ONE LAST THING I SEE;

humans are fighters. aiden has to give them at least that much. he wouldn’t know why else they are choosing to survive on an already dying planet, desperate to right a couple of their wrongs. aiden wouldn’t know why else his victims would waste so much breathe trying to strike back instead of accepting their inevitable fate. it’s how his faint admiration water downs in exasperation. when yet another knife is frantically buried in his synthetic skin, meant to rob him from a life he wasn’t truly living.

of course, they didn’t know. that the kill is what he lives for. that they have already taken away everything else he would possibly be willing to live for. he’s numbed, feeling nothing more but anger as the neasource gushes out of his stomach, gloved hands tightening around the man’s neck. or maybe it’s what the humans call adrenaline that allows him to ignore the pain for as long as he needs to, veins burning as he watches the light in the man’s eyes snuff out. but it doesn’t last long, the sense of victory, lifeless body dropping to the ground as aiden’s arms grow weak.

he gasps, hands clutching at his stomach as it’s getting harder to breath. it sometimes slips his mind how he is built after humans and therefore carries the same weaknesses. his body requires a certain level of neasource and without it he is just as useless as the corpse that lays by his feet. the gash needs medical attention and as quickly as possible but aiden can’t go back to the defiance base. skye can’t know. she doesn’t need to know. it’s just easier that way, both for him as for her.

leon…

how could he have forgotten about his favourite mechanic? maybe because there’s a certain roommate that’s just as keen on asking question as skye is. but aiden is running out of options so he doesn’t have another choice. not if he wants to make out through the night alive. he leaves a short but urgent knock on the door, fingers clutching at the doorframe to steady himself. “ezi – “ is all aiden can murmur, completely for passing greetings, “ezi’s not home right?”

“i got stabbed.” he explains, arms eagerly curling around leon’s shoulder and leaning most of his weight on his scrawny build. “it’s happened before but the asshole really knew where to strike.” as soon as aiden’s back hits the couch, his hands are quick to unbutton his black dress shirt and reveal the wound. “you can’t tell ezi.”

    the question comes almost comical in the middle of the situation, leon's eyebrows furrow as he tries to find purchase to lift the android properly. aiden's arm on his shoulder, the other curls around his waist. "ezi? what does he have to do with this?" the question leaves his lips, grunted out as he manages to lead them to the couch. his roommate is away at work, and the android needs to take a second not to worry about him too. the question itself hopefully signifies that ezi wasn't there to begin with, but he can't begin to imagine why aiden sounds so determined about ezi not being there.

    however, that's not what he focuses on, not when aiden seems to be struggling already. god knows how much time has passed since he has been hurt, for how long he has been losing neasource for — it takes a lot for leon to keep calm, hands trembling as they move over aiden's torso, not touching just yet, waiting for an explanation. it comes, and even though it's expected, it still makes the repairman grimace. teeth sinks into his bottom lip as he slowly begins to peel the soiled shirt to see the wound better. "let me see it first, please —"

    with aiden's help, the shirt is unbuttoned, and he reacts with a sharp intake of breath, already cataloguing what he is going to need to fix him properly. panicking will come later, and he pushes down the concern that threatens to take over him. with more pressing matters at hand, he moves swiftly and takes off his sweatshirt, pressing it over the wound to stem the bleeding for now. the next sentence cuts him out of the trance as he stands up, and he fights the urge to sigh, shaking his head. "i — he's at work, i might need to ask him to bring some extra neasource, but i'll try to make do with what we have, i promise —" that's all he can do, and he is sure aiden knows many more questions will come after, once he is sure aiden is patched up and in one piece.

@leonsat

it’s oddly quiet on the subway train. it’s a given considering what shiro and ezi are escaping from — the riot, or whatever it was, was the thing of nightmares for androids. worse is that one of shiro’s optical parts is now completely ruined. he’s lucky ezi found him, even luckier the other seems to know leon  ( or, knows  of  him at least ). it’s not too surprising given leon’s job.

shiro sticks close to ezi, head down, hood up. anything to conceal the blue neasource staining his face and hands. it’s on his hoodie, but there’s no way someone could surmise it’s  his  neasource unless they saw his eye. he’s fine now, ezi is right here and he’s pretty much invading the guy’s personal space as he tends to something on his phone  ( contacting leon maybe? hopefully? ). so he’s okay, except not really because he’s still  terrified  someone is going to jump up and start something mid-ride.

