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esp_dragonv2) wrote2024-12-07 08:10 pm
esp_dragonv2) wrote2024-12-07 08:10 pm
Entry tags:
Sniff
Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: Kentas kept sniffing M-21.
Contains: M-21/Kentas.
Notes: Just wanted to write a fic about sniffing/scenting, ahah. Aaaand of course it grew way bigger than I expected immediately. XD
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 4,057
Status: Complete
M-21 leaned his forearms on the balcony railing, hearing the people in the neighbourhood doing whatever it was they did during the night. No explosions. No running around. No fighting for their lives.
It was fucking quiet.
It was fucking weird.
There had to be something he was missing.
Something going on that he wasn't aware of yet that would ambush him like everything else that happened.
Should he go out on patrol and find it? Before it found him?
It wouldn't take too long, and then he would kn-
The hair at the back of M-21's neck rose as he heard someone move onto the landing behind him. He didn't recognise it. He knew how everyone moved in the house - this person was heavier, not trying to hide their foot-
The intruder dashed towards M-21 and he span around to confront them. How? How had they gotten past Tao's and Frankenstein's security? Or had something happened to-
M-21 saw a broad chest and brown hair before he was slammed into, the wind knocked out of him as thick arms wrapped around his chest and lifted him off his feet.
A deep growl in his ear that M-21 could also feel in his chest.
He kicked out because that was the only thing he could move, making contact and hearing a grunt in response.
Kentas' grip loosened, Kentas pulling his head back to peer at M-21, his brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"
'What's wrong'? "You!" M-21 snapped, continuing to struggle out of Kentas' grasp. "Why the fuck would you even-!"
"Huh?" Kentas let him go, his brow still furrowed. "I'm fine."
M-21 growled, barely stopping himself from grabbing Kentas by the collar. "Not in the fucking head. Why the fuck did you rush at me?"
Kentas' brow deepened. "Because I saw you."
M-21 stared at him, the anger ebbing away the longer Kentas' expression didn't change. Kentas really didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did? But Kentas had to know. He was a warrior - that had to mean what M-21 thought it did.
"I didn't see you though." How the fuck was he supposed to explain this? There were a few times he and Kentas had gotten mixed signals because of 'cultural differences' as Frankenstein called them, but this couldn't be the same.
"I said I was here?" Kentas said.
M-21 exhaled as he tried to see things from Kentas' point of view, but it was hard when his brain kept repeating what just happened, focusing on that. Even then, normally he couldn't figure out Kentas' thought processes - even Tao was easier to understand sometimes.
Kentas had announced his presence though, since no-one walked like him and Kentas hadn't tried to be quiet either.
"Could you do it louder next time?" M-21 said, feeling himself finally started to relax again, his heart rate settling down. "So I know it's you before you rush at me."
Except Kentas continued looking confused, like M-21 wasn't the one making sense. "Louder? You want me to make my aura more obvious?"
His aur-? M-21 stared at him. M-21 had been feeling on edge before Kentas had arrived, like... Like someone had been showing off their power, trying to intimidate before a fight.
Of course werewolves arrived like that.
M-21 squeezed his eyes shut, still trying to see things from Kentas' point of view. "Right. Fine." Kentas had run at him because to Kentas, he'd already said he was there.
"You didn't know it was me?"
M-21 opened his mouth to answer, but narrowed his eyes, feeling a light pressure on his shoulders. It had no bloodlust, no threat to it. Just...a pressure, enough for M-21 to feel it.
"I didn't," M-21 admitted, resisting the urge scratch at the slight tingle on his skin. "I only feel auras being used like that in fights." Or their spars.
The aura disappeared. "Then how do you know who's coming?"
"We don't." That was the problem. And usually anyone who announced their presence before a fight didn't live for long enough for M-21 to study what their aura felt like.
Though there were a few exceptions.
"All I heard was a stranger in the house who rushed at me when my back was turned - I thought I was being attacked," M-21 said.
Kentas sucked in a breath, looking like he was going to indignantly retort but then he paused, his expression softening. "That's why you didn't react until I was almost on you...?"
The pieces clicked together in M-21's head too. "And why you kept jumping me." Kentas thought he'd already said he was there, when M-21 thought someone was looking for a fight.
M-21 was scooped up again, but this time he was expecting it, Kentas burying his face into M-21's neck and breathing in deeply. Like he always seemed to do whenever they met up again.
"Why do you do that? Sniff my neck?" M-21 asked, since apparently they were clearing the air about their assumptions. He had no idea if what Kentas was doing was just a werewolf greeting or something only Kentas did.
Kentas rumbled for a second. "Because you smell nice."
Just something Kentas did then.
"All right." Probably something he wouldn't ever understand.
* * *
"I'm back," M-21 called out as he peeled his shoes off. The rain had started almost as soon as he'd left the shop and he could feel the puddle of water forming under him already.
There was a pile of towels waiting by the shoe rack and as he reached for one, he heard a familiar thumping tread coming closer.
"Welcome back!"
