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Leona growled as he ended the call. Farena had decided to bother him at 6 in the morning over graduating again.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘢. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥.”

Yeah, back when he childishly believed that his worth was based on his capabilities. Back when he thought he could prove himself.

“𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵. 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘢, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮.”

It was hard enough without being guilted with his dad's sickness.

Fucking Farena, thinking that it was easy for Leona because it was easy for him.

Whatever.

It was only a matter of time before Ruggie would come into his room to wake him up, so he might as well get ready. Ruggie would certainly be happy about not having to drag the lion from bed for once.

Rolling himself from the mattress, he made his way over to his dresser, where his clothing was folded nice and clean. Another thing courtesy of Ruggie. Sometimes the hyena was the only reason Leona was able to function.

Grabbing whatever was on top of the pile, he stripped himself from the minimal clothing he wore to bed and got dressed. He growled in frustration when it took multiple tries to button his vest up. Sevens, what was up with him? He wasn't ever spoiled the way other royalty were, where servants would dress them instead of doing it themselves. Leona always thought it was laughable that Farena didn't know how to dress himself until he was seventeen, while Leona had been doing it since he was five.

The amount of times his fingers slipped did not reflect someone who had been dressing themselves since they were five.

Leona finished just before Ruggie barged into his room.

“Leona~! Oh, you're already up. What a rare sight, shihihi!”

The Housewarden rolled his eyes at his unofficial vice.

“Yeah, yeah, get all your laughs out. Still gotta clean the room.” Leona gestured to the rest of his room. Clothing was thrown anywhere and everywhere, books were left half open all over his desk, and that ink stain on the rug did not look very easy to wash out.

Ruggie groaned at the sight. “Ya serious, Leona? Making me do all of this? I got my own work to do too, y'know?” Despite his words, he immediately started to pick up the mess.

The prince rolled his eyes and said nothing more, leaving Ruggie alone in his room. He was too tired to deal with whatever little quips the hyena beastman had for him.

His gait was unsteady as he moved down the halls of Savanaclaw. He could hear the rustling of sheets and the creaking of doors and floorboards as the dorm woke up. While usually the sounds would calm him, that morning all they did was grate on his nerves. He could feel a headache growing in the back of his skull.

Yeah, this would not be the day for him.

In his mind he began to plan his escape from his first class. If he completely skipped Ruggie would get on his ass and he really didn't feel like dealing with that.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he let out a groan of annoyance. Who the hell was texting him now?

He pulled out his phone and looked at whoever decided to message him that early in the morning. If it was Farena again…

Thankfully, it wasn't his brother again. He might've turned his phone to sand if it were.

>> 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝟦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦???

Ah. It was his introverted boyfriend, Idia. He vaguely remembered planning a movie marathon with the Ignihyde housewarden a few days before, but the headache creeping up on him made it difficult to think far back.

𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝟨:𝟥𝟢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨? <<

>> 𝘙𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨…

>> 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶 𝘣 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵??

𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨… <<

𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 <<

>> 𝘪𝘬…

>> 𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰

𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 <<

>> 𝘗𝘖𝘎𝘎𝘌𝘙𝘚!!!!

𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 <<

𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 <<

𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶? <<

>> 𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘱

>> ⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃

Leona smiled in spite of himself. Stupid Radish Sprout.

The smile quickly dropped at a loud crash from down the hall.

His ears immediately pressed down to his head and he suppressed a hiss. This was 𝘯𝘰𝘵 helping with his headache.

He would have ignored the crash, what his dorm does wasn't his business, if it weren't for the pained whine that sounded afterwards.

Dammit, it was his pup. What was the boy doing?

Before he could convince himself otherwise, he went over to where the crash had happened to check on the freshman. As he neared, he could hear the voices of 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 members of his dorm. Fuck, what the hell did they do now?

Rounding the corner, he was soon met with the answer.

Jack was surrounded by around five or six other dorm members, each with a smirk on their face. The wolf beastman was dazed, his ears and tail lowered and eyes glazed over. He seemed to have just gotten up from the floor, his clothes dirty, and all around him on the ground were various weights and other gym supplies, the source of the crash.

Leona was able to piece together what happened in an instant and he sighed. Everyone surrounding Jack instantly snapped their head to look at their Housewarden with varying expressions on their faces.

These guys. They were the troublemakers of the dorm, for lack of better words, though they weren't trouble in the way that, say, Ace and Deuce were. No, they were just assholes. They got their joy by being pathetic bullies who kicked people while they were down. Their newest target was Jack due to his part in their loss in the Interdorm Spelldrive tournament. Even though that had happened months ago. What a grudge.

Jack was sick, something painfully obvious as Leona looked upon the scene, and of course that group had decided to strike again. Nuisances, all of them.

“What the fuck are you doing? It's too early for this shit.”

One of the students surrounding his pup, a black bear beastman nicknamed Sentinel by his roommates, was the first to open his big mouth.

