Chapter Text
Setting your empty bowl and spoon into the kitchen sink, you let out a not so subtle sigh. Your chest dropping as your exhale makes you feel weirdly tense. Your gaze drifts up towards the clock on the wall by the front door. Your eyes are straining without your glasses to make out the exact time in the dim light, but you figure it’s a little after 2:00am. Your bare feet are padding against the tiled floor by the kitchen island. The apartment is silent, and it’s eerie in a way… Not much noise if any, except for the slight structure settling noises within the walls themselves. Glancing down at the side table by the door and the key holder as you round the corner of the kitchen island, it's obvious to see only a single pair of shoes resting and one set of keys hangs.
““Move out" they said, it’ll be good for your health and the economy… God damnit. Who the hell am I even talking to?”
Looking at the single pair of shoes for another uncomfortably long stare you mumble to yourself.
“Maybe I should get a pet…”
Staring at the landlord’s palms squeezed together and head bowed slightly you definitely curse yourself as you look from the older man’s thinning head to the tall mysterious man standing slightly adjacent to him.
“Please forgive me! It’s only temporary, and I promise to cut you a deal while you’re dealing with the situation! Please understand!”
You stare at the man, whose gaze remains averted, in pure disbelief. Your hands crumpling the paper he handed you not moments before without even realizing. If you had visible hackles, they would for sure be standing on end.
“What do you mean?! You double sold MY home and you want me to just be fine with this?!”
The landlord winced at your raised tone. Hands held out in a passive manner as he motioned to the man behind him sheepishly.
“Please understand, there isn’t much I can do in this situation! It’s either this or one of you finds a new- a new dwelling. Aha ha… Hah…”
Blinking rapidly as your brain fights to process exactly what was going on, and thinking to yourself if you heard them right, you can’t help but laugh in response.
“Hah! Fine! Tell him to find somewhere else because I’m NOT leaving.”
You spit out in a huff as you cross your arms tight across your chest. Your sweatshirt folding around your chest and arms in a weak attempt at appearing enraged. Your hip jutting out as you place your weight on one leg and glare the best you can manage in the moment.
“Well- you see... This gentleman here was set to move in a month prior, but there were some complications…”
Your face pales, mouth falling agape.
“He has also… He already graciously paid…”
You blink once. Twice. A third time as you process the moment even further.
“For the entire year…”
Scrunching your eyebrows and pursing your lips as the words “entire year” reach your ears, you find yourself at a loss for words. A stray hair falling out from its pulled back state, and dangling over your forehead. A sudden chill of A/C sweeping past your bare feet, causing you to bring your thighs tighter together in a meek attempt at retaining warmth.
“HAAA?”
Nodding in response, the landlord motions behind him as he continues explaining.
“So you see… Mr. Kennedy here would have priority housing… In this situation… Unfortunately…”
“What? No- that’s not- That isn’t fair! I just moved in, and you’re just-... I don’t believe this! How is this even possible?!”
Kennedy? Kennedy was it? Hell no! This was the bastard who was trying to steal your new, weirdly always cold, and sometimes fucking creepy home! Glaring at the man behind the landlord you can’t help but pause as you take him in for the first time…
He’s tall, broad shouldered, and he holds himself with a weird aura. ‘Military maybe?’ you think to yourself… His vibe isn’t exactly clear as your eyes finally meet. Nothing on that poker face expression, but an icy blue stare. You can feel the goosebumps riding up on your arms as you fail to match his deadpan look. Only forcing yourself to tear your eyes away as the landlord claps his hands together abruptly.
“Well! Like I said, this will only need to be temporary as all our other units are either unavailable or under construction. As soon as we have an available unit we will be sure to let the both of you now, but for now please understand! Thank you so much for your help with this! Bye now!”
Just as quickly as he appeared with a knock on your front door, you’re left alone with this stranger and the two out of place looking boxes and a stuffed duffle bag. Neither you nor the man said a word as the city life sounds hummed in the air. Taking a moment to give him a quick ‘up and down’, you decide he doesn’t inherently look dangerous. However-
“definitely suspicious…”
You mutter under your breath without realizing. A light throat clearing noise emanates from behind the man’s tight lined lips and you blush lightly as you realize what you had done. Huffing and rubbing your temple with your hand, you shuffle back and dramatically motion with your other arm.
“Well don’t just- don’t just stand there like that. You’re letting all the air conditioning out.”
