Work Text:
Many years ago, a dragon fae took in a small child
A child that ran away from home and never looked back
Lost, filled with regret, the child cried out for home
Leaving became less about freedom and more about fear
Even so, he was found
Unusually by a dragon fae and his own caretaker
So, here’s a question for you; what if?
Diasomnia had been emptied out. The students left to go about daily clubs and meetups they agreed to earlier that same day, leaving the gothic dorm alone. Solid cloud grey floors silenced, green flamed candles gently shaking for light, and above it all sat Malleus Draconia himself. Sitting upon his tall winged throne, bored. His pale complexion made note of his dull glowing lime eyes and black hair almost touching his shoulder all being dressed in a black and green coat. He didn’t have anywhere to go. He wasn’t invited to any events going on at the school. What else was he to do?
The fae rested one hand on the left and let the other prop up his bored face. Diasomnia’s silence would’ve been unnerving to anyone else, but not Malleus. He understood why the dorm decided to be silent, there is no more life inside of it. All of the life left. To train with swords, go to parties, participate in clubs, Malleus should have gone to his Gargoyle Research club meeting but didn’t. He wasn’t invited. Normally his vice dorm head would invite him to the meeting, maybe he forgot? No, he never forgets. Perhaps he was running late.
Diasomnia’s doors intensely creaked upon opening, Malleus’ pointed ears rising to attention. A smile came on to his face seeing his vice dorm head; tall and confident, warm dark skin from the sun, summer green eyes carrying the same warmth, long brown hair tied back into a proper ponytail. His favorite guard of a lion beastman, Leona Draconia. His very own brother, proudly wearing the Diasomnia uniform carrying a sword on his belt. In his arms was a large stack of papers being carried like a small child. “Apologies, Malleus. I did not mean to run so late but we were having a few issues regarding the Magift team.” His voice sounded familiar like classical music. Prideful, majestic, but grounded. Malleus’ smile didn’t fade one bit towards his brother’s words.
He reassured him rather happily, “It’s quite alright, Leona. Do you mind telling me what issue we were having in Magift?”
Leona’s gloved hands tickled the papers in his arm. “A few broken broomsticks…” he muttered while scanning the list. “A few ruffians from Savanaclaw having something to do with said broken broomsticks...Reiner took a slight injury during practice…” his eyes met Malleus’, “Small things.”
“Those don’t sound small.”
“To me they are quite small, as I mentioned the problems stem from the fools in Savanaclaw who think they can play a couple pranks and get away with it.”
“Did you handle the issue?”
“Of course I did.”
“By beating down that poor hyena beastman?”
“Ruggie Bucchi may be a poor hyena beastman but he is also the dorm head of Savanaclaw and needs to take his duties as said dorm head seriously.” Leona straightened his tie with his free hand in a huff. “But no. I did not, as you said, ‘beat down that poor hyena beastman’. I merely reported the incidents to him and made it clear that I will not tolerate such childish behavior.”
The fae delighted him with a titter but his brother’s eyes killed it. “Malleus, is any of this amusing to you?” His question held a quiet anger.
Malleus’ smile faded at his irritation. “No, of course not. I just...find Ruggie amusing.” he fibbed. He did find the situation funny but setting off Leona wasn’t worth it. It never was, not if anyone wanted to keep their heads attached to their necks. “Hyena beastmen are strange in how they react under stress.”
“Laughing in a pitch driving one to rip their own ears off?”
“Yes.”
He blinked, “I see.” his hand brushed over the papers. “I apologize for my tone, I’ve been running around all day I-oh, the Gargoyle Research club..” the beastman’s hand slapped the stack of papers, ears perked in realization. “I forgot about that entirely, I cannot believe I let it slip my mind.”
Malleus stood from his throne concerned. Leona never came off as being laid back or easygoing when it came to his duties regarding Malleus and/or Diasomnia however he never became so stressed about it. Leona’s hand flipped through the stack of papers in his arm, eyes scanning through each page. Some slipped out the stack to float towards the floor. More and more slipping, the stack becoming thinner. His ears lowered, his eyes squinted in a sharp focus. The fae witnessed the insanity of his vice dorm head basically tossing papers around to pin down the exact one he looked for. Leona even pulled his glove off using his teeth in a panicked manner for faster flipping.
“I know I had the club bulletin in here somewhere, I grabbed it alongside the Magift schedule.” Leona held onto his remaining pride or tried to at least. “I know I did.” he sounded more rushed. “I know I did, it should be in here. It should be here.”
Malleus disappeared in green glowing sparks then swiftly reappeared in front of Leona who stopped his frenzy. His focus moved upwards and the green eyed men stared at one another. The fair fae didn’t exactly tower over his brother as he did compared to the other students. He needed to look down at him so his focus became clear. Leona’s eyes glimmered in obvious frustration the dorm head could recognize. A similar glimmer from so many years ago when Leona had been first found. A small, dirty, lion beastchild caught in the rain hiding out in a bush to avoid being seen. Only crying in the rain so no one could see his tears and pain. His tail sadly gave him away, ending up being found by Malleus and Lilia who were out for a stroll.
That tiny glimmer meant a lot to him.
“Go lie down.” Malleus calmly commanded.
Leona furrowed his eyebrows, “Excuse me?”
“Go lie down and rest.”
“Malleus-”
“Do you need me to tuck you in?” the smile returned more so in a teasing manner, “Or would you prefer sleeping in my bed alongside me?”
“I’m not a child.” huffed Leona. “I have things to take care of.”
“But they’re not your responsibilities and you hold no obligation to do such tasks. I’ll take care of them.”
“You’re busy as well, the fact that you are the dorm head makes that all the more clear.”
“It’s not worth driving yourself insane.”
“Could you ever imagine me lying around the dorm? You must be the insane one here.”
“I could very well be.” he pinched Leona’s cheek, “You do look the most peaceful when you are asleep.”
Leona squeezed one of his eyes shut when his dorm head pulled his cheek, “Did I not make it clear that I am not a child?”
“I’m aware but to me you will always be that scared little cub who crawled into my bed whenever there was a thunderstorm.”
The beastman smacked the fae’s hand away in a snap. “That was one time!” he stated awkwardly, “One time I did that!”
Malleus tittered again, shaking his head. Leona seemed so scared of everything when he was younger, especially loud sounds that sounded vaguely animal-like. Thunderstorms to a young beastchild would sound just like a vicious growl. He’d be so haunted by the sound. Fearing for his life like someone was just waiting for him to run out in a panic only to be suddenly eaten. But he could always run to his big brother, crawling into his bed under the covers and squeezing him like a stuffed animal. “You did it until you turned ten.” he recalled as he maintained the teasing smile. “Every night there was a thunderstorm, you’d run to my room and squeeze me.”
“So I did it more than once.” he blushed, “Your point?”
“I’m trying to say that you can rely on me.”
“I-” Malleus put his finger over his brother’s lips.
“I just want what is best for you.”
Leona took his brother's hand in his, pulling it away from his lips. His ears lowered in contemplation and allowed the silence to haunt the dorm again. He suddenly said, "I just remembered. Clubs are canceled for today."
"Huh?"
"Clubs are canceled. Kalim's holding a celebration in Scarabia today for Oliver."
Malleus sighed, "And I still didn't receive an invitation…"
"Would you like me to invite you then?" Leona raised his head.
"No, no. I think we both deserve a good rest."
The beastman smiled, "But you know I'm not one for...lion around."
The fae snickered, "Was that a pun?"
"Mmhm."
"You really do need some sleep, you're so exhausted that you're making jokes." Malleus softly laughed, wondering privately if there was a thunderstorm tonight.