adamant | 8th roar [ video + action for Goldenrod ]

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8th roar [ video + action for Goldenrod ]

[ The feed clicks on to nothing but Leon's voice, calm and even. If you know him, however, you might realize that he's a touch worried. ]

I heard Lockon was sent home, but has anyone seen Carly? One of her pokemon was transfer---

[ Another voice breaks in, high-pitched and excited and decidedly belonging to a certain ninja. ]

--Leon! Your egg! Gimme that!

[ There's a scuffling noise as Yuffie swipes the gear straight from Leon's hands; no, he gets no say in the matter. She immediately turns on video, and you get a good shot at the inside of Leon's room at the inn. It looks like what you would expect Leon's room to look like: spartan, meticulously kept, nothing of any personal significance on mantelpieces or the wall. Aerith is sitting in a small chair by the bed, Maria on her lap, watching the proceedings with some trepidation. What should attract attention, however, is the pack of dogs crowding the space: Romeo, the big Arcanine, with Mosey the Houndoom sitting sedately beside him. At their feet are Al the Poochyena and the yet-unnamed Riolu. Even Skarmory is there, with Lucky Duck on her back; all six pokemon have their eyes on Leon as he moves towards his backpack, which is now glowing.

Or not quite.

He pulls out the Growlithe egg; it's flickering, which is not something Yuffie's ever seen an egg do, because her voice is a bit cautious when she speaks. ]

Er, Leon? Is it supposed to be doing that?

[ Leon's expression is grim, but he gently sets the egg on the ground and takes a seat. After a few moments, Romeo and Mosey exchange glances, before they move in on the egg. Leon has a moment of apprehension, but neither canine makes an aggressive move. Together, they blow a gust of hot air at the flickering form; that stabilizes it, and its glow becomes more pronounced.

It seems interminable before the egg finally gives a few, meager shakes. The light recedes, leaving nothing but a very, very small Growlithe behind.

A very, very small Growlithe which is very, very immobile.

Yuffie's hand around the pokegear goes shock-still, even as Aerith brings her hands up to her mouth. Skarmory makes a keening noise; the dogs are silent, but their eyes are on the puppy. Leon seems to make a decision, because he surges forward, his voice low and even. ]

Aerith--give me my scarf. Now.

[ Aerith, snapped out of her shock, reaches around for the requested item, wasting no time in throwing it to Leon. He uses it to pick up the tiny thing on the floor, before sitting back down in a single, heavy motion. He settles the small bundle on his knee, bending over it. Then, with the single-minded concentration Leon has been known to give to things that matter, he starts to rub.

He knows, in a corner of his mind, that he should be rushing this small creature to the pokemon center. Isn't that what he told Kairi to do? But he remembers Ari's face when she looked at him, long and measuring. Kisa's gently worried stare, and the promise he made her. If the heat from Romeo and Mosey caused the egg to hatch, then it stands to reason that if he can warm the little one up enough it should wake, right? But he can't make the puppy cross the divide; all he can do is build a bridge and hope she meets him halfway. He can give her a chance.

Isn't that what he'd told Kisa? That they would work together.

Yuffie's hand is shaking a little; anyone's who's been keeping track might be a bit put off. But the camera never leaves Leon's hands, gently but firmly trying to reinvigorate the baby Growlithe. The dogs and Skarmory are all looking at Leon, now--even the distant, quiet Riolu seems worried.

There's no sound other than the soft patter of wind against the windows and collective, tense breathing. Yuffie can distantly be heard whispering, a slow and steady chant of 'come on, come on, come on...'

And then there's a sneeze. The tiniest, dimmest little sneeze you ever heard. Out of the scarf emerges a nose, which Romeo and the others immediately rush to meet.

Relief floods the room. Leon smiles, shy, warm and tired. Aerith laughs, and Yuffie gives a cheerful whoop. ]

She got lucky.

Way to go, Leon! I'm totally showing this to everyone!

[ And with that, Yuffie turns off the feed. ]

[ ooc. gold is Yuffie, pink is Aerith, both used with permission! ]

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[Awww, Leon. She would tease him about his smile suiting him well, but decided against it. When he asked for the bag of kibble, she'll nod her head gently before heading towards the nightstand.

