![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: Versed
Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow
Pairing: Leo Snart/Ray Terrill, Past Len/Mick, Background/Mentions Mick/Ray Palmer
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with DC. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A late night conversation between Leo and Mick. Leo's PoV.
A/N: Discussions of loss and grieving. Mick at one points says Amaya can do better than Nate so if that's going to bother you please don't read. Very minor discussion of mental illness when Mick goes to take his meds.
Sequel to:
Entwine
Versed:
The ship is quiet, still. Leo isn’t use to the quiet. He knows he should sleep, but he finds himself straining to hear any sound. He pulls his parka tighter as he curls in on himself. The crew is sleeping, he should too, except it’s too quiet and cold. Leo huffs out a breath as he wonders if staying in this world was a mistake. He misses Ray, and not just for the warmth of sharing a bed with him. He just got Ray back and he can’t seem to settle into the idea that they’re both safe, at least he’s hopes Ray is safe, there’s no way to really know until he goes home. Leo also can’t let go of the idea that he might have made a mistake by staying. He told himself he wanted to stay to help the team that lost a member. He’d taken one look at Mick and seen a man who shouldn’t be left alone. Maybe he was just chasing after ghosts?
Leo sits up in an effort to not dwell on his earlier conversation with Mick. What would he have done if he’d accidently killed Mick? What would the Waverider crew have done if he’d inadvertently hurt Mick? Leo runs a tired hand down his face, then starts as Gideon brings the lights up to a low level. That answers that questions, Leo tells himself, Gideon really is keeping watch.
He puts his boots on and makes his way down the corridor, taking note of each closed door, but not feeling as if he has the right to ask Gideon how each member of the crew is doing. He settles in a large comfortable chair in the library, hoping that the low light and scattered belongings will help him soothe his nerves.
“Mr. Rory is awake in the kitchen,” Gideon informs him.
Leo thanks her and unfurls from the chair. He makes his way to the kitchen wondering if the two of them can work towards a friendship now that they’ve started to hash out the differences between who they are and the men they knew.
Mick is standing at the counter eating a sandwich and…Leo tilts his head. “There’s a rat on your shoulder.”
It’s perched on Mick’s shoulder eating a piece of lettuce. Mick swallows his bite of food then points to the rat. “Axel, Leo. Leo this is Axel, don’t eat him.”
“It’s a pet?”
Mick grunts an affirmative noise and offers him the other half of sandwich on his plate. Leo shakes his head. Mick eyes roam over him, accessing swiftly, before he nods to himself. Mick shoves another bite of sandwich into his mouth before he pulls a bit of meat out of the sandwich and deposits Axel in a cage that’s sitting near the door. He gives the rat the meat before heading over to the sink and washing his hands. Then he routes through the fridge and puts several containers onto the counter, before pulling a few bags and boxes out of the cupboards. Then he finishes off the half of the sandwich he been eating before washing his hands again. He takes out a bowl and fills it with water. Leo sits at the counter with his chin in one hand watching Mick as he tries to decide how he wants to start a conversation. As Mick pulls two eggs out of a carton and slides them into the water Leo sits up slowly. “Those are eggs.”
Mick glances at him, then puts two more into the water.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure we can eat them. If they’re bad they’ll float to the top,” Mick explains.
Leo starts to say that he doesn’t want to waste their rations, but stops, these people have more than enough food and a computer that can make anything. He settles on saying, “You don’t need to cook for me.”
“I’m not sending you back to your partner half starved,” Mick tells him without turning around.
“Mickey was my partner,” Leo corrects, the words just rolling off his tongue before he can stop them. Leo shakes his head, stares down at the counter, trying to salvage the damage he might have just caused. “Ray is…he’s…”
“Your sweetheart,” Mick supplies as he begins mixing ingredients in another bowl.
Leo smiles sadly at the sentiment. “We haven’t settled on what to call each other yet. We keep trying different things.”
