Summary: When Tao gains consciousness after being attacked by an agent, he finds that his body has changed in one very obvious way.

Contains tentacles.

Aaaand for the more lighthearted 'contains' section: more xeno than Side Effect and Pace the Night put together. Tao's thought processes. Crackish premises taken seriously. Way too much crack in general. But this also a lot more serious than Side Effect and Pace the Night.

Set post-season 4, and before season 5.

Written for tentaclebigbang Yeeeep. The link to the art post is in my profile!

Thanks to Kaelin, Kai and Dogmatix for their help while I was writing this! :D And thanks to Kaelin for also beta-reading this! *hearts*

I feel like I have to say something about the unholy amount of crack in this fic, because there really is an unholy amount of crack in this fic.

Been working on this since January, ahahaha. XDD


Adjust

By Dark Ice Dragon


Boss frowned over a monitor while Tao perched himself on the end of the scanner, a tentacle wrapped around either an ankle or waist. Since six tentacles were occupied, Tao was pretty sure the rest of the RK-5 were all accounted for.

"I have been careless," Boss said quietly, adjusting his glasses. "Your body is still changing – I hadn't realised because I'd only taken the one sample." He sighed, pursing his lips.

"It's fine, Boss," Tao said, waving a hand. "It's not like you could have known." But the adjustment period was over and they really had to find the agent that had done this.

"I'll go see if my computer's found anything; it should be finished now anyway." Tao let go of everyone, and headed towards his room.

"Do you need any help?" Takeo asked.

Tao shook his head. "Nah. And," he added, grinning, "I can walk to my room, so I'll be fine." Because what had been causing the problem in the first place was getting his wires crossed between his regular legs and his tentacles, and since his tentacles were already out, he shouldn't have as much problems as before.

The others didn't look that convinced, but after they walked back to the house together, they let him go to his own room.

xOx

Tao sighed at the results his search at yielded: nothing; the search parameters must have been too strict. Just as he was about to refine them, Tao frowned, feeling his tentacles twitch around the computer's cables.

"Yanking those out won't help anyone," he murmured, coaxing them away, except others were curling around whatever available surface they could, and seeing how much reach he had now, they could cover a lot of ground.

Every time he unwrapped one from whatever it was holding, another three had already latched onto something else. It didn't help that Tao could tell his concentration was in pieces – he used to be able to stare at his computer screen for hours on end, scanning for the data he needed, hacking into whatever facility that had the information the DA-5 wanted, but now, he could barely stand to do it for five minutes before his mind wandered, and it had nothing to do with untangling the tentacles from whatever they had decided to hold on to – he would have completely ignored them before.

Okay, if his tentacles were starting to affect his thought processes, they really had to go. Tao resisted biting his lip, in case he sliced it open again, and tapped his fingers on his desk instead. And half of his tentacles were tapping the same beat. Aaand he was getting distracted again. He was going to have to manually search for the agent, but Tao knew he wasn't going to be able to do it, not right then with his attention scattered across the floor like it currently was.

Tao sighed, rubbing his forehead as he lifted himself away from his computer and went to bed. Maybe rest would help him regain his concentration. He didn't bother changing his tentacles back – there wasn't much point if they turned into tentacles again while he was sleeping.

xOx

Tao woke up with a groan, the headache pulsing behind his eyes, like someone was stamping on his head to the beat of his heart. No, faster than that. Ugh. He flowed out of bed, heading to his door through more his tentacles telling him what they felt rather than through sight.

He had no idea what he was doing, the white noise ringing inside his head, instincts filling the rest of the space. He caught the familiar flash of – it didn't matter what their hair colour was – what mattered was they were right there and what he needed was-!

Tao wrapped his tentacles around them, burying his face in the crook of their neck and breathed in deeply again and again as he placed his hands on their shoulders, taking in their icy scent, hearing the distant chant of mine, mine, mine! in his head. He didn't care; he just wanted the headache to stop.

It eventually did, the headache retreating, and Tao sagged, still holding-

Tao's eyes snapped open and he blanched, the air caught in his throat, realising what he'd just been doing.

