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There were very few things Yurui could appreciate about Leona Kingscholar. His talent at Magift, although Night Raven College always lost. His determination on the field. Admittedly, how good he looked in his uniform.
His conversational skills were… Lacking, however. Yurui could admit he’d spoken to worse conversationalists, but Leona wasn’t beating them by much. The only person he seemed to really speak to was his right-hand, Ruggie Bucchi, and even then, his words were often barbed and laced with some sort of hidden meaning that Ruggie apparently enjoyed figuring out, if that peculiar smile he got when speaking to Leona was any indication.
(At first, he’d thought Ruggie had some sort of silly teen crush on Leona. Then he’d caught a glimpse of a brown-skinned boy running to Ruggie immediately after a match- one of the few Night Rave College had won- and taking a running leap into his arms. Ruggie had laughed, catching him with seemingly little struggle, and said, “ Amante! Be more careful next time!”
The boy had laughed, chirping out a wholly unauthentic, “Sorry, Ruggie, I’m just so excited!” And Ruggie had laughed with him and set him on the ground and then kissed him, sweet and fierce, before being swept up by his teammates once again and calling out a hasty, “Wait for me!” to his lover.)
Tonight was turning out to be remarkably miserable, by all accounts. Yurui was only here because of his brother and King Falena’s close friendship, left over from their own days at Royal Sword Academy. Yurui didn’t want to be here- he’d much rather be back at his dorm, planning things for the next week- but he couldn’t just up and leave. Sweet Seven, that would wreak havoc on public relations. So he’d spent much of the night nursing a champagne that he didn’t want to drink, leaning against the wall near a balcony. And when Leona Kingscholar had met his eye from across the ballroom, looking just as miserable as Yurui felt- complete with downturned ears and a fierce scowl- Yurui had tipped his head in greeting and beckoning.
Within five minutes, Leona had sidled up to him, having successfully slipped away from Falena’s side and along the edges of the crowd. “Hey, stranger,” Yurui said smoothly.
“Hey, herbivore. You gonna finish that champagne?” Leona was eyeing Yurui’s champagne flute like it was a five-star meal.
Yurui rolled his eyes, making sure to keep the gesture prim and poised just to annoy Leona. “Have it.”
Without another word, Leona took it and drained half the glass. “If I’m not wasted in the next thirty minutes, I might King’s Roar this entire fucking palace.”
Yurui raised an eyebrow, examining Leona’s face. Much of what Leona said was all threats and grandstanding, but he had a tendency to follow through on his most unpredictable threats. It was difficult to tell when he meant what he said, and really, Yurui should take that as a sign to always take him seriously, but… Well. Leona was so wildly entertaining when Yurui was poking and prodding at him. “Oh, really ? Well, in that case, may I please have my champagne back?”
“Go fuck yourself,” Leona said nastily, side-eyeing Yurui. If he was a weaker man, a look that foul might have sent Yurui running. Instead it sent an electric thrill up his spine, and he smiled his most dazzling smile at Leona.
“You say that an awful lot. I’m beginning to think you’re hinting at something, Kingscholar.”
“Yeah? What about it? Gonna report me, princess?”
Yurui laughed. The musical sound of it- he felt shallow for thinking of it that way, but that’s how it had always been described to him- drew stares from men and women alike. Including, Yurui noted with another electric shock, Leona. “I’m not a fool, Leona. Reporting a prince for borderline sexual harassment is something a moron would do.”
“‘S not sexual harassment,” Leona said indignantly. He drew a bit closer. “Only becomes harassment if you tell me to stop and I don’t. I haven’t heard ‘stop’ or ‘no’ from you in all the years we’ve known each other. Not about that, at least. Besides, you’re the one who made it some typa’ repressed sexual energy thing.”
Yurui took his champagne back from Leona- there was barely any left, and he finished it off with a smooth tip of his head. Then he set the glass on a nearby table and said, “Show me the library again, Leona.”
Leona smirked. “Thought you’d never ask.”
They did this at every party they attended at the Kingscholar palace- and there were many . They’d dance around each other for a few hours, let their misery wind them up, then slink off to some part of the palace. Leona would show Yurui around, tell him stories from his childhood. It was the only time they were civil, and it was only so they had something to get them through the night.
That’s what Yurui liked to think, anyway. In truth, there was something… Almost enamored about the way Leona looked at him- long, lingering stares from wide eyes. Dilated pupils. Coy smiles. The way Leona touched him was much the same- an unnecessary hand on Yurui’s waist when he slid past him in a hallway. Fingers curled around his wrist as they walked, ensuring that Yurui didn’t slip away. Once, Leona had gone so far as to take Yurui’s face in his hands and force Yurui to look at him as he spoke.
