Archive of Our Own

"Ditching again, kitty cat?"

Leona was sleeping peacefully under one of the trees in the schoolyard, skipping class as usual when he was so rudely interrupted by none other than Y/N L/N, the senior whose life was apparently dedicated to making his miserable.

Their rivalry had begun when Y/N had interrupted his nap in the botanical garden by stepping on his tail. They didn't even apologize and just stood there looking at him.

Little did he know, Y/N had been so taken aback by the pretty cat boy that they forgot how to speak words and accidentally didn't say anything. After his rudeness to them though, they decided he was more annoying than attractive.

"What's it to you, herbivore?" Leona drawled, one eye still closed. Y/N scoffed in dismissal, turning away from the lazy lion.

"Nothing in particular," they mused. "It sure would be a shame if you had to get held back another year though."

Leona chuckled as he draped the suit coat he had been using as a pillow over his eyes.

"What, it's not like my parents care," he sighed as he put his hands under his head. "I don't think they can even get any more disappointed in me."

He could practically feel frustration radiating off of them and he couldn't help but smile at how easy they were to provoke.

"I don't know why I even bother talking to you anymore," they relented. Leona chuckled.

"Me neither, herbivore." They tapped him lightly with their foot and walked to class muttering something about an "insufferable cat".

Leona sat up just enough to watch them walk back into the school. He smirked as he stood up and brushed the grass off of his pants. He might as well bug the herbivore a bit more. After all, he has nothing better to do and they are so fun to bother.

---------------

You had just sat down in Professor Trein's history class when none other than the lazy cat you had just seen outside napping plopped down in the seat beside you.

"What are you doing here?" you whispered aggressively at Leona. He merely smiled in faux sweetness.

"If you haven't noticed, there's a class going on," he blinked repeatedly in a sarcastic manner. "I'm merely attempting to do my best."

You groaned in annoyance at the fake charm Leona was presenting. He smirked, reveling in the effect his words had on you.

"If I know anything about you, you have never once "attempted to do your best"," you mocked his tone. "What are you really up to?"

Professor Trein cleared his throat and glared at you, who narrowed your eyes at Leona before bringing your full attention back to the class.

Leona studied the concentration on your face as you bit the eraser on your pencil, pausing before scribbling down more notes on Trein's lecture. Your brows furrowed every time you paused and you had a habit of tapping your pencil against your thigh when you weren't taking notes. Leona found it absolutely adorable how your tongue peeked out of your closed lips while working on a particularly difficult question.

"You'll have to pair up for this next project," Trein ordered, snapping Leona out of his thoughts. Trein began to read off the groups for the project. You tapped your foot anxiously as you listened to Trein list names, not hearing your name by the time he had finished.

"Everyone good? Good," he said before anyone could attempt to protest. You raised your hand, running up to Trein's desk when he didn't notice you.

"Um, Professor Trein, sir." He looked up from his desk, annoyed at your interruption. "You never said my name."

Trein squinted his eyes at you before looking back at his list of students. He trailed a line down the list with the back of his pen, glancing back at you once he found your name.

"Oh, yes, Y/N," Trein talked his pen on his desk. "We had an uneven number of people so I was going to have you work alone but since Kingscholar decided to show up for once, you'll work with him."

You gaped at your history teacher and turned around to glance at Leona, who had put his feet up on his desk and waved at you, raising his eyebrow.

"You cannot be serious!" you exclaimed. Most of the class looked up at your sudden outburst. "I would really rather work alone."

Trein sighed exasperatedly, rubbing his temple with his thumb.

"Not an option." You crossed your arms, glaring at Leona, who just shrugged. "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to work alone when there is another student in the class without a partner. I'm sure you'll make do."

You pouted, disappointed, and walked back to your seat. Leona took his feet off the desk just to lean over to you.

"Guess we're a group now, herbivore," he nudged you provocatively. You scoffed at his insincere sentiment.

"Keep telling yourself that, kitty cat." He rolled his eyes at your nickname for him and kicked his feet back on the desk. While you weren't looking though, he thought about how he would spend more time with you because of the project and smiled softly to himself.

---------------

After class, you followed Leona to his dorm room to force him to work on the project with you.

'If I have to be in a group with him, I'm going to make him pull his weight,' you thought. When you finally got to his room, he plopped down on his bed, leaving you to stand uncomfortably. You glanced around the room, awkwardly avoiding conversation. Leona noticed your fidgeting and gestured to a messy desk and swivel chair in the corner. You sat down silently and cleared a space on the desk to set down your textbook and folder. You took a deep breath and swiveled the chair around to face Leona on the bed.

"So I was thinking we should start with the history of Night Raven..." you trailed off when you noticed Leona's eyes were closed. "Are you seriously already asleep?"

One of his eyes opened long enough for you to see before he closed them again. You exhaled sharply, all but fed up with the overgrown housecat.

"I'm not going to do the whole project by myself, you know," you spat in his general direction while opening your textbook to flip through chapter three. "Just because you don't care doesn't mean no one else does."

Leona remained unresponsive, though you tried to catch his attention multiple times. You huffed and turned back to the textbook.

"I guess I am actually going to do the whole project by myself," you muttered before beginning to review the rubric for the project and look over your lecture notes from that day. "I cannot believe I like you."

Two hours later, you had completely lost track of time and gotten halfway through finishing the project. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and your eyelids felt like weights, dragging your eyes closed.

'I just need to answer this last question,' you thought to yourself, drowsiness slowly overtaking you. 'I'll just put my head down for a second and then I'll finish it."

You laid your head sideways on your textbook, smooshing your cheeks together. Before you knew it, a second was a minute, then two, then ten. You finally succumbed to the sleepiness tugging at your brain.

