Work Text:
Leona was in a bit of a predicament. It wasn't a dangerous one, more a very annoying one. For some reason, he had found himself falling for the lizard, and now they were together. This wasn't the problem; the problem was that he now had to play nice with Malleus's little family of sorts.
The old bat and the two knights.
He didn't want to, but if he didn't, Malleus would be mad at him, and he wasn't in favor of that happening. It caused more problems than it solved. In all fairness, the sleepy one- Silver- wasn't so bad. He was quiet and slept a lot, which Leoan could agree with; he loved a nap. The other two were the real problem. Lilia was… Lilia, and he would rather shoot himself than make friends with him. The loud first-year was a whole other thing. He was friends with Jack and seemed to be one of the more intelligent of the group.
Not running them into danger and their deaths every other second. Jack could use some smart friends. Epel seemed to like him, as well, if the talk during Spell-drive practice was anything to go off of. It's just that he was loud. Very loud. Leona could feel his ears already ringing from his volume, and Seven knew where the kid was right now.
Shaking his head, Leona looked down at the chessboard in front of him. He had been playing for some time, boredom having taken its hold. But playing by yourself wasn't all that fun; the lizard was a better opponent than himself. He could invite Malleus over; the fae was always happy when he was.
Thinking of the lizard brought back Sebek. The green-haired boy had been acting odd for a few weeks. He hadn't exactly noticed it himself, but it had been brought to his attention. Looking closer, he could see how strange things were. The boy was quieter than usual, which was very strange, as he had the volume of a megaphone most of the time. His tails flicked behind him as he thought; something was definitely wrong. Leone didn't know how wrong, but if it was anything like usual, it was bad.
His ears flicked to the door of his room; hesitant footsteps sounded outside of it. They stopped at his door, and silence followed. No knock or sound, and it continued like that for a minute. The person on the other side stood still, not daring to move.
Leona got up from his spot, magicking away the chessboard, a scowl on his face. Whoever this was better have a good fucking reason for disturbing him. A step back came from behind the door, and before they could walk away in earnest, he opened the door. The person on the other side froze as he stared at them; a head of green hair told him who it was.
Sebek stood there like a deer in headlights; his face had dried tear tracks, a bruise blooming on his jaw, and a trickle of blood ran from his forehead. Leona's eyebrows raised as he took in the state of the boy; what the fuck had happened? Sebek took another step back, straightening up as he spoke. “I will be leaving now!” His volume had Leona’s ears pinning back slightly.
“You're not.” Leona started, grabbing the boy's wrist and pulling him inside his room. “And don't be so loud; you’ll make me deaf.”
A squawk came from the boy, and he pulled against the beastman's hold. “You don't decide that!” he argued, and pulled once more. Leona didn't let go, just shoved him at the bed. Sitting him down, he pointed an accusing finger at him. “Do not leave, do not move. I am getting a first aid kit.”
The boy huffed, curling into himself slightly. A finger picked at his nails. “I will follow your instructions, but not because you told me to.”
Leona rolled his eyes, walking to his bathroom to get the first aid kit. When he came back, he was mildly surprised that Sebek had stayed. He sat in the same spot, not having moved a muscle, staring forward into nothing. Leona came to stand in front of him, setting the kit down and flipping it open. The boy watched him do so out of the corner of his eye. He tilted the boy's head to the side, swiping his hair back to get a better look at the gash on his forehead.
“Do you want to tell me why you were loitering outside of my room?” Leone asked, pushing at the skin. A small hiss came from the boy, bitten back from escaping fully. Sebek stared forward, “It was a misjudgment. “
“A misjudgment?” He got a cotton ball and soaked it in antiseptic. The wound was mild; the location of it was the cause of so much blood. All it would need was some butterfly stitches. “In what? Logic? I’m surprised you didn't go running to the lizard to deal with this.”
“My liege shouldn't worry about such trivial injuries. He has better things to do.”
Leona hummed, pressing the cotton ball to the boy's forehead. Sebek flinched back, straightening up a second later. “He worries. And you didn't answer my question. I have another one as well: how did you get injured?”
The boy was quiet after that, not speaking until Leona had finished cleaning the wound and tossed the cotton ball in the trash. “You and my liege are together; I thought coming here would be better than bothering him.”
