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Frey was hurrying around town as usual, running errands, as she almost ran into Leon in front of the flower shop. She knew he liked to go fishing there, but this morning he just stood there, clearly lost in thought.
"Hey you," he said with a stern face and troubled eyes. His expression made her stop in her tracks and she decided to set her busy schedule aside for a moment.
It had been a few months now since she had rescued him, but she felt like compared to the other guardians, Leon had the hardest time adjusting to his new surroundings. No wonder, she thought, he had been the first guardian and thus the one who had… slept? the longest. There must be little to nothing in the Selphia of the present that he recognised or that felt like home to him.
"What is it?" she asked, prepared for another of Leon's typical teasing answers.
"Nothing, I was just making sure you were really there," he said giving her a weak smile. It was obvious that he was only half-kidding, at most. A few days before he had told her that everything felt like a dream to him. She had tried to reassure him that everything around him actually was real now, that this was reality, but how do you convey something abstract like reality with just words? If words aren't enough…
She took his hand instinctively. She could see the surprise in his face from the unexpected touch. Maybe this could work, she thought.
"I am real, and I am here," she said, giving his hand a squeeze, trying to proof her point.
"And if you ever need someone to talk to, or even just to stand in silence with, I'll be here too. I'll be right here for you."
Leon just stood there for a moment, speechless. Frey didn't make a move, looking at him with nothing but honesty and empathy and kindness in her eyes. In the face of her sincerity he couldn't find it in himself to answer jokingly. To just brush away that it seemed like she knew how he really felt, behind his teasing facade. And more importantly, that she actually seemed to care.
"Frey…" he finally found his voice again. "Thank you," he just said, plain and simple — and honest, for once.
"You're welcome. We're friends, after all," she said with that bright smile of hers. A smile that made him feel like he could actually be okay, one day.
As the warmth of her smile spread through his body, the last part of her statement rang in his ears. "We're friends, after all." He felt his playful side awake after that bit of real talk.
"Friends, hm?" he smirked at her teasingly, brushing his thumb over her hand, as neither of them had made any move to let go until now.
Realizing that they were pretty much standing in front of the flower shop holding hands at what was typically a busy hour of day, Frey blushed furiously. How could she just forget to let go? She quickly slid her hand from Leon’s, sighing in annoyance at herself. At least it seemed like nobody else has witnessed that incident, she thought, scanning their surroundings carefully.
Leon just laughed at her reaction and as his smile reached his eyes in a way she hadn't seen before, she found her anger subsiding quickly. Maybe he would be okay someday, after all. Besides, if one looked closely, she swore that there was a soft blush on his tanned cheeks, though that could also have been from the laughing, mind you.
"Thinking about it, maybe we aren't friends after all," she said, crossing her arms in front of her body, acting offended in an attempt to get him back for his teasing. She wasn't ready to beat him at his own game yet, however, as his answer made her realise.
"Oh, what are we then, Princess?" he asked her in that low baritone voice of his that made her feel… weird. The redness on her cheeks wasn't going anywhere and Frey sighed in defeat. Why did she talk to him again? Oh yeah, because he had been sad and agitated before… I guess I like him better this way, she thought, sighing once again.
"I still have stuff to do, you know," she said, ignoring his question and starting to turn away to get back to go about her day as she had been before his perturbed look had made her stop in her tracks.
"I know, you're always busy. Thanks for taking a break for me," he said, only half-teasing, giving her a smile.
"Anytime," she said, genuinely. She kept looking him in the eye just long enough to see a blush creep up his face before she really turned to go about her day.
"I'll see you later, then," he said and even though she couldn't possibly have heard him as she was almost around the corner already, she waved at him before vanishing into the streets of Selphia.