“Right… Thanks.”
A deep velvety pitch emanates from him as he throws the strap of the duffle over his shoulder and picks up the two stacked boxes. Your body is awkwardly frozen as you watch him cross the threshold into YOUR space. It felt like watching an animal at the zoo, but not in the cute “aw look'' kind of way… More like you’re watching a male lion stalk around his enclosure and chuff as a show of dominance ‘kind of way’. It irked you greatly and caused you to shiver. Clicking your tongue against your teeth as he places his boxes by the side table, you pause as he takes a moment to remove his shoes and place them beside your normal spot…
“So. Kennedy was it?”
Standing back upright as he turns to respond, the man nods as you look him over hesitantly. Sandy blonde bangs sweeping over his brow when he glances at your face. His body language spelled out aloof and unapproachable. “How wonderful” you thought…
“Name’s Leon. Leon Kennedy.”
“Right. Well, Leon, I’m not exactly thrilled about this, and I swear to god if you’re a serial killer-”
“Ah no. Definitely not a serial killer. Sorry to disappoint”
His tone is flat at the beginning but small hints of something peak through towards the end. You fail to notice the subtle smirk tweaking the edge of his lips in response to your concern. Point a manicured yet unpolished finger at his chest in skepticism-
“Yeah well, I don’t care what you do so long as you aren’t messy and keep whatever guy funk-”
You motion with your hands towards all of him. One of his singular plush brows rising at your physical showmanship.
“- in your area. Oh and for the love of GOD if you take forever in the shower.”
“You won’t have anything to worry about from me.”
Eyeing him as he states matter-of-factly to you, you can’t help but nod. Not a superb response, but it isn’t like you have much of a choice anyway…
Shutting the door and turning the lock briskly, you place both hands behind your back as you lean curiously towards his unmarked belongings. His frame towering over you whilst you hum in appraisal.
“For someone who’s moving into a new place, you don’t have a whole lot of stuff with you?”
You say with an inflection at the end. Leon’s shoulders tense before taking a pause. You glance up at him as he takes a moment to respond to your statement. You can almost visibly make out the cogs and gears cranking in his head. His slightly chapped lips parted as his tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip.
“I tend to move around a lot… Having less is… Easier…”
“Ahh…”
“...”
The two of you stand in the awkward air. The conversation having fallen flat since neither of you could manage a follow up. Although it hasn't been long, you swear your social skills have been depleted since moving out on your own. Your right hand comes up to fiddle with the elbow crease of your sweatshirt.
Leon stood at attention as he gave your shorter frame a once over. Oversized sweatshirt with some indiscernible graphic, leggings, barefeet, a nonchalant hairdo... You were right at home when he had just shown up out of nowhere. He had no idea there was an error in the tenancy, and he didn’t have any time to find any new lodgings on such short notice. Sure he could if he wanted to given his vast resources, but he picked this place specifically for location and ease of access. It was just subtle enough, but still decent to mask as his home base for the time being. Plus having someone else around could serve as decent camouflage. It would be something to worry about another time…
“I… Uh-”
You started hesitantly and stuttered as Leon’s expression gave you pause. His eyes softened as your nervous gaze found his own. Letting out a faint sigh as he talked with his hands, Leon’s shirt stretched over his chest. The off-white cotton strained against his pectoral muscles whilst he searched for the right phrasing. A free hand coming up to tousle his hair out of his face.
“Look- I understand how this situation probably makes you feel railroaded, but I think we can both agree we’re not exactly in any place to complain-”
He spoke with unwavering confidence. Watching your expression as he spoke carefully.
“I can also appreciate how you probably feel like I’m invading your space, and I don’t want us to be uncomfortable with one another since we’ll have to be living together.”
You cross your arms as he continues on. Shifting your weight from one leg to another, and causing your hip to jut out a smidge. His eyes tick down at the movement and back to your face quicker than you realize.
“With that in mind I propose we look at this in a more optimistic scope, hmm?”
“So you’re Mr. Positive himself are you?”
A brief chuckle rolls past his lips at your snippy remark. You blush in mild embarrassment and tap a soft touch to your lips, the pads of your fingers ghosting over them. Eyes flicking up to his face and seeing the corners of his lips pulled into a smile give you a wash of relief. Silently appreciative of him being so graceful about your smart-assery.
