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Leon didn't have enough experience with social behavior to be able to tell if anyone was lying or not. Sure, if it had been yesterday, he may have just assumed something negative, but today Kendra could have told him anything and he would have been none the wiser, though honestly she she had really banged herself up, bruises everywhere... now that he thought about it, they almost looked like...

"You're lookin good. Was that'chu screamin back there?"

"Screaming?" he said questioningly. He hadn't thought he was screaming. He had let out a few growls, albiet a bit loudly, but he thought it a far cry from an actual scream. "No... Doc Prof pulled out all my quills," he stated, the unfamiliar positive tones in his voice clearly conveying his thoughts on the matter. Kendra seemed unenthused, at least that is how it came across as she fidgeted in her chair. Leon's euphoria lessoned slightly. He guessed he was making her uncomfortable. He may not have quills anymore, but he still looked like a monster. "I just thought... no quills, no venom...," he tagged on, the downward tone betraying the drop in his mood.

Kendra didn't seem her usual self. He had't know her long, but she had been more talkative then this, and even Leon started to feel like something was wrong. This was confirmed when Kendra stood up, then toppled over. Had Leon not just been plucked, his usual fear of poisoning someone would have prevented him acting at all, and even then he hesitated before remembering, diving to catch Kendra before she hit the ground, ending up on his stomach outstretched as she landed in his arms. His back burned in protest, but he ignored it. "DOC!!" he yelled, now clearly freaked out as he climbed to his feet, cradling Kendra in his arms. Even without his quills, this was outside his comfort zone, he hadn't come in major contact with anyone for years, and suddenly he had a girl in his arms who was obviously severely injured now.

Doc came running out seeing Kendra and acting immediately in a calm and serious manner. "Bring her inside and lay her down," he said, quickly removing his glove. Leon did so, trying not to injure Kendra any further. He didn't know how to handle people, and knew he was stronger then average, he didn't want to misgauge and break her in half or something. He carefully lay her down and backed off, as Doc Prof laid his hands on her, focusing as his hands began to glow.

"And there we go," said Doc Prof, as he pulled the last spine out. Leon's growl faded as it separated from his skin before starting to sting and itch like the rest. Doc rubbed the antibiotic salve on the last of the wounds as he had. with the others. Leon was a unique case where he couldn't just heal him up, which would likely cause the quills to grow right back. He would need to heal naturally to see if it stuck. "Just keep an eye on it to see if there any regrowth in the next few days and apply this before you go to bed to keep them from getting infected." Leon let out a sigh or relief, his claws finally retracting. His back and tail hurt, but he felt good, which was a bit new. For once he had some faint glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe he had an answer to the biggest worry in his life. "Thanks..." he said, unsure what the proper response to being grateful two hours for the most intense 'exfoliation' of his life. He got up, and felt a pulse of heat across his back, and let out a small hiss. Moving quickly, not a good thing right now. He reached for his jacket, carrying it rather then putting it on. He was pretty sure he would regret it if he did. He gathered his bandages and headed for the door. "Feel free to come back and see me if you need to," said Doc.

Leon opened the door, walking slowly out to the waiting room as not to irritate his back. It felt weird not to have his jacket on outside his room, weirder not to have his tail wrapped up. He saw Kendra as he walked out. She looked a bit worse for wear, and a bit like she was ready to fight. Last time he had seen her it had been a bit... awkward. He hadn't been all that nice to her when they had run into one another. Literally. But right now, Leon was feeling good for the first time in years, and this elevated mood made him much more open then he had been... ever. "What happened to you?" he asked, perhaps a bit more bluntly then he meant, but he had little practice starting conversations, let alone having the proper tact needed for it.

Leon let out a muffled growl, gritting his teeth as another spine was pulled from his back by the root. He was laying down on operating table, his back and quills exposed. Doc Prof hovered over him, his hands and arms covered in protective gloves to prevent any accidents as he worked. A pair of surgical pliers in hand, he had just pulled one of Leons spines out, placing it in a metal pan with a pile of quills. The quills were much thicker then the typical hair folical, comparable to porcupine quills, so pulling them one byone was a uncomfortable process. However it was one Leon was willing to endure. It was probably the first real solution anyone had ever offered him. He of course had his doubts about it. His brand of luck was such that he never gave his hopes up, but in this case he was dangerously close to doing so. It had been Doc Profs idea. During a check-up to see how he was doing, he had mentoned the possibility of trying to excise the poisonous quills. Generally they broke off, regrowing in an hour, but he suggested removing them at the root to see if it would stop the regrowth. He couldn't make any promises or course, but it was worth an attempt, if nothing else then to better understand the nature of his unique biology.

