Who: Leon Orcot and Count D What: Leon goes to D's for breakfast When: This morning Where: Count D's condo Ratings/Warnings: Low/none, really. Swearing probably, because Leon. Status: Complete
Leon had always been an early riser, though now that Chris was living with D in Anaheim, it meant that he had to wake up even earlier if he intended to have breakfast with them and get back to work in Irvine on time. Lucky for him, D had never even heard of ‘early morning,’ let alone woke up for it, which meant that he didn’t have to wake up too much earlier than normal.
He’d brought eggs and bacon for his and Chris’s breakfast, and while he hadn’t exactly picked up anything for D - D could eat his own damn food, thankyouverymuch - he had brought two cinnamon buns too - one for Chris and one for whoever else wanted one.
He beat on the door of D’s condo with a closed fist. “D! Open up!”
It wasn’t D who opened the door. It was Chris, excited to his brother.
For D’s part, he wasn’t so excited. The Detective never even called first - not that D had a phone either way, but a little warning was better than the annoying pounding on the door first thing in the morning when D wasn’t even prepared. Which was why the Count came out in slippers and his long silk robe, and he’ll thank you not to point out how pink it was.
He pushed long, bony fingers through his hair, effectively returning it from its nightly nest back into its fine silken strands. Ignoring the ever rude Detective, the Count went to the kitchen and began to make tea.
“Hey buddy,” Leon said, ruffling Chris’s hair with his free hand. “Wanna set the table?” Chris nodded cheerfully, and dashed to collect the dishes.
He kicked the door closed behind him, and followed D into the kitchen, grabbing his favourite teacup from D’s cupboard and putting the groceries he’d brought with him on the kitchen counter. “You look like the cat dragged you out of bed,” Leon scoffed, leaning against the kitchen counter as he waited for the tea to brew. “Don’t tell me you just woke up.”
“Alright,” the count answered without looking up from his own tasks, “I won’t tell you that.” He hadn’t just woken up. Sleep eluded the Count no matter what. He’d been relaxing for once, though. With Chris old enough to see after himself for the most part, D spent time with animals, some of whom were predictably lounging in various areas of the house. Today was a lazy day, seeing even T-Chan curled up with no interest in biting the Detective.
“What brings you here this morning?” the Count asked, gathering his morning sweets together. Naturally, there was tea for the dear Detective, brought out to the kitchen table on a tray. For the Count, this was a new way of living and he wasn’t entirely sure he liked it just yet.
“Breakfast, obviously,” Leon said. “I bought eggs and bacon and stuff because god knows I can’t deal with whatever the hell you’re going to eat this early in the morning. Chris, you want some bacon and eggs?”
Chris was already reaching for one of the sweets, and shot Leon a nearly guilty look. He withdrew his hand, and nodded. “You can pay for his dental bills when he starts getting cavities,” Leon said to D, before opening up cupboards to look for a frying pan. “I don’t see how he’s better off here than with me,” Leon muttered to himself. Not for the first time, though despite all his complaining, he didn’t force Chris to come back with him. Chris seemed to like being surrounded by the animals, and Leon had to admit that it was kind of nice that he didn’t have to worry about locking up his gun every night.
“I certainly won’t be partaking in your artery clogging breakfast of death,” the Count returned, annoyed that there was even bacon near him. He regarded it with disgust and Leon with a touch of sadness, then sat down, tucking his robes in as he crossed his legs and gingerly poured his tea.
The Detective’s comment went ignored. Chris could make his own choices, but ever since the Detective had broken things off with Alex, his house had turned back into a disaster zone and if a regular trip to the dentist was the trade off, then so be it. Of course, the Detective must have wanted something more than just breakfast so D waited patiently as ever to hear what he’d come up with this time.
“Better than your sugar coma breakfasts,” Leon muttered, finding a frying pan and starting to cook the bacon. The smell of cooking meat seemed to be enough to rouse T-Chan, and the creature shook off the sleep. Leon scowled at it, and T-chan seemed to scowl back at him, and before the goat-tiger thing could make a move on him, Leon called, “Hey Chris, why don’t you take T-chan for a quick walk while I finish breakfast?”
Chris seemed happy with the idea, and if the way T-chan followed Chris to his leash was any indication, so did he, and then they were out the front door of the condo.
“I brought cinnamon buns too,” Leon said, nodding toward the bag. “One of them’s for Chris.”
“Must you cook a murdered animal in my house?” D practically hissed from where he sat, feeling his fangs wanting to slide down from his gums. He was revolted by it in every aspect and he stuffed a chocolate into his mouth just to get the scent out of his nostrils. T-Chan was at least with Chris or D might have let his friend maim the Detective for this.
The cinnamon buns perked D up a little, though, and he looked with brief interest in the box. The Detective was almost as fond of sweets as D was of dead animals being cooked in his house. Almost. So…
D swallowed his chocolate. “Did you...did you really bring one for me, Detective?” he asked.
