Archive of Our Own

Leona was never really fond of birthdays.

That’s a fact anyone could guess in a flash, from just one glance at him. He never seemed like the attention-seeking type, not that he wouldn’t get any. He certainly is eye-catching, or at least that’s how you see him. A handsome beastman with a prideful attitude. Who could ever ignore a guy like him? Your admiration may have stemmed from bias, since you are his partner. Nevertheless, eyes or not, Leona never seemed like the birthday-celebrating type. A total contrast to his fellow kins who had the Leo zodiac sign. When you blurted out this fact to him, on a brief hangout where the usual schedule was naps and silent comfort, his nose scrunched up in confusion, and then he scoffed.

“They believe in that stuff where you come from?” his tail swiveled up and down with the slowest speed possible, then came to wrap around your leg. “We just see them as dumb fairy tales in Sunset Savanna.”

“It’s not that deep for us, either,” you hummed, readjusting yourself on his laid-out arm, one silently designated as your pillow for nearly a year now. “It’s more like…a personality archetype, I guess? They’re not that accurate.” That is, unless you consider other factors such as the moon, Saturn, and other planets of your world. Something Leona would snore at, so you decided not to explain it. “You can’t tell me Sunset Savanna doesn’t have similar stories about the stars.”

“What makes you think that?” The little smirk creeping on his face was undeniable. He was enjoying your defensive nature, the fact that he seemed to embarrass you, even as little as this, to make you defend such a silly matter. You rolled your eyes at him, albeit there was no malice behind it, merely amused exasperation over the guy you unfortunately fell for being the sole feeder of your temper.

“Everyone has stories about the stars.” You rebutted, looking up at the glass-covered ceiling within the green room. Daylight was slowly creeping down from its routine, venturing further into the earth for another land as the stars peeked into your vision. They were small, invisible at best, twinkling like jewels buried deep within grains of sand. Even in their smallest of moments, you find yourself mesmerised by them.

Leona hummed in thought at your statement, letting the silence grow around you as it always had. It was one made of comfort, one that brought peace with it seldom experienced in your chaotic life at NRC. He seemed to be looking at the barely-sighted stars too.his other arm that was supporting the back of his head now slowly falling, touching the grass underneath. You thought that’d be it, that he’d grace you with no answer but a grunt or a hum that you've decided, for your own sake, to take as a win in any argument, good or bad. “….we do have em’.” He quietly muttered, making your head snap back up to look at him. Your curiosity was unmistakable, making him chuckle. “…they say that if you look up at the stars, you’ll see the kings of our land. When they pass on, they don’t just die. They join the skies above to watch over us.” he went quiet for a moment, lost in deep thought; his tail, which was wrapped around your leg, released its hold on you ever-so-slightly, tapping on your thigh. He was frustrated. With what, you’re unsure. You then hear him give out an empty scoff, eyes betraying his mockingly tired tone. “ It's a stupid fairy tale, anyhow. Don’t know why everyone’s so obsessed with what's up there.” His emerald gaze never left the skies above.

It was a brief conversation, but it’s one that’s been stuck in your head for weeks now, swirling within your mind like a puzzle you couldn’t quite solve. Now, every time you look up at the twinkling sky, you remember stories of your own homeland’s stars, what they believed they were, and compare them to what Sunset Savanna believed. You wouldn’t call yourself a conspiracy theorist, but the world has shown you time and time again that the norm is something idealistic at best, and nonexistent at its worst. Myths may exaggerate, but they aren’t untrue. They always come from a place of truth. That’s something you knew. It’s something you were certain Leona knew.

And it made you wonder…

Was Leona mad because of its skepticism, or mad at the idea of it being somewhat true?

You looked up at the stars once again, concerned gnawing at you.

Did Leona think his ancestors would not care for him?

You’ve done personal research on Sunset Savanna, one you’d refuse to share with Leona given how egotistical he’d be if he ever knew about it. You were curious about your boyfriend’s homeland; as much as he liked to dissociate himself from the kingdom, he always seemed deeply attached to it. When you sought books about the stars, one line stood out from the rest. That only the ‘kings’ could seek advice from the stars, the guides of the past in the heavenly sky. Every king who passed on goes up there to join them. Everyone else would be left behind. Or well, that’s what the books imply. However, you doubt its accuracy. Why would lion beastmen, especially one as devoted to family values like Kingscholars, ever consider ignoring the rest of the family and only focusing on the head patriarch? You couldn’t believe it to be true. You didn’t want it to be true. Yet doubt still reared its head around and questioned you. But what if it is? What if no one in his family, dead or alive, truly cares?

You closed the book, a loud thump accompanying the action as dust crinkled on the edge of the paper gathered and spread out like a mist. You run a hand through your face, letting out a tired sigh as you lay down on your bed once more. The leaky ceilings of your ramshackle dorm bear the weight of your tired glare. You decide to take mercy on the inanimate object's soul, eyes glancing back to the calendar on your bedside instead.  His birthday is coming up soon. You knew from the way Cheka would ramble on about his special day that birthdays were also a huge deal in Sunset Savanna, especially for royalty. Yet Leona never went back home for him, opting to celebrate with his dorm and classmates instead. Yet even then, he seemed to have a social battery of sorts when it came to such occasions, quickly retreating back to his room to take a nap the moment he was allowed such a respite. His birthdays had always been brief compared to the rest; nonetheless, they were fun, for you and the rest at least. You knew he was having fun too, as stubborn as he was to admit it. A thought kept circling in your mind for years, a plan simple in its nature but a bit hard to execute in reality. A ‘perfect birthday’ for the likes of your boyfriend, Leona Kingscholar. It was at first a small musing, one involving lots of daydreams and different lazy activities that only Leona would thoroughly enjoy. With time, it slowly turned into an actual plan, one with different strategies and points in mind. And now, you’re unable to sleep a wink, slowly going through every hypothetical in your made-up scenario and wondering when exactly you could ever execute your plan. Would you be able to even do it on his birthday? As a housewarden, his special day was no laughing matter, not even to Crowley it seems, since he insists every year for a photoshoot to commemorate this celebratory day and very coincidentally show off the royal calibre of the school by having two princes study at their campus. Vil once told you that Leona would at first disagree with this treatment, spending most of his freshman year birthdays hiding in every nook and cranny of the large island to avoid Crowley’s over-excited venture. However, it seems to have changed ever since his overblot. Ruggie, who was listening in on your conversation at the cafeteria wait-line with Vil, butted in rather unceremoniously, despite the harsh glare Vil gave him for it.

“he told me it’s because his sister-in-law started getting up on his case about sending pictures.” He shrugged. “Man… she must be real scary if she got Leona to fold so easily.”

“Eavesdropping now, are we?” Vil clicked his tongue.

“Hey, it wasn’t on purpose.” Ruggie shrugged, yet his smirk blurred the sincerity of his words. “ I was just tryin’ to remember what Leona asked me to order, but you two’s little chitchat caught my ears instead.”

Your rose a brow at that. “You can remember a random fact about his sister-in-law but not his food order from literally five minutes ago?”

“Orders are temporary. Blackmail material is forever.” He simply put. Vil huffed in exasperation at his answer, giving him a scolding glare, all while you sighed sheepishly. Ruggie flinched, now wary of Vil’s lectures and scrambles to apologize to the queen before Vil brought a hand up and sighed. “I’ll overlook that for now…let’s stay on topic.” He then crossed his arms as Ruggie’s ears flagged downwards in slight embarrassment. “While I’m sure the queen of Sunset Savanna is not one to be messed with, I doubt that’s the only reason why Leona decided to finally partake in these photoshoots. If it was just for her to stop nagging, wouldn’t he just send some lazy and poorly focused picture of himself and send it in instead?”

Ruggie thinks for a moment, then sighs. “I mean that does sound more like him…but wouldn’t she get mad at him?”

“She would.” Vil hummed, moving a bit forward as the line shortened by one person. “In fact, she had, back when we were still juniors.” He chuckled. “You spuds haven't been enrolled yet, so I’m not surprised that you don’t know about it. But this is a yearly nuisance for Leona. And for the most part, he avoided giving away any good pictures. Ask your senior classmates in your dorm, Ruggie; they can vouch for me on that.”

“Seriously?” Ruggie seemed curious enough, ears twitching back up and forgetting about his earlier manners. “Then, what’s the real reason behind his indifference now? Did he really just give up being so stubborn? That doesn’t really sound like him.”

At this point, you were completely zoned out from the conversation, mind trailing off elsewhere and letting these two amuse each other with their idle chatter. But Vil had this certain power, one where one look from him could catch anyone’s attention, with his piercing amethyst gaze now landing on you with deep amusement as he answers Ruggie's question with merely a silent lift of his eyebrows, gaze solely on you.

No fool could ever not realize what he’s insinuating, and you had been half-listening, so you do remember what Ruggie’s question was. You blinked, feeling your heart hammer a bit in your chest as blood rushed to your face.

“What?! Hey, don’t put this on me—“ you sputtered out a bit too nervously for your own taste, letting out an annoyed huff. “ I never told him to do this stuff.”

Ruggie snickered as Vil responded to you with mirth. “You don’t need to tell him, dear. Even a lazy bum like Leona wouldn’t pass up the chance to impress his partner.”

Ruggie brought his hand up to his mouth, as if he was holding back a cackle. “Oh god— it totally makes sense now. He's literally trying to rizz you up!” Vil almost snorted at Ruggie’s statement, quickly stopping himself from doing something so ‘uncouth’ and letting out a few, staggered puffs of air that resembled a held-back laugh evaporating into hummed musings. You don’t know who to hate more at the moment. Vil and Ruggie for teasing you, or Idia and Cater for teaching Ruggie internet slang.

