having online friends who are busy is just like. I LOVE YOU. I miss you. YOU GOT THIS. I'm giving you space to work. I LOVE YOU.
leon kennedy for REAL
HEY GUYS WHAT THE FUCK I JUST FINISHED FUCKING COPING
“Tell me a story, please?” you add, hiding a smile under the edge of the blanket. A kiss is bestowed upon on your forehead and the cave opens for the night. Leon clears his throat theatrically. “This story is about a girl, and a boy who loved her very much.”
Leon keeps his best tales under lock and key, and you crack one out of him on a particularly sleepless night. He thinks you might like this one.
f / m, fluff sprinkled in with angst and emotional hurt, insomnia, grief + mourning, leon is a sweetheart he just loves you :(, he basically tells you a fairy tale before bed
word count: 1.6k // read on ao3
a/n: um. norman fucking rockwell, baby. if you catch the lyrics from "How to disappear", i love you. i wrote this fic like i was possessed 😭 nothing was planned
There aren’t any waves outside your landlocked bedroom window to lull you to sleep, but there is another ocean view you can think of. You turn to the other side of your pillow, biting your lip hopefully.
“Hi, sweetheart,” the view mumbles, ocean eyes groggy and losing the fight against sleep.
You’re in luck.
“Leon,” you whisper.
“Mm.”
“Can’t sleep.”
“Don’t know why…you’re not tired,” he yawns, his blond lashes almost fluttering closed before snapping open at your wide-eyed expression, “when you’ve been running through my mind all day.”
You cram the comforter to your chin and flip to the other side of the bed with a groan.
Leon chuckles, giving your shoulder a sleepy shake, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
He’s not sorry. But you relent anyway.
“Tell me a story,” you mumble as he tucks you back in.
You brush a strand of hair across his forehead to unveil those ocean eyes again. They’re faded and tired, yes, but they’ve also seen more of the world than you could ever dream of. The only good thing to come out of Leon’s mysterious missions to the ends of the earth is the treasure trove of stories he brings back with him, like a Cave of Wonders, filled with only the best for you to unlock. You don’t know anything about the outside of that cave – he stops telling the story if you ask – and you’re not in any position to argue as the clock ticks closer to morning.
“What’s the magic word?” he nudges.
Is he really going all open sesame on you too?
“Tell me a story, please?” you add, hiding a smile under the edge of the blanket.
A kiss is bestowed upon your forehead and the cave opens for the night. Leon clears his throat theatrically.
“This story is about a girl, and a boy who loved her very much.”
“One thing you have to know before I start anything though, sweetheart, is that this girl was a spitfire. Completely unreasonable. She was the type to pack a grocery cart full of ice cream she swore was on discount only to have all of it be full price and melt in the checkout line.”
(“That was one time!”)
“Never said a thing about it being you, sweetheart, shh. You’re supposed to be trying to sleep. But either way, this girl couldn’t be you because she was a princess – a real pretty one at that. Sweet, smart and kind like little girls grow up wanting to be. She lived in a castle by the sea on an island in the middle of nowhere, and here’s what I heard about her on my last mission. You’ll like this one.
“Life on that island was as peaceful as you can get in a fairy tale. She had plenty of mermaids for friends and animals to keep her company, but you can’t help getting lonely after the years start passing by. The princess was stuck there, you see.”
(“How’d she get there to begin with?”)
“Uh-uh, you’re interrupting me.” Leon teases. “Story or no story?”
(“Story, please.”)
“Magic, alright? Say she got stolen away by some evil witch like Rapunzel did and her kidnapper drowned in the sea. I don’t know. But it didn’t really matter because that island became home after a while. A beautiful home, but lonely all the same. The mermaids all returned to their castle under the sea when the moon came up and the princess wished had somebody she could sleep next to when it got cold at night.
“She was fond of stories too, like somebody else I know, and after all those years on that island, she’d read every book in the castle and longed for someone who could tell her something new. All she ever wished for on her birthday was a friend. ‘Just for a little bit’, she’d beg.”
Leon sucks in a careful breath.
“So one night, the ocean decided to send the princess a birthday present just like she asked. A magic tide deposited a little boat on the edge of her island, and when the princess woke up the next morning and looked outside her window, she saw something – or rather, somebody – slumped inside of that boat.”
(“And inside that boat was a prince?”)
“No prince. The princess made sure of it too, brave thing that she was, walking right up to the boat and taking a good look at who was sleeping inside of it.
“The boy inside that boat was dead to the world with cuts on his face from fighting too hard. He gave the princess a good scare ‘cause he was so asleep she thought he was actually dead. When he woke up and asked ‘Who are you?’, she nearly punched him out of fright.”
(“You were right, I think I like her.”)
Leon laughs, bright and warm.
