For once, Isa doesn't tease Lea for having enough medical supplies in his closet to mummify half his apartment building. The healer's work and the shower have eased their pain considerably and accelerated the healing of their wounds, but they still have their work cut out for them if they want to get back to being battle-ready.

Seated close together in the kitchen, around a chipped, warped, and faded round table, Isa and Lea take turns toweling each other dry and wrapping the worst of their cuts and burns in ointment and gauze and then working loose, clean garments over top of them.

Their progress is occasionally impeded by the enormous black paws and curious, damp snout of the lupine canine they had adopted in the midst of their academy days.

"Neptune." Isa groans, as sharp teeth snatch the loose end of yet another strip of gauze and, with a tug, unravel half of the man's arm. At the hard edge to his master's voice, the dog yips and releases the gauze, sitting back, his pointed ears alert and his long, fluffy tail thumping against the floorboards.

Lea laughs, as Isa gives the dog his harshest stare of disapproval, and the dog blinks back with adoring amber eyes, each accented with the same caramel colored fur that appears in splotches across his thick, glossy, night black coat. Isa curses and kneels to throw his arm around the animal's neck, burying his face in his wolf's mane.

Moving out on Lea had meant leaving the faithful canine behind. He had always been Isa's dog, but Lea had had more space…

Isa feels fingertips press featherlight against his sore back.

"He missed you too," Lea says quietly.

Neptune wiggles around in Isa's grasp until he can lap his tongue against the man's cheek.

Lea's hand drifts up Isa's neck to run fingers through damp strands of silken pastel blue hair. "We both did."

Isa releases the wriggling dog, and Neptune lifts his front paws up to rest on Isa's broad shoulders, tongue lapping at Isa's cheek as if to wipe away the salt streaks that painted his skin earlier that day.

"He'll be happy to have you back here," Lea continues in a low, persuasive register. "And I…" He cuts himself off as Isa shifts to frown at him. Lea's too exhausted to hide a flash of surprise, though it quickly resolves itself. "I thought you'd given up, but you haven't, have you? You want to keep up our charade, try to get the apprenticeships..."

From his seat on the floor, Isa tilts his head back to look at Lea, seated in the chair above and behind him. His eyes shift across Lea's face searching for resignation or defiance, but finding only weary uncertainty. It's new and it sets chills down Isa's arms. It doesn't suit him.

"It may very well be now or never," Isa says, tearing his gaze away and rewinding the gauze around his arm.

"I heard you up there, you know—on the steps of the castle, giving your speech to the king." Lea's nimble fingers part Isa's hair into three sections, working through a knot and beginning to weave the pieces together. "I know I was a little out of sorts, but I could hear it—parts of it anyway."

"And?" Isa can't turn around with Lea twining his hair, and settles instead for looping his fingers loosely around Lea's wrist.

"I was upset, Isa," Lea says matter-of-factly. "You may not have used any names, but you told the whole kingdom about you and me. Not to mention you tore the king apart. The king, Isa."

Getting slapped in the face would have been less alarming. "Upset?"

"Yeah," Lea continues as if Isa hasn't gone rigid, seated on the floor between his knees. He winds the last wisps of Isa's hair together and ties it off.

"Oh." Isa's voice is hard, curt, disappointed.

Lea's hands close tightly around Isa's shoulders, smile broad. "Never have I wanted so badly to push you up against a wall and kiss you until you couldn't breathe, and there you were a hundred fucking steps away, and I'm basically unconscious. Damn right, I was upset."

Isa laughs, bright and pure, and Lea kind of wants to bottle it. Isa shifts on his knees until he's facing Lea, who leans forward in his chair to catch Isa's lips against his. They kiss, and it's soft and ginger, Lea's arms wrapping Isa's neck, Isa's hands tangling in Lea's damp hair. Even after their shower, both taste the memory of mud, antiseptic, ash.

"It was for you," Isa murmurs, their lips a breath apart. "I went up there for you. Because you would have."

"I know." Lea's eyes close and their noses brush together. "But, gods, your job, Isa. It's the only thing you've ever wanted..."

"Maybe not the only thing." Isa's smirking lips press Lea's cheek a last time before he leans back on his palms. Lea's back straightens and they can hear it crack. "More to the point, we're not out of options yet. I'll speak to Dr. Even and to the dean. Perhaps no one doesn't truly mean no one. I expect there is still a white lab coat in Ienzo's future. We may be able to use that to our advantage."

