To say Leif was feeling nervous would be an understatement. Saying Doctor H.B creeped him right out and that he did not trust her would be more accurate.
Just like the very first time he used magic, it came to him instinctively and at the surprise of everyone including himself. Except this time, instead of ice it was a protective barrier between himself and the bee wanting to “explore his insides”. Though he himself wasn't saying anything in the bubble, every fibre of his being was screaming “DO NOT TOUCH US” all at once.
The bubble dissipated. The doctor respected Leif's wishes, though she told them to give it some thought.
Did she actually expect them to change their mind later? Who would want to be cut open and-
Just the mere thought of it made him feel sick. He'd have to find his answers some other way.
While walking through the Hive with their team, Leif pondered about the incident. This bubble shield he summoned could be very useful in his line of work...
As mentioned in the tag, the whole fic was inspired by a Discord convo. On a server we're both on (they invited me, in fact), @dreamyyartist shared their headcanon about current!Leif feeling very strongly about being touched without his consent because of all the traumatic experiments the cordyceps went through. And how allowing their teammates touch them would be a great show of trust towards them. I replied that I just had to work that into a fic. Then over the next couple days I did just that. Dreamy themself had said "like it really do be about trust......." (that's the exact quote, punctuation & all) so the title choice was obvious ^^
I thought starting with the chap3 HB lab scene (but focusing more on Leif's inner thoughts) made sense given that it is a canon example of Leif refusing to be touched. Also several different people in the fandom (myself included) have pointed out that his strong reaction to HB offering to do science on him hints at his past as a science experiment and how, even though he doesn't remember what happened, his trauma lingers. Though at this point he doesn't know that yet and is like "why would anyone accept this kind of offer" which is very fair. Most would indeed refuse. So they don't think their reaction could mean anything beyond the obvious. Besides, they have a mission to focus on.
Fun fact : I snuck the word "trust" or "trusted" in every scene of the fic 'cause it really do be about trust <3
Also Dreamy replied with my fic with art of their own! Isn't that amazing? Everyone give them some love already ^-^
