#treasuredshipping

There’s a crater taking form in Raihan’s stomach. It’s deep, grotesque, with sharp debris that stabs- hard , with every titled breath he takes. 

The locker room is drenched with silence. Which is laughable considering the roar of the crowd featured on the television screen. All of Galar is in an uproar from the very foundations of their world shattering from a single battle.

Leon lost.

Galar has a new champion. 

Raihan remains rooted to the bench while the rest of the leaders break, one by one, from their shock. But Raihan-he’s consumed by the crater continuing to grow and swallow him whole. Leon lost. The TV screen pans to the trainer who had beat Leon. They looked worn but glowing, excited to have beaten the unbeatable. And who wouldn’t be excited to destroy ten years of glory in a single turn of the tides? 

Raihan is being swallowed. By this weird, hollow ache that stings and makes his eyes see green. His throat burns and he wants to move but he can’t because all he’s thinking about is how Leon lost and it’s not because of him. 

He feels heat rise and fall and ashes stain his tongue as the heat boils. How can someone so fresh and so young make the impossible, possible? How could some kid come in and take the crown that Raihan had been gunning after for years?

How could someone beat his rival?

How could someone beat him ?

It seems unreal, and at some level, it’s not. Because he knew this would happen. He had a feeling in his gut, wiggling into like roots of a tree, when he first met the young trainer Hop called his rival. They had an air of change around them that blew, furiously, like a whirlwind. Like they could topple the very foundations of the world if they tried. All they’d have to do was act. 

And act, they did. 

They won. They won and Raihan can’t help but feel so feeble in this moment because who was he to call himself Leon’s greatest rival if he’d never even won . And then some new competitor rolls in and-

“Raihan.”

Raihan looks up but doesn’t respond as Piers and Nessa walk over to him. Concern is written across both their faces and his first instinct is to tell them to give him some space when the camera cuts to Leon. 

Leon’s smiling at the camera, talking about the battle and how refreshing it was to get such a formidable challenger. But he doesn’t look right. His eyes are bright and his smile isn’t reaching the way it normally does. It’s tight and his shoulders are too square-he’s normally more relaxed, more strong and confident. 

“Fuck,” Raihan goes to stand and forces down the weird heat in his stomach to worry about later. 

“There he goes, overprotective dragon mum Raihan ready to pick up their baby from the masses,” Piers drawls. 

Nessa snorts, “Are you on your way to grab your man and whisk him away from all the reporters? You’re gonna cause a scene.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

“We know,” Piers and Nessa say at the same time and if Raihan wasn’t already being tugged in there different emotional directions he would have started a brawl. He’s out and storming for the pitch. The crowd is still roaring, and the cameramen are still talking to Leon and the trainer who wasn’t Raihan that beat him. 

Leon catches Raihan coming for him, eyes wide in question before the realization hits. And Raihan knows Leon gets exactly why he’s here. The camera people cut their attention towards Raihan who’s storming for his target. 

“And here we have the master of dragons, the tamer of weather, Raihan entering the field! No doubt the self-proclaimed greatest rival of former champion Leon has something to say for everyone watching!”

The microphone gets pushed into Raihan’s face. He frowns and slips out a, “Absolutely no comment ,” because he goes for Leon. 

“Raihan,” the way Leon says his name is incredibly intimate. And vulnerable. And if it gets caught by the camera and microphones then the entirety of Galar would put the pieces together that Raihan and Leon have… never really tried to hide. 

“Come on,” Raihan takes Leon’s hand in his and leads him towards the locker room. “Interview is over! I’m taking him home! Good day!” 

As they’re leaving (read: running out of the stadium) the press behind them go into an uproar. But Raihan doesn’t care, and neither does Leon, who squeezes Raihan’s hand particularly tight as they exit the stadium. 

They manage to escape the crowd thanks to Nessa and Piers intercepting the camera crew. Raihan makes a mental note to treat them to drinks and food later. Much later, after him and Leon are able to be alone for a few hours-or hell, maybe even a day. Because Raihan can feel it, through their hands, and the deep shadow that crushes over them, that Leon isn’t okay . 

