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Despite the silence that seemed to never fade between the pair of you, Leon would always look back if he felt you were to far away. He still made sure you were close enough to where he could make sure you were safe. After what happened at the lookout, tension had grown between you.
A tension that was palpable, one that was awful yet at the same time you enjoyed. Perhaps it was a sick sense of what you found attractive or brought on by some form of trauma but that tension was something you ached for.
Making your way down the rickety old wooden bridges and ladders, you'd both made it to the damp dirt ground. Wood was underneath it, sticking out wherever it decided to contort from.
Something caught your eye, so you steered from the path that you'd followed for a while. A few steps away, Leon had turned to watch you curiously, as you picked something from the ground. A flower, a white one with yellow in the middle, pollen still very much evident. The only living thing around here that seemed actually alive. Everything resembled wither and death and decay. But this seemed to thrive in such circumstances.
"Consider it a thank-you for this." You said with a light laugh, walking up to him and placing it in his gun holster. It sat perfectly between the leather and weapon, he only stared down at it for a few seconds before smiling a bit. "Why the holster?" He asked suddenly, but not daring to take it out.
"Would you rather me put it in your hair?" You said sarcastically, shifting my weight onto one leg.
"You could have but the chance is gone now." He teased, the only emotion being his playful tone and the small shrug he gave you. You rolled your eyes and walking with him as you both approached the shore line and dock.
The wood creaked under your boots, and you had to pause before taking another step. Exhaling a shaky breath, you got over yourself and walked slowly with your eyes closed tightly.
Leon took your hand, helping you get where he was, guiding you gently across the rickety wooden dock.
You hated deep pools of water, especially grotesque ones you couldn't see the bottom of. And putting all your faith in a dock that was freaking over said water made you nauseous and nervous.
"Easy, you're okay." Leon said quietly, continuing to help you over before he stopped. You opened your eyes after and was met with a boat floating along the water in gentle waves.
"No. No way." Your lips were a thin line after you'd cursed under your breath. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you, princess." Again the nickname that made you fight back a grin with the small shake of your head.
He made sure you got into the boat without falling, and got in right after you. He had filled the gas tank of the motor boat, sending you a glance of confirmation before starting it. The engine whirred loudly before calming down only a bit.
It was smooth sailing for a while. Leon held the back end of the boat and small lever to steer it while you sat up front and averted your eyes to the ground to ignore the disgustingly deep water and weird flesh monster looking thing you'd almost forgot about lurking beneath.
The engine stopped.
You came to a slowing halt before Leon pulled the string attached lever a few times, before realizing it was no use.
Your breathing had involuntarily picked up, eyes closing for a few seconds longer than they really needed to.
"Hey, hey look at me," Leon said lowly, "don't worry everything's fine—"
He was cut off by something stirring beneath the water, the boat rocking.
"Uh huh," you clicked your tongue, holding on to either side of the boat tightly, "everything sure does seem fine." Raising a brow, your cocky demeanor soon changed to one of fear at the sound of said thing stirring beneath the once calm rippling of water.
But all fell silent.
You and Leon looked around carefully and silently, your eyes scanning frantically at everything before landing on Leon's way-too-calm expression.
Something emerged from the water with a splash, going straight for the pair of you. If it weren't for the waves the monster caused, the boat wouldn't have moved just in time as the thing went back underneath the terrifying liquidated death trap you'd found yourself in.
You felt it's warm breath breezing against you before it had dived back under.
Continuing to freak out, the boat started to spin from the creature stirring. Leon stood, knees bent as he took steps stumbling over to you, pulling you to the middle of the boat to even the weight out while he shielded you from whatever was to come.
But that was short lived when the creature started dragging the boat and you both across the water. He fell back and tried to steady the boat only a bit while being dragged.
"Listen to me carefully, grab the gun from my holster and flip the safety off. Hold it at the ready when things go wrong, can you do that, princess?" That fucking name. You nodded with a new feeling in the pit of your stomach at the name again.
Going to grab the gun, your fingers brushed his toned hips slightly. You were to caught up in this to notice, but he definitely took note of it. There wasn't a doubt in his mind he'd be caught up on it for the rest of the day.
Flip the safety off.
Aim.
Prepare.
He threw harpoon-spear looking items that had been in the boat at the monster, drawing blood that faded quickly into the water behind.
The pace of the monster slowed. Thankfully you wouldn't have to use the gun. Hopefully. Your hands were shaking awfully bad but only slightly reassuring that Leon could take care of it. You wanted to help and not feel pathetic, but it was hard to combat the feeling of fear in your chest.
The monster was gone. Underwater. But you knew damn well it would come back for seconds.
