Pet Shop of Horrors, Petshop Perpetual, 2/2
Title: Petshop Perpetual, 2/2
Rating: R, NC-17, go away if you're not supposed to be reading stuff like this...please.
Pairing: Leon X Count D
Warnings: If you have a deep fear of happy endings, go no further...here be smex and sappiness!
Dedications: A very happy Valentine's day to all! XOXO from the Tiger.
(I thought it would be suitable to post this today, VD, since D is such a sweet tooth, and this really is 'his' day. Also, I ordered Shin Tokyo and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow...I hope.)
Leon sulked silently for a few minutes longer before he realized he was supposed to check in with Sing’s at noon. That was in the Port of Yokohama, so he was more or less screwed if he didn’t leave soon. Of course, the office people knew to leave his duffel for him if he didn’t return, but still, it would be polite to quit in person. ‘Cause he wasn’t going back - he wasn’t going anywhere, ever again, not now that he’d finally found D.
However, Mr. Fancypants was totally in the way, and it didn’t look like he was in a hurry to leave anytime soon. Leon wasn’t going to make his check-out if he didn’t get a chance to talk to the Count alone.
Oh, and by the way, he was pissed here, and getting more so by the minute. He’d come so fucking far, had gotten used to seasickness and strange food, weathered storms and pirates, all just to see this man, be with this man, and here D was, blowing him off with little cakes and tea again, and just hanging on every word Lord Sohki cared to utter. It made him sick. Leon had expected maybe a little more surprise, a few kind words, maybe even a hug. It was weird, he thought, too weird. Not like the Count he knew. Well…it wasn’t like he couldn’t try to shake it up a little.
“I’m not a cop anymore, Count D,” Leon’s voice cut across the conversation, loudly, rudely and with the force of a sandbag. He paused for effect. “…and I was certainly never what you’d call a gentleman.” The Count stiffened and turned his head slowly in Leon’s direction. Lord Sohki eyed the rude visitor with his perpetual air of amusement largely unchanged.
“I see. And what are you now, Mr. Detective, if you are no longer an officer of the law?” D’s tone was quite civil, even passably interested, but it made Leon seethe. He truly hadn’t expected this, not from D. Anger, maybe, or perhaps if the gods smiled, the same surge of joy he’d felt, but never this alarmingly polite brush-off. The anger kept a lid on his growing fear, though, so he stoked it a little higher and turned to the secondary offender.
“So, Lord Sohki, what is it exactly you do?” Leon leaned forward, depositing his plate with a thunk on the table and raised his brows in inquiry. First things first.
“Do? Me? Very little, I must admit.” Sohki, too, leaned forward and smiled even more widely at Orcot, who barely bit back a growl. “I am a bit of a playboy, I’d say, a bon vivant. And you, Mr. Orcot? You haven’t revealed your new career to us yet, have you? I am most curious as to what an ex-officer of the American police would find to occupy his time. You must have gained a profound knowledge of the criminal world, yes? Perhaps you’re taking advantage of that knowledge in your new position?”
The Count sat back out of the way and warily watched for Leon’s reaction, nervous fingers wrapped tightly around his tea cup. Sohki was a handful. To give him credit, Leon suppressed his instinct to physically wipe the smile off Lord Sohki’s face. Two could play.
“Me, Lord Sohki? No, I have to say my job’s a hell of a lot more interesting than your common-and garden criminal. I’m a guard, Lord Sohki, a security guard, licensed and bonded and better paid than I ever was as a cop. Count, you might even call me a guard dog, since I have the pleasant and necessary duty of keeping precious things safe from harm, just like your buddy Drehzin.” Leon grinned, absentmindedly moved Hamlin to his breast pocket, where the little guy peeped out, watching the action as he nibbled.
“’Course sometimes, Lord Sohki, I have to kill rats and other intruders, anything that might endanger those precious things.” He smiled again at Sohki, but it was more a bearing of the teeth. “I find I enjoy it immensely.”
It was Sohki’s turn to sit back, but Leon didn’t feel like he’d really routed him. Whatever Sohki was, a mere security guard didn’t measure up. It was good it wasn’t really Sohki he was trying to rattle.
“And you, Count, what have you been up to since we parted so suddenly?” Leon turned his guns on the real offender, who had the grace to blush faintly.
“A Pet Shop, Leon, as you see.” He gestured and Leon took a better look around. It was odd - there were no animals in the room. Not one. He was used to D being surrounded by them. Hell, once they gotten accustomed to Leon in the old Shop he hadn’t even been able to move for the cats and rabbits, dogs and reptiles that blithely draped themselves across his lap, his feet, his shoulders. Not to mention the more unusual pets, the ones that he doubted would ever be found anywhere other than storybook and legend. But where were Tetsu and Pon-chan? Where was that damned bat? D’s Grandfather wouldn’t have abandoned him, surely?
Leon turned back to D, the question written huge on his worried face.
“Where are they, Count? You didn’t sell them, did you?”
The Count looked blank for a moment and then chuckled, the first genuinely relaxed sound he’d made since Leon arrived. The tension in the room visibly subsided.
“No, no, my dear Detective! I haven’t sold them, I assure you. And certainly not my own grandfather! No, you see, everyone who’s with me still is in the back of my Shop. I asked them to stay there for the morning. Lord Sohki does not care for all the attention and it is much more comfortable for him to visit me in private.”
“Ah, okay.” Leon breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a faint pang of sympathy for Sohki. He’d been there, too, especially with that damned goat. “That’s good, then. Glad to hear you haven’t gotten rid of all your old friends. So, tell me, Count, exactly how long have you been here in Tokyo, D? Since you left Sydney?”
“Yes, I suppose, Detective. Six months or so, I believe.” D shrugged, as it were of no importance to start from scratch in whole new location. “You were in Sydney yourself, I assume, as you have my little Hamlin now?”
“Yes, he was a return. Fortunately I was around to take him.” Leon reached a gentle finger up to stroke his little companion and Hamlin demonstrated his tremendous affection for his human by not biting him.
“And before Sydney, you were London, right? Only a couple of months, though.” Leon looked inquiringly toward the Count, who hesitated just before he nodded.
“Paris was real short, not even long enough to open the Shop. Collecting, they told me. And that was right after you left the States. So, that’s what, 2 ½, almost three years ago now since you left LA?” D eyed him warily, and eventually agreed. He was not sure he wished to go down the path Leon was leading him, but the question begged to be asked.
“Yes, Detective, that is correct. What have you been doing all this time, tracking me?”
Orcot’s lips curled bitterly, his blue eyes arctic. “Indeed I have, Count.”
“And now? You are planning to arrest me? I do beg your pardon, Detective, but aren’t you a little late?”
“I might just have to arrest you anyway, Count, if you don’t cooperate with me now.” If the Count were a bird, he would have ruffled his feathers.