“Kids need protein, D,” Leon retorted. “If you don’t like it, open a window or something.” It wasn’t his problem if D was going to get all sensitive about it. “There’s two cinnamon buns in there, and Chris can’t eat them both in one sitting,” he said, shrugging. He didn’t look at D as he spoke, focused entirely on the bacon as it sizzled in the pan, frowning to himself.
“There’s protein in other things that aren’t animals who have been tortured and slaughtered for five minutes on your taste buds,” the Count returned, too annoyed now to care much about cinnamon buns…
Fresh, warm, gooey cinnamon buns.
D groaned and stood up to cross over to the bag. He opened it and inhaled deeply, but he could feel something coming off of the Detective. Something….not quite right. D closed the bag again and crossed to where Detective Orcot stood. The smell of bacon was absolutely hideous and the thought was even worse. For some reason, D thought the Detective wasn’t really here to grill up some poor, slaughtered pig, though.
With a gentle, elegant reach, D shut the stove off. He stood behind the Detective, close enough to feel the warmth coming off the man, his hands touching Leon’s sides. “What’s wrong, my Darling Detective?” he asked, concern clear in his tone.
“Hey!” Leon protested when D shut off the stove. The bacon wasn’t done yet, but maybe it would keep grilling in the heated bacon grease. He hoped so at least.
There was a time when Leon would have jumped into the pan of sizzling bacon grease to get away from D’s touch, but he was used to D getting way too far into his personal bubble at this point, and he just sighed, bowing his head a little, letting himself relax a little in D’s touch. “I ran into Alex yesterday,” Leon admitted. “First time since things ended. He was… not what I’d call happy to see me.”
Oh, it was about the ex boyfriend.
When it came to relationships, D had no real say. The Detective was the closest he’d ever come to loving anyone and, well….
Anyway, it was all too messy for the Count to advise on. Instead, he flipped the stove back on to let the Detective continue to cook his bacon, allowing him that little comfort. Besides, the pig was dead, may as well at least not let the death be in vain. After a brief squeeze to the Detective’s hip, D slid away again and took the bag from the kitchen island to sit and eat his sticky bun.
Leon opened his mouth and closed it again, the area where D had his hands, had been standing so close behind him suddenly cold. He wasn’t sure what he had wanted from D, but it had been more than that. Some sort of advice or, well, anything would have been better. But he guess he was expecting too much in keeping D from his precious desserts.
He opened his mouth again, not sure what he’d say but sure that he was going to yell at D for something, but then the door opened and Chris and T-chan returned and he closed his mouth again. He didn’t like talking about Alex in front of Chris.
Chris looked from D to Leon, a little confused about how they weren’t yelling at one another, but then Leon took the bacon from the pan and cracked a couple eggs - easy over so it only took a few seconds to cook them in the bacon grease, and laid the whole breakfast out on the table with a cheery “Soup’s up.”
Oh, D had plenty of advice on the subject, but it wouldn’t be anything Leon wanted to hear. Leon had broken the other man’s heart, it was as simple as that, and everyone but the Detective, for all his investigative skills, could see it. Even the Count could see it, but it was hardly his place to interfere in the affairs of love, and at least the sailfin that he’d given to the vampire could keep track of it all.
D made a face as the food was set so near his own on the table. He rolled his eyes, but still allowed it. This time.
T-Chan growled, but D put up a hand for T-Chan to not bother the Detective today.
“That’s not fair,” T-Chan protested.
D smiled softly at his old friend who began to sing a rousing rendition of D and Leon sitting in a tree… as he found a cushion to gnaw on.
“Enjoy it today,” he warned both his guest and Chris. Then, just to placate the Detective, he added, “We’ll go to market later on and get you something that isn’t so sweet.”
Leon was already shovelling food in his mouth, and glanced at his phone for the time. “You’ll have to do it without me,” he said, and then swallowed. “I’m due at work in 40 minutes.” He’d be able to make it, so long as he left in the next ten minutes or so. Assuming traffic wasn’t a nightmare. “I’ll come by for dinner tonight when I’m done. How’s that sound, Chris?”
Chris nodded his consent enthusiastically, which was good enough for Leon. If D didn’t like it, then he’d just have to deal with it.
“You won’t be making anymore dead animals in my kitchen again,” D insisted and Chris sighed. It was going to be back to this again if the Detective argued, but D wasn’t going to let up about it. This was, after all, his house.
From the bedroom, Pon-Chan appeared, rubbing at her eyes. She clutched a pink teddy bear with an eye chewed off and dragged a blanket behind her. T-Chan was sprawled on the sofa and Pon-Chan joined him, having been woken up uncerimoniously by all the talking.
“It’s not a dead animal, it’s bacon,” Leon insisted, taking a large bite from a strip of it to prove his point, because arguing with D felt better than his run in with Alex. “Besides, you let T-Chan eat meat.”