Lea stares hard at him, pain in his ears from the strain of trying to understand everything in that tone. Isa doesn't sound a hundred percent confident in their success, but he does sound dead set on trying.

Lea knows Isa is right, and if he hadn't felt the life near pour out of him earlier, he would probably be insisting the same thing. So, he nods, though he mostly feels exhausted and irritated at the moment. "Then I'll speak to my friends on the Guard, see if we can get an audience with Commander Indigo. Ask if there's any chance they'd reconsider—see what I can do about sneaking us in through the back door, so to speak." Lea pinches the bridge of his nose. It's going to be quite the undertaking. Especially if I still feel like I've just done an obstacle course hungover.

"You're not going to be speaking to anyone today," Isa counters, matter-of-fact as ever. "You need your rest." Even as Lea braces himself against the table to stand, Isa presses hands to Lea's knees to hold his legs down.

Lea stares at his bruised and bandaged boyfriend and the beautiful determination in the set of his jaw and ferocity of his eyes. "Pot meet fucking kettle, babe," Lea replies.

Isa blows out a frustrated exhale and rises to stand himself, still pressing Lea's knees down. "I'm making you lunch, and then I'm going to see my sister and you are going to stay here and rest. We'll figure out a plan of action when I know your wits have returned to you," as he speaks, he wanders toward the icebox, wondering if anything is where it used to be. He tries to think of something to say to lighten Lea's mood. A flicker of a smirk lights his lips. "What limited wits you have, anyway."

Lea groans, lifting his head from where it's buried in his arms on the table. "I thought you liked my wits."

Isa pulls a container from the icebox and gives it a cautious sniff. "I suppose they're passable."

Lea chuckles, watching him, and then, head still laid across his arm, leans down to scratch Neptune behind the ears. "Do you remember when we adopted this good boy?"

Isa tosses up the fingers of the hand that's not fiddling with the stovetop dials, "How could I forget?" His nose wrinkles and he doesn't manage to keep in a bark of sharp laughter, "you got me kicked out of school that morning."

"Uh-uh, no." Lea snorts into his sleeve. "I think I'd remember that."

"Yes. Yes, you did." Isa gestures at him pointedly with a frying pan, though Lea can't see it. "Because, remember, I'd finally gotten you trying to straighten out your act, and you had been working at that god-awful bar for a couple months—"

"Tavern," Lea corrects. "Della's Tavern, one of the finest taverns this side of—"

"Right, right. That's the one. So, we were in the hallway between classes, and you were saying you would do unspeakable things for a copy of my chemistry homework, and I was saying 'no' and then that guy Spivey Arrington—"

"Oh gods, I hated Spivey Arrington."

"Spivey Arrington stalked up, and you could tell from the way he walked that he had a bone to pick with you, and you looked him straight in the eye and then turned back around and kept talking to me like he wasn't there."

"Eh," Lea chuckled, "it was worth a shot."

"So, of course, he grabbed you by the shoulder to turn you around." Isa pours oil into the pan and it sizzles. "And you turned and looked at him and wrapped your hand over his hand and said, 'Do you mind?'"

"Well," Isa can hear Lea smile as he speaks, though his face remains buried in his arms, "what was I supposed to say? He went absolutely batshit though." Eyes still shut, Lea raises his head to mimic an outraged, hoity-toity accent, "'I saw you at the tavern last night, and you were hitting on my girlfriend, and I ought to teach you a lesson…!'"

Isa rolled his eyes as he poured leftover rice into the pan. "And you came back with 'I was hitting on a lot of people last night, which one was your girlfriend?'"

Lea glances down to Neptune, smirking. "At which point Isa decided not to give me a copy of his chemistry homework," he explains to the dog seated beside him, before leaning to press a kiss to his snout.

"And Spivey roared like some sort of wild thing and told you her name. I don't even recall who it—"

"Shana," Lea supplies easily. "She practically lived at that tavern."

Isa nods, fetching a knife from a drawer and shutting it with his hip, "And so you quieted for a moment in thought and then said, 'Oh, yeah, I guess I was serving drinks to Shana and her friends. But don't worry, she's not really my type.'" Isa scoffs and takes out his annoyance on the tomato he's slicing.

"And that probably would have been the end of it—" Lea ventures wistfully, still speaking to Neptune, ruffling his mane and patting his snout.

