I would love some more soft leon stuff 💜 maybe you can write some hcs or a drabble about his sleeping and cuddling habits? I‘m desperate for some fluff too 🥹
okay i got so very carried away with this… there’s more about his sleeping habits than i intended to write but then the cuddling does come in!! i imagined this with damnation leon so <3 thank you for sending something in lovely!!
leon kennedy x gn!reader, not proofread
Generally speaking Leon is a very light sleeper, he very rarely reaches a rem sleep and most nights not even a deep non-rem sleep. Any crash or bump in the night always wakes him (if he had even managed to fall asleep to begin with) and it’s all things considered it’s very frustrating for him.
Over the years he’s tried some of the ‘quick fix’ suggestions that were thrown his way, reading a book before trying to sleep, trying a cup of herbal tea before bed or hell even sleeping pills didn’t seem all that effective for him. (They were for a short while but his body soon got used to them and their effectiveness faded, he also wasn’t enthusiastic to take them since he’s not the most trusting of pharmaceutical companies…)
One of the first nights he truly fell into a refreshing, deep sleep was surprisingly after a mission, with yourself of course.
He’d never been able to sleep well after Raccoon City, if it even has to be said, so when the two of you were sent away to a motel to rest up before returning to the states in the morning Leon had no expectation of actually resting at all.
But you had asked him to join you, to lay beside you in the shitty motel bed, and the somber look on your face made his heart ache. He couldn’t say no.
Still in his typical compression shirt and jeans he sneaked under the covers at your side, though your back was facing him and he let you take the only pillow there was.
It wasn’t the most comfortable, especially since Leon was trying his best not to accidentally brush a touch against you. He expected to lay awake all night, as creepy as that sounded, but luckily he was saved from that kind of awkwardness.
Instead he woke to the feeling of a weight against his chest and arms around his sides. He was startled at first, but after a couple of sleep weighed blinks you came into focus. His arms were securely wrapped around you too and your head was resting on his chest, sound asleep, like he had been moments ago.
On the way home he sat and really thought about the strangeness of it. It felt untrue that he didn’t wake up to any commotion during the early hours, he didn’t suffer a nightmare or remember staring at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity. And he felt rested, recharged. He was hoping it wasn’t a fluke.
That night when you returned to your respective homes Leon found that he was anxious to try sleeping again. Because immediately he returned to that restless he knew all too well.
He tried to emulate what it was that allowed him to sleep that night, holding a pillow in his arms the way he had held you but it just didn’t work.
He later purchased a weighted blanket hoping that it would mimic the feeling of your weight on his chest but again nothing improved.
Until you started dating.
Right from the start Leon was enthusiastic for you to stay over at his place after a date night ended late, and it was frankly confusing. But the first time that you agreed it soon made sense.
When it came time to rest he was so very eager to just cuddle.
He coaxed you into his arms, though it didn’t actually take much convincing, and as soon as his head was on the pillow right next to yours he seemed so much more at ease. He whispered a thank you into the silence before falling into a steady sleep, his hold on you never faltering.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that Leon is often sleep deprived, from the bags under his eyes to the constant yawning and the way he so easily drifts out of conversation when he’s exhausted. But you never fully appreciated just how bad it was for him, so even if it means being a human pillow you are happy to help.
It’s typical but Leon loves spooning. It entertains his protective nature when he gets to be the big spoon and he loves resting his face against the nape of your neck, nosing at any soft spots to earn some sweet laughter. Spooning is also often how you find yourselves sleeping, since it’s a less tangled and more comfortable way to be.
If you’re awake before him and he wants another five minutes or so (that turns into an hour) you sit up with your back to the headboard and he rests his head in your lap or on your tummy, most commonly with one of his hands resting under your shirt right next to his head.
This is one of his favourite ways to cuddle. Before you he was never really shown much physical affection but when he was Leon always found himself being the one holding others. You were the first one to hold him.
It sounds silly but it’s different and it matters. To get to be the little spoon, to be supported and lulled, to be held, whatever you want to call it, it’s new to Leon but it works wonders for him and his stresses, it’s the most at peace that he gets to be.
He loves to rest his head on your chest with his arms around your waist, hands squished underneath you while lying between your legs. He insists that you hook one around him so your calf rests on the small of his back too.
Though his works just as comfortably in reverse, but you keep your hands at Leon’s sides rather than crushed behind his back like he does with you.
And since he gradually becomes so unabashedly clingy you figure out plenty of ways to sit with him that allow him to cradle you while you read or otherwise.
This means sitting between his legs with his chin hooked over your shoulder and arms around your midriff like a belt so you can keep your hands free for your book.
And sometimes he will start reading it too and echo the sentences into your ear to distract you and cause fits of chuckles. It can also be comforting and intimate when he doesn’t feel like fooling around.
Your favourite way to cuddle is that of how you woke up that one night in the motel. With you tucked into Leon’s side while he lies on his back, his arm bracketed around you and your leg slung over his hips.
With your head on his chest like that you can listen to the rhythm of his heartbeat, hearing it calm and as he slowly falls asleep and sometimes snores are soon to follow.
You never would’ve expected him of all people to enjoy physical affection so much because sometimes he finds himself too shy to even hold your hand if you’re out with friends. But behind closed doors Leon is a cuddlebug through and through, and his eye bags and sleepless nights are a thing of the past…
leon masterlist || character masterlist