The door didn't bounce off the wall with how hard Kentas came through it, but it was more than enough warning as Kentas barrelled in, picking M-21 up strongly enough to squeeze some excess water off him.
And Kentas was breathing deeply at M-21's neck again. "I don't have any scent now?" The rain would have washed it away. "And I was only away for a few minutes." Kentas couldn't have forgotten what he smelled like in that time.
Kentas nuzzled his neck, taking in another deep breath. "You still smell like you and... hm. It's how we greet each other, a show of trust being so close to each other's claws."
Of course that was the reason why werewolves greeted each other like that. "A greeting though?" M-21 said, his mind drifting. "Like a-" Dog? It was fucking exactly like a dog, and M-21 was sure he heard Tao burst out laughing from the living room. "Never mind."
M-21 was pulled away from his thoughts at a soft weight, his vision going pink. He must have been so distracted he hadn't noticed Kentas reaching for a towel.
Even covered by the towel, M-21 could still smell Kentas, though that was probably because Kentas was still right there. Kentas was already trying to dry M-21's hair and he waved him off, rubbing at his own hair, feeling Kentas reaching for another towel.
If M-21 could do that standing next to him, why did Kentas have to get so close every time...?
* * *
M-21 lay in bed, hearing Kentas fall asleep next to him, Kentas' breathing slowing and deepening. M-21 still didn't know how Kentas could fall asleep so easily. There had been a few nights when Kentas had first stayed over where he had been restless, but that had settled down.
Relatively.
As if Kentas had heard his thoughts or M-21 had gotten so used to the pattern already, Kentas rolled towards M-21 like a heat-seeking missile.
Or a scent-seeking one.
Kentas threw an arm over M-21's shoulders. If that wasn't enough to pin M-21, Kentas' torso followed after so Kentas could bury his nose into M-21's shoulder.
Was this how werewolves slept? Were they constantly rolling around trying to smell each other in their sleep?
Kentas rumbled, relaxing even further.
His hair brushed against M-21's cheek with every breath and M-21 stared up at the ceiling, his thoughts still crowding in his head.
Kentas really liked his scent that much? He looked for M-21 even while sleeping? And it calmed him down? It had to be something that only made sense to werewolves.
M-21 had started getting used to Kentas being half on top of him. He was stuck in place (Kentas half woke up when he went to the toilet) but M-21 didn't stay up as long as he used to either.
It was...different compared to when he slept with M-24. Partially because he didn't sleep a lot of time, thoughts and plans keeping him up as well as they needed a lookout in case they were found and attacked when they were vulnerable.
M-24 had needed more sleep than him. And M-21 had always kept an ear out on M-24's breathing. Just in case.
Now he could feel every one of Kentas' breaths, could practically feel Kentas' heartbeat against his skin.
And he was safe here.
He didn't have to stay up and plan for every occurrence that might happen that could get him killed.
Didn't have to anymore, but sometimes he did that anyway.
This seemed to be one of those nights, M-21's thoughts scattering, needing to know what he would do when things went wrong. Which they would, because they always did. Scenarios either repeating over and over again with some new variant he had to prepare for, or an entirely new scenario that was going to go wrong.
Kentas shifted, arm tightening around M-21's shoulder.
Did Kentas know M-21's thoughts were starting to race? While sleeping? Was that another werewolf ability? Was that something M-21 might eventually end up doing? How did that work? Not that M-21 could understand Kentas a lot of the time, but werewolf abilities seemed like they were about fight-
"Can't sleep?" Kentas mumbled, turning his head to peer at M-21.
M-21 stared at him. It woke him up? "How can you tell?"
"You're tense," Kentas said, hand brushing M-21's shoulder, "and your heart's fast."
And Kentas could feel that while sleeping. Maybe it wasn't a specific werewolf ability, but more how they were close to dogs. Which was why they were called werewolves...
"It's nothing," M-21 said, shaking his head as if that would get rid of his stupid thoughts.
"It's keeping you up."
"It's been two minutes." Apparently a long time time compared to how quickly it took for Kentas to go to sleep but-
Kentas squinted at him. "How long would you be like this?"
-M-21 could lay like that for hours before falling asleep. Sometimes he didn't.
Fuck.
Kentas was still watching him expectantly. Kentas could probably feel it if M-21 lied. ...He was starting to sound like Tao.
M-21 exhaled, gaze going up to the ceiling again. "I dunno," M-21 said slowly, the worlds feeling strange on his tongue. He didn't talk about himself that often - Frankenstein could pick everything up from M-21's data or just looking at him, M-24 had been through everything with him, and Tao and Takeo had been through similar, so there hadn't been much need to talk about himself. "It just depends on how loud the thoughts are, I guess."
"How do you make the thoughts stop?"
A bullet to the head? M-21's thoughts never stopped, even when he thought they had - they were just being quieter, waiting for when he wasn't busy and ambushing him when he least wanted them.
"Oh."
And he'd taken too long to answer.
"It's fine," M-21 said with a sigh, pushing his hair away from his eyes. "I'm used to it." The thoughts, the sleep deprivation. He hadn't died from them yet. He could still drag his body out of bed afterwards.
