Chapter Text
It had initially been Chain's suggestion when Leo had off-handedly mentioned finally unpacking his things in his new apartment, but he'd liked the idea and rolled with it.
“Thursday?” He asked her, both of them huddled over that month's schedule. “Thursdays are usually slow,” he added, having already gotten a feel for when trouble would crop up. He suspected that nothing major seemed to happen on Thursdays on account of Hellsalems Lots' population saving up their energy for the weekend when they could really let loose all manner of pandemonium.
Chain gave a small bob of her head in affirmation, nibbling halfway around the edge of a jelly doughnut and placing it back in the box, knowing full well who would make a grab for it as soon as he decided to show up for work.
“Thursday,” she agreed, wiping the sticky evidence from the corner of her mouth. “Who do you want to invite?”
Leo considered this and pulled the notepad they were sharing towards himself, jotting down Chain's name, followed by 'Zed'. He then added Zapp's with a question mark after it.
“Ugh. If you insist.” Chain's lip curled, and she snatched a cruller from the box, chomping down on it.
“He did risk his life to track me down,” Leo said, albeit grudgingly. “He'll probably say he has something better to do anyway.” Chain brightened at this. As much as Chain would brighten anyway.
Leo bopped his chin up and down on the clicker of the pen as he went through the names and faces of his co-workers. “I know KK has her two sons to get back to, but I'm gonna ask her anyway. Steven-”
“No,” Chain interrupted him. “You do not want him in your apartment. He's a snoop.”
Leo raised a brow at this. “I haven't got much to rifle through.”
“He'll find something. Something embarrassing. He won't say anything, but he'll be unbearably smug about it.” She licked the remaining glaze off her fingers in a very matter of fact way. He decided not to press the matter. “What about Patrick?”
Leo cringed. He wasn't sure he wanted Patrick spinning him around again like he was a kid- especially not in his cramped apartment. Chain read his expression and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards.
“What about Mr. Klaus? Do you think he'd come to something like this?” Leo asked desperately.
Chain nodded vigorously, though her expression was impassive. She selected another cruller. “I have no doubt in my mind the boss'd be absolutely thrilled to come.”
Leo exhaled and jotted down Klaus's name. “I'll ask Patrick if Mr. Klaus can't make it. I don't think the two of them could fit in my flat at the same time anyway,” he added, feeling like he'd just dodged a bullet. Chain was keeping her expression a careful mask of neutrality.
Neither of them looked up when the door was kicked in and Zapp charged through with a bloodcurdling battle cry. It was cut short when he realized his target of aggression was absent.
“Where the hell is the chief?” He asked, turning his attention to Chain and Leo hunched over the notepad.
“In the conservatory,” Chain replied. “He's got a difficult geranium.”
At Zapp's stupefied expression, Leo elaborated. “It got crossbred with something from the Alterworld. It was a normal pot of geraniums, up until the point it wasn't.”
Zapp nodded with dawning comprehension. “Probably trying to salvage the whole situation. You know how he is with his flowers.” He sauntered over to the couch and slung himself into an unoccupied cushion. “So what are you two crazy kids up to?” He pulled a cigar from his coat pocket and lit it in one smooth gesture.
“Leo got a new place.”
Leo nodded. “Chain thought I could celebrate with a movie night. I can pretty much swing that if you don't mind cheap snacks.”
Zapp's face split into a shit-eating grin. “Are you kidding? I thrive on junk food!”
There was a snort from Chain. “It's because you're trash.”
“Eh? Wanna c'mere and say that to my face, poochy?”
There was a blur of movement and a yowl of pain from Zapp. Chain was no longer next to Leo but instead crushing Zapp's hand under her heel.
“I said trash is trash.”
Leo sighed and studied the list of names as Zapp and Chain bickered.