“I don’t know about that, but I would like to try. Like I said you won't have anything from me to worry about and I want to be able to be civil about this. I’d like to think you’re a reasonable young lady-”
“Young woman , thank you very much.”
You correct him quickly. His lips curled from a faint smile to a ghost of a smirk, showing some teeth as a result. God. Whose teeth are so perfect and pearly like that?
“I’d like to think we can get through this without causing one another any strain.”
You nod along as he explains, your fingertips resting against your chin as you never dropped your arm. Feeling a weird sense of self protection with your arms up. Subconsciously still taking a defense stance, a stance not going unnoticed by him.
“That sounds… Reasonable… How do you propose we go about this then Mr. Kennedy?”
You tilt your head as Leon chuckles silently at such a formal use of his name. His shoulders flexed from the movement. His duffle bag strap digging into the material on his shoulder accentuating the muscle. Blinking a few times to reset your focus.
“Just Leon is fine, and I think we could work on starting as roommates. How does that sound?”
“I-... That sounds fair…”
“Good. Good… Roommates it is then.”
“Yeah… Roommates...”
The two of you stand idly in the foyer as the mood shift seems to ease the tension. Briefly running your knuckles under your chin you take a breath, sigh and motion with an open hand. Leon raises both eyebrows at the sudden movement, head cocked in curiosity.
“I guess I should show you the rest of the house then. Since we’re going to be roommates and all”
“Please and thank you.”
He murmurs in a deep pitch that sends another round of shivers through you. Praying that he doesn’t always sound like that, otherwise this might be harder than you thought. You curl your lips inward as you pass him by, turning and waving at his form with an open hand.
“Might wanna set your bag down there. It’s a bit of a walk around.”
“Sure. I appreciate the heads up”
Leon turns and removes his duffle, lowering the bag with a ginger touch so as not to disturb its contents. You’re already several steps ahead of him but it definitely sounded heavy, whatever it was…
You turn and point as you walk him through the house. Showing off the living area which you emphasize on making sure the remote is always put back in the same place, so it doesn’t get lost. He nods, absorbing the information as you provide it. You point out the kitchen and explain how you don’t really find much of a use for the kitchen but cook here and there when you feel like making something specific. This grabs his attention.
“You cook?”
He says in a tone that makes you grin a little. Something tells you he isn’t exactly the kind of person who eats home cooked meals too often.
“Oh sure. I just have to be in the mood. Why? How about you?”
Leon ponders for a moment and shakes his head.
“I don’t think you’re going to count microwave dinners are you?”
“Um no.”
You say flatly, almost too quickly. His face unexpectedly fell into a pout… The two of you pause for a moment before breaking out into a light fight of laughter. The mood once again easing into something a little more comfortable.
Leon eyes your face as you laugh. The way your lips pull and how your nose scrunches up just a tad bit, and the slight crinkle by the corners of your eyes. Unconsciously making mental notes of how you look as you circle back through the kitchen and point towards one end of the house.
“That way is the laundry room and the garage. My car is in there and I’ve got some light workout equipment in there, but I can move it all if you need to park your car-”
“No need. I don’t have a car.”
“What?”
You turn to look at him in confusion, but Leon looks as if this is something he says as regularly as his name, and he definitely was not offering up any sort of explanation. His expression is once again unreadable.
“Hmm. I get to keep my home gym then- yay me.”
You nod and shrug, walking past him again towards the other end of the house. His cologne wafts up to your face as you sort of squeeze past him in the hall. A mix of body wash and whatever brand he was wearing. It wasn’t intrusive by any means and oddly… Pleasant. You clear your throat as subtly as you can manage to distract yourself from the color tinting the tips of your ears… Leon followed you from behind at three paces the entire time.
“You sound so pleased with that.”
His tone exuded a sense of playfulness.
“Oh believe me. I am. Now this is the ‘library’ or ‘media room’, this is a bathroom and this way-”
You point from left- middle, and right at the dead end of the hall.
“Is what I've been using as my office, but seeing as how we’re roommates we can reconfigure it however…”
Leon nods as you turn towards the stairs. His eyes follow you as you lead the way.
“There are three bedrooms upstairs. Two regulars and the master, and another bathroom up here.”
Leon hums as he glances between the rooms, and notices how only one of them has a shut door. Nodding in that direction he moves to take a step toward it.