“He’s your sweetheart, you’re allowed to have one, probably need one in that world you live in.”
Mick’s words cause that last lingering bit of doubt that Mickey wouldn’t have understood to settle. Leo rests his chin on his hand again as he quells down the urge to help. Ray likes him helping when there’s food, Mickey had always found it more soothing to cook on his own with people to help eat afterwards.
“Tried to make Haircut my partner,” Mick offers. “He’d lost his suit. I was…they only ever thought we meant partners in crime when we said partners.”
“That’s going to take some getting used to, what kind of crime?” Leo settles on asking. He doesn’t know Palmer well enough to comment.
“ATM’s to start, banks, later diamonds and art. We had a lot of fun with the Flash.”
“He looks like he’s a lot of fun,” Leo comments neutrally.
“Not going to get on me for the crime?” Mick teases.
“Man runs around in a suit like that,” Leo points out dreamily.
Mick laughs. Leo smiles, it’s a sound he hasn’t heard in too long. Mick pulls out a griddle. As he sets it up he asks, “How’d you and your sweetheart meet?”
Leo tilts his head as he regards Mick’s back, trying to decide how to approach the question.
“The truth Snart,” Mick tells him.
Leo smiles at the way Mick’s tone is half growl, half exasperation. It’s like coming home. Maybe he’s hurting himself by being here, but he needs this. “Ray knew I was going to stay here before I did. On my world there are times when you don’t leave another person alone, someone has to stay with them, you had that look and so he knew before I opened my mouth.”
Mick turns around with a look of protest. It withers on his face when their eyes meet. Mick gestures with the spatula in his hand for Leo to continue.
Leo sits back from the counter as he considers his next words. “I didn’t want that, after Mickey died, to have someone I wasn’t close with tied to me, wasting resources watching out for me. Then Ray shows up and he didn’t know our world. I got assigned to keep him alive, show him how things were done.”
“Give you someone to take care of that’ll take care of you, smart.”
“He figured out I was giving most of my rations away,” Leo concedes. “I wasn’t going to eat them and I couldn’t let them go to waste. He started trying to find me things I’d want to eat.”
“Some things are the same,” Mick comments. “Can’t eat when you’re upset?”
“Len too?” Leo digs.
Mick shrugs. “Anxiety sucks.”
Not wanting to elaborate Leo agrees.
Mick puts a plate of pancakes and scrambles eggs in front of Leo. Then he sets down three small bowls and puts three bottles in front of them. “Honey, maple syrup, Mrs. Buttersworth. The Snart I knew had a sweet tooth, but I don’t know what’s too sweet for you so pour some in each, try it and decide what you like.”
“I don’t want to waste…”
Mick starts squeezing the honey into the first bowl. Leo nods and follows suit with the maple syrup. Mick sets the honey down and moves back to the fridge. He sets a jar of jelly next to Leo’s plate, then pulls plastic wrap out of a cupboard. As he’s covering the top of the left over batter he tells Leo, “Len’s favorite was always butter, jelly, and Mrs. Buttersworth.”
Leo nods as he moves to finish pouring a bit of the bottles into separate bowls. Mick puts the batter in the fridge, then grabs the rest of his sandwich and settles onto the chair next to Leo.
“Thank you,” Leo smiles.
Mick shrugs. “Just don’t tell anyone I can cook.”
“Shouldn’t the team be able to utilize all your skills?” Leo pushes as he starts to eat his eggs.
“I carry people back to the ship. I light things on fire. I create distractions. I fly the ship. Sometimes I provide the plan and save their asses. That’s enough, I don’t need to be added to their chore wheel.”
“Chore wheel?”
Mick makes a disgusted noise and takes a bite of his sandwich. They eat into silence for a moment, then Axel fusses and Mick moves to retrieve him from his cage. Mick settles Axel onto his shoulder. “Spoiled.”
