Sentinel

Sakata Gintoki/Hijikata Toshirou

Gintoki had managed to convince Hijikata to come stay with the Yorozuya starting that weekend, which was a bit of a compromise since Gintoki had insisted he not go back at all. Still, the condition was that he get to talk to the Gorilla so here he was, with Kagura and Shinpachi arguing at his heels, at the entrance to the Shinsengumi compound. "How'd Gin-san get to this level?" He sighs, scratching his head and crossing through, spotting a plain looking officer scribbling furiously in a notebook by the centre of the compound, and is stopped from raising his voice by Kagura tugging his sleeve, "Gin-chan, are we going to kill the sadist today? Did Toshi hire us Gin-chan?"

"No Kagura, you see poor Toshi's been fed too much medicine and he's very very sick, and you know the Gorilla and Soichiro-kun probably don't know how to deal with it so Gin-san's letting him stay with us out of the goodness of his will."
"Whoa! You're so caring Gin-chan!"
"Gin-san, how do you know he was..."
"Overdosed? Pattsuan, didn't you see the amount of bottles? Isn't that ridiculous for just painkillers?"
"Well, I suppose it might be but-"

"Ah, Jimmy-kun! Jimmy-kun come here a minute!" His voice springs around the buildings and Yamazaki shoots up to come closer, yelling, "My name isn't Jimmy! Why are you even still using that name?!" Shinpachi sighs, in perfect understanding of the ordinary man in the vision of his ordinary glasses. Gintoki, however, ignores that statement entirely and continues, "Jimmy-kun do you think you can point to where the Vice-commander's room is or are you unable to do even that? It's okay, there's no need to be ashamed-"
"Ashamed of what?! I'm perfectly capable of navigation and his room is over there! That's the back door!"

He offers a mock salute, traipsing along with Kagura and thanking whatever Inugami there was that Sadaharu wasn't practically chewing his brains out. Shinpachi calls out an, "Oi! That's trespassing Gin-san! OI!" Which he promptly ignores, slamming open the backdoor Yamazaki had pointed to and turning to Kagura, "I'm counting on you to guard the room as I kidnap the princess, general." The yato girl replies solemnly, with a firm look set in her young features, "Leave it to me, captain!" The veins in Shinpachi's forehead strain against the tense skin as he screams at them, "Why are we criminals now?! What princess?! Are you a kidnapper?! Is Hijikata-san now a princess?! At least say prince dammit! And who the hell is the general and captain of what organisation?!"

Gintoki once again lets the words weave in and out of his ears as he jumps over the patio and strolls into the room casually, "Oh princess, prepare to be swept away by your beloved!"
Hijikata merely arranges a stack of papers into a pile and goes back to reading another sheet with scrawled handwriting. Miffed at being ignored, he stomps his way to the desk and pointedly slams his hand against the wood, "At least respond, princess!" He's met by a confused gaze too tired to fully know or care what he's saying, and a lowering of his pen onto the sheet accompanied by a quiet, "...I'm the princess?"

Gintoki sighs exasperatedly, moving behind Hijikata and resting one arm on his back, shifting the other to pull his legs over the side of the chair before picking him up by the backs of his knees and savouring the bewildered embarassment he's met by. Normally he'd be executed for doing this, but Hijikata was probably so exhausted and drowning in pain that he wouldn't do anything. And so he was right because he receives no protest as he carries Hijikata to the open backdoor and jumps through and down the patio to where Kagura stands in salute. "Captain! Where to now?"

"To tell the princess's dutiful father and brother we're taking her from their oppressive hands and need Jimmy-kun to deliver belongings later." The answer is prompt and honest, he doesn't even have to think to play around with words anymore; he feels Hijikata's cheek tip against his upper arm and swears he didn't used to be this cute. "Why am I the only one without a new position?!"
"Then, you can be the princess's dog."
"A dog? You've made me Hijikata-s...hime's dog?!"
"Take it or leave it, Jimmy."
Shinpachi seems thoroughly out of it at this point, muttering something along the lines of 'I don't even know where to start calling out.'

