All You Have to Do is Breathe [Part 5]

[esp_dragon]

Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: There's a new guy in town, an inventor, and if Tao can steal a few interesting things from him, he'll be able to eat for a few days, maybe longer. He might even be able to get out of the town!
Tao's wish comes true, just not in the way he expected.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Britishism is probably showing through with Tao driving on the right, haha.
Genre: Steampunk? Friendship
Word count: 5,211
Total word count: 25,845
Status: Work in progress



"So what do I have to do?" Tao asked, his hands tight on the reins. He hadn't done this before, and what if he fucked up? What if they ended over a cliff, the wheels broken, all of them hurt or dead?

"The first thing," Boss said, sitting behind him in the wagon, patting his shoulder, "is to relax. Take a few deep breaths and loosen your hold on the reins. If your arms are stiff, you'll find it harder to drive."

"Heh, I'm…okay," Tao said, peeling his fingers off the reins one by one. Not really, and his act wasn't fooling anyone since Boss was reassuring him.

"There's nothing to worry about," Boss continued, keeping his hand where it was. "If Dark Spear chose you to drive, she trusts you."

There was good reason to worry –he could still steer her in the wrong direction- but he closed his eyes and took deeper breaths.

When he was ready, he opened his eyes and clicked his tongue like he'd heard Boss do hundreds of times before. Dark Spear moved with no hesitation, an ear pinned on him.

Tao exhaled, the butterflies in his stomach easing, and he looked over at Boss' smiling face.

"See? You'll do fine."

Yeah, maybe he would.

"Now then, there was a variety of ways you can drive a horse," Boss started, and Tao listened to Boss' new lesson.

Dark Spear seemed to know what he wanted her to do before he'd moved the reins but it was nice making sure he knew what he was doing.

"Hey, Boss?" Tao said a few hours later. They'd reached a forest, the track just visible through the foliage. It took half of Tao's concentration to not slip off the seat as the wagon trundled over every root. The trees did give a nice cover from the sun though. "Do you think we should stop for lu – woah!"

Dark Spear bayed, almost yanking the reins out of Tao's hand. She burst forward and Tao gripped the seat so he wouldn't bounce off. Dark Spear turned her head to their right and then swerved left (where was she going?), but there was nothing there -

Just as Tao thought the wagon was about to tip over from the swerve, he caught sight of a rider speeding towards them out the corner of his eye. More bandits-! The radio hadn't said anything about-! That didn't matter, not when they were being attacked now.

"Takagi-san-!" He didn't need to warn him – Takagi-san had already pointed his shotgun in the bandits' direction. Tao cringed, not liking a gun being that close to him but he ignored it as best as he could. Which was not at all.

The bandit was closing in on them (just one? Tao couldn't see any more), their horse not needing to pull a wagon and passengers.

"Give me the reins!"

He threw them at Boss and scrambled back, his heart hammering.

Takagi-san shooting made Tao flinch and he huddled below the bonnet level. There was no returning fire, but Tao could see Takagi-san was still pointing his shotgun. He had enough time to see Takagi-san dip the nose of his gun, his eyes wide before something rocked the wagon, making Tao lose balance. He slammed a hand on wood so he wouldn't go headfirst into it. Usually from that angle, Tao could still see part of Dark Spear, but now he couldn't. The wagon was slowing too, like she was no longer pulling them. Tao's stomach dropped.

Had she-?

A bay echoed in the forest and Tao exhaled in relief.

She was okay. He craned his neck to make sure and she was a distance ahead of them, bucking and shaking her head, shining lines on her flank reflecting sunlight. Like something massive had slashed her. But what had done that? That wasn't caused by a gun. She didn't seem injured apart from that, not limping.

Tao flinched back when the bandit stopped his horse in front of them. He had a young face for a head of silver hair, a long scar cutting through the right side of his lip.

Something else reflected in Tao's eyes and he squinted, trying to find it. A gun? What had hurt Dark Spear? There was nothing at the man's sides, but his hands…

Those weren't silver gloves he was wearing.

They were too big, too padded to be formed around a hand, and the back of them seemed to be covered in clumps of metallic fur.

Takagi-san blasted the man in the chest, throwing him off the horse. He landed on his back with a heavy thud. His horse bolted with a scream and Tao squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see another corpse; he'd seen more than enough in his lifetime.

