Summary: It should have just been a regular morning for Chris Redfield. He should have been just heading out for his usual every day job. So why did he wake up to find a certain puppy eared male in his bed?

Pairing: Nivanfield

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay. x.x Between getting my resume and portfolio fixed, work, and Momocon convention, I ran out of time on getting this finished.

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My Pet Peeve 09

"These smell delicious," Piers said turning his eyes to Chris. They were taking a break from teaching Piers how to play the game. It made no sense to start up a real game until after they'd gotten to enjoy the cookies Chris made. And the fact that Piers gave him a compliment about them made his chest beat just a little faster.

"I hope the taste matches the smell then," Chris said in response mentally beating himself for such a cheesy response. Hell, why did he even care what he said? It wasn't like he liked Piers in that way right? Even if he did enjoy having the other near him.

"As long as it overpowers the stench coming off him over there," Piers said casting his eyes at Leon with a glare. Leon stared at him in surprise before a frown formed on his lips, the cookie held forgotten in his hand before he finally pushed it into his mouth eating it, keeping his eyes on Piers.

"Hey kid, you trying to say I stink?" His mouth was full when he spoke, but he didn't seem to care in the wake of the insult directed at him. There were a few things that bothered Leon, things that Piers apparently didn't know about. One was innocent people being in danger. He went out of his way to save innocent lives regardless of the dangers they put him in. For that, Chris held a lot of respect for him. He was like a superhero in that way, a protector of the people. Better than Chris, anyway, who felt he lost people more than saved them. Maybe it was why he didn't really get attached to Alpha Team. But it didn't explain why he was getting so close to Piers.

"Sure wasn't pointing out anyone else in the room was I?" Piers wiggled his nose before scrunching his face up as if he smelled the world's smelliest diaper. The reaction made Chris squish his nose up as an automatic response before he could stop himself. It was lucky that neither of them were looking at him at the moment since they were in the middle of a stare down. "I don't know what it is about that stench but it irritates me."

"Well sorry if my smell doesn't appeal to you," Leon said though he actually appeared to be offended by the words. The second thing that bothered Leon was how he smelled. He always took good care of his looks and hygiene. Chris took it to mean that maybe a woman in the past must have said he stink for him to be so concerned by it. Still, it wasn't like Chris could smell anything at all. Was Piers just trash talking him or did he truly smell something on him that set him off?

"Maybe it's your body wash," Chris said genuinely curious about it. What if the Semi was telling the truth? Could it be the reason why Leon had so much trouble with Semi? "Aren't you using that type that's supposed to bring women knocking at the door?" He knew the type. The smell of it to him was a little on the strong side but after years of smelling it he was used to it. Just like he was used to all the scented hair sprays and colognes the other wore. Was he a walking perfume store or something?

"Hey, it works! You have no idea how many women I've dated in the last two months."

"And I don't want to know." Chris made a face at the thought, Piers looking at the two of them with a clueless expression. Walking over to Leon's stuff by the couch, he opened up the smallest bag seeing the combs and assorted items inside and figured he was in the right place as he started digging in. "But it's probably why Ada can't stand you either."

"What are you doing?" Leon asked sitting up more, his eyes shining with suspicion as he frowned watching Chris go through his bag. He looked like he wanted to say something but refrained from it casting a look up at him.

"Trying something," Chris said looking back down at the bag before he blinked and pulled out the bottle of body wash. Hatchet Spice. A number one in sells and popularity thanks to its commercials that showed women literally tossing themselves on the men wearing it because of the smell. He was pretty sure it didn't work like that, but if that's what Leon wanted to believe, who was he to judge? He tossed it to Piers, watching the eyes looking up at him in question before Chris gestured to the bottle. "How does that smell?"

Piers frowned a bit before he popped it open putting his nose up to it and taking a good sniff. Instantly he recoiled from it, his ears flattening as he growled at the bottle like he'd just been offended by a bigger, stronger Semi. "It stinks." Both men stared at him. It took a lot for Chris to not just burst out laughing at the response. Leon didn't look happy about it, his frown more evident on his face as he stared at the Semi like he'd just crushed his spirit. Giving a sigh, Chris gave a small smile to the blond before he reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder giving it a confident squeeze.