Leo finishes his eggs and moves onto dipping the pancakes into each condiment to try them. Mick pushes the butter closer to him. Leo tilts his head to take in Axel snuggling up to Mick’s cheek and asks, “How’d you end up with a rat?”
“He nearly killed Haircut.”
Leo tilts his head, then asks, “So he was shrunk?”
Mick nods.
Leo makes a considering noise, then asks, “Why was he a good candidate for a partner?”
“Jealous?”
Leo raises his eyebrows to call Mick’s stall, then placates, “Trying to learn more about you.”
Mick shrugs.
Leo continues to eat as he waits for Mick to gather his thoughts.
“Because he’s Haircut. He’s all sunshine and optimism. It’s nice to be around for awhile, makes me feel less shitty, but it gets old and then I want to knock some sense into him,” Mick manages after a moment. With a grumble he admits, “Or kill the people that make his smile go away.”
“Sounds like you care about him.”
“Well, he’s got Pretty.”
“Pretty?” Leo questions.
“Cause that’s what he is,” Mick prods. “Come on, you’ve seen him.”
“I’ve been told I’m pretty,” Leo smirks slightly, leaning closer to catch Mick’s eye.
“Smooth,” Mick teases, then shakes his head, “But you’ve got sense too. Pretty doesn’t always have sense, sometimes all he’s got is nice to look at.”
Leo makes a noncommittal noise.
“You and I both know Amaya could do better.”
“I don’t know either of them well enough to comment,” Leo decides.
Mick regards him silently a moment. Leo continues eating, he’s really liking the honey on his pancakes.
“How’d he’d seduce you?” Mick asks. “Don’t with the eyebrows, you and I both know he seduced you.”
“Did you seduce Len?” Leo stalls.
“No. I picked a fight. We never hit each other till the Time Masters happened, but we’d draw on each other, consider it, argue, walk away from each other if we had to. I got…Sex is sex, it’s fun, but that feeling people expect from a relationship, I don’t usually go there, so I didn’t handle it very well. We stopped talking for a few weeks, he figured out what all my yelling was about, and told me I should’ve said something sooner.”
“One day you’re going to tell me what these Time Masters did to you,” Leo pushes, wanting to know, but fearing the answer because Mick looks haunted every time he brings them up.
“No,” Mick tells him. “Len knew and he died killing the bastards over it.”
“You think that won’t peak my curiosity?” Leo challenges.
“Not what I asked,” Mick reminds.
Leo concentrates on his pancakes for a moment, trying to decide between taking Mick’s change of topic back to how Ray and him got together or attempting to push for more information on these Time Masters. Mick finishes his sandwich , waits briefly, then gets up and starts putting things away. Leo glances at him. Mick isn’t going to tell him anything and he’s beginning to suspect Mick would get upset if anyone did answer Leo’s questions about the Time Masters. Leo shrugs. “He traded someone for some candy and then started doling out a piece here and there until I got used to him just putting food in my mouth, then he started in on actual food followed by candy.”
“Bribed you with your sweet tooth, sounds right,” Mick nods. Leo smiles at the low pleased tone in Mick’s voice. He finishes his pancakes and moves to help Mick with the dishes.
They clean in silence for a moment, Leo washing and Mick drying and putting away since Mick knows where things go. The warmth of the water combined with the food and Mick’s low tone as he starts a commentary on the other members of the crew is easing Leo towards finally tired, but he’s not sure he wants to go back to the quiet of his room.
“I’m not used to having a room to myself,” Leo explains to Mick. “A lot of times we double up in a bed or have several beds in one sleep area.”
“I snore,” Mick tells him. “I have a recliner in my room that I sleep in. I could pull the bed back out. No, you’re not im…getting in my way. I offered.”
“Imposing?” Leo offers.
Mick nods. “That’s the one.”
Leo knows he’s imposing, but he can’t find it in himself to say no. Mick puts the last dish away and they drain the water before heading down to the fabricator. Leo tilts his head and frowns. Mick gestures at Leo’s outfit and asks if he’s sleeping in it. Leo looks down at his jeans, long sleeve shirt, parka, and boots, then nods.