“Little Jack over here wasn't paying attention and ran into the lot of us. Of course we couldn't let that slide.”

Jack looked confused. “I ‘lready said s’rry… ‘n you ran into me…”

Poor boy was hella out of it. One of the other students, a human named Carlos, flicked the wolf at his words.

“Shut it, frosh.”

Leona sighed and put a hand up to his forehead. It was really too early for their bullshit.

“Fucking yappers. Pick your shit up and scram.”

Immediately the little group started whining out protests, and Sevens, Leona was about to kill them all.

“I am the one who hungers…” The group froze.

Oh, so 𝘯𝘰𝘸 they felt like listening.

“I am the one who thirsts…” Some started scrambling backwards.

“I am the one who robs you of tomorrow…” Fuck all of this, he's tired.

“Kneel before m—” A hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. The hand was Jack’s.

“Leo…” Looking at his pup again, he can see his own tiredness reflected, probably even more so due to sickness. It was pathetic, honestly. But the exhaustion in his pup’s voice weakened him.

“C'mon. You're going to bed.”

Jack didn't put up a fight, proving just how sick he was. Usually the pup would try to escape and go be stupid or something, Leona wasn't too sure what the boy's mindset was.

Once they got back to the door, Leona realized that he brought Jack back to his own room instead of the freshman's. Oh well. He could stay there as long as he rested. It would be annoying if he spread his sickness through the dorm by staying near his roommates. Yeah. That was it.

Opening the door, Leona unceremoniously shoved the tall boy in and onto the bed. Jack lay stunned, not moving to get under the blankets. Fucking hell.

“Get under the sheets, frosh.”

“...Huh?”

Sevens. “You need to rest. Under the sheets.”

“Okay…”

At least he wasn't fighting.

Jack dragged himself up to the top of the bed just as Ruggie re-entered the room with a basket of clean laundry.

“Ah. What's wrong with Jacky-boy?” The hyena held the basket against his hip, his left hand scrolling on his phone.

“Frosh is sick. Bring ‘im some medicine before you leave for class. I'm going.”

Ruggie sighed. “Damn, giving me more work? I'll do it for Jack, don't worry–” “I ain't worrying.” “–sure, shihihi. Oh look, he's already asleep.”

Leona turned back to look at Jack, and sure enough, the pup had passed out. Leona repressed the urge to rub the boy's ears and tuck him in.

“Well, then you've got your work cut out for you.”

He left without another word, missing the concerned look Ruggie threw his way.

This time he actually made it out of his dorm, but when he got out there, instead of heading towards the castle, he began to walk to the Botanical Garden. The morning had set the day off wrong and there was no way he was going to class feeling like that.

As soon as he made it to the gardens he crossed over to his usual napping spot. He didn't even try situating himself before falling asleep. It was too much of a morning.

🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩 🐺 🍩

He was awoken a few hours later by the sound of rustling a few feet away from his spot. Opening one eye, he glanced towards the area where the sound occurred.

Sitting near a grouping of purple flowering plants was the Diasomnia sophomore, Silver. The girl was inspecting the plants, presumably for her Alchemy class. Leona observed her for a couple minutes before the other noticed him.

“Oh, hello Leona. Did I wake you?”

Leona grumbled. “Nah.” He turned around, readjusting his position to fall asleep again.

Silver frowned, but continued her work.

The lion didn't sleep instantly. Usually he would, but for some reason, he kept himself awake.

Soon enough, he heard a soft thud and he turned back around. Silver had fallen asleep and fell into the flowers she was researching. It was an amusing sight, her cheek squished on the dirt and lower body not all the way fallen yet. But it did look uncomfortable. Leona sure wouldn't want to sleep that way.

And well, if Leona wouldn't, why would he make Silver sleep in that position?

He stood up, taking a moment to stretch before going over to the second year and picking her up. He was about to leave the gardens before reconsidering. He didn't feel like going all the way to Diasomnia right then ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶f̶a̶r̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶o̶n̶v̶e̶n̶i̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶S̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶k̶e̶ ̶u̶p̶ and he was still quite tired.

Looking around, he concluded that there was no one around that area. That's why he picked it as his napping spot, and that was probably why Silver had gone over there herself. She knew that she wouldn't get in anyone's way if she accidentally fell asleep. After a moment, he slumped down on the ground again, pulling the girl closer to his chest as he tried to find a position comfortable enough for the both of them to rest in again. Once he did, he laid down, letting Silver rest on top of his chest. She snuggled close to him, letting out a small sound of contentment.

It was because it was too much work to leave, he told himself. He was lazy, after all. Of course he wouldn't take time out of his day to return an underclassman to their dorm. Of course.

He told himself that again and again until he fell asleep once more.

When he woke up the second time, it was early afternoon. Silver was beside him, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Thanks for letting me sleep, Leona-senpai. I need to return to classes now. I'll see you later.”

