Pace the Night (Noblesse, Regis+M-21)
Oct. 3rd, 2012 06:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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no_true_pairTitle: Pace the Night
Author:darkicedragon
Fandom: Noblesse
Pairing/characters: Regis, M-21
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Summary: The wolf was restless tonight.
Word Count: 1,403
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Regis and M-21, not fully human.
Notes: The Pace the Night parts aren't actually connected with each other in a timeline or anything. They're separate fics going along a similar theme.
Regis exhaled softly as he walked down the corridor, moonlight starting to shine through some of the windows, wondering if he should check up on M-21 - when they had been returning home, both Tao and Takeo had been hovering at M-21's shoulders, which was concerning enough. At a glance, it was easy to see why: M-21 had been holding himself tensely, keeping his distance from everyone, his expression focused but directed inward. The fact that M-21 hadn't noticed Tao and Takeo's worry was something else altogether. Thankfully the children hadn't come over, responsibilities elsewhere for the night. M-21 had gone to his room as soon as they were home but had not been seen since. Tao and Takeo were mostly acting like their usual selves, but Regis could see their glances towards the direction of M-21's room.
Revealing he was concerned, however... Well, maybe their...snarking, as Tao had put it once, would help distract M-21 from whatever was bothering him.
And he was already at M-21's door. Regis stared at it for a second before clearing his throat, checking to see if anyone else was there; obviously his body knew what his mind would decide and had already started moving before it had come to its conclusion.
He knocked twice on the door and waited. When there wasn't an answer, he frowned, considering whether he should knock again. It had been loud enough to hear; repeating the action wouldn't do anything, and if M-21 was asleep...
There was shuffle-like sound from the other side of the door, but Regis' frown deepened when he realised M-21 was having difficulty opening it, sounding like he was running a hand down the wood. Regis quickly pushed down the handle, holding it there for a second, and hoped that would be a good enough signal before he opened the door and hit M-21.
M-21 had understood it -Regis didn't hit anything- but he froze at the doorway, the air caught in his throat.
M-21 stared blandly back and Regis took note of all his changes: his hair had decided that it no longer liked gravity, standing up in points; his hair also spread across to his cheeks, symmetrical points that angled towards his nose; Regis could just see the hint of fangs poking out from under his lips; M-21's arms were covered from fingertip right up to his neck by the looks up it under his shirt, silver claws delicately resting on the carpet. That wasn't what had startled Regis the most however: it was the fact that M-21 was crouched on all fours, looking as if he had no intention to straighten himself. Behind him, the full moon shone through the window.
Regis knew that M-21 could transform, knew that its source was from a werewolf, even though he didn't know exactly how. But Regis had only ever seen at most his hands fully transformed, nothing more. He hadn't thought M-21's transformation could progress further than that.
There was something in the way that M-21 was staring at him that made Regis uneasy, his face blank, looking at him, but not seeing him. Which made a part of Regis question what exactly had happened to cause this. He could recall some titbit of information he had read some time ago regarding werewolves and the full moon, but he hadn't paid it any heed when he'd read what humans thought nobles did. If that was what they said about nobles, he couldn't trust what they said about werewolves. But if M-21 truly had lost his sense of self…
And Regis had apparently been standing there for too long, one side of M-21's mouth twisting up suddenly before he rushed outside his room and Regis had a second of staring dumbfounded at the spot M-21 had been occupying before whirling around with a breathed, "Dammit!" He could hear M-21 thundering somewhere deeper in the house and Regis ran after him, his mind full of possibilities of what could happen. If M-21 made it outside, looking the way he was...!
He skidded to a stop at a fork, twisting left and right, trying to pinpoint where M-21 was. Right there, at the end of the corridor, waiting for him. Or not - as soon as Regis saw him, M-21 was off again. This continued on, and each time, Regis' stomach dropped further because M-21 wouldn't do this. He barely reacted to his name being called out and for some reason, that was worse to Regis.
But maybe there was still some remnants of M-21 still there, buried under all the werewolf instinct; he was teasing him, always keeping ahead but making sure Regis knew exactly where he was, growling non-threateningly when Regis fell too far behind, the grin still on his face. It frustrated Regis, for M-21 to keep dancing out of reach with ease, but so long as M-21 didn't attempt to take their...game outside, he was willing for it to carry on. It didn't appear like M-21 was interested in going outside, the windows looking untouched when Regis passed them and spared them a glance.
"Hey! What's wrong?"
Regis looked over his shoulder to see the rest of the RK-5 (minus Frankenstein) standing behind him, battle-ready with their weapons drawn. Making sure M-21 was still there (still in the same place, still watching; he seemed to have straightened slightly though, paying more attention), Regis thought he should have enough time to tell them what had happened.
