Discord:  Chess#5533

Leo is a bottom. He likes to be nipped.

She wanted to rush him, hurry through this conversation and get to the information he wanted to share. But she held back, took a breath as he did. Her eyes stayed fixed on his face, and when he finally gave her his name, she smiled softly.  “Okay, Leo -” But the smile was gone when he kept going. She looked past him, making sure they were alone - this felt like a conversation they should be having alone. They had all lost something - homes, family, friends. While hers were gone, his was dead. She swallowed, and looked at him once more, expression grim.  “ I’m sorry. ” It came out before she could stop herself. “ About your friend, I’m sorry. ” Jericho chewed, thoughtfully on her lip for a moment, “ I - uh - I’m Jeri… ” It was better than Deputy. “ Of course I’ll - You - ” She took another breath, frustrated with herself, “ You wanna talk to me, that’s fine, don’t worry, okay? They’re not gonna win. ” She wasn’t sure if she truly believed that, but she had to pretend she did - she had to fake it - “ But we need all the help we can get. ”

“Sorry -” he was nervous, that much was easy to gather. Not just by the frantic behavior, but by the way he kept rambling on like she was supposed to care about his personal life, or something.

She didn’t know him. How could he ever be expectant of her to care?

“It’s...nice to meet you, Jeri. I’ve heard talk about you - you’re The deputy, right? You’re the one that’s gonna end this.” there was a lilt of hope in his voice, but he was a realistic man, or... at least he tried to be.

“Ya need to reconsider one thing, love,” Alfie says, looking up at Leo from the papers he has laid on his desk at the bakery. At the legal part of the bakery. The first floor of the cafe and bakery itself.

“If ya think that being in public place would stop me from negotiating - very, very, very descriptively negotiating what I would want in return - if you said that ya wanted to bargain, of course. Then you would be fucking wrong, alright. So are you sure you wanna bargain now?”

“Actually - I’d expect no less from you, Alfie. Maybe that’s just what I want.” And Leo is leaning over the desk, a hooded look in his eye and a smirk he hopes will reel Alfie right on in. 

She didn’t mean to tense as he got close, didn’t mean to feel her muscles ready themselves to react - they were all on edge, and she was on the brink of snapping. Everything felt like an attack, even as she told herself that they was safe here. For now.  His words would have got her attention if he hadn’t already commanded it. He wanted to help, which was, frankly, what she needed. She’d been working so hard to keep people safe, that she was starting to buckle under the pressure.  “ You were there? ” Jeri had to stop herself from bombarding him with questions, but there was something new in her eyes, hope. “ Okay… Okay,  talk to me. ” The soothing tone falling naturally from her tongue, gentle, calm, coaxing. “ What’s your name? ”

“I’m -”

His breath halts a moment as he tries to get his raging thoughts consolidated into some semblance of order. His brain is working over time, and his entire body is on edge as a result. He takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly, feeling the incessant flutter of his heartbeat dull as the rhythm calms ever so slightly.

It would be useless to panic now. Not when he’s so close -

“I’m Leo.” There’s something about her voice, something soft and soothing - something that makes him think she actually believes him...actually empathizes with his need to assist. 

Or so he hopes.