Summary: "There's good news and bad news – the good news is you have a full wolf form." How was that the good news? "The bad news is…haha…"

Post-season 5.

You can thank dragontameroutoftime and rakuenflowright for this, haha.

Good and Bad

By Dark Ice Dragon

M-21 exhaled, stopping himself from frowning. Something had woken him up and he kept his eyes closed, taking stock of the situation - he was in his bed, his blankets over him and there were two people in his room.

"Mornin', sleepyhead. It's just us."

Tao. That meant the second person was probably Takeo.

M-21 opened his eyes, looking up at Tao, who was leaning over him and…what…

What the fuck?

"Heh, yeeeah," Tao drew out, rubbing the back of his head. "There's good news and bad news – the good news is you have a full wolf form."

M-21 could feel that, feel the ears on the top of his head twitching, how he could feel the tail movement up his spine, the different proportions in his limbs. And how was that the goodnews?

…Wait. Now that M-21 was paying attention he saw just how much Tao was looming over him and how little difference it made when he sat up.

"The bad news is…haha…"

M-21 glared up at him, his ears flat.

"You're puppy-sized."

He grumbled, not attempting to say anything, his throat not feeling like it could make the sounds he wanted.

"So you're with us, M?" Tao asked, peering at him through his hair.

What did that mean? Had he missed something Tao had said, or was Tao being Tao again, jumping from one topic and then bouncing to something else? He tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowed – one ear flicked down as well.

"We were worried that you might be instinctual as well," Takeo explained.

Ah. He shook his head.

Tao held his palm up towards him, grinning. "High five!"

What.

"I'm just double-checking!"

…Of course he was. Sighing, his ears flat, M-21 raised a…paw and pressed it to Tao's hand. The lack of dexterity in his shoulder and fingers felt limiting and M-21 could see the spark in Tao's eyes that meant he was holding back playing with the pad.

"I think we could tell M-21 was still here from his body language before he did that," Takeo said, shaking his head.

Tao huffed, taking back his hand. "And how would you feel if you'd turned into, I dunno, a bird and we all assumed you were thinking when you weren't and we couldn't tell the difference?"

How did a high five prove he was thinking? While Takeo and Tao continued talking, M-21 looked down at his paws, trying to turn back. He pictured his human body and went through the familiar mental motions he did when dismissing his transformation.

Nothing.

Was he stuck like this? He couldn't be, not when his regular transformation drained him in twenty minutes.

He growled in frustration (the sound was high pitched to his ears) and Takeo and Tao stopped talking.

"Time to see Frankenstein?" Tao asked and M-21 nodded. "Do you want me to-"

M-21 cut him off with a lift of his lip, his ears flat. No, he was not going to be carried to Frankenstein's lab like a damn pet.

"Heh, got it."

He padded to the edge of his bed and looked down. The distance wasn't something he ever thought about, but now that he was this size… He shook his head and jumped – he'd made countless further ones roofhopping.

Thump.

The landing was heavier, less finessed than in his normal body and-

He was fucking ankle height.

Tao didn't say anything as he looked up at them and M-21 started to test his limbs. It didn't feel as off to be on all fours like he expected it to, but his back legs and tail were what he was having the most trouble getting used to. It was like he was both crouched but more upright than that.

Once he'd finished the check and tested his limbs, he nodded at Takeo and Tao. They left his room together, M-21 getting the hang of walking with all four limbs without much trouble – it was just the amount of steps he had to take for one of theirs.

His nose wrinkled when they left his room, the scent of the house stronger than before. Or maybe it was because he was closer to the ground.

They left his room, M-21 gaining confidence in his new body with each step, so long as he didn't think too hard about how he was moving everything. When he did that he either slowed down or he tripped over himself.

There were more stairs in the house than M-21 realised. He peered over, seeing that he was too small to walk down like he wanted to, too long as well, so he turned himself so that he was parallel to the stairs then hopped down.

Thump.

It was awkward, but it was the best he could do with the size he was.

He shook himself all over before he was aware he'd done it once he hopped off the final step.

"You okay?" Tao asked and M-21 nodded, closing the distance between them again. "Heh, good."

M-21 could smell the cleaning agents Frankenstein used in his lab getting stronger and stronger as they neared it. They were faint, but there was enough there to nip the inside of his nostrils. He hadn't noticed how much it smelled of food before either. There were a few moments where he caught himself bringing his nose close to the floor, trying to identifyexactly what it was he was smelling before stopping.

