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As a general rule, Grayson avoided Crystal Academy. It wasn't that he didn't like it, just that it was a bit out of his way, and for the most part, he only ever went there to visit Elke. She came over to his house often enough that he didn't feel the need to make the trek, but they hadn't visited together lately. In fact, the last time he'd seen her was at the hospital, and if he remembered correctly, he'd fallen asleep before they were even finished talking.

So, he was headed to see her, just to catch up. There were a fair few things that had changed recently, but certain of them he was planning to keep to himself for as long as possible. It wasn't that he was holding his breath waiting for the other shoe to drop, it was just... well, all right, he was. That aside, they were personal affairs, and he liked to remain private about those things.

That didn't mean he couldn't catch up with Elke about everything else, though.

He was leaning against the counter, waiting for them to ring Elke, when he saw Serenade approaching. He looked surprised, then smiled, straightening and waving.

She was close enough that he didn't feel awkward addressing her. "Hi, Serenade." They hadn't spoken all that much, but he knew who she was, and it didn't occur to him to call her princess.

It probably should have, all things considered.

"I've been fine," he replied easily, even though it was mostly a lie. He wasn't the type to burden others with his problems if he could help it, and especially not someone like Serenade. From what he understood, he was supposed to protect her, not unload his issues on her shoulders. He didn't have any problems with that.

He kept smiling, placing his hands in the small of his back and stretching as he did. "How have you been?"

The conversation was a little over-careful, but that was the way Grayson typically was others unless they were family or very close friends. He was polite and agreeable when he could be, walked away when he couldn't. It wasn't exactly in the cards to walk away from Serenade, though, not unless he wanted to be skinned alive by the Captain. (Plus, it just didn't feel right to turn his back on a friend of Elke's, or his princess, for that matter.)

He nodded politely to the woman behind the counter, offered his arm to Serenade. It was a simple gesture, one that felt only natural even if he couldn't exactly say why; thankfully for him, he didn't overthink it, simply went with the notion that it was normal. "Sure. I was here to see Elke, but I can catch up with her later. We haven't talked much..."

He trailed off then, wondering. Lately? Ever? He couldn't really remember, but he did know that he hadn't made a lot of time for the other members of the Zodiac, and he felt a little guilty about it. It wasn't in his nature to seek people out on a regular basis, and the fact that he'd gone looking for Elke was strange enough as it was. Still, he felt like he ought to try.

Whether he would or not would be up to the test of time. Probably not, the back of his mind reasoned, because he was, after all, still Grayson.

Grayson hadn't actually ever explored Crystal as far as he could remember, so it was a bit of a treat to see the gardens. He liked pretty things, and if anything, the gardens were well-tended and attractive. He didn't have much of a head for flowers or arranging of them, so he couldn't call many of them by their names, but he still liked the overall look.

"Hm?" Often, without realizing it, Grayson spaced out a little. It wasn't that he wanted to ignore the people he was with, he just wasn't accustomed to having company that he didn't automatically tune out half the time (ie Tristan). He blinked, mind catching up with the conversation all at once, and blew on his bangs. "Oh. They're, er, good."

Good? He didn't think he was making as much progress as he should, and half the time, he was too tired to care, or late besides. Early mornings just weren't good for Grayson. Late nights weren't either, when it came down to it, but Saturday mornings were all but killing him.

Absently, he patted Serenade's hands. "I'm sure Hero has good reasons. And, between you and me, as long as you can miss out... do it."

He sighed, though the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile. "They're not very fun. Useful, but not very fun."

Grayson understood her need to be useful; it was the same as his own. She was a very important person to the Zodiac, more important than he was by far, but she was still a human girl besides that. She wanted to be more than just their princess, probably, wanted to be someone who protected them just as much as they protected her. He could understand it, but he couldn't exactly agree with it. Call it fate or simply bad luck, but she'd been born into the role of princess whether she really wanted it or not, just as all of them had been born into being senshi. Maybe, if they'd been given the choice, they wouldn't have taken up the mantle... he didn't know. But he did know that, aside from being Grayson Graves, he was Sailor Leo, and that meant he had to do things he didn't really like.

