"Where are you going?" Leon queried as his partner stormed past him in a flurry of fury. He blinked at the dark-haired blur that raced in and out of his vision over the top of his novel.

"Out!"

After tucking a bookmark gently inside his latest read, Leon twisted from his seated position on the couch to rest his arm across the top of the seat cushion. As Nick wrenched open their forest green front door, he called out, "Be safe!"

Nick paused halfway outside the door frame. He tensed and whirled around to face a bewildered Leon, "Don't be nice to me right now, fuck you!"

The blond was confused. Where had this scathing tone come from? Leon decided to use his precious few processing seconds to rifle mentally through everything he’d done in the previous 24 hours. What on earth could have upset Nick this much?

Leon was alarmed to note his lover’s reddening neck and face. He thought it was very cute, usually. When he was the cause of the shade change, Leon found it harder to appreciate fully. Nick’s alarming increase of blood flow to the face whenever he felt strong emotions was the bane of his existence - and an absolute delight for his boyfriend. Leon called Nick his ‘little tomato’ for this very reason. Nick liked to complain periodically about the nickname. However, Leon found it difficult to believe his grumbling was earnest when he considered the soft smile that graced his partner's face during these moments.

This current flush, though? This was a furious flush. And that fury was currently directed entirely at Leon… who still had absolutely no idea why his little tomato was so grouchy.

Uh oh.

Splotches of pale skin began travelling...