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Against all odds, Luis was in fact waiting for them in the castle courtyard.
The Spaniard was partially hidden inside a gazebo situated in the center of a small pond right up against the castle wall. The spot was almost pleasant, lit by torches and surrounded by an assortment of flowers. He gave them a friendly wave when he saw them.
Leon relaxed when he saw him safe and sound. Not that he had any reason to worry about his well-being, but with everything that happened to them since they’d set foot in the castle, he was more than happy to see a friendly face—and Luis was easier on the eyes than all those fanatics attacking them on sight!
As for Ashley, she gave a joyful shout and ran over to the Spaniard to throw herself at him. Luis hesitated a second before wrapping his arms around her, while Leon came over in a more reserved manner, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
“I forgot that Americans are so affectionate! It’s good to see you too, señorita.”
“Not all of them. Ashley’s just a hugger.”
“You'd make anyone look like a hugger, Leon! Yuck! Luis, what’s on your jacket?”
Ashley pulled back to look at her own clothes with a dejected expression. Leon knew this kind of filth all too well; Luis clearly had to fight for his life in close combat, and the bodily fluids that had splattered on him were still fresh enough to have stained Ashley’s sweater.
“You didn’t exactly give me time to warn you, princesa. Sorry…”
He unbuttoned his jacket to peel it off his sweaty body. Leon grimaced in sympathy. He himself was disgusting, and he had no change of clothes, having completely failed to anticipate what awaited him in this little village.
Then his attention was captured by Luis’s chest as he folded his jacket over the railing. In the warm glow of the torches, his pecs stood out, and his nipples were all too visible through the thin fabric of his damp dress shirt. Leon hurriedly looked away as soon as he realized what he was doing, thankfully just in time, because Luis was straightening up with a wince.
“Good thing we’re near water, eh?”
“What? There’s absolutely no time for laundry!”
“Please, Leon,” Ashley whimpered, rubbing her jacket. “I don’t want… that on me! It’s hard enough already to…”
The sentence trailed off as her gaze drifted toward the castle’s menacing walls surrounding them. Leon's heart sunk as he saw her clenched jaw trembling. It wouldn’t take much for her to collapse, and knowing she had bits of clotted blood and other unspeakable debris on her was likely to contribute.
“Fine, ” he sighed.
“Take the opportunity to get some rest, amigo,” Luis said, squeezing his shoulder. “You haven’t stopped all day.”
Without his jacket, Luis didn’t have the stench of decay and death. He gave off a strong musky, masculine sweat smell, very human, very normal, a smell that was ultimately more than welcome in this olfactory hell. The shirt gradually unwrinkled around him, flattering like everything he wore. His broad, thin shoulders were outlined by the wider sleeves, and the shirt tucked into his jeans highlighted his slender hips. Desperately, Leon tried to will his eyes upwards, but all he managed to accomplish was to fall back onto his chest with its very obvious nipples. They had a slightly odd shape. It was hard to tell now that the fabric wasn’t clinging so tightly, but something was protruding from the sides, as if they were elongated rather than round.
Or as if he had piercings.
Luis let go of him then to retrieve his jacket, and Leon resumed breathing. His head was spinning. He suddenly needed to know if he was right. He needed to see them with his own eyes. Maybe he could brush against them by accident when…
Holy fuck, what was he thinking? He was absolutely not going to touch the tits of a highly suspicious former Umbrella researcher he knew since less than twenty-four hours. Instead, he turned his attention to his gear, laying out his belongings under the gazebo so he could finally get a little organized. His two companions had gone to the other side of the railing and, crouching at the water’s edge, were trying to wash their clothes. Ashley had taken off her shoes and was walking into the pool. Leon watched out of the corner of his eye, grateful that the water was enclosed on three sides and easy to defend.
The prospect of washing was tempting… The bitter smell of the novistadors who burst as they died clung to him like a tainted halo. At first, it had made him gag, but now he could barely smell it anymore, his nose numbed by too many hours of fighting.
Eventually, he just kept his holster with his Matilda over his shirt, and joined the other two in the water. Luis had taken his shoes off too, but there was no way Leon was going that far when ganados, or worse, colmillos, could strike at any moment. He simply waded into the water fully clothed and scrubbed his legs to finally rid his pants of everything that had stuck and dried on them.