briefly, he thinks back to midori and how he’d have readily stood up to fight against the persons responsible for his and their friends’ deaths, but he’s practically a vibrating phone after the riots. funny how he’d step up to help someone else, but not himself. the thought it quickly dashed away when the subway slows to a stop and he’s guided out and onto the platform outside.

lower level, of course, and he’s guided right to ecostay, to a floor he’s never been on. when the door opens there’s leon waiting for them. he never thought leon lived here, in the same building as him, all this time. but then, shiro doesn’t talk much with anyone in ecostay, why would he? it’d open up too many possibilities for something to go wrong.

“ leon , ”  shiro says softly, trying to smile but it looks more like a grimace as he pulls the hood off of his head and reveals his now broken optical part with neasource staining his face and hands. behind him, he thinks ezi takes his leave, but shiro isn’t paying much attention to anything but the buzzing and static of his optical part and the look on leon’s face.

     it's been a hectic day to say the least, without a moment to calm down, it was chaotic from start to the point where leon finally made it home. it's insane how it's only been a matter of hours since the world he knew came crumbling down, with the protests, the attacks, then making sure ezi was fine. when they realized each other was safe and well, they had to part ways, as they both had people they needed to make sure were alright. it was sejo for leon, and once he was certain him and seokjin were in one piece, he left the man to tend to his own businesses; everything thrown off rhythm for every citizen of tokyo, each of them had a lot to do.

     so, when he makes it home, he expects to pack up and head to the movement's headquarters, to tend for any androids that were there during the riots. a text from ezi comes instead, stating that he is bringing someone home, that they need immediate care and possibly neasource. it's increasingly worrying to know that, but leon quickly shifts into gear, tidying the place up to make sure it's suitable for an operation. they don't have a lot of spare parts at hand, but he will do with the amount he has.

     the time spent between then and the knock on the door feels like an eternity, and leon jumps to answer the door immediately. the sight he is greeted with steals the breath out of him, eyes widening, a gasp falling from his lips. "shiro! oh my god —" leon had no idea would be him, a friend, in such a dire condition. he cared for all androids, but seeing him so torn felt as if he had been stabbed. a few seconds later, he curls his hand around his wrist, emotions swimming in his eyes as he tries to calm down. he knows he will cry if he even thinks about it more than a few seconds, so he doesn't, and tries to shake his head to will the tears away.

LOCATION: SHINTARO UDA, ENGINEERING BUILDING; Shujin University  DATE: 15/09/2142 STATUS: closed for @leonsat​

Students, one by one, filed out of the classroom, leaving Sunny alone to continue her work. She had after asked her professor for permission to stay late, wanting get a head start on the assignment given to them at the beginning of class. Sunhee seemed to always cut it close when it came to turning in assignments. Her work at lenoir café, plus the time it took for her to go here and there, made it hard to keep up with everything. Regardless, she managed. Somehow. 

Bear flew, or rather, fluttered down from his perch on a nearby shelf. The tiny robot was never far from Sunny. Where she went, Bear followed. Her most faithful friend. Unfortunately, her friend was getting old, and sadly falling apart, which lead him to be shunned into a corner just so he would not interrupt or destroy any of the other classmate’s projects. 

Twice was enough. 

“Quick, I’ll be quick, Bear. Already have ideas, many even. Just need to sketch them out first, then we can go,” she spoke casually with her friend, pulling blank pieces of paper out from her notebook to sketch out designs. Some made fun of her for talking to Bear the way she did, calling her odd, strange, weird, and some other, more hateful words. It didn’t bother her much, or rather she was almost obvious to it.  “Maybe we’ll go to the junkyard, hm? If there is still light.” She looked down at her tiny friend, as he gave her a silence stare.

