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He had just set himself down on the couch, his shirt discarded so his injuries could breathe and it felt nice after his last shirt clung to him drenched in all sorts of bioweapon fluid. His ice cold drink melted in its glass as his intentions to shut his eyes had turned into a nap that his body craved. His torso melted into the plush couch, one arm tucked under a couch cushion that his head nestled into, he was completely vulnerable to any ambush now.
He was soon stirred awake by the quiet murmuring of a small voice in song, his right arm dangled off the edge of the sofa and it was covered in colorful stickers all the way to the base of his fingers. His pale blue hues squinted as he tried to get a good look at the culprit who was completely unaware of him regaining consciousness as she placed a sticker on his shoulder.
A part of him wanted to shoo her away so he could get on with his nap however she seemed so content and was being so kind to play quietly he didn’t have the heart to stop her. He often felt guilty when he would leave for his missions so maybe he could redeem himself by letting her use him for her entertainment.
“Daddy arm aaaaaallllll done!”, she gleefully declared, patting his sticker covered bicep with a proud look on her face.
His smile gently spread to a corner of his mouth as he listened to her mumbling a song as she examined the canvas that was her father, admiring her handy work, with her half used book of stickers in hand. Her eyebrows were knitted in complete concentration as she selected her next group of stickers on the tips of her fingers.
Suddenly his cheek was invaded by her tiny hand as she made her attempt to get on top of his bareback to continue her decorating. Her legs wiggled and kicked at the couch, her sticker tipped hand grabbed at the skin of his back, and her other hand kept grasping at the skin of his cheek.
As amusing as this was, he couldn't endure her struggling for much longer. Subtly, he let her use his sticker sleeved arm as leverage, holding in a wince as she scrambled onto his back. Maybe now that she had a bigger workspace, he could get back to relaxing and get a little bit more shut eye.
“Dis one here” she chirped, placing a unicorn sticker on the nape of his neck sitting comfortably on his back as she eyed the perfect spots for her numerous stickers. She hummed and mumbled her current favourite song again, placing a pair of wing stickers between his shoulder blades, giving it a pat to ensure it stuck to his skin properly.
The torso beneath her suddenly moved as Leon took a deep breath, almost toppling her to his side, she huffed and grabbed his shoulder to keep herself steady. He had to stifle an amused chuckle as she sat on the middle of his back once more.
A short moment later, she placed the final sticker from her hand onto his back but she could see there was a lot more space to cover and her precious sticker book was on the floor out of her reach. She pondered if she should go back down to get it, recalling how much effort it took for her to even get up here. She looked to her sleeping father, his eyes closed and face unmoving, waking him was an option but even at her young age she knew how tired her Daddy was after his work and was taught to let people sleep and besides he might ruin her fun if she woke him up on purpose now.
Unbeknownst to her, she had already disrupted his snooze, how could anyone sleep through being treated like a jungle gym after all.
For his own amusement he kept the act up, going as far as to snore to ensure she had no suspicions. He was right, she bought it hook and sinker although she still checked if he really was asleep by trying to lift his eyelid with no success.
Sighing a cute little sigh, the toddler positioned herself with one foot on the little bit of couch cushion Leon had left and her other squarely on his back as she leaned her body over and down with her limbs outstretched as far as they could go. She wiggled her fingers as if that would magically make the sticker book summon to her hand. Leon's head turned away, his mouth tightening as he stifled the urge to laugh at how adorable his baby girl was being.
And then, he felt the weight of her body slipping off of his back as she lost her balance and tumbled towards the ground. Her fall was disrupted however by the reflexes of her daddy's hand grabbing her by her leg before it could fully leave his back. Confused and upside down, she still reached for her sticker book but was suddenly brought to her father's side and enveloped in his embrace.
“Daddy?” she muffled, pushing his spikey face away as Leon kept her close to his face. “Now who's in a sticky situation” he chuckles, giving her a sudden raspberry to her face, getting a squeal laugh out of his beloved daughter.
He turned over just to place her further on the couch whilst he remained laying down, blocking off her access to the ground. She wiggled against his grasp wanting to get back to her human sticker gallery but she had no strength to lift his arms.
“Daddy moooove, my stegers!” she whined trying to pry his arms off of her. Leon gave her a peck to her head, placing the cushion behind her and then petting her back, knowing it wouldn't take long for her to relax with that method. “Shhhh you can use me as a sticker book later, mm” he coos, watching her body relax as she gives into the comfort of her father's gentle touch.
His technique worked, he assumed it did from how her eyelids slowly fluttered until they closed and she went limp in his arm. He would drift back to sleep himself, glad to finally get to relax properly again.
Waking up moments later, he realised his daughter was gone from his side, her sticker book mostly empty but its owner nowhere in sight. He yawned and scratched at his face, his brow knitting together as he felt something plastic like on his cheek, then another by his jaw. He quickly got up and went to the mirror in the hallway adjacent to the living room.
He sighed as he beheld the sight of himself in the mirror. From head to foot he was covered in stickers, not an inch of him had been left without one, she had managed to get to his other arm too.
Other fathers might have become irritated at her antics, he wanted to be but he had to admit, she did a good job.
“I guess that's what I get for sticking around” he comments to himself, going off to find where his little hooligan ran off to.
END