What In the World? (Maria and Leon)

Maria knew that today was the day that Leon was going to go and confess his feelings to Momo like she had suggested. Honestly she didn't know how she wanted it to go, for the sake of her love she wanted it to go poorly because then she would be able to stake her claim and try and show Leon how good she would be for him - much better than that Momo in any case.

Shaking her head a little bit, Maria banished those thoughts away. Leon didn't see her like this, and even if there was a chance for them to be together it would be tainted by the sadness at him not being able to be with the woman that he truly loved. She didn't realise how lucky she was to have his affections and not have to work for them!

Once again she looked at the broken broom in her hand that she had snapped with sheer force as she thought about what was going to be happening today. If all had gone well Leon wouldn't be home tonight yet it was getting to that time of day where he would be returning home. She hadn't prepared any food for him, because she knew that he probably would be out with Momo tonight.

Running her hand through her hair Maria got straight back to work.

***

Leon had come home, and had immediately gone upstairs. It was a little bit later than he should have been however it was blaringly obvious that he had not been out to dinner with Momo as the plan was. Maria didn't know if she should go to him or if she should leave him to his own devices - the moment however she heard breaking and smashing, she knew she needed to intervene.

Dashing upstairs in her usual maids uniform, Maria opened the door to Leon's room - the source of the noise;

"Leon sir!" she gasped "Whatever are you doing?"

Leon had walked in on it.

Oh sure they hadn't been 'in the act' but confessing their love for one another had been enough for him. In one fit of anger he had reacted instinctively... and damn near destroyed the records room that Crepen and Momo had been having their little secret meeting in. Neither of them had been hurt of course... but by god the room had burnt, the hellish flames of barely controlled fiendfyre flanking him and making him seem like the visage of Death itself for them.

And then... he had walked away.

The flames had disappeared and he had just walked away. Carried on walking right through the Ministry's open doors and he just began disapparating. He wasn't sure where he had gone but he had ended up in a forest, in Poland of all places, before he had the wits about him to return home.

And he had proceeded to go straight up to his room.

Of course arriving in his room he had seen some of the pictures of him and Momo at staff functions and the like. And, in a fit of anger and sorrow, he had began destroying all of it. By the time Maria opened the door he was kneeling on the floor, having smashed one of the pictures of him and Momo laughing at a new years party at the Ministry. White hot tears streamed down his face,

"Momo..." he cried a little before growling, flames bursting into life all over the photo he was holding, "THAT MANIPULATIVE LYING BITCH! PLAYED WITH MY HEART!"

He choked slightly and the flames disappeared as suddenly his anger left him with nothing but his sadness,

"She... and Crepens... they love each other." he told her quietly, staring blankly forwards for a few moments before he 'awoke' to look at Maria, "I never had a chance... and now... now all that affection is just anger... what... what do I do...?"

Maria didn't quite know what to do when she was faced with this sheer anger that Leon was facing. She had never seen anyone this angry before and she was glad that this wasn't directed at her, it was just being shot into the air in all directions at the moment and she found herself amazed that both Momo and the man she loved had gotten out of this completely unharmed. Or rather, she assumed that they had.

The swearing was something she wasn't used to at well and she thought that the best thing to do was to get Leon under control and have him calm down. For that she needed to get closer. Coming to kneel down next to him, Maria gently placed her arms around her employer to embrace him.

"Sir, you need to calm down." she whispered softly "Here come with me, I'll take you to the living room and fix you a drink. Then you can tell me what went on."

Gently bringing him to his feet, Maria brought Leon down to the living room away from the pictures of Momo and into a neutral environment. Taking out one of the newly polished glasses she poured out a measure of his favourite whiskey and set it down on the table beside him, gently she sat down on the sofa beside him and placed her hand on his arm squeezing it reassuringly.

"I am not sure what you need to do with your anger sir, perhaps if you talk it through you will begin to feel better? You might be able to calm down enough so that you can perhaps go for a walk to burn the rest away?"

Leon had been telling himself to calm down all day. When he was burning down the record room he told himself to calm down. When he stormed out of the Ministry building he told himself to calm down. And when he had been disappearing and marching through most of Europe he had told himself to calm down. But none of that had worked at all. He still felt the anger simmering, burning, beneath his skin.

And then Maria wrapped her arms around him and told him that he needed to calm down.

And all his anger left him, leaving him momentarily boneless. At first he had thought that hate was the only thing that kept him going. Hate was what had caused him to survive his own flames, hate was what pushed him to walk and hate was what even now begged him to kill Momo! He thought he was going to die, with all that hate in his veins, but here was Maria... wiping it all away.