"It definitely would not have been the end of it—"

"Except Isa started laughing."

Isa's knife hits the cutting board with a clatter, and Lea perks up to watch his eyes narrow and hear his voice grow animated with incredulity, "Well, it was all so ridiculous. You and I had been going steady for years at that point. You had no interest in anyone else."

Lea smiles. "Listen to how confident your daddy is," he croons turning back to the wolf-dog, gently pressing down on Neptune's ears until he earns a playful yip.

Isa glares mildly, but doesn't rise to the bait. He'd been jealous too often in the past, and Lea has always stayed true. He knows better now. Isa picks up the knife and begins to slice again, continuing, "So then Spivey Arrington turned on me. And I think I patted his chest—"

"You didn't."

"I did, and I told him, trying to keep a straight face, 'Look, this is getting a little ridiculous. Lea is not, and never has been, interested in your girlfriend, he just gets tipped more if he smiles at people, and your girlfriend's…friendly.'"

Lea's laughing harder now, pained sounding puffs.

"And Spivey says, genuinely confused, 'Are you calling my girlfriend ugly or a slut?'" Isa sweeps diced vegetables into the stir-fry and begins to stir. "'I was not going to say either of those things,' I told him, 'I'm sure she's perfectly lovely.'"

Lea's laughter starts to taper off. "And then he tried to punch you and you broke his goddamn nose."

Isa pauses mid-stir to raise his brow at Lea. "I thought you didn't remember this."

Lea shrugs a shoulder, lip quirking up a bit. "It's coming back to me."

The air starts to smell spicy as the vegetables simmer, and Isa taps his spatula on the side of the bowl. He rubs at his nose in memoriam of the other man's pain. "And that's when I got kicked out of school for the rest of the day." He glares playfully, though any anger he felt has long subsided.

Lea sighs. "If you weren't such a goody-two-shoes you would have been suspended for a month."

"I was just lucky Calliope came forward to back me up and say I was defending myself." Isa cuts himself off this time, the past scraping against the events of the day, like metal on metal. "She used to be someone I could always rely on… but today, I…" Isa curls in his lip and tries to blame the sting in his eyes on the scent of peppers and onions.

"Isa…" Lea begins cautiously, reaching out a hand for Isa to take.

Isa doesn't notice, turning back toward the stove and beginning to shift through the small pots of spices Lea has lining the counter, some of them herbs from Isa's old window garden. He pauses, having trouble reading the labels. He thinks of the conflict on Calliope's face, of her family and the loyalty she must feel to them, the way Isa does to his sisters and mother. "I asked too much of her," Isa says finally.

"And she gave too little," Lea replies.

The words freeze Isa momentarily, so sharp and certain in contrast to his own. Silence stretches for a while, the scent in the room growing more intoxicating.

"Where's the rest of my bedtime story?" Lea asks finally, a childish half-mocking plea that Isa has learned to say no to but never wants to.

"Is that what this is?" Isa laughs. "Well, with the honor of his partner and himself defended, the foolish, but valiant young knight—"

"Is that still you we're talking about?" Lea cuts in, words muffled, head once again buried in his arms and eyes shut.

"Shh," Isa scolds mildly. "The Honorable Sir Isa returned home to his mother who was tending to his sister, in bed with fever. Eager to get her son out of her hair, she sent him off to the docks with a basket of food for himself and his father. His father did not ask what he was doing out of school because the moon had told him they were to have a tumultuous week, and because he cared little for formal education in the first place."

"When I arrived at the docks, I was surprised to find my father still ashore and livid with anger. The local stray had made a chew toy of the ropes of his fishing boat and eaten through some of his live bait besides. He sent me off to find the little beastie, I… I think he intended…" Isa winces, "intended to drown it, though the idea never crossed my mind at the time."

"I spent the better part of an hour walking the docks and beaches with a hunk of meat in my hand searching for the stray." Isa fishes a few plates out of a cabinet. They have more chips and scorches than he remembers.

Lea groans. "And I had decided to ditch class, ya know, in protest of your suspension, and spent the better part of that hour looking for you."

"And when you found me," Isa recalls with a bright smile, tone indignant, setting down the plates just beside Lea and sitting down at the table, "you had the damn dog I had been searching so hard for cradled in your arms. Just a puppy, and the most friendly, gentle, joyful soul I had ever seen…"

"I stopped for a bite while I was looking for you," Lea continues through the fabric of his sleeve of bandages, "and the little terror came up and stole my sandwich. So, naturally, I decided to keep him forever. But, you'll recall, he jumped right out of my arms and went straight to you."