“If I may remind you, Detective, you are far from your own jurisdiction. I very much doubt you will be able to harass me here in Japan the way you did in Los Angeles.” The Count smirked, but there was tension in the line of his shoulders and set of his red, red mouth.
Len grinned, thinking of that mouth. “I think a simple house arrest will do the trick, D. I’m not asking for more.” Squaring his shoulders, he turned to Sohki, who’d been watching the verbal ping-pong, a smile behind his sleeve. Leon cleared his throat to make sure he had the beautiful man’s full attention and spoke in his most official cop voice.
“I am afraid I am must ask you to leave now, Lord Sohki. The Count and I have some serious charges to discuss and I’m sure he would prefer privacy.” D’s annoyed hiss went unremarked as Sohki and Leon exchanged looks.
“Must I?” Sohki opened his violet eyes wide but looked agreeable. “I cannot stay to watch?” Leon shook his head firmly and Sohki sighed with great exaggeration.
Still, he obligingly stood up, gathering his robes around him. His lavender gaze turned full on Leon and the ex-policeman suddenly felt as though his very soul was being examined under a strong microscope. Little violet-blue bolts of lightening hovered in the air around Sohki and Leon could have sworn his dazzled eyes suddenly recognized the image of a fabulous beast . He shook his head in automatic denial and the image dissipated. Sohki blinked slowly at Leon, like a cat who has deigned to approve of the meal before him, and finally nodded. Leon figured he must have passed muster because now Sohki was smiling again and this time his remarkable purple eyes reflected goodwill. Leon found himself bowing, slightly and stiffly, although he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe the guy wasn’t so bad, after all.
“I suppose I must,” Sohki concurred with himself before turning away to face the flustered Count. Leon clearly heard Sohki’s “I am glad you think so,” in his head but he decided to firmly ignore it.
The Count tutted in annoyance, nearly stamping one slippered foot.
“Now, now, Lord Sohki, you don’t need to be chased out by this brash young man. We also have things to discuss. The Detective can come back another time.”
“Oh, no, my dearest Count. I don’t think so. Your young man doesn’t look like he’ll wait much longer. I do believe your…discussion… is long overdue.” Lord Sohki clasped the Count’s hands, bringing them briefly to his lips. “We will resume this later, hmm?”
Sohki swept out the door with great panache, not forgetting to shut it firmly behind him. Leon was right behind him, closing the gate, turning the lock and pocketing the key in one swift movement. D watched him from his post by the tea table, his face clearly revealing his pique.
“What the hell’s with you, D?” asked Leon, advancing across the tiled entryway. “Why the cold shoulder? It’s a little rude to shove me out the door when it took so fucking long to find you.”
“You assume, Mr. Detective, that I wished to be found.” Leon moved closer still and the Count backed up instinctively, the backs of his knees pressed against the armchair so recently occupied by Lord Sohki. He was stiff as a board; the ‘company’ smile vanished.
“I assumed you’d be happy to see me,” Leon bit out, his temper bubbling up. “And not without cause, D! You left a trail of breadcrumbs a blind man could see!”
“I most certainly did not, Leon! I went to great trouble to conceal my whereabouts!” D was trembling now and Leon reached forward to grasp his shoulders, holding him still.
“Not good enough, Count. If I’d moved a little faster, I’d’ve had you in New York. Or Sydney! Ir was just a matter of time, D!” D slowly shook his head back and forth, wordlessly denying Leon’s assertion.
“Look, you damned well can’t deny you left me this!” Leon fumbled in his jean’s pocket, dragging out Chris’s carefully folded drawing and waving it triumphantly in D’s face, all the while gripping D’s shoulder with one firm hand to prevent him from twisting away.
“Wh-what? You kept that, Leon? Why?” Distracted, D reached out and took it, a fine tremor making his long nails rattle against the paper. Smoothing it out against Leon’s chest for want of a better place, D peered at Chris’s version of his family, smiling at crude drawing in fond reverie. Father, mother, brother, sister, and grandfather - the perfect family for a seven-year-old with a few lingering emotional problems and the inability to speak aloud. The perfect family, indeed. D smiled, forlorn. He had missed that feeling so dreadfully much these last few years, but one could not go back. This scrap of paper, tattered and creased, had been his own precious memento, but, sadly, he had lost it during the explosion. Not that he had forgotten it - or them; no, for his nature was such that he remembered all that was lost in vivid detail. Leon watched as D’s scarlet fingernail tremulously traced the lines of the drawing. He could have sworn he saw tears welling in those beautiful eyes. The sight gave him back some of his natural assurance.
Leon ducked down to bring his mouth to D’s ear and murmured softly, seductively, “It’s a fucking invitation, D. It has ‘Come find me!” written all over it. How could I refuse?”
D’s face instantly set into harder lines and he made to step back out of Leon’s arms, but the chair effectively blocked his escape. Leon took the opportunity to pull the reluctant Count fully into his embrace, burying his face in D’s dark hair, firm lips lightly brushing D’s neck. The Count squirmed and pushed futilely against Leon’s chest, his strength halved by a weakness he would not admit. He was breathing quite rapidly, face flushed a delicate pink, his usual unflappable mask having slipped away.
“Take your hands off me, Leon! I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it is not welcome!”
“No? Then how about this?” Leon kissed D hard on his angry mouth, plunging his tongue deep, effectively stopping any verbal objection. His calloused, sunburnt hands ran slowly down D’s trembling body, caressing him with a gentleness that D took note of even as his unwilling mouth was ravaged. For a long cruel moment, D wavered, not responding, his body stiff in Leon’s embrace. One heartbeat. Two. Three, and their pulses were tuned, unleashing the madness within. Then finally, at long last, D relented, kissing his dear detective in return, his mouth avid. His fingernails dug into Leon’s shoulders as he pressed himself closer, hungry, echoing an embrace of long ago. They glued themselves together, the drawing plastered between them as D was now just as urgent as Leon, his slender fingers spiking Leon’s hair, his taut stomach pressed against Leon’s growing hardness. It was fierce embrace, the gentleness swept away by an attraction so deep it was cellular, bound in their bones from the moment they met.
Some uncertain time later, Leon groaned and tore his mouth away, breathing hard, head bowed down on D’s shoulder. D felt the urgent erection pressed against his belly and shivered in anticipation as he panted softly in Leon’s arms. A long-ignored warmth surged through him, melting the last of his doubts.
When Leon finally got his breath back, he spoke in a tone that allowed no denial.
“You’ve got yourself a new Pet, D. I’m not taking one fucking step out of this place without you. Not one. And you, you go nowhere without me - you’re on a short leash, you Chinese Houdini.” He pulled D closer, resting his chin gently on the silky dark hair, and continued, his voice mellowing but still steely. “You can stuff me in your goddamned suitcase if you have to, but you will never leave me again. Never again, you hear me?”
D nodded faintly into the warmth of Leon’s throat, odd eyes closed in defeat…and relief. Well, he had tried to resist, but there was such a thing as fate. He had belonged to this man for such a long time; he could not bring himself to turn away again.