"Hm."
Kentas couldn't help with this. The werewolf way of dealing with feelings was probably punch it away. What M-21 actually needed was someone reaching into his brain and taking-
Kentas moved, pressing even more of himself against M-21. If he was going to smother M-21 with his bulk, that could work too.
It wasn't really... M-21 narrowed his eyes at Kentas who was breathing deeper again, but not like he was falling asleep. It was deliberate breaths in and out, and Kentas was rumbling deep in his chest, somehow a continuous sound that didn't ebb and flow with his breathing.
"What are..." M-21 frowned, feeling his own body starting to match Kentas' breathing, relaxing a little bit.
What the fuck?
"Just breathing," Kentas murmured, somehow still rumbling at the same time. "Try focusing on that."
Was this a werewolf thing or some warrior training? Did it matter when it wasn't going to work?
But fine, whatever. M-21 had nothing else to do. Breathing in and out? That was easy. He did that every day and somehow hadn't failed doing that yet even with how much-
"Focus on only your breathing," Kentas said, bringing his arm down to place his hand on M-21's chest.
What. He was. ...Wasn't he? How the fuck could Kentas know what he was focused on?
"Your brow's wrinkled."
Shit. But he was thinking about his breathing. M-21 forced his forehead to relax as he took in another breath, feeling his chest pushing against Kentas' hand.
"Focus on the air going in," Kentas said as he breathed in himself, "and the air going out."
Kentas wanted him to think about the actual breathing? It had to be some kind of werewolf warrior meditation shit and... He was still thinking.
But how the fuck was he supposed to focus on only breathing? To not think when he had to concentrate on how he was breathing?
Just do what Kentas was doing? Was that the right way to do it?
M-21 tried matching Kentas' breathing and then the fucker started holding his breath before breathing out again. All this was just a distraction to stop M-21 from thinking his thoughts and - what had he been thinking about?
...He shouldn't - He should focus on the breathing, on Kentas' breathing, on Kentas' warmth pressing into him.
M-21 wasn't sure how long they did that for, how often he had to keep dragging his thoughts back from every time his mind wandered (and he had spent all these years spending every second planning for every occasion and situation, but he couldn't make his brain only think about something it did automatically? What the fuck) but M-21 eventually felt his eyelids grow heavy and he fell asleep to the sound of Kentas' breathing.
* * *
M-21 woke up warm. Which wasn't surprising since Kentas was still on top of him, pinning him to the bed. Kentas didn't seem to move in his sleep, but that could be because M-21 didn't either so Kentas didn't have to chase him around the bed.
M-21 stared up at the ceiling, listening to Kentas' deep breathing. Had that really worked? Just focusing on his breathing. Not that he'd done it well or for that long before his mind wandered again.
Maybe he'd just fallen asleep out of boredom rather than whatever Kentas had been trying to show him.
He'd still fallen asleep either way, and he was more rested than if he'd been kept up all night with his thoughts for company.
"Morning," Kentas said, stretching his back out with a sigh.
Kentas had probably woken up because M-21 h-
M-21 turned his head and got a face full of hair as Kentas leaned over to sniff M-21's neck. "You've been breathing in my scent the whole night?" Kentas' nose had to be saturated by this point.
"Yeah, but that was while sleeping," Kentas said, seemingly taking in another breath for good measure before getting up.
M-21 stared at him. No matter how much they talked, M-21 was never going to fully understand him.
* * *
M-21 ducked Kentas' slash, pushing back against Kentas' aura while gritting his teeth. The spar hadn't been going for too long but M-21 was already panting, sweat beading around his face. Kentas looked like he'd just warmed up. Of course.
He didn't have anywhere close to Kentas' endurance, both in fighting and in transformation, so he had to end the spar as quickly as possible.
Except he didn't have the strength to do that either.
M-21 wasn't sure if Kentas was holding back or if maybe he was getting better, but the spar didn't immediately end, lasting longer than he expected, them both continuing to trade blows. Kentas had even started to react less to M-21's words, which probably meant he would have to start learning some actual werewolf insults for whenever the next time they came across another one.
M-21 slipped on some loose ground, seeing Kentas' claws swinging down. Shit, he didn't have enough strength to throw himself out the way far enough or to block and even if he did, Kentas would just cast after him.
The slash switched to a fist, M-21 taking the full brunt of it in the stomach. It was hard enough to shake M-21's concentration and he let go of his transformation with a grunt.
Kentas caught him as he fell, grinning wide. Still transformed, but breathing hard at least.
Kentas lay him down on some relatively flat ground that hadn't been churned up during their spar as M-21 caught his breath.
There had been a few times M-21 had messed up during the spar and if he could figure out what he could do ins-
Kentas leaned forward, breathing in deeply at M-21's neck.
He snorted. The whole area smelled of their scent and blood, but he was sure if he asked, Kentas would say something like M-21's scent at his neck was the clearest.
But...