At this point, your zoning-out escapade was fully gone, obliterated and obliterated by the two cackling devils of your torture. You couldn’t stop feeling the embarrassed fluster coursing through your veins, the rush of blood on your cheeks and ears as you looked away with an embarrassed grumble, hiding your face behind your hands.

“You two are worse than old women gossiping over tea.” You grumbled out, failing to quell their amusement. “It is NOT for me. He's just doing it for his sister-in-law. I’m sure of it.”

“Oh? So you don’t enjoy seeing him all cleaned up?” Vil’s smirk made you stumble through your words while Ruggie let out a wheezed laugh.

“Yeah, come on, buddy.” Ruggie grinned mischievously. “You can’t tell us you don’t like seeing your boyfriend all dressed up like that.”

Their teasing made you feel like an active volcano, seconds away from erupting. With a clicked tongue and sigh, you straightened your posture and tried to answer as confidently as possible. “ I like him no matter what he wears. I just want him to be comfortable.” Those earnest and honest words seemed to quell their bullying, with Ruggie huffing out and smiling at you with a knowing look, all while Vil hummed proudly.

“This is precisely why he likes you so much.”  Were Vil’s last words about the situation.

With his birthday looming closer, you’ve decided that you’ll have your plan enacted when the right time comes, preparing everything beforehand and even having Grim help you prepare the food in exchange for cans of tuna later.

“I don’t know why you put so much effort into him.” Grim pouted at you with a disappointed yet expectant look.

“Hey, this isn’t that crazy.” You cut down the meat, nose scrunching a bit as it makes content with the raw flesh. “It’s the least I can do for him. I’m  his partner now, after all.”

Grim stays quiet at that, silently watching you work with his tail up and swinging back to back. After a moment of studying you, his ears twitch, sighing at you like a disappointed parent. "Sheesh, you’re really down bad for him, aren’t you?”

You gave no reply, letting your light pinch on his shoulder do the talking for you.

With the food prepared, the basket set aside and the gift secured, you could only wait for the perfect time to enact your grand birthday scheme. In that moment, you truly did feel like a hunter waiting for their prey, only this time the hunter in question had birthday balloons and cake on their mind and the prey was too lazy to even look at the trap.

----------

Crowley is a dramatic headmage with an even worse excitement for birthday photoshoots. It’s one of the only times he and Professor Crewel would set aside their differences and come together to create what others call a ‘birthday nuisance’ and what Rook sees as ‘NRC excellence’. You weren’t sure which part of dressing up all fancy and taking pictures would spark such heavy emotions like disgust or excitement within someone, but you wouldn’t lie, it was deeply amusing to see both Crewel and Vil argue over hair and makeup while Crowley tried to readjust the camera in the most disastrously novice way that could make any photographer pass out in a panic. Ortho and Rook seemed to think differently, since they just gently explained the machinations to their headmage with no worry over his haphazard actions whatsoever. You wish you had the nerves of steel that they do,

It’s always been like this for every birthday. A chaotic display of chaos, fun, and celebration as each NRC kid got treated with memorable photos as a morale booster for their dreadfully dangerous school life. Leona never seemed interested in it, but he didn’t seem to hate it either. Sometimes, even, you could see him actually enjoying the mess around him and lazily smirking at the conjectured chaos, before something loud crashed or was yelled out and his ears twitched in annoyance, grumbling about ‘lousy and loud herbivores’ before frustratingly tugging at his clothes.

“Leona, stop wrinkling your attire!” Crewel chided the lion, hitting his stick with a buckled strength for emphasis. “ I did not spend hours sewing the garments just for you to treat them so cheaply. “

“ I wish they were cheap,” the beastman grumbled, and Crowley nodded in agreement. You weren't exactly confident that they had the same reasons. “Maybe then it would be easier to breathe in it. This goddamn thing has so many buttons I feel like I’m itching all over.” You held back your own look of discomfort, feeling the phantom heatwave Leona must be dealing with. Summer this year is unbearable, with the planet warmer than it's ever been. You can’t blame Leona for feeling so stuffy in this layered and laced suit. But then again, Crewel's eye for fashion is a true marvel to the eyes. The white chemise with blue gemstones and diamonds, all covered by a simple, diamond-beaded coat that glittered under the sun. If you were to ignore the model who was gritting his teeth and growling under his breath as if the world itself had insulted him, you’d be enamored and enchanted by the beauty of the attire.

“He must have a hat.” Vil, who took the responsibility of makeup duties for all the birthdays, grimaced as he saw a bit of eyeliner getting smudged as Leona fussed over his face, trying to wipe away the sweat. “ If not, I’m afraid Leona will start looking more like a melted ice cream of who he’s supposed to be.”

“Absolutely not. That will ruin the whole outfit’s appeal.” Crewel crossed his arms and watched, the whip that was once in his hand now replaced with an abnormally long and thin cigarette, one that was dragging out a trail of smoke.

Vil’s frown, though small, was unmistakable, eyes sharpening at the edge as he hummed. “ Professor, do you truly expect makeup to last under this blistering sun?”

Crewel pouted, subtle in his actions as he turned his head to the side. “I believe the outfit can speak for itself, little pup.”

One sentence, multiple meanings. Vil’s eyes widened like saucers as he scoffed, flinching slightly as if the words themselves struck him as odd. “Pardon? Are you saying my time and effort here is unnecessary?” Already knowing where this is headed, with two highly egotistic men debating for hours over fashion and makeup superiority, you peer over to Leona, who was tugging at his collar in frustration, his fingers a tad too big to fuss over the small buttons. You wondered if this was a tactical decision from Crewel wanting to make sure Leona doesn’t mess with his art. He growls something under his breath and sags in the chair, giving up after only five minutes of difficulty. Wordlessly, you leave the comforting shade of the tree next to the photographers, leaving them alone in their excited chatter over photos. Leona's ears flicker as he hears your footsteps, one eye peering open ever-so-slightly to see if you're worth waking up for. His eyes trail from your face to the hand you raised as a silent offer. His eyebrows raised a few inches before he quickly shifted his expression from shrug to smug pride. “Hm? What is it? Did you feel bad for making the birthday boy do all the hard work himself?" His tail, which was swishing in annoyance one moment ago, this time decided to wrap around your leg instead, making sure you don’t escape this conversation, or rather, it’s Leona's own subtle way of wanting you to stay and bite back.

You gave him a lighthearted glare and a roll of your eyes, tilting your head to the side, effectively blocking the glaring sun. “ You really think unbuttoning your own collar is hard work?”

“Yeah.”

“But it’s your own clothes!”

“Still tedious.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “What, you think it’s fun or somethin’? You enjoy undressing me? ” his shameless smirk only furthered your exasperation over his words. “Don’t tell me you’re that obsessed…”

“What?! No!” you quickly retorted, receiving a sneaky grin from him in reply. Despite the teasing, you came a bit closer, feeling your own mind jitter in amusement from his awful personality. “ I just think since it’s your own, you obviously shouldn’t be annoyed by it.”

“I’m not. I just can’t be bothered to do it. Too much work.” He hummed and closed his eyes once more, before peering one open to look at you teasingly. “But if you’re that sensitive about it…do it yourself.” Bold of him to assume you’re not shameless enough to do such a thing in public; however, something tells you that was his plan all along. Deflate, deflect, annoy, then offer the truth and force the other person to either give up or do it themselves. With an amused huff, you bring your hands close to the collar and unbutton the coiling fabrics. Leona lets out a relaxed breath, shoulders letting go of their tension as you tried your best to unbutton the rest of his neck area without wrinkling it. If you were to cancel out all the noise and chatter from the two separate arguments between the fashionistas and photographers at the scene, you could almost hear him purring. It was soft, quiet, and Leona did absolutely nothing but relish your gentle touch. A huge boost to his ego, something that he’ll never let you live down; however, since it is his birthday, you’ll have mercy on his soul and satiate the doting he's too prideful to ask for. You're certain that if the others at the scene weren't so distracted by their own conversation, Leona would’ve never let you do this and just swatted you away. You knew him a little too well, waiting for the right moment to confront him like this. He couldn't help but let out an amused huff as he came to that realization, making you falter and look at him questioningly.

“Enjoying yourself?” you scoffed.

“Thoroughly,” Leona smirked, eyes peering a tiny bit open just to show off his lazy gaze, making your own grin widen in response.

Your hands teasingly trailed down his neck, making his breath hitch before he smirked at you and glared. His hand came up to grab your wrist, stopping the motion, his tail lightly tapping against your leg in warning. “Easy there, herbivore.” His tone held no malice, no annoyance nor defiance; rather, he seemed to be enjoying your attention. “Tease me like that more and Crewel ain’t gonna get this outfit back in one piece.”

“And why would he blame me for your actions?”

Leona snickered at your retort. “Because he knows I don’t care about it.” his mouth twisted into a sly grin. "But you certainly do.”

“Liar.” You huffed, yet you couldn’t deny that you would feel guilty on Leona’s behalf if  Crewel were to be upset about this. You'd probably just apologize on his behalf, cursed to be a ‘goody-two-shoes’ as Leona once put it. Nevertheless, your hands trail down his shirt, frowning as you feel all the accessories, layers, and buttons underneath.

“How are you not boiling under all these?” you glanced back at him with worry.

