Hunted

It was time. Dinner was done already, and he had a little surprise for Leandor ready. At first he had felt like just dropping everything to go back and meet the guy, demanding every possible answer and get to work on it. However, with a bit of thinking, Zach realised that would just have upset Leandor more. So instead, he had been running around to solve personal business all afternoon, but finally had the rest of the night free. He hoped the blond would agree on spending it well...

But time passed. Ten minutes after the agreed time, he was getting worried. Wouldn't a journalist know to show up on time? He went to the phone, and after hesitating a bit, he tried calling.

No answer.

That wasn't good. He put on shoes and jacket, locked the door and was on his way to the apartment he had lent to those guys. His heart was racing; could those people after Leandor have gotten to him already? That was supposed to be unlikely, given he now had a safe place to stay, but what could be going on? He hoped it was a case of a flat battery, but couldn't help but be impatient when he knocked the door, thus using a bit more force than what would be polite. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

A string of cursing came from behind the door. The sound of the bolt being drawn to unlock it, and then it came open to reveal a short redheaded guy in sweatpants and a hugely over-sized t-shirt. He paid very little attention to the visitor as he stuck up the middle finger to someone behind him. “I thought this was one of those 'no solicitors' places. Are you a Jehovah's witness?”

"No, I'm not." Zach sighed. It seemed the guy wasn't all too fond of his cross. He gazed past the fellow redhead for a moment, but couldn't spot the man he wanted to see. Shifting his attention to the one in front of him, he forced a calm voice. "This is my apartment. Is Leandor around?"

“Your apartment?” There was genuine shock in the guy's tone, and it quickly spread to his face. “You're Zach? After hearing the way he talked to you on the phone, and him being pissed off when you weren't there when we arrived, and now you looking for him... normally I'd put two and two together but... I know Lee better than anyone and you're not his type. Weird...” He paused and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. “You're that bible-humper he told me about, right? Have you guys actually fucked?”

Was that really such a difficult question to answer? The recently arrived shrugged, deciding not to comment on that bit. "Yes, I'm Zach. So... is Leandor in there? If not, do you know where he is?"

“Jesus fucking Christ, you have fucked, haven't you! Wow, you bible-pushers must have some really potent lube to make that happen! Oh yeah, Lea. No, he's not here. He was pretty shook up after hearing about our friends' apartment burning down. He left a few hours ago, but I know where he goes when he freaks out like this. Fucking pansy won't be back for a day or two.” The guy looked Zach up and down and then crossed his arms skeptically.

Not exactly the best of vocabularies, but Zach wasn't there to teach the guy manners. What was all that shock about, though? He had no idea. At least he made progress; hopefully he'd know where to find Leandor soon. "Where does he go? I really should talk to him..."

There was hesitation. When the little redhead seemed to come up with a response, he appeared rather proud of himself. “I shouldn't tell you. He's not even all that happy that I know about it, but still not smart enough to find a new place. I'll make you a deal! If you tell me who was on top when you fucked, I'll tell you exactly where you can find him. How's that sound?”

Bargaining over information about their relationship? If the situation had been different, he would probably have been angry. Right now, though, focus was not doing anything that would delay finding Leandor. "You know what? If you tell me exactly where I can find him, I'll let you stay the night here. How does that sound?"

“Oh! Touchy, touchy.” He was treated to an insulted scowl and then the little guy rolled his eyes. “Fine, I already know the answer anyway. You've gotta be a bottom. There's no way he'd let some religious freak pound his ass, or any other type of freak. You know that ugly 10-floor library just a little east of here? He's probably on the roof of that. You'll have to look around a bit up there, he doesn't stay in view of the door.”

"Alright. I hope for your sake that's true." He didn't really have any reason to doubt the guy, but found that sometimes people thought better of jokes with that comment, so he made it a habit. "See you around..." He waved lightly with his hand, then started off down the stairs.