He could tell there was a difference between their scents mixed together with all the mud and debris compared to what he could smell with Kentas so close.
A small rumble in his throat, M-21 wrapped his arms around Kentas' chest, feeling Kentas still for a second before almost flattening M-21 into the ground.
Yeah. Kentas' scent was...better? when they were this close.
* * *
M-21 couldn't sleep. It wasn't because of racing thoughts (for once) but... He wasn't sure. He wasn't in pain, which was usually the other reason why he was up.
So what was wrong?
Wrong...?
What was different?
M-21 rolled over in bed, seeing the spot Kentas normally filled.
Kentas was in and out of the house a lot, staying over as much as he travelled around doing whatever it was he did.
M-21 was used to Kentas not being there.
But he was apparently used to Kentas trying to squash the air out of M-21's lungs while he slept now too.
M-21 turned over again. Kentas would be back in a couple of days anyway. He could live with Kentas not being there for a few more nights.
He could try doing the breathing exercises Kentas had shown him and bore his brain to sleep.
Just concentrate on his breathing, the feel of air passing through his nose and holding it in his chest.
It felt weird not having Kentas breathing in his ear, Kentas' hand on his chest, guiding him how deeply to breathe.
He could breathe by himself. Had to.
And his thoughts had wandered off immediately. Fuck.
Kentas would have noticed it and guided him back to what he was supposed to do. And his thoughts were still wandering, trying its hardest not to think about his breathing.
M-21 sighed, turning over again. This was meant to be easy. Just focus on breathing and he couldn't do that without help.
But...
He threw the blanket off, sitting up.
He wasn't going to get to sleep like this, and M-21 could already see he would stay up the entire night the way his thoughts were. So he would do more if he went for a patrol instead.
* * *
The winter chill was starting to blow in, making M-21 shove his hands into his pockets. It wasn't cold enough to slip on the gloves Frankenstein had made for them all, but the wool brushed against M-21's skin. He only kept them in his pocket because Frankenstein had insisted.
It wasn't cold enough to see his own breath and-
M-21 paused, taking in a deeper breath.
...Huh.
He could still smell Kentas' scent in the air. Faint. Old. But M-21 could still recognise Kentas.
M-21 turned his head left and right, trying to find where Kentas' scent was stronger - There. It was stronger to his right.
M-21 followed the scent, taking in deep breaths every couple of steps.
Tao would laugh his lungs out once he found out M-21 could track people by scent now.
It would be helpful the next time one of them got kidnapped.
Though it was usually M-21 that got caught up in a fight first...
Kentas seemed to be heading out the city, so he could have left the country altogether by now. But his scent was still getting stronger. Kentas was close.
* * *
M-21 stared out at the dark waves in front of him, hearing the sea wash up against the sand. If he could trust the scent trail, then he probably just had to run in a straight line - Kentas didn't seem the type to get distracted and wander, or think to move around to hide where he was.
It took passing a few islands, but M-21 landed on one and knew that this was where Kentas would be. The scent was stronger here, like...it had been trapped in the trees, in the sand.
M-21's skin prickled, not because of the cold, but...
Oh. Right.
M-21 exhaled, trying to push out his aura, extend it. He was used to using his aura to threaten, intimidate someone in the same room - he didn't know how to make it like a greeting across an island like Kentas had said, and they hadn't talked about it again.
Now to find Kentas -
There wasn't a need to, M-21 feeling an answering aura immediately. It was a different weight compared to when they were sparring, just enough that M-21 could feel it and know a direction to head in. Not that he had to, since he could feel Kentas was getting closer.
"M-21?" he heard in the distance, making M-21 smile.
Well. M-21 had greeted him the werewolf way, so now Kentas was doing the same the human way. "Yeah, I'm here."
M-21 could feel how close Kentas was the deeper he waded through the trees, but he couldn't read distance with his aura until he heard something thundering through the undergrowth towards him. That seemed to line up with what he was feeling with his aura.
M-21 already had his arms up by the time Kentas leaped into view, crossing the space between them in another single bound, scooping M-21 up and burying his face into M-21's neck.
M-21 hugged him back just as tightly and breathing in Kentas' scent.
Huh. M-21 could feel some of the tension leave him, relaxing at Kentas' scent.
Was that why Kentas sniffed him so much? It was as if... M-21 felt safer knowing Kentas was there. And that now he knew Kentas was safe too.
Kentas pulled back to look at him. "I thought you would be sleeping now? I didn't want to wake you up."
Since M-21 was a light sleeper and usually woke up before Kentas even entered M-21's room. But... "I couldn't sleep because you weren't there, I think." It was strange how quickly he'd gotten used to Kentas' presence there.
Kentas brightened, his fangs almost glowing in the darkness.
* * *
The house was warm compared to outside and it didn't take too long for M-21 and Kentas to settle into bed.
It was different, M-21 could feel that instantly. Warmer, and he could feel Kentas' breathing through the bed.
When Kentas rolled over onto M-21, M-21 turned his face towards him, taking in a deep breath at the same time, relaxing even further as he recognised Kentas' scent.