Hamlin took this opportunity to escape the breast pocket of Leon’s jacket, where he’d nearly met an unpleasant death by squishing, and skitter up to perch on top of Leon’s tousled head. He clung and peered nearsightedly around. After a moment the Count leaned back in Leon’s arms, and smiled up at both of them, his eyes alight with glittering amusement. He ruefully shook his head.
“What if I don’t need another Pet, Leon? The Shop is rather full at the moment.”
“Then you’ve got a guard dog, D. Or a lover--- or a mate. Whatever you want to call it - I don’t give a shit. Somebody has to keep an eye on you and it’s going to be me. Get used to it, D, ‘cause I’m not leaving.”
“I gathered that, Leon. I’m just not quite sure what to do with you now you’re here.” D’s mouth curved in a teasing smile. “For that matter, where will you sleep?”
Leon chuckled in delighted amusement, still reeling at what seemed an easy victory, and set his mouth to D’s finely sculpted ear once again. “Where do you think?” His low voice buzzed and the Count swallowed hard, shutting his eyes as Leon dipped his tongue into that delicate orifice. D sighed in sweet resignation. The few objections he had left were none of them likely to halt the inevitable. He may as well stop protesting and enjoy it, since Leon didn’t seem like he was going to allow anything else.
Right on cue, Leon dragged his lips down D’s long pale neck and nosed his way down D’s chest, tonguing nipples through the matte black silk. He kissed the outline of embroidered dragon, and the Count clutched his blonde head tight, tortured and gasping. Practiced fingers slid over D’s thighs, and stroked him into hardness through his trousers. The Count lolled back over Leon’s arm, knees weak and jittery, overwhelmed by lust. So very delicious, to be touched by this man…so very..necessary.
“Mmm…nhh…oh!”
D shuddered, oblivious with pleasure, making needy noises that drove Leon insane, while Hamlin frantically ran up and down Leon’s bent back, seeking safety. Spying the armchair, Hamlin leapt in a herculean effort, scrabbling up its back. He’d never seen his human experience mating season before but he certainly knew enough to get out of the way.
“D!” The Count’s sweet scent tickled his nose as he feasted, his tongue dampening D’s trousers, nimble fingers stroking ever faster. The Count arched in his arms, taut with the burgeoning fullness of his crotch, tears of pleasure seeping down his cheeks.
“Ah…Leon, Leon!”
Leon stopped the sound with his mouth, swallowing D’s final cry of satisfaction.
Hamlin had to leap once again when D’s knees gave way completely and he collapsed gently down on the chair, Leon following to crouch over him like a ravening beast. Hamlin took refuge on the tea table, happy to find cake, and did his best to ignore the sounds of ripping silk, scraping zippers and throaty groans.
****
“-aid. Leon, do you remember?” Leon was almost asleep; the Count’s soft question prodded him back to wakefulness. They were lying entwined on the Count’s enormous four-poster bed, satiated for the moment, drowsing in the late morning sunshine.
“Remember what?” Leon asked, not opening his eyes. He ruffled D’s hair and kissed his forehead, trying to pet him back to sleep.
“The Mermaid, Leon. Do you remember her?” D stared at him intently, unblinking.
There was a pause while Leon sorted his mental Rolodex.
“Evangeline Blue?”
“No, no, the other one, Leon, the one we met on our vacation with Chris. Shino’s Mermaid.” The Count was obviously not about to let this go, so Leon tried harder to concentrate. Who was this Shino, again? Trying to remember that gave him the light-headed feeling he always got when he thought about that trip. He’d been called a hero - that had been weird. And he had been told there was a volcano. Pity he didn’t remember it. He did recall the Count’s version of a swimsuit, but very little else. There was something about red flowers, he thought, but his brain shied away when he tried to recall details.
“Leon?” D prompted.
“Umm, no, I don’t think so. I don’t think I can, D. All I remember is you. And something about red flowers and ..and…maybe cake.”
“I see. Cake.” D sounded perplexed. “Then, Leon, why did you come? If you do not remember what happened there, why would you ever look for me?”
“’Cause I love you, asshole. Jeez, that’s simple. Why else would I spend nearly 3 fucking years seasick and sunburned?”
“But you shouldn’t. She made you forget.” D’s voice was fretful. “There’s no reason-“
“She didn’t make me forget that, whoever the hell she was. Hell, I didn’t even realize I was in love with you till after you took off, D. That was what, a year later, right? It doesn’t make sense, some woman making me forget what I didn’t know in the first place.”
“Mermaid, Leon, not ‘some woman’. And you knew, Leon. You did know. You even asked me to help you remember….which I am trying to do, but without much success.” D sat up, clutching his head, and Leon idly stroked his bare back.
“Well, does it really matter, D? In the long run, I mean? So what if I forgot one little vacation. We’re together now and that’s what counts.” Leon watched D for a moment, searching for a way to cheer him, ‘cause he looked vaguely disappointed.
“Hey, maybe my body remembered for me, you know? ‘Cause I do seem to know all your sweet spots and I sure as hell didn’t track you down just to arrest you. Think about that.” Leon grinned at the frustrated Count, a hint of swagger in his attitude.
Defeated, D lay back down and sighed heavily. Leon pulled him close again and there was silence in the room for several moments.
“Oddly enough, I think you may be correct, Leon.” D sounded as though he had considered it thoroughly. “You did forget, I am positive of that, but I often wondered afterwards if perhaps you still harbored some memory, even if it was incomplete. The way you looked at me sometimes---” He stopped himself, blushing. “Well, I suppose memory is not the only ruler of emotion. I wonder if she realized.”
“It’s got nothing to do with it, D. It’s the heart that counts. Look, if you actually added up all those times I came to your Shop, it’s kinda obvious it wasn’t for the tea and cake or even my little bro’. I wanted to see you, pure and simple. Wanted to, needed to, whatever. It was necessary to me. You were necessary, even if I didn’t get half of what you talked about or a tenth of what went on in there. Hell, I thought you running drugs, D. Selling kids. Not like that fucking mattered, though, ‘cause I was still there every single goddamned day.”
“It did matter, Leon. You were more often angry than not as I remember it. And my memory, at least, is completely intact.”
“So, what about this Mermaid?” Leon asked, deftly turning the subject. “What’d I forget? Something good?”
The Count blushed beet red and buried his face in the pillow. “I can’t tell you that!” His embarrassed voice was muffled by satin-covered down. Leon chuckled. D could be cute --when he wasn’t being so damned annoying!
“Come on, D.” Leon coaxed. “You just said you’d help me remember, right? So, help me.” A firm palm turned D’s chin till he was facing Leon again, still blushing furiously.
“I will not speak of that night, Leon! I’d appreciate it if you didn’t force me.” His frown was fierce but there was no real menace behind it.