Leona grunted in response, his smile now melting into a grimace. “Sunset Savanna has been through worse heatwaves than this…” his ears flickered down in annoyance. “ …but I won’t lie…this almost beats it.The shirt is one thing. The goddamn coat is just another layer of heat.” He groaned and leaned up again, tugging at the collar in frustration. His tail untangled from your leg and swished back and forth with more momentum than before. You blinked in concern as you saw Leona almost tearing apart the whole thing.

“Uh…Leona, I don’t think-“

Your guidance is unheard as Leona frustratingly gets up and huffs. At this point, everyone’s eyes snapped back to him; Vil and Crewel looked at him bewildered, while Rook and Idia paused in their rambles about their club activities.  “ I’m done with this getup. It’s too damn hot for a coat!” Leona started taking off the coat entirely. Everyone gasped in unison as they fretted over him, or rather, the objects around him.

“Leona sir! Careful with the embroidery! All the sixty-eight jewels there are worth more than three million point two hundred point fifty-eight thaumarks each!” Ortho’s words only emboldened Crowley further, making him panic as his head twisted to Crewel.

“Three million thaumarks?! Crewel,  is this true?! Who on earth is paying for this?!”

Your professor didn’t answer right away, more focused on the lionman who was ruining his work. “You impatient kitty! Just wear the coat and sit back down!”

“Like hell I am.” Leona’s stubbornness was unmatched. His hands went up to wipe the newly accumulated sweat on his forehead, only to hear a strangled sputter from Vil in response.

“DO NOT touch your eyebrows! You’ll make them look messy again! Rook, bring me my eyebrow brush-“

Leona gave an annoyed ‘hmph ’, a hand on his forehead as he rolled his eyes. “goddamn harbivores, always so dramatic…”  he seemingly forgot that Ortho’s not a herbivore, to be exact, or perhaps he didn’t care enough to consider. You've already retreated to the camera crew to save yourself from the blazing sun as well. Ortho raised his hand to mention the mistake, but you just lowered it and shook your head at him. not the time nor place for the matter, as much as it would amuse you. “you could’ve at least put this whole thing under a tree, but I guess I don’t get those extra privileges huh?” his small scowl over it seemed to stem more from the heatwave’s intrusion rather than the overzealous and chaotic crew.

“That would ruin the lighting.” Vil defended, hands on his hips. "And in any case, aren’t you used to warm weather?” Vil frowned. “And here I’d thought you’d be more resistant than this…”

Leona glared at him in response, arms crossed as he answered. “Let me wear my own damn clothes, and I’ll be as cool as a cucumber. “ That's not how the idiom goes. Ortho raises his hand to correct him; you bring it down and stop him. Again. “You try standing under the sun with all these clothes on; it feels like I’m in a goddamn sauna.”

You presumed that it was not the heat that made Leona so agitated, but the heavy weight and layering the clothing itself had, restricting so much of Leona's movement and overclouding all his senses.

“I’m not wearing that coat.” Leona left no room for argument. But try as he might, Crewel and Vil are equally as stubborn as Leona. Especially when it comes to fashion.

“I did not spend eight hours embroidering every jewel on this fine cloth just for you to chew it up and spit it out like a dog.”

Unfettered by Crewel’s scathing glare, Leona shrugged in response. “I never asked you to.”

 The comment seemed to make Crewel’s hair stand up in anger. “Why you little—“

Vil’s gasp stopped the commotion. He had been walking up to the table during the argument, trying his best to smooth out the wrinkles within the coat before it morphed deeper into the fabric. His fingers trailed the embroidered lace again and again, trying to get a feel for the jewels under the linen. When he found nothing, he held the coat up by the scruff, turning around to you and the camera crew. Your heart dropped for a moment before you collected yourself. “Ortho, scan this please.”

“Understood!” Ever the polite boy, Ortho complied eagerly. His eyes lit up as a square-shaped force field of blue light dropped up and down the garment. Everything seemed fine before the midway point, where Ortho’s eye machinery made a noise. “Ah! Some of the diamonds are missing.”

Crewel’s anger dissipates into panic as he shrieks. “WHAT?! Let me look-“ he quickly snatches the coat from Vil, eyes swiftly scanning the material before they stop and widen further. “My word–he’s right! There are two jewels on the collar missing!”

Crowley crossed his arms and hummed, quite careless about the matter. “Ah… since it’s only on the collar, we can just hide it in post, yes? It won’t even be caught on camera…”

“They were diamonds.” Crewel pointed out. Crowley’s defense immediately shattered, now rising into a fit of panic.

“EVERYONE! SEARCH THE AREA IMMEDIATELY! We must find those missing jewels!” Cheapskate won’t even begin to define the level of insanity Crowley has.

“For grown-ups, you two sure do fuss around…” Vil mumbled with a sigh. “Rook, please use your unique magic to locate the missing items.”

Rook, charming as ever, was more than willing to fulfill the request; however, one small nod from you made him pause. His sharp-eyed nature made him susceptible to any glance, aware of any hidden meaning behind a movement. With a small smile to you, he feigned ignorance.

“Ah…Roi de poison… While I’d love to be of use in this matter, I’m afraid I’m quite worn out from the heat. “ he swatted his hands on his face, his multiple layers of pomefiore clothing aiding in his dilemma. Ortho blinked at him curiously, tilting his head to the side. “Really? But your vitals seem fine to m-“Before he could finish his sentence, Rook swashed his cape dramatically, making him sputter and falter as his view of him was blocked, no longer able to scan his body. Rook then buckled his knees a bit, letting out an exhausted huff. “Forgive me, my queen! I cannot focus enough to cast any spells!”

Without wasting a second, you grabbed Leona’s wrist. He blinked, surprisingly, hesitant in his movements now as he watched you. You pointed to the forest just a few feet away, with a blinking light staring off into the distance. Leona’s ears pierced, twitching a bit as a puzzle in his mind clicks. He lets out an amused scoff, rolling his eyes. “Lead the way, harbivore.”

With an excited, small smile, you tiptoe your way out of the panicked scene, with the entire birthday photoshoot staff now handling the heat of Vil’s scathing glare and all coming to order to find the missing jewels, you ran off with your boyfriend to the motorcycle and driver just a few feet away waiting for you, all while a piece of glittering diamond blinked rapidly between the grass, a strand of stitching undone beside it, and the other dangling brightly within your pocket.

-------

Deuce had always been a reliable friend.

Whether it was buying eggs for a hazelnut tart or helping you sneak out your boyfriend to a picnic area, he was always willing to help a friend in need.

Despite that, he was a bit bewildered by the commotion he was hearing from behind you, worryingly asking if this sort of fit of hysteria is common on Leona's photoshoots.

“... more or less.” Was Leona’s answer, already dozing off on your shoulder as you sat on the motorcycle.

Deuce didn’t pry any deeper than that, believing it to be disrespectful to snoop around a senior’s life.  The ride to the designated pre-planned picnic was relatively quiet, with the rustle of trees and flora invading your senses.

“How’s Grim doing?” An eagerly worried question that made Leona let out a muffled scoff into your shoulder, a bit too lazy to tease you for being such a worried parent for the ‘furball’.

“Ace was trying to beat him in poker, but Grim only knew how to play ’go fish’. In the end, Tray tried to stop their bickering, and Riddle collared them both for violating the rules. “ NOT what you wanted to hear, though it is what you expected to happen. Deuce glanced back and saw your disgruntled expression, giving a nervous laugh. “Hey, it’s still better than last time though, right?”

Last time, as Deuce pointed out, Ace took a bored Grim out to one of his basketball practices, which somehow led to all the basketballs set on fire and Jamil’s hair almost being burnt to a crisp. If Kalim wasn’t so contagiously joyous and reassuring through the whole process, you don’t think you’d ever be able to look Jamil in the eyes without a thousand apologies in your mind.

“It wasn't even your fault,” Jamil mumbled with a sigh. He patted down the small patch of black smoke that stained his shoulder, increasing your guilt. You don’t need to take accountability for every mistake Grim makes. He’s mature enough to know the trouble he’s causing.”

“Yeah- but still- it’s my duty to look after him.”

“But it’s not your job to take fault for his shenanigans,” Jamil concluded with crossed arms, his glare on you softening. “Wish that brat had as much remorse as you do…”

“Aww, Jamil, you’re such a sweetheart!” Kamil’s affection cooing and a tackle for a group hug between you three made you both grunt in shock; you stood frozen under Kamil’s hold while Jamil tried his best to push him away without causing him any injuries. Recalling the entire incident made you giggle rather than grimace, deep down grateful for Kalim’s utter nonchalance in the face of such a dilemma.

“Yeah...way better, I suppose.” You ought to thank Riddle later for diffusing their magic before things got any worse.

 Some idle conversation had passed, mostly Deuce asking you why specifically you’d decided to sneak out of the photoshoot rather than wait for it to end, and you sheepishly replying that last time they did a photoshoot like this, the entire day had passed for them to finish their work.

“…hm…don’t you think that’s because Leona is quite difficult to work with?” Deuce quietly mumbled to you behind his shoulder.

Leona’s mumbled growl made both of you jolt. “I can still hear you, kid.” Your jolt was because you could feel the vibrations of his voice straight through your neck, making Leona smirk at your flush and glare at him. Deuce, on the other hand, was more scared than flustered.

“Sorry, sir- "Deuce’s try-hard, rule-abiding nature resurfaced. Not as intense as Riddle’s, yet just as passionate. “ I didn’t mean to offend you…” He did seem truly guilty for the misunderstanding, which only made you wince in second-hand embarrassment. You still can’t believe this kid used to be a delinquent.

Leona grunted in response. His tail wrapped around your waist as you gave Deuce a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Don't worry about it. It’s a fair question.”

