esp_dragon: Happy Chuck and Mike (Chuck and Mike)
[personal profile] esp_dragon
Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: "I can't believe you talked me into this," Tao grumbled, crossing his arms and huffing.
Notes: Set post-series.
For oducchan-ofthelowercourt's prompt of "I can’t believe you talked me into this" and the trio.
This was supposed to be quick. *sweat* Which it was, but I thought this would be in the low hundreds ahaha.
Rating: G
Genre: Family/friendship
Word count: 1,159
Status: Complete



"I can't believe you talked me into this," Tao grumbled, crossing his arms and huffing.

"We didn't," M-21 said, taking his laptop from him. "Frankenstein told you to take a break from the electronics for a day."

"I know, but-!" That was beside the point. Sort of.

"You need to rest, Tao," Takeo said, checking over the pile of technology in front of him. Tao's technology. Satisfied it was all of it, Takeo picked it up and left the room to stash it somewhere. Probably Tao's room, since they were in M-21's at that moment.

"So go to bed." M-21 gestured to the makeshift bed they'd made on the floor – the three of them wouldn't fit in M-21's single bed.

Tao blew a raspberry at him but flopped down anyway. "I'm wide awake though! I'm just gonna stare at the ceiling for most of the night."

"Which is why your eyes are drooping already." M-21 lay next to him.

"Are not." They weren't. He'd just lay down too fast so his brain was still adjusting. That was all.

Tao jerked at movement on his other side. When had Takeo gotten back?

He squirmed when the others draped their arms around him. "How'm I s'posed to sleep when you're pressing me on all sides?" It did feel nice and warm though.

"It's to make sure you don't get up without us knowing."

"M-mean…" It would have sounded more forceful if the jaw-cracking yawn hadn't blindsided him.

He was going to nap and that was it. He would be up again in thirty minutes…

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the window when Tao woke up and he blinked, tilting his head at the weird angle. He hadn't slept on the floor for a while.

"Morning," M-21 said, sitting next to him, his hand transformed. It went back to its usual shape as Tao watched.

"What time is it?" Tao asked, brushing his hair away from his face. The sun had already set when they'd went to bed.

"Eleven."

"Eh?" Tao's jaw dropped. "I slept for thirteen straight hours?"

"Yeah." M-21 glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, smirking. "The bags under your eyes don't take up half your face anymore."

He thwaped M-21's thigh for that. "They weren't that bad."

"Yeah they were. Come on," M-21 said, getting to his feet. "Takeo should have finished lunch by now."

"Think it should be 'brunch' because of the time," Tao said, following him.

"Whatever."

* * *

"So what are we gonna do now?" Tao asked once lunch was done. Boss had given them a day off to make sure he stayed away from using electronics and if he couldn't spend time on his machines…

"We haven't been to the coffee shop in a while," Takeo said, undoing his apron.

"And we just ate." Tao pointed to the just washed plates on the rack.

M-21 shrugged with one shoulder. "We'll walk there."

They did have the time to now, didn't they? "Okay," Tao said, nodding. "Let's go through the park." That was somewhere else they hadn't been in for a while. Maybe there would be more ducks in the pond.

* * *

Tao tapped his hip for the fifth time in as many minutes. He was missing his heart every time his fingers didn't touch the familiar surface of his phone.

"Everything's fine," Takeo said, shaking his head.

"But how do you know?" Tao burst out. "Something could be happening right now and we wouldn't know!" He needed his communication systems!

"We've still got our phones," M-21 said, pulling out his own, and Tao could feel the pulse of electricity from it but it wasn't the energies of his own. "They'd call us if they needed help."

"What if they can't?" There had been too many times where that happened.

"If it was that big, we'd feel it," Takeo said, bumping shoulders with him.

That was true, and now that the Union was gone, it was unlikely there was anyone else powerful enough to be a problem for the others.

"Still. I'm worrying, you know?"

"We know," M-21 said, a smile touching his lips.

"Hm." Tao shoved his hands into his pockets. "Okay. Coffee." Everything would be fine. He just had to distract himself for a bit.

* * *

The trip to the coffee shop went without mishap and Tao stretched his legs out in front of him as he sat on the bench by the pond.

"This is so…weird," he said, sipping his drink.

"Watching birds in a pond in the middle of the day?" M-21 said with a snort, sitting next to him.

"Well, kinda?" Tao waved over everything around them. "Did you think you'd be able to do this when you left the Union?"

M-21 glanced away. "…No. I never thought I would leave alive."

Haa, yeah.

"And I'd thought taking down the Union was impossible," M-21 continued.

Tao snickered. He looked over at Takeo on his other side and was about to nudge him when he remembered what Takeo's thoughts had been about when they left.

Takeo still smiled at him, though the expression was kept to his eyes than lips. "I thought I had a sister, but I found a much bigger family instead."

"You have got to stop with your inspirational speeches, because my heart can't take all these, Takeo!"

Takeo shoved his shoulder, a grin spreading across his face and Tao burst out laughing for the sheer reason that he was free to.

* * *

They spent a couple of hours at the pond, watching people and birds come and go.

When they were at their door, they didn't need to open it to know the children were there. And so was everyone else, safe and sound.

"Ajussi! Hyungs! Where were you?"

"I caught a 24 hour cold," Tao said, bouncing in, "but I'm ready for the rematch!"

Ik-han shoved his glasses up his nose, smirking. "And we're ready for you!"

* * *

Tao sighed as he slid into his chair, switching his PC on. The day had passed so he could use his tech again. "Did ya miss me?" The hum and crackle of electricity greeted him and it didn't take long for it to boot up. He scanned the new updates and reports the system gave him.

"Everything okay?" Takeo asked, a hand on his shoulder.

"Looks like it," Tao murmured. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened during the day. He had worried for nothing.

Tao turned his ear towards the sound of his door opening.

"You two coming to bed?" M-21 asked.

"Yeah," Takeo said, giving his shoulder a pat as he went over.

"Ah, hold on," Tao said, getting to his feet. He double-checked a few more things and then nodded, collecting his phone as he went to join them.

He couldn't help but worry for when something went wrong, but for now, they were safe.

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