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James awoke gradually, blinking back the sleep as he tried to assess what time it was. He hadn't heard an alarm and the light that filtered through their bedroom window was dim and still tinged with a slight blue tone. It must be just before dawn, he thought. At that realization, he closed his eyes and snuggled closer into Leon, content that he still had a while to lay in bed with him.
Sometime in the night they must have shifted - James didn't remember Leon laying on his back when they fell asleep last night. James opened his eyes again to look at him from where his head lay on Leon's shoulder. James was always cooler, so he liked to pile on the blankets, but Leon never seemed to run out of warmth - James could feel it radiating from his body when they lay so close. He had kicked off most of the covers, so James could see that Leon had his left hand under his shirt and was resting it on his stomach. A small patch of skin was exposed at his hip from where the shirt had ridden up. A few faint scars were visible, even in the weak light. James didn't know the details behind every one since Leon wasn't always sure himself. Cuts, punctures, tears, bites, gunshots... his job led him to some dangerous places.
James shifted slightly so that he could look at Leon's face near his own, being careful so as not to wake him. Leon's head was turned to his left, his dark blond bangs falling across much of his features. James had helped him lighten his hair a handful of times now - he was getting pretty good at it too. His roots are really starting to show through, we should do that again soon, he thinks. James slowly brought his free hand up to gently brush Leon's bangs back so he could see his face. His hair was soft and deceptively dense - it wasn't obvious, but he had a lot of it.
James lingered with his hand hovering above Leon's cheek before bringing his fingertips down to ghost them along his jawline to his chin. His face was set in its usual serious expression even while he slept, but his slow, even breaths and relaxed brows assured James that he was comfortable.
He placed his hand back down flat on Leon's chest. He could just slightly feel his heartbeat against his palm. James continued to look across Leon's face, following the lines of his dark eyelashes, his straight and pointed nose, and his soft lips.
It was coming up on one year since James had gone to Silent Hill again. Nearly a year since he had met Leon. His grip on reality was stronger every day now, but there were still times that he felt it slip from him. He liked to use the opportunities like these that arose for him to take in as much of Leon as possible. James wanted to commit as much of him to memory as he could. If he ever lost him to the evil he kept trying to fight in this world, maybe that would help James hold on.
Despite not wanting to wake him, James brought his hand up to cup Leon's face, stroking his thumb lightly across his cheekbone. After a minute or two, Leon stirred.
Leon turned up the corner of his mouth in the tiniest smile. He had woken up to James' gentle touch on his face. Even after so many months together, his stomach still flipped at the feeling of being so cared for.
"Morning, sunshine," he murmured with his eyes still shut, but a real grin breaking across his face.
James smiled slightly back. "Good morning," he whispered, continuing his thumb's movement along Leon's skin. He always liked seeing Leon wake up and look at him like there was no one else in the world.
Leon finally opened his eyes, finding James' face barely inches away and his bright blue eyes peering into his own. He closed the gap between them to press his lips against James', letting his eyes close again.
James pulled them together as much as he could and melted into the kiss. Leon brought his right arm around to rest it on James' thigh before pulling back just enough to speak, though he tilted his head to press their foreheads together, keeping his eyes closed.
"What time is it, sweetheart?"
"Does it matter?"
"You know we both have to work today."
James groaned softly. "I know... but this is so comfortable."
Leon smiled slightly, rubbing James' leg gently with his hand. "You're such a bad influence on me, I never felt like playing hooky until you came along."
James nuzzled against Leon's nose with his own before replying. "Good."
He laid his head back down on Leon’s shoulder, humming a contented sigh as he relaxed against him. Leon let his eyes fall shut again, and they both drifted back into sleep.
Leon started awake at the sound of the alarm clock on their bedside table ringing out in harsh digital beeps. He quickly brought his right arm around to silence it from where he had been holding James, causing James to make a tiny noise and turn his face away from the bright morning light now shining through the gaps in the window blinds. He curled his hand against Leon’s chest, bringing up some of the fabric of his t-shirt with it.
Leon groaned and let his arm fall across his eyes. “I can’t believe it’s seven already.”
“Mm… yeah…” James muttered helpfully, his voice muffled from where he had his face firmly pressed into Leon’s shoulder.
“We should get up.”
James sighed, not moving. “I guess.”
They were both still for a few more moments before James breathed out another deep sigh through his nose and rolled away from Leon, lifting the covers off before slowly standing up at the side of the bed. He shivered, immediately chilled outside of Leon’s warm embrace.