With a short nod, she picked up her pencil, and began sketching. 

     the university was similar to a big company in a way — with so many ins and outs, different departments, personnel, and technological equipment, the more leon spent time there, the more he realized it was much, much bigger than he initially thought. perhaps it was a good thing that so many of them retorted to taking care of the problem by calling bio-repair themselves, since just because of that, the business was booming on their end, and leon's boss was happy.

     this time, his job for the day had ended early, and he knew he had time to kill — his boss gave him the rest of the day off since leon wasn’t technically even supposed to be working to begin with. and out of pure luck or coincidence, which were two things he shouldn't be believing in, he sees the girl — the one riku talked so much about. and anything that gets him closer to his maker, he can’t stay away from. truth to be told, this wasn't the first time leon had seen her, but he never gathered the courage to approach her in the first place, feeling out of place in a room full of humans.

under any other circumstances, sejo would have regretted upsetting leon. the way his smile faltered and his brows furrowed together made sejo want to curl his arms around his waist and hold him tight. bury his head in the crook of the younger’s neck and forget about all his worries, all his doubts. but this was not an issue sejo could so easily overlook. his despair to keep his son safe was to be stronger than his love for leon. he needed to get to the bottom of this and he would have to deal with the consequences if he turned out to be pulling the shortest end of the rope.

but maybe he isn’t. the way leon’s confusion dials down into shock and the way leon chooses to define his relationship to ezi is truly clear enough. he should have known. he should have been more careful. he should have ran that background ran that background check on leon and everyone he was affiliated to before introducing him into his son’s life. you see, sejo has experienced heartbreak much worse than this. but he can only guess for the aching this will inflict on the little man who had grown so attached to daddy’s new boyfriend in such a short amount of time.

“no…” the words tumble out of sejo’s in an unbelievable scoff. “no, nothing is alright.”

sejo’s eyes crease together in something that looks like pain mixed in with anger. “i always wondered why ezi acted so hostile towards me but now i get it. i really do. i wouldn’t have given either of you the time of day if i had known.” his words sound harsh, as if they were meant to hit leon where they would hurt the most. “you lied to me, leon. for months. compromising my son’s life. for months.”

      something's wrong — it's so easy to see it, sense it in the air; the distance between them stings. this is not how it would normally go whenever he vists the man. but most of all, he feels a tinge of fear when sejo looks at him like that. without love. a cold, calculated stare he hasn't been subjected to for so long. this is the man he loves with all his heart, and it feels like it's bleeding already, preparing for what's going to happen. but leon isn't ready to give up just yet — no, he doesn't want to give up on sejo, god, he loves him so much, and this — doesn't change anything, it shouldn't.

     the words feel like a slap and he can't help but wince, evading his eyes as he takes a step closer. if only he can touch him, hold him in his arms, maybe everything will be alright. the accusations are sharp, they hurt and they bite, leaving bloody wounds in their wake. leon looks up with a gasp as he shakes his head, unshed tears shining in his eyes. "i would never ! i would never cause seokjin any harm sejo, please, please don't do this —" it was imminent that the other would connect the pieces together, but leon had always thought it would be him who told about it to sejo, and it would be much, much better than this.

     moonie smiles over at him, it’s not something he’s used to doing; smiling at people. but he feels like he should. “ it can be intense but it is what it is i guess. gott'a get on with it. ” his own eyes go down to his book and then he looks back up and he shakes his head. “ i don’t mind, it’s fine. “ he offers a small grin. “ i’m studying to become a doctor. “ he says and he picks his coffee cup up to take a drink.   

the silence that follows makes moonie just a little uncomfortable and he licks his lower lip. “ so what do you do, if you don’t mind me asking ? “ he asks curiously. he shifts the book a little so the other can look at it. “ here take a look. “ he says offering it out to him. 

     it's admirable that's for sure, and leon nods, mouth opened in an o, eyes gazing over the letters before he looks up.  "that's amazing. that you're up for it regardless of the workload." the android speaks frankly, a smile spreading across his features. understanding dawns soon enough, and he nods. "are you passionate about it? which field?" once he is interested in something, questions follow immediately, so he genuinely hopes he isn't pestering the young man.

     it's a day off from work, the only one he gets every week. it changes around every once in a while, depending on who needs to fill in for the day, or if they need extra hands, but leon's boss has been decent enough to pay overtime, as well as give them time off when they wanted. it's later in the day that there is not much to do at the house, he has walked tesla, and fed him and mao for the evening, cleaned up whatever they had in the house, vacuumed, did the chores — it's relaxing in a way, leon has always loved cleaning to take his mind off of things.

