are you done barking, baby?; leon Kennedy
summary: you come back from a mission with leon, furious at how reckless he was, and you spend the next hour following him around headquarters yelling at him. but leon isn’t really listening to the anger—he’s watching how you won’t let him out of your sight, and slowly realizes it was never just anger.
pairings: leon kennedy x reader
RIN'S NOTE: I first came across this idea on tiktok. Her account is @/oglexistar, and I love her sm. She is hilarious. She has a lot going on with her content, so you guys should follow her. While watching this video, all I can think about is Leon, even though her idea is supposed to be Gojo from JJK which is also making me giggle about it too hehe. I hope it was fun for all of you!
The mission had been over for almost an hour.
Unfortunately, your anger had not.
Leon didn't even look up.
The man had the audacity to be sitting at a workbench in the armory, calmly disassembling his handgun while you followed him around headquarters like an extremely angry shadow.
"You drove a motorcycle through a second-story window."
A click. A magazine dropped into his hand.
You stared at the side of his head. Leon Kennedy, apparently, had chosen today to be the most irritating man alive.
"You know what?" you continued. "I don't even know why I bother arguing with you."
"That's a good question."
Your eye twitched. Across the room, another agent wisely decided to leave. Coward.
Leon continued cleaning his weapon as if you weren't standing there mentally preparing several crimes.
He wasn't even trying to defend himself. That somehow made it worse.
"You almost got yourself killed."
That stupid sound. That stupid, knowing sound. You pointed at him immediately.
Leon chuckled under his breath. You wanted to throw something at him. Instead, you followed him when he stood. Of course you did.
He moved from the armory to the hallway.
“What you did on the mission is unbelievable!”
“How can you be so chill about this?!”
“How can you be such a stupid bastard?!”
At this point, it had become less of an argument and more of a lifestyle.
"You know," Leon said as he walked, "most people celebrate after successful missions."
Leon opened his office door and let's you in first as he step aside while you keep throwing curses at him.
You marched right past him. Still talking. Still irritated.
Still completely unaware that he was watching you more than he was listening.
You didn't even notice that he open the door for you first before he follows you inside. A gentleman, truly. The door clicked shut behind him.
"You jumped off a moving vehicle."
"You would've complained if I stayed on it."
"I would've preferred that over watching you launch yourself into traffic."
Leon dropped a folder onto his desk. Then your gun beside it. Cleaned. Maintained. Already put back together.
You hadn't even realized he'd taken it from you earlier.
"I thought about jumping through the window."
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
You hated that grin. Mostly because it always made him look unfairly handsome.
You continued pacing. Around the desk. Past the bookshelf. Back toward the door.
Still talking. Still venting. Still going.
Leon watched for another minute before finally sighing. Long. Patient.
The kind of sigh a man released when he'd finally figured something out.
"Are you done barking, baby?"
The room went silent. You froze mid-step. Slowly. Very slowly. You turned toward him.
Leon leaned back against his desk. Completely unbothered.
Your jaw dropped. "What the hell are you talking about?" His expression remained infuriatingly calm.
"I asked if my woman was done barking."
Your brain briefly stopped functioning.
"That is not the issue right now."
"Don't change the subject."
"We almost failed the mission because of you!"
"And we also completed the mission because of me."
The insult died instantly.
Because suddenly Leon was standing right in front of you. One moment he'd been leaning against the desk. The next he'd crossed the room. Close enough that you forgot the rest of your sentence. Close enough that your heart immediately became uncooperative.
The bastard noticed. Of course he noticed.
"What's really the problem?"
His voice had changed. Less teasing. Less sarcasm. Still calm. Still steady.
But now there was something underneath it. Something that made it impossible to keep talking in circles.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that you've followed me around headquarters for the last hour."
You folded your arms. Defensive. Leon immediately clocked it.
You groaned. "Don't baby me."
"Worse." A faint smile appeared. Mission accomplished. Then it disappeared just as quickly.
"You checked on me in the armory."
"I was getting my equipment."
"You checked on me in the break room."
"You were making coffee."
"You checked on me in the hallway."
Your jaw tightened. Leon tilted his head slightly. The look in his eyes softened. Not enough to be obvious. Just enough for you to notice. And that somehow made everything worse.
