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It was a chilly morning, and Leon would have much rather been in bed than stretching for their fast-approaching endurance training. Not that it mattered; he knew the training would happen whether he wanted it to or not.
He unwillingly let out a big yawn but was glad to see he wasn't the only one feeling this way. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Major Jack Krauser holding back a yawn of his own while talking to another recruit. As if knowing that Leon was looking, the Major raised a hand at the recruit and turned to Leon.
"Kennedy!" He shouted.
Leon turned quickly and responded with a stern "Yes, Major!"
"Go get my chronometer for me, would you? It should be by the nightstand in my quarters. And make it fast."
Leon replied with an eager "yes" and quickly made his way to his Major's room. He wasn't in the mood to start running just yet, but he knew Krauser would not appreciate anything apart from efficiency. He quickly found his way to the room and headed for the nightstand. It dawned on him that it was his first time seeing any high-ranking officer's room. It was nothing fancy, just a simple bed, a desk, and a small seating area, but it definitely beat the shared dormitories Leon had been forced to inhabit since arriving at the base.
Although he would have liked to stay to snoop just a little, he quickly returned to the task at hand: grabbing the chronometer. He spotted it exactly where the Major had said it would be, and as he hectically reached for it, he ended up dropping what looked to be a journal. Thick and heavy, it landed in the middle page with a faint thump on the floor.
Nervously, Leon reached out to grab it. He had already taken longer than the Major probably would have wanted, so he had little time to fuss with the journal. However, as he picked it up, he couldn't help but stare at something that caught his attention. Lying there, in between blank pages, was a dried flower. Initially, the rookie found no special significance in it, but a faint memory suddenly struck him. During a field mission a few months ago, he lost his way and had the fortune (or misfortune) of being found by Major Krauser. After being lightly reprimanded, they took a brief break by a creek on their way back to camp.
There hadn't been much talk between them, and Leon was beating himself up inside for getting lost and causing trouble. Leon often wondered what the Major thought of him. The man never really showed what was on his mind, mostly keeping to himself, every so often cracking jokes with fellow officers. To Leon, the man was an intimidating and elusive figure, but he had often found himself wanting to get closer to him as if pulled by an invisible magnetic force. Still, he knew his place, and there wasn't much time for fraternizing in between resting and the tiresome training he took part in daily.
As the men sat silently drinking from their respective canteens, Leon spotted a wildflower that caught his eye. The petals had bright hues of yellow and purple, and Leon thought it resembled the shape of a butterfly. Amused, he reached out and plucked the flower, wanting to take a closer look.
"Something caught your eye, Rookie?" asked Major Krauser drily, pulling Leon out of his thoughts.
"Just thought this flower looked interesting, sir. It stood out from the rest of the plants around here." Not knowing why, Leon instinctively reached out to the Major, who responded in kind. With a soft touch, the flower lay in the man's palm, looking smaller than it had in Leon's.
"Right. We should get going," said the Major quickly after.
"Yes, sir," said Leon, realizing only then that he had probably not impressed the man with his appreciation for nature. He couldn't see Major Krauser being interested in botany or anything of the sort.
They continued their trek to the camp in silence, and the incident became a forgotten speck in the collective experiences that had made up Leon's time as a recruit so far.
A sudden surge of heat swept across Leon's face. He had never really seen what the Major had done with the flower, but he thought he would have simply tossed it soon after receiving it. After staring at it for some time, Leon remembered his task and quickly returned the journal to its original place, grabbing the chronometer and rushing out of the room.
As he ran back, he felt his heart beating faster than it should have. He suddenly felt the urge to get back to training immediately, forgetting the dread he had felt earlier that morning.
"Ah, Kennedy! I was starting to think you had gotten lost again," said Major Krauser, eliciting some quiet laughs from the other recruits. Leon realized they had all been waiting for him for some time.
"No, sir. Sorry, sir. Here, sir," he said awkwardly as he placed the chronometer in the Major's hand. As he felt his fingers brush against his superior's hand, just like they had when he had given him the flower, Leon felt another rush of heat overcome his face. He quickly made his way to the other recruits to avoid being seen, not quite understanding the sudden stir in his chest.
As the training began, Leon felt a strange motivation inside him that had been notably absent from previous training sessions. That day, his body felt nimble and his steps, light.
