Leon clapped with everyone else as soon as the conference ended. He could barely see over the crowd, and he barely understood what was said, but being a part of an official Interstellar Forces conference was good enough for him.

Not for Aiden. “What was up with that video?” He turned to Jun. “Why’d they end it on you? So embarrassing.”

“Jun’s not embarrassing!” Leon argued.

Jun chuckled. “I dunno, I looked kinda lost in that pic, not gonna lie.”

“No, not you. You’re cool.” Aiden clarified. “The IF is embarrassing. Why make it so obvious that it took building a base on Mars before they opened it up to everyone?” He gave a sarcastic clap. “Good job guys. Soooo innovative.” A smug smirk crossed his face. “Bet they’ll never mention they almost put ‘em in jail.” He pointed a finger at Jun.

“Jail??” Leon had never heard about that. Roxie and Mia showed the same confusion.

“Oh yeah, that.” Jun mentioned casually. “There was a vote whether or not to lock me up for breaking the rules. I narrowly avoided getting arrested.” They elbowed Aiden. “Otherwise, we both would’ve done time, huh?”

That reminded Leon of a question he desperately needed to ask. “So. Aiden… about breaking out of jail...?”

“Yeah?” Aiden glanced at him. “I did it.”

Leon decided Jun would be more helpful. “Is he just messing with me?”

“Nope.” They were just as nonchalant. “Messing with you would’ve been if he told you he went in for--”

“Hi, Shirley! Hi, Sparky!” Roxie’s greetings distracted Leon from the terror of realizing his roommate was an escaped convict.

The tall lady and her goggled friend from earlier came up to the group. They both looked a little embarrassed.

Goggle lady spoke first. “Sorry again for stealing your stuff! We’ll be more careful the next time someone asks us for ‘errands.’”

Tall lady rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, we didn’t mean t’ hurt anybody.”

“S’all good.” Jun flipped their bangs. How could they be so cool all the time?

“It’s not like you guys wanted to steal our stuff!” added Leon. “I’m sure everyone here would forgive you.”

“I dooo~” Roxie chimed.

“No hard feelings.” Mia gave a polite smile.

Aiden shrugged, which was basically full forgiveness coming from him.

“Plus it was kinda cool the way you picked up that whole cart!” Leon laughed.

A huge grin formed on the tall lady’s face. “Aww shucks kid, thanks. And I’m glad you all forgive me an’ Sparky! Hope your captain’s not too mad…”

“By the way,” Sparky leaned forward, “does he always carry the handbook in his hat like that?”

“No, he usually carries it in his cape!” answered Leon.

Sparky giggled. “His what?? Oh, he sounds like a riot! Anyway, me and Shirley were about to ask… something. What was it?”

“Beats me.” Shirley shrugged. “Ooh! How’d’ja like the video? I thought it was pretty neat.” She pointed at Jun. “You even made a little cameo!”

Jun hid the other half of their face. “Haha, yeah…”

“I didn’t know Herbert Legard fell down, it kind of reminded me of you earlier!” Roxie poked Leon’s cheek.

“Really...?” Leon deflated. “I wish I could’ve seen that... There were so many tall people in front of me.”

Shirley frowned on his behalf. “Aww, I wish ya would’ve stood by us. I coulda picked you up!”

“Really??” Leon un-deflated.

“She could pick you up right now if she felt like it!” Sparky elbowed her friend, beaming with pride.

After spending the entire conference underneath everyone, he’d love for a change of pace. “Do you feel like it?”

“Sure thing!” Shirley lifted him up by the back of his uniform jacket.

Everyone aside from Shirley, Jun, and Aiden looked so short in comparison to where he dangled. He had a clear view over at least half of the crowd. Was this what it felt like to be 5’10”?

“Woooah!” Leon appreciated his new view. Across the room, he saw someone familiar. “I can even see the captain from here! Hi, Captain!”

Leon waved to Captain Galhardo, who didn’t see him at first, but did a double take when he did.

“Oh! That’s what we meant to ask!” Sparky remembered. “We were gonna take the cart back downstairs for you guys, but we wanted to make sure it was okay with your captain first and not have another… incident.”

“I’ll go ask him!” volunteered Leon.

Shirley set him down gently, and from there, he ventured forth into the crowd. He had trouble remembering exactly where his captain was, but he remembered him being near a wall with a door. That shouldn’t have been so hard to find.

It… really shouldn’t have been, but for some reason, the wall kept escaping him. Eventually, he stumbled upon the right wall with the right door, and it only took almost walking out of the entrance to find it!

Leon nearly called out to the captain, but the door beside him opened before he did.