"It's the night of the full moon," he said quickly, keeping an eye on M-21, just in case he took too long and M-21 ran off again. "It apparently puts him in a...playful mood." That was only the way Regis could explain it, hoping the others would understand him.
"Really?" Tao didn't put his whip away, but he did relax, the others following soon after. Tao poked his head around the corner and M-21 perked up at the sight of him, a hand moving to the side in preparation to run, leaning in the same direction, but not disappearing from sight. Yet.
Regis glanced at Tao, who looked like he was pondering something.
"He hasn't tried going outside?" Tao asked, the rest of the RK-5 coming up behind him to check on M-21.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "He's stayed on this floor," he added, thankful of that. If they had continued their chase and ran into the homeowner… It wasn't a thought Regis wanted to entertain.
Tao hummed, nodding as he put his whip away. "Okay, we can do that." …Do what? Then Tao grinned and Regis' stomach sank in a completely different way, already dreading what he was going to say. "I know, we can treat this like a training exercise!"
Takeo squawked, Regis not too far behind him.
"What?" Tao asked innocently. "It'll keep him distracted and we can practice working together and coordinating our movements!"
"And if we're able to catch him?" Seira asked.
"No idea," Tao said truthfully, scratching his cheek. "D'you think we'd be able to?"
They turned to study M-21, who cocked his head at them.
This was M-21 they were talking about, who solved his problems more with his wits than attacked it with brute strength.
...M-21 would never let them forget it if he was able to stay out of their grasp for an entire night when he was like this.
"I'm going to get the earpieces," Tao told them, turning. He paused, looking back at M-21. "No running till I get back, okay?"
M-21 watched Tao leave but while he tensed slightly, he didn't move. Regis knew if he tried to reduce the distance between them before Tao came back, M-21 would start running again, his body primed to move at a second's notice.
Tao wasn't gone for long and he gave everyone an earpiece; Regis wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Tao had appeared to have colour-coded all of them. As soon as everyone had an earpiece in their hand, M-21 was gone, not making nearly as much noise he had when Regis had been chasing him. Which said he had been doing that solely for Regis' benefit.
Muttering under his breath, Regis tried to put the earpiece in as quickly as possible, Tao letting out a laugh beside him.
"All right, let the chase begin!"
This night...was going to be different from the usual.
Author:
darkicedragonFandom: Noblesse
Pairing/characters: Regis, M-21
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Summary: The wolf was restless tonight.
Word Count: 1,403
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Regis and M-21, not fully human.
Notes: The Pace the Night parts aren't actually connected with each other in a timeline or anything. They're separate fics going along a similar theme.
Regis exhaled softly as he walked down the corridor, moonlight starting to shine through some of the windows, wondering if he should check up on M-21 - when they had been returning home, both Tao and Takeo had been hovering at M-21's shoulders, which was concerning enough. At a glance, it was easy to see why: M-21 had been holding himself tensely, keeping his distance from everyone, his expression focused but directed inward. The fact that M-21 hadn't noticed Tao and Takeo's worry was something else altogether. Thankfully the children hadn't come over, responsibilities elsewhere for the night. M-21 had gone to his room as soon as they were home but had not been seen since. Tao and Takeo were mostly acting like their usual selves, but Regis could see their glances towards the direction of M-21's room.
Revealing he was concerned, however... Well, maybe their...snarking, as Tao had put it once, would help distract M-21 from whatever was bothering him.
And he was already at M-21's door. Regis stared at it for a second before clearing his throat, checking to see if anyone else was there; obviously his body knew what his mind would decide and had already started moving before it had come to its conclusion.
He knocked twice on the door and waited. When there wasn't an answer, he frowned, considering whether he should knock again. It had been loud enough to hear; repeating the action wouldn't do anything, and if M-21 was asleep...
There was shuffle-like sound from the other side of the door, but Regis' frown deepened when he realised M-21 was having difficulty opening it, sounding like he was running a hand down the wood. Regis quickly pushed down the handle, holding it there for a second, and hoped that would be a good enough signal before he opened the door and hit M-21.
M-21 had understood it -Regis didn't hit anything- but he froze at the doorway, the air caught in his throat.
M-21 stared blandly back and Regis took note of all his changes: his hair had decided that it no longer liked gravity, standing up in points; his hair also spread across to his cheeks, symmetrical points that angled towards his nose; Regis could just see the hint of fangs poking out from under his lips; M-21's arms were covered from fingertip right up to his neck by the looks up it under his shirt, silver claws delicately resting on the carpet. That wasn't what had startled Regis the most however: it was the fact that M-21 was crouched on all fours, looking as if he had no intention to straighten himself. Behind him, the full moon shone through the window.
