Hunted

A person would have to be very dumb to accept something like that. Strange how a little explosion could change that. Getting the kittens to stay put in the car had been a struggle. The buggers wouldn't stay put, so Leandor had to stop at a petshop and buy one of those upholstered carriers to stick them in – which was also quite a struggle. As it turned out, the little demons didn't much like the carrier, though he could hardly blame them. He'd have been meowing his lungs out if someone stuck him in a prison of plaid too.

The dog was on a newly purchased leather leash, and seemed to be having quite a feast on it. Not a fan of bondage, apparently. Leander got out of his car, and upon assessing the surrounding area, immediately locked the car doors and switched on the alarm. What on Earth was supposed to be 'safe' about this place? Was Nele out of his mind? Taking a deep annoyed breath, he shook his head and started inside, going downstairs as he was told to. There had to be another place to go. Had to be someone else they could turn to other than some people who could be murderous giant cockroaches for all he knew. At least the kittens had cried themselves to sleep.

Pushing his annoyance and disgust aside, he lifted the hand carrying the leash to knock on the door.

When the door opened, it revealed Kiyoshi, the cute Japanese. The guy smiled, stepping aside as he stole a glance up the staircase. "Good evening... sorry to hear what happened."

Nice to see that guy first thing. It was still hard to stomach the fact that Kiyoshi was a top, but he had dealt with bigger things before. "No one was hurt, so there's nothing to be sorry about. Nice to see you again."

Trying to hide his reluctance of entering with a smile, Leandor forced himself to step inside. He took a long, hard look around and considered booking a room in a filthy motel instead. That was until he noticed the other cute faces present. One with yellow hair and another with purple. With an impressed quirk of the brow, he put the carrier on the floor, pushed the leash into Nele's hands – whom he had barely noticed – and made his way to the yellow-haired one.

"Well hello there. I'm Leandor Vilmiss, and you are...?"

"So you are the one I'm sharing a bed with from now on, then? I'm afraid I don't have a stick to beat you up with..." He paused, then put on a broad smirk. "Takuya Jumonji. Man, you're so cute." He let out a playful sigh, offering one hand and moving the other towards Lee's head.

He backed up before his hair could be touched, frowning at the fact that someone who looked that good would have such nerve. He looked towards the purple-haired guy, but decided not to risk it. Last thing he wanted was to be stuck in an apartment with three adorable tops. Finally noticing the other people in the room – two of which seemed a tad intimidating – he cleared his throat. "I realize I'm intruding and I'm sure you fellows aren't ecstatic about it, but rest assured, I do intend to pay you for your troubles."

The tallest of them was glaring over at his companion playing with the dog, and eventually spoke. "Hey! I said I didn't want any fucking animals out here. Kiyoshi, go straighten your boyfriend up..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he reopened them, he focused on Leandor. "Pay us? No way. We don't charge friends in need. We help you, you help us. Makes sense?"

Nele's response was childishly sticking out his tongue as he got up and gently grabbed the carrier to bring into one of the rooms. "Whatever you fucking say, Mr. Pissy."

Watching the redhead disappear through another door, Leandor grinned and walked towards the tall one, stopping a safe arms-length away. "Wow, he's nicknamed you already? Sounds to me like Thumbelina is rather fond of you." He gave the man a once-over, figuring that was the 'leader' of the group. "If I can't repay you in cash and yet I'm still in your debt... Isn't that a bit like selling my soul to the devil? Though, I suppose the bible did warn that he'd be quite attractive..."

Calmly pushing to his feet, the Oriental sighed and crossed his arms. He gazed at Leandor for a little while, then spoke. "I won't demand anything of you. Ramesh is after all of us, though, so it should be reasonable to expect you to help making the danger pass." He thought for a bit, then shrugged. "If you won't, you can still stay. Not going to force you."

"Nothing like having a problem in common to bring people together. Of course, I have every intention of helping with this if I can." He sighed and gazed around at the group. Didn't look like he'd be getting along with any of them so far. Time was bound to go by very slowly at that rate. "So tell me something. What about this place is safe, or are we simply relying on safety in numbers?"

The guy swallowed. "As frustrating as it might be, it's the numbers, not the place. If we had better options, we wouldn't be here." He sighed, then offered his hand. "I didn't mean to be rude. I'm Luo-Yong Lim. Welcome to our apartment. Sorry about the mess." He flashed a weak, apologetic smile along with the last comment.