Emil came out, waving a piece of paper. “Yoooo bro, you’ll never guess who our new guy i--Ahhh!!”

Leon’s presence surprised the lieutenant so much, he stumbled back into the door. He managed to turn it into a cool pose, though, all while shoving the paper into his jacket. If Leon could be half as stylish, he’d die happily.

“Hahaaaa, what is up Rookie? Didn’t see ya there.”

The captain turned to him. “Did you have something to tell me about our new recruit?”

“You found out who it is??” Leon was dying to know.

Emil closed his eyes, smiling a chipped-tooth smile. “Heh. Sorry Rookie, but it’s, uhhh,” he winked, “high-level clearance right now.”

“No, it’s not.” informed his brother.

“...I know, but I want it to be a surpriiise.”

The captain said nothing else to him in response. “Ranger Summers, did you need something?”

Leon remembered what he came here for. “Oh yeah, the ladies who took our stuff earlier wanted to know if they could take it back downstairs!”

“...Where are they?”

The crowd cleared enough that Leon could guide the captains back to the rest of the group without too many hiccups, though Emil had to stop him when he almost passed the others entirely.

Shirley greeted them first. “Oh hey, Cap’n! We were just wondering--”

“I’m aware of your offer.” interrupted the captain. “You may transport our belongings... so long as I accompany you.”

“Sure thing, sir! It might get a little crowded in the elevator, though.”

Captain Galhardo turned his focus to Jun and Roxie. “Ranger Kim, Ranger Allen, I wanted to apologize for accusing you of a crime you didn’t commit. I,” he tilted his head down, “...jumped to conclusions too soon, and for that, I am sorry. I also wish you a quick recovery from your burns.”

“Apology accepted, Captain.” Jun matched his formality and became an entirely new person. Just as quickly, they relaxed back to their normal self. “Besides, it’s not like we can really blame you.” They showed their potato skin-covered palms. “Who goes around looking like this?”

“We do!” Sparky raised her hands, followed by Shirley.

Roxie followed the rest. “We four are bound together by the skin of the potato and the adhesive of the honey! May our wounds disappear but our memories never fade!”

“...Yeah.” Jun lifted their head.

“That sounds… really intense!” Leon scratched at his cheek. “Is there a way to become friends without sacrificing my hands?”

“Hmmmm~” Roxie poked a finger into her own cheek. She turned to Shirley and Sparky. “What do you guys think?”

Sparky scoffed. “Are you kidding? Of course! Look at this guy. What a sweetheart!”

“Ahhh, thank you!” Leon felt his cheeks burning.

“Very polite, too.” Shirly pressed her fingertips together.

As soon as Leon could uncover his face, he noticed the captain searching intently for something.

Emil noticed too. “What’s the matter, bro?”

The captain grabbed the brim of his cap. “I had planned to apologize to Ranger Kelly, but I am unable to locate him.”

Leon took a quick look around the group, and sure enough, Aiden was nowhere to be seen.

“The cart with our belongings seems to be missing, too.”

“Oh yeah, we never brought it over, did we...?” mused Shirley.

Captain Galhardo didn’t seem too happy about this, not at all. If he was willing to believe Jun and Roxie might’ve stolen the cart, he had to be thinking Aiden stole it. Especially after their fight.

To be honest, the same thought crossed Leon’s mind. The past three weeks taught Leon two things about his roommate: One, he was a grump, two, everything else about him was unpredictable. Still, stealing the cart just after working so hard to find it struck Leon as weird even for Aiden. But what did he know? He didn’t even know Aiden broke out of prison. The thoughts whirled around in his head like the sound of wheels behind him.

Jun tapped Leon’s arm just in time for him to get out of the way of a cart. The cart! Pushed by Aiden!

“Ranger Kelly, where have you been?” demanded Captain Galhardo.

Aiden brushed his hands on his jacket. “I went to take this cart back before it went missing again.”

“Good lookin’ out, Aiden!” Emil cheered. “By the way,” he elbowed his brother, “the captain has something he’d like to say to you.”

The captain yanked his arm away from Emil’s elbow. “I was wrong to suspect you of theft earlier. My apologies, Ranger Kelly.”

“Hmph.” Aiden smirked.

Captain Galhardo grabbed onto the cart’s handle, while Aiden let go.

“I’ll be taking this from here.” He looked up at the bearded ranger before turning to Sparky and Shirley. “Major Flores, Ranger Quinn, please follow me.” Finally, he addressed the others. “The rest of you can take the stairwell. Report to the reception desk as soon as possible.”

Sparky, Shirley, and the captain all departed with the cart, leaving Leon and the other Celestion-5 members behind.