"Tao?"

"A - ah, Miss Seira…" He couldn't stop shaking as he let her go, and he flinched when she grabbed a tentacle in a tight grip.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked softly.

"Ye – I – I don't know," he admitted, feeling a different lightheadedness, and he tried to just breathe, in and out. He couldn't think straight; his thoughts were an utter jumbled mess, nothing forming completely before it dissipated.

"I am feeling better," Tao said, trying to explain, trying to put his thoughts in order, feeling his tentacles knot around each other, "but I had to do that to feel better and-"

"You think you made me uncomfortable?" Miss Seira asked, a small smile forming on her lips.

"I grabbed you without warning and sniffed you." Tao ran his hand through his hair, wanting to move, wanting to pace, but Miss Seira still had his tentacle and she didn't look like she was going to let go any time soon. He gestured out wide instead. "I don't know what I might do next! I could have hurt-" And Miss Seira was nearly full-blown smiling now, so he was obviously missing something but Tao couldn't work out what.

"Tao," Miss Seira said softly, and there was something in the way she said it that quietened his thoughts, told him to listen, "you wouldn't have harmed me. I saw your expression when you left your room – you were…desperate, not thinking, but you would not have harmed me."

"Now," Tao stressed. "What about later? What if-" She tightened her grip on his tentacle and pulled, nearly sending him sprawling before the rest of his tentacles caught him.

Oh, yeah, she was still stron-

Thunk.

Tao stared up at the sleek, black business end of Miss Seira's Death Scythe – she hadn't been able to fit it sideways in Boss' narrow corridor, and had had to point it forwards, the blade a few centimetres away from his cheek.

…Right, he forgot she was a Clan Leader sometimes, too.

"I can handle myself."

Tao laughed, finally relaxing and dipping his head. "Yeah, you can."

Miss Seira let go of his tentacle and Tao straightened, all of his tentacles doing a little 'flick', starting at the base and travelling down, all the way to the tip, as if they were checking to make sure they were all still in working order. Which was probably exactly what they were doing.

"Do you know what happened?" Miss Seira asked once his tentacles had settled, her Death Scythe hissing out of view.

Tao winced. "I just woke up really needing to do that." He sighed, his shoulders slumping. The instincts were the same as before, but more concentrated, more insistent to be relieved, a burn rather than an itch. What was going to happen if it eventually turned into an all-encompassing fire?

Her eyebrows drew together as she frowned. "You have to be in constant contact with someone."

"Well, yeah," Tao said, scratching his head. They both knew that. "But I've been doi… Oh." He had been doing that, up until he went to sleep. "I need to sleep with someone every night?"

"What?"

Tao turned around to see Takeo, M-21 and Regis walking towards them, a range of confusion and resigned exasperation written on their faces.

"Heh," he said, ducking his head, "the instincts are getting worse." And he hadn't realised one of his tentacles had started to rub itself against Miss Seira's palm; he wasn't sure if he should twitch it away or make it grab her hand, not after what had just happened. After a second, he glanced at her, and when she nodded, he slid it around her wrist. "Not touching someone for a couple of hours while sleeping still makes the headache worse, and when I wake up I just…grab the closest available person."

The others stared at him, before they shared a look. "Make up a rota, a different person each night?" Takeo asked, glancing at everyone else.

"Hey, wait," Tao said weakly, realising what Takeo was saying. The others nodded to Takeo's question without any hesitation. "I just said the instincts are getting worse – I don't know what I might do in my sleep."

He was speared by flat looks, which were completely unjustified, for once.

"We're trying to make sure you aren't affected by them as much as possible," M-21 said, crossing his arms.

Well, that was true, but still! He didn't want the others to get hurt, especially if they had put themselves in that situation to help him.

"And what would you do if our roles were reversed?" Regis asked, an eyebrow raised.

"…The exact same thing you're doing right now," Tao said, a breathy chuckle underneath his words. "Actually, no," he realised, shaking his head. "I'd try to get us all in the same bed with whoever was tentafied, so then we're all together and proving there was nothing to worry about." And that way, they'd also be able to wake each other up, one way or another, if something did start happening.

