Isa had been the one to teach Leon sarcasm, even of neither of them remembers much of it after the fact. Isa because he no longer is (but that comes much, much later and far away from sunny days with a younger kid getting the ropes shown in Isa's style), Leon because he had pushed away all thoughts concerning the elder boy teaching him the nuances of actually speaking, as he'd phrased it. And that had actually happened quite soon, even if no-one likes mentioning that squabble within earshot of either of them.
Then again, neither of them was expected to remember that. Although once, in Radiant Gardens, they'd built up encyclopedias of little trivia to test out the other elder boy everyone knew. They'd seek out Lea, find him usually tying his bandanna around his neck. Or laughing at something- guards very nearly catching him again, or the way he'd nearly let that guy win the last spar. The blue-haired one, with the bat.
If Isa was the local sarcastic youth that didn't get into everyone's nerves by just a bit of luck, Lea was the one that did. And the one who could remember every single exploit ever done, from the time he'd replaced lances with brooms to the one theft done to the old duck selling ice-cream. And he'd usually put himself to the test, just to brag that he really could remember anything non-academic you threw at him. Because using his skill in school was cheating the others out of a grade, Lea would say smiling wide and laughing, and everyone would let the arrogance slide.
Except Isa, who'd usually snap up with some comment about how he really can't remember the answers, or the correct technique, or formulas. Or this, or that, he'd add, lounging against one of the low walls surrounding the garden in the central plaza and Lea would keep on smiling. Said that anyways, he didn't need to. He'd figured out another way- and no-one ever knew if it was taking an extra look at the test just before sitting down; slips of paper buried in; or taking circuitous routes and chance to get somewhere. But get there Lea did, much to Isa's thinly-veiled surprise.
Lea was also renowned as a great slacker. Not always- given a drive, Lea was a fairly unstoppable force, but he was content with leaving everything off if he wanted something else. And most of the time, that was schoolwork, or chores, or anything really because he liked keeping it random enough.
Isa was the organized kid, the one that got saddled at times with rambunctious fellow students and pushed to regiment them, just a little, for the good of… someone would come up with something. Or Isa would- he had some sort of vendetta against general disorganization. Just enough to ensure that people didn't mind his near-constant sarcasm. So of course, it was only a matter of time until they- Lea and Isa- ended up together, a last ditch effort to rein Lea in.
The meeting was explosive, to say the least. Lea, of course, remembered the blue-haired guy with the bat. In some sort of fancy sporting outfit, lounging against a wall in the central garden and licking at the last (he'd checked) ice-cream bar a shade lighter than his hair. And Isa still blinked weird from getting color-shocked by the bright red sunburst of hair and the face full of scowling boy he'd received in short notice.
They'd sparred. It had come out pretty even- Lea had range and speed, borne from many times running away from guards and having played Frisbee with a stray dog on a regular basis for ages. Isa had strength- a short temper, to be sure, and Lea nearly had to forfeit when Isa had raged loud enough for the shouts to ring across the bat, but he'd seriously swung at one of the plastic discs and sent it flying over the Castle's main gate.
Local legend says it zoomed into the old King's study, and that's why it just isn't there anymore. Or that it cost someone an eye, or hit someone up the head. But that's legend- no-one knows how far the disc went inside the Castle grounds. Not even Lea and Isa, who'd sent it there in the first place and who discussed heatedly about who would be the (un)lucky bastard to go pick it up. However many jokes they made about the guards, they weren't at all inept. And the Castle could get dangerous, at least for two guys who didn't pay much attention in science and who knew that there was a mad scientist loose in the place. Kept it running with the weirdest technology and spoke with a man named Tron. So of course, neither of them wanted to be the first one over the gate until they'd figured that one out.