Leona grunted in response. She gave him a look.

“Are you okay?”

The housewarden's eyebrows creased.

“Mind your own business, herbivore,” he said with a growl.

Something pained inside him when he caught the hurt in the younger one’s eyes, but he ignored it. “Scram.”

Silver opened her mouth, but no words came out. She tried again, but after a bit she just sighed.

“I apologize for overstepping.”

She left without another word. Leona watched her walk away and felt that pain again. He disappointed another person, didn't he?

Whatever. Why would he care about the sophomore? She wasn't even a part of his dorm. He didn't care.

He checked the time, seeing that he still had some time to kill before heading over to Ignihyde and decided to go to his final class. As much as he hated them, he didn't feel like being held back another year.

Class, in short, was hell. Literal hell. The headache that he had managed to escape from during napping came back full force, so bad that he couldn't even look up from his arms or else he'd be eye to eye with a bright, painful light. Luckily, since it was the end of the year, the work wasn't too difficult. Nothing he couldn't catch up on, anyways.

But Sevens, his headache was so bad he couldn't get up when class ended. Usually he would be out the door before the bell even finished ringing (Vil sometimes said that was the only time he was active outside of Spelldrive), but one, five, ten minutes passed before he even thought of moving.

His phone buzzed, vibrating in his pocket for almost a full minute before he picked it up. Idia was calling him. Considering his headache and the fact that he was in the middle of the hallway, he declined the call and texted Idia instead.

>> 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘺-𝘤𝘢𝘵

>> 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘺-𝘤𝘢𝘵

>> 𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰

>> 𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘢

>> 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 4𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘰

>> 𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘺𝘺𝘺𝘺𝘺

> 𝘺 𝘳 𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 :(

>> 𝘳 𝘶 𝘰𝘬???

>> 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷 2 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢

𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨… <<

𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 <<

𝘪’𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 <<

𝘪’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 <<

>> 𝘙𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨…

>> 𝘰𝘬…….

>> 𝘭𝘶𝘷 𝘶 <333

𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 <<

Fuck. First his brother called, then those stupid dorm members harassed his pup, then he upset Silver, then his fucking headache, and now he worried his Radish Sprout. Sevens, he just wanted that day over with. Hopefully Idia wasn't too upset with him, he desperately needed a cuddle, whether he would admit it to the introvert or not.

Taking a step into Ignihyde felt the same way walking into a fridge would. The blast of cold air he was hit with didn't improve his mood, though it did make him physically feel a little better.

Now, he knew the way to Idia’s room like it was his own territory. So why was he getting so lost in the hallways? He made more than three wrong turns before he finally made it to his boyfriend’s room. What the fuck.

He knocked on the door and waited, leaning his forehead on the cool metal as Idia gave the command for the door to open. The screech of metal against metal was like a bullet to the skull, and his ears pressed against his head in a way that was almost childlike in appearance. He immediately threw himself on Idia’s bed and burrowed his head into one of the many pillows scattered around the mattress. He could hear the flame-haired housewarden shutting his door and felt as he sat down on the bed.

“Kitty-cat?”

Leona just burrowed further into the pile of pillows. Idia moved closer and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“I told you, we don't have to do movie night tonight if you don't feel well. We can just cuddle and sleep or something…” The younger man ran his fingers through Leona’s hair, eventually moving up to gently rub at the lion's ears. Leona let out a quiet, contented purr before wincing. He turned over to face the gamer.

“I told you that it's fine. Turn on that movie that you've been raving about for the past week and gorge yourself on gummy worms like you've been wanting to. I won't object to the cuddling, though.”

Idia sighed and pulled Leona close to him. “If you're sure… I'm gonna pull it up on my laptop, get yourself comfortable.” The lion just curled up to the gamer, shoving his face in the other's neck.

The movie was pulled up, and Idia began to ramble about the creation and awards of the film as it started. Apparently the movie had come out years ago and was the first anime film to win an Oscar. There were a lot of other things that were honestly quite impressive, but Leona zoned out halfway through the mini rant. His eyes never focused completely on the movie, though he had to admit that the animation was very calming.

Approximately 20 minutes into the film, Leona’s eyes went heavy and he fell asleep on Idia's shoulder. The Ignihyde housewarden sighed. He could tell something was up with his cat-like boyfriend, but there was no way for him to force the other to talk. His phone pinged, a message from Silver. According to the sophomore, he had been off since early that day. She recounted her encounter with the Savanaclaw housewarden in the gardens, then simply asked if Leona was doing any better.

𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨… <<

𝘪𝘥𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯 2 𝘮𝘦 (ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠) <<

𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸 <<

>> 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 (ᴗ˳ᴗ) 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨…

>> 𝘖𝘩, 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘦

>> 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸

>> 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳

𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘭 <<

𝘫𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 <<

𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘶 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 <<

⊂⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠⊂⁠) <<

>> :)

>> 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴?

𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘶 𝘭8𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘭 <<

Idia turned off his phone and pushed the laptop to the side, the movie still playing in the background as he maneuvered the two of them under his blankets.

Once he got them comfortable, he pulled the laptop back and let the movie play. Might as well, he loved it and needed background noise to sleep anyways.

He hoped that Leona would feel better in the morning, or at least he would be more willing to talk about it. But really, he had a bad feeling about whatever was happening.

He cuddled even closer to the lion.

𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵…

🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀 🗡️ 💀

It seemed that cuddling with his introverted boyfriend wasn't a miracle cure. Dammit. It did make him feel slightly better, but considering his head was pounding while he walked down the hall to the cafeteria, he knew that wouldn't last. Luckily it was cloudy that day, so the sunlight didn't shine through the windows as obnoxiously as usual.

If he could, he would skip all day, but Ruggie and Vil decided that he would be finishing his junior year and moving on to internships no matter what, so he had to attend. Although, he could convince them of letting him have the afternoon off, so he just had to get through morning classes.

He brought up a hand to rub his forehead, his headache teetering on the edge of being unbearable again. He only shut his eyes for a moment, but he still ended up running into someone.

“Fuck, who the hell–”

“Leona?”

Vil? He opened his eyes and looked right into the violet gaze of his celebrity boyfriend. Dammit.

“Mornin’ Queenie. Isn't your first class on the other side of the school?”

“It is, but I was seeking you out.” She fell into step with Leona.

“What for?”

Vil handed something to Leona. The lion frowned. It was a to-go bag. “First, I wanted to let you know that Epel got injured yesterday and it's serious enough that he's been limping all day. He thinks I haven't noticed yet.” He scoffed. “Stupid boy. But the point is that his injury is affecting him to a point where he can't hide it, so I request that you go easy on him during Spelldrive today.” Right, that was today. Fuck.

“He'll do what he's able to do,” was Leona's response. The smirk on Vil’s face meant that he knew that meant Leona would do so. “Is that all?”

“Well, I also wanted to give you this.” He gestured to the to-go bag in the beastman’s hand. Her voice went soft. “Idia told me that you haven't been well. I can't spend time with you today, unfortunately, I have a photoshoot that I've already rescheduled twice before now, but I thought that maybe some of your favorite food would help your mood.” He glanced around before pressing a kiss to the corner of Leona’s mouth. “It's from that restaurant you really like down in the lower area of Sage Island, the place that serves food from Sunset Savanna. I have to head to my class now.”

They ended up in front of Leona's classroom, then Vil walked away. But before he went far, she looked back and blew a kiss at him. Leona rolled his eyes, but he felt better as he stepped in and went straight to the back. Technically, no one was allowed to eat in class unless they had a specific accommodation, but why would he care? His week so far had been straight shit, let him eat the goddamn food his boyfriend gave him.

He made quick work of around half of the meal, then slept the rest of the class. He already knew all of that stuff anyways, no need to pay attention. It was a double block too, so he got to nap extra long.

He didn't feel refreshed when he woke up, but his mood had greatly improved from yesterday and that morning. Hell, he might even go to an afternoon class the way things were going. And sleep, he wasn't that improved.

His day might've gone much better if it weren't for a certain call from a certain person. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢.

Great Seven above, did his brother have a death wish?

Leona ducked down an empty hallway and took the call. Better now than being spammed for the next few hours.

“What the 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 do you want, Farena?”

“No need to be so rude as soon as you pick up the phone.”

“Farena.”

“Okay, okay. It's just that…”

His brother went on and on and on about Leona's prospects for the future and how supposedly excited the family was for his return that summer. Yeah, right. The only one who wanted him back was Cheka. The only reason he ever went back was Cheka. His mood soured with each word Farena spoke through the phone, and he was damn near ready to sand it to dust.

During his brother's speech the bell rang, signalling lunch period started. The halls gradually filled until Leona had to move to another to hear his brother. He mentally gave his brother two more minutes before he ended the call altogether. But while he was standing in the new area, he heard steps slow to a stop near the entryway. He glanced up and locked eyes with none other than Jamil Viper.

His opinion of Jamil had changed over the years, from “the servant who takes care of Kalim” to “that fucking guy” to “fellow overblotter (negative)” to hesitant acquaintance. Whether he liked it or not, he had gained an interest and slight protectiveness over the Scarabia vice. So when he spotted the student he didn't scoff and turn away. Jamil tilted their head in question, and Leona waved them off. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦.

Jamil frowned, but seemed to understand as they nodded, then freaked out because they let Kalim go too far ahead. They rushed off after the younger boy, their voice quieting as they tried to catch up to their housewarden.

Leona briefly brought his attention back to his phone, rolling his eyes when he still heard his voice droning on.

“Fuck off,” was all he said before wrong the call and muting notifications from Farena.

Dammit. Why did he have to call? Why did that one interaction ruin his entire day?

