Work Text:
As Leona slept peacefully, his tail brushed back and forth against Silver's wrist, once again confirming that this was no dream.
The breeze gently kissed his sun-warmed skin. The grassy hill tickled his ankles and trailed down the path to the school further north. Meandering students appeared in the distance the size of ants, milling back to their dorms for the evening. Leona lied next to him, breathing steadily.
Asleep.
Silver sat up and drew his knees close. His eyes could not leave Leona as he checked again and again that he saw reality and not illusion. Even as his hair swept into his eyes and stung him, he didn't look away.
Why was Leona here?
He'd rarely conversed with Leona, who was more Malleus's friend, and could hardly hazard a guess. Why choose this spot? He had not been here when Silver had stumbled off the road and fallen asleep. Or had he, and Silver had not noticed in his drowsiness?
"Just ask."
He startled and turned. Leona looked asleep, but he knew he hadn't misheard. "Did I… wake you?" he said hesitantly, then continued as Leona's ears flicked. "I apologize."
Leona cracked an eye open to glare. "Don't speak for nothing."
"You're the one who told me to ask?"
He sighed. "Don't even need to. It's written all over your face anyway."
Was it? Most found it hard to read him. But it made sense, Leona was very observant.
"Then, may I ask why you're here?" said Silver.
"Just felt like it."
"Oh… Alright." Silver nodded.
"…What?" Leona stared at him.
"I'll leave you to rest."
Silver stood. In a flash, Leona sat up and grabbed him by the arm. He tugged so hard that Silver had to half-kneel.
"Are you stupid?" he hissed. "What kind of moron would accept 'just felt like it' as an answer?"
The hand on his forearm clenched and unclenched. The leather glove creaked. It was so tight that the blood circulation in his arm slowed. Leona's fierce expression showed none of this, as if his hand was acting independently.
"Is something wrong?" said Silver.
"What?"
"I've upset you."
Leona's snarl disappeared behind a shocked pinch of his lips. After a sigh that could have been a laugh, he abruptly fell back onto the grass. His arm dragged Silver down with him, forcing him to quickly sit and lean over Leona.
"It's simple." His voice rumbled. "Saw you lying there all oblivious. Before I knew it, I was next to you. Aren't you supposed to be a guard? Why didn't you wake up, huh?"
Shame colored Silver's face. Leona's gaze darkened.
"You slept so peacefully, meanwhile— couldn't catch a damn wink! Why do you think that is?" The more he spoke, the more his fire seemed to die out, mellowing out with self-awareness.
"Did I snore?" guessed Silver.
"That weak little breath? You're kidding."
"But I must have made too much noise," he reasoned. His experience with sleep differed so much from the norm that it made guessing difficult. What little things could wake him usually baffled others. "Or perhaps I moved in my sleep and accidentally hit you."
"Nah."
"Is there another option?" said Silver in growing frustration.
"Problem wasn't with you," said Leona. His eyes finally left Silver's face and instead stared up at the sky.
Clouds lazily rolled over them, blotting out the late afternoon sun. Only a few students now crawled along the path to the school, chased away by the coming darkness. Over the edge of the mountain, he spied a hint of the town below with its houses glowing like fireflies. The grass he thought to be tickling his ankle turned out to be Leona's tail, fleeing under his sash once Silver spotted it.
"Stop looking around," he said. "It's all right here."
"I don't understand why you won't tell me," said Silver with genuine confusion.
"Yeah? And I don't get why it has to be you," snarled Leona. He lunged up and sat with his arms swinging over his knee. Finally, they were at eye level. "Anyone else, and I would have chased them off. But you. Why you?"
"What?"
"Why is it fine if it's you?"
Leona's hand lifted.
Silver watched it carefully, but seeing it frozen, turned his eyes back to Leona's face. The skin around his eyes was tight, trembling faintly, but his gaze pierced through Silver's skin. Silver wanted to say something but his mouth only opened without making a sound.
Finally, Leona braved the last of the distance and touched, gently, Silver's cheek. His fingertips did not dare press into the flesh and instead traveled up. The bristling of hair filled Silver's left ear, and it was only as it ended with his hair tucked back that he realized he'd stopped breathing, drowned in the all-swallowing darkness of Leona's pupils.
Silver exhaled shakily.
"Driving me crazy," murmured Leona. "Why you?"
His fingers retracted and pressed into his palm. White hair strands clung to the leather then glided off.
"Why do you always assume the best of me?" Leona murmured.
Silver caught his hand mid-fall. Leona jerked back in surprise—and that was the thing that truly broke the spell.
"You," said Leona, looking at their linked hands.
"I don't think I've been particularly favorable to you," said Silver in self-reproach.
"Huh?"
"Not as much as a friend should be."
"…Friend?"
Silver blinked. "You seem to take me as someone who can't understand, but I can decipher that much from what you said just now."
"Friend," he repeated again with equal incredulity. A huff escaped him, and then suddenly he burst into laughter. "Seriously? That's what you think? That I want to be all buddy buddy with you?"
"What else could it be?"
"Do your friends usually touch you like this?" Leona asked with amusement.
"Yes? Kalim does."
"Hah. Anyone but Asim then."
Silver thought deeply. "I suppose Sebek doesn't…"
"There you have it. What I want from you has nothing to do with friendship."
"Nothing…? Then what do you want?"
Leona slipped his hand out of his hold. "Can't guess?"
Silver frowned, but before he could find an answer, Leona's laughter interrupted him.
"Don't hurt your brain, I'll tell you." He poked Silver in the chest and leaned in to whisper, "My heart was beating too fast. That's why I couldn't sleep."
"Heart… beat…?"
Silver murmured, but the breath stole away from him as Leona did not stop his approach. If he'd remained unfazed by Leona touching him with his hand, now he sat frozen, wide-eyed, as Leona's breath touched his skin. As he blinked, pictures from childhood fairy tales appeared on the back of his eyelids. He braced himself; Leona stopped moving. All he saw were two piercing golden eyes.
Whether it was reality, or just the sensation of air displaced, Leona's lips seemed to brush against his as he spoke.
"After all, I was sleeping next to the guy I like."
"…Eh?"
Leona sat back. The smile on his face suddenly off-kilter. A little regretful. He faced the hill ahead and stood. "Don't go misunderstand this too," he said with a chuckle, and slowly braced for a last look at Silver. "I don't have to explain the basics of romance to you, right…? Huh?"
Silver stared up at him, wide-eyed.
Flushed red.
Leona's throat went dry. Suddenly, their hearts beat in sync.