@boldlycaptainkirk [you kind of did ask for this, in a way]
Leonard doesn’t expect to be working on this all afternoon, particularly since nearly everyone he knows is enjoying the day off in some manner or another. Jim, rather than tear up the town or find a circle of friends to pass the time with, seems to have opted for whiling away the afternoon having a nap. It might have surprised him in the past, but more than anything he’s come to recognize the effort that goes into maintaining the mask Jim wears a lot of the time. The poor man’s exhausted, and looks can be incredibly deceiving.
It’s his own fault that he just assumed Naftali would be in the bedroom with him. His own fault for just assuming that the body he feels below the desk, the brush he feels against his legs, is his own daemon.
“Almost finished,” he mutters, reaching absently down to his side to stroke Henrietta’s head, going stock-still when he realizes that beneath his hand is not the smooth, sleek head of his foxhound, but a much softer and fluffier texture that tickles his palm and sends a jolt of panic through him, stealing his breath.














