Chapter Text
“We don’t miss a beat, we can bring the heat!”
Claire breathed heavily through her nose, rolling her eyes. The incessant chorus of that stupid HVAC commercial had been burrowing its jingle into her brain for the seventh time in the last hour.
She looked over to voice her annoyance, and quickly shut her mouth staring at a slumbering Leon and Sherry.
“Figures” she exhaled dramatically.
She watched the television shine a constellation of colors across Sherry’s sleeping face. A small smile tugged at her mouth, as she noticed Sherry’s body tucked into Leon’s side, resting against him. She studied both their faces. If she hadn’t known either of them she’d assume that he was just her older brother.
Fuck, she missed her older brother. She leaned over so she could see the digital clock on the dresser.
9:13pm. Still early, she thought.
Today turned out to be a great day for the three of them. Leon had a $5,000 sign-on bonus when he joined the Raccoon City Police Department that finally cleared the hold his bank had on it. They found the closest ATM, and the girls gave him some space to tap in his pin. The last three times he checked his statement he came back disappointed, pissed, and going off about a negative balance and recent overdraft fees.
Claire could see that he had been struggling. He had been placing the weight of providing for this provisional family on his shoulders and their lack of funds had started to weigh on him.
“Finally,” Claire had said to Sherry under her breath, and nudged her to look at Leon still standing at the ATM. He had his fist in the air while he held a celebratory stance.
“I’m treating my girls tonight!” He had beamed at both of them, as he jogged back over waiving the receipt triumphantly in the air.
Claire’s eyes had shined, and she bit her lip to prevent a full blown smile.
His girls.. Get a hold of yourself Redfield, how girly can you be.
She felt her cheeks warm. Do I want to be one of his girls?
Before she could have given it any additional thought, she found out that Sherry certainly did. Her hair flew around wildly as her excitement lifted her off the ground.
“Can we get pizza tonight!?” She shrieked. “ Oh, and ice cream!?”
He laughed. “Anything you want. How about you Claire, any special requests?”
She pressed her hand into her lower back, and made a show out of stretching and twisting around.
“Maybe we upgrade the rooms tonight? Something with a bath? My back is killing me.”
“Yes Ma’am, now that’s what I’m talking about!” Leon nodded in agreement.
They had been traveling together for the last four days, scraping by on what little money they could collectively pool together. This had resulted in convenient store snacks, ill-fitted goodwill garbs, and sketchy motel rooms. They were all squeezed into one room, which wasn’t convenient, but Claire would be lying if she said she didn’t like having Leon close. She took comfort in having everyone within an arm's reach.
Tonight was special though. Rather than a motel on the outskirts of town, they found a hotel centrally located with a city view. They opted for 2 rooms, one with 2 queens for the girls, and another conjoined room with a King for Leon. Around 7pm, the girls were startled at a surprise knock from Leon’s side of the door. Sherry sprinted to unlock it, revealing Leon leaning on the door frame, one arm extended to the other side of the wall wearing a backwards cap and gas station sunglasses.
“Hey, I don’t know what you two lovely ladies are up to tonight, but I got a little thing happening over here,” He had said, pretending to sound sleazy as much as his voice would allow while slightly jerking his head back to the room behind him. “If you wanted to swing by.”
“Oh, will you please shut-up?” Claire couldn’t conceal her laughter. She crossed her arms, rolled her eyes and hated herself for encouraging him.
“Do I smell pizza!?” Sherry darted under Leon’s arm and into his room faster than he could react. “Oh my god Claire, get in here! He has so much pizza, oh and soda!”
Claire had locked eyes with Leon as she approached, and let her entire face light up. She reached for his hand as he made space for her to enter the room.
“Thank you,” she mouthed to him, tightly squeezing his hand. A modest smile made its way to Leon’s mouth as he removed the cheap shades, and squeezed her hand back. With Sherry around the two had quickly started to create their own language.
“Think fast!” Leon chucked a beer at Claire. “They didn’t have much of a selection, but I figured a drink tonight would be nice.”
She cracked it open and tapped her can to his, and then to Sherry’s soda. For the first time in four days, Claire had actually believed they were going to be okay. A sudden rush of calm washed over her knowing that if she left to find Chris, Sherry would be well taken care of with Leon.
After today, and now as she watches them slumber in silence, it has become clear to her that an unspoken bond was growing between him and the child. Claire was confident that she would be able to continue her search for her brother in the morning.
“Ugh, what a mess… I gotta clean this up.” Claire whispered under her breath glancing around beyond her sleeping companions. She collected several beer cans, and the flimsy greased up pizza boxes while using the faint glow of the television’s light as a guide to the trash can. She gave Sherry and Leon one last glance, committing the adorable image to memory.
