ORIGIN

Leon didn't care that he'd been called a bully. Sure, it was frustrating that the three-headed dog didn't seem to understand his point of view, but all the bear had wanted was for them to stop. If that was what it took, then so be it; the bear would narrow his eyes into a glare and watch as the dog picked up the tiny leopard and fled with her, protecting her from some ill-conceived potential harm. He shook his head, cementing his posture until he could see the massive dog no more. They would leave the room, and Cancer would be safe again until he decided to antagonize the next creature that wandered into the room of stars. Leon snorted and turned his head to the black leopard who was now collapsed pathetically on the ground, and his face betrayed a range of emotions - anger, concern, confusion, but mostly distaste. "What were you thinking?!" He snarled; it was the only thing he could muster for now.

The bear gave a sigh of exasperation and began to turn away from Cancer. "I don't know what the hell that was all about, and I don't really care. If you need medical assistance I'll try my best, but otherwise, I'm out." His voice hardened as he cocked a glance back at the leopard, falling still for a moment. True to his word, if Cancer needed aid of some kind, Leon would dutifully go and find something or someone that could help him. If not, then Leon had no desire to hang around here any longer.

The taste of blood, of poison, of burning flesh... the scent of it. Cancer felt as if his world were melting, and he with it. He wallowed in this pain, in this self-remorse, self-pity and angst, until Leon's familiar rumble broke him from his shock. The cat's pale eyes snapped up at him and for a moment, he was afraid. However, as he turned away, a new, unbidden feeling swelled in his chest. Anxiety sprung forth to force the cat to stretch out, reach out, and make to grab the bear's hind leg with sheathed claws. He missed, of course, unable to struggle to his feet quick enough, but Leon stopped anyway to look back. Pathetic in a puddle of his own various fluids, Cancer looked up at him pleadingly. He didn't want to be alone. Even Leon's company was better than that angry dog's company.

"...I wasn't trying to hurt her." He rumbled, though which her he meant was left open to be decided. Perhaps he meant the obvious cub now being carried away to safety. Perhaps... he meant Amaria, whose ribs he'd crushed by mistake... perhaps... Makyna, whose heart he'd broken though how, he'd never understand. "I... I never meant..." He looked down at the ground, hoisted upon his haunches but slack in the hind quarters, legs splayed out beside and behind him. He looked... pathetic. Tired. Finished.

"...I just wanted... I just wanted my home to be safe... I just wanted..." Still, it was unclear which event he spoke of. To any passer-by, it was obviously the explosion that had just occurred... but between the two of them, it had so much more meaning than that.

"Speech"

He'd barely noticed the leopard's attempts to stop him, looking back just in time to see him stare pathetically up at him. It was in that moment that Leon couldn't help but feel just a twinge of guilt. He didn't know what caused it - was it remorse? Was it sympathy? Cancer had been stuck out here for so long it seemed, subject to the wrath of his family abandoning him to the void of distrust. It was Leon's fault - hell, not even partially. This was entirely Leon's fault. He was the one that had gotten Cancer banished. And here he was now, picking fights and getting his ass kicked, and the bear really couldn't help but feel that this was his fault. His gaze softened, but only for a moment.

I never meant to hurt her.

The bear narrowed his eyes slightly. At first, he assumed the leopard had meant the little cub cowering beneath the three-headed dog. He couldn't imagine that Cancer would've had good reason to hurt her, but he also had only intervened at the last moment. Maybe that wasn't who he was talking about. He shoved the thought aside - he didn't want to hear it, if only because it gave him grounds to forgive the leopard, and Leon wasn't certain he was ready to do that quite yet. More excuses came from the black leopard, and... as much as he tried to resist sympathizing, he knew that they had both only been trying to protect their loved ones. It became apparent that Orion was his home now, but... still, Leon didn't know what he was talking about - if he wanted to be ignorant, he could just assume Cancer was talking about this place. The urge was overwhelming.

He really didn't know what to say. Every part of him that clung to morals screamed to forgive the leopard, and yet every other part of him couldn't forget the poison of his tongue and every way Cancer had wronged him in the past. Leon sealed his lips, frowning as he stared the leopard down, then eventually dropped his gaze. What could he do? What could he say, to this? Nothing. His transgressions were as of yet unforgivable. But Leon was no better - he was hardly a saint compared to what Cancer had done and he had no right to hold himself above the one he'd had crucified before Maji Walezi.

Perhaps, if in that passing lapse of better judgment, they could cling to the aisling of what could have been. Leon sighed and his shoulders dropped, angling his body back towards Cancer. The bear lumbered towards him, his steps slow and uncertain. He stopped beside the leopard and sunk to his haunches, providing the security and silent solidarity of, in that moment, a friend. He was close enough that the leopard could lean on him if he wanted, and Leon raised his head, turning his orange eyes out to where the cerberos had vanished. There, he would watch and wait until Cancer felt safe again.

Leon stopped, looked back at him and his pathetic form, and Cancer stared back with wet, tear-stained eyes. Soon, the bear wandered back over and like a stoic guardian, sat over the fallen cat, protective and looming. Cancer didn't bother to thank him. He didn't bother to speak another word- fact was, he couldn't muster it. Tired, broken, beaten, he sighed and closed his eyes, letting his exhaustion take him while Leon watched over his unconscious form.

"Speech"