Chapter Text
It’s a long shift tonight.
These kinds of days feel endless. Near the end of a workday, that is when the most time passes. That endless yearning to be free, dragging upon her back, leaning against her frame. With the shop completely empty, she is free to think.
Leigh thinks about going home. There isn’t much else to ponder. Nothing needs to be cleaned, dusting is boring, reading is honestly a chore… it’s like, she has all the time to think. And she does. It makes her realize how much she wants to be in bed. Snuggled up with a pillow, deep in blankets, a small breeze to keep her from overheating, the essentials to comfort. She could have a late snack, enjoy the nice evening dark, and appreciate the small things in life. Anything would be better.
Leigh looks over at the clock on the wall. Thirty minutes until close. Until then, she must hold the fort, keep the cash register safe and ring up anybody who decides to come in for… nothing. Nobody buys anything, really. Trinkets and junk is all this place really sells. Even the food and art is unimpressive. It’s a shop she wouldn’t want to own, let alone work at forever.
Leigh sighs, looking at the front door of the building. Maybe… a small break wouldn’t hurt. It’s a small shop, after all. It’s getting late, not many people are going to come. Taking a moment to enjoy the nice air isn’t a crime. She’s not some hermit. And nobody would know!
Leigh looks around. She checks the register, the back, and the front. Then, she goes outside.
It’s quiet. The small buzz of lights, gentle brush of the wind, and almost obscure sound of distant people walking. It could almost be seen as peaceful. But it’s just the outside. There’s nothing special about this, or the store.
Leigh breathes deeply, feeling fresh air, not dust in her lungs. If she had a cigarette, she’d probably take a hit. But that kind of life was never for her. She’s always been in the background of other people, existing just enough to be noticed for a few seconds. A compliment, an awkward interaction, a person to pass on a sidewalk. She knows this, albeit, briefly. It comes in waves, hiding as she finds herself busy with life. It’s times like these where she can feel it nagging at her. Tensing up her legs, drying her eyes. Every little thing reminds her of it. It makes her feel…
Leigh looks up. The sky has never amazed her. Stars feel faint now, and the moon is always there. Clouds could be interesting, if she’s a child. There’s nothing up there to really look at. Yet, she looks anyways. Inexplicably.
It’s… really, rather strange. She keeps looking. Like there’s something there. Hidden among the dark, trying to find her as she scans the sky. Soon, her eyes rest on a single star. It doesn’t shine brightly, nor does it have some sort of identifiable shape. She just stares. It makes her feel…
Leigh blinks, feeling a faint warmth behind her eyelids. Yes, of course, she has to blink sometimes. That’s silly. She rubs her eyes as she walks back inside the store, returning to her post at the cash register.
She leans against the counter, resting her head in one hand. Still, the store is empty. She slowly closes her eyes, temporality, trying to feel the classic comfort of sleeping. Sometimes it’s like she runs the entire place herself, coming in and keeping everything together as a one man band. Or, one woman band. Maybe if she was paid a little more, she wouldn’t mind. Regardless, she’s here, and that’s not going to change until a miracle happens.
Ugh. Such a boring thought. Leigh needs something more stimulating. She needs a thought that will truly invigorate her, occupy her for the rest of the night. Something that feels just right…
Perhaps, something about the future. A prophecy, maybe. An undeniable truth about her. Or… about her and someone else. Someone like her, but just different enough that they are two. Her and his stranger, perhaps one of them is bound to die. Maybe they meet, or maybe they don’t. Regardless, one must perish, and the other will stand atop them, victorious. Ah, of course, it is clearer now. The prophecy is simple:
Leigh will find this stranger, similar yet different from her. Together, eventually, they will fight. One of them must die, so the other may become stronger. But Leigh won’t die. She’s better than that. In fact… she’s going to beat them.
“Hey…?”
Leigh jostles herself awake, her arms pushing down on the counter to keep her straight. She looks at the customer in front of her with embarrassment. Blinking a few times, it is clear she almost fell asleep at work. Worse, someone saw her; they could’ve stolen something.
“Y-yeah! I can ring that up for you!” Leigh nods, forcing a nervous smile as she goes back into customer satisfaction mode. “Sorry about that, it’s been a long shift!”
“Yeah, it’s cool…” The person hands her an old clock, clearly more of a souvenir than a tool. “That’ll be all.”
“Of course!” She rings up the item. “That will be twenty pounds.”
The person hands Leigh a bill and she quickly puts it into the register.
“Have a good day!”
“Likewise.”
Then, she’s alone again.