Behind him, he could hear the little redhead's angry shouts. “God fucking damnit! Takuya, you snotty bitch, open the door or I'll rearrange your fugly face until you wish you really could switch it for your ass!”

~~~~~

Everything was happening too fast. The fire had made it too real – seeing it on the news no less. Leandor wasn't entirely sure what triggered his meltdown, whether it was the knowledge that he could have killed everyone just because he didn't want to ask a favour of Zach, or the simple fact that the fire forced him to face that he had nearly been killed in that explosion. A dog saved his life. A dog.

Alone on that rooftop, the fluorescent glow of the polluted sky above being his only light, he finally got to break. It had been extremely difficult holding all his trembling pieces together until he got there, but once he did, there was no use fighting it. Crying was for the weak. The weak and the cowardly; maybe that was exactly what he was, because the tears wouldn't stop flowing and whenever he tried to hold in the sobs, his body would shake violently. Everything hurt. Every part of his body screamed at him to stop shaking, but he couldn't.

Why should he? There was no one around to see him so weak. No one to hide from. Doubted he had to worry about Nele coming to get him like the firecracker used to, but he had been vaguely aware of his cell phone vibrating. There was no way he'd be able to control his voice enough to answer. After letting himself break, there was no chance he could pull himself together for a while, so he ignored it.

That was a while ago though. He wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed, but it had to be at least an hour or more. It felt like a few. His pathetic crying had calmed a bit at least, and his head was so fuddled from exhaustion and confused grief that he couldn't remember which pocket he put his watch in; was it still on his wrist? His legs folded under him, he leaned against the rail, looking down over the quiet streets and sniffling as he reflected on how small everything looked from up there.

He heard the metal door on the roof close. Someone was up there with him. Nele? No, those steps signaled quite a bit more body weight than the little guy had. So he turned, and there he spotted Zach, walking slowly towards him with a reluctant smile on his face. "Hi..."

That was a surprise, though he couldn't think of why. Not wanting that man to see him in such a horrid state, he quickly wiped the tears off his face and tried his best to steady his slightly panicked breathing. Couldn't do it. Still couldn't quite pull back together, so he settled with whispering in the hopes that his voice would have less chance of cracking that way. “How did you find me?”

Walking over to stand by the rail next to him, gazing down at the street, Zach waited a bit before responding. "I made one of your friends tell me..." he finally said quietly, blinking slowly. "I'm sorry if you wanted to be alone, but... I was worried about you."

By friends, of course it had to be Nele. No one else knew about that rooftop, and he'd have to smack the firecracker later. Leandor hugged himself to still the shaking as much as he could. “It's not that I want to be alone, it's that I don't want people seeing me in such an abysmal state. The last thing I want is for someone I respect to see this.” He gazed down again, shaking his head and continued whispering, “I'm sorry I made you worry.”

Zach paused. "I'm not watching..." He finally said in a low mumble, then took a deep breath. He opened his coat, and held out something wrapped in red tissue paper. "I can leave if you want... but I wish you'd go somewhere safer."

Didn't like that idea one bit. The blond unsteadily got to his feet, using the rail as a crutch. He didn't want to be seen like that, but at the same time, he didn't want the guy to leave either. Once he absently took the gift, he moved closer to slide his arms around the man's waist. “No. If I didn't want you to stay, I'd have said so.”

Slowly shifting in the embrace, the redhead laid one arm over Leandor's shoulder, the other resting behind the blond's head. His lips soon found their counterparts, and he proceeded to kiss the other man gently, his tongue slowly caressing Leandor's. When their lips parted, he nodded down at the gift. "I know it's nothing," he mumbled apologetically, "I didn't know about..." Zach stopped himself, letting the hand on the blond hair drop down to the other shoulder.

“You certainly are a gentleman. It better not be a bible.” Leandor smiled weakly and started opening the package. There was very little he loved more than getting presents, even if he didn't know why he was receiving them, and it was having a little success in cheering him up. When he got it open, he ran his hand along the pale blue and gold silk scarf. It was exactly the kind of thing he would have wanted – silk and went with a good majority of his wardrobe – so he guessed Zach had a little help with picking it out. “This is gorgeous... How much did it cost?”

The redhead shrugged. "Don't ask..." His fingers slid under the hair to brush lightly against the skin of Leandor's neck, and he moved forward to hug the other man lightly. "It's going to get cold here tonight," he started slowly, "think you'd want to come back to my place? The dinner is probably cold right now, but it's not that bad re-heated..."

He wasn't exactly keen about the idea of breaking down in Zach's place, but hopefully he got most of it out of his system. Placing a few grateful kisses along the man's neck and jaw, Leandor gave a quiet chuckle. “I should be worried about the cold? But I've got a beautiful scarf to keep me warm... Dinner and a gift? What's the occasion?”

Leandor could feel the deep, steady breath of his companion against his skin and hair. "You." Zach answered softly. "You are the occasion." His hands left the blond's neck, instead brushing down over the back. After a bit of hesitation, he added, "don't feel pressure. If you don't want to come, that's fine. And if you come, but don't want to go to bed together, I understand perfectly."

It was strange hearing that, and for awhile he wasn't sure how to respond. Deny it or not deny it? He sighed and pulled back a bit to look the man in the eye. “I don't know what your trick is to say the right things, but now I haven't a clue why I would say no. Did Bradley tell you what to say or are you just trying to be understanding to get laid?"

Quirking a confused brow, Zach kept eye contact. "No, Bradley didn't tell me what to say. If what happened to you had happened to me, I wouldn't have been in the mood." He tightened his embrace and smiled mildly. "Whereas getting laid would be nice, believe me when I say that I have no expectations in that direction."

“I don't think even a horny little former virgin would want to have sex with me like this.” He forced a light chuckle and gazed off at the hideous orange night sky. “We'll go to your place, we'll eat something and if you can miraculously make me stop shaking... Let's just say I'll be extremely grateful.” He paused and gently caressed Zach's face with his thumb. “You don't have any other plans tonight, do you? I'd hate to have to go back and sleep with that dreadful Takuya.”

Zach was still smiling, turning towards the door and pushing Leandor with him using the arm around the other man's back. "No other plans," he said slowly, "none that doesn't involve you, anyway."

So much for his fear of tops. Sounded like he was going to have to face it a second time. Leandor waited until they made it inside the door and then stopped to push Zach up against the nearest wall. “You really are a gentleman, and I don't know what your intentions are. I can't even begin to comprehend how this happened, but I certainly hope you're prepared to suffer the consequences. You won't get rid of me very easily.” That said, he pressed his lips to the other man's roughly, as if a hard kiss would pass the message through better.

Once he got his mind around it, the redhead joined into the kiss. Zach let out a soft moan when their lips parted, a hand brought up to brush against Leandor's side while gazing longingly at him. "If I wanted to get rid of you, do you really think I'd have come here?"

~~~~~

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