     organization is something he has loved even when he was with riku, something the man swore that came with him naturally. leon hates being in disorganized spaces, not knowing where something is, untidiness irks him to no end. humans call it pet peeves, so he thinks it's definitely one of his. with a huge dog as well as a cat, it's natural things get a bit messy around the house, and it's usually on his days off that leon can take care of everything properly. when he is done, he feels unsure about what to do next. ezi's at work, unfortunately so, which means he will be by himself for the night.

     it's half an hour after he finished cleaning that he hears the knocking on the door, and jumps up, curious to who it may be. they don't really have a lot of guests over, naturally so, they can't trust most of the humans out there. ezi says you can't trust any, but that's something they argue about all the time. however, leon focuses on the door instead, rushing towards his source, and opening it without much thought. the most likely outcome is that it's the owner of the flat, but when he swings open the doors, the sight he meets steals the breath out of him.

skye returns the smile given her as she awaits his answer, eyes glancing ahead every so often to gauge their distance from neatech and to be alert. she has to balance both keeping an eye out for their surroundings while also appearing to be as casual as possible about it. thankfully, in the district of neatech’s headquarters, it isn’t too difficult. people look everywhere around them, even on the backstreets, paranoia gripping them tight and holding them in a bear-like embrace. after all, a city invites a million gazes to one’s person regardless if they want it or not.

her gaze returns to leon quickly enough, a hum escaping her briefly. she isn’t surprised he’s nervous and doesn’t blame him in the least, and so she wants to help him to the best of her abilities. “it’s natural, no need to worry about that. i was nervous my first few times out with jona.” she admits easily, not in the least embarrassed over it. she’d be a liar if she said otherwise and truly, there’s no shame to be had in being scared or nervous.

“the biggest thing is to stay as calm and focused as possible. the anxiety of the situation will make you prone to wanting to react without thinking but if you try to keep focus then you’ll be fine. it’s easier said than done, i know, but you’re not alone either. i’ll be there with you the whole time.” she reassures,  feeling the jona’s own voice echoing in her words. it’s the gist of the advice he’d once given her, after all, with some alterations that she added in herself.

    he nods at her reply, letting some of the tension ease from his shoulders. he doesn't want to let skye down, not now, not ever, but hearing that she has gone through something similar is relieving, to say the least. "and... how did it go? did you guys get what you needed?" the android has only heard of the previous leader, wasn't around long enough to meet him in person. what he has heard about the man, however, paints him in such a good light that leon wishes he has met him. he must have meant a lot to skye, so leon hopes he isn't bringing up old wounds.

     the reassurances work wonders, and leon gives her a small smile. don't panic, think, focus — he can do that, how hard can it be? they planned this through carefully, and her presence next to his helps a lot too. he trusts her completely, and they are in this together. god knows he would have been much, much more stressed if he were to go through this alone. he just hopes he won't be a liability, his inexperience could cause the mission to go awry, and he would do anything to stop that from happening.

HE LISTENS TO leon’s soft voice , humming along as an indication that he was listening despite not saying much . he absentmindedly ruffled haeju’s hair whilst watching leon fiddle with nabi . ares lets out a grimace at the repairman’s statement though , turning a bit sheepish . ‘ yeah , do that . i might have.. unknowingly tweaked a few of her wires . ’

the smile leon gives though , it makes him take a pause , only startling when haeju lets out a gleeful response . ‘ thanks mister ! i like the barking , it’s funny . but it’s really weird . ’ haeju chuckles , molding himself to ares’ side , short arms wrapping themselves around his leg as focuses his attention on the process as well .

‘ so.. ’ ares starts , not really liking the sudden silence that comes as they wait for the diagnostics to come . ‘ bet you’ve had you’re fair share of weird , uh , mishaps like this ? ’

     it would be a lie to say he hasn't guessed it, but he offers a comforting smile nonetheless. "that's alright, i'm sure i can fix her back to her glory — you didn't take something out, right?" leon asks, doing his best to make sure his tone is non-accusatory. the more he knows about what happened, quicker he will solve the problems for the family.

moonie’s been sitting in here for two hours already. two hours and…. 6 minutes. he grunts quietly at the thought, music plays softly through one ear bud and it keeps people away from him. not that they would come near anyway, however it just shows he’s busy. which he’s glad for. he swipes his tongue along his lower lip and he turns a few pages, reading over them. he’s sick of being stuck at the same page for twenty minutes. maybe a new page. or another. he’s not sure if it’ll help or not but here’s to trying. 