This was what had been missing.
It didn't take long for M-21 to fall asleep to the sound of Kentas' breathing.
Summary: Kentas kept sniffing M-21.
Contains: M-21/Kentas.
Notes: Just wanted to write a fic about sniffing/scenting, ahah. Aaaand of course it grew way bigger than I expected immediately. XD
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word count: 4,057
Status: Complete
M-21 leaned his forearms on the balcony railing, hearing the people in the neighbourhood doing whatever it was they did during the night. No explosions. No running around. No fighting for their lives.
It was fucking quiet.
It was fucking weird.
There had to be something he was missing.
Something going on that he wasn't aware of yet that would ambush him like everything else that happened.
Should he go out on patrol and find it? Before it found him?
It wouldn't take too long, and then he would kn-
The hair at the back of M-21's neck rose as he heard someone move onto the landing behind him. He didn't recognise it. He knew how everyone moved in the house - this person was heavier, not trying to hide their foot-
The intruder dashed towards M-21 and he span around to confront them. How? How had they gotten past Tao's and Frankenstein's security? Or had something happened to-
M-21 saw a broad chest and brown hair before he was slammed into, the wind knocked out of him as thick arms wrapped around his chest and lifted him off his feet.
A deep growl in his ear that M-21 could also feel in his chest.
He kicked out because that was the only thing he could move, making contact and hearing a grunt in response.
Kentas' grip loosened, Kentas pulling his head back to peer at M-21, his brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"
'What's wrong'? "You!" M-21 snapped, continuing to struggle out of Kentas' grasp. "Why the fuck would you even-!"
"Huh?" Kentas let him go, his brow still furrowed. "I'm fine."
M-21 growled, barely stopping himself from grabbing Kentas by the collar. "Not in the fucking head. Why the fuck did you rush at me?"
Kentas' brow deepened. "Because I saw you."
M-21 stared at him, the anger ebbing away the longer Kentas' expression didn't change. Kentas really didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did? But Kentas had to know. He was a warrior - that had to mean what M-21 thought it did.
"I didn't see you though." How the fuck was he supposed to explain this? There were a few times he and Kentas had gotten mixed signals because of 'cultural differences' as Frankenstein called them, but this couldn't be the same.
"I said I was here?" Kentas said.
M-21 exhaled as he tried to see things from Kentas' point of view, but it was hard when his brain kept repeating what just happened, focusing on that. Even then, normally he couldn't figure out Kentas' thought processes - even Tao was easier to understand sometimes.
Kentas had announced his presence though, since no-one walked like him and Kentas hadn't tried to be quiet either.
"Could you do it louder next time?" M-21 said, feeling himself finally started to relax again, his heart rate settling down. "So I know it's you before you rush at me."
Except Kentas continued looking confused, like M-21 wasn't the one making sense. "Louder? You want me to make my aura more obvious?"
His aur-? M-21 stared at him. M-21 had been feeling on edge before Kentas had arrived, like... Like someone had been showing off their power, trying to intimidate before a fight.
Of course werewolves arrived like that.
M-21 squeezed his eyes shut, still trying to see things from Kentas' point of view. "Right. Fine." Kentas had run at him because to Kentas, he'd already said he was there.
"You didn't know it was me?"
M-21 opened his mouth to answer, but narrowed his eyes, feeling a light pressure on his shoulders. It had no bloodlust, no threat to it. Just...a pressure, enough for M-21 to feel it.
"I didn't," M-21 admitted, resisting the urge scratch at the slight tingle on his skin. "I only feel auras being used like that in fights." Or their spars.
The aura disappeared. "Then how do you know who's coming?"
"We don't." That was the problem. And usually anyone who announced their presence before a fight didn't live for long enough for M-21 to study what their aura felt like.
Though there were a few exceptions.
"All I heard was a stranger in the house who rushed at me when my back was turned - I thought I was being attacked," M-21 said.
Kentas sucked in a breath, looking like he was going to indignantly retort but then he paused, his expression softening. "That's why you didn't react until I was almost on you...?"
The pieces clicked together in M-21's head too. "And why you kept jumping me." Kentas thought he'd already said he was there, when M-21 thought someone was looking for a fight.
M-21 was scooped up again, but this time he was expecting it, Kentas burying his face into M-21's neck and breathing in deeply. Like he always seemed to do whenever they met up again.
"Why do you do that? Sniff my neck?" M-21 asked, since apparently they were clearing the air about their assumptions. He had no idea if what Kentas was doing was just a werewolf greeting or something only Kentas did.
Kentas rumbled for a second. "Because you smell nice."
Just something Kentas did then.
"All right." Probably something he wouldn't ever understand.
"I'm back," M-21 called out as he peeled his shoes off. The rain had started almost as soon as he'd left the shop and he could feel the puddle of water forming under him already.
There was a pile of towels waiting by the shoe rack and as he reached for one, he heard a familiar thumping tread coming closer.
"Welcome back!"