What a mess. Leigh rubs her eyes, groaning. Looking back at the clock, it is twenty minuets to close. Even worse. Sighing, she folds her arms, looking absently at a wall. A prophecy? What a silly idea. But, it passes the time, so what the hell.
Leigh can’t wait to get home.
Leigh has an itch to fight. It gnaws at her teeth, trembles her claws, makes her breathing funny. Every step is focused on getting to the next thing she can fight, to prove she’s not weak.
She lost. This stranger, almost looking identical to her, beat her in their first altercation. Make no mistake, it is the first, she will not keep herself from fighting him again. He’s chubby, horrified of everything, looks like he can barely hold a baseball bat, and his name is stupid. NOBODY of that caliber should beat her in battle, let alone when she’s…
Leigh grits her teeth. She breathes deeply. In, and out. She’s fine, no need to lose her temper. She’s a grown adult who can handle herself. This is all fine. Sam, who leads the way, tries to hide his reaction to Leigh’s breathing. But she can sense it, almost see it in the way his hands redden as he holds his bat. He accepted her into his life and now he’s going to deal with her at her worst. She’s going to follow him to the ends of the Earth, just so she can make sure to push him off the edge to his doom.
As they enter a new room, Leigh sees a new target. A beast with huge tumorous growths spewing out from its head, eyes peering from the newly formed flesh, somehow spitting acid from their pupils. Leigh imagines it would be named Eyecluster; she’s great at naming things. It looks gross and Leigh is more than happy to clean up this sight. But… Sam tries to walk around the Eyecluster, being slow to avoid its attention. Leigh follows him, still gazing at the creature. And thankfully, before they can fully pass, it notices them too. The creature shambles towards the duo, giving them both time to prepare. Sam readies his baseball bat, holding his breath. But this isn’t going to be a problem for Leigh. It’s killing two birds with one stone, really.
Leigh takes a step towards the creature, chuckling to herself. She imagines the store. Closing her eyes, she can see herself, waiting, hoping for anything to happen, sinking into her own skin. But she extends her hand, lovingly, knowingly. She watches herself look up, with light in her eyes, extending her own hand to take it. And as they touch fingertips, her smile widens.
Leigh lets the curse take over…
Relaxing has never been a difficult task to do until today, right now, on this couch. Sam’s couch, to be specific, which makes Leigh want to jump around on it even more than normal.
She looks over her shoulder at Sam, who is preoccupied with cooking. It smells like broccoli in the apartment. Looking down at the floor, a sparse cockroach roams, unaware of her presence. She leaps down and grabs it, popping it in her mouth. It’s crunchy.
Realistically, Leigh could have gone home after adventuring with her new partner in crime. But learning more about this mysterious stranger is key to his defeat. Which, upon realizing he’s a total nobody, has made Leigh even more antsy and upset. She acknowledges this, embraces it even. She’s allowed to be a little upset.
But getting a slice into Sam’s life is important, especially if she wants to get the upper hand on him. Staying the night will work. Or maybe staying the week will be better. A little fighting here and there would be nice. Better yet…
Leigh gets up from her seat and walks over to Sam, slowly encroaching upon his personal space. Breathing gently, there’s a small space between them that holds silence. Even with the sizzling of the pot and the faint buzzing of electricity, it is as if they are suspended in their moment. Then, Leigh leans in, breathing hot air on Sam’s neck.
He’s frozen still.
“Hey.”
She watches his movements. In his hand, just out of view, shakily, he holds something. A knife? A ladle? Nothing at all? Leigh can’t tell. But he seems tense. Worked up, all for her.
“Smells good, heh heh heh…”
Before anything more can happen, she walks back to the couch. Sitting, she looks over at Sam. He looks like he’s shitting bricks.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Almost too fast, like Leigh wasn’t paying enough attention to it. She looks at Sam, his unconscious body. It was a simple chain of events:
He went in to attack. After hitting the beast, it folded its own body into a fist, like it was made for it. Then, it threw its entire body at Sam, like an unbelievably strong punch. He flew several feet backwards, before hitting the ground. Unmoving. For too long. She looks at him and a small gaping hole develops in the very bottom of her stomach. It’s noticeable, freighting almost. As she keeps staring, soaking in the sight, her attention is broken when the beast lunges at her.
She takes out her toxic sword and stabs it deep in its body. The sword practically cuts the wind out of the beast, stopping it dead in its tracks. In the seconds before it falls dead on the ground, it stares at her, knowingly. Smugly, if she focuses really hard. So she twists the blade, aching, bleeding, watching the beast die. When it collapses, Leigh looks back at Sam.
He’s still unmoving. She blinks and she’s above him, staring deeply at his hair. There’s only one thought in her mind:
Not like this.