Kondo lets out a strangled cry as the door opens, and outright yells when he sees Hijikata in Gintoki's arms bridal style, the latter with a face like it was the most normal thing in the world. The bright haired yato girl salutes again, "We greet you King Gori! We'll be taking the princess till she's all healed!"
The only thing that passes his lips is a weak, "Toshi's male though!" And Shinpachi's vein ticks harder, "That's what you're worried about?"
Kondo knows that Sougo would probably murder the lot of them on their feet for a ridiculous stunt like this with Hijikata's condition both physical and mental, and has never been more glad that the boy was probably sleeping on patrol somewhere. Gintoki grows impatient and makes a show of lifting the uniformed Vice-commander closer to his body and altering his position to dip the other's face and touch his cheek in an extravagantly theatric pose, lamenting, "How much longer do you intend to keep us apart King Gori! The princess's heart calls to me!"

Kondo really finds no words in his throat, stammering and stuttering over a confused set of syllables before glancing to Shinpachi, who looks about ready to explode, and then sighing against his papers. If anyone really could keep Hijikata safe during his recovery from the side effects, then it would be the Yorozuya and no one else. In grace of his friend's dignity he mutters, "At least call him a prince." His tone is resigned enough to convey that he isn't protesting anymore, only still confused beyond his bananas. Surprisingly, Gintoki complies, "Alrighty then, we'll be taking off with the beautiful prince now, good day Gorilla king and Jimmy-inu." And he's shimmied out the door with his raucous company before Kondo can so much as open his mouth to retort. Yamazaki shoots him a terrified look as Sougo traipses in the back door of the office, and he's thanking all his stars that he had come exactly after they left. "Kondo-san, where's Hijikata-san?"

"He's going to be staying with the Yorozuya till his overdosage wears off, Sougo."
"Overdosage? Are they making this up for money? I sure as hell am not paying."
Kondo shakes his head reassuringly, patting the young boy's shoulder and repeats, "No, didn't you notice? They'd been feeding him too many painkillers. I forget the effect." His brown haired friend was still unconvinced as to why the Yorozuya would come to steal away someone without the promise of money or anything free, but he couldn't state that he doubted Kondo because he really didn't, and his patrol for the day was over. Well, in his books anyway. Without a reason to go out or any way to ask for permission, he really had no way to try to venture into checking on his superior and cursed the fact that he didn't have a convenient excuse like cigarettes; just the stacks of paperwork he would have to do without dumping on Yamazaki, who already had to do part of Hijikata's.

Gintoki opens the door to the Yorozuya before setting down the other man, who'd stayed limp in his arms throughout the walk, but neither Kagura not Shinpachi had commented until they'd reached the door, following which the two had immediately run to the kitchen; Kagura to eat and Shinpachi to stop her. Hijikata's legs shiver weakly, and he isn't sure whether this is fatigue or anxiety, only that he has to slow it and act as if nothing was wrong. Gintoki watches him raise a hand to the wall and clutch the wood hard enough to turn his knuckles pink but without damaging the wood very much. It reminds him of a time past when Katsura would tug the strings of his ponytail but really just press the thread into his palms with his nails so in would hurt, but not damage. He would do that whenever Gintoki and Takasugi got into particularly bad fights, when they ended up scowling from across the classroom for weeks leaving Katsura in the middle to figure out where to go; in the end he always gravitated to Shouyou-sensei and clutched his hand until the two were talking again.

He decides maybe if he talks, about anything, Hijikata could listen to that instead of the voices in his head, "So what do you want to do, Prince?" He pauses, but something inside him clenches to remind him he isn't worth a reply for so pathetic a question, and perhaps if he talked a while more he might be given a few words as an acknowledgement. His teeth grit, it's not fair his countless experiences have to taint this with Hijikata and it's not fair the dark haired man had to encounter anything from his past. "Gintoki, can I...do you think I could just lay down somewhere?"
"In a lazy sense? I didn't take you for the type to-" he's cut off by the expression on the other's face, and quick blinks to rid his eyes of the sheen they'd formed.

Cerulean pools turn to the floor, and Gintoki moves forward but holds his hand back, knowing full well Hijikata might not want the touch, might not want to hold his hand or even feel his proximity so he backs off, offering a silent smile that told his companion to talk whenever he felt it. "I don't want to bring a...dampening atmosphere here, I want to stay out of the way far away, lock me in the cupboard or the roof if you want", are the words he gets, but the underlying message is that he doesn't want the joyous laughter and screaming of the trio to die down because of a presence like his and Gintoki knows what that feels like, he knows what it is to not want to ruin a mood with his being there, and wants really just to tell Hijikata that he was wanted here, that even if he wasn't here he was all Gintoki could think about since that day he'd entered his regular restaurant to find it not reeking of mayonnaise.

