𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.

He should’ve been used to her brazen curiosity by now after spending so much time in her company. The minute his shirt was off, intention being to swap it out for something more fitted and training appropriate— training her in hand to hand combat, something Ashley had been badgering him about since he’d gotten here.. she’d closed the short distance between them and spewed the question as though she’d been itching to ask it the moment the damaged skin caught her eye.

Leon let the question hang in the crisp air of the private facility, sky blues following lithe fingers as they carefully grazed against the rough scar tissue of his left shoulder. He made no move to still her hand in its absentminded motions. In fact, the soft pads of her fingertips felt nice against the old wound. “Got it back in Raccoon City. My first day on the job, believe or not. Guess you can say I got more than I bargained for.”

That was a night he’d never forget. A night that’d haunt him for the rest of his days. A night that’d robbed him of his innocence and so much more, including his freedom.

“Took a bullet for someone.” His tone had gotten noticeably quieter as it always did whenever telling that story, eyes blank and lips thinned into a straight line. While the psychical scars gained in that city had long since healed.. they weren’t a patch on the mental ones. They were the ones that continued to keep him awake at night by leeching away at his sanity, poisoning the mind with what ifs.

Suddenly, her heart felt very small, squeezed tight, when he finally spoke after an agonizingly long silence. Raccoon City. For the longest time, Ashley only knew as much as the general public. The bomb that went off and leveled the entire city, the reason behind it speculated but never confirmed. Only recently did she find out what really happened, during a long conversation with her father after she came back from Spain. While she knew Leon must've encountered those monsters before, judging by how skilled he was at handling them, Ashley never imagined it happened when he was so young. He must've been terrified.

An apology hung off her lips as she parted them -- but Leon reached for her before she could get a single word out. The sudden contact nearly made her jump in place, so lost in the moment, it took her completely off guard. "Ah--!" Eyes widened slightly at the accusation, despite it being obvious he didn't actually mean any of it. "No, of course not!" The denial came all the same, not wanting Leon to think it factored into her request at all. Even if she certainly wasn't complaining about the view. "I really do want to learn!" Hopefully the light flush of her cheeks wouldn't undermine her resolve.

wesker always did find the most INTERESTING PEOPLE to convince to his side. ada, really, felt that theirs had been more of a you have no other choice sort of situation. did she want to be taken in by the FBI? or come work with him? then, it had felt too easy to say yes. that had been before raccoon city, and all that came within that. there was no real way of explaining the sudden sickness and slick fear that would coat your mouth, the moment you'd realized the impossible had become possible. that no amount of horror films and games could ever make one ready for what it was like to see a person tear another's neck out by nothing but their teeth.

nobody talks about before, now that the world had changed beneath the glaring heat of bio-terrorism that had since been ushered into this era. few knew the extent, and the government found itself eager to paint umbrella the villain, the one responsible for it all. how humorous. ada hasn't helped, surrendering over the t-virus in exchange for a blind eye, and no commentary on her decorum leading into it. while they may doubt her loyalty, let her RESULTS speak for themselves, was the best and casually applied line to those who had themselves failed to get their hands on the g-virus despite their own ham fisted attempts.

as if she hadn't seen the way that forces had been deployed, agency against agency, all scrambling to sink their claws into WHATEVER THEY COULD in the remains of the city. that is, until it's announced that the place was being bombed. she couldn't exactly call her escape a career highlight, considering the ride. but at least she was alive.

she had read by now that the girl that gets lifted form raccoon city along with her was a former member of albert wesker's team. all strange things to a know, given the man he presented himself as now. who knew? he must have had a SOFT SPOT for rebecca, given the fact that he'd allowed ada to drag her along with her from the wreckage. "you awake?" she's the one checking in from the hollowed out room that dot this place. "don't move too fast, hotshot. you hurt yourself pretty badly. everything might just unzip itself if you don't take some care now."

she didn't remember losing conscience. somewhere between all the running around from those things that seemed to be everywhere inside the mansion, her body must've given out, too spent, despite rebecca's attempts to keep pushing through. when she finally came to, she didn't know where she was. her vision was blurry, her ears still ringing, the groans and wails from the undead she was certain she wouldn't forget anytime soon.

brows furrowed slightly when a voice reached her. she didn't recognize it. a medic, perhaps? maybe they finally sent backup to come help them. except... the woman standing across from her didn't seem like a medic, let alone military. rebecca tried to blink her dizziness away, but her head couldn't seem to stop spinning. a low hiss escaped her as she tried sitting up, the sharp pain on her side immediately making her regret it.

RIVALS - 2.05

At least they were in the same boat when it came to not knowing how to be around each other. That made Chris feel slightly more at ease. Surely they could get through the rest of the wedding being civil with each other now that they’d expressed their shared uncertainty. Jill hadn’t seemed offended. He wasn’t either. And truthfully? It felt like a weight off his shoulders being able to speak to her face to face without the atmosphere between them being.. awkward. Maybe they’d finally bypassed the jaded exes stage, huh?

