Work Text:
It's like a summer shower
With every drop of rain singing
"I love you, I love you, I love you”
True to his word, Leona stayed far away from Malleus for three weeks. Bucchi and Diamond both seemed dead set on talking to Malleus, however, which was a new and deeply unpleasant development.
Malleus managed to escape Bucchi’s latest attempt to corner him in the cafeteria narrowly. He found himself on a balcony- he’d fled to the third floor of the main campus- and sighed, leaning on the rail. The sun was going down, but the students had been brought out of their dorms for the sake of a campus-wide assembly. Malleus was only there because Silver had remembered at the last second to remind Malleus, and Sebek had taken it upon himself to ensure that Malleus would be there.
Malleus watched the sun set, eyes scanning the horizon.
Then, behind him, he heard someone say, “Well, look what the hyena dragged in.”
Malleus startled and turned, blinking at Leona. The beastman was sitting sprawled out in one of the several chairs on the balcony, head tilted at an angle that cast orange light over his regal features. He cleared his throat and said, “Kingscholar. What are you doing here?”
“Escaping Ruggie’s harassment. Just like you, I assume.”
A small smirk tugged at Malleus’ mouth. “Yes. He’s been rather enthusiastic about wishing to speak to me. Diamond, as well.”
Leona nodded once, yellow eyes drifting to the side before flicking back to Malleus. “So.”
“So…” Malleus shifted, cleared his throat again, and crossed to the other side of the balcony, sitting in the chair next to Leona’s. “Perhaps we should speak about that night? Now that the clamor about our, ah, actions has died down a bit.”
“Sure, we could,” Leona muttered. “Or we could never speak about it again and go back to hating each other and not acknowledging that stuff we both never wanted to acknowledge.”
“What.” Malleus coughed lightly. “What stuff , exactly?”
“Exactly. What stuff?”
“No, I- that wasn’t meant to be clever, Kingscholar. What stuff were we not acknowledging?”
Leona frowned at Malleus. “Seriously? You never noticed?” At Malleus’ silence, Leona snorted. “Fuckin’ hell, Draconia. Everyone else noticed. Even that obnoxious Prefect.”
“You mean Yuu?” Malleus frowned, eyeing the horizon again. “I don’t find them obnoxious. I find them rather charming.”
“That’s what I mean,” Leona snapped, throwing his arms in the air. “We- fuck.” The beastman got up and began pacing. Malleus realized, absently, almost like an afterthought, that Leona was wearing Malleus’ sweater, the one he’d loaned him the day after they’d spent the night together. How odd. “We hooked up, and I don’t know about you, but it made me realize some shit I really wish I hadn’t realized, and now I’m wearing your clothes and buying that stupid cologne you use and-”
Leona seemed to lose his steam abruptly, pushing his hair back away from his face in frustration before letting it fall back into place. Malleus wanted to do that, to run his hands through Leona’s hair. He knew, though, that his sharp nails would immediately catch on Leona’s curls. It was better that he continued to practice self-control.
Leona eyed Malleus, mouth pressed into a thin line. “I’m fucking dreaming about you, Draconia. Do you know how annoying that is? First I can’t escape you in real life, then I can’t escape you in my dreams.”
“I don’t understand,” Malleus said, frustrated.
Leona rolled his eyes. “Of course not.”
The sun was entirely gone now. Crowley, because he was a psychopath who, in Malleus’ opinion, should not be in charge of a school full of more-or-less dependent humans, had decided that this assembly would be better to take place at twilight. It would start soon.
“I don’t understand,” Malleus repeated, “so explain it to me. Please.”
Leona paused, tilting his head, then said, “I’m obsessed with you, Draconia. And you’re obsessed with me, too, whether you realize it or not. Everyone sees it.”
Malleus blinked, startled. Something in the back of his head screamed danger , but it was far outweighed by the part of him that found Leona unbearably attractive. The dim light playing off of Leona’s hair reminded Malleus of that night they’d had together, Leona under Malleus’ hands in the dim light of his room, dark curls spilling across Malleus’ pillows-
Malleus forced himself to get rid of that thought. That was something he was better off not thinking about. Although, if what Leona was saying was true, if the obsessive feelings Malleus bore toward Leona were mutual, then perhaps…
“So, what do you propose we do about it?”
Leona shrugged. “What is there to do about it?”
Malleus cleared his throat, stood up, and walked to Leona’s side, joining him at the railing. Then he paused, tilting his head thoughtfully. He took a few seconds under Leona’s watchful gaze to pull himself together, then said, “If it’s alright with you… I’d like to court you, Leona.”
Leona blinked, then muttered, “Just say you want to date me, fuck , Malleus.”
Malleus smiled. Leona frowned and added cautiously, “... What?”
“You used my first name.”
“I did not -”
“You did,” Malleus said, grinning now. “You called me Malleus.”
“You’re delusional,” Leona snapped, and grabbed his shoulders and kissed him.
Malleus blinked, momentarily thrown off before he realized suddenly- Leona was kissing him . Soberly, willingly, Leona had kissed Malleus first.
He eagerly reciprocated, lifting his hands to cradle Leona’s face. One hand slid back, stroking gently through Leona’s curls, and Malleus noted that the beastman’s hair was just as soft as it looked.
Leona’s hands left Malleus’ shoulders and grabbed his wrists, pulling away from Malleus but keeping his hands on him. A bit breathlessly, Malleus asked, “Is that a yes?”
“What?” Leona blinked, then snorted. “Yeah, Malleus, that’s a yes.”
“You did it again,” Malleus said, his smile growing painfully wide.
Leona growled. “Shut up and kiss me again before I shove you off this balcony, lizard.”
So Malleus did.
A week later, Malleus stepped into the humid warmth of the greenhouse. He wandered around for about five minutes before he found Leona- or rather, the beastman found him.
There was a soft thump behind him, then a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Malleus smiled as Leona kissed him, muttering against Malleus’ mouth, “You’re here.”
“I am,” Malleus said, stepping into Leona’s space. “You seem rather happy to see me.”
Leona gave Malleus a dirty look and said, “Stay. Don’t go to class. Take a nap with me. Or stay awake, I don't care.”
He stepped back, crossing the path to sprawl out beneath a tree. Malleus followed him, sitting down and crossing his legs. Leona assumed that to be an invitation (and it was, really.) and laid his head on Malleus’ knee, yawning and showing off his fangs. Malleus tapped one nail against one of the long, curved fangs, and Leona’s yawn abruptly cut off as his jaw snapped shut. “Quit it, lizardbreath.”
“You keep calling me that, yet you keep kissing me.” Malleus stroked his fingers through Leona’s hair, winding a brown curl around his index finger idly.
“Shut up. I’m asleep.”
Malleus laughed softly, shifting his leg out from under Leona’s head (ignoring the lion’s indignant look) to lay down next to him, wrapping his arm around his lover’s waist and pulling him close. “Sleep well, Leona.”
Leona yawned again, pressing his back against Malleus’ chest. “You too, Mal.”
As Malleus fell asleep, he thought, I could do this forever .
And then, Is Leona wearing my cologne?