---------------

The sun crept in softly through the curtains, bathing your face in warm light. Your bed was surprisingly warm as you snuggled into the pillow your head was resting on. The pillow let out a soft rumbling sound at your movement. It sounded a bit like... purring. You assumed it must be Grim. As you lay there, a rope draped itself over your middle, keeping you in place.

'This isn't Ramshackle." You snapped your eyes open at the realization. When you moved your eyes around frantically, you noticed that your pillow had not been a pillow at all, but Leona's chest and that rope had been his tail, now wrapped around your torso.

You inhaled sharply in a panic and shoved yourself away from Leona, falling off the bed in the process. You rubbed your head where you had hit it as a lion-eared head peered over the mattress.

"Morning," Leona mumbled, still half asleep. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes while you, as soon as you gained your composure, were practically fuming.

"Why in the Seven realms was I in your bed?" you whisper-yelled, unsure if the other Savanaclaw students could hear you from Leona's room. Leona stared at you calmly and yawned. "Why did you put me there?"

"Woah, Woah, slow your roll, herbivore," he held up his hand in a defensive stance, eyes still half-closed. "You were the one sleeping in my room. What, did you want me to leave you at the desk?"

You sputtered and fumbled, unable to form an argument when the feeling of his warmth was still fresh in your mind.

"You couldn't have woken me up!"

"I tried to, Sleeping Beauty. You snooze like a dead man. And besides, it would've been too jarring to wake up with a massive crick in your neck."

"Not as jarring as waking up next to you!"

Leona thought about this for a moment and mumbled in agreement.

"I mean, I thought you would stay on your side."

"How did you even get me over there anyway?"

Leona scoffed and looked at you as if it were obvious.

"I carried you, duh. You feel like a feather in my arms," he sassed, intending to insult you, but you couldn't get the vivid image of him carrying you, princess-style, to his bed out of your head. You were glad your face was already flushed with rage or it would've heated up in a second.

"It's a violation of privacy," you mumbled.

"Yeah, a violation of my privacy!" Leona raised his voice though you could tell he wasn't actually angry. "You fell asleep in my room."

"Well, I didn't mean to!"

"Well, you did and I had to put up with your snoring all night."

You gasped in offense, watching Leona's expression shift into a smug grin.

"I do not snore!"

"You do! It's so loud too!"

"You're definitely lying"

"Honest to the Seven, I am not! You snore!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, you purr."

Leona stopped in the middle of what he was going to say to look at you suspiciously.

"I what now?"

You giggled at his stunned expression.

"You were purring," you gloated with a smug expression, towering over the man on the bed. "When I woke up."

You watched as Leona covered his face in his hand to hide the blush rising on his cheeks.

"Tell me you're joking," he demanded.

"I wish I could, kitty cat but I heard it with my own ears," you put your hands on your hips proudly. "You purred right when I woke up and snuggled my head into your chest and ... I..."

You realized what you just said and all at once, your confidence shrank by three sizes. Suddenly, you felt bashful, rocking on your heels like a school kid who just got detention. Leona cleared his throat.

"You, uh, snuggled into my chest, you say?" His mocking tone made you unsure if he was being smug or making fun of you but either way you didn't like it. "Didn't take you for that bold of an herbivore."

"I'm not!" you blurted. Nothing you said was making you feel better. "I mean, I'm not bold enough to try to snuggle you, even if I wanted to and- and that's a big if."

Leona laughed at your awkwardness, doing nothing to preserve your dignity.

"Well," you stuttered, looking everywhere except Leona. "I should leave."

You grabbed your textbook and began to walk for the door.

"Wait."

You heard Leona's firm voice from behind you. You swiveled around on the balls of your feet, nervous as to what the prince might say.

"Stay, won't you?" Out of all the things you expected the lion to say, that was about the last one on your list. Your books almost fumbled out of your grasp in your shock.

"Why, uh," you struggled to form coherent sentences. You gulped under Leona's piercing gaze. "Why do you want me to- to stay?"

"It's not even 8 yet, come on," he said matter-of-factly. "Sleep in a little longer."

"Wi- with you?"

"Yeah, of course. As much as I hate to admit it, you are an awfully comfortable person to snuggle with."

He seemed so unfazed by everything he was suggesting. You, on the other hand, were internally panicking. You couldn't scream out loud but the idea of snuggling with Leona, on purpose this time, made your heart pound in your ears.

"Alright," you agreed before your brain could even catch up. "You're not so bad yourself, kitty cat."

He laughed lazily, beckoning with his fingers for you to climb back into bed. As you attempted to return to be position you had been in when you woke up, you felt Leona's gaze on you. Your eyes flitted up to meet his, finding soft eyes and a tender smile on his face. It was an unfamiliar expression for you to see on him, but it felt natural all the same.

You hesitated before you laid your head on him, asking for permission. He nodded his head with a smile and you fully snuggled into his chest. Before long, you felt the familiar vibration emanating from his throat.

"You're doing it again," you whispered softly, not even opening your eyes. "The purring."

Leona grumbled frustratedly and wrapped his tail around you once more.

"You'll speak of that to no one, understood?" he ordered. You chuckled, lifting your head to rest just under his chin. "Not even Ruggie."

"Hm, I would've thought he would know by now," you inquired, confused how even someone who was practically Leona's babysitter hadn't seen this side of him. "Do you not purr on a regular basis?"

"Well, I'm not this happy on a regular basis," he said nonchalantly, not realizing how he made your heartbeat quicken.

"We'll definitely have to do something about that," you mused under your breath, snuggling back into Leona's chest while he draped his arm over your figure.

"I guess we will," he smiled at your sleeping form and kisses the top of your head gently. "And for the record, I like you too, herbivore."