Bedtime stories
"And that was the story of the little bear," Leon finished, whispering and closing the book. Dana was asleep in her bed, sucking on her thumb peacefully. The blonde set aside the book he'd just read to his little daughter and looked into the baby bed. He seldom noticed. But Dana was still so small. It didn't show when they were playing, or when Dana turned the shop into chaos, or when D was trying to calm her down. But she really was small.
Something indefinable filled Leon's heart as he watched the child sleep so peacefully, trusting that he and D would be there when she woke. And, as a matter of fact, they would be, because Dana had once again lured her kami father to Leon's apartment. Or, better, he hadn't even waited until the blonde called him and shown up on his doorstep eight o'clock sharp, smiling and offering a bakery box to a confused Leon who tried not to think of the morning and having breakfast in bed with D and Dana.
The blonde sighed and went out on tip-toes, closing the bedroom door behind him. D was sitting on the sofa, because even though Dana insisted on both her fathers being present, she wanted to be brought to bed by Leon. The blonde glanced at the screen and raised an eyebrow.
"D. Not another one of these. Geez, what's your problem? Every night Dana spends here, you turn up and start watching some strange movie on my TV. And it's always some girly movie."
The kami spared him a curt glimpse and resumed watching the TV. Leon sat down beside him on the sofa and looked at the TV too. "God, D, my mom loved that one!"
"It is a rather nice change to the others," he answered and scooted closer. "It actually shows the problems that can arise in a relationship. And it's not my fault that I have to be here again."
Leon snorted and took a sip of his beer. "Yeah, little missy's got her own head. She's just like you."
"I'd rather say she inherited her stubbornness from you," D answered and sighed softly. The blonde looked down on him, mismatched eyes fixed on the TV again. His face shone with a light the blonde had never before seen there. If he wasn't terribly wrong, D longed. He longed, strange as it seemed for him to long for human emotions, for what these movies showed. Some change had occurred in D. Leon couldn't name it, but the kami seemed softer than usual, more vulnerable and yet, more sure of himself.
Talk about strange protective feelings.
Leon took another sip of beer and slid an arm around D's shoulders carefully. For a moment mismatched eyes left the TV-screen and looked up at the blonde in surprise. Then a soft, shy smile graced his lips and he blushed slightly.
"What's the name again? I only remember my mom was nuts for it, for some reason," Leon asked to release the tension.
"Forget Paris," the kami answered and shyly settled into the crook of his arm.
"Mm. Is it any good?"
D tilted his head to the side and considered the question. "The male actor always plays the same kind of man, it seems to me."
Leon checked the screen. "Yeah, that's Billy Crystal. He plays the small, funny guy pretty often. There was another one he made, gimme a moment… Yeah, that's 'When Harry met Sally…' That one's pretty funny, too."
"Do you know how it ends?" D inquired and turned his head to look at the blonde.
"Yeah, but do you really expect me to tell you and ruin all the fun? If I've got to watch such a stupid movie, I wanna at least have the fun of you not knowing what's gonna happen." He grinned at the frown on the kami's face, but D settled back and watched in silence.
Lucky thing they were already past the part where Ellen and Mickey tried to get children. Leon didn't know if he could've stood watching that with D.
The kami actually gave a soft cry when Ellen suddenly appeared at the game. And when Mickey kissed her, he pressed Leon's arm so hard the human winced. There could be no possible doubt that D, although he might prefer being perceived as a male, was more female in some respects than every other woman Leon knew. Jill, for example, would not have been sitting here besides him with bright eyes and a dreamy smile on her lips, and as for Sandy – well, she would probably not even make it until that scene.
"Are we done with fluffy girls' movies for today?" Leon asked dryly and drained his beer. D didn't answer at once, so he nudged him. "Hey, it's late. Dana's still asleep. We might go to bed anytime soon, you know. I've gotta work tomorrow."
The kami sighed and snapped out of his trance. "Yes, you are right," he murmured. A light blush crept up in his cheeks and Leon perked up. What was he up to now?
D's eyes flickered over the blonde's face, and he hesitated.
"The sofa is very uncomfortable," he said then, very softly.
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. So what? I'll live. It's just one night."
"But -" D hesitated again. The blonde got the feeling he knew where this was going.
The kami confirmed his suspicions not a second later. "You should sleep in your own bed. I do not want to drive you out of it in your own apartment."
"But you'd prefer sleeping in the bed, too, because you don't like an uncomfortable sofa either," Leon concluded and stared. He could not believe that D was honestly suggesting they could both sleep in Leon's bed. In the very bed in which their daughter had been conceived.
Had they been in the bed at all? Damn, not being able to remember was so fucking annoying!