---
The other members of Libra had been in and out the main office throughout the day. As Leo had predicted, K.K. wouldn't be able to make it on account of her youngest boy being a tree in a school play. This was apparently a source of great pride for her as she helped her son make the costume out of felt and construction paper. Relief had come in the form of Zed when he wandered in and Leo had latched onto the chance to talk about something other than environmentally conscious first-graders. Zed seemed delighted to be invited, but ultimately had to refuse since his tank needed a good cleaning (though Leo had assured him that if it went well there was always a chance there would be another one, and if it didn't, then he wasn't missing anything). No one said anything to Steven. If Chain was being honest, he absolutely did not want him within a mile of his laptop and browser history. A man needed to have some secrets.
It was late in the day before anyone saw Klaus emerge from the conservatory. Evening light that had managed to pierce the ever present fog flooded the main office with an orange glow by the time he stepped back in. He was scraped and bruised, with twigs and leaves jutting haphazardly from his red hair. His usually immaculate attire was stained with soil, but otherwise he looked extremely pleased with himself. He was dabbing the worst of the mess with a damp towel.
“Did it go alright?” Chain asked, looking up from some paperwork. Leo had busied himself with some chores, and Zapp had dozed off, sprawled on the couch.
“Mm, just some teething troubles. It was all a matter of acquiring the right kind of soil and keeping it away from my orchids.” There was a pensive silence from the hulking man. “They seemed to annoy it for some reason.” And with that explanation he returned to his task at hand. In the meantime, Zapp stirred from his slumber.
Chain shot Zapp and his pile of neglected paperwork a reproachful look, and then inclined her head to Leo.
“Leo got a new place.” She informed for the second time that day, and hunched back over her own stack.
“Oh? I saw the boxes were gone. This is wonderful to hear, Leonardo.” Klaus strode to his desk to fire up his positively prehistoric Mac Classic.
Leo straightened a bit and gave a somewhat timid nod. “Er... yeah. Chain and I were kind of... planning a sort-of a get-together and-”
“The kiddies are having a house-warming sleep-over,” Zapp interjected, stretching his long limbs lazily and eyed the remaining doughnuts on the table.
“You seemed more than happy to come,” Chain pointed out, and Zapp shrugged without a sign of shame.
“I never turn down free grub.”
Klaus let the squabbling run its course as his old and trusty machine slowly kicked into gear. He'd learned long ago that Chain and Zapp got along best when they didn't get along. It was simply the natural order of things.
“That sounds nice,” Klaus hummed absentmindedly. “I hope you three have fun.”
Leo's mouth opened and closed for a minute as he struggled form a coherent sentence. It was one thing to ask your co-workers over for movie night, but asking your boss was something all-together different. Especially when your boss was the sort of man with so much class that... well. Leo doubted the man had ever been to a movie night that didn't involve champagne, caviar, a miniature theatre with velvet seats, and films more about philosophy than giant robots. Leo shifted from one foot to the other, deciding to just plow on, full steam ahead. The worst that could happen was that Klaus would politely decline.
“Well yeah, but we were kind of hoping you might want to come too?”
The question hung in the air like a stunned pigeon, the silence only broken by an indignant squawk from Zapp. He'd fallen right into Chain's earlier doughnut trap, and the sticky carnage was all over his white sleeve.
“For fuck's sake, Chain! This is never gonna come out!”
Klaus went through a number of expressions, oblivious to the chaos in the sofa region. Leo watched him go from baffled to, as comprehension dawned, astonished. And then he was rubbing the back of his neck, eyes sheepishly averted to his keyboard.
“Y-yes,” He coughed, managing to regain his composure. “Yes, thank you, Leonardo. I would be happy to attend.”
Leo let go of a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was always hard for him to get a read on Klaus. The man had a face that made him look like he chewed broken glass for breakfast. Cheering up a little at the prospect of the entire night not being a game of Keep Zapp and Chain From Killing Each Other (and subsequently Help Chain Hide a Body Again), he quickly found himself babbling about the wheres and whens and whats to bring.
Klaus gave a diligent nod, making notes in his planner. He was careful to keep his smile out of sight. He was aware that it was not his most flattering expression, though he was told it was infectious.
But then again, he mused, so was chlamydia.
---
Thursday dawned and its sluggishness had surpassed all of Leo's expectations. It may have been early October, but the muggy heat wouldn't have been out of place in August, and Hellsalem's constant tumult seemed to slow to a crawl. Even Gilbert, who was always bustling around doing something or another, had sat down several times for a glass of ice water. Leo wondered if that was a sign of the end times approaching.
