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Leona was tired.
Physically? Mentally? Emotionally? The answer is just yes. Yes to all of those.
He was already tired ever since he came to NRC, but with him dealing with his post-overblot stress just added to his exhaustion.
The lion was honestly grateful that his dormmates, especially Jack, listened to him and respected whenever he tells them he wants to be left alone or wants to rest.
Of course Ruggie makes sure that he's still up and going so that he doesn't end up failing classes, so that's another thing he's pretty grateful for. He'd just never admit it out loud to the hyena.
Though of course, just because his dorm knew when to give him space, doesn't mean people outside of it did too.
"Leonaaa!!"
There's an example.
Leona sighs, just hiding his face in his arms and curling up, trying to act as if he didn't even hear the other.
"Leona, c'monnn! I know you're awake! I just want you to listen to what I have to say!"
The Savanaclaw housewarden groaned slightly before reluctantly turning to face his other side, glancing up to face Kalim, who had his usual happy expression on.
"What do you want?"
"I want us to hang out!"
"No." Leona quickly shut him down, about to turn back around before Kalim spoke again.
"Not today, this weekend! Ruggie already told me that the only thing you usually do during those days is either sleep in, or visit your family when they call for you. And apparently you don't do that anyway, so..." Kalim grinned.
'Ruggie, why'd you have to run your mouth to Kalim of all people..?'
Leona sighed heavily, "Look, I-" he stared at Kalim for a moment, and seeing the excited and determined look in his eyes reminded him of Cheka. And if there's anything he learned from babysitting Cheka, it's that the brat never gives up when he wants something.
If he tried to say no, Kalim would probably find a way to drag him into this anyway.
"...Fine."
Kalim visibly lights up at this, raising up his fists in victory. "Great! I promise it'll be fun, you won't regret it!"
"I better not.." Leona grumbled, "Can I go back to sleep now?"
Kalim frowns, "But class is about to-"
"I'm not attending this period."
"But-" Leona glares at Kalim, and the heir quickly shuts up, raising his arms up in defense with a soft laugh.
"Alright, alright. See you this weekend!" He waves before walking out of the Botanical Garden, leaving Leona alone again.
The prince sighs, turning to go back to sleep. All that talking managed to wear him out. Then again, anyone would feel tired after talking to Kalim.
~~~~~
"Why can't you come home today? Cheka and I miss you a lot, y'know."
Leona rolls his eyes at that, knowing it was true, but it was still weird to hear. "I'm.." he hesitated a little before giving in. "A schoolmate invited me over at his place to hang out."
He and Kalim were already at the heir's place, relaxing in the livingroom since they just got there and Leona insisted he 'needed to rest'.
"Ah, but you can always tell Ruggie that-"
"It's not Ruggie, it's someone else." Leona said through the phone, and it was silent for a moment.
Kalim raised a brow, "You didn't tell them the specifics?"
Leona just shook his head, shrugging it off.
"You.. it's not Ruggie? Who is it?" Farena finally spoke again.
"Why should I tell you?"
"I just- I don't really believe you have any other friends besides Ruggie and Jack from your dorm."
"Okay, first of all, rude. Second, I said schoolmate, not friend. He just wanted to hang out and I knew he won't stop if I refused, so I just agreed." Leona grumbled.
"Can you send a picture?"
"Of what?"
"Of you and your friend, I want to know you aren't making up an excuse not to come home, or if you're telling the truth about hanging out with a schoolmate."
Leona groaned at the request, turning to Kalim. "Can we take a picture?"
Kalim lit up, then gave him a teasing grin. "Why? You wanna have something to remember this day by?~"
"No, you idiot. My brother's asking for it."
Kalim smiles, grabbing Leona's phone suddenly and snapping a quick selfie of the two of them. His usual happy expression was on, while Leona's expression in the picture looked hilarious, making him laugh before sending it to Leona's brother.
Leona snatched his phone back, glaring at Kalim. "Don't just take my phone without asking!"
Kalim shrugged, "How else was I supposed to take that picture? C'mon, it looked nice!"
His brother's tone quickly switched from skeptical to excited. "You two look like you're having fun! That's great, then! You can just come home next weekend, take this as an opportunity to get to know this schoolmate of yours and become friends with him! I'll tell Cheka this, see you!"
