resident evil oneshots ! ☆

☻☹︎ [l.k.] a reminder.

leon kennedy||any reader||tw: blood, a little bit of an age gap (y/n's 18-24, leon's 27 & up).

he'd been coming to your 24-hour diner for half a year so far. it sounded like a long time in theory, but that time passed so fast when you were used to seeing him every night or early morning. it was the days he did not show up that passed by so painfully slowly. what else was painful, was that he could never seem to remember talking to you each night. that's just how sleep-deprived he was.

sometimes he would exclaim in a bout of clearness that he felt like he 'had met you before'. of course, he had, but he always seemed to act as if meeting you was simply a fever dream.

you were the only cashier working the late night/early morning shift. in this case, business was going slow at that time, and having another cashier being present would honestly be redundant... initially, before you even got the job, you had been hesitant at first to accept the position - in consideration of your sleep schedule - but you were the desperate college student that needed money. so, after some thought, you eventually accepted it. you were glad you had done so because having those sweet, flirty, or downright delirious conversations with him each night were certainly worth it.

it was also great that you had free time to work on assignments during the shift. no one else came at those odd times, only him.

"leon kennedy?" you called the order with a polite smile, pretending to glance about despite knowing full-well that there was no one else there except for the man. a head full of dirty blondish-brown hair stumbled into your line of sight and leaned against the counter, dipping his head slightly as a 'thank you'. his icy eyes were ringed with dark circles; his scleras a smidge bloodshot with tiredness. you always wondered what job he worked that tortured him so. "your order..."

his gaze drifted up to you and your grin widened slightly before your gaze drifted to his left cheekbone that was poking past his long side-swept bangs. "oh-!" you began to reach out, but stopped yourself halfway. your sights fixed on a small glistening cut. "c-can i get you a bandaid for that?" you inquired kindly.

leon's eyebrows furrowed a bit, bringing a shaky hand up to his cheek, then quickly pulling it away to see his fingers dotted with crimson. "huh..." he grumbled curiously, seemingly not comprehending where he had got it from exactly. he proceeded to whisper something harshly under his breath, possibly cursing himself for whatever happened, before letting out a little: "...sure." he offered you a lazy smile and an obedient nod, subsequently grabbing his food tray and turning away to his usual table.

as soon as his vision fell off of you, your lips formed a tight straight line, stifling a sigh. you had to admit that there was a part of you that was heavily irritated by the fact that - although there was still some strange familiarity that had rung on his face - he never fully recognized you in his half-asleep state.

you, then, ran to the back of the kitchen diner in search of these medical dressings, but it was a fast discovery in finding out that the diner had run out of bandaids for the kitchen staff. luckily though, you opened your work locker, finding your schoolbag, and producing a half-empty package of paw-patrol bandaids your roommate had taken from her baby brother back home.

you hummed a whimsical tune as you traveled your way back to the front, catching a peek at the older woman who was supposed to be cooking in the kitchen. she gave you a sweet, yet exhausted, look as she took a seat in a luminous neon orange chair, her beaded necklaces around her neck clicking with every major and minor movement she made...

you circled behind and around the counter, taking a few steps toward where leon was situated. as soon as you made eye contact with him, you greeted him with a small wave of your free hand.