The hours plodded by, Libra's agents coming and going, exchanging intel on open cases. Leo helped Gilbert out with the cleaning, occasionally catching snatches of conversation. An informant had vanished. Strange disappearances had cropped up exponentially. Someone had set some kind of chimera loose in Queens and now it was running a food stall.
Normal, boring, Thursday.
Leo took a moment to reflect on the state of his life that something like that had somehow become a normal day. Fanning himself, he stepped back into the main office after helping Gilbert carry some pots up to the conservatory. Even indoors with the rather good central air unit, he still couldn't shake the stifling humidity. He waved when he spotted Chain on the couch, using a clipboard to fan herself. She must have returned from her assignment while he was lugging pottery around, and she had a knapsack slung over her shoulder. Judging by the angular protrusions, it had been crammed full with DVDs. Just how many movies did she think they were going to watch tonight?
“How'd it go?” He asked, plopping into the armchair across from her. Chain made a noncommittal grunt, and fanned harder.
“That bad, huh?”
Chain shook her head. “No, no. It went fine. My job's done for the day though- how about you?”
“Same.” He gestured to the knapsack. “Is all that for tonight?”
Chain gave a fervid nod. “Classics.” She didn't seem keen to elaborate. Instead she unglued herself from the couch and stretched.
“Next shift should be coming in soon. You want to head out early? I'll walk you home.”
Leo grinned. “Yeah- I gotta stop at the dollar store to get snacks for tonight. Is that cool?”
Chain gave a shrug. “It's not like it's out of the way or anything.”
They headed out into the sweltering evening, Chain taking the lead and ever alert for signs of trouble.
---
The snack run had been a resounding success and Leo was hefting two sizable bags of dollar-store junk food as he plodded along behind Chain. She took them through a shortcut down several alleys, a feat that would have been suicidal in New York even before it became Hellsalem's Lot. But Chain went where she wanted, when she wanted. Leo did his best to keep up, though he stopped when he spotted a homeless man wedged between some trash bags. He was bundled in a stained jacket, buttoned up tight despite the heat. He locked eyes with Leo, and held up a hand wrapped in a wool glove. The man was missing his ring and pinky finger. Judging by the scarring they had been gone a while.
“Got a buck or two t'spare for a veteran?” The man croaked, his voice hoarse.
Leo hesitated and then nodded, fishing in his pocket for his change.
“Yeah. I can do you one better too,” he said, handing over a crumpled five and whatever coins he could retrieve. He reached into the bag and passed the stranger a box of powdered sugar doughnut holes.
The man gave him a yellow grin. “You're a lifesaver kid.”
Leo turned on his heel to go catch up with Chain, but the homeless man gave a hacking cough. “Wait, kid-” he wheezed. Leo stopped in his tracks to look around. The man was right behind him and Leo was momentarily overwhelmed by the acrid air of sweat and halitosis. He looked desperately to Chain, who was frozen in mid stride. The whole world had taken on a peculiar stillness- the pedestrians in the streets were immobilized. Above, a pigeon and crow engaged in some kind of tussle hovered as though frozen in time.
“You did me a solid and for that I thank you, Leonardo Watch,” he said and Leo tried to jerk away, but the man's grip was like a vice. He pried back the collar of Leo's t-shirt and pressed a rough finger to his clavicle. “I really do owe you one. Fortune find you.”
The hand was gone, and there was a hurried flutter of wings above as light and motion returned to the world. Some feathers fell, and there was a loud exclamation from the crow. Chain was hurrying forward.
“Come on, Leo. What are you doing?”
“I- I, uh-”
He looked around towards the homeless man. He was hunched over where Leo had first seen him, fishing through the box of doughnut holes. Of course he was. Why would he be doing anything else? Leo had the strangest sensation that something had happened but when he tried to recall what, his mind just returned to passing the box to the man.
“Sorry, the heat must be getting to me.” He tore his eyes away and caught up with Chain.