"All right," M-21 said, nodding.

Tao blinked when there weren't any protests to what M-21 said. "Really?" he said, looking at everyone else.

"Of course," Miss Seira said, and Tao shook his head, his mood lifting.

"We're definitely going to need a bigger bed, then," Tao mused, trying to think of what dimensions they would need to fit four people and a tentacle monster. …Only four? "Hey, do you think he'll join us too?"

Takeo treated him with a wide-eyed stare. "You're thinking about asking him?"

"Yeah," Tao said, nodding, "why not? That way we'll definitely know I won't hurt someone and, I don't know, maybe he's been wanting hugs but hasn't asked?" Tao hadn't spent that much time around him since gaining his tentacles, partially out of habit and partially out of the smidgeon of self-preservation he had at not annoying either him or the Boss. "And if we don't ask, we won't know!"

Takeo sighed, Regis grimacing next to him.

"We'll ask Frankenstein if he can make us a bed," M-21 said, shaking his head. "You can ask him if he wants to join us."

Tao tilted a grin at him. "Boss should still in his lab right now," he told them, "and he's probably gonna be in the living room," he mused as he drummed his fingers on a bicep. Whenever Boss wasn't involved with anything at the school, he tended to gravitate to his lab, checking up on his experiments, and it was almost a given the first thing he would do in the morning was have a cup of tea. Or a bowl of ramen. Or both.

"How are you going to ask him?" Takeo asked him as they made their way downstairs.

"Dunno," Tao admitted, shrugging, curling a couple tentacles around several more wrists. "'Do you wanna sleep with us tonight?'"

"Not like that," M-21 said, a pained expression flashing on his face.

"…Heh, yeah." Best to make it as clear as possible without any chance of misinterpretation – who knew if he had picked up any slang from their heads.

"What's wrong with that question?" Regis asked, frowning.

Whoops. "Humans, ah, sometimes use the word in a different way than actually meaning sleeping in a bed. But this where I get off, so I'll see ya later," Tao said, heading in the direction of the living room.

There was a second's pause. "I am not telling you," M-21 said flatly, and Tao could barely control his laughter as the two started snarking at each other again.

Tao frowned though when he reached the living room door - one of his tentacles had already opened it for him before he could reach it with an arm. His tentacles reacting to his thoughts before he told them to do anything was getting a little worrying, especially after what had just happened.

When he pushed the door open, he was there like Tao thought he would be, sitting on the couch with a steaming cup of tea in front of him.

"Morning!" Tao said, smiling, and he dipped his head in greeting. "I have a question for you," Tao said, as he eased himself down at the head of the table. He felt a couple of his tentacles edge towards him, but Tao pulled them back before they made contact. "It turns out I'm a little worse off in the instincts department than I realised." He paused, spreading his hands out. "I can't handle not touching someone for hours at a time, especially when sleeping sooo the others made a plan for someone to play tentacle teddy bear every night," –he took a breath- "but I thought everyone playing it at the same time would be better for, uh, safety reasons, in case my instincts turn violent." Tao glanced at the door before focusing on him again. "Anyway, they've gone to ask the Boss about making us a bigger bed but, I was wondering if you also wanted to join us?"

He didn't say anything for a few seconds, but Tao just waited, a small grin growing on his face when he heard him humming. If he was thinking about it, then he wanted to do it as well.

"Yes, I would."

Tao let out a 'whoop!' and nearly hugged him right there and then (because he wanted to, not because the tentacle instincts were in control, Tao was very sure of that) but since this was him it would be better if they started with little steps.

He slowly slithered a couple of tentacles in his direction, over the table and sofa, making sure they were seen (and they should be anyway; black bands on skin coloured tentacles did not make good enough camouflage against black leather). He watched them curiously, Tao was sure, as his tentacles neared him and Tao flipped one onto his lap. When he raised his hand and placed it on a tentacle, giving it a few brief pats before returning to his tea, Tao saw that as a good sign; maybe he really had been wanting hugs.

