SAVEGUARD ⟼ leon s. kennedy

xxxi. just shut up

ʙᴜᴄᴋʟᴇ ᴜᴘ ʏ'ᴀʟʟ, ɪᴛ'ꜱ ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ʙᴇ ᴀ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴏɴᴇ!

𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖

𝟟𝕒𝕞

"Trouble in paradise?" Parker asks me with a soft, playful grin, as he sips his third coffee of the morning.

I steal a quick look at Leon, who's outside with Chris. It's cold, and I can see his breath fogging up in the crisp air. He rubs his hands together as he listens to whatever Chris is saying, trying to warm himself up.

He's still jacket-less, and I look down at my lap, where his jacket is neatly folded. I meant to give it back to him, but I don't know how to approach him after last night. This morning, when I woke up, him and Chris were out on a morning run.

"You know we aren't together right?" I tell Parker as I stir more sugar into my coffee.

He shrugs. "Two friends can have trouble too." He winks at me and waits for me to elaborate.

"Co-workers I guess would be a better term, right?" Jessica says as she walks into the shared kitchen. She's wearing another ridiculous outfit, a skintight wetsuit but with one leg uncovered and heels. I can't help but stare at her.

"Sorry, I couldn't help overhear," she giggles, and sits down next to us. She places her palms flat on the table. "So. What's happening?"

"Nothing," I say, maybe a little too gruffly.

"Oh come on, don't hold out on me," she says. "Gossip is the only good thing about this job."

"I was just joking about these two," Parker says. "No gossip here."

"Which two? Chris and Leon?" She asks, craning her neck to look at them.

"No, Leon and Clementine."

She looks at me and I stare at her over the rim of my coffee mug, waiting for her to say whatever stupid thing is going to come out of her mouth.

"I didn't know you guys were... What? Together? Dating?" She lowers her voice and leans over. "Fucking? Oooh! Is the sex good?"

The coffee gets stuck in my throat and Parker pats me on the back while Jessica laughs. "Seriously, it's best to tune her out," he says while winking at her.

Jessica paints a smile on her face and shifts closer to me, so close I can smell her perfume and toothpaste. "Girl to girl, I always thought Leon would be better in bed than Chris."

"Jessica, we haven't—" I start desperately, trying to turn the conversation into literally any other direction.

She cuts me off. "I think Chris is all macho and in your face in person, so in bed he'd probably be more on the tame side. All sensitive and sensual you know? You could boss him around." She giggles and lowers her voice even more. "But Leon... I think Lee likes to be in total control. Very dominant. Very resistant to orders." She bites her lip and I have to restrain myself from emptying my mug's contents in her face.

"Thanks for the input, but we haven't— I mean, we didn't do anything. It's not like that," I say, my cheeks starting to flare.

"You know," she drawls, nudging me with her arm as if we're best friends. "The walls here are thin. Like, paper thin."

I want the ground to split in half, and to eat me whole.

Parker clears his throat and kicks Jessica under the table. "You're insufferable."