He groaned and took off towards the botanical gardens. Ruggie would be able to find him and bring him lunch. Any motivation to go to class had disappeared entirely.

👑 🐍 👑 🐍 👑 🐍 👑 🐍 👑 🐍 👑 🐍 👑 🐍 👑 🐍 👑 🐍

No matter how much sleep he got, it seemed that he was cursed to be exhausted at all times. He woke up as the final bell went off, choosing to wait until the hallways were mostly clear.

There was still a solid twenty minutes before Spelldrive practice started, which he could probably extend to thirty-five if he waited until the last minute during changing and set-up. Maybe he could have another quick nap. Unfortunately he couldn't skip out during practice since they had an important game coming up, so they needed to focus and get in as much practice as possible.

He had just arrived at the hall of mirrors when a loud, fast, energetic ball of sunshine barreled into him, almost toppling him over.

“Holy–!”

“Leona!”

He looked down at the person who had run into him. Ah. Kalim.

“What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be in your little Pop Music Club right now?” He dragged the boy off of him and placed him back at a respectable distance. Which was quickly shortened by the younger.

“I almost forgot that I had bought some snacks to bring to club a couple of days ago, so I have to go back to Scarabia for a sec.”

“Did Jamil remind you?” Leona said, amusement leaking into his voice.

“Yeah…” The way the boy deflated was funny to watch, but he quickly moved past it. “I was hoping that I would run into you, though.”

Leona didn't buy it. “Sure.” Then he moved away. Or, he tried to.

“Wait! Just one more thing, just one more thing.”

The beastman pinched the bridge of his nose. Sevens, why did Kalim have to be so stubborn? Any other time, but not right now.

“What?” he growled out. He instantly felt sorry at the way the Scarabia housewarden flinched, so he softened his voice as he repeated the word. “What?”

Kalim didn't answer immediately, instead walking up next to the lion and grabbing his hand.

“You should come over to Scarabia sometime. Not like a big party or anything, just to hang out. I can tell you've been stressed lately, so if you ever need to decompress, our doors are wide open.” He spread his arms wide to illustrate his point, which drew an eye roll from Leona. “I mean, we've known each other for years. I'll always accept you over.” Then, before Leona could say anything else, Kalim left and disappeared through his dorm’s mirror.

Leona stared off in the direction he left, a strange emotion settling in his chest.

Kalim wasn't wrong when he said that they had known each other for years. Due to their statuses, their families had met many times over the course of their childhoods. They were often pushed to “play together” while the adults worried over politics. He didn't know if they ever had a friendship, but he couldn't ignore that the two of them had a unique relationship. After all, not only was he one of the few people who knew how he got his scar, he was there when it happened.

He took off towards his mirror and stepped through. Whatever. He didn't need Kalim's pity.

Stepping into the bright sun of the Savanaclaw dorm was painful. The beastman squeezed his eyes shut and put a hand to his forehead. His headache had steadily persisted the entire day and it was pissing him off.

The journey from the dorm entry to the changing rooms in the stadium took twice as long as it normally would, his steps dragging and vision blurring in and out from the force of his headache. He changed into his Spelldrive uniform and went to stand near the goals while waiting for the rest of the team.

Epel was one of the first to exit the changing rooms, rushing over to stand with the other few members of the team already there. Leona noticed the way that the boy walked, heavily favoring his left leg over his right. It was obvious that he was trying to hide it, but he couldn't escape the eyes of a lion.

“𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺.”

“𝘏𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰.”

From the look of the Pomefiore student, Vil's worry for the boy wasn't unfounded. What the hell did Epel do to get an injury affecting him to that extent? And why was he attempting to hide it?

Once the whole team had arrived, he started them on stretches and called Epel over.

“What do ya– you need me for, Leona-senpai?” the freshman asked. His fingers nervously tapped against his side, a habit that had not escaped Leona's notice, as well as the fact that he was leaning all of his weight on his left leg. Stupid boy.

“Queenie told me that your leg is messed up.” Epel's eyes widened, and he muttered something under his breath.

“Of course ma would snitch on me.”

Leona snorted. “You really thought you could hide it from him?” Epel flushed. “Yeah, that was stupid, wasn't it?”

“Why do you even care? I can still play!”

He scoffed. “Yeah, sure. It's dangerous to have an injured player on the field, so do your team a favor and lay off the fancy tricks you have up your sleeve, I don't need you injuring yourself any further or screwing up someone else.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “Okay, so what about you then? Don't be actin’ all uppity when ya could barely walk without trippin’ all over yerself. Ya don't even got a leg injury like ah do, so why don’ ya practice what ya preach for a moment?”

Oh no. They were not going to play this back and forth any longer. Leona grit his teeth.

“Watch your fucking place, pretty boy.”

Epel's face dropped. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬. The boy stared at him for a moment, then soundlessly walked away to do stretches with the rest of the team. From the disbelieving look on Ruggie's face, he could tell that the end of their exchange hadn't exactly been quiet.

