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Behind Mooby Land, Monday Night

Leon dug through the dumpster until he found the good stuff -- a few burgers that had been thrown away because the employees messed up an order, salads and fruit cups that had passed their expiration dates, that sort of thing.

He sat down with his back against the dumpster, and double-checked the glass of rum he'd set out to bribe the squirrels. Then, with a sigh of numbed despair, he unwrapped the first burger and tore it in half. Angelo took the offered food gladly, but she whined softly, nudged Leon's arm, and looked at him with big puppy-dog eyes.

Leon shrugged and ran his fingers soothingly through her matted fur. "I know, I know," he told her. "There's better food other places. You want to go to Caritas. But..."

(I don't deserve it.)

"..."

(There will be people there, and I don't want to talk to them.)

"...Whatever. This is what we're having tonight."

(I'm such a horrible dog owner.)

He'd lost track of what day it was. He didn't know how long he'd been on the island. It didn't matter. He'd failed, and that was all there was to it. He'd lost... everything. Now, there was just one day following the next, and all of them sucking. He sighed from the depths of his soul, and looked up at the stars.

[For broadcast to Resistance only. Open like an open parking lot.]

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Spotting Leon and the dog, Karla waved, pulling her brown wig off so he'd know who she was. Leon wasn't someone she wanted accidentally confusing her with a Loyalist, thanks much.

"Hey," she said, when they were close enough to speak quietly. She held out her hand for Angelo to sniff. "You really gonna eat that?"

Leon grunted a vague non-answer. "It's food."

Angelo nuzzled against Karla and managed enough cheerfulness to wag her tail a few times.

"Barely," Karla retorted. "I managed to score a decent haul from some of the stores with my wig. I'll share, if you want."

Summer was by far the easiest time. Not only was the weather nice, but the numbers of new students made it harder for Umbridge's people to keep track of faces. That made it easier for Karla to wander around unnoticed.

"And my garden's doing well, too. There are fresh vegetables."

"I don't need charity," Leon spat. "I can make it on my own."

Which Karla could clearly see by the dead look in his eyes.

"I've got fresh vegetables, too," he pointed out, showing her a plastic container full of sad, wilted lettuce and dried-out carrot sticks.

"Don't be stupid," Karla snapped. "It isn't charity. It's that we want anyone standing up to Umbridge to be at their best, not half-faint from hunger or malnutrition."

She peered into the container and grimaced. "From what I've heard, detention serves fresher food than that."

Leon winced at the mention of detention. It was just another reminder of how badly he failed.

"I'm not at my best," he told Karla. "I'm not going to be. I suck." He shrugged. "And a garden isn't going to change that."

"So, your plan is to eat refuse and mope around the island until you get caught?" Karla scoffed. "You do realize that's both completely asinine and utterly pointless, right?"

Karla diGlacia, Queen of Pep Talks.

"I mope around the sewers, and the abandoned warehouses, where I won't get caught," Leon countered. "...And I don't mope!"

Angelo growled softly at him. Clearly, she didn't believe that, either.

"Way to stick to your guns about being utterly useless," Karla said, rolling her eyes. "Most people don't have the kind of dedication it takes to completely refuse to be helpful in any way, shape, or form."

"I just don't think it'll matter," Leon grumbled. "Look, if you need me to do something, just ask, and I'll do it. If you want me to believe the result is going to be anything other than complete failure? That's not going to happen."

"Well, hiring you on as the Resistance's next motivational speaker seems like it's right out," Karla said dryly. "Are you even Resistance? If you're going to give up, why not hang out in the dorms. At least you'll get fed."

"NO!!!" Leon growled. For the barest hint of a moment, something of the old Squall was back... but only for a moment. He sighed, and shrugged. "I don't do motivational speaking," he told her. "I hit things with sharp objects until they stop moving. And I'm not even any good at that."

And now Karla was pushing. She'd struck a nerve, she could tell. Maybe she could use that to get somewhere with him?

"All the more reason to go back to the dorms," she said, feigning callousness. "I'd rather have someone worthless on their side, not ours. And that's certainly the idea you're trying to pass along, isn't it?"

That got Leon up on his feet and right in Karla's face. "I'm far from worthless," he growled at her. "I'm one of the best you've got. And I'm not good enough. Don't you understand that? I had one, and only one, purpose in life, and I failed her."

At their feet, Angelo whimpered.

"If you're one of the best we've got, then stop crying into your damned Moobymeal and act like it!" Karla snapped back, just as happy to get into his face as well. "You failed her! Yeah, we all know it! But what makes you the bigger failure--that you messed up once or that you've given up completely? I know what Rinoa would say if I asked her that question!"

Leon snarled wordlessly and raised a fist, ready to punch her in the face...

And then shrugged and turned his back on her. It would have made for much more of a dramatic gesture if he wasn't now facing the dumpster.

"I'm not going to fight you," he grumbled. "But don't push it. Come and get me when the Wonder Wiggins come up with their next failure of a plan, and I'll be there."

Karla had stood her ground, even with Leon's fist raised to her face. She hadn't thought he'd do it--and, even if he had, it wasn't like she hadn't taken a punch before.

"'Don't push it?'" she repeated. "Why not? What are you going to do--glare at more garbage cans?"

Sorry, Leon. She was going to push. She'd kind of promised herself to help you remember who she was.

Also? She wasn't sorry.

Oh, he remembered who she was. Lots of his memories may have been eaten away by the Guardian Forces in his head, but he got this talk every time he quit the Resistance to go sulk.

"Yes," he grumbled, without looking at her. "The garbage cans don't talk back."

Karla enjoyed being memorable!

"So then why should that stop me? I get to castigate you, and you take it out on the garbage cans. I see no reason to stop."

From the roof a deep voice called out.

"If you're looking for food you can do better," said the guy in the mask as he crouch down on the roof's edge.

"Yes, I can," Leon acknowledged. "If you're trying to give advice, you could do better," he countered.

"Meet me back here tomorrow," he replied from his perch. "I'll bring provisions. For you and the dog."

"If I WANTED better food, I would have GOTTEN better food," Leon grumbled. "You can come back tomorrow if you want, but I won't be here."

"Suit yourself," the figure said with a shrug. "Just trying to help."

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Behind Mooby Land, Monday Night

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