He nodded silently at her and allowed himself to be led down to the living room, away from anything remaining of Momo.

Sitting down at the sofa, Leon immediately finished the glass of whiskey in two, painful, gulps. Waving his hand, the bottle flew across the room to land firmly in his hand. Pouring himself a second glass, he paused and relaxed slightly more,

"I already went for a walk..." he admitted, "I don't know where I went I just... walked and occasionally dissaparated. I ended up in a forest in Poland where me, Richard and Luther..."

He paused before shaking his head slightly,

"Nevermind." he muttered as he rested his head in his hands, "I went to do as you suggested... I overheard them talking. Confessing their love for each other. They... they had been doing it for awhile. Crepens asked what she felt for me and about my... my 'obvious' affections. She said she didn't care. I burnt down the room... but left them alive."

Maria smiled gently when she managed to get Leon downstairs without any more outbursts of rage from himself, she hoped that now he was here with her and she was someone that he trusted that he would be able to tell her his upsets and they could work through them together instead of simply raging on his own which hadn't worked to purge him of his anger so far.

The bottle of whiskey might have been a little too much here. Yet, she didn't want to deny him that pleasure if it was something that would calm Leon down.

Gently letting her hair down from it's pony tail, knowing that she was done working for today now that this had come up and he needed someone to talk it through with, Maria turned her body towards Leon and placed her hands on her lap ready to listen to what had happened when he had taken her advice.

"Oh my well..." she gasped "I'm sure we can find something else that will help you relax that little bit more when we've finished talking." Maria reassured with a soft smile on her lips, resisting being too physical with Leon seeing as he had just been spurned by the woman of his affections, he probably didn't want anything like that just now.

When she heard what had happened Maria's mouth popped open and she didn't quite know what to say, apart from a wave of guilt was crashing over her for two reasons. One, she had been hoping this would happen and seeing Leon's pain let her know that it was a horrible thing to wish for, but also that her advice had led him to this.

"I'm so sorry that you had to hear that Leon." she whispered earnestly "I can't believe that she was so hell bent on leading your affections on, when she had no intention of returning them. I'm also sorry that it was my advice that led you to this heartache...I had hoped that it would help you start a relationship but, it seemed as if you were right. She was rebuffing you."

Leon could tell that Maria didn't approve of the fact that he had brought himself the entire bottle of whiskey but right now he felt he needed something to numb the pain. It probably wouldn't even work but his usual method of taking a long walk seemed to be inappropriate. After all, he had taken a very long walk and it had done nothing for him.

He finished his second glass before, reluctantly, setting both the glass and the bottle down on the table. Maria would not like him to drink so heavily after all.

"Yes well I don't think there will be many things with the capability to doing that." he told her with a small smile before shaking his head slightly, "I think I might go see about exorcising a certain ghost... or maybe not."

He sighed a little bit and ran his hand through his hair again. Even just explaining it to Maria in the vaguest of terms was enough to make him want to reach out and take the bottle of whiskey back but he refrained from doing so. Sighing and growling lightly in annoyance, he nodded,

"Oh she was so very happy with her ghostly lover..." he muttered, "Why would she ever need someone like me after all? Said I was all violence, anger and reckless passion. And if I am... what is Crepsen? An impotent spirit with a lack of use to anybody. And still, apparently, my better."

Shaking his head a little bit, he sighed deeply,

"What you told me was good advise... I can't thank you for it right now..." he managed a ghost of a smile, "I will do in the future though."

Maria smiled softly and shook her head when she heard that Leon might go and take on a certain ghost, she wanted to be able to say that he wouldn't...but the mood that he was in right now was murderous and she wasn't going to put it past him. She would need to make sure that he was reigned in and didn't end up doing something that he would regret.

"As tempting as that sounds now, I'm sure that in the morning after some sleep and some more whiskey you would think differently. You shouldn't sink yourself to their levels Leon, take this as a chance to rise above them even though it might take a while to get over what she did." Maria stated with a soft smile on her lips.

He was bitter.

That much was clear.

She would be bitter as well.

Maria decided that she needed to comfort Leon and tell him that she was nothing like this useless whore of a woman had said that he was. Her anger was burning bright under her mask and she hoped that she wanted to be able to smite Momo and this ghost for what they had done but, that was not the right thing to do.

