tampered | ongoing; closed

When; March 16, just after midnight
Rating; PG
Characters; Leon Magnus [

roseofseingald ] and Natalia Luzu Kimlasca Lanvaldear [

imperialwill ]
Summary; When Leon can't go home after the curse, he finds himself on an unlikely doorstep.
Log; It was only a little after midnight when Leon found himself knocking tentatively on his employer's door. He didn't know why he'd picked this place, didn't know what he was doing really. He only knew that he couldn't go home. Not like this, not while he held a sword still coated in the blood of two of his housemates.

He'd stabbed them. He'd really- He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think that yesterday had actually happened. That he'd betrayed Stahn again and had gone so far as to betray Yuri too. For what? He could remember saying just because he felt like it. It nearly made him sick to think he'd been forced to betray people again. He'd never wanted to the first time, and now this-

There was no way they would forgive him, how could he expect them to? Even if he tried to justify it with a curse, it didn't change the fact that he'd done it and it was a mistake and he couldn't take it back. And there's no way he justify it like that, no way he could. It was his fault if he couldn't resist an urge like that. It was entirely his fault.

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It was late, but she heard the knock just the same. Of course she'd stayed up all night- some of her friends hadn't returned home, and she was so worried. All that chaos on the network... after a while, she taught herself to ignore it. Curses that awful didn't deserve to be acknowledged.

Still, hoping that someone had finally come back, she hopped from the couch and flung the door open. She'd expected to see one of her roommates, but instead there was Leon, looking much worse for wear.

"Leon--?" She immediately began to fret, her worry turning into something else entirely. "Oh dear- what happened?"

"I was- I was cursed. I stabbed two of my fr- housemates," the words came out in a rush. He just needed to say it, but now that he had it felt so much more real than the blood dried on his weapon. He frowned, brows furrowed tightly together in pain and confusion.

"I didn't want to- I wouldn't have betrayed them like that- I didn't know where to go. I can't go home, not after doing that. I couldn't possibly-"

He felt sick the more he talked about it. It just made everything so much more real, telling it to someone else.

"Oh Leon!" Natalia immediately moved to hold him in her arms, hold him close and shove away that look in his eyes, to remove the burdens from his shoulders. She knew just how awful curses could be - had been here for two years, how couldn't she have known? - and she certainly couldn't blame his actions. But he looked so worn, so ill, this good person she's come to know and trust.

"It's all right, Leon- you're free to stay with me as long as you like. I know curses can be troubling, so if you'd like to stay home from work, you're free to do so as well." It had been a while, really, since something this awful happened to someone she knew - and an employee of all things!

She silently cursed the deities for hurting him. She'd always had a feeling there was more to Leon than what he brought to work, and there was still yet another feeling that she wouldn't know. Perhaps she could convey all she felt within that simple hug.

To have betrayed friends - she knew what he meant - it must have been awful.

Leon froze up at the contact. The last time he'd touched someone, he'd been stabbing them. But he wasn't cursed now, and he didn't feel the need to stab anyone, or to betray anyone else. He just stood there in her grip, hands still at his sides as he frowned, clenched his fists, tried to make sense of it all.

"No, that's not- it's not necessary. I can't stay here and run away from the problem. They deserve more than that- But... It might help if I could work more, to give them more space until- I don't know how to deal with this."

She felt him tense, felt his helplessness, and not once did she loosen her grip. Even after hearing his story, she didn't feel at all threatened. When she finally did step away, she tried to lead him inside, where it was warm, welcoming- just what he needed after a stressful curse day, yes?

"Nonsense, I can't allow you to be alone during a time like this." She frowned. She'd never had to deal with this either, really, and she couldn't guess his friends' reactions. What if they were really angry? What if they were forgiving? But she could at least suggest, do something to help him out. "I'm afraid I don't have a solid answer. But I don't really think it's running away if you stay with me for a few days, until the shock of the situation has at least gone away. So that your housemates may think clearly and logically about their own feelings toward this."

"I can't stay gone for long. I hated it when Yuri avoided me after what he did, I can't do the same thing. It would help if I could stay the night but... I need to go back to face this tomorrow. I just need a night away, to prepare myself for it or- yeah. Just a night-"

Leon, who was always about confidence, seemed so unsure of himself as he spoke. He mind was moving too fast, trying to decide what the right thing to do was, what he should do in spite of what he felt like doing - running away from it, avoiding it, avoiding them.

He followed her inside, feeling awkward at being in his employers apartment, especially for such a reason as this. Natalia didn't need his problems, but despite that fact, he hadn't known where else to go. He'd only come here because it was the only place he could think of that he knew with some familiarity because Florian had taken him there before. He felt guilty, for dropping this on someone who was uninvolved, but perhaps- Perhaps somewhere in him he knew Natalia was the type of person that would listen, would comfort him, would take him in like Marian would have done if he'd been home.

"You're free to stay as long as you like, Leon. Really, I don't mind. Please don't feel obligated to leave." She bowed her head. "Though I also respect your decision to clear things up with your...friends."

She wasn't very fond of Yuri, from her personal experience with him and what he did to her friends, but he was an important part of Leon's and Flynn's life, it seemed.

"You can sleep in Lloyd and Colette's old room. Please help yourself to anything in the kitchen, too."

She took a hand- giving him an intense look. "I'm so sorry, Leon."

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything- I shouldn't even be here involving you in all of this."

Leon looked down at his hand in hers, feeling warm fingers against his own which felt so cold right now. She was too nice. What if she had been one of his victims? Would she have still been able to take his hand so confidently? He didn't want to consider it as an option. It was over, the curse was over.

"I don't need anything. Just- Somewhere to sleep for the night."

"All right, Leon." She led him to the empty room, moving in herself and tidying up what items were left behind, making sure the pillows were fluffy and the blankets were soft.

When it was up to her standards, she stood next to the bed, in that awkward state between wanting to leave him to his own devices and wanting to comfort him.

ongoing; closed

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