mostlyajerk | Too Cool for School

There was a hand around Axel's wrist, cold and just as steady as Leonard's voice when he talked. "Don't even think about it."

Whatever it was that he was thinking, it was probably advisable not to even consider it. Leonard would have never thought that he'd go around making sure someone stayed on the straight and narrow, yet here he was. Axel getting caught again would send a ripple through Barry's group that he'd not tolerate. Better to make sure it couldn't happen.

"I wasn't going to!" Holy fucking shit, how the hell did Leonard Snart do this? How did he always end up where he was? Was he like following him? It was getting kind of creepy.

Axel looked at Leonard and then tried to pull his wrist back. He really wasn't going to. Yes, he was debating it and yes, a part of him really did but on top of it not being worth the risk, he knew Hartley would never date him again if he stole. It was just that it was so much easier. To just steal and leave with an actually good present for Hartley's birthday instead of what he currently had. "Just let go of me, I'm not stealing."

"Good." Leonard did let go, leaning against the aisle and regarding Axel thoughtfully. He could see that he'd been tempted at the very least and that was not good. "What's up?"

Innocuous enough, but he was sure Axel would know what he was asking. There were only so many second chances and Axel in many ways might have been unfortunate to begin with, but in other ways he'd hit the jackpot. Leonard honestly didn't want him to end up messing that up, even if it wasn't for Barry's sake.

"It'd just be so easy to put it under my shirt and walk out with it and I could out run that old bastard manning the desk." There wasn't any security he could see and he was pretty fast, he only got caught last time because he had the bad luck to shop lift when the police were there. Fast or not, he'd be dumb to run from a guy with a gun. "I know I can't and I won't because Hartley would hate me but it's just frustrating."

Because once again he was broke, completely broke, they owed rent money he was struggling to get on top of and Hartley's birthday was in a few days. And everyone else got him things, proper gifts and Axel had nothing. Didn't feel great. "It's like a few crappy dollars and it's not like it'd hurt this place but I still can't have it."

"Given that according to Barry, even feverish Hartley was chastising himself for not stopping you from going out, since he ought to have realised you had no money, I really doubt that he'd be happy about you taking anything." Leonard shrugged and nodded to Axel to follow him as he headed out of the store. No need to be suspicious. "It's not about whether it'd hurt this place. It's a question of legal or illegal and this is illegal. You've a history, just like I do. You're over eighteen. It would be another few months at the lest."

"It's just not fair." Axel kept his hands at his side and not in his pocket so no one thought he was stealing, gritting his teeth as they moved out from the store, all the items inside out of his price range. It was like a gut punch. Hartley was going to want something from him and what the hell was he going to give him? "I need money... can you get arrested for panhandling still?" There. That was a safe and mostly harmless thing to do, better than dealing drugs or sucking cock, even if it was horrible for his pride.

"Of course it's not fair. It's the system, what are you expecting? But it's also not fair that you're one of the few who walked out of prison to someone still in love with you or that you actually get to date the guy you outed. Life's funny that way." Leonard lifted his shoulders in a shrug, his own hands in his pockets. "They didn't change any laws, so yes. You can get arrested for that."

Looking Axel up he stopped, stepping to the side to be out of the way of the other people on the street. "What do you need anyway?"

"We're not dating." Axel hated to admit that but they weren't. Hartley said he'd say when they were and Axel was being patient but so far, nothing. He had no idea if Hartley still wanted to and he'd probably definitely not want to if he couldn't even get him a lousy gift. "We're just sort of... I don't know. We're not a thing right now."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and then shook his head. "I need a gift. It's Hartley's birthday and everyone has him gifts except me."

"You live together, don't you? Sleep next to each other? Talk? You're more of a thing than most married couples. He'll come around. Ramon said that he wants to." Because apparently sometimes in this group one had to discuss things like this. To be fair, at least they were interesting. More interesting than some of the other couples, there was always something to actually gossip about.

"Do you really think that Hartley is that materialistic? He knows you have no money."

"It doesn't count for anything if he doesn't say it." Axel needed to be told, he needed to hear it to even believe it because he'd had things implied before and those things fell apart, it always fell apart. He needed Hartley to just tell him that he loved him still, that he wanted to date him, that he'd forgive him and that was that. And he knew Hartley did but he never said it and the fact he didn't made it all so unsure.

"I want to get him something." He shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. "Good boyfriends get presents for birthdays."

"He gave you the ring, didn't he?" Leonard pointed at it. He'd first seen it on Axel when he'd gone through withdrawal and it definitely looked self-made. Besides, not so long after Lisa had started wearing some jewellery Cisco made for her and given Cisco and Hartley always shared their work, it only made sense. "What did he say when he gave you that?" It was a promise ring, he imagined, stood to reason that it would have come along with a promise.

"How much money do you have?"

"It was a promise." And he knew, he knew that Hartley still loved him but he'd had love stolen from him before and he knew how easily it could happen. He didn't want to lose him and he didn't want to lose the ring either. He looked down at it and touched it gently, it was bumpy and uneven, he kind of loved that about it. "He made this amazing ring for me and you know what I made for him? Because I tried to make something. Look."

He pulled from his pocket what was essentially a sock with goggly eyes and a red tongue, putting it on his hand. Yes, that was his pathetic skills. "This. It sucks. And now I'm down one sock." Which wasn't exactly ideal. With a huff, he glared at the puppet like it was a real thing. "I have minus five dollars."