(Yurui had grown familiar with that particular scene in a litany of dreams over the next few months- in sunlight, or in the dead of night, or in those magic twilight hours. It was always Leona, always him cradling Yurui’s face in soft, strong hands as he told Yurui looping, fantastical tales. Every time he had that dream, Yurui would wake up breathless and flushed.)
(It had happened once, after a Magift game. Only once, and then they’d been back to their hostility and posturing and mutually assured destruction. Yurui and Leona had been the only ones left on the field, captains talking through their team’s strategies as Leona tried to plot a way to beat Malleus Draconia in the upcoming inter-dorm NRC game. Yurui had still been on his broom, held aloft a few feet in the air. Leona was standing in front of him, fiercely concentrated on the magical illusion between them, looping their game endlessly. Yurui had been tempted to reach out, but in the end he hadn’t needed to. Leona had looked up suddenly, eyes glinting with abrupt excitement in the dying light. His hand had shot out, found Yurui’s thigh. “I’ve got it,” he’d said.
“What? Your strategy?”
“Yeah.” Leona drew closer, waving the illusion away, and turned a bright smile onto Yurui. His hand had slid up to Yurui’s waist, curling comfortably there, and Yurui’s heart had jumped into his throat.
But just as he was reaching to shove Leona away from him, very deeply not okay with this sudden touch, Leona had slid his hands further up, all the way to Yurui's face. And Yurui had paused, wide-eyed and breathless, and then Leona had yanked- hard . Yurui had fallen to the dirt, an undignified yelp escaping him, and Leona had laughed. Unexpectedly bright, almost boyish. When Yurui had looked up, Leona was already several feet away and backing rapidly toward NRC’s locker rooms. “You asshole ,” Yurui had nearly shrieked.
Leona had merely winked in response. “Thanks for the help, princess.”
And then he’d been gone, and Yurui had been left red-faced and shaking slightly in the grass, gaping at where Leona had disappeared into.
The next time they saw each other, it had ended with Leona throwing a punch.)
“What story do you have for me today, Kingscholar?” Yurui asked when they were in the library, tucked into Yurui’s favorite spot. It was a neat little corner on the top floor, the skylight nearby pouring moonlight in, concealed on three sides by bookshelves. Yurui loved it.
(Leona remembered that this was Yurui’s favorite spot.
Why did he remember?)
“Hmmm. Have I told you the folktale about our ancestors?”
“I don’t believe so.” Yurui crossed one knee over the other and leaned back, peering at Leona in the dim light.
“Well, back in the times of the King of Beasts, there was a common belief. When our family died, they would go up to the stars and join the constellations there. All of the stars were dead beastmen, and there, in the skies, we all got along with each other. There was no competition or hierarchy, just peace and happiness while we waited for our descendants to join us.”
There was something about how Leona told stories- it seemed to draw Yurui in. As soon as Leona sank his claws into Yurui’s skin with an elegant story told in his slow voice, Yurui was helpless.
(He’d never stood a chance in this, not against Leona.)
“My grandfather passed away when I was seven. He always liked me more than Falena- he was the only one that ever did- and when he died he told me he’d be looking down at me. He said he was going to meet my grandmother in the stars- in Vega and Altair- and they’d wait for me there.”
Leona rose, slowly, and offered his hand to Yurui. “Come with me.”
Yurui took Leona’s hand and let the prince lead him through the library until they got to the very back. There, half hidden in the stacks of books, was a ladder. Without hesitation, Leona began climbing up. Yurui watched him climb until he reached the top- twelve feet off the ground- and his jaw dropped as Leona pushed on the ceiling- and it opened.
There was a secret latch in the Kingscholar family’s library. Leona disappeared onto the roof, then leaned back over. The moonlight was framing him, making him look hazy, almost fae-like. Yurui bit his lip against a laugh at the thought. He knew if he told Leona that, he’d get his fingers crushed in a heavy rooftop doorway.
“Come on, princess. Too fragile to climb?”
“Fuck off,” Yurui muttered, climbing up the ladder. Leona’s hands came to his waist when he reached the top, steadying Yurui as he slid gracefully onto the roof.
He looked up, and his breath was snatched away.
The entirety of the city was lit up beneath him, wide and labyrinthine and sparkling like stars. The steep arch of the domed roof made Yurui’s heart hammer wildly in his chest- and then it abruptly skipped a beat as breath ghosted over his ear. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Yurui glanced back to see Leona leaning toward him, his hands still comfortably on Yurui’s waist. Leona was smiling, a barely-there ghost of a thing, and the lights from the city were caught in his eyes.
