Teenybopper Troublemaker

Canon rp blog for Lea from Birth by Sleep. Ask || Submit || Threads || Player

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

[wanderingrecusant]

Isa smiled when Lea ruffled his hair, bumping his hand gently with his head. His comment, though, confused the older man. Isa should be careful? Well, he supposed that made sense, with what Lea had just seen, but what did he mean about Isa still being there?

"I expect your own Isa will be just as you left him," Isa said, giving Lea a strange look. Maybe he didn’t fully understand how this worked, and how could Isa blame him? But it was important that Lea understand at least how to keep himself safe.

"I’m serious, Lea. Stay away from that castle, or what almost happened to you today will happen to you for real, and I w-…” Isa stopped, abruptly choking on the word. He swallowed hard, to clear the lump in his throat. 

"…and I w-…won’t be able to save you. That’s why I want you to promise to stay away,” he said, gently gripping Lea’s shoulders to drive the point home. “Understand…?”

[leaember]

His own Isa...?

Lea reddened a little.  "Hey, it's not like he belongs to me..."  Sure, he borrowed Isa a lot, and maybe he didn't always treat his best friend like a separate entity...but still!  That better not be how Isa saw it.

He listened solemnly to Isa's explanation, but by the end of it it was pretty clear that Lea had not understood.  His expression was twisted into one of confusion and pity.  "Well that's not right.  I definitely can't let myself get clobbered by a bunch of punks like that!" he said, clenching a fist.

But then his eyes traveled over Isa's face and lingered.  "Besides."  He tapped the bridge of his own nose.  "There's gotta be a way to stop that from happening to you.  How're you gonna get girls if your face is all scary?"

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

[wanderingrecusant]

Isa couldn’t help but chuckle at Lea’s reaction; it was so childish, and yet so very him, and it made Isa’s heart clench with nostalgia.

"I’ve missed you," he murmured, but then immediately moved on from the slip. Lea was taking the news with serious aplomb, and Isa hurried to reassure him.

"I expect you’ll be pulled back soon enough," he said. "You aren’t the first to come here this way, and somehow I doubt you’ll be the last." It had never happened once before the family had returned to Hollow Bastion, and Isa wondered if Sora had somehow done something to connect the various timelines together.

Isa’s search would be much easier if he hadn’t, unfortunately- but then again, Isa had gotten to see Lea in various forms because of that. Even if it wasn’t the one Isa wanted to meet, it was still a comfort. And Isa could warn the little ones, and perhaps save them from following his own fate. Lea might resent the gesture, but Isa couldn’t help but reach out to ruffle spiky red hair. 

"…Please be careful, when you return," he warned. "Stay away from the castle, and stick close to Cid. Promise me that."

[leaember]

Lea's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to ask, but it made sense before he had to.  Of course time travel would have its consequences, but he didn't get why it was happening to so many people then.  He'd come very close to being a statistic in a post-apocalyptic future, which would have spelled disaster for the past.

So he closed it and scrunched against Isa's gesture like a human porcupine.  What was with him and treating Lea like a kid?  Well, Lea was--and to Isa he probably really looked it--but still!  What was ten years between best friends?

"Of course I will!"  Well...stay away from the castle?  Mark that a hard maybe.  Isa was even sounding like an adult now!  What'd they done to him?  "And you be careful, too," he added, burying a hand in blue hair and ruffling it right back.  "I want you to still be here once I go back, or I'll be the one missing you."

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

[wanderingrecusant]

Isa could have laughed, if it had been in other circumstances. He wasn’t thatold at all, just in his late 20’s. But he must look ancient to Lea, because to Isa, Lea looked like a baby. Barely any older than Yuffie. It was hard to keep from reaching out to ruffle his hair up to tease him for that comment. Instead, he let Lea’s hand go, to reach out and gently, affectionately pinch his cheek.

"You’re…in the wrong time," he tried to explain, as nonsensical as he was sure that sounded. "I don’t know how you found your way here, but-…it’s been ten years, Lea. The Gardens fell to the Heartless- those creatures that attacked you- …long ago.

[leaember]

To Lea, for whom five years was still a big deal, Isa had reached a pinnacle of existence.  He was an Adult, in a way the two of them had only pretended at for so long, and it was obvious in his every word and gesture--especially when he did the aunt thing.  Lea hated the aunt thing and flinched back, clapping a hand to the spot with a plaintive noise and pugnacious look.  It wasn't like Isa'd hurt anything but his pride, but that still merited a nasty response in Lea's book.

"The wrong time?" he repeated, latching on to Isa's meaning with all the ease of a kid who has not quite given up on his fairytales yet.  "You mean I traveled through it?" he added, feeling a weight in his gut.  At least traveling forward in time meant a chance of traveling back, but if time had just passed...

"So...I just have to figure out how to go ten years back.  Right?"

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

[wanderingrecusant]

Isa’s hands almost snapped out to catch the little redhead before he could fall down, but at the last moment he hesitated, just in case Lea didn’t recognize him and didn’t want to be grabbed by some stranger.

