Leo is so much fun to write. Leo and Garon together are just fantastic.

Leo was no stranger to having no peace.

He had a drunk for a father, a mother that was barely aware of reality, a secret-nerd brother, and three sisters of varying degrees of chaos. The man was born into strangeness.

Despite his lifetime of preparation, he was not prepared for when his friend Odin broke into his bedroom as Leo was reading.

"What the crap, Odin?" he hissed, slamming the book shut.

"No time to talk!" Odin hissed back, pressing his ear to the door. "We need silence! The halls have ears!"

Leo had gotten used to Odin's strangeness. He'd been a friend of the family for a while - one of Camilla's classmates, one of Xander's gaming buddies, one of Elise's babysitters. It was inevitable that he would end up befriending Leo, too.

So, since he was used to this, Leo decided changing the subject was the best idea.

"Jakob won't rat you out, he doesn't care enough. What are you doing here?"

"Your brother agreed to let us have tonight's session in the basement," Odin explained, "but your dad said I'm not allowed to come back after that incident with the rats. If you don't tell him I'm here, I'll get you some food. Or you can join us - Nyx wants to try DM-ing and planned out a oneshot, you can get involved."

"Sorry." Leo held up his book. "I already have all the fun I need right here."

"Do you do anything besides read? Do you even play the video games your dad's company makes?"

"I try not to involve myself with the family business."

"Dude," Odin said seriously, "how often do you socialize?"

"Often enough."

"Name three friends who aren't in the family."

"You, Niles..." Leo thought it over. "Jakob?"

"Hard pass," said Jakob's voice through the door as he passed.

Odin nodded, his theory confirmed. "This is how we're going to change that." Odin handed over a box of dice. "You're joining us tonight, and that's final."

Leo used as little imagination in the oneshot as possible and got up to leave as soon as his character died, despite cleric Xander's best efforts. Odin grabbed him by the shirt and forced him back down.

"You're going to have fun tonight if it kills both of us," he hissed.

"It might," said Leo. He pointed to Xander. "How does he have enough imagination for this game?"

"Training," Selena insisted, eye twitching as she remembered the first oneshot she'd dragged him into playing. She'd explained how slow fall worked eight times, and Xander's response each time was to point out how his character had no wings. He'd even started to demonstrate gravity by dropping her dice bag and telling it to slow fall, but had been silenced when she'd simplified it to 'magic.' Six months of dedicated imagination training later, he'd come up with the idea of jumping on the back of a monster all on his own.

"It takes a while to understand it," Xander confirmed. "But I thought you would enjoy having another 'nerd' hobby."

"Xander, you learned imagination to impress a girl. I have no girls to impress."

"So you're saying we should get you a girlfriend," said Laslow, nodding along. "Challenge accepted."

"I'll set up the blind date," Odin declared before Leo could object to the idea. He looked over at Leo. "You do like girls, right?"

Seeing no way out of it, Leo confirmed it.

It took a few days for Odin to find someone. But when he texted Leo about a 'tiny brunette with a strong punch,' he decided to go along with it, if only to see the girl who had successfully punched Odin in the face.

That was how he found himself at a table in a small bake shop, waiting around for the girl.

He saw plenty of brunettes. But when he heard his name from the direction he wasn't facing, he realized at once that this was the one.

She wasn't drop-dead gorgeous, but she was cute. She had a slight hint of an unlikely Southern accent, but it wasn't enough to bother him. Dark brown hair, freckles, slightly taller than Elise...only 18 or 19 years old, if Leo had to guess.

"I'm Mozu," she said as an introduction, and he could only nod in acknowledgement as he attempted to find something - anything - to talk about.

"I hear you punched Odin," he said after what had to be a whole minute of awkward silence.

Mozu smiled innocently. "It was years ago, when I was a freshman in high school. I remember it being fun, though."

"I'm sure it was," said Leo, and the awkward silence returned.

Mozu broke it the next time. "I'm awful sorry about this. I don't date much."

"I don't, either." He cringed. "Especially not girls Odin finds for me. What made you decide to take the offer?"

"Odin helped my mother out back then." Her grip on her napkin tightened at the mention of her mother. A sore spot, then. Leo didn't like talking about Julia with strangers, he could keep mothers out of the conversation. "That's when I..."

"Hit him," Leo finished for her.

"I thought he was stealing stuff," Mozu admitted. "She explained otherwise. He was helping her out while I did my homework. He laughed off the punch and called in the favor for the date. How do you know him?"

"He went to school with my sister," Leo explained. "And used to babysit another sister. I befriended him out of necessity."