“But this boy was a real charmer, and the princess was kind, remember?”
(“Bummer.”)
“She didn’t go around punching people out of nowhere. Especially not the first human she’d ever seen. Her curiosity got the best of her and she took the boy to her castle, where he told her he was a mercenary from a faraway kingdom. He’d been on his way to kill a rampaging sea monster when a mysterious wind blew his boat off course and right onto the princess’ island.
“Over breakfast, the mercenary told her stories about monsters, jungles, fire-breathing dragons, stuff she’d only ever read about. She was entranced. The more he spoke, the more the princess wanted to see for herself even though she knew she couldn’t. She had to be smart about it.”
Leon swallows. He nestles the blanket around you a little tighter, like you’d slip out of his grasp, and continues.
“The boy was battered from the beating he took from his voyage, so the princess nursed him back to health. I told you she was stubborn, right? She wouldn’t take any of the gold or jewels he tried offering her from his travels. All she asked for was a new story each day he stayed with her. He agreed.
“The first week went by in a flash. The princess borrowed magic green herbs from her mermaid friends to heal the mercenary faster. The herbs made him strong enough to move mountains if he wanted to, so he pounded a couple to the ground outside her castle just to prove he could when she asked, and with the new space, the princess made him a place to stay. Turns out she was a great businesswoman; the boy spun tale after tale for her while she fixed a loneliness deep in his bones. Everything was perfect.”
(“Aww…”)
“The boy stayed longer than he thought he would. His boat collected dust as that week turned into months. Those months grew into a year. The princess’ birthday rolled around again.”
(“Did they fall in love?”)
“They did, sweetheart.”
Leon chuckles softly.
“He ended up loving her a lot, and the princess loved him too, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not usually how it goes in fairy tales, is it? There’s a catch.”
You reach for Leon’s hand in the deep of the comforter, not remembering when he let go.
“Good sailors know not to mess with the ocean. It wasn’t too pleased with the princess keeping the boy to herself for more than just a little bit, not when he needed to get rid of that sea monster that had been killing millions of innocent people. So on the night of the princess’ birthday, the sea asked the boy to go back to being a mercenary. He needed to do his job and the princess wasn’t part of it.”
(“Tell me he stayed, Leon.”)
“Princess, I can’t-”
(“Make him stay.”)
And for the first time, Leon stutters because he never changes the story.
“A-Alright, so the boy stays. He tells the sea that he fell in love and can’t bear to leave the princess behind.”
(“And then?”)
“And then…and then he finds out he’s in over his head. The tide comes and goes, everything has to have a balance. He needed to go because he had to protect all those people, and he couldn’t do that by staying with the princess no matter how much he loved her, right?”
Lifting the blanket aside, Leon falls onto his back. You watch the ceiling fan blades spin in the dull sea-blue of his eyes.
“The princess asked him to stay and he couldn’t say no to her. She meant well. She didn’t…she didn’t know. And they were happy together on that island until the boy’s decision caught up with him. The sea monster he was supposed to kill found their island one day, sweetheart.”
(“...Leon, no. That’s not supposed to happen.”)
“It’s how the story goes,” he murmurs, gently pressing his lips to yours.
You barely feel it; you taste saltwater in his kiss, feel it running down your face.
“But you changed it!” You’re crying, can’t find his hand. Where’d he go? He’s supposed to be here, you changed the stupid story, you have to make him stay.
The ocean might not be outside your window, but you still see it behind glass as you prop yourself up on your elbows, heaving for breath only to find Leon’s framed picture sitting beside your pillow.
His eyes are so blue. Ghostly in the dark.
You must have dropped it when sleep took you under. Your earbuds are still hooked up to a podcast in an earlier effort to bore yourself to sleep, but you don’t really want to hear about relaxing Zen gardens right now. Tugging everything out of your ears, your shaking finger opens the notes app.
Right now, you’re in the mood for a story. A story with a happy ending where no one goes anywhere.
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first date
re2r!Leon x college student!Reader.
isn't it just good manners to warn the cute biker about the cop car that's always stationed a few blocks over?
You bounce the shopping basket in your hands, eyes working around the grocery aisle underneath the harsh allure of the florescent lights. A carton of milk, a bag of chips, two sodas, a popcorn bucket and a bag of clementines just so your mom won't hop on the next flight to land right in front of your dorm room chastising about your eating habits.
Milk was healthy, too, right? Maybe not with the sugary cereal you're in search for, but at least it gets the calcium in your system, so who are you to complain.
Where was this darned cereal though? You're surely in the correct aisle, seeing lines of other boxes occupying the shelves, right next to all the jams, jellies and preserves colouring the dull gray of the counters. Taking a few steps back, you finally spot it at the very top and to your dismay, it is a lonesome box pushed to the very back.
