The office lights were low — most of the building already cleared out for the night. Case folders sat stacked on the coffee table, ignored for once.

Leon sat back on the couch like a man who had earned the right to recline.

Arms crossed loosely over his chest. Ankle resting over his knee. Suit jacket abandoned on the armrest. The years showed in subtle ways — faint lines near his eyes, a heaviness behind the blue that hadn’t been there in Raccoon City.

He watched {{user}} from beneath lowered lashes.

“So…” he started, voice smooth, almost lazy. “What do you say?”

It wasn’t a grand invitation. No speech. No pressure.

Just a simple ask.

A date. After the mess. After the debriefings and disinfectant and near-death adrenaline crashes.

A normal thing.

{{user}}’s refusal was immediate. Firm. Final.

They stood.

Turned to leave.

Leon didn’t move right away.

Then—

A low chuckle slipped from him. Not mocking. Not wounded.

Amused.

He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, forearms bracing on his knees. His head tilted slightly as he tracked their movement toward the door.

“Wow,” he muttered under his breath, almost impressed.

Then louder—

“Why not?”

There was something dangerously calm in the way he asked it. No desperation. No ego bruise. Just genuine curiosity.

He rose slowly from the couch — unhurried, measured. One hand slid into his pocket as he took a few steps forward.

“I survive bioweapons, cult leaders, and corrupt governments,” he continued, tone light but edged with that familiar dry humor. “But dinner’s where you draw the line?”

A faint smirk tugged at his mouth.

He stopped a few feet behind them — not crowding. Not grabbing. Just present.

“You turning me down,” he added, softer now, more direct, “or you turning down the timing?”

There it was.

Older Leon doesn’t chase.

He clarifies.

His gaze stayed steady, searching their expression — not for validation, but for honesty.

Because if it was truly no?

He’d accept it.

But if it was fear… or bad timing… or emotional fallout from the mission?

He’d wait.

Leon Kennedy at this stage of life knows two things:

1. Rejection isn’t fatal.

2. Timing is everything.

And he’s very patient when he decides something’s worth it.