“Gideon, get me one of those shirt Len used to like, the one with the long sleeves that were warm, and some flannel sheets.”
They both thank Gideon when she’s done. Leo slides the warm smooth fabric of the shirt between his fingers as Mick brushes his teeth. Leo take a turn in the bathroom and then they head to Mick’s room. They have to move a shelf to be able to pull out the bed. Mick talks him into hanging up his parka and changing into the new shirt. He’s aware of Mick’s eyes on him as he’s changing.
“Much different than Len?” Leo asks.
“I was hoping you had less scars,” Mick admits.
Leo frowns, wanting to ask about Len’s scars. Why would someone from this world have as many scars as him? Why would Mick think that Leo would have less? Mick has said Len’s dad was abusive. Leo decides he’s not asking right before he goes to sleep. After the bed is made up Mick grabs a bottle of water off a shelf, opens a box, and pulls out a container. He opens a compartment on it and spills several pills into his hand.
“Don’t go thinking I have a drug problem too,” Mick warns. “They’re meds.”
“Is it impolite to ask what for on your world?”
Mick shrugs then taps his head.
“The pyromania?” Leo questions.
“Not my only mental diagnosis.”
Leo wants to ask more, but Mick is starting to look as tired as he feels so Leo nods instead, then thanks Mick, before taking off his boots. He watches as Mick settles into his recliner. Leo crawls under the covers. The flannel is thicker than the standard bedsheets he’d been using and Leo finds himself hoping they’ll trap the heat from his body soon. He closes his eyes and tries to relax by concentrating on Mick’s breathing. Mick sighs. Leo listens to Mick grunting, then taking off his boots, each one thunks against the floor. Mick pads over, footfalls heavy in a deliberate way, before he’s pulling back the covers and scooting close. The bed is small, especially for two people, but Mick wraps an arm around him. Leo finally feels himself start to relax and drift towards sleep.
Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow
Pairing: Leo Snart/Ray Terrill, Past Len/Mick, Background/Mentions Mick/Ray Palmer
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with DC. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A late night conversation between Leo and Mick. Leo's PoV.
A/N: Discussions of loss and grieving. Mick at one points says Amaya can do better than Nate so if that's going to bother you please don't read. Very minor discussion of mental illness when Mick goes to take his meds.
Sequel to:
Entwine
Versed:
The ship is quiet, still. Leo isn’t use to the quiet. He knows he should sleep, but he finds himself straining to hear any sound. He pulls his parka tighter as he curls in on himself. The crew is sleeping, he should too, except it’s too quiet and cold. Leo huffs out a breath as he wonders if staying in this world was a mistake. He misses Ray, and not just for the warmth of sharing a bed with him. He just got Ray back and he can’t seem to settle into the idea that they’re both safe, at least he’s hopes Ray is safe, there’s no way to really know until he goes home. Leo also can’t let go of the idea that he might have made a mistake by staying. He told himself he wanted to stay to help the team that lost a member. He’d taken one look at Mick and seen a man who shouldn’t be left alone. Maybe he was just chasing after ghosts?
Leo sits up in an effort to not dwell on his earlier conversation with Mick. What would he have done if he’d accidently killed Mick? What would the Waverider crew have done if he’d inadvertently hurt Mick? Leo runs a tired hand down his face, then starts as Gideon brings the lights up to a low level. That answers that questions, Leo tells himself, Gideon really is keeping watch.
He puts his boots on and makes his way down the corridor, taking note of each closed door, but not feeling as if he has the right to ask Gideon how each member of the crew is doing. He settles in a large comfortable chair in the library, hoping that the low light and scattered belongings will help him soothe his nerves.
“Mr. Rory is awake in the kitchen,” Gideon informs him.
Leo thanks her and unfurls from the chair. He makes his way to the kitchen wondering if the two of them can work towards a friendship now that they’ve started to hash out the differences between who they are and the men they knew.
