Cynthia

The hours since you reached home at 10pm had passed by with a certain elasticity that normally accompanies a routine grumbling with dry monotony. You had dropped the car keys on the kitchen island and mechanically made yourself a cup of strong black coffee that would surely pass for a biohazard. Your preoccupied mind had barely registered a familiar figure that had stepped through the front door in gym attire, right as you were making a beeline to your home office, where you had been holed up since.

The metallic anger that had rippled over your clenched jaw on the drive home had now been sanded down to a dull irritation that had settled over your bones like a malaise. "Why couldn't my stupid boss have just given me this work on Monday, top priority my ass", you hissed resentfully under your breath, picking up the neglected coffee for a much-needed dose of caffeine.

The acidic bitterness of burnt coffee grounds instantly greeted you, much to your chagrin. A grim scowl splashed across your face, your nose involuntarily scrunching in animated disgust as you swallowed down the inky sludge. Setting the mug down with more force than necessary, you continued to shoot daggers at the blinking cursor that mocked your state of exasperation.

Echoing the sentiments of a petulant teenager, you furrowed your brows in anger and pouted defiantly at the screen. "If this report were a person, which would make it equivalent to my boss," you muttered broodingly to the text ahead of you," I would have tied it to a chair, laughed while I dowsed it in kerosene and set it on-"

"Seems that report writing has finally made you contemplate arson as a professional career choice, huh sweetheart?" a deep baritone chuckled from behind you, rumbling across the room like midnight waves crashing over a rocky shore. Caught red-handed in the middle of your criminal schemes, you froze momentarily before swiftly recovering your composure, straightening your stiff back into a playful mask of innocence.

"Accusing one of resorting to violent tendencies over paperwork seems hypocritical coming from you, Mr. Kennedy", you countered deftly as you gathered the scattered papers into a loose pile. Your gaze flickered across your shoulder, tracking the casual grace with which Leon leaned against your doorframe. A breathy laugh slipped past his lips as he threw his arms up in mock surrender.

“Hey, I won’t confirm or deny those allegations. But if I may defend myself, your honor”, he drawled on, trying and failing to maintain an air of diplomatic stoicism, “I’m a man of action, and not… brain-eating bureaucracy." Choosing to ignore the not-so-subtle snort that you let slip, Leon took a dramatic pause before pushing himself off the doorframe with a cool grace. "Therefore, I am well equipped to help accelerate the pace of your work", he hummed, his voice trailing off like an afterthought, "perhaps offer tips on how to cut corners, tell your boss that our dog ate your report, etcetera…"

You swivel around in your chair, planting your bare feet on the floor as you lock eyes with his steely blue ones. The flecks of jade in his irises twinkled in the amber glow of the overhead light as he eyed your disheveled state in all its glory. Frowning at the unabashed smirk pulling at his lips in amusement, you narrowed your eyes as he slowly sauntered forward in calculating steps. "Man of action? What are you here to do, roundhouse kick my laptop?" you scoffed back at him.

He silently scratched his salt-and-pepper stubble in exaggerated contemplation, then offered, with a light wave of his hand, "Well, I mean, if it means you can come to bed now, I wouldn't mind-"

"Leon Scott, you lost your right to talk about sleep the moment you decided to go to bed while I was literally dying with paperwork two rooms away," you shot a glare at him as you thrust your index finger accusatorially in his direction. Leon froze like a deer caught in headlights, still two strides away from reaching you.

"Sleeping! Wha- Me?! I was not-" He opened his mouth to protest further, but shut it abruptly as he noted the way your stare swept up and down his attire. Whatever half-baked excuse he had formulated along the lines of how he was busy rearranging the fridge for the last two hours went out the window as he glanced down at himself. A faded old Metallica t-shirt you gifted him a few years ago hung loosely over his broad chest, paired with navy blue flannel pajama bottoms that pooled at his ankles.

Leon looked back up at you, a mild confusion written between the crow's feet at the edge of his eyes. Surely, you couldn't have concluded that he had fallen asleep by looking at his pajamas, I mean, he could have just been lounging around in them for all you knew.

The austere façade you tried to hold up crumbled the moment you beheld the lost puppy expression splashed across his face. You laughed gently before raising your eyebrows at him. "Honey, next time, maybe brush down your hair a little if you want to sell the whole 'I was wide awake’ point," you quipped lightly with a wink. Leon blinked twice, brain stuttering as he caught up with your words. A perplexed "huh" slipped out of him quietly, and that’s when he caught his reflection off a nearby window pane out of the corner of his eye.

Surely enough, it looked like a Category 5 hurricane had barreled right through his hair in three different directions all at once. His fine dirty-blonde locks, threaded with tendrils of silver, stuck up disjointedly in every angle available. The signature curtain of hair that normally framed his angular features was now matted backwards, revealing a faint row of wrinkles lining his forehead. He must have face-planted himself while he was asleep. How charming.

Leon's mouth parted in silent disbelief at his own lack of attention to detail. The same man who had survived multiple virus outbreaks, killed bioweapons ten times his size, stared death in the eye more times than he can care to count. Betrayed by his own hair. He stared at himself, dumbfounded, catching the fit of giggles you were trying to stifle as you clutched your shaking stomach.