Leona’s ears twitched at that, one eye slightly opening up to glare at you. “The hell do you mean?”

“You don’t exactly cooperate with them, you know.” You glared back, though there was no malice nor disappointment in your eyes and tone. Leona’s own gaze softened, his once bristled ears now relaxing as he processed your body language. He slumped back onto your body again, as if you weren’t on a moving vehicle. “I’ll cooperate when they do something actually fun for my birthday.” He grumbled into your shoulder.

With the sun-worn trees now settling as a shade for your troubles, just a few feet away from a mine-cave riddled with stones, there stood a cleared-out and clean field. It used to be a camping site for miners back in the day, a place to relax and enjoy a break under the shade while the rest toiled away at the cave. It’s been on your mind ever since you first laid eyes on it, which you, Grim, and your troubled duo of Heartslabyul were all chased down by an overblot. A few weeks ago, when you were searching for the perfect picnic spot, all with Rook as your guide and Jade as the devil on your shoulder suggesting the most lethal spots imaginable veiled as ‘exciting’ adventures, you found the desolate place with apprehension at first. Yet, as you and Jade took in the surroundings, Jade noticed something.

“... .where is Rook?” his question was left unanswered at first, panic striking your heart as you imagined the worst-case scenario. What if the overblot attacked him? What if he’s injured, or seven’s forbid, dead? Before you could spill out a panicked demand to begin searching for him, your breath caught in your throat as Rook emerged from the cave with a giddy smile on his face, drenched in blot.

Jade was amused by Rook’s victory over the monstrous ink-ridden creature, while you were left dumbfounded, bewildered, and a little scared.

“This is the perfect place for Roi des Lions!” he excitedly chattered as you busied yourself with cleaning the blot off of him with your measly handkerchief. “he’d love the fine minerals inside the cave! And right next to it is a great area with shade for a nice nap on the grass!”  You were grateful that Rook seemed as eager as you were in giving Leona a relaxing birthday, though you do wonder how he got all this information that took you months of hanging out with the closed-off Leona to concur.

“Yeah, but…won’t the blot magic around here make him sick?...” You didn’t want to even think about the heavy smell of ink that preludes every blot monster. So severe in its dark magic that even a magicless can smell it. 

Rook shook his head and looked at you reassuringly. “ Fret not, mon ami. The issue has been handled.” That’s one way to word it. It's Rook’s own gentlemanly way of saying ‘I killed them.’ Unlike you, Jade seemed more than eager to ask gruesome questions about how that thing was murdered, even at some point suggesting that Rook do a visual presentation with another victim, something you quickly turned down.

The picnic site was in much better spirits now, no longer blot-infested and even cleaned up beforehand by you and Jade as Rook decided to patrol the area for any possible dangers in sight.

“Although I’m grateful, I can’t help but wonder…” You stopped your hand from wiping away the collected dust and dirt within the small gaps on the wooden table. Jade raised his head and awaited your question. You rubbed the back of your neck in nervousness. “….why are you helping, exactly?” When you first mentioned wanting to find a good place for a picnic, it was to Rook only; however, since both Jade and Rook shared the same history class, Jade shamelessly eavesdropped and offered his aid. You began to wonder if NRC second-year students were just allergic to the word ‘privacy’.”

Jade hummed for a bit, taking his time before answering you. “…I’m merely following the virtue of aid and abundance the great sea witch stands for.”  His carefully kind and unspoken words left you with more suspicion than trust. It didn't take too long for you to decipher his chivalrous charm.

“You just want me to owe you a  favor, don’t you?”

“Oh?” his eyes widened in mock shock as he gasped, “Why, I would never!” his sharp-toothed grin was a clear rebuttal. “ I’m merely helping a friend. We are friends now, aren’t we, perfect?” Something tells you to deny, yet you couldn’t bring yourself to rebuke it. He is a deceiver and most certainly not your most trusted friend, but the truth of the matter is that he still is a friend. Not the best, but still there.

With a reluctant sigh, you nodded and mumbled something in agreement, which he delighted in with a chuckle and continuation of his work.

“…but that can’t be the only reason.” You still urged him to speak. He gave a blank smile, eyes glittering with amusement as he dusted off the tree trunk.

“There are some fine specimens of aspergillus and penicillium within the cave…However, I couldn’t get my hands on them due to the resident inside it.” Despite his use of unfamiliar words to you, you could easily deduce his intentions, so you glared at him.

“You came here to just use Rook and me as your scapegoat?”

“Correction, I used Rook as a scapegoat. You were just emergency food.” His calm tone and sweet smile did little to ease your annoyance.

Even weeks later, now revisiting the picnic site with Deuce and Leona at your toe, you still feel annoyed by Jade’s meticulous plan. You tried to shove those thoughts aside, Leona’s tail tapping curiously on your hip making you hop off the motorcycle in excitement, unclasping the picnic basket tied to the side of the vehicle and holding it tight.  Leona stayed quiet as he got off, but his eyes were scanning the surrounding area with a calculating look.

“Thanks for the ride, Deuce!” Your appreciation was received with a reassuring, albeit a tad prideful nod.

“Anytime, Y/n. if you need anything else,” he smirked. “ Remember to pay me back in full at the cafeteria café. I’ve been eager to try the new dessert menu.” You huffed out a chuckle at that, giving him a light punch in the shoulder.

“And here I thought you’d be selfless for once.” Your teasing glare then shifted into an alert gaze as you hummed. “Oh- don’t forget- if anyone asks you where we are, you don’t say a word, ok?”

Deuce blinked nervously for a moment before straightening his posture and giving you a determined nod. “You can count on me!” he revs up his rented-out bike and drives away, leaving you with your favorite lion.

You turn around and search for him, eyes quickly landing on the second prince. The prince in question cautiously trailed around the picnic area, like a cat trying to sniff out any suspicious activity before claiming the territory as theirs.

“Relax, kitty,” you teased him and set the picnic basket on the ground. You busied yourself with opening and laying down the checkered carpet. “ Nothing's gonna come out and bite you.”

He didn’t reply to your quip, merely assessing the air around him as his tail slowly wagged up and down. “Something wrong?” Your voice seemed to cut through his thoughts. He shook his head and shrugged. “nah, just thought I smelled something fishy around here.” Without giving it a second thought, Leona snapped his fingers, a sparkling line erupting between his thumbs and twirling around his form, swiftly changing his attire.

You rolled your eyes."Showoff.” Leona smirked at you and slumped down on the blanket with shameless familiarity.

“You're just jealous.” He leaned back on his arms, using them as support for his back, clearly indicating space for you to inch closer. It was tempting; you wouldn’t lie. However, you didn’t quite feel like giving in to his requests so easily. The least he could do was swallow his pride and ask you to cuddle. Would it embarrass him? Yes, would you tease him for it? Absolutely. But you enjoyed it immensely.

“Of you? Hardly.” You straightened your own posture, leaning further away from him and setting up the prepped meals, only instigating him further. There was a subtle groan, almost a whine in a span of a millisecond before he collected himself. Yet his tail had always been far more open about Leona's true feelings, as it coiled around your wrist before Leona swapped it away and decided to lie down completely on the blanket with his arms holding his neck for support. A makeshift pillow right before you haphazardly tossed him one from inside the basket without even looking. He huffed for a moment before giving a small smile; his eyes traced your busy figure, wondering how you always knew his needs without even glancing at him.

He closed his eyes to take a good long nap until he hears the clanking of wood against wood, fabric rustling beneath him. He peers one eye open and chuckles as he sees the chessboard set up. He closes his eyes back again and yawns. Aren’t you tired of losing?”

You glared at him as you set the white pieces down, lightly tossing a pawn in his direction, hitting his chest with a tiny thud. “You’ll eat those words when I beat you this time.”

Leona smiles, peeking both eyes open now, a challenge in his gaze. "That's what you said last time.”

“This time it’s for real!” you gloated. “ I’ve been practicing for this day! c’mon Leona, one game.”

“I’ll sleep on it.”

You pouted at his resistance, setting the chessboard aside and crawling closer to him, face inches away. He doesn’t get up, merely looks at you with a half-lidded gaze and lazy smile, intrigued to see what you’ll do.

“You're just scared of losing.”

Leona scoffed, raising a brow.  “ Playing that card again?” his tail twitches. “You know it won’t work on me.”

“Maybe.” You hummed, hands brushing away the hair from his face; he hummed at your touch. “…but what if we add a wager?”

He smirked, kissing your fingers. “Go on.”

“If you win, we’ll nap the entire day.”

“And if you win instead?” Leona asked.

“You’ll have to stay awake until I say so.”

“You’re cruel, harbivore,” Leona muttered with a sigh. He grumbled in frustration, his frown softening when he met your eager and excited gaze. When you batted your eyelashes at him, his frown broke into a small smile. “Fine, fine, get up and play.” He rolled his eyes.

You grinned, taking the chessboard and putting it in front, not noticing Leona’s own smile as he saw your excitement.  Your eyes met, and his smile quickly vanished, not wanting to show you his clear enjoyment. You stay ignorant of that fact, too distracted from starting the game. You pick two pawns, one white and the other black, placing each of them on a separate palm and closing it tight, before setting them both behind your back and shuffling the pieces. When you bring your hands back up and let him choose, you end up with white.

You fist-bumped the air in a cheer. “Yes!”

Leona scoffed, fingers grazing the black pawn in his hand. “You should know by now this doesn’t mean you’ll win.” He placed the pawn down. “It just means I have the advantage of seeing your strategy before you do mine.”

