Title: Chapter III: Meet The Family
Writer: Madame aZure
Fandom: Noblesse;
Pairing: None
Genre: Family;
Rating: K;
Warnings: there are no warnings for this chapter. Read at your own risk.
Disclaimer: I do not own Noblesse or any of the characters. No trademark infringement or profit is meant from the writing of this fanfiction.
Author's Note: Chapter I, II and III feature the setting for this AU. From now on, the chapters will have individual stories based on it – the stories will have no particular order and won't necessarily be linked together.
M-21 peeked through the opened door, scrutinizing the living room and assessing the threat: the person who gave him cookies and milk last night was surrounded by four strangers. They seemed busy setting the table, going in and out of the room and haven't yet noticed him hiding. He was fidgeting, trying to decide what to do, carefully watching them from behind the doorframe to make sure they didn't suddenly approached him or something similar.
One thing he was sure of: he needed to get to the blond. After a few moments of pondering, he came up with an attack strategy. If he waited patiently for a moment when all the other strangers left the room and Frankenstein remained alone, he was sure he could quickly cover the distance between them and reach him before anyone else noticed.
When the moment he was looking for came, he took a deep breath, waited for the white-haired lady to finally leave the room, then sprinted as quickly as he could from his hiding spot to Frankenstein's side.
In reality, the household members noticed him straight away, but they acted like they didn't, giving M-21 enough time to make his own decisions, as he felt safer thinking that he was 'hidden' from them. Seeing as the little one was constantly looking at Frankenstein, they guessed that he wanted to get to him, but he was cautious of them. Through a silent agreement, they decided to leave the room, to see what the child would do when the scientist was left alone. They had to make a great effort of will to contain their smiles when M-21 rushed to Frankenstein's side, because his tippy-toe running was adorable.
The little werewolf almost collided with Frankenstein's leg, skidding to a stop near him. He grasped the material of his trousers in a determined grip, looking up at him and waiting to be noticed by the adult.
"Good morning," the scientist gave him a gentle smile, crouching down to meet the child's eye level. The motion forced the werewolf to let go of his pants, gripping instead his sleeve, as a physical reassurance that the other wouldn't run away and leave him alone. His silver eyes shined daringly, as if he was challenging Frankenstein to try and brush him away, his whole demeanor exclaiming: 'You earned my trust, I'm not letting you go!' Of course, Frankenstein could do nothing but comply with the little one's unspoken request.
"Good morning," M-21 mumbled unsure, throwing wary glances at the others when they came back into the room.
"Have you slept well?" Frankenstein asked, ignoring the little hands that creased his perfectly ironed dress-shirt.
M-21 shrugged, carefully watching the others out the corner of his eyes, shifting closer to the scientist.
"Let me introduce you to the others, alright?" Frankenstein asked.
The child narrowed his eyes to him, not too keen on the idea, but nodded nonetheless, staying still when the other wrapped his arms around him, picking him up. He snuggled comfortably against the scientist's chest, sighing in relief as the embrace gave him a sense of safety.
"They are Miss Seira, Regis, Takeo, Tao," Frankenstein told him their names, gesturing to each of them with a wave of hand, "– and this is little one," he finished the introductions.
"Hi there," Tao greeted him excitedly, smiling brightly, coming a little too close for comfort to him, making the little werewolf frown suspiciously at him. "I'm Tao," yeah, he knew that, Frankenstein had just introduced them.
"Tao, you're bothering him," Takeo sighed at his comrade's excitement, even though he looked like he wanted to come closer to the child too.
"I just want to make friends with him," the hacker answered, reaching out to ruffle M-21's hair, but one glare from the child told him it was better to keep his hand to himself, unless he wanted to get bitten. Frankenstein had told them all about M-21's condition, not omitting the fact that he was cautious, if not frightened of strangers and would attempt to either defend himself or run away, so it was better not to act around him in a way that could be perceived as a threat.
"Perhaps it would be better to let him choose whether he wants to befriend you or not," Regis advised him, arms crossed over his chest. He knew better than to approach the child in such an enthusiastic manner, but the hacker always had trouble comprehending the concept of 'personal space'. He eyed the little one, a fleeting thought passing through his mind, a thought that everybody else tried to hide behind a cheerful façade: how much of his comrade was left in the child?
M-21 shifted his gaze from Tao to the noble, sizing him up, thinking that he was a little… short for his grown-up attitude and fancy way of speaking. Near him stood the pretty lady, Seira was her name? She gave him a small smile, then turned around and went into the kitchen, disappearing from the view, making the werewolf wonder if she was shy or if she didn't like crowds.
The hacker opened his mouth to say something, when a new person entered the room, drawing everyone's attention.