"Hey, Boss!" Tao called out when the main door opened. "You here?"

"Yes." Frankenstein looked at Takeo and Tao. "What's…" He glanced down and saw M-21. His eyes widened.

"Ah. How long have you been like this?" Frankenstein asked, slipping his glasses on.

M-21 shook his head. He'd woken up like this.

"Hm. And how were you feeling last night?"

How had he been feeling? M-21 tilted his head as he thought about it. He'd felt normal, if a little tired.

He yawned, his tongue lolling out on its own.

"I see," Frankenstein said. "Tired.

"May I check you over?" he asked next and M-21 nodded.

Being checked over meant… M-21 looked at the scanner table far above his head and sighed, his ears flattening.

The others moved away as he backed off so he wasn't as directly under it. Once he had enough space, M-21 looked up again, judging the distance.

He could do that.

He ran up and leaped.

As soon as his feet left the floor, M-21 knew he'd misjudged, putting too much strength into the jump.

His feet scrabbled on the top, getting some purchase but not enough and his bottom half went over the other side.

His weight was pulling him over, and he wriggled, trying to catch the edge with a back foot, but his leg was too short. And he couldn't move it in the way he wanted it to.

"M-21…?"

His ears pricked towards Takeo but he shook his head. Next he tried to pull himself up but all that did was make him look like he was patting the table.

The sounds ticked by with no success, only him steadily getting further off the table.

He had to admit defeat and he nodded, his ears flat.

Someone –Takeo, by the smell- picked him up by the sides and placed him on top of the table.

"I suppose you are wondering why you're this size?" Frankenstein asked, not drawing attention to what had just happened, standing by the monitor.

M-21 blinked - now he was curious.

"That would be because, compared to how long werewolves can live for, you are still young."

…Ah. Right. If Seira had only just come of age and she was over two-hundred years old… It made sense. It was probably similar for werewolves.

The scanner starting up made M-21 cringe, the high pitched sound of it going right through his head. He lay down, his ears flat, but it didn't help.

"This won't take long."

M-21 knew that, had been in the scanner countless times before, but his ears still hurt.

He'd scrunched his eyes shut by the time he was brought out of the scanner.

"Other than the obvious changes, you appear to be in good health," Frankenstein said. "How do you feel? Tired? Sensitive?"

M-21 shook his head, sitting up. He did paw at one ear, huffing as he looked up at them.

Frankenstein's lips curved up into a smile. "That's good." He hummed, stroking his chin as he read the monitor. "You should revert back in a few minutes from now." He paused and looked back at M-21. "You should stay here until then."

…Ah, yeah. If he transformed back while on the way to his room and someone else saw him…

He nodded.

"Hmm," Tao said, wandering to where they kept their spare clothes. "Casual or smart?"

M-21 tried to say 'casual' but all that came out was a garbled growl. He huffed, dipping his head.

Tao looked over his shoulder. "First one or second?"

M-21 pawed the air once.

"Gotcha."

As Tao got his clothes, M-21 knew the second he ran out of time and he gasped, everything tingling as he transformed back.

The table was cold under his ass.

"Here ya go," Tao said, holding a folded pile of clothes out to M-21.

He straightened out his legs, glad to feel the floor under his toes. "Thanks." His voice was a little rougher than usual and cleared his throat as he took the clothes and pulled them on.

He'd started to feel lightheaded when he'd gotten most of his clothes on and by the time he was finished, he was leaning on Takeo, panting. It was like he had just enough energy to stand and his internal organs running. Even then, Takeo was keeping him up with an arm around his shoulders.

"Hey," Tao said, his voice soft, "bed or food?"

Would he make it if he went for food first? But if he went for sleep, he would be hungrier later.

"Food."

Tao nodded and went to his other side, putting M-21's arm over his shoulder.

"I'm-" M-21 cut himself off, slumping. No, he wasn't fine.

"Yeah, we know," Tao said as Takeo adjusted to support him better. "Just until you feel better."

Takeo nodded.

M-21 snorted, a small smile tugging his lips. "Okay." They knew him far too well. Together they left for the kitchen.

I was trying to decide if M-21 would fail completely at the scanner table, nearly jump headfirst into the edge, or get it right on the first try, haha. He makes it because I'm going with werewolves in that form are still enhanced. :3 That, and he's unused to canine backlegs.