to know M-0 before he lost his memories. M-0's name used to be Muzaka...?
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 2,048
Total word count: 12,134
Status: Work in progress
M-21 couldn't get into the lab - he didn't have Frankenstein's fingerprints for that. Which left only the house to search through.
He waited until the next day, when Frankenstein had left for work and M-0 was distracted in the kitchen trying out a new recipe but...
There wasn't much he hadn't already seen.
The walls still had the same empty spaces, and that was all M-21 had really found. He poked around the living room and there was nothing of interest in any of the drawers. The light tapping of rain hitting the windows hopefully hid the sounds of M-21 rummaging through things while M-0 was busy.
It still left the rest of the house. M-21 hadn't been in all of the rooms yet. He hadn't tried, in case he wasn't meant to go anywhere he hadn't been shown.
He wasn't in the Union here. He knew that.
He still didn't know what made Frankenstein mad, and how bad it could be.
No.
He knew what made Frankenstein mad.
And that was taking Muzaka.
Frankenstein was willing to kill for that.
M-21 wasn't hurting Muzaka by doing this.
At least he would know.
That was if he even found anything.
And now he was just wasting time. The longer he waited, the sooner M-0 would finish making lunch and go looking for him.
It had to be now.
The first couple of doors M-21 looked at were cupboards for towels and linen. He paused when he found himself in a room that looked like an office, a computer sitting in the middle of a desk. That looked promising.
And the room hadn't been locked?
He kept the door ajar so he could hear if M-0 started looking for him as he headed for the computer. That was his best bet.
He switched on the computer, and sighed, seeing the password box appear on the screen. He didn't know Frankenstein well enough for that, though some people left their password written somewhere close by.
He looked around the desk to try and find...
It was a neat desk, with almost nothing on it: just the monitor, a pad of paper and a couple of pens in a holder.
The face-down photo frame next to the monitor seemed out of place. It couldn't have been knocked over, and if Frankenstein had been here recently, he would have righted it - M-21 knew him that much.
Maybe the password was written at the back of the photo? What was on it anyway?
He picked up the frame, turning it over.
M-0 smiled back at him, and M-21 almost dropped it out of surprise. It was M-0, wearing - the top M-21 was wearing at that moment.
M-0 hadn't worn that top, not here. And if Frankenstein had taken a picture of him, M-21 was sure M-0 would have told him. All M-0 talked about was him and Frankenstein cooking together.
The picture slid to the left, and the frame must be a machine that held multiple pictures in one. M-21's stomach sank. M-0 was in a different set of clothes, his arms outstretched as he stood at the edge of a cliff, grinning at the camera. Behind him in the distance was a sea of dark green. A forest.
M-0 wouldn't have been able to do this. He'd never left the Union before. With how M-0 was holding himself, M-21 had a clear view of his wrists. They were empty. There was no tattoo there.
He was looking at Muzaka.
This was who M-0 used to be.
M-21 had been right: M-0's deep scars that never healed had come from before the Union.
The pictures kept going. Different times of day, different places. Sometimes Muzaka was the person in frame; sometimes it was Frankenstein.
Muzaka and Frankenstein seemed to travel a lot together.
Was this what Frankenstein thought of every time he looked at M-0? How many memories had they built together?
M-21 stopped breathing as a new picture slid into view. The previous ones had been either Frankenstein or Muzaka by themselves, and M-21 had assumed the person not in the picture had been the one behind the camera.
This time, both of them were in view. On a bed. Frankenstein was laughing as Muzaka kissed him on the corner of the mouth, his lips curled up in a smile.
M-21 slammed the photo frame down before he saw any more.
Shit.
Shit.
It was raining. M-21 didn't care.
He was soaked through. He didn't care.
He didn't know how long he'd been running for, but his lungs were already burning, and he could say that it was the rain that made his face wet, but his eyes were hot.
Could he not breathe because he didn't know when was the last time he ran, or because he couldn't take in a proper breath through his tears? His chest ached with every breath.
He didn't even fucking know why he was crying. He knew Frankenstein and Muzaka had known each other! That was why Frankenstein had found them in the first place! He knew Frankenstein and Muzaka must have been close, or else Frankenstein wouldn't have gone looking!
He just-
He just hadn't known how close they'd been.
It made sense now. It made sense why Frankenstein kept looking at M-0 the way he did. Why M-0 could type in Frankenstein's number without knowing it.
And then M-0 returned, arm around another man's shoulders. How hadn't Frankenstein just fucking killed him on the spot?
Was he waiting for a better time?
Now Frankenstein wouldn't have to. Muzaka had been happy with Frankenstein. It was so obvious. M-0 was already showing he was getting closer to Frankenstein.
It would just. Be better without him. M-0 would be happy again.
"M-21!"
He froze at the shout, and then dashed away. It was useless, he knew that. He knew he couldn't escape, but he tried anyway.
M-21 skidded to a stop when Frankenstein hopped down in front of him.
Trapped. Couldn't escape. Not from Frankenstein. Not from someone who had taken out an entire fucking lab by himself and walked away with no fucking injuries.
"M-21," Frankenstein said, voice raised to be heard over the pouring rain, "what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" M-21 repeated, staring at him. "What's fucking wrong with you? Why the fuck haven't you told him?"
He could barely think, his thoughts circling around that one image. He was going to die here, so who fucking cared what the fuck he was saying to Frankenstein. It wouldn't matter.
