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“I’m gonna shop for groceries, anything you need?”
You walked around the apartment as you spoke, the usual routine of grabbing your keys and putting your shoes on, like clockwork. Leon watched you from the couch, having been lounging around for the past few hours. As you stood just after pushing your shoes on, you found Leon staring off behind you like he was thinking about something.
“..Leon?” you chuckled softly, slowly approaching him with your hands in your jacket pockets. Once you stood in front of him from the back of the couch, Leon’s eyes snapped up to meet yours, a small smile forming on his usually tired expression.
“Mind if I tag along this time?” Leon asked softly, almost like he was hesitant. You were surprised at his request, to say the least. Normally, Leon would opt to simply give you a list of the things he needed before sending you off with a gentle kiss to your cheek. You weren’t opposed to the idea, of course, but considering he just came back from a mission just a few days back, your surprise wasn’t out of place.
“Are… You sure?” you tilted your head slightly, asking more for clarification, and Leon read you well enough to know that this wasn’t in the normal routine.
“Yeah. I’ve been inside for the past few days, I think it’s time for me to be outside..” Leon trailed off, pursing his lips slightly before continuing his thought, “..Without being in BOW killer mode, you know?”
You let out a soft laugh and nodded in understanding. He just wanted to feel like a normal human being, you thought– and the thought alone warmed your heart, finding it endearing. “Yeah, I get it– Well, for the most part, considering I’ve never had to be in BOW killer mode,” you chuckled softly, bringing a hand up to gently caress Leon’s cheek.
“Oh, trust me, it is not pretty.” Leon sighed dramatically, leaning into your hand for a moment even as you snickered at his words.
“That’s a lie, you’re pretty all the time.”
“Mm debatable.”
You narrowed your eyes playfully at Leon, but seeing the tips of his ears redden sparked triumph in your chest as you grinned softly. Leon knew that look all too well, and before you could tease him for it, he immediately pushed himself up from the couch and away from your awfully soft hands that he loves so much.
“I’m just going to change– I shouldn’t be long,” Leon spoke curtly, and you couldn’t help but laugh softly as he hastily shuffled to the room to do just that. You shook your head to yourself as you watched him duck into the room, tucking your hands back into your jacket.
“Cute.”
“Aaand we’re here. Ready to go?” You turned towards Leon in the passenger seat with a wide smile, only realizing now just how excited you were to have him joining you in your grocery shopping endeavors. You were practically vibrating in your seat, and Leon couldn’t help but smile himself. He found your energy to be nearly too contagious, despite the slight anxiety that spiked in his stomach.
As excited and as happy as he was to also be joining you, it had also been some time since Leon had actually been out to do anything mundane, save for the usual early morning jog he did around the complex– but even that activity felt like high alert mission for him. It was hard for Leon to actually relax when he was out and about, which is why he preferred to stay inside most times, especially after missions. At least inside, all Leon had to check for was the windows and the doors.
Leon looked up at your face when he realized he’d lost himself in his anxious thoughts, and before he could speak, you already figured out what his mind was swimming in just at the way his brows furrowed. “You just got back from a mission, right? Here,” you opened the middle console and rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a light blue face mask, “If it helps any, you can wear this while we’re in the store.”
Thankfully, Leon’s shoulders dropped and his face softened as he took the mask from your hand. “Thank you,” he smiled softly, looping the bands around his ears and pinching the mask at the bridge of his nose. You waited patiently until Leon was set and ready, both nodding at each other in a silent “okay” before you both climbed out of the car.
You didn’t have the time to look at Leon’s outfit before you left the apartment, but now you had all the time to admire as he rounded his way to your side. Of course, it wasn’t anything too fancy, just some black jeans, a simple light blue tee, and his blue bomber jacket that was… Obnoxiously American but also very adorable, just because he was wearing it. Glancing up at Leon, you find him looking at you with curious eyes and an eyebrow raised in question.
“Something on my shirt?” Leon wondered out loud, stepping back a bit just to look himself over. You looked at him quite hard that he assumed there was something up with what he was wearing.
“No! No just.. I like what you’re wearing, that’s all,” you giggle softly, trying to bite back a laugh when Leon’s cheeks grow pinker by the second, quite easy to tell despite the mask. He never seemed to handle compliments well, but you honestly couldn’t help it. He was almost too handsome to not compliment, and you just felt that he deserved to hear it even if he wanted to hide away afterwards.
