Revenge Exchange

A/N: Hiya! Feeling much, much better now. And it only took twenty minutes for me to format this chapter! I am back at full strength. Okay…second to last one, guys. Have fun! Again, don't forget to read to the bottom. I put another teaser for Chapter 8.

Warnings:

FL--Foul Language
Y--Yaoi
Li--Limish bathtub scene

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Chapter 7: Come Together

“Sugar’s only sweetness,
Salt is ocean tears…
You were my only weakness
For years and years and years.”
--Presidents of the United States of America, “Candy”

Chris peeked around the corner. Tot-chan was in the kitchen again, making lunch for Leon. More and more, his friend seemed consumed with the operation of the kitchen, and he couldn’t help but feel a little lonely. The more he cooked, the more absorbed he seemed, and Chris felt like he got in the way. So, for the last week, he’d been spending most of his time catching up on the schoolwork that he had missed and swimming with Philippe in his room. He was sure that his hair had gotten a little blonder, and he had worked up a good tan in the afternoons when he got home.

But it just wasn’t the same as when he and Tot-chan had been so close. He stood where he was, watching as his friend stirred something in a pot, and wished that everyone wasn’t so busy. “You can come in, you know.” Tot-chan’s voice sounded annoyed. “You’ve been standing there hiding long enough, pipsqueak.”

Slowly, Chris moved from his ill-conceived hiding place. “Sorry…”

Tot-chan dropped his spoon into the bowl he’d been stirring and pulled up a chair, motioning that he should do the same. When Chris had seated himself, Tot-chan looked at him strangely, as if he were trying to figure out what his brain were made of. “Do you want to help?”

“I don’t want to be in the way—”

“That’s not what I asked.” Tot-chan held up a finger, stalling whatever protests he might come up with. Then, he ruffled Chris’s hair, a very crooked smile on his face. “I know I’ve been real busy, kid, and I know I haven’t been hanging out with you much. That’s why I wanted to know. Do you want to help?”

Chris all but jumped at the chance to do something useful and be with his friend at the same time. “Sure!”

Tot-chan nodded approvingly. “Good. Now go wash your hands, and we’ll get this show on the road.”

--

Ten-chan growled at the physical therapist. At the moment, she had Leon lying on a padded table, and was flexing one of his legs so far toward his chest that he could see tears forming in the detective’s blue eyes. “When you can’t stand the pain anymore, let me know.” Somehow, Ten-chan was sure that she enjoyed causing pain for others. Her thin, pink-painted lips were drawn in a smile that he just knew was cruel, and her eyes were fixed on Leon’s face. She knew he was about to start bawling like a child, and yet she kept pushing on that leg.

Finally, when his knee was nearly touching his chest, Leon cried out, panting, “Jesus, Janet…stop it!” That leg was released slowly, and allowed to rest. Leon swiped his forearm over his face, getting rid of the tears that had squeezed out of his eyes. Ten-chan edged closer to the table, his eyes fixing on the slender, feminine set of hands that was now gripping Leon’s other shin, preparing to torture that leg as well. Baring his teeth, he imagined himself nipping at her. It was decently fulfilling to imagine it, but he could barely keep himself from doing so in reality. Leon glanced at him, and said hurriedly, “Ten-chan, stop,” and gave him a meaningful look.

Retreating to a corner, the young fox sulked. “Don’t complain to me when you’re sore later.” He got no response for his little barb, not that he’d expected one.

Janet continued to flex Leon’s leg, pushing until his voice broke and he nearly sobbed like a girl. The session seemed to last longer than it had before, and when Ten-chan heard the large cuckoo clock strike noon, his eyes widened. Four hours? Now, that was completely unnecessary. No wonder Leon looked so tired. And she wasn’t finished. Now, she wanted Leon to walk. Just when he was about to bite the woman on principle, the door burst open, banging against the wall. He turned to see D, who looked…irate.

Tossing his hair from his eyes, D’s clipped accent came out sounding much more formal and polite than he looked. “I believe that your services have come to an end. Please exit by way of the front door, Madame.” Janet let go of Leon so quickly that he fell to the floor, and left, all the while glaring at D. The moment they heard the little bell at the front ringing, D moved forward, gathering Leon from where he was sprawled on his back. “That woman…” the shopkeeper growled, “…will not be coming back.” When Leon looked confused, D’s voice softened, as did his face as he explained, “I have requested another therapist, Leon. There was no cause for her to hurt you like that.” All the blood seemed to have drained out of Leon’s face, and he didn’t seem like he was listening.