“And I can defend myself before you try anything.” You rebutted.

“Yeah. Can. If only you’d notice it better.”

You bit your tongue, holding back your slight offense to his comment, knowing from that smug smirk of his that he’s just trying to push your buttons like always. Don’t blow it! You’ve worked too hard for this moment! Got the courage to go ask Malleus to play chess with you in hopes of beating Leona once and for all,club-time spent first at the board games club with Idia and him using their chess sets, while the other half was spent strolling through the oldest of buildings on the island inspecting gargoyles as pay.

“It still puzzles me,” Malleus had once told you, in the middle of your ‘chess training’ as it were, placing his king right behind his pawn, a lesson about ‘reviving your queen’ as he put it. You don’t think it’s the official term for that tactic, but you’re not the expert here. “Why are you so pressed on winning against him? He has far more experience than you.”

His question was insensitive, maybe, but you knew it came from a place of goodwill. He found it arbitrary to waste your time on the impossible.

“It's not about winning for me.” You placed your own king close to his pawn, the idea being to eliminate the potential of a resurrection. “I just…want him to have fun.”

“And you think he won’t have fun regardless?”

“Do you have fun when you play against amateurs?”

Malleus pondered, then sighed with a smile. “Fair enough, I suppose.” Malleus moved his rook to the side, threatening your king. You tense up for a moment, eyes scanning the board to find the right place before taking a step to the right. You heard Malleus chuckle.

“…I think he’ll have fun no matter how well you play.”

“What makes you say that?”

“To put so much effort into the impossible for the ones you love,” Malleus poetically started. You let out an embarrassed wince.

“It’s not that impossible—“

“ –and to work so hard for it, just to make sure he of all people, the most egregiously negative person I have ever met—“

“Malleus, we’re talking about my boyfriend here; could you be a little bit nicer?”

“Right, apologies.” He cleared his throat. “The most prideful and bitter beastman I know.” You gave up on trying to correct him. “Is something even a stubborn lion like him will notice.”

“…thanks.” You weren’t sure why it was such a grand feat to put effort into a relationship. It’s something normal to you, something average in your relationship with Leona. You two weren’t perfect; both of you knew that well enough. Leona was a difficult person to love, not because of his negativity, but because you cannot force him to completely change or stay the same. You cannot expect a boyfriend that will be present for you 24/7, that will text you quickly or take you out on dates every weekend. With Leona, you had to understand the difference between his actions and his words. You have to accept that your story won’t be ‘thrilling’ with him, but it will be comforting. Secure. Protected. Leona may have the hardest time saying he cares, but he’ll do the best he can to show it to you. And you wanted to do that too, in the same language he's so fluent in, effort. He’ll complain and moan about buying you items when you’re too sick to go yourself, even if it’s Ruggie who’ll have to do that chore, but he’ll crash into your dorm and stay with you until you get better, lying through his teeth that lion that beastman don’t get sick easily. Leona may never understand the importance of ‘grand gestures’ of love, but he’ll always make sure you eat plenty and never skip meals. He’ll never be a quick texter, mostly asleep rather than present on his screen, but he’ll let you visit his dorm anytime you want, even putting a spare blanket and pillow right next to his just for you. If you ever wanted a shameless, cringey romantic moment, he’ll roll his eyes but do it for you anyway, though quite lazily. It didn’t matter, because the fact that he’d still do it for you, that he’d still be willing to put in the effort even if he’s whining about it, is more than enough reason for you to do the same back.

“Hah! Take that, radish-sprout!” Grim moves his top-hat shaped piece to a ‘chance’ square on the board game beside you. “Now I’ll bank in on those 200 thaumarks at the start of the game, thank you very much.” He rubs his paws together and licks his canines. Idia blankly hands him the 200, right before handing him the deck of cards in grey, with a duck wearing a top hat stamped on one side and a ‘chance’ prompt written on the other.

“RATS!” your companion tugged at his ears. Idia giggled maniacally, a sharp-toothed grin on his face. “It sent me straight to jail!”

“That’s what you get for thinking you could beat me in this, lol.”

“…what does ‘lol’ mean?” you heard Malleus mumble beside you.

“This game sucks. Why the hell do I get sent to jail for committing tax fraud?! What the hell does that even mean?!" Grim growled in frustration as he tugged at his ears lightly, fire bursting through them.

Malleus opened his mouth to explain, but you gave him an urgent look and shook your head no.

“That's just life.” Idia nonchalantly shrugged and rolled the dice. “ You either get hella dough, or you get slimed.” None of those words were in the bible. “I'm winning anyway, so don’t get too sad about it.” Idia's sharp grin slipped right out.

“That's not fair at all! You only got richer because you started first and bought most of the land!”

“It's not my fault you didn’t buy them faster.”

  You and Malleus were now far too distracted by the chaos of those two to be paying attention to your own lesson. So this game is just about mere luck?” Malleus’ voice made Idia flinch.

He quickly retreated into himself and, hunching down on his seat, nervously tapping his foot and now mumbling his words. “u-uh…yeah pretty much. The creator was some rich dude who had this whole ‘rags to riches’ story, and turned his business-life into a board game. In the end he just ended up creating a game critiquing capitalism entirely, lmao. Talk about the call coming from inside the house, right?” The story was much different from what you heard in your world, yet the duck in the picture looked strangely familiar.

“Hm... then Grim is right, the game is unfair to him.”

“See?! Even Hornton agrees with me!” Grim boasted. “You’re a grade A cheater, Idia! You knew I’d be bad at this game.”

“Jeez, I do one nice thing and entertain the prefect's goofy-looking pet cat, and this is the thanks I get…..” Idia muttered with a grumble. “ Fine, you can play first in the next game. But I’m choosing what it is.”

“Deal.” Grim nodded without thinking.

“We're playing chess.”

“….I take it back, the duck game is better.”

In the end, Idia’s competitiveness left no room to argue, and he made Grim angry enough to promise one match at chess, with competitors of their own choosing, because Grim refused to learn chess himself.

“If you're not gonna learn chess, how do you expect to guide your player?!” Mind you, they’ve already agreed that no player who has experience playing the game could be used. So you, Leona, Malleus, and a few others are already out of the question.

“I’ll figure something out.” You knew he was going to cheat. Idia pieced together that he was going to cheat. Malleus had a hunch he was going to cheat.

Grim thought to himself, ‘I’m definitely going to cheat.’

With your lessons continuing in a much less dramatic fashion, you’ve learned a few good defenses and maneuvers to beat Leona with, and with it, you’ve begun to notice Leona’s playstyle.

He isn’t one to use strategies by the book; rather, he mixes two of them to make a style of his own. His defenses always seem weak, with the arena wide open and the pawns scattered about; then he optimizes his knights, putting them in the wide arena and giving them a free-for-all buffet of your white pawns. You first tried your best to take out the knights, but when they were backed up with bishops, you decided to drive in for a tight-knit attack instead.

Leona whistled as you maneuvered your queen, putting his rook at threat. “Risky move, harbivore.” He couldn’t just hit you; he knew that. You could very easily take his rook that way, and then move onto a straight-lined attack to his king. Leaving him no room for an escape. Instead, he castled his king and rook from the other side, giving his own rook the support it needed.

You stayed quiet, your mind going through every hypothetical, every piece and tactic you could use. Leona cut your thoughts with his yawn. You glared at him. He grinned proudly, all his sharp teeth visible.

“You’re being loud.”

“You're taking too long,” he hummed.

A reluctant chuckle escaped you, unable to hold back. You move your bishop and take one of his knights. He stays quiet, eyes now sharpened as he thinks. He cannot move his bishop to take yours any longer, because that’ll give you free rein to threaten his king again and then take his rook. Your eyes trailed off to his face, from the frown on his lips to the scar in his eye, the look of contemplative peace that made him look handsome. He always looked like this when he was deep in thought. When he wanted to act unbothered but had a close eye on his targets. A blank stare that fools strangers into believing the gears in his head aren’t turning every millisecond to notice any danger. When he moves a piece, he looks up and sees you, still admiring him. He scoffs.

“…your king is in danger.”

“My…my wha—“ your dazed eyes shoot up in panic. “Wait! What?!” you look back at the chessboard, in disbelief over one singular move placing his knight right between your king and queen. You facepalmed and groaned. “Fuucckkkk I forgot about that!”

Leona chuckled, shuffling a bit more on the pillow and lying down in a more relaxed position. As if he was enjoying your idiocy. “Told you you wouldn’t notice.”

With a defeated huff, you moved your king, your queen taken away by the hands of the usurper.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Leona clicked his tongue, holding back his snort.

“Like what?”

“Like I kicked a puppy or somethin’. Sheesh.”

The game continued, and with no remorse whatsoever, Leona beat you. He never weakened his manoeuvres around you, never considered granting you mercy. It’s something you like but also hate about him. How he doesn’t see you as weak, and never grants you kindness towards one.

“…you did better than last time. But you’re still blind to your surroundings.” Leona yawned. Well. See you in the mornin’, Harbivore.” He turned around a bit and closed his eyes, already starting to softly snore. You went back to the basket, putting the chess box back inside and taking out a container and snacks instead. You may have lost the war, but there was still one trick up your sleeve.

Leona was one second close to falling into a hazy dream, the winds on his back and the soft rustles of grass blades his melody. He took a deep breath in, smelling the sun-kissed air, the warmth of the morning, the flora and pollen of the earth. All of them flowed together in harmony, that is, until a new scent caught his nose. His nose pricked for a moment, pupils dilating as he further sniffs at the new aromas on the blanket. His eyes trail downwards to the set-up, and he almost cackles.