“I’ll just take one of those-”
“Oh um… That one is uh-... That one is my room… So you can go ahead and take the master if you wanna. It’s no problem. Really.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Alright then. I’ll do that. Thank you.”
You nod and brush the loose hairs from your face. Hoping that it didn’t come off as weird that you hadn’t taken the master bedroom in your own house. Thankfully Leon didn’t ask any questions, so it didn’t seem like it was a big deal. You watched as he poked his head into the master bedroom. His arm up against the frame as he leaned in and glanced around. You couldn’t help your eyes from lingering on the tiny sliver of skin that flashed itself as his shirt separated from his jeans. His hips peeked out from under the fabric as he leant over in a deeper posture. You swallowed thickly before finding something else to look at. Hoping your face didn’t show your most definitely flustered expression.
“So we’re going to be roommates and neighbors then.”
Leon nodded his head towards your bedroom door. Your room and now Leon’s room sitting right next to one another, separated by insulation and drywall. You look between both doorways and up to his face. You swore you could see his brows furrowed for a moment, but once you blinked it was back to the icy poker face.
“I guess so.”
You rock back onto your heels as the two of you stand in the upstairs hallway. Your heels grazing the edge of the top step. Leon flexes his hands at his sides and exhales softly. His minty breath barely made it to where you were standing.
“I feel like I'm getting the better end of the deal right now, so how about I come up with a peace offering?”
You make a face at him for his choice of words, but still look at him expectantly.
“I’ll buy dinner tonight since I can imagine me coming here today has probably caused you a bit of… Stress.”
You snicker as he seems to struggle to come up with the right word without sounding unconcerned. All your cynicism comes in at full force in your retort.
“ Oh no . Just my landlord showing up with a stranger who is now standing in my home, who will now be living with me until the foreseeable future. What about this situation could possibly be stressful?”
You bat your eyelashes at Leon with such force he gives you a mildly pained look. You’d almost feel guilty for it if you weren’t one hundred percent serious about what you just said. Leon takes a step forward as he holds his hands out in a show of tenderness.
“I know… I know and again I am sorry for the situation, but I’m in it too yeah?”
He takes another handful of steps. Your brain suddenly decides that this hallway was relatively a bit too small for two people.
“I don’t want you to think of me as some sort of irritant or burden.”
One final step and he’s so close you can make out the silvery pigment laced within his irises. The purple-ish hues of his dark circles, and the small mole right on his smile line.
“Besides… I don’t think we’re strangers anymore since we’re roommates now.”
He says with a light smile. You stare up at him in a partially wonderstruck gaze before gasping as you slip back from the step you were on. Your arms flail as you fight to remain balanced, and mouth agape as you huff in surprise.
“Wh- shit!”
Leon’s eyes go wide as you slip backward, his body lurching forward and hands going out to grab you from falling. You shoot both arms out to your sides in a T pose trying to hold yourself up with the railings, only to have Leon grab a handful of your sweatshirt and fist it in his grip. His fingers somehow latching around your bra as well, making your body bow back and snap forward as he yanks you towards him. The action being graceless and brutish. You plant your feet back and bend at the knee so you remain as stable as possible. The two of you are waiting for some notification of completion for whatever reason. You shudder as the feeling of weightlessness washes through you still. Your face is a darker pink in full embarrassment.
“Holy shit, are you okay?”
Leon exhales in relief. You nodded in a snappy motion before you wince. Your chest is still feeling tight. Glancing down and staring for a moment, you simply look down and back up at Leon with a quizzical expression.
“Wh- oh god! I’m so sorry.”
Leon practically snaps his arm back as if touching you was burning him. The two of you adjust awkwardly again. Him rubbing the back of his neck, and you fluster around trying to adjust the frumpiness of your sweatshirt.
“I’m gonna-”
“I’ll just-”
The two of you speak at the same time. Cheeks pink, eyes averted, stuttering your breaths, and mutually pointing down the stairs. The two of you step down at the same time. Your chests brushing against one another briefly before you shuffle back and cough lightly.
Leon sucked in his breath and cut it off mid inhale. Your face most likely beet red at this point as Leon shifts his jaw up as if he was trying to give you space. Him not realizing it accentuated the way his jawline looked. You watch as his adam's apple bounces in a long swipe, the blonde man swallowing thickly.
“Lady’s first.”
