Author's Note: The infamous plot bunnies I've been hearing so much about have finally come to me.

Genre: general/slight angst
Pairing: obviously, Leon/Jill
Rating: G, I would assume

Summary: Leon just can't get used to those two words, and not in a good way. Especially coming from Jill's mouth.

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Welcome Home

By: Mazzie May

"Welcome home."

Leon looks over at Jill and smiles a little tightly as he removes his jacket. After he takes it off, she holds out her hands and it takes him a moment to realize she's waiting for him to hand her the snow jacket.

He does. She takes it and hangs it in the hall closet. Closing the door, she asks, "How were things?"

This is why Leon's always nervous when he comes home. He'll spend up to six days straight with Ashley (sometimes only a few hours), and then wonders how the first few minutes back will go.

Welcome home and How were things. Sentences that Jill Valentine just doesn't say. She's just trying to be a good wife. She's very practical, everyone knows; there's no need to welcome him back into his own residence, or ask how things were. She's almost aloof, and a few degrees short of cold and a tremor or two behind rigid. Stoic is how he often thinks of her.

He's not dead, or injured, nor is Ashley, she'd once told Carlos, back when she and Leon were still only dating. Why should I ask?

But now they're married, and she thinks this is what wives are supposed to do, he figures. It's hard on her, Leon can tell. But it's hard on him, too.

They didn't practice this while they were dating, or whilst they were engaged (granted, the time between the proposal and the wedding was only a few months). Delving farther back, his own mother never said such things when he came home from school. She never said anything to him, really.

His only real female interactions were with passing girlfriends, Sherry and Ashley (he doesn't include Claire or Ada). God knows he doesn't take anything that happens with Ashley into account, and Sherry nowadays just asks him for money.

He doesn't know what to do. So he gives her a brief recap of the day(s) (and/or week(s), hour(s)) and then says, "It was fine."

She nods and walks away—either to their room or into the kitchen—and then things are fine.

It's those first few minutes that are so hard on them.

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Author's Note: This idea would not go away. I had to get it down or wouldn't be able to sleep. Drabblishous, baby. I love Leon/Jill. I really, really do. And I can hardly see them in a "normal" relationship (with my Jill anyway), so I like this. Or, at least my not so awake brain likes this.