Truce

D actually sighed softly, longingly, as the last picture of Notting Hill flickered over the screen, Anna and William in the park, the small bulge of her belly already visible. Leon had to swallow. The image of D with such a small bulge appeared in his mind.

Quickly he leaned forward and placed his can on the table, thus shaking the kami off his shoulder on which his dark head had rested.

"I'm tired. You wanna watch another movie? 'Cause I could do with a nap," he said before he could start to object.

But D's mismatched eyes were soft and not at all angry. "No, I don't want to watch something else. It is quite late," he replied and the blonde nearly choked. D was really not himself this evening. His usual reply would've been something along the lines of "Watching TV is completely unnecessary and even dangerous. I really do not understand why you like it so much."

"You want the bed?" he asked, staring at the kami half lying on his sofa comfortably. At this moment he resembled the animals lounging in the front room of the shop. His mismatched eyes glinted behind the hair falling into his face.

"No, I will walk back to the shop," said kami broke through his thoughts and sat up, carefully smoothing his silken garment. A cat. A cat licking her shining fur until it was immaculate.

For a second Leon wondered what had become of the chain he'd given D back in Japan, and if the kami ever wore it. He'd not seen it so far. Was it because D didn't like it or was it because of some other reason the kami would never tell him?

"You won't," Leon said before he could think about it. D stopped and looked at him in some surprise.

"Why not, Detective?" he asked. "It's late. The streets aren't safe at this time. You can stay here. I don't mind sleeping on the sofa."

D looked like he'd just forgotten how to breathe, but he still reminded Leon of a fact with a half-smirk. "Detective, I am fully able to watch out for myself. Believe me, nothing will happen if I walk back to the shop now."

"But Dana could have another nightmare. Then I'd have to call you again. Where's the point in leaving?" The blonde shrugged and tried to act as if he was offering some friend to crash in his flat. What he of course wasn't, and they both knew it. He didn't even know why he suddenly wanted to keep D here. Just that in spite of D's strange abilities, he didn't want him to walk around in dark streets when he could as well stay here.

"But the sofa is uncomfortable for a whole night. I do not want to impose myself on you."

"Hell, D!" Leon was loosing his temper far quicker than he'd thought. No wonder, at this time of the night, and after such uproar. "How many times have I crashed at the shop? How many times have I 'imposed' myself on you in the middle of the night, without such a good reason as our child having nightmares? Now stop fussing and get into the bed."

D opened his mouth as if to protest. Then a soft blush crept up in his cheeks, and he stood and floated to the door to the bedroom without another word. Leon watched him, feeling as embarrassed as he. The kami stopped under it and turned back, favouring the human with a soft smile. "Sleep well, Detective," he said and disappeared, closing the door quietly.

Leon made himself comfortable on the sofa, staring at the ceiling unseeingly. Now he only had to get the pictures of D in his bed out of his head to be able to actually sleep.

He could not know that D was having difficulties with exactly the same, too, only that in his case, he of course was thinking about Leon. And the last time he'd been in this bed.

The kami bit his lip and blushed deeply. For almost three years he'd managed not to think about the night he'd conceived, at least, not about his actions then. But now the memories rushed back with all their might. Leon's hands on his body, the fire that had kindled in his belly when the blonde touched him in ways he'd only dreamt of until that night. The way Leon had moaned when D had allowed him to enter his body, and how his own breath had become ragged and uneven at the feeling of Leon inside him, touching him in the most intimate way possible. He'd wanted to last like this forever, entwined with the one he loved more than he could tell, ignoring their differences, the difficulties of them being together, the consequences of his actions…

Now the result of this night was peacefully asleep besides said bed. D might have been able to appreciate that irony had he not been so busy pushing the thoughts back. He could feel his body reacting to the memories, and it was simply embarrassing. Could he not control himself better? Had he not learned his lesson? This just could not be…

Neither Leon nor D did sleep much in this night. But neither could work up the courage to go to the other, either.

D had drifted off to sleep somewhere before dawn, but he was not granted much rest. Dana was up at half past seven again, standing in her little bed, calling for "Daddy" to get her out of it. When she saw D raising his head from the pillow, she silenced and looked at him with great blue eyes. "Bàbà?" she asked, small voice astounded. The kami sighed and was about to get up when the door opened and Leon entered.

"Ssh, honey, be quiet. Let'm sleep," he whispered and got his daughter up. She looked at her kami father over Leon's shoulder, but the human did not notice that he was awake. D quickly closed his eyes again and pretended to be asleep. He felt Leon's eyes on him and heard the soft steps as well as the closing door. Again he sighed and snuggled into the pillow. It smelled of Leon. He could see the blonde lying on it, sleeping peacefully, exhausted after hours of love-making.

Instantly he envied the numerous women who'd been able to watch him sleep without having to hurry away, driven by the fear to be caught. How young he'd looked, and how peaceful and sweet, on that night… and how incredibly guilty D had felt for taking advantage of him in such a way, for betraying the one human he truly loved. He had buried that night deep in his heart and sworn to never think of it again, but it had ached and hurt the whole time, the knowledge of what he could have had and what he would never have. It had hurt so much that pushing Leon away had been an easy, if painful, task. Not seeing the human anymore meant no more memories of strong hands on his body, of a warm, welcoming mouth and the rush of pleasure like none he'd ever felt before…

And then his sin had been punished in the worst way it could have been punished. He'd gotten a child by the one he loved, and he could not tell him, because then he would have had to reveal his betrayal…

D stared at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. Leon had not forgiven him that yet, too. He should have known that his hopes were completely futile. Human and kami just were not meant for each other. Especially where his family was concerned. But Dana – what was with the children who were both? The children like her? There had been Halflings, he knew that. What had become of them when his race had been erased?