Sometimes, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Mostly, when he didn't do his job as well as he would have liked. But even still, he knew he was supposed to be Leo. So, he dealt with what he had to. Not well, not all the time, but he did.

"I know..." He trailed off, frowning a little. They passed a collection of flowers in a pretty pastel range, and he watched them go by. "It must be frustrating for you."

He pursed his lips a moment in thought, glanced over to her. Violet eyes met pink ones, and he smiled slightly. "It's important to be able to fight when you need to, but... just because you can fight doesn't mean you should. We should defend, we should protect, and sometimes, we even need to start fights. But you're a little different."

Grayson was a man who sometimes took a while to say what he wanted to say. It was just another facet of his laziness, he liked to say, but the truth was, when it came down to it, he tried to put a lot of thought into the important things he wanted to convey. "It's hard to be different. It's hard to have us all want to protect you, to shelter you, isn't it? But it's not because we don't trust you. I'm sure it's not because Hero doesn't trust you. It's because... well, we lost you once."

And then he went quiet, because he hadn't really talked about the kidnapping, the building, the explosion with anyone. After a few more beats, he said slowly, "Maybe it's because we don't trust ourselves?"

"There's nothing wrong with that," Grayson agreed. It would be better for all of them if they could at least defend themselves, though he knew they were supposed to do... more. It seemed like they were always supposed to do more. He wasn't certain how capable he was of it, even if Serenade, and by extension Chronos, had complete faith in him and all his fellow Zodiacs. He didn't feel much like a hardened warrior, and though he had victories against youma to his name, he didn't have much aside from that.

He felt like he should have had more.

Because he didn't really have any plans for the rest of the day, he wasn't worried about hurrying along. Grayson rarely worried about hurrying under any circumstances, but that was beside the point.

"We'll all have to work hard," he decided finally, eyes gazing into the distance, but not really seeing what was right before him. He'd certainly have to try harder... much harder.

The thought was daunting and not remotely appealing, but he knew he had to do it. Not just for himself, or the other Zodiacs, or even innocent people. He had to do it because it was his duty, and for some reason, the idea of neglecting that made his stomach twist.

He'd never had a problem with being irresponsibly before. It worried him, and he wondered.

"I have, a bit." Because he preferred to be honest, he clarified, "Mostly with Jude. We met another, a girl named Magellan, and we've been working with her a bit. She's very young and inexperienced, and I worry about her..."

Brow furrowing, he thought about it. Magellan hadn't mentioned any other teams, and aside from the Zodiac and the one Serenade had just mentioned, he wasn't sure there were too many being formed. It put senshi at a distinct disadvantage, and put people like Magellan at considerable risk. He didn't like it.

"I know she's not on a team. Jude and I are trying to find her one, but..." and he shook his head again. "I think they're mostly disorganized, and from what I've learned, not doing very well."

Grayson was oblivious to Serenade's worry. It wasn't that he thought her incapable of worrying, far from it, he just didn't quite make the mental connection that, as worried as the Zodiac were about the princess, she was likely equally worried about them. He didn't feel exactly easy when he thought of someone being concerned on his behalf, not even when it came to his parents. It just didn't sit right on his skin.

He was a Leo. He was generous and protective, brave when he had to be, gallant and radiant when he could be. He wanted to stand in front of the people he cared about, take their punches, see them through whatever ailed them. That didn't quite jive with being the one that others were worried about. It would have made him a little uneasy if he knew, and so it was a good thing he didn't.

"We're trying as best we can with Magellan," he offered, chewing the inside of his lip. "I could introduce her to the rest of you. She doesn't work with others much, so it would be just her, but... I agree. We have to work together."

The Zodiac would always be a team, a core team, but that didn't mean they couldn't help the others. They were stronger than the average senshi, bonded much more closely than any others he had seen, but it would be nice to know they could rely on other senshi teams to help pick up the slack. In case they were ever in trouble again, even. So that what had happened before would never happen again.

It was worth a try.