Work Text:
30 Days of Prompts, Day 10:
“11 minutes away.”
“Where are you?” Claire sounded concerned, over the muffled voices in the background.
“11 minutes away,” Chris replied as he checked the SAT NAV. It was a reasonable question considering he was running nearly an hour late. “I’m sorry, I should have contacted you.” He sighed, “The meeting overran and the traffic is awful. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“As long as you’re ok,” Claire sounded relieved. “Drive safe and I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon.”
Chris checked the SAT NAV again to see if there might be a quicker way, but soon gave up. It was after work on a Friday night and everyone had somewhere to be, including him.
He wasn’t really sure why he’d been asked by the BSAA to attend the TerraSave Gala, but it probably had something to do with promoting ties between the NGO and the BSAA and raising the profile of TerraSave itself. But even if he hadn’t been, Claire, who had helped to organise it, had already invited him a good month before the official invitations went out.
The light changed and Chris refocused his attention on driving.
By the time Chris had parked at the hotel and made it into the event itself he was running a good twenty minutes later than promised.
Claire spotted him almost immediately and called his name, whilst waving him over, causing the man with her to turn towards him.
Chris found himself captivated by her blond companion. His suit hugged his figure perfectly, his tie offering the only pop of colour to the clearly bespoke three piece. His hair framing his too blue eyes now intensely trained on him as he made his way over. And Chris found he couldn’t look away.
“Chris!” Claire smiled as he made it over, diverting his attention away from the man. Claire gave him a warm hug, which he returned in kind, mindful of the glass in her hand.
“Chris, this is Leon S. Kennedy,” Claire introduced, gesturing to the man in question, “Leon, this is my brother, Chris.”
Chris extended his hand to Leon. So, this was the man who had helped his sister in Racoon City and who’d let him know about Rockfort Island.
“It’s nice to finally meet you in person,” Chris smiled as Leon shook his hand firmly.
“Same here,” Leon smiled back.
Chris’ next words died in his throat. Having all Leon’s attention and those mesmerising blue eyes directed at him alone Chris was instantly smitten with the other man.
There was a polite cough behind Leon.
Chris realised he was still holding Leon’s hand. He let go of it quickly and offered an apologetic smile. One that Leon seemed to return as he turned his attention to the well-dressed woman who had just walked over.
She leaned in and spoke quietly to Leon.
“I’m sorry,” Leon turned back to Chris with a wry smile, “duty calls. Claire.” He nodded in the red head’s direction and then he and the woman were gone.
“Who was that?” Chris asked, ignoring his sister’s knowing smile.
“The woman? That was FOS agent Ingrid Hunnigan. She and Leon often work together.”
“I see,” Chris replied. He searched the crowd, but Leon had already disappeared into it.
“Come on, let’s get you a drink,” Claire chuckled amused, as she took Chris by the arm.
Leon stepped out onto the balcony of the event room. He took a deep breath of the cool night air and loosened his tie. He felt exhausted. Everyone in there wanted a piece of DSO agent Leon S. Kennedy.
“You escaped too then.”
Leon turned at the sound of an amused and familiar voice, only to see Chris Redfield leaning with his arms on the stone railing, his gazed fixed on him.
“You know how it is,” Leon shrugged, coming to lean on the railing himself.
“Yeah,” Chris sighed, gazing out at the night again. “You wouldn’t happen to have a cigarette, would you?” He asked after a beat, turning his attention back to Leon.
“Sorry. Don’t smoke,” Leon replied.
“I don’t either, anymore,” Chris admitted with a shrug, “But I still get the craving sometimes.”
Leon could understand the stress of an event like the one they were at. People were only interested in speaking to their heroes and tended to forget that they too were human and the toll of the horrors they witnessed.
“I’d offer to buy you a drink,” Leon began, moving to stand just a little closer to Chris and offering his tried-and-true method of stress relief, “but it’s a free bar,” he quipped.
Chris chuckled and shook his head. “Claire always said your one liners were terrible,” he offered amusement clear in his tone.
“But it made you laugh, didn’t it?” Leon pointed out.
“If I didn’t think Claire would kill us, I’d invite you to ditch this party and come get a drink with me,” Chris proposed, looking directly at Leon.
“If she didn’t, Hunnigan would,” Leon lamented.
In that moment he wanted nothing more than to take Chris up on his offer. The man was gorgeous and nothing at all like he had been imagining.
Leon had heard a lot of stories about Captain Chris Redfield, both from Claire and in his own line of work, but nothing could have prepared him for meeting the man himself. Despite all the horrors he’d no doubt seen and the hurt and betrayals he had experienced he still found the strength to keep going. He hadn’t lost the warmth Claire had always described him as having.
It was enough to spark the beginning of a crush and a desire to see where the night might lead.
“That’s too bad,” Chris smiled, though he was clearly disappointed and when had they got so close? “After all, I do owe you at least one drink.”
“What for?” Leon asked, deciding to play along.
“For Racoon City and Rockfort.”
Leon wanted to protest and point out that both those events had been over ten years ago, but when Chris was looking at him like that—
And of course, that was when Chris’ phone rang. He stepped away to check it and picked up the call. The spell broke and Leon looked out into the night. Only turning back when he heard footsteps approaching him.
“Sorry,” Chris apologised, “It looks like our drinks will have to wait.”
Leon could tell something had changed. Chris’ focus had shifted. No doubt he’d been called in.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” Chris offered.
“Yeah,” Leon agreed, he cast around for something else to say. Something along the lines of ‘take care,’ or ‘be safe,’ but it suddenly seemed too intimate. Eventually he just settled on a smile and two fingered wave.
Then Chris was gone. Leon watched him disappear back inside, until he couldn’t see him anymore.
He turned and gazed back out into the night.