Kagura trots out of the kitchen with sukonbu in her mouth, making a curious expression when she sees them still near the doorway and coming up to them with her brow furrowed delicately, "Toshiii are you feeling sick? Do you need to throw up? Should I show you bathroom?" She raises a deathly pale hand to his forehead, standing on her tiptoes on his shoes to reach there, and receives not a 'Who the fuck are you calling Toshiii?' But a ruffle of her hair and a quiet, "No I don't need to throw up, Kagura right? I'll...I'm just leaving anyway." He moves away gently, picking her up by the waist and setting her down by Gintoki before stuffing his shaking fingers in his pockets and moving to the door.

The same panicked rush floods Gintoki and he glimpses that Kagura might have been about to hug his waist and probably scream indignantly, 'But you're sick Toshi! Let us take care of you!' But he beats her to moving, slamming the door shut and pulling Hijikata straight to his chest, plucking at the hem of his uniform jacket while his thoughts pieced to words, "No, no you're staying here and here only for two weeks. In my room, I'll show you, you can smoke all you want and you don't have to talk to anyone." Kagura's eyes widen and she mutters to Shinpachi, who'd just gotten out of fixing the mess in the kitchen, that Gin-chan had never allowed her to be in his room, or even Shinpachi himself for that matter.

Hijikata has a thousand questions at that second, flashing past his flickering gaze but Gintoki tries to convey that he doesn't want to talk in front of the two younger people in the room, because they're so delicate and so young and don't deserve to toss and turn at night, visualising and being haunted by his experience-influenced panic and his unusual sudden attachment. It isn't the protective older brother kind of instinct that turns even fatherly at times, it's a clawing feeling that rips him apart if he doesn't move, if he doesn't try to shield Hijikata from thoughts he can't take away and he's never felt this way before. Not ever, it agitates him, but at the same time he's guiltily enjoying the new emotional instincts it threads through him.

"Hijikata-san would you like lunch? Have you already eaten?" Shinpachi's kind voice breaks the optical conversation they'd been having and Hijikata turns to his feet and stands up, lingering against the fabric of Gintoki's shirt for just a moment and wishing he could stay longer, "No, that's alright, I'm not too hungry at the moment, Shi...mura? Ah, I only properly know your host name Shin. I'm sorry." He offers an apologetic smile, leaning against the frame of the closed door and fully aware of glossy red eyes on his skin. Shinpachi smiles and adjusts his glasses, "Shimura is my family name, just Shinpachi is alright."
"Shinpachi is the glasses not the person alright Toshi? The person just comes free with the glasses, okay?"
He blinks, then raises an eyebrow and half his lip in a mock amusement as Shinpachi turns to scream at her, "The person is Shinpachi! I'm Shinpachi! The glasses are just another pair of lenses on a frame dammit!"

Gintoki scratches his head and yawns, "Pattsuan, Kagura, stop arguing before Gin-san starves to death. Vice-commander-Hijikata here might not be hungry but I certainly am."
The boy stomps off mumbling about ungrateful friends and broken glasses while Kagura announces, "I'm going to feed Sadaharu", before promptly moving inside the Yorozuya living room. Gintoki then turns to Hijikata, and feels the compulsion against his burning throat to say, "I'm sorry I touched you without asking." He doesn't mean just right now, he means all the times before and during the last few months, and he means the softer, presence confirming touches more than the punches and slashes of his sword, because those he wouldn't apologise for.

Hijikata braces one of his heels against the wall and leans his forehead forward that little bit to touch Gintoki's shoulder, which normally wouldn't be so easy because of them being the same height. He looks down at the dark locks of straight hair and has the itch in his fingers to touch it but hitches a breath to stop himself when Hijikata says, "What're ya apologising for? I should apologise for making you feel like you shouldn't've." Cold, trembling fingers reach out after Hijikata's tensed his arm four times without moving it enough, and he brushes them to the limp hand at Gintoki's side under the aqua swirls of his sleeve.