“Then show me, D.” Leon invited, running the finger across D’s kiss-swollen lips. “Let your body do the talking, hmm? You don’t have to say a single word if you don’t want to…I bet I can guess.” He rolled closer, bringing their bodies together. D realized with shock that Leon wasn’t the slightest bit tired.
“You...you pervert--! Stop that!” But Leon didn’t stop.
“Did we do this?” He suckled D’s nipples, nipping gently. “Or this?” he asked, trailing hot wet kisses down D’s abdomen.
“Stop! Don’t do that--!” D gasped out as Leon’s mouth wrapped around the tip of his half-hard cock, causing it to swell and grow. D’s hips began to rock in ancient rhythm as Leon sucked and licked him, fingers clenched on the sheets, lips compressed to keep from crying out. Shaking his head at D’s passiveness, Leon slid his warm length up D’s unresisting body, slipping a strong arm around him and prying his nails off the comforter with other hand. With a grunt he pulled the Count over to lie sprawled on top of him, and then firmly tugged D upright. He liked this position best, ‘cause he could watch the expressions that crossed that gorgeous face, every one miles better than that fake smile.
D sat atop him, eyes glazing over with embarrassment and growing passion and Leon stroked his smooth with delicate fingers, till D was squirming. Taking a deep breath and regaining some of his usual aplomb, the Count in turn ran teasing nails down Leon’s chest, pausing to twist his nipples. Leon groaned and grinned and grasped D’s cock once again, stroking it mercilessly till D cried out with pleasure, his thin cum spraying Leon’s chest. Leon grinned, loving it. But this was all very familiar, somehow.
“I’m thinking you probably did that, D,” he teased. “And then I must have done this.”
Leon dampened his fingers in D’s cum and slid one with gentle force into D, the other hand squeezing a firm buttock.
“Uhhh! Leon!”
The Count’s eyes had snapped open when Leon spoke, now they slid slowly shut and he arched back, wriggling his knees apart, giving Leon full access. Leon held him steady and continued drubbing D’s ass, inserting more fingers as the Count moaned and made unconscious little sounds of pleasure. It excited Leon immensely, the knowledge that he was the only one in the world - any world - who could make the self-possessed Count mad for his touch. Just watching the sensual D succumb to his eager hands and mouth made Leon rock hard and ready to cum himself. D was a different man when he was aroused - innocent but strangely knowing, eager for Leon’s hands, his mouth, his cock. He gave Leon back every passionate kiss, every little love bite, till he could bear it no longer and begged to be taken, an animal in heat. Leon had done this gladly three times already and he was more than ready for one more round. Rousing D from his lustful languor, he guided D’s hips just so and shoved himself deep into the warmth, still slick with his own cum. D’s face convulsed at each thrust and he swiveled his hips down to meet Leon’s, fingernails scraping Leon’s chest, on and on, ever faster and harder, till they both climaxed.
Leon pulled him down to kiss him deeply and lingeringly, and D smiled, odd eyes glittering with warm emotion. They relaxed, sated, and the Count nuzzled sleepily into Leon’s damp chest, almost boneless in the aftermath of pleasure.
Sleep had nearly claimed them when Leon whispered, “D?”
“Hmm?”
“This is weird, but I gotta ask. Can we have kids?”
“Wha--? Children?! What are you saying, Leon - that’s not possible!” The Count was wide awake now, rearing up to stare down at Leon as if he had multiple heads.
“No, no, D, think about it. Your dad, Count D, he had that baby just before he died - the one Q-chan took with him. And he must have had you at some point. There’s gotta be chance I can get you pregnant - or whatever it is for you guys.”
“Oh, my,” D sounded dazed and amazed. “Oh my….!” Leon smiled hugely at his lover’s astonished face and hauled him back down, their damp bodies sticking together. Wearily, still smiling, he stroked the silken hair and felt D’s breathing slow as he slipped into sleep. He, himself, was close to passing out from exhaustion, but something was buzzing around his head. Scraps of scenes from his various dreams, scarlet flowers and a dark scented night, faintly gilded by the crescent moon, the one he loved beyond death beneath him, moaning and mewling with passion, matching his every movement willingly, joyfully. The one he loved, his mate, his. And now he could see -knew-- that face very, very well.
“D. D, I remember…” Leon said, sleep clouding his voice. “I remember you.”
******
It was late afternoon when Leon opened his eyes to find an embroidered canopy above his head. Disoriented, he sat up with a jerk, causing the sleeping man beside him to sigh and snuggle deeper beneath the comforter. Leon sighed himself, but with heart-felt relief, and looked around the Count’s bedroom. He’d never been in that holy-of- holy before today and he was curious. He spied an open suitcase on a folding stool under one window and against the opposite wall a large lacquered armoire, neatly shut. Silver brushes lay on an inlaid pearwood dressing table, glinting in the late afternoon light. The carpet was an Arabian jungle of vines and flowers and a desk stood under the other window, a green-glass-and-brass banker’s lamp above it. Oil paintings and framed sepia photos hung on the walls. There were no clocks, no TVs, no phones and Leon didn’t expect them. It was peaceful room, warm and spacious, much larger than it should be given the apparent size of the shop. He expected that too. After all, he’d been conditioned against surprise these last few years - it would take a fair amount to get him now.
The door inched open. Leon knew it was Pon-chan almost before he saw her golden curls. With a cry of joy she ran toward the bed.
“Leon, Leon! Is it really you?!? Where’s Chris? Is he here, too? Oh, Leon - I am so glad to see you! We all missed you so much!”
Laughing in delight, Orcot scooped her up, careful of her frilly dress, and hugged her. He sat her gently on the side of the bed, where she kicked her legs with excitement, covering her mouth in surprise when she saw that D was there too. The commotion woke D, who rolled over and smiled sleepily at Pon-chan’s excited face, until he realized he was stark naked under the covers. Speechless, he slithered down further under the comforter, wildly motioning for Leon to hand him the silk robe draped over the end of the bed. Leon and Pon-chan chatted, catching up, backs safely turned while the Count made himself presentable. With a sheepish smile, the oddest expression Leon had ever seen on D’s face, the Count reassured Pon-chan that Leon was indeed here to stay and firmly ushered her out the door, promising dinner in an hour. Happy as a clam, Pon-chan rushed off to tell the others, giggling at Tetsu’s likely reaction. D sagged against the door, evidently worn out with embarrassment, so Leon had to come and scoop him up, tossing him gently on the bed. Smiling, they lay nose to nose, quite possibly the happiest fools in Japan, until D could no longer bear the touching-not touching and teased Leon’s mouth into a kiss.
Dinner was very late.
*****
Some years after, the two of them were seen strolling through Nikko Edo Village, holding the sticky hands of a small boy who skipped and bounced between them. He was barely more than a toddler, with spiky blonde hair and odd-colored eyes, one violet and one golden-amber. Pink icing was smeared on his face, the obvious aftermath of some special treat. Curious onlookers hid their smiles at the odd sight of a raccoon perched on the back of a small goat, trotting just behind; the raccoon unsuccessfully and repeatedly attempting to wipe clean the boy’s smiling face.
