M tapped his desk, reviewing some paperwork for one of the Professors new inventions, a lot of sticky notes attached to it with the promise it wouldn't blow up.. which concerned M, considering the professor usually didn't blow stuff up unless it was a freak accident with powers and energy involved.
That didn't make M have any more confidence in the project.
It was strange because it didn't look like it had anything strange about it. It was labeled "containment unit", the top of it was pulled up and somehow.. Floats?
M decided to check it off, at worst it probably wouldn't make too big of an explosion.
Lightning rang out outside of his home, which wasn't unusual. It was probably Light or the Professor himself, or maybe just a red steve returning from visiting the kingdoms.
M heard knocking on his door and assumed it was one of the former. He scribbled a signature to approve the invention and hurried downstairs.
/
"So you'll probably stay here, at least until everyone calms down. Maybe don't stay inside all the time, we don't want people to think you went missing again-"
"Mhm, Mhm." Sabre barely replied, shaking with anxiety. M was right behind the door- or somewhere behind it. He'd never really gotten the chance to ever say goodbye to M, he hoped he was able to handle ruling the kingdom well. Maybe now he could help him with that, or at least keep him calm.
Finally, the door creaked open.
"Yes, wha-.."
M trailed off the second his eyes saw Sabre. His grip on the doorknob fell limp as he stared at his old friend. He barely looked any different. Meanwhile, M looked completely different to Sabre. He didn't even have his old cloak anymore, his hair was curled around his ears and crown, and his crown was adorned with rubies and trinkets with a few chips on the tip.
"Y-You-"
Shock kept M's words stuck in his throat. He felt like he was seeing a ghost. Without a thought of doubt, he threw his arms around Sabre and clung on for dear life. It only took a matter of seconds for Sabre to cling back, resting his head on M's shoulder. He barely even remembered missing M this bad. He usually never tried to think about it until recently, which led to him eventually being sent back.
To the contrary, M never stopped missing Sabre. As much as his leader disliked him, Sabre still changed his life more than he could ever know. Sometimes M really did wonder what would've happened if he never met Sabre, or gave into his reckless nature. He was sure he'd still be the leader, but it would just be different. Maybe they'd still be in hiding.
M didn't want to go, he feared if he even loosened his grip Sabre would disappear again. Regardless, time passed by and M eventually had to pull away, but he didn't let go of Sabre's arms.
"I-I just- How?!- I swear you-.."
Words failed M horribly, so he looked at Light for some sort of explanation.
"We found him in the Yellow Kingdom, he just got back from..", Light glanced at Sabre and narrowed his eyes slightly, ".. I'll explain later. Anyways, the Yellow kingdom is currently filled up, so can he stay here for a bit?"
"I- Yeah of course but-" M paused and looked at Sabre again, and he couldn't help but hug him once more. It'd only been a few months, but it'd felt like years. Wait until Sabre found out what happened to that old library, their meeting spot.
".. H-Hey M."
It felt like M was dreaming when he heard that voice. This was real. He was back.
Small sobs were forced out of M's throat as he held onto Sabre's back.
He'd missed him so much.
/
Sabre had spent the rest of the day in the Leader's house- Well, M's house now. As the evening came by, the steves slowly returned back to their houses. Sabre was kept inside for the rest of the day, M set up an area on the couch for him to rest.
It was about 8:06pm. Sabre laid down on the couch, looking at the ceiling blankly. This all felt so weird. He'd been living with Origin for months, living in a small cottage, then he was here. It took everything for him to not run around all the kingdoms to see if everything had changed.
Maybe even that small village was different now.
Sabre paused as he realized something.
Where was Time?
/
The pale moonlight shined through the window, only broken up by the trees that blocked it. Sorin looked at it, almost as if he was waiting for the shadows on the floor to dance across it like ghosts.
Knocking thumped against Sorin's door.
"You can come in, Copper."
The door creaked open. The orange glow of the house lights covered up the glow of the moon. Sorin sat up to look at his friend.