Lea made Isa pay though. In ice-cream, and was just a bit miffed when Isa did the chivalrous thing and bought it at the exorbitant rate old Mc Duck always sold it- everyone else haggled. Isa didn't only because seriously, seven coins weren't that much at all. And they had perched on one of the walls to lick at the ice-creams, watching the sun crawl to its apex and glare at them. Probably knew they had skipped class- in their defense, they could completely justify it. With about five versions each. But best if they never used them, and so Isa sent an annoyed glare down a couple of streets in his personal way of daring anyone to come close. Lea just flicked his remaining disc with ease up and down- he could almost vanish, and that was as good a talent as any kid wanted.
The ice-creams went quickly enough, even if the afternoon didn't. It was whittled away with sparring matches over who bought the next round, grudging walks to and from the nearest stall with icy treats. Isa trying out some newer jabs on Lea; Lea answering fast and sharp in his own way.
"Used that one already."
"Hmph. So you aren't incapable of noticing."
"I've got them memorized."
"So you can parrot them back on cue?"
An annoyed squawk from the redhead. It was on, again, and they leapt off to the now trampled garden for that one last spar before sundown happened and they had to come up with a decent excuse for-
Lea laughs, long and loud, even if Isa just beat him. Can't stand up even, just sitting there with legs stretched out and disc halfway across the circular plaza. But he laughs, because according to him:
"I let you win that one, by the way. So score is?"
Isa cocks his head, running a tally, except the numbers have blurred into salty-sweet droplets and a dull pain in his arm from the one good hit landed. Last time they'd checked, they'd been seven-to-eight, or the other way around, then it was ten equals and then-
"Can't remember."
"See, I told you I had to keep the score- wouldn't have forgotten halfway through."
"Then what's the count?"
He watches Lea fumble for a while with the long green scarf (as he calls it) wrapped loose around his neck, count off some matches on his fingers. A murmur- nah, that one didn't count, and there was an underhanded trick there…
For the record, Lea had tried to tickle Isa. It sort of didn't work. Maybe backfired, just a little. And Isa thinks he isn't counting the time he just went on the offensive against Lea, rushing him blindly (and into one of the walls, ricocheting with only a long scrape up his arm). Or the time Lea chased himself up a tree to hurl down the disc with practiced aim and the cheapest skill ever of managing to make it return. No physics, that's why, Lea had said, and Isa had said that not going to the lesson didn't mean the world stood upside his head. And no, you standing upside down isn't going to work either, Lea, so don't.
Isa helped him anyways- with the getting down the tree bit at least, because one of the guards had sauntered into view and they had to act nonchalant. It involved Lea whistling, Isa kicking the tree and making a woeful attempt at lip-synching to the trill.
They're sure the guy with the dreadlocks didn't buy it at all, but he didn't go after them either. And maybe, they had indeed wasted away a whole day and the guard simply didn't care for kids messing around so long after anything happened.
The next day, Lea isn't so lucky, and Isa pretty much forces him through the classroom door. And threatens to de-spike his hair, once he figures it out (he won't- Lea's made it everything-proof, as tested by everyone who has tried to comb the thing). To not pass the notes along (Isa does so anyway, cannot omit the directive given). To, oh come on, to spill the beans on who used suave skills to spirit away a whole box of Old Scrooge's ice-cream.
"Better yet, I'll take the culprit along-"
Lea marches into the room with a pained expression, which does look mocking when Isa isn't keeping watch on him. Which is most of the time, since the teacher had the bright idea of sitting them alphabetical and Lea ended up behind Isa, but that doesn't matter nearly as much as not getting ratted out by his new-found partner. Who is unusually uncooperative about chatting and generally being friendly.
"Oi. He'll leave it there on the board and we can go copy it later. Loosen up."
"I am concerned for my future-"
"Isa my man, I pity your future if it involves…" Lea has to squint a little to make out the title, shoved all the way up in near-illegible script. "Whatever that is supposed to mean. And anyways, they never ask for all this stuff in the tests."
"And I assume you'll just memorize your notes?"
"Right you are. Might teach you the trick if you collaborate with me and keep us amused."
"I am interested in the lesson."