Tao's grin fell when a part of his mind crooned, pushing to wrap him up in his tentacles and draw him close, wanting more of his touch. Tao yanked his tentacles back, gasping, his eyes wide. That – no. He really had to do something about these instincts ambushing him – and if that was how he reacted to someone touching him back, was sharing a bed with everyone a really good idea?

He blinked at Tao, a small frown on his face. "Your instincts?" he asked and Tao gave him a short nod.

"Think I'm going to have to start taking notes on all the instincts I have now, hah," Tao said, trying to sound more cheerful than he felt. "I'm starting to lose track."

The living room door opened and the others came into the room. Tao looked up and gave them a small wave, glad for the distraction. "What did the Boss say?"

"He's making it to fit six people," M-21 said, glancing at him.

Heh, Boss knew his master well.

There was a pause. "Tao, what's wrong?" Takeo was looking between him and him. Damn. He shouldn't be surprised someone noticed the awkwardness.

"Eheheh," Tao said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm adding another instinct to the list – I'm not just a hug monster; I'm a hug monster that likes being hugged. I think." He glanced back at him. "My tentacles like being touched anyway."

The others looked incredulously at him, and Tao chuckled weakly. It wasn't hard to put together what had happened.

"But I'm fine," he assured them, waving his hands.

The looks the others were giving him were more than a little disbelieving.

"I didn't try to – uh, they wanted to?" he admitted. But he had been able to control himself this time – the urge definitely hadn't been as strong. Touching the others beforehand must have helped to keep them at bay.

"Tao," Takeo said, looking him over worriedly, "are you sure you're all right?"

"I am," he said, nodding. As much as he joked, he wouldn't lie about that. "It wasn't anywhere near as bad as what happened when I woke up."

"Hmm."

"Anyway," Tao said, clapping his hands, "we should be getting ready for school." Tao almost wasn't sure they would move, but once he started ushering them out the living room, and they had checked he really was as okay as he said he was, they left to go to their own rooms.

xOx

Tao grumbled as he rubbed his forehead while he, Takeo and M-21 walked to school – he knew it wouldn't do anything about his headache, but he still did it in the wistful hope it would.

"You should have stayed home," M-21 said, frowning.

"Nah," Tao said, shaking his head. "It's not getting worse at least, and I can't leave you two alone – you'd be lost without me! Anyway," he continued when both Takeo and M-21 snorted, "unless one of you wants to come back home with me and watch me tinker about with some of my gadgets…" Tao ended with a shrug. He'd widened the search parameters for the agent, because with his distraction levels, he still didn't think he was up to his usual standard.

"Then again," Tao added thoughtfully, "I probably wouldn't be able to manage that either, so then I'd get bored pretty quickly." He smiled at them, seeing them twitch at that realisation. At least at the school he'd be kept occupied and there wasn't much chance of him being separated from both Takeo or M-21 for extended periods of time either.

Tao cocked his head to the side, jostling Takeo's and M-21's elbows when he felt the press of the tentacle-instincts, wanting him to transform his legs. He grimaced as he supressed them; he could easily control keeping them out of sight though, so long as they didn't get stronger.

He saw the children in front of him and hid his wince. So much for not leaving Takeo and M-21's sides, but the children would know something was wrong if he didn't go to them.

"Yooo!" Tao said, raising his hand to greet the children, trying to smile as carefreely as he normally did. It didn't feel that natural, but the children didn't seem to notice, responding like they usually did. He brushed Takeo's and M-21's elbows one last time before he left their sides, hoping it would be enough to keep the headache at bay.

When Ik-han accidently touched his hand while describing a new laptop he was thinking of getting, the buzzing in Tao's mind barely acknowledged it, treating it like an abnormal blip rather than a relief. Tao wasn't sure if he should be happy or not, but at least it meant he didn't get distracted enough to lose his grip on the tentacle-instincts.

xOx

This was getting ridiculous, Tao thought as he gritted his teeth, trying to not be obvious, trying to not do what his instincts wanted and just drape himself all over Takeo or M-21 (or both at the same time), covering as much of them as possible with his own body as they walked home.