Mismatched eyes again flickered up for a moment. "It is a very big bed," D said apologetic.
Leon crossed his arms. "No way, D. Now fucking way I am ever coming to bed with you," he coolly enlightened the kami.
"Then I will sleep on the sofa." D's voice tolerated no protest, but in this special case, human stubbornness matched kami perfectly.
"You'll sleep in the bed. I know how you get when you've not been comfortable. I'd rather have one uncomfortable night than you in a bad mood the whole next day."
"I am not in a bad mood when I haven't slept!"
"Oh yes you are. Or when you don't get your regular sugar fix, or when you think I'm behaving wrong again, or when…"
"DADDY!"
The fight stopped before it could really start. Both adults sighed in exasperation as well as disappointment, but Leon got up and fetched their daughter from her bed. She took one look at D and her tears dried. "Bed," she demanded. Leon actually glared down at her. "Dana, I swear, you're the most spoiled child I ever saw," he growled. "What in all heavens is the matter with you?"
D stood, too, glided over and took the child. "Darling, I told you neither of us would leave you alone," he said softly. "Now come back to bed, will you?"
"Daddy bed, Bàbà bed, Dana bed."
The blonde stared at the kami. "Tell me one thing, please: have you trained her to read your thoughts or why does she always back you up?"
D smirked. "I raised her most of her life. Of course she's on my side," he said convinced and added then wearily, "Do you know what will happen if we don't do as she demands?" Leon followed him back to the bedroom, muttering under his breath. D wanted to lay the child down in her baby bed, but she objected.
"Big bed. Daddy bed," she said. "Daddy come to bed with Dana."
"Who could resist such an invitation from such a beautiful lady," Leon commented dryly. "Turn around. Both."
D bit his lip and tried to suppress his laughter. As bad as the situation was between Leon and him, this was just so absurd he had to tell himself firmly not to laugh and still felt the giggle bubble up in his throat.
"Are you done, Detective?" he asked, not daring to turn. Dana was peeking over his shoulder curiously.
"Daddy all red," she announced, and this time, D started giggling helplessly.
"Stop that, D! Tell her it's not polite to watch someone undressing!"
"Dana, look away, your father is shy," the kami told the child and had another giggling fit. It dissolved, though, a moment later. Leon came around and lay down on the bed, patting the mattress besides him.
"Now you can come here, Dana," he said. D put the girl down, expecting her to let go of him.
She didn't. "Bàbà bed, too!"
The giggling stopped. In exchange, Leon started laughing. "Caught in your own net, D!" he crowed. "Now don't fuss around, get into bed. The little lady wants it this way. C'mon, what's the big deal? You were the one who just suggested we could both sleep in the bed."
"I didn't think you'd actually do it!" the kami snapped. Leon shook his head.
"No, no, no, D. Be true to your word. It's a big bed, and there's a baby between us. If you promise me now that you won't start anything fishy, I see no reason why we shouldn't both sleep here."
"Not five minutes ago you told me there was no way in the world you'd ever sleep in one bed with me again," D protested. Leon raised an eyebrow. So they'd been in the bed after all. Good to know.
Dana yawned. "Bàbà bed. Now."
D sighed and caved in. "Close your eyes or turn around!" he ordered. Leon did as he was told. Quickly D loosened the frogs of his cheongsam and hung the garment over the rim of Dana's baby bed. The girl watched him with satisfaction. D slipped under the cover and instantly drew it up as high as possible.
Leon cracked open one eye. "You're done?" he asked and reached for the light.
"Yes," D answered, feeling his face heat up. Dana snuggled against him.
"Okay then. Good night."
The bedroom went black.
"Story!"
A groan from Leon's direction. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a nuisance sometimes, kiddy?"
"Don't you dare insult your own child!"
"I'm not insulting her! It's just true!"
"Story, Daddy!"
"Yeah, yeah, alright! Which one do you want to hear?"
"Little bear and his friends."
Two groans. "Not that one again. Why did have to buy that stupid book, Detective?"
"Hey, I couldn't know she'd fall in love with it, could I?"
"Little bear and his friends!"
The thump was probably D's head meeting the cushion. Leon felt it move under his own head. "Alright, alright. It is a sunny day. The little bear wants to play with his friends. At first, he goes to the little rabbit. "Hello little rabbit, do you want to play with me?" he asks. The little rabbit says: "Yes, I would like to play with you. But I promised the little snake I would play with her." The little bear and the little rabbit go to the little snake together. "Hello little snake," says the little bear. "Do you want to play with us?"
"I find it rather absurd that a rabbit would want to play with a snake."
"Shut up, D. The little snake is delighted. "But I want to play with the little fox, too," she says. So all three go to the little fox. "Hello little fox," says the little bear. "Would you like to play with us?"