Now, Ten-chan voiced his opinion. “She’s a sadist.”

D’s eyes rolled, and he helped Leon walk over to the couch. “That much is obvious, Ten-chan.” In a quieter tone, he addressed Leon. “I believe that when the new therapist comes, you will find him to be much less strenuous. The hospital administrator is a friend, and I asked him as a personal favor to send their very best.” When he had deposited the blonde detective on the cushions, D sat in the nearby chair. Leon was wincing in pain, and D looked anxious. He decided he would leave them alone for a bit.

--

D bit his lip. “Leon, are you all right?” His face was drawn, and pale from the pain he’d been experiencing over the last four hours, which was why he was unsurprised when Leon did not answer. After a moment, he decided that it would not be wise to let Leon walk, with or without his braces. He was simply in too much pain, and his legs would not support him. So he went to the corner and pulled out the wheelchair, which had not been used in some weeks.

Maneuvering the larger man into the chair took close to three whole minutes, but Leon gathered his strength after a moment and helped, so it was eventually accomplished. Wheeling him back to his room, he heard Leon make a whimpering sound. Once they had gotten into the room, though, the man cursed. “Damn it…”

Unsure what to do, D knelt next to the wheelchair. “Where does it hurt?” He asked, trying to assess the situation. Leon indicated the muscles of his thighs, and his knees. “Is the pain sharp?” No, Leon said that the pain was a burning ache, but didn’t they have something he could take for it? “No, Leon, I cannot give you drugs. But, there might be a way to ease the pain. Please, be patient for a few minutes.”

--

Leon took deep breaths, trying to calm his mind. His body…now that was a different story. The pain in his legs wouldn’t allow him to be comfortable, no matter how he tried to relax. Ten-chan might have to come up with a stronger term than ‘sadist’ for that woman, because Leon had a very strong feeling that she was Satan incarnate. He let his head fall back, feeling his hair sticking to his face, and the rest of his clothing doing the same to his body. “Ugh…”

The session today seemed like it took forever. A knock on the door came soft and hesitant. “Come in,” he said as evenly as he could manage, and watched Chris come in with his lunch. The kid was grinning so widely that Leon had a hard time not returning it. “Hey, Chris. What’s up?”

The boy glanced at the tray he held, and then said, “Tot-chan and I made you lunch, Leon.”

“Really?” He asked, eyeing the vegetarian egg rolls and miso soup. It looked pretty good, even though the corners of one egg roll were a bit too crispy. “Is old goat-beard teaching you how to cook, Chris?” The boy nodded happily as he slid the tray onto the table. “You’ll have to teach me how to do all this stuff. It smells great.” Chris nodded again, and said he had to go and talk to Tot-chan about what they were going to make for dinner. In spite of the pain he was in, Leon was happy for the kid. It was good to see him smiling so much. “Just don’t let him bite you, okay?”

“I won’t!” Chris called over his shoulder as he left, the door swinging smoothly shut behind him.

“Ah…I see your meal has come…” He heard D say, and Leon turned to look at the door to the bathroom, into which D had disappeared nearly ten minutes earlier. He stood framed in the rectangle of soft, dim light, The sleeves of his dark purple dress shoved up above his elbows, baring slender, graceful arms. D had pushed his hair behind his ears, revealing more of his face than Leon usually saw, and Leon decided that he liked the change. “Perhaps you would prefer to eat something before you have a soak in the bath?”

All Leon could do was blink, really. D had drawn him a bath? A warm, pleasant feeling formed somewhere inside him at the thought, and he shook his head. Between food—which he might be too exerted to eat anyway—and having a hot bath to get rid of the sticky sweat that covered every inch of his skin…it was no contest. “I’d like a bath, D.” The smile that stretched D’s lips then was beautiful, and Leon couldn’t help himself. He wheeled over to D and pulled at the man’s wrist until those gorgeous eyes were on a level with his, and kissed him tenderly. “Thank you,” he said quietly against smooth lips.

“Mm…” D’s voice took on a seductive purr, “…do not thank me yet, Leon. The water is very hot.”