Maria will be by Leon's side curiously looking at him. She wanted to greet the new pokemon too. Mosey noticed the way Maria was trying to get Leon's attention, so he gave her a bark which got her to settle down quick. Maria will be giving the large Houndoom an apologetic look. Sorry, Mosey.

Aerith noticed the way Mosey took care of the situation and smiled happily. It's good to see their relationship has gotten better lately. Showing Leon the bag with a smile.]

This one, right?

[Now she will be looking around the room for a bowel because she highly doubts Leon will let the puppy eat from the ground.]

Yeah, that's the one.

[ By now, the puppy has really started to squirm, and is shakily standing up in Leon's lap. She looks over at Maria and Mosey and gives a playful yip. Hi there, guys!

That done, she turns back to Leon, moving to press her face against his belly. Hello, funny-smelling man. Who're you? ]

You hungry?

[ As soon as Leon asks, she looks delightedly up at him. Oh boy, is she ever! With an amused little smile, Leon presents her with a few pieces of kibbles. Instantly, she starts scarfing them down; he puts a warning, firm finger against her throat, bringing her head up. ]

Chew.

[ Slightly intimidated, she goes back to eating--slower, this time. Leon looks to Aerith, feeling tired but accomplished. He notices she's rifling around for something, and has a good guess what it is. ]

You don't have to worry about it--she'll just eat from my hand for now.

[The playful yip quickly got Maria's attention because she couldn't help feel energetic over the greeting. She'll be wagging her tail and gives an "Veeeee~" sound in response. Hiyaaaa!

It looks like someone wanted to play, but knew it wasn't time since Mosey was glaring at her. He is watching you, Maria. Behave. B|

Aerith silently watched the way Leon was instructing the small puppy to chew. A smile appeared on her lips by just watching the look on his face. Realizing she was staring at him (again), she decided to look around for the dish until he gave her an answer about the matter. She couldn't help relax a bit.]

Good idea.

[She'll lean forward to take a closer look at the tiny puppy with a soft smile on her lips.]

She's really cute. I can already tell she is very special. [A small smirk slowly appeared on her lips.] I wonder if some of her cuteness will rub off on you~

Look at those paws. She's going to be huge.

[ He's referring, of course, to the puppy's abnormally large paws, dewclaws on each foot. So what if she's got extra toes? It'll just give her extra grip. Leon looks up, seeing Aerith looking at him intently. He raises a brow. ]

What do you mean by that?

[She turned her attention to the young puppy's paws realizing they are a little bigger than usual, but it was still a good sign. Hopefully the puppy will grow up to be a very strong and healthy Growlithe.]

I can't wait to see how much she'll grow. I bet she'll be a very powerful pokemon.

[At Leon's question, she couldn't help giggle at his reaction to her teasing. Oh geez, Leon. Wrong question to ask.]

Oh, nothing~! I'm sure you aren't purposely doing it.

Doing what?

[ His stare turns hard. Better start giving him answers, Aerith. The puppy seems to notice he's become more tense, because she looks up, but Leon quickly gives her another kibble, and down she goes. ]

Don't dance around the question.

[The hard stare isn't stopping her from giggling some more. She can tell he really wants to know, but...]

Does it really matter what I'm thinking about, hm?

[She can't help tilt her head with the small playful smile on her lips. Okay, fine. She'll tell him....after teasing him a little more.]

Are you sure you really want to know? My answer might...be a little embarrassing.

[ And just from that smile, he can tell what she's thinking about, because Yuffie just teased him about it earlier. ]

You think I'm mothering this puppy, don't you?

[ Frroooowwwwnnnn. ]

[So close, Leon, but you hit and missed. However, she'll just go along with his theory because it was partially true. Shaking her head gently.]

Of course not! I never once thought of you doing such a thing.

[Now wait for it...]

I was actually thinking you would be a good father someday~

[ He looks up at her, startled.

His mouth opens.

His mouth closes.

Excuse him, his brain may have ran away from him. ]

I--you--what? Aerith!

[ Embarrassing? About a twenty out of ten. ]

[Sorry, Leon. She just....HAD to say it because his reaction was priceless. She covered her lips hoping to calm the roar of laughter that was dying to come out. So much laughing out of his reaction.]

[When she finally calms down from laughing, she'll look at him with a smile appearing on her lips.]