She quietly leaned Sherry away from him and lifted her up. Sherry moaned in protest, but quickly adjusted to wrap her arms loosely around Claire’s neck. She placed her head on her shoulder drifting back into unconsciousness. Claire crossed the threshold back into their room, and laid her softly into one of the queen beds. Sherry looked so small in a sea of blankets and the fluffy white duvet. One would never guess the horrors and tragedy this sleeping angel had just been face to face with. She looked like she would sleep forever, unbothered by the world around her. Claire was so thankful that Leon could finally give them this peaceful night of refuge.
Oh shit! Leon! She thought about running back into the room, and waking him, but figured it was still early enough that he’d likely wake up on his own. Claire was running on limited sleep, and she knew Leon was too; his tossing, turning, and mumbling had been a constant soundtrack to her insomnia for the last four nights. Any sleep at this point was good sleep, and she didn’t want to deny him of that.
“Ok, now where did I hide you,” she thought aloud and sought after the last green herb she had in her stash when they escaped Raccoon City. She dug through the 12 compartments in her hip pouches, slowly unzipping them, sorting around, and then quietly zipping them back up.
“Yes!” as green as a light signal shining brightly for her to advance through the darkness, she snatched up the ground herb and slipped it into her back jean’s pocket. Glancing around the room she found her red jacket lying crumpled on the floor. She hurriedly slipped it on, and padded the pockets, feeling for the lighter and rolling papers she purchased in secret earlier that morning from a small gift shop.
“Hey, you’re entitled to your opinion, but your opinion is wrong!”
Leon and Sherry had been arguing over Jolly Rancher flavors when she snuck up to the counter, quickly slid the cashier ten dollars, and pressed her finger to her lips, shushing him. He looked over at her bickering companions and back to her with a slight nod and wink.
Claire had really become a master of sneaking around. With all the grotesque creatures lurking back in Raccoon City, being light on her feet was now second nature. She leveraged this new skill again to quietly pass Sherry and draw the thick blackout curtains. She slipped behind them, and gingerly unlocked the sliding glass door that led to their balcony. As soon as her feet connected with the cold concrete her face was slapped with a frigid Autumn breeze. Shivering she zipped up her jacket and noticed just how barren the balcony was. There is only one large potted plant and a small table with two chairs hidden on the other side. It was loud: cars could be heard from the highway, conversations carried up beyond the bars and restaurants from the street level, and the echo of Leon’s TV lightly hums through his connected balcony entrance.
hmmm, a shared balcony huh? She quietly walked closer. She peaked into Leon’s room and saw him still passed out in his seated position on the floor while the lighting from the TV danced colors across his skin.
“Cute,” she covered her smiling mouth to keep a chuckle under her breath. She moved towards one of the balcony chairs, she scooted the chair as close as possible to the table, and used her hand to brush off leaves and debris creating a solid place to roll. She laid out a joint paper and sprinkled the ground up dried herb into the middle. She folded the paper in half, and pinched the edges together, using her thumbs to slightly roll the paper back and forth. Her friends back home showed her how to roll the perfect join, but she rarely had to do it herself, and was severely out of practice. Her only goal is to get a few good hits, so she could finally fall asleep. Gently she concentrated on compacting the herb as her fingers rolled up against her thumbs pinching everything tightly. Once the herbs obeyed and laid firmly together she tucked in an edge of the paper securing it around the plant. She rolled it up the rest of the way, and proudly inspected it.
“Ah, that will do,” she smiled to herself, as she raised the paper up to her lips. Her tongue briefly breached her mouth to lick along the edge of the paper before she carefully sealed the joint. She pinched the remaining edge of the paper and twisted off the end. The concentration she spent rolling it had felt therapeutic, and she wasted no time digging into her pocket and pulling out the ruby red lighter.
“Mmm, come to mama,” she slid the joint between her full soft lips, closed her eyes, lit the tip and deeply inhaled. The bright amber shined on the tip of the joint, and dulled out as she finished her indulgent hit. She kept her head back, and relaxed into the moment, all the heavy ocean waves of static noise and violent rage that had been crashing around in her head for the last four nights slowly started to silence. She released her held breath, exhaling all of the smoke through her mouth and nose, while opening her eyes to follow the cloud as it travels off the balcony along with all the troubles that have been dancing repetitively through her current mindscape.
Immediately she brought the joint back up to her mouth like she was starving and this was the only food that could satisfy the insatiable pit in her stomach. She took another long drag, and held it in sinking more comfortably into her chair with her head thrown back, ponytail hanging off the backrest.
“You know smoking that shit’s illegal right?” Leon said tiredly as he slid his balcony door closed. He yawned, rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair trying to fix any misplaced strands before heading towards her.
“Are you going to arrest me, officer?” Claire batted her eyelashes dramatically, while she angled her head back to look at him, and blew out the rest of the smoke in a long exhale.
“Maybe” he walked over to the open chair next to her.
“Hm.. well last I checked, serving alcohol to a minor is also illegal, Mr. Officer,” Claire said in a flirty voice pouting her lips.
