Leon Orcot (under_arrest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-08-21 15:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, count d, leon orcot |
Who: Leon Orcot and Count D and NPC!Chris
What: The Count meets Chris
When: Recently?
Where: Out
Ratings/Warnings: Low/none, some talk of parental death
Status: Complete
Leon had, once again, brought too much stuff for the park. The baseball glove, ball, and bat, basketball, and frisbee were piled in a heap, so far unused, as Leon and Chris threw the football back. When Chris had first shown up at Leon’s place, he had tried to bring him out to play at the park as often as he could, but over the course of the last year and a half, that had become less and less.
Leon felt bad about it, even as there was still a small part of him that thought Chris would be better off with literally anyone else. Just because Leon was Chris’s brother didn’t mean that Leon was the best fit to take care of him. Hell, Chris hadn’t even known they were more than cousins before two years ago, when his parents had been ripped from him. But after Laurel had been shot and Veronica had yelled at him, Leon knew that something had to change. Chris didn’t deserve to be punished for Leon’s own inadequacies.
So he’d been making more of a point. He’d made it a goal to come out and play with Chris in the park every Sunday, provided he didn’t have to work. And so far, he’d done a pretty good job at holding up his end of the bargain.
“Alright, go long!” Leon yelled, taking a throwing stance, and Chris ran, looking back over his shoulder at Leon so he didn’t see the man he careened into until it was too late.
Butterflies were everywhere and how lovely they were, stopping to kiss D’s lips as D relaxed on his picnic blanket with an array of sweets spread out before him. He gained attention with his setup and his choice of clothing, but one person didn’t appear to notice and the lack of notice was mutual between the two because D hadn’t seen the boy either, too busy being caught in a flock of butterflies.
There was no warning, but as soon as D knew that he was about to be fallen onto, he managed to save a butterfly from being crushed before his hands were out, catching the boy before he could fall and hurt himself.
D smiled down at the cute blonde child. “Why, hello,” he said sweetly. “Are you alright?” My, he was adorable.
Chris was equally surprised, and thought a hurried apology even though he knew only his big brother could hear his thoughts. It took him a moment to remember to sign the apology too.
The football sailed over both their heads, landing harmlessly on the other side of D’s set up, and shortly after, Leon crested the hill that had kept D’s set up from view. His first thought, seeing Chris with someone and a picnic blanket, was to feel guilty for accidentally sending his brother into them.
But then he recognized D, and his guilty feelings disappeared in a flash. “Chris, are you okay?” he asked, running up to his brother, and Chris nodded before Leon turned to D, the irritation written on his face. “What are you doing here?” he asked. As if the whole incident had been D’s fault. It probably had been too, somehow.
“It’s alright,” the Count replied. “No harm done.”
Pon-Chan came running back from a tree where she’d been playing hide ‘n go seek with T-Chan who was still counting beside a nearby bush. She bounded to the boy, smiling and twirling her dress.
“Hi!” she greeted excitedly. “Are you a friend of the Count’s?”
T-Chan was the unfortunate victim of the football that suddenly bonked him on the head. He came back toward the blanket, carrying the now deflated football between his teeth and his growling only increased when the Detective came up over the hill. Part of D’s spirit soared upon seeing it, but then he remembered why he avoided the Detective as soon as the man opened his mouth.
“It appears we are having a picnic, Detective,” he mocked pointedly. “Is this one yours?” He stood, his fingers rumpling the boy’s hair, just a little.
Oh great. D had brought his racoon and his… goat thing. As if this day could get any worse.
Chris looked at the Count, then back at the girl that had asked him if they were friends. He shook his head. I don’t really know him, he thought, though he knew that she wouldn’t be able to hear him.
Leon took a seat on the blanket, mostly so that he had a better angle to try to wrestle the deflated football from T-chan. “Yeah, he is,” Leon said, managing to pull the football from T-chan’s mouth and immediately regretting it when T-chan decided to fill his mouth with Leon’s arm instead. He yelped, trying to shake him free. “And you owe me a new football.”
“He’s really very nice,” said Pon-Chan. “He bought me a new dress today.”
“Now lets be civil, T-Chan,” the Count said, without much conviction. T-Chan released the Detective’s arm anyway.
“Who’s the twerp?” T-Chan asked as he went to inspect the boy.
“I didn’t know you had a son,” D said cheerfully as he picked the football up from the ground, ignoring the Detective’s bitten arm. “He’s adorable. What’s his name?”
D hadn’t even thought the Detective might have a child, especially with the man being practically one himself.
It’s a pretty dress, thought Chris.
Leon started, then bristled, rubbing his sore arm where T-Chan had decided to chow down.. It was a common mistake, one which always got under his skin, but somehow, when D said it, it was even worse. “He’s not my son! He’s my brother! My kid brother!” Seriously, the nerve of the guy.
But I don’t think my brother likes him very much, Chris said, looking between Leon and the Count, even as he shied away from the approaching T-Chan. There was something about the strangely clad teenager that was kind of unsettling.
“No need to get so snippy about it,” the Count hmphed.
He kept an eye on the three. Pon-Chan was saying something about more hide-n-seek. It hadn’t been bad before when they were leaving D alone with butterflies but now he’d be alone with his Detective.
He frowned, but turned to the Detective. “I’m fine with it if Leon is,” he said, hopeful that Leon would make them stick close at least. Saying his name didn’t feel right. Too intimate.
Leon felt a chill running down his spine when D said his name. It really wasn’t right; D only said his name when something bad was going to happen.
That, and he had no idea what he was talking about.
“If I’m alright with what?” Leon growled, feeling like he was somehow missing out on part of the conversation.