"I think you should use my body wash while you're staying here." It wasn't a request and he could tell that Leon knew it by the sigh he blew from his lips. Chris let his eyes ride back over to Piers watching the way the other was closing the bottle and holding it away from him like it was diseased. He found himself curiously thinking about the whole situation. If the body wash really was the problem, how would Piers react to Leon if the offending smell was removed? Maybe what smelled good to a human didn't smell so nice to a Semi. Maybe it was why Piers was sneaking into his bed at night. Maybe he just smelled good to him thanks to the body wash. He hated to think of why those thoughts tore at his soul or why he wished there was more reason to Piers's attachment to him.

"Let's just get this game started," Leon said, sounding defeated before he'd even made it to the mat. Maybe he'd be nice and take the first game. Besides, he was curious about how good Piers could be in this game. Right now, Claire was the reigning champion. How well would she do against a Semi that could shoot a sniper rifle and run at the same time? He couldn't wait to find out.

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They were only seven minutes into the game and he was already having a problem. And it wasn't the game itself that was giving him the problem. Chris frowned at the awkward position he found himself in, his body hovering over Piers's on the mat as he stared down at the neck beneath him. This might have been a little too close for comfortable. He was using every muscle in his body to keep himself hovered up enough so he wasn't touching the other. Weren't they supposed to be tangled up on the mat, arms and limbs both? How was it that he found himself in such a compromising position as to look like he was about ready to dominate the male beneath him?

He could see the amusement shining in Leon's eyes from the couch as the man ate another cookie, taking his time with spinning the dial as if he was using this little torturous game as payback for his body wash. And it didn't help that Piers's tail kept hitting across his crotch as if taunting him to do more. If this kept up, he felt like he was going to take Piers right there on the twister mat no matter what his brain was telling him.

…And Leon still hadn't spin the wheel, his lips curling up into a grin as Chris realized he was doing this on purpose.

"Hurry up," Chris growled out, watching the body shiver beneath him as his breath blew across Piers's neck. God, why did he have to be so close? He could smell him, the body wash Piers borrowed from him and the scent that had to be unique to Piers in general.

"Mmm…sorry, hold that thought," Leon said grinning larger at Chris's frustrated look. "Nature's calling."

"Can't it wait until we're done?"

"It's not like it's a hard position to hold." Leon slipped off the couch already starting for the downstairs bathroom. "Just stay put just like that until I get back." He didn't even wait on Chris's response before he was closing the door to the bathroom and effectively leaving Piers and him alone with the awkward situation. Who was the one that suggested playing this stupid game in the first place? Oh right…it was him.

Piers was quiet beneath him. He'd been quiet since they'd gotten stuck in this position. But Chris could tell that he was uncomfortable. The flickering of his ears and how fast his tail kept hitting Chris's crotch told him all the answers he needed.

"…You ok, down there?" Chris asked, watching the body shiver again beneath him before Piers's head turned and he just barely managed to peek over his shoulder at him giving a quick nod. The hazel eyes met his and he swore he could vaguely see the pinkness of the cheeks before the head turned away again quickly. Well, who could blame him? It had to be embarrassing getting into a position like this with a guy hovering over him. At least that was Chris's mentality anyway.

Cursing under his breath, Chris glanced at the bathroom door willing Leon to hurry the hell up and get back there. The next move could at least relieve some of the tension building up between them, or at least the tension between his legs anyway. The door didn't listen to him though, staying solidly shut to make Chris wonder if Leon was just playing around or actually taking a crap in there. Neither option sounded good to his ears.

His phone going off made the both of them jump and he thanked whatever god was up there watching over him as he used the excuse to slip away, his body feeling the chill of the missing body heat. He didn't let himself think on it long before he was rushing into the kitchen and grabbing his cell, frowning at the number that showed up. Cautiously, he pressed the answer button pulling it to his ear.

"Hello?" Relief flooded through his body at the sound of the voice on the other side. "Ada." Piers watched quietly from the living room, his pouty lips turned down in a frown as his ears twitched probably trying to pick up on the conversation as he sat down on the mat. "I didn't recognize your number."

"Then that's a good thing considering this is a company line," she said sounding smug even over the phone. He could imagine she was leaning over her desk in that seductive way she was good at that always caused Leon to lose his head as he stared. Her words made sense. Unless it was one business line to another, the call almost always came up anonymous on other phones. Though he wondered why it was she was calling him, and why from a company phone? How did she even find his number? "So how's the sleepover going?"

"…We might have found a reason for Piers's hatred of Leon," Chris said frowning. "It might be the body wash." She was silent on the other side of the line before a small hum of amusement reached his ear.

"I could have told you that."

"…Then why didn't you?"

"I was curious to see how long it took you to find out what it was."