She peered around as they emerged from the alley. “You didn't have to do that,” she chided as they headed towards the small low-rise complex.
“It's fine,” Leo muttered. He passed off one of the bags to Chain as they came up to the entrance and he fished out his keys.
“If you say so.” She ruffled his hair. “You're worse than Klaus, you softy.”
He could feel his ears growing red. Leo quite liked Chain, even though she wasn't the most talkative member of Libra. He looked up to her cool and aloof nature and she'd been kind enough to help him move his stuff and put together one of those roll-out sleeper sofas from Ikea. After spending hours putting it together from garbled instructions and barely-coherent diagrams, the wretched thing had folded up and then back out once, and was stuck permanently as a bed. It had been the kind of bonding experience that either made people mortal enemies or fast friends.
Considering it was Chain, he was grateful it was the latter. And he was also grateful to have something to sleep on that didn't feel like it was going to collapse any second.
“You've been kind of twitchy all day,” She said, rummaging for the second box of doughnut holes as they ascended the stairs. She pulled off the tab and popped it open.
“No I haven't. And those are for the party.” He gave her an accusatory squint. She shrugged and stuffed one in her mouth.
“I'm going to the party, ergo I am within my rights to pre-party snack.” She said around a mouthful of powdered sugar and carbohydrates. “Anyway, it's not much of a party if it's just the four of us.”
“Maybe Zed will show if he finishes cleaning his tank early.”
“Ah yes. Zed. The heart and soul of festivities.”
They shared a laugh at the expense of the fishman for a moment.
“Aside from Zapp, we're all pretty big wallflowers,” Leo amended. Chain gave a nod of agreement.
“We can all be wallflowers together and Zapp can just suck it up.”
Leo stifled a laugh as he unlocked the door to his dingy studio flat. They stepped into the narrow entrance hall. To the left was a walk-in closet attached to the bathroom and to the right was the miniscule kitchen, separated from the living/dining room area by a half-partition. The floor in the hall, bathroom, and kitchen were beige linoleum that was curling up around the edges. The walls were a slightly paler shade of beige. And just to shake things up, the walk-in closet and bed/living room had a shaggy wall-to-wall carpet that might have had a beige quality to it. The windows looked out over a petrol station, and one held a old air conditioner. There was also a space-heater in the corner.
Leo's décor did nothing to improve matters. There was the infamous sleeper sofa across from a small, flat-screen television propped up on a stand made of cheap plywood. His laptop and camera occupied a shelf with some dogeared paperback novels- Chain recognized them as some pretty decent murder mysteries and crime capers. And that was it, aside from the cat bed in the window in which Sonic was curled up contentedly dreaming his little monkey dreams. The whole place had an air of impermanence around it.
“I'm gonna grab a shower, so make yourself at home. And if Zapp or Mr. Klaus call, could you let them in?” he said to Chain, setting a bag on top of the half-partition. Chain nodded, hefting her knapsack and carted the doughnut holes to the roll-out sofa. Leo suspected that was the only response he was going to get from her and went to go rinse off the accumulated film of the day.
---
He emerged from the shower to the dulcet tones of Chain and Zapp quarreling over... something. He wasn't sure what. Changing into an oversized t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts he'd had since high school, he draped a towel over his damp hair and padded into the kitchen to go fish out a bag of chips. He nearly jumped out his skin when the buzzer went off.
“That would be Mr. Klaus,” Chain called from the other room.
“I can't believe you invited the boss,” Zapp snickered. He had an awful snicker. “How lame can you get wh-”
There was a loud crack when Chain smacked Zapp upside the head, saving Leo the trouble of retorting with something witty like 'Your face is lame'.
Grabbing his keys, he fled their latest altercation to the relative peace downstairs.
---
Klaus stood outside, looking positively massive when framed by the narrow doorway.
“Good evening, Leonardo,” he greeted. He was holding a large paper bag that had the brand of a very high-end pastry shop printed across it. Leo had seen the place on one of those bucket list television shows, and had even stopped by one of their displays. The prices had made him clench so hard he thought he might implode.
Klaus must have noticed that Leo had blanched at the sight of the bag, and the man radiated sincere concern.