“Thank you,” he catches Leon saying as Raihan waves down a Flying Taxi.

Raihan looks back, eyes searching and face tight. Leon’s face looks dark, shadowed. His hat is still on his head and he’s biting down on his lip, hard. Raihan can only nod, his heart twisting as the taxi pulls up. Fuck. He hasn’t seen Leon like this in a while.

And he hates it. 

“Where to?” the Flying Taxi driver asks as they board.

Raihan slides in and Leon follows suit. They haven’t let go of their hands. And Raihan peeks as Leon pulls the brim of his hat down a little further, sinking into the seat. “Hammerlocke,” and he rattles off his address and throws a couple of extra Pokedollars with the instructions to make it fast. 

For the ride, neither men talk. But Raihan squeezes Leon’s hand every so often and Leon’s shuddering breaths become less and less heavy as the ride goes on. 

  /

  Raihan’s flat is pretty spacious, considering all the money he’s poured into it to make his home the ultimate bachelor pad. Though, “bachelor pad” wouldn’t really be the right terminology for it anymore. 

Once home Raihan takes Leon to his bedroom and rests on the bed. They sit together, side by side and the silence is still heavy. Enough that Raihan feels the cracks forming, splintering again in the crater he tried very hard to ignore ever since the loss. They haven’t let go of each other yet. Hands still tied and connected and tethered. 

Leon’s face is still shadowed, but it’s not so guarded anymore. The Champion Mask fading away now that he’s safe, and sound, and it’s only Raihan. Raihan who has seen Leon at low points, and breaking points, and near tears. 

“I,” Leon works, slowly. And Raihan presses his nose to Leon’s cheek, nuzzling. “I don’t know-I don’t know where to start.”

“That’s fair.”

“I was so sure I’d win. Even after,” another pause. Leon inhales, and exhales deeply. “After not being able to catch Eternatus and seeing them pull it off. Even then, I never-I was so sure I’d still be called Champion even at the end of the day.” 

And then Leon keeps going in circles and down tangents. Through winding alleyways of confusion and hurt, but also bursting through the doors of acknowledgement and excitement that Galar is entering into a new world where someone else is Champion. Someone else can carry the crown. Someone else can lead a new generation into believing that they, too, can conquer it all.

He does this all through tears. They start running down his face at some point (Raihan knows, because he was watching Leon carefully but he won’t say when) and Raihan pulls Leon closer. Has his head rest on his chest as he talks it out through the sobbing. Every shuddering breath, and shaking shoulder, Raihan holds on tighter and kisses the top of Leon’s head still covered by his cap. 

They sit like that for who knows how long. Until the sun starts to set and orange beams start to filter through Raihan’s bedroom window. 

Leon pulls back, one hand cupping Raihan’s face. Raihan turns to kiss his palm, holding his gaze. Leon smiles. “Are you alright?”

Little flowers begin to bloom in the crater Raihan had ignored in favor of Leon’s own ache. For a minute, Raihan doesn’t know how to respond. And really, the only words that come out at first are, “I love you.” which Leon chuckles and responds with a, “I know. I love you too.”

Of course Leon, sweet and scarily perceptive when Raihan least expects it, could tell. Raihan offers him a crooked smile, and goes to steal a kiss before he really responds. “No. I’m jealous as all hell but…”

Leon’s face on the giant television screen after his defeat crosses his mind. He wonders if he could stomach knowing he made Leon feel that way. With emotions surging forward he wouldn’t be able to properly acknowledge because the time and setting were off. Because the Champion needed to keep going in times of sudden loss, and continue putting on a brave face because the people don’t want to see their Champion feel . 

And then he thinks, would Leon have even made that face at all if it were Raihan and not the trainer who defeated him? 