Rating: R, NC-17, go away if you're not supposed to be reading stuff like this...please.
Pairing: Leon X Count D
Warnings: If you have a deep fear of happy endings, go no further...here be smex and sappiness!
Dedications: A very happy Valentine's day to all! XOXO from the Tiger.
(I thought it would be suitable to post this today, VD, since D is such a sweet tooth, and this really is 'his' day. Also, I ordered Shin Tokyo and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow...I hope.)
Leon sulked silently for a few minutes longer before he realized he was supposed to check in with Sing’s at noon. That was in the Port of Yokohama, so he was more or less screwed if he didn’t leave soon. Of course, the office people knew to leave his duffel for him if he didn’t return, but still, it would be polite to quit in person. ‘Cause he wasn’t going back - he wasn’t going anywhere, ever again, not now that he’d finally found D.
However, Mr. Fancypants was totally in the way, and it didn’t look like he was in a hurry to leave anytime soon. Leon wasn’t going to make his check-out if he didn’t get a chance to talk to the Count alone.
Oh, and by the way, he was pissed here, and getting more so by the minute. He’d come so fucking far, had gotten used to seasickness and strange food, weathered storms and pirates, all just to see this man, be with this man, and here D was, blowing him off with little cakes and tea again, and just hanging on every word Lord Sohki cared to utter. It made him sick. Leon had expected maybe a little more surprise, a few kind words, maybe even a hug. It was weird, he thought, too weird. Not like the Count he knew. Well…it wasn’t like he couldn’t try to shake it up a little.
“I’m not a cop anymore, Count D,” Leon’s voice cut across the conversation, loudly, rudely and with the force of a sandbag. He paused for effect. “…and I was certainly never what you’d call a gentleman.” The Count stiffened and turned his head slowly in Leon’s direction. Lord Sohki eyed the rude visitor with his perpetual air of amusement largely unchanged.
“I see. And what are you now, Mr. Detective, if you are no longer an officer of the law?” D’s tone was quite civil, even passably interested, but it made Leon seethe. He truly hadn’t expected this, not from D. Anger, maybe, or perhaps if the gods smiled, the same surge of joy he’d felt, but never this alarmingly polite brush-off. The anger kept a lid on his growing fear, though, so he stoked it a little higher and turned to the secondary offender.
“So, Lord Sohki, what is it exactly you do?” Leon leaned forward, depositing his plate with a thunk on the table and raised his brows in inquiry. First things first.
“Do? Me? Very little, I must admit.” Sohki, too, leaned forward and smiled even more widely at Orcot, who barely bit back a growl. “I am a bit of a playboy, I’d say, a bon vivant. And you, Mr. Orcot? You haven’t revealed your new career to us yet, have you? I am most curious as to what an ex-officer of the American police would find to occupy his time. You must have gained a profound knowledge of the criminal world, yes? Perhaps you’re taking advantage of that knowledge in your new position?”
The Count sat back out of the way and warily watched for Leon’s reaction, nervous fingers wrapped tightly around his tea cup. Sohki was a handful. To give him credit, Leon suppressed his instinct to physically wipe the smile off Lord Sohki’s face. Two could play.
“Me, Lord Sohki? No, I have to say my job’s a hell of a lot more interesting than your common-and garden criminal. I’m a guard, Lord Sohki, a security guard, licensed and bonded and better paid than I ever was as a cop. Count, you might even call me a guard dog, since I have the pleasant and necessary duty of keeping precious things safe from harm, just like your buddy Drehzin.” Leon grinned, absentmindedly moved Hamlin to his breast pocket, where the little guy peeped out, watching the action as he nibbled.
“’Course sometimes, Lord Sohki, I have to kill rats and other intruders, anything that might endanger those precious things.” He smiled again at Sohki, but it was more a bearing of the teeth. “I find I enjoy it immensely.”
It was Sohki’s turn to sit back, but Leon didn’t feel like he’d really routed him. Whatever Sohki was, a mere security guard didn’t measure up. It was good it wasn’t really Sohki he was trying to rattle.
“And you, Count, what have you been up to since we parted so suddenly?” Leon turned his guns on the real offender, who had the grace to blush faintly.
“A Pet Shop, Leon, as you see.” He gestured and Leon took a better look around. It was odd - there were no animals in the room. Not one. He was used to D being surrounded by them. Hell, once they gotten accustomed to Leon in the old Shop he hadn’t even been able to move for the cats and rabbits, dogs and reptiles that blithely draped themselves across his lap, his feet, his shoulders. Not to mention the more unusual pets, the ones that he doubted would ever be found anywhere other than storybook and legend. But where were Tetsu and Pon-chan? Where was that damned bat? D’s Grandfather wouldn’t have abandoned him, surely?
Leon turned back to D, the question written huge on his worried face.
“Where are they, Count? You didn’t sell them, did you?”
The Count looked blank for a moment and then chuckled, the first genuinely relaxed sound he’d made since Leon arrived. The tension in the room visibly subsided.
“No, no, my dear Detective! I haven’t sold them, I assure you. And certainly not my own grandfather! No, you see, everyone who’s with me still is in the back of my Shop. I asked them to stay there for the morning. Lord Sohki does not care for all the attention and it is much more comfortable for him to visit me in private.”
“Ah, okay.” Leon breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a faint pang of sympathy for Sohki. He’d been there, too, especially with that damned goat. “That’s good, then. Glad to hear you haven’t gotten rid of all your old friends. So, tell me, Count, exactly how long have you been here in Tokyo, D? Since you left Sydney?”
“Yes, I suppose, Detective. Six months or so, I believe.” D shrugged, as it were of no importance to start from scratch in whole new location. “You were in Sydney yourself, I assume, as you have my little Hamlin now?”
“Yes, he was a return. Fortunately I was around to take him.” Leon reached a gentle finger up to stroke his little companion and Hamlin demonstrated his tremendous affection for his human by not biting him.
“And before Sydney, you were London, right? Only a couple of months, though.” Leon looked inquiringly toward the Count, who hesitated just before he nodded.
“Paris was real short, not even long enough to open the Shop. Collecting, they told me. And that was right after you left the States. So, that’s what, 2 ½, almost three years ago now since you left LA?” D eyed him warily, and eventually agreed. He was not sure he wished to go down the path Leon was leading him, but the question begged to be asked.
“Yes, Detective, that is correct. What have you been doing all this time, tracking me?”
Orcot’s lips curled bitterly, his blue eyes arctic. “Indeed I have, Count.”
“And now? You are planning to arrest me? I do beg your pardon, Detective, but aren’t you a little late?”
“I might just have to arrest you anyway, Count, if you don’t cooperate with me now.” If the Count were a bird, he would have ruffled his feathers.
“If I may remind you, Detective, you are far from your own jurisdiction. I very much doubt you will be able to harass me here in Japan the way you did in Los Angeles.” The Count smirked, but there was tension in the line of his shoulders and set of his red, red mouth.
