Title: Lion and Deity

Author: Morien Alexander

Rating: PG-13 just in case

Pairings: D/Leon or Leon/D, whoever comes first

Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors, but I dearly love its inhabitants- so allow me to play with them for a while.

Warnings: Spoilers for the last book. BL/shounen ai/yaoi

Notes: D strikes me as unutterably beautiful. No wonder Leon would run after him.

Chapter One: Lonely and Depressed

D hated being touched by humans. The feeling of their naked skin against his gave him shivers. Touching hands, touching cheeks... that horrible horrible invention called the hug. He always shied away from more connection than was necessary with humans. And then one day, he found himself grabbing Leon's hands. It was quite out of the blue, and it was merely a form of request, but it wasn't nauseating. Soon, he found that Leon's angry face close to his (instead of inciting a rebellion inside him) made him react with equal anger. He didn't even mind grabbing Leon to protect himself from the unwanted advances of a vampire. Touching Leon was somehow different than touching the rest of the human race. It was... almost relaxing.

Then again, D had noticed a change in Leon that few others had. When he had first come to the pet shop, he was clean and his hair had been combed quite well. He positively stank of humanity (and cigarettes). Remarkable, if one considered that by the time D found himself pushing Leon away with great reluctance, he bore the wild grace and animal attitude often associated with his name. Not that Leon had ever acquired the pure beauty of a wild cat, but he seemed to somehow have come in touch with his animal side.

Perhaps that is why he had taken the human with him.

-u-

Leon had actually managed to track D down over the course of seven years. The sloppy, crabby detective had shaken off his old life in the matter of months. He had quit his job, sold his apartment and nearly all his belongings (save his car), and then simply vanished. He told Chris that he was going to find D, but the boy kept the information to himself. The only clue that anyone on Earth had that he was still alive was that money kept disappearing out of his bank account.

He took to a nomadic lifestyle- trading grunt work for small change and sleeping in his car. He refused to call home until he had completed his goal, though with every passing week, it seemed farther and farther away. He would run after any reports of wild animal attacks in cities with Chinatowns... not to any avail until one day in the deep of spring seven years after he had begun his journey.

He sat on a curb in the sunshine of early afternoon in Washington DC's Chinatown. The sky overhead was mostly dark with clouds, but a few stray beams of light had pushed through and were lighting the pavement. A few drops of rain swung from the sky to fill the air with the scent of a coming storm. Ever since D had left, Leon had been acutely aware of the natural environment around him- the same way that his police instincts had been heightened around people, his animal instincts were now heightened to nature. And, somewhere in the back of his mind, he was always smelling things to find that peculiar heavy incense smell of D's shop.

A few businessmen passed by dressed in black (a very popular color in Washington), each toting a briefcase and an umbrella. Across the street, a homeless man covered in a slick blue poncho rattled a plastic cup full of change. Leon sighed. He was getting used to this. Too used to it. He hated it.

And then it came to him, drifting over the rain-scented breeze like it had been there all along. This heavy, cloying scent that he was so used to... but had almost forgotten... it could only be one thing.

D's pet shop.

Leon stood, sniffing the breeze like an animal. He had left his car in a parking garage and paid for the day, so he had to get there on feet. Of course, the scent seemed close... maybe a block or two away? But then again, with D, one could never tell. His hands clenched and unclenched as if he was trying to grab onto a specific location. He could feel his heart beating uncomfortably hard against his ribs. He felt... felt... predatory.

Moving towards the origin of the scent, he found himself going over and over the words that he had meant to say to D when he finally caught up with him again. I hate you. You left me. Let me come with you. What did you think I would do without you? Leon wanted to hit him, to tie him down, to hug him and never let go. But nothing seemed to fit.

And there he was, in front of the pet shop that was really a ship... seeing at last what he never could- that this place was wild and terrible... and oh so beautiful.

He took a breath, and stepped inside.

The slender form of the count was bent over as he picked up something purse sized and furry. He straightened, graceful as always, the wrinkles on his heavily embroidered blue cheongsam falling into order. One purple eye and one yellow arched in a smile that made Leon ache to see. "Welcome to-" D stopped short, breathless.