Leon looks at him expectantly, waiting for Raihan to finish. Raihan instead, shakes his head. “Nah, it’s cool. I’ll be ok. I was more worried for you, though. I knew you were gonna bawl like crazy if I didn’t get you outta there.”

“I would have held it in!” 

“Yeah yeah of course you would. I saw that little teardrop trying to escape,” Raihan teases. 

Leon pouts, which Raihan can’t help but devour. A simple kiss that slips into something more intimate. As Leon’s hand cups the back of Raihan’s head, and Raihan slides his tongue into Leon’s mouth. They know each other well, in the way their mouths move in memorized fashion. The way Raihan bites Leon’s bottom lip just right in the way Leon enjoys. That makes him gasp, and his eyes flutter. 

Raihan sighs, gently, as they part. And presses his lips to Leon’s cheek. Enjoying the soft chuckle that vibrates from Leon. “You hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Bet. Let’s go make food.”

“Sounds good to me,” Leon gets up with a stretch that Raihan watches, lazily. Then Leon scrunches up his nose as he sniffs his jersey. “I’m gonna change first, yeah? I can meet you downstairs.” 

Leon makes a go for Raihan’s closet and Raihan may or may not lightly tap his bum as he goes-lightly! Leon shoots him a look that Raihan simply smiles back at, fang peeking out at the corners. 

“That was a tap for good luck so ya don’t get lost!”

“Stop!” Leon’s face slightly flushes, “I won’t get lost. It’s literally right down the hall.”

“Mhm, mhm. That’s what you said last time,” Raihan walks up to hug Leon from behind, kissing the back of his neck once before letting go. “I’ll see you downstairs.” he murmurs. Leon twists around so they can kiss, once more, before Raihan detaches himself and heads downstairs to start making dinner. 

When Leon comes down he’s wearing a pair of Raihan’s sweats and a hoodie. Raihan can’t help the small heat that pools in his stomach seeing Leon in his clothes. Raihan’s got a few inches on Leon, so his clothes are a little baggy, but Leon still looks tall and carries himself with the pride of a Charizard, still Champion-like. Still holding onto some semblance of regality.

Rotom flies out to take photos as they cook. Well, it’s mostly Raihan cooking and Leon handing him the necessary cooking ware but they’re still a team about it. And if Rotom happens to snap photos of Leon sneaking in kisses then! So be it! Raihan will make sure to post at least one photo on his social media sometime this week. But not tonight, because tonight-Leon is his. 

They retire to the living room, where they’re curled up eating dinner and watching the cheesiest Pokemon movies that Leon and Raihan can act out word for word. In the middle of it all are stolen kisses and touches and the flowers still blooming where the cracks in the craters formed. 

Leon cries a little bit later, again, before they go to bed. And Raihan holds him tightly, fiercely, as the sobs crash like tidal waves. Tonight, is raw. Losing is never easy, especially for someone like Leon who hasn’t tasted defeat in so long. 

But Raihan, rather ironically, knows a thing or two about losing. That it’s horrible dealing with it alone, but a little more bearable when you have someone else to lean in through the loss.

“You’re still as strong and brilliant now as you were before today.” Raihan reminds him, over and over. 

They fall asleep like that, with Raihan’s lips pressed to Leon’s temple and their legs all tangled. 

I. 

“Damn, we lost again! But ya did good, Duraludon.” Raihan calls back his Pokémon. Rotom flies around to snap photos of the moment. Because even though Raihan lost, he’s still handsome. And there’s something his followers love about his pouts after defeat-a beauty found in the pain, sort of thing. 

He looks upward, to Leon’s smiling face. As brilliant as the sun while he laughs with his partner, Charizard. “Another win for the great champion of Galar!” Leon is so confident , so sure of himself, but so pure. His boasts never come off cocky. Only mere facts that the entirety of Galar have written into their history books as gospel truths. “But it’s to be expected. After all, I’m unbeatable.”