Len grinned, thinking of that mouth. “I think a simple house arrest will do the trick, D. I’m not asking for more.” Squaring his shoulders, he turned to Sohki, who’d been watching the verbal ping-pong, a smile behind his sleeve. Leon cleared his throat to make sure he had the beautiful man’s full attention and spoke in his most official cop voice.
“I am afraid I am must ask you to leave now, Lord Sohki. The Count and I have some serious charges to discuss and I’m sure he would prefer privacy.” D’s annoyed hiss went unremarked as Sohki and Leon exchanged looks.
“Must I?” Sohki opened his violet eyes wide but looked agreeable. “I cannot stay to watch?” Leon shook his head firmly and Sohki sighed with great exaggeration.
Still, he obligingly stood up, gathering his robes around him. His lavender gaze turned full on Leon and the ex-policeman suddenly felt as though his very soul was being examined under a strong microscope. Little violet-blue bolts of lightening hovered in the air around Sohki and Leon could have sworn his dazzled eyes suddenly recognized the image of a fabulous beast . He shook his head in automatic denial and the image dissipated. Sohki blinked slowly at Leon, like a cat who has deigned to approve of the meal before him, and finally nodded. Leon figured he must have passed muster because now Sohki was smiling again and this time his remarkable purple eyes reflected goodwill. Leon found himself bowing, slightly and stiffly, although he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe the guy wasn’t so bad, after all.
“I suppose I must,” Sohki concurred with himself before turning away to face the flustered Count. Leon clearly heard Sohki’s “I am glad you think so,” in his head but he decided to firmly ignore it.
The Count tutted in annoyance, nearly stamping one slippered foot.
“Now, now, Lord Sohki, you don’t need to be chased out by this brash young man. We also have things to discuss. The Detective can come back another time.”
“Oh, no, my dearest Count. I don’t think so. Your young man doesn’t look like he’ll wait much longer. I do believe your…discussion… is long overdue.” Lord Sohki clasped the Count’s hands, bringing them briefly to his lips. “We will resume this later, hmm?”
Sohki swept out the door with great panache, not forgetting to shut it firmly behind him. Leon was right behind him, closing the gate, turning the lock and pocketing the key in one swift movement. D watched him from his post by the tea table, his face clearly revealing his pique.
“What the hell’s with you, D?” asked Leon, advancing across the tiled entryway. “Why the cold shoulder? It’s a little rude to shove me out the door when it took so fucking long to find you.”
“You assume, Mr. Detective, that I wished to be found.” Leon moved closer still and the Count backed up instinctively, the backs of his knees pressed against the armchair so recently occupied by Lord Sohki. He was stiff as a board; the ‘company’ smile vanished.
“I assumed you’d be happy to see me,” Leon bit out, his temper bubbling up. “And not without cause, D! You left a trail of breadcrumbs a blind man could see!”
“I most certainly did not, Leon! I went to great trouble to conceal my whereabouts!” D was trembling now and Leon reached forward to grasp his shoulders, holding him still.
“Not good enough, Count. If I’d moved a little faster, I’d’ve had you in New York. Or Sydney! Ir was just a matter of time, D!” D slowly shook his head back and forth, wordlessly denying Leon’s assertion.
“Look, you damned well can’t deny you left me this!” Leon fumbled in his jean’s pocket, dragging out Chris’s carefully folded drawing and waving it triumphantly in D’s face, all the while gripping D’s shoulder with one firm hand to prevent him from twisting away.
“Wh-what? You kept that, Leon? Why?” Distracted, D reached out and took it, a fine tremor making his long nails rattle against the paper. Smoothing it out against Leon’s chest for want of a better place, D peered at Chris’s version of his family, smiling at crude drawing in fond reverie. Father, mother, brother, sister, and grandfather - the perfect family for a seven-year-old with a few lingering emotional problems and the inability to speak aloud. The perfect family, indeed. D smiled, forlorn. He had missed that feeling so dreadfully much these last few years, but one could not go back. This scrap of paper, tattered and creased, had been his own precious memento, but, sadly, he had lost it during the explosion. Not that he had forgotten it - or them; no, for his nature was such that he remembered all that was lost in vivid detail. Leon watched as D’s scarlet fingernail tremulously traced the lines of the drawing. He could have sworn he saw tears welling in those beautiful eyes. The sight gave him back some of his natural assurance.
Leon ducked down to bring his mouth to D’s ear and murmured softly, seductively, “It’s a fucking invitation, D. It has ‘Come find me!” written all over it. How could I refuse?”
D’s face instantly set into harder lines and he made to step back out of Leon’s arms, but the chair effectively blocked his escape. Leon took the opportunity to pull the reluctant Count fully into his embrace, burying his face in D’s dark hair, firm lips lightly brushing D’s neck. The Count squirmed and pushed futilely against Leon’s chest, his strength halved by a weakness he would not admit. He was breathing quite rapidly, face flushed a delicate pink, his usual unflappable mask having slipped away.
“Take your hands off me, Leon! I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it is not welcome!”
“No? Then how about this?” Leon kissed D hard on his angry mouth, plunging his tongue deep, effectively stopping any verbal objection. His calloused, sunburnt hands ran slowly down D’s trembling body, caressing him with a gentleness that D took note of even as his unwilling mouth was ravaged. For a long cruel moment, D wavered, not responding, his body stiff in Leon’s embrace. One heartbeat. Two. Three, and their pulses were tuned, unleashing the madness within. Then finally, at long last, D relented, kissing his dear detective in return, his mouth avid. His fingernails dug into Leon’s shoulders as he pressed himself closer, hungry, echoing an embrace of long ago. They glued themselves together, the drawing plastered between them as D was now just as urgent as Leon, his slender fingers spiking Leon’s hair, his taut stomach pressed against Leon’s growing hardness. It was fierce embrace, the gentleness swept away by an attraction so deep it was cellular, bound in their bones from the moment they met.
Some uncertain time later, Leon groaned and tore his mouth away, breathing hard, head bowed down on D’s shoulder. D felt the urgent erection pressed against his belly and shivered in anticipation as he panted softly in Leon’s arms. A long-ignored warmth surged through him, melting the last of his doubts.
When Leon finally got his breath back, he spoke in a tone that allowed no denial.
“You’ve got yourself a new Pet, D. I’m not taking one fucking step out of this place without you. Not one. And you, you go nowhere without me - you’re on a short leash, you Chinese Houdini.” He pulled D closer, resting his chin gently on the silky dark hair, and continued, his voice mellowing but still steely. “You can stuff me in your goddamned suitcase if you have to, but you will never leave me again. Never again, you hear me?”
D nodded faintly into the warmth of Leon’s throat, odd eyes closed in defeat…and relief. Well, he had tried to resist, but there was such a thing as fate. He had belonged to this man for such a long time; he could not bring himself to turn away again.