Leon huffed and shook his head.
“I guess you got me there,” he took a seat and looked out into the city lights, listening to the surrounding ambiance of car horns and traffic. “Your brother know you smoke herbs?”
“Oh, will you just relax? Here.” She passed the joint over to him. “We both know we deserve it.”
Leon stared down at the rolled up paper fitted between her thumb and index finger. His eyes moved up to her face, and then back down to the joint before ultimately agreeing with her and taking it from her grasp.
“Fuck, its been years since I smoked,” he took a long hit filling his lungs, and coughed slightly before he could hold it down.
Claire couldn’t help but chuckle. Her body started to feel warm and weighted, while a spacey chill buzz settled into the backside of her brain.
Her face animated in mocking surprise “You?! You’ve smoked before? But you’re such a good boy!” She no longer bothered to stifle her laughter and let it burst out fully sinking into her elated high.
Leon continued to cough and catch his breath. “Uh, ya years ago. I had a close friend who smoked cigarettes.” His breath wheezed on the inhale.
“Huh?” Claire’s eyes grew wide with confusion as she watched Leon struggle to take another hit of her herbs. “Wait… you know that’s not a cigarette right?”
“Ya, of course” Leon rolled his eyes while his voice came out with more coughs and smoke. “But it’s similar. Same shit.”
Claire reaches out for the joint, plucking it from Leon’s grasp. “Uhm.. you’re probably good for a minute,” she offered with a gentle smile. She watched Leon relax into his chair finally overcoming his coughing fit.
She’d gotten to know Leon’s personality, morals and quirks well over the last few days, and warning him about how ungodly high he was about to be, seemed like the wrong course of action. He struck her as the type to startle easily, and more anxiety was the last thing she was trying to give to him.
Better play this cool Redfield.
“Wait here!” She quickly jumped up and slid open Leon’s glass door to access his room, she looked back at him as he stared into a sea of city lights and the abyss of stars. If he had any concerns about where she was going he didn’t show it. She quickly reappeared on the balcony with the portable radio that had been on his night side table.
“Music is always the answer,” she placed it on the table victoriously and flicked it on.
“We can bring the heat! ” broke through the crackling static, just as clear and jarring as it had been the first seven times she heard it on the TV.
“We don’t miss a beat, we can bring the heat! Pick up the phone and call us from your seeat!” Leon shocked Claire with his rendition of the annoying tune.
“I think this song was in my dream earlier,” he turned to look at Claire with a faux look of anguish in his bloodshot eyes that could easily be seen through by his quivering lips trying not to smile.
In unison they bursted into laughter, and once it started, it surged into something uncontrollable, something almost absurd. Tears brimmed Claire’s eyes as she held her sides and bent forward in her chair. She tried to calm herself, only to explode into another eruption of giggles as she listened to Leon struggle to temper his own laughter.
Leon ran a hand through his hair, while using his other hand to lean towards the table in a futile effort to control the amusement that was bubbling through his own shaking body and out of his lips.
He looks like he’s in pain, Claire thought. Like he’s been holding back this laughter all his life. Her heart fluttered at his disheveled appearance, and how it perfectly cracked his facade of trying to look cool and say the right things to her since the moment they met.
Claire realized that this was the first time either of them had truly let their guard down and acknowledged just how ludicrous everything they just survived really was. Their traveling circumstances hadn’t been pleasurable, complete with very little reason for laughter. This moment was such a gift, and she was happy to share it with Leon.
They exchanged glances and laughed harder at one another in full hysteria, until Leon closed his eyes. He looked like he was trying to focus on something, or recall a memory as his laughter subsided and was drowned out by her own.
“You have a beautiful laugh,” Leon reopened his eyes, and they sparkled at Claire beneath his bangs.
“Oh, man” Claire wiped tears away, avoiding his comment.
She took deep breaths in between her simmering chuckles. She looked over at Leon feeling invigorated by their obstreperous behavior. Both barely noticed the thick tension of every terrifying thing they experienced over the last few days evaporate. In its place a warm validating feeling tied them in sync with one another as they took deep inhales of the same surrounding air. The euphoric feeling overtook Claire to the point that her lips parted and her perfect teeth shined through until a smile plastered on her face just as goofy as her laughing had been moments ago.
“God, I hate that fucking song!” she snorted.
“It’s the worst,” Leon agreed, wheezing as his smile shined just as bright back at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard in my life. My whole body hurts, but guess I did just get shot a few days ago.”
Claire’s giggles picked up again at the thought of Leon not being able to determine if his body aches were in response to laughing or taking a bullet.
“And that's on smoking herbs!” she winked at him, bringing the joint up to her lips again to take another hit.
She effortlessly breathed in while her lips hugged the paper, and her eyelids slowly lowered causing her lashes to kiss her cheeks. She puffed her chest out feeling her breasts press tightly against her zipped jacket, begging the leather to mend to her form. In a quick exhale she shoved all the smoke out in a large cloud retracting her body back comfortably, and making her tits release their jutted position.