Lea smirks, wide beyond expectations and looking much too feline. Arms crossed, leaning forwards- Isa can imagine a swaying tail, and maybe the long 'scarf' getting caught up in the wind counts just as well.
"Then why have you been chatting away with me for the last, what was it-"
Isa snaps back to attention, and Lea sighs. Pokes around at some guys- the class is history, and he knows that if he-
Bingo. Lea throws a little paper ball, with some inane question 'printed' in (he got one good nearly-typed lettering for the purposes of skiving off one time) and makes it bounce off Milo's oversized glasses. Lea can rely on him to go nearly ballistic on anything historical, as he is doing so now, raising his hand and trying to launch himself into a tirade with the teacher on the merits of whatever it is. Lea waits right up until he hears 'Atlantis' and then turns to Isa. Who is still diligently copying an incomplete board.
"Man, you can just ask for some time at the end to jot it all down. Now, while we wait for the hype to fade off, let's have a chat. Or two. And say, where'd you get the cool moves with the bat? Because seriously, if you managed to…"
They logically end up in detention, once they wind up talking for a bit too long. And letting slip that maybe they weren't there yesterday, but just maybe. And because a couple of their classmates ended up going up in 'oohs' and 'aahs' at the lingering marks of battle- the long scrape up Isa's arm, and whenever did he get that; a bruise or two cleverly hidden by Lea's loose clothes made when he crashed down from the tree; miscellaneous scrapes done by zooming disc and, well, tree.
"Mind you, only Lea can get wounds inflicted by a tree."
"You won't see it standing there, by the way."
"Got knocked down by his huge head."
"And he chopped it up into the bat. About five of them, in record time, using my plastic disc."
They go on and on, muttering in the lowest possible tones the stories at the surrounding kids under the same punishment. They should've gotten the full regaling, like the ones in the classroom did, but they're in detention burning away time in a manner more interesting than copying the lines over another sheet of paper. Isa wrote his with uncanny speed (although he'd been rubbing at his wrist on and off for a long time, to a couple well-timed snickers); Lea had a couple sleights of hand that had been creatively hidden. And another pencil, and messy enough handwriting, but it worked.
So now, they regaled the kids. They had Cid complaining that chopping up a tree with a plastic disc wasn't correct, dammit (there he goes- apparently, not even older guys can get away with swearing, and they both know he's toning it down in the quiet room with a sonar-gifted invigilator); Yuffie trying to cajole the location of the bats from Isa and turning swiftly to another girl to discuss the liberation strategy. They had the random bunch of even younger kids wide-eyed and asking if they'd really done that.
"Sure. Go ask, er…" Lea fumbles for a while, rushing through the last afternoon before it went away in a blur of sea-salt iciness and laughter punctuated with swings up and down the plaza.
"The guard with the dreadlocks. Saw Isa coming at the tree with the disc-"
"And you shimmying out of it as fast as possible-"
"You had my weapon, no fair to be eviscerated-"
"Oh, you do have vocabulary."
"Along with a rapt audience and two working wrists- what?"
A burst of snickers, followed by the swift and utter silence of an adult approaching with an evil eye. Lea manages to coerce one of the kids- they all call him Nine, and no-one's figured out his name yet, some Class Zero thing- into going along with him for just the one thing.
The kid poked out his tongue, issues a garbled battle-cry of his. The teacher fumbles for a while with the name- he's even stricter with the protocol than Isa is- and settles on Nine when everyone else has picked up the action.
"Yo Isa. Now we vanish?"
The scuffing sounds of chairs moved across the floor and the unsubtle padding of sneakers picking up speed. Lea's a master of this, and has ensured the teacher can't pick up his steps, mostly because he has about half a class worth's of kids swarming him with the same motion. And the odd kids- Yuffie's doing her own weird version of it, hollering for treasure, and the other girl she was talking to whips long braids around and cheers in some strange tongue. Cid is trying to riddle the thing with swears, but mostly comes up with copious 'dammits' and wide gestures.