“You decided to bother me?” Leona looked down at him; the boy's eyes were hard, but the red rimidness of them got rid of any intimidation he would have had. “I thought you would be a better option.” was the quiet confession. The beastman's eyebrows rose, but he went back to cleaning him up. Getting the butterfly bandages to close the wound.
“And a group of Second years did it.”
Leona paused at that. Second years- why would a group of second years hurt Sebek? “You do something to them?” The boy shook his head. “No, of course not. I would not dare tarnish the image of my liege. They have a problem with me… they don't like me.”
The pause between the sentences caught Leona's attention; pulling back, he looked down at the boy. His eyes narrowed at the refusal of eye contact. “Why don't they like you?” Leona brushed the boy's hair back with one hand, looking at his work before letting the hair fall back. Would Sebek's hair be long enough to braid? It looked about the right length.
Sebek didn't speak for a moment, wringing his hands. “They don't like that I'm a half-breed. That I’m wrong.” It was spoken with disgust, like the fact that Sebek was half-human was an abomination. Like he was an abomination. What the fuck, ‘wrong’? Being a mix wasn't wrong; what in the Seven was going on with this kid?
Leona looked at him, hooking his chin to make him look in his eyes. “You do know that's not true, correct? You are not wrong.”
The look in Sebek's eyes told him he did not believe the beastman. Leona clicked his tongue, pushing at his shoulder, “Move back.” The boy looked confused but did so, watching as Leona settled behind him. Running his nails through his hair, he separated a section on the side, dividing it into three.
“You are not wrong, Sebek. Just because you are half fae, half human doesn't make you wrong.”
Sebek tried to look back at him, but he just pushed his head straight. “I am wrong.” his voice was absolute. “If I wasn't, they wouldn't be bullying me.”
Bullying? Oh Seven, Leoan was out of his depth here. He could comfort him if he started crying or something; what was he doing? Why did he have to get along with the lizard's family? “They’re bullying you? For how long?”
“Since the start of the year, and what are you doing?”
Leone continued to braid as he took in the information. How had Malleus not caught on that one of his retainers was being bullied? Especially the one that seemed glued to him. “Braiding your hair. Why have you not told Malleus?”
He tucked a piece of hair into one of the growing sections, braiding down the side of the boy's head. “My liege should not worry about my life. I have it handled.”
“Sure you do; that's why you showed up at my dorm bleeding.” Leona pulled at the hair when Sebek tried to lean forward, grunting a warning sound his mother had used on him many times before. The boy stopped moving, not disagreeing with what Leoan had said. “You should tell the lizard.”
“No,” Sebek spoke, and Leona raised an eyebrow. “No?”
The boy gently shook his head, not moving his head too much so as not to affect Leona’s work. The braid was almost done, and he magicked a hair tie. Biting it between his teeth, he finished the end of the braid. Tying the end, he ran his nails through the boy's free hair. Brushing some behind his ear, Sebek spoke. “My liege had better things to do than worry about me. What do you know about my liege, anyway?”
“We are together as you pointed out earlier, so a bit. And I know he does worry, and you should tell him.”
Sebek turned to look at him; his eyes were closing on themselves. The adrenaline crash from what presumably happened earlier was catching up to him. “I will think about it.”
Leona sighed, mumbling something about kids not listening before pointing to the top of his bed. “Take a nap; you need it. Your eyes are slipping shut.” Sebek made an offended noise, watching as he got off the bed. “They are not.” The boy was cut off by a yawn. Leona raised an eyebrow as Sebek ceded, moving to the top of his bed.
The boy lay back on the pillows, looking at him with a confused expression. “Why did you help me?”
“The lizard cares about you.” Leona started, staring at the young boy. He looked a bit like Cheka did when he slept in Leona's bed. “And I don't want to see you hurt; now go to sleep.” The action of saying that was a bit painful, but not untrue. He didn't want to see the young half-fae hurt, just like he didn't want to see Ruggie or Jack hurt.
Sebek stared at him for a moment before closing his eyes, turning his face into the pillow. Leona watched his breath even out, and sleep took him. The braid he had done stood out on the side of his head, and Leona thought it looked good. He cared for some odd reason; maybe getting to know Malleus’s family wouldn't be so bad. At least not the retainers; Lilia was going to be a nightmare.