A wondrous scent made him snap out. The young kami opened his eyes, sniffed and sat up in Leon's bed, drawing the cover up, not wanting to bare his chest. The door was opened again and Dana came inside, carefully carrying a plate with omelettes on it. Her little face was tight with concentration.

"Dana! Oh, how dear of you!" her father exclaimed, forgetting to hold up the cover. He took the plate and helped the child crawl onto the bed.

"Dana make food!" she announced proudly and D's mouth twitched.

"Was it not Leon who made those?" he asked softly.

"No, she did them all on her own. I just watched so she wouldn't burn her fingers."

Leon was leaning against the doorframe, blue eyes amused and tender. D smiled experimentally. The blonde didn't smile back, but he didn't turn away either. "That was very considerate of you, Detective," he said. The human shrugged.

"Yeah, well, you know what she'd've done if she burnt her fingers?"

D wanted to say that that was not what he'd meant, but he suddenly realised that Leon knew exactly what he'd meant. So he kept silent and instead tasted the omelettes. His eyes closed in bliss. The mattress sank and he knew that the blonde had just sat down on the bed, too. He glanced at him through black lashes and saw that Leon's eyes were on their child. Dana was sitting between D's legs at the moment and eyeing the omelettes with some interest.

The kami opened his eyes again. "Say, where did you learn to do those?" he asked. "They are wonderful."

"Thanks." Leon grinned. "My mom taught me how to do them. She loved omelettes." He intensively looked out of the window. "She couldn't leave me to eat fast food all the time, now, could she?" he murmured, half to himself.

He felt D's eyes on his face, but did not turn to look at him. His conscience was nagging him again. There was something D didn't know yet. It probably was mere chance, there was no other explanation. Leon had never told D much of his and Chris' mother, no need for that. She wasn't here anymore anyway. And Dana…

The blonde glanced at the bed. D was just feeding one of the omelettes to the child, laughing at the way she was sitting on her knees in front of him, mouth open like a young bird, waiting for him to feed her. Leon's heart made two very painful leaps before it settled back into normal rhythm. Then his eyes fully took the kami in. For a moment his jaw nearly fell.

D. Was sitting in his bed. With only his leggings on. Or perhaps not even those.

Mismatched eyes looked up by mere chance and locked on his. Leon felt his face heat up. "Are you not hungry, Detective?" the kami inquired, halting his attempts at feeding the child. Dana protested and tried to catch the omelette with her mouth. D squawked in surprise when she lost her balance and fell against his chest, pushing him down. He lay blinking with surprise while the girl rolled on her father laughing.

Leon burst out, too. D's face was just too funny. He looked completely caught off-guard with his lips forming a tiny 'o'. "Don't feed the kids, please," the blonde chuckled and scooped his giggling child up, instantly tickling her. The girl wriggled and screamed with joy. "C'mon, D, get up! Can't stay in bed the whole day." Leon reached for him absent-mindedly, eyes still on the kid, and pulled the kami up at his arm.

And for a second, they were close enough to kiss. He'd just have to close the distance between them, not five centimetres, and then he would be kissing D…

If it hadn't been for Dana, they probably would have stayed like this for hours, each one's heart suddenly beating double-time, each too afraid to cover the tiny space that seemed like the deepest canyon in the world, each both wanting the other to do the first step and afraid of it all the same.

But the child was quite oblivious to the tension suddenly thick in the room. Or, perhaps, she felt with the sure instinct of children that the bridge between her fathers had yet to be built, and that as long as they weren't able to do so themselves, kisses should stay a dream.

"Daddy eat too!" she demanded, grabbed one of the omelettes and shoved it right into Leon's face.

The blonde startled, drew back and shakily smiled at the baby. "Thanks, sweetie."

And the incident was never mentioned again although it was burnt into their minds.

A/N: Unreleased sexual tension, how I love you! xD Sorry. Damn the kid? And thank you for the reviews!

BC: Well, it's more important that the readers like the chapters than that I like them ^^ And yes, the story sometimes needs to stagnate so that everyone can become aware of what the situation is. But personally I find that very hard to write (mostly because then I've got to think about it, too -.-) No, you didn't write anything in Unwanted, but you're very eager here, so that's fine with me, and also that I have to bear with you now ^^ Yeah, being young and in love tends to make an idiot out of everybody, so that's my personal explanation for D's strange behaviour, too. ;-) *hugs back* Enaty

lijana: You're probably not going to read this right away, but I wanted to answer anyway. I know that the characters are not quite canon, but I think that this is explainable (or excusable) under the aspect that they both are changing at the moment. D's insecurity is everything but canon, yes, but: he was thrown into a situation where he never thought he would find himself in. Even in the canon he can be surprised, he can feel pain and worry and all other emotions humans have, too, and since I for myself picture him as pretty young and inexperienced in emotional and especially relationship problems, I think it's justified that he's insecure.
It's my personal point of view and of course you are entitled to your own opinion. If you wish to, I'm happy to discuss this in detail with you, but please pm me then since the Author's Notes aren't the place to discuss a story. Thank you too, Enaty