Gintoki's eyes widen momentarily, but he immediately shifts his hand to brush his palm against the other's, warm fingers just making contact enough. Hijikata shuts his eyes in embarassment, and utter inexperience because he's never done this like he was supposed to, and moves the tops of his fingers through the gaps between Gintoki's, still shivering and trembling and feeling like an idiot all at once, just leaving his fingers in that half woven state. A heavy bell slams into the silver haired man's chest, resonating in waves of something sweeter than any parfait in his body and he smiles, so genuinely that he doesn't know if it his own twisted lips that make that movement, and presses that smile against Hijikata's hair because the visible part of his cheeks and neck had flushed a rose hue of red which meant he obviously wouldn't look up. The dark haired man needed to know he was the one who'd brought that smile to his face, nobody else.

In a slow shift of his hand, Gintoki slides his fingers to lace them properly, resting his fingertips on the curves of the bones connecting his knuckles to his wrist, hoping he could warm the other's hands and maybe stop his shivering. He knew for a fact that Hijikata wasn't the kind of person who would shiver at all, so this was a side effect and he would try his damnedest to control it. Gintoki tries running his thumb along the outer edge of the other's index, slowly back and forth, silently lamenting on how the skin was so soft and smooth. He sighs in relief into Hijikata's hair when the trembling stops and even breaths fan his neck lightly. He raises his other hand, and pauses again, "Can I touch your hair?" And is unreasonably smiling wider when he receives a verbal answer of, "If y'want...I guess", instead of a half nod. Neither of them are very talkative, but Gintoki's served as a distraction for years and years, either by putting himself in the centre light to draw attention from others or by talking and singing inconsequential things he knows whoever is listening, if they even are, don't care about. His interests have always been vague to the point he can't even place quite a few, but he forced past his instinctive silence to talk about nothing for hours at least to keep the white noise as a distraction for the other person. As such, he's used to practically having a conversation with himself, getting short or no responses, saying a million things without anything in return, and something as simple as verbally responding to a question seems so unreal. He tries to let Hijikata know, wrapping his arm around the other's shoulders before pushing his fingers through the hair.

If he could go back to that time he had the universe's clock, he'd break it exactly now and live in this second forever with no regrets. But he's irritatingly human and his stomach growls, the plus side of which is the humoured scoff the other let's out, followed by Shinpachi from the living room calling out that lunch was ready and they had to go now before the starving yato ate it all. "Are y'sure you're not hungry?"
"'t hurts to eat", Hijikata answers, swallowing with a slight tense of his fingers before nudging Gintoki slightly with his cheek and sighing cold breath over his neck before moving away, pulling their fingers apart with a short press to say it wasn't by choice, and walking in front of him into the room, jacket billowing slightly behind him.

He leans himself on the desk at the far side of the room and watches Gintoki sit down and pick up the bowl of rice, eating a few mouthfuls absently, his unreadable eyes flicking around the room as he sets the bowl down and picks up the broth in another, smaller bowl to sip. Hijikata watches with aimless attention as he does this, interspersed with his casual conversation with the other Yorozuya members, and can't even wish for a domestic lifestyle like this. The Shinsengumi was a stress filled lifestyle, the only family he had would be either trying to kill him or stalking certain sisters of certain glasses-wearing-boys, but he didn't mind this. A job in the police was honourable, and he would follow Kondo-san, now not just to defend the country as his job, but because he wanted to protect its inhabitants. This Yorozuya family, the old man who served him unhealthy amounts of mayonnaise with a warm smile, Kondo-san, the Shinsengumi soldiers, even Sougo.

He can't imagine a day when he was himself without being shot at, without having his walls repaired, without gruelling over paperwork for hours and hours, and a day on which he was greeted by morning smiles and the promise of a forever. Forever was his undoing, the promise he could never make because he knew he could die just like that and nobody deserves to lament over broken promises at his death ceremony. Hell, Hijikata can't recall a single day when he walked into the cafeteria and didn't pretend not to hear the simultaneous groan of everyone else there. That's probably way he started taking meals at his room more often. Gintoki looks up at him expectantly, and he looks back, noticing that he wasn't the only one, Kagura and Shinpachi were looking as well. "What?" He serves to ask, wondering what exactly he'd done in quietly standing by the desk, and if he was making them uncomfortable by watching them eat perhaps? Gintoki pats the space next to him on the couch, and Kagura smiles wide enough to show her teeth, while Shinpachi pushes his glasses up and voices, "You're a part of the Yorozuya as long as Gin-san believes so, just like we believe it. You don't need to stand there like a stranger, Hijikata-san, please, sit?"
He feels the scraping scratch as he pushes away from the desk with his hands and walks to sit by the man, offering the words a, "Thank you, Shinpachi." The boy's eyes widen, clearly not used to any form of gratitude, and shakes his hands, "No no, no need to thank me."
"Thank you, nonetheless."