"I mean, maybe I was trying out a new hair routine… kids like to keep it edgy these days, you know-", he fumbled hopelessly, looking akin to a kid caught with his hand stuck in a cookie jar. His eyes pleaded with your amused ones in the window's reflection. Reveling in your husband's egregious last-ditch attempts at saving himself, you tilted your head and cocked an eyebrow that seemed to say "Really?".

Leon's head fell forward as he let out an ancient sigh through his nose. One of his hands now moved to scratch the back of his neck, while he shoved the other deep in his pocket with an awkward nervousness. “Alright, Sherlock. You win. Guilty as charged,” he huffed, a sheepish grin toying at his lips.

And in that moment, the exhaustion in every listless bone of your body dissolved into clouds of tiny butterflies that fluttered the way your stomach did when you first saw Leon all those years ago. Despite the maps of scars that charted his body and the rays of wrinkles that creased his eyes, he looked just like when you were young. Heart on his sleeve, boyish charm twinkling in his eyes. Eyes that now softened as he read every thought that lingered by the rims of your own.

A silky silence draped like gossamer around your bodies, enveloping you and Leon in a quiet completeness. The kind that comes from years of learning the way his breath changes when he’s looking at you, or the way your body subconsciously leans towards him ever so slightly when he enters a room. The cursor continued blinking, the coffee grew a few degrees colder, and time came to a standstill as you slowly stood up from your chair. A numb ache shot through your legs at the sudden movement, as your knees buckled from sitting hours on end.

Before you could even grip your armrest to break your fall, Leon had already crossed the room. His solid hands fell to either side of your waist with steady purpose as he held you up, thumbs pressing reassuringly over your clothed hipbone. You braced yourself against him as you gripped his forearms, feeling the corded muscles flex beneath your palms. The grounding pressure of his touch elicited a soft sigh of pleasure from your lips, as Leon dipped forward to nuzzle his head into the crook of your neck. "I've got you, sweetheart", he murmured, hot breath pooling over your cool skin as he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to your clavicle. Eyelids fluttering, you melt into his solid frame like a candle near the sun, a quiet moan escaping your parted lips.

Your fingers find his hair, and Leon groans deeply as you gently drag your nails through his scalp, combing through the tufts of sleep hair. You hum in quiet content as you inhale Leon, filling your lungs with the lulling scent of cedar spice and a lingering hint of gun oil that he can never seem to wash off. He presses his body into yours, grip tightening on your hip as you coax the last rebellious strand of his hair back to normalcy. “There we go”, you whisper, lightly tousling his hair again with affection, “But in hindsight, I should have taken a picture of that rockstar hairdo of yours… could have framed it for our living room.”

Leon let out a rough chortle at your décor suggestion. Suddenly, a high-pitched squeal erupted from your chest as Leon's fingers brushed away from your hips to remorselessly tickle your side. "Leon- stop- okay, okay! Fine, our- wedding pictures- will have to do-", you managed to gasp out amidst your fits of laughter, attempting to escape Leon's dexterous attacks. But of course, you were no match against the seasoned DSO agent, who pinned your flailing limbs against himself without even breaking a sweat.

Leon barked out a hearty laugh, thoroughly satisfied with his punishment. He finally lets go of you, just enough to cocoon you back into his chest, his warmth permeating through every fiber of your being. "Just shut up, Y/N," he murmured against your hair. You pinched his stomach in response.

Just then, the faint beep of your reminder alarm cut through the room, ripping you out of Leon's arms and thrusting you back into a world of debriefs and paperwork. The whiplash surged through you, and you groaned into Leon's chest before twisting back to face the damned laptop. Prickles of irritation coursed down your back as you snarled at your opponent, fully ready to take Leon's advice from earlier and chuck it out of your apartment window.

Right before you could do anything you would regret on Monday, Leon quickly pulled you back against his chest. He wraps his sturdy arms around your shoulder, his thick veins brushing your neck. With your back pressed against him, and his chin resting on the crown of your head, you let his weight ground you from any irrational thoughts. You lean back into him and sigh, as you both eyed the laptop like you were preparing to take down a nemesis.

After a few minutes, the weathered cadence of Leon's deep voice crooned, "How about I sit right here with you, and we'll finish this report together, submit it… and then we can run this stupid laptop over with the Porsche?"

You felt a smirk toy at your lips. "Deal. Oh, and how about a "go fuck yourself" email to my boss, just to round it all off?"

Leon chuckles and presses a lingering kiss to the side of your head. "Whatever you want, sweetheart. Whatever you want."

thank you so much for reading y'all! i had this in the works for a while; the drabble (linked so you can check it out!) from earlier was completed like three weeks ago, and i had already started reworking it into this. i was nervous about publishing this oneshot directly, so i put up the messy drabble first. honestly, i was blown away by the responses, so i just had to treat you guys again xD

i had so much fun writing this one ^flashbacks to me curled up in my chair, giggling at my own laptop like a 15 year old lovesick teen^. and as for his outfit, i just thought we should let the poor man wear baggy clothes and get all cozy! i feel like leon would be the kind of man to be playful around his wife, and then proceed to cuddle her cause he's soft like that. or maybe i'm just so down bad for this man :}

hope you caught the few RE references i sprinkled here and there ;)

as always, feedback is welcome in the comments! thank you for all the love and support xx