“Are you alright?”
“Y... yeah! Great! Wonderful! On top of the world!” Leo chattered until he finally got his braincells to stop bouncing around like toddlers and line up properly. “I mean, glad you could make it.”
Klaus almost visibly smiled as he was led inside and towards the stairs. “I'm happy to see you so chipper.” Klaus looked around the stairwell, clearly intrigued. “Does this building have an elevator?”
Leo grimaced.
“Yeah. It does.”
“So why don't we take that?”
Leo turned to face his boss and his expression shocked him. “I would not venture in there unless in dire need,” he said darkly.
This got a reaction from Klaus. He was sure he saw an eyebrow arch under his bangs.
“Did something happen in there?”
“Yeah,” Leo affirmed. “Someone got sick. It's gross and there's a smell, so I just take the stairs.”
Klaus covered his mouth, disguising a chuckle as a cough as they made their way to Leo's floor.
---
Surprisingly, by the time Leo opened his door Chain and Zapp were somehow engaged in a civil conversation. Or about as civil as it got with Chain and Zapp. Leo was reminded that wars could be 'civil' as well.
Klaus squeezed through the door and peered around the drab flat. It obviously wasn't much, but it looked like Leo had a good roof over his head and the basic necessities.
“Where would you like me to put these?” He asked, holding up the bag.
“Oh! Pass it here, I'll put it in the fridge. You can make yourself comfortable if you like.”
“As you wish.”
Klaus obliged and Leo took the bag, cracking open the refrigerator. There was a pause as Leo stared at the sheer amount of alcohol occupying the shelves. And the vegetable crisper had been stuffed with jello shots. Leo's head turned slowly, incredulously to look at Zapp from over the partition.
“Jesus-- Zapp! How much were you planning to drink tonight?”
“Don't touch that stuff, it's for the grown-ups.”
Leo's nose wrinkled as he made room among the cases of beer and wine coolers. “I'm twenty you know!” He called into the other room.
“Bullshit!”
Slamming the fridge shut, he stumped over to the couch.
“You want to see my license?” Leo challenged.
“Leonardo is twenty,” Klaus interjected, sitting on the edge of the couch as he removed his shoes. “It's in his file.”
Leo beamed at Klaus. Zapp just rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that Leo didn't hear. Klaus, however, tensed and glanced back at Zapp, though he made no motion to say or do anything.
Leo shrugged. He wasn't going to push the matter and so he grabbed the Dogimo's menu off his bookshelf and tossed it down onto the sofa.
“Everyone pick out what you want.” He said, fishing his phone out of his bag.
“Whoa, big spender Leo! You sure you can afford that?” Zapp teased.
“Hell no. Everyone is paying for their own meal,” Leo snapped back at him. “Anyway, you've gotten enough free pizzas off of me so it's time to cough up, Zapp!”
---
It was an hour before they were settled on the couch with pizza, a box of hot wings, pastries, chips and a supply of cheap booze. Leo was wedged awkwardly between Chain and Klaus. The huge man was trying to take up as little space as possible and failing tremendously. Chain and Zapp hadn't hesitated in sprawling out and this led to the occasional border dispute between the two.
Still, it wasn't all bad. Leo was at least comfortable since the rattling air conditioner was doing its job keeping the place relatively cool. Sonic had woken up and the little mach monkey was currently buried in a bag of crisps, eating his fill.
Chain had piled up her DVDs into two distinct stacks of horror and white-knuckle terror. Leo picked up a copy of Jacob's Ladder from one of the piles and squinted at it.
He wasn't surprised Chain was a horror movie fan but this- this was going above and beyond.
“Don't you have anything a little less... um... look, Chain, these are good movies but I'd like to actually sleep this month. Without the lights on.”
Chain gave one of her little smiles. And selected a copy of The Ring.
“The American remake isn't as scary as the original,” she said. Leo grimaced.
“I beg to differ...”
He gave Klaus a pleading look and was met with an apologetic smile.
“I don't really watch films outside of the occasional trip to the cinema or private screenings,” Klaus admitted sheepishly. That is, if there were any sheep with fangs jutting up from their lower jaw. Maybe in Australia. It was the sort of place that might have carnivorous sheep.
