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Losing things wasn’t something that Leo Whitefang was unaccustomed to. Especially recently. If not due to his own oversight and distraction (he was a king, after all, and kings had quite a lot of work to do) it was due to the more devious of the castle’s occupants. Call it foolishness, naivete, or some mix of the two, but the youngest residents seemed to have collectively developed a nasty habit of swiping his stuff for their own uses. It could get so troublesome sometimes that Leo swore that Kiske had put them up to the task for the sole purpose of annoying him.
The most severe criminal by far had to be Sin. To a degree, Leo did understand his lack of understanding of how sharing worked, seeing as how he was still technically very young. At the same time, though, with the sheer amount of times he had deliberately tried to explain to him not to steal others’ things, only to have some of his snacks go missing the next day, he was starting to get the impression that Sin just didn’t care.
Sin was prone to swiping just about anything he could get his hands on, for reasons Leo could barely begin to understand. The food-stealing made enough sense, but there were times when he could find himself losing anything from hairbrushes to furniture. There had even been one particularly aggravating yet slightly humorous instance where Sin had gotten away with one of his broadswords, only to almost take his own arm off with it from the lack of experience in handling it.
At least with the Valentines, their thievery was more consistent. Elphelt was most often prone to stealing shiny baubles and sometimes his nice clothing in her efforts to act out her wedding plans. Considering how careful she was with them, always putting everything back where she had found it, Leo found it difficult to be very mad with her. In the same vein, Ramlethal only tended to steal his snacks (and socks, for reasons that evaded him) and wasn’t particularly destructive, so he was more prone to letting it slide.
In the middle of the two, Bedman. The kid wasn’t prone to getting involved with Leo in general, spending most of his time either in his own space or in the library. If there was anything he seemed intent on taking, it was books, and only books. Leo wasn’t much of a scholar in his free time, but he did flip through a few on occasion, not to mention working on his own dictionary. In that regard, Leo didn’t really mind the thievery. When he did mind it, though, Bedman definitely wasn’t one to apologize, typically claiming he’d return it after he was finished in an irritated tone, as though it was some infraction to ask for one’s own possessions back.
With all of those habits stacked on top of each other, not even including Sol’s recklessness with his things in general and Ky’s accidental pilfering while distracted, it was a rare instance that Leo would find all of his possessions where he thought they were. It was something he was adjusting to, if not very happily. Despite his distaste for it, he could accept that it was just something that happened to him.
What he could not accept, however, to any extent, was his coat going missing.
As cheesy as it may have sounded, Leo absolutely loved his coat. He’d bought it the day the war ended all those years ago, and it had been the most expensive thing he’d ever purchased up to that point. It had been a bit of an impulse buy, overwhelming excitement prompting him to purchase it in celebration of the death of Justice. The bright orange color and fur trim had seemed a bit garish upon second glance, but he wore it proudly almost every single day, until it had become one of his defining features. He’d had it in his possession for years, to the point where it fit his body like a glove, and the trim was almost indistinguishable from his own blonde mane.
So, needless to say, he was not happy when he came back from lunch to find the article not draped over his desk chair. It hadn’t been a very long break, so the culprit had to be someone within a close vicinity. Sol had stormed off for the afternoon, probably to go punch some trees, or harass old ladies, or whatever it was that troublemakers like him were prone to do. Ky was in a meeting with some delegates from A Country, and had been for the entire morning (and even with that, Leo liked to think that the problem child wouldn’t stoop to that level of juvenile behavior), and therefore, he couldn’t have done it.
That left the usual suspects. With a restrained growl, Leo stormed out of his office in search.
Despite his expectations, Sin wound up being incredibly easy to find. Usually, when he knew that he was going to be in trouble, he tended to put in a bit of effort to be evasive, sometimes outright hiding. Yet Leo managed to find him in the courtyard, reclining into the grass with a half-eaten bag of that fast food he loved so much.
“Sin.”
“Huh? Oh, hey Leo!” The boy replied cheerily, despite the aggressive tone directed at him. He sat up, turning to the man and smiling. “What’s up?”
“I’m looking for something. I seem to have misplaced my coat.” Leo gestured to himself irately. “Seeing as how you are so prone to stealing my belongings, I don’t suppose you would know its whereabouts?”
“Uh…” Sin gave him a blank look, but it was more due to the big words than anything else. “Well, I haven’t seen it. ‘Cept on you! You look kinda weird without it.”
His scowl hardened slightly. “You don’t know where it is?”
