Chapter Text
Leon stood at the door to Chris’s apartment, eyes boring holes into the wood as he held his hand just centimetres away from the door.
It’d been… a while since they’d last talked, him and Chris. Hell, they probably hadn’t shared much more than passing small talk since about… 2015? If Leon had to guess. It was hard to find time for other things in their line of work. There was always some new bioterror event threatening their hard-earned peace.
That was part of the reason he was here actually, he’d caught wind of Chris’s latest excursions in Romania and thought….
His hand faltered, lowering slightly from the door.
He didn’t know what he’d thought really.
He just remembered all the times he’d spent fresh off missions, alone and pissed drunk, probably in the shower still trying to scrub of the remaining blood, puss and bile. He’d just… he supposed he’d just thought Chris might appreciate the company, especially from someone who knew what it was like.
Then again… maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe it’d been too long for Leon to reach out so suddenly like this. Maybe he wouldn’t want sympathy from a man he’d clashed with about as many times as he’d fought along side him.
Leon sighed to himself, he thought by the time he’d got to the apartment this internal battle he was fighting would’ve ended, but from leaving the house to driving and then walking up to the apartment, nothing had changed, and now he was just stood at Chris’s front door….hovering. Leon didn’t do that, at worst he loitered, maybe from time to time lurked, but he didn’t hover. Except he did, didn’t he? and he currently was. He was hovering. The thought made his eye twitch incrementally, the word conjuring up images of a worrying mother, and the irritation got him to steel himself enough to finally rap his knuckles against the door.
After a painfully slow few minutes, the door opened and a dishevelled Chris Redfield peered out. His skin was paler, eyes more sunken from the exhaustion, and his beard and hair were slightly longer and scruffier than Leon thought he’d seen him allow it to be in decades. Those soft brown eyes were dark and distant, slightly glazed over in a way Leon recognised from seeing a similar look gaze blankly back at him from the mirror after his own missions.
Chris frowned, and Leon noticed the crows feet at the corners of his eyes for the first time.
“Leon?” He murmured distantly.
Leon blinked, taking a moment to soak in the sight of Chris Redfield. Even straight out of what Leon assumed was a particularly soul-sucking mission, he still looked attractive. If anything the after effects made him look even more rugged, if that was even possible, and he was still wearing a battered and slightly torn turtleneck that was quite honestly a little too tight in some areas and Leon couldn’t help but wonder if it was really all that practical for out in the field.
“Chris” he greeted with a soft breath and a lopsided grin, unable to help himself from raising an eyebrow and nodding to his clothing “ a turtleneck?”
After a moment, Chris snorted, smiling at his visitor and the glazed over look in his eyes seemed to retreat, if only slightly. “I was in snowy eastern Europe, a tank top wasn’t really gonna cut it” he joked, before pressing his lips into a thin line soberly and leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, a sure sign he was cutting to the chase “ did you need something?”
Leon had to tear his eyes away from Chris’s at this point, that internal battle starting up again as he tried his best to shut up the part of him that was considering making a run for it now just to avoid admitting this and having to see any form of reaction whatsoever in the other man’s eyes.
He took a breath, “it’s been a few years since we talked you know. I’d heard word about you getting back from a mission in Romania and….” He paused, “just thought you could use some company, since you know, you’d been deprived of my presence for so long” his tone was joking but, staring absently into the doorframe next to Chris as he was, he doubted it had quite the effect he was looking for.
There was a second or so of silence and then, Chris stepped back silently, allowing Leon the space to come in and, after a moment of internal celebration, he did.
He caught a glimpse of the soft look in Chris’s eyes on the way in and tried his best to suppress the hitch in his breath at the sight. God he hoped he didn’t look at him like that all night, Leon did not want to end this night with news to break to Claire. Chris had walked past him by this point, into the kitchen where he was now fishing around in his fridge.
“I haven’t got much but uh… you want something to drink?” He asked awkwardly, digging out two beer bottles pre-emptively.
Leon smiled at the offer but waved it away. Chris only nodded, turning to put one back when Leon added on “I don’t drink anymore”
The other man paused, finishing putting away the bottle before turning his full attention to Leon. Soft brown eyes gazed at him so gently he felt like he might melt and yet he couldn’t quite decide wether he felt deeply flattered or scrutinised. “You… you quit?” He muttered, “How long ago?”
Leon drew his eyes away from the man in front of him, leaning back against the kitchen counter and staring shyly (Jesus, he was over 40 and he was acting shy? Really?) at the floor. “ on and off after New York you know, wasn’t exactly a smooth transition but, I’ve been sober since… 2016 I think”
There was silence for a moment, before Chris shifted on his feet muttering a choked-up “Jesus…” under his breath.
Leon made the deadly mistake of looking at him, just to see him turned away to try and hide eyes glistening with tears. Holy fuck, Chris was crying.
“I-“ he stalled, blinking back tears and took a breath before trying again, “ that’s amazing” he half-laughed, finally turning to face him again as he said “ I’m… fuck, I’m really proud of you, Leon.”
Leon’s throat went dry, face heating up at the unexpected praise. He laughed though, plastering a grin onto his face, “aw, hey don’t go all soft on me now, what happened to the Chris that yelled at my drunk ass in Colorado all those years ago?”
Chris laughed, smiling back at Leon “ well he spent the week killing off vampires and werewolves in middle-of-fucking-nowhere, Romania so”
Leon’s grin softened into a sombre smile, “ something happened?” He asked gently.
He’d never liked to talk about things after missions personally, especially not once he’d reached home, but then, for all their similarities, he wasn’t really like Chris in that respect.
Chris’s expression softened a little, obviously touched by the effort at least, but shook his head “later,” he muttered with a smile, “we can get into that later”
Later. Chris wanted him to stay, wanted him to be there long enough that there would be a later. He tried not to think too hard about the way his chest felt warm and fuzzy at the thought.