It was silent for three breaths as Tao tried to get his heart under control again.

"What-?"

Tao peeked in Takagi-san's direction and then blinked when Takagi-san rushed to reload. But he'd killed – the hairs at the back of Tao's neck rose at a grunt and his jaw dropped open as the man lurched to his feet, bright blood dripping from his chest. The man wavered there and Tao could see the way his hands fisted. The fur went under his sleeves, not over. Not gloves – prosthetics?

The man snarled when Dark Spear slammed a hoof to his head, knocking him down again. But he rolled, sweeping up to his feet without a pause. He didn't go upright, staying on all fours.

Something in Tao clenched at the sight, not because of the blood, but the way the man had crouched, his lips lifted and revealing fangs. He didn't look human, his claws digging into the ground.

What was he?

A howl ripped from the man's mouth as he charged at them again, but Tao stopped breathing when Boss lifted his hand up towards Dark Spear.

"Boss-!" No no no, he shouldn't have to do that! That was why they'd employed Takagi-san in the first place! But the man had already been shot, hit by Dark Spear and he was still going!

Something else had to be done.

A sick feeling filled Tao's stomach as two spears formed above Dark Spear and he heard Takagi-san hiss next to him.

The man didn't notice. He stumbled when one spear slammed through a leg. He kept going, the spear still in his leg, like he didn't feel pain, like he didn't know it was there.

Boss threw more, smaller spears, focussing on the man's legs. Each one made Tao hope that was the last one and Boss could stop. But it wasn't.

The man had no weapons, nothing apart from those claws but Tao's heart jumped when he raised an arm, sunlight glinting off the prosthetic. He was going to do something.

He didn't get the chance, numerous finger-sized spears slicing through the man's arm. He dropped his arm with a howl and that was when Dark Spear kicked him again, sending the man flying.

When he hit a tree and fell, he didn't move again.

Panting and trembling, Boss gripped Takagi-san's shoulder and shook his head when Takagi-san lifted his shotgun up again. "Wait," Boss said.

"What-?" Takagi-san and Tao said at the same time. Why couldn't he take one more shot? They'd seen how much damage the man could take - he could still be alive! The man wanted them dead, and they couldn't run, not with how the wagon was.

Tao stopped, seeing Dark Spear collecting parts of herself. But she was also walking towards the man. Walking. Her head was lowered towards him, and Tao had seen more than enough times how she acted towards people she didn't like. She wasn't going to trample him.

Boss stepped off the wagon and Tao wanted to reach out and pull him back. "Boss-!"

"It's all right, Tao," Boss said, kneeling next to the man, putting two fingers to his neck. "He's unconscious."

Takagi-san lifted his shotgun again. "He should be dead."

"Yes, he should…"

Boss stood up and dusted off his knees. "This seems like a good place for lunch, doesn't it?" he said, smiling.

Uuh… Tao shared a look with Takagi-san and then glanced back at the shattered remains of the shafts. They wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a while anyway.

"But what if there's more bandits?" Tao said, getting out of the wagon and looking around. He couldn't hear anything else approaching in the silence. A couple of trees to their left were destroyed, like someone had tried to take an axe to them in frustration rather than to cut them down. The ground was torn up towards it too and when Tao looked it as a whole, it reminded him of the marks a dog left when it dug into the ground. Tao looked back to the man, expecting to see him get up again. He didn't.

Boss shook his head. "There won't be."

Maybe because the man would have killed anyone he was with when he lost his senses like that…

When Takagi-san lowered his shotgun, his lips were pursed and he glanced between Boss and Tao. "You didn't need me there; why did you employ me?"

They did need him! So Boss wouldn't need to use Dark Spear like that again! Tao ducked his head, trying not to shake. He snuck glances at Boss, but his nose hadn't started bleeding. Yet. It had taken a while to start last time.

"We do need you," Boss said, inspecting the damage to the wagon. "I wouldn't have been able to do that if you hadn't slowed him down in the first place. And your company was also wanted." Boss lifted his gaze to study Takagi-san. "However, if you're unhappy at the withheld information, you're free to leave once we reach town."

Tao watched Takagi-san keep quiet, worry clenching in his gut. They had kept information from him, but Tao couldn't think Takagi-san would have believed Dark Spear could do that. And it wasn't like he wanted Boss to demonstrate for Takagi-san either!