"I'm gonna head home now.. it's getting late. You'll be okay, right? There's some extra food in the fridge if-"
"Mm, yeah. I'll be alright. Seeya Copper."
Copper wished he could help his friend, but he didn't know what to do except try and take his mind off it. That didn't seem to be working now, though.
"I- I'll.. yeah. Goodnight, Sorin."
The door clicked shut and the moonlight flooded the room again as if it were hiding. Sorin looked up to the ceiling and stared at it blankly. Everything just felt dull now.
Sorin closed his eyes and let himself slide back down into the covers of the bed. He didn't want to open them now, maybe if he didn't he'd think it's all just a bad dream.
God he wished it was.
/
M paused as he heard someone walking up his stairs, then realized it was none other than Sabre.
".. you need something?"
It still felt so unreal to see Sabre in the flesh again, but M ignored that feeling as the boy walked towards him. He was playing with the strings of his hoodie and kept looking at the ground; M silently noted he should get Sabre something to sleep in besides the same hoodie.
"M..?"
"Yeah?"
"Is Time.. back yet?"
No words escaped M's lips for a moment, and he knew the answer was a wholehearted no. He hadn't seen Time since Sabre left. He didn't even think either of them had survived until now.
"Uh.. no. I'm sorry, I haven't seen him."
"..oh. Yeah that- that makes sense I-" Sabre looked around the room, as if Time would pop out from any corner, "I was just curious."
"It's fine." M didn't really know what to say. Sabre clearly missed Time, but what could M do about it? He decided to just change the subject for now, "Do you want something else to sleep in? I mean, we have pajamas and whatnot so-"
"No, it's fine, I don't wanna bother you." Sabre murmured the second half of that.
"You're not." M said, noticing it immediately, along with how nervous Sabre seemed, "It's okay, hey, look I-"
M had been getting off the bed to try and comfort Sabre a bit more, but Sabre backed away. M paused, then tried to get closer again. Sabre didn't move anyway, he just stared at M.
"I don't wanna be a bother but.. is something wrong?"
Fidgeting with his sleeves, Sabre sighed. Words filled his mouth but none of them even seemed right, why try and explain? Regardless, he doubted M wanted him to leave feeling bothered, so there wasn't much of a way out.
"... I just- Everything's so sudden and- I don't know I guess I just expected things to be back to normal when I got back?.. but nothing's the same. Time's gone and maybe for good too, and you're a leader- which, I mean, that's great!.."
Sabre paused and looked down, gulping. He started to pace as he went on again.
"I just.. it feels so out of place for me to be here now. I'm- If the world destroys itself again because I'm here we might not be able to fix that and everyone seems to be moved on and even be excited I'm back but I-"
He froze as something hot and wet fell down his cheek. Tears. Sabre silently wiped it away and sniffed.
"I-I'm sorry I just.."
M ran over and, for the hundredth time, hugged Sabre. It wasn't as tight as before, just enough to make him feel warm and safe. M felt Sabre press his head onto his shoulder. He couldn't tell if he was sobbing or not, but it didn't matter. The only thing M focused on was that Sabre needed comfort right now.
He slowly stepped back until they reached the bed, and M laid down on it, still holding Sabre. He didn't seem ready to remove his face from M's shoulder, so he let him rest there.
"..whenever you're ready, I'm here."
Sabre hummed a bit to acknowledge he heard M.
M sighed and tugged the covers over himself. He didn't mind letting Sabre rest here tonight, he needed some time to adjust back after all.
Even so, M wanted Sabre to stay too. It's been so long since they saw each other, it still almost felt like a dream.
As M gently shut his eyes, he silently hoped he would wake up and Sabre would still be real, still next to him.
That's all that mattered.
/
Kinda a filler chapter whoopsie, tired and mentally crashed lmao
Also unfortunately yeah I don't plan time to be in this story sorry D:
The actual stalker stuff will begin in a chapter or two! Planning one or two more scenes of the reunions but after that, quick timeskip and boom the angst arrives :)
Anyways hope y'all enjoyed lmao