"Good morning, Master," Frankenstein greeted the stranger with a smile. "Little one, this is Raizel," he said looking back at the child, who completely stopped paying attention to them.
M-21 was looking at Raizel, his eyes sparkling with curiosity, head slightly tilted to the side. He was sure he hadn't met this person before, but somehow he felt familiar. His presence was calming and safe… just like the kind voice that spoke to him last night. Moreover, there was something about the other that intrigued him: he could tell the other was special somehow, but he just couldn't put his finger on how exactly was he unique.
A small, gentle smile from the said noble derailed the werewolf's train of thoughts, surprising him. He shied even closer to Frankenstein, peeking occasionally at Raizel, who simply went and took a seat at the table, waiting for everyone to get seated as well.
"Little one, would you like to join us for breakfast?" Frankenstein chuckled lightly at the child's reaction to meeting his Master, the werewolf snapping out of his daze and nodding in response.
The scientist went to the table and tried to lay the child on a chair, but he had quite the death grip on his shirt, refusing to let go. He sighed, because if he considered the enhanced humans as his children, well, with M-21 in his current state, he was going to get a real taste of what parenthood was all about. Instead of forcing the child to release him, he simply took a seat at the table and placed him on his lap.
As everyone took their places at the table, Seira returned with another plate and a set of tableware for the child, which she placed near Frankenstein's.
M-21 looked dumbfounded at the already filled plate that was placed before him. To say it looked funny was an understatement, and he wasn't the only one shocked by it, given the others' reactions: Regis looked at it with a raised brow, Tao had to stifle his snickers and Takeo simply smiled.
The food smelled amazing and was appetizing nonetheless, but… the chocolate chip pancakes were shaped like a teddy bear head, with little smiling expressions drawn on them with chocolate syrup, the fruit salad on the side had all the pieces cut in a star shape, and there were also two cupcakes that had a bright, rainbow colored cream on top of them.
The werewolf glanced at Seira, who had a proper and elegant posture, apparently unaffected by the glances she received from the others, but even she couldn't mask the slight blush that redden her cheeks while waiting for the child's reaction. M-21 looked up at Frankenstein with a questioning expression, silently asking why his food looked so funny.
"Thank you, Miss Seira," Frankenstein thanked her in the werewolf's place.
The noble nodded in acknowledgement, taking a seat at the table, but it was clear she still waited anxiously for the child's opinion on her attempt at a cute breakfast.
"Let me help you," the scientist said, considering that it was better not to let a five-year-old handle the knife. He cut the pancakes into bite-sized pieces, before giving the child the fork, which he held with an awkward grip, not quite having the dexterity of an adult. The werewolf eyed the food one more time – given that what Frankenstein gave him last night had been safe to eat, this had to be too, hadn't it? Hesitantly, he picked a piece and ate it – the pancakes were delicious, so sweet and fluffy like a cloud.
"Do you like it?" Seira asked in a timid but hopeful tone.
The child nodded, continuing to eat, now more confident that the food was safe and most importantly, very tasty. Shortly, everyone started eating as well, Frankenstein having a little trouble, since it was difficult to reach the dishes around the child in his lap.
Out the corner of his eyes, M-21 peeked curiously at the others, studying them – the way they interacted with such ease and familiarity gave the impression that they had been together for a long time and they got used to one another. Their behavior didn't felt fake or forced, as if they were pretending to be happy just for the sake of a façade, which was something the bad people usually did. The atmosphere was jovial and light-hearted, and they almost looked like a normal family having breakfast together.
As for his first impressions about them… He didn't like Tao – that was clear. The hacker was a little too cheerful, excited and energetic for his taste, and he had not appreciated his attempt at petting him.
Takeo kept his distance and even told Tao not to bother him, so he was ok in his books. The werewolf was a little curious as to why did the sniper have such a long hair, like a lady would have – hm, maybe he liked it that way?
Regis looked like a child but behaved like an adult, which was a little odd, and there was something in his eyes that told M-21 that their personalities would clash, should they be standing on equal grounds, but since he was a stranger in that house, he knew it would be better not to push anyone's buttons… yet.
There was no way that someone who could make such delicious pancakes could be bad, so Seira was on his white list too. He liked the pretty lady since she was calm, collected and minded her own business.
Raizel… he didn't know what to think about him yet. He hadn't spoken a word, nor had he done anything to prove whether he was good or bad, but somehow he felt… safe and warm.
Frankenstein was definitely his top pick, should he need to run to someone for help. The kind voice told him that he would protect him, so it had to be true, hadn't it? Moreover, he didn't get mad when M-21 bit him and even gave him cookies, so he had to be a good person – someone mean would've never saved him from the bad people.
He didn't fully trust them yet and who knew what the future would bring, but somehow M-21 knew it would all be alright… wouldn't it?
TO BE CONTINUED… :)