#sky.writes.re

The moment Leon stepped into his spartan apartment, he leaned back against the front door and audibly groaned – half from frustration and the other from pain. His heavy boots thud against the cheap wood panel floors as he makes his way to the kitchen, grabbing a glass and pouring himself his amber liquor of choice.

The dark haired man barely even sat down, didn’t even take a sip yet, before a knock on his door made him jump. On instinct, he pulls the gun he had tucked in his pants out and aims it at the sound, as if there were an enemy right there.

Another knock, gentle and precise.

“One second.” Leon grumbles, setting his glass down on the coffee table, before pulling himself up from the chair with a strained grunt.

When he opens the door, his eyes are drawn instantly to a person standing right in front of him – you. With your warm smile, friendly eyes, and something held out to him.

He’s not even fazed. Exhaustion threatened to crush him, and he just wanted to lie down.

“Listen, I’m not interested in whatever you have to sell. I assure you, I have everything I need.” Leon say dryly, preparing to close the door in this stranger’s face.

“Even your wallet?”

The door stops moving as Leon halts before patting his hands along his jeans. The noticeable bulge that’s usually there in his back pocket is gone.

“Shit.” He mutters. The door opens back up, and Leon sees your small frown and downturned brows.

“I found it on the stairs, figured you might need it.” You remark, handing it out to him again.

“…Thanks.” He grabs the wallet out of your hand, the action a little rougher than intended. That was kind of his thing though, wasn’t it? Being rough around the edges. “Have I seen you before?”

“Um. Yeah, I hope so. I’m your neighbor?” you point to the apartment door behind you with a thumb. Instead of a look of distaste or offense that he had expected, you give him a puzzled yet amused expression.

For the first time in a long time, Leon feels his face heat up in embarrassment. He clears his throat awkwardly as he stuffs his wallet into its designated pocket.

“Right… well. Thanks, neighbor.” He mumbles before turning to close the door again, but he does so gentler than before.

“Hey, do you want something to eat?”

His steps falter again, leather-clad back turned to face you as he processes what you just asked.

“It’s just… I kinda had plans to meet up with a few friends for a potluck dinner tonight and they ended up canceling so I have all this food and it’s too much for one person to eat alone.”

Leon was not in the business of believing in the success of relationships whether it be romantic or platonic. In his line of work, shit like that was dangerous. He used to be a slight flirt – but it’s not like he expected anything to come out of it. It was all a coping mechanism anyway, a way to ease tension that was wound up so tight in him that he thought he might suffocate on his own air.

In fact, he looked forward to the inevitable rejection of his initiations as if it were proof that relationships were a farce and being unlikeable was working out for him.

But to have someone initiate a conversation with him for once? For something completely non-work related, something so mundane as asking to share a meal. Were you expecting anything out of it?

“Depends, what is it?” he asks, turning around to face you again with the door half open. Leon’s dark fringe covers his eye and he shakes it back with callused fingers, only for it to fall back into his face. He really needed a hair cut.

A smile breaks out on your face, so warm and inviting. How had he never paid attention to you before?

“It’s nothing exciting. Chicken and dumplings. My mother’s recipe… sorta. I changed it a lot, actually. She would kill me if she heard me say that. They just don’t know how to season things, you know?” you ramble on, fingers fidgeting with each other as you meet his gaze with more excitement than he’s used to seeing.

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” Leon finds the corners of his mouth twitching.

“Is that yes?”

A pause.

“Sure, I can eat.”

“Great! Uh… okay, so I didn’t think past giving your wallet back. Why don’t you come over and grab some now while it’s hot? And then when it cools, I’ll pack some up to take with you.”

“It’s fine, I can wait until-“

“Please, it’s so much better when it’s just been made. Trust me.” You wave your hand dismissively before turning on your heel to take the few steps needed to your apartment.

As you open your door invitingly to him, he takes a moment to look back into his sparse home, dark and in need of a good dusting. His eyes catch his glass of whiskey, waiting for him on the coffee table.

“Are you coming?”

He turns to face you, a small smile finally breaking through like much needed sunshine.

“Yeah.” He closes his door, the sight of his abandoned drink disappearing behind him.

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“A convention? Really.” Leon sighs in exasperation at his red-jacket clad friend who sits across from him at the coffee shop they agreed to meet up at for lunch.

“Yeah! My friend bailed on me and the stupid people don’t refund tickets.” Claire gives a bright smile that reaches into her blue eyes, then slowly her face turns into that one pleading emoji she loved to use on Leon when she needed something. “Please Leon? It’s just a few days.”

