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esp_dragonFandom: Noblesse
Summary: Tao was frowning at his phone.
“It didn’t take?” It should have; there had been a flash.
“Well…” Tao exhaled, flipping his phone around so M-21 could see what was on the screen. “Yes and no.”
Notes: Change prompt for the Noblesse 10 year anniversary.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,426
Status: Complete
“M! Think fast!”
M-21 snapped his attention around at Tao’s call, eyes scouring for whatever he’d thrown this time.
He blinked at a flash in his eyes instead.
“Really?” M-21 said, returning his attention back to the dishes with a huff. “Changing tactics?” Tao usually didn’t give any warning, trying to get his photos as candid as possible.
Tao didn’t answer and M-21 looked back at him, an eyebrow raised. There hadn’t been anything that interesting about what he’d been doing to distract Tao, and Tao already had a lot of photos of him and Takeo doing the dishes.
Tao was frowning at his phone.
“It didn’t take?” It should have; there had been a flash.
“Well…” Tao exhaled, flipping his phone around so M-21 could see what was on the screen. “Yes and no.”
It was the sink, still filled with bubbles. Except M-21 wasn’t in it. There was a floating plate in it however, like M-21 had been erased from the image.
“Funny,” M-21 said, snorting. Tao must have prepared that earlier.
“It’s not me!” Tao actually sounded upset, waving his phone around. “I noticed you weren’t showing up on any of my feeds and I wasn’t sure if it was my machines -which of course it couldn’t be- or, well, you.”
“You think I did something?” And did it in such a way Tao couldn’t work out what he’d done? Tao was overestimating him.
“Not intentionally,” Tao said, slipping a hand into M-21’s pocket and pulled out M-21’s phone.
“Oi.”
Tao opened the camera, wrapping an arm around M-21’s shoulders and started to record them. "You would have been way more smirky and asking pointed questions, but you haven’t said anything.“
M-21 snorted. "You think I can’t act?” He glanced at the camera - and paused. It was just Tao on the screen, his arm hanging off empty air.
“You can act!” Tao said, ruffling M-21’s hair. “But when it doesn’t mean you’ll be hurt, ya don’t keep it up for long. Too much effort probably, heh.”
Tao stopped the recording and then played it again. Tao’s words came through clearly, still hanging off nothing. When it came to M-21 speaking, his voice sounded like it had gone through a distorter, barely recognisable as his own.
There had been no misdirection, nothing. His pocket no longer had his phone. Tao couldn’t have preprepared this.
“I didn’t…” M-21 couldn’t look away from the recording.
“I know you didn’t.” Tao pecked him on the cheek. “Frankenstein?”
“Yeah.” He might know what was happening.
* * *
Frankenstein peered at the photographs before looking back at M-21. “And this happened recently?”
Tao bobbed his head. “Within the last day.”
“Hmm…” Frankenstein tapped his chin. “Could you go into the scanner?”
Would he show up there? Would he distort the information there too? Tao’s technology and their phones didn’t seem like they’d been affected by him, but who knew…
Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the scan, and he didn’t hear any exclamations from Frankenstein or Tao so there had been nothing surprising.
M-21 leaned forward to look at the display once he was out of the scanner. There were none of the crisp lines that were usually there, everything pixelated and unreadable. “…Fuck.” If Frankenstein couldn’t get his data anymore… Though it meant if he was captured again, the Union couldn’t get his data either, if they thought he was worth examining.
But what had changed? Unless Ignes had done something… But as far as he was aware, all she’d done was torture him and not tried to modify him. Frankenstein would have said something if she’d tried though, so it wasn’t that.
“Do you think…”
M-21 knew that tone and what direction Tao was going in.
“…it’s got somethin’ to do with M’s heart?”
“I’m not sure,” Frankenstein admitted. “It is a reasonable guess however, and such an ability could explain how werewolves were never discovered to be real.”