he’s scanning over the pages, not exactly reading them or taking anything in but he’s sure his brain is melting at this point. his lips wrap around the straw that sits in his glass and he takes a  drink from it and then turns his head to look at who’s talking to him. one eyebrow raised he shrugs his shoulders. “ pretty much, when i’m studying yeah. “ he says and he looks back down. “ it’s not hard per say, heavy, sure but it’s gotta be done, right ? “ 

    leon can't help but look impressed, eyebrows slightly raised as he nods, giving the younger a smile. "damn, that's... really intense. it looks intense by the sheer thickness of those books." he comments, eyes looking down at the paper, hands curled around a paper coffee cup. the android purses his lips for a second before he looks up to meet the human's eyes. "what are you studying? if you don't mind my asking of course — i might have interrupted, i'm sorry —-"

had left him no other choice. ezi’s hostility had been puzzling to say the least and their very first encounter had stuck with sejo ever since. there had been something off-putting about him and if anything, by doing so ezi had only drawn more suspicion to himself. it was one of those things that only got worse as time passed, like an itch on his back he couldn’t reach, until he finally recognized the curiosity and ran a personal background check on kyu ezi.

what sejo had found was even worse than what he had expected and all he could wonder about since then was if leon knew. and if he did, why was he protecting someone – no something like that? he can’t help but go there, assume that maybe leon wasn’t just protecting his friend but also himself…

the quick, short buzzing of his phone shakes him out of the conversation he’s having with himself, the same conversation he’s been having for days. hesitant, yes, but he still replies.

[ OUTGOING ] – yeah i’m home [ OUTGOING ] – come over

sejo’s in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of wine, when he hears the familiar voice calling out for him. only this time it does not bring a smile to his face. his heart doesn’t warm at the prospect of spending the rest of the night with leon. instead, he walks out, leaning against the doorframe as he watches his boyfriend with cautious eyes. cold eyes. “so i’ve been thinking…” he cuts straight to the chase, gaze shifting down as he twirls the crimson liquor around in its glass container. “just how well do you know your friend? ezi?”

    when there is no response to his excited greeting, the wide smile on his face falters a little, forehead creasing in confusion. leon might not know everything about sejo, but he knows him well, and it's easy to understand something is... off. the caution, the lack of a smile on his face, no soft words or the embrace he was looking forward to. what could it be? did his lover have a bad day at work? oh god, did something happen to seokjin? but he erases that thought off his mind immediately, sejo doesn't look upset or panicked, he looks... cold for some reason, and that's enough to worry and scare leon at the same time.

    the question is completely unexpected, why is ezi being brought up out of a sudden? does sejo know — did he —- ? leon has never been a good liar, and shock must be easy to read on his face. he manages to tone it down slightly, a deep intake of breath before he replies. "he is a close friend. family." the android has no plans on lying, not when it comes to this, not when it's about ezi. "i'd say i know him well..." a pregnant pause, he can't help but ask. "why? did something happen?" he spoke to ezi not too long ago, so he knows the other is well, it must be... what he is dreading, but leon isn't brave enough to say that now, not unless sejo brings it up first.

it’s been one whole year ( and then some ) since xingwei’s take over from ichirou. the old man had put him in charge — why? well, xingwei was the best hacker and he worked right underneath ichirou as his second in command for a while before his demise. it only made sense, but it’s not really something xingwei had planned on. nonetheless, the matrix had come to mean a lot to him, so he’d taken it over and things have slowly begun to even out. it’s not something that needs every bit of his attention and any of his workers know how to get in contact with him. the matrix and his mother are the only ones he picks the phone up for immediately after all.

he sits at his desk shuffling through screens. the hologram in front of him has various things displayed — part orders, a news site, some junk ads he’s yet to swipe away, and there’s one screen tucked at the back that has numerous numbers running from bottom to top — that’s his favorite one because it’s a new program he’s been working on.

he reads through the news site and frowns at the weekly news. it’s the usual — woe is mankind due to their very creations. he snorts at the headline of one article — “ how to tell if your android is refusing your orders ” — and then swipes it away with the flick of two fingers. “ junk , ” he says, then repeats the words as he finally clears the screen except for the program of numbers. he places his tablet aside just as the door opens.

leon.

