sillylittlelouie - Tumblr blog

sillylittlelouie · 3 years

Text

Children Develop Trust

Awareness was slow in coming, after the late night that he'd had last night. It came in parts, ebbing and rising like the tide. The first thing that Frankenstein noticed in one of his more lucid moments, was that there was a weight on his chest. A warm, sweaty and panting weight, that shivered slightly, even as it peacefully snored. Swallowing his disgusted sigh, he looked down at the child whose upper body laid across his chest.

M-21 whined softly in his sleep as he wiped his runny nose in the scientist's sleeping shirt. He shifted, dragging more of his body onto Frankenstein's chest.

He must have agitated his ribs, as he let out a keening wail before he'd done much moving.

Frankenstein waited with bated breath, to see what his little one's reaction would be.

When the boy's fever had first set in, he'd been inconsolable. The slightest brush against his chest, or movement of his ribs while he slept would have woken him with a bout of coughing that would culminate in a bawling fit. Now, the young werewolf merely whimpered, shifting once more before settling into deep slumber once more.

Whether M-21's decreased discomfort came from the healing of his injuries or adaptation to the pain, Frankenstein wouldn't be able to tell. Not without getting the child up for a series of tests.

He pursed his lips. M-21 wasn't a bundle of overactive pain receptors anymore. Nor was he losing any more much-needed sleep.

That thought brought a smile to Frankenstein's face as he craned his neck to press a soft kiss to the boy's sweaty forehead. It was a small blessing that he would not take for granted.

Still, he would have loved to rend Shark to pieces for putting his youngest through this suffering. But alas, the dead could not be brought back to life, no matter what Mary Shelley had speculated.

Still, a man could dream.

Unless he had an important meeting that required his physical presence.

Frankenstein opened his eyes, not knowing when he had closed them.

Right, he had that board meeting today.

With a heavy heart, Frankenstein sat up carefully, one hand under M-21's bum and the other on the back of his neck, attempting to rouse his little one with the action. When that failed he gently, but incessantly patted the boy on his bum.

It was slow going, but eventually, M-21 grumbled as he cracked open an eye. The patting continued, and the other eye opened. A pathetic whine came from him.

It was all that Frankenstein could do, to stand his ground and insist that the child woke up. He had to force himself to keep tapping M-21's bottom, until the boy stopped his whining.

"Good morning," the scientist whispered, smiling when the boy sleepily grumbled at him once more.

"Mm'ning Ff'anken," he murmured rubbing at his eyes with tiny fists. There had been casts on those arms, up to three days ago.

"Will you walk, or would you like to be carried?" Truthfully, there was nothing wrong with his ward's legs. But, after being brutalized by an overgrown bully, Frankenstein felt that the werewolf was entitled to a bit of spoiling-

"...c'n walk..."

-which was always going to be declined, apparently.

"That's not what I asked," Frankenstein replied, taking the boy's hand regardless, "but I will accept that answer."

Frankenstein led him out of the room and down into the living room. Setting him down on the couch, he allowed him to capture a few more minutes of sleep as he went ahead and began preparing breakfast. The smells soon roused the other members of his household and, one by one, they all joined the scientist and the young werewolf.

Seira's gentle voice drifted into the kitchen as she led M-21 away for a bath. Her exact words were lost, covered up by the sound of the little one's grumbling, and the rustle of Regis as he prepared their belongings for school. Tao and Takeo were the next to shuffle down. The hacker bounding with all the exuberance of a puppy, while the sniper silently slid into the room. Both immediately migrated towards the coffee pot, casting wary glances at him.

Frankenstein gave them a tired smile as he flipped a pancake, and they relaxed slightly.

"How's M-21?" Tao ventured, pouring a large mug of coffee. A very large mug.

Frankenstein eyed it skeptically. He kept on frowning at it, until Tao finally got the message.

"He's doing much better," he replied, smiling brilliantly once he saw the caffeine being split into two mugs. "His fever's been greatly reduced, and he's been staying awake for longer."

M-21 had also been sleeping for longer periods without nightmares, but Frankenstein was sure that he didn't need to mention it. They'd all noticed the distinct lack of screeching in the middle of the night, he was sure.

"Will you be sending him to school then?" Takeo asked, taking the second mug from Tao. Confusion marred his features when Frankenstein shook his head. "Why not? If he's doing much better, then shouldn't he be able to resume his schooling?"

"While his internal bleeding has stopped, his temperature is still very high, Takeo."

The sniper's gaze sharpened. "Didn't you say that his fever was lowered as well?" he shot back, as if he were daring Frankenstein to renege on his words.

As if he would take the child and flee, if he found that Frankenstein was unreliable. The only thing stopping him, the scientist surmised, was the fact that he would have to take M-21 back to the Union, if he did.

Again, Frankenstein sighed. He began putting their breakfast on plates as he contemplated his words.

Tao and Takeo were much more stable than M-21, and their modifications were more complex. Illness, let alone illness in unmodified humans, was most likely an unfamiliar concept for them.

"His fever is still high enough to be dangerous, for a regular human."

Takeo nodded, his face smoothing out into an unreadable slate. "So you will both remain home for a little longer?"

A tempting thought, but an ill-advised one, considering the amount of paperwork that he just knew was waiting for him. "He's coming to work with me today," Frankenstein sighed, turning his back on them as he motioned for them to take a few plates and follow him into the dining room. His right hand ached at the thought of the veritable mountain of paper. "I have a very important meeting today, and I can't afford to miss it. M-21 however, can be in the office while I conduct my meeting."