She innocently was putting on a little show for Leon, and she could tell by his uncomfortable shifting and gaze that it was working.
She loved feeling his eyes on her, and how uncomfortably cute he looked from the corner of her vision. He was clearly out of his element, and she almost felt bad for him remembering how overwhelming everything was the first time she smoked.
Her eyes shifted over first, and then she turned her whole head when she noticed he was struggling. His face looked mortified, and he tightly scrunched his eyes closed when they made eye contact. Erratic shallow breaths puffed out of his nostrils loudly, as his brows furrowed deeper.
“Whoa, you ok Leon?” Claire’s voice seemed to have the opposite effect of what she was going for.
He jerked, startled at her words trying to breathe more deeply, and moved his right hand to swiftly cover his left pec as if he was pledging his allegiance to a flag.
“Claire?” Leon wasn’t moving at all minus his shoulders slightly raising and falling with his shallow breaths. His face was struggling to release tense muscles and relax in his current stressed state. “I think I can hear my heart pounding? Can you hear my heart pounding?”
Claire did her best to swallow a chuckle, feeling lucky that Leon’s eyes were still closed, knowing that he wouldn’t appreciate her finding his distress amusing. She did everything she could to force her appearance and noises to remain neutral.
She cleared her throat.
“No, you’re ok, do you want me to get you some water?” She fiddled with the radio to find a station with decent songs. Music and some water should help him relax and feel more grounded, at least she hoped.
Before he could answer she raised to her feet and disappeared back into his room. She quickly started the tap and filled a coffee mug with water. She rushed back to the balcony doors, but paused just before sliding them open.
She stared at Leon through the barrier and smiled, she could see his body finally starting to relax into the high. His head nodded to the music of a familiar song that filled the balcony air.
“Here you go!” Claire’s gentle voice echoed sweetly into his ears. He forced his neck to move, so his heavy head could follow her sounds. She placed the mug of water on the table in front of him. “This should help.” she tilted her head with her hands on her hips giving him an encouraging look.
“I- I’m sorry” Leon released a long sigh staring down sheepishly at the water in front of him as his features finally softened and he appeared much more at ease.
“What?” Claire looked at him confused, taking her seat again. “It happens to everyone, honestly you’re doing great!”
He scoffed at her praise, clearly embarrassed as he lifted the water up.
“Just remember to swallow it,” Claire pointed out. “When I first smoked herbs I had to remind myself to swallow while I was eating.” She laughed at the stupid memory.
“Ahhh, I owe you my life,” he smiled at Claire, letting the cold water refresh his body.
“Can’t have an officer down on my watch!” She playfully reached over and nudged his bicep.
They both stared out into the night letting a comfortable silence blanket over them. It was Leon who spoke first asking Claire something about college, or what she was going to do once reality set back in.
“I never was one to face reality,” she smirked and turned to look at him. “I’m just not that kind of girl.”
“You’re honestly a pretty cool 19 year old, you know that?” Leon looked at her with wonderment, and she slightly blushed trying to ignore his compliments.
Their banter flowed like a game of catch being played between two kids in the backyard on a hot summer night. Nothing would bring them back in the house, not the sun going down, not dinner being ready, they were both prepared to throw this conversation back and forth until the sun rose.
Claire hung on every word Leon said: his stories about his ex, Ada, and killing a Tyrant, who he affectionately called “Trenchy.” Meanwhile, Leon laughed without restraint fully from his gut at every smart ass remark Claire had to offer.
“I sense you use humor to hide your trauma?” Leon looked at her accusingly.
“Thanks,” the corner of Claire's eyes crinkled as her lips formed a tight smile around the joint in her mouth.
“I didn’t really mean it as a good thing Claire,” Leon watched her blow the smoke out towards him while she studied his face.
“All I’m hearing is that you think I’m funny Mr. Policeman,” Claire licked her lips and lifted the mug of water to her mouth.
Leon closed his eyes, and shook his head, laughing again. She really was a joy to be around, he'd give her that.
They talked about all the zombies they had encountered, and asked each other stupid questions about why shooting a brain dead zombie in the head “killed them,” both too stoned to understand the logic.
“Wait, you had a FLAMETHROWER!?” Claire grunted from her chest, obvious jealousy nagging at the back of her throat. “How did that feel— lighting hordes of zombies on fire? Man, talk about instant therapy.”
“Well, a couple of acid rounds would have gone a long way with those creepy skinless bastards,” Leon reminded her to appreciate the grenade launcher that was in her arsenal. “I think I unloaded my entire shotgun into one, just to keep it down.”
He closed his eyes tightly, and Claire noticed what looked like a shiver jolt through his body.
Shotgun echoed in her ears as she noticed him growing more stiff and tense.
