PIETRO WAS HANGING AROUND LEO MORE AND MORE. Leo didn't want to wholly acknowledge it for fear of jinxing the situation and losing all his hard work, but he couldn't help but lightly celebrate whenever Pietro sat next to or across from him at dinner and sat down next to him when he was watching something on TV in the viewing room.

The thing about Pietro, however, was that he was like a cat. He didn't show his interest or love at face value, pretending that he didn't care about anything Leo did, only happening to sit next to him and wander into the gym or the viewing room whenever Leo just so happened to be there, though never genuinely spending time with him or talking, just being in close proximity.

It was hard for Leo to keep up with, and he was still trying to adjust, but he would take what he could get, even if it was much too complicated.

"Hey," he called from where he was making pasta, "You wanna hang out later, watch a movie or something? Whatever you want really."

Pietro paused from where he was grabbing a small back of chips from the pantry, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I'm okay."

Leo's smile faltered, but he nodded, trying not to let on that it affected him so much. "Okay. But if you change your mind, you can find me around."

Pietro nodded, making his way out of the room, barely casting a glance over his shoulder. "I know."

With that, he was gone, and Leo was left to turn his attention back towards his pasta, pursing his lips as he tried to figure out where he had gone wrong; it seemed that there was no speeding up the process, he had to just let Pietro come to him.

As someone who had been hired to coax him out of his shell, he was doing a downright terrible job at it.

By the time he finished the sauce and the pasta, it was time to eat lunch, and he happily set the table, placing the food in nice bowls in the center and aligning the plates and silverware, taking more time than necessary, and he took the time to contemplate on where this came from.

Growing up, he hated having to do anything, let alone setting the table and washing the dishes, yet he was excited about something as mundane as eating lunch. Then again, he never had family meals growing up, what with the demanding jobs of his parents and, as he grew older, his brother being away and himself often too busy and needing to take his food in his room. Then there was the time spent alone in his old apartment.

If anything, he was just compensating.

When everyone finally made it in to eat, they found Leo standing at a corner of the table, staring a fixed point, some of the silverware not yet set down, just clasped in his hand, and Wanda and Arabella were instructed to make sure he was alright while the other readied themselves in the event there as a breach and Leo had been compromised.

Arabella, knowing better than to cause an alarm, walked up right next to Leo's ear, took a deep breath, and screamed.

"Hey, Leo, you dead?"

The redhead yelped, stumbling backwards, tripping over his own feet and falling, his arms pinwheeling as he tried to grab onto something, and while Arabella and Wanda should have caught him, they were taken aback by how quick everything had happened, unable to catch him before he hit the ground.

Pietro, who had been making his way over, raised an eyebrow at the sound of the shout, moving faster—not quite running, there wasn't any need to—and pausing in the doorway as he caught sight of everyone staring.

Raising an eyebrow, he made his way over to his sister and Arabella, catching sight of Leo on the ground, groaning softly, but not wholly uncomfortable, and he could do nothing but stare down at him, wondering when he was going to get up.

Finally, he got tired of waiting, reaching over and hauling Leo to his feet, grunting at the unexpected dead weight in his arms, though Leo quickly helped, grabbing onto his arms and righting himself. For someone so small, he was incredibly dense.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, and everyone was still on guard, though Pietro was out of the loop as to why they were all staring at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just realized that my parents never really hugged me growing up," he said softly, and he was still so out of it that he couldn't even remember to explain why; he loved his parents and they loved him, and he wasn't about to put up with anyone saying otherwise.

The adults all shared an uneasy look, and Leo sighed, trying not to cross his arms, instead choosing to motion towards the table. "Do we want to eat?"

Choosing to drop it, everyone decided to just eat their pasta, though Leo could feel the tension, sighing as he shoveled food into his mouth instead of reaching into his pocket and tossing in a candy.

He glanced towards Pietro who was eating his food, and was just about to ask him if he wanted to hang out, only to remember that he had asked him the same question not too long before, and received nothing but a dismissal.

