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“Surprise!”
Leon arched an eyebrow at the package placed before him, a small box wrapped in colorful paper. He picked it up from the low coffee table, raising it in front of him before observing the wrapping paper, a candy-striped paper that was wrapped so the pattern moved diagonally around the box. Taking hold of the red ribbon between his index finger and thumb, Leon pulled the ribbon through the loop, unknotting it in one fluid motion.
“Don’t you want to guess what it is first?”
Leon looked at Ashley, a small smile lifting the corners of his lips as he set the box back on the table.
“Alright,” he nodded, a playful lilt in his voice, “Do I get a hint or do I just guess broadly?”
“Does the great Leon S. Kennedy really need help with a birthday gift?” Ashley teased.
“Is that a no?”
“Fine!”
Ashley took the box from the table, holding it close to her as she said, “You probably wouldn’t remember it, but it’s something you got back in that village in Spain.”
“Pesetas?” Leon grunted in confusion, “Don’t really need those in America, Baby Eagle!”
“No!” Ashley laughed, lightly slapping Leon’s shoulder, not that he felt it that much. “It wasn’t money!”
“A cool bandana?” came another guess.
“Nope!”
“A scarf?”
“Wrong again!”
“Maybe a nice pair of dangly earrings with little suns in them?”
“Were you even in Spain?” Ashley demanded, throwing her head back in annoyance before looking back to Leon. “There were like twenty of these all over the village, do you remember?”
With a sigh, Leon pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering, “I can’t remember something I haven’t seen, Baby Eagle!”
“Well, guess!”
Leon looked at the ceiling above him, desperately trying to recall the village from all those years ago. He had constantly been on the move back then, he wasn’t even sure if he had eaten or drank anything during that event, much less use the bathroom or stop for a break. A constant fear had dug at his scalp the entire time, and he could only focus on his mission the entire time.
But, twenty sounded familiar, for some reason.
With one final guess, Leon asked, “Is it the jacket I lost? I’ve been meaning to replace that thing.”
Without a word, Ashley handed Leon the wrapped box, a slightly disappointed look on her face. Leon accepted the box, immediately moving to unwrap the lid. Once he had the lid off, he reached inside the box, tossing aside useless pink tissue paper before finally tugging out his gift. It was a rather large figure, decorated to look like…
“Is this supposed to be Ramón Salazar?” Leon asked.
“Yeah,” nodded Ashley, “I remember that you got a few of these back on in the village and sold them to that merchant guy.”
“Did you have this custom-made or something?”
“No, for some reason my dad had it, he said he got it from some evidence locker and thought about using it as some sort of gag gift on you.”
“And you decided to take his place, huh?” Leon laughed.
He stopped to take a close look at the figurine, noting the sharp angles that made up the details of the face and coat, and how the blue of the coat matched the skin tone perfectly. He took ahold of the small wind-up key at the base of the figurine, winding it slightly.
“This had better not be the macarena,” mumbled Leon, earning a small laugh from Ashley.
A gentle tune came from the base, a smooth harmony that seemed to relax Leon upon hearing it. The music wasn’t to his taste, but he had to admit there was something particularly attractive about it.
“It’s a good gift, Baby Eagle,” Leon said after a moment, resting the figurine on the coffee table in front of him, “But you do realize I had to shoot most of these to get them, right?”
“In that case, I strictly forbid you from shooting that one!” Ashley declared.
“What about using my knife on it, since I did that once or twice,”
“Don’t use any weapons on the doll!”
“But it’s a creepy-ass doll!”
“I thought it was a good gift!”
“The music is a good gift, that half-foot creep attached to it is not!”
“So you want to shoot it, Leon?”
“What?” Leon scoffed, “No! I was just pointing out that I had to shoot them to get some of them!”
“Was there no other way to get them besides shooting them?”
“I wasn’t called there as a repairman, Ashley, so I sadly didn’t bring my ladder with me,”
“Well,” Ashley huffed, folding her arms into her baggy sweater and tucking her legs up under her chin on the couch, “I just wanted to get you a good birthday present!”
“My birthday isn’t important, especially not my thirty-third!”
“Was I just supposed to not get you a gift?”
Leon took Ashley’s hand gently, a soft smile raising the corners of his lips.
Ashley understood what he was about to do, but before she could stop him, Leon said, “Ashley, you are my gift!”
“God,” Ashley groaned, “You’re so unbelievably corny!”
“Hey! It works for me!”
“A lot less than you think!”
“Which means a lot more than you care to admit, Ashley!”
“I hate you!”
“I find that hard to believe, I’m Leon Kennedy, who hates me?”
“Your girlfriend,” Ashley replied, a smug smile on her face, “When you act like an idiot!”
“Admit it, you kinda liked that I called you my perfect gift, right?”
“You didn’t call me that!” Ashley laughed, kicking Leon gently in the side.
“I am now!” retorted Leon as he caught her foot and rested it in his lap.
Ashley sighed, then began playing with the ends of her sleeves as she mumbled, “I did kinda like it,”
“Did you like it enough that I can get rid of this ugly doll?” Leon asked innocently.
“If that’s what it takes to shut you up, yes,” sighed Ashley.
With a shrug, Leon muttered, “Good enough for me.”
He placed the Clockwork Castellan back into its box before continuing, “Ashley Graham is enough of a gift for me! Sorry, Baby Eagle!”
“God, you’re insufferable! I hate you!”
“Love you too!”