Chapter Two-

Despite the hour, Rai sat elegantly on the black leather couch with a book of gaming, written by Frankenstein, in hand and half a cup of sweet tea on the table. Takeo and Tao had gone to bed almost eight hours ago; the two Nobles had temporarily left to return to Lukedonia, and Frankenstein was in his study, working on papers for his school. Meaning, the Noblesse was left to himself.

It wasn't long before he felt a familiar presents getting closer to the house. This was nothing new, if anything, it was coming more common. He waited patiently, taking small sips from his tea.

A quiet thud sounded from the balcony followed by a rattle of the handle being undone. He didn't need to turn his head to know who it was. M-21, with slightly messed hair, ruffled clothing consisting of a long-sleeved shirt tucked into black trousers, breathed a sigh as he entered the house. Under his arm was a thick black book, with loose sheets of paper every few pages. The first thing he did was place a black leather-bound book on the table on the left side of Rai before untying his shoes and carrying them to the shoe rack, by the front door. On his way back, M-21 slipped into the kitchen to grab the tea making machine and poured himself a cup then returned to the living room, sitting himself next to Rai.

Moments past in silence as they relaxed in each others presents, before the brunette broke it "The others are becoming curious as to where you go on a night."

M-21 chuckled lightly, a rare small smile played his lips "Knowing Tao, he wouldn't go about the easy way to find out." He took another sip of his tea, stress stating to fade from his body.

More silence filled the room, unbroken but peaceful.

It was almost an hour later before M-21's eyes began to slowly droop. He downed the last bit of tea and started to stand. A small movement caught his eye. It was only slight but he did see Rai's hand raise that little bit as if to stop and his lips parted a bit as if to say 'wait'. M-21 looked back at the other but Rai just looked down at his almost empty tea.

"Do you want some more?" M-21 offered, reaching for the cup, but Rai shook his head and placed it on the table in front of him. Not sure what to do, M-21 wondered what Rai wanted anything "Is there something you need?" he sat back down and placed his own cup on the table. Rai parted his lips to talk but stopped himself- is this too selfish of him to ask?

M-21 watched the others reactions carefully, mostly out of habit. He noticed the slight hesitation in the Rai's eyes, the self question of if he should say or not.

"It doesn't matter what it is, you can tell me. But if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you." He shrugged his shoulders like it wasn't a matter. But it was enough.

"I… would like you to stay with me" it was a quiet response; he looked away out of… embarrassment?

It was not what he was expecting, but then again- what was he actually expecting him to say?

"You do know I'm most likely to fall asleep next to you-." Then he yawned behind his hand. Rai gave a questionable look to M-21, although he didn't see as he leaned back into the sofa "But I will stay." He glanced over to Rai and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he saw the relived look on Rai's face, but he said nothing.

Another silence filled the room. As the night slowly rolled into early morning, M-21's head started to slowly fall onto Rai's shoulder as he fell into slumber.

Rai saw this and shifted himself so M-21 slowly descended until his head rested comfortably on his lap. Rai threaded his long fingers through the gray hair, lightly as not to wake the other up.

Frankenstein lazily strolled through the lower levels of the house to the white marble stairs. I should really get to bed while I can. He ascended the stairs and entered the door that led to the living room. The sight before him wasn't what he expected. M-21 was asleep with his head on his master's lap. To say he was confused was an understatement. He approached his master, till he stood by his side and quietly asked "Are you okay?" part of the question was left unsaid, but Rai knew.

"Is it selfish of me to do this?" he really didn't know, he looked down as he continued to stroke M-21's head.

Frankenstein just smiled "No, just a part of how humans feel about each other. It's normal." Seeing the reassured smile on his masters' face told Frankenstein he had said the right thing.

He glanced at the table to see two tea cups and a black book. Almost instantly all the tiredness was replaced by curiosity. He reached forward to pick up the book and flipped through until he was near the end "Ah, he's got new sketches"

The first new sketch was done in pencil colours, light Grays, oranges, yellows and reds with the occasional contrasts. The landscape is of the city from a high perspective point, on the verge of sunset. It gave the impression of peace and calamity.

The second was a simple pencil sketch on a young child- a girl, maybe- sat on a bench. The perspective was to the child's left, although the face was hidden by a hood, the only colour in the picture was the hand that held a blue rose.

Before he could carry on through the book, he was told "You should go to bed, get some sleep." It was a point. He placed the book back on the table and picked up the cups and took them to the kitchen. He washed them, placed them back into the cupboard and headed for bed. As he was about to disappear up the stairs he turned back and asked "Will you be okay, you need to sleep as well." He was a bit worried, even though he was the Noblesse and go for days without sleep- he didn't want him to get back into that pattern again.

There was a pause before a reply "I'm Okay here."

Frankenstein nodded before disappearing up the stairs.

The camera beeped quietly as it zoomed in on the black book on the table. Tao tapped a key and a photograph was taken.

"Hmmm…"

Hello Interneters,

Sorry for the lateness and the shortness but- like for many of you- exam season is now in session. You can thank ben4kevin for the request of an M-21xRai.

Thank-you for reading and for the followers and favourites (I only really expected the odd one- so thanks).

I'll try and update soon.

From

LittleblueTabby.