Because he understood social conventions, he opted out of asking him again, deciding that he might as well give him some time to himself; Leo wasn't clingy by any means.

So, instead, he asked Steve if he wanted to watch a movie with him, the blond happily agreeing, saying that Sam was giving him too much grief about exercising all the time and he might as well have a cheat day.

Pietro, who had been listening in to the various conversations being held at the table, glanced towards Leo who was turned away from him, instead choosing to talk with Steve who was always more than happy to appropriate all of Leo's time.

Sighing, Pietro stood up and left, taking his plate with him, and no one noticed until he was already halfway to his room.

º º º

"I can't get a read on him, honestly."

Rigby hummed in absentminded acknowledgement, too focused on his work to pay more than less than the bare minimum amount of attention towards the younger man who was arranging his colors along the edge of his desk, around his adult coloring book; as if he was a fully fledged adult yet.

"I think he likes me and wants to spend time with me, but whenever I ask, he just says no and tries to get out of there, I don't understand," he whined, and Rigby was too engrossed in trying to veto whether or not this woman was a threat to security to make any sound of acknowledgement, causing Leo to raise his head.

"Are you even listening to me?" he demanded, and Rigby shook his head for a moment, still trying to understand whether or not he should report this woman.

Leo huffed, furrowing his brow before standing up, tapping Rigby on the shoulder. The older man didn't even flinch, sighing softly as he started to type, digging deeper into the woman's past. "I'm really busy, Leo, go play for a bit."

Leo sighed, crossing his arms, because of course Rigby had the mental capacity to make a joke about his being older than Leo, but not enough to actually look at him and make some sort of rapport, even if it was heavily one-sided.

He stood there for a few more moments, waiting for the man to take a pause and acknowledge him, but when Rigby continued to stare at his computer while the screen was loading, it was clear that Leo was going to have to forcibly take his attention.

Take the hand that was closet to him, Leo lifted it, Rigby paying no mind save for a twitch of his eyebrow, his eyes still trained on his screen. That was the last straw for Leo, really, and he swiftly sat himself onto the man's lap, tucking the top of his head under his chin, curling in on himself, and there was hardly any acknowledgement save for the little pat on his side to make sure he was secure before Rigby went back to typing.

Leo peered around the side to look at Maria who was smirking, waving her phone which meant that she had taken more than enough pictures to send to Fury, which would be a nightmare for Leo to deal with.

But he would deal with it later, happily reaching over and grabbing his coloring book and colors, setting them up in such a way where he could easily access them, balancing the book on his legs as he colored, leaning against Rigby's arm, his back towards the door.

Pietro, who had been making his way around the facility to try and find Leo, was headed towards that exact door. He had never been to this side of the facility, save for the med bay for his physical therapy and check-ups, as there were too many people and none of them had any reason to be anywhere near him.

He did, however, hear many stories Leo told about his friend in the area and his pathetic infatuation with Maria Hill, and since he couldn't find him in the Avenger's side of the facility, he decided to venture out towards the other side and see if the older man was there.

Of course, he was, but Pietro found him curled up and leaned against an older man, most likely the one infatuated with Maria. While he kept that in mind, he couldn't help the way his stomach twisted and his chest constricted in some form of anger at the sight.

He caught the gaze of the man who was glancing towards the door absentmindedly. He held it for half a moment before stalking off, not caring if Leo saw or not. It wasn't like he cared or anything.

Rigby finally turned away from his monitor to look over at Maria who had witnessed the entire scene. The two decided not to say anything, figuring that it wasn't going to make things any better, but Rigby did remind himself to try and suggest that Leo keep trying with Pietro despite appearances.

Because if he didn't care, he wouldn't have come over.

º º º

"You're being kind of dumb."

Pietro lifted his head from where he was trying to smother himself with his pillow, laying on his chest, sprawled out across his mattress. He gave Arabella an unimpressed look as she sat herself down on his chair, one leg pulled up onto the seat, the other on the ground.