“I don’t know, Claire… I just got back from a mission, and I could really use those few days to just sleep.” He rolls his shoulders back as he says that, grunting softly at the warm pain that flares up in his muscles from getting his ass kicked multiple times.

“I’ll pay for your food?”

“I can pay for my own food. “

“You don’t even have to dress up!”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

Claire pauses, propping her chin up on a palm as she stares hard at him. His blue eyes shift to the side, focusing on the cars slowly driving past the small café as he cards his calloused fingers through his hair. Across the street sits a park, full of kids playing on the playground with their parents chatting on the benches, vigilantly keeping an eye.

“Some of the voice actors for ‘Lost and Found in Another World’ will be there.” Claire murmurs into her coffee cup before taking a sip.

That gets Leon’s attention, his gaze snapping back to Claire’s smug face. He mentally scolds himself at how fast he reacted to that, knowing Claire did that on purpose.

There’s another pause.

“Which ones?” he asks gruffly, leaning back in the chair with his arms crossing his chest.

“Guess you’ll have to come and find out yourself.”

.

Leon had never been to a fan convention before, and he can see why he hadn’t before. It was crowded, loud, and stuffy to the point that he was tempted to pull his shirt off. It wouldn’t be the oddest outfit voice in the convention center, anyway.

It had been a few hours of bobbing through aisles of small businesses selling their wares until Leon had to put a hand on Claire’s shoulder just to ask to stop for a drink. His friend had an armful of trinkets and soft plushies that she was currently trying to organize inside her large bag that she brought while Leon leans against the wall, sipping on a very expensive bottle of water.

“I think I scoured every stall available.” She mutters, huffing in triumph once her items finally fit together without exploding out. “You ready to visit Celebrity Row?” Claire wiggles her eyebrows up at him before taking off in the direction of their destination without waiting for a response.

Leon just grumbles and follows as his eyes roam around the crowded space, unable to keep himself from finding potential exits in case something happens. Old habits die hard.

Celebrity Row was just as packed as the vendor floor. Lines of people bleed into the middle of the walkways, all waiting for their chance to meet their favorite star. Leon won’t lie and say he wasn’t intrigued, after all, there were some big-name celebrities all here to talk about their newest movies as well as the ones they had previously starred in.

None of them held a candle over who Leon was really hoping to meet, though.

You.

You were a hot commodity apparently; so many people were here waiting for you to show up at your booth. Claire says you are well known for many of your roles in anime and videogames, a sought-out voice actress in not only the small screens but also from your many adoring fans. Did you capture them by your sweet and melodic voice as well?

Leon couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed as he waited in line, being so new to all of this. Claire was in his ear, prattling about this new show that she wanted to try out next week if he was available, but at that point he had zoned out from the conversation and zoned in on you.

You were sitting behind a white table stacked with things he couldn’t see sitting out in front of you. Your name in big letters hovering above you on a banner with pictures of your various roles surrounding it, as if praising the one who had given them life.

Goddamn, your smile. Those eyes. The way your hair accentuates your beautiful face. He could swear he can hear your voice from all the way over here, though impossible since it’s drowned out by the chaos in the con.

Everything about you was nothing he had expected and everything he had hoped for.

“Leon? Earth to Leon!” Claire’s fingers snap in front of his face.

“Sorry. What’s up?” he looks down at her, quirking an eyebrow.

“I was asking how do I look? I want to make sure she likes my cosplay.” Claire does a small spin, letting Leon look at everything.

She had insisted on putting together a last-minute cosplay for your character in ‘Lost and Found in Another World’, something she had called a closet cosplay. It seemed true to fashion, so he nodded, unsure of what feedback he could give at such late notice and lack of context.

“Looks fine to me. I’m sure she’ll love it.” Leon reassures, crossing his arms over his chest as he turns to face the front of the slow-moving line.

“Great. Also, I was really hoping we could…” Claire continues to ramble, excited for the panels she wanted to visit before the end of the night and the ones she was thinking about attending tomorrow. Leon’s eyes do not leave your face.

With every person that you greet, closing the distance between him and you, he feels his heart rate spiking gradually. Leon is a calm and collected person for the most part, especially when he’s out on the field. He’s built up such a stoic wall, a way to protect himself, to hide away who he was before and during the Raccoon City incident.

But you? Why was he so nervous?