He saw Frankenstein still. "Told him what?"
"What you fucking were before he lost his memories! You weren't just friends - you were together." He could barely choke the words out past his tight throat.
Frankenstein's eyes widened, his jaw going slack. "How did you-"
He was right. He was fucking right.
"I..." Frankenstein exhaled. "I wanted him to find his feet more, to settle who he was without my influence."
"Isn't it obvious what he wants?" M-21 scoffed. It was so clear.
Frankenstein just kept looking at him, not doing anything. "And that's why you decided to run?"
M-21 clenched his hands into his fists so hard he felt them shake. "I didn't want to get between you two. He loves you." It was obvious who he would choose. Why would M-0 want to stay around a person he only knew for a couple months?
"Is it really that obvious?" Frankenstein said softly.
"Yeah?" M-21 spluttered. "Shouldn't you be able to tell since you knew him so long?"
"Precisely."
The simple answer stopped M-21 in his tracks, giving Frankenstein enough time to sigh.
"I knew M-0 from before he lost his memories," Frankenstein said. "I don't know him as well as the person he is now." He gave M-21 a piercing stare, and it felt as if Frankenstein was looking right through him. "That honour belongs to you." He looked away for a second. "I do, however, know Muzaka's core as a person, and I know that he would utterly refuse to leave a person behind unless he was made to."
M-21 stared at him, the photo resurfacing to his mind again. "...Like you?"
Frankenstein let out a soft chuckle. It wasn't the same one he made when he was with M-0, more like a wheeze of air. "Yes, quite. I knew Muzaka wouldn't have disappeared for no reason, so I went looking for him."
Oh.
"Now then," Frankenstein said, shaking his head, "what do you think M-0 would do if you simply disappeared?"
The answer was easy. "...He'd look for me." M-0 had protected him all this time; there was no way he would just stop.
So that was it, huh.
They stood in silence for a minute, the hissing rain the only thing filling the quiet.
"Why...are you here?" M-21 asked. Frankenstein was meant to be working now - that was why M-21 had chosen this time to search through the house.
Frankenstein gave him a soft smile. "M-0 called me in a panic when he couldn't find you."
...Right. Call Frankenstein if something ever happened.
He saw Frankenstein glance to M-21's left and that was all the warning he got when he was slammed into.
"Where'd you go?" M-0 demanded, his arms around M-21's shoulders. "Kid, I thought the Union had grabbed ya! Are you okay?"
"M'fine, old man," M-21 said, wanting to laugh, feeling lighter.
M-0 peered at his face, his brow furrowed. "No, you're not. What happened?"
"I..." Shit. He didn't want to look at Frankenstein and give M-0 a hint, but what could he say?
"I think," Frankenstein said, walking up to them, "we should continue this conversation back inside, out of the rain, mm?"
M-0 nodded. "Yeah, sure."
As they walked back, M-0 kept an arm around M-21's shoulders, checking on him every other minute as if he would disappear again.
They dried off a little inside, though they still left puddles when they entered.
"So what made ya run off?" M-0 asked as they went into the living room.
And M-21 wouldn't be given the time to dry off fully either.
"It's because of me," Frankenstein said, returning with an armful of towels.
"Eh?" M-0 frowned, taking a couple of them. "You weren't here."
Frankenstein smiled tightly. "That doesn't mean my presence can't affect anything." His smile faded, and he exhaled. "I...haven't been upfront about everything."
M-21 took a towel, and he wanted to melt into a corner, leave the room, let them talk, but he knew M-0 would check on him, want him there.
"Yeah?"
Frankenstein settled a towel around his shoulders, but didn't move to dry his hair. "Muzaka and I, we weren't merely friends. We were in love, for many, many years."
Decades? That made it sound like decades. Then, how old was Frankenstein?
M-0 turned to M-21, his brow still drawn in confusion. "That made you run?"
"I wasn't really thinking," M-21 mumbled, trying to hide by ducking his head and drying his hair. "I thought...Muzaka and Frankenstein had been happy, so you and Frankenstein would be happy too. I just..."
He heard M-0 sigh, and then felt M-0 ruffle the towel on top of M-21's head. "You really weren't thinkin'. Why'd you think I'd be happy without you around?"
It had made sense at the time.
"So why didn't you say anything?" M-0 said, and when M-21 peeked, M-0 was looking at Frankenstein.
Frankenstein huffed a short laugh. "Because you didn't want to know. It wouldn't have been fair to you, at any rate." He sighed, shaking his head. "I loved Muzaka, and he loved me, but you aren't him. I didn't want to inadvertently force any expectations about how you were to act with a stranger."
"Oh."
They were silent, and all M-21 could hear over drying his hair was his own breathing and the rain beating against the glass panes.
"That makes sense, yeah," M-0 said, "but, what if we learned more about each other until we weren't strangers anymore...?"
M-21 looked up in time to see the unguarded hope on Frankenstein's face, before he smiled. "I...would very much like to try, M-0."
"All right!" M-0 grinned at M-21. "What do you think, kid - do you think we'll work out?"
M-21 didn't know Frankenstein very well, but he did know M-0, and M-21 had seen what Frankenstein was willing to do for someone he cared about. Just like M-0.
"Yeah, I think you will."
M-0's grin widened even further.
Just the epilogue left. :)