She crouches down, moving Sam to have his face outward. Without thinking about it, she takes off his sweater. Instead of seeing his shirtless body, there’s another garment on him. She touches it and it feels like a bandage. She knows what this is. It’s a binder. He’s wearing a binder. Maybe it helps him in battle, absorbing hits or cuts. Yeah, that makes sense. She looks at the rest of his body. There’s a cut in his belly, probably from a different fight, and a bruise that slowly forms on his abdomen.
She leans her head into his chest and listens. Very clearly, there’s a heart beat.
He’s alive.
He’s alive!
He’s… alive.
Leigh pulls back, gazing deeply at his unaware face.
Her hands gently wrap around his neck, patiently, lovingly. Would he struggle if she tried? Or would he just lay there, accepting it? Maybe he’d snap into action, struggle and beg, cry for her to release him. She knows he would cry. She can see it in people, even before The Visitor, it was a sort of gift. With just a glance, she could read the heart on someone’s shoulder. It’s obvious for Sam. He kills monsters, puts up a tough face and keeps venturing out to confront bigger and bigger beasts. Yet inside, he’s scared. Another terrified and overeager nobody, thinking the end of the world is their only chance to do something with their life. The way his hands tremble every time they enter battle, his near silent persona anytime they leave the apartment, each dead monster always met with a sigh of relief. What would he be without all this chaos? A nobody.
Leigh grins a little wider as she feels Sam’s skin, his neck just open for her invitation. This is how she wins. After this, the apartment and everything he owns, all hers. Nobody would truly miss him. He’s just another body in a sea of blood.
And… and if this ever happened to her…
Her grip falters. A smile so bright, dims as she thinks. Sam is so vulnerable in her grasp. Yet, he allowed it. Expected it to happen. Any other nobody would've cut her down while she was weak. The world is indifferent to kindness, people like him will only get hurt by those who are smarter. People like Sam get hurt by people like Leigh.
She sits on him, hands to her side. It wouldn’t be the same if she did it like this. There’s no fight. And there’s no fun in that.
Leigh gets off him and stands. Looking around, she takes a moment to realize how alone they are. Nobody would know. So, Leigh takes a medkit and begins healing the wound. She’s not the greatest at keeping her hands still, but she works.
By the time she’s done, Sam is still unmoving. It’s three sets of stairs until they’re back in Apartment 33. It’s the safest place here, as far as Leigh knows. Scratching the back of her head, she prepares herself. Then, she grabs his arms and slings him over her shoulder. As she carries him, he’s light. Almost too light, like he weighs nothing. Maybe… this is a new part of her body.
Walking back home, Leigh keeps Sam safe.
It’s a quiet meal today. Some days, they talk, share tidbits about their life or about the apartment. Most days they spend inside, away from the horrors, much to Leigh’s disappointment. But, if this is life, then she will live it. At least until she gets a fair fight.
Munching on a chicken sandwich is filling, being away from the outside is relaxing, the ambiance of the apartment is calm. There isn’t anything that needs to be said. Leigh looks off into a corner of the room, absentmindedly, enjoying what little peace she’s formed from living here. Sam sits across from her, also eating, albeit slower with only one arm. She’ll need to help him even more now. But, things could be worse.
Taking a bite into her sandwich, Leigh has nothing truly on her mind.
But when she hears it, there’s a delay between understanding and reacting. The words seem to exist in defiance of everything else, sounding awkward yet loud. She looks over at Sam, watching his face, trying to see if his mouth really spoke it. Leigh’s smile wavers for a moment as it all comes together.
“I love you, Leigh.”
Why would he say that?
He can’t be honest to himself or her by saying that. She’s not stupid, she notices small things. Small defeats Sam always reconciles towards, sometimes even to himself. Words are sparse, and sometimes don’t always follow his actions. This could just be a small defeat he’s willing to make, so Leigh…
So… what? To gain her favor? To make her leave him alone? To confuse her? Sam isn’t a genius, he dropped out of college and he’s ashamed of it. He plays video games frequently and struggles with crosswords. Far is any ulterior motives to his actions. He’s a man that shows his hand every single time.
Sam looks back at Leigh, their expressions wildly different yet focused on each other. Leigh’s smile is carved into her skin, but it does not shine as brightly. Sam’s usual pathetic gaze morphs into worry as they continue to share the silence.
What a…
“… stupid thing to say.” Leigh grimaces. “You don’t mean it.”
“…” Sam looks down at his plate, fidgeting with his fork as he mumbles. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it…”
They don’t speak for the rest of dinner. Leigh finishes her food quickly before resigning to the couch. She doesn’t notice it, but the pit in her gut grows larger.