“Doesn’t explain how the werewolves were experimented on,” M-21 muttered, his mind flashing to those sunken husks left in the tanks, like some morbid display. Either to prove their ability of their growing strength, or a reminder of their failures to motivate those around them.
“The best people to develop how to get around that would be the ones who have it,” Frankenstein mused. “And they would have had the time to do so.”
M-21 grimaced. The Union experimenting on humans was bad enough, but humans had a limit before the scientists had to stop. He knew how strong a werewolf’s regeneration was: what had to be done to eventually kill them, and so many of them?
“Hmmm,” Tao said, rolling his shoulders, “I’m no werewolf, but I wanna see if I can make somethin’ that’ll capture M again.”
M-21 sighed. “Why?” Though it was Tao — he didn’t need a good reason to decide to do something.
“Because it’d be good ta know if there were any werewolves in the area,” Tao said.
…Oh, that was actually a good reason.
“And because I gotta take pictures of you, M!” Tao continued, slinging an arm around M-21’s shoulders, leading them back out the lab with a wave to Frankenstein.
M-21 sighed. His original assumption had been right.
“Let’s go! I’ve got a lot of stuff I need to test now!”
* * *
M-21 was already used to Tao taking pictures of him with or without warning. It was usually without warning, because ‘it means your face is more natural!’
Over the next couple of days, a phone was always in Tao’s hand, as was the disappointed expression on his face every time he looked at the screen.
“I’d say you were doin’ this on purpose too,” Tao said after another failed attempt, putting his phone away, “but you aren’t actin’ smug.”
“If I could help I would,” M-21 said. It would mean Tao would stop sticking a phone in his face.
“We could help if you want someone to bounce ideas off of,” Takeo said, putting the last of the plates away.
“That could work,” Tao mused. “I wouldn’t have to keep tracking you down after every-”
They looked down at a buzzing and M-21 pulled his phone out.
“Awww, Boss figured it out already!”
M-21 raised an eyebrow at him as they went downstairs. “You thought you’d do it before him?”
“Maybe?” Tao laughed. “Boss has been busy and he didn’t say he was going to figure it out either.”
“Hm.”
Frankenstein was waiting for them when they arrived in his lab.
“I was able to get in contact with the lady werewolf-” Frankenstein said, looking at M-21, and something in him lurched. If Frankenstein had to go to a werewolf for information, that meant… “-and she informed me that it’s a werewolf’s aura that interferes with being recorded.”
M-21 froze at his words. “…A werewolf’s…aura?” M-21 repeated weakly. Shit. “But I’m not…” He couldn’t deny it now, could he? He’d lost the last remaining dregs of his humanity.
“Your abilities have developed considerably,” Frankenstein said, patting M-21’s shoulder. “She also suggested that you may be able to be seen if you suppress your aura.”
“It won’t make much difference,” M-21 muttered, grimacing. “I’m still no longer human.”
“M,” Tao said, poking him in the chest, “if you were completely human, you’d’ve been dead after what happened to you.”
M-21 paused, thinking it over. That was true… But was that worth-
Tao scruffled his hair, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
“You’re alive,” Takeo repeated. “For us, that’s definitely worth it.”
…Oh. M-21 looked around at the others before ducking his head. If the others had died from a fight… Yeah, he would prefer them changed but alive, like how Takeo and Tao had needed Dark Spear’s help to survive.
“C'mon,” Tao said, steering M-21 and Takeo out of the lab, “now we have to figure out how you’re going to suppress your aura!”
* * *
“M-21111~” Tao flopped across his and Takeo’s laps, lifting his phone up.
“Fine,” M-21 said, rolling his eyes. Learning to suppress his aura hadn’t been as difficult as he’d thought it would be: it was basically the opposite of pulling it out when he’d tried to intimidate people.
Tao grinned, posing as the three of them filled his screen and saved the picture. “Great!” he said, wriggling further to get comfortable. “Let’s start the movie!”
Shaking his head at Tao’s antics, Takeo started the movie he’d picked out.