"Two sisters?" Mozu's eyes widened. "Lucky. I always wondered what siblings would be like."

"Three sisters," Leo corrected. "Half-sisters. And a half-brother. Siblings are overrated."

Mozu shrugged. "Grass is greener, I guess."

"Trust me, my family is messed up. Long story, another time."

"Another time? You're sayin' you want..." she gestured between them, "this again?"

"I'd prefer to start as friends," Leo specified, "but if we can do that, then, yes."

"Friends," Mozu repeated, sounding unsure. Then she smiled. "I could always use more of those."

"Petra," Jonah said quietly, "we keep the door closed when we leave for a number of reasons. We don't want people getting in. We don't want pests getting in. We don't want Turkey getting out. And we don't want the landlady to see Turkey."

Petra looked slightly disappointed but took her husband's advice. "Turkey is not meant to get the stretching?"

"Not unless you want to explain why the last guy we rented from blacklisted us."

"I thought we were blacklisted because your father drove his RV into the kitchen. He no longer has the RV."

"Ashe wasn't directly involved in any of it, and he still got evicted and blacklisted." And, like they had, Ashe had rented from the one person in town that would let them live in Emblemme after the Thanksgiving fiasco, once again taking a space on the floor above them.

"That was a bit unfair," Petra admitted.

Turkey made a warning noise and hid behind a chair. Two seconds later, the landlady showed up. A woman nearly as frightening as Frederick had been, wearing a pink shirt and brown pants. It was usually her son dealing with things. They must have been in a lot of trouble.

"Your neighbor warned us that your door was open," she said, and Petra faked innocence. "She said she was keeping an eye on the place for you when she saw something sticking out. It was, according to her, the head of a giant bird."

"What would a giant bird be doing in the apartment?" Jonah asked. His false innocence was much more believable than his wife's.

"That's what I'm here to investigate."

There was a muffled sound from behind the chair. Petra jumped to her feet. "That was the growl of my stomach! Would you like a snack, Panne?"

"No, thanks," said the landlady, keeping her eyes on Petra as she wandered into the kitchen and came back with a bag of tortilla chips.

Panne did not leave. Instead, when Turkey did not emerge and Petra kept munching, she focused on Jonah once again. "Where's the bird, Eisner?"

"What does it matter if we have a pet? This is a pet-friendly building."

"So you admit that there is a bird."

Turkey poked his head around the side of the chair, accepting defeat. Panne noticed.

"If there's no bird, then what is that?"

Jonah cleared his throat. "What can we have in the apartment?"

"Cats," was the immediate answer. "Quiet dogs. Anything that can fit comfortably in a tank or cage. Nothing that leaves the apartment for anything but walks and vet trips."

"That's a big cat," Jonah lied.

"That's a lie."

"That's a funny-looking dog."

"Another lie."

"We can fit it in a tank or cage."

Panne looked at him, exasperated. "I took you after Frederick told me not to because I found your eviction story amusing," she warned. "There is a limit to my acceptance. Do not get an army tank for the turkey."

"Not the plan."

Panne glanced at Turkey again. "You have three days," she decided. "Then we'll see where we go from there."

"So we'll be seeing your son in a few days?" Petra asked hopefully.

"Don't get your hopes up. I'm sending my husband."

Jonah's face remained blank, but his brain was screaming. Yarne was easy to deal with, once you got past the fact that he had a knife on him at all times. Panne was scary without a weapon. But Lon'qu...Lon'qu was a man made of nightmares. Not even his aversion to Petra could save them now.

Leo and Mozu's second date was at the library on a Tuesday. The girl was a slow reader, but the library was the place they agreed was good for them - no pressure to talk, just sitting with each other and reading their own things, recommending to each other if asked.

She preferred cookbooks, he realized. When he pointed it out, she nodded, holding up the two she'd picked to skim through.

"What told you that?" she teased, and he cringed, taking a step back.

"I was just wondering why," he explained. "I didn't know you were a cook."

"Cook and hunter!" Mozu declared proudly. "I used to go hunting with my parents when I was first old enough to learn gun safety. My father...left me his weapons, so I'm waiting for my permit to come in so I can take them from the vault. And my mother left me the bakery, so..." she shrugged. "I guess that's why I like it here. I'm not too busy."

"You're an orphan?"

"Technically," Mozu admitted. "I was legally an adult when Mom passed, but...it was recent."

"I'll bet." Leo didn't have the greatest relationship with his parents - Julia was an unfit mother, and Garon was Garon. But they were alive. "Is that why you've been reading those books?"