“Thanks…”
You mutter and take the opportunity to briskly step downstairs. Your heart flutters in your chest as you try not to think about the warmth that radiated off of Leon. Hopefully he didn’t realize you were staring up at him as you both stood compressed against one another. You plop down onto the sofa in the living room and pull your legs up to cross them and pull a pillow into your lap. Doing your best to clear your head as Leon’s voice calls out.
“So uh… I was thinking Chinese maybe? Does that work?”
“Yeah… Chinese is good.”
“Sounds great. I’m just going to drop these in my room and then we can order. I’ll be back in a second.”
You nod as you watch Leon step out of the hallway towards the foyer where he left his belongings. You pause for footsteps and tilt your head when nothing is heard... Until a faint shuffle of boxes sounds out and Leon reappears with both boxes taking up his arms and the heavy looking duffle hanging off his shoulder.
You can’t help your eyes wander as they land on his arms. Your eyes are blowing wide at the sight. You had obviously given him a good look over since you wanted to be mentally prepared. In case you needed to give the police a description of your assailant and all, but this was just downright indecent. His biceps look like they could be the size of your head and just- fuck. His forearms are obscenely vascular and shapely. You can somehow make out every individual muscle in them. "He must workout a lot, you think to yourself. It wasn’t anything about him inherently- but his arms… They’re just so-
“Sex…”
You mutter under your breath.
“You say something?”
Leon’s head turns as he just makes it to the stairs. A decent way away, so how he even heard it was beyond you. Eyes wide in embarrassment, you shake your head. Your hair becomes even more of a mess in the process. Watching you shake your head he simply hums and keeps on his path. You watch as the man disappears up the stairs before smothering your face behind the throw pillow in your lap.
“What. The. Fuck.”
You curse yourself as you sit and wait for Leon to return. Huffing to yourself in the silence of the living room before snagging the remote and putting something on for background noise…
“Hello and Good Evening ladies and gentleman, tonight our top story: Umbrella pharmaceuticals has officially greenlit new drug trials-”
You stare mindlessly at the tv as you poke at your sesame chicken. Your chopsticks push the little nuggets around as you space out. Leon takes a similar stance as he sits on the couch, but he makes a prudent decision to leave at least a cushion between you. Although his legs are spread out in a more lax position compared to your tightly wound, cross-legged form.
Leon had ordered dinner for you both and paid as he said he would. You appreciated the action since you were actually pretty hungry. The two of you making a place for yourselves on the living room couch and waiting patiently for the delivery driver. It was an agonizing twenty minutes of silence sans the tv, but once the food arrived and you were both settled it seemed to allow the room to once again settle in a sort of eaze. Every so many minutes you would steal glances at him to just watch out of curiosity. He had good manners from what you could tell. He sat up straight, ate cleanly, and never dropped anything onto the furniture. Hardly a crumb in sight. It was almost abnormal.
“Staring is rude, you know.”
Leon wiped his mouth with a napkin. Folding it and setting it to rest on his knee. His eyes still trained on the television. You fight from choking on the bite you were taking as you were caught red handed. Pushing the food to one side of your cheek so you can manage to talk.
“Oh I wasn’t- I mean I’m not trying to-”
“Easy. I’m joking. I’m sure you’re still trying to get a grasp of the situation, and I get it isn’t exactly ideal.”
You chew another bite before placing your takeout container on the coffee table and set your chopsticks on the box. Turning to face him as you swallow your food. His head turned to get a better look at what you were doing. A new wave of nervousness spreads over you as you see him watching you, with his fully undivided attention. The shifting couch cushions lightly bob up and down. That icy blue gaze trained on you as if he could see every little pore on your face.
“Leon?”
“Hmm?”
“I wanna-... I do agree with you about trying to be civil about this, and I appreciate you trying to extend the metaphorical… Uh… The thingy... The peace thingy?”
He raises an eyebrow slowly and parts his lips. His eyes tracking your hand as you wave it in circular motions in front of your chest. Watching your brain search for what it was trying to find.
“Olive branch?”
“More like a fortune cookie but sure-”
He smirks and you swear your heartbeat quickens.
“My point. My point is that if we are going to do this whole ‘roommate’ bit, then I feel like I should know you better. More than just ‘Leon Kennedy’.”
Leon hums as he thinks for a moment, considering your words. His bottom lip jutting out a smidge as he ponders. Your averted gaze slowly reaches his and your shoulders slump forward in a motion of anticipation. Your fingers fidgeting with the edge of the couch cushion.