Summary: Tao was frowning at his phone.
“It didn’t take?” It should have; there had been a flash.
“Well…” Tao exhaled, flipping his phone around so M-21 could see what was on the screen. “Yes and no.”
Notes: Change prompt for the Noblesse 10 year anniversary.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,426
Status: Complete
“M! Think fast!”
M-21 snapped his attention around at Tao’s call, eyes scouring for whatever he’d thrown this time.
He blinked at a flash in his eyes instead.
“Really?” M-21 said, returning his attention back to the dishes with a huff. “Changing tactics?” Tao usually didn’t give any warning, trying to get his photos as candid as possible.
Tao didn’t answer and M-21 looked back at him, an eyebrow raised. There hadn’t been anything that interesting about what he’d been doing to distract Tao, and Tao already had a lot of photos of him and Takeo doing the dishes.
Tao was frowning at his phone.
“It didn’t take?” It should have; there had been a flash.
“Well…” Tao exhaled, flipping his phone around so M-21 could see what was on the screen. “Yes and no.”
It was the sink, still filled with bubbles. Except M-21 wasn’t in it. There was a floating plate in it however, like M-21 had been erased from the image.
“Funny,” M-21 said, snorting. Tao must have prepared that earlier.
“It’s not me!” Tao actually sounded upset, waving his phone around. “I noticed you weren’t showing up on any of my feeds and I wasn’t sure if it was my machines -which of course it couldn’t be- or, well, you.”
“You think I did something?” And did it in such a way Tao couldn’t work out what he’d done? Tao was overestimating him.
“Not intentionally,” Tao said, slipping a hand into M-21’s pocket and pulled out M-21’s phone.
“Oi.”
Tao opened the camera, wrapping an arm around M-21’s shoulders and started to record them. "You would have been way more smirky and asking pointed questions, but you haven’t said anything.“
M-21 snorted. "You think I can’t act?” He glanced at the camera - and paused. It was just Tao on the screen, his arm hanging off empty air.
“You can act!” Tao said, ruffling M-21’s hair. “But when it doesn’t mean you’ll be hurt, ya don’t keep it up for long. Too much effort probably, heh.”
Tao stopped the recording and then played it again. Tao’s words came through clearly, still hanging off nothing. When it came to M-21 speaking, his voice sounded like it had gone through a distorter, barely recognisable as his own.
There had been no misdirection, nothing. His pocket no longer had his phone. Tao couldn’t have preprepared this.
“I didn’t…” M-21 couldn’t look away from the recording.
“I know you didn’t.” Tao pecked him on the cheek. “Frankenstein?”
“Yeah.” He might know what was happening.
Frankenstein peered at the photographs before looking back at M-21. “And this happened recently?”
Tao bobbed his head. “Within the last day.”
“Hmm…” Frankenstein tapped his chin. “Could you go into the scanner?”
Would he show up there? Would he distort the information there too? Tao’s technology and their phones didn’t seem like they’d been affected by him, but who knew…
Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the scan, and he didn’t hear any exclamations from Frankenstein or Tao so there had been nothing surprising.
M-21 leaned forward to look at the display once he was out of the scanner. There were none of the crisp lines that were usually there, everything pixelated and unreadable. “…Fuck.” If Frankenstein couldn’t get his data anymore… Though it meant if he was captured again, the Union couldn’t get his data either, if they thought he was worth examining.
But what had changed? Unless Ignes had done something… But as far as he was aware, all she’d done was torture him and not tried to modify him. Frankenstein would have said something if she’d tried though, so it wasn’t that.
“Do you think…”
M-21 knew that tone and what direction Tao was going in.
“…it’s got somethin’ to do with M’s heart?”
“I’m not sure,” Frankenstein admitted. “It is a reasonable guess however, and such an ability could explain how werewolves were never discovered to be real.”