Dammit, he didn't mean to be rude to the boy. Cheeky, yes, but he ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶d̶,̶ ̶v̶a̶l̶u̶e̶d̶,̶ ̶c̶h̶e̶r̶i̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ cared about him too much to purposefully hurt him. And… fuck, was Epel crying? He glanced at the younger and guilt welled up in him at the sight of tears silently falling from his eyes.

He made Epel cry.

Practice didn't go well. He felt uncoordinated, like his body had fallen out of touch with itself. Sure, his horrific headache was part of it, but the pressure from his family, the stress from his frosh being sick, the worry he was causing the people who cared for him, the guilt he felt for making Epel cry, that was what was really getting him.

At the end of practice he practically ran back to the dorm, not bothering to change back or leave any final words for the team. The second he crossed the threshold to his room he slammed the door closed and fell onto the bed. He didn't bother changing, just kicked his shoes off and crawled under the sheets. His phone buzzed from wherever he tossed his bag and he groaned. Luckily he had thrown it near his nightstand, so he barely had to move. Squinting at the screen, he saw that it was Ruggie who texted him.

>> 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬

>> 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺

>> 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥

>> 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵

>> 𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴?

Leona didn't bother responding, knowing that the hyena would bring food whether he asked for it or not. Jack still being sick was concerning, though. And he wasn't even trying to fight back and go about his day? It must be serious. But he could deal with that later.

His eyes slid shut and he was asleep within seconds, effectively ending the day for himself. Ruggie walked in around fifteen minutes later, not bothering to knock. He frowned upon seeing him, placing the plate of food he had brought down on a side table before climbing onto the bed and beginning the painstaking process of unbraiding the lion's hair and taking off the most uncomfortable parts of his outfit. He may be a student of Night Raven College, but he wasn't as emotionally constipated as Leona, he knew when he could admit, even if just to himself, that he cared for the older.

Taking off the uniform proved to be more difficult than usual, considering Leona was covered by his blankets for once. But he managed, removing the jacket, the kneepads, and the most annoying of the belts and harnesses. He took out the lion's hair and let it rest freely on the pillows around them.

Getting up from the bed, he gave one last glance to the beastman sleeping on the bed in the center of the room. His face wasn't calm, even in sleep. Ruggie sighed and returned to his housewarden’s side, nuzzling against the older to try to comfort him. Their bond couldn't be easily defined, but he wanted to best for the lion and the rest of their clan, whoever ended up part of it. Then he finally left, closing the door behind him and ready to watch over Savanaclaw for the rest of the night.

☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎 ☀️ 🍎

If he had it his way, he would've stayed in Savanaclaw hiding from the world for the next two weeks or so. Unfortunately, Ruggie was a stubborn bastard. He dragged the housewarden out of bed and forced him out of the dorm.

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨!”

He wandered aimlessly through the halls, uncaring of time or location. His head felt foggy, his thoughts unable to stick in his mind. Every sudden sound made him jump, every voice added to his growing dread, every sight of one of his own mocking him.

It should have hurt. But instead he just felt tired. So, so tired. He didn't know what it was about that week, what the difference was between now and the rest of the year.

The only other time he had felt this way were the weeks leading up to his overblot.

Currently he was leaning against the cold stone wall out in the courtyard, arm resting over his eyes. It was just after noon, morning classes almost over. Aside from a few stragglers, he was alone.

He heard light footsteps clacking against the pathway closest to him, clearly walking in his direction. From the unique sound, he could tell they were wearing heels. Vil or Riddle, then. He reluctantly lifted his arm from his face, looking at whoever decided to bother him then.

A short boy with a head of red hair confirmed it was the Heartslabyul housewarden. Riddle walked towards the lion with purpose, gaze steady as he approached his fellow dorm leader.

“Leona. Why aren't you in class?” He stopped short in front of the beastman, a pile of papers resting in his arms.

“Didn't feel like going,” was his terse answer. Riddle’s passive expression curled into a frown.

“That's not much of an excuse, but I suppose that it doesn't concern me.” He shuffled through the papers he was holding. “Here. Crowley assigned me with handing these out to all of the housewardens.”

Leona took them and skimmed over the information. “When's the next meeting, anyway?”

“Friday. I assume you'll be there?” Leona grunted, still looking through the stack he was given. He glanced back at the boy when he tapped his shoulder. Riddle leaned in like he was telling a secret.

“Yuu told me that they were going to show up at the meeting, so I think it would do you good to show up.” He giggled, the uncharacteristic sound showing his youth. Leona couldn't help but crack a smile.

“Watching them tear into the crow sure would be entertaining. I'll show up.” Riddle grinned, then startled and collected himself. Red dusted his face as he raised his hand to awkwardly cough, embarrassed.