The door didn't bounce off the wall with how hard Kentas came through it, but it was more than enough warning as Kentas barrelled in, picking M-21 up strongly enough to squeeze some excess water off him.
And Kentas was breathing deeply at M-21's neck again. "I don't have any scent now?" The rain would have washed it away. "And I was only away for a few minutes." Kentas couldn't have forgotten what he smelled like in that time.
Kentas nuzzled his neck, taking in another deep breath. "You still smell like you and... hm. It's how we greet each other, a show of trust being so close to each other's claws."
Of course that was the reason why werewolves greeted each other like that. "A greeting though?" M-21 said, his mind drifting. "Like a-" Dog? It was fucking exactly like a dog, and M-21 was sure he heard Tao burst out laughing from the living room. "Never mind."
M-21 was pulled away from his thoughts at a soft weight, his vision going pink. He must have been so distracted he hadn't noticed Kentas reaching for a towel.
Even covered by the towel, M-21 could still smell Kentas, though that was probably because Kentas was still right there. Kentas was already trying to dry M-21's hair and he waved him off, rubbing at his own hair, feeling Kentas reaching for another towel.
If M-21 could do that standing next to him, why did Kentas have to get so close every time...?
M-21 lay in bed, hearing Kentas fall asleep next to him, Kentas' breathing slowing and deepening. M-21 still didn't know how Kentas could fall asleep so easily. There had been a few nights when Kentas had first stayed over where he had been restless, but that had settled down.
Relatively.
As if Kentas had heard his thoughts or M-21 had gotten so used to the pattern already, Kentas rolled towards M-21 like a heat-seeking missile.
Or a scent-seeking one.
Kentas threw an arm over M-21's shoulders. If that wasn't enough to pin M-21, Kentas' torso followed after so Kentas could bury his nose into M-21's shoulder.
Was this how werewolves slept? Were they constantly rolling around trying to smell each other in their sleep?
Kentas rumbled, relaxing even further.
His hair brushed against M-21's cheek with every breath and M-21 stared up at the ceiling, his thoughts still crowding in his head.
Kentas really liked his scent that much? He looked for M-21 even while sleeping? And it calmed him down? It had to be something that only made sense to werewolves.
M-21 had started getting used to Kentas being half on top of him. He was stuck in place (Kentas half woke up when he went to the toilet) but M-21 didn't stay up as long as he used to either.
It was...different compared to when he slept with M-24. Partially because he didn't sleep a lot of time, thoughts and plans keeping him up as well as they needed a lookout in case they were found and attacked when they were vulnerable.
M-24 had needed more sleep than him. And M-21 had always kept an ear out on M-24's breathing. Just in case.
Now he could feel every one of Kentas' breaths, could practically feel Kentas' heartbeat against his skin.
And he was safe here.
He didn't have to stay up and plan for every occurrence that might happen that could get him killed.
Didn't have to anymore, but sometimes he did that anyway.
This seemed to be one of those nights, M-21's thoughts scattering, needing to know what he would do when things went wrong. Which they would, because they always did. Scenarios either repeating over and over again with some new variant he had to prepare for, or an entirely new scenario that was going to go wrong.
Kentas shifted, arm tightening around M-21's shoulder.
Did Kentas know M-21's thoughts were starting to race? While sleeping? Was that another werewolf ability? Was that something M-21 might eventually end up doing? How did that work? Not that M-21 could understand Kentas a lot of the time, but werewolf abilities seemed like they were about fight-
"Can't sleep?" Kentas mumbled, turning his head to peer at M-21.
M-21 stared at him. It woke him up? "How can you tell?"
"You're tense," Kentas said, hand brushing M-21's shoulder, "and your heart's fast."
And Kentas could feel that while sleeping. Maybe it wasn't a specific werewolf ability, but more how they were close to dogs. Which was why they were called werewolves...
"It's nothing," M-21 said, shaking his head as if that would get rid of his stupid thoughts.
"It's keeping you up."
"It's been two minutes." Apparently a long time time compared to how quickly it took for Kentas to go to sleep but-
Kentas squinted at him. "How long would you be like this?"
-M-21 could lay like that for hours before falling asleep. Sometimes he didn't.
Fuck.
Kentas was still watching him expectantly. Kentas could probably feel it if M-21 lied. ...He was starting to sound like Tao.
M-21 exhaled, gaze going up to the ceiling again. "I dunno," M-21 said slowly, the worlds feeling strange on his tongue. He didn't talk about himself that often - Frankenstein could pick everything up from M-21's data or just looking at him, M-24 had been through everything with him, and Tao and Takeo had been through similar, so there hadn't been much need to talk about himself. "It just depends on how loud the thoughts are, I guess."
"How do you make the thoughts stop?"
A bullet to the head? M-21's thoughts never stopped, even when he thought they had - they were just being quieter, waiting for when he wasn't busy and ambushing him when he least wanted them.
"Oh."
And he'd taken too long to answer.
"It's fine," M-21 said with a sigh, pushing his hair away from his eyes. "I'm used to it." The thoughts, the sleep deprivation. He hadn't died from them yet. He could still drag his body out of bed afterwards.
