Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors and I make no money from this or any other fanfic I write.

Pairing: Leon x D

Category: General

Rating: PG-13

Warning: None

Title: Happiness Defined

Author: yellowhorde

Notes: This was written for the LiveJournal community, 15minuteficlets. Word #1 – 'Happy'

HAPPINESS DEFINED

"Hey, D, are you happy?" Leon asked. His voice was heavy and on the edge of sleep.

"Am I what? D murmured. The covers whispered as he shifted his position so that he was looking up into Leon's face.

"Happy." Leon repeated slowly and his brow knitted as he frowned. "Are you?"

D lifted one pale shoulder in what might have been construed as a shrug, "About what?"

"You and me," Leon said gruffly. He made a vague gesture that encompassed the two of them, lying together naked on the rumpled bed. "You know… this."

"Don't you think it's a little late asking that now?" D teased, not entirely sure where the other man was going with this line of inquiring.

Leon pulled himself upright so that his back was propped against the small mountain of pillows D kept on his bed. "I'm serious."

"Honestly, I – I do not know how to answer, Detective. No one has ever asked me before."

"You're joking, right?" Leon's voice held astonishment and something else that D couldn't quite put his finger on. He sounded almost… pleased. "You mean never?"

D shook his head mutely. To avoid Leon's penetrating eyes, and to buy a few moments time to consider the question, he pressed his hand, fingers splayed, against the still damp skin of Leon's chest, directly over his heart. The rhythm, slow and steady, echoed the beat of his own, so strong, he imagined he could actually hear it. To his surprise, an odd sort of contentment filled him and he sighed softly.

All his life he had been trained to carry out his duties. Under the exacting eyes of first his father, then his grandfather, he tended the shop and its animals. Later, moving the shop from city to city in order to avoid casting suspicion upon himself, he dispassionately meted out punishment to the humans he deemed most deserving. His very existence was defined by his duty and loyalty to his family and not once in all his years had he ever questioned whether what he was doing was right.

There simply had never been room for any doubt.

As always, he took pleasure in the company of his pets, the only friends he had ever known, but had he been happy? Was he happy now? Over the long years he had consorted with many humans from all races, ages, and walks of life but he had been careful to never allow himself to become attached, to never let anyone get too close. That is, until now… until Detective Leon Orcot had come barging into his once sedate and orderly life.

And then everything changed.

"I think…" D stopped, tried to swallow past a suddenly dry throat. "I think that maybe I am," he whispered softly.

And that simple, but extremely hard confession scared him more than he would have dreamed possible.

THE END