“Nope! You can ask El, though. I know she like to take your stuff when she stages her fake weddings, and she’s doing something down in the ballroom, I think? I dunno, might be worth a try.”
“Hmph.” Already turning away, Leo sent a half-wave over his shoulder. “You may continue.”
“Aight, Leo!” Sin immediately went back to his food, pulling out a half-eaten bar of fancy chocolate that he’d swiped from Leo’s desk drawer and taking a bite.
Elphelt did seem like the most logical of the group to be the one to take it. She was the one who took his clothes, after all. Leo was almost disappointed in himself. Even Sin had thought of that first. Why did he think Sin would have a need for it, anyway?
“Miss Elphelt?”
The second king knew that Elphelt liked decorating in her wedding plans, but this was too much. The entire massive room was bedecked in ribbons, lace, and frills, all in an admittedly aesthetically-pleasing selection of pastels. It was to the point where it was difficult to find the girl among the sea of decorations.
She placed a lacy-looking flower on one of the tables, adjusted it slightly, and nodded. She looked up to the entrance, beaming.
“Hi, Mr. Leo!” Elphelt said as Leo descended to the staircase. “What brings you here?”
“Well, you see, I’m looking for-”
“Oh!” She suddenly cut in. “Where’s your jacket? You look so different without it! Kinda cute, though…”
Leo nodded. “Yes, that’s actually what I...wait, did you say ‘cute?’”
“U-um…” Elphelt turned a little pink, glancing off. “I-I haven’t seen your coat!”
“Really?” He tilted his head. “I would have assumed, with you doing your wedding plans-”
“I’ve been in here all day! I’ve spent so much time putting up all these decorations, I haven’t even gotten to staging the walk down the aisle yet!” Elphelt tossed her hands up in exasperation, a rain of glitter poofing out. “I don’t even know what I’m wearing yet, let alone my fiance! I’m sooo behind!” By the end, she was yanking on her hair furiously.
“...Alright, then.” Leo took an awkward step back. “It seems you're not the culprit. I’ll go ask your sister.”
“Okay!” In a flash, Elphelt was back to her chipper self. “Good luck!”
“Er, yes, thank you.” Still disturbed, Leo opted to leave quickly. As soon as he was out of sight, Elphelt reached under a table and pulled out one of Leo’s hand mirrors, fixing her hair in its reflection.
‘This is getting irritating.’ He thought to himself as he scoured the halls for Ramlethal. ‘What would she even need my coat for?’
It took a bit of poking around, but he managed to eventually find the younger Valentine on one of the castle’s many balconies. She appeared to be tossing garbage over the edge, but on second look, Leo realized that she was throwing sticks, which were quickly retrieved by her familiars to be tossed again.
He tried to downplay his confusion. “Hello, Miss Ramlethal. Are you, um, busy?”
“Hmm?” Unexpectedly, she sounded a bit uncomfortable. Still, she turned around, wearing her usual blank expression, wrapped up in her cloak. “Yes?”
“I seem to have misplaced my coat.” Lord, this was already getting tiring. “I know that you and your sister have a habit of stealing my things. Elphelt told me to ask you if you knew where it was?”
The black Lucifero flapped back up to the balcony, dropping a stick onto the railing. Ramlethal picked the object up and looked it over.
“No. I do not know where it is. I have no interest in something like that.” As though emphasizing her point, she hurled the stick over the edge again, Lucifero darting after it.
“Hmph. Do you have any ideas as to where it might be?”
She shrugged. “No. I have little interest in your possessions.”
That was a lie, and Leo knew it, but he was still so annoyed that he didn’t have the energy or interest in arguing with her. He just wanted his coat back already.
“Fine. You may resume...whatever it is that you’re doing.”
“Alright.” Ram tossed another stick over the railing. Without Leo looking, she was able to open her cloak, revealing that she was wearing two different pairs of his socks, one right on top of the other.
Leo was all but ready to tear his hair out. He knew that he should have been getting back to work, but the thought of trying to work knowing that his jacket was missing would definitely distract him. This whole thing just felt so much more complicated than it should have been.
By process of elimination, the only culprit left was Bedman. At the same time, though, he had no idea why the brat would take it. The only logical idea he could come up with was spite, possibly revenge for something. It seemed almost too childish, even for him, but Leo had no other ideas.