"I have to," Mozu insisted. "My mother tried new recipes every week and kept changing the options. That's why we're closed Tuesdays and..." she sighed and sank down into the chair. "I shouldn't be here."

"But it's Tuesday," Leo pointed out. "Wouldn't your mother want you to enjoy your day off?"

"Probably."

A defensive answer only made him more curious. "Trouble?"

"Nothing a new friend should be concerned about."

"Then maybe it can be an early Christmas present."

Mozu wasn't amused, but she brushed it off after only a few seconds. "I don't have the sense for business like my ma did," she finally told him. "I can barely pay the rent on it, and I need to take days off. I need a business partner or two. I wouldn't mind sharing any profits, if you're interested in the math bits."

It was a tempting offer, he had to admit.

Revan came home from a job interview late. He knew he wouldn't get it, anyway. He couldn't really do anything besides acting and puzzles and playing video games, and Sakura's friend had taken the role of playtester to pay off her surgery. Not that he would deny her that.

He turned on his bedroom light, and jumped back in surprise when he saw Kaze sitting in the chair at his desk, holding a muffin.

"Relax," Kaze told him, as if this was a regular thing, and gently put the muffin down on the desk. "I came with an offer, not an ambush."

Revan went to the window and looked out. "We're three floors up," he said to himself, before turning back to his friend, mouth half-open. "Did you climb the building?"

"Yes," Kaze answered immediately.

"Why?"

"Because Takumi wouldn't let me in. I texted Ryoma, he knows." Kaze said it like all of this was normal. Of course, in their case, it almost was - at only eight years old, Saizo had come to Ryoma to get lessons on how to be a responsible big brother, despite being only minutes older than Kaze. The odd friendship that came from that had led to all of the boys being on good terms.

But Kaze had only broken into Revan's house twice before. Both times, he'd wanted something and knew his friend would be in on whatever idea was going through his mind. So, recovering from the shock, Revan sat down on his bed. "What is it this time? Do you want me to star in whatever deranged project you came up with for your special effects training?"

"Close." Kaze handed him the muffin. "I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in being roommates."

Revan stared. "Uh, dude? You're a student, and I'm unemployed. I can't even get my inheritance money until I get a job."

"I have a job, Revan. And my mother told me that she would help if I needed it. I just can't live with Saizo anymore."

That, he could understand. The brothers got along, but didn't have much in common, and Saizo did tend to look down on Kaze for not shunning sweets even as a grown man and still hoarding their childhood Lego collection in his closet.

"So you just want me to stand guard against robbers?"

"And star in a deranged project for my special effects training."

He knew it.

"Dad. I need $8,000."

Garon looked up from the reports. "Why?"

Leo cleared his throat. "So I'll put up an argument in a few years when Xander takes power of attorney over you and tries to have you committed."

Garon was impressed. "You'll put in a good word for me?"

"I'm surprised you aren't telling me to stop him," Leo admitted, "but I will."

"And what do you need the money for?"

Well, he couldn't get out of this one. "There's this girl," he started, and Garon laughed and pulled out his checkbook.

"All I needed to know," he cackled, even as he wrote the check. "I was wondering when this day would come."

"Don't make a big deal out of it," Leo protested.

"You're right," Garon admitted. "If you're anything like me, there will be plenty more after her." He handed Leo the check. "Go out and have fun. And remember, no babies."

Leo clenched his teeth, but kept the embarrassment down to force himself to speak. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

And he took the check and walked away, leaving his father cackling madly behind him.

"I paid the rent for your mom's bakery," Leo announced at the next library date.

Mozu's eyes widened. "You...you did that? For a girl you just met?"

"It's not a favor," he warned. "I expect my money back. I did it because you have good pastries and I want to keep them in the world. Consider me your business partner."

Mozu stared a moment longer, then she laughed. "Well, that takes nerve, Leo. But thanks. I can do the baking now and -"

"We're hiring someone else," he continued. "I can't bake, but I can do math. You can bake, but you're overworked. We can hire somebody else so the two of you can each have two days off every week. Maybe you can go hunting when your gun permits come in."

"I do miss the feeling of Pa's rifle in my hands," she admitted. "You got yourself a deal, mister. I promise I'll pay you back."

Her determination was impressive, Leo admitted to himself. Almost cute. "You can start by giving me the money you were going to use to pay the rent yourself," he suggested.

"Over a thank you dinner," Mozu insisted. "You say I make good pastries, but wait until you see what I can do with meat!"