Summary: M-21 hadn't expected Takeo and Tao to offer themselves to Frankenstein's 'experiment' without knowing what it was about; he hadn't expected what would happen next either.
Set in 154.
Expected
By Dark Ice Dragon
A small smirk curved M-21's lips as he walked past Takeo and Tao to reach the line of ramen Frankenstein had set out for him – them, now, and M-21 wasn't sure how to identify his feelings about what had just happened. He had asked Frankenstein to allow Takeo and Tao to stay with them because he had been in the exact same situation only a week before, but he hadn't thought Frankenstein would agree; he hadn't thought they would offer themselves to Frankenstein's 'experiment' without knowing what it was about either.
When M-21 picked up his chopsticks (made of silver, an ornate cloud design on the grips; he wouldn't be surprised if Frankenstein had made them himself), Frankenstein made a soft exclamation of dismay.
"Oh, of course," Frankenstein said, looking at the chopsticks in M-21's hand before turning to Takeo and Tao, smiling. "How careless of me – you two will need utensils of your own. Hold on a moment while I get you some." Frankenstein left in a swirl of his labcoat, his shoes clicking on the tiles.
"Ah, shoot," Tao said, glancing at where Frankenstein had disappeared to. He rubbed the back of his neck, peering at M-21. "Do you think he'll bring back chopsticks or forks?"
M-21 frowned at the question. Huh, Tao didn't know how to use chopsticks. But knowing Frankenstein… "He'll probably bring both." Tao had been using a fork when he'd first tried ramen, hadn't he? Frankenstein would know to bring forks, then.
Tao grinned, his gaze going back to the ramen in front of them. "I'd looked up how to use them on the internet, so I think I've got a good grasp on how to use them now." He paused, and then shot a look at Takeo. "I could teach you!" he chirped.
Takeo's response was immediate. "No."
Tao's face fell, his shoulders slumping forward as he looked up at Takeo with wide eyes. "Why not?" M-21 was still trying to get used to seeing Tao's true personality after seeing him so serious and quiet when he had been in the DA-5.
Takeo sighed, shaking his head. "You have to ask?"
Tao made a grumbling sound, rocking back on his heels. "Aw, fine, but then who'll teach you?"
M-21 froze when Takeo glanced at him.
Frankenstein returned just then, both chopsticks in one hand, and forks and spoons in the other. He hummed as he presented them to Takeo and Tao. "Take whichever ones you feel comfortable with."
Tao picked a pair of chopsticks and started studying them. "Woah, the details on this are awesome!"
While Frankenstein chuckled and thanked Tao, Takeo looked back at M-21, his expression patient.
"…Okay," M-21 finally said. He hadn't expected that to happen from his trolling either.
Written for imagineyourotp's prompt 'Imagine Person A of your OTP teaching Person B to use chopsticks.'
Koreans use a spoon with their chopsticks. :3 You're not supposed to carry the chopsticks and spoon in the same hand either.
Aaaand those are supposed to be tildes in Tao's text but ffnet automatically changes them to dashes. At least it kept the emoticon.