The silence dragged out until Takagi-san sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Hm. My sister still needs money back home, and I've liked your company better than others."

Tao relaxed as well, a small smile curling his lips.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" Takagi-san asked, also getting out.

"Nothing else comes to mind," Boss said, and Tao couldn't think of anything either.

Takagi-san nodded. "All right."

"Now then," Boss said, clapping his hands, "Tao, could you try to collect his horse? It's all right if you can't, and don't do it if you think you'll be injured."

Tao stared at him, not liking the change of topic. "But Boss…" He didn't want to leave Boss' side, not when he was being affected by what he'd just done. Or was Boss telling him to do that to keep him away when it happened?

"I'm all right, Tao," Boss said, his smile gentle. "Now go on." Tao studied his face one last time and didn't see any blood.

"Okay…" It would help get his mind off things. Maybe.

The man's horse hadn't bolted far, but they weren't keeping still either, pacing and snorting, looking in the direction of the man every few steps. They were dark and smaller than Dark Spear, which was a little unfair in comparison since all flesh horses looked small to her.

Tao kept his distance, keeping his hands were the horse could see them. "Heeey there," Tao murmured and they flattened their ears, backing away. That wasn't a good sign. "It's okay, I'm not going hurt you. I'll take you back to your rider if you let me." Tao had gotten used to Dark Spear liking him and understanding every word he said that it was strange when he met a horse that didn't. Every step Tao took towards the horse, they backed up one step.

They kept tossing their head and stamping their hooves and Tao didn't want to get too close in case they lashed out. He kept still, hoping they would calm down.

The horse kept their distance, half pacing, turning their head towards him every now and again. Tao could hear Boss and Takagi-san doing something behind him, but he didn't dare turn around in case the man's horse did something while he was distracted.

Eventually, they calmed down and wandered towards him. Tao smiled and looped a hand through their reins when they investigated his hair.

"That's right, I'll take you back to him if you let me." He kept his voice quiet so not to spook them and they huffed, relaxing.

They followed him with no problems when he started leading them back. The campfire had been set up and the man wasn't near the wagon any more. Boss and Takeo had moved him a little distance away, and Boss was crouched next to him again.

Takagi-san handed Tao a flask as he passed, and Tao took it with a nod, walking towards Boss.

There was a bloodied bowl of water next to Boss and nothing was left of the man's shirt or trousers. They were in shreds beside him and while the man was covered in bandages, blood still seeped through them. His breathing seemed steady though. Next to the remains of the man's clothes was a crumpled piece of paper. It was one of the advertisements they'd put up in the town they'd just left. …That must have been how the man had found them.

Dammit, was it because of him they'd been found? But if they hadn't tried to find someone new, Boss would have – he had connected with Dark Spear anyway.

Biting his lip, Tao focused on the man's hands to distract himself from the direction his thoughts were taking.

Tao had guessed they were prosthetics, but there was no clear joint, no part that Tao could say for definite where the flesh ended and where the prosthetic started. The part where they met was uneven, like the ‘fur’ was eating up the man’s arm.

Maybe… Maybe he was like Dark Spear, where he was machine underneath and had skin that covered him. That didn't explain why he bled when she didn't, and skin wouldn’t cover the fur without being obvious. There were bumps under the skin near where the two joined, getting smaller the further up the arm they went, stopping after the elbows. It was like they were growing, Tao thought, his stomach churning. Trying to break through the man's skin.

With how the man had acted and how the machinery looked, was this something new? If Boss could make Dark Spear act like a horse, maybe there was something that could make a human act like an animal.

There was something gouged into the man's left wrist - it was a 21 boxed by an open diamond, lines underscoring it. The lines were crude and uneven, like someone had done it with a knife. Tao’s eyes drifted to the man’s other hand. Or claws.

"Ah, so you were able to get them," Boss said, smiling up at him. The horse ignored Boss and nosed at the man. The man's brow creased at the touch and a hand twitched, but when his horse nosed him again, his expression cleared.

"Yeah." There was no way to tell the difference between Boss’ blood and the man’s, but there wasn't any redness or blood around Boss’ face.

"How are you feeling?"

Why did Boss keep worrying over him rather than himself? "I’m fine. What about you?" he asked, holding out the flask.