Takeo noticed anyway, giving him a light nudge with an elbow, and Tao gave him a small smile in return. It wasn't much, but it would help stave off the headache for a little longer. His tentacles wanting to be out had at least stayed at a manageable level over the course of the day.

Tao suddenly felt the familiar prickle at the back of his neck when he was being watched. He bit back a groan. Damn. He did not want to be in a fight with how scattered his thought processes were at that moment, but, Tao had to admit, it was better to fight now than see how he fought later. With how his instincts had been escalating, he might not have even noticed the person.

He shared a look with Takeo and M-21 who shook their heads. They couldn't see where the person was, which usually meant…

"Rooftops?" Tao guessed, wanting to sigh, because if the agents' dress sense didn't give them away, then their habit of standing on top of tall buildings and spying on people definitely did.

"Where else would they be?" M-21 said dryly.

Later, when he could concentrate properly, Tao was going to install cameras all over the city's rooftops because he was going to be that bored at one point and early warning systems were always awesome.

Tao handed Takeo and M-21 earpieces on their way up after sending a text to Miss Seira and Regis to tell them what was happening. It didn't take them long to reach the rooftops, but there was no-one waiting for them when they got there.

"That's a bit rude," Tao said, peering at the other rooftops, a hand on Takeo's elbow. "Don't they know the rules of engagement?" Agents hung about on rooftops until they were noticed, and there was a meeting on top of them. Or in the park, sometimes. Banter, posturing or snark were exchanged. Then they fought and M-21 lost his shirt. On the other hand, if the agents did follow the rules of engagement, that meant the children were dragged in and kidnapped, so it was probably a good thing the agents weren't following the script.

"There are rules?" M-21 said, and Tao didn't have to turn around to know he'd raised an eyebrow.

"Of course there are," Tao quipped. "There are basic rules that our fights usually follow." Hadn't they noticed that?

M-21 snorted, and Takeo shook his head.

They waited there for a few more minutes, Tao straining his senses to hear or see anything, but there was still nothing.

"Take the long route home?" Tao asked, though he didn't have to – he knew Takeo and M-21 would agree, if they somehow hadn't already thought of that, which was unlikely.

"I need more shampoo," Takeo said with a small shrug, his eyes still scanning the darkening skyline. The way the clouds had gathered, it looked like it would start raining soon.

"Number 2," Tao said as they made their way to ground level again, "you use up two bottles every time you're in the shower."

Takeo shot him a dry look, and Tao countered it with an innocent one; if they were going to pretend their change of direction was natural, then he had to act like normal too.

They started meandering once they were at ground level, avoiding the busy main streets and keeping to the quieter back alleys. They were left alone for only a few minutes before Tao felt the familiar prickle again. Hm. Agents who were actually trying to be sneaky. That wasn't good; that usually meant they thought while fighting and didn't rely on pure raw power. And if these were the people who had poisoned him in the first place…

"Guess we can't buy your shampoo," Tao murmured, tilting his head up to the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of their tail, but no such luck. There was a new kind of headache building in Tao's head, one that was both similar and different to the one that wanted him to hug everyone – he could tell it was tied to the tentacle-instincts, but he couldn't tell what they wanted him to do, other than they were there and its presence was growing with every passing moment. Tao hid his sigh as he shook his head; now was not the time to develop even more unpredictable instincts - but it wasn't like the instincts were going to listen to him, so he just had to deal with it and supress them as much as possible before they made him do something else unexpected.

"I'll use yours instead."

Tao couldn't stop one side of his mouth curling up. "Fine, but in exchange, I get to put more of my stuff in your room."

He got a snort as a reply. "That isn't equal."

Tao snickered, but didn't continue the argument in case they got too distracted. He had been right about the weather though – a small drizzle had started to fall, swiftly growing heavier. It smelled different from Takeo's scent, Tao realised – Takeo was more earthy, not as sharp, and green too, reminding Tao of the last time they'd been in a forest.