Mick is standing at the counter eating a sandwich and…Leo tilts his head. “There’s a rat on your shoulder.”
It’s perched on Mick’s shoulder eating a piece of lettuce. Mick swallows his bite of food then points to the rat. “Axel, Leo. Leo this is Axel, don’t eat him.”
“It’s a pet?”
Mick grunts an affirmative noise and offers him the other half of sandwich on his plate. Leo shakes his head. Mick eyes roam over him, accessing swiftly, before he nods to himself. Mick shoves another bite of sandwich into his mouth before he pulls a bit of meat out of the sandwich and deposits Axel in a cage that’s sitting near the door. He gives the rat the meat before heading over to the sink and washing his hands. Then he routes through the fridge and puts several containers onto the counter, before pulling a few bags and boxes out of the cupboards. Then he finishes off the half of the sandwich he been eating before washing his hands again. He takes out a bowl and fills it with water. Leo sits at the counter with his chin in one hand watching Mick as he tries to decide how he wants to start a conversation. As Mick pulls two eggs out of a carton and slides them into the water Leo sits up slowly. “Those are eggs.”
Mick glances at him, then puts two more into the water.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure we can eat them. If they’re bad they’ll float to the top,” Mick explains.
Leo starts to say that he doesn’t want to waste their rations, but stops, these people have more than enough food and a computer that can make anything. He settles on saying, “You don’t need to cook for me.”
“I’m not sending you back to your partner half starved,” Mick tells him without turning around.
“Mickey was my partner,” Leo corrects, the words just rolling off his tongue before he can stop them. Leo shakes his head, stares down at the counter, trying to salvage the damage he might have just caused. “Ray is…he’s…”
“Your sweetheart,” Mick supplies as he begins mixing ingredients in another bowl.
Leo smiles sadly at the sentiment. “We haven’t settled on what to call each other yet. We keep trying different things.”
“He’s your sweetheart, you’re allowed to have one, probably need one in that world you live in.”
Mick’s words cause that last lingering bit of doubt that Mickey wouldn’t have understood to settle. Leo rests his chin on his hand again as he quells down the urge to help. Ray likes him helping when there’s food, Mickey had always found it more soothing to cook on his own with people to help eat afterwards.
“Tried to make Haircut my partner,” Mick offers. “He’d lost his suit. I was…they only ever thought we meant partners in crime when we said partners.”
“That’s going to take some getting used to, what kind of crime?” Leo settles on asking. He doesn’t know Palmer well enough to comment.
“ATM’s to start, banks, later diamonds and art. We had a lot of fun with the Flash.”
“He looks like he’s a lot of fun,” Leo comments neutrally.
“Not going to get on me for the crime?” Mick teases.
“Man runs around in a suit like that,” Leo points out dreamily.
Mick laughs. Leo smiles, it’s a sound he hasn’t heard in too long. Mick pulls out a griddle. As he sets it up he asks, “How’d you and your sweetheart meet?”
Leo tilts his head as he regards Mick’s back, trying to decide how to approach the question.
“The truth Snart,” Mick tells him.
Leo smiles at the way Mick’s tone is half growl, half exasperation. It’s like coming home. Maybe he’s hurting himself by being here, but he needs this. “Ray knew I was going to stay here before I did. On my world there are times when you don’t leave another person alone, someone has to stay with them, you had that look and so he knew before I opened my mouth.”
Mick turns around with a look of protest. It withers on his face when their eyes meet. Mick gestures with the spatula in his hand for Leo to continue.
Leo sits back from the counter as he considers his next words. “I didn’t want that, after Mickey died, to have someone I wasn’t close with tied to me, wasting resources watching out for me. Then Ray shows up and he didn’t know our world. I got assigned to keep him alive, show him how things were done.”
“Give you someone to take care of that’ll take care of you, smart.”