"Don't listen to them Leon." she implored, gently running a hand through his hair to try and calm him down "I know for a fact you are a compassionate, gentle man who has a great capacity for emotion. Just look at when you came to me for advice about this for an example - you cared and thought about her feelings and yours. It is her loss she can't see what a wonderful man you are to embody all of those aspects."

Handing him the bottle of whiskey back, Maria smiled softly; "If it is what you require, don't stop yourself on my account. I will help you to bed afterwards."

Leon knew the spells already.

He knew the spells and the runes needed to bind the undead, to burn them with holy or infernal fire. It was part of the runic defence network in his office and within his home since the incubus boy had decided that he wanted to try and wear big boy pants and wanted to try and kill him. The boy was powerful and still would have been destroyed by the runes.

Crepens was weak. He would be obliterated within seconds.

It would be glorious!

It was not something that Maria would approve of and, the more he thought about it, the more he realised that letting his anger run away with him was not going to help him in this case,

"Who knows... I might be even less kind in my thoughts." he muttered a little bit before smirking slightly, "Thankfully I don't think my anger-addled brain would be useful in making some of the most complicated runic arrays in existence so... maybe later."

He sighed a little bit but closed his eyes and relaxed slightly more when she began to run her fingers through his hair. Was it strange that just being close to her like this was calming him? She did have a very calming air about her, he supposed,

"You speak words of honey to match her barbs of vinegar." he told her with a soft smile, "Thank you Maria but I fear I do not deserve to have someone who I can speak the like to."

Taking the bottle, he chuckled a little bit before setting it back down on the table,

"I don't think I do... you do wonders for my mood Maria..." he clicked his tongue and gave her a rueful smile, "I bet you'd never do something like SHE did to the man you're pining for huh?"

Maria couldn't help but laugh softly when she heard that Leon was being even crueller in his thoughts than he was being in his words, she didn't think such a thing was possible actually because his words were cruel enough to show that she never wanted to get on his bad side. Especially not when he trusted her so highly, the fall would likely be just as long if not longer than the one that Momo and Crepens had taken together.

"If that is the case then I have no desire to see that side of you in those thoughts, the one I saw earlier is quite enough for me to handle." she stated with a small smirk "Maybe later indeed Leon, I think that you will rethink your move when you have gone to sleep and woken up refreshed."

The fact that Leon relaxed so when she began to play with his hair, made Maria blush softly, she was so happy that she could do these small comforts now without having to worry about being rebuffed by Leon because of what he had felt for this other woman. Although it was painful for Leon now, she hoped her love if he returned it would be worth it.

"I only speak the truth Leon." she whispered softly, continuing to play with his hair lightly "Everyone deserved someone to confide their emotions to, without that who knows what would happen? If everything was kept inside people would be exploding left right and center. Never think so badly of yourself Leon, such thoughts aren't true."

Removing her hand from his forehead when Leon said that she had done wonders for him, Maria smiled shyly, placing her hands back in her lap;

"It seems quite a feat given what a state you were in before, you can always speak to me Leon, I hate to see you so upset." she admitted with a gentle smile "Oh no, I would never do that to anyone, let alone someone that I loved. I always treat mon amour with the tenderness he deserves, even if sometimes he doesn't realise it."

Leon smirked a little bit at Maria when she commented about not wanting to see the darker side of him if his thoughts were worse than his words. Of course his thoughts were worse than his words. Even now he was censoring himself so as not to alarm or upset Maria. Oh the things he had in mind of Crespen and Momo... such things were truly horrible and a small, currently rather quiet, part of his mind pointed out that they were disgustingly amoral and evil thoughts.

He smirked slightly,

"There are sides to my thoughts that are dangerous." he freely admitted before smirking a little bit and adding in a whisper, "And there are yet more sides to it that you might love hearing about... I'm a man with a lot of sides."

Leon had absolutely no idea how or why he was relaxing so much under Maria's touch when his own attention to his hair did next to nothing. And to be honest he didn't much care. Why should he? He was just happy that something was able to keep him calm. He hummed a little bit when she continued to try and make him think that somewhere inside of him there was a better man waiting to emerge,

"I shall try it your way Maria." he told her with a slight incline of his head before sighing a little bit and closing his eyes, "I still wish violence and pain upon them... but right now I'm more... tired then anything else. Emotionally drained I would say."

He could see her smiling shyly and smirked a little bit before pouring himself another glass of whiskey,

"Well I'm less upset now because of you." he told her honestly before smirking a little bit and shaking his head slightly, "I never doubted you for a second... so when do you think the lucky guy will figure it out?"