#nevergods

but thats what someone not helping her would say / accepting

"Why?" Suspicion is one of the only ways Addy has gotten as far as she has, and...well, no one who seems to be trying to help her has actually had her best interests in mind. It's always ended in some sort of betrayal, with the person acting out of malice from the beginning or caving to fear, deciding she's just too much to deal with or that they'd rather reap the benefits of turning on her. Add in Leon's job, and the unclear circumstances for how and why he found her to begin with, and there was bound to be a layer of suspicion and paranoia. "I don't need help."

While the building Iffy's been trapped in wasn't exactly warm, the rush of cold air as the previously barricaded door opens is still a shock. The shotgun pointed at the intruder is empty, but they don't need to know that. After everything she's been through out here, she'll take every bit of defense she has, even if that defense is just her bluffing.

Rare are the moments when the two of them can get away from it all. The academy, other students, other people in general. The lingering paranoia that someone might be watching somewhere Leon can't see, waiting and ready to snap a photo at any moment, is still ever present, but he's checked this time. Hell, he checked the place three times over before he actually let himself relax. They're fine. They're alone. No one's watching.

It's been way too long since he's even had the chance or the energy to come back home to Osaka. It's as vibrant and cozy as it was when he left it. Something warm and sick twists in his ribs at all the sights he's missed, and like a sailor drawn to the siren, his eyes dart off to a familiar shape not far from the rooftop he's dragged Makoto up to. Home. What's supposed to be home, anyway.

Defiance twists in his gut at the sight. One day. One day, when he's not scared anymore, he'll take Makoto there and show him off like he deserves to be, judgement be damned. Kanon, at least, would be fine with it. Given how much she used to like to tail him, there's a chance she already somehow knows.

...Just to be sure, he gives the immediate area another once over. Still clear.

He loses track of time up there with Makoto, chatting about nothing and pointing out various locations that he can spot from their perch ( "Way over there's my old school, that's the street my babysitter used to live on, my favorite restaurant's somewhere over there—I'll have to take you sometime!" ) until the sun decides to spite him by daring to set. They knew they had a time limit before they ever came out tonight. It doesn't make the leaving any more tolerable.

"Bummer..." Leon sighs, squeezes Makoto's hand once, then scoots away from the ledge he'd hung his feet off of to stand back up. The last thing he wants to do is go back to the academy right now, but Makoto's right. It'll only look worse if they both decide to stay out tonight anyway. So, it's back to Hope's Peak for tonight. Just for a short while, until he can work up the courage people think he already has to take the plunge and stray this far out again for reasons he actually wants.

If Makoto hadn't said it, Leon was going to. Plenty of ideas have come and gone since their time began here at the Foundation, but each one of Makoto's ideas so far have been good. Far greater than anything Leon's capable of, anyway.

This, though... Yeah. It's crazy.

"Well, you said it..." Leon leans back in his chair, one hand lifting to run his fingers through his hair. "How're you even gonna get these guys to listen to you? You know you can't just walk up to 'em like 'hey, please chill out', right? They'll-" Kill you. That's not even something he wants to risk speaking into the world at this point. The very idea that something could kill Makoto, could crush the last bit of hope he's got... No. No. Not even gonna think about the possibility. Makoto's not allowed to die, so maybe this idea isn't completely crazy.

Besides, can Leon even really say he's against it? The Remnants are dangerous, but some of them were friends once. He's never purposefully turned his back on a friend before, why's he trying to start now?

With a long, drawn out sigh, he lifts his gaze to meet Makoto's. A mistake, really. Now he really can't say no, not when he's still got that hopeful glint in his eye, in spite of the doubutful tone. That's so unfair.

"No, but I kinda hoped you'd have something up there in your noggin that'd help!" His own fault for getting Saint for this job anyway. Of all the people he could've pulled aside to help him assemble this stupid set of chairs he bought on impulse because they looked cool, he picked someone like himself. Why?

Grumbling, Leon snatches the instructions from Saint's hands, then steps back away from the mess of parts on the floor to lean against the wall behind him. He doubts reading it a third time will make it make any more sense, but hey, third time's the charm, right?

...No, actually, no it isn't. Not for this. The hell is all this filler and unnecessary words for? 'Thing A attaches to Thing B', see how much easier that is?

@nevergods

Makoto obviously means well. It's probably not even possible for him to be anything less than frustratingly compassionate. But one of the last things Leon ever wants to do is sit down and talk about his stupid feelings, no matter how many times Makoto notices the very thing he tries hard to hide. It's one thing to go off to him about something that pisses him off, something ridiculous that someone else said, whatever.

It's another thing entirely when he doesn't even have the words for what the problem really is, much less the desire to make it someone else's burden. It's just...nothing. A hole, of sorts, that drains him of everything he is. Especially as of late, and not for the first time. Whatever his problem is, it's been there just as long as his talent has been, if not longer. Most times, he's too busy hanging out with his classmates or sleeping to really notice it's there. Other times, it creeps up on him out of nowhere, and he ends up like how he is now. Quieter than he's supposed to be. Laying on the floor of his dorm room, tossing a worn baseball into the air, just to catch it and repeat the process. Endlessly bored.

How is he supposed to describe that anyway without sounding like he's some lame poet from a time he doesn't care about? It's not like there's an easy name for it. Leon puffs out his cheeks at the thought and glares at the ceiling of his dorm room. It's not the room's fault he's like this. It sure doesn't do him any favors being inside it either, though.

"Yeah, yeah... Pretty sure you're not gonna let me forget it," he jokes. Half-jokes. His kind heart and his persistence are huge reasons Leon fell for Makoto in the first place. Every now and then, though, he kinda wishes he'd just turn a blind eye. It's not Makoto's responsibility to coddle him.

Next time the ball comes down, he keeps it in his hand and toys with the red thread, some of it already torn loose from the last several times he's ended up here. But, anything for another distraction, however minor. Looking past it, he catches the look on Makoto's face from where he sits on his bed. Cute. Makes him feel a little bad to be the reason he looks that concerned, though. With a fond roll of his eyes, he tosses the ball in Makoto's direction with a quick "think fast!" serving as his only warning. Carefully, of course, so he can actually catch it. One of the other last things Leon ever wants to do is accidentally break his boyfriend's nose with what he considers to be a light toss.