"Because I had a chunk of meat in my hand."

"No, because he loves you. He started licking your face immediately."

Isa glances to the dog, and true to Lea's word, Neptune pads over to Isa's side and sets his head in the man's lap.

Isa sighs, gently placing his hand on the back of Lea's neck, tangling his finger through the still damp locks of red.

"So, I made a leash of some of the rope he had chewed up, and I told you what he'd done to the boat. You named him after the vengeful god of the sea, and I said you were blasphemous, and you said, only if you were wrong." Isa stops talking for a moment, hands still soothingly cool against Lea's neck, as he pictures the moment, smelling the salt on the breeze and feeling the thin, scratchy warmth of the sand beneath them. "And we sat on the beach and ate the rest of my lunch. And then we realized we had to keep the damn dog."

"But your dad didn't want him," Lea mumbles drowsily.

Isa's hand twitches for a moment. "And neither did yours."

Lea's voice perks up a moment, amused, "Is that really why we decided to get our apartment together? Not because we wanted to get down and dirty in peace, but because we wanted to rescue a puppy?"

Isa's hand slips down Lea's neck and to his shoulder, thumb lightly rubbing there. "As far as I remember."

"We're saints, Isa." Lea pauses, yawns. "Actual, fuckin' saints..."

"Well, don't get me wrong." Isa leans in, lips close to Lea's ear, voice huskier. "The other part was nice too."

"Yeah." Lea's lip curls. One of his hands reaches out blindly, fingers tangling with the ones Isa still has set on the table. "That part I remember."

By the time the food is ready, Lea is snoring steadily, a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth, and Neptune is fast asleep, curled around his feet.

After Isa has eaten, he feeds Neptune and sets aside a plate for Lea, covering the steaming rice with a towel so that the dog won't get at it in his absence. Isa laces up his boots, dons one of Lea's cloaks, fetches a kitchen knife and a stiff sheet of parchment, and steps out the backdoor and onto the fire escape they fancifully call a balcony.

Isa chuckles in surprise as Neptune slips out beside him, his tail thumping against Isa's leg and his nose snuffling at the spring air. Isa inhales, the fresh air and sunshine at once welcome and unpleasant. The weather seems unconcerned with his plights. He sets his hands on the railing of the simple black iron bars of the balcony and chuckles again, examining what remains of the makeshift garden of flowering vines he had left behind when he moved out.

It's a credit to how much Lea cares for him, he thinks, that the flowers haven't withered away entirely. Lea's never had the patience for growing things, especially things he can't eat. Still, Isa feels warmth in his chest to see the surviving blossoms, mostly the easier to manage ones, stretching their leaves and petals toward the sunlight peeking through the fire escape landing above him. Lea had likely only kept them alive in case Isa were to move back in or visit.

Or perhaps simply because they remind him of me.

In a damp, shady, forgotten corner beside the door, exactly where Isa left them, a thriving waterfall of forget-me-nots spill from a cracked pot. Isa gives Neptune's back a rub as he kneels down to cut a bouquet of the flowers and slips them into a cone of paper that used to be some final homework assignment of Lea's which he'd earned a fairly middling mark on. He doesn't think much about why he's bringing these flowers to the hospital when there are brighter, more exotic choices. The blue of them reminds Isa of his sister's eyes.

Isa tucks the bouquet into the crook of his arm and turns his face to the sunlight for one more long moment. He shuts his eyes and imagines the uneven kilter of the sea below his feet, tries to imagine Lea laughing beside him, rather than his father. But the wind hits his face with a sharp smack, bidding him onward.

Inside again, Isa quietly returns the kitchen knife to its drawer, and then checks on Lea. Sleeping like the dead, naturally. He considers staying to watch over him, making sure he wants for nothing in his recovery—to ensure his chest continues to rise and fall, like he had been afraid it would not two hours ago. But then he thinks of his sister drowning in stark white hospital sheets, and Lea gives a tremendous snore, and Isa nods to himself, kisses his fingertips and brushes them along the back of Lea's neck, and turns for the back door. Isa doesn't typically come and go via fire escape, but he would rather not suffer another encounter with Lea's overbearing landlady if he can help it.