“Yeah, for now.” Raihan snorts, but there’s no derision. No anger. Only this unsettling warmth that seeps into his bones the more he looks at Leon’s smile and continues comparing him to the sun. Bright, orbiting, so expansive and heat-filled that ignoring him was impossible.

Not that Raihan ever tried. He’d been captured by Leon long ago… 

“I was close, though!” Raihan continues, striding over to meet Leon on the other side of the pitch. “Duraludon nearly had your Charizard begging for mercy.”

Leon barks out a burst of laughter, Charizard following suit. “Yeah sure! If that’s what you want to call it, we can work with that.” Raihan rolls his eyes while Leon keeps laughing and laughing. And Raihan’s stomach keeps tumbling and twisting into knots. 

Leon’s laughter is one of his favorite sounds. Better than any music Raihan’s ever listened to. 

Rotom whirrs by, bumping into Raihan’s cheek. A subtle reminder to get his life together and not drool so much over his longtime rival and friend. Right, good. 

“Well,” Raihan works his jaw, adjusting his posture to come off as casual-and not monumental or anything of the sort to show how much impact he wanted his words to convey. “If you were anyone else, I’d definitely try to throw hands. So you’re lucky that I like you so much.”

So much. So much more than any harboring feelings of platonic platitudes he carried for the other people in his life. His heart rate never sped up so viciously as it did around the champion. His thoughts were never consumed by anyone else other than Leon. 

It was horrific. Raihan wanted to scream.

His nerves became static, but Leon doesn’t seem to catch onto his words. Not really, not to their significance. But the smile he gives Raihan is soft, dare he say intimate, and Raihan has to hold back-for now-the urge to pull Leon by his cape and kiss him.

Instead Leon says, “I like you too.” 

And it’s not the same.

Raihan feels the heat dissipate and a weight drop, deep. Then comes the sandstorm. Obscuring the flash of disappointment from breaking through to the surface on Raihan’s face. 

Then they’re swarmed by fans who happened to oversee their battle. Quick as a standard, covering up their tracks, asking Raihan and Leon for photos and autographs of their league cards. Leon, the beloved Champion, falls into the steps of his role. Signs the cards and strikes his pose and sprinkles advice for budding trainers. 

Raihan follows suit. Slips on his little mask and uses Rotom to take a bunch of photos with his fans. 

If every so often, Raihan peeked over to catch Leon laughing with the kids or striking his pose, embracing the spotlight he made with ease, then so be it. 

It was hard to ignore the sun when it shone so close, so brilliantly, anyways. 

  II.

Raihan can’t remember when he fell. 

But he knows it was a graceful fall. A sudden snowstorm that drowned him in the feeling of attachment and yearning and longing for Leon that resonated a powerful chord one day when Raihan least expected it. 

All the leaders of Galar knew about his one-sided affections, except Leon of course.

It had almost become a joke. A running bet among the leaders about how much longer Raihan would skirt around before he finally lost his patience and straight up proposed. Others wondered about the opposite: how much longer would it take until Leon finally noticed?

Both bets ended in similar fashions: whatever the outcome was, it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

Really, Raihan was somewhat coping with the fact that he was enamored by his best friend and greatest rival who was also, simultaneously, the most powerful trainer in all of Galar.

And the biggest idiot in all of Galar. 

But that’s what was so charming . 

And Raihan really, honestly, should have seen it coming. Leon attracted everyone. He was lion like. Prideful in his strength while caring a sort of regality that made others want to follow him. Raihan always chased after him from the start. To become better than him, to surpass him in the race and become champion. 

Then somehow, someway, the chase ended in a plunge. And Raihan was diving face down into a rainstorm of emotional attachment. 

While he may not remember when the feelings took root, he remembers vividly the first time he ever let it slip to Raihan about his feelings. 

They were eating dinner at Bob’s Your Uncle. Raihan was snapping photos and Leon was making funny faces. Their food was gone by this point, but conversation didn’t stop. It never stopped between them. Leon always had stories to share about challengers who came for advice, for a battle, for a moment to bask in his presence. Raihan was always dishing out strategies, new ways to utilize the elements for his team’s advantage, better ways to craft synergy between his Pokemon in their double battles. 