Ten minutes later, they were still being followed with no indication that the agents were intending to reveal their presence and Tao was starting to get bored. The rain was still getting heavier, starting to seep through his jacket, and while it wasn't enough to make any of them ill –he knew he and Takeo had been through far worse without any repercussions, and he didn't doubt M-21 had been through similar- Tao would still prefer to be inside and dry. Maybe he was going soft after living in a proper house for months; something like getting a little wet wouldn't have bothered him before.

Being constantly on edge hadn't helped his headache at all either, and before it could get worse, Tao decided to try something.

"Hey," he said as he pulled out his pocket computer, "cover me."

Takeo moved so he was more in front him while M-21 took a step back. Tao waited a few seconds, just in case that was what the agents wanted for whatever reason, but when nothing happened, Tao switched his pocket computer on, waiting for everything to load, following the path Takeo set.

Maybe the agents were trying to intimidate them by following them? Or maybe they were trying to really bore them to death, and then the agents would attack once their guard was down. It was either that, or the agents were trying to follow them home. Tao snorted. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen either.

It didn't take him long to hack into the surrounding security cameras, his fingers on automatic and it was the fifth camera feed Tao hacked into that he found what he was looking for. Tao stared at the brown-haired agent thoughtfully, partially hidden behind a black umbrella. He was on the street level too, not on the rooftops. Huh. Definitely different. "You didn't mention the piercings," Tao mentioned. He could see light being reflected from one of the agent's eyebrows.

"I saw him from behind," Takeo replied dryly.

Yeah, now he was just being purposely annoying. Tao brought up a couple more feeds now that he knew where to look, each one with the agent in view (two were panning, but he'd have to switch them soon anyway once the agent moved).

"Park, then," Tao said, keeping an eye on the agent. If he didn't want to engage them on the rooftops or try to am-

Tao saw the agent reach into his jacket and something in Tao snapped at seeing a threat directed towards them. Except it wasn't because it was directed towards them – it was because the threat was directed towards Takeo and M-21 and they were his. His family and it only took a second's thought to transform his legs, Tao not caring his trousers were shredded in the process as he whirled around, grabbing what was his with his tentacles.

He could see it coming, small and round, and while the tentacle-instincts demanded he use them to knock it out the way, Tao dodged instead, gasping as he fought against the tentacle-instincts, grunting as his back slammed into the alley wall - because as good as his eyes were and how well the tentacles reacted to his thoughts, they still didn't quite react perfectly to what he wanted, and he did not want to leave something as important as his comrades' lives to a 'it should work'.

The projectile passed them harmlessly and Tao heard it hit something with a hollow 'clang', the sound sharp and clear over the downpouring rain.

Tao's headache exploded –because if that had hit, if that had hurt them, and so many other shrieking thoughts- and all he could see was where the agent had to be; he roared, letting go of what was his-

Except someone threw their arms around his chest and Tao hissed, struggling to escape their grasp, wanting to tear after the agent, wanting to make sure he was never a threat again to-

He was yanked back and Tao slammed into the slick ground, the air whooshing out of his lungs when he hit it, his tentacles not fast enough to catch him. As soon as he hit the ground, the world snapped back into focus and Tao could hear M-21 yelling something over the rain.

"-ber 1! Calm down! You can't-" And that was what made Tao start beating down the tentacle-instincts again - he shouldn't be the one being told to keep calm (especially by M-21, who had the worst and quickest temper out of them all) when he was supposed to be the leader; he didn't just have his own life to think about, but all of the RK-5's lives depended on him keeping a cool head. The instincts did not want to be silenced, screaming louder the more he tried to supress them, that Takeo and M-21 would be hurt if he didn't do something quickly, but now that Tao was aware what they were doing and not allowing them to control him, he was able to shove them away bit by bit.

Tao nodded to M-21 as he picked himself up when he was finished, his tentacles splaying out wider than usual, in case he needed to lunge out of the way again.

He could see Takeo was about two seconds from chasing the agent – but if the agent kept to ground level, there was far too big a chance that civilians could be caught in the crossfire and hurt. "Number 2," he said around the annoying press of his fangs, gesturing to him, "wait."