It works. They're out again, even if not within basking range, but that is easily fixed.
Lea kicks off a sturdy set of metal lockers, wincing a bit at the clang his sneaker makes, at the rattling of some books left inside. Grabs the edge of the overhang and swings a little. A bit more- hauls up. And swings his legs up, tangling them up in each other to make himself comfortable in the corrugated metal roofing kept cool by the shade of a massive tree. And the Castle walls- the place was built straight under it for some lucky reason.
Underneath, Isa looks up. A bit confused- there's nothing to do on top of the third floor, and no discernible way down. Unless he chooses to jump, that is, and Isa doubts that Lea is sincerely that… well, he has to say idiotic.
"Well, what are you waiting for? With that look of yours, they'll be after us in no time."
"Says who?"
"The guy in the literal last place they'll look."
"You don't say."
Well, in retrospect it really is a lame comeback.
"Come on, get up. Better than being there ogling up at my sneakers."
"They're crap. And about three sizes too large."
"That's what everyone thinks. Now will you, or do I have to pull you up? Don't want to get caught here because you're still in awe of my mad skills."
Phrased that logical way, Isa can't argue. So he makes an attempt at pulling himself into the roof, to Lea's amusement, and ends up stretched out on his stomach watching the peaceful grounds and the windows of cloud-dappled sky peeking out from between trees and structure.
"The Secret Place- I mean, the rooftops. Nothing too exciting here, but I seriously have to show you a couple of my favorites."
"Let me guess- they involve some clambering up stuff?"
"Would ruin the surprise."
Isa guessed right, of course. But he did miss a couple things- like the way Lea can rattle off some physics while doing this, and that his trick with the disc is possible, maybe just this side of it, with no magic. And if it requires magic, well… they've seen potentially weirder things.
But he says physics, and can joke that pendulums are useful for more than the one lazy class practical, or the characteristics of the light spectrum.
"You know why the sun sets red? Because of all the colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."
"And you'd know why?" Isa means it as a question of the capricious type, and waits for Lea to answer it anyways. He loves talking about sunsets for some reason, and Isa usually doesn't mind getting strung along for a similar talk often.
"Because it's slow, I knew you'd make a joke of that, but it beats blue. And blue's fast, so there."
Tongue stuck out, swiftly redirected to the ice-cream bars they (for once) hadn't filched. Legs swing in a rhythm, steady as a heartbeat and it'll get them noticed, but not before they've finished their treats. Isa knows that just because- they'll get noticed once Lea begins to argue in favor of Isa buying another round of the treats because they're friends and stuff. The beat will get thrown off, and that's when they notice.
"Eh, not like it's too much of a difference. You look blue-haired all the time."
"Good thing- can't imagine me looking like you."
Lea grins and near chokes on his ice-cream at the mental image.
"Might have a point there. There'd be too much awesome."
"More like, there'd be critical amounts of entropy."
"Make use of the fact we're not anywhere near education right now-"
"Says the guy behind the sunset logic-"
Lea doesn't argue for more ice-cream today, content with bouncing well-meaning jabs off each other and watching the skies gradually fade to black.
It had to happen at least once, they had figured. Lea had picked some perch or another, this time close to the fountains. They'd clambered up, Lea picking out handholds and places to rest their feet. Lea was the agile one, all movement and almost slithering up- Isa had always been the less showy one here, just seizing the small juts- and Lea had cracked some joke.
Like literally cracked it, stonework snapping under his words and weight. And Lea had been a blur of red and orange, too fast to stop or seize or call out for before the cacophony of splashes. Curses, a moan or two because there was red staining the faint violet of the stonework and settling in Lea's shirt and Isa's shoes.
He hadn't gone up too high, thank everything. And Lea was whining enough to attract any possible help to them- Isa doubted he could lug him all the way to somewhere with healing possibilities- although maybe the colorful non-swears weren't all appropriate.
