[fic] Departed [Petshop of Horrors][for ignipotent]
written for a (filled) request made by: ignipotent
Fandom: Petshop of Horrors
Pairing/characters: D/Leon
Warnings/notes: ... see request.
Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors.
**********
"Detective Orcot. It would seem that the rumors of your death have been greatly exaggerated." D studied his visitor with an expression that showed no particular emotion, let alone the surprise that Leon had been prepared for. Maybe it was simply impossible to surprise D; considering some of the other things he'd seen the man do, Leon would hardly be surprised to find out that D was capable of seeing the future, too. "Or ... perhaps not." D frowned.
Leon decided he'd given D enough time to gawk and be astonished at Leon's showing up on his doorstep again after three months; it was time to get to the point.
"I'm here to ask some questions."
D's smile was familiar, but for some reason, it annoyed him less than usual. "Only questions? How ... utterly like you. Other people in your position might be more interested in asking for help, but I suppose you're simply too stubborn to ever change." D stepped aside. "Do come in then. It's raining."
"I don't need your help," Leon informed D, stepping past him as quickly as possible.
"Considering that you don't seem to have brought me any sweets, I'm gratified to hear you think so. It's not my habit to give anything away for free, you know." D gestured for Leon to precede him to the central part of the shop. "Especially not to people who treat me as rudely as you have."
"I have no idea what you're chattering about." Leon sagged down on the couch, ignoring the three cats that already occupied it, and threw him disapproving looks, before heading for a resting place they wouldn't need to share.
"Would you like some tea?" D busied himself by pouring himself a cup, not even bothering to look around to see Leon shaking his head. "I am referring, of course, to the letter you addressed to me."
"Oh, damn." Leon half-rose, before he realized that, at this point in time, there was little he could do about anything.
D tsk-ed. "You left it in plain sight, with my name on it. How you could assume that it wouldn't reach me is beyond me. I will admit that we didn't exactly part as the best of friends the last time we met, but that was all the more reason for me to wish to read your final words to me, wasn't it?"
"I threw it in the wastebin, after tearing it in two!" Leon growled. "I did *not* leave it in plain sight! What do you think, that I wanted you to read it? How much of an idiot do you think I am?"
D delicately sipped his tea. "I trust you don't actually want me to reply to that last question. The answer would only upset you, I'm sure. As to your other question: Chris brought it to me. He told me he'd found it in your apartment. I must admit that I'd been wondering at the tape he'd put on it, but ... I read the letter. You wrote it. Those are the basic facts, detective. You'll simply have to accept them."
"That doesn't change a thing. I wasn't myself when I wrote that letter." Leon shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. We're not - I mean, I'm - "
"Dead?" D suggested cheerfully. "Believe me, I'd noticed that. Though I must say, you've changed very little. Some improvements to your personality would have been nice, but I suppose one mustn't hope for the impossible, unless one wants to be disappointed."
"Are you even human?" Leon stared at D. "How can you just sit there and tell me you know I'm dead? You could at least be decent enough to sound freaked out about it! Damn it, D, what's a man gotta do to stop you from being so calm all the time?"
"There's no need to yell, detective, I assure you my hearing's just fine. Are you sure you don't want any tea?" D inquired, sitting down again as Leon glowered at him. "Well then, no, easily, and that depends on the man in question."
"You're a well-spring of information, as ever," Leon said sarcastically.
"I'm always happy to be of assistance to the police ... or to people who write me love-letters. At least when they're not too much of a nuisance." D shrugged.
"You mean you enjoy driving people crazy by being mysterious and obscure," Leon accused him. "And I quit the force when I left for L.A., as you should know."
"As always, your accusations wound me deeply." D sighed mournfully. "Especially after I added an extra category of people I'd be happy to offer my help to, just for you. For some reason, very few people seem to find me as desirable as you do."
Leon flushed. "I already told you I wasn't myself when I wrote that letter!"
"You're free to lie to yourself by thinking that, of course." D inclined his head. "Which still leaves the matter of why you came here."
Leon remained silent.
D rose and got himself another cup of tea.
"I'm - well, I'm dead," Leon said at last.
"Unless my memory deceives me, we had already established that fact," D pointed out. "You are also a stubborn idiot, who left behind everything that's taken him ten years to build, deeply wounded a younger brother still struggling to heal the wounds of his youth, and caused his former colleagues to worry themselves sick about him, all to avoid facing the reality that he might be attracted to another man. Dare I hope you're going somewhere with this, or is this purely a social call?"
"You could show some understanding for what I'm going through!" Leon protested, hiding a wince at the mention of Chris. He'd meant to tell Chris everything, truly, but then things had just happened so fast, and he'd decided to put it off until after his move.
"I don't have any," D informed him coldly. "If it's a show of concern you wish, you have come to the wrong place, detective. I have no use for such delusions."
Leon's shoulders sagged. "Heck, I'm not asking you to pat my hand and tell me everything's going to be fine; I know it's not. I'm just saying some sympathy might be nice."