He set his cargo down on the table and paused, hands resting on the back of a chair. He'd need both hands and then some, if he wanted to take stock of all the times that his colleagues of years past had ever needed to bring a young child to the factory. Or, in more recent cases, the office. "It might even be expected, in fact."

When he looked at the two DA-5 members, he was a bit surprised to see a calculating glint in Tao's eyes. He'd thought that the hacker had finally been satisfied with the results of his previous tests of Frankenstein's reactions. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"Ya sure that you're not only taking him because you think that everybody else thinks you should?"

For a split second, Tao's easy grin fell away, replaced with something colder. More clinical.

Then it returned, warm enough to melt the ice in the freezer, and the meat in the deep freeze. His eyes however, remained frozen.

Frankenstein pursed his lips. It seemed that it was finally time to place all of his cards on the table. Because, depending on his next answer, he'd never earn the hacker's complete trust.

Honesty would be the best policy, at this moment.

He smiled at the two men as he stretched a hand out to the hallway, where Seira was just emerging with a freshly showered and, surprisingly, coherent child.

"Well," he started, giving Seira a grateful nod as he gently lifted M-21 into his arms, "I'd be lying if I said that that wouldn't be an added reason to keep him close." He tweaked the child's nose, relishing the fact that the boy was feeling well enough to bat his hand away.

Still smiling, he swept over to join his patiently waiting master at the table.

M-21 was in pain. Raizel was certain that he could feel that pain, despite the fact that he'd been unable to sense the emotions of the teachers once they were in the administration wing, and he was in his classroom.

In his mind's eye, he could see the youthful face, contorted in pain, as it had been for those first few nights. The wet, hacking coughs drifted into the room, echoing around and drowning each of the human professor's words.

When it became unbearable, Raizel swallowed his recalcitrance and peered into the minds of his unconcerned colleagues, if only to discover how they could ignore the sound.

…the sound was the product of his own subconscious? That would not do.

That was how he found himself standing on the inside of Frankenstein's office, listening to the child's ragged breathing as he slept on the sole sofa in the room.

His friend had run from the room only a few minutes after Raizel had joined him in his office, but not before leaving him with explicit instructions on what should be done if the young one woke before his return.

Raizel had almost been sorely tempted to cut the human off as he gave a staggeringly large list that he had no hope of remembering. Decorum, however, kept his mouth shut.

Barely.

But, a victory was a victory nonetheless, and Frankenstein was allowed to list duties and plans and contingency plans, right up until he was forced to leave or risk missing the meeting entirely.

In a few seconds, his feet had taken him from the center of the room, and over to the sofa. Leaning over, he used a single finger to stroke a plump cheek. A memory of the recently mottled skin rose to the fore of his mind, causing him to frown.

The assassin that Tao and Takeo had called their teammate had caused the boy grievous bodily harm.

Frankenstein, to his credit, had tried to keep the full extent of the damage from them. But, such a level of suffering was impossible to hide. Even if one was as talented as Frankenstein.

As if he sensed Raizel's disquiet, M-21 drew back with a whimper. When the boy squirmed and let out a breathless cry, he realized what was going on.

Placing a hand at M-21's side to prevent him from moving anymore, Raizel winced at the feel of a section of ribs as they flailed about. Every time M-21 inhaled, that particular area dug into his lungs, the pressure only being relieved when he exhaled.

Raizel frowned once more.

Blood had already been collecting in the boy's lungs, because of the stab wound that Shark had delivered. With this...Raizel's mind blanked, and he drew on Frankenstein's knowledge for more assistance.

With the 'flail chest', M-21's ribs were bruising the boy's lungs. Already, there was blood pooling within, and air escaping his lung.

Frankenstein would have to cut the boy open, in order to repair this damage. At M-21's age, there was no way that his body would be able to heal without assistance.

Or...

Frankenstein would worry if he ever found out what he was about to do. But the child was in pain, and Raizel...h-he couldn't let the boy suffer any more than he already had. He wouldn't let the boy suffer.

Not when he was so young, with so much more of his life ahead.

The thought of such a thing was inherently abhorrent, for some reason.

Glancing around to make sure that they were indeed alone, the Noblesse began funneling his power into the child's chest. The infantile bone resisted his efforts at first, adamantly committing to their positions. But, at Raizel's insistence, they began to ease into their proper positions.

Through it all, M-21 wore a grimace. Once it was finished though, he heaved a sigh of relief and burrowed further into his blanket and the couch.

Drained by the effort, Raizel sank into a nearby chair and closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them again, there was a faint sense of pressure against his torso.

Glancing down, Raizel froze at the sight of the white blanket draped across his upper body. How had..? He looked up, scanning the seemingly empty room for M-21.

"You're up."

Raizel looked down at his feet. A pair of grey eyes blinked back up at him.

"Where's Franken?" M-21 asked. He might have added on something else, but the rest was lost to his yawn. His eyelids began drooping, and, as if it would stop him from yawning once more, he began to crawl into Raizel's lap. "...'m ribs don't hurt no more."

"They've healed," Raizel informed him.

The boy yawned again, curling up against his chest. "...'s good, right...?"

"Yes, it is."

Another yawn. "Good."

Raizel held himself stiffly as he allowed the wolf pup to make himself comfortable. Once the boy was settled, he allowed his hand to rest atop his head.