Leo thought it stood to reason Klaus didn't have much time for movies. He was one of the most hard-working members of Libra, and his hobbies of gardening and prosfair probably took up whatever free time he had.
He set down a VHS copy of Roman Holiday. Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Eddie Albert sat perched on the iconic blue Vespa, smiling brightly against a vivid pink background. Leo picked up the cassette and grinned.
“Is it to your liking?” Klaus had picked up on Leo's expression.
“Huh? Oh- yeah. It's Michella's favourite. We used to watch it all the time when we were younger. I don't have a tape player though.” Leo rubbed the back of his neck, still staring at the video. Of course Klaus would be a romantic.
“So are we gonna watch The Ring or not?” Chain asked, waving the plastic case in front of Leo's face, snapping him out of his reverie.
“Wait- Zapp, did you bring anything?” Leo was grasping at straws now.
“Well, aside from all the booze, and buying my own dinner...” Zapp languished, draping despondently over the arm of the sofa. “...I brought two movies.”
“Well, don't leave us hanging. What masterpieces of cinema did Zapp Renfro decide to subject us to?” Chain's tone oozed with sarcasm as she prodded the brooding Zapp none too gently.
Zapp raised his arm, his index finger extended. “One: Girl's Gone Wild; Spring Break 2013.”
Leo caught Chain's eye.
“Typical.” They said at the same time.
Klaus seemed nonplussed. “Is that entirely appropriate for this kind of party, Zapp?”
“Heh. It is for what I'm used to.”
“Did you bring anything else?” Leo interjected.
Zapp sat up and grinned nastily. “White Chicks.”
All the colour drained from Leo's face.
“PutonTheRingputonTheRing!”
---
Leo spent a good fourth of the movie hidden under a blanket. He had thought living for a few months in Hellsalem's Lot would make him a bit more accustomed to the concept of spine chilling haunted death tapes but that was clearly not the case. Klaus, the ogre-faced angel that he was, peeked under the blanket early on, offering the pastry box.
“Take your pick,” he urged, voice barely above a whisper.
“Thank you,” Leo murmured back.
He selected what appeared to be a sticky puff pastry full of some kind of cream filling with bits of cherry in it and a light dusting of powdered sugar on top. Leo gave it a preliminary sniff. There was a strong scent of rum.
“Good choice,” Klaus said with an encouraging nod, and left Leo to enjoy in the safety of his blanket fort.
And enjoy he did. The pastry was absolutely heavenly and it was gone all too soon. He regretted not savouring it as much as he should have and was left licking the sugary remains off his fingers.
Finally popping out from under the blanket, he headed into the kitchen to wash off the stickiness.
“Grab some shots while you're up!” Zapp called from the couch.
Leo rolled his eyes as he cleaned his hands off, and retrieved some of the jello shots from the crisper. He paused as he passed his shelf. An idea occurred to him, and Leo grabbed his camera before he returned to his spot to pass out the little plastic containers of sugary braincell death.
---
Something skittered through the shadows, shapeless and unseen. It wound its way up the decrepit brickwork of the low rise complex and came to a halt near a window air-conditioner unit that sounded like someone was rattling a box of rocks. There it waited and observed.
In the darkness, a storm was brewing on the horizon.
---
“Well, that was great. Who else is never sleeping again?”
“Me.” Zapp raised his arm and then shot Chain a contemptuous scowl. “You actually watch stuff like this for fun? Is the job not enough?”
Chain scoffed. “It's cathartic, you weasel. Anyway, if horror isn't your style, I brought the Princess Bride as well.”
“What is that? A Disney movie where the princess marries the prince?” Zapp recoiled at the mere thought of it.
“If you had that, why didn't you say earlier?” Leo demanded, but he was grinning from ear to ear. It was another classic he and Michella had watched religiously as children. Chain plucked the case from somewhere in the middle of the stack, not answering his question but smiling nonetheless.
“Have you seen it, boss?” She asked, getting up to go put in the disc. Klaus shook his head.
