sorry i'm not done with this hotel scene... it kills me that ilya's doing his whole huffy you are soooo annoying hollander whyyyy are you making me listen to you talk about your feelings routine until shane says "sorry if i'm being boring again" and THEN ilya walks over to the bed and sits down next to him. this man will act like shane hollander is theeeee most obnoxious little creature on the planet right up until shane hollander starts getting his feelings hurt and then ilya is vaulting across the room to be like let me sit next to you. now i can't bring myself to look at you or touch you because i'm still too scared of you having feelings about me in my direction but. i'm going to sit close to you which is what i can offer you at this stage in my emotional development
[sequel to ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅ Was My Grenade Pin Engagement Ring Not Enough?]
summary: You and Leon in his car, on your way to the courthouse.
incl.: established relationship, banter banter, emotional vulnerability (just a smidge)
pairing: Leon S. Kennedy x Reader (fem leaning)
note/s: I'm back~ and holy molly I leave for a bit and suddenly everyone's reading my fics WAH thanks for all the love!
☆main masterlist☆ ☆Leon Kennedy masterlist☆
After three days of back and forth approvals, paperwork, and a lot of patience neither of you naturally had, the leave finally went through.
Now, you are sitting on the passenger seat of Leon's mighty expensive ride, a Prosche. Wearing your promised white Dior dress, tailored perfectly to your measurements.
“I asked Jill and Carlos to be our witnesses,” You said, touching up your red lipstick using the car's built-in mirror. You leaned back, the fabric of your dress rustled with your every movement. “I'd ask Claire or Chris, but it seems they’re indisposed right now.”
You glanced over to your right.
There he is Leon Scott Kennedy.
One hand on the wheel, the other on your thigh. He is dressed in a charcoal black suit, tailored just as well as your dress.
The afternoon light hit his face at just the right angles, catching the faint lines around his eyes. You couldn't help but wonder how they'd look in a few years time.
Now that you'd be married…he'd have more reasons to smile.
Leon and you, growing older together. You smiled at the thought
Although, your little daydream got cut short by Leon's voice.
“Good picks,” Leon said. His voice is low and steady but…distant.
You could tell from his icy blues he was ways away from the conversation. Maybe daydreaming as you were, though that doesn't bode well…him being behind the wheel and all.
You slid your hand over his, feeling the rough texture of his skin, warm, worn and full of stories.
“You here with me, Kennedy?”
He glanced your away briefly, like you'd pulled him out of something deeper than he meant to be in.
“...Yeah,” he said. “I'm here.”
To get his point across, he lifted your entwined hands and pressed a brief kiss on the back of yours before gently setting them back down.
“What's on your mind?”
You caught the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“What's so funny?” You asked, your curiosity peaking.
“I just remembered how ridiculous your proposal was.” Leon chuckled lightly.
You blinked.
“I—” Speechless is what you are right now. “Well—”
You sat up straighter than earlier.
“Well?” He prompted, tone mild but edged with that dry amusement.
You quickly tried to compose yourself.
“We were under duress!"
That did it.
The lines around his eyes deepened slightly—not quite a smile, but close.
“You proposed with a grenade pin,” He said.
“It's the only vaguely ring-like thing within reach!”
Said ring still hung from the chain around his neck, years after the event.
Leon glanced at you again, slower this time.
“What made you do it?” He asked, before his eyes went back to the road.
The question made you pause.
Why did you?
“...During the fight,” You started, a little sheepish. “You looked so abysmally good I said to myself, ‘I'm marrying this man no matter what’.”
Liar.
You were desperately fighting for your life and thought that if you're going to die, you're going to die marrying the man desperately trying to protect you though you were more than capable to do so.
“‘Abysmally good’, huh?” He repeated, a little dry. “That your official statement?”
You couldn't help but huff out a laugh. “Don't ruin it.’
“I'm not,” he said, shaking his head faintly. “Just making sure I heard it right.”
“You're unbelievable.” You shook your head.
“Been told that.”
The moment tapered off as the courthouse came into view.
Suddenly it was quiet in the car, for a few moments you could only hear the hum of the Porsche.
You looked back at your soon to be husband. His eyes were dead set on the road in front of you as you entered the parking lot.
Leon cut the engine once the car was fully parked.
For a second, neither of you moved.
“...You ready?” He asked, quieter this time.
You looked at him, smiling. “Ready to be my husband?”
“Will I ever be ready?”
“No.” You chuckled before slipping out of the car.
You barely made it inside before he slowed enough that you noticed.
“...Leon?”
“Hold on,” he said quietly.
You turned to look at him. There was an unmistakable tension in his shoulders, and an unreadable cloudiness within his eyes.
It wasn't fear per say.
Just…weight.
“You okay?” You asked, a little more gentler now.
He exhaled through his nose, gaze drifting past you like he was looking through the walls instead of at them.
“Just…” he started, then paused.
For a moment, something flickered behind his eyes, flashes of a building similar to this courthouse, a building long abandoned. A place he spent only a night in but had managed to scar him for as long as he continues to breathe.
“...Been somewhere like this before,” he finished quietly.
You studied him, noting the look in his eyes. “Not good memory, I'm guessing.”
He nodded before saying something.
“Raccoon city.”
Ah.
That explained it.
Your hand tightened around his.
“You're not there anymore.”
“I know.” The response came out far too quickly.
You softened your grip, stepping a little closer so your shoulders brushed his arm.
“Hey,” you murmured. “No outbreak here. No infected. No one's trying to kill us.”
There was a pause.
“Just paperwork and horrible lighting.” Your voice a little softer.
That got a faint reaction from him. It wasn't quite a smile but close enough.
Leon glanced at you, something in his expression easing just slightly for every second that had passed as he looks at you.
“More paperwork, huh?” He said.
“Uh-huh.” You nudged him lightly. “Worst thing that will happen today is you signing your life away to me and mine to you.”
He let out a quiet huff. “That still sounds dangerous.”
“Hey!” You grinned. “Too late to back out now.”
He looked at you—really looked at you this time.
Whatever had been pulling him back—He let it go.
“...Wasn't planning to.”
His hand tightened around yours—steady and certain.