Frankenstein had been doing so with increasing frequency, during the past few days. He'd claimed that the motion had proved to be soothing, for M-21.

However, now that he was here, running his hand through the boy's hair, he wondered if his friend had also been finding comfort in the motion.

M-21 shifted beneath his hand, and Raizel looked down, slightly curious as to what he would do next.

The boy however, seemed content to allow the question in his heart to go unsaid, if even for a few moments more.

Raizel's hand resumed its path, combing through the grey locks. He stroked his head in silence, mindful to avoid the burn of M-21's desire, lest he unwittingly intrude upon his thoughts.

His hand fell away when M-21 began moving again. But, before he could glance at the boy, his vision was filled with grey.

Raizel blinked, and the grey retreated, just enough for him to see the full face.

"I..." M-21 began, hesitancy clouding his voice, hanging around him like a dark curtain. "Can...can I-" he swallowed, and fell silent.

His mind, however, was a cacophony of half-formed questions and thoughts. Nothing would stay, flitting into being and dissipating just as quickly as they had come.

"I wanna-"

The rubble.

The pile of rubble that had trapped M-21's comrade loomed, higher and more daunting than Raizel had ever seen it, whenever it graced the little one's thoughts.

He blinked, his hand resuming its path across the top of M-21's head. "I'm sure that he would not mind if you were to go and visit him." He paused, using his fingers to loosen a knot in the child's hair. "I will accompany you."

The pup gave him a weak smile. "Can...can I bring some flowers too? I wanna pick flowers for him, because...because..."

It flashed across his mind's eye, almost too quickly for him to get a proper impression. But Raizel had seen it.

He smiled. "As many as we can."

#noblesse #Cadis Etrama Di Raizel #frankenstein #M-21 #tao #takeo #Part of Children Talk

24 notes · View notes

sillylittlelouie · 3 years

Text

Cildren areShort(s):Family Meeting Time

"-and then Taejoon-hyung had to go up in the tree to get Gunn, because he was too scared to climb back down," M-21 continued, his gaze trained on his hands as he coloured.

Frankenstein nodded along to the tale earnestly, hoping that it was nearing its end. He gripped the door even tighter, plastering his largest, most charming smile across his face.

Just a bit longer. He only had to hold on for a few more minutes...

M-21 shifted, wiping his nose with the back of his hand as the humidity in the air began to affect him. "But because Gunn got stuck up in the tree, Aru-nuna said that we couldn't climb the trees anymore!" He gripped his crayon a little tighter as he tipped his head back, staring Frankenstein in the face. "But I wouldn't get stuck, I'm a really good climber!"

It was hard to not laugh in the face of his little one's incredulous tone, but he managed to keep a straight face.

All he had to do was imagine how much longer the conversation would go on if M-21 felt slighted in any way, and the smirk that threatened to show was wiped off his face instantly.

"Perhaps Mrs. Kim is worried that you or one of the others wouldn't be able to come down from the tree once they had gone up?"

"But I'm a really, really good climber Frank'nstein!" M-21 insisted, slamming his tiny hands down onto his thighs. He held up his crayon, broken from either his grip or the collision with his leg, and whispered rather loudly, "Once, '24 made me climb up the side of a building and wait on the roof while he went to look for a target, and I climbed up to the top real fast! 24 said that I was super fast!"

M-21 completed his explanation with an exuberant clash of his hands, miming how fast he had supposedly gone.

Frankenstein nodded along, unable to keep the smallest of smiles off his face. Oh, the exuberance of youth...

The boy grinned back at him, hands falling back into his lap. Then he sniffed again and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "24 always let me climb trees whenever we had time..." M-21 looked down at his lap, his voice fading away. He sniffled, and his shoulders began to shake, ever-so-slightly. "I...I-"

He missed his comrade.

Frankenstein frowned, wiping away the sweat from his forehead. This was usually a double-edged sword, but... "Would you like to go and visit them?"

M-21 glanced up at him sharply. Hope sparked in his grey eyes, shining brightly for a few seconds before it was firmly extinguished.

"We went last week," the boy mumbled, looking down at his drawing. He released his grip on the decimated crayon. His shoulders slumped, as defeated as his tone of voice.

As if he was certain that he wouldn't have made the suggestion if he had remembered that they had gone to visit the M-series' little memorial.

"And we can go to visit them this week as well," Frankenstein assured, giving his little one a gentle smile. "I'm sure they will be quite happy to see you so soon after our last visit."

M-21 glanced up at him, quickly returning gaze to his unfinished drawing. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and withdrew another crayon.

"After that, we can go somewhere else, so that you can show me just how fast you can climb."

The glance was longer this time, and Frankenstein let out the breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

That spark of hope had returned. Tentatively flickering, but there nonetheless.

"I'll bet that I can climb faster than you."

"I bet you can't!" M-21 leapt to his feet at the challenge, his little face going red in anticipation of the challenge.

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

"I can too climb faster than you, and I'm gonna prove it when we go out!" He began to gather up the pieces of his broken crayon, and his papers that had been scattered soon after he came into the room. "And I'm gonna get some spek'tors to watch us too!"

With that declaration, the young werewolf was gone, presumably to encourage the arrest of the household to be the spectators that he'd spoken of.

Frankenstein exhaled heavily, slumping against the opposite wall.

Finally.

He closed the shower door and turned the water on. M-21 would be back soon but, until then, he would enjoy his shower in peace.