“I'm afraid not.”
“You're in for a treat then,” Chain hopped back onto the sofa, and Klaus bowed his head.
“I eagerly anticipate it.”
“Ugh, I am way too sober for this shit,” Zapp growled, and popped the top off a beer. Leo was going to be picking bottle caps out of his sofa for months but he didn't care. He hunkered down, scooting closer to Klaus to make room as Chain wriggled back into her spot.
“Leo, could you do the honours?”
“Yeah. Um... before we get started, can I get a picture of you guys?” Leo asked, holding up his camera.
“Scrapbooking, you nerd?” Zapp grinned, but he was smoothing out his silver hair.
“I am a photographer,” Leo grumbled.
“I think it's a wonderful idea,” Klaus said. Leo had gotten good at recognizing when Klaus was containing his excitement at the prospect of partaking in something he rarely got to do. The huge man had straightened up and was practically radiating eagerness.
“I'm with the boss on this. Let's make some memories.” Chain shot Leo a thumbs up, and he grinned, clambering off the sofa to get a good shot of the three of them.
“Hold it, hold it! Leo, you got to get in the picture too!” Chain protested. “It's your movie night!”
“Oh- I uh...”
“No excuses! That camera has a timer right? Where's your tripod?”
Leo decided not to argue the matter, and bustled into the closet to grab his tripod. The set-up was quick- it had become habit by now.
“Mr. Klaus, if you could duck down just a bit?” Leo looked at the display. He couldn't zoom out any further, and the top of Klaus's head was still cut off. Obligingly, Klaus leaned to the side.
“Better?"
“Much! Okay, I'm setting it. Everyone get ready!”
He clambered back onto the sofa, and Chain grabbed his arms, yanking him into his spot between her and Klaus. There was a loud crack just as the flash went off, and the camera took several shots of Leo's head colliding with Klaus's jaw.
---
Two ice packs wrapped in paper towels and a hurried apology from Chain later, the four of them were situated again. Zapp was still having fits of laughter over the purple bruises blossoming on Klaus's chin and Leo's forehead. Chain was checking out the photos, grinning to herself.
“I need copies of these,” She said at last. “Preferably framed.”
“Please no,” Leo groaned, pressing the pack tightly to his bruised forehead. He looked up to Klaus. “Are you okay?”
Klaus gave a small incline of his head. “I've had worse, Leonardo.”
“Okay, I'm putting the movie on. Give me my camera- I'm gonna delete those.”
“Don't you dare.” Chain gasped, scandalized. “Precious memories! Send me copies at least!”
Leo gave Chain a long-suffering look, but she hung onto his camera tightly. Leo just pushed down play on the remote. He was sure she'd forget about it in the morning.
---
It was films like these Leo liked to surreptitiously look around. That he could see with his eyes shut now made it all the more easy.
Chain was relaxed. She'd smirk occasionally at the funny bits. It made sense since she'd probably seen it a number of times like Leo. Zapp was well into the movie within the first five minutes and his angry exclamations and interruptions came almost at the same time as the little boy's in the film. Leo had crammed his fist in his mouth the moment Zapp and the young boy had angrily demanded “Who gets Humperdink?” Klaus was leaned forward, looking intent, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his folded hands. His jaw was set and Leo was sure he caught sight of a small trickle running down his cheek.
He caught Chain's eye who just grinned at him and passed him another wine cooler.
---
Outside, a storm raged, bringing with it much needed respite from the heat of the day. Rain was pounding noisily against the window, and lightning flickered in the night, followed by rolling thunder.
By the time the credits were rolling, Leo, Chain, and Zapp were quite plastered. Zapp had long since passed out, after putting a sizable dent on the beer, wine coolers and jello shots. Chain was not exactly a lightweight herself, but she seemed to be hanging in there, albeit barely. Leo had tucked away three beers and a winecooler- a personal record for him. The problem was that he hadn't stopped to consider the effects alcohol might have on his magic god eyes, and his once drab apartment was now a dizzying kaleidoscope of colour.
He sat up slowly, inching his way off the bed, muttering something about a glass of water.
