So Leon thought he was far enough along in his studies to open up shop, huh? Even if the circumstances of their conversation were less than ideal, he couldn't help but regard his friend with a warm smile that had a hint of pride to it. He'd had faith in Leon's abilities, and it was pretty awesome to see the boy learn a thing or two from other worlds. If anyone could do it, it was definitely him.

"Would you mind if I talked to someone first?" he asked. "They've been waiting for help a lot longer than Dias or I ever had to, and they might need a hand." Actually, if Sync weren't around, he would have come out and explained that it was for Guy, but...well, he'd have time to tell him soon enough. Along with everything else, he inwardly sighed.

"If it's okay with you, anyway," he added. "I mean, if you'd rather go ahead with things, I wouldn't want to stop you."

When Sync asked Leon for clarification, Claude tensed a little. He really would rather him not find out about this, even though it might have been inevitable in the long run. After all, he didn't want to risk putting Leon in a bad position. But what could he do?

Making a split decision, he suddenly knocked his juice over, splashing it onto the table and toward where Sync was sitting next to him. "Oh, damn!" he shouted as he reached for his napkins. He made sure to be as distracting as possible as he did so. "I'm so sorry, man! Let me clean that up for you."