Bonus:

"Hey, Boss! You'll never guess what I came up with this ti-" Tao cut himself off with an ungodly screech as he ducked, slipping on the slick tiles of the bathroom. Dark Spear hissed with thousands of angry curses from where it protruded from the wall, lodged there when Frankenstein startled. "I'llcomebacksomeothertimethenbye!"

The door slammed shut behind Tao. The sound of it echoed through the empty room as Frankenstein lowered his hand.

He stared ahead, unseeing.

He'd just installed this bathroom. How on earth had they fond him again!?

#noblesse #Children are Short(s)

11 notes · View notes

sillylittlelouie · 4 years

Text

If This House Could Talk - Raizel’s House - Part 2

Raizel sat with his back against the closed door, staring at the ruins of his brother's study. Caul's grandfather clock stared back at him, forlorn and disgrace etched into its roman numerals. Its hands, which must have stopped weeks ago, hung in as perilous a frown a clock could wear. It, much like the room below, was dead.

Just like his brother.

His breath caught in his chest, but no tears came. He'd cried an impossible amount earlier, when he'd finally seen what remained of his brother's beloved space, in the aftermath of the hurricane of time.

Books had been torn from their shelves and strewn across the floors, while the shelves themselves lay in pieces. Beneath it all, the moldy scraps of a once lavish carpeting peered through, like a body beneath the rubble.

The crystal chandelier, his brother's pride and joy, was in pieces barely large enough to be called shards. And his brother's desk.

Raizel wasn't certain that some of the pieces of wood on the floor weren't part of what was once the desk.

Caul would be furious, if he saw the state of disrepair that the room had fallen into.

A grim chuckle slipped past his lips. Then another, followed by yet another. Soon, he was laughing uncontrollably, till tears began to slip down his cheeks. He laughed and cried, until there were only tears, and he was back to sobbing uncontrollably again.

As he knelt there, pounding his bruised fists against the filthy, moldy carpets, Raizel found that he had something else to laugh at.

His brother, the worst tyrant that he had ever known - the only tyrant that he knew - was dead. The only family that he'd had was gone, and the only tears that he had shed so far were tears of relief. Where was his grief? His lamentation, his bereavement, his tears of sorrow?

When their parents had died, Caul had laughed, and Raizel had thought him a monster for it. As he got older, he understood through his studies that it took a particular level of sociopathy to be able to inflict such pain, while never feeling it for oneself.

He had noted that his brother had most certainly carried that level of sociopathy.

Of psychopathy.

And now here he was, laughing and just being happy that his brother was gone. He was a monster, just like his brother. Just like Caul had always told him he was.

Now Caul was gone, and with him, the only monster that would put up with him.

A single tear rolled down his cheek and Raizel gasped. His chest, overworked from his hysterical laughter, ached terribly. But, despite himself, despite his desire to shed tears, he didn't want to cry.

Or did he? It was all so confusing and just-

"I'm losing my mind." His voice warbled, teetering on the edge of what he imagined insanity sounded like. "That's all there is to it." He pressed his back up against the door and propped his left arm atop his raised knee. His right hand wormed its way into his hair and he tugged, relishing the pain in a way that only few could appreciate. "That's all there is to it."

"The word 'grieving' seems a more appropriate description to me."

At the sound of the voice, Raizel gave a start, scrabbling to his feet, even as his shoes slicked and slid in the mold. Then he was falling backwards, sliding against the shredded surface of the door. He landed on his rear, legs splayed in front of him.

It may have been a disgraceful display, but...

Raizel somehow managed to swallow past the lump of terror in his throat without choking.

The floating pair of red eyes simply bored into him, the only solid thing in the mass of black that encroached on his vision.

When Raizel woke next, he found himself in his bed, with no memory of taking himself there. He slipped out of bed, taking note of his pajamas, and vowed to never again watch movies with Muzaka.

Walking barefooted down the corridors, he most certainly did not even glance at the study door.

Raizel kept his back to his room as he closed his bedroom door. He leaned his head against the mahogany paneling and resolutely refused to turn around. There was a monster, an honest-to-goodness, straight-out-of-the-movies monster standing behind him, in the center of his room.

"Raizel," the monster growled, "we need to talk."

He shook his head slowly.

"You've been breaking one of my rules, every single day, for this past week." The monster shifted, somewhere behind him. Raizel could almost feel its hot breath, going down the back of his neck. "You've never been one to break the rules before, boy."

That was before he'd become aware that he'd traded the devil that he'd known, for a different one.

"There's a reason I gave you those rules, Raizel."

"Aren't they there because you're trying to lure me into a false sense of security?" he blurted, unable to hold his tongue.

"Lure you into a false sense of security for what?" The monster was right behind him now, hands raised, poised to deliver a killing blow.

"Aren't you a monster?" Raizel sunk his teeth into his tongue as soon as the words were past his lips, lest it betray him any further and upset the creature behind him.

An oppressive silence fell over the room. It hung so heavy, so cloying that his shoulders were weighed down by the magnanimity of it. His lungs were filled to capacity and just about ready to burst.

Raizel's lips parted of their own accord and a raspy breath escaped him. That single action seemed to be some sort of trigger, because the room got brighter, and Raizel could breathe easier.

"Don't be late again, Raizel," the monster growled, its voice strangely faint. "I won't be able to guarantee your safety if you are." Then, with the sound of heavy drapes being whipped about in a storm, the creature was gone, out the window that Raizel knew he hadn't opened. The window that he could never recall opening, but always closed when he got up in the morning.