“Uhm.. Well, I’m glad you do, but we didn’t come here so you could just gawk at me,” Leon chuckled as his way of deflecting. You let your giggles air out before finally holding your hand out for him, not pushing it this time considering you were both out on a mission to restock your fridge.
Leon took a second to sift through his options in his head, eventually deciding on linking his pinky with yours, which you happily squeezed in return before leading the way into the grocery store. The walk there was mostly quiet between both of you, Leon pressing a bit closer to you once you actually stepped into the store, which you didn’t mind much.
With your pinky still linked with Leon’s, you pulled a cart out with your free hand and continued further into the store. As you led Leon along, he was taking in his surroundings with sharp regard. You couldn’t blame him– it may as well have been ingrained in him to be attentive to every little thing around him, but you still found it amusing to see him so on guard in what you thought was a mundane place.
Traversing the grocery store was spent mostly in silence, occasionally picking something up for Leon to look at and giving him a “do you want this?” kind of look. Half way through the journey, the two of you had switched places with Leon now pushing the cart along while following close behind you. You restocked on the usual things that normally ran out rather quickly, now finding yourselves in front of the shelves of pasta sauces.
“Thought about what you’d want for dinner tonight?” you turned to Leon with a soft smile, feeling a spark of buzzing joy when he seemed to perk up at your question, practically lighting up at the idea of choosing dinner. More often than not, you left it up to Leon to choose dinner, and you were more than happy to cook up whatever meal he was craving that particular day. Usually, you would shoot him a text while shopping, that way you could pick out the ingredients before you got home.
Having Leon physically with you now had your chest warming in a way that suddenly made you soften up– in the pasta sauce aisle no less. Leon was very aware of said feeling, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it like you had. All he knew is that he felt content for once just grocery shopping with you and discussing dinner, like a normal couple would.
“Hm.. Funny enough, I’m craving pizza.” Leon nodded as he stroked his chin in thought. You could only chuckle at his silly little antics, already picking up the jar of marinara from the shelf to set in the cart.
“The Leon S. Kennedy craving pizza? Isn’t that a sight for sore eyes,” you snicker in your slight teasing, and despite your tone, Leon simply chuckled and shook his head to himself.
“I haven’t had it in a while, plus I just want something with cheese in it,” he explained as you started making your way out of the aisle to head for said cheese with Leon following along. You hummed and nodded in response to his words.
“We could make it together too if you want,” you mentioned as you slowed down to walk next to Leon, turning your head up towards him with a soft smile. Leon found himself grinning behind his mask, nodding almost too fast that his hair rustled around his head like an excitable dog.
“Yeah, I’d love that,” he finally answered with near unbridled joy, his tone all light and airy. You couldn’t help but giggle at him, finding his happiness to be quite contagious too.
“Sounds like a plan,” you gently bump your fist against his arm just as a quick gesture of affection, skipping right ahead to scour the cheeses. Leon was immediately next to you before you could even ask him which kind of cheese he wanted for the pizza, his blue eyes wide and shining in wonder.
Pursing your lips, you looked at him a while longer just to admire the twinkling expression he had on. Even with half of his face obscured, you could tell he was practically glowing as he gazed over the selection of dairy in front of him. “..So, do you know which-?”
“Oh my god.”
Your eyebrows shot up at Leon’s sudden exasperation, needing to step back to see what he was holding up in front of you now that he’s turned to you. Your eyes fell on the two oversized bags of shredded mozzarella cheese held up between Leon’s face– and catching his wide eyes had you reeling in the laughter that suddenly punched out of you.
“Babe, are you seeing this? Look– Why are you laughing, this is a serious matter.” Leon scoffed as he watched you laugh your heart out, your hand clutching your stomach in the strain to breathe.
“God– Oh my god, okay sorry– What were you saying?” you breathed out between your uncontrollable giggles, gnawing at the inside of your cheek in hopes to ground yourself long enough to hear Leon’s spiel, because he was clearly so passionate about what he had to lay upon you.
“You can buy two for the price of one. It’s basically one free bag.”