Leon rolled out of bed a few moments later as James plodded into the kitchen to start some coffee and breakfast, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the back of his hand and yawning. Leon meandered to the bathroom before making his way to the closet and grabbing some black slacks and a dark blue shirt, pulling the clothes on and leaving the top couple of shirt buttons undone. He ran his fingers through his hair to lay it in place and then followed in James’ footsteps to the kitchen as he rolled his sleeves up just past his elbows.
The light scent of toast and the quiet bubbling of nearly-boiling water greeted him as he turned the corner to find James looking sleepily down at the coffeemaker on the stove. Leon came over to peck him on the cheek before sitting down at a barstool on the other side of the kitchen island.
He put his chin in his hand and leaned on the counter as he gazed across James’ back. He glanced up to see that James’ hair was sticking up in all sorts of funny ways on the right side where he had laid against Leon in the night – a few of his blond strands went straight up near the top of his head. Leon smiled fondly to himself as James poured the finished coffee into a mug, splashed some half and half into it, and plated two pieces of toast before turning around towards him.
“What’s that look for?” James asked as he set the mug and plate in front of Leon. Leon grinned wider as he replied. “Are you telling me I can’t look at my boyfriend anymore? You’re just so cute, I can’t help myself.”
James smiled and turned his gaze down to the speckled countertop, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He had never been good at coming up with quick responses when he was caught off guard. The affection he wanted to return seemed too big to fit into words sometimes. “I-I guess you can keep looking if you want,” he mumbled, his brain too tired to come up with the right phrases.
Leon kept the grin on his face as he leaned forward on the countertop to pull James into a kiss across the island. James smiled slightly against his lips, closing his eyes as he brought his hands up to hold Leon’s face.
James pulled away first. “We’re going to be late,” he said, looking into Leon’s grey-blue eyes as he continued holding his face.
Leon replied with a slight pout, his brows drawn together in a faux hurt look. “Alright, fine. But you owe me later.”
“It’s a deal,” James said, the corner of his mouth turning up just a little as he let go and turned to head back into the bedroom to get dressed for the workday.
Since Leon was meeting with a new task force in the office for the day, they drove together to the nondescript building that housed STRATCOM headquarters. On the elevator ride up to their floor, James turned to give Leon a quick kiss on the lips.
“You’ll be done at 4:30, right?” he asked.
“Yep, 4:30,” Leon replied. “How could I ever leave you waiting?”
James rolled his eyes as the elevator came to a stop. “I’ll see you then. Love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart,” Leon grinned, stepping out when the elevator doors opened. James followed just behind him, watching as he made his way past security to the office suite behind the floor’s main lobby. James nodded at the guard as he made his way around the large administration desk that he shared with a rotating host of other employees. A quick jolt of pain shot down his left leg from where it met his hip as he sat down in his chair and his face contorted into a grimace. The joints would never completely heal from the abuse they had suffered in Spain, but some days were worse than others. As the pain subsided to a low throb, he resigned himself to the fact that today was just one of the bad days.
“Mr. Sunderland, there’s an Agent Kennedy here that needs you urgently.”
James glanced up at hearing Leon’s voice to see him leaning against the top ledge of the administration desk, smirking down at him with a mischievous look and tilting his head so that he could look at him through the bangs that fell over his right eye.
“And does this Agent Kennedy know what time it is?”
Leon straightened back up, his grin replaced with a sheepish expression. “Look, I’m sorry, our last meeting ran a little over. It’s only…” he turned his wrist to check his watch, “4:47. That’s not too late, right, baby?”
James turned up his nose as he went back to typing on his computer, refusing to look at Leon for as long as he could before he blushed and a smile crossed his lips. “No, I guess not.” He moved to turn his computer off and looked back up at Leon. “I wish I could stay mad at you, but I just can’t.”
“I know you can’t,” Leon teased, looking at James with fresh adoration as he stood up from his desk chair. The look fell quickly as James braced himself against the desk when another sharp jab of pain hit him and he gritted his teeth.
“James, do you need a hand?” Leon asked, already making his way around the desk to hold James around the waist and take some of the weight off his left leg.
“Yeah, I suppose,” James muttered. He leaned into Leon as he stood up straight. The joint was stiff and still ached, but it was usable. “I can walk, it’s okay.”
“Are you sure? I can carry you out to the car.”
“I know, but I should be stretching it out.”
Leon pouted slightly, wanting nothing more than to scoop James up into his arms and keep the pain away. “Alright, if you say so. I’m still going to hold you though,” he continued as they walked to the elevator.
James blushed a bit again – he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be used to Leon being so affectionate with him in public, though he had to admit to himself that he enjoyed it.