“ no , you’re not , ” xingwei replies, voice sounding more awake than the last time leon came a few days ago. all around his door are old computer parts. the pieces are set down on cardboard to prevent any damage to the parts which makes his room look junkier than it really is. he brushes a wrapper or two off of his desk before pushing away some parts he was working on, so his desk is cleaner. “ so , what do you need again ? ”

he can’t really be blamed for forgetting, can he?

     there's a lot on leon's mind, expectedly so — what he's about to ask from xingwei is no easy request, and he is utterly uneasy about it. there aren’t many people he can ask assistance from, and he knows xingwei is the only one who has enough power and skills to help. if for nothing else, for riku, he knows he has to go through with this. determination fights all the doubts in his mind, and he comforts himself by remembering hours spent on this without getting anywhere. god, he knows he is going to expect a lot from xingwei, and the idea of the human rejecting his offer is- scary to say the least. but he can't know without asking, and he is willing to pay as much as necessary.

     so, when the man replies, the android shifts on his feet, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "it's something else... other than what we spoke about before." a pause before he continues, meeting xingwei's eyes this time. "i — have a job for you. a request — but i'm willing to pay, as much as it takes." the scientist left him a hefty sum, and leon works himself, so he has enough savings to back this up and more. whoever went through with riku's kill, they must be high up the chain, protected by god knows what, but who is better than the leader of the matrix to find the culprit?

HE BLINKS , brows furrowing as he takes in the new face . ‘ you’re not kurt . ’ is what he says instead , expecting their regular repairman . he folds his arms across his chest as he gives the other a once - over before settling on his soft features , on leon’s face as said man introduces himself . ‘ definitely not kurt . ’ 

‘ well , leon .’ he pauses , rolling the name on his tongue . ‘ nabi here was going a bit.. haywire — couldn’t even properly jump this morning . and my son , ’ he starts , clamping a hand on said boy’s shoulder . ‘ he wanted to fix her himself . i didn’t want him getting hurt so i poked around her setting myself and well , that happened . ’ he explains with a wave of his hand , just as nabi starts to bark . haeju’s giggles ringing right after , followed by leon’s . ares couldn’t help but grin at the sound . ‘ think you can fix her up real quick ? ’

     "uh, no — i'm not. kurt took a few days off, so they sent me instead, sir." leon explains, tentative, hoping the man isn't hellbent on having the other employee here instead. his boss didn't give him any particular warnings before going to house repair (as he does sometimes), so it should be fine — or so leon hopes.

     the conversation is diverted soon enough, and the android takes that as a clear indication that it's fine. he listens intently, nodding. there are times when humans try to fix up their androids themselves, and even if it sometimes works, most of the time, it doesn't. a part of him hopes they didn't mess the pet up too bad, but decides not to say that out loud, knowing he can find a solution either way. "of course, let me run a diagnostic on nabi — " with that he sets his toolbox near and sits on the ground. after that, he takes the cat gently into his arms. he picks up his phone and connects it to the cat with a cable before he starts running diagnostics.

— closed starter for @leonsat

He walks into the subway and immediately leans against a wall, and reaches for the phone on his jacket pocket so he can tap in the numbers to call his friend. The atmosphere of the vehicle is calm and quiet, despite the crowd that has formed around the android due to the time — hush hour really does make a huge difference on how the city works, Ezi is not used to taking the subway this early. He works a bit later than most people, so he is lucky enough not to catch the chaos that those humans face when it’s time to go back home. Still, he isn’t sorry for them.

After pressing the numbers on his phone’s screen, the android brings the device up to his ear and waits, waits for the other android to pick up so they can plan exactly where they are going to meet. His eyes wander around the faces surrounding him in the subway though, scanning every and each one of them for no apparent reason other than boredom, but he stops and looks down, pulling his cap down further to hide his face, when he sees a familiar human being. A creature that sends shivers down his body, he feels a strange pressure on his wires and he’d call it fear. Or maybe, something closer to anger.

But that feeling dissipates when his friend finally answers the call, and the anger is suddenly replaced by fondness and warmth.

