Over the next week you finally settled into a routine. You would come home, dinner often prepared and ready by Leo, and then the two of you would hang out together for the evening. Leo assured you that during the day while he was out he would take care of his own resting period. You were thankful for that; you didn't want to deal with that ever again.

He had pestered you for a good two days after that, worrying constantly about you. He was as anxious about you as you were about him, which said a good deal about both of you. He insisted on going on the date the next morning, but you forced him to stay home instead. You just weren't comfortable letting him out after that. You still remembered the way his eyes went dead and cold.

He wasn't happy about it, but neither were you so you considered it even. You had agreed to go on a date the following weekend, which was soon approaching. Butterflies were tumbling in your stomach as you walked home from work on Friday. Leo would be waiting for you at the door, excited to greet you with the now-routine kiss that made you want to come home early. You would never ever be telling him that, but it was true nonetheless. And the next morning you were going on a real date for the first time. True, the order was a little messed up, as was the fact that he wasn't exactly human, but you weren't going to nitpick unchangeable details. Something about Leo made you shiver in a way you liked.

“I'm back,” you called as you pushed open the apartment door. That had been something to get used to, and in fact you still were. You had lived alone for quite some time before Leo came.

“Hello,” Leo called, and as you shed your shoes and bag in the entryway you followed his voice into the living room. He was reading one of the books from the shelf in your bedroom, which he had been steadily working through all week. He put it down on the side table when he saw you enter, a tiny smile that spoke volumes appearing on his face.

“Hey,” you responded. He came up to you and gathered you in a loose embrace, leaning down to give you a gentle kiss. He pulled away relatively quickly, but you were glad for it; it would save you the embarrassment of melting into him.

You had stopped resisting his touches, his caresses, his small symbols of affection. Somewhere in you you knew that it would hurt later; you pushed the thoughts away and instead comforted yourself by the warmth and broadness of his shoulders.

“How was your day?” He asked, a hand pulling away from the small of your back to twirl a lock of your hair. He didn't seem to realize exactly how distracting that was for you.

“Good,” you responded eventually, “but tiring. No one was listening today, and some of the paperwork I had to submit didn't go through properly. I might have to do it again.” To be honest, you were really stressed about it. You had worked extra hard the past few days to make sure there would be nothing to get in the way of the upcoming date, but then this paperwork issue had popped up and screwed you over.

You spent a great deal of time making sure that you had everything completed to perfection. You were exhausted as a result, and all you could imagine was curling up next to Leo and taking a long nap. Or, better yet, just spending the night cuddled up in bed. You bit your lip and pulled away from the hug. Leo had, without question, sat with you as you fell asleep and then gone to “sleep” himself on the couch, reappearing to help wake you just as your alarm was going off.

“Did you have time to finish it before you came home? Will you have to do it over the weekend?”

You sighed. You probably should. Would you? Likely not. It would put you back a great deal the following week, but you could make it up if you kept up a good work pace. “No, I'm not going to. This weekend,” you smiled thinking about it, “is for our date.” You had warmed up to the idea over the week, now you were positively looking forward to it. “unfortunately,” you added on, looking to where your bag still sat in the entryway by the door, “tonight is not.”

You ate dinner as together as it ever was, Leo pestering you about whether or not it was good enough, though he did it mostly with quiet demanding looks your way, and you too busy eating to answer. You didn't know why cooking had been made a priority, but you were really excited about it; you hadn't had to cook for yourself in what felt like ages now.

Afterwards, you cooped yourself up at the small desk in your room and pulled out the painful paperwork. Usually this kind of stuff didn't come home with you, but you just wouldn't be able to get it done in time otherwise. You set to work, breaking only to take a shower and put on some comfortable Pjs.

“Are you sure it's a good idea to be up this late?”

Leo popped his head through the door and you nearly fell from your seat, jumping up in surprise. You settled once you saw it was him, letting out a sigh of relief and putting a hand over your chest.

“Gosh, Leo, could you at least knock?”

“Did I surprise you?” He walked in completely, seeming a bit amused by your reaction. You rolled your head, stretching your neck, and glanced at the clock. Nearly midnight; you had been sitting there for hours. The paperwork wasn't nearly done. “You look like you could you a break. Or sleep, in general.”

You cracked your knuckles and looked back at where you had been working. “I think I'll go a little bit more,” you murmured, “I'm almost to a good stopping point.”

Leo came up behind and gently moved your hair over one shoulder before gently rubbing the knotted muscles you didn't even realize were there. His grip was strong and steady, finding the biggest stores of your stress and working them gently before rubbing up and down your neck rhythmically. His long fingers glided across your fingers and left little tickling trails of sensation; the combined effect of his touch and the relief of stress made you want to shiver, eyes closing.

“Whatever that it,” you murmured, “feels absolutely wonderful.”