You opened and closed your mouth as you stared at Leon, then back to the large bags of cheese, then back at Leon again– because those bags were practically the size of his head, maybe a bit bigger— it was comical!
“Leon-”
“That’s so much bang for your buck.”
“Babe, that’s-”
“You’ve been buying those poor excuses of shredded mozzarella bags when you could be buying these instead?” Leon almost sounded offended by your choice of opting for the smaller bags, to which you laughed in your own disbelief as you narrowed your eyes at him.
“...Sweetheart, that’s too much cheese,” you giggled softly, and Leon’s eyebrows shot up high enough that it looked as if they’d reach his hairline.
“There’s no such thing as too much cheese.”
Your lips sealed shut, cheeks puffed out slightly in a poor attempt to stifle your second or maybe this was the third explosion of laughter. “Christ– Leon, what are you gonna do with all of that cheese? Eat it raw?”
“Yes.”
The absolute determination in Leon’s hardened gaze had you holding your breath– because he was one hundred percent serious about eating what looked like almost a quarter of his weight in shredded mozzarella cheese. Was that an exaggeration? Maybe, but it was still one— No– two comically large bags of cheese.
“...You’re dead serious.”
“I’m alive and well and very serious.”
“Good god– Just put them in the cart already.”
You sighed between little bursts of laughter as you dragged a hand down your face, only looking up when you heard both bags unceremoniously ploop down into the cart. The entire situation was too ridiculous to not laugh at– it was ridiculous how earnest Leon was over two bags of cheese.
“I didn’t know you took your cheese consumption so seriously, Leon,” you shook your head in mock disbelief, watching as he made his way back around to the front of the cart just next to you.
“And you don’t?” Leon sighed with a playful lilt to his tone, the corners of his eyes crinkling with the assumed smile hidden behind the mask. You couldn’t even be playfully frustrated at him, already chuckling as you shook your head.
“Clearly, I don’t,” you snicker back at him, quickly turning to grab the mozzarella cheese sticks and tossing them into the cart alongside the large bags of shredded cheese. “Anyways, cheese shenanigans aside-”
“Cheese shenanigans?” he laughed out.
“Yes, cheese shenanigans-” you laughed softly with him, teasingly pushing at Leon’s side to which he playfully groaned in return before you spoke up again, “Is there anything else you want before we go?”
Upon asking your question, Leon was already pushing his cart ahead— a beeline towards the chips aisle with rushed but very excitable steps. You grinned softly just watching not too far behind him, feeling more at ease now that he wasn’t completely cautious of his surroundings. You were more than surprised to find Leon tugging you around to buy certain things— specific little things you’d usually buy without him even asking for it.
“You know what we haven’t had in a while?” Leon spoke up as the two of you now scanned over the selection of fruits in front of you.
“What’s that?” you inquire just as you grabbed the perfect bag of crisp red apples to set into the cart.
“Strawberry shortcake.”
“…You want some for dessert?” you smiled softly over at Leon who seemed to be eyeing the container of strawberries intently. It wasn’t often that Leon indulged in sweets, or rather you never really see him actually indulge in sweets to your knowledge, so it was always a delight whenever he did want any kind of dessert.
Plus, it always warms your heart to see that wide grin spread over his face especially when you made the dessert yourself. As Leon looked over at you, his shoreline blues softened as he slumped over the handle of the cart. “..It wouldn’t be an awful thing to ask for, would it?”
There it was again, that creeping sense of insecurity that slipped in without much of a warning— like a habit almost. It had you smiling sadly at Leon because it seemed as though asking for something so small already felt like it was too much of a burden on you. “Of course not, silly,” you chuckled softly, already taking the strawberries that Leon had longingly been looking at for the past three minutes.
“You know I’m always up for a bit of dessert every now and then,” you assure Leon, and the way his eyes crinkled in his hidden smile didn’t go unnoticed. “Now c’mon, I’m pretty sure we’ve already gone way over our budget with all these extra things.”
As Leon looked down into the cart, it was nearly filled to the brim with items he didn’t usually think to buy. Then again, maybe most of the items were out of impulse, definitely encouraged by the way you beamed at him and nodded just as excitedly as he did to a bag of chips or a twelve pack of Gogurt that you just couldn’t pass up on.