“I'm glad to hear it. I'll see you then.” Riddle turned and walked back down the pathway, heading to wherever the next housewarden was. And Leona was left alone again, the temporary contentment from seeing one of his own disappearing. He slid down the stone wall and leaned his head back, once again raising his arm to cover his eyes.

A few hours later, he was walking the long path down to Ramshackle dorm. He intended on going back to Savanaclaw to drop off the papers (and crawl into bed) but Ruggie intercepted him at the entrance.

“𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵.” “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴.” “...𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨” “𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺.” “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺?” “𝘠𝘶𝘶’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘎𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘺𝘦 𝘣𝘺𝘦!”

He would be lying if he said he didn't expect it.

The wind pushed at him as he opened the gate and crossed the threshold onto the property. The sky hadn't yet cleared, giving the old dorm a sort of dreary atmosphere. He pulled out his phone, casually checking his notifications.

Sevens damn it all, was that his brother again? He clicked the notification, a text thread, ready to get incomparably angry when he noticed what was sent.

>> 4 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘋𝘰 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺

>> 𝘩𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘢! 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘬𝘢!!

>> 𝘪’𝘮 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘢'𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪’𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥

>> 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳!!!

>> 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳!!!

Autocorrect must be doing wonders for the kid. He sent a one word response back and pocketed his phone. He had reached the front door and had just raised his hand to open it when it swung open itself, revealing an out of breath Yuu.

“Hey, Leona! Sorry, I just chased Grim around the entire dorm because he stole my sandwich.” They stepped to the side and gestured, allowing him inside.

He was greeted with the sound of energized shouting and cheering. Glancing into the living room, he saw the group that had arrived that day. It consisted mainly of Yuu’s group of freshman, Ace, Deuce, Ortho, and Epel. He could also see Lilia and Silver, the sophomore leaning her head against her father's shoulder, half asleep. He could vaguely hear Rook and Jade in the kitchen, which was… slightly worrying, but they were Yuu's friends, so whatever.

He grimaced upon seeing Epel, guilt clouding his mind. He still hadn't apologized to him, and he didn't really know how. And now that he thought about it, he did the same thing to Silver and Kalim, didn't he. His sight drifted again to the former. He needed to apologize to the both of them as well. He wanted to. So why didn't he?

“By the way, Leona, where's Jack? He hasn't texted any of us and Epel said that he hasn't been in class for days.” Yuu put their hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention back to the prefect.

“He's sick. I think Ruggie brought him to the infirmary this morning.” To be honest, he wasn't sure if he did. He assumed so based off of what the hyena said the night before, but he never actually checked.

A loud shout of accomplishment and a groan of defeat sounded from the living room, drawing their attention back to the group.

“HAHA, FUCK YOU DEUCE, AH BEAT YER ASS FAIR AN’ SQUARE!!” shouted the lavender haired boy. Deuce put her head in her hands, but Leona could see the grin she was hiding. Ortho took the remote next to her and handed it to Lilia.

“Next bracket: Lilia Vanrouge versus Ace Trappola!” The humanoid floated down next to the Heartslabyul girl and gathered her in a tight hug. “Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it!” Deuce laughed and returned the hug, giving her a final squeeze before letting go. Their electronic yellow eyes shined with joy and it was obvious that her mouth guard hid a bright smile.

The sight was endearing, and Leona was content to just stand on the edge and observe when Epel looked around, eyes falling on the lion in the corner. His mood instantly changed, smile dropping and body almost curling into himself. Ortho noticed and moved over to the boy, giving Leona the stink eye before returning their attention to their friend. Leona grew uncomfortable, his guilt mixing with the developing sense that he shouldn't have come. He was just going to ruin things.

“Ooh la la, is that Roi des Lions I see?” Rook appeared from the kitchen. Despite his cheery words, his smile was cold. He walked right over to Leona and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Leona growled. “Hands off.”

Rook chuckled, but there was no humor in his voice. “My dear Monsieur Pommette showed up to Pomefiore after Spelldrive with red, puffy eyes and dried tear tracks on his face. He informed Vil and I of the reason, but I would like to hear 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 side of the story.” His voice dropped low. “Why did you make our Pommette cry?”

Shit. Leona’s breath quickened, his eyes darting around the room. The people around the TV were now whispering to each other, periodically glancing back at the beastman. Even Lilia was talking with them, and he could tell the fae was not pleased.

“𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧𝘧.” He broke away from the hunter and ran towards the stairs, rushing to just get away. Distantly, he heard Yuu telling off Rook and asking everyone to calm down. He tore down the hallway and into one of the many empty rooms, accidentally slamming the door shut and throwing himself onto one of the beds.

𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵!

He fucked up. Big time. What was wrong with him?

He tried as hard as he could, but his body betrayed him, tears flowing freely from his eyes. He grabbed a pillow and sobbed into it.

𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱. 𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦?

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳?

𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

𝘐…

He didn't know how long he cried into the pillow. Maybe it had only been minutes. Maybe hours had passed. A knock on the door made him jump, not having expected anyone to come after him. The person outside waited for a moment, but then opened the door without him giving a response.

Yuu quietly shut the door and walked over to Leona, sitting at the foot of the bed. Neither said a word.

“Leona.” Yuu was the first to break the silence. “Can we talk? Just you and me?”

He didn't answer.

“I've noticed… we've noticed that something's been up with you,” they continued. “Some of the others thought that maybe it was some big thing that happened, some thought that maybe it had to do with your kingdom, but I didn't agree.”

They took a deep breath. “I don't think there was some event that set you off. It just… got bad again, didn't it?”

Leona's breath caught.

“We're worried about you. All of us. You were doing so well, you were healing. And it’s… scaring me that you got worse out of nowhere.”

He turned even more into the pillow.

“I… Leona? Can you answer a question? Please.”

He waited. They didn't ask.

“Leona, please. Let me know you're listening. Please.”

There was no sound. It was dark in the room, the only light coming from under the door.

Carefully, slowly, Leona turned to face Yuu.

“What is it?” His voice came out gravelly, strained.

“Do you want to kill yourself?”

Silence.

“I don't know.”

A hitch in breath. Even in the dark, he could see their eyes turn glassy, unshed tears glistening over their irises.

Then, even quieter…

“I don't want you to die.”

The words were spoken softly, almost like a confession.

“Yuu…”

With some effort, Leona sat up. Yuu threw themselves into his arms. They didn't cry, not yet. They just held him. After a moment of hesitation, he held them back.

They sat like that for a while, holding each other in silence, before Yuu slowly pulled back. They kept their hands resting in his and looked into his eyes.

“Leona, when you think about… it, is there anyone you see?”

Oh.

“I…”

𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘢. 𝘝𝘪𝘭. 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴.

“There’s…”

𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘮. 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭. 𝘙𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦. 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳.

“It's…”

𝘙𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦. 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘌𝘱𝘦𝘭. 𝘠𝘶𝘶. 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘮.

“Yuu…”

𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘬𝘢. 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢. 𝘑𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪. 𝘒𝘪𝘧𝘢𝘫𝘪. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴.

“Too many.”

And Yuu crashed into his arms again, letting their tears fall. And Leona hugged them back, pulling them close, crying again.

They ended up asleep, curled together, having cried themselves out. No words were exchanged after his final statement, the two unable to verbalize their feelings.

It was just the two of them that night.

🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐 🌹 🦐

Little green fireflies sparkled around the room, indicating his arrival. He carefully made his way over to the bed, walking as quietly as he could so as not to wake them. Leona and Yuu were entangled on one of the spare beds, seemingly tuckered out from their earlier emotions.

Malleus debated on returning Leona to Savanaclaw or perhaps bringing him to his own dorm, but decided against it. He didn't want to scare Yuu with the disappearance of their dear friend. Instead he sat by his side, running his fingers through Leona's brunette curls, softly rubbing his ears. He smiled when the lion let out a quiet purr. He loved it when his lovers let themselves loose, even if it was only in sleep.

When Lilia and Silver returned to Diasomnia, Lilia had insisted that Malleus go check on his lover. From what he had been able to gauge, both from his partners and his guardian, Leona had been off the entire week, more snappy and isolating than usual. His beloveds had shared their worries that his depression had hit a low point, which was upsetting to hear. He knew his commanding lover struggled with depression, but he was under the impression that he had been doing better, that he didn't need as much help as before. Clearly, he was wrong. His lover was struggling and desperately needed someone to lean on, and he would never forgive himself for not noticing sooner.

But that was for later. Right now, he needed to help him, to be the hand to pull him up, to be the support he lacked for so long before.

Malleus leaned over the bed and pressed his lips to Leona's forehead. He longed to kiss the man's lips, but that would be better for another time. In his kiss, he delicately infused magic, just enough to calm the lion's mind and heart so his sleep would be free of terrors and interruptions. Pulling back, he went to Yuu’s side of the bed and kissed their cheek, simply as a show of affection for his Child of Man.

Standing upright, he gazed upon his lover and his friend. Tomorrow, he and his partners would steal Leona away for a mental health day, full of pampering and love for their favorite lion. They would help him. He would make it through.

Before he left, he placed a carefully folded letter on a side table for Leona to read when he woke up. The letter was composed of a heartfelt apology for his inaction and a promise that he would do all he could to help him heal.

He couldn't help himself and went back to give him a quick kiss on the lips. Then before he could find another excuse to dawdle, he teleported away. He really wished to stay longer, but Sebek would probably have an aneurysm if he was out of sight for more than ten minutes. Oh well. He had the entirety of tomorrow to pamper and worship Leona the way he wished to, after all.

And so they were left to sleep, and despite his unconsciousness, Leona's lips curled into a sweet smile, as if responding to his royal lover’s final kiss.

🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁 🐉 🦁