SAVEGUARD ⟼ leon s. kennedy

x. teasing moments

We walk for about an hour.

Thankfully, we don't have any more encounters with the things infesting the ship.

But we find bodies. Lots of them. Some of them turned, some of them still resembling human beings, but some of them... Some of them a mixture of fish and human. Piled at the end of corridors. Barricading doors. Blocking our path.

Eventually, we stumble across a grand entrance, flanked by two faux marble columns. Leon strings out a banner which had been torn off, so we can read it better.

'Queen Zenobia Welcomes You to the Casino' it reads in bold text, decorated with golden confetti and red streamers.

"That's the name of the ship?" I ask, pointing my light into the entrance.

Leon nods. "Let's try our luck," he tells me as he walks in.

Inside, we're surprised to find the casino machines running, sounds of jackpot demos ringing quietly, like they're operating on low energy. Four small emergency lights, all red, are scattered across the casino floor plan, and combined with the lights from the slot machines' monitors, there's enough light for us to finally be able to turn our flashlights off.

It's still dark, but not the same claustrophobic darkness that we had been entombed in for the past day and a half.

"It must be running on some kind of back-up generator," Leon thinks out loud, the red light bouncing off the features of his face.

There are about three or four bars scattered across the floor plan, each stocked full with alcohol. We look in the direction of the closest one, and then at each other, sharing a look that speaks volumes.

"Drinks on me,"Leon jokes, and he stretches over the marble counter, rummaging around for something, his shirt lifting a little as he does, revealing his mid-riff. I feel myself blush and walk behind the counter, and grab the bottle he was going for.

"Isn't it a bit early for whiskey?" I tell him, as I grab two glasses from the drawers.

"Never too early when you don't know how long you've been awake," he says, and raises his glass to mine.

"Cheers," I say, and we both down our drinks, me wincing at the sharp taste, and him instantly pouring himself another one.

"So. Drinking on the job. Is that one of the perks of being a super secret government agent?" I ask, eyeing him as he downs the next drink with no reaction whatsoever.

He scoffs, and raises his eyebrows a little, and sits down on the stool in front of the bar. "Sometimes you need something to take the edge off."

I consider pouring myself another one, but decide against. "Seriously though, when was the last time you slept?"

Leon runs a hand through his hair, and looks up, like he's trying to calculate the days in his head. "A full night's sleep?"

"Sure, let's start with that," I say, and lean forward on the bar-top, the cold marble digging into my elbows.

He exhales. "Maybe seven years ago?"

I blink in surprise. "What? How is that possible?"

"Sleep is a luxury I stopped affording after Racoon City," he says, grimacing.

I want to say I understand him, but I don't, because I've never been through the things he has. So instead, I turn around the corner of the bar, and give him a hug from behind. Even though I try to keep the hug very friendly, and brief, by the time I pull away my chest from his back, my heart's in my throat.

"I'm sorry," I say, sitting beside him.

"Don't apologise, I liked the hug," he says cheekily, and throws his glass into the sink.

I roll my eyes. "I meant I'm sorry for your messed up sleep schedule. That must suck."

"You get used to it," he replies, and stands up, stretches his neck. "Maybe after this you won't be able to sleep so easily, either."

"I hope not," I say, shuddering.

"Maybe not. You slept pretty heavily earlier today," he says as he starts walking towards a room with three bright red letters on top of its entrance: VIP.

"Why, were you watching me sleep or something?"

"Not much you could've done about it if I had. You were knocked out," he says as he turns to face me, that same slight smile playing on his lips again.

"Only because I knew you were keeping watch," I say, and I watch as he investigates the VIP door.

"Glad to be of service," he replies, and then adds, "It's locked, but we can get through that air-curtain vent." He then bends down on one knee, and intertwines his fingers together, forming a little hammock. "I'll give you a boost."

I look at him and feel self-conscious, but put my foot in his hands, and he boosts me up, until my upper body is in the opening.

"Open it for me," he instructs.

"No, really? I was just going to chill in this vent," I say sarcastically, straining to pull myself through the opening.

"Sounds good too, view's not bad from down here," I hear him say, and I feel my chest about to explode as I realise that my ass is literally still hanging out the vent.

I somehow manage to pull myself through, and jump down into the VIP room, turning the lock from inside. He steps in, his flashlight on, and then clicks it off when we realise the VIP room is also powered. I step to the side, still annoyingly self-conscious.

"Good girl," he says. "Thanks for that."

I wait for him to turn around and start looting before I take a deep, quiet breath, and try to calm myself down. How is he throwing those words around so casually?

"Looks like this will come in handy," he says, and hands me a nurse's electronic key card. "For the infirmary."

Inside, we look around for more things, but only find casino chips, wet bank notes, and empty bottles of champagne. I'm searching a chest of drawers next to the small blackjack table, trying to see if I can find batteries or anything useful, when I hear Leon chuckle, almost like a schoolboy.

It's the cutest sound I've heard anyone make.

I turn around and see him holding something at arm's length, his other hand covering his mouth, as if he doesn't want me to see him smile.

"What is that—"

And then I realise what it is— a satin thong, red with white lace trimmings.

"I was wondering why we found the nurse's key card here..." He says, the smile wiped down to a smirk on his face.

"Wow," I say, and then, he waves it in my face. "Gross! Get that thing out of my face!"

He looks at it and then back at me, purses his lips to suppress a smile and shakes his head before throwing it back onto the leather couches lining the walls. "Nurse was keeping herself busy."

"Alright, let's leave the nurse fantasies for later," I tell him as I start walking out of the VIP room, suddenly annoyed for no reason. "How old are you anyway?"

Behind me, he shrugs. "Never too old for something like that."

"Uh-huh..." I say absent-mindedly, unsure which way the exit was. "True, you'd look great in one of those."

He taps my shoulder and points to the exit, which is on the other side of the room, right under a huge EXIT sign. He checks the ammo in his handgun, and I watch as he slides the barrel back.

"Funny," he says, clicking the gun's barrel back in place. "I was thinking the same thing for you."

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