It had been a pretty stupid idea. Leon knew it. But hell, Chris seemed to like Jill and Jill had no problem minding Chris for a couple hours, so he'd taken the chance. She wasn't even making him pay - too busy feeding her inner child's addiction to cheesy animated movies. In any case, here Leon was, outside D's pet shop - AGAIN - ready to offer his dubious services to whatever the Count would have of him.

Given the sort of thing the Count was involved with - and the mafia boyfriend he had - it really was a stupid idea.

"Hey D, you in here?"

The ink-black head rose from where it had lain, pillowed by the back of the lounge chair in his waiting room. "Ah. Detective Orcot." Leon winced.

"Aww, don't be like that. I'm sorry your nail got broken, okay? It obviously means a lot to you--" Though I have absolutely no idea why... "--so I came down to see if there was anything that'd make you feel better."

Mismatched eyes stared at him for a few moments, gold eye seeming colder than the violet. "What are you up to, Detective?" D's velvet voice was intrigued and a little suspicious. Leon stuck out his chin.

"Just what I said. So, go ahead and do your worst. Whatever'll make you feel better."

D stared at the detective for a moment longer and a wicked grin curved his lips. Leon barely had the time to realise that this really had been a terrible, dangerous, stupid idea before the Count whisked away in a flutter of expensive material.

He returned with an ornately decorated box. Leon eyed it dubiously as the Asian man drew nearer, reminding himself stubbornly that he'd let himself in for this and he was damn well going to ride it out till the end.

...even if there was a snake or a dragon or that scary little goat-dog hybrid with a taste for Leon's blood.

D beckoned him over to the couch. "Sit on the floor here, if you please." He gestured to the floor at his feet. Leon sat, sweating slightly. Could be worse - I'm not between his thighs, right? Can't ride a man side-saddle... He blanched and grimaced at the thought, then squeaked slightly as he felt a hand brush through his hair.

"Ah, my dear detective... you really should take more care, you know..." Long fingernails grazing along his skull, tapping absently on the nape of his neck. Leon shivered. "Take this out."

"W-What?"

D poked his head over Leon's shoulder and smiled cheerfully at him. "Your hair tie. I can't do a thing with it all tied back like this... and you certainly don't want me breaking another nail over a hair tie." The tone of the sentence had begun lightly enough, but ended on a note that told Leon he definitely did not want this. Leon gulped and shook his head, removing the hair tie.

Count D�s fingernails traced across Leon�s scalp several more times, and then Leon felt the unmistakeable weight of a brush. �You�re doing my hair?� he blurted. D hummed slightly in response.

�There really isn�t much to do. I won�t cut it� it�s such lovely hair, really, but you treat it terribly.� D�s fingers twisted in the longer strands at the back of his head and Leon felt his stomach tighten. �How often do you wash it, Detective?�

�Er... once, maybe twice a week? Why?�

He could almost feel D grimacing. �...give me your hand, would you?�

Reluctantly, Leon raised his left hand. D grabbed it and set it firmly on his knee - Leon started to sweat all over again - and fiddled with the tips of his fingers. The bandages that swathed the Count�s hand were soft against his weathered skin. �Terrible... just terrible. If you were a dog, I�d call it abuse.� A delicate sniff of disdain from behind him and one long-fingered hand settled in his hair and scrunched absently, as though Leon really were just a dog. In one way, it was kind of nice - the Count thought very highly of dogs, after all, and the sensation wasn�t unpleasant. In another...

�Hey, getting a little friendly with the hair, there, buddy,� Leon warned half-heartedly. His eyelids were dropping closed - a mixture of the comfort of a friendly touch and the long day he�d had, or a mixture of warmth and incense? He didn�t know.

D�s fingers meandered thoughtfully down to stroke Leon�s cheek. �Whatever happened to making me happy, Leon?� The velvet touch of that voice was just the wrong sort of cool - the sort that said D was trying not to be disappointed or upset, but he was, anyway. Leon grimaced, not wanting to piss off the Count, but not wanting to give ground, either.

�Can�t I just buy you some more candy?� He whined, a little pathetically even in his own opinion. One long, carefully painted nail tapped Leon�s cheek just below his eye and withdrew. He felt the lounge shift behind him and knew that D had moved away.

�It�s not the candy that brings me joy, Detective.�

Leon twisted around and gave D a hard look, then, which the Asian man returned mournfully for a moment before he closed his eyes and pushed the open box away, as though the sight of it pained him. Leon saw that it was filled with small, ornate pieces of jewellery - rings, armlets, earrings - and various nail polishes and beauty products.

�...if you don�t mind, detective - I think you�ve done all you can for today.�

It was not a happy dismissal.

Leon pursed his lips and stood up, looking down on D as he lay on the lounge chair, thick black lashes curling against the line of his cheek, coral lips parted slightly even in a frown of discontent. �...D? Keep... keep your eyes closed for a sec, okay?�

Carefully, he pulled a small, thickly lined box out of his pocket - the outer layers were stuffed with wet tissue, which had previously contained chunks of ice. Leon carefully - very carefully - plucked the small candy from its little plastic platform in the middle of the box and placed it gently onto D�s lips.

The Count�s eyes shot wide, both hands flying to his mouth as his lips parted automatically and the chocolate landed on his tongue. There was a brief moment of stunned silence as Leon grinned sort of sheepishly and the Count�s gift melted slowly in his mouth. D�s swallow was very loud in the silence, and since the widening of his eyes had put his dark lashes so very close to his pale, pale cheek, it was very easy for Leon to see the flush that was slowly appearing there.

�Detective...�

Leon didn�t think the mere speaking of his title should raise that many goose bumps all down his arms.

D rose slowly to his feet, eyes glistening rather suspiciously. He broke into an outright smile, not one of his little evil smirks, and dropped his shoulders, still flushing merrily. "That was lovely, detective. Thank you."

Before Leon could react, he leaned close, going on tip-toe to press a chaste kiss to the detective's cheek. Leon turned scarlet and started sputtering as D retreated again, still smiling in a way that was strangely sincere, for D. Completely bereft of mockery or disdain.

Leon choked. "I'm leaving."

D bowed very slightly and closed his eyes. The smile did not leave his lips.

"I hope I will see you again soon, detective."

He didn�t just hope; he knew.

Leon ran, anyway.

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