Title: Cool/Blue
Author: Jayde
Rating: PG
Summary: Leo centric. Character study.
Credits: Eternal thanks to Sassy for another finely executed beta read.
Disclaimer: I don't own Leo. I don't think I could afford the upkeep.
It was somewhere in between day and night, when the sky is that unique shade of purple that is kissing close to black.He was taking an unprecedented risk, but it was within safety limits.
Winter made it easier.
Bundled to the eyes in coat, pants, scarf, hat, mittens and boots, he was unrecognizable from any other human traipsing through the fresh snow. It was only if they got close enough to see his eyes, and the skin surrounding them, that he would be caught.
But they would not get close.
He kept his head down, eyes on the path that had been made by the feet of many others. The city had been caught by surprise – the snow was higher than expected, and so the paths in the park remained clogged. That wasn't keeping the people away, of course. Even as the sun disappeared from the sky, there were those who had to come outside to enjoy the thick and fluffy snowfall.
Around him, children ran and shrieked, throwing themselves into the drifts. A family was working on a group of snow people to one side of the path. They were laughing – eyes bright and cheeks flushed with the cold.
He walked on, the wind biting at his eyes from time to time. He passed beyond the play area, and found himself treading a less popular path. Streetlights came on and shone with sharp brilliance between the bare and skeletal branches of the winter trees.
Before him lay the pond, now covered with a thin layer of blue ice. He had been here last when the water was open and the trees still had some remnants of leaves – it had been a battle with a street gang. He started around the pond and found the tree that still bore scars from his blades. His opponent had ducked, and he had created this slice in the living bark of the tree.
Did anyone ever come here and question why the tree was cut? Or were humans utterly and completely oblivious?
A crash behind him drew his eyes to the far side of the pond. A young couple staggered out from between the bushes. Acting solely on instinct, Leo drifted back into the shadows provided by two trees.
The man fell over, and rolled to the edge of the ice. His female companion giggled wildly as she stumbled through the snow that came up to her knees.
Leo narrowed his eyes as he watched them. He hoped they weren't going to try and cross the ice, because then he would be forced to save them from drowning themselves. Instead the man struggled to his feet, and they threw their arms around each other, still laughing. They kissed noisily.
The cold threaded its way through his layers of clothing to wrap around his flesh. Oblivious was the correct assumption. He glanced about to see if he had an open route to get away from them. He had no wish to play voyeur. The couple broke apart, and started to slog back up towards the trail. Leo slipped silently from his hiding spot, and circled around them to the path. It wasn't hard – they made enough noise to be heard on the other side of the park.
He gained the path at almost the same moment they did. The woman turned back, spotted him, and froze. Leo swiftly stepped into a deeper shadow. He could not have known that his eyes were gleaming an icy blue the same shade as the winter pond, reflecting the light from the street. The woman shivered at the sight, and her companion had to shake her arm hard to regain her attention. She flicked her eyes at the man, and then back to the mysterious figure, but the shining eyes were gone.
She took a step away from the man, holding her scarf close around her neck as the bitter wind whipped around the trees, rattling the branches like bones. She searched the area, squinting at every darkened nook and cranny, but there was nothing. She shook her head, feeling a little silly.
After the couple departed, Leo returned to the path. Had the woman seen? And would she say anything?
But no, Leo reassured himself. She would not tell anyone, save as a tale of drunken imaginings.
Full dark now, Leo felt the return of the cold detachment that he wore like a second suit of armor under his plastron. It had been a pleasant, but entirely too dangerous break. It was time to head home.
Finis.