“Is that…a meat pie?”

You hummed in agreement, a relatively freshly cooked meat pie presented to him with a candlelight on top. It took you one day of preparing the ingredients, another of asking Tray to help, one lost pie due to Grim’s hunger taking control of his morals, and, to sum it up, a total of 3 days to just make this.  It should not have taken that long, that is, if you weren’t so unfortunate to be living in a school filled with greedy mischief makers. You rummaged through your pocket with one hand, sliding away the glittering diamond in the fabric and taking hold of the box of matches you brought. You handed it out to him, tilting your head curiously. “Would you do the honors?” You shook the box.

Leona glanced at the material and smirked, stretching out his index finger and holding it up for you to see, as a flicker of flame burst around it. You’d call him a showoff again if it weren’t a repeat. Therefore, you gave him an incredulous huff instead, holding yourself back from teasing and fueling his ego.

Without a word, Leona brings his fingertips close to the wick, lighting it on fire. With a small swat of his finger, the flame around the flesh dissipated into nothing, making you envious of such a useful trick. Leona is silent; your own movements of putting the box of matches down and settling on holding the pie with both palms go mostly unnoticed. With his green eyes transfixed by the flame, he looks at you once more with a tentative curiosity.

"Why did you make meat pie?”

“You said you don’t like sweets much.” You recalled his disdain for desserts, often muttering about them giving too many cavities for such a small bargain. To him, sweetness wasn’t really a high calibre of taste. But then again, Leona didn’t like the taste of anything but meat. “I figured you’d settle for meat pie.”

“Why not just meat? This is half dough.” To anyone else, his comments would seem insensitive and rude. And perhaps they were a tiny bit; however, you knew him long enough to understand his jabs were merely a playful way of making the other person find their own truth. A small push into the right direction by a mean mentor.

“What’d you want me to do? Shove a candle onto a piece of stake?!”

Leona snorted at your quip, a sadistic grin appearing on his face, his canine teeth glinting under the sunlight. “Aww, touched a nerve there, haven’t I? Didn’t know you’d be this offended by such a concept.”

“Cakes are a custom on birthdays!”

“Since when was pie a cake?”

“Since when were you this picky about free meat?!”

He didn’t reply, but from his Cheshire grin, the answer was obvious. He only cared when it happened to be a chance to annoy you. You could feel your own amusement bubbling to the surface, but you swallowed it down and held back your urge to smile. You wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you enjoy his mental torments.

“You're wasting precious time, you know.” You motioned to the lit candle, the wax already melting and trickling down its own body. “ Make a wish before the candle runs out! Or I’m feeding you wax-flavored meat pie.”

Leona grimaced at that, his nose scrunching up as he gave a small gag, like a child being forced to eat broccoli. “Fine, fine…” he set his eyes on it once more. For a moment, you expect him to actually contemplate his wish and then blow out the candles; despite that, Leona merely takes a deep breath and quickly blows it away, with no consideration whatsoever. Once his eyes land on your pout, he sighs. “What now?”

“Did you even make a birthday wish?” You did feel a tad bit guilty for taking such matters so seriously, yet your urge to make Leona think this day is special, that his day is special, rivaled all other intuitive thoughts of yours.

Leona huffs at your comment, leaning back up and away from the candle,  very close to your proximity instead. “I’m not a child, harbivore. Birthday wishes aren’t a real thing.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Of course I do.” he laid down on the pillow, one eye opening to look at you. “But you don’t, I’m guessing?” he then chuckled. His tail flicked back up and wrapped around your ankle affectionately while his ears twitched. “ I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” You grinned at him, setting the forgotten meat pie down for a moment and grabbing the small box of utensils within the basket.

“You're a wide-eyed goody-two-shoes.” Leona screwed his eyes shut, relaxing his shoulders as he let out a yawn. “Always believin’ all those fairy tales…”

“In my defense, the world I came from didn’t even have magic,” you continued. “When you’re stuck in a world where the impossible is somehow the norm, how could I not believe in wishes coming true?” In any case, weren’t there multiple magical spells that had fulfilled such a rule? Azul’s contracts held a similar case, though his ‘wish-granting’ always came with a price.

“... Guess I can’t blame you.” Leona hummed, tugging you closer with his tail. “It's still cute though.” He grinned. “Real stupid, too.”

“I hate you.”

“I love you too.” Leona snickered. You shake your head and try to simmer down your fluster over his antics, grabbing a fork from the box and tossing one to him. Leona opened his right eye and glanced at the utensil briefly before closing it again. “Nah, too tired.”

“What?” You were already one fork into the meat pie when you heard his comment, your head quickly snapping back up to look at him, shocked. He seemed emboldened by your actions; despite his eyes being closed, your tone seemed to be a good indicator of your attention to him.

“ I’m real tired of standing around all day and takin’ those lousy photos...” You’d like to point out that A, he wasn’t standing; he was sitting. And B, they didn’t even take the pictures yet because you two bailed out on them. Yet, your retort died at the edge of your throat as he nonchalantly demanded, “Feed me.”

“Excuse me?” Your eyes twitched, eyebrows shut as warmth spread on your cheeks. “ I am not doing that! You can do it yourself.” You couldn’t help but let out a giggle at the end of your sentence, too bewildered by the situation to not find it shockingly funny.

He’s quiet at first, then opens both of his eyes and looks at you with some sort of sadistic enjoyment over your long-lost dignity. “What if it’s my birthday wish?”

Silence overtakes the room as you facepalm, hiding your face behind them like a shield as he breaks into a cackle.

“Come on, you love me, don’t you?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” You conceded.

Leona smirked as he put his hands behind his neck, hoisting himself up just enough to not choke on any food he’d been fed. “ Then do it,” you lightheartedly wished you’d poison the pie somehow.

With a fed-up and flustered grumble, you clicked your tongue and proceeded to take a small bite off the pie with your fork, bringing it close to his mouth and feeding him. He seemed utterly delighted by his scheme, smirking widely with one cheek filled with yummy pie, before something hit the taste buds that made him grumble a bit.

“Avoid the dough; I just want the meat.” He dared to order.

Rattled a bit by his fuss, you took a forkful of only cooked meat, brought it close to his lips, inches away from his canine teeth, before you quickly yanked it away and ate it instead. He gasped, eyes now peering wide open as he noticed your revolt. He scoffed and smiled, eyes slanting like a predator looking at his prey. “You’re really gonna dangle meat in front of the lion’s den like that?” Leona slowly edged closer to you, almost cat-like in his movements, had it not been for the fact that he was only doing this because he wanted to avoid as much movement as possible. Even in ‘hunting,’ he uses the laziest way out. You shrugged at him and hummed, a boost of confidence sprouting within you.

“I didn’t ‘dangle’ anything. I ate it in front of you.” You took another bite.

“I wasn’t talking about the pie.”Leona’s comment made you choke on your food.

 Heat burst through your veins as your heart stammered, flustered, and a bit shaken as you tried to cough out the choked pieces with a huff. Leona snorted at your comically failed display of bravado, crawling even closer to you and setting the thrown and forgotten fork aside, next to the barely eaten pie. You crawled away, slow in your movement and hesitant, as if you weren’t actually fearful, rather just wanted to have a sense of control in a situation where he was the one with it. Leona's smirk widens a tiny bit, his tail perking up and swaying in anticipation, like a cat that found its prey. You both stood motionless for a few incredibly slow seconds, waiting for someone to start the hunt. One hitched breath from you and Leona’s quick to his feet, practically pouncing on you and pinning you down on the ground, a fit of giggles bubbling up from your throat and bursting as your hands gently collide with the blanket beneath you, his form completely blocking the skies from your vision. His hair was sprawled in a messy fashion, with the ends of its strands tickling your cheeks and making your grin wider. Leona had been sporting a grin of his own, leaning in closer until the tips of your nose touched, having your eyes focused on his. His breath was soft, a gentle warmth, a sway of wind that didn’t feel as uncomfortable as the summer heat, but rather, it felt comforting. His grip on your hands was firm, yet not strong enough to have you trapped, as if he was keen on giving you the choice to stand up and end this whenever you wanted. Your heart swelled by the thought. Even when he teased you so relentlessly, he still valued your choice in the matter. Up close, you could see his scar so clearly, faded away by the passage of time, yet still lingering enough to have anyone wonder how he’d got it. Not that he’d ever tell. Your hands shimmied out of his grip, opting to wrap around his neck instead, gently sinking into the locks of his hair on it and scratching the skin. You’ve earned a rumble and purr from Leona with that, his own body settling down his weight in a more comfortable position, using his legs as the backbone to not crush you. His gaze seemed to soften as he looked at you, eyes trailing from your chin all the way up to your forehead, whilst your own gaze seemed entranced by the lionman in front of you. Leona was the first to meet your gaze and snap out of his daze, his smile steering into a one-fanged smirk, eyebrows tilting upwards as his eyes gained a teasing glint. “Enjoying the view?” Of course he’d tease you. When he’s the one who pinned you and called you a meal. Typical.

“Could ask you the same thing.”

“You already know my answer,” he shamelessly replied, leaning in close and spiking up your heartbeat. Your breath hitched at the proximity, ‘tch’ing at his reply before sliding one of your hands ever-so-slowly to hold his chin, making his own breath stutter as his pupils dilated into large black holes.