Neptune refuses to stay behind in the apartment, and Isa fears he will begin to bark and wake Lea, so he starts down the creaking, rusting fire escape with the large, wolfish dog at his heel. He can only argue with himself for so long. Seeing Neptune again will only brighten his sister's mood, if she's in any mood for it to be brightened.

With every step against the hard metal of the stairs, his body complains that it's stiff and achy, and Isa half-wishes he were half-asleep on the kitchen table, rather than venturing out again.

The alley beside the apartment building is dry and clean, but shady. Shadow Heartless sit on their haunches and watch Isa and Neptune descend the back staircase. Neptune snaps at the closest and they dart away and scatter, but still Isa feels them watching him as they clear the alley and step onto the street.

Isa's too preoccupied with thoughts of Lea and his sister to notice the stark absence of people in the neighborhood streets since he'd last ducked inside. It's not until he reaches the closest plaza to Lea's flat that the quiet starts to set him on edge. Across the cobblestones of the square and past its budding, gnarled willow trees, he can make out a cluster of guards beside the local guards' outpost, which, noticeably, has a gaping, jagged hole in its front window.

Isa curses to himself and snaps his fingers at Neptune, who is pawing at the root of the nearest willow tree. When he has the dog's attention, he gestures for Neptune to follow him toward the nearest side street. Keeping his steps quick but casually even, he glances toward the outpost again. Two guards lead a shackled individual into a horse-drawn cart. The remaining guards have angled themselves in Isa's direction.

Isa stiffens in spite of himself, and one of the guards gestures to the other two to go about their business and steps off across the square toward him.

Neptune's prancing around Isa nervously, and Isa commands him to sit, which he does, though Isa imagines he sees some anxiety in the gold eyes peering up at him and in the rising of his fur. Isa stands himself at attention, hands folding behind his back. Lea's cloak around him, smelling something like ash, as always, shifts with the spring breeze, electrically cool in the unrelenting sunshine.

The closer the approaching guard comes, the more unmistakable it becomes who it is. The man is near Isa's height and athletic build, with long, choppy brown hair. A clean scar slashes his nose and forehead and a large ostentatious silver wolf medallion glints from his chest.

Squall Leonhart, a.k.a. Leon, a.k.a. commander of the People's Guard, a.k.a. Lea's celebrity crush since age eight, a.k.a. the man whose organization I just criticized very publicly in front of the vast majority of the kingdom.

Squall.

Right. Excellent. Fantastic.

"Isa!" Leon calls when he's close enough. "Thought that might be you."

"Leonhart. I…" Isa's tongue stills when the words don't come, so he defaults to "Good afternoon."

"I don't see much good about it myself." Leon glances back to the outpost. In the distance, the dusting of shattered glass sparkles on the stones like ice crystals. "Last I heard..." Leon catches Isa's eye. Isa always forgets how unnerving Leon's gaze is—a startling, clear blue, completely at odds with his usual stoic scowl. "...neither did you. Guess we have you to thank for these street riots?"

Isa takes a breath that starts off shaky but evens out. "I think you give me too much credit."

Leon has a broadsword strapped to his back, and at least two knives sheathed at his arm and waist. His hand habitually rests on one of their hilts. Isa tells himself it's just habitual, anyway.

"What I said, it wasn't personal," Isa continues, keeping his gaze steady. "I have nothing but respect and admiration for you." Isa remembers afternoons with Lea after school, pestering Leon, a few years their senior, with questions about training, magic, and anything else they could think of. "You must know that."

Leon's expression remains unchanged as he leans in. "A band of ragtag, vigilante volunteers. Isn't that what you called us?"

Isa manages not to cringe outwardly. "I spoke harshly, perhaps, but I did speak the truth." His tone takes on a harder edge, replaying Ansem's flippant announcement in his head. Telling them to join the People's Guard as if it were the same as the king's. "Your efforts are noble, but you lack funding, supplies, structure, order…The King's Guard offered no such insecurities."

"Should I be writing this down?" Leon has a gravelly, even way of speaking that makes it difficult to tell how he's feeling, but his lip tilts up ever so slightly. "You're…"

"An arrogant bastard?" Isa takes a half step back, raising both hands in front of him, though one still holds his simple bouquet of flowers. "You likely desire nothing more than to run me through with a sword, I understand. But, as you can see, I'm unarmed, and not really in the best of shape for a fist fight."