Boss smiled at him, taking it from him. "I’m all right, Tao, I’m not going to-" The flask swung, spilling water as Boss coughed, covering his mouth.

Tao tried to grab the flask but his fingers only brushed it before it crashed to the ground.

Tao waited for the cough to end, but it lasted longer than just a clearing of the throat, starting to sound like he was trying to bring his lungs up as well. Tao's stomach clenched as it turned into a fit, Boss wheezing and spluttering.

"Boss-?" Tao crouched as he picked up the flash, stroking his back, hoping that would help. Boss hadn’t seemed like he was coming down with something and the last few nights had been warm.

The coughing died down but Tao’s eyes widened when Boss pulled his hand away from his mouth, his glove's palm freckled with blood. They hadn't been there before. "Boss-!" He wasn't just bleeding from the nose, but the throat too? Was there something wrong with his lungs?

"I’m-"

"You are not fine!" Tao cut in, shaking his head, his heart trying to gallop out his chest. "You shouldn’t have - why did you-?"

"There was a chance Takagi-san might not have been able to-"

"But you wanted him alive!" Tao’s voice was shrill, and he pointed at the man. "If you’d thought Takagi-san couldn’t kill him, why did you stop him?" Tao couldn’t think, couldn’t form a sentence for his incoherent thoughts.

"Why…?" His throat was closing up and he had to squeeze the words out. "You’re killing yourself when you do that!"

"I know," Boss murmured. "I have my reasons for this."

"Like what?"

"That…is a long story."

"Like Dark Spear, right?" And maybe he should have asked more about Dark Spear, maybe he should have asked what Boss had done so the Union had found out about about him - from what Tao had seen, apart from Dark Spear, there wasn’t anything there that meant people should be killed for it. But he hadn’t wanted to ask in case he asked the wrong question and drove Boss away.

"It’s tied to that, yes." Boss' voice was still measured and he didn't continue.

Tao didn’t say anything and then nodded. "Okay." He stepped away. He dodged Boss' hand when he tried to reach for him. "I-I should go help make lunch. Like you said." It was a flimsy excuse, but that was the reason why they'd stopped there, so why not use it?

Tao tried to stuff the tightness in his chest as far down as he could manage, willing himself to breathe normally as he walked towards the camp fire, not hearing Boss follow. He sat down and Takagi-san didn’t say anything when he started scrubbing at his eyes, unable to stop his tears.

He couldn’t stop Boss from doing that, not without tackling him while he was…connected with Dark Spear, and he had no idea what would happen if he did. He could end up killing Boss. Maybe if he talked with Dark Spear, she could stop him.

But…Boss had been right. Takagi-san wouldn’t have been able to stop the man, even if Takagi-san had kept going until he was out of bullets. And Dark Spear hadn’t killed the man either, like she’d done with the ones that had tried to break into Boss’ house. That meant she liked him.

Tao looked over to her and she was calm next to the wagon. Tao couldn’t tell when she lifted her head if she was watching Boss, the man, or both.

Shoving his thoughts away to the back of his mind and ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach, he began helping Takagi-san with lunch.

* * *
"Hey, Dark Spear," Tao said when lunch was over, approaching her. Lunch had been silent, Tao keeping his eyes locked on his food the entire time. Boss hadn't tried to start a conversation like usual either.

The man hadn’t woken up yet and Boss and Takagi-san were making the items needed to repair the wagon. It was usually Tao’s job to help fix things, but he was glad he didn’t have to face Boss at that moment.

She nickered back at him, one ear twisted towards him, the other facing the man.

"He really is important, huh?" Tao murmured, stroking her neck.

She did a short nod, and Tao sighed. "So I can’t convince you to not do what Boss tells you next time?"

She snorted.

"Damn." Tao closed his eyes, leaning on her. "Guess I have to hope we don’t run into any more people." Except they’d gotten into trouble three times in as many months and Boss had started coughing up blood. It wouldn't be long until Boss' organs started failing. If they weren't already.

Boss hadn't coughed any more during lunch and hadn't seemed like he'd had trouble breathing, so maybe that was it, for now.

"So…" Tao said, giving her a pat, "how're you?" She didn't act like she was injured either.