"I said I don't plan on-" Leona gets cut off when Farena hangs up, he sighs, setting his phone back in his bag.
Kalim hums, "Alright, first off on our agenda is making a sandcastle!"
Leona stared at him blankly, "What are we, kids? Why's that the first thing you wanna do? And is that guy Jamil gonna follow us the whole day?"
"C'mon, let's just do it! I made a whole list of things to do, and this is the first thing on it. You promised you'd actually do stuff with me when you got here. And Jamil already told me that he'll leave us alone for this." Kalim huffed, pouting.
Leona sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "Fine, where are we making this sandcastle?"
Kalim beams before standing up and grabbing Leona's hand and dragging him out to the back of the building.
~~~~~
"Respite in the scalding sands, a never-ending party. Dance! Sing! Oasis Maker!" Kalim looked over at Leona and gave him a look of encouragement.
Leona sighs, hesitating a little before saying his own chant, then his signature "King's Roar."
He watched as his and Kalim's magic combined together, both of them carefully trying to sculpt.. well, whatever it was Kalim was trying to make with him.
"Move the sand to the left- Leo, to the left! C'mon!"
"Don't call me that. And alright, I get it, hold on." Leona did as Kalim told him and moved the sand to the left, then proceeded to pat it down a little to make sure the surface was smooth.
The older of the two hums, "So, what exactly are we building? This is pretty big for a base."
Kalim smiled, "We're building Savanaclaw! Though I guess it needs a little more touching up since your dorm looks way different from this." He chuckled.
Leona blinked a little in surprise hearing this, "And.. why are we making Savanaclaw?"
"Hm? I mean, I thought you'd like it! I notice how your usual grumpy mood lessens whenever you're with your dormmates, so I assume you really like being in your dorm!" The younger explained, not taking his eyes off the structure they were building.
Leona raised a brow, but continued helping Kalim nonetheless. "So what, you've been spying on me lately?"
"Of course not! It's something a lot of people notice about you, honestly. I'm just the only one who actually mentioned it aloud to you." He shrugs.
The lion hums, a little skeptical, but then again, this was Kalim. The guy can't lie even if his life depended on it, so there was no reason not to believe him. Plus it's not like what he said was wrong..
"Whatever.." he mumbles, to which Kalim just laughed softly at.
"This is gonna take a while if you actually want to build the whole thing accurately."
"Doesn't sound like a problem to me! That means we have more time to talk together like this!"
Leona sighs, "This is gonna be torture.." he says, though not actually minding it.
He'd never say it out loud; at least not right now, but he really liked Kalim's company, surprisingly enough. He thought he'd be annoyed the whole day, but it was actually nice having him as company. Maybe he misjudged Kalim. Maybe Kalim wasn't actually as stupid and annoying as he-
"AHH-"
Leona turned to the direction of the scream and found Kalim getting burried by the sand that was falling from the side of the Savanaclaw sandcastle. He quickly used his magic to try and raise the sand back, going so far as to literally start digging to try and get the sand off of the other.
"KALIM, WHAT THE FUCK-"
Nope, never mind then. Kalim was definitely still stupid and annoying.
...
Though Leona supposes it wasn't as irritating as he thought it was.
~~~~~
"Well, now that we're done with most of what's on our list, how about we go eat dinner now? It's getting late anyways." Kalim looks over at Leona with a smile.
Leona hums, shrugging. "I mean, I don't mind. But I'm getting tired, so-"
"We're having meat~" The younger spoke in a sing-song voice, and had to hold back a chuckle when he saw Leona's tail wag a little.
"Fine, I guess sleep can wait.." He mumbled.
Kalim grinned, grabbing Leona's wrist and dragging him back inside his place. "Great, let's go, Leo!"
"Again, don't call me that." He grumbled, though didn't pull away when Kalim pulled him inside, just following him.
Once inside, they were greeted again by a few of Kalim's servants, to which Kalim happily greeted back. Leona simply nodded since that's all he could do considering the fact Kalim was dragging him towards the dining room.
Kalim sat Leona down on one of the chairs, then made sure to sit across from the other.
The servants set down the plates of food on the table, saying a quick and polite 'enjoy' before going off to the side. Leona was pleasantly surprised, "This is a lot.. do you eat like this every time you're here?"