"…Doesn't curiosity kill the cat?"

"Hmm…" He could literally see the smirk just through her voice. "Well this is one pussy that isn't stupid enough to get killed."

Chris shook his head slightly at the words, glancing over to see that Leon was just now getting back to the living room, though his eyes were watching him trying to wager if this was just a house call or something business related. "Why are you calling my house so late? I'm pretty sure it's not just to check on my little slumber party."

"Good to see bronze does have brains sometimes." If that was a compliment, he definitely missed it. "I figured you'd want some of the dirt on Jason Bevere aka Ricardo Irving. I have some photos here showing him going in and out of several places that he seems to be doing some pretty dirty transactions with. I'm faxing them over right now." Before Chris even responded, the fax beeped printing out the papers Ada sent to him.

"Thanks," Chris said glancing over at the fax as the last page printed out. "We'll look over them right now." At Ada's see you later, Chris hung up walking over to the fax to grab the papers. He wondered about how much information this really gave him. He knew nothing about Ricardo Irving or the man he'd portrayed before. His eyes glanced back at Piers as the two males headed in his direction to see what was up. Piers mentioned once that he recognized the name but that he couldn't remember why or from what.

If he saw Ricardo's picture, would it bring back some hidden memory? Why did Piers know Ricardo? How? It was the same questions he'd asked when Piers responded to the name Wesker and TRICELL. How mixed up in this case was Piers really? Was it something he should alert HQ to? No, they'd only restrain him and keep him in solitary confinement for his supposed protection. Chris glanced down at the pictures in his hand, his brow lifting a bit. The guy looked like some kind of deformed rat or something. How had he missed such a shady looking person? His information said he worked for the Intelligence team. Just how much information did he gather on the BSAA?

"I was right," Piers said. Chris glanced at him seeing the pain radiating in his eyes but not as harshly as it had earlier today. Still, it didn't stop him from reaching out gently soothing away the ache rubbing behind the ears and watching the pain slowly ebb away. "I've seen him before," Piers said staring up at him, looking thankful for the relief Chris's massage was giving him.

"Well do you remember where you saw him?" Leon asked, stopping beside them and frowning staring at the Semi. Piers's face cringed slightly from the effects of another headache before he panted looking at Chris, discomfort slowly disappearing again.

"Nnngh…at Neo Umbrella."

"Neo Umbrella?" Chris lifted a brow at that. This was the first time he'd heard of a Neo Umbrella group. He glanced over at Leon hoping to see some recognition there but the other looked just as confused as he did, shaking his head as if to say he had no idea either. "Sounds like we really need to look more into this TRICELL group."

"You're sure it's not just Umbrella?" Leon asked, frowning when Piers just shook his head looking up at him.

"I'm not getting them mixed up." He looked frustrated that Leon even thought he would. "It's called Neo Umbrella. He met with a woman, blonde hair. I'm not sure of what was said or what her name is though."

The suspicion growing in Leon's eyes bothered Chris more than he would have liked. "How do you know all of this? You had to be there for that to happen."

"…I don't remember," Piers said turning his hardening eyes on Leon. "Are you trying to insinuate something?"

"I'm just trying to figure out how you know so much about these guys. The more you tell us, the more suspicious you make yourself look." Unless you had a careful eye like Chris, you'd have missed the tension building between the two males. Though Leon didn't change his stance much, his body seemed to tense up as if waiting to attack. At the same time, Piers tail seemed to slow down swaying stiffly, his eyes staring at Leon, mouth turned down in a snarl that exposed the lengthening fangs.

"I'm not the enemy."

"And how do you know that? You said it yourself that you don't remember anything. How do I know you aren't just pretending you don't remember just so could get close to us? Maybe you were just biding your time until it was the perfect chance to kill us? Or is Chris your real target?"

Piers seemed ready to pounce on Leon more and more as he spoke. But at the last words, his body seemed to jolt, his eyes looking shocked before he turned away looking at anything but the two of them. He looked like he wanted to say something but instead he just started walking heading up the steps despite Chris calling out to him.

"Guess the little mutt's upset," Leon said watching him leave and only calming down when the Semi was out of sight.

"Because you keep hackling him," Chris said frowning as he stared at his friend who looked up at him with a shrug.

"Because it's something you need to keep in mind." When Chris's frown deepened, Leon sighed as he grabbed the papers from him staring down at the ugly mug of Ricardo staring up at him. "Look, you have to admit there's something strange about the fact that he knows these people and these companies. Hell, he even knows about a company that even we haven't heard of. And it can't just be a coincidence that he showed up at your house."