Don't worry, I was only kidding. [Looking striaght at him this time the smile still in place.] You really need to learn how to lighten up a bit, Leon. We aren't in Radiant Gardens now, so you should learn how to relax and lighten up while you still have the chance to.

[Only Aerith can turn joking time to lecturing time in only mere seconds.]

[ fhjdkshf SO MUCH GLARING ]

That isn't funny, Aerith.

[ He's not rolling his eyes at her, but the expression on his face is close. ]

You say that like there's a time limit on fun.

[ Leon'll totally have fun. After Radiant Garden is rebuilt. And the Heartless eradicated. And the worlds restored to order--he'll never have fun ever. ]

[Aerith looked at Leon for a moment until she turned her attention to the inn's floor. Many thoughts were going throught her mind where she wanted to tell Leon about her thoughts on the subject. However, she didn't want to upset him on a special day like this one. She closed her eyes for a moment to think of something to say. Anything.]

Are you having fun here? Are you enjoying your stay in Johto so far?

[She held the bag close to keep herself in check.]

Do you think if we were in Radiant Gardens now: Would we have had any time to spent together or even take the time to get to know each other better?

[ The questions catch him by surprise. They're not out of left field, exactly, but of all she could've answered with--he wasn't expecting that. ]

I--I guess so.

[ Honestly, he hasn't thought about it at all. She's right, though, he knows; they've been so busy this past year, the whole restoration committee, that they've hardly seen each other's shadows unless it had something to do with the reconstruction. Leon was happy that way, in fact: he liked having a routine, a job to do, something concrete and stable to work on. Clearly, he thinks guiltily, Aerith was not. Suddenly, he feels like a pretty bad friend. ]

You're right. We'd probably be working, right now. [ He shakes his head; his expression stiffens. ] But this isn't--this isn't a vacation, Aerith. We've got work to do, back home. More important than...

[ He was about to say 'this', in reference to the world around them, but he knows it'd ring false if he said it now, holding the baby Growlithe that nearly didn't make it. Things do matter here; it's just that the things back home matter infinitely more, still. ]

I know. I know we have important work to do back home, Leon. I haven't forgotten about it. Not once.

[She looks down at the bag of food again.] It's just that... [Carefully choosing her words here.] In a way, this is kinda a vacation from our usual routine, isn't it? Ever since we all ended up in Traverse Town, ten years ago, all we've been doing is working hard to prevent the town from disappearing like our world did. You, most of all, have been working hard since day one in protecting everyone from the Heartless. I like to think we were brought here for a reason.

To try and relax is one of my theories, so I... [She looks up at him and smiles weakly.] I want to have as much fun as I can...with you, our friends, and our pokemon too. We don't know how long this world is going to keep us here. Wouldn't it great if we could use the time we have here to have fun and create deeper bonds with our friends?

[ He looks away, shielding his face. He doesn't want to bear how reproachful she looks. ]

I don't think of it as a vacation, Aerith. [ Though, he does realize that he's been alternatively more relaxed and more tense since he's been here. He sighs, a bit furstrated.

She knows him; she knows he can't stand not to have a plan, a project, something greater than him that gets him up in the morning and makes him feel useful. Leon doesn't do 'relaxation' because 'relaxation', in the traditional sense, is the opposite of relaxing for him. At least, in large quantities like what he's getting here. ]

But maybe you're right. Maybe there are bonds here we need to forge, before we go.

[ He thinks of Terra, Lightning, Kairi, Cecil; and, with some fresh, blossoming pain, of Lockon, Carly and Zack. Leon has always treasured his friends, but knowing that someday they'll just up and disappear...is hard. ]

It'll be hard to see them go, but...

[She looks up at him with a small smile forming on her lips.]

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." [Guess who was trying to somehow sound like a certain warrior? Luckily she used her normal voice to repeat his words.] I remember you clearly told Sora those exact words. I believe it's possible to never forget the bonds we create, even if we do forget them. As long as our hearts stay connected to one another, then the memories aren't truely gone. They'll only be locked deep within our heart.

[She'll get a tiny bit closer to him and give him a true smile.]

Let's continue to work together. We might not be home, but we need to stay strong to face the surprises of each day. I know I feel stronger as long as we stay together. It brings back a lot of memories...

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8th roar [ video + action for Goldenrod ]

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