Mia was the next to leave. “I’ll be taking the other elevator.”

“Yeah.” Aiden shambled after her.

Leon, Jun, Roxie, and Emil followed them into the hallway. When they rounded a corner, Emil lagged behind.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna take the stairs this time!” He thumbed behind him, taking a few steps backward.

As he disappeared behind the corner, Leon wavered back and forth until deciding to go with him.

The rookie caught up with him just as he opened the door to the stairwell. “Hey Emil, wait up!”

Emil smiled upon seeing Leon. He continued propping the door open with his arm, until Leon took hold of it instead.

“After you~” Leon bowed.

“Why thank you, good sir!” the lieutenant lifted an imaginary top hat.

The two ventured down the stairs together.

“So,” Emil gave a knowing smile, “did’ja come with me just so you could find out more about the new guy?”

“Oh, no! I just figured it’d be kind of lonely going down the stairs by yourself. So I wanted to tag along!” admitted the ranger. “...Buuut if you’re willing to give me a hint, I won’t mind!”

His blond friend laughed. “Trust me, if I could, I would. But thanks for keepin’ me company!”

“Of course!” Leon decided to change the subject. “I’m glad I don’t have to run back down all these stairs.”

Emil’s eyes widened. “You ran? All the way up here??”

“Yeah!”

“I’m surprised my brother didn’t stop you.”

“Oh no, he ran too! He actually told us too.”

The lieutenant made an exaggerated gasp, holding a hand over his mouth. “He what? I can not believe he would do such a thing. Normally, I’d expect him to be like--” he straightened up his posture and abandoned all emotion, “‘Ranger Summers, I would hope you know that according to Chapter 73, Section 12 of the Interstellar Forces Handbook, it is prohibited to run upstairs.”

Leon clapped. “Your impression of him is perfect! If I wasn’t looking at you, I’d think he was right here!”

“Thank you~” Emil bowed. “I’d hope so! I’ve been living with him for all 18 years of my life!” He rubbed his knuckles against his chest. “I’d like to think my impression of him is my best one.”

“You do impressions?” To Leon, Emil seemed like a fountain of neverending talents.

The lieutenant tilted his head from side to side. “Sorta. It’s not really something I advertise, but I do like paying attention to people’s quirks and stuff. So when I mimic them, people say I do a good job, which, hey! That makes me happy. The better I know someone, the better I have a feel for their style of doing things, but I think most people are like that.”

Leon thought about it. “Hm. Do I know anybody well enough to do that?”

“Family’s usually a good place to start.”

“Ooh! I could probably do one of my little brother!”

“Oh yeeeeah!” Emil folded his arms behind his head. “You did mention having a brother before, didn’t you? Weird. I always thought you had little bro vibes.”

Leon chuckled. “No, I get that a lot, but I’m the oldest.”

“What’s he like?”

He almost answered, but the thought of his little brother gave him a surprisingly strong sense of bittersweetness. It came out as a sigh.

Emil slowed down to match Leon’s pace. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing!” Leon snapped out of it. “I was just thinking about him. He put on a brave face when I left, but… I know he probably misses me a lot. I hope he’s doing alright.”

Emil smiled and gave him a hearty clamp on the shoulder. “I may not know him, but with someone like you in his corner, I’m sure he’s okay.” He winked. “He’s probably a lot stronger than you know!”

“You think so?”

“If you’re anything like my bro, you worry too much.” He waved a hand, as if waving Leon’s worries away.

Leon thought for a moment. “Yeah...you’re probably right.”

The lieutenant began walking ahead. “By the way, I may not be able to tell you who the new guy is, but I do know that it’ll probably be a month until he finishes training.”

“He’s a cadet?”

“Yep.” Emil slumped over dramatically. “I’m… sorry, but you won’t be the rookie anymore.” He lifted a finger, before flashing a grin back at Leon. “Technically. You’ll always be Rookie in my heart!”

Leon laughed. “Thanks! But I’m okay with not being the newest guy. Maybe I can even show him the ropes!”

“That’s the spirit!” The blond gave a thumbs up and winked.

The soon-to-not-be-the-biggest-rookie joined him further down the stairs. His mind wandered to the new recruit. Who was he? What was he like?

More than that, Leon wondered what he might be able to teach him. Maybe some tips on how not to deal with Aiden? Leon was no master of that himself, that was Jun’s territory. Could he teach the newbie more tips about how to follow the rules? Captain Galhardo had more authority in that field than he would ever have in his life.

Maybe Leon had nothing to teach, but if that was the case, he knew one thing he could do for sure: Share with him the joy of space and making new friends!