With a grunt of approval from Leon with an added nod, you both set out for the self-checkout area just to get it all over with quickly. There was a bit of push and shove when it came to paying for the groceries with Leon insisting that he pay for it this time, and you being too stubborn to let him do that at all. “Leon– Oh my god, are those cheese cubes?” you gasped as you pointed off to a different direction.
“Where-?” Right as Leon turned his head, you took the opportunity to swipe your card in the reader, practically throwing your whole body over the counter to approve the transaction. “Wh- Hey! That was foul play-” Leon groaned softly as you successfully tugged out the receipt with a stupidly proud grin and a cheeky laugh to pair.
“Gotta be quicker than that, Kennedy,” you stuck your tongue out at Leon as you tucked your card back into your wallet, only smiling as he rolled his eyes and turned from you to take every single grocery bag in both of his hands and strong arms.
“That had nothing to do with speed, first of all,” Leon huffed softly as he followed you to return the cart.
“Mmmm nah. It had everything to do with speed, maybe a bit of wit even,” you nodded as if to approve of your own bullshit excuse, because you both knew exactly that it was all foul play to begin with.
As you both walked out of the grocery store, you stopped for a moment to hold out your hand towards Leon for at least one or two of the grocery bags. You’d say you were surprised to see him holding all the bags up to his elbows, but that would be a lie. Still, you felt a bit bad for tricking him just so you could pay for the groceries, so you felt that the least you could do was help him carry the bags back to the car.
Leon looked down at your awaiting hand, then back to you when you didn’t say anything. All you did was raise your eyebrows at him and look down at the bags, then back up at him. You smile softly when you assume he got the idea as he shifted around. Though, as Leon started struggling with moving all the bags to his left arm, your eyes narrowed in confusion, about to speak up to tell him to stop but you were more enamored by how he managed to fit… All of the bags on his arm–
What the hell is he doing?
Finally, after some awkward maneuvering and strained huffs, Leon’s right hand was finally free, and from there he slipped that free hand right into yours to fully lace your fingers together. You blinked down at your interlocked hands with a look of shock as you gazed back up at Leon.
Oh-
Oh.
“Are you ready to go, then?” Leon tilted his head at you, his eyes squinted slightly in his own smidge of confusion.
Now, you definitely didn’t have the heart to correct him at all, but also because you didn’t want him to go through the same hassle of maneuvering all the bags back onto his other arm. So, with a soft breath of a little laugh, you finally nod in your answer, “Yeah- Yeah, let’s go then.”
“We have a cheese pizza calling our names after all,” Leon practically beamed behind his mask, already tugging you along to the car with newfound energy and a pep to his heavy footfalls. You laughed softly for the umpteenth time today, not realizing just how much Leon’s presence would make your grocery trip that much more fun.
You blinked your eyes open, adjusting to the darkness of the room with a grumble. Checking the digital clock at your bedside, you found that it was just shy of 3 am.
“Dammit..” you sigh heavily, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes before sitting up and swinging your legs off of the bed. Your throat felt awfully dry, and while you hated how it woke you up sometimes, you knew it was a must to drink some water or else you’d feel like death in the actual morning.
Shuddering slightly in the coldness of your room (because Leon insisted it be at least 60 degrees throughout the entire apartment), you shuffled out into the kitchen to venture for said water. As you approached the kitchen, there was some rustling and the crinkle of a bag that could be heard from within.
You furrowed your brows, rubbing your arms slightly as you approached with much quieter and careful steps. Through the haze of your sleep that still stuck to your eyes, you only saw a blur not too far from you as you entered the threshold of the kitchen— it was a figure hunched over in front of the fridge with nothing but the fluorescent light shining on whoever or whatever it was.
“What..” you muttered, turning to switch the light on. You grunted in having to adjust once more, blinking rapidly only to stand frozen in place at the sight in front of you.
Said figure hunched in front of the fridge was Leon with the oversized bag of shredded cheese you bought earlier with him, not to mention— he had his hand deep in there and his cheeks stuffed. With cheese. In front of the fridge.
You both stood in silence for what felt like the longest minute known to man, Leon also in his own sleepy haze even with his eyes a bit wider at seeing you awake. Thinking you were in some weird fever dream, you shut the light off and immediately switched it on again— you did this several times but Leon didn’t move.