Leon blinks at him, arms crossing, considering, but says nothing.

"So…" Isa winces. "So, if you could let me continue on my way to the hospital to see my sister, I would be most grateful."

Leon barks, and it takes Isa a minute to realize he's just been laughed at. Leon steps forward again, arms uncrossing and recrossing. "I was going to say that you're right."

Isa's jaw goes a little slack. He examines Leon's face for another hint of teasing, but his natural scowl is unreadable as ever.

"Your speech, you were right about everything. Your concerns, they're the same ones we presented to Ansem when he proposed what he did." Leon tilts his head considering the injured but proud man before him, challenging him with straight shoulders and an unimpressed frown.

"You know," Leon continues, "most people who don't earn a spot on the King's Guard like to grovel and kiss ass to join mine, but you're not like that. You're honest. And I've seen you fight: you're brave. You have a good head on your shoulders and a good heart in your chest. We don't have much to offer, you and I both know that, but if you want to serve your city, protect its people from the growing Heartless threat, then the People's Guard could use someone like you."

"I…" Isa's arms drop uselessly to his sides and his tongue feels numb. His adrenaline had spiked for a fight, but he's wholly unprepared for an offer like this. Besides, he has yet to exhaust his resources. He isn't going to give up on the apprenticeship dream before he has done so. And there's the entire rest of the People's Guard I've insulted to consider…

Unlike Isa, Leon feels no need to fill the gathering silence, and he stands, arms crossed, scowling, until Isa gets his thoughts together.

"I… appreciate the sentiment," Isa replies, carefully gracious, "but I doubt your, er, colleagues would agree…"

Leon raises a hand to halt his words. "I assure you, none of my captains would disagree with me." He gives another, wider, flash of a smile, his teeth stridently white. "We have a short list of recruits and you're near the top. I can trust you, and so will they."

Isa huffs a sigh. What's one more complication to add to the tangled web? "Thank you, I suppose. But we've only just been rejected today. I have other avenues I wish to explore. Friends I need to talk things over with."

Leon doesn't respond. Instead he takes a knee on the cobblestone and reaches out a palm. Neptune glances to Isa, who nods, and then the dog scampers forward to press his damp nose into Leon's hand in search of treats.

Leon chuckles, a low, sexy rumble, and glances up at Isa, pensive. "If you're still aiming for the castle, I'm afraid you'll find them unyielding. I certainly have."

Isa watches Leon ruffling Neptune's mane, scratching behind his ears, surprisingly gentle for such a large man. Neptune's tail thumps sending dust up from the plaza stones. In Leon's hints of smile and careful movements, Isa imagines he finally understands what Lea sees in the curt, brooding man.

"You really didn't ask for this, did you?" Isa asks.

Leon frowns, like he isn't used to being second guessed. "We need more, better equipped guards, not fewer." Leon gives Neptune's snout one last fond rub, before brushing fur from his fingerless gloves and getting to his feet. "Take the time you need to decide, but know we can't wait forever."

Sensing his new friend's departure, Neptune shakes off his coat and trots back to his master's side. Isa nods to Leon. He can't decide if he likes the man or not, but joining him is not high on his agenda. "I don't think I'm your man."

Leon nods back and turns to go, and Isa wonders vaguely if Lea's friends used to find Isa this difficult to talk to.

"Rumor has it…" Leon says, quietly, his back to Isa. Leon shakes his head, starts again, "Your speech… you mentioned…" Leon stops, glances over his shoulder, "your… lover…" Leon appears to be choosing his words carefully, but Isa is too exhausted to appreciate the discretion.

"What are you getting at?"

"You think you're too good for us. Maybe you are. But the People's Guard doesn't have as many rules as the King's." Leon speaks to the air above and in front of him, as if to give Isa privacy. "You could finally be together, no strings attached."

This is hardly news to Isa, and he's a touch irritated Leon thinks he hasn't considered his options. Besides, Lea's made it clear the People's Guard isn't his top choice.

"If only it were just me in strings."

Leon pockets his hands, thinking for a moment, says finally, "It doesn't have to be just you cutting them."

"Who else are you recruiting?"

"I assure you: Calliope is high on the list."

Isa snorts, stares for a long moment, but Leon seems serious.

"Her father's a lord. I'm not particularly concerned about Calliope's future."