He breathed out a sigh of relief as Leon helped him lay down on the living room couch once they got home, all the weight finally taken off his tired left hip joint as he lay reclined with his upper back against the armrest and his head tilted to the right to rest on the couch back. He reached out to Leon’s nearest hand when he stood up. “Lay with me?” he asked, looking up into Leon’s face with pleading eyes.
Leon turned to face him and held James’ hand in both of his own. “I’m going to get you some ibuprofen and the heating pad, then I’ll join you.” He leaned down to kiss James’ gently on the forehead before letting go of his hand.
James watched as Leon disappeared into their bedroom to collect the medication from the cabinet in the bathroom and the heating pad from its place on a shelf in the closet. He returned to the kitchen, setting the pad in the microwave and starting it up. He pulled a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with cool water before bringing it over to James on the couch.
“Here you go,” he said as he handed James the glass, then tapping out two small round pills from the bottle of ibuprofen. James sat up to swallow down the pills with a gulp of water and then sank back against the couch.
The microwave beeped and Leon headed back to the kitchen to retrieve the heating pad. He set it down gently against James’ left hip, adjusting the beads inside it so that it wouldn’t fall off the side of the couch. James let out a long breath. The warmth immediately soothed some of the ache that radiated from deep within the joint.
Leon carefully climbed onto the couch, keeping away from James’ left side by pressing himself against the couch back before slowly sinking onto his body. James sighed again, the pressure of Leon’s weight on top of him calming his frayed nerves. Leon eyed James’ face and waited until his brows relaxed and he closed his eyes to put his head down on James’ shoulder. He placed his right hand on James’ chest, slightly stroking the soft threads of his sweater with his thumb.
They stayed there for a while in a comfortable silence. James dozed in and out, feeling cozy and secure with the rhythm of Leon’s slow breathing and the stroke of his hand against his skin.
Leon raised his head. “James?” he asked softly, bringing his hand up to hold James’ face.
James hummed, stirring but not opening his eyes. “I’m awake.”
“We should probably eat something for dinner, or else you’re going to be cranky by bedtime.”
James opened his eyes to look at Leon. “I’m going to be cranky? Remind me, who was eating shredded cheese out of the bag while standing in front of the open fridge at eleven at night a few days ago?”
Leon grinned. “Alright, you got me. I’m starving. How does pizza sound?”
James closed his eyes again and relaxed back against the armrest of the couch. “That sounds good. Can you get that cinnamon bread too?”
Leon kissed the corner of James’ mouth before speaking again. “Of course. I’ll call the place down the street.”
James reluctantly let Leon climb off the couch to order their food, shivering involuntarily at the sudden loss of warmth on top of him. The pain in his hip had faded – he felt just a tiny twinge as he sat up and removed the now lukewarm heating pad. He rose from the couch and stretched his arms upward, his muscles grateful for the movement after a long day at his desk. He sat back down as Leon returned, sitting to his right and putting an arm around his shoulders.
“Pizza place is pretty busy right now, they said it’ll probably be over an hour ‘til they can get to us,” Leon told him as he leaned into James.
James hummed in acknowledgement. With the pain in his hip subsided, he could focus on other things – though at the moment, he was mostly thinking about how he could faintly catch Leon’s scent as he pulled James closer with the arm he had around his shoulders. It was very nearly intoxicating to him, the way it mixed with the warm and spicy notes of his cologne. Is it… cinnamon? And vanilla, maybe?
James turned his head toward Leon and pressed a kiss to his cheek, bringing his right arm up behind Leon’s back and his left hand around to hold his thigh. Leon smiled as James continued to press kisses across the side of his face.
“What’s all this for, then?”
“You said I owed you this morning, right?” He kissed his cheek again and moved his hand up Leon’s thigh. “Let me pay you back.”
Leon shuddered a bit at James’ slow, gentle touch across his skin. He could feel the coolness of his fingers through the fabric of his pants. “James…” he moaned quietly as James nibbled at his ear. “James, your leg… you shouldn’t irritate it any more.”
James leaned his forehead against the side of Leon’s head, his lips close so he could whisper into his ear. “Just be gentle with me, okay?”
Leon let out another slight moan as he felt his cock twitch at James’ tone of reigned-in desire. He turned towards James so he could kiss him on the lips, bringing his right arm around to take James’ face in his hand and pull him closer.
James opened his mouth a bit, hungrily nipping at Leon’s lips before running his tongue along them as he continued to hold him against him. Maybe there’s a little nutmeg there, too, he thought, it reminds me of Christmas. He kissed him hard and breathed in deeply, letting the smell wash over his senses. He brought his hands up to the collar of Leon’s shirt, running his fingers across the warm skin of his upper chest until he came to the buttons. He fumbled with them a little before getting them all undone.