Thus far it had taken about two hours to pull most of the quills, He had left the non-poisonous ones at the end of his tail, focusing his efforts on the ones that could do the most damage. He had been working his way from the bottom up, and was now pulling spines frong his shoulders and neck. Each pull was tough and painful, but Leon hadn't complained, though there were several scratch marks on the table where he had beared his claws in reacton to the discomfort. His skin felt hot, itchy and raw where the quills had been removed.

"You should not see me like this."

Leon wasn't particularly bothered by how Rico looked. Yeah he was as scary as hell, but he was in no position to say anything on that. "You turn into dragon and you eat meat, there are worse things." he said, as long as Rico wasn't eating people, he personally considered him more human then him. People hunted and ate meat all the time, unless that involved canibalism this was no different. He poisoned people, which was bad in any case. So yeah, Rico wasn't the worse monster here.

With Rico's next statement, he picked up on his discomfort. He had managed to upset him somehow. Just like him to make the wrong decision. It sounded like he was trying to convince him of something, or rather that he hadn't done something. "I can see their fine," he said, "If you don't want me here I can leave." he said, turning to leave Rico to whatever he was doing, he hadn't killed the guys, whatever else he wanted to do was obviously not something he wanted Leon around for, despite earlier invitations.

As he walked, his paw came down on something hard and metallic. He paused to see what he had stepped on. He saw a hunting rifle in the dirt, probably dropped by one of the hunters still a bit warm from having been fired recently. He contemplated picking it up, his mind momentarily going to a dark place. It happened sometimes, he considered it from time to time. Who wouldn't in his situation. He was alone and couldn't get close to people, and had to look in the mirror each day wondering if this was the day when someone was poisoned and died by his hands. But he pulled his thoughts back, as it had not happened yet. When it did... maybe then. He kicked the rifle away and kept walking slowly back towards the mansion.

Leon took a few deep breaths to settle himself. In a few moments, he managed to get a hold of it, quelling the sobs as he pushed the pain down with all his other issues. It was the only thing he could really do with it. He had no outlets, anything he had liked to do was impossible for him now, and he had failed at every turn to find a new one. He knew it wasn't doing any good for him. If this was any indication, he was going crazy. Had anyone actually knocked, or was he hearing things too? Was he starting to hallucinate? It would be just his luck if he was becoming a schizophrenic in addition to everything else, it was the way his life seemed to be going. As such, he doubted his senses when yet another knock came from the door.

No... no, no, it's just your imagination, he told himself, covering his ears and closing his eyes, trying to force himself into sanity. However with everything else blocked out, his sense of smell compensated, and this time he definitely smelled something. It was familiar, though he hadn't really paid attention to it before, but it was a definite odor he had experienced before, which told him at least there was someone there. The girl he had run into before.

What was she doing here? He thought he had warned her to stay away, and now she was showing up when he was at his most vulnerable. His emotions were overtaxed as it was, he didn't have the energy to get himself worked up again. He thought about just ignoring the knocking and pretending he wasn't home, except if his last encounter was any indication she'd likely just keep knocking. He got up glumly and walked over to the mirror to make sure he didn't look like he was crying. He didn't want a bleeding heart following him around out of pity. Then he walked to the door, and opened it just a crack, making sure there wasn't enough room for any possibly invisible people to get through, if only for his own piece of mind.

"Peace offering?"

Leon almost shut the door on her. Probably should have, but after the outburst from earlier he was hungry, if nothing else then for some comfort food, and she had a good handful of snack bars, presumably from the kitchen. He grumbled a bit, weighing his options. No doubt by peace offering, she meant 'let me in so I can try and fix your problems with words', and he wondered if that was worth the handful of snacks she was offering. "If I answer your questions, will you stop following me?" he asked bluntly. He figured that was what she wanted, as it was what everyone in this place seemed to be interested in, sticking their noses into his business and endangering their own lives. He gave a defeated sigh, "Come in, sit on the bed, and don't wander," he said. It was probably the safest place in the entire room since he never slept on it, he had combed through the carpet enough times to be relatively sure there weren't any spines there, but he didn't want her walking about in case she found the one he was bound to miss given his rotten string of luck.

Chase definitely talked a lot, and asked far too many questions, breaking off into his own little monologues. He supposed others found it endearing, but he thought of what he should say. His past was quite painful to think about. But Chase seemed to jump from one thing to another so fast, he thought maybe he would forget just as fast.

"I was fifteen," he started, his tone sober, "I played football in highschool when... Things changed. It was during a game, and people got hurt." His eyes seemed a little glassy, trying to hold back the worst of the pain. "Everything fell apart after that, nobody wanted a monster around, so I left." If only it had been that simple, his parents hadn't disowned him, but he could tell from their words and actions that they didn't know how to handle him, that they were afraid of him. And everyone else, the team, the friends he thought he had, had rejected him.

"I hate to break it too you, but people don't leave you alone just because you're big." He said, "More often it just makes you a bigger target." If he had any type of wisdom to bestow on Chase, that was likely it.