She huffed and turned so her side faced him. Tao ran a hand down her flank until he found where she'd been wounded. There wasn't anything there, her skin undamaged, and his fingers didn't find any dips either. How had she fixed herself? Metal didn't heal like skin did, and there was so much Tao didn't know about anything. He couldn't get an answer from Dark Spear and he didn't ask to ask Boss so there was no way for him to get any information.

"Better, huh? What about your inside?" Tao didn't know what he could do, but it was better to ask.

She shook her head and Tao nodded. "All right." He stayed there, leaning on her as he made small braids in her mane.

* * *
"I'm going to look around," Tao announced as he left the camp. "In case there's, you know, more bandits." Though if they hadn't been attacked by now they probably wouldn't, but it was a valid excuse. He got a nod in return from Takagi-san and Tao didn't look in Boss' direction. They were still working on the wagon anyway.

He trudged away, with no destination in mind. If he could get higher, he would have a better view of anything coming.

He could feel an incline and he climbed a little higher, but when he turned around, the horizon was just as empty as when he'd looked out at the camp. The only movement was the sway caused by the wind.

Tao turned his head towards a sound and listened. The sounded like…a stream. He went towards it, and it wasn't too long until he stumbled across it. It was on the small side but… Yeah, they needed to water the man's horse, didn't they? Tao had gotten used to not needing to for Dark Spear; he'd forgotten they had to do that for a flesh horse. At least the trip had been of some use, Tao thought as he turned back to camp.

* * *
Tao watched Boss as he worked on the man from the corner of his eyes after returning with the man's horse. Tao looked up at a light nudge to his elbow, confused. Dark Spear would have - oh, it was Takagi-san.

"You should go over," Takagi-san said, and Tao squirmed, looking away.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." And this time, Tao winced. Yeah, he did. "He’s worried about you."

"And I’m worried about him!" Tao burst out, then clamped his mouth shut, huffing. Takagi-san would have heard their argument earlier - he hadn’t been trying to be quiet.

"And now you’re both worrying each other and hurting yourselves." Takagi-san said, crossing his arms.

"He’s doing it more than I am." He sounded like a child, but it was also true. …Was Boss really hurting himself? Had he gotten distracted while fixing the wagon?

"And why do you think he wanted him kept alive in the first place?"

Tao huffed again, glancing away. Boss wasn't a killer; he was more interested in creating new inventions than ending lives – he was a doctor! He had to care about other people!

"You don’t see that kind of machinery every day," Takagi-san added.

"You make it sound like Boss’ll cut him up." Boss wouldn't do that. He did that to machines, not people.

A wry smile crossed Takagi-san's face. "He already did."

…That was true.

Tao hunched his shoulders up, scuffing his toe along the ground. "I - okay," he said nodding. He couldn’t avoid Boss forever, and he didn’t want to.

"Thanks," he said and Takagi-san shook his head, walking away.

Tao jogged over to where Boss was and Boss looked over his shoulder, smiling at him.

"Ah…do you need any help?" Tao asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Boss' smile brightened for a second before he glanced back at the man. "Are you sure? If you're squeamish around blood, you don't have to force yourself."

Tao shook his head. "I should be okay." He'd seen what could happen to a body while working on the railway.

"Hmm," Boss said, nodding, "if you change your mind, you don't need to tell me - leave until you're comfortable again."

"Okay, thanks, Boss." Tao looked back at the man - the splotches of blood were darker than the last time he'd seen it. Tao didn't think the man was as pale as before either, with more colour in his cheeks. "What do you need help with?"

"The blood has dried to his bandages, so I'll need some warm water to help take them off." Boss picked up a set of scissors next to him and started to cut through the bandages.

Tao nodded and went to the fire to heat some up. It didn't take long to do, and when Tao got back, Boss had cut through a few of the bandages. Their remains were balled up next to him.

Tao frowned at a pair of gloves that were close to Boss' feet. They were dark, thick leather and Tao had never seen them before - Boss preferred white cotton gloves. Were they the man's? The back of the gloves were raised in places, like something had pressed up against from the inside. Like the 'fur' that ran up the back of the man's hands. So he couldn't hide it like Dark Spear...

"Thank you," Boss said, smiling at him, and Tao gave him a small one back, settling down to watch Boss work and help where he could.