Hamlin took this opportunity to escape the breast pocket of Leon’s jacket, where he’d nearly met an unpleasant death by squishing, and skitter up to perch on top of Leon’s tousled head. He clung and peered nearsightedly around. After a moment the Count leaned back in Leon’s arms, and smiled up at both of them, his eyes alight with glittering amusement. He ruefully shook his head.
“What if I don’t need another Pet, Leon? The Shop is rather full at the moment.”
“Then you’ve got a guard dog, D. Or a lover--- or a mate. Whatever you want to call it - I don’t give a shit. Somebody has to keep an eye on you and it’s going to be me. Get used to it, D, ‘cause I’m not leaving.”
“I gathered that, Leon. I’m just not quite sure what to do with you now you’re here.” D’s mouth curved in a teasing smile. “For that matter, where will you sleep?”
Leon chuckled in delighted amusement, still reeling at what seemed an easy victory, and set his mouth to D’s finely sculpted ear once again. “Where do you think?” His low voice buzzed and the Count swallowed hard, shutting his eyes as Leon dipped his tongue into that delicate orifice. D sighed in sweet resignation. The few objections he had left were none of them likely to halt the inevitable. He may as well stop protesting and enjoy it, since Leon didn’t seem like he was going to allow anything else.
Right on cue, Leon dragged his lips down D’s long pale neck and nosed his way down D’s chest, tonguing nipples through the matte black silk. He kissed the outline of embroidered dragon, and the Count clutched his blonde head tight, tortured and gasping. Practiced fingers slid over D’s thighs, and stroked him into hardness through his trousers. The Count lolled back over Leon’s arm, knees weak and jittery, overwhelmed by lust. So very delicious, to be touched by this man…so very..necessary.
“Mmm…nhh…oh!”
D shuddered, oblivious with pleasure, making needy noises that drove Leon insane, while Hamlin frantically ran up and down Leon’s bent back, seeking safety. Spying the armchair, Hamlin leapt in a herculean effort, scrabbling up its back. He’d never seen his human experience mating season before but he certainly knew enough to get out of the way.
“D!” The Count’s sweet scent tickled his nose as he feasted, his tongue dampening D’s trousers, nimble fingers stroking ever faster. The Count arched in his arms, taut with the burgeoning fullness of his crotch, tears of pleasure seeping down his cheeks.
“Ah…Leon, Leon!”
Leon stopped the sound with his mouth, swallowing D’s final cry of satisfaction.
Hamlin had to leap once again when D’s knees gave way completely and he collapsed gently down on the chair, Leon following to crouch over him like a ravening beast. Hamlin took refuge on the tea table, happy to find cake, and did his best to ignore the sounds of ripping silk, scraping zippers and throaty groans.
****
“-aid. Leon, do you remember?” Leon was almost asleep; the Count’s soft question prodded him back to wakefulness. They were lying entwined on the Count’s enormous four-poster bed, satiated for the moment, drowsing in the late morning sunshine.
“Remember what?” Leon asked, not opening his eyes. He ruffled D’s hair and kissed his forehead, trying to pet him back to sleep.
“The Mermaid, Leon. Do you remember her?” D stared at him intently, unblinking.
There was a pause while Leon sorted his mental Rolodex.
“Evangeline Blue?”
“No, no, the other one, Leon, the one we met on our vacation with Chris. Shino’s Mermaid.” The Count was obviously not about to let this go, so Leon tried harder to concentrate. Who was this Shino, again? Trying to remember that gave him the light-headed feeling he always got when he thought about that trip. He’d been called a hero - that had been weird. And he had been told there was a volcano. Pity he didn’t remember it. He did recall the Count’s version of a swimsuit, but very little else. There was something about red flowers, he thought, but his brain shied away when he tried to recall details.
“Leon?” D prompted.
“Umm, no, I don’t think so. I don’t think I can, D. All I remember is you. And something about red flowers and ..and…maybe cake.”
“I see. Cake.” D sounded perplexed. “Then, Leon, why did you come? If you do not remember what happened there, why would you ever look for me?”
“’Cause I love you, asshole. Jeez, that’s simple. Why else would I spend nearly 3 fucking years seasick and sunburned?”
“But you shouldn’t. She made you forget.” D’s voice was fretful. “There’s no reason-“
“She didn’t make me forget that, whoever the hell she was. Hell, I didn’t even realize I was in love with you till after you took off, D. That was what, a year later, right? It doesn’t make sense, some woman making me forget what I didn’t know in the first place.”
“Mermaid, Leon, not ‘some woman’. And you knew, Leon. You did know. You even asked me to help you remember….which I am trying to do, but without much success.” D sat up, clutching his head, and Leon idly stroked his bare back.
“Well, does it really matter, D? In the long run, I mean? So what if I forgot one little vacation. We’re together now and that’s what counts.” Leon watched D for a moment, searching for a way to cheer him, ‘cause he looked vaguely disappointed.
“Hey, maybe my body remembered for me, you know? ‘Cause I do seem to know all your sweet spots and I sure as hell didn’t track you down just to arrest you. Think about that.” Leon grinned at the frustrated Count, a hint of swagger in his attitude.
Defeated, D lay back down and sighed heavily. Leon pulled him close again and there was silence in the room for several moments.
“Oddly enough, I think you may be correct, Leon.” D sounded as though he had considered it thoroughly. “You did forget, I am positive of that, but I often wondered afterwards if perhaps you still harbored some memory, even if it was incomplete. The way you looked at me sometimes---” He stopped himself, blushing. “Well, I suppose memory is not the only ruler of emotion. I wonder if she realized.”
“It’s got nothing to do with it, D. It’s the heart that counts. Look, if you actually added up all those times I came to your Shop, it’s kinda obvious it wasn’t for the tea and cake or even my little bro’. I wanted to see you, pure and simple. Wanted to, needed to, whatever. It was necessary to me. You were necessary, even if I didn’t get half of what you talked about or a tenth of what went on in there. Hell, I thought you running drugs, D. Selling kids. Not like that fucking mattered, though, ‘cause I was still there every single goddamned day.”
“It did matter, Leon. You were more often angry than not as I remember it. And my memory, at least, is completely intact.”
“So, what about this Mermaid?” Leon asked, deftly turning the subject. “What’d I forget? Something good?”
The Count blushed beet red and buried his face in the pillow. “I can’t tell you that!” His embarrassed voice was muffled by satin-covered down. Leon chuckled. D could be cute --when he wasn’t being so damned annoying!
“Come on, D.” Leon coaxed. “You just said you’d help me remember, right? So, help me.” A firm palm turned D’s chin till he was facing Leon again, still blushing furiously.
“I will not speak of that night, Leon! I’d appreciate it if you didn’t force me.” His frown was fierce but there was no real menace behind it.
“Then show me, D.” Leon invited, running the finger across D’s kiss-swollen lips. “Let your body do the talking, hmm? You don’t have to say a single word if you don’t want to…I bet I can guess.” He rolled closer, bringing their bodies together. D realized with shock that Leon wasn’t the slightest bit tired.
