Chapter Text
Even under several layers of thick sheets and blankets, I shivered in the cold air of my home. Of course the heating unit would decided to shit out on me in the middle of winter during peak snowfall. The past few days had been spent miserably huddled under covers and warming up every can of soup available. The empty space next to me in bed only served as a reminder of how cold and lonely I was. My heart ached at the thought.
A shiver past through me as a gust of wind blew outside, as if the very idea of being out there was making me colder. Think warm thoughts, think warm...
It was ultimately useless. No amount of imagining warm fireplaces and hot baths would stop the slight chattering of my teeth. Still, it at least kept my mind busy, counting all the things that could warm me up rather than counting sheep.
Somewhere between hot chocolate and lava pools, I heard the distinct sound of the front door opening, accompanied by howling winds and heavy footsteps. Torn between being hopeful and acting cautiously, I softly slid from my bed, trying not to hiss at the cold, wooden floor under my bare feet. Even the gun, picked up from its hidden spot under my nightstand, was freezing in my hands, as if my fingers might fall right off of me. Quietly as I could, I pulled the bedroom door open, leaning against the frame and listening for sounds from downstairs. More footsteps, but less wind - the door must have been closed. The footfalls were uneven and unnecessarily loud, like the intruder was tripping over their own feet or struggling to stand up.
Without so much as a creaking floorboard, I slipped into the hallway and towards the staircase. One step at a time, I crept closer to the source of the sound. As I reached the bottom of the staircase, I rounded the corner quickly, aiming the handgun at the noisy invader and waiting for them to indentify themselves.
Only issue was that I already knew the intruder.
"Christ, Leon," I scolded, immediately lowering the gun. His eyes were somewhat wide, as if he hadn't expected his warm welcome to be the wrong end of his own weapon. "What the fuck are you doing? I thought I was getting robbed, wh-"
He had one hand around his stomach, the other leaning against the wall. No wonder he was stumbling - he must have been nursing a bad wound, most likely a bullet. Or multiple.
My shoulders relaxed with a sigh, something that didn't seem to go unnoticed. Leon almost seemed to slump further forward. "I'll get a shower ready. Do you need help up the stairs?" He shook his head, not quite meeting my gaze. "Alright. I'll be in the bathroom."
He mumbled something to himself when he thought I was out of earshot, something I didn't quite catch but was sure contained the word 'fuck' in some capacity. Thankfully, even though the heater had busted, the water heater was still in working order. Within minutes, the shower began to run lukewarm, then warm, then hot. I left for the bedroom, grabbing clean clothes for after the shower, and returned to find Leon had trudged his way into the bathroom on his own. His boots, the loud ones that had been stomping and treading snowy slush through our entrance, had been left downstairs, but he was still fully clothed.
He said nothing as I stepped forward, leaving the clothes on the counter next to the sink, then began to help him undress. His jacket hit the floor first, soon accompanied by his shirt, jeans, and boxers.
"You're getting the socks yourself," I muttered. He chuckled, bending at the waist to remove the final pieces of his clothing. He was filthy from head to toe, covered in dirt, blood, and many other fluids of indistinguishable origin. The though crossed my mind that he might have to take two showers just to get rid of the first layer of filth.
I took a step back, ready to wait for him in the bed, but a soft hand on my arm stopped me. "You're freezing," Leon noted, gently tugging me closer to him.
He didn't need to say what he was thinking, nor did he have to wait for an answer. Sighing, I stepped out of the sweatpants and underwear I had on and tossed my sweater to the side, to the small pile that Leon's clothes had made. He stepped backwards into the shower, leading me in with a hand on my wrist.
The water was hot, hotter than I would've been comfortable with for any normal shower, but I much preferred it to the icy air oustide. It seemed Leon shared the sentiment, shoulders relaxing as the water trailed down his back. An arm found its place around my waist, pulling me close to his chest as his other hand rested between my shoulder blades.
"I'm really mad at you," I stated, not for any reason other than breaking the silence and getting the words out.
"I know."
"I'm gonna lecture you in the morning." A chuckle.
"I know."
With that said, he let me step back, still keeping his hands on me where he could, and leaned forward to let me massage shampoo into his hair. He stayed there, even when I had finished with his hair, his eyes meeting mine for a moment.
The eye contact broke when I pushed him back a bit, his spine straightening at the force. "You'll get shampoo in your eyes." He grinned down at me.
"Right."
I struggled not to roll my eyes at his smug expression, taking a handful of body wash and smearing it between my hands as he leaned back to rinse his hair. It was too cocky not be purposeful, the way he tilted his head to the side a bit and turned his eyes to me, like he was trying to put on a seductive show of some sort. The grin only grew when I took his arm, washing off the built-up dirt and grime that layered his skin. His free hand rested at my waist as he let me clean him, accompanied by him leaning forward to press his lips against my neck. "Keep acting like that and I'll let you wash yourself." He didn't stop, but I didn't stop either.
It didn't take long for the water to start running clear again, the filth having long washed away, leaving Leon looking much cleaner than he had when I found him. The awful stench he had arrived with was gone as well, replaced now with the faint scent of 'lavender and passionfruit,' as labelled on the bottles behind me.
I reached around him, trying to get to the faucet and shut off the water, but Leon caught my arm and pulled me toward him, placing my hand against his chest, using his hands to mimick the rubbing motions I had used to clean him - minus the body wash, of course.
Slowly, he went down to his knees before me, hands making their own paths to follow him. "Being cute isn't gonna get you of trouble." But my fingers were already pushing the hair away from his eyes as he gazed up through his lashes with that wicked grin from before.
"I know."
It took about twenty more minutes before the water began to run cold again, Leon shivering and tensing up as his backside caught the worst of it. Again, I reached past him to turn the water off, biting back a smile when he rubbed his arms and shuddered. He stepped out first, pulling a towel around him to dry off. When I followed, he took it upon himself to put a towel around my shoulders, gently patting me with it as his own towel rested on his head to gather the water in his hair. He was trying to be cute again, trying to soften me up and make me forget about why I was angry, and it was working. I reached up to rub the towel against his head in an effort to help him dry off. Even with the remnants of steam from the shower, we were both quickly getting cold again, a gentle shiver passing through my body just before Leon handed me my clothes - "Why did you bring clothes if you didn't plan to stay?" he asked with that stupidly handsome smirk of his. I took them without answering, clothing myself and leaving the room before him. Warm, soft sheets were calling my name from the bedroom next door, and I was ready to hit the hay. Leon trailed in behind me, noticeably hesitating in the doorway.
After a moment, he walked around the bed and laid out next to me, keeping a considerable distance away. I fought back a frustrated sigh. Why did he have to be the mature one? A part of me wished he had tried to push my boundaries, to get closer to me, because then I wouldn't have to do it.
"Thought you were mad at me," he mumbled tiredly when I crawled my way over to him, leaning into his chest with a hand on his shoulder. He turned on his side, hands on my waist and back to pull me closer.
"I am mad," I responded, glad that he couldn't see my expression, "but it's too cold for that."
He hummed his response, kissing the top of my head softly and relaxing, his legs pulling up a little as if to curl into my touch. Like a cat, I thought before I could stop myself, struggling not to grin at the mental image. Leon seemed none the wiser, simply sighing and holding me ever closer to him. With a sigh of my own, I closed my eyes and followed him into sleep.