Which meant Isa startled all the harder when Lea called him by name immediately, without any hesitation, as if he’d known it was Isa all along. 

Wide-eyed, Isa reached one hand up to lay over Lea’s on his cheek. Isa’s hand dwarfed Lea’s. Isa’d met a number of this young Leas, displaced from their times and places, and yet not one of them had treated him with this level of familiarity. Even the ones who had recognized him quickly hadn’t-…treated him like they’d never been separated. Not like this.

Isa’s eyes burned. He blinked hard, pushing the stinging back.

"…It could have been worse," he said, trying to joke, but the shakiness of his voice made the sentiment fall flat. Abruptly he squeezed his eyes shut, and squeezed Lea’s hand as well.

"…Thank god you’re safe, Lea."

[leaember]

"What?"  It took a moment for Lea to tear his eyes from the scar to meet both of Isa's, because he was too busy coming up with reasons.  Had there been some awful battle?  But it looked so even, had Isa done it to himsel--oh no no no, Lea wasn't going to think about that.  "Oh..."  He shook his head to free it of the thoughts.  "Of course I'm safe!  Silly.  But..."

He was content to leave the one hand underneath Isa's, but the other shifted free as Lea looked around uncertainly at his surroundings.  "I'mmm...not sure what happened here.  What happened to home?  And why're you so old?"

It popped out before Lea could think twice, but then again Isa really was old all of a sudden.  It cheesed Lea off.  They tended to swap growth spurts, so sometimes Lea was shorter and sometimes Isa was, but this was getting a little ridiculous.

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

[wanderingrecusant]

Isa held tight as Lea squirmed. No matter what the redhead did, even if he fought back in his confusion, Isa would not drop him. Even if he lost his own heart, he would keep moving enough to get Lea to safety.

He would not let the Heartless have him again.

Bloodlust surged through his body, blood pounding in his ears. He twirled on one foot, Claymore slicing in a circle to clear the Heartless around him. His vision threatened to close into that tunnel that preceded a whiteout and a Berserk. If he hadn’t had Lea to worry about, he would already be gone into a blind, destructive rage. But he could not let that happen as long as Lea was in the line of fire.

There was nothing for it. He’d have to run. On his own, he would have smashed every last one of the Shadows back into the Darkness they were born from, but Isa couldn’t risk Lea. He slammed his Claymore down one more time, clearing a path directly in front of him, and Isa ran, faster than he had in his life except for two occasions; the first, dashing to rescue Squall and Aerith from an ambush. The second, his failed attempt at saving Lea.

But he could save him now, and all it would take was a short dash back to civilization. Soon he’d left the Heartless behind, and still he didn’t stop until the rubble gave way to residences and he was certain they hadn’t been followed.

Then Isa stopped, panting for breath, and knelt down, to let Lea slide back to his feet.

”..Are you…alright?” he asked, unsure what else to say.

[leaember]

Oh, so they were running.  Lea made a few short, strangled noises as Isa did, trying to find the words to explain that he could run too if Isa needed.  After all, Lea was fast and light, and he was pretty sure he could keep up.  But it was probably better he didn't speak up, because once Isa put him down, Lea's legs were shaking and he stumbled back and collapsed onto his butt with a pant.

"Whoa!  Hhh--what?  Yeah, 'm fine!  Thanks for that."  He rose, putting a hand to his stomach where he'd bounced against Isa's shoulder, but he certainly didn't begrudge his savior that.  "It was, uh...it was starting to get a little hairy back--oh Isa!"

Isa's face was too big for his hands, it seemed.  Lea rested his thumbs at the corners of the scars, just enough to feel the raised skin there.  "Awww, man oh man what happened to your--Isa what'd you do?" he moaned, sucking his breath back in with an empathetic hiss.

While he also had no idea how a number of years had passed for Isa and Radiant Garden, but not for Lea, his best friend's obvious mutilation came first.

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

[wanderingrecusant]

Isa kept a careful eye on where Lea was; the last thing in the worldIsa wanted to do was strike him. The Heartless were making it difficult for him to keep Lea close anyway, and Isa was getting frustrated. He grit his teeth, snarling as he smashed Heartless after Heartless mercilessly against the ground.

Then he heard Lea cry out, and for a moment, Isa’s heart stopped. His head snapped up to see the redhead with a Heartless clinging to him, and Isa screamed, a deep, throaty, wordless bellow of rage. A surge of unfettered Darkness forced the Heartless near himself back, and he plowed through the ones between him and Lea as if they were no more than paper. He dropped his sword back into its harness just long enough to seize Lea’s shoulder with one hand and the Heartless’s head with the other. He twisted sharply and yanked at the same time. There was a sickening crack, and the Heartless released Lea before fading away back into Darkness.

In one motion, Isa redrew his Claymore with one hand, and with the other he seized Lea by the back of the vest like he was a kitten and flung him bodily over Isa’s shoulder. The Claymore twirled in his opposite hand, daring the Heartless to come any closer.

"Hang on!" he commanded Lea. "I won’t let them lay one more claw on you."

