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30 Days of Prompts, Day 17:
A Map is Discovered with Stars on Certain Areas
Leon paused as he checked the delivery menus on his phone. With how late it was getting he had decided to take a break from unpacking and had popped his head round the door of the master bedroom to let Chris know it might be time for dinner. Chris had told him he was just going to finish unpacking the box he was working on and would join him. But that had been getting on for twenty minutes ago.
Leon wondered if everything was ok. The box hadn’t been that full, he didn’t think. He decided to head back upstairs. He was between pizza and Thai food and he wanted Chris’ input anyway.
Leon found Chris sat on the bed, facing away from the door. He knocked on the frame gently.
“Oh, sorry. I got distracted,” Chris sighed, turning to see Leon standing in the doorway.
“Everything ok?” Leon asked.
“Y-Yeah…I think,” Chris replied, after a pause, before turning back to look at what he was holding in his hands.
Concerned Leon entered the bedroom properly and made his way round the bed, strewn with various items. There was a box by Chris’ feet and he had a faded, brown leather case in his hands. Leon recognised it immediately.
Leon sat on the bed and gently put a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, but not without casting a quick glance at the closet. Chris turned to look at him and smiled, placing his hand on top of Leon’s. He squeezed it briefly, before letting go.
“Just got caught up in some old memories, I guess. You ever see my old S.T.A.R.S. ID photo?”
“I don’t think so,” Leon replied. He’d seen his file photos, but he wasn’t sure if they’d used the same one on his ID card.
Chris opened the case and passed it over. With the badge in it, it was heavier than Leon expected it to be.
Leon chuckled a little. “I forgot how young and…” Leon cast about for the right word.
“Unbuilt I was?” Chris suggested.
“I guess that’s one way of putting it,” Leon conceded. He handed the badge back.
Chris set it on the bedside table, before pulling another item from the box. This time he had a folded piece of paper in his hands. It turned out to be a map.
“Oh,” Chris laughed, “I remember this.” He unfolded the paper properly. Wordlessly, Leon took one side of it so Chris had a free hand to point at the golden stars stuck on the map of Raccoon Park. “It was a team building exercise,” he explained, “We paired up and using clues we had to go find the members of Bravo Team. When we found them, we got a star sticker for the map.”
Leon’s amusement must have shown on his face.
“Yeah. The star sticker idea was pretty lame back then too. The activity wasn’t so bad though.” Chris folded the map back up and put it on the bed.
He picked up the second to last item in the box, an envelope. Chris opened it and pulled out a small stack of photos. He held them so Leon could see them too.
Leon glanced at Chris’ face. He was wearing a small, sad smile.
“Were those your teammates?” Leon asked gently.
“Joseph was,” he said pointing to one of the two men with him, “Forest was Bravo.” Chris pointed to the other man. “We used to get into so much trouble on our nights out,” Chris chuckled, although it sounded a little watery.
“I find that hard to imagine,” Leon said, sounding sceptical.
“I was a bit wild in those days. It’s one of the reasons I left the Air Force.”
Chris put the photo to the back of the stack. The next one was one of him receiving an award. “It was the RPD Intramural shooting competition,” he explained.
Leon nodded. He knew that Chris had great aim and had won awards in the past for his shooting skills. Absently, he wondered if there had been no incident in Raccoon City whether he could have given him a run for his money.
Chris moved on to the next photo.
They went through a few more of Chris with various other members of S.T.A.R.S. Chris telling all kinds of stories and he seemed to enjoy reminiscing a little more with each one, the rawness of the emotion fading from his voice.
“Wait a moment. You never told me you performed!” Leon exclaimed as he saw the next picture. Chris was stood on stage, in a brown leather jacket, guitar in hand, clearly singing. Leon had heard Chris sing around the house before and he knew he wasn’t bad. He’d also seen Chris’ guitars, but had never heard him play.
“It was an open mic night at a local bar. I entered on a dare from Jill,” Chris covered half of his face with one hand, clearly a little embarrassed.
“What did you sing?” Leon had to lean in close as Chris mumbled the answer and he immediately laughed. “Why?”
“Alpha team had a vote, OK?” Chris groaned.
“I would have loved to have seen that,” Leon admitted, still laughing a little.
“I’ll play for you sometime,” Chris offered, as he slid the photo to the back of the stack, bringing them to the beginning again.
“I’d like that,” Leon smiled, as Chris put the photos back in the envelope and set it on the bedside table. Then he turned back to the box.
Leon saw him hesitate, before he seemed to resolve himself and pick up the last item in the box. This time it was a framed photo of all the S.T.A.R.S. members, in front of a helicopter. Leon had seen it before in the S.T.A.R.S. office in the station.
Chris shook his head, his hand tightened on the frame, just for a moment.
“They’re gone,” Chris whispered, “but not forgotten,” he finished. “Thank you,” he added, turning to Leon as he put the picture back into the box.
Leon nodded, quiet. He took a breath. He’d been able to almost forget while listening to Chris talk about his memories, but now in the silence following it was impossible for him to push the thoughts away. He could feel Chris’ eyes on him and turned to see an open look of concern and an unasked question on his lips.
“I have my own box,” he admitted softly.
Chris gently slid his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. Leon lent into him slightly. He had learnt that Chris was tactile, especially when he was offering comfort, but he was also good at giving Leon space when he needed it and knowing when to use which approach.
“I’ve never been able to open it,” Leon confided, voice barely above a whisper.
“That’s ok,” Chris reassured him. “We all grieve in different ways. You don’t need to revisit those memories until you’re ready. And I’ll be here, if that’s what you want, when you’re ready.”