They were always talking and talking, bouncing back and forth, cracking jokes. Then Leon got called over by the manager and Raihan waves him off, because what is a Champion if not at the beck and call of their people, and as he watches them interact he thinks to himself how Leon looks like a king-cape aside.

Broad shoulders, a strong back, his shoulders squared. Everything in Leon’s stance is that of someone fit to rule. Fit to command. Fit to oversee. Fit to love . Strong and sturdy, a foundation that Raihan found himself wanting to utterly wreck and destroy beneath him.

Then his face got all red. His cheeks burned, a hot scorching sun across the expanse of his face. His eyes wide as he looks at Leon walking back over to him with a bottle of wine and two glasses. On the house from the manager for the two of them being such loyal customers. 

When Leon sat down, he immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I like-” Raihan nearly bit his tongue. Leon blinked and Raihan couldn’t believe he almost confessed. Almost said I like you. I like you. So much, so much that I'm going to be swallowed whole and I had no idea this was going to happen. 

“You like…?”

“Like-that we can use your Champion status to get free drinks, yeah.” Raihan lied easily, smoothly. Ignored the burnt taste on his tongue from his lie. Leon, thankfully, didn’t ask further. They shared drinks and went back to their conversation but this time Raihan couldn’t help but think Leon was the sun, over and over again, and how much he wanted to become an Icarus-scorched by his touch. 

III.

“Honestly, just kiss him.” 

“I’ve thought about that multiple times, Ness.” 

Nessa folds her arms and leans back against the back of the booth, “Super surprised you haven’t gone full dragon mode and slobbered him silly with kisses, at this point. You’re normally much more straightforward with your conquests.”

Raihan rolls his eyes while Rotom snickers. “I’ll bring out the screwdriver on you,” he threatened but that only made Rotom whir and snicker louder. Gremlin. Raihan meets Nessa’s pointed gave, brilliantly blue and as fearsome as the ocean. 

Which he needed, because Raihan was tired of bullshitting himself. Nessa was absolutely correct that Raihan wasn’t being himself. Not really, anyways. Raihan has confidence in his looks, his reputation, and overall swagger that he carries like a crown upon his head. He’s just as notorious, if not just as famous, as Leon-the only man to come close to someone Leon considered a rival. He can get anyone-he knows he can get anyone. 

Usually it only took a smile in their direction, a flash of fang, a flex of muscle, a whisper in their ear covered in husk, sprinkled with secrets they could make between the two of them under bright moonlight and starless skies-yet all those tricks and tactics fell utterly short at Leon’s feet. 

All Leon had to do was exist in the same space and time as Raihan and Raihan forgot how simple it was to breathe.

“Oh wow,” Nessa exhales with a whistle, reaching for more of her shake. She takes a pointed slurp. “You’ve got it bad , mate.”

“Shut up,” Raihan growls, but it sounds pitiful even to his own ears. 

Nessa smirks with her straw still in her mouth, “Listen, I love Leon. Truly do, but the man is only focused on one thing: winning. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him even utter words like dating or love-they’re just too out of his orbit.” 

“You think I don’t know that? The man’s got a bad case of one track mind and he’s barreling down that track at breakneck speeds.” Raihan goes for one of her fries because he needs comfort food and Nessa pinches his hand. “Ow! Rude, Ness.”

“Rai. Call him up and ask him out on a date. Then he can buy you fries.”

“I’ve considered that.”

“And?”

“And… what?”

“Let’s not play the who’s more dense game. Be the forward Raihan I know you can be and ask him out. What are you so afraid of?”

Ah, there it is. What was Raihan afraid of? And truly, what has he to lose? Everything comes snapping at him, fangs and claws at his neck. He never hesitated before. Never, because they were calculated wins. He knew with the people in his past he could obtain them, and obtain them easily. They were games where his outcome always ended with him as the winner. 