"Sympathy?" D reached out to stroke one of the cats sharing his part of the couch. "Sympathy isn't going to be of much use to you, it seems to me, but do correct me if I'm wrong. You have my full attention."
"I'm dead," Leon stated, for the third time that evening. "So why am I still walking around?"
"My grandfather might know, only I doubt if he, or anyone else for that matter, would be able to put it in terms you'd understand. Why do living people walk around, detective?" D gestured to the door. "Life itself is a mystery, even if few of the living are aware of it. They have no reason to; they are alive, and that knowledge is enough for them. Only humans ask questions, and seek answers that they might be better of without. Humans pretend they seek to understand life, while all they seem to do is destroy it, polluting the earth with their machines and industrial plants, cutting down the trees that have grown over the course of hundreds of years."
Leon stared at D. "So you're saying - what? That I should be happy to be a blood-sucking freak, and just go on with my ... life?" He nearly choked on the last word.
"If that's what you want." D sounded like it was no concern of his whatsoever.
Leon moaned and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know what I want! I guess ... I guess that's why I came here: because I hoped that you'd tell me."
"Oh." D put down his cup. "I see."
"I must be even crazier than I thought, huh?" Leon chuckled, too caught up in his own thoughts to see the expression of concern on D's face.
"Maybe you're not that crazy after all, detective," D said softly, almost as if he was talking to himself. "Animals have strong instincts to guide them, and yours brought you here, to me. I couldn't turn you back into a human even if I'd want to, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything for you at all."
"Sunlight's supposed to kill things like me, right? If I stay out after dawn, I'd just - " Leon was abruptly brought back to his surroundings as D grabbed his wrist, forcing Leon to look up at him.
"I forbid you to speak of callously throwing your life away like that." D's face was as furious as his voice. "If you ever do so again, you will leave me no choice but to punish you."
"Uhm, D, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Leon cautiously tried to pry D's fingers open, only to find his other wrist captured as well. "I mean, it's nice that you care and all, but - "
D kissed him.
x
[the next morning]
"Why, detective, what a delightful surprise!" D beamed as he spotted the large box his visitor was carrying. "You are positively spoiling me! Would you like some tea?"
Not waiting for his guest's reply, he poured two cups of tea, smiling as his visitor cursed and swatted ineffectively at the newest addition to the petshop.
"Don't mind Q-chan, please. He's still getting used to his new home."
"Just keep him away from me," Detective Leon Orcot grumbled. "I don't like bats."
~the beginning~
Fandom: Petshop of Horrors
Pairing/characters: D/Leon
Warnings/notes: ... see request.
Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors.
**********
"Detective Orcot. It would seem that the rumors of your death have been greatly exaggerated." D studied his visitor with an expression that showed no particular emotion, let alone the surprise that Leon had been prepared for. Maybe it was simply impossible to surprise D; considering some of the other things he'd seen the man do, Leon would hardly be surprised to find out that D was capable of seeing the future, too. "Or ... perhaps not." D frowned.
Leon decided he'd given D enough time to gawk and be astonished at Leon's showing up on his doorstep again after three months; it was time to get to the point.
"I'm here to ask some questions."
D's smile was familiar, but for some reason, it annoyed him less than usual. "Only questions? How ... utterly like you. Other people in your position might be more interested in asking for help, but I suppose you're simply too stubborn to ever change." D stepped aside. "Do come in then. It's raining."
"I don't need your help," Leon informed D, stepping past him as quickly as possible.
"Considering that you don't seem to have brought me any sweets, I'm gratified to hear you think so. It's not my habit to give anything away for free, you know." D gestured for Leon to precede him to the central part of the shop. "Especially not to people who treat me as rudely as you have."
"I have no idea what you're chattering about." Leon sagged down on the couch, ignoring the three cats that already occupied it, and threw him disapproving looks, before heading for a resting place they wouldn't need to share.
"Would you like some tea?" D busied himself by pouring himself a cup, not even bothering to look around to see Leon shaking his head. "I am referring, of course, to the letter you addressed to me."
"Oh, damn." Leon half-rose, before he realized that, at this point in time, there was little he could do about anything.
D tsk-ed. "You left it in plain sight, with my name on it. How you could assume that it wouldn't reach me is beyond me. I will admit that we didn't exactly part as the best of friends the last time we met, but that was all the more reason for me to wish to read your final words to me, wasn't it?"
"I threw it in the wastebin, after tearing it in two!" Leon growled. "I did *not* leave it in plain sight! What do you think, that I wanted you to read it? How much of an idiot do you think I am?"
D delicately sipped his tea. "I trust you don't actually want me to reply to that last question. The answer would only upset you, I'm sure. As to your other question: Chris brought it to me. He told me he'd found it in your apartment. I must admit that I'd been wondering at the tape he'd put on it, but ... I read the letter. You wrote it. Those are the basic facts, detective. You'll simply have to accept them."