Kalim hums, "Depends. If we have an event going on, obviously it's gonna be a feast. If it's just me and my family, we get to decide whether we'd want a big meal or small meal to eat. In this case, I just didn't know what you wanted, so I asked the cooks to just make whatever meat dish they thought was best."
Leona nods slightly, "Well, thanks for the food.." he mumbles to be polite, starting to eat and almost immediately lighting up.
Kalim chuckles, "It's good, right?"
"Yeah." The older of the two answered simply, glancing at Kalim and raising a brow when he saw him not eating yet. "Are you not gonna eat yet?"
"Ah, I don't eat food that isn't prepared by Jamil, so I'm just waiting for him to finish cooking."
"Why?"
"Last time I ate something Jamil didn't make, I was poisoned." Kalim shrugged, "Now whenever I go to any event and have to eat something at the venue, Jamil has to taste test to make sure it's safe for me."
"Damn, why would anyone-" Leona paused, "Actually, nevermind. You are the heir of the Al-Asim family, so I guess it's to be expected that some people would try to assassinate you." He sighs.
Kalim nods, "What about you? Have you experienced something like that? Since you're a prince and all."
Leona shook his head, "Main targets for assassination are usually my older brother or Cheka. My older brother is the king, and since he has a son, he's destined to be the next in line for the throne. I have no part in this since I'm only the 'troublesome second prince' to our people."
Kalim frowned, wanting to ask something, but was cut off when Jamil came over to gave him his food.
He smiles, "Thanks, Jamil!" He hums, to which Jamil just nods at before stepping aside. Kalim quickly starts to eat, glancing at Leona every now and then.
He should ask him some stuff later..
~~~~~
Dinner went by rather fast, and Kalim wiped his face with a napkin before looking at Leona, happy to see the other seemed to have enjoyed the food since he finished everything.
"You'll be sleeping over, right? Did you bring anything to change into or should I lend you some clothes?"
Leona hummed, "I brought my own stuff, don't worry. I'm sleeping in the guest room, right?"
Kalim shrugs a bit, "Yeah, that was my original plan. But if you want, you can-"
"I'm not sleeping in your room, Kalim."
Kalim laughed, then frowned dramatically. "Dang it, would've been so fun! It'd be like a real sleepover."
Leona sighs, getting up. "Yeah, well, it's not happening. Besides, wouldn't it be wrong for me to sleep in the same room as the Al-Asim family's heir?"
"Not really, I think. Besides, you're no assassin and you're also royalty, it wouldn't be a big deal."
Leona just made a sound of acknowledgement, "Anyway, can you tell me where the bathroom is so that I can get changed?"
"Go straight down the hall over there, and at the end of it, you'll see a brown door on the left."
Leona nodded and muttered a 'thanks' before walking off.
Kalim hummed with a small smile, getting up and walking off to his own room to get ready for bed as well.
~~~~~
After all that, Leona tiredly plopped onto the bed of the guest room he was staying in.
"Finally, some shut-eye.."
He sighs softly, closing his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep.
Just when he was about to, he flinched hearing a loud noise, specifically from outside.
He groans, hiding under the blanket and using some of the pillows to cover his ears. Of course unfortunately, it didn't work.
Leona sat up, leaning over to look out the window to see what was happening, and his face scrunched up in annoyance when he saw Kalim's people doing construction work.
'Damn it.. how the hell am I supposed to sleep now?'
He thought for a moment, his mind wandering to the suggestion Kalim had.
He debated whether he should actually do it, eventually coming to the conclusion that.. well, he didn't have a choice. If he wanted a good night's rest, maybe he'd have that chance if he slept in Kalim's room. It's just for tonight anyway, no problem.
He got up, deciding to leave his bag here, then walked out the room and glanced around.
Right. He didn't know where Kalim's room was.
"What're you doing? Thought you went to sleep already."
Leona looked over and saw Jamil with a confused expression, to which the lion replied to. "Where's Kalim's room? I'm gonna sleep there."
Now Jamil was even more confused, "You're actually taking up that offer? Is the guest room bed not comfortable or something?"
"The bed's great, it's just that I can hear the noise from outside. I can't sleep."