Double when it's two girls that find them, one tall and with her hair braided and the other a redhead with flowers.
"Oh! What happened?"
The tall one calls out, already moving towards them. Sinking to her knees, frilly white dress soaking up reddened water, shouting for "Kairi, go get Leon, fast!"
Between the both of them, they haul Lea out of the water. An arm hangs at a pained angle, and one of the legs can't carry even Lea's next-to-nothing weight. Isa drops Lea onto a bench and the girl sets to checking him for further wounds and trying to wipe off some of the blood with the sopping hem of her dress.
Isa doubts it's hygienic, but it's better than he could do, clothes streaked with mud from tussling with his friend earlier and shimmying up walls.
"Aerith! I found Leon!"
The other girl chirps loudly, and wonder of wonders Isa's student comes with a medical kit. And one of those looks that just mean he can't believe he got dragged into this.
"Would've thought the world was ending."
"Ow! Mine's-"
"Out of danger, unless water melts you or something."
"Like she knows what she's doing!"
Aerith- Isa guesses that's her, the girl fixing up Lea with a bandage and a couple antiseptic lotions- tugs vindictively on the bandage wrapped around his foot. Or maybe she's just doing it like it's supposed to be done, Isa isn't sure.
"Matter of fact, I do. Can go ask Mr. I'm going to be a guard Leonheart there. Or yourself, I guess. Get yourself to-"
Isa nods, and slings Lea over his shoulder once he begins to complain that like hell he's going there, he'll get his ears blown off once his parents get wind of this.
"Better those than your legs, idiot!"
"How am I ever going to keep you into trouble when they ground me for this?"
"I am sure you'll figure out something."
Lea does. They 'spar', Lea setting up some odd bins and boxes out in the back of his yard. Technically, it's all the laundry (and trash) he's been stuck with as a chore, and Isa got roped in because of Lea selling him out as an accomplice. Or to get some help, since he can't exactly carry the aforementioned bins and boxes on his own with one sprained ankle and one broken arm.
But he's going to make a proper mess of the clothes first, he says, because they're not really dirty anyways and Reno's been a pain, throwing out everything that has even a wrinkle. Isa won't say it's payback for the last time, but even he thinks the elder sibling might've gone a tad overboard. Or finally gotten the hammer for his lack of cleanliness.
"So, scared of the big bad boxes Isa?"
"Just calculating where I need to hit them so they land on your face."
"Hey!"
Isa prepares himself, running full tilt to whack at one of the boxes with his bat. It doesn't even come close to moving though, weighed down as it is. Isa swings again, again, again, each sweep wider and he tried to put as much strength behind the movement as he can.
A change in strategy. Arms raised, knees bent, bat poised above his head-
Thwack, downwards slice. He's seen it once, in a flick shown in history lessons. Doesn't work either, but he dents the top of it deep enough.
"Told ya Reno threw everything in. Included a couple of bodies probably."
Isa goes in for another swing, same trick. Hands swiping low and across this time, he thinks this is possible anyways-
It moves, slightly. Another one, because he's close and he can. Should. Another, another, fast as he can and as strong as speed makes them, momentum gathering strong behind the assault and it's moving, bending inwards, dull thwack of cloth shuffled inside. Step by step. Isa's blind now, immersed in the rhythm of the swings and changing targets, going fast as possible so that the frenzied pulse doesn't stop, can't stop-
"Ow!"
That breaks him. Stops him dry, Lea curled up into a ball atop his makeshift perch on the porch of his house. A bruise blossoms on Lea's shin, under hands rubbing up and down.
"Sorry, but you did say take out the trash."
"Remind me to exact some sort of vengeance on you later."
"Never thought I'd see the day when you wouldn't have a creative plan for trouble."
"I do have one, but it requires function of my legs. So you will have to amuse yourself thinking of the possibilities while I take my ages to heal."
Isa doesn't even have to ask if there's a limit on the number for those.
