ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ➤ * @stillaware requested a plotted starter!
the residual scent of bleach lingers in the air of the hospital hallways, and his scarce few belongings clink and clatter as he empties his pockets into the plastic tray provided, as leon makes his way through the comprehensive security set-up, shifting his legs shoulder-width apart as they wave the handheld metal detector over the fabric of his slacks, extending one arm, and then the other for the same treatment. leon can barely smother the impatient urge to tap his foot, instead repetitively squeezing his hand into a fist at his side and releasing, as they look over his government identification, and then his a.u.p.i.t. badge. leon startles, reluctantly dragging his eyes away from the curtain-clad sliding glass doors further down the hall ahead, as the woman behind the glass barrier clears her throat and asks him to sign a non-disclosure agreement he doesn't bother to read through for the second time. he knows the drill and gist by now. penning his signature in narrow cursive, piling his keys and wallet and identification cards loosely into his pockets, leon takes the chilled can of V8 in hand he bought directly from the lobby vending machine, and immediately breaks into a brisk walk as they wave him through.
stopping just outside the door, wavering on the threshold, leon pauses, uncertain - how is he going to approach this? what is there for him to even say in the first place? hey, i'm leon kennedy, nice to meet you, so, what was it like being held captive in your own body for four years because i let a renowned and amoral spy escape with apparently a handful of plaga samples? no hard feelings, right? guilt gnaws as he hovers outside of valentine's room, and leon draws a hand over the lower half of his face, scratching at light stubble with blunt nails as he considers a slight hope that maybe, if he was as lucky as everyone kept telling him he was, she would be fast asleep, knocked-out cold, and he could leave a note wishing her well instead of having to conversate face-to-face with her. leon winces visibly at the thought alone, disparaging it immediately. with the immense respect he has for jill in spades, he won't allow his admiration to be outwon by his self-reproach, and if she strangles leon with her iv lines, which he'll probably deserve, he won't go out as a coward, only as an idiot. inhaling, exhaling, biting the bullet, leon knocks twice before turning the handle and stepping in, and he can't hide the way his face drops the instant he sees the state of her, but he tries anyway, a well-practiced debonair half-smile instantly at the edge of his lips, raising a hand in greeting before it drums out a tinny beat on the canned drink he's brought along, sparing an assessing glass to the vitals monitor to the side of the bed, and then back to her.
❝ hey there, i'm leon, i wrote the kennedy report, about the plaga? i wanted to stop by, see if they were looking after you alright.. ❞ leon pauses, mouth partially open as he glances at her monitor again, back to her, and to the monitor again, concern flickering across his features. quiet for a spell of seconds, leon closes his mouth, internally settled on a new approach, with a matter of fact click of his tongue in a well, shit manner. he turns away, abruptly taking a chair from his side of the room, and placing it backwards near the end of her bed, leon swinging a leg over and straddling his seat with his arms braced over the back. wordlessly hooking two fingers in the collar hem of his shirt, leon pulls it down low over his breastbone, bearing the edge of fractals of jutting blackened veins, his skin warped with thick scar tissue, discolored to an amalgamation of dark pink and red splotches. leon's collar hem springs back into place as he lets go, and he scratches at the light stubble on the side of his face again, a nervous tilt present in his smile now. ❝ it's much easier to just show you than explain, sorry, ❞ leon's fingers drum against the back of the chair, the first few beats of journey's wheel in the sky. ❝ i wanted to answer any questions, if you have them? there's.. there's just certain shit that doctor's don't get, and can't understand. i'm a complete stranger, so i get it if you don't want to pass a tissue box back and forth with me, ❞ briefly, leon's boyish smile broadens, only kidding, before it shifts into that light half-smile again. ❝ but if, you change your mind, or something feels wrong, freaks you out, now, later, six years from now, three in the morning, whatever, whenever, i'll be a phone call away. ❞