"Thank you," he said, wholly unimpressed with her, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Seriously, the only reason why I didn't just let Wanda talk to you is 'cause you need someone to just tell you you're stupid, and I'm sure she could, but she's gonna be too nice about it because she loves you. I, on the other hand, only partly care about you, so here I am, to tell you you're being stupid," she elaborated, and he rolled his eyes, dropping his face back down onto his pillow.

"Seriously, I don't get your reasoning," she sighed, moving to sit onto the bed, only to rephrase, "I take that back, I do understand, but I'm letting you know that it's pretty ineffective."

"Oh," Pietro drawled, his word muffled by the pillow, and she sighed, much kinder than her words previous.

"Pietro, you can't expect him to chase after you when you tell him you don't want to spend time with him," she said, reaching out to brush at his hair, "Honestly, I know you need to be invited and welcomed, but when he does, you dismiss him, and he doesn't want to push you, because he doesn't want you to get upset at him, so he'll keep trying, but you can't expect him to just keep trying. And you especially can't expect him to not spend time with other people who are willing to agree to spend time with him."

Pietro sighed into his pillow. She had a point. Many points. But that didn't mean he wanted to believe it nor admit to it. But, after a few minutes of weighing his options, he relented, sighing again as he pushed himself onto his back, groaning.

Arabella rolled her eyes, standing up and heading towards the door. "Well, when you're done being a baby, Leo and Steve are in the viewing room."

Pietro sighed, turning onto his side, staring at the wall. Better late than never.

º º º

Leo was leaning back against Steve's chest, the two just watching the TV, and if he was being honest, he enjoyed the company more than the show. They were watching the baking show that he and his brother always adored—it was set in New Jersey, he had gotten many of his birthday cakes from there, it was a spiritual connection—and of course it was sad to not have Milo with him, but Steve was a nice replacement, he was a lot more touchy than any of his family.

He just liked having people around him, he realized, and they could be watching paint dry and he wouldn't care so much, because at least he wasn't alone.

Steve, who was biased against it due to the fact it was set in Jersey, glanced towards the doorway, raising his eyebrows when he caught sight of Pietro hovering, his gaze trained on the both of them.

Giving the younger man a smile, Steve tapped Leo's thigh. "I'm gonna head to the bathroom, I'll be right back, okay? Just keep watching, I don't mind."

"Okay," Leo said, glancing up to look at Steve had placed him onto the cushion next to him, standing up, "Try not to get lost again."

The blond scoffed, giving him a backwards goodbye as he left, shaking his head at the memory.

Pietro seized the opportunity, walking towards the couch, vaulting over the back and landing onto the opposite side of the couch, bouncing slightly and catching Leo's attention.

The redhead was surprised to see him, taking in Pietro's outstretched arm resting at the top of the couch, his attention turned towards the show with a raised eyebrow. The younger man glanced towards him, catching his eye, then glancing down towards the spot right at his side, before turning his attention back to the TV.

Hoping the invitation he had read was truly an invitation, Leo tentatively made his way towards Pietro's side, setting right down next to him, stiffly into his side. When the younger man didn't pull away or shout at him, he relaxed, trying not to grin madly as he reached into his pocket, holding out a mint.

Pietro took it it from him easily, unwrapping it with one hand and popping it into his mouth, smirking when Leo made a sound of shock and awe at the skill, though he didn't ask anything, turning his attention back towards the TV.

Steve didn't return back from the bathroom until the two had already fallen asleep on the couch, the TV still playing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 11.03.18 )

Pietro is such a cat, and I feel it on such a level, and Leo would too, if he just didn't think so much. Either way, we're getting a lot of progress, and I'm very excited about it. And, if you think about it, Leo is also a cat, he's just the clingier kind. They're like my two cats.

I don't know what I'm saying, but we hit Ch. 13, which is usually a turning point in my fics, and I'm very excited about it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!