Regis knew that M-21 could transform, knew that its source was from a werewolf, even though he didn't know exactly how. But Regis had only ever seen at most his hands fully transformed, nothing more. He hadn't thought M-21's transformation could progress further than that.
There was something in the way that M-21 was staring at him that made Regis uneasy, his face blank, looking at him, but not seeing him. Which made a part of Regis question what exactly had happened to cause this. He could recall some titbit of information he had read some time ago regarding werewolves and the full moon, but he hadn't paid it any heed when he'd read what humans thought nobles did. If that was what they said about nobles, he couldn't trust what they said about werewolves. But if M-21 truly had lost his sense of self…
And Regis had apparently been standing there for too long, one side of M-21's mouth twisting up suddenly before he rushed outside his room and Regis had a second of staring dumbfounded at the spot M-21 had been occupying before whirling around with a breathed, "Dammit!" He could hear M-21 thundering somewhere deeper in the house and Regis ran after him, his mind full of possibilities of what could happen. If M-21 made it outside, looking the way he was...!
He skidded to a stop at a fork, twisting left and right, trying to pinpoint where M-21 was. Right there, at the end of the corridor, waiting for him. Or not - as soon as Regis saw him, M-21 was off again. This continued on, and each time, Regis' stomach dropped further because M-21 wouldn't do this. He barely reacted to his name being called out and for some reason, that was worse to Regis.
But maybe there was still some remnants of M-21 still there, buried under all the werewolf instinct; he was teasing him, always keeping ahead but making sure Regis knew exactly where he was, growling non-threateningly when Regis fell too far behind, the grin still on his face. It frustrated Regis, for M-21 to keep dancing out of reach with ease, but so long as M-21 didn't attempt to take their...game outside, he was willing for it to carry on. It didn't appear like M-21 was interested in going outside, the windows looking untouched when Regis passed them and spared them a glance.
"Hey! What's wrong?"
Regis looked over his shoulder to see the rest of the RK-5 (minus Frankenstein) standing behind him, battle-ready with their weapons drawn. Making sure M-21 was still there (still in the same place, still watching; he seemed to have straightened slightly though, paying more attention), Regis thought he should have enough time to tell them what had happened.
"It's the night of the full moon," he said quickly, keeping an eye on M-21, just in case he took too long and M-21 ran off again. "It apparently puts him in a...playful mood." That was only the way Regis could explain it, hoping the others would understand him.
"Really?" Tao didn't put his whip away, but he did relax, the others following soon after. Tao poked his head around the corner and M-21 perked up at the sight of him, a hand moving to the side in preparation to run, leaning in the same direction, but not disappearing from sight. Yet.
Regis glanced at Tao, who looked like he was pondering something.
"He hasn't tried going outside?" Tao asked, the rest of the RK-5 coming up behind him to check on M-21.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "He's stayed on this floor," he added, thankful of that. If they had continued their chase and ran into the homeowner… It wasn't a thought Regis wanted to entertain.
Tao hummed, nodding as he put his whip away. "Okay, we can do that." …Do what? Then Tao grinned and Regis' stomach sank in a completely different way, already dreading what he was going to say. "I know, we can treat this like a training exercise!"
Takeo squawked, Regis not too far behind him.
"What?" Tao asked innocently. "It'll keep him distracted and we can practice working together and coordinating our movements!"
"And if we're able to catch him?" Seira asked.
"No idea," Tao said truthfully, scratching his cheek. "D'you think we'd be able to?"
They turned to study M-21, who cocked his head at them.
This was M-21 they were talking about, who solved his problems more with his wits than attacked it with brute strength.
...M-21 would never let them forget it if he was able to stay out of their grasp for an entire night when he was like this.
"I'm going to get the earpieces," Tao told them, turning. He paused, looking back at M-21. "No running till I get back, okay?"
M-21 watched Tao leave but while he tensed slightly, he didn't move. Regis knew if he tried to reduce the distance between them before Tao came back, M-21 would start running again, his body primed to move at a second's notice.
Tao wasn't gone for long and he gave everyone an earpiece; Regis wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Tao had appeared to have colour-coded all of them. As soon as everyone had an earpiece in their hand, M-21 was gone, not making nearly as much noise he had when Regis had been chasing him. Which said he had been doing that solely for Regis' benefit.
Muttering under his breath, Regis tried to put the earpiece in as quickly as possible, Tao letting out a laugh beside him.
"All right, let the chase begin!"
This night...was going to be different from the usual.