“My middle name is Scott.”
He says plainly,
“What?”
“My full name is Leon Scott Kennedy. There. Now you know.”
You stare at him with an incredulous expression before falling into a fit of poorly muffled cackles. You hand covering your mouth as you suck in air. Leon smiled at you as you fought to regain your composure. His eyes creased around the outer corners in amusement. The man was pleased at being able to make you laugh.
“Okay- woooh. Okay definitely not what I was talking about. I meant in more of a friendly manner, you know?”
“A bit quick are we? Not even acquaintances?”
“Come on, I'm being serious here. I want to know some standard information. I feel like I’ve earned the right, Mr. Kennedy.”
You cock your head to the side as you press him gently. Watching him as he purses his lips briefly before setting his own meal down onto the coffee table, and turning his torso towards you. His right arm extended over the back of the couch and leg lifting up and resting on his opposite knee. It was interesting to watch him go through a silent debate in his head before deciding that he was comfortable enough to proceed. Almost as if he was mentally setting parameters that he would and would not allow you to cross.
“Alright. Are you shooting for something like twenty questions then?”
“Hmm… Yeah. I think that’s fine. I learn something about you, and you learn something about me. Deal?”
He rocks his head back and forth pretending to decide before nodding.
“Deal. Lady’s first.”
“What a gentleman.”
You scoff dramatically at the reuse of the phrase.
“So… What brings you here?”
“Work.”
“And what do you do for work?”
“I work with the government.”
Leon says in a flat statement, but it seemed innocent enough.
“Ooh. How vague”
You snicker in a half-hearted attempt to muster an ominous tone. Something in his eyes hardens before he refocuses on you.
“Wouldn’t want to bore you with the details.”
His chin jutting towards you flipping the question back to you almost too easily.
“You too. What are you doing here?”
“I just… Wanted to start fresh I suppose. Although I admit I wasn’t expecting to go through this much of a change.”
You say, motioning to all of him. Leon lets out a hearty chuckle and raises a palm towards you.
“Fair enough. What are you doing for work currently? I know you have that home office and all.”
“Ah. Well since I just moved here I’m looking for work right now, so I guess you can say I’m freelance?”
You give him a sheepish look and appreciate how Leon doesn’t seem to think one way or another about your situation.
“Well then I suppose you’ve got some free time ahead of you.”
“I guess so… My turn again. What is… What’s your favorite color?”
“I’d probably say either blue or black. No particular reason really. You?”
“Maybe a deep forest green, or a nice blue color. Like the ocean after a storm?”
Leon nods, his expression neither here nor there. You tap your thumbs against your knees and click your tongue against your teeth as you try to think of another question. Leon parts his lips to say something, but stops himself and closes them just as quickly. As if stopping himself from saying something. Your eyes flicker up to him at the motion, but he says nothing…
“When’s your birthday?”
Leon stills for a fraction of a second and flashes a smile at you.
“Why are you asking? You tend to get acquaintances' birthday gifts?”
“Oh my god, would you stop that? I’m just curious to know. Just want to make sure it doesn’t line up with any major holidays, in case you had a favorite one or something.”
Leon thinks to himself for a moment before responding.
“I’m not really sure. I don’t tend to have time to celebrate many holidays, so I don’t really have a favorite one…”
“Oh… Well I would like to say Halloween because who doesn’t love being scared by a bunch of monsters?”
You say in a matter-of-fact tone. Leon’s face shifts ino something unreadable, far away, but you’re much too occupied with your own thoughts to be able to notice.
“However, if I'm being completely honest… I’d probably say Christmas is my favorite. There is just something about it that makes me feel a certain way.”
“Mind if I just copy your answer then?”
Leon smiles faintly as you pull yourself from your cloud of thought. Shrugging and leaning back against the backside of the couch, you relax your posture and pull your knees up. Comfortable and sitting all of yourself on the cushion, fully faced towards him as he leans back.
“Suit yourself.”
Leon lets his eyes scan over you as you pull your hair tie out of your messed up style. Letting your hair fall around your shoulders and staying silent as you comb a free hand through your hair. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, still tasting the sauce from his dinner.
“Do you like Chinese food?”
He asks.
“I do like spicy foods, but I think anything pasta related is probably my favorite. They’re easy to make and filling. Good for budgeting and left overs can be just as good.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for next time.”