Wordlessly, he turned around, walked over to the heavy window and slammed it shut. His fingers trembled as he fought against the stubbornness of the ancient, neglected latch. They were a painful sort of numb by the time he'd managed to achieve his goal, but it was worth it.

The window was open again, the next morning.

The window was open, and the dresser that Raizel had shoved and tugged and pushed until it sat in front of his door last night hadn't been moved an inch.

Taking a deep breath, Raizel grabbed his book bag and an armful of clothes.

Muzaka raised a bushy brow when he saw Raizel sitting on the doorstep of his side of the duplex, in the dim light of the pre-dawn.

"People usually hold sleepovers at night, y'know," the brash boy yawned. Still, he bent at the waist and picked up Raizel's luggage. "If you come in now, I can convince my old man that I snuck ya in last night."

That gave him pause.

It was ludicrous, to think that Muzaka did not have parents. But, he had never heard him mention his parents.

Had he left behind one beast, only to run afoul of another?

But, he left now, where would he go? Who else would be able to bear his presence long enough to shelter him from the demon in his home?

Who else would be able to shelter him?

Raizel raised his eyes and let them focus on Muzaka's increasingly worried, searching face.

Moreover, was he putting his only friend at risk of the wrath of a monster?

Caul's voice, which had made itself known as Raizel had forced himself through his bedroom window, had mercilessly taunted him as he picked his bruised body off the grass after he had fallen from the roof of the porch below his window. It had grown in intensity as he made his escape across town towards Muzaka's home. Now, after having fallen dormant for a blessed few minutes, Caul returned to life.

He stroked Raizel's cheeks, chuckling in that wretched sadistic tone, voice dripping with malice and poison.

"Oh, my sweet little brother, you brought this on yourself." His hands quit their mockery of a caress, turning instead to reaching for Muzaka. To drawing him closer. "You went and had me killed by your new protector, and now you seek a new dog to do your bidding."

Muzaka stepped forward, brows furrowed, but not a trace of anger in his face. "Y'kay Raizel?"

Caul gave a full, throaty laugh at that, curling an arm around Muzaka's shoulders. "Yes, little brother, are you 'okay' with the thought that you'll be leading death to your new friend's doorstep?

His brother was correct.

Caul was correct, and Raizel was a fool for believing that this was possibly a good idea.

He looked away from his brother's form, and focused on Muzaka.

There was anger in Muzaka's face now. It roiled just beneath the surface, turning his friend's face red.

The same red that was usually the precursor to one of Caul's violent acts. Raizel swallowed, muscles tensing as he readied himself for the feel of a blow.

"Only because you deserve it, my dear, sweet Raizel."

One, two - he began to count the seconds as they ticked away.

One, two, three, four.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Click.

"If I ever see whoever it was that has ya shaken up like this, I'm gonna put my fist in their face." Muzaka's voice, despite brimming with anger, held no water in the face of his gentle grip on Raizel's arm. He pulled him forward, holding him as if he were porcelain.

Caul, who'd begun chuckling in his cold, calculated manner, fell silent.

Raizel blinked, but the stinging in his eyes refused to lessen. He blinked again, and his vision blurred.

"Wait, Raizel, y-you're crying." Muzaka's grip tightened slightly as his voice rose an octave. "Shit, no, I...I didn't mean it! I won't punch 'em, I swear on my old man's grave!"

"Boy, what did I tell you about killing me before my time!"

Muzaka cupped Raizel's cheek with one hand, using his thumb to wipe the tears from one of his eyes. Now, Raizel could see the fond grimace on his friend's face. "Your time came when the dinosaurs died, ya ancient relic!"

"You're not too big for me to turn you over my knee, Muzaka S. Carr!"

Raizel froze when Muzaka snorted in amusement. To do that in the face of one of Caul's tirades would have earned him a smarting cheek, at the very least. He would have had to grovel, at this point.

But Muzaka was staring at him now, and-

"Made ya laugh," he chuckled, using his other hand to wipe the rest of Raizel's tears. Then he brought their foreheads together. "Now quit crying before my dad sees ya and thinks I made it happen."

Oh? Raizel touched part of his cheek that wasn't completely covered by Muzaka's rough palm, and felt the slight bunching of muscle. The laughter had been his.

He'd almost forgotten that he knew how.

"Yeah, ya dingus," Muzaka insulted him, smiling.

It didn't go through him, like one of Caul's insults would have, burning red and hot as it stabbed through his heart. Instead, it settled, soft and warm, keeping the chill of the early morning out.

"You laughed. Now let's go inside."

"He won't be this friendly forever, little brother."

Muzaka lay back on the floor, staring up at his ceiling, long after his window had been eased open.

The neighbours were fighting again, but that was an everyday occurrence. Shadowy masses from hell dragging themselves out from under his bed to swear undying loyalty to the person lying on his bed, on the other hand, was not.

That was something straight out of a movie.

He eased himself into a sitting position and glanced over at Raizel. The poor guy had hardly even slept last night.

He probably wouldn't have slept tonight either, if his dad hadn't slipped a bit of whiskey into that cup of tea that he'd given to Raizel.

Yeah...

Raizel was going to have a bitch of a headache, come morning.

Still...

He eased himself onto his knees and crawled forward, rising to rest his elbows on the bed. He poked his friend's cheek. Yep, he was still fast asleep.

