Angst Prompts - Heat

Heat

Leon didn’t understand why this kept happening, or at least, he pretended like he couldn’t figure it out. With a heavy breath, he dragged himself shakily to his feet. He was littered in cuts, his leather jacket torn and dirty from where he had been thrown into the underbrush. The getaway car was on fire already, flipped upside down and twenty feet down an embankment. It was another miracle that he had survived the crash. Again.

I always end up crashing everything, don’t I? He didn’t want to admit he was hungover, didn’t want to note that there was a certain little trend, a pattern he was starting to see in relation to these instances. But in his defense, he hadn’t been forewarned that there was going to be another zombie out break, hadn’t been told he would in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught up in the chaos once again.

Oh well.

He turned to the tree line after brushing himself off, gauging how far he was from his destination. The car would blow shortly, would lure the undead away from him. It was a distraction he fully needed to take advantage of.

Angst Prompts - Isolation

Isolation.

The hardest part about coming home from a mission was the part where Leon actually arrived home. He stepped into his minimalist apartment, and flipped on the light by the door, sighing heavily as he dropped his work bag from his shoulder onto the floor. His first stop was always to the thermostat to turn the heat back on, his second stop always to the liquor cabinet in his kitchen; his only stocked cabinet.

Minutes later with a nice glass of whiskey that he promised he wouldn’t slam back, he dropped onto his couch, sinking into the cushions while he took the first sip. He closed his eyes, grenades and flash-bangs still ringing through his skull, reminding him that it would take a few days before the ringing in his ears completely went away.

But when he closed his eyes, the events of the last mission flickered through his brain like an old film reel, reminding him of those he had lost, those he hadn’t been able to save. His own misfortune and his own bad luck, his mistakes and shortcomings. The mission could have gone smoother. It could always go smoother.

It would take a few days before the ringing in his ears completely went away, but it would take weeks before he could look anyone in the eye again, let alone admit his own failures out loud.

He slammed back the whiskey so he could get his second glass.

Angst Prompts - Fear

Fear.

Leon hated to admit it to himself - he would never admit it out loud, oh no - but he was absolutely terrified.

"We need to wait for a second." He said, trying his best to sound calm, to sound normal. They were still in the house after shooting down half the damn village, ready to move on and get the hell out of here. Louis had run off after showing up to help them out and give them some information, leaving Leon to lick his own wounds and reassure Ashley that they weren't both going to suddenly turn into feral parasites or die.

Or at least, Leon was trying to convince himself that he wasn't going to suddenly turn feral or die.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked, her voice lilting in concern. She approached him, but stopped short like she was worried he might bite if she got too close.

He wasn't okay as he feigned checking his gun. It was the damn Plaga in his neck that scared the shit out of him. The idea of losing control was so horrendously awful that Leon suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He took a deep breath, letting it settle deep in his lungs, reassuringly. He couldn't afford to lose his cool, couldn't afford to give Ashley a reason to doubt him. She was already so scared.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He lied. They didn't have time for him to truly be okay.

Angst Prompts - Manipulation

Manipulation.

Leon knew.

He knew the second he was taken into custody, the second Sherry was ripped from his side crying and pleading for her safety, that he would do and say everything that needed to be done and said to keep that little girl safe.

They cuffed him to a chair in an interrogation room before leaving him to hang. The heat was up way too high, sweat beading down his temple, reminding him he had narrowly escaped being burnt to a crisp multiple times last night. Leon couldn't help but find it ironic that he had shown up for his first day on the police force just to have the tables violently turned on him. Instead of cuffing petty thieves and rowdy drug dealers to a chair himself, here he was being cuffed and treated like a high-class criminal who had done something worse than murder.

"What are you smirking about?" The lead detective on his case entered the room, slapping down a folder onto the table. He looked stern, but not unkind. Leon hadn't said anything yet in his defense, but he knew he would eventually blab the whole story. For Sherry.

"The irony." Leon said. And the man must have already checked out his background because he laughed too.

Angst Prompts - Darkness

 Darkness.

Gintoki really hated the dark. It was supposed to be a fun camping trip, spending the night in a tent under the stars. He had taken the kids fishing and they had loved it just like he had. But when night fell, he realized his mistake.

It was too dark. The kids were passed out beside him in the tent, snoring loudly, but his eyes were wide open, ears listening very carefully to the world around him. It was darker than black, a hand in his face invisibile. How many men had died silently in the darkness at his own hands?

Too many to count.

The silence unnerved him. It reminded him of times better off forgotten, or even better, times he needed to accept. He closed his eyes, his focus settling into his other senses. In the darkness, there was death.

Angst Prompts - War

War.

The rush of the fight was one thing. Gintoki could become one with the adrenaline, the sword in his hands and the blood spraying, could lose himself to its madness so that he may rise above and survive longer than the rest 

But the rush back to the camp was something different, a chill tingling through his veins as cold fear washed over him, fear he never felt at the sharp end of a sword. News had gotten around of a fatal injury, and there was only one person who fit the description.

"Zura? Is Takasugi back?" Gintoki called as he rushed back into camp, into his shared tent with the other commanders. He hoped his voice didn't give away his fear but he knew he sounded desperate when he threw the tent flap open.

"Relax." Takasugi said from the corner where he had been arguing with Katsura over battle strategies. "No one died. It was a spy."

Gintoki sighed, warmth instantly flooding his system.

"I know." Gintoki lied. "I'm here because someone stole my Pokari."

Angst Prompts - Innocence

Innocence.

Gintoki knew better. He knew when he stood by Takasugi's side, parrying and striking in perfect sync with the teen beside him, knew that they would never work. Not because their attitudes were similar enough that they argued over everything. Not because they were constantly in battle, fighting on the losing side of a war and it was very likely that one of them would die. Not because they weren't good enough friends, close enough comrades.

No. The reason it wouldn't work out was something much simpler than that. Something that both warmed and broke Gintoki's heart.

"Zura." Takasugi said the second they were back at camp, his voice low but always pleasant to Gintoki's ears. "You burned your hair. Idiot."

Gintoki watched from afar as his best friend scowled, refusing to shift over on the log he was perched on when Takasugi sat too close. Zura began to bicker, but Gintoki didn't hear a word.

He was too busy staring at Takasugi's infatuated gaze.