Edited by Iseul

Sunlight fell upon him, its soothing warmth rousing Leonel from sleep. Slowly, he woke. He felt hot but he was wearing nothing but his underwear. Had the radiator been left on? Leonel groaned, tired and groggy. Something warm snuggled into his nape, soft hair tickling his collarbone. Leonel grimaced and when he tried to shift, his arm tightened around a thin, delicate waist.

“…!” Blue eyes snapped open. Without even thinking, Leonel kicked the person in his arms right off the cot.

There was a loud thud followed by a piercing yell echoed within the house, startling Dog, who had been sunbathing on the roof.

Julian’s thin hand came over the edge of the cot. It was early, much too early for Leonel’s sensitive ears to listen to the doctor’s banshee-like voice. “You brat! You damned almost kicked my spine in two, you did! Have you no kindness? No care for the elderly!? And if I were to become paralyzed, what would you do, hm? I hope you wallow in guilt and depression till the end of days.”

Leonel was still disoriented from sleep. There was a heaviness on the right side of his body, where the doctor had left his warmth. He reached for his discarded clothes and dressed quickly. “You’ll be fine, pervert. You’re not nearly as old as you claim to be. And why didn’t you sleep in your hammock?”

He looked around and tried to calm the confused muddle in his mind. When Leonel saw the room around him, he suddenly calmed. Everything was neatly organized, items placed in their respective crevices. Not so bad, Leonel reasoned. He felt his mind clear, and the confusion abated. Satisfied, Leonel tried to stretch, only to grimace in pain. The wound on his abdomen flared, which caused him to slightly fold over.

“Be careful, would you?” Julian huffed as he awkwardly pulled himself to his feet, his balance unsteady on his lame right leg. Deep brown eyes narrowed without glasses, struggling to make out the scene. 

Julian scrunched his nose in distaste while feeling around for his glasses. “I didn’t sleep in my beloved hammock because some beast held me captive.”

Leonel would never admit out loud that he thought the old man was a bit cute like this, flailing about helplessly without the ability to see. Feeling a little vindictive, the inquisitor plucked the glasses off the desk and hid them behind his back without saying a thing. It was then that Leonel noticed that the bandages around Julian’s arms were dark with dried blood. A small pang of guilt flickered in his heart. 

Leonel held back a wince and asked, “What? What are you talking about?”

Julian completely ignored the question and squinted at the dark shadow looming over him. "Do me a favor and make yourself useful, alright son? Go find my glasses for me."

"Hm," Leonel didn't budge an inch, "What do you mean a beast held you captive?"

An accusing finger jabbed at Leonel’s chest. “What do I mean, you ask? Why! I mean exactly what I mean. You were a beast. When I tried to leave, you grabbed me and fondled me like a toy, you did.” Leonel stood there stiffly, color drained from his face. 

While Julian couldn’t enjoy the sight of Leonel’s horrified expression, the inquisitor’s silence spurred him to add more absurdities to his rambling. “You see, I even threatened to have my way with your body, just so you might unhand me. Who would have thought you’d turned the tables on me instead! To think you’d be so ravenous even asleep! Tsk. Young men are all the same.”

Leonel gulped and regained his composure. He narrowed his eyes and spat, “Don’t get ahead of yourself in all those wild fantasies of yours.” He decided that he could no longer listen to the doctor's blabbering nonsense. Leonel took the eyeglasses and carefully placed them on Julian’s face. Those sharp cat-like eyes blinked up at him, adjusting as vision returned. Leonel enjoyed the way realization dawned on the doctor’s visage.

“You! You demon! You had my glasses this entire time, didn’t you?” Julian threw up his arm in disbelief. He hobbled over to his hammock and laid right down. The glasses came off as quickly as they were put on and were placed on Julian’s chest. He closed his eyes, seeming to attempt to sleep.

“…” Incredulous.

Leonel decided to ignore the doctor for now. He could deal with changing the bandages later, and he supposed that Julian could use a bit more shut-eye if anything he had said was true.

An unwanted blush colored Leonel’s pale skin. Strange, delirious memories came to him, like some drug-induced stupor. He recalled holding a thin waist beneath his palm and pressing his lips against warm skin.

Quietly, he prayed that none of these recollections held true, and only existed because his mind was somehow inspired by Julian’s insane prattle. 

It was already late in the morning, and his stomach rumbled in protest. Leonel put his feelings aside and focused on hunger instead. He was awake and ready to face the day, cook a delicious meal on a good old fire. No more bluestone-powered hot plates for him! 

First, he started a fire outside, and then gathered supplies from the freezer. Leonel had a little cooking station set up by the fireplace next to Julian’s garden with cooking knives, cutting boards, pots, pans, and bowls. He was ready to make a feast for himself, and maybe save a bit left over for the doctor. The doctor was so damned skinny, looking at him made Leonel feel like a failed wife who couldn’t cook well enough to fatten up his husband.

With a scowl, he shook the offending thought out of his head.

Leonel carefully prepared the vegetables and meat. And just when he was about to toss them into the pan, he heard a set of footsteps coming up the hill. Not one, but two sets. One heavy and one light.

A young girl made it over the hill first, her twin braids bouncing as she ran. "Oh." She halted, startled at the sight of the inquisitor, and waited for the woman to catch up before approaching.

The woman was pretty short, middle-aged with sun-kissed skin and wrinkles along her eyes and mouth that told of her years. There was darkness that sunk into her face and apprehension when she looked upon Leonel's tall form, hesitant to approach.

Luckily, the young girl had no such fear. She came right up to Leonel. The girl cleared her throat and greeted, "Good morning, Sir Inquisitor. Mind I ask if Doctor is home?"

"He's sleeping," Leonel's voice was as sharp and blunt as always, causing the older woman to flinch. It wasn't his intention to scare her but he didn't care much about her assumptions about him either. Still, he tried to lower his voice a little when speaking to the child. "What do you need him for?"

The girl tilted her head and pressed a finger to her lips. "Did Freddie come by? He's been gone since yesterday."

Leonel had no idea what she was talking about. "Who's Freddie?"

The woman tried to smile, but it was strained. Her voice was wispy and Leonel wished she would come a little close so that he could better hear her over the crackling fire. "Freddie's my boy. Ye high, with curly brown hair.” She lifted a hand to show the boy’s height and Leonel noticed that she was thinking. “I know that he comes by the doctor's often so I just thought maybe he was here…"

"He hasn't," Leonel answered dryly. The woman's shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Have you spoken to the other children and asked about his whereabouts?"

She shook her head. “No…I only asked Lina here.” She smiled wryly at the girl. "Our Freddie's usually with Lina. Most of the other kids around town are a bit big for him. So I thought..." Her voice trailed off.

Leonel didn’t know how to put it nicely, so he merely said bluntly, "You should ask the other kids first."

“Right…” The woman sighed deeply before holding out her hand. "Come now Lina dear… We'll go speak with the others to see if we can find out where that child of mine has gone."

The girl nodded obediently and followed after.

Leonel didn’t think too deeply about the incident. Children went missing often.

And thus, he went about his day, cooked his feast, and even saved a few helpings for the ungrateful doctor. Said ungrateful doctor didn’t even finish his share of food! So Leonel still had to eat more, making sure there wasn’t a single crumb left over. After that, he harassed the doctor to change the bandages around his arms. The day was going unexpectedly smoothly— at least it was.

Because later in the afternoon, the entire village mobilized to search for the missing boy. Leonel unwittingly found himself dragged into this entire mess as well.