“Doesn’t explain how the werewolves were experimented on,” M-21 muttered, his mind flashing to those sunken husks left in the tanks, like some morbid display. Either to prove their ability of their growing strength, or a reminder of their failures to motivate those around them.
“The best people to develop how to get around that would be the ones who have it,” Frankenstein mused. “And they would have had the time to do so.”
M-21 grimaced. The Union experimenting on humans was bad enough, but humans had a limit before the scientists had to stop. He knew how strong a werewolf’s regeneration was: what had to be done to eventually kill them, and so many of them?
“Hmmm,” Tao said, rolling his shoulders, “I’m no werewolf, but I wanna see if I can make somethin’ that’ll capture M again.”
M-21 sighed. “Why?” Though it was Tao — he didn’t need a good reason to decide to do something.
“Because it’d be good ta know if there were any werewolves in the area,” Tao said.
…Oh, that was actually a good reason.
“And because I gotta take pictures of you, M!” Tao continued, slinging an arm around M-21’s shoulders, leading them back out the lab with a wave to Frankenstein.
M-21 sighed. His original assumption had been right.
“Let’s go! I’ve got a lot of stuff I need to test now!”
M-21 was already used to Tao taking pictures of him with or without warning. It was usually without warning, because ‘it means your face is more natural!’
Over the next couple of days, a phone was always in Tao’s hand, as was the disappointed expression on his face every time he looked at the screen.
“I’d say you were doin’ this on purpose too,” Tao said after another failed attempt, putting his phone away, “but you aren’t actin’ smug.”
“If I could help I would,” M-21 said. It would mean Tao would stop sticking a phone in his face.
“We could help if you want someone to bounce ideas off of,” Takeo said, putting the last of the plates away.
“That could work,” Tao mused. “I wouldn’t have to keep tracking you down after every-”
They looked down at a buzzing and M-21 pulled his phone out.
[Please meet me downstairs when you are free. Frankenstein.]“Awww, Boss figured it out already!”
M-21 raised an eyebrow at him as they went downstairs. “You thought you’d do it before him?”
“Maybe?” Tao laughed. “Boss has been busy and he didn’t say he was going to figure it out either.”
“Hm.”
Frankenstein was waiting for them when they arrived in his lab.
“I was able to get in contact with the lady werewolf-” Frankenstein said, looking at M-21, and something in him lurched. If Frankenstein had to go to a werewolf for information, that meant… “-and she informed me that it’s a werewolf’s aura that interferes with being recorded.”
M-21 froze at his words. “…A werewolf’s…aura?” M-21 repeated weakly. Shit. “But I’m not…” He couldn’t deny it now, could he? He’d lost the last remaining dregs of his humanity.
“Your abilities have developed considerably,” Frankenstein said, patting M-21’s shoulder. “She also suggested that you may be able to be seen if you suppress your aura.”
“It won’t make much difference,” M-21 muttered, grimacing. “I’m still no longer human.”
“M,” Tao said, poking him in the chest, “if you were completely human, you’d’ve been dead after what happened to you.”
M-21 paused, thinking it over. That was true… But was that worth-
Tao scruffled his hair, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
“You’re alive,” Takeo repeated. “For us, that’s definitely worth it.”
…Oh. M-21 looked around at the others before ducking his head. If the others had died from a fight… Yeah, he would prefer them changed but alive, like how Takeo and Tao had needed Dark Spear’s help to survive.
“C'mon,” Tao said, steering M-21 and Takeo out of the lab, “now we have to figure out how you’re going to suppress your aura!”
“M-21111~” Tao flopped across his and Takeo’s laps, lifting his phone up.
“Fine,” M-21 said, rolling his eyes. Learning to suppress his aura hadn’t been as difficult as he’d thought it would be: it was basically the opposite of pulling it out when he’d tried to intimidate people.
Tao grinned, posing as the three of them filled his screen and saved the picture. “Great!” he said, wriggling further to get comfortable. “Let’s start the movie!”
Shaking his head at Tao’s antics, Takeo started the movie he’d picked out.