“As do you,” you whispered, anticipation reaching its breaking point for both of you. Your lips clashed together in a sudden, yet gentle force, before melting into a heartfelt kiss. Euphoria and giddy stammered and burst at the seams within your heart, his fangs poking your lips as the kiss deepened. Every small breath that left Leona felt like a lifeline you were desperate to reach, and every push and eagerness from you seemed to make him stutter in his movements, as if the very concept of someone liking him back so much seemed impossible in his mind. It wasn’t long before it turned into a full makeout session, with his hands wrapped around your waist and your legs wrapped around his. His tail circled your thigh, tapping rhythmically on your back and making you ticklish; you glared at him through your kisses and leaned away for a moment, making him grumble from the loss of contact.

“Stop trying to tickle me with your tail!” You couldn’t help but chuckle, your body recoiling away from his tail and leaning more into him.

His pout melted into a smirk, his prideful nature ruffling your feathers. “But you’re adorable when you squirm.” Despite this, he obliges to your request, his tail ceasing its brush against your skin. Your heart nearly melted, feeling secure and safe under his arms like you’ve always had, and you know deep down that you always will. For Leona is never one to make you uncomfortable, and there was never a time you’ve felt uneasy around the presence of such a feisty cat. Your hands settled on his shoulder, bringing him closer and affectionately caressing his cheek, before your fingers slid across his face and up to his ears, making them twitch and jolt. You started to scratch the back of his ears, earning a deep purr and a nuzzle into the crook of your neck.

“Keep doing that.” His voice came out muffled, the purr now vibrating against the skin of your neck, making you shiver in delight as you continued your ministrations. He started biting down on the skin, feeling it between his teeth till it bruised, trailing off to the next victim before it could break into blood.

Blissful couldn’t even begin to describe your state, uncaring towards the sounds you both made that could be heard within earshot. The food seemed long forgotten as you both cuddled closer and kissed once more, so near a dizzying dopamine boost before a horrid, screeching scream made you both jolt, the curtains of your euphoric venture falling disastrously. You both panicked and looked for the source, disheveled and very clearly kissed numb all around your body. Leona’s once pools of blackened eyes slit into that peering green you loved once more, ear twitching and leaning forward to the source, which was echoing within the cave’s walls.

“….was that an animal?” It sounded like a goat screaming bloody murder. But that part you’ve kept to yourself.

“….didn’t sound like it,” Leona mumbled, ears still peering forward. His posture slackened as no other sounds seemed to erupt from the cave, head snapping back towards you with a careless shrug. A smirk settled on his lips. “Now, where were w-“

“FLOYD, I SWEAR TO THE SEVENS, IF YOU POKE ME AGAIN THEN IT IS OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”

There’s only one person in this world who uses such an idiom with that much intensity, so much so that his scream echoed through the cave. Leona’s ears immediately swooped downwards, mumbling under his breath before grunting in annoyance. He looked at you once again, with a slight plea.

You gave him an apologetic huff, yet within your head, you were cussing out every single one of the ‘revered’ sevens for ruining your perfect birthday picnic in such an abysmal manner. “….maybe we can ignore them?”

A thunderous boom made you both scowl, looking at the dark cave as if it had ruined your lives as it shook and quivered. Footsteps scraping the rock-covered floor seemed to become louder by the second, before a group of second-year juniors burst out of the dimly lit cave. The first one who was out was none other than a horrified Jamil, his magic pen in hand as he lurched his body left and right and clawed off his tracksuit. You both looked at the scene, bewildered, still in a compromising position yet too distracted by the panicked Viper to even consider fixing up your mess.

“get  off get off get off!!!”—“ Jamil yelled in a panic, practically ripping off his tracksuit and slamming it down to the dirt, his hands already picking at the seams of his red top, about to undress with zero idea of where he is or even who is around him.

“Do not do that!” you yelled in a panic, immediately closing your eyes and looking away. Leona, on the other hand, seemed more annoyed than anything, his tail flicking up and down as he clicked his tongue, leaning into your form and almost blocking your view of the strange sight.

“The hell are you doing, Jamil?”

Startled by the new voices, Jamil stopped halfway before undressing, a blush painting his face before he sneered in frustration, eyes still widened and looking around the ground in disgust.

“Some bug was crawling on my back!” he said with such vigor and disgust that you assumed the bug was large and possibly audacious. But knowing him, the bug was most likely just a beetle buzzing peacefully, or perhaps an ant just crawling up to reach its nest. “That disgusting thing was probably unhygienic! Oh, who am I kidding, it definitely was; I could feel the dirt on its multiple, pointy feet.” He seemed to gag at his own description, lurching backwards in disgust before swiping at his hands in a panic. Before any of you could say a word, more familiar faces came out of the cave, some shocked, others amused, and one of them out of breath.

Riddle and Kalim were the bewildered ones in question, Kalim at the front of the scene and quickly running up to his vice president. “ Jamil! Are you alright?! What happened back there?” his hands immediately latched onto Jamil’s shoulders, an action his ‘friend’ grunted in discomfort at. It went unnoticed by the worried Kalim, his eyes immediately scanning him for any injuries. “You ran away so fast I thought an overblot must’ve attacked you!”

“As I've said in the cave, Kalim,” Riddle huffed in exasperation, a pout on his lips as he crossed his arms. “There was no danger in question. It seems like Jamil just decided to overreact and go against proper excavation rules.”

Jamil glared at him, completely ignoring the fretting housewarden and focusing on the perturbed one instead. “What rules may that be?” his fear of insects had been dismantled by bruised pride, it seems, as he crossed his once flailing arms.

Riddle, unrattled by his intimidation, or perhaps unable to see it through his lawful lens, spoke firmly and eloquently, with a hand put on his chest for emphasis. “ One mustn’t disrupt the team by panicking so loudly and trampling over the exit. You could’ve injured yourself or us in your panicked state. Furthermore," he frowned, eyes squinting to the disappointing glare he often gives to Ace. “I find it troubling how a small insect can ignite you so. “

Floyd snickered at that, the eel twins just behind Rosehearts. I never knew Sea Snake could run this fast… all because of a small little cockroach.” Jade hummed in agreement, a hand under his chin, a toothy grin much thinner yet somehow scarier than Floyd's appearing on his face. “ I wonder how he’d react to a bigger insect... or perhaps to a new area of placement…perhaps next time you can put a caterpillar on his head?”

Jamil jolted at that, a shiver running down his spine despite the scathing heat. “You will do no such thing!” his yell was followed by an out-of-breath and heaving Azul, who had just emerged from the cave. His knees buckled as he crouched down to breathe, puffs of air leaving him as if he’d run a marathon. “You… fools…” his threat was shaken down by his broken and heaving tone. “Now we’ll never find those precious jewels!”

 You and Leona glanced at each other in exhaustion, slumping back on the blanket, his weight on top of you as you both glared at the sophomores with zero inclination of privacy.  The ‘thump’ had alerted the attention of the failed-excavation group, now all eyes set on you two. Everyone seemed startled by your state. Jamil turned his eyes away as a gentleman should, bringing his hands up to block his view now that his initial shock and horror had ended. Riddle’s face flushed, flustered beyond belief as he quickly looked down at the ground, stammering out the ‘inappropriate’ behavior in public. Not that Leona cared. Azul put a hand over his mouth, looking at you two fully grossed out. He was holding himself back from throwing up. (prick.) Meanwhile, Jade and Floyd seemed more interested than disgusted, with Floyd humming in acknowledgment and Jade putting a hand under his chin. (weirdos.)

Kalim, sociable and unashamed as ever, was the first to call you two out, a happy grin on his face. “Oh, it’s so good to see you two again!” his eyes landed on the food tray next to you, an assortment of drinks, snacks, and beverages you’ve very specifically made with only you and Leona in mind.

“Mind if we rest with you two for a bit?” Oh, how you wished Kalim hadn’t been so kind to you in the past. Maybe then you could’ve very easily said no. He didn’t even register how private this picnic was, given how both you and Leona were still entangled together, very visibly ‘busy’.

“Kalim…I don’t think we should—“

“Oh come on now! Don’t be so shy!” Privacy was not a word in Al-Asim’s vocabulary, it seemed. Jamil’s intervention was once again ignored. Kalim’s bright grin made you sink deeper into the blanket, your heart gnawing at you for not inviting them yet. “ I promise we won’t intrude on you two lovebirds! We just need some refreshments, we’ll pay you with good company and a good story!” the title of ‘lovebirds’ seemed to be the thing that woke you two up from your cuddling shield, both of you immediately recoiling back from each other in a safe distance as you fixed your uniform, all while Leona simply grunted in annoyance and leaned back with his arm, not ashamed of the hickies decorating his neck. He gave one glance at you, and you offered a curious one back. The question was simple. ‘Should we let them stay?’ ‘Do you want them to stay?’ In the end, one small glance from you to the tired and exhausted group, full of guilt and sympathy, had made Leona make up his mind with a sigh, running a hand through his temple.

“Alright, fine…just don’t eat all the grub, got it?”

----

Despite the myriad of whines and guilt-tripping from the octaniville trio, they were mostly able to keep their hands to themselves and not devour the entire entree of snacks, all thanks to Jamil and Riddle’s keenful eye. However, you did still offer them a hefty sum of food, all except the meat pie, of course; that’s reserved for you and Leona only. Kalim seemed gracious as ever, thanking you for your hospitality and promising to pay back as soon as possible.

“So…mind telling me what got you all here?” At this point, Leona had decided to take a nap to escape this social interaction, leaving that duty to you. You didn’t mind it much, especially since you could use his stomach as support for your back, leaning back on it and feeling his tail securely twist around your waist. He hadn’t much cared for the group or their story, but you certainly did.