"Hm."
Kentas couldn't help with this. The werewolf way of dealing with feelings was probably punch it away. What M-21 actually needed was someone reaching into his brain and taking-
Kentas moved, pressing even more of himself against M-21. If he was going to smother M-21 with his bulk, that could work too.
It wasn't really... M-21 narrowed his eyes at Kentas who was breathing deeper again, but not like he was falling asleep. It was deliberate breaths in and out, and Kentas was rumbling deep in his chest, somehow a continuous sound that didn't ebb and flow with his breathing.
"What are..." M-21 frowned, feeling his own body starting to match Kentas' breathing, relaxing a little bit.
What the fuck?
"Just breathing," Kentas murmured, somehow still rumbling at the same time. "Try focusing on that."
Was this a werewolf thing or some warrior training? Did it matter when it wasn't going to work?
But fine, whatever. M-21 had nothing else to do. Breathing in and out? That was easy. He did that every day and somehow hadn't failed doing that yet even with how much-
"Focus on only your breathing," Kentas said, bringing his arm down to place his hand on M-21's chest.
What. He was. ...Wasn't he? How the fuck could Kentas know what he was focused on?
"Your brow's wrinkled."
Shit. But he was thinking about his breathing. M-21 forced his forehead to relax as he took in another breath, feeling his chest pushing against Kentas' hand.
"Focus on the air going in," Kentas said as he breathed in himself, "and the air going out."
Kentas wanted him to think about the actual breathing? It had to be some kind of werewolf warrior meditation shit and... He was still thinking.
But how the fuck was he supposed to focus on only breathing? To not think when he had to concentrate on how he was breathing?
Just do what Kentas was doing? Was that the right way to do it?
M-21 tried matching Kentas' breathing and then the fucker started holding his breath before breathing out again. All this was just a distraction to stop M-21 from thinking his thoughts and - what had he been thinking about?
...He shouldn't - He should focus on the breathing, on Kentas' breathing, on Kentas' warmth pressing into him.
M-21 wasn't sure how long they did that for, how often he had to keep dragging his thoughts back from every time his mind wandered (and he had spent all these years spending every second planning for every occasion and situation, but he couldn't make his brain only think about something it did automatically? What the fuck) but M-21 eventually felt his eyelids grow heavy and he fell asleep to the sound of Kentas' breathing.
M-21 woke up warm. Which wasn't surprising since Kentas was still on top of him, pinning him to the bed. Kentas didn't seem to move in his sleep, but that could be because M-21 didn't either so Kentas didn't have to chase him around the bed.
M-21 stared up at the ceiling, listening to Kentas' deep breathing. Had that really worked? Just focusing on his breathing. Not that he'd done it well or for that long before his mind wandered again.
Maybe he'd just fallen asleep out of boredom rather than whatever Kentas had been trying to show him.
He'd still fallen asleep either way, and he was more rested than if he'd been kept up all night with his thoughts for company.
"Morning," Kentas said, stretching his back out with a sigh.
Kentas had probably woken up because M-21 h-
M-21 turned his head and got a face full of hair as Kentas leaned over to sniff M-21's neck. "You've been breathing in my scent the whole night?" Kentas' nose had to be saturated by this point.
"Yeah, but that was while sleeping," Kentas said, seemingly taking in another breath for good measure before getting up.
M-21 stared at him. No matter how much they talked, M-21 was never going to fully understand him.
M-21 ducked Kentas' slash, pushing back against Kentas' aura while gritting his teeth. The spar hadn't been going for too long but M-21 was already panting, sweat beading around his face. Kentas looked like he'd just warmed up. Of course.
He didn't have anywhere close to Kentas' endurance, both in fighting and in transformation, so he had to end the spar as quickly as possible.
Except he didn't have the strength to do that either.
M-21 wasn't sure if Kentas was holding back or if maybe he was getting better, but the spar didn't immediately end, lasting longer than he expected, them both continuing to trade blows. Kentas had even started to react less to M-21's words, which probably meant he would have to start learning some actual werewolf insults for whenever the next time they came across another one.
M-21 slipped on some loose ground, seeing Kentas' claws swinging down. Shit, he didn't have enough strength to throw himself out the way far enough or to block and even if he did, Kentas would just cast after him.
The slash switched to a fist, M-21 taking the full brunt of it in the stomach. It was hard enough to shake M-21's concentration and he let go of his transformation with a grunt.
Kentas caught him as he fell, grinning wide. Still transformed, but breathing hard at least.
Kentas lay him down on some relatively flat ground that hadn't been churned up during their spar as M-21 caught his breath.
There had been a few times M-21 had messed up during the spar and if he could figure out what he could do ins-
Kentas leaned forward, breathing in deeply at M-21's neck.
He snorted. The whole area smelled of their scent and blood, but he was sure if he asked, Kentas would say something like M-21's scent at his neck was the clearest.
But...
He could tell there was a difference between their scents mixed together with all the mud and debris compared to what he could smell with Kentas so close.