“He figured out I was giving most of my rations away,” Leo concedes. “I wasn’t going to eat them and I couldn’t let them go to waste. He started trying to find me things I’d want to eat.”
“Some things are the same,” Mick comments. “Can’t eat when you’re upset?”
“Len too?” Leo digs.
Mick shrugs. “Anxiety sucks.”
Not wanting to elaborate Leo agrees.
Mick puts a plate of pancakes and scrambles eggs in front of Leo. Then he sets down three small bowls and puts three bottles in front of them. “Honey, maple syrup, Mrs. Buttersworth. The Snart I knew had a sweet tooth, but I don’t know what’s too sweet for you so pour some in each, try it and decide what you like.”
“I don’t want to waste…”
Mick starts squeezing the honey into the first bowl. Leo nods and follows suit with the maple syrup. Mick sets the honey down and moves back to the fridge. He sets a jar of jelly next to Leo’s plate, then pulls plastic wrap out of a cupboard. As he’s covering the top of the left over batter he tells Leo, “Len’s favorite was always butter, jelly, and Mrs. Buttersworth.”
Leo nods as he moves to finish pouring a bit of the bottles into separate bowls. Mick puts the batter in the fridge, then grabs the rest of his sandwich and settles onto the chair next to Leo.
“Thank you,” Leo smiles.
Mick shrugs. “Just don’t tell anyone I can cook.”
“Shouldn’t the team be able to utilize all your skills?” Leo pushes as he starts to eat his eggs.
“I carry people back to the ship. I light things on fire. I create distractions. I fly the ship. Sometimes I provide the plan and save their asses. That’s enough, I don’t need to be added to their chore wheel.”
“Chore wheel?”
Mick makes a disgusted noise and takes a bite of his sandwich. They eat into silence for a moment, then Axel fusses and Mick moves to retrieve him from his cage. Mick settles Axel onto his shoulder. “Spoiled.”
Leo finishes his eggs and moves onto dipping the pancakes into each condiment to try them. Mick pushes the butter closer to him. Leo tilts his head to take in Axel snuggling up to Mick’s cheek and asks, “How’d you end up with a rat?”
“He nearly killed Haircut.”
Leo tilts his head, then asks, “So he was shrunk?”
Mick nods.
Leo makes a considering noise, then asks, “Why was he a good candidate for a partner?”
“Jealous?”
Leo raises his eyebrows to call Mick’s stall, then placates, “Trying to learn more about you.”
Mick shrugs.
Leo continues to eat as he waits for Mick to gather his thoughts.
“Because he’s Haircut. He’s all sunshine and optimism. It’s nice to be around for awhile, makes me feel less shitty, but it gets old and then I want to knock some sense into him,” Mick manages after a moment. With a grumble he admits, “Or kill the people that make his smile go away.”
“Sounds like you care about him.”
“Well, he’s got Pretty.”
“Pretty?” Leo questions.
“Cause that’s what he is,” Mick prods. “Come on, you’ve seen him.”
“I’ve been told I’m pretty,” Leo smirks slightly, leaning closer to catch Mick’s eye.
“Smooth,” Mick teases, then shakes his head, “But you’ve got sense too. Pretty doesn’t always have sense, sometimes all he’s got is nice to look at.”
Leo makes a noncommittal noise.
“You and I both know Amaya could do better.”
“I don’t know either of them well enough to comment,” Leo decides.
Mick regards him silently a moment. Leo continues eating, he’s really liking the honey on his pancakes.
“How’d he’d seduce you?” Mick asks. “Don’t with the eyebrows, you and I both know he seduced you.”
“Did you seduce Len?” Leo stalls.
“No. I picked a fight. We never hit each other till the Time Masters happened, but we’d draw on each other, consider it, argue, walk away from each other if we had to. I got…Sex is sex, it’s fun, but that feeling people expect from a relationship, I don’t usually go there, so I didn’t handle it very well. We stopped talking for a few weeks, he figured out what all my yelling was about, and told me I should’ve said something sooner.”