He glanced at the hand a moment before accepting it in a firm shake. Wasn't all that surprising that tensions would be a little high. He was more freaked out himself, but he hadn't let himself stop long enough to let what happened sink in. Didn't want to start considering the gruesome possibilities if he wanted to remain relatively sane. "Nice to meet you, Luo-Yong... If they made an attack here, assuming they have other connections and could bring in back-up, what would be our options? Is there an escape route at all?"

"Escape route? Not really. From the staircase, we can get to the back yard. In here, not so much. Look, if you know of any better places..." Luo-Yong paused with a frown, but brightened up a little soon after. "Anyway, you seem like an intelligent guy. Why don't you and our resident cynical smartass have a word about what to do?" He smiled over at the unkempt fellow in the couch.

Leandor thought about that, ignoring the guy on the couch. Didn't seem like the talkative type so far. "This is no good. Even if there were just two or three of them, with the right tools they could take us all out at once in so many ways. I've seen it happen too many times to count to the best of men too. We've got to think of something else." He paused and glanced toward the door. "The fact that it hasn't already been done either means they don't want to kill you or they're playing cat and mouse."

"Alright. So we have to find them first?" Luo groaned lightly, then pushed away from the chair, moving slowly towards a nearby door. "Guess it's time to start watching out too. I can take the first watch." With that, he left the room, door slightly ajar.

"That's... not quite what I was going for." Another sigh. The guy just left in the middle of the conversation? Rude of him. Leandor frowned and turned toward the unkempt guy on the couch. "Does he realise what little keeping watch will do if they simply pay a little boy to plant something for them? Oh this whole getting my home blown up is such a bother." He glanced toward the purple-haired little one and the Korean attached to him. "Is this building currently our only option?"

The supposed smartass tilted his head a little, giving him a half-amused, half-worried glance. "Keep in mind that the Ramesh guy is the size of a small building, and thinks he is the Hulk. If he spots Luo out there, maybe he gets overconfident. I'm aware there's still options despite watchkeeping, but you have to admit it's a whole lot better than no watch." He smiled and nodded at the taller guy passing through the room, now wearing fighting gloves. "Our only option? No. But I don't think there's any available improvements that are worthwhile."

"I may have one option worth considering, but maybe not..." Leandor pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started dialling a number. Didn't like to involve anyone else, but that was too late to prevent anyway. "Oh drats, I don't even have time to think of something blasphemous to use as a greeting." As he chuckled to his own inside joke, he pressed the talk button and waited for it to ring.

It only took a couple of rings for the answer to come. "Evening, Leandor! Been out shopping for... supplies?" Zach added in a friendly laughter at the end of that, seeming to be in a good mood.

Leandor smiled, delighted to hear that voice in a good mood. He almost considered not ruining it by telling the guy what happened. "Yes, I picked up a few things, but we'll have to leave the clothing shopping for later. There's been a few minor developments in the issue of ours." He tried to keep his tone as light and indifferent as he could when he continued, "The man who gave me that charming threatening phone call just blew up my home – almost with me in it, might I add."

"How dare he! Bastard!" The good mood vanished, as expected. "Good Lord... where are you now? Got to get you somewhere safe..." He paused, then muttered angrily, "he'll pay. Just wait until I get my hands on him..."

"Yes, well, before you go on a rampage after someone we can't even find, we're in a bit of a dilemma. There's quite a few of us here, and we're crowded in a small basement apartment with only one escape like rabbits in a hole. It seems all of us are targets of this behemoth and I'm not entirely keen of sitting here waiting to be smoked out." He took a deep breath and looked around. "I don't suppose you'd know of a safe place where we could stay for a little while?"

Zach hesitated for while, then finally spoke. "Yes, I've got a safe place. There's even a four-room apartment free at the moment. You can stay there for as long as you like. But can't even find does not exist in my dictionary. We'll talk about that bit when you get here. When's that, by the way?"

Another, broader smile graced his face. "As soon as I discuss it with the others, I suppose. We could wait a bit if that's a problem though..." He glanced over at the guys around the room, trying not to appear too excited. It was hardly a time to be giddy, but it was difficult to avoid for some reason. "You're a saint. I hope you don't mind kittens."

~~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260