Unfortunately, he ended up spending far too long looking for him. Though he assumed Bedman would be the easiest to find of the four, he wasn’t in the library or his room. With no other usual place to look, he spent the next half hour searching the guest rooms, the foyer, the courtyards, the basement, and even the kitchen. He couldn’t find a single sign of the boy or his jacket at all. He wasn’t supposed to go out on his own, nor did he have much interest to, but it seemed like there wasn’t anywhere left for Bedman to be within the castle.
With a groan, Leo turned and exited the kitchen, with the intent to cut through the dining hall to return to his office. As annoying as it was, he’d come to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to find his coat, and that he was only wasting time wandering around. He’d just have to cope with it for the time being.
As he passed by the long table, though, he spotted a familiar streak of tan in his peripheral vision. Pausing in place, Leo turned, and found tufts of fur poking out from in between the legs of one of the chairs.
“Huh?” He kneeled down, tugging slightly on the fur. It was definitely his coat, but “How did this get here?”
Pulling the chair away, he tugged on the material to drag it out from under the table. It felt a bit heavier than usual, but he didn’t pay it any thought. With a swift yank, all of it was pulled out, and Leo only became more confused.
Bedman was lying on top of it, fast asleep. For a moment, Leo thought it was some kind of trick or joke, but a poke to the face confirmed that he actually was sleeping. The boy was curled up against the fur, small hands clutching it tightly.
“Uh…” Leo gave a few more pokes. When that didn’t work, he tried to nudge Bedman’s hands away, so he could roll the smaller one off. Despite his efforts, though, it seemed that he was practically dead to the world for the time being, clinging to the material like his life depended on it.
Leo made a few more exasperated tugs before letting go with a huff. He had half a mind to pick his coat up and wear it as-is. Seeing as how tightly Bedman was holding onto it, he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t fall off. Considering the day’s events, he wasn’t feeling very accommodating. He just wanted his stuff back.
Unsure and irritated, he tried another poke. Still no reply, aside from a sleepy murmur as Bedman curled up a little more.
The king had to admit that there was something oddly cute about it. As dangerous as he had once been while unconscious, there wasn’t a hint of that in the boy’s sleeping face. Sure, Leo didn’t have a single idea on how he had wound up taking a nap underneath the dinner table while snuggling with his coat, but not like he could ask at the moment. And as annoyed as he was, he didn’t have the heart to wake him up.
Sighing in defeat, Leo scooped up the whole mess into arms, swaddling Bedman in his coat. The movements earned his another few murmurs that sounded vaguely displeased. He merely started walking, exiting the dining room and making his way towards the bedroom that he’d claimed weeks ago, differentiated by the others only by the homemade ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign that he’d taped to the door.
Leo nudged the door open with a shoulder. Almost immediately, he stumbled a little over a stack of books. Glancing around, it seemed that Bedman had migrated half the library into his room. Floes of books were piled onto every conceivable surface, including the bed. He hadn’t even left enough space to sleep on.
‘Well, that answers that question, sort of.’
Fortunately, he was small enough that Leo could manage to hold him with one arm, using the other to move the stacks off of the bed. When there was enough free space, he put Bedman down, still wrapped up in the coat. He hadn’t moved much the whole time, but as he was placed down, his eyes briefly opened, looking at the man blankly.
“Hnn?”
“Go back to sleep.” Without really thinking, Leo gave him a small pat on the head. “You, uh, fell asleep under the dinner table.”
The boy looked no less lost, but complied, nuzzling into the fur and closed his eyes again.
Leo very carefully made his way out of the room, navigating around the mess of books. What Bedman needed them for, he really had no idea, but at least he wasn’t causing any harm. As long as no issues were coming from it, he didn’t mind all that much.
When he reached the door, he sent one last look back across the room. He did regret not taking his coat, but he also knew that it would be too much effort to try and not wake the kid up as he did so. He could just get it back later.
...Although in hindsight, explaining the whole thing would be kind of odd. If Bedman remembered being moved, that would be awkward. Or if Ky found out. Or...anyone, honestly. Leo wasn’t as gruff a person as Sol, but he wasn’t known for being such a softie, either. He could just imagine the mocking that would come from it.
It wasn’t like he really cared or anything. Bedman would have been fine either way. He was just...inconvenient. Yeah, that was it. Lying in the middle of a public area, he was a tripping hazard. He’d only moved him for everyone’s safety.
Yeah, that would work as an excuse. Leo nodded to himself in affirmation. He reached out to flip off the lightswitch, closing the door quietly behind. He had a solid excuse, and even if he couldn’t get it back immediately, at least he knew where his coat was.
With the matter finally settled, Leo turned and headed back towards his office. A king’s work never ended, after all.