Shinpachi leaves after sunset, with a smile and a bow saying, "I'll see you in the morning." Following which both Kagura and Gintoki change into their pyjamas. Hijikata is about to use that as an excuse to slip back to his room but there's a pounding on the door that Kagura meets with a, "We don't want milk!" Eliciting a nasal shout of, "Vice-Commamder! I have your clothes and bathroom stuff! Please open the door, it's Yamaza-"
Gintoki throws open the door and grins, "Look here, Jimmy-kun has so sweetly brought Hijikata-kun's nightwear!"
Yamazaki promptly ignores him and steps past his shoulder, holding out a small bag that he knew was Kondo's and saluting stiffly as soon as it had been taken from his hands.

"Thank you, Sagaru. You can go back now", Hijikata says, turning around after that to enter the mirrored corridor and casting a spectral glance at the woman peeking through the floorboards of the attic before crossing the hallway and entering the shower area. Kagura calls out, "Be careful with the hot water, Toshi!"

Which is followed by the sound of a door shutting outside. Hijikata leaves his dark yukata outside beside the sink, picking up his soap and other cleaning products before entering the shower area and shutting the glass door. The water cuts against his skin and, like Kagura warned, it's scalding, turning his flesh red in heat and he sighs, weakly leaning against the wall as the shower runs over him in rivulets. There's not much he can discern besides the frosted material of the door through his wet hair, so he moves his hands to the ledge he'd left his products on and then changes his mind and decides to just stand in the water for a while. To keep from passing out, he changes the taps to cold water, feeling the burn drip away from his limbs as he shifts his shoulders. The wall catches his back heavily as he collapses against it, letting the fatigue he'd been trying to ignore trickle weight into his body. Reaching out finally, he begins to wash himself of whatever dirt the day had left on him.

After seeing Kagura to bed and confirming that she would sleep like the dead till morning, Gintoki goes to brush his teeth under the haunting reminder of cavities and the dentist, which was even scarier than diabetes to him. He notices the yukata on the counter and turns absently to the door of the shower. The light allows him to see the dark silhouette of the man inside in breathless clarity, he's facing the wall to the right, giving a three fourths side view as he tilts his head back to wash his hair, hands raising above his shoulders and bent down at the elbows so his fingers rinsed the tresses. Nobody is really watching him so Gintoki can properly declare to anyone who asks that he's shamelessly staring. His eyes run down and up long, muscled shadows of the other's legs, one on its full sole and the other on just the toes, before he raises his eyes to the curve of his back and to his neck, that moves slightly as he swallows.

The toothbrush in his mouth remains forgotten until the showerhead turns off and the figure reaches up to pull the white towel from its stand, wrapping it around his waist before opening the door, just as Gintoki begins to push the brush in his mouth, looking over as if he was just now noticing he wasn't alone in the area. His eyes sweep over the muscled chest before Hijikata turns away from him, with the yukata over his shoulders as he removes the towel and picks up the obi to tie it at his waist, turning back now that he was covered. Gintoki muses that Hijikata is well muscled, but not as thickly as himself, which gives him a slimmer, leaner feel and adds another aspect to his attraction. He isn't gruff looking by any means, his jaw is a soft tilt and his neck isn't stump thick, his arms and legs are strong and muscled but lean enough that the limbs stay slim, his torso is again, muscled but not heavily or disgustingly so and Gintoki marvels not for the first time that for a guy with near demonic strength in physical fighting when provoked, he certain didn't look the heavy-weight-champion to match the part.

