Chapter Text
Leon's palms were clammy, his breathing was fast, and all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.
He wasn't sure how to tell his body that going on a date with Chris Redfield wasn't the same thing as battling a giant BOW, and even if he could've he doubted it would've listened anyway. But as Chris came into the restaurant and sat down across from him, immediately reaching for his hand and not commenting on how damp it was, his anxiety slowly began to melt away.
"Hey." Chris squeezed his fingers, looking at him with those gorgeous brown eyes, deep and warm like a rich cup of coffee. "You okay? You look a little pale." A pause. "Please tell me you didn't get stabbed on the way here or something."
That startled a laugh out of Leon, squeezing back, the thud of his pulse slowly fading to the rear of his awareness. This was Chris. It didn't matter if their relationship was changing, shifting from friendship into something more; the man himself was still the same, and Leon had nothing to worry about. "No, no stabbing to speak of." He chewed the inside of his cheek. "Would you believe I was nervous?"
Chris let out a sigh of relief, tapping his boot on top of Leon's beneath the table. "Christ, I'm glad it wasn't just me. I spent a half-hour trying to decide what shirt to wear." He offered Leon a kind, reassuring smile and used his other hand to reach for the menu. "So, what's good here?"