Leon pulled away so that he could speak, causing James to whimper quietly and open his eyes to look at him. “James, are you sure about this? I really don’t want to hurt you.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” James replied as he held Leon at the waist. “I promise I’ll tell you if I need to stop.” He moved back in to kiss Leon, a little more urgently this time. He hummed into his mouth. “Leon…” he breathed out between kisses, “you smell so nice.”
Leon chuckled as James’ hands meandered around his body, caressing every square inch of skin he could find. “Thanks, baby,” he responded as James trailed his kisses down to his neck, scraping his teeth as he went. “We should at least take this to the bedroom, wouldn’t that be more comfortable?”
James bit a little harder at Leon’s skin near his collarbone, making him flinch and tighten his grip around James’ shoulders. “Okay, I guess that would be better,” he relented. Leon swiftly shifted to scoop him up with the arm he already had around his shoulders and with his other arm under his knees. James held on around Leon’s neck and giggled a bit, pressing more kisses to his jawline near where his head rested on Leon’s shoulder.
Leon set James on the bed and shrugged his shirt the rest of the way off before climbing in after him. James reached out and pulled Leon down on top of him by his shoulders, desperate to get his lips back on his. Leon’s face flushed as James delicately traced his fingers along the muscles of his upper back and arms, moaning into his mouth as he did so. Leon returned the kisses eagerly and ran his fingers through James’ soft hair.
Panting, Leon pulled back slightly. “Do you want me to help you take your clothes off?” he asked.
James smiled and nodded, bringing his arms up over his head so that Leon could take off his sweater and t-shirt. Leon tossed them to the floor as he shifted down to undo the button and zipper of James’ jeans, gingerly pulling them off over his hips with his underwear. “Are you still okay?” he asked, still a little nervous about doing this after James’ flareup earlier in the day.
“Yes, Leon, please, I need you right now,” he whined, balling up his fists in the sheets above his head and arching his back slightly as the arousal tingled across his body.
Leon smirked as he pulled his own pants off. “Alright, alright, I won’t argue with you anymore,” he said, taking a moment to get the lube out of the drawer of the bedside table. James whined again as he laid there waiting for Leon to get back on top of him.
As Leon crawled back up to James, he brushed his hand up James' left thigh along the prominent scars there. James squirmed at the touch and reached out to Leon again to hold his arms, leaving little half-moon marks behind as he dug in his nails. Leon chuckled and leaned down so he could lightly kiss along James' jaw to his ear. "Should I be worried about you hurting me, instead of the other way around?" he purred, feeling the slight sting of James' nails on his skin.
James blushed further and lessened his grip, prompting Leon to continue with a smirk, "I don't mind, baby, I like when you mark me up."
James moaned at the praise and grabbed hard at Leon's arms again as Leon swirled a lubed finger around his asshole. James breathed out a gasp as Leon pushed his finger inside him, making slow circular strokes until he found the right spot and James tilted his head back, a smile crossing his lips as he let his eyes close.
"Leon..." he begged, "give me more, please." He opened his eyes to look up at Leon, his pupils blown out with pleasure. He brought a hand up to hold Leon's face.
Leon grinned down at him. "I think I can do that." He pressed a second finger into James and took James' hand from his face to kiss it as James gasped again below him. He leaned down further to trail gentle kisses along James' inner arm as he picked up the pace with his fingers. James whimpered and his breath quickened, feeling closer and closer to orgasm as Leon pressed inside him.
"Leon, wait," he said suddenly, looking back into Leon's eyes. Leon paused immediately and his brows knitted together. "Do you need to stop?"
James moaned as he spoke again. "No, no, I want you to finish with me, I want you to cum inside me," he said, barely getting all the words out as he panted hard and tightened his grip on Leon's arms.
"Damn, James, you really know how to turn me on,” Leon breathed out, his voice hitching as his cock throbbed at James’ need for him. He removed his fingers and reached over to the lube again as James brought his hands up to Leon’s shoulders.
Leon applied a generous amount before tossing the lube aside on the bed and leaning down to pull James closer to his hips. James whimpered - his muscles were tense at how close he already was to release. Leon brought James’ legs up to wrap around his waist, being especially gentle with his left. “Is this okay?”
James nodded quickly, shifting slightly to keep his hip joint in a comfortable position. Leon continued with a smirk. “Alright, I suppose you want me to start then?” He brought the head of his cock up against James but stopped there. James let out a high-pitched whine and pulled Leon down by the shoulders, putting their foreheads together and feeling Leon’s hot skin on his own. Leon’s hair brushed along James’ cheek as he finally pushed inside him, causing James to moan loudly and arch his back as much as he could with Leon on top of him.