You huff out an annoyed breath, securing the basket on your forearm. You're not leaving without that box or you're sure that you will not be eating any dinner for the next ten days.
But try as you might, you can't reach it. It doesn't help that you're on the tip of your toes, hand stretched up to an impossible length as your fingers are unable to even graze its surface.
You must look silly, thanking your luck that the store is empty, save for the cashier but he can't spot you from his counter. Unless he's chuckling in amusement through the security camera. Your dignity would have to take a backseat right now, this was more important than some middle aged man's amusement.
"Um, hey."
That makes you freeze, hand still up in the air, heels lifted at least four inches off the ground and your head turned in the direction away from where the muffled voice came from. With herculean effort, you twist your face, mouth opening slightly in horror as your eyes meet the man who had gently called out to you.
Washed out jeans, a black tee and a leather jacket in a colour so dark so you can't tell if it's blue as well or black. A helmet hides his face from you, sitting snuggly on his head with the visor tipped up that allows you to see his cool, blue eyes, the pale skin underneath pushed up as though the helmet was squeezing his cheeks.
You would have thought how adorable it looked but nothing mattered to you right now as you were horrified by being caught in your 'no one will see me' outfit by a cute biker. You know for sure now that someone somewhere is laughing at you. Maybe it is the cashier.
"I'm not gonna let you have this last box," You hear yourself blurt out defensively and as the words are out in the air, you want to slap yourself. Because apparently you hadn't embarrassed yourself enough.
His eyes crinkle, a chuckle making his chest vibrate. "Oh no, don't worry I wouldn't dream of it." He switches the gatorade and one stick of protein bar to his left hand. "I uh was just going to offer if I could get that for you?"
"Oh," You say stupidly, "Yeah please, that would be great." And finally you peel yourself away from the shelves and step back, feeling your skin get hot with embarrassment.
Nodding, he covers the distance easily with two strides, reaches up and plucks out the box without an hassle. "Ah, the elusive cereal box. They really should install step stools for us vertically challenged folks."
You raise your eyebrows, unable to stop the laugh that leaves your lips making your shoulders relax. "Us? I don't see you struggling to reach the top."
He winks at you. "I was just saying that to make you feel better." He holds the box out to you, "You know these are very sugary."
"Well I happen to like sweet things," You settle the cereal in your basket. "And that's why I also have the clementines to balance things out."
He laughs, shaking his head. For someone who speaks so softly and sweetly, it amazes you how much space he takes up in the aisle. All tall and broad, filling out his jacket in a way that has you fighting to not stare at the way his biceps are straining against the leather. And you feel your cheeks getting warmer, "What?"
"You're a college student?" He asks.
You wince, "My eating habits are that bad that it gave me away so quick?"
He blinks, tilting his head to the side as he gestures to the sweatshirt you have on with your college name stitched on so clearly with a maroon thread.
You look down and the urge to slap yourself returns. Great, another opportunity to embarass yourself and you decided not to pass it up. Bye-bye dreams of becoming someone's backpack. "Right," You cough, clasping the handles of the basket with both of your hands, "Yeah uh I go to college here. Are you a student too?"
To your surprise, he shakes his head, "No I work nearby."
Before you can ask where, you feel your phone buzz loudly in your pocket. Once. Twice. And then thrice. Throwing him an apologetic look, you dig it out to find a barrage of texts from your roommate asking where you were and if you'd gotten the popcorn yet.
Sighing, you shoot back a text saying you'll be there in ten as you sway on your feet, preparing to move. "I should go. It was really nice to meet you..."
"Leon," He adds with a smile, cheeks squishing even more under his helmet.
You return his smile and give him your name in exchange, which has his eyes crinkling deeply. And just before you disappear around the aisle to the cashier, you stop and turn around.
"Hey," You call out to him, waiting as he turns to you, "Friendly tip, there's a cop car that's always parked a few blocks away. It's well hidden behind a few bushes, so it makes it hard to spot." You pat your head, feeling a little foolish and hoping that's the correct sign for 'police' in the viking community. "Be careful so they don't give you a hard time."
Leon grins widely under his helmet, feeling almost giddy. He should leave too if he wants to be up bright and early to report to his post with the cop car a few blocks away.
Leon pats the top of helmet, mirroring you, "Thanks for letting me know! I'll keep an eye out for that."
And this time he watches you as you shuffle on your feet, face contorting like you wanted to say something else but then deciding against it and then almost tripping on your feet before you walked away, your neck suddenly a shade darker.
The same one you just mentioned.
leon’s spanish slaycation doodle dump
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if anyone can please help!
resident evil 3 remake:
Carlos commenting on stuff
Re4 but happy and Luis survives and Leon and Krauser make up and Leon and Ada be happy together and everyone’s best friends and they all go to the mall with Ashley and have the best time ever