“You want to hit this again?” She tries drawing his attention over to the joint. She raises it up and playfully waves it at him.
His eyebrows knit together, and his tight lips angled in almost a frown. An expression that said yes, but no. “Hmm” he tilted his head. “Maybe, I dunno.”
“I can help you, we can shotgun?” she raised an eyebrow at him, and stuck out her tongue further enhancing her mischievous offer.
“Shotgun? I dumped the shotgun before we got here,” he looked even more confused.
“No, here,” she pushed herself out of her chair and took a long inhale from the joint as she walked around the table to where Leon was sitting. She placed the joint down on the table next to them and reached her hands out to grab his chair’s armrests leaning down towards him.
Leon looked stunned, his eyes frantically searching her face for answers as she leaned into his personal space. She flooded his senses, encouraging him to relax, to breathe her in.
The smoke in her system allowed her to vividly experience the surrounding air that was closing in between them. He smelled rich and heavy like cedar and vanilla. His scent played with the herb that she was still holding in her chest. Her own fruity and peppery perfume mixes in to give her a delightful heady feeling. She couldn’t quite describe it, but Leon’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
“You smell like cinnamon.” rolled off his tongue. He stared at her copper zipper, transfixed by it dangling just above her tits, as she continued to close the gap.
She nodded, confirming that they were speaking the same language.
Her soft fingertips found purchase just below his chin pressuring his head and gaze to lift up and meet her eyes. She snuggled her knee in between his thighs until it made contact with the seat of the chair to better support her.
“Open your mouth,” her voice sounded eager, even to her own ears.
Leon does exactly that, and receives a mouthful of smoke for his efforts. His stare goes blank as his mind goes comfortably numb. He surrenders, lets her ghost her lips above his, and she prays that she is all he can taste.
“You taste like Cinnamon too.” he whispers absent-mindedly as smoke falls from his mouth.
She smiles at him proudly watching him exhale the smoke smoothly with no coughing.
“Is that better?”
He can only nod at her dumbly.
“More?” She raises the joint back up, refilling her lungs.
He stared up at her in awe, looking like he was searching for something intelligent to say, but could only manage another mindless nod.
Claire retracts her knee from in between the warmth of his thighs, and slides one of her legs over his side pressing up against the chair's armrest. She does the same with her other leg, so that she can comfortably straddle his lap. She roughly runs her fingers through his hair grabbing thick handfuls at the back of his head and aggressively pulling back so that she can angle his face to where she wants it.
“Open,” she says, and he obeys.
She lightly blows the smoke into his welcoming mouth, this time pressing her lips more confidently to his. She forcefully pulls his hair back again, so that he is now staring straight up at the starry sky. She waits for him to finish exhaling clouds into the darkness, and then more delicately pulls his head back down into an actual kiss.
Claire's eyes close automatically when she feels his hand softly caress her cheek. She tangles her fingers further into his hair, pulling him closer. Electricity is now firing through her nerves traveling to where his lips are connected to hers.
Where Claire was hungry and aggressive, Leon was soft and gentle. He moved slowly, and while she appreciated it she needed more. She tugged on his hair and bit at his bottom lip. She felt him laugh below her, and it vibrated against her chest. She quickly searched for his free hand and placed it on her hip, and he hummed holding her loosely.
“Hey, play nice,” he whispered against her lips. She let out a small whine still feeling his hand gently touch her cheek, his fingers tracing down to her jawline. He pressed soft gentle kisses at the corner of her mouth trying to temper her urgency.
She rested her forehead on his, so she could see him better. His face was suddenly serious. His eyes focused on Claire’s like he was trying to remember something long forgotten, and the answer was hidden somewhere in her eyes. He studied her face and swallowed, pressing his lips together in a straight line like he was actively trying to keep words from tumbling out.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” The question left his mouth like a clump of jello, fumbling weirdly, and sounding embarrassingly uncool as his breath hit Claire’s perfectly soft starving lips.
Her body slightly recoiled at the question despite herself, and she can tell by the look on his face that he noticed. He tenses underneath her ever so slightly, perhaps in regret that he even asked it.
How fucking dare he , Claire thought why does he care if I have a boyfriend. Why would it matter? There is nothing between us.
Fleeting thoughts whipped through her brain like a flipbook cascading every intimate moment of her life like a montage of past experiences. Memories of her fucking her date in the backseat of a car after prom blurred into recollections of one night stands with men she hardly knew. The visions quickly transform into her riding shotgun in Leon’s jeep, music blaring, windows down. His shirt is off, and he’s smiling brightly at the horizon. Then it’s dark. Someone is standing alone in the vast emptiness of her mind: Chris.
He turns around and extends his arm, but he’s not looking at her. She looks over to her right, and Leon is conjured up appearing strong and confident next to her, holding her hand.
He reaches out to accept Chris’ handshake.
“So nice to finally meet you.”
