Summary: Tao gifts the newest member of the household with something.
Assumes the VERY good ending of season 6. I just haaad to write this.
Pretty much as always, blame Kai. *wry*
Will so be jossed, haha. And will be ooc too. XD;;
Welcome to the Household
By Dark Ice Dragon
Muzaka stared down at what the black-haired human (Tao, if he was remembering correctly) had presented to him. It was a long, thin band in an almost oval shape wider than his palm, the material a transparent silver. On top of it were two furry pieces of something that he couldn't make sense of.
"It's a headband – it's to keep your hair away from your face," Tao explained, smiling at him.
He took it from Tao's hands, seeing the teeth on the underside that he assumed would keep it in place.
The expectancy was clear on Tao's face and Muzaka decided to humour him. He'd never had a problem with his hair before, even with its length, but maybe it had something to do with the change in the times.
Muzaka took the headband and slipped it on. He could feel the band pulling at his hair – it wasn't painful, just that he was unused to the feeling.
His eyebrows raised when he felt the headband vibrate slightly. Tao didn't seem alarmed – it was the opposite, his smile going wider, so Muzaka assumed it was meant to do that.
Except the choked sound of surprise to their left made him turn his head and he saw M-21 and Takeo at the end of the corridor, their eyes wide and staring at him. Above him, at the headband.
"Tao-!"
"What, it was a gift!" Tao had his hands raised to his sides, his palms spread. Neither M-21 or Takeo's expressions changed, and they advanced on Tao, who backed away before running.
"What's going… Ah." Frankenstein was the next to show up, looking at whatever was above his head. At least he had a faint smile on his face. "Tao's played a small joke on you."
"I'd guessed." Muzaka raised his hand to feel where the headband was and his fingers hit something soft, triangular. There were two of them. They hadn't been there before…
"They're wolf ears," Frankenstein explained. "Tao's had a preoccupation with werewolves since he's met M-21."
The one who smelt like a strange mix of werewolf, human, and something he couldn't place, just like the other two humans.
"Hm." He crossed his arms. "You want me to talk to him?" Frankenstein knew about werewolves, but he didn't know everything, as much as he'd liked to ask questions.
"M-21?" Frankenstein's smile softened and he shook his head. "Only if he asks for it."
He shrugged. "Fair enough." With that kind of mix, what worked for pure-blooded werewolves might not work for him anyway.
Just as he was about to take the ears off, Raizel rounded the corner.
"Where is everyone going?" Muzaka asked, huffing. All that was left was Seira and Regis to see him now.
"It's dinner time," Frankenstein reminded him.
…Huh. Fine.
"Did Tao give you that?" Raizel asked, gazing at the ears. There was a fondness in his eyes that Muzaka had rarely seen before, but in this house that was so much smaller than the mansion in Lukedonia, that was rarely ever quiet, Raizel seemed like he never stopped looking like that.
"Yeah."
Raizel nodded. "They match your hair."
"Tao probably made them specifically so that they would." There was a weariness in Frankenstein's voice, and resignation written all over his face.
Muzaka pulled the headband off and saw the ears were the fluffy bits he couldn't understand. They were well made, looking pretty realistic apart from a couple details.
"Dinner should be ready by now," Frankenstein said, directing them towards where everyone else had been going.
Muzaka pocketed the headband as he was herded; maybe he'd get a chance to slip it on Tao's head later.
The last line demanded to be written, haha.