Ever since the accident at the crux of their spar yesterday, Leon had been torn. He felt ashamed that he had let such a thing happen to Makyna. He wanted to hide his face; from her, from Cancer, from everyone. He didn't want to be around her for fear that he would hurt her again. At the same time, he wanted her to know that he was sorry. He was so terribly sorry for what he'd done. Did she know how guilty he felt? Leon wanted to wrap her up in himself and say sorry a million times, and do everything he could to comfort her. It was a constant battle between his desire to heal her and his desire to keep her safe - he was too dangerous. But who else could he trust to keep her from harm?

He was lost in his internal struggle. Though Makyna adhered to his side loyally as any best friend would, he cast a few glances at her every now and then just to make sure she was okay. Or just to make sure she really was still there. There was nothing that suggested there was anything wrong - she seemed to forgive him pretty quickly, but Leon's paranoia was desperate to act against that. Then, when he'd made sure she was alright, he would lose himself in his thoughts again. Only her voice had torn him from them, asking if he saw something. The bear blinked and tried to peer out down the tunnel. Sure enough, there lay a white body and a broken pink chrysalis nearby.

Leon followed her, coming up behind the lioness as she approached the hatchling. He sniffed at the wolf, finding that he looked oddly similar to Rohan - even down to the eye colour. Rohan! Leon blinked and furrowed his brow. Where was his other best friend, anyways? No, it wouldn't do to be distracted like this, despite how easy it was due to his guilt. The bear huffed and moved up beside Makyna, silently peering down at the canine. Focus time.

Leon, too, was taken aback at the little wolf's outburst. To be honest, Leon had accidentally scared others with his size before. Blue was one of the few who seemed absolutely terrified of him, even though Leon was among the more docile Gembounds roaming the cave. Still, the canine's fright had caused a small frown to appear on his lips and he took a step back, lowering his head. Leon turned to Makyna, who seemed just as hurt that the pup was afraid of them. He returned her look of apology with one of comfort and reassurance - it wasn't her fault, although it probably didn't help that the two of them had come out of nowhere, seeming infinitely larger than the newborn pup.

As Makyna explained that they weren't going to hurt him, Leon opted to lower himself to the ground, laying on his stomach on the cold rock floor. His large paws tucked into his chest in the same manner that a cat's would, having observed Makyna do it several times before. "Yeah, we're friends!" He added after his friend, shifting that frown into a wide, happy smile. Maybe if he could prove to the pup that they were benevolent, he would calm down and stop being so afraid. It hadn't been hard to prove that Leon was friendly in the past, so what would make this so different?

Laying on the ground, the bear watched the young wolf with wide, curious eyes. He had witnessed the hatching and emergence of many Gembounds since his own, but he hadn't ever seen one have so much difficulty moving. But maybe he was just different, maybe there was something about him that set him apart from everyone else. Everyone seemed to be just as different, after all. Maybe they had to find the special thing about him.

When the pup's legs trembled and he fell, Leon straightened up, as if making the move to help - but Makyna was already there, swooping in to comfort the babe. He remained silent and lowered his head onto his paws, watching, however his gaze lingered mostly on Makyna. In much the same way that he had comforted her and given her heat when he first discovered her, she laid beside him and began to lick his head, providing reassurance to the small creature after his fall. He understood that the little wolf needed some guidance - but that didn't stop him from feeling suddenly jealous when his best friend's maternal instincts brought her to showing such affection towards the pup. It wasn't easy to tell by any means, and Leon knew it was unreasonable for him to feel that way.

Maybe it was the accident. Nothing else could instill doubt in his friendship more than accidentally harming the one he loved the most - and so he found himself wondering, worrying, why had she never done the same for him? But then he would remember that he was the one that hurt her - he wasn't capable of healing her. He was only capable of destruction. His brows furrowed slightly, and his thoughts began to drift as Makyna tended to the pup. Surely, it was all in his head. Right?