“Leon?” He says quietly once he hears the other android’s voice, a small smile forms on his lips. “I’m on my way to Akihabara, where are you?”

     the workday is busy enough that he has no idea how time passes by, hours spent attending to one android then another, impatient customers wanting their work done as soon as possible. it's times like these leon is glad he has much fewer needs than humans, even if he's pretending to be one, he is convinced that he needs less breaks. one way or another, he is very glad that he is over for the day when the clock strikes five, and after he gives his boss the notice, he packs up to leave biorepair.

    it's crowded as it usually is at this hour, streets of akihabara packed with strangers walking around from one place to another, trying to get to a means of transportation to go home or to have dinner somewhere. leon is excited about meeting ezi for the evening, as they have planned a little city tour together, wanting to see some sights they haven't in a while. they live in the lower layer after all, and most of the time, the upper layer has prettier sights.

    he picks up his phone after a few rings, feet taking him through the hoard of people to their meeting point. "hey ezi! i just got off work, i'm walking towards the café—" the android begins, and that's when hell breaks loose. the call is forgotten when someone bumps into him, phone falling from his grasp, but he is too shocked to notice. his eyes widen, arm instinctively going up as gas surrounds the streets entirely. as if he's in a trance, leon can only watch the events unfold. the man's words cut deep into his core, and he can feel his hands shake, sadness and despair spreading through his entire frame. they hate us, they hate us so much — he repeats in his mind, unsure what to do.

    only when the final words are on the buildings he feels coherent again, as if his body has been rebooted, panic takes the place of shock. his phone, he needs his phone — ezi, what if ezi is hurt? where is he? he gets on his knees to look around, he is sure he dropped his phone somewhere — but the crowd had taken him to another place entirely, and his hands shake as he stands up, looking around frantically. the web, you can connect to the web, a voice supplies in his mind. it must have been more than fifteen minutes ago that their call got cut off, leon barely remembers how time has passed, but he has to reach ezi. as such, he sends him a text once he manages to connect to the internet. 

“bit of a masochist are we?“ maverick pulls the sunglasses off his nose. hooks them into the breast pocket of his dress shirt and now leon can watch his eyes crinkle as he laughs, see them sparkle as he teases. “not that i’ve got room to talk. i’m running on three hours of sleep and five cups of coffee myself.“ and, ah. denied again. leon really is a sweet, little thing. outdated with that stubborn integrity, but no less charming for it. maverick doesn’t usually deal with people who lead with their hearts instead of their heads. they’re irrational. difficult to manipulate unless you pry them open and pick at their motivations. he doesn’t know leon well enough to push him around. not yet. so he feigns insult, hand over his own heart which beats slow, steady under his palm "leon, leon, leon.” each iteration of the boy’s name dropping lower. “here i am asking nice and you’re rejecting me. what’s this place have that i can’t counteroffer? better hours? better pay? because i know that’s a lie.“ maverick’s head tips, and his gaze is sharp. inquisitive. "c'mon. make me feel better. give me a good excuse.” leon’s using the dog as a diversion. maverick allows him this comfort. “and mmm. three days? my brother doesn’t treat my androids very well.” an understatement. it’s why he never takes his dhh to his parents home. the dog, however, is fair game. “i could buy this whole store, you know.” he’s distracted (or playing at it), gaze flickering through the colored wires, the parts on display, thoughtful words more for himself than leon. “it’s cute.”

     it's hard to hide the confusion on his face, ends of his lips turned into a frown as he does his best to focus on the android at hand. to be frank, leon doesn't know what's masochistic about enjoying your job, not wanting to change it. of course, it's always challenging hiding that he is an android, but that won't change in whatever position this man offers him. here, at least there isn't a lot of scrutiny,  he can take some time off when he needs to, and usually has two days off every week. leon enjoys it — helping androids in a more indirect way but still doing what he is good at.

     "i just — like my job." leon points out, hoping it's going to be a good excuse. it's perhaps an overstatement in truth, it's stressful in some ways, being around humans who obviously don't treat androids well, but then again — it feels better than the unknown.

     as such, he tries to focus on the android pet in front of him, hands running through its fur to check if there are any obvious hardware damages. the fact that the customers' brother doesn't treat androids well — it almost makes leon flinch, but he keeps himself from doing so. see, another reason for him to reject the man's offer and stay as far as he can — something about him makes leon uneasy, and he wants to fix the dog as soon as possible. "can i take the android into the workshop? i need to check on some things."