Jamil sighs, pointing to the direction of Kalim's room. "When you see a big white door after taking a right, that's Kalim's room. There's probably a guard outside his room, so you should explain why you're there. If I find out anything happens to Kalim while you stay there, I swear to-"
Leona nods, muttering a quick 'thanks' before walking off and following Jamil's instructions, not bothering to listen to Jamil's threat. He wasn't gonna hurt Kalim, he literally just wanted to sleep.
Once there, there was in fact, a guard standing outside the door.
"Ah, sir Kingscholar, anything you need?"
"Is Kalim in there?"
"Yes, he is, why?"
"Can I come in, then? He said I can stay in his room if I wanted to."
"I'm sorry, but-"
"Leo!" The door suddenly opened, revealing an ecstatic Kalim. "Are you taking my offer? I knew you would!"
Leona sighs, not bothering to tell Kalim he should stop calling him that. "Yeah yeah, I am. But only because it was annoyingly loud outside of the room I was staying in."
Kalim's smile doesn't waver, just nodding. "Alright, come in!"
"But master Kalim-"
"Let Leo in." Kalim's smile turned into a serious expression, which surprises the servant, but it was enough to make them apologize and step aside to let Leona walk in.
Leona is surprised himself, but didn't question it and just entered the room, followed by Kalim shutting the door and laying on the bed, his usual smile back on his face.
"Feel free to lay down wherever, the bed is big enough for around 3 people."
Leona laid down next to Kalim, of course making space in between them. "Thanks, now I'm gonna go to sleep."
Kalim pouts, "Oh c'mon, let's talk about stuff! I wanna get to know you better now that we're friends."
"I want to sleep."
"But-"
"No."
Kalim huffs, thinking for a moment before sitting up, taking one of his pillows and smacking Leona's face with it.
Leona was quick to sit up after that, looking over at Kalim, who had a huge shit-eating grin, which made Leona glare at the other and grab another pillow, smacking Kalim across the face too.
Kalim just laughed, hitting Leona again, which ended up just becoming a whole pillow fight at this point with the back and forth smacking.
Leona actually started laughing a little as well in the middle of the pillow fight, which made Kalim incredibly happy. Leona rarely ever smiles at school, when he does, it's a sarcastic or teasing one. Now he was actually seeing the older male smile genuinely.
One last hit from the lion, and he eventually just plopped right over Kalim.
"Ow." Kalim chuckled, not pushing Leona off of him and just adjusting a little to look at the other better. "See? Told you it'd be fun. Like-"
"Like an actual sleepover, yeah, like you said." Leona hums.
Kalim smiles, thinking for a moment, "Was today fun?" He asked curiously.
"Mm.. it wasn't bad or anything. It wasn't boring, nor was it too much for me." He looked up and saw Kalim tilting his head a little, and he sighs. "Yeah, it was kind of fun, I guess."
Kalim sighs in relief, his smile not changing as he moved a hand up to gently scratch behind Leona's ear. What surprised him was that Leona didn't complain or move away from him when he did that and instead let out a purr-like sound, but he took it as a good sign and just continued on with it.
"Do you wanna talk for a bit before going to sleep? We can stay up late since it's the weekend anyway." The white-haired male suggested.
Leona stayed quiet for a bit before shrugging slightly, "Sure, but what do you even wanna talk about? Nothing interesting about my life."
"That can't be true. You're a prince, aren't you?"
"Technically, yeah. But like I said earlier, I have little to no chance to become king. My brother is king since he's the first-born, and I would've had a chance if it weren't for the fact he has a son now. Now his son is the next in line for the throne. I'm just.. there." The brunette mumbled.
Kalim frowned, "That's kind of unfair.. they don't give you a chance at being king just because you're the second-born?"
"Pretty much. The only way for me to be king now is if both my brother and Cheka.. die. But them dying early is most likely not gonna happen. They're perfectly safe and guarded at the palace. And it's not like I want them to.."
Kalim nods slightly, staying quiet for a second before deciding to change the subject. "Ah, um, do you.. like your homeland?"
"Uh.. it's.."
"You okay..?"
"Yeah."
"Are you.. comfortable talking about it? It's totally okay if not, though!"