"It doesn't mean he's one of them," Chris said walking into the living room to start putting away the Twister mat. Well so much for the start of a fun evening being ruined once again by Leon. "There has to be another reason to why he knows about it."

"Keep believing that to be true and it'll only be a matter of time before he stabs you in the back."

Chris's glare was enough to quiet Leon watching the man put his hands up in surrender, eyes watchful of Chris as he went over to Leon's bag pulling out the body wash. "While you're staying here, I forbid you to use any of this crap."

"Worried your Semi's going to get a nose burn?"

"Worried that he'll decide to rip you to pieces because you stink," Chris said finding himself smirking at the words and the annoyed look Leon gave him. It calmed him down at least. "Now go wash up and get some rest. We can do a little brainstorming in the morning before Claire gets here."

"I'm starting to think you're a tyrant." But he didn't seem mad, heading up the stairs and leaving Chris alone to think over everything that had been said. He knew nothing about Piers. That was true. At this point, Piers didn't even know anything about himself. So why did Piers know all these things? It was starting to bug him. He remembered Piers's words hinting to his interaction with Wesker. It seemed that had talked, had actually been close. What could that have meant?

He went over to the couch sitting the papers down on the table top staring at them as he tried to think. The only way they were going to get answers was to head into TRICELL itself and find out all of its dirty little secrets. Both he and Leon could probably check out TRICELL tomorrow while Claire was keeping an eye on Piers. He just hoped that Piers didn't have any negative reactions to Claire like he did with Leon.

Chris laid back on the couch intending to just rest his eyes for a moment before tiredness got to him. He could feel his eyes drooping, his thoughts on a certain Semi that he hoped didn't let what Leon said get to him because, in all honestly, Chris trusted him. He believed in him. Maybe it was from the lack of a proper good night's sleep. Maybe it was from the excitement of the fight they had earlier in the parking garage. Either way, it wasn't hard for him to let his eyes close completely drifting off to sleep.

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He woke up in the middle of the night finding the whole room covered in darkness. His assumption was that Leon must have come down and cut all the lights off. But that wasn't what woke him. It felt like he'd been asleep for hours. He thought he would have been chilled but there was a warmth covering his body that prevented that from happening. In fact, that warm lump had a bit of weight to it and when he reached down his fingers came into contact with a pair of furry ears. The Semi gave a soft hum, a sigh in his sleep before he seemed to snuggle closer to Chris literally laying half on top of him while the rest of his body rested against the side of the couch. How was he even sleeping like this? He seemed comfortable even though Chris had tensed up underneath him.

So much for the plan of adding another person to the house. This could only mean that something about Chris had attracted Piers's senses enough to make him keep coming to Chris to sleep. He could feel the other shivering slightly wearing only the giant shirt and the shorts Chris gave him. It took a little maneuvering but Chris managed to slip out from under him leaving Piers to lie on the couch as he got to his feet.

He had a few options here. He could take Piers back upstairs only for him to come back down to sleep on top of Chris. He could leave Piers on the couch and try to find room for himself somehow. Or he could just carrying Piers back upstairs and the two of them could share the much bigger bed. It wasn't hard to decide as he picked the Semi up barely feeling the sigh against his ear that made him shiver as he carried Piers up the steps and into the bedroom carefully lying him down on the bed.

Chris moved to the other side crawling in to join him and found the young Semi instantly clinging onto him. He couldn't deny it. He wanted it, the feel of the other's warm body against him. So when Piers slid closer to him he helped him by wrapping his arms around him pulling him closer. It felt perfect, it felt right. He wasn't about to let him go even though the other only seemed to press into him more, face resting against his chest as he seemed to relax in his arms.

It made Chris relax too, his chin resting on top of Piers's head feeling the desirable need to protect the other from harm. He still wasn't sure what was out there looking for Piers, but he was damn well not going to let them get their grubbing hands on Piers, good intentions or not. He knew Piers was a part of something big which explained why those guys had to be chasing after him. Whoever he was, he must be someone of importance to them. Now it was just the matter of finding out whom they were.

The soothing scent of fresh shampoo mixed with Piers eased away his thoughts of work as he closed his eyes finding it easy to relax his mind. He could feel consciousness leaving him already and only really let go of it when he thought he heard the gentle call of his name from a pair of soft, plush lips.

TBC….

I see so much happening in the story in the future. ^^