Very suddenly, Yurui realized he wanted to kiss Leona desperately. He fought the urge down and whispered, “It’s gorgeous .”
Leona’s eyes glittered with satisfaction, as if he had personally designed the city. But there was something deeper there, something Yurui couldn’t quite read. Leona looked, unexplainably, sad. And then one hand lifted from Yurui’s waist to grab his chin, forcefully turning his face away, and it all clicked for Yurui as Leona said, “Don’t look at me like that. Look at the city.”
Leona didn’t want Yurui to look at him like that, for the sole reason that Leona actually desperately wanted Yurui to look at him like that…
But what was that ? What had Leona seen in Yurui’s gaze that made him so afraid, that required him to force Yurui’s eyes elsewhere.
Slowly, Yurui choked out, “I want to look at you.” The words felt like they were being ripped from his chest, but it was worth it when Leona’s breath caught audibly. He felt Leona’s body against his back, and Yurui shivered slightly. When did he get this close? When did I let him?
Yurui tugged his face free from Leona’s grasp and tipped his head until he could see Leona again. “Leona, how am I looking at you?”
“Like-” Leona faltered, shaking his head. He abruptly looked bashful , eyes dipping toward the roof beneath them, mouth pinching at the corners. He couldn’t say it.
But Yurui could.
“Like I want you?”
“Yes,” Leona hissed, ears flattening against his head. “Don’t- don’t do that to me.”
“Don’t do what , Leona?” Yurui tugged himself away, turned to Leona. His hands clutched at Leona’s arms unconsciously, keeping himself close when Leona tried to pull away. “What am I doing? Am I hurting you?”
Leona shook his head weakly, suddenly leaning recklessly forward. His head landed against Yurui’s shoulder, and he kept it there, pressing his face against Yurui’s suit. Yurui’s hands slid up until he could wrap his arms around Leona’s shoulder. “Leona, tell me. Talk to me. Just once, please, I-” Yurui’s pride reared its head, and he fought through the urge to hide his true feelings. “I’m begging you, Leona, just this once, be honest with me.”
“I am,” Leona said weakly against Yurui’s shoulder.
“You’re not. I am hurting you, aren’t I?”
Leona was silent, and perfectly still, and Yurui knew he was right. He also knew that he had to get Leona off of this roof- if he was being this honest, this vulnerable, then he was far closer to drunk then Yurui had previously estimated.
“Climb down with me, qīn'ài de . You’re drunk, I don’t want you up here now.”
Leona sniffled weakly. Was he crying? “You’re just noticing? Idiot.”
Yurui scoffed playfully. “ I’m the idiot. Certainly. I’m not the one drunk, crying, and on a rooftop several hundred feet in the air.”
Leona pulled away just enough for his voice to be clear when he said, “So get me down from here, mwokozi .”
Yurui had absolutely no idea what that could possibly mean- typically, he would assume it was some type of insult. Now, given the unspoken revelations of the night, he wasn’t so sure.
How much of what Leona had said in his mother tongue was an insult?
How much of it was something Leona couldn’t bear to say to Yurui’s face?
Yurui helped Leona down from the roof, climbing down the ladder first and then staying close in case he lost his grip. To his own credit, Leona held his liquor well. Yurui couldn’t be blamed for not knowing how drunk he was. Leona didn’t speak as he stood at the foot of the ladder, still clinging tightly to the rungs like he was debating climbing back up. Knowing Leona, that was a very real possibility- so Yurui stepped closer and laid his hand over Leona’s.
“Why does it hurt when I’m honest with you, Leona?”
“Because you’re not ,” Leona said softly. “You’re not being honest. I’m not stupid , Yurui.”
“Oh, I know. You’re easily one of the most intelligent men I know.” Leona flushed at the compliment, his eyes glinting, and Yurui beamed and continued. “One of the most talented, as well. Not to mention how handsome you are.”
“ Stop ,” Leona cried, but he was smiling now, staring at Yurui’s hand over his own with an admittedly adorably flustered expression. “Stop saying that, you’re embarrassing.”
“It’s true.” Yurui lifted his other hand and lightly tugged on Leona’s braid. That, finally, paired with Yurui’s soft, “ look at me ,” was enough to get Leona to turn his face to Yurui’s.
“You’re beautiful,” Yurui said softly. “Truly, Leona. I’ve always known, but- tonight. You’re practically divine .”
“Thank you,” Leona said weakly. His voice was nearly as soft as Yurui’s. “Do you- you aren’t lying to me?”
“No. I never have, Leona.”
Leona stared at him, squared his shoulders stubbornly. “You tell me you hate me frequently.”