"Ah, no, it's fine. Just feels kinda weird that I'm talking about this to someone. Especially since it's you." Leona chuckles quietly.
"I just.. I don't really have the best memories with my homeland. They treated me like shit ever since my brother was crowned prince, treated my existence as if it were a curse all because I was the second-born and because of my magic."
"What's wrong with your magic? It's pretty amazing to me!"
Leona took a breath, "My brother's magic allows things to grow and prosper. My magic turns things to sand. Which one do you think would be more favored if people were to choose?"
Kalim frowns slightly, "I'm sorry.."
"Don't be, not like you did anything. You don't even live in Sunset Savanna." He mumbles, glancing away from the other.
Seeing the distress on the Savanaclaw's housewarden's face made Kalim uneasy. He came to a conclusion that he didn't like seeing Leona so upset about something, especially not about his homeland, a place where everyone should feel happy or safe since that's where they grew up in.
He also had a realization. And it's that if Leona's own people never treated him the way they did, Leona would've probably grown to be a cheerful person. Probably not as cheerful as his brother, but it's still something.
All this led him to asking: "Do you want me to flood Sunset Savanna?"
Leona was quick to look up at Kalim, ears perked up, not because he liked the idea, but because he never expected something like that to come out of Kalim's mouth.
He stared at the younger for a solid minute, trying to see any signs of him joking around, but when the other just seemed curious as to why he was staring, he realized he was serious.
He coughed a little, looking at the heir as if he had grown three heads. "'Scuse me?"
"Sorry, let me rephrase that: Do you want me to flood Sunset Savanna but make sure that a few select people of your choosing are safe?" Kalim asked with a small smile, as if he literally didn't just ask Leona if he wanted him to commit mass genocide.
"...Why are you asking me this?"
"I think it's a fair price for them to pay if they treated you like that all your life."
"I don't- I mean, uh.."
"I'm right, aren't I? What, their excuse for treating you badly is because you have a different type of magic from your brother? That's fucking bullshit!" Kalim glared at Leona.
Leona actually flinched a little at that, not expecting it at all. He had never heard Kalim swear or look at someone like that, and he was sure probably no one at NRC has.
"You don't deserve any of what they put you through. They're assholes, probably think they can do better than you, but they can't. They're pathetic and stupid. My people don't treat me that way, your people don't treat your brother that way, so why should you?"
"Like I said.. my magic can be dangerous, anyone would fear it."
"My magic can flood lands. I could literally do mass genocide with it, and easily, mind you." Kalim gritted his teeth, "You saw what you could do with your magic earlier! We made sandcastles and had fun! Your magic is so unique and if you combined your magic with someone else's, depending on who it is, it could even be helpful to your community! Your people are just closed-minded shitheads."
Kalim sighed heavily, "Listen to me, Leo. Your existence is no curse. You're smart and cunning. Even though you're sarcastic sometimes, you're also nice when it comes down to it. You don't show it openly, but I see how proud and happy you are of your dormmates for working so hard everyday and how grateful you are for having them, showing you care about the people around you in your own way."
"You have powerful magic that you know how to control because you worked hard for it, which makes you reliable. And you know how to read people as if they were an open book, meaning you can easily help anyone when necessary." He took a breath, calming down now.
"For what it's worth, I think you would've made an amazing king." The white-haired male smiled softly, "They don't know what they're missing out on."
Leona didn't even realize he was crying until he felt Kalim starting to gently wipe the tears on his cheeks with his thumbs.
The Savanaclaw housewarden quickly started rubbing his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears. "Sorry.." he sniffed.
Kalim sighed, "You really have nothing to apologize for, crying's a normal thing. From what I remember, you never cried even after your overblot, so it's best if you let it all out now. It's unhealthy to keep it in."
Leona shook his head, wanting to tell Kalim he didn't need to, but apparently his emotions had other plans since he just ended up tearing up more. Eventually, he just gave in and sobbed, hiding his face in Kalim's chest.
Kalim didn't say anything and just wrapped an arm around the elder, then used his free hand to run his fingers through his hair.
They stayed like this for a few more minutes, and eventually, Leona's sniffling and crying calmed down.
Kalim hums quietly, moving Leona's bangs out of his face and smiling softly at the other. "You good now? Do you need a minute?"
