Phantom and Angel - PART 8

T-Chan shoved himself over onto his back with a thrust of his hind leg…and let out a howl of laughter. "B--BI--BITCHY—RA—RAVE WIG!!" He'd totally lost himself to hysteria.

"Oh-honestly!" D hissed in exasperation. He looked up accusingly at Leon. "Detective, I believe you're contaminating my children."

Of course, Leon had to contemplate just how to answer. He was supposed to answer, wasn't he? He looked back down at T-Chan, and seemed to be struggling with another troubling thought. "Didn't think what I said was that funny…even if I did say it myself." He forced his thoughts forward again, but missed. "Wouldn't my stomach block my liver?"

D stared at Leon blankly, sensing that he might be on the edge of defeat. He wasn't going down without a fight…of some kind, at least. He parted his lips with the tip of his tonge, and pointed a lethal looking index finger in front of Leon. "Bed!" The word was dripping with dire finality.

Still having to blink a couple of times before responding, Leon gave D an irreverent salute, "Aye-aye Cap'in Croonch," he said with a half-assed Spanish accent. As soon as his reply was out of his mouth, he shot up, went over to the bed, and sat down on the nearest side of it with a satin and down quilt poof.

T-Chan fought to take in enough air in between the end of each peel of laughter that overtook him. One of those breaks seemed to get enough oxygen into his brain to fire realization in his mind. "Hey, wait a minute--" His laughter now stopped as if it had never started. He was up on his feet and looking at the human in disbelief.

"Definitely contaminated…" D murmured with a playful smirk as he started to move towards Leon.

Hey! T-Chan thought a little indignantly, but got over it quickly enough to bolt over to Leon and sit on the bed next to him.

It seemed to take Leon a moment before he turned to look at T-Chan. When he did, his expression was dazed, far less coherent than his usual self. A few magical seconds later, his eyes seemed to focus and—warm. His slack lips lifted in a soft, pleased smile.

T-Chan felt a tingle through his fur. Leon was smiling at him in nearly the same welcoming, fond way that D looked at him with a lot. No, not the same, actually, more like when the Count's grandson was unexpectedly found at the receiving end of a human's genuine thoughtfulness. The expression quickly changed, however, to one of doubt, and then, almost one of hurt. The soft, dancing light in the human's eyes seemed to retreat before looking away and down at the floor.

"…sorry for what I called you, T, even if it did give ya a good laugh." Leon's apology was a whisper that a human probably wouldn't have been able to make out.

T-Chan had to think about what to say for a second. "Sorry I sounded like I wanted t'do something t' ya…and thinking you were drunk."

To his astonishment, Leon looked at him again, the warmth in his eyes returned, as well as a ghostly light of gratitude, and relief drifting within them as well. Damn! Did it actually matter to this guy what he thought about him?

The smile on Leon's lips seemed to deepen a moment later, and his eyes closed. When they didn't open again, T-Chan reached over and started to tug the nearest part of the leather shoulder holster that Leon still had on.

Leon's eyes snapped open, and he flinched slightly, but relaxed again when his eyes found that it was T-Chan messing with the shoulder strap of his holster...seemingly, with his teeth. He seemed to find the energy enough for a half-grin with a single raised brow.

"Off." T-Chan's insisting little grunt had a hint of inpatients to it.

A soft chuckle resonated in Leon's throat, and his eyes fell shut again as he expended yet more of his fading energy reserves to get the holster off. Once again, his eyes snapped open when he felt the holster being pulled slightly upward. He found D standing in front of him, helping him out of the weapon harness. He was feeling so wiped out, that he let D finish getting it off of him when it had been loosened enough, his eyes closing again.

"I'll set it here on the nightstand by the bed," D said softly, setting the holster gently down just where he said he would.

Leon nodded slightly, not even opening his eyes when he heard the soft clank of stiff leather and metal against hard wood covered by thin cloth. The muscles in his body slackened in increments with passing seconds.

T-Chan recognized when Leon lost consciousness, his body balanced just before, so that he remained sitting up, although somewhat hunched. He watched, rather fascinated, noting Leon's change to the irregular breathing of the sleeping. The human's eyelids flinched a few times, and the slight iris mounds beneath them began darting around frantically as if trying to find a way out. The Count's grandson's hands moved to undo the button just under the detective's chin, impeded slightly by long nails. The totetsu was about to warn his guardian that maybe what he was doing wasn't a good idea, and suggest waking Leon long enough to get him redressed for bed.

Just when D gave Leon's shirt a slight tug so that he could slip a finger to the inside of the collar and work the button loose, Leon's head came up with wild, unrecognizing eyes that saw arms leading to his throat. Almost simultaneously Leon woke, but only enough to register someone in front of him, and grab the unidentified hands away from his throat. In the next second or two, Leon realized who it was, and let go as if he'd been burned. The human's hands reached behind him automatically to catch his own weight as he leaned away from D while looking up at him in momentary...terror. Leon was soon bringing one of his hands back around to cover his face in shame. "Sorry, D-" There was an edge of misery in Leon's voice.

"No, Leon, you have no need to apologize," D reassured with a gentle hand on Leon's shoulder. "I should have made sure you were aware of what I was doing. I could tell you were falling asleep." His hand squeezed slightly before withdrawing. "I'll go and get some sleeping clothes for you to change into."

"You don't have t'do that, D." Leon started to stand. "I got a pair of sweatpants and a shirt in my car for when I have t'spend the night at the station."

"AWWWW-noyadon't—" T-Chan was sitting in Leon's lap in one swift second.

"HEH-hey!" Leon dropped back down on the bed with T-Chan's weight causing him to lose his balance, and reflexively closed his arms around the lapful of animal. He let out breathy laughter, but began fighting once again to keep his eyelids open.

"I'll be able to bring you some pajamas in less time than it will take you to go out to your car-- and me to come bring you back inside, Leon. It's no trouble." D gave Leon one of those soothing, secretive smiles of his before leaving the room.

A/N: I'm going to be "collapsing" the previous parts of 'Phantom and Angel soon, as it is actually one chapter posted in parts as 'Sandman's Playground' was.