90s sadness and gay???

[dtective]

[By this point, Leon has lost track of how long he's been searching for Count D. It became an obsession that only grew with time, and now he couldn't keep to one spot anymore. Not while D was still out there. Across cities, across countries, he probably looked insane to everyone around him. But they didn't know the half of it! Sometimes even Leon wasn't sure he understood what he was doing.

Right now wasn't the time to doubt himself, though. He'd hoped that this lead would get him even an inch closer to his goal, but he hadn't counted on spotting him in the streets. It had to be him. He'd seen him turn and look at him, and those eyes—]

Wait! Stop right there!

[He doesn't hold back, shoving his way through the crowded streets and keeping his eyes locked on him. It doesn't work, because of course it doesn't, and his steps slow in his confusion. His heart is beating way too fast, his stomach sinks, and for a moment he's sure he's lost his one chance.

But something catches the corner of his eye, and his instinct tells him to turn. He reaches out, grabbing the first wrist he can and meeting D's eyes with his own.]

...Found you.

Comments

[pruning]

[Oh yeah, he's with a hobo now... That's fine, he can wait probably months or however long it takes someone to pity-hire Leon to do something that doesn't require him to speak to anyone. He pats Leon's arm with his other hand, very comfortingly.]

Then I will take you out, in the meantime. What kind of date do you enjoy?

[dtective]

[Someone treating him to a date...?? It's a little different than what he's used to, but he's barely used to getting dates these days at all, to be fair. Plus, why would he refuse this...?]

What kind of date... [He's thinking aloud here, touching his chin with his free hand.] What about something like a nice dinner or a movie?

[Cliche dates... That's all that comes to mind.]

[pruning]

[Hmmm... mmmm.]

You wouldn't understand the movies. [The sad truth. Unless some local theater imports and badly dubs an American movie Leon has already seen, which would probably be a crap date.]

A nice dinner, I can do.

[dtective]

Oh, right. They wouldn't have any of the good movies here...

[By "good" movies he apparently means anything in English. What's the point in that!!]

Dinner works just fine. [He will also have to get new clothes... But he'll worry about that soon enough.] We can figure the rest out later, right? The more I learn.

[pruning]

[The good movies. Sigh. Other things Leon can learn: culture.]

Yes, yes, it isn't an emergency. [Not yet. The clothes will be an emergency first...]

Dinner isn't going to be much like your American takeout, you know.

[The pizza is Even Better, for starters.]

[dtective]

Pfff. I know how to go to a fancy dinner.

[Claim Jumper's fancy, right?? ...He has no idea how to eat at a fancy restaurant in any way.]

[pruning]

[Oh god. He thinks he can be fancy. He's never been fancy in his life, D can feel it.]

Do you? I may have you put on a tie.

[dtective]

[Red lobster???]

A tie? [As if thinking about it, he pulls at the collar of his shirt with his free hand. Ties are so uncomfortable... But if they're going that fancy... It'd be a really nice dinner, too.

Plus, there's going with D. But. Still.] I guess that'd be okay...

[pruning]

[!!! He's actually amenable to being dressed up? A world of possibilities has opened, at least until they make it to a store and D remembers he has no earthly idea how men's fashion works. Oops...

He's still tilting his head back onto Leon's shoulder to smirk at him, apparently very pleased with this.]

Don't worry about the tie, you'll look wonderful. I will be able to show you off.

[dtective]

[Noooo... stop this... Stop that smirk, too! He's going to get confused and flustered again, at this rate. He just kind of gawks.]

Show me off...? [Leave him alone free him from this]

[pruning]

[That's the goal... one of the goals. D sure doesn't stop smirking at him!!]

Of course. Why wouldn't I?

[dtective]

[HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS. Sure, you can show off a pretty lady, maybe, but him?? He doesn't know about that.]

What're you going to do, walk me around on your arm?

[pruning]

[Why is this a crisis?? Leon, please.]

If I'm paying for your meal, I certainly will.

[dtective]

[Isn't everything a crisis... But oh. Well, that makes sense...]

Right. [So they're... boyfriends. Or is it just dating before they become official these days? Is there weird Chinese stuff he has to know about dating? Thoughts like this cross his mind briefly, but thankfully, he lets it fall away and decides to just do what he wants and not think so much. That seems to be working.]

Just warn me ahead of time. [Before the date... He needs to be mentally prepared.]

[pruning]

[There isn't any weird Chinese stuff, thankfully... They're whatever, that's what they are. D doesn't have patience for nitpicking about dating conventions when he's already moved onto "stay forever." Humans are so strange.]

I will. [Like, with an hour to spare, maybe.] You're worrying about it. It's perfectly fine.

[stop...]

[dtective]

I'm not worrying.

[He lies and turns his face closer into D. Okay, maybe he is worrying a little. Just stop thinking, Leon, you got this.] There's nothing wrong with needing some prep time. We'll have a great time.

[pruning]

[He's not worrying about their date the same way D isn't worrying about talking to Chris. Perhaps not to the same extreme, but!! Whatever!]

You will have your prep time. [don't WORRY] Speaking of dinner, I suppose we should dine in tonight...

[What mysterious Italian dish should he try to feed Leon this time? Stay tuned.]

[dtective]

[It's fine to panic a little, okay!! It's been ages since he started getting flustered whenever D looked at him too long or got too close. Now that he's actually acknowledging feelings here, it's a bit overwhelming. Sometimes.

Other times, like now, he feels comfortable. He watches D and thinks about weird Italian food and how he can kiss him at any time. It's a nice thought.]

Yeah, I guess so. What kind of stuff do you have?

[pruning]

[No, stop panicking. Only do it to reasonable, cute levels, or D will have to actually worry about it.

But hmm, meanwhile, what kind of food does he have...]

Vegetarian...?

[dtective]

I know that.

[Please!! Ah, but wait, D wouldn't make HIM go vegetarian, would he? Nah, there's no way. He can cook his own meat, he can't be stopped!! Maybe he'll only get it while he's out? Something like that, yeah.]

What about a pizza?

[pruning]

[He'll make meat, he's made meat before!! He just doesn't have any around right now, goodness.]

You want to order a pizza.

[Okay... but that's so American...]

[dtective]

Yeah! Why not?

[Don't they have pizza hut here??? No??] I've been wanting a pizza since I got here.

[pruning]

[He's dumb......]

It will not be what you're expecting, but alright. I suppose we can... order a pizza.

[Except one problem: He's never ordered a pizza in his life. Does he have a phonebook lying around? What year is it??]

[dtective]

Sweet! A pizza's a pizza, I'm sure it'll be fine.

[He's going to lounge back on the couch. D has this, surely. Him and his Italian. He has no idea that D has never done this before... Somehow he can't grasp the idea.] Don't sound so worried about it.

[pruning]

[Spoilers: There is no phonebook here. He's going to have to go out to order this pizza, this is stupid. But before he literally has to go walk a few blocks for a goddamn pizza,]

Hmm. What would you like on it?