Muzaka bit his lip.

Raizel was still thrown off by whatever it was that had made him decide to spend a few days. He didn't need to know that there was some sort of monster underneath Muzaka's bed, making it its business to ensure that both of them caught a cold because of that open window.

A cricket sounded, closer to his ear than any of them had been before, and Muzaka scowled.

That was why civilized people in this neighborhood kept their windows closed at night.

"Damned monster better start paying rent, if it's gonna be leaving windows open," he grumbled, forcing his tired legs to lift him from his crouch and over to the window. "Leaving the window open like that. Does it help chase the fricking bugs out after it lets 'em in? Does it help to pay for the heating in this crapshot place? Must've been raised on a farm..."

#noblesse #shadows of the past #cadis etrama di raizel #muzaka

10 notes · View notes

sillylittlelouie · 4 years

Text

Teenagers are Perceptive

Something was wrong.

Shinwoo could feel it in his bones.

He could see it in Ikhan's dull eyes on their way here, Suyi's tight smile, and Yuna's tight shoulders - they could feel it too.

He glanced at Regis. At the way he was holding himself just a little bit more stiffly than what Shinwoo was beginning to recognize as his norm.

Running a finger underneath his nose, he glanced around the room as much as he could, what with his neck brace keeping his head mostly in one place.

Why hadn't he just pulled Ikhan out of the way of the car instead of throwing himself at it?

If he'd done that, then they would have gotten to...they would have been able to...

Shinwoo narrowed his eyes as he focused on the memory.

It was hazy, but so were the memories from last week's P.E session, when he'd gotten hit by that football. This haze though...

"Where were we going when I got hit by that car?"

Regis and Takeo-hyung, the man that he and Yuna had rescued from that mugging, went still. Completely. Like they'd been turned to stone.

A hand crossed his line of sight, and Shinwoo found his head being turned tso that he stared into Yuna's brown eyes. One of her soft hands moved to rest on his forehead as she drew her lower lip between her teeth.

"I didn't think that you'd hit your head that hard," Suyi worried, the sound of her voice getting closer. But it wasn't as smooth as it usually was. "We were coming here, of course!"

"But then we got that call from the Chairman, that he had to rush out, and that we should go home, instead of here," Yuna continued, and Shinwoo realised just why the haze felt so wrong.

Just why everything felt so...off.

He leapt to his feet, tearing himself away from Yuna, and ignoring the stab of pain in the back of his neck that accompanied the movement. "Milan! Did he get any better!?"

Regis looked at him strangely. Then, in a measured tone, almost as if he thought that Shinwoo would break down at the wrong answer, he murmured, "Milan is rather...ill at the moment."

Shinwoo snorted. 'Ill' was putting it mildly. "They don't hook you up to machines just because you're 'ill', Regis," he snapped, cringing at the sound of his own words. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I'm just worried about the little guy, and I-"

Suyi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shinwoo."

He glanced at her, turning away from the memory of the tiny body lying on the too large, too white bed, buried under wires and tubes.

"What are you talking about? The Chairman said that the doctors let him come home with Milan the same night."

No, that was wrong. They'd stood at the boy's bedside. Shinwoo had held his hand. He'd comforted Yuna as they were getting ready to leave.

"Suyi," he pressed, shrugging her hand off as he looked at her whole face, "we saw him on the bed, remember?"

He could still see the worried look on the Chairman's face as he took the seat that Shinwoo had vacated when they were leaving the room.

That kind of concern, along with the feel of the cold hand in his weren't things that could be imagined. But...

He glanced at hyung, then at his friends. Those looks of concern certainly weren't the product of his imagination either.

"You were there too, Takeo-hyung! Y-you were in the next bed...right beside Milan, and you..."

Shinwoo's eyes went back to Takeo-hyung's face. None of the bruises that had been there two days ago were visible. The deep gash, the one that went from temple to ear, wasn't there either.

Those kinds of injuries didnt heal in two days.

Shinwoo took a step backwards, allowing himself to collapse onto the couch.

"I wasn't even taken to the same hospital, was I?"

The hyung was the one to answer him this time, voice hard in the way that adults usually sounded when they were telling you the truth. "You weren't treated at the same place, young stud."

Shinwoo didn't say anything to that. Neither did Regis or the others.

Takeo-hyung took a deep breath. "I'm going to kill my tea...cousin," he said, totally calm.

They could hear Milan coughing, even from the living room.

It was a harsh, hacking sound, that ended in wheezing and breathless sobs, whenever they began.

It was the sort of cough you'd hear from the civilians who'd gotten caught up in explosions, in movies and those kinds of things.

It was the kind she would hear from some of the sicker patients, whenever she had to take something to her mother at work. Or from smokers on the streets.

Children shouldn't sound like that.

Yuna shuddered as the coughing came to a crescendo. The coughs punctuated the air with less time between each, before trailing off into wetness.

Across from her, Shinwoo and Ikhan were rubbing their chests, grimacing.

"Are you sure we can't help the Chairman out?" Suyi blurted suddenly, startling Yuna. "I mean, I had the flu two weeks ago, so I can help him take care of Milan while I'm here!"

"I had it too," Yuna recalled. Where was Suyi going with this? "I caught it from Ikhan!"

"After Shinwoo gave it to me!"

"Traitor!"

"So we won't get sick if we have to pitch in!" Suyi spread her arms out in front of her, smiling with her prettiest stage smile, and Yuna finally got where she was coming from.