Luis was next to him while Ashley walked round the pavilion, letting the coolness of the water invigorate her legs. The two men were washing in silence, for once, and maybe Leon occasionally stole glances at the handsome Spaniard on his right. From the side, he could clearly make out the nubs that showed through his shirt, and he was straining his eyes discreetly to try and determine whether Luis actually had pierced nipples or not. The thought made his blood boil, though he wasn’t quite sure why, and preferred not to examine it too closely.
“You’re doing well for an outsider,” Luis commented without looking at him. “I can tell you’re geared up and trained for this kind of situation, but even a James Bond like you would have panicked at least a little in front of all these mutations.”
“Because this isn’t my first rodeo,” Leon sighed in a low voice. “I don’t know if the news reached Europe, but over in the US, a whole city full of these horrors was wiped off the map. Not a small one. I was there when it happened. So now…”
He shrugged, trying to clean the front of his shirt. He was cold, and his own tits were sticking out now, too. He wondered if Luis had noticed, but he refrained from trying to find out. He felt a bit self-conscious.
“Raccoon City,” Luis whispered. “Not Europe, but Umbrella internally, yes. I’ve heard of it.”
Hearing that name triggered the usual knot of anxiety in Leon’s stomach, but he didn’t let it show. He was used to it. They were interrupted by Ashley, who was coming back towards them, shivering.
“I’m clean and freezing! But it was worth it! Ew, Luis, you really stink.”
“That’s the price of adventure, princesa! Avert your eyes, then, so that your knight in shining armor can improve his personal hygiene.”
Leon whipped his head around when he realized he was about to get the answer to the question he had been obsessing over ever since his companion had taken off his jacket.
Luis began to unbutton his shirt, and Leon couldn’t tear his gaze away from his chest as it gradually came into view in the torchlight. Not even the impressive scar running down his shaved pecs could distract him from what he could see on either side of it.
It was just two small metal beads on each side, on both nipples. Yet Leon could feel his throat going dry and his own chest heating up as if standing in direct sunlight. That was why they were so visible under his clothes; the piercing bar kept them protruding at all times. Why did Luis have that? If it had just been a teenage whim, he would have taken them out by now, but he was at least thirty and the piercings were clean and shiny, standing out clearly against his skin in a strangely appealing way.
Did it hurt? Leon had never gotten that himself, just a tattoo on his lower back, which had been painful but which he completely forgot about most of the time, since he couldn’t see it. It felt like Luis's piercings would catch on his clothes in that spot… but face piercings wouldn’t have been any better. Too exposed.
Was it sensitive? Since it kept his nipples erect like that, did he feel every little brush against them particularly well? Did he touch them… when he touched himself? What about when someone else touched them? Leon suddenly pictured himself running his fingers over them and imagined Luis’s reaction. How his expression would change. The sounds he’d make… perhaps his breath would catch between clenched teeth, or he might even be unable to hold back a moan, and…
…and Leon suddenly plunged his head under the icy water of the pool when he realized the direction his thoughts were taking. His whole body was tingling, overheating. He needed a cold shower, but short of that, the pond would have to do. He rubbed his head vigorously in an attempt to pull himself together.
When he had to breathe, he straightened up out of the water and wiped his eyes. Luis was watching him, his rinsed shirt in hand. The lithe silhouette of his body stood out against the light of the torches.
“Felt like a midnight dip, amigo?”
“I just needed a shampoo.”
And certainly not to cool off because he’d just been fantasizing about his new companion’s pierced nipples. What the fuck was wrong with him?
He checked Ashley’s position, then his surroundings, before shaking himself dry and heading over to his gear.
“Laundry break’s over. The sooner Luis rids us of this thing, the sooner we can get extracted the hell out.”
“Yes, dad,” Ashley muttered as she walked back towards the gazebo.
“Now that we’re soaking wet and clean,” Luis added with a wink. “Onwards to wild epic journeys!”
He’d put his opened shirt back on, and Leon hurriedly looked away from his chest before he got into any more trouble. He didn’t see the smirk that played across Luis’s lips for a brief moment as he buttoned his clothing.
