Title: The Wanderer
Day/Theme: 29th September/"Thoughts of a dying atheist"
Series: Petshop of Horrors
Character/Pairing: Leon, post-series
Rating: PG
Leon never had found D, in the end. He'd wandered all over the world – had a hell of a time, mind you – and in every city he'd searched, he'd heard something about, well, someone. Might be grandpa, might be – his thoughts skittered over the memory, but he forced himself to think about it – wouldn't be daddy dearest, but then again, it might be D. Eh. It was one of them, that was all he knew. There was no one else in the world like them, not even in Shanghai or Kyoto or any of the places D had appeared to be from.
D had changed him a bit. Getting into a brawl with some shitheads who were throwing stones at a cat ended up being second nature. (Cats made him feel weird; they reminded him too much of D, but he kicked the guys' asses anyway. Give him a plant any day, though.) Even now he waded into fights over it. It was a pity he'd never known how fucking useful a cane was before. Leon knew he must look damn pathetic, smacking shins and jabbing stomachs with it, but hell if he didn't get the job done.
He couldn't even stand up now. He'd tried a minute ago; his head had reeled and his legs had collapsed beneath him. He'd barely had the strength to get back into bed.
So, fuck. He was dying. He'd always been dying, according to D, this was just the first time he'd known about it.
His family would be squalling for a doctor right now. Except Chris, maybe. Leon had missed his little brother, some days it'd almost been enough to get him to give up and go home. Chris would be grown up now, maybe with a wife and kids of his own. Maybe he'd be divorced, gay, or dead. Maybe all three. Shit. But it was too late now.
He'd never been one for God when he was a kid. Sitting in church and trying to keep a straight face was just too much hassle, and he'd never got what the fuss was all about. It seemed pretty stupid. Later, he'd gone chasing after D and discovered that okay, there were more things in heaven and earth. Maybe there was one god, maybe there were eight million. D outclassed them all and probably yelled at them for getting his playground mucky.
As Leon closed his eyes and let sleep – or something else – overtake him, he was sure he could hear D laughing.