"That doesn't change a thing. I wasn't myself when I wrote that letter." Leon shook his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. We're not - I mean, I'm - "
"Dead?" D suggested cheerfully. "Believe me, I'd noticed that. Though I must say, you've changed very little. Some improvements to your personality would have been nice, but I suppose one mustn't hope for the impossible, unless one wants to be disappointed."
"Are you even human?" Leon stared at D. "How can you just sit there and tell me you know I'm dead? You could at least be decent enough to sound freaked out about it! Damn it, D, what's a man gotta do to stop you from being so calm all the time?"
"There's no need to yell, detective, I assure you my hearing's just fine. Are you sure you don't want any tea?" D inquired, sitting down again as Leon glowered at him. "Well then, no, easily, and that depends on the man in question."
"You're a well-spring of information, as ever," Leon said sarcastically.
"I'm always happy to be of assistance to the police ... or to people who write me love-letters. At least when they're not too much of a nuisance." D shrugged.
"You mean you enjoy driving people crazy by being mysterious and obscure," Leon accused him. "And I quit the force when I left for L.A., as you should know."
"As always, your accusations wound me deeply." D sighed mournfully. "Especially after I added an extra category of people I'd be happy to offer my help to, just for you. For some reason, very few people seem to find me as desirable as you do."
Leon flushed. "I already told you I wasn't myself when I wrote that letter!"
"You're free to lie to yourself by thinking that, of course." D inclined his head. "Which still leaves the matter of why you came here."
Leon remained silent.
D rose and got himself another cup of tea.
"I'm - well, I'm dead," Leon said at last.
"Unless my memory deceives me, we had already established that fact," D pointed out. "You are also a stubborn idiot, who left behind everything that's taken him ten years to build, deeply wounded a younger brother still struggling to heal the wounds of his youth, and caused his former colleagues to worry themselves sick about him, all to avoid facing the reality that he might be attracted to another man. Dare I hope you're going somewhere with this, or is this purely a social call?"
"You could show some understanding for what I'm going through!" Leon protested, hiding a wince at the mention of Chris. He'd meant to tell Chris everything, truly, but then things had just happened so fast, and he'd decided to put it off until after his move.
"I don't have any," D informed him coldly. "If it's a show of concern you wish, you have come to the wrong place, detective. I have no use for such delusions."
Leon's shoulders sagged. "Heck, I'm not asking you to pat my hand and tell me everything's going to be fine; I know it's not. I'm just saying some sympathy might be nice."
"Sympathy?" D reached out to stroke one of the cats sharing his part of the couch. "Sympathy isn't going to be of much use to you, it seems to me, but do correct me if I'm wrong. You have my full attention."
"I'm dead," Leon stated, for the third time that evening. "So why am I still walking around?"
"My grandfather might know, only I doubt if he, or anyone else for that matter, would be able to put it in terms you'd understand. Why do living people walk around, detective?" D gestured to the door. "Life itself is a mystery, even if few of the living are aware of it. They have no reason to; they are alive, and that knowledge is enough for them. Only humans ask questions, and seek answers that they might be better of without. Humans pretend they seek to understand life, while all they seem to do is destroy it, polluting the earth with their machines and industrial plants, cutting down the trees that have grown over the course of hundreds of years."
Leon stared at D. "So you're saying - what? That I should be happy to be a blood-sucking freak, and just go on with my ... life?" He nearly choked on the last word.
"If that's what you want." D sounded like it was no concern of his whatsoever.
Leon moaned and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know what I want! I guess ... I guess that's why I came here: because I hoped that you'd tell me."
"Oh." D put down his cup. "I see."
"I must be even crazier than I thought, huh?" Leon chuckled, too caught up in his own thoughts to see the expression of concern on D's face.
"Maybe you're not that crazy after all, detective," D said softly, almost as if he was talking to himself. "Animals have strong instincts to guide them, and yours brought you here, to me. I couldn't turn you back into a human even if I'd want to, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything for you at all."
"Sunlight's supposed to kill things like me, right? If I stay out after dawn, I'd just - " Leon was abruptly brought back to his surroundings as D grabbed his wrist, forcing Leon to look up at him.
"I forbid you to speak of callously throwing your life away like that." D's face was as furious as his voice. "If you ever do so again, you will leave me no choice but to punish you."
"Uhm, D, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Leon cautiously tried to pry D's fingers open, only to find his other wrist captured as well. "I mean, it's nice that you care and all, but - "
D kissed him.
x
[the next morning]
"Why, detective, what a delightful surprise!" D beamed as he spotted the large box his visitor was carrying. "You are positively spoiling me! Would you like some tea?"
Not waiting for his guest's reply, he poured two cups of tea, smiling as his visitor cursed and swatted ineffectively at the newest addition to the petshop.
"Don't mind Q-chan, please. He's still getting used to his new home."
"Just keep him away from me," Detective Leon Orcot grumbled. "I don't like bats."
~the beginning~