With a light nip at D’s lower lip, Leon replied, “I like it hot…” Since the previous week, when he had lost his last bit of control and kissed D, the shop had been very busy. Because of the many customers and visitors, they’d had little more than stolen moments when D brought him his meals, and a couple of particularly nice goodnight kisses, but Leon had no complaints. Well, almost none. While those times were undeniably wonderful, he still wished that they would last longer. But D was still far too concerned about his health, and the strange changes he’d been going through.

Really, it was a bit unnerving to him, as well. Before this ordeal, Leon had been a normal guy. When he looked at a dog, he saw a dog. When he went to a restaurant, he ordered his steak rare. He didn’t crave sugar, and if anyone had told him that he’d be having dreams about a man he’d been trying to lock away for the last year…the kind of dreams that woke him up in the middle of the night needing a fresh pair of boxer shorts…he’d have laughed hard enough to wet himself. But his foray into all things strange had begun the second he walked into D’s shop all those months ago, and there was no going back to the way things had been.

Especially when D crooked his finger like that…Leon followed the man’s retreating form into the bathroom. The air in here was humid, and warm. It clung to him the way his sweaty clothing did, making his need to shed them even greater. D pulled the wheelchair close to the large tub, and locked the wheels, disappearing behind him. Only D’s hands reappeared, smoothing down his chest and onto his stomach, until they grasped the hem of his shirt. Those slender fingers slid beneath the fabric to pull it up, and Leon felt long nails scraping gently up the skin of his torso, causing him to shiver.

He let his head fall back against D’s shoulder, and he groaned. D continued to pull his shirt until he was obliged to lift his arms and let it go over his head. Those same nails raked briefly over his back, and Leon gave a short gasp as one of his dreams came to mind. Lips grazed the side of his neck before he felt a gentle bite. “Stay alert, Leon. I cannot have you drifting off to sleep.”

A short bark of a laugh escaped his throat before he turned his face, immediately finding those addictive lips with his. D only allowed a light kiss, teasing Leon cruelly by tracing his lips with the tip of his tongue so lightly that he could barely feel it. A frustrated growl emanated from low in Leon’s throat when he stopped. “I really don’t think that sleep even entered my mind.”

The pain in his legs had already been forgotten, because he now had something else to focus on. D had slipped back around the chair, and was quite efficiently divesting him of his pants. It took quite a lot to remind himself that this was only supposed to be a soak in the tub to ease his sore muscles, like when he felt slender fingers tug at the waistband of his boxer shorts. He braced his hands on the arms of the wheelchair, and hefted his weight off of the seat so that the offending pants and underwear could be more easily removed, and sighed when they slid down his legs.

D helped him into the tub, not saying a word about—and pointedly ignoring in all other respects—the partial erection about which Leon was trying very hard not to think. “How is the water, detective?” The voice in his ear was sinfully smooth, and the breath that floated past his cheek made him shiver.

“Nice,” Leon said haltingly as a sponge ran over his shoulders, water spilling down his chest. “Why…why don’t you come in and find out?”

D made a ‘tsk-tsk’ sound in Leon’s ear, letting his voice slide back into its usual prim tone, “Now, now, detective, you certainly are not well enough for what would happen if I got into the water with you.” Something hot and wet traced the shell of his ear, and Leon’s heartbeat sped when D’s next words blew hot breath over the wet trail his tongue had left, “Just relax and let me have my fun, Leon.” When he nodded, he heard D move to pick up the soap, which smelled like lavender and something sweet that he couldn’t identify.

The shopkeeper’s slender hands ran the soap over the sponge until a thick lather had built up over it, then D set down the soap. Slick fingers ran down his arm until D grasped his hand, lifting it out of the water before smoothing the sponge over the skin of his arm. Up and down the sponge went, spreading sweet lavender scented lather, and warm lips began kissing the palm of Leon’s hand, sending shivers through him when D’s tongue traced the deep life line that ran down his palm. D released that hand in favor of the other, soaping his other arm.

A gentle push on his shoulders had Leon leaning forward, and the sponge went gliding over newly scarred skin. The sponge was followed by the pads of D’s free hand, all the way down his back, until one long nail traced his spine from his tailbone all the way to the base of his skull. A shiver passed through him when he felt another bite on his neck. D’s arms wound around his neck from behind, and Leon’s head fell back against a slender shoulder when the sponge began washing his chest, while D’s tongue ran over his collarbone, and the tendons in his neck.