Leon didn’t move away. That was the problem. He stayed right there.
Too close. Too calm. Too aware of everything happening inside your head like it was written on your face.
“You’re not angry,” he said again, quieter this time.
You huffed. “I literally just spent an hour yelling at you.”
Leon’s eyes flickered briefly over your face. Like he was studying you. Not in a tactical way. Not like a mission.
In a way that made it impossible to keep your thoughts straight.
“That wasn’t anger,” he said.
You scoffed. “Oh? Then what was it?”
Your breath caught. You immediately hated that word. Hated how easily he said it. Hated that it was correct.
“I don’t panic,” you muttered.
Leon hummed. That low sound again. The one that always made your patience snap.
“You do when I disappear from your sight for more than ten seconds.”
Silence. You froze. Leon tilted his head slightly.
“Armory. Hallway. Break room. Office.”
His voice stayed calm. Unbothered.
“Every time I turned around, you were still there.” Your jaw tightened. “That’s because I was still talking to you.”
He stepped half a pace closer. Not enough to trap you. Just enough that your brain stopped cooperating again.
“And every time I stopped talking,” he added, quieter, “you got closer.”
Your heart did something extremely inconvenient.
That did it. You exhaled sharply.
“Stop calling me that when I’m mad at you.” Leon’s mouth curved slightly.
Your glare should’ve been lethal. It wasn’t. Because he looked entirely too composed.
Too confident. Like he already knew how this ended. “You’re enjoying this,” you accused.
He leaned slightly against the edge of his desk now. Completely relaxed. Completely unfair.
“I like when you talk to me,” he said. That alone made your brain short-circuit.
“…That’s not what I’m doing.”
“No, I’m— I’m yelling at you.”
Your eyes widened. “That is absolutely not the same thing.” Leon’s gaze dropped briefly to your mouth. So quick you almost thought you imagined it. Almost.
Then he looked back at your eyes. And your entire argument collapsed a little.
“…You’re insufferable,” you muttered.
A pause. Then he added, casually.
“But you’re still standing here.”
Your breath hitched slightly. Because that was the problem, wasn’t it? You could’ve left.
You could’ve stormed out of his office. You didn’t. You stayed.
“You always do that,” he said quietly.
You scoffed. “I do not follow you.”
Leon raised an eyebrow. The look said really?
You opened your mouth. Closed it again. Because unfortunately. He was right. Again.
Leon pushed off the desk slightly.
Now he was closer. Properly close. His voice dropped just enough to make it harder to think.
“Say it then.” Your brows furrowed. “Say what?”
“And not something else.”
Your throat tightened. You hated him. You really did. Because he was looking at you like he already knew the answer.
Like he was just waiting for you to admit it out loud.
“You’re ridiculous,” you said instead. Leon smiled faintly. “Am I?”
Another step closer. Now there was barely any space left between you. Not enough to back away without it being obvious.
Not enough to breathe properly.
“You know,” he said, voice lower now, “if this is your way of getting my attention…”
“I don’t need your attention.”
That came out too fast. Too sharp. Leon’s smile widened slightly.
Your silence betrayed you. He noticed immediately. Of course he did. His hand lifted again. Not to touch you fully.
Just enough to adjust your collar. Slow. Deliberate.
Like he had all the time in the world.
“You’ve had it all day, sweetheart.”
Your stomach flipped. Again. Annoyingly.
“And you still followed me around,” he added softly. You glared at him. Weakly.
Leon leaned in just slightly. Not enough to kiss you. Not enough to cross the line.
Just enough that his voice brushed against you when he spoke.
“You gonna keep pretending you’re just angry?”
Your breath caught again. Because now he was definitely enjoying this. Absolutely. There was no way he wasn’t.
The way he said your name this time was worse than the pet names. Because it wasn’t teasing.
It was patient. Like he was waiting you out.
Like he knew you’d fold. And worst of all?
He was right. So damn right.
You looked up at him again. And for a second, you forgot what you were even supposed to be mad about.
Which, unfortunately, seemed to be the entire point.
“…I hate you,” you muttered.
Leon smiled. Soft. Slightly smug.
And this time, you didn’t even argue back.