Did that mean they’d be able to finally move on and go back to being friends? The thought brought a smile to his face, one that only grew when Jill further teased him— thus proving that it was all too easy to fall back onto old patterns.

“I asked Claire if I could wear my work gear, but she said it was inappropriate and would alarm the guests.” His nose scrunched with playful distaste, gaze shifting down to gauge the tuxedo he donned. Formal attire felt so foreign on him. Chris practically lived in his work wear. Not having the weight of heavy tactical equipment and weapons weighing him down was admittedly nice, but.. Chris wasn’t sure if this was his style.

Though his mind drew a blank the minute Jill’s hand moved up to find his tie, the tug she gave to it taking Chris by surprise. Well, he hadn’t expected that. Not that he was complaining about the more.. intimate proximity. “I’m a quick learner. Didn’t know the tie inspector was gonna be here tonight. Hope I passed the exam.” It admittedly wasn’t his best work, but Chris had never been great with his hands when it came to simple things like tying knots. He simply didn’t have the patience.

She certainly wasn't complaining about the view, though.

The weight of their sudden closeness dawned on her just a moment too late. She hadn't been thinking when she tugged him towards her, muscle memory making it all too easy to fall back into their old banter. Would it ever become second nature, not to want him close, to crave his company, his touch?

"Hmm..." Jill played along with his joke without missing a beat, pretending to carefully inspect his tie. "It's not bad." The urge to redo the knot tugged at her fingertips, imperceptible if not for the way they ghosted over the fabric for a moment. It wasn't her place anymore. "I think it's a passing grade. Though that'll probably be for your sister to decide," she added in a playful tone.

Her hands returned to her sides, slowly smoothing down her dress to keep busy. She didn't trust herself not to reach for him again if left unattended. Easy as all of this was, Jill knew she shouldn't jump to conclusions. It didn't mean he wanted to get back together, or even that he still felt the same way. Maybe the fact of the matter was that, no matter what happened, they'd always be tethered to each other to some extent - as partners, and not a couple.

She wished it was easier for the notion to sink in, that her breath didn't catch in her throat at Chris's whispered question, gaze expectant as her eyes met his once more.

"Not much of a dancer." The reply came after a too-long pause, the dizzying closeness making it harder to find her voice. It wasn't a lie, by any means, but... she would've danced with him, if he asked.

Travelling was a real bitch. One would think that jet lag would’ve exhausted him for the night after the long-haul flight from Edonia.. yet here he was staring at the guest room’s bedside alarm clock, the numbers displayed in neon bold reading 3:05 AM. Since arriving at Sherry’s apartment for their arranged meet up, — which she’d been so kind to accommodate him — and climbing into bed, Jake hadn’t been able to stop tossing and turning.

Was it the excitement and nerves of seeing her again, or his insomnia coming back with a vengeance? Jake didn’t know. What he did know though, was that lying here and staring at the ceiling fan wasn’t going to do him any good. A cold glass of water to ease his dry throat just might. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed and making his way out into the hallway, Jake momentarily paused outside of Sherry’s bedroom door.

Was she asleep? For a fleeting second, Jake considered knocking. His hand even bawled into a fist near the wood with anticipation.. but he ultimately decided against it given the unholy hour. He didn’t need the wrath of her tongue right now for waking her up.

Feet lightly padding along the laminate floorboards, the slight nip in the air sent goosebumps splaying across his bare chest. But if he thought he was cold before, it was nothing compared to the chill that coursed through his body upon taking the corner, only to walk right into Sherry, the impact causing an icy cold glass of water in her grasp to splash up over the rim— right onto him. “Shit—!” He hissed, however, despite the shock, his hand immediately came out to catch her so that she wouldn’t slip in the mess they’d made.

Now that he was actually here... The insomnia struck for a different reason. All of the things she'd wanted to say to him upon reuniting failed her almost instantly. It was one thing to hype herself up when she was alone, and another entirely to get the words out when they were face to face.

Time seemed to drag on excruciatingly slow as Sherry lied awake, tossing and turning, with no reprieve from her jumbled thoughts. The frustration had her finally pushing herself off the bed and straight into the hallway - and if she stopped momentarily just outside of the guest room, she'd pretend it was a coincidence. As much as she wanted to talk to Jake, it would be best to let him sleep after his flight. More time to shake herself off and hopefully be back to her usual self come morning.

Sherry toyed with the idea of grabbing her laptop, maybe getting some work done to distract herself... but decided against it at the last second. Didn't want to risk making any mistakes, what with how distracted she was. Sinking into the couch in hopes of falling asleep while watching TV it was, then.

With a glass of water in hand to go against her impossibly dry throat, she turned the corner on her way to the living room -- only to stop in her tracks, the impact of crashing against something nearly sending her tumbling back.

The familiar voice had her breath catching in her throat, eyes widening as Sherry realized what had just happened. "Sorry!" she immediately blurted out, gaze lingering darting from his chest to his face, relieved he didn't seem to actually be upset.