With us playing hide-and-seek, Chris said, giving Leon a bit of a confused look. The girl had said it perfectly clearly, as far as Chris was concerned.
“You and those two?” Leon asked, giving a suspicious look at T-Chan. He didn’t trust the goat, but Chris was always running off with those two in the dreams, so what could it hurt. “Sure, just don’t go so far that you can’t hear me calling you.”
T-Chan didn’t seem as enthusiastic as Pon-Chan was to have a new playmate. They’d be close which was a relief. D felt safe in tearing his eyes away for a bit to look at the Detective, his arms folding delicately in front of his own slender torso.
“I didn’t know you had a brother,” he said. “Where are your parents?” The boy was quite a bit younger than the Detective which raised even more questions.
Leon probably should have known this question was coming. He pulled his pack of smokes from his pocket, put one of them in his mouth, and lit it. Leon didn’t have a lot of trouble talking about all of this - it had happened a long time ago and it was just a part of life - but he never especially enjoyed it.
“They’re not around anymore,” Leon said, his voice steady as he watched Chris find a terrible hiding spot. How did hide and seek work anyway when Pon-Chan and T-Chan could just sniff him out from anywhere where he was hiding? “My dad was killed in the line of duty when I was seventeen, before we knew my mom was pregnant. Mom died in childbirth eight months later; she was getting up there in years and she’d already had a lot of health problems.” The doctors, in fact, had advised her not to go through with the pregnancy, but she had refused to listen. Leon wondered if she might have had his dad still been alive.
“Chris ended up getting adopted by my aunt and uncle out on the east coast, but they were killed in a car accident two years ago so I’ve been taking care of him ever since. He hasn’t said a word since the accident. He’s got his sisters out there, but Josie just turned 20 and has her hands full enough taking care of her little sister. She’s only a couple years older than Chris. So, you know, it just made more sense to have him move in with me.” Even if Leon didn’t find himself wondering if Chris would be better off with Josie, even with all the problems he and Sam still had.
Sympathy for humans wasn’t something that D was especially good at. They were usually the victims of their own self induced chaos and the Detective was no exception to that rule, but he also did his best to do the right thing and the world just seemed to go against him much of the time.
“You deserve that good in your life,” the Count deduced, but said nothing more on it. Though the Detective wasn’t someone he’d think could care for a child, they were both making the best out of tragedy.
D pulled a face as smoke hit it. “Must you pollute your lungs and everyone else’s around you so?” he grumbled, but it might have just been so he had something to grumble about in the first place.
It wasn't often that D said something nice like that, and Leon couldn't help but throw him a small smile.
At least, until he opened his mouth again. "If you don't like it, you can move!" Leon snapped. Nevermind the fact that he was sitting on D's picnic blanket.
“I was here first, pal!” D shouted back. If the Detective hadn’t come along, he’d still be kissing butterflies. And if they both looked down the beach, they’d see that Chris had stopped along with T-Chan and Pon-Chan to listen to the two men bicker. “It’s hardly my fault if you want to suck tar into your lungs!”
Leon bristled. How dare D act like he was the picture of healthy habits. "Oh yeah, because the amount of sugar you eat is sooo much better!"
If it were possible, there might have been steam coming from D’s ears, but he quickly reeled himself in. No one could get him shouting No one except for apparently the burly, annoying Detective who seemed to show up at every turn.
“You’re the one on my blanket,” he pointed out, arms folded, eyes closed. At the shoreline, Chris was asking if they were always like this and Pon-Chan was nodding, but D was paying no mind. “So if you’re going to stay, I’d rather taste my mochi balls without a layer of nicotine if you don’t mind,” D added, trying to keep his center.
"Christ man, we're outdoors. I think your precious sugar ball is safe!" He might have continued on, but from his pocket, his phone began to rang. He looked at the display, and seeing it was work he turned slightly away from D.
"Leon," he answered. And then "yeah. Yeah. Uh huh. Got it. See you soon," before he hung up.
"Chris!" He called, waving his brother over.
D opened his mouth to snap back at the Detective that he could simply move five feet away and they’d both be happy and to ask why it was he had to be so close and invade his space.
But the Detective’s phone saved the man from an earful of angry Chinese man. D rolled his eyes, annoyed that he didn’t get to go off. He turned away from the Detective, but kept his ears open, dismayed to find that he was disappointed that he might miss his company. D unfolded his arms and tucked hair behind his ear, watching as Chris came bounding from the waves.
“I can watch him,” D offered, seeing Pon-Chan as she stopped playing in the waves and sulk toward the picnic area. T-Chan didn’t seem as miffed, too busy wrestling with a crab who’d somehow managed to offend him.
Leon had been planning on leaving Chris with D whether the Count liked it or not, but hearing D volunteer for it made him second guess that decision. Why would D volunteer for something like that unless he had something up that long, flowery sleeve? Unless D had already started dreaming of Chris, too. Leon really did need to, eventually, get to the bottom of D's dreams.
But, well, it was D or waste time trying to find another babysitter and driving Chris there, so apparently he was stuck.
"Hey bud, work called and I need to go catch a bad guy," Leon said, trying to pretend he didn't see the look of disappointment on Chris' face. "I'm going to leave you with the Count today." He climbed to his feet and was already starting to back toward where he’d left the rest of their gear so that he could pile it in the car. "Be good!"
“Just try to be back at a reasonable time,” D advised. “I am not a babysitting service.” A little more predictable, that. But the Detective was already going, possibly unable to hear D. He sighed and looked down at the boy as he watched his brother walk away. He felt….bad for the kid. Pon-Chan was excited and D let them go play while he stopped T-Chan from following the Detective for a late night snack.