#leander.

A small breeze is what finally wakes him from the dreams he’d been happily curled up in for the night. Shivers running along his back and arms until he’s rolling over to find some more warmth only for it to be unfairly lacking. It’s somewhat of a chore opening his eyes and suppressing a groan at having to return to day once again. “’S cold.“ Is all he manages to mumble out as small orbs of light already start appearing to make the form of the other more easy to pick out in the early morning light.

they've been lowkey flirting all night, dancing near each other, eyes meeting occasionally across the dance floor. lee has had enough to drink that he feels a little bolder than he usually would, his hand catching the other man's as he passes by, pulling him in close. the music is thrumming heavily in his ears, and there's no chance of a conversation, so all lee can think to do is lean in. their noses touch, a brief glancing of one against the other, and —

with his brother being the workaholic that he is, lee finds that he has a lot of time to himself during his month-long vacation. that time is mostly spent exploring california, and though he should probably be upset or annoyed that his brother is choosing to languish away in his office, lee is choosing to see it as an opportunity instead.

one weekend, on a whim, he hops on a bus to los angeles. artemis has started a project, meaning he'll be basically uncontactable for a full seventy-two hours, so lee figures that there's no harm in doing so. and he's never been to los angeles before. hell, this is the first time he's been to california, let alone actually travelled around like a tourist.

if anyone had told him that his trip to new york would involve being part of an active police investigation, then he probably wouldn't have bothered flying out. but as it turns out, there had been a body found in his hotel, which had meant that everyone staying in the building had needed to be kept for questioning, himself included.

 “And that’s all folks! I’ll be back next week. So save up your money for then!” One last smile and he’s swiping up his bag from the floor, trying to control the wisps of golden happiness around his fingers at the sound of all the coins now happily at home in there. It’s not the easiest to worm his way through crowds of excited kids and curious adults begging to know how it’s done but Leander is getting better at it. He thinks. Feels better when he pushes himself into a secluded alleyway and finally relaxes against the wall, not paying attention to the little light that forms just above him as he starts to count the day's earnings.