"Well. It's cute." It really was, in a slightly alternative and very self-made way. "You're not an engineer, he's not going to be expecting anything amazing." Leonard turned a corner and waited for Axel to come along, a vague idea in mind. "And you did a lot for him. We all know that if it wasn't for him, you'd not have bothered to stop any of it. You did that for him. He knows that too. There's something very sweet to it, in a clichéd and Dickensian way. You both are so ready to give up everything for each other. I helped Hartley get the best price for the stuff he sold to pay your lawyer. He grew up rich, you'd think he'd hesitate to lose everything, but there you are. It's romantic. Kind of sickening, actually."

"It's lame." He shoved his embarrassing puppet into his pocket and followed after Leonard. "I know money doesn't matter to him and things don't matter but they matter to me. I don't want to be the only person empty handed. I don't want people to pity me." He knew they did it, hell half the time Barry was looking at him like he was some Dickens level orphan who just got beaten in the streets and it really wounded his pride. "I'd do anything for Hartley, I would and I just wanted to be able to give him something, anything, as a token. Something he can actually own."

"Give it to him, I'm sure he'll love it. Give it to him in private, if you're that bothered by pity." With that he slowed down, stopping by a locksmith. He walked through first, though he gestured to Axel to follow him.

"Hey."

"Snart. Sorry about your father." He didn't sound very sorry, but the man nodded their way at least.

"Thanks." Dry voice and Leonard gestured to the back. "I need to borrow your workshop."

"Sure. I know I owe you. Still, same rules as always."

With a nod Leonard walked into the other room, holding the door open for Axel. "I use this for keys and tools."

No need to explain for what he needed those. But there were some broken keys in a tin, there was the usual array of tools and machinery to be expected and Leonard turned to look at Axel. "Either use one of the broken keys or see if you have any metal you don't need on you. Make him something he can wear. He made you something."

This was the weirdest place anyone had ever taken him. And once a guy took him to see stump in the park as a date. Axel had no idea what to say, he just kept following Leonard until they were in some kind of work rule. Definitely beat out the craft section in the dollar store.

"How do I do that?" Axel wandered over to the keys and picked one up, it was small and kind of cool. Maybe he could scratch his name into it. "Is there like a chain I can have or do I have to make it?"

He'd never done metal work before, he looked at Leonard and shrugged apologetically, knowing he was being a pain. "I don't want to mess it up."

"You could probably fashion something out of the thin key rings pretty easily and there are a lot of those around, just take what you need." Leonard pointed them out. "You can weld here, use the tools, just be careful. But I assume you've seen Hartley work before, so at least you should be somewhat familiar with what you're doing."

Leonard leaned back against a desk and considered Axel, not showing any signs of impatience. "I'm no engineer, but I'm good at what I do. This is part of it, in a roundabout way. Is that more like what you imagined?"

"I don't know what I imagine any more." Axel set to work pulling out scraps of metal to try and get something close to a necklace going. He had vague knowledge so he was sure he could make something. He started to sort through the metal slowly, sitting on a spare seat so he could do it with more focus. "You scare me, dude. You're like this weird walking PSA that keeps appearing in my life."

And it was kind of handy, he wasn't going to lie. He looked up and after a few moments of silence, he looked back down. "Congratulations on your dad dying." Seemed a better thing to say than sorry.

"That's better than the reasons I scare most people. Don't complain." Not that he had really complained as such, but still. Worth noting. Leonard watched Axel work, mostly sticking around because he had given his word that there'd be no damage done here. Also, Axel might need help and now he'd gone this far, he might as well go all the way. He snorted at the congratulations, nodding his head with a slight smirk. "Thanks. I'm lucky he was bad at dodging."

"I'm glad he's finally gone, he sounded like a dick." From what he told Axel that night outside Cisco's birthday party, he just hated the idea of that guy existing in the world. The same feelings he had for Max. Truth was, knowing that Leonard suffered like he had? It did help, it helped him to feel less of a fuck up and part of him really wanted to express his sincere gratefulness to him but this was Leonard Snart. He didn't do emotions, not like that. So Axel resisted. "I sometimes dream of gutting Max, you know? Not that I'd ever see him again or do it but I like to dream about it. Just the idea of him being dead is nice. I bet it's a relief that he's gone."

"He can't hurt Lisa again now. Got shot in the dark. Seems appropriate." It wasn't just about Lisa, but on the other hand? It kind of was. Leonard could bear a lot. He would never again stand for anyone hurting his little sister, no matter what happened. Hopefully he'd never have to go to such an extreme again, but even if he hadn't gotten away with it, it would have been worth it. "Sounds like you're having good dreams. If it helps, judging by what I know about him, he ain't gonna live that much longer anyway."

"Can't hurt you either." Axel finally had enough for a chain and started to try and make links out of them, idly fiddling with what he had debating how best to do this to make it look at least a little pretty. "I have a lot of good dreams these days. Which is good because waking up and punching my boyfriend in panic isn't really a good foundation for dating." If anything, the best thing about therapy was finally being able to sleep a little better. "He's not? He's pretty strong."

"You can try welding it." Leonard watched Axel mostly absently, but he did speak up for that, while he definitely didn't react to the comment about his father not being able to hurt him. It wasn't something he discussed, not now, not ever. "Therapy is helping, yeah?"

Strange. Couldn't imagine that doing things for him, but then, Axel was very different. If it worked for him, he wasn't going to knock it. "Max is too obvious. Makes himself a target, he'll get played. He's not smart. He's a moustache away from being a cartoon villain."

Too Cool for School

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