GAH, Chris! I shouldn’t be here, I should be on a fucking bus to Europe. I need to be looking for my real family, not playing pretend family with Leon. Her thoughts caused her instant guilt.
Four days ago the only man in Claire’s thoughts was Chris. Where was he? Is he safe? Is he even alive?
In just four short days Leon managed to etch himself into her fucking subconscious, and had the nerve to ask her if she has a boyfriend.
Was he planning to move in?
Her heart felt so conflicted with thoughts of leaving in the morning. Running, like she always did.
All the visuals flashing behind her eyelids ignited flames in her gut that smoldered through her throat— until she opened her eyes and met Leon’s cute diffident face. She opened her mouth to scold him, but her tongue extinguished her fiery response.
“...No,” the word quietly escaped her mouth.
Leon smiled against her lips, she could feel his body find a sense of relief below her. He brought his other hand down to grab her waist and squeezed her hips tightly, pulling her body more flushed against his. He crashed his lips into hers more closely mirroring her earnest actions from earlier.
All of the fleeting emotions, the last several days of surviving, the sluggishness of her body’s response to the copious amounts of herb in her system, and Leon’s new found assertiveness made Claire feel dizzy. A rush of helplessness flooded her body, a sinking yielding, a reducing tidal wave pulling her out to drown against his lips.
What started as a soft kiss gradually climbed into an intensity that broke the entire sky around them. Leon stole her breath and gave it back to her, she felt alive, as his lips moved forcefully on hers parting and working her quivering lips to follow his lead.
She felt him lick at her lips, quick at first and then long and sloppy, almost like he was savoring the taste of her, as his warm tongue dipped playfully into her mouth.
He leaned forward, kept their lips pressed together, and planted his feet on the ground. He moved his hands from her hips to under her butt carefully cradling her to get better leverage, while he attempted to stand. He hoisted her up and lifted them both out of the patio chair.
“Guhh” he grunted into her mouth, toppling slightly.
“Oh shit! Your arm!” Claire screamed, startled by all the movement, she wiggled out of his grasp.
“It’s fine, the smoking helped a lot, maybe too much honestly” he scoffed, rotating his arm while laughing at himself for thinking he could lift Claire with a shot shoulder.
“You ready to go in?” Claire’s question held more than just an offer to return into the hotel. She knew that Leon could sense that, and more than anything, he looked ready to go in. He reached for her hand and guided her through the balcony doors into his room.
As soon as they entered their mouths found each other again, urgent and raw not unlike the same tempo they were forced to have with their introductions on the night they met. Claire grabbed the hem of his oversized thrifted hoodie and tugged it up over his head. They broke away from their kiss and he lifted his arms to help her.
She whined when she saw his body littered with beautiful imperfections. Scars, wounds, moles, blemishes— every single mark on his body was curated perfectly, so that he would forever stand unique in her memory anytime she wanted to daydream about this moment.
She set to work on pulling down his sweats, as he reached for the zipper of her jacket that had been taunting him all night. He roughly discarded the jacket onto the floor, and Claire grabbed the bottom of her tank, yanking it off her body. He unbuttoned her pants and helped her shimmy out of them, leaving a tornado of clothes mixed together on the floor.
Claire stood in a red push-up bra and matching cheeky briefs. Her body flushed almost matching the color, as Leon stood before her completely naked.
“You found that at the thrift store?” He asked dumbly, his face a mixture of being impressed and being high.
Claire laughed hysterically, throwing her head back. “It’s honestly nicer than what I came to Raccoon City in,” she confessed. Her eyes hungrily lowered down his abs following a small trail of hair to his groomed semi-hard fully exposed cock.
“I see you weren’t as lucky with your haul?” She bit her lip holding her stare.
Leon flushed. “Thrifted underwear.. somehow, just felt wrong?” He shrugged.
“Yeah, I agree. This is better,” she walked over and pressed her mouth to his. She started sucking on his bottom lip, pulling it away from his face with a pop. She traveled down gifting gentle kisses to his jaw, using her tongue to travel down his neck kissing every mole and scar as she traversed the landscape of his body until she was on her knees looking up at him.
She reached around his body and grabbed his ass with her hands pulling him forward as her mouth opened widely in search of his tip. He tasted clean; drips of precum helped glide his dick to bury fully in her mouth.
“Oh, shit” Leon choked, “Claire!” He sounded like the wind was knocked out of him.
She felt all the blood immediately surge towards his cock as she tugged it with her warm sweet mouth. In the back of her mind she amused herself with a stoned thought, wondering if cinnamon would feel good or burn on his cock.
He reached out and held her ponytail lightly as she eagerly worked him in and out of her mouth, still gripping tightly and digging nails into his ass.
Claire was starving; she relaxed her lips, flattened her tongue, and sucked him all the way down just barely kissing his hair with her top lip. His body tensed as he loudly gasped above her pulling her ponytail tighter.
