Picking Up Strays

Isa didn't have many friends. In fact, there was only one person who he felt even remotely comfortable calling a friend. He felt that the vast majority of the teens of Radiant Garden weren't at all worth speaking too. His friend was once among them.

It was against Isa's better judgment that he let Lea talk to him. Had he known that he would never be able to get rid of the redhead from that moment on, he might have considered running in the opposite direction and hiding until Lea lost interest.

"Isa!"

Thin, but strong arms attached themselves to Isa's person like crazy glue. No matter how much he squirmed, he wasn't getting away.

"Lea," Isa grumbled.

"How's my best pal in the whole world?"

Bright green eyes appeared in Isa's line of vision, along with a familiar smirk which conveyed a sense of trouble.

Isa stared blankly at Lea, not sure if he wanted to answer the question. Whatever the redhead was up to, he wanted no part of it, especially after what happened last time with the castle guards.

Lea was not deterred by his friend's silence. "Okay, so I was walking in the garden today when the most amazing thing happened! Go on. Guess what it was!"

"Someone fell from the sky."

"What? No! Don't be crazy!" Lea laughed. "People don't fall from the sky."

Isa grumbled something that sounded like: "That's not what you said the first time Dilan jumped down from the wall and scared you."

Lea released his arms from Isa's neck and instead grabbed the blue-haired teen's wrist and began dragging him toward the outer garden.

"Lea, unhand me!"

"Now you sound like some grumpy noble kid! Lighten up, Isa," Lea said. "You take life waaaaaay too seriously."

"Says the one who demands everyone to remember his name so he can be 'immortal'," Isa scoffed. Nevertheless, he didn't try to get away and allowed Lea to drag him around. When a thought crossed his mind, he dug his heels in, which was a surprisingly rare occurrence.

Lea stopped when Isa did, blinking at his friend in confusion.

"This isn't some plot to torment that scary-as-hell Braig guy, is it?" He asked crossly.

"'Course not." The way Lea said it made it sound as if it should be obvious. "I know there's no hope for you involving yourself in my grand master plan. I'm not that stupid."

"That's debatable."

"Just come on!"

All it took was a gentle tug to get Isa walking again. It wasn't but a few minutes later before they were in the outer garden.

Lea let go of Isa's hand and excitedly ran to a patch of small trees, leaving the blue-haired boy to trail along behind him.

"Ta-da!" Looking, and sounding, very pleased for himself, Lea turned around with a wiggling, licking, red puppy in his arms. His green eyes glittered with excitement, the grin on his face portraying just how gleeful he was.

Isa stared at the animal, feeling the beginnings of a twitch developing.

"Isn't he cute?" Lea asked. "I named him Reno! Here!" He handed the puppy to Isa and ducked back into the trees. A few seconds later he emerged with two more, both of them with golden fur. "I call her Elena and him Rufus! Aren't they cute?"

Isa looked disturbed when the puppy wiggled around to lick his face. He fought to not growl in displeasure. "Adorable. Put them back."

One look at the heartbroken expression on Lea's face and anyone could tell that the very idea was something he would fight tooth and nail against.

"But they're cute! And all alone! They need someone to take care of them!" Lea exclaimed.

Isa held the puppy away from him when it tried to lick his face once again. "Not every stray needs you to take care of it."

"You did…"

Isa felt his eye twitch involuntarily. "Excuse me?" He hissed.

Lea glumly set down the puppies, unable to dredge up a smile even when they rolled over or pawed at his pants. "Nothing. Never mind." He took back the red-furred pup, Reno, and cradled him to his chest.

Some part of Isa noted that the puppy had the same big aquamarine-green eyes as his friend. Crossing his arms over his chest, he asked "Did you just call me a stray?"

"No. You inferred that for yourself."

Isa narrowed his blue eyes. "Lea I am not a stray puppy. I don't know where you get such asinine ideas." He remained firm for all of three seconds when the redhead gazed at him with hope in his eyes. "Damn it, Lea," he grumbled, uncrossing his arms to run a hand through his hair. "Fine. You can keep them. But I am not helping!"

Lea beamed and handed over Reno before stooping to gather up Elena and Rufus. "This'll be so much fun, Isa! Just you wait!"

Isa hid a smile as Lea led the way back home. As trying as it was being Lea's friend sometimes, he wouldn't give it up for anything.

End

Okay, so I finished playing Birth By Sleep. But waaay back when I first started playing (Ven's story), I came across the only scene with Lea and Isa. They were such cute best friends, it makes me wonder what happened.

Anyway, that scene inspired me to write this. Or rather, one of Isa's lines: "What is it with you and picking up stray puppies?"

It made me laugh and I knew I had to write a one-shot. I only wish I had made Lea seem a little less "innocent" and Isa a little more sarcastic. But there's always next time! I can already feel the makings of an Ienzo and Myde one-shot coming along. Maybe an Even and Lumiara one too.