But that changed with Leon. Not once, not ever, had Raihan been even close to winning against Leon. Perhaps that spiral of losses had downward dove into Raihan believing he’d lose to Leon in this too. 

Raihan swore and Nessa simply shook her head. “Do what you need to do, Rai. But… if you ask me, I don’t think your chances of success are as low as you think they are.”

Raihan looks up at that. Sees the mischievous glint in Nessa’s eyes and a snow swirl of hope spike up in his chest. “What makes you say that?”

Nessa snorts and finishes off the last of her milkshake before she stands up, “The stars,” she answers impishly before she skips off to the bathroom. Leaving Raihan to stew and mutter and contemplate and go simply mad over her cryptic language. 

Later that night, he texts Leon. Asking a simple question: What would you do if I said I liked you?

He gets a response about thirty minutes later and nearly cries. 

Well of course I’d tell you I like you too. Haha, why what’s going on :P?

IV.

Raihan isn’t avoiding Leon. 

No, he’s simply busy.

He has a gym to run after all. And Pokemon to train. Food to eat and places to explore. The wild area’s raid dens were popping off more often recently. So of course Raihan had to go and explore. See if there were any new dragon Pokemon he could catch, or Pokemon in general to battle against. 

Sure, Leon would text him and Rotom would get all up in Raihan’s face whenever he did. But suddenly, Raihan couldn’t read anymore and to force himself to learn a skill he no longer had would be madness. So he refused to do so!

He was, in fact, avoiding Leon.

But his pride would never allow him to admit that. 

Raihan’s able to pull this off for about three weeks when his luck runs out. 

“Raihan!” Leon’s voice carries across the pitch of Hammerlocke stadium. Raihan stops his training with Flygon and Torkoal, nearly jumping from his skin. 

Shit. Fuck. Shit. Flygon and Torkoal are giving him knowing looks and Raihan’s incredibly close to asking them both to set him ablaze with a flamethrower. 

“Finally!” Leon runs over, all smiles and sunlight and Raihan wants to dig himself into the ground. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all week, yeah? Where have you been? Why haven’t you answered any of my messages?”

Raihan tilts his head. Makes his stance casual, hands in his pocket and words coming out with a drawl. “Been busy, mate. Got a gym to run and all that jazz.”

Leon looks at him strangely. And his sunlight starts to turn harsh. “Right… well, my mum’s grilling up a barbecue tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come by and hang. I texted you and didn’t get a response. So I thought it’d be easier to just come in person!”

He’s so earnest. And so pure. So straightforward and just. Raihan’s heart squeezes, and aches. Every nerve in his body is snarling at him to confess. To unleash all the truth at Leon’s feet and hope for the best. To not let the fear of losing, again, so visceral, stop him from pursuing the golden man he craves. 

Tell him you like him. Say it over and over until it penetrates the thick fog of obliviousness. Let him know over and over again how you crave the taste of his mouth. Want to run your nails down his back. Want to feel his surety and strength in the palm of your hands. How much you want to-

Rotom softly whirs beside him, having popped out to scope the scene. Flygon and Torkoal are looking at him, encouraging him to say something. To speak. Even if his voice shatters. 

Yet, fear is stronger. 

Fear wins. 

“Can’t tonight,” ashes in his mouth-and the taste makes him sick as he continues. “I’ve already made plans.” he turns on his heel, lowering his visor so it shades his eyes. Leon could pierce through him, easily, and Raihan would rather die than have Leon see how pathetic he feels written all over his face. 

Before Leon can say anything Raihan calls back Torkoal and makes Rotom go into his pocket. Then he climbs onto Flygon and tells it to take him to the Wild Area. Flygon hesitates, for a second. Looks back to Leon and softly hums before taking off with Raihan. 

The mighty tamer of dragons, a coward when it comes to feelings.

Laughable. 

V.

The next time Raihan and Leon meet their world is unfurling at the seams.