"And no rabbit in its right mind would want to play with a fox, either."
"D, shut up now! I know the book's not realistic. It's a children's book, for heaven's sake. "Yes," says the little fox, "but I want to play with the little butterfly, too."
"Butterfly pretty!"
"Yeah, honey, as pretty as you are."
"I am not the one spoiling her…"
"D, shut up! Dana'll never go to sleep if you keep interrupting the story the whole time."
"And why is every animal in there little? It's simply silly."
"Because it's a children's book, for the thousandth time. And kids are little, too, aren't you, little missy?"
"Kate big."
"Who's Kate?"
"A bear, Detective."
"I never saw a bear in the shop."
"Fortunately."
"Wait a moment, do you really have a bear in there? You let my kid play with a bear?"
"I also let your child play with a three-headed dragon, in case you never noticed."
"Daddy, story!"
"Yeah, yeah. D, we're going to talk about that. Where were we?"
"You were at the point where the fox tells everyone he wants to play with a butterfly even though it is much more likely that he would try to eat the butterfly or at least catch it."
"You know, no wonder she keeps having nightmares if that's what you tell her as bedtime story. Now be quiet. So they all go to the little butterfly. He's sitting on a flower. "Hello little butterfly", says the little bear, "do you want to play with us?" "Yes," says the little butterfly, "but I want to play with the little cat, too."
"Did you know that foxes also eat cats? But I think the bear would eat everybody else before they can eat each other…"
"D, would you shut up now?! I get you don't like the book, but it's just a story. You know, like, it's not realistic because it's intended to be unrealistic."
"Children's books should prepare the children for the world and not cloud their perception of it."
"If you're unhappy with them, write one yourself. But I doubt anyone would buy it if all the little fluffy animals start killing and eating each other."
"But that's the way it works in nature. Everything else is just human imagination."
Leon let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, D, I know. But it's a nice story and Dana likes it and wants to hear it so she can go to sleep. So would you please let me finish it now?"
D was silent for moment. Then his voice drifted through the darkness again. "I don't think that will be necessary, Detective. Dana is already asleep."
"What?"
The blonde scooted closer and felt around. D's arm was wrapped around the unmoving child. A chill thrilled his spine when he touched the bare skin. Was D sleeping only in his leggings like he'd done last time when he'd stayed at Leon's apartment?
"Huh. You're right," he said and tried to sound casual. "Well then, I guess that's good. I don't know how she can go to sleep while you're talking about animals eating up each other, but if she can do that, fine with me."
"It is certainly surprising she can go to sleep while we are talking," the kami allowed. He did not draw his arm away. "We should try to sleep now, too. Good night, Detective."
"Night, D."
Leon rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling although it was too dark for him to actually see the spot where his poster had been. Then he scooted closer, until he felt Dana's small body right beside him, and turned onto his left side again. Now she was lying between her fathers' chests.
He searched for words, knowing D was as wide awake as he was, but could not find them. He wanted to talk to the kami, wanted to know what was going on here at the moment. But probably D didn't know that himself. It was just – how could they lie in bed together so peacefully when there were still so many unanswered questions and problems between them?
"Are you still awake, Detective?"
D's voice broke the silence. Dana sighed and snuggled closer to Leon, tugging D's hand with her. Now it rested right over Leon's heart, held in place by the girl's body. It was warm and smooth against his skin and he swallowed hard. "Yeah."
Again silence lasted in the room. Apparently D couldn't summon the courage to talk, either. Then he heard a soft sigh from the kami. "Nothing. Sleep well."
Almost unwillingly Leon grinned. "Yeah, you too."
"Thank you."
Silence.
"Hey, if you can't go to sleep, I can tell you a bedtime story, too. What about the story of the little, cuddly, fluffy raccoon that wanted to play with the big, mean, beasty sheep-tiger?"
"Detective?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up and sleep."
A/N: And what do we learn from this chapter? …
Right, I suck at writing children's books. Forgive me, and please promise that you'll never, ever tell that story to any kid. Especially not with D's comments. If you do, I'm not to be held responsible for resulting emotional traumas.
And yes, I know. They're taking so much time making up their minds. But - and if you want to count, feel free to do so - the story now spans five weeks. That's not much, guys, really not. Not held against everything they have to work out with each other. And before you stop reading this because you're afraid nothing's ever gonna change, I'll tell you that personally I think now they've both made up their minds ;-P (meaning: hurry up with the popcorn, BC!)
Originally this chapter wasn't going to be online before the eighth, but... well, I felt so cruel keeping it back when you're writing so many reviews... (Deathbride, that's a big hint ;-)
So long, Enaty