I've fucked up. Thanks to my speech, everyone thinks I've been courting Calliope all these years. Her father will be furious.

"Not into Calliope." The little twitches of amusement at Leon's eyes and lips are starting to grate at Isa. "Got it. Who, then? Everyone you keep company with is skilled and well-respected. We'd be happy to have any of them." Leon begins to tick off names of other recruits, male and female both, many of them Isa's friends, but with one notable absence.

"And Lea?" Isa knows he shouldn't ask, not in this context, not today, but he needs to know, and he can't help but want to set Leon straight on the matter as well. Anyway, Leon's not close with the King's Guard. They wouldn't believe rumors from him

"Lea?" Leon's heavy brows furrow, confused.

"Lea. He fought valiantly with me today. Although, I don't know if he's ever been accused of being well-respected before…"

"No one can accuse Lea of being hard to get along with, but he was something of a wild card in his youth. There are those of us who are afraid he'll return to those tendencies without the King's Guard to motivate him—"

"Then they don't know him," Isa interrupts sharply. "I'll not join without him."

Leon stares at him some more, trying to puzzle something out. "You're a loyal friend," he offers gruffly.

"No," the sweet fragrance of the flowers in Isa's hand reaches his nose, and he finds it repugnant; wishes he were home again, "but I'm a selfish one."

"I wasn't finished," Leon's dismissive tone mirror's Isa's, but he seems to realize it. Leon takes a breath, continues in earnest, "Beggars can't be choosers, and no one can argue that the man doesn't know how to use a sword..."

"Good." Crossing his arms, Isa considers the sky, recalling their conversation about Lea joining the People's Guard. "It won't be an easy sell."

Leon nods, meets Isa's gaze again. His uncharacteristic smiles are starting to make Isa a bit uncomfortable. "Yuffie's planning to ambush him about it this afternoon."

"Yuffie's one of your captains now?"

"Not yet. She's on recruitment. Some people prefer her, uh," Leon flips a hand vaguely, voice gruffer, "feminine charms."

Isa laughs. He doesn't care that it makes Leon's smile drop off abruptly. "If you want to charm Lea, might want to do it yourself."

"Funny."

"I'm not joking. I think he has something of a soft spot for your handsome face." Isa's eyes dart down, pointedly appraising Leon's torso, muscles fighting against a snug fitting, fur-trimmed coat. "Though, your biceps won't hurt, either."

"My?" Leon laughs, stops when Isa doesn't join him. "I mean, I can speak to him, if that's going to… Wait." Leon's eyes narrow, scanning Isa's smug smile, searching for the connection he's missed.

Isa decides he's waited long enough. He needs to be getting to the hospital and getting back to Lea. If Leon can't puzzle this out, he's not a leader Isa wants to serve under, anyway.

"Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

"Yes," Isa says simply, gathering the cloak about himself and clicking his tongue to urge Neptune up and to his side, as he takes his first step away from the conversation. He turns around, guilt biting at him a bit.

Realization has given Leon's unnerving blue eyes focus. "He's hit on me before, you know, but it never occurred to me he wasn't just fucking around…"

"Don't worry," Isa's wince is both sympathetic and cold, "he was just fucking around."

"Right." Leon's realization sharpens into understanding. "Your speech, the two boys, the lovers, the whole speech, you were talking about him. Because Lea's your…"

Isa can't tell if Leon doesn't want to say it, or just doesn't want to call them the wrong thing. Frankly, he doesn't care which.

"You should know what you're signing up for." Isa walks off, casual, impervious, clicking his tongue again. "Come along, Neptune." The wolf dog trots after him.

"Wait! Isa…" Leon calls after him, voice desperate enough that Isa stops. "Look, yes, I'm… surprised, but I don't really give a shit about your love life. We have bigger problems, here. There's a reason Ansem rejected all of you, you know. He's not a stupid man. If he doesn't want any new scientists or guards in the castle, it's not because he doesn't think he needs them. It's because there's something going on in the castle. Something he doesn't want anyone to know about."

Isa's not going to turn around again, but he can't pretend Leon's words don't make him want to. "And what's that?"

"That's what we aim to find out." Leon sounds the slightest bit smug about Isa's response, but that might be Isa's imagination. "Help us—both of you."

"We'll think about it."

"You were right about one more thing, Isa," Leon calls to Isa's retreating back. "You are an arrogant bastard."