“One day you’re going to tell me what these Time Masters did to you,” Leo pushes, wanting to know, but fearing the answer because Mick looks haunted every time he brings them up.
“No,” Mick tells him. “Len knew and he died killing the bastards over it.”
“You think that won’t peak my curiosity?” Leo challenges.
“Not what I asked,” Mick reminds.
Leo concentrates on his pancakes for a moment, trying to decide between taking Mick’s change of topic back to how Ray and him got together or attempting to push for more information on these Time Masters. Mick finishes his sandwich , waits briefly, then gets up and starts putting things away. Leo glances at him. Mick isn’t going to tell him anything and he’s beginning to suspect Mick would get upset if anyone did answer Leo’s questions about the Time Masters. Leo shrugs. “He traded someone for some candy and then started doling out a piece here and there until I got used to him just putting food in my mouth, then he started in on actual food followed by candy.”
“Bribed you with your sweet tooth, sounds right,” Mick nods. Leo smiles at the low pleased tone in Mick’s voice. He finishes his pancakes and moves to help Mick with the dishes.
They clean in silence for a moment, Leo washing and Mick drying and putting away since Mick knows where things go. The warmth of the water combined with the food and Mick’s low tone as he starts a commentary on the other members of the crew is easing Leo towards finally tired, but he’s not sure he wants to go back to the quiet of his room.
“I’m not used to having a room to myself,” Leo explains to Mick. “A lot of times we double up in a bed or have several beds in one sleep area.”
“I snore,” Mick tells him. “I have a recliner in my room that I sleep in. I could pull the bed back out. No, you’re not im…getting in my way. I offered.”
“Imposing?” Leo offers.
Mick nods. “That’s the one.”
Leo knows he’s imposing, but he can’t find it in himself to say no. Mick puts the last dish away and they drain the water before heading down to the fabricator. Leo tilts his head and frowns. Mick gestures at Leo’s outfit and asks if he’s sleeping in it. Leo looks down at his jeans, long sleeve shirt, parka, and boots, then nods.
“Gideon, get me one of those shirt Len used to like, the one with the long sleeves that were warm, and some flannel sheets.”
They both thank Gideon when she’s done. Leo slides the warm smooth fabric of the shirt between his fingers as Mick brushes his teeth. Leo take a turn in the bathroom and then they head to Mick’s room. They have to move a shelf to be able to pull out the bed. Mick talks him into hanging up his parka and changing into the new shirt. He’s aware of Mick’s eyes on him as he’s changing.
“Much different than Len?” Leo asks.
“I was hoping you had less scars,” Mick admits.
Leo frowns, wanting to ask about Len’s scars. Why would someone from this world have as many scars as him? Why would Mick think that Leo would have less? Mick has said Len’s dad was abusive. Leo decides he’s not asking right before he goes to sleep. After the bed is made up Mick grabs a bottle of water off a shelf, opens a box, and pulls out a container. He opens a compartment on it and spills several pills into his hand.
“Don’t go thinking I have a drug problem too,” Mick warns. “They’re meds.”
“Is it impolite to ask what for on your world?”
Mick shrugs then taps his head.
“The pyromania?” Leo questions.
“Not my only mental diagnosis.”
Leo wants to ask more, but Mick is starting to look as tired as he feels so Leo nods instead, then thanks Mick, before taking off his boots. He watches as Mick settles into his recliner. Leo crawls under the covers. The flannel is thicker than the standard bedsheets he’d been using and Leo finds himself hoping they’ll trap the heat from his body soon. He closes his eyes and tries to relax by concentrating on Mick’s breathing. Mick sighs. Leo listens to Mick grunting, then taking off his boots, each one thunks against the floor. Mick pads over, footfalls heavy in a deliberate way, before he’s pulling back the covers and scooting close. The bed is small, especially for two people, but Mick wraps an arm around him. Leo finally feels himself start to relax and drift towards sleep.
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