“Leon! Go!” Claire pushes Leon forward, knocking him out of his thoughts. Suddenly, he’s throttled into the white table, barely catching himself from falling on top of it. When he looks up, holding himself up by his arms, he’s met with your slightly startled expression.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” you ask, finally hearing that sweet voice of yours in person rattling him more than any bio-weapon could. You’ve stood up abruptly with your hands out, ready to support him if necessary.

“I-…” All he wanted was to apologize, but seeing your eyes up close, his words don’t come out the way he wants. “Falling for you already, huh.” He mutters instead, awkwardly smiling as he straightens up.

There’s a pause where Claire looks at Leon with bemusement, Leon’s face falling in horror at what he just said out loud, and your quivering lips as you try not to laugh out loud.

You fail.

Suddenly you burst into a fit of laughter, your eyes closing as you lean forward trying to catch your breath between laughs. Leon’s face blooms in heat, partly from his embarrassment. The other part from how irresistible your genuine laugh sounds like. With just a few words, he can tell the main character from that anime was close to as true to you. If he could hear that laugh and voice for the rest of his life, he could die happily.

“I-I’m sorry.” Leon says sheepishly, taking a few steps back as he rubs the back of his neck.

“No! Nothing to apologize for, I’m just glad you’re okay. You are okay, right?” you’ve settled back in your chair by now. To right the of you is what Leon assumes is your assistant, waiting impatiently for the next people so they can keep this line going efficiently. You, however, ignore their annoyed, passive-aggressive glances.

You wanted to spend as much time with your fans as possible instead of pushing them through as if they were packages on a conveyor belt. It’s understandable why you need to, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it. Nor do it. So you don’t.

“Fine! Yes, I’m fine. Um.” Leon steps away, letting Claire step in front of him so they can talk.

Your eyes leave his to meet Claire, holding your hands out to greet her. There is some back and forth between them - Claire asking about your favorite aspects of being a voice actress, you asking how her day at the con has been. Claire does a twirl for you, showing off the cosplay she carefully put together in such a short time. Your laugh is infectious just as your smile is genuine.

A few moments later, Claire had asked for a photo with you, to which Leon was handed her phone and instructed where to stand and how to do it – as if he hadn’t taken photos for Claire before. A handful of years worth of friendship will do that. And he had expected it anyway, considering how many times she had said how excited she was to talk to and take a selfie with you.

What he hadn’t expected was for you to hold your hand out to him, offering him a sweet smile like a beckoning call.

“Would you like a photo as well?” you ask, your pretty face lit up like the sun. He’s unsure if that’s your permanent disposition or not, but he likes it. And he can resist it. With a gentle nudge from his friend, he takes a few steps forward.

He's hesitant to touch you because he’d assumed it’s against the arbitrary rules set by whoever created these conventions. But considering who you are as a person (unbeknownst to him), you aren’t, and easily you slip your arm behind him and hold him by the waist as you tuck yourself against his side. There’s a surprised grunt that escapes his lips from not only the unexpected contact but also the way you felt so perfectly next to him. Instinctively, his muscular arm wraps around your shoulder out of ease and comfort of the poses you were in.

The perfumes that emanate from you are intoxicating to him and at this point he even forgets why he was here, why he was being held by you. And he’s looks straight at you too, not at the phone clutched in Claire’s hands that is just ten feet away.

“Okay! 1. 2. 3!” Claire presses the camera button a few times, just in case.

All too soon, the contact ends, and you’re turning towards him with a grateful smile as your arms fall back to your side naturally.

“Thank you so much for meeting me today. And thank you for being a fan, it means so much to me.” You say, waving at them before stepping back behind your table, ready to greet new people. Claire practically drags Leon away, which is hard considering how much muscle mass he has.

“Dude, you are so smitten.” Claire jokes once they’re away from the crowd still surrounding your booth.

“Huh, what?” Leon’s eyes drift from where you sit, now focusing on Claire’s highly amused face.

“You’ve got it bad. Want me to ask for her number while we’re here?” she nudges him in the chest.

“Shut up.” Leon grumbles, rubbing his neck again as his face heats up even more. “Send me those photos though.” His voice comes out softer this time, his blue eyes looking away and focusing on the various cosplayers that pass by.

“Yes, sir!” Claire salutes then starts walking deeper into Celebrity Row to see who else they could meet.

Leon was never one for conventions, but if it meant he got to see you again, he’d commit. And maybe even dress up just to see how you’d react.

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