Leon didn’t know if he wanted to relax and just let his body be washed and teased, or squirm where he sat. The hand not holding the sponge was now barely grazing his left nipple, sending lazy ripples of pleasure down his spine that settled in his belly in a growing pool of desire. “D…what are you doing to me?” he groaned, feeling his spine stretch and curl to get more of the sensation of D’s hands on his skin.

--

What are you doing to me?

D gave a small—yet evil—laugh against the damp skin of Leon’s shoulder. “Do you not like it…” his teeth nipped at the browned skin over a graceful collarbone, eliciting a heavy groan, “…Leon? I can always stop…” His right hand lost its grip on the sponge, and it slid into the water, though D was not exactly certain it was unintentional. The feeling of Leon’s skin was wonderful. It was soft, but there was firm muscle beneath, and he wished to touch as much of it as possible.

When his fingers teased the skin below the detective’s navel, he gasped. Leon’s voice sounded desperate, “No…don’t stop…” D’s hand slipped lower, threading his nails through soft, wiry hair that was only a few shades darker than that on Leon’s head. Leon was breathing quickly now, small sounds escaping his mouth that made it difficult for D not to move faster. He slowly let his hand drift, grazing his nails over Leon’s scrotum, and adoring the moan that the other man couldn’t stifle. “D…” Leon groaned, trying to say something, but it died in a loudly moaned (and very undignified) “…oh God, yes…” when D grasped the base of the very firm erection he found.

It was only a matter of moments before the detective all but yelled upon his release, leaving him boneless and highly pliant when D washed him a second time, shampooing his hair, rinsing, and finally dragging him out of the bath and putting him into his bathrobe. “Leon,” he said softly in the man’s ear, “would you let me cut your hair?”

This did not rouse the man much. He only mumbled something that sounded affirmative, and D happily wheeled him back into the room. Acting quickly, D moved to the bureau and collected a comb and a pair of scissors.

Carefully, he ran the comb through the shaggy hair, snipping in various places with the scissors, until he could readily see the sleepy blue eyes peering at him. By the time he was finished, Leon looked much improved. He might be a bit angry later about the fact that D had trimmed off what he usually kept in a ponytail (though even that would wait until Leon was at least in his right mind), but if he liked it that much, he could grow it back. Secretly, that ponytail had always driven D mad, and there had been times that Ten-chan had barely stopped him from cutting it off when Leon was not looking.

He then pushed the wheelchair to the bed, where he put Leon, and then brought the tray over. As the detective ate, D smiled at him from where he sat on the edge of the bed. When he had finished, D took the tray away, put it on the table, and instructed Leon to sleep. “The new therapist will come in two days. I suggest that you use that time to rest.” As the bed lowered itself back into a flat position, he watched Leon shift to arrange himself more comfortably, and then he covered him with the blankets. Leaning down, he kissed the detective softly. “Sleep well,” D murmured against Leon’s mouth.

“Mmm,” Leon said sleepily, “If you keep kissing me like that, I’m not gonna be able to sleep at all.” When D pulled away and quirked an eyebrow at him, Leon smiled crookedly and said, “You play Hell on my body, D…makes me wanna make you sleep with me until I feel better.”

Now, both of D’s eyebrows shot up, his face turning slightly pink. When he regained his composure, he kissed Leon again, but deeper, feeling bolder after such a statement. It was a near-demanding kiss, one that took away any sense of self, of reality. He pulled himself back abruptly when he felt it getting out of control. His weight had begun to shift, and D was now nearly lying across the detective’s chest. Leon gave a little whine of disappointment when he lifted himself off. Breathlessly, and not without his own amount of dissatisfaction, D whispered, “All in time, my dear detective. All in time.”

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A/N: Damn, I suppose that would qualify as evil, wouldn’t it? Oops. Sorry guys. Heheheehehe. Um…okay. I guess I could be real nice and give you a sneak peek at the final chapter? Yeah…

From Chapter 8: Body and Soul

…“Wait…” Leon interrupted, “What hormonal surges?” D smirked, “You mean you didn’t notice how you tried to attack me every time I brought your lunch for the last week and a half?”…

… D crooked a finger at Leon. “Turnabout is fair play, detective,” An adorable look of hopeless desire ignited in blue eyes, and D watched Leon approach before he grasped the bottom of the black t-shirt the man wore, “and you are wearing far too many clothes.”…

… he watched Leon’s eyes slide shut as a visible shiver ran through his body. “Do I have your undivided attention, Detective?”…

… Leon said near his ear, “I think I finally found something to arrest you for, D.”…