He continued pulling her back by her hair until she came off of him with a pop. He reached under her arms and helped her rise to her feet.
“You’re really good at that,” he gasped and smashed their mouths together. They wildly wrestled against each other’s mouths until Claire captured Leon’s tongue and sucked on it like it was still his dick.
Leon moaned and reached around Claire’s back to unfasten her bra. Once unhooked, his hands traveled down the small of her back to grab the waist of her panties, and gently pull them up so that they wedged between her cheeks.
Claire whined into his mouth. He firmly used both hands to smack and grab her exposed ass, pressing her into him, and rubbing his hard dick against her wet panties that now pulled taunt against her clit.
He feverishly kissed down her neck and across her shoulder until he was met with the crimson strap of her bra. Still feeling added euphoria from the herb, he smiled, shaking his head in disbelief.
“God, look at you. You’re so gorgeous Claire. You’re so pretty” he whispers into her collar bone.
Claire snickers. “Please, spare me the monologue, you’re killing me.”
She grabbed the straps of her bra and slid them off her shoulders allowing the garment to fall to the ground. “I’m already going to fuck you, no need to butter me up.”
Immediately, Leon’s hands were on Claire’s tits, squeezing, rubbing and rolling her nipples with his fingers. He brought his face down and worshiped each of her breasts, kissing and sucking on her everywhere, while carefully guiding her backwards towards the bed.
The top of the mattress fit perfectly just below her ass, providing a soft cushion for her to fall on. Leon continued to advance forward. blindly with his face buried in between her cleavage. She fell backwards and he fell on top of her, his body weight surprisingly warm and comforting. He worked his way back up her neck desperately rubbing his hardness along her thigh until it found the perfect position between her legs.
She reached down to discard her panties, the last article of clothing separating them.
“Do you have a condom?” She asked, looking up at him expectantly.
“Oh, yeah! I always bring condoms on my first day at a new job. You know what they say… dress for the job you want.” He laughed awkwardly, his head shaking.
Claire couldn’t help, but take it personally.
“It’s fine, I have some in my hip pouch” she gestures to the pouch lying on the floor still attached to her jeans.
“What?” His brows furrowed together, looking like he had a million questions on the tip of his tongue.
“Yeah, my brother has some hot cop friends that I like to catch up with when I visit.” She jests, pushing on his chest careful not to graze his injured shoulder and flips him over. Now she’s straddling him from the top. She grinds down on him suggestively before hopping off and grabbing the condom.
Leon leaned up on his elbow watching her unzip and shift through the pockets.
“Seriously?” he scoffs, trying but failing to hide how confused and jealous this new information is making him.
“I’m fucking with you!” Claire laughs, as she tears apart a condom from a pack, and zips the rest back into the pouch. “I bought them at the gift shop earlier when you were arguing with Sherry about Green Apple flavored Jolly Ranchers— which for the record, are not the best!”
She smiles as she walks back towards him finally pulling her panties down to the floor and stepping out of them.
“Not this shit aga- Wait! You planned this?” He looks taken aback, confusion still painted all over his face.
“Well, no not technically,” her face looked hesitant, “but, I did plan to have sex eventually with someone. Does it matter?”
“With a stranger?” Leon pressed.
“Leon, does it matter?” Claire looked aggravated, crossing her arms over her chest suddenly feeling exposed. “What’s wrong?” She asked tiredly, “Are you turned off now?” She shrugged, “I can pretend to be a virgin if that’s what you prefer?”
“Hey, don’t do that,” Leon sat up at the edge of the bed and reached his hand out towards her. “I just don’t carry condoms around like that,” his voice was soft and careful.
“Like what?” Claire questioned.
“I don’t know, like for a random encounter?” Leon shrugged. “I’ve really only ever been with my ex. Fuck, we were together so long I don’t even remember the last time I used a condom.”
“So it does matter then?” Claire hugged herself tighter, suddenly feeling ashamed for not ever wanting to keep someone around long enough to have a real relationship.
“I didn’t say that,” he motioned for her to come to him with his extended arm. “Will you just come here?”
She closed her eyes and swallowed while taking her first step towards him. The short walk felt like eternity. Self-doubts made her feet feel heavy and sticky to the floor.
When she was within reach Leon grabbed at her waist and fitted her between his spread legs.
“Claire, I don’t care who you’ve been with.” He rubbed circles into her soft skin, as his eyes looked up deep into her own.
She’d seen Leon stretch the truth over the last four days to most people they encountered. She knew that he touched his face nervously, and had trouble keeping eye contact when he lied. She couldn’t find any trace of that right now.
“None of that shit matters to me. I don’t need you to be a virgin,” Leon shook his head, keeping his intense gaze locked on her. “Let me be whatever you need right now, ok?” He took her hand raising it up to his lips. “Just tell me what you want, cause I just want you.” His breath tickles the top of her hand.