[leaember]

For just an instant, Lea was both proud and horrified at himself, but then he realized the sickening crack was not his own work.  He had just enough time to understand that before he was getting scooped up, almost losing his grip on his frisbee, but Isa didn't have to tell him twice.  Lea held on tight and tried to duck out of the guy's way, expecting his weight to slow down his strokes and surprised when it didn't seem to.

Still, it was an awkward position, especially with his back to the Heartless.  Lea squirmed to see, not looking to make a nuisance of himself but also anxious not to get caught unawares.  He also didn't exactly know enough about this stranger to trust his abilities, but at least as far as Lea had seen, the guy had some enviable skill.

Regardless, he could at least trust Isa to keep the threat away from him.  Even if the stranger hadn't already said, Lea twisted and got a faceful of blue hair.

He'd know that smell anywhere.

But it wasn't the best time for questions, so Lea just held tight with a squished noise, suddenly far less concerned about his chances.

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

[wanderingrecusant]

Another fruitless search, and Isa was back in Hollow Bastion yet again. Worry and the need to check in on things kept dragging him back, despite his mission to find his lost friend. The rest of the Restoration Committee was grown now, and capable of looking after things, but Isa still felt the compulsion to make sure everything was alright. Which was why he was taking a turn through the outer edges of the livable part of the world.

And a good thing he was, too; in the distance, he heard a cry of distress. He was too far to hear the words, but the tone was enough. Coupled with the flare of what Isa now knew was the feeling of Darkness, that meant only one thing; a Heartless attack. Isa was in motion immediately, Claymore unharnessed and in hand almost before he hit his stride.

Turning the corner, Isa abruptly stopped like he’d been punched in the gut. The sight of Lea- unchanged, teenaged Lea- surrounded by Heartless immediately made Isa feel like he was trapped in an old nightmare.

-hard stone under his feet, screaming and punching and a sharp crack to his skull before blackness-

The redhead made a frightened noise, and Isa shook himself free of the flashback. Nightmare or not, Isa could save him this time, and he would. With a furious snarl, Isa dove at the circle of Heartless. One powerful slash cleared a path to the redhead’s side.

"Lea!" he cried as he plowed through the shifting, seething monsters to reach him.

[leaember]

Fighting the monsters back home had been one thing.  At least Lea had never been in a situation where he was facing more than one at a time, or at least had an adult on hand to handle it.  (Much as he didn't appreciate Dilan's rough handling, he could've used it and Aeleus's brute force about now.)

So he didn't expect his frisbees to do much good, but Lea still drew them and tried to steel himself.  "Fine, if that's the way you want it!  Come at me, you--!"

But the person who came at him didn't look anything like the Heartless.  Well, that wasn't quite true--Lea could've sworn he saw a flash of gold in the guy's face before it was lost to the flurry of battle, but he thought nothing of it.  That Braig guy had an eye of a funny color, too, but Lea never complained if it was picking out Unversed from afar (even if he was pretty sure Braig often aimed close to Lea on purpose).

Keeping his hands tight around his weapons, since he didn't trust himself to throw them and be able to retrieve them in a mess like this, Lea tried in turn to get close to his rescuer--just not too close.  That weapon wasn't one he wanted a good look at in the middle of a fight like this.

The Shadow that landed practically in his hair made him shout when its claws dug into his shoulders and Lea struck out at it with the toys, trying to get a point wedged somewhere uncomfortable.  "Let go--ngh!"

[lunasprout-blog]

leaember started following you

“There you are,” Isa said, strolling up to the redhead with his hands in his pockets.

"I’ve been looking all over for you. Where’ve you been hiding, huh?"

[leaember]

"Who says I've been hiding?"

Lea tossed one of the frisbees again in a wide arc, letting it sail around behind Isa and smack against his hand again.  His grin wasn't too far removed from the facetious one splitting the frisbee's front.  "Maybe I've just been exploring."

[leaember]

Threads

Isa (wanderingrecusant)

Isa (lunasprout)

[leaember]

wanderingrecusant started following you

"Isa?"

Still no answer, but Lea kept calling with his hands around his mouth.  "Isa, hey!  It's not much of a prank if you won't show up to laugh at me, you know!"  It wasn't the kind of opening Lea typically gave even his best friend, but his surroundings had him pretty spooked.  Sure, he'd maybe ticked off the old man with the magic spells.  He maybe had this coming on that count and Isa's.  But seriously, where were they?  This was dumb.

Lea hunched his shoulders and jammed his hands in his pockets, kicking a pebble as he walked.  It cracked against a stone wall, sounding empty and hollow despite its solidness.  What a lonely place.

He kept his ears perked and his eyes peeled, red spikes twitching with him as he looked in the direction of every unfamiliar noise.  But it wasn't until an unearthly noise caught his attention that Lea really started to panic.  It happened in front and behind him, and on all sides--sudden manifestations with dark rasps and glowing yellow eyes that stopped Lea in his tracks.  Whirling, he realized with a gasp of horror that he'd been surrounded.

"What the hell is--?!"

Dammit, Isa was gonna kill him.