The heavy air grew heavier.

D's eyes widened in surprise and... fear? Leon couldn't tell. He was just as effeminate and demure as always, but somehow he looked as if someone had shattered his carefully placed mask. Leon felt goosebumps rising on his own arms. His throat tightened and he scowled to try to get rid of the feeling that he wanted to cry.

"The hell? You didn't know I was coming? I thought you were a god or something," he snarled, finally, his voice cracking slightly at the tail of his comment.

"I... I didn't know," D replied faintly. The purse-sized furry thing jumped out of his arms and wandered off to a more comfortable location. D, strangely enough, didn't let his arms drop to his sides or interlace his fingers, but pushed them together until it looked almost painful. "When did you..."

"Get here?" Leon finished. "To DC, two days ago."

"How-"

"Your retarded incense."

D turned away sharply. "You should not have come, Keiji-san." He sounded distant.

"YOU ASS!" Leon burst out angrily. "I've looked for you for seven years, and all you can tell me is that I shouldn't have come! Of course I would come! You know I'm always looking to land your pansy ass in jail... but I... I..." He swallowed hard. "I just missed you, you... you..."

D emitted a little choking sound.

"Damn you, I can't think of a good insult," growled Leon. Then his face softened until he almost looked like his sensitive little brother. "Don't cry."

D turned around, his hand over his mouth and a tear just visible under his yellow eye. He was laughing. "Keiji-san..."

"Leon. And don't laugh at me!"

"Leon. I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because... I'm... happy."

The blond man turned bright red and muttered something under his breath. Suddenly, he brightened a little and shoved his hands into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper so worn that it was almost as soft as cloth. He held it out in front of him and looked away from D. "I wanted you to have this."

Long nailed hands took the folded paper, but did not open it. "Thank you."

"Where's that damn goat? I half expected him to jump me when I came in..."

D didn't answer, but put his hand on Leon's arm. He had to look up at the other man, but his smile was so genuine that it almost didn't matter. "Ke- Leon... I thought you would stay with your family."

"Chris is fine."

"I meant all the people that care about you."

Leon shrugged shortly. "I wanted to come." He looked back at the short count and sighed. "Look, I can't get you out of my head. I tried forgetting about all this, but the more I tried not to think about you and your stupid pets... the more I thought. And maybe, I guess, since you don't have anyone to help you, that I'd get a job here. You'd pay better than the police."

"You came to look for a job?" D looked bemused.

"No... well... yes, but no, but... um..."

"You missed me."

Leon cleared his throat.

"I missed you, too. I'm glad you came."

The blond glared at his friend. "If you missed me, why the hell did you push me off your ship?"

D turned a little, his eyes darkening. "Like I said-"

"Yeah yeah, humans aren't allowed on your boat thingie." Leon rolled his eyes.

"They are not my rules." D moved away, circling his furniture until he came to a table which held a tea set and some small, round chocolate sweets. "I would have liked for you to come, but you are not one of my pets. I cannot keep a non-pet aboard. That is one reason my grandfather did not accompany me. Each ship is only allowed to hold one of us and our pets."

"Each? There's more than one?"

"There are four..." D put his hand on the teapot and looked down at it, not showing Leon his expression. "You know I will have to leave again."

The human nodded a little.

"I cannot take you with me."

"Make me one, then."

D looked up, startled. "What?"

"Make me one of your pets."

"Keiji-san..."

"It's Leon. And it's not... hell, I'm doing this willingly." Leon looked at D and smiled awkwardly. "I'll make you sign a contract, though."

D laughed outright.

"Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not. I'm laughing because I'm happy."

"Does that mean yes, then?"

"It means... we shall see." D lifted the teapot and poured two cups of fragrant tea before he arranged the chocolates rather lopsidedly on plates. He liked sweets a lot more than the detective, and both of them knew it. He looked up with a smile that could have melted ice in the middle of the winter. "Until then, I will accept you as help around the shop." He lifted the tray. "Tea, Keiji-san?"

To be continued...