Falling apart in bright columns of purple light.

The Darkest Day , Chairman Rose calls it. To save us all! To protect the future of Galar! 

“He’s gone utterly insane,” Raihan hisses as the clouds above them turn pitch black and turbulent. The other leaders and challengers were doing their best to calm the masses and get them to safety. Raihan’s already making plans to go to Hammerlocke so he can go down to the power plant and beat some sense into Chairman Rose himself. 

“I have to stop him,” Leon says from beside him. Raihan is reminded immediately how this is the first time in about a month that they’ve existed in the same space. They had a brief crossing in the locker room before the Championship Cup but it had been tense, and Raihan had kept himself short.

Time apart did his feelings no good. They festered like bacteria, crawling under the ground he tried to firmly pack like worms. Horribly gnawing away at his heart until Leon and the guilt he felt over their last meeting was all he his thoughts consumed. 

“Leon,” Raihan says, the name dropping effortlessly out of his mouth before it can be stopped. Leon glances over at him, his mouth ready to move until the ground starts to shake at their feet.  Crackling, gurgling with ancient energy. “Leon, move!”

Raihan’s body works faster. He pushes Leon out of the way as the earth cracks by their feet. A giant burst of purple energy, raw and vicious, shoots up into the sky. There’s screaming, and the scattering of feet. Dust floats in the air and rubble lays around them. 

Raihan swears again, coughing as the dust settles. He pushes himself upwards, when he realizes the position their in. Leon is sprawled underneath him. Raihan’s on top. And Raihan hates, hates the sort of images that-Leon’s looking at him. And Raihan can read every single emotion behind his eyes-the anger and hurt and surprise and shock and joy and-

“Raihan,” Leon says quietly. Raihan’s snapped out of his thoughts as the world continues to collapse around them. “Are you alright?”

“I,” Raihan works his jaw, tries to make the words come out. “Yeah. Yeah I am. You?”

Leon’s still looking at him, still searching. And for once, just this time, Raihan lets himself be seen. Be pierced. Be examined and looked. Let’s the lion scrape away at the ground until there’s nothing but bare bones of emotion that Raihan can’t really hide from anymore. 

There’s a few seconds that passes, then Leon closes his eyes and exhale deeply. “Help me up, please.”

Raihan does so, robotically. The two stand and stare at each other, a minute more, before Leon steps into Raihan’s space. 

“You can’t go without backup,” Raihan starts. “You’re the Champion and all, I get that. But not even you-”

“I can,” Leon interjects, and he’s so close. So close and so sure, unwavering, Raihan doesn’t know how he thought he could run away from Leon when his gravitational pull was so deep. “And I’ll be back. Safe, and sound, so that when I come back, we can talk.”

“We can-?” Raihan’s words are swallowed whole by Leon’s lips on his. 

Leon kisses the way he battles-sure, strong, and forward. It’s clumsy as all hell though, and Raihan hates the little choking noise he makes in surprise from it all. But Leon tastes like gold, with dirt, with liquid heat. 

Leon pulls back, and his eyes are hooded. But his lips are pulled into the brightest grin as their foreheads touch in the middle of the chaos. 

“Yes, we need to talk. We have a lot to go over." And then, a beat later and with a goofy grin to seal the deal, Leon says, "I talked to Nessa.”

Raihan’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “What did she say-”

“That you like me." Leon says effortlessly. "And that I’m as dense as a house of bricks. And she’s right, I am dense. But she also told me that I need to tell you that yes, Raihan, I like you too.”

Raihan is rooted. Cemented to the ground and Leon just gives him his soft smile, his confident gaze, and Raihan shoots forward to kiss him again. Sharply, one more time before letting go. One more time to make sure it’s real. 

“Brilliant. Absolutely fucking brilliant ,” he wants to laugh in hysterics but now, now is not the time. And this was not the place nor the setting he envisioned where this moment would finally come. “Yes. Okay. We will talk. After we save the world… be safe, Leon.”