Chapter 6 – Leon #2
“I think they might be finishing up,” James said.
Leon looked over to see Hailey hugging Zach, Batman, and the M&Ms before she turned and looked around the courtyard.
For some reason, James tried to let go of Leon’s hand, but Leon wasn’t having it. He lifted their joined hands and waved to get her attention.
He pretended like she was too far away for him to see the way too pleased looking grin on her face.
They met in the middle of the courtyard, and Hailey introduced them both to Catwoman, a.k.a. Trina.
“Do you have a ride home, Trina?” Leon asked, anticipating Hailey’s eyeroll and pointedly not looking at her.
Trina was around 5 feet tall, the cat ears giving her an additional two inches, with long obsidian hair on one side and a stark undercut on the other.
She smiled indulgently at Leon as she shook her head no.
“I only live around a ten minute walk from here. I was actually going to walk Hailey home and then walk back.”
“We can walk with you to your house and then walk back with Hailey—if that’s alright with you both,” James said.
“Oh my god, Dads , we’re fine on our own,” Hailey said. “Besides, we actually did end up going trick-or-treating here so you don’t have to worry about deceiving my mom.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Leon grumbled. “I’m worried about two young women?—”
“I’m nonbinary, actually,” Trina interjected with a slight smirk. “They/she pronouns, but leaning more toward they/them at the moment.”
He nodded his head in acknowledgement but refused to be deterred by this. “Two young folks walking home alone on Halloween night. I don’t give a fuck what your mom thinks. I want to make sure you’re safe.”
Hailey narrowed her eyes at James. “This is your doing.”
James threw his free hand up in front of his chest. “I’m pretty sure Leon cared about your wellbeing long before meeting me.”
“No, I know, but he’s usually much more of a dick about it, so it’s easy to ignore. Now he’s being all earnest and embarrassing, and that means I’d be the dick for ignoring it.”
Trina nodded sagely. “A wise strategy.”
“So, that’s what we’re going to do?” James asked.
“Yes, that’s what we’re going to do, and I don’t want to hear any more kvetching,” Leon said firmly.
Hailey groaned. “You even talk like a dad! Can I talk to my faefriend alone, please?”
James quickly said that was fine, and Hailey and Trina wandered a few yards away.
“What’s a faefriend?” Leon asked quietly, keeping an eye on the teens in case they tried to make a break for it.
“It’s like girlfriend or boyfriend but for nonbinary folk,” James said.
Leon’s heart lurched into his chest.
He didn’t dare look at James in case he lost his nerve as he said, “Oh, so, like us?”
James squeezed his fingers so tightly that Leon’s rings had to be digging into his hand. “You think you’re so smooth, don’t you?”
Leon laughed and finally turned to look at his maybe-boyfriend. He had that tiny smile on his lips, but his dimples weren’t showing, and there was something unreadable in his eyes.
“I’m just kidding,” Leon said, in case maybe he’d overstepped.
James’ eyes widened and filled with a much more obvious expression of fear.
“I mean, I’m not!” Leon rushed to say. “But I know we’re going to talk later, and I don’t want to assume or pressure you or?—”
“I’d really like it if you did assume, actually,” James interrupted.
Leon turned around until he was fully facing James. “How about instead of assuming, I just ask the fucking question I should have asked months ago?”
James bit his lip, that slightly crooked canine catching the light of the nearly full moon above them.
“James “The Mensch” Bigley?—”
“Oh my god,” James groaned.
“James–”
“Don’t say it again!” James said, but he was laughing.
“James!” Leon said even louder, attracting looks from several people around them, including his annoying neighbor and her faefriend.
“My little mensch…my darlin’,” he said, dropping his voice to a much more appropriate volume. “Will you be my boyfriend?”
“I truly thought you’d never ask,” James said, and he pressed a chaste kiss to Leon’s lips.
“Awwww—”
Leon broke away from the kiss to glare at Hailey, who was walking towards them. “I will tell your mother everything,” he growled.
“Shutting up!” she squeaked, slapping her hands over her mouth, but her eyes were smiling, and Trina was smiling too. When he turned to look back at James, he was grinning so wide that Leon was pretty sure he was going to hurt himself.
James let go of Leon’s hands to throw his arms around his neck, and they shared a quick hug before disentangling to start their journey home.
“So, what do you call a gender neutral Catwoman?” James asked, falling into step next to Trina as they began the walk back to their place.
Hailey walked next to Leon, not saying a word, but instead, holding out her fist for a fist bump.
He didn’t say anything either. He just bumped fists with her and said a very genuine thank you to whoever was listening for inventing haunted houses.
To be continued in Conflict Resolution
Haunted Mediation is the first novella in the Conflict Mediation Spin-Off novella series. Check out the full series here .