“You...you pervert--! Stop that!” But Leon didn’t stop.
“Did we do this?” He suckled D’s nipples, nipping gently. “Or this?” he asked, trailing hot wet kisses down D’s abdomen.
“Stop! Don’t do that--!” D gasped out as Leon’s mouth wrapped around the tip of his half-hard cock, causing it to swell and grow. D’s hips began to rock in ancient rhythm as Leon sucked and licked him, fingers clenched on the sheets, lips compressed to keep from crying out. Shaking his head at D’s passiveness, Leon slid his warm length up D’s unresisting body, slipping a strong arm around him and prying his nails off the comforter with other hand. With a grunt he pulled the Count over to lie sprawled on top of him, and then firmly tugged D upright. He liked this position best, ‘cause he could watch the expressions that crossed that gorgeous face, every one miles better than that fake smile.
D sat atop him, eyes glazing over with embarrassment and growing passion and Leon stroked his smooth with delicate fingers, till D was squirming. Taking a deep breath and regaining some of his usual aplomb, the Count in turn ran teasing nails down Leon’s chest, pausing to twist his nipples. Leon groaned and grinned and grasped D’s cock once again, stroking it mercilessly till D cried out with pleasure, his thin cum spraying Leon’s chest. Leon grinned, loving it. But this was all very familiar, somehow.
“I’m thinking you probably did that, D,” he teased. “And then I must have done this.”
Leon dampened his fingers in D’s cum and slid one with gentle force into D, the other hand squeezing a firm buttock.
“Uhhh! Leon!”
The Count’s eyes had snapped open when Leon spoke, now they slid slowly shut and he arched back, wriggling his knees apart, giving Leon full access. Leon held him steady and continued drubbing D’s ass, inserting more fingers as the Count moaned and made unconscious little sounds of pleasure. It excited Leon immensely, the knowledge that he was the only one in the world - any world - who could make the self-possessed Count mad for his touch. Just watching the sensual D succumb to his eager hands and mouth made Leon rock hard and ready to cum himself. D was a different man when he was aroused - innocent but strangely knowing, eager for Leon’s hands, his mouth, his cock. He gave Leon back every passionate kiss, every little love bite, till he could bear it no longer and begged to be taken, an animal in heat. Leon had done this gladly three times already and he was more than ready for one more round. Rousing D from his lustful languor, he guided D’s hips just so and shoved himself deep into the warmth, still slick with his own cum. D’s face convulsed at each thrust and he swiveled his hips down to meet Leon’s, fingernails scraping Leon’s chest, on and on, ever faster and harder, till they both climaxed.
Leon pulled him down to kiss him deeply and lingeringly, and D smiled, odd eyes glittering with warm emotion. They relaxed, sated, and the Count nuzzled sleepily into Leon’s damp chest, almost boneless in the aftermath of pleasure.
Sleep had nearly claimed them when Leon whispered, “D?”
“Hmm?”
“This is weird, but I gotta ask. Can we have kids?”
“Wha--? Children?! What are you saying, Leon - that’s not possible!” The Count was wide awake now, rearing up to stare down at Leon as if he had multiple heads.
“No, no, D, think about it. Your dad, Count D, he had that baby just before he died - the one Q-chan took with him. And he must have had you at some point. There’s gotta be chance I can get you pregnant - or whatever it is for you guys.”
“Oh, my,” D sounded dazed and amazed. “Oh my….!” Leon smiled hugely at his lover’s astonished face and hauled him back down, their damp bodies sticking together. Wearily, still smiling, he stroked the silken hair and felt D’s breathing slow as he slipped into sleep. He, himself, was close to passing out from exhaustion, but something was buzzing around his head. Scraps of scenes from his various dreams, scarlet flowers and a dark scented night, faintly gilded by the crescent moon, the one he loved beyond death beneath him, moaning and mewling with passion, matching his every movement willingly, joyfully. The one he loved, his mate, his. And now he could see -knew-- that face very, very well.
“D. D, I remember…” Leon said, sleep clouding his voice. “I remember you.”
******
It was late afternoon when Leon opened his eyes to find an embroidered canopy above his head. Disoriented, he sat up with a jerk, causing the sleeping man beside him to sigh and snuggle deeper beneath the comforter. Leon sighed himself, but with heart-felt relief, and looked around the Count’s bedroom. He’d never been in that holy-of- holy before today and he was curious. He spied an open suitcase on a folding stool under one window and against the opposite wall a large lacquered armoire, neatly shut. Silver brushes lay on an inlaid pearwood dressing table, glinting in the late afternoon light. The carpet was an Arabian jungle of vines and flowers and a desk stood under the other window, a green-glass-and-brass banker’s lamp above it. Oil paintings and framed sepia photos hung on the walls. There were no clocks, no TVs, no phones and Leon didn’t expect them. It was peaceful room, warm and spacious, much larger than it should be given the apparent size of the shop. He expected that too. After all, he’d been conditioned against surprise these last few years - it would take a fair amount to get him now.
The door inched open. Leon knew it was Pon-chan almost before he saw her golden curls. With a cry of joy she ran toward the bed.
“Leon, Leon! Is it really you?!? Where’s Chris? Is he here, too? Oh, Leon - I am so glad to see you! We all missed you so much!”
Laughing in delight, Orcot scooped her up, careful of her frilly dress, and hugged her. He sat her gently on the side of the bed, where she kicked her legs with excitement, covering her mouth in surprise when she saw that D was there too. The commotion woke D, who rolled over and smiled sleepily at Pon-chan’s excited face, until he realized he was stark naked under the covers. Speechless, he slithered down further under the comforter, wildly motioning for Leon to hand him the silk robe draped over the end of the bed. Leon and Pon-chan chatted, catching up, backs safely turned while the Count made himself presentable. With a sheepish smile, the oddest expression Leon had ever seen on D’s face, the Count reassured Pon-chan that Leon was indeed here to stay and firmly ushered her out the door, promising dinner in an hour. Happy as a clam, Pon-chan rushed off to tell the others, giggling at Tetsu’s likely reaction. D sagged against the door, evidently worn out with embarrassment, so Leon had to come and scoop him up, tossing him gently on the bed. Smiling, they lay nose to nose, quite possibly the happiest fools in Japan, until D could no longer bear the touching-not touching and teased Leon’s mouth into a kiss.
Dinner was very late.
*****
Some years after, the two of them were seen strolling through Nikko Edo Village, holding the sticky hands of a small boy who skipped and bounced between them. He was barely more than a toddler, with spiky blonde hair and odd-colored eyes, one violet and one golden-amber. Pink icing was smeared on his face, the obvious aftermath of some special treat. Curious onlookers hid their smiles at the odd sight of a raccoon perched on the back of a small goat, trotting just behind; the raccoon unsuccessfully and repeatedly attempting to wipe clean the boy’s smiling face.