Leon began to thrust at a slow pace, holding James up slightly at his left hip and bracing himself on the other side with his arm on the mattress. James moved a hand to the back of Leon’s head and tangled his fingers in his hair, still grasping at his shoulder with the other. He whimpered at every hit inside him, but it wasn’t enough.
“Leon, faster, please,” he begged, his voice a choked whisper. Leon obliged immediately and James’ vocalizations rose in pitch. He dug his nails into Leon’s skin and his lips parted in a deep moan, completely blissed out as the pressure he felt grew. “L-Leon, keep going, please, I-I’m so close!” he cried.
“F-fuck, James, I love you so much,” Leon groaned, his thrusts becoming more erratic as he got closer too. James cried out again at Leon’s words to him, seeing stars and gripping Leon’s body against his own as he came hard between them. Leon followed close behind, riding the wave of pleasure down gradually as he moaned out James’ name.
James tilted his head up to kiss Leon, still holding his body as close to his own as he could. His chest heaved with deep breaths as he let go so that Leon could pull out before quickly bringing him back down by the hold he had on his shoulder and hair to kiss him again. There was still a part of Leon’s scent that James couldn’t identify – something brighter on top of the spicy notes. He relinquished his grip once more in order to speak.
“I love you too,” he said, staring deep into Leon’s eyes just inches above his own like he was trying to memorize the placement of every fleck of blue and gray.
Leon grinned and gave James one more peck on the lips before carefully unwrapping his legs from his waist and sitting back on his heels, letting James’ hands fall to the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair to lay it back in place. “We should probably get cleaned up, our pizza is going to get here soon.”
James furrowed his brows and the corners of his mouth turned down into a slight pout. “Okay… I guess.” Leon stood up at the end of the bed and raised his arms above his head with open palms to stretch out before bending to pick their clothes from the floor. James moved to sit up but fell back against the bed and grimaced as pain shocked him at his left hip joint.
Leon’s face immediately contorted in concern and he rushed back over to help James sit up on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay? God, I knew we shouldn’t have kept going, we just made it worse.”
James stood up slowly, using Leon’s shoulder to brace himself. “I’m fine, it’s no worse than when we started.” He smiled slightly. “Besides, you know orgasms help relieve pain, right? The release of dopamine, increased blood flow, and reduced oxytocin levels all contribute to lowered pain and stress levels.”
Leon rolled his eyes as he held James at the waist to keep any excess pressure off his leg. “Alright, nerd. That won’t stop me from carrying you around when I know you shouldn’t be overdoing it.” With that, he scooped James up with his other arm behind his knees. James laughed and wrapped his arms around Leon’s neck as he was carried to the bathroom.
They cleaned each other up quickly – it had been nearly an hour since Leon had called for their food delivery, so it could show up at any minute. Leon carried James back to the couch after they got dressed and set him down gently, giving him a kiss on the forehead before sitting down to his left so that he could place a hand on his thigh and gently work the muscle there. James sighed and leaned back against the couch, content with Leon’s warm hands on him and still feeling a bit like he was floating in his post-orgasmic haze. He leaned over and pressed his forehead against the side of Leon’s head.
“Leon… you smell good.”
Leon grinned. “So I’ve heard.”
“What’s that you’re wearing?”
“Hmm,” Leon hummed as he thought for a moment, continuing to massage the muscles around James’ thigh and hip. “I think it’s got vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and orange?”
“Mmm… orange. That’s the one I couldn’t figure out.”
“You could’ve asked sooner and I would’ve told you,” Leon said with a little smirk, turning his head to look at James directly.
James blushed slightly. “Well, we were… busy.”
“I suppose we were, weren’t we?” Leon replied. He leaned in to kiss James gently on the lips and brought a hand up to hold his face.
A knock sounded at the door. James whined quietly as Leon pulled away.
“I’ll get it,” Leon said, standing up and making his way around the couch to head towards the door. He grabbed his wallet from the kitchen counter before opening the door and greeting the delivery woman. She handed him the food and he paid and tipped her, thanking her as he closed the door and then locked it.
Leon brought the boxes over to the living room, setting them on the coffee table and sitting back down next to James.
“Man, I am starving. What do you say we have dessert first?
“Didn’t we already have dessert?” James replied.
Leon looked over at James, speechless for just a moment before letting out a sharp, loud laugh. “Damn, James, I guess we did,” he said, then he leaned in to kiss him once more.