Perhaps that's why Gintoki's able to admit this is why Hijikata is so popular with women, his model-worthy body and attractive features, not to mention the irritatingly straight perfect hair that he wound never stop being jealous of. Hijikata brushes his teeth silently, and cleans his mouth and the brush before slipping that and his soap, shampoo and conditioner bottles back into the bag he'd failed to notice lying against the floor. He knows for a fact that the alluring smell of cherry blossoms and menthol is in his hair again, and he wants nothing more than to press his lips to it but he doesn't. He finishes brushing his teeth and cleans his mouth and brush before turning, feeling a gentle heat in his chest that Hijikata had actually stood there with his arms crossed, waiting. He watches with fascination as he doesn't pull out any secret hair drier or straightener or even serum to set his hair, but lets it dry in the stale fanned air of the Yorozuya shower room. Gintoki slides open the door to his room without pause for deliberation and is glad when Hijikata enters also without pause because he's really never been good at sharing personal space like rooms when he was sleeping or going to sleep. He reaches over to the cupboard and slides it open to pull out another futon along with sheets and pillows, laying it on the tatami besides his own, hyper aware of the scrutinising gaze that wandered to him between it's looking at everything else he had in the sparsely furnished space.

Hijikata watched as confusion flashed through the ruby eyes and somehow knew he was thinking 'how close is too close with futons?' Which elicits a sigh from his throat, and he almost smiles when he notices it isn't as stinging as it was last week. Although he may just be getting used to it. "Don't worry yourself so much, I don't care how close they are", he offers, and apparently his guess was right from the way the other's eyes widen and then lower, giving the bedding a final shift before tripping and falling with unceremonious purpose onto the one with a Justaway by the head. "Make yourself comfortable then, Vice-commander", is muffled in the pillow as Hijikata moves his hands from their crossed position and drops the bag by the sliding door of the cupboard before lowering himself onto the thick futon, gently enough that it didn't pain him too much. "You...really do look like a model, it's not fair. Can't you even sleep in some disgusting way?" Hijikata's eyebrows furrow at the whiny tone and he shifts his hand a little and moves his legs a little closer. "What's that s'posed to mean?" He really is confused, but Gintoki rambles on in the same tone after flailing away from his collapsed dead-man position, "I mean look at you! Arms all tucked up sideways and splayed near your face, legs raised at slightly different angles and your head tilted enough that it's not fetal, who do you think you are?! This is the kind of picture you'd use to create fangirls not go to sleep!"

Hijikata's rather miffed, but doesn't really know how to say he wasn't trying anything so he answers with, "This is a comfortable position to sleep in." To which Gintoki pouts and rolls on his side as well to face him, and Hijikata decides he's either drunk off the moonlight or the late hour to be babbling like this, not that he didn't appreciate the raw honesty in the words. A silence falls over them but it's not unsettling or awkward, just quiet, and Gintoki cuts through it with a quieter version of his whining tone, "It's not even fair that you're always damn attractive you stupid pretty boy. Not even just pretty, screw it, the girls all fall for you at first sight because you're hot. Or well, good looking as hell? Handsome? Fuck it." The only response he can give is blinking, trying his level best to suppress the heat flushing through his cheeks and failing very bluntly. Who even says such embarrassing things out loud, for fucks sake, Gintoki was definitely a million times bolder than he was. A fond smile crosses the other's cheeks and he reaches out his hand, which Hijikata stares at a while before reaching his own fingers to meet it and smiling as the digits interlaced with his.

"So how much does it hurt anyway?"
"Depends on what I do."
"Okay, talking?"
"It's like...having to pass spiked nails through your voice box to be covered in barbed wire before moving up your throat and destroying your wind pipe and coming out as regular sound. It's getting a little better."
"Fuckin' hell, that's even worse than I thought and I had my throat ripped a gash by an Amanto."
He smiles, and Gintoki yawns, moving his warm fingers to practically cup Hijikata's hand and squeezing slightly before drawing back to his own body, the action mirrored by the other. It's only when he hears even breathing and occasional quiet snores and knows Gintoki's asleep that he allows himself to close his eyes, feeling the heavy burn and tears collect faster than he should've cared for, but it's been another long day just existing and he just doesn't have the strength to make it through unmarred. Soon the innocent tears turn hot and increase in number, wracking his frame in shudders and choking gasps as he bites down on the side of his hand to control any sound threatening to escape from him. His eyes widen as his breathing constricts and sputters, leaving his mouth open and shuddering to open further to get his lungs the oxygen they're heaving for. Hijikata remains in this state until the weight of his body is too great, slack against the sheet, and his eyes close to the will of rest and sleep.