“Oh, that wasn’t a lie. Not intentionally, anyway. I was lying to myself, too. I thought I hated you.” Yurui moved closer. Leona turned so they were facing each other. “I thought I lost my breath when I saw you because of how frustrating you were. I thought I lost sleep at night thinking of your strategies in games, when really I was just making excuses so I could dream of how gorgeous you are when you play. You took over my mind, every waking moment, and when I slept, I dreamed of you. And the whole time, I thought it was because I hated you.”
“But… you don’t,” Leona said, barely more than a breath.
“No. Never.”
Leona’s eyes darted down to the floor, then lifted stubbornly back to Yurui’s face. “Kiss me, then.”
“What?” Yurui blinked.
“If you love me so much, then fucking kiss me. I’ve been in love with you for years , Yurui, I can’t keep living my life knowing you love me too but not knowing what it feels like to kiss you. So kiss me .”
Yurui couldn’t say no to a prince, could he?
He kissed Leona hard, trying to pour all of his mixed emotions into the kiss. Leona sighed contentedly against Yurui’s lips, slid his arms around Yurui’s shoulders, kissed him back- and it was heaven. It was everything Yurui had dreamed of a kiss being like, infinitely more than anything he’d experienced before.
Kissing Leona was to be immersed in sunlight, in laughter and a sharp tongue, in wit matched against Yurui’s, in the only person Yurui knew who could hold his ground against him.
Kissing Leona was like coming home.
Falena found them hours later, sitting on the floor of the library, the skylight shining down on them. They’d managed, somehow, to put a bit of space between them. Enough that Falena wouldn’t question it- although Leona had sworn that he didn’t care if Falena knew, so fucking what, I’m gay, big whoop. But Yurui had the good sense to know that the king finding out that the prince- his emergency heir in case of a tragedy- was gay wasn’t the type of thing to be discovered like that. So he’d managed to convince Leona to sit next to him instead of directly on him.
(And if Leona looked absolutely miserable at the concept of not being in Yurui’s lap, well. That wasn’t anyone but their own business.)
“There you two are!” Falena cried happily. “Oh, I should start checking the library first when I’m looking for you, Leona. I’ll learn one of these days.”
“Will you,” Leona muttered, looking like he was truly contemplating a military coup. Yurui bit his lip against a laugh and, in the shadows between their bodies, nudged his pinkie finger against Leona’s. Bright green eyes flicked up to Yurui, and a bit of tension drained out of Leona.
And, oh , Yurui had done that. He’d been the one to pull that tension from Leona, with nothing more than a touch and a smile. Yurui would never grow tired of that feeling.
“I will,” Falena swore. He sat across from them, smiling cheerfully, and asked, “Yurui, did you have a good time? I know these parties can be exhausting for you.”
“I did, Falena. Thank you for the invitation,” Yurui said earnestly. It felt good to be able to tell Falena he’d had fun without lying for once. He always felt bad for lying to Falena, who was quite possibly the most guileless person Yurui knew. He was by no means stupid- a fool, however… That was a different story. And speaking of- “Leona told me the most fascinating story. About the stars and your ancestors.”
“Oh, that, Seven . I haven’t thought of that in so long!” Falena smiled dreamily. He looked nearly as drunk as Leona. “Ahh, that brings back such fond memories. Leona, do you remember when Grandfather took us to the petting zoo when you were five?”
“I remember a goat bit me, and I got kicked out ‘cause I bit it back,” Leona said blankly, staring at Falena.
Falena laughed, leaning back on his hands. “Things were good.” His eyes glittered and he straightened. “And they still are, y’know. Just look at you two! Why, if the two of you were any closer, I’d assume you were secretly dating!”
Leona laughed stiffly, and Yurui prayed his laugh sounded more natural. Kissing to dating was a major step, and Yurui hoped to discuss things with Leona first before Falena let any ideas get to his head.
“Well- I’m off. I’d best go see Cheka to bed.” Falena clapped once, then rose. At the door, he paused and said, “Goodnight, Leona. I love you.”
“Love you,” Leona said. Yurui turned away to hide his smile.
He didn’t turn fast enough, because as soon as the door shut behind Falena, Yurui got whacked over the head with a pillow. “OW!”
“Don’t fucking laugh at me , asshole!” Leona said, whacking Yurui again, in the shoulder this time. Yurui caught the pillow and gave it a sharp tug, yanking Leona down to him. They ended up chest-to-chest with Leona half-sprawled on top of Yurui.
Leona raised one eyebrow. “So much for space and decency, huh?”
“Oh, hush .” Yurui leaned up and stole a quick kiss, watching the way Leona visibly melted afterward. “You don’t mind.”
“No,” Leona said softly.
With that confirmation, Yurui leaned back up.
This time, when he slid his arms around Leona, he had no intention of letting go.