And it's obvious, beyond obvious. Isa really should've seen this coming.
"Hurry up!"
"You're in such a hurry to break your arm again?"
"Killjoy. And I'm not going to fall sitting down, but I'm visible."
"Please tell me you thought this through."
"That is your job Isa."
"And how was I supposed to do it without knowing we were going to do this?!"
Lea shuts up for a moment. He's catching sunlight, dappled shadows trailing down his arms and down the wall. Behind him, the castle rises and gardens better tended than the city ones spread out wide.
Isa's always wondered what those are for. He supposes it's for training exercises, or playing Frisbee- Lea could kick any teams' behind though, playing solo, if he's to be believed there- but Isa can vouch for him, well enough. Maybe not the solo bit.
So Isa clambers up the last few feet up the wall, mimicking as best as possible Lea's route. He can map them well, after endless hours staring at walls and memorizing the routes he'd take with his speed or Isa with his strength. They sit up there, under the leafy shadow and watch the gardens warily. Neither of them managed to see much of a guardsman patrol- for security reasons, both of them assumed- but that didn't mean they weren't there.
Lea leaps down first, low-hanging branches and air and then thick bushes and long, soft grasses. Shuffles to the side, Isa tracking the movement until he's far away enough to not be taken down by the landing. It's harder to do so than initially thought, Lea managing to have some measure of stealth despite his shocking red hair. And even being fast while concealing himself- by the time Isa's down and searching the interior gardens for anything, Lea's halfway over to one of the tall walls. Ducking behind some floral arrange or another, scrabbling up some stonework, and shooting down when he hears rustling too faint to be Isa.
Also, too faint to be a proper guardsman. Isa thinks it's Kairi, because she unofficially has the run of the place, or the King plain loves her like another daughter. And there has to be a place where she gets the large bouquets she likes to carry around, and they're definitely not Aerith's- the elder girl would never let even her younger near-sister make off with so many so frequently- and they're too pretty to be from the regular gardens.
Lea thinks it's some guard, because they do pick young boys at times. New recruits, or kids who opted out of some lessons to take up military: they know for a fact Leon will do this, as will Cid probably, and Isa wanted to go in because he'd look nice in a suit and get a stable system. Like Isa would get one, with Lea around, but Lea does understand what his best friend means by that.
In the end, it's neither. It's a boy younger than them, curled to an incomprehensibly small size. Dressed in a lab coat, which seriously freaks Lea out- being honest, Isa is surprised too, he can't believe any organization would pick anyone this young- and staring up quietly at them from under a fringe that covers most of his face.
Staring too quietly. Lea gets over his freak-out and deems the young boy some sort of garden gnome and dismisses the movement as birds or mice. Makes as if to move forwards-
The boy moves, visibly startled. Doesn't duck out of Lea's way, the older boy's movements passing over him pretty harmlessly. No one is sure if it was by accident or design- knowing Lea, he just assumed the kid wouldn't stay really still and he made the movements sweeping on purpose- but the kid does suddenly shift towards mild annoyance. Or something like that, if Isa's charitable describing emotions.
Some more rustling from the foliage around them, and they all stay beyond quiet for it.
When the sounds have passed, Isa looks around for the boy, but he's gone- through where, no one knows- and Lea is mouthing words not-so-silently. They aren't curses yet, but Isa gets the point- move on, the guards are coming- and knows better than to remain in that position for long.
They do get caught in the end, but not before Lea has recovered his disc- which was interestingly caught up in a tree, stickers peeling and sun-faded- and to be fair, Lea did manage to get them all the way over to the large doors that mark the entrance proper to the castle.
He got them a bit lost in the way, walking through a water way and what seemed like the generator, but Lea did say that he had the map memorized. Which map, Isa never knew, but he did get as full a tour as any uninvited visitor was like to get.