"'M good.." Leona mumbled, finally calming down fully. "Don't remember the last time I cried that much in front of someone."
Kalim huffs, "Again, that's really unhealthy. If you feel like crying, let it out."
"Can't really do that with the reputation I want to keep up back at the dorm, but alright." Leona chuckles slightly.
Kalim shakes his head, rolling his eyes fondly. "Whatever you say, but really, don't stop yourself if you feel like it. If it helps, you can just come to me if ever."
Leona shrugs, "I'll think about it."
A comfortable silence enveloped them for a while before Leona spoke again. "Just so you remember, you literally just trash-talked my homeland's people."
"Oh c'mon, I was only targeting the ones who treated you badly. If they didn't do anything, then I'm not talking about them." Kalim huffed, then added. "Don't tell your brother, though."
"I won't since I don't talk to him willingly most of the time, but why not, may I ask?"
"I overheard my parents talk about us going over to Sunset Savanna in a few weeks to help with some issue they never specified. I don't want the king to have my head if he finds out I talked about him and his people that way."
"You have a point."
The two looked at each other, then snickered together.
Leona sighed, an slight smile adorning his face. "Hey, uh, thanks.. for all this, I mean. You asking me to hang out is what got us in this situation."
Kalim smiles, "No need to thank me.. I'm glad you're feeling better, though. I've noticed you haven't been acting like your usual self ever since your overblot. You may have fooled everyone else, but I noticed. And Ruggie, but that's to be expected, he has a keen eye." He chuckles. "Seeing you like that was one of the main reasons I asked you to hang out with me so badly."
"One of the reasons? What's the other?"
"Wanted to have a chance to hang out with you. Despite your scary aura most of the time, you seemed like a fun guy."
Leona scoffed, though wasn't mad, instead amused that Kalim thought that. Of course he did, this was Kalim.
"Well, was it worth it hanging with me?"
"Very. What about you?"
"Wasn't bad. I got to see the one of the nicest guys in school snap and literally say he would willingly commit mass genocide." The lion snickered, and Kalim responded with a light hit to Leona's shoulder.
"They made you upset! Of course I'd say all that.." he grumbled.
Leona chuckled, "I'm flattered you'd be willing to defend me like that." He joked, before letting out a yawn.
Kalim hummed, "Tired?"
"Mhm.."
"You can go to sleep now if you want, tomorrow's Sunday, so we can still do stuff tomorrow."
"Alright.." Kalim blinked in confusion when he saw Leona nuzzle into his chest and wrap his arms around him instead of moving off of him to lay on the bed. Before he got to ask, Leona was out like a light.
'Amazing.. he actually fell asleep in a matter of three seconds.'
The Scarabia housewarden chuckled a bit, turning off the nightlight beside them, then closed his eyes with a soft sigh.
"Night, Leo."
~~~~~
Bonus:
"Kalim, it's time to-" Jamil stops in his tracks when he opened the door to Kalim's room and saw Leona fast asleep and cuddling close to his young master.
Kalim was surprisingly already awake and just scrolling through his phone, but the moment he saw Jamil come in, he quickly put a finger up to his lips to signal his friend to stay quiet.
Jamil took a second to process what he was seeing before looking over at Kalim. "Mind explaining?" He asks softly, actually listening when Kalim told him to be quiet.
Kalim smiles, "I won't go into details cause I don't want Leo to be mad at me, but let's just say we had a heart-to-heart conversation last night and he needed comforting." He whispered back.
"You? And Leona? Having a heart-to-heart conversation?"
"You don't have to believe me, but you weren't really here when it happened, so you can't say anything."
Jamil rolled his eyes, "Fine.. what time do you plan on waking him up?"
Kalim shrugged, "Probably in a few minutes since we have to eat breakfast still, so don't worry, it won't be long."
"Like hell I won't worry. Last time you said 'a few minutes', it ended up lasting more than an hour. I'll just stay here till then."
"If you say so. Also! Look at this, isn't it adorable??" The white-haired male whisper-shouted excitedly, showing Jamil his phone wallpaper which was basically a selfie of him and Leona while the lion was fast asleep and nuzzling against him.
Jamil took a quick look before snickering, "He's gonna get so mad once he sees that."
"I know, but it'll be worth it."