He held this pose, while his eyes looked up at her hungry and pleading. Claire thought that in this position he looked like a prince from one of her childhood nursery rhymes.
But, this wasn’t some silly fantasy. They had just barely escaped being eaten alive by zombies, her brother was still missing, she was stoned as hell, and more than anything she just wanted to be touched by someone or something that didn’t want to kill her.
“I just want you to fuck me hard, officer.”
She pulled her hand away from his mouth and used it to stroke him back to full length. She used her other hand to rip open the condom wrapper with her teeth. She helped him roll it down his shaft, and he used both hands to cup her cheeks bringing their faces closer.
“If that’s what you want,” he kissed her roughly and grabbed her by her ponytail, using it as a guide to drag her back into bed. He positioned her on her hands and knees, pressing his hand between her shoulders so that her chest was smashed into the mattress.
She let out a low whine when she felt him behind her. His hands grasped her small waist tightly and his dick rubbed around her entrance. In one smooth movement he pushed into her, and everything around them vanished. It was just the two of them, the two of them surviving.
Claire let go; she opened her mouth, beautiful moans falling from her lips repetitively in an urgent harmony that was in sync with every thrust Leon pushed into her.
She was tight, and Leon grunted as her body squeezed around him every time he bottomed out. He was relentless, and all of the chaos, turmoil and fear of the last four days pistoned out of him in the form of desperate stuttered jerking motions.
Claire wasn’t sure how long Leon would last at this tempo, so she reached her hand up between her thighs finding her slick bundle of nerves and aggressively rubbed her clit in small tight circles. The mix of herbs, tension, and Leon’s precision quickly brought Claire just to the brink.
“Let me help,” Leon snaked his arm from her waist to under her belly, and down towards where her fingers were expertly rubbing her spot.
She bit her lip to avoid announcing her annoyance. She rolled her eyes, aggravated that he was going to mess up her rhythm, forcing her to start over and rechase her release.
But his fingers ghosted over her middle and ring finger barely touching, almost studying, memorizing the cadence and tempo. He strategically applies pressure and takes over for her, applying the same force and motions, but helping her to speed them up and lift her higher.
“Agahhh” Claire screamed into the pillow. Surprised by how incredibly attentive and fast he’s learned to please her body.
Her heady thoughts were muddled all together making it hard to spill over into complete euphoria. Flashes of zombies, Sherry, Leon, and Chris were swirling and interrupting her rising climax.
“Hey, ah-uhm..c-can you go a little harder?” She moaned, clearly struggling
“Y-yeah… n-ah! No problem” Leon thrusted harder, slapping into her ass, while his other hand continued to assault her clit.
“Oh! Yes, can you talk a little bit?”
“Ha! Mm, ya- what are we talking a-about?”
“J-just mm, just tell me how it feels? Describe it!”
“Fuck,” he sounded completely different, his voice heavy as he struggled to string a coherent sentence together. “You’re so tight, you feel good.. Nah!”
He leaned to bring his mouth closer to her ear “I wanted to fuck you so bad at that gate.”
“Ohh” Claire whined, feeling her stomach tighten.
“Gah, what if one of us died, and I never got to feel this perfect pussy. Fuck, Claire! I don’t usually talk like this.”
“Well don’t stop, you’re doing a hell of a job.” She sobbed, feeling his dick twitch proudly at the praise.
“Ask me to come!” she blurted out.
“Come on Claire, come with me” he whispered, getting close to the edge himself.
“Not nicely, demand it,” she cried.
“Come!” Leon said, loud and direct, as he shot his own rush into her warm soft tightness.
One more flick of Claire’s clit and she was in a pure deepening whirlpool of ecstasy. She convulsed around Leon wildly, sucking everything he had to give her into the barrier separating them. He buried himself completely into her, and laid on top of her flattening her down into the mattress as she giggled while trying to roll them over.
Eventually she managed to wrestle them both onto their backs. She leaned on him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you,” she squeezed his hand.
“No, no! Thank you Claire Redfield,” Leon squeezed her hand back.
“I, uh- should get back to Sherry’s room before she wakes up,” she responds. The clock is showing it’s now 4am.
“Yeah” Leon sat up, removing the condom and heading for the washroom.
Claire quickly gathered all her items, and redressed. She snuck back into the conjoined room, before Leon emerged from the bathroom.
Leon walked into the now empty room. He looked at the bed. Blankets are thrown everywhere. His clothes are all over the ground. A single condom wrapper laying torn at his feet.
There’s no sign of Claire anywhere.
He becomes overwhelmed with the ridiculous feeling of suddenly missing her. A strange uncomfortable pang hits him in the gut with how quickly she escaped back to her room. This constant dance of being in her presence and then being torn apart causes him to question when he would actually see her again.
She’s just next door. Relax.
He chalks his paranoia up to the herbs still in his system and throws himself back into the bed.
Instantly he was hit with the scent of cinnamon.