And as Lea points out, grumbling all the way back to the entrance to the whole complex, they only got trumped by the pair of guards stationed just at that door. And they'd been an epic service, hadn't they, pointing out a couple of flaws in the sys-
"Lea, shut up before they come up with a system you can't beat."
"Don't think that exists. And anyways there was the other kid sneaking around! And he's tiny!"
This does get the guards to stop their escort out. One of them- the taller one, with the short axe- drops his hand from Isa's shoulder and sends a pointed look at Lea. Who is understandably cowed, if nothing else because he might've just gotten in trouble seriously, for once in his life and he doesn't want to be the kid with guardsmen explaining mischief to the parents.
Isa keeps his wariness down, preparing himself to come in Lea's defense- the kid most definitely wasn't with them, even had a lab coat on- when the other guard makes a cutting motion.
"He-hey… he so wasn't ours…"
"We'll negotiate. You find Ienzo, since we have duties to return to, and you are allowed here for the moment. Additionally, this trespassing will not be reported."
"You know, we could do that with a reward-"
"Ignore Lea, he hit his head while walking here. Of course we-"
"Isa!"
They don't exactly comb the place. Lea's more concerned with exploring the place properly and finding something to add to his legendary exploits while out of here. Or teasing Isa a bit about everything, such as him looking a bit like the cadets or having some epic tracking skills (Isa had found the disc after all, even if Lea had recovered it). And chasing a dog that had gotten in, for the sake of easing up on the guards.
Isa ended up joining Lea for that, since the dog did show more focus than his friend, as he pointed out, and anyways he liked dogs. So they made the point of wasting enough time to call the search off, or plead chores at home or some nonsensical excuse…
Then the boy walks right in front of them, eerily nonchalant and with a flower- of all possible things- pinned behind his ear. And a girl loudly skipping by his side, filling in enough conversation for three with a fairy tale and how look, there are the boys you mentioned!
Kid doesn't look exceedingly pleased, but he doesn't really look anything. He's neutral, assessing them and their canine companion. The girl- later proven to be Kairi, because who else would go around here so freely- is busy petting the dog and trying to get Ienzo ("So this was the kid we got sent to find?") to come closer, it doesn't bite. And doesn't look too dirty either, aside from the unflattering fur color.
It's a useful way to herd the kids all the way to the guards, Isa calling at the dog to move along every few minutes. Lea swinging up the little girl over his shoulders, and her cheering (way too loud and way too shrill) leading the young boy along. It's slow going, to be sure- Isa has never known Lea to not be easily distracted, and he's playing along with the younger kids, of course- but they manage to arrive in sync with the sunset.
"Hey, talk about coincidence." That's Lea, because he's the one who always notices sunsets and it is eerily well-timed. For starters, they did manage to retrieve their 'targets' before sundown…
And also, Lea gets to launch himself into his sunset-speech.
"Do you know why the sun sets red?"
Isa barks out some laughter when Ienzo, with more energy than he's shown up to the moment, darts and weaves to retrieve a book Lea had 'confiscated' (which meant, usually, pass it between Isa and himself at random intervals). Gets his hands on the thick tome; rushes through many pages by memory or intuition, Isa doesn't know or care (he's amused with Lea's confused expression at the moment); presents a page at the redhead. Still looks neutral, but Isa would guess he is pleased by finding the information requested.
Kairi smiles from her perch atop Lea's shoulders, and squints to read the title. Gives up halfway through, as expected, because both older boys had to re-read the same line thrice to understand the short little line.
"You know, I think this proves the existence of a mad scientist. Look at what he did here."
And this time, Isa's laughter is closer to what Lea deems appropriate.
It's too late to get ice-cream by the time they walk out. They considered going to Aerith's place- her family always has a million treats- but the girl is a tad lethal with her cooking, and is old enough to be let into the kitchen to help out with some ice-cream.
Leon's is out of the question. He probably doesn't know what ice-cream tastes like, or maybe he does, but doesn't eat it much. Which means that he probably doesn't have any to spare for them, or he'd have some flavor like lime-lemon or pineapple which are awful (according to Lea).
