Summary: Rai sometimes gets distracted and forgets.
Set somewhere after season 6.
Been a while, but the blame lays on Kai again!
Old Habits Die Hard
By Dark Ice Dragon
M-21 staggered up the stairs from the lab, his heart trying to slam its way out of his chest. That…was a mistake. He'd overdone it. He'd hoped pushing his transformation would be better, but not if he collapsed and died from using up too much energy.
The living room door loomed ahead of him. The stairs were on his right, but that was too much of a task for his legs right now, so he dragged his legs forwards, opening the living room door with his shoulder, too tired to lift a hand.
The room was empty and M-21 threw himself onto the sofa, laying his head on the armrest. Just a few minutes. If he slept for a few minutes, maybe Frankenstein wouldn't know he'd been here (which was a lie and Frankenstein would see a spot of dust he'd left on the cushion from his sock, but at that second, he didn't care).
M-21 closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
He was sure he hadn't dropped off, but there were fingertips running through his hair. It had to be Tao; he was the only one who would do that. M-21 would have knocked his hand away, but the fingers felt nice, somehow finding places that felt good. There was a rumble in M-21's throat and he didn't stop it, too tired to think about what that meant. He let the good feeling wash over him.
A few minutes later, M-21 opened his eyes, seeing black hair above him. "Mnn, tha-" There was no familiar white stripe – the white was the uniform, the white thing Raizel-nim tied around his neck.
Shit.
M-21 jerked up, his eyes wide as Raizel-nim took his hand back.
"That…was something Muzaka and I used to do before," Raizel-nim said and oh.
"Thanks," M-21 said, scratching his head, touching where he had. Why had that felt like the way it had? Not that he'd let anyone else touch him like that before so he could compare. Was it…something to do with his heart?
"Frankenstein is still downstairs," Raizel-nim said and M-21 blinked. Where had that…? Except Raizel-nim was watching him, like he was waiting for him, and if Frankenstein was downstairs, then that meant he was working on something and wouldn't be here for a while. Not until dinner, and that was a few hours away.
M-21 had rested enough that he had the strength to go upstairs, but if that was what Raizel-nim had wanted, he would have warned him when Frankenstein was coming up, not that he was staying downstairs. Which meant he wanted him to stay.
Should he? After Frankenstein finding out, the worst that could happen was Tao seeing them and taking pictures, and Tao had already taken far worse.
"Do you want the chair over?" M-21 asked, glancing at the stool. Raizel-nim had recovered, but not by much, and Frankenstein would skin him alive when he found out M-21 had watched Raizel-nim move furniture around.
Raizel-nim shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "Frankenstein worries too much."
For good reason, but M-21 nodded anyway, lying back down. He wasn't going to argue with him.
M-21 exhaled when Raizel-nim slid his fingers through his hair again, his eyes fluttering closed. He wasn't sure the next time this would happen, but maybe…he could ask.