She looked over at the oppas, trying to conjure up her most convincing puppy-dog eyes.

Tao-oppa barely glanced at her before he answered. "I don't see why-"

"Absolutely not," the Chairman put his foot down with a yawn, emerging from the hallway that led deeper into the house.

He looked terrible, with those bags under his eyes. Eyes that were focused on them.

Yuna could see her friends wilting, shrinking underneath his tired, stern gaze.

She looked away.

"The flu isn't like chickenpox," Mr. Chairman continued, his voice getting closer. "There are different strains of it that go around in a single season."

His voice had lost its harshness, like he'd already gotten over his own bout with the flu. But he still seemed so worn out...

"But Mr. Le-"

"I can't risk your health like that, Shinwoo. I'd rather be sick and tired than allow the same fate to befall anyone under my care."

Yuna didn't dare look up. They were just beginning to see more of the Chairman since he and Milan had fallen ill.

She didn't think that it was because he preferred it that way.

"But we miss the little guy," Ikhan murmured.

Mr. Chairman's voice was gentler, as he took a step towards them. "Milan will be better before you know it." His footsteps continued into the kitchen. "Now! I haven't had the chance to show Tao and Takeo around the city. Would any of you like to assist me with that?"

One of the oppas inhaled sharply and, when Yuna glanced at them, they were both staring at Mr. Chairman's back. The stony look on Takeo-oppa's face seemed...unnerving.

Especially after seeing his warm, friendly smile in the aftermath of a mugging, of all things. "That's not necessary," he clipped.

The Chairman had turned around to face them, when Yuna looked over at him. His smile was tired, but kind as ever. "It would help me out greatly, if I didn't have to worry about you getting lost in an unfamiliar territory."

It would?

Yuna glanced over at the others, her grin already spreading across her face.

"You can count on us, Chairman!"

#noblesse #tao #takeo #Shinwoo and co.#Part of Children Talk

20 notes · View notes

sillylittlelouie · 4 years

Text

When your dad tries to guilt trip you into visiting him: “well I guess I’ll just spend the weekend all by myself...”

You say “glad to know we’re on the same page.” Slowly, he will have to adapt to just outright telling you what he thinks instead of playing mind games.

When your friend tries to hint that they’re mad at you without saying anything: “Oh, I’m fine, clearly you don’t need to worry about me,”

You say: “I’m glad you’re doing well. Call me if you want to talk, though!” Soon enough, they will accept that they can’t be passive aggressive with you.

When your boyfriend says: “All your friends are great, I really love *insert male friend* especially.”

You say: “I’m so glad you like my friends! I should invite them back soon.” He needs to understand that if he has a problem with your friends, he needs to just voice his concerns instead of being sarcastic and accusatory.

As someone who has lived through several toxic relationships and has an abusive father, I think one of the most important manipulation tools a toxic person has is excessive subtext and hidden meanings in their conversation. It hides all of the actual fighting from the eyes of onlookers while still hurting you, which is scary and makes you feel like you’re making it all up. Don’t put up with this bs. Make them stop hiding.

Make. Them. Say. What. They. Mean.

208K notes · View notes

sillylittlelouie · 4 years

Text

Heeeeeeyyy All My Fellow Internet Users, Please Reblog This If You:

-Bounce Your Legs Without Realizing

-Stare At Lights and/or Fans Because "Holy Shit That's Super Interesting"

-Make Weird Noises At Somewhat Inappropriate Times For No Apparent Reason

-Arrange Your Plushies Before You Play With/Sleep Next To Them (And It Has To Be Next To Unless It's A Designated Plushie Because It Feels Like You're Choosing Favourites Aside From The One You've Chosen As A Comfort Buddy)

-Cat = Must. Snuggle. NOW.

-You Feel Incredibly Insecure/Nervous If You Think Someone You Look Up To Doesn't Respond To A Message You Sent Because "Do They Hate Me? Did I Do Something Wrong? What Should I Change About Myself?"

#always

133 notes · View notes

sillylittlelouie · 4 years

Text

Children are...

The ground groaned beneath Seira's feet when she landed, nearly giving when she pushed off once more. The wind tore at her hair as she raced across the rooftops, elegance and propriety the furthest things from her mind.

Sir Gejutel had entrusted his grandson to her, finally giving her the opportunity to return the kindness that he had shown her. And now, the young Noble had been taken, spirited away by an unknown enemy.

A flock of resting birds scattered around her, shrieking in alarm as she landed near their roost. One darted towards her and she glowered, directing as much of her ire as she found safe towards it.

Still, it came towards her, prompting a few of its brethren to follow. But, at the last moment, they all turned away abruptly, seemingly thinking better of it in the last moment.

Seira watched them go, taking a moment to try and find her young charge. Regis was not the type to cause her to worry like this.

Adding to her worry too, was the homeowner. She was almost certain that the human was something more.

She couldn't quite identify it yet, but there was definitely something darker about him. She swore that she'd sensed it first on that day when the young boy, Milan, had gone with his colleagues, in spite of hers and Regis' intervention. And she'd sensed that darkness a few more times in the handful of days that had passed since the boy's disappearance, the worst being no more than two days ago.

But that was a consideration for another time.

Right now, as she leapt across the rooftops, she needed to focus all of her attention on finding Regis. All she needed to feel was an iota of his energy. Once she felt it, come hell or high water, she would find him.

