Who: Leon Orcot and Veronica Mars What: Leon gets drunk and has a conversation with Veronica's dog When: Recently Where: Veronica's place Rating/Warning: Low/none Status: Complete
It was late for Leon to be picking up Chris, and he knew that much. Tonight, he really had been stuck working late, and then after he’d gone for a few drinks at McNally’s with some of the guys on the force. Since the whole Alex debacle, Leon’s relationship with some of the guys had been strained and he was eager to make up the difference. Besides, work had been especially stressful, and Leon had needed a few after work to help unwind, so he’d be in a better mood when he saw Chris. The last thing Chris needed right now was to need to deal with a stressed out Leon. So, he’d texted Veronica letting her know he was going to be stuck late at work, had finished up his job, and had gone out with the boys.
Which is why it was already creeping on ten pm when Leon finally pounded on Veronica’s door. “Veronicaaa,” Leon called. “Open up!”
Veronica didn’t exactly buy the excuse that Leon was ‘working late’. She had a feeling he had gone out after work. And knowing Leon? Probably to a bar. But she didn’t say anything about it. It wasn’t the right time. She knew Leon was dealing with a lot lately and she had promised to help out with Chris. She knew she would eventually have to talk to Leon about all his late nights, but for now she’d let it be.
Chris was asleep on the couc when Leon pounded on her door, confirming her suspicion that he had indeed been out drinking. “Shhhh,” Veronica said as she opened the door. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked in a loud whisper. “Chris and Liam are asleep.”
“Right, sorry,” Leon said abashed. He had a naturally booming voice which had only become stronger in his years on the force, but he probably should have been more mindful of the kids on the other side of the door.
He stepped into Veronica’s place. “Sorry I’m so late,” he said, his voice still on the loud side but much less so than when he’d been outside, and he started to walk to the living room. “You got anything to eat?”
It wasn’t just his voice. It was also the banging on her door. But she wasn’t about to argue with a drunk Leon. That would only cause him to get louder again and wake up her sleeping son.
“Seriously?” Veronica asked her tone still a loud whisper followed by a sigh. “Yeah sure,” she added with an eye roll. “Help yourself.”
Leon frowned. Man, she wasn’t even going to get it for him? Talk about a bad host. Still, Leon wasn’t going to argue with her. Veronica would probably just cause a scene and wake up Chris and Liam if he did.
He made it into the kitchen, and then hesitated when he saw the man leaning against the counter. Leon hadn’t ever seen him before, and honestly, he was surprised that Veronica had him over at all. His hair was cut short, but even just from his posture it seemed obvious that he was a surfer. Maybe he was one of Logan’s friends.
“Hey man,” Leon said, offering the man a hand. “Leon. I was just grabbing some grub. You want anything?”
No Veronica wasn’t going to get it for him. She wasn’t his fucking maid. She was doing him a favor. Multiple favors actually if you counted her letting him eat her food. However she did follow him into the kitchen. That was when Leon started talking to Backup like he was another person in the room. What the hell?
Even more surprising he shook Backup’s hand like it was the first time he was meeting the dog. Which really it wasn’t surprising that Backup shook, he was a well trained dog. It was just the way Leon went about it. “Uh, how much did you have to drink tonight, Orcot?”
“Not enough that I’m not gonna introduce myself,” Leon said, shooting the other man a look that seemed to say ‘can you believe her?’ “You coulda told me you had people over. You gotta be one of Logan’s friends, right?”
“I guess I’m friends with both of them,” the man said, and then “Is there any pizza in there?”
“Good choice,” Leon answered, opening a box of pizza and pulling out a slice for himself and the mystery guest, which he handed over.
And Leon was continuing to have a conversation with her dog. Veronica had no idea what the hell to make of it all. “What the hell?” Veronica couldn’t help but say. “Backup doesn’t get pizza.” Okay maybe sometimes Veronica would let him lick the plate. But she’d never hand him over a whole slice. “Why are you talking to my dog like you’ve never seen him before? Did you take some drugs tonight too?”
“What the hell are you talking about, V?” Leon asked, taking a bite of his pizza. “That’s not Backup. This is…” he paused, realizing that he hadn’t actually gotten the other man’s name.
“Backup,” the man answered, mouth already full of pizza.
Leon stopped mid-chew, and stared at him. There was no way. For one, Backup was a dog and this was very clearly a man. At least, he was, and then suddenly, there was Backup the dog in front of him, mouth full of pizza.
Leon’s pizza filled mouth dropped open.
Veronica watched as Leon’s expression changed. Whatever the hell was going on with him at least he finally seemed to realize that he was having a conversation with her dog. Although why he was so shocked by it when he had been the one doing it Veronica had no idea. She should have been the one with her mouth hanging open.
“Are you going to explain to me why the hell you’re suddenly treating my dog like a person?”
“Because he was a person,” Leon said. “At least, he looked like a person, and he talked like a person.” And now he was just a dog, munching on a slice of pizza. Leon almost told Backup to tell Veronica that he could talk, but then he realized how insane that sounded.
This whole thing sounded insane, didn’t it? He ran a hand through his hair. “Am I going insane?” he asked after a moment.
Backup most certainly was not a person. She knew Orange County did some strange shit. But her dog had never turned into a human. “Clearly you’ve had too much to drink,” Veronica responded. She knew he was going through a hard time. But this was too much. He still had a kid to take care of. A job to go to. Responsibilities. He couldn’t keep getting so drunk that he hallucinated her dog being an actual person. “You should probably crash here tonight.”
“Yeah, maybe I should,” Leon muttered, staring at Backup skeptically again. He felt like he sobered up pretty quickly after realizing he’d been chatting with a damn dog, but who knew? Maybe he was hallucinating that too.
“Guest room is all yours,” Veronica replied already walking off to her own room. It was times like these she was glad Logan had money. Though really, Leon could have shared the couch with Chris if he had to.
“Yeah, thanks,” Leon said. He gave Backup one more suspicious glance, gave Chris’s hair a bit of a stroke as he walked past him, and then made his way to the guest room. Hopefully when he woke up, there wouldn’t be anymore talking dogs.