You smile as he says ‘next time’. Something about it makes your chest feel warm. Tapping your pointer finger against the fabric of the couch near his hand, you look at him curiously…
“Are… you married?”
You look up at him through your lashes. Hoping you weren’t being too horribly forward with your asking. Leon makes a surprised face for a moment before shaking his head. His blonde locks swaying with the momentum.
“Nope. Married life isn’t in the cards for me, so it isn’t exactly on my to-do list.”
“Ohhh. Interesting.”
Leon cocks a brow at your response.
“What about it is interesting?”
“No reason. Just is…”
Giving you a suspicious look, Leon shakes his head and points at you with his hand that’s laid over the backrest of the couch. His index finger popped up in a small movement.
“What about you? Got anyone special?”
His tone is pricking close to humorous. You swallow and pull your arms into your chest. Lips parting slowly as you think of how to phrase your words. Allowing your hair to fall over your face in a weak willed attempt to hide your expression.
“I was… Engaged... He and I ended up wanting different things in life, so now I’m not engaged… This is me doing something different.”
You wave a hand carelessly to the whole space around you. Your eyes actively avoid Leon’s gaze. Not wanting to see any pitiful sympathy he would offer like most others do when they heard the news…
Thinking enough of a beat has passed you glance up to see Leon offering a stoic appearance.
“Good for you. I hope whatever you decide is different… Is what you want.”
“Thank you…”
“Of course.”
… There it was. That silence again. It was more than uncomfortable this time. Palpable would be putting it lightly, but maybe that was just how you were seeing it. Rubbing your arms gently as the air conditioning kicked back on, you shivered in response. Grabbing at the sleeves of your sweatshirt as a means to occupy yourself.
Leon simply watched as you fiddled anxiously. His eyes flickering from your hands to your cheeks, your eyes, your hair, and back again. Letting out a more than sufficient fake yawn, he shifts around and offers a weak attempt at stretching. Making a grand motion to check the watch on his wrist.
“I think that’s enough questions for tonight. It’s after midnight, so I’m going to try and get some sleep. I’ll clean up down here.”
You quickly straighten up as he speaks. Thankful for the change of topic.
“Oh um, are you sure? I don’t mind. Especially since you paid and all.”
“No really. It’s no problem at all. I’ll be taking the couch anyway since I’ll have to order a bunch of furniture anyways.”
“Oh! Let me get you some blankets. I’ll be right back.”
You jump up from your spot on the couch and power walk to and up the stairs. Making it back down in time to see Leon throwing out the empty containers and placing whatever was good for leftovers in the refrigerator.
“Here you go… It isn’t much, but I imagine it’s better than sleeping without a blanket.”
“I’ve dealt with worse, but still, thank you.”
“It’s no problem, here-”
Your hand patted the top of a single pillow.
“I don’t really have many others for sleeping other than the ones from my room, so here.”
Leon hummed as he took the stack of blankets topped with a pillow from you. You stood there idly as he made a makeshift spot to sleep. His movement is quick and efficient, as if he had done it dozens or hundreds of times before. You rub your palms against your hips and nod to yourself once he’s completed.
“Well… Good night I guess, and I swear to god if you murder me in my sleep tonight-”
“I’ll do my best not to.”
“You’d better!”
The two of you snicker and laugh under your breaths at the now somehow silly sentiment. You nod and point to the stairs behind you, his eyes tracking your hand and then to the direction you point at.
“I’ll just be upstairs, so just shout if you need something.”
“Won't be necessary, but I thank you for the offer.”
“Yeah, of course… Good night Leon.”
You give him a small wave of your hand before trekking back upstairs, and out of sight…
Leon remains in his place until he can make out the sound of your bedroom door shutting. Almost chuckling to himself as he hears the audible ‘click’ of the lock on your door. Leon walks to the front door to verify it was locked. Shutting off the porch light and checking the garage, back, and side doors as well. His eyes scan all visible portions of the home's perimeter.
Finally satisfied when he checks all the main access points, he shuts off the light in the living room. Removing his jeans and folding them neatly, removing his wrist watch and setting them on the jeans. Leon sighs as he gets under his provided blanket and stares up at the darkened ceiling. His hair fanned out against the pillow. The soft ‘puff’ causing your shampoo to waft up into his nose. With a deep inhale and then sigh, Leon lets his eyes fall closed…
“Good night…”