The only thing that changed was the fact that Leon’s cheeks were not as stuffed with cheese anymore. You breathed in as if to say something, only to exhale— because what the hell were you supposed to say anyways?
“…Fancy seeing you awake,” Leon finally spoke up for both of you, which startled you out of your bewildered stupor. His voice was a bit muffled with the handful of cheese still in his mouth, but when you didn’t say much else after his comment, he took the time to slowly swallow while you stared. Still in shock at the sight before you.
“I could say the same to you,” you finally utter through the slight crackle of your sleepy voice. Another heavy silence fell over both of you, Leon pursing his lips in his slight embarrassment considering he was caught actually eating the cheese raw.
Then again, he did say he would.
So, technically you shouldn’t be surprised, and yet you were. “Do you want any?” Leon spoke up again, slicing through that thick silence and once again startling you out of your “what the absolute fuck” haze.
“Uhm– No.. No thanks, I just… Came out here for a glass of water,” you spoke slowly, your eyes having never left the bag of cheese– hell was Leon’s entire arm in that bag? Was it really that big? God–
“Oh, sorry– I’ll move over,” Leon spoke between a yawn, and even as he stepped aside his hand never left the bag. Not once. Your eyes lingered on the bag a while longer before you finally turned to grab a glass from the cupboard next to you. While another silence fell over, it didn’t feel nearly as heavy as you shuffled over to the fridge to fill your cup from the dispenser.
The crinkle of the bag just next to you forced you to turn your head, watching through your sleepy haze as Leon shoved another handful of shredded cheese into his mouth with a delighted and roughened hum vibrating from his chest. You stood straight and shut the fridge door loud enough for Leon to look over at you, in which you took an obnoxiously loud sip from your glass without breaking eye contact with him.
“..When’d you get up anyways?” you muttered out as you leaned against the fridge, now holding your glass with both hands. Despite the bizarre encounter, the water had definitely helped to soothe your throat and already float you back into that alluring softness of sleep. But first, to figure out when Leon got up– and maybe figure out why he craved cheese at such an ungodly hour.
“Uhm..” Leon turned to glance at the digital clock on the stove. “..About thirtyish minutes ago? Something like that.”
“And… You decided to eat.. Cheese?” you questioned with an eyebrow raised, taking another sip from your glass while Leon deliberated on your question.
“Well– I got up to use the bathroom… And decided to have a quick snack, since I was already awake,” Leon nodded to his own explanation, as if that was supposed to make sense to you as well. Even if it didn’t, it made sense to him and that’s all that mattered.
“You really weren’t kidding when you said you’d eat the shredded cheese raw,” you chuckled softly against the rim of your glass.
“I said I was well and alive and very serious,” Leon shrugged with a goofy little smile, and all you could do was look at him both in fondness and astonishment. You pushed off from the fridge with a soft huff, drinking up the rest of your water as you stepped up towards Leon.
“Well, don’t stay up too long,” you smile softly at Leon, reaching a hand up to gently brush away a few little pieces of shredded mozzarella that stuck to his cheek, “and don’t eat too much cheese. Might get an upset stomach.”
“I won’t, I won’t,” Leon chuckled in his assurance, leaning over to press a light kiss to your thumb just before you pulled your hand away and– seriously, was it allowed to be that endearing after getting caught with his hand so deep in a bag of shredded cheese? You had no time to mull over it as a soft yawn escaped you, shaking your head to yourself.
“Hurry up with that cheese so we can cuddle. ‘M missing my human furnace,” you sigh dramatically as you walk away from Leon to set your empty glass in the sink.
“Ouch, is that all you see me as?” Leon hissed in mock hurt, allowing yourself a sleepy laugh as you turned to look at your boyfriend who was, no doubt, pouting at you.
“It’s hard to take you seriously with that bag of cheese, honey,” you snicker softly, another yawn interrupting any form of a remark from either of you.
“I am so hurt– wounded in fact,” Leon grunted as he pressed said bag of cheese to what you presumed was his wounded heart.
You rolled your eyes playfully at his dramatic display, almost surprised to know that this was the same man who served the country alongside other military trained government agents.
“...We can have grilled cheese for breakfast if you come to bed now.”
“Well, why didn’t you just say so?”