A small rumble in his throat, M-21 wrapped his arms around Kentas' chest, feeling Kentas still for a second before almost flattening M-21 into the ground.
Yeah. Kentas' scent was...better? when they were this close.
M-21 couldn't sleep. It wasn't because of racing thoughts (for once) but... He wasn't sure. He wasn't in pain, which was usually the other reason why he was up.
So what was wrong?
Wrong...?
What was different?
M-21 rolled over in bed, seeing the spot Kentas normally filled.
Kentas was in and out of the house a lot, staying over as much as he travelled around doing whatever it was he did.
M-21 was used to Kentas not being there.
But he was apparently used to Kentas trying to squash the air out of M-21's lungs while he slept now too.
M-21 turned over again. Kentas would be back in a couple of days anyway. He could live with Kentas not being there for a few more nights.
He could try doing the breathing exercises Kentas had shown him and bore his brain to sleep.
Just concentrate on his breathing, the feel of air passing through his nose and holding it in his chest.
It felt weird not having Kentas breathing in his ear, Kentas' hand on his chest, guiding him how deeply to breathe.
He could breathe by himself. Had to.
And his thoughts had wandered off immediately. Fuck.
Kentas would have noticed it and guided him back to what he was supposed to do. And his thoughts were still wandering, trying its hardest not to think about his breathing.
M-21 sighed, turning over again. This was meant to be easy. Just focus on breathing and he couldn't do that without help.
But...
He threw the blanket off, sitting up.
He wasn't going to get to sleep like this, and M-21 could already see he would stay up the entire night the way his thoughts were. So he would do more if he went for a patrol instead.
The winter chill was starting to blow in, making M-21 shove his hands into his pockets. It wasn't cold enough to slip on the gloves Frankenstein had made for them all, but the wool brushed against M-21's skin. He only kept them in his pocket because Frankenstein had insisted.
It wasn't cold enough to see his own breath and-
M-21 paused, taking in a deeper breath.
...Huh.
He could still smell Kentas' scent in the air. Faint. Old. But M-21 could still recognise Kentas.
M-21 turned his head left and right, trying to find where Kentas' scent was stronger - There. It was stronger to his right.
M-21 followed the scent, taking in deep breaths every couple of steps.
Tao would laugh his lungs out once he found out M-21 could track people by scent now.
It would be helpful the next time one of them got kidnapped.
Though it was usually M-21 that got caught up in a fight first...
Kentas seemed to be heading out the city, so he could have left the country altogether by now. But his scent was still getting stronger. Kentas was close.
M-21 stared out at the dark waves in front of him, hearing the sea wash up against the sand. If he could trust the scent trail, then he probably just had to run in a straight line - Kentas didn't seem the type to get distracted and wander, or think to move around to hide where he was.
It took passing a few islands, but M-21 landed on one and knew that this was where Kentas would be. The scent was stronger here, like...it had been trapped in the trees, in the sand.
M-21's skin prickled, not because of the cold, but...
Oh. Right.
M-21 exhaled, trying to push out his aura, extend it. He was used to using his aura to threaten, intimidate someone in the same room - he didn't know how to make it like a greeting across an island like Kentas had said, and they hadn't talked about it again.
Now to find Kentas -
There wasn't a need to, M-21 feeling an answering aura immediately. It was a different weight compared to when they were sparring, just enough that M-21 could feel it and know a direction to head in. Not that he had to, since he could feel Kentas was getting closer.
"M-21?" he heard in the distance, making M-21 smile.
Well. M-21 had greeted him the werewolf way, so now Kentas was doing the same the human way. "Yeah, I'm here."
M-21 could feel how close Kentas was the deeper he waded through the trees, but he couldn't read distance with his aura until he heard something thundering through the undergrowth towards him. That seemed to line up with what he was feeling with his aura.
M-21 already had his arms up by the time Kentas leaped into view, crossing the space between them in another single bound, scooping M-21 up and burying his face into M-21's neck.
M-21 hugged him back just as tightly and breathing in Kentas' scent.
Huh. M-21 could feel some of the tension leave him, relaxing at Kentas' scent.
Was that why Kentas sniffed him so much? It was as if... M-21 felt safer knowing Kentas was there. And that now he knew Kentas was safe too.
Kentas pulled back to look at him. "I thought you would be sleeping now? I didn't want to wake you up."
Since M-21 was a light sleeper and usually woke up before Kentas even entered M-21's room. But... "I couldn't sleep because you weren't there, I think." It was strange how quickly he'd gotten used to Kentas' presence there.
Kentas brightened, his fangs almost glowing in the darkness.
The house was warm compared to outside and it didn't take too long for M-21 and Kentas to settle into bed.
It was different, M-21 could feel that instantly. Warmer, and he could feel Kentas' breathing through the bed.
When Kentas rolled over onto M-21, M-21 turned his face towards him, taking in a deep breath at the same time, relaxing even further as he recognised Kentas' scent.
This was what had been missing.
It didn't take long for M-21 to fall asleep to the sound of Kentas' breathing.