“Get me one too,” Chain groaned, rubbing her stomach. There was a thud as Leo hit the floor. He had forgotten how legs worked and decided his best bet was to simply roll off the side. Chain gave an unsteady round of applause. “He is beauty and he is grace,” she teased. Leo groaned. In retaliation, he chucked a corn chip in her general direction and missed spectacularly.
Wordlessly, Klaus got to his feet, scooped Leo up under one arm, and plopped him down on the counter top in the kitchen.
“Where are the glasses?” Klaus asked gently. He waited for Leo's inebriated brain to kick into gear.
“On ...your face?” Leo slurred.
“What-? No- I mean for drinking out of,” Klaus continued.
“Dunno. Got some mugs in the bottom left though.”
This would have to do. Klaus retrieved two sizable ones from where Leo had indicated. One had the logo of what appeared to be a local photo studio from Leo's hometown. There was a small chip in it. The other looked rather new. It clearly stated to the world how much the owner loved Hellsalem's Lot, complete with a aggressively pink heart.
Klaus nearly broke both of them when Leo spoke.
“S'pretty. Your tattoo.”
Speechless, Klaus turned to face Leo who was slumped to the side against the refrigerator. The young man's eyes were partially open, bathing everything in their unearthly blue light. Leo was staring blearily at Klaus.
“I beg your pardon?”
“It's got a ...sort of red glow. S'hard to see through your aura. What's the 'twelve' for?”
Klaus's eyes shifted to the floor. So Leo could see that then. Exhaling, he propped Leo upright, steadying him. It had, after all, only been a matter of time before the all-seeing eyes of the gods would spot it. But now was not the time for explanations.
“It's nothing,” Klaus's tone was soft, but his body was tense. “Here, drink up.”
Leo chugged the water quickly. It felt better getting something in his system that wasn't made from the five vital food groups of starch, sugar, salt, grease and alcohol. He uttered a small thank you before slumping forward and nodding off on Klaus's shoulder.
---
Leo woke to the odd sensation of a cool breeze across his face. It was odd, he noted, because everything was so incredibly, indescribably warm. Except his face.
The world gradually came into focus. It had taken him a while to get used to falling asleep while still being able to see even with his eyes shut. Waking up was an even stranger experience. It sometimes gave him quite the headache.
He doubted he could attribute the throbbing pain in his skull to his eyes this time, however. Memories of shitty beer and saccharine sweet winecoolers stirred from the recesses of his conscious, and he groaned, slumping back against something hard. And warm. And smelling pleasantly of expensive cologne and aftershave.
It was Klaus. He'd been using Klaus as a pillow.
He stiffened a little, surveying the situation. It wasn't too awkward, at least not with Chain sprawled out over the three of them and using Zapp as a footrest. She had taken possession of Leo's duvet and wrapped herself up in it like a cocoon. Someone had also covered Zapp with a fleece blanket. Klaus had probably looked after the poor sod.
Slowly, Leo inclined his head to look up at Klaus. The man had shed his vest, tie, belt and spectacles. They were folded neatly and placed on the back of the sofa. Leo suspected the man had not planned to stay the night like Chain and Zapp, but the storm and his subordinates drunkenly tottering around like week-old kittens must have stirred his nurturing instincts and kept him around. And he was fast asleep. His breaths came slow and even, his broad chest rising and falling. His head was tilted to the side, bangs swept from his forehead, and for the first time Leo got a very good look at his face.
He was stunned by just how young Klaus looked. Leo had initially thought the man was pushing forty, but his size and intense expression were like some cleverly crafted illusion. Fast asleep, without his hair keep his eyes in shadow, Leo realized Klaus couldn't have been older than thirty. That, or he had access to a really good moisturizer.
He settled back into the comfortable warmth. The gray light of dawn was just creeping over the skyline and the rain had subsided into a lulling patter. Leo dozed off again, a little giddy despite the low-key throb in his skull. It had been a good night, all things considered.
Half an hour later, Klaus, Chain, and Leo were rudely awakened to the sound of Zapp retching the bathroom.
---
End of Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Notes- If you wouldn't help Chain hide a body, you are either lying or wrong.