It had been a long day in the dead heat of July. Sure, Leo conducted all of his lessons inside but the air conditioning had conveniently broken down during his most recent lesson. And while vampires were immune to a lot of human discomforts, overheating was not one of them. So Leo made the executive decision of going out, anywhere but the house while it was being worked on. Even if it meant just getting in his car and driving around until Ty gave the word that the technician was done with the AC unit, that's what he and Michi would do.
Classical music played softly in the Mercedes-Benz while the air blew gently in both of his and Michi's faces. It was quiet, but comfortably so. One thing that Leo loved about being with his partner, they didn't need to speak to fill the silence with meaningless chatter. They could simply enjoy each other's company.
It was moments like these that Leo forgot what he was. He didn't feel like some sort of hellbound demon destined to eternal suffering and carnage when he was with Michi. Here, they were just two souls, boiling beneath their clothes.
"You know what would make this better?" Michi smirked, looking at Leo from his peripheral vision.
"Hm?" Leo hummed back.
"Ice cream." Now, Michi's smirk turned into a full-fledged grin.
"I suppose we can manage that," he remarked before turning down a street. Leo couldn't help but smile back. It was good to have the younger man around, he reminded Leo of the simple things humans enjoyed.
There was a local ice cream shop not too far from them that he knew of. It had been around for quite some time, a neighborhood staple. Leo remembered frequenting it before his transition. Since then, the craving for human treats never quite returned. He wondered if the shop owner would remember him. Would he even be there? It had been so many years, but Leo looked the exact same.
Getting out of the car, Leo moved quickly to the passenger side and opened the door, earning a look from Michi. "I can open my own door," he quipped.
"I know," Leo replied with a satisfied smile. Michi merely rolled his eyes and stepped out as Leo closed the door behind him.
The bell rang as the two stepped inside. The shop smelled sugary sweet and blasted cold air, both attributed to the ice cream. Behind the counter was a young girl, probably no older than sixteen. With strawberry blonde hair and braces that covered her teeth.
"Welcome, you guys!" She greeted us in a chipper voice. "What can I get for you?"
"I'll just get a vanilla ice cream cone," Michi answered before looking at Leo. What did Leo want? Would he even enjoy it now?
"I'll ... just have a small strawberry smoothie, please." he answered hesitantly.
"Alright, that'll be eight ninety-five," she chirped.
Leo took out his wallet and handed her his card, smiling down at Michi as he did so. Things were good. It felt like calm had finally become part of his life. There was a time that it seemed like all he knew was chaos. Especially the first few years after being turned. And Ty's return to his life was a tidal wave in and of itself. Taking on students was an attempt to reestablish some form of normalcy, but he never realized where it would lead him. Leo took his card back and the girl handed them both their desserts.
"Here you go!"
"Thank you," Leo replied as they both made their way to sit down. Leo took his seat, sipping from his straw and tasting the smoothie, curious as to what it would taste like now. Hm. It wasn't bad, per se. It just tasted like ... sugar. Was this something he really enjoyed as a human?
"Is it good?" Michi asked.
Leo looked at the smoothie and sighed. "It's fine. I just think my tastes have changed, that's all. What about yours?" The blond looked up to Michi now, his eyes suddenly fixed on his mouth. His tongue sliding along the white, frosty treat.
"It's pretty good. I mean, it's pretty hard to fuck up vanilla, ya know?" Michi replied, his eyes not meeting Leo's. Not that Leo's eyes were fixated on his, anyway.
No, instead they were honed in on the way Michi licked the ice cream off of his own lips. It was almost like it moved in slow motion. Leo's mouth was beginning to hang ajar. That was when Michi went in for another bite. His lips wrapped around the ice cream, undoubtedly to shield his teeth from the bracing cold. The blond swallowed thickly and readjusted in his chair, unable to take his eyes off of the sight.
"Leo?" The sound of his name being called disrupted his concentration.
His red eyes snapped to Michi's. "Hm? Yes?"
Michi frowned. "Did you hear any of what I just said?"
The blond blinked and slowly folded his hands in front of him on the table. He didn't speak for a moment, trying to remember if he had recalled anything. Embarrassingly, the answer was no. "I ... may need you to repeat it, forgive me."
"Are you good?" Michi scoffed as his eyes snapped down to his hand. "Ah, shit. It's melting already." Shifting the cone to his other hand, he licked along his thumb.
Which, in turn, caused Leo's gaze to snap back to Michi's tongue, his own lips parting as his red eyes burned with longing. What he wouldn't give to be that goddamned ice cream cone right now.
"You aren't jealous, are you?"
The sound of Michi's voice once again caused Leo to avert his attention to a now very amused Michi. The blond's eyes widened. He'd been caught.
"That..." Leo trailed, lips parted to speak but nothing came out. He cleared his throat. "That's not the word I would use."
His dark brows rose. "Then what word would it be?"
Leo said nothing for a moment, he merely looked out the window. "I should call Ty to see if the technician is finished yet."
"And if he's not?"
"Hotels exist."