When Boss peeled back the bandages, Tao's eyebrows rose at how small the wounds were. With how much blood there'd been and what Boss had done, Tao thought his wounds would be bigger. They were scabbed over and…it wasn't just stab wounds. Dark streaks spread out from them in multiple places. As if…they were following veins. What had made that?

"He's healing fast..." Boss murmured, peering at the injuries. "A little too fast, unfortunately - I'll need to cut a few of these open since he healed around the bandages."

Tao winced, and then blinked. "Wait. It's only been a couple of hours!" The wounds looked like they were days old already.

"It has."

"But how?" How could someone heal that fast?

Boss pursed his lips and then exhaled. "The Union," he said, his teeth gritted. He waved over the man. "This is what they do with my inventions."

Tao stared, his eyes widening. They put Boss' machines inside people?

"They want to make humans stronger and faster by integrating machines into them," Boss continued, cutting through more of the bandages. Blood welled up where the scissors passed for a second before it darkened and dried. "But people don't tend to volunteer for the procedure, nor are they allowed to leave the Union alive, in case they tell others the Union's secrets."

Oh. Boss' inventions were advanced and small, small enough to fit into a human without being noticeable. No wonder the Union wanted them.

…If Boss could make Dark Spear look and act exactly like a horse, then he could make a human. Was the Union trying to make a human? But that didn't add up with how the man had acted.

"Is that why he went feral like that?" Tao asked, cleaning the blood away. Dark Spear acted like a horse and the man had animal-like fur on him. Was the Union trying to make an animal-like human, or a machine that acted like an animal one part at a time?

Boss frowned, his hands slowing. "I have my suspicions, but nothing definite. There may have been a pain threshold that caused him to act that way."

Ah. That made sense.

Tao blinked when he lifted up the man's arm for Boss to bandage.

"Is there something wrong?" Boss asked, looking at him.

Tao shook his head. "I thought he would be cold to touch." The metal was cooler than body temperature, but not by much. Except Dark Spear was the same so he shouldn't have been that surprised.

"Hm. I am worried about where the metal meets flesh," Boss said, frowning. "It's the hottest part of him and I'm afraid that all I can do is put a cold cloth on it."

Oh.

It didn't take them long to finish putting on fresh bandages, and Tao watched the old bandages burn in the fire, drying his hands on his trousers. Tagaki-san was a little distance from them, maintaining his guns. "…Hey, Boss?"

"Mm?" Boss was cleaning the bowls they'd used.

"I'm sorry, about yelling at you." He kept staring at the fire, his arms wrapped around his knees. "I just…don't want to see you die."

"And I apologise for making you worry," Boss said. "I will try to not connect with Dark Spear as much as possible."

It wasn't a promise to stop altogether, but it was better than nothing.

"Thank you."

Tao listened to the fire crackling, but started frowning.

"Do you have a question?" Boss asked, looking over his journals.

He nodded. "How do you do what you do with Dark Spear?" How did Boss get so affected by it?

Boss' pen slowed. "She chooses you," he said. "And through that connection you are able to control her individual pieces. Though she hasn't deigned to tell me how she chooses a person," he continued, his tone wry.

Tao blinked. "You two can talk to each other? Through the connection?"

Boss nodded. "Yes, though she likes to keep her secrets."

He frowned as that piece of information clicked into place about a few things that Tao about wondered about. "That's how you knew how I got into your house when you hadn't seen me." Boss hadn't seen him; Dark Spear had. "And that's why you stopped right before Dark Spear killed those Union people." No wonder Boss had been so calm at the time – he'd know what was about to happen.

Boss smiled. "You have a good memory."

Tao ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck at that compliment. He stopped, his eyes going wide. Wait. His stomach dropped. "So…you know what I've been telling her." If they could talk to each other, then-!

"That, she's told me nothing of," Boss said, shaking his head. "As I said – she doesn't tell me everything, only what she thinks is important at that particular moment."

Okay. That was good. He hadn't embarrassed himself.

Sighing in relief, Tao settled down in front of the fire again, ready to help Boss with his latest invention.

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The fight scene at the beginning is what started this entire fic. XD Lorspolairepeluche had suggested a steampunk au and Frankenstein with Tao and Takeo having a one-sided fight against M-21 was the first thing that popped into my head, as well as Dark Spear being a horse. And then the entire idea spiralled because I went, 'Well, I may as well write up to this point and explain how they got there in the first place' and then the fic kept going…