Takeo halted, and Tao let out a breath, pushing away the tentacle-instincts that still wanted him to go after the agent; it wasn't good to split up in an unknown situation (except that was what usually happened, but in an ideal situation, they wouldn't be), and that was why M-21 had grabbed him in the first place.

Tao moved to the wall for extra cover, his tentacles picking up his pocket computer at the same time and handing it to him. He wiped the screen, trying to get a clearer view, but it was useless when raindrops splashed down faster than he could get rid of them.

The agent was nowhere to be found on the security cameras. Tao widened his search, trying to find that distinctive jacket – and found it, getting flattened by cars, which could be a good thing, because if the agent had attacked them while they were all distracted… Why hadn't he though? Unless the agent was alone? Was that why the agent had tried to pick him off while he was separated from Takeo and M-21 two days ago?

"He changed clothes," Tao told Takeo and M-21, still trying to find him, but if they only really had his hair colour to go by… The streets were a mass of umbrellas now, hiding everyone from view.

"Dammit, he'd been waiting for the rain," Tao realised, keeping his pocket computer out, just in case. It made the perfect cover when everyone used umbrellas for even the tiniest drizzle – it was the people who didn't use an umbrella that stood out.

"It wasn't just to hide himself," Takeo said as he stared at the dumpster to the left of them.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Tao asked, glancing at it above his screen.

"Whatever he used, it's been washed away."

Tao blinked, understanding what Takeo was saying and then pulled up a few logs, working out the trajectory of the throw (he winced when he saw himself lose control in the corner of the shot). When he looked at where the projectile should have landed, he couldn't see anything. Tao carefully picked his way over to it – or, he would have, if Takeo hadn't grabbed his arm, keeping him in place.

"Number 2?" Tao said, looking back at him.

"You aren't wearing any shoes," Takeo said, nodding down to his tentacles.

Tao looked at him incredulously. Why was he bringing that up now? "Unless Boss can make them for tentacles –and they can turn into shoes- yeah?" Where were his shoes anyway? He heard M-21 start walking around the alley.

"Tao," Takeo said, still not letting him go, "there could be poison on the ground and you're essentially barefoot."

"…Ah, right." Tao winced. He had been too distracted lately, and having tentacle-instincts was no excuse for that. Not when it could get them killed. "Over by the dumpster," he directed Takeo, moving back, "there should be a dent." Even the low-level agents would be able to do that. Tao could feel his tentacle-instincts rising again at the possibility of Takeo getting hurt by the poison, but he shoved them away. Takeo was wearing shoes and he'd be careful.

Takeo crouched over the spot, keeping his hair off the ground as he stared around at the ground, but he eventually stood up, shaking his head.

Tao wiped his hair away from his eyes, sighing. If Takeo couldn't see it, no-one else would be able to. "We should go back," he said. When they were sure the agent wasn't following them again, of course.

Tao quirked a small grin at Takeo and M-21 when they came back to his side. After making sure the agent hadn't come back, Tao started transforming his tentacles – he stopped with a weak chuckle when he realised he'd forgotten one very important detail. "I'm…going to have to start bringing Miss Seira's kilt with me everywhere, huh?" Or buy new skirts, because Miss Seira was going to eventually want it back and even if she didn't, he would still be in trouble when it needed washed.

M-21 sighed and shook his head. "How?"

Tao shrugged, mulling it over. "Backpack?" Hm. That would look a little weird. "Suitcase?" That would look better; it would match his suit.

Takeo snorted.

Okay, back at the task at hand: he had the possibility of being caught as a tentacle monster in the city streets, or being caught streaking in the city streets. Of the two options, Tao knew which one he preferred.

And Takeo and M-21 were taking off their suit jackets. Heh. Yeah, that would work as a temporary solution.

Tao turned his attention to changing his tentacles back into his regular legs but he frowned when he felt a resistance in his mind. He knew what to do to turn his legs back, but it was like trying to grab sunlight – he could feel it, it was familiar to him, but he didn't actually have anything in his hands when he closed them.

"Tao?" Takeo said when nothing happened for a few seconds.

He looked at them, his stomach churning. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he said, "I can't change my legs back."