And when she did, the ones that took him would find themselves with the devil to pay.

If anyone asked him, Tao would say that he was well versed in the art of working in distracting circumstances. He had to be - there was no other option but to do his job while screams and the sound of explosions served as a backdrop.

Well, actually, he theoretically could refuse to work under those conditions. But then the team would run the risk of failing the mission.

To fail a mission meant disappointing Krans.

It meant disappointing the doctor that made them.

And to disappoint Dr. Aris was a no-option.

So Tao worked while the scent of blood and smoke clung to the inside of his nostrils, listening to the chaos happening inside his ears.

Once in a while, he got lucky, and the humdrum audio would be replaced with breaking bones and random bursts of gunfire.

But some sounds were constants.

Harsh breaths in his ear. The clack of the keys on his keyboard, beating out a stark staccato. Krans barking orders. The rustle of wrappers and the wet smack of food in Hammer's mouth as he chewed. The faint swish and click of Takeo's hair ties.

The sound of Shark's laughter.

That was an absolute constant. Always ringing in his ears, looming, hanging in the air on each mission, like an ever-present black cloud. Always there.

Tao could ignore it.

Just like he could ignore the smack of flesh as it collided, and the coppery tang of blood on the air.

He always did.

He flinched when Shark hit the Noble again. Ik-han and his friends cried out as if they were the ones that had been the one hit, and Tao swore that he could feel the sharp sting of the blow.

Punch after punch landed across the Noble's face, painting a bloody portrait.

It was disgusting.

Tao wanted to look away.

To walk away, like Takeo had done.

To hide his face in his knees like M-21 was doing.

Anything, just so that he didn't have to see or hear Ik-han and his friends crying.

Speaking of...

He glanced down at M-21 again.

Every time Shark's fist landed, the boy would flinch. His shoulders would hitch, and a jerky sound would escape him.

Children always seemed like they were pretty empathetic, so it was probably just as hard for him to watch as it was for Tao. Even if he had nothing to do with the noble, or the group of teens.

Krans was being cruel, letting Shark do this in front of the boy.

He looked away from their tiny prisoner, just in time to catch the red-head's foolish attempt to save the noble.

"Stop it!"

The exclamation crashed through the room, as brash and reckless as its owner, who hurtled towards Shark with reckless abandon.

Shark grinned, manic, as he turned around, arm already extended to knock the boy backwards. But it never connected.

His face however, became distorted as the sharp slap of skin against skin announced the success of the initial attack.

Almost as soon as the boy landed his blow, he sprang back, out of the immediate striking range of an unmodified human. Tao narrowed his eyes.

"You punk...I'll kill you!"

The boy had obviously been trained, whether by repetition or by a professional. His fingers twitched at his sides, eager for his computer, wanting to document his findings in the next mission report.

"L-let them go, and I'll tell you...I'll tell you one of the things that you want to know!"

At the sound of his shout, Tao glanced down at M-21. His eyes were wide as he stared up at Kranz, shining with something that the hacker couldn't identify. He'd stood from his crouch, on legs that shouldn't have been able to support him, for how badly they shook.

"I-if you let them go and give them the pill...the one to 'rase people's mem'ry-" M-21's voice faltered, and his mouth worked, but no sound came out.

Some of the most hardened soldiers found it difficult to face Kranz, once they'd been captive for less time than M-21 had been. Tao could understand what the boy was going through. But why now, of all times?

"If you just 'rase their...if you do that,"M-21's voice continued, grounding Tao in the present again.

He hadn't even noticed that his attention was wandering.

"I'll tell you one of the things you guys wanted to know." He looked away now, down at his feet. I-I...I promise you,...I'll m-make it worth your time, honest, I really will!"

Tao turned away from the conversation.

Kranz would never agree to the request. M-21 was wasting his breath, and Tao's time.

He just wanted to get this over with, so he could get Ikhan's face out of his mind, and forget that he'd ever even met the boy.

M-21 didn't move after he landed in front of Shinwoo-hyung. He stayed down close to the ground, just like '24 and the others had always told him to do, especially if he got into a fight if they weren't around to help him.

He bit his lip.

Well, just like '64 always told him.

'24 and '13 always told him to run away and try to find one of them to help him.

He looked over at the door.

He could still run away. He could run as fast as he could and then, then...

'24 and the others would be happy, right?

M-21 looked back at Shinwoo-hyung and the others.

If he left them now, what would happ'n to them?

Kranz wouldn't try to protect them from Shark like '24 did with Jake. And Tao wasn't big enough. So it would have to be him.

M-21 looked up, ready to give Shark his meanest look.

He wasn't there.

M-21 looked around again, but-

"You low-level trash! How dare you act up! You think your weak transformation is something!?"

-money in his mouth. Where did Shark come from? He was just-

"I'll kill you right here! I'll end you! A piece of garbage like you, daring to put its filthy paws on me; I'll draw out your death for as long as I can!"

-His head hurt. So did his back. And his foots. Everything hurt.

'ceptin' his arms. He couldn't feel those.

But it was okay.

Even if the room kept spinning, and even if Yuna-nuna and Suyi-nuna were crying and screaming, because he was protecting them just like '24 did. he was protecting them from the mean people and he could see '24 and the others and they were smiling at him and it was okay that they lied to him because he got it and he-

#noblesse #Part of Children Talk #M-21 #tao #Seira J. Loyard #Can you tell that I didn't know what to name this?

16 notes · View notes