And all the stores are closed by now, even the exceedingly expensive one run by the moogles. Lea didn't believe it ever closed, and to be frank neither did Isa. But closed it was, light-up signs turned off and displays shuttered with thick silver.
Now, after this most boys would amble defeated back home. Or maybe to just one of their homes, claiming an impromptu sleep-over due to some project that may or may not exist (let alone be due tomorrow). Isa is all for that, even being about to suggest the idea to Lea.
Then he sees that he is being gradually steered to the central gardens, up the low walls and staring up at the starry skies. Or not so starry- too many buildings reach up to tear down the sparkling blackness, and the moon hangs glaring in the middle- but Isa supposes it works anyways.
"We have to go do that again, you know. But this time-"
"Your princess is in another castle Lea."
"And ye cannot get ye fun, Isa. I mean it- we very nearly got past the guards. And you saw what Kairi did to them."
An image of a little girl tugging at long hair bound in a tail and little braids, arguing that they aren't well done. The young boy soundlessly roping the other guard into letting Kairi play dress-up with impunity, at least until both of them noticed Isa, Lea and the dog barely repressing snickers.
They'd lost the dog while trying to get out of lance range. And earshot- the latter more urgently than the former, since Lea really wanted to laugh his heart out and Isa wanted to join him somehow.
"I can't imagine you arranging those circumstances again."
"I thought best friends are meant to give support."
"We are. If it makes sense to be supporting. Right now…"
"Well, we'll use your charms next time, see how far we get."
Here, Isa wisely shuts up. For all his usually-fiery displays, Lea can pull off these things. And make a smooth escape most of the times- the guards were one of the weird exceptions. One of the few times when they couldn't slink away in time, or when they'd been hopelessly stuck.
More like Isa had been hopelessly stuck, as Lea had teased him for long enough. He'd been enough of a good friend to stick by him then. A bit of a nuisance, to be sure, Isa had commented offhand without meaning it deep down. He'd missed the last spot check.
"Point to me."
"Remind me how's the score going?"
Isa breaks into one of his rarely-seen grins when Lea snaps his mouth shut and turns back pointedly to the stars above. Truth is, Isa doesn't know… but he's sure Lea does, and he won't give a report until they're well and away from a tie. Or when Lea's losing. Might be either- since Lea likes big leads, for clarity's sake- and it doesn't really matter anyways.
"But I'll take you up on your inane plan."
They did end up stargazing (like total girls, but who cares, they'd nearly-snuck into the castle) all night and well into the blush of dawn. In mostly silence, because Lea might've slipped into a nap or two at times and Isa was never too talkative in the best of days.
They'd mumbled stories frayed. And set up a plan, mostly involving misdirecting and diversions. A trap baited with sea-salt ice-cream, because no one at all could seriously resist that. They had at a certain point discussed landing themselves in detention for proper sleep, or doing the student thing and sleeping all through every lesson. Isa shot both down, drowsily and maybe not entirely coherent, but he's supposed to be the responsible one. Lea already got his fun planning the second infiltration.
But when the new day finishes dawning, and they catch the far off sight of Leon strolling through one of the streets that eventually leads to the school, they decide that everyone else needs some good helpings of Lea cranking out story after story before he passes out.
So Isa shoves him off the wall, calling out that he better figure out how to land, before swiftly following him down.
Lea laughs and whines all the way.
A.N. – oh man, I can't believe I wrote this ^^; In any freaking case… I might've had too much fun with external references, characterization liberties and some time-warping action. My sincerest apologies in case any of those hindered your enjoying!
Or in layman's terms: Possible OOC, I don't know what a timeline is or how this fits, and suddenly characters walked in for the fun of it. Hope you didn't mind my randomness too much!
In any case, thanks so much for putting up with this… even in its incomplete (hopefully) non-crappiness and I swear I'll be somewhat more consistent with this. Maybe.
See you around!