“T-Chan has to eat meat, you don’t,” D said calmly, doing his best not to pull another face as he watched the Detective bite into the bacon. The Detective’s lovely, straight teeth created little bubbles of fat that made D want to retch. “You could use a little more green in your life, Detective,” he added.
“I definitely have to eat meat,” Leon said, and pointed toward one of his canines, which was, perhaps, a little pointier and more prominent than most people’s. “You see this puppy? This is a meat eating tooth.” Chris shovelled the rest of his food into his mouth, and then slid off his chair to go play with T-chan and Pon-chan, though Leon hardly noticed. “And I have nothing against greens. So long as you’re not talking about one of your weird green cakes.”
“You’re ridiculous,” the Count huffed, growing increasingly agitated. He sounded like every redneck ignorant carnivore. The Detective would never change that aspect and it was strangely disappointing to Count D. Times like these, he questioned his own affections for his dear Detective.
Sighing, he pushed away from the table and stood, watching Chris with T-Chan and Pon-Chan. T-Chan was picking on him again, something D rarely interfered with as T-Chan usually had a point. Usually. T-Chan could be cruel just to be cruel at times.
“Do you intend to speak with your ex?” he asked, just to get the subject off of meat.
Chris looked toward the two adults at the mention of Leon’s ex, and Leon quickly gulped down the remains of his tea, ignoring how it seared down his throat. He didn’t know what he would do about Alex. He didn’t like how things were between them, but he didn’t know if forcing his presence on Alex was the right thing to do either. “I’ve got to head to work,” Leon said, already heading toward the door. “I’ll see you guys tonight for dinner.”
And just like that, there went Leon. D wasn’t sure if he wanted to stop the Detective or not and most of him wanted to just let the man walk out the door. D almost did, but the look on Chris’ face was more than he could take. So D moved to the Detective and touched his elbow.
“Five more minutes,” he insisted. “Not for me,” he added, giving a nod toward Chris.
Leon frowned to himself, and then shot D a look. If he hadn’t mentioned Leon’s ex, he wouldn’t have to do this now.
“Hey, Chris, come here,” he said, waving his little brother over. Chris hesitated, then came to meet Leon at the door.
Was that Alex that D mentioned? Chris asked, his question sounding in Leon’s mind instead of outloud.
“Yeah,” Leon said, rubbing the back of his head. “I ran into him the other day.”
Are you going to talk to him?
Leon cleared his throat. “Well, he didn’t really want to talk to me,” he answered, not quite able to meet Chris’ gaze. “So, I don’t really know.”
As much as it pained D to listen to anything related to the Detective’s ex, they’d been something of a pack before their breakup. For a while, the Count thought the Detective might marry the curly haired one and while that would have hurt, D didn’t need anything with the Detective and it felt ridiculous to have even thought that they’d ever…
Oh, anyway….
D moved to the sofa to let them talk before advising, “Why don’t the pair of you spend the day together and come back at dinner?” That the Detective needed to work didn’t seem to matter to the Count. “You can take Pon-Chan with you,” he added at which Pon-Chan grew excited and clapped and moved toward them, ready to go. D might have been smiling that smile of his, a cup of tea balanced daintily between his fingers.
Chris’s face very briefly lit up, and Leon had to shake his head quickly to dispel any notion that he might play hooky to hang out with his brother. “I can’t do that,” Leon said, shooting his brother an apologetic look and then glaring at D. “Some of us have responsibilities and can’t just take off whatever day they want without losing their damn job.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see Chris at the station,” D argued calmly, his hand petting T-Chan atop the head to stop him from ramming his horns against the Detective, though he did think about allowing it. Slowly, he shifted his gaze toward the exceedingly tall blonde, the smile still on his lips. “I’ll see you for dinner,” he promised.
“Not as much as they’ll be happy to see Chris at the petshop,” Leon retorted. It wasn’t that he didn’t like spending time with Chris, but a police station definitely wasn’t a good place to bring a kid, and besides, he needed Chris to keep an eye on the shop in case D did something illegal. Before D could try to pawn Chris off on him again, Leon opened the condo door and slipped outside.
This time, D did let T-Chan go and run into the door as the Detective closed it, but stopped the Tetsu from going any further.
“And why not!” T-Chan demanded, putting an arm around the disappointed and confused Pon-Chan. “You promised her an outing,” he pointed out with a huff. D didn’t give T-Chan a reason why he couldn’t go after the Detective because, at the moment, he couldn’t really think of one, most especially when he looked over at Chris who was still standing at the door, his head tipped to the side. He could see the boy’s hand go to his face to wipe at his nose.
“What a crybaby,” T-Chan declared as he elegantly placed himself back on the sofa, but D stood up and went over to him and knelt down, his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Want to go to the beach?” he asked. It took a moment, but Chris nodded, still sadly. And so the four of them got ready for the beach that would take Chris’ mind off his brother for the time being, and if they were still gone at dinner, well, the Detective had no one but himself to blame for that, didn’t he.