“Well, all second-years have this project relating to magestones,  so we decided to team up together and see what we can find here! Azul offered to help me in my project by leading the team! Who knew NRC had a hire-on-sight exploration team, right?” Kalim’s vague and upbeat response left little to comprehend, and as always, you looked at Jamil for a further needed explanation. He sighed and continued for him. “…that’s Kalim’s reason, for the most part. Everyone else, however, has a different goal in mind. There's a rumor going around the school that the overblot Rook defeated did have a den full of precious gems deep inside the cave mine, but most students were too scared of the overblot monster coming back again to come check it out.” you’d question why Crowley hadn’t done anything to quell these rumours, or to at the very least, ban students from going inside the cave in the first place, but then again, this is the same headmage who let you, a magicless human, grim, a direbeast who only know one spell, and two newly admitted and expelled heartslapybul students go inside the cave with a very-much-active and alive overblot in the first place. You do not doubt that Crowley just didn’t care enough to procure such a safety measure. “…the octaniville students wanted to get there first, and Riddle had been egged on by Azul and Jade to join us.” Both Azul and Riddle seemed rattled by his explanation, though Azul’s shock seemed fake and dramatic.

“My, my, Jamil, all these years and you still refer to us so coldly…” he tilted his glasses back into place. “…and here I thought all our adventures together would make us friends!”

“Furthermore, no one has egged me on!”  Riddle’s exclamation did little to nullify the statement. “ I simply joined because Azul is a friend of mine. And rule #123 of the queen of hearts says to always assist others in their jewel-seeking ventures.”

Azul gave a dramatic huff at that. “See Jamil?! Riddle, for all his anger and bratty nature, still considers me a friend!”

“Excuse me—?!“

“—and yet you of all people still see me as an acquaintance?! I’m so heartbroken.”

“Now now—I’m sure Jamil considers us all his friends, right Jamil?” Kalim’s reassurance was a complete contrast to Jamil’s annoyed and disinterested sneer.

“No. I don’t,” he replied.

Leona snorted from behind you, yet only you seemed to catch it, with everyone else too distracted by the possible argument that could begin without further notice. You gave him an amused glare. Even though his eyes were firmly closed, you had a sneaking suspicion he still knew you were aware of his half-listening state. So much for ‘nonchalant’ and ‘uncaring’.

“ See?! Such cruelty…after all we’ve done for you…” Jade and Floyd followed Azul’s actions, mimicking a pitiful frown and pout, reminiscent of the one they gave to Kalim not-so-long-ago to stay in his dorm.

Jamil’s glare only intensified. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so distant if someone didn’t put bugs on my back in the dark.” His gaze pinpointed an amused Floyd. The eel looked unashamed of his actions and somewhat proud of the accusation. He gave a ditzy hum, whistling and never locking gaze with him. “Hm..? No, who could ever do that?... What a jerk...”

Jamil clicked his tongue, surprised and frustrated by his lack of shame. “ You did it! Stop playing dumb!”

“May I ask why you assume my brother would be capable of that?” Jade’s mock politeness and dead-serious face, which you could only assume was there to hold back his laugh, seemed to fuel the fire.

“Because he was behind me.”

“Riddle was also behind you.”

“Don’t rope me into this!” Riddle sputtered, just as taken aback as Jamil now. “I can attest to Jamil’s claim! Floyd was poking me the entire way as well!”

“Once again, you two lack proof. It was quite dark in there, so anyone could’ve done that.”

“Yeah guys, I mean, it’s not like we merfolk can see in the dark or whatever.” Floyd shrugged.

“THAT’S EXACTLY THE POINT!”

“YOU THREE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO COULD’VE DONE THIS!”

As much as this was hilarious to watch, you’d rather not have a screaming match between NRC students right in front of your boyfriend’s birthday picnic. Kalim had roughly the same idea as you, both of you quickly intervening to calm down the crowd.

Yet there was still a question circling through your mind like a vulture, something that kept locking your gaze onto Jade. He knew of your plans, didn’t he? You were very clear on them the moment you met up with Rook and him to search the area. So why on earth did he never mention that to the rest of his crew? Why the hell did he even plan this silly mission right on the day you were occupying the campsite? It was only when Kalim off-handedly mentioned a key detail that you put it all together.

“Anyway, we were super packed with heavy equipment already, so there was no way we could store any food or snacks in our bags. And Jade even mentioned not being worried about that and all; he said he had it all covered!” he gave an enthusiastic grin. “Lo and behold, when we get out of the cave, we suddenly find you guys! What a miracle, right?!”

Your silence was deafening. Befuddled and bewildered, with eyes wide-open and looking at Jade Leech, the asshole you wanted to punch, you pursed your lips and let out a restrained scoff. This fucker did this on purpose. He was using you and your plans for his own benefit! You were truly his emergency food. And with how thoroughly amused and prideful Jade’s grin was towards you, your assessment of the situation was confirmed. To add salt to the wound, Azul and Floyd seemed to be sporting similar grins, all in on this stupid and prefect-reliant scheme.

“Ah yes, what a miracle indeed!” Azul agreed so charmingly. “You truly are the most gracious benefactor, Y/n.” You wished to turn him into fried squid.

You could only offer a stammered silence, blinking rapidly and taking a deep, tired breath. “... you guys are the worst.”

The innocent spectators of their play looked at you, confused, all while the three puppeteers of your eventual demise broke into a collection of snickers.

-----

“Scanning complete.”

Ortho spoke those words for what felt like the hundredth time. Or at least, that’s how it felt for Vil, A clear indication of his growing fatigue and strained patience. “... No high-value allotropes have been found. I can only spot graphite scattered around the area.” Ortho had always been quite methodical and unattached when stating his findings, yet even he seemed to be exhausted by the repeated actions. A part of him was excited to know he could now experience feelings like exhaustion; another part of him wasn’t too keen on the feeling.

“Any sign of those two fools?” Vil would usually avoid such harsh words, but today was an exception.

“You mean Leona and Y/n?...” Ortho corrected sheepishly. Vil shrugged and hummed, tilting his head to the side. More so for dramatic emphasis than heat avoidance. “I suppose so, yes.”

Ortho gave a nervous chuckle, blue lights blaring from his eyes and showing a holographic screen. A red X mark appeared with an ear-grating buzz. “No signs of them either…but let me check something…oh! I’m seeing some fresh motorcycle marks on the path up ahead!” Vil’s head snapped upright, eyes scanning the new information with a critical look and displeased frown.

“What? But Rook surveyed the area beforehand and didn’t---“Suddenly, all seemed to click for the fair queen, lips snapped shut and mouth tilting to a cold frown. Ortho has gained a new emotion within his systems. The feeling of worry for someone else’s imminent demise.

Rook was way ahead of the two, already starting his retreat to the forest and saving himself from his fate.

“Rook.” Loyalty is a painful thing, for even a quiet and meticulous hunter such as Rook cannot bear to ignore his queen’s call. With a nervous gulp and embarrassed chuckle, Rook stepped out of the trees and landed graciously beside Vil.

“Yes, roi de poison?” he hoped his nickname could somehow soften the verbal blow he was about to experience. Yet nothing seemed to cool down the annoyance Vil had felt, especially after everyone let it boil and simmer under such an awful heatwave.

“You lied to me.” His disapproving tone left no room to argue. “Made Ortho and me run around the same areas like lost little lambs while you sit up under the shade.”

“My liege, I offered to take you up under the shade as well—“

“And break a nail on tree bark?!  I’d hardly ever!” Vil quickly dismantled. “And don’t you evade the question so easily, sneaky spud. Why didn’t you tell us about the motorcycle marks?”

“They must’ve evaded my eyes.”

Vil laughed. “Evaded your eyes?! You?” his delighted smile quickly fell. A grand actor through and through. “You notice every single hair out of place on me, yet you ‘missed a spot’ when looking for those two lovesick fools?” Ortho felt like a child watching his two parents fight. Silent and unsure of what to say. “Moreover, you feigned fatigue when I asked you to use your unique magic, yet here you are, running around like a jackrabbit, full of energy and strength. What do you take me for, exactly?”

“Er…” For the first time in his life, Rook was speechless, looking up at Vil with a guilty conscience and sheepish innocence. “A beautiful and merciful queen?...”

Vil crossed his arms and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath."The former is correct,” his eyes snapped open to a harsh glare. “ The latter, however, is debatable."

The photography club members unanimously gulped.

-----------

The cave was the same as ever, only now, the deeply unsettling and headache-inducing ink smell you’d faced the first time you were in there had mostly vanished, lingering like a ghost of a former state, a past danger that never truly left. It would’ve unsettled you, had it not been for the companions you’ve had with you on that journey, and the ones you have now on this one. If you were to pick between these two for such adventures, you’d stick to your own beloved grim and Heartslabyul juniors, despite the logical choice being the magical and strength-wise superior, the one now dubbed as ‘Leona’s unwanted team’. Most of your reasons hold sentimental value, you won’t lie, but it’s not only the familiarity and comfort you share with Grim, Ace, and Deuce that makes you choose them.

“Shrimpy~ “It’s also the more peaceful option for your sanity and peace of mind. Despite ignoring him, Floyd continued to poke you in the back every five minutes; the deeper you ventured into the dark caverns, the better chance he got to scare you shitless. “You're walking way too slow. What if a monster comes up and drags you away from us?” You could only sigh at his failed attempts to frighten you, and something in your mind nags you to wonder why he’s so obvious with his actions. It wasn’t surprising to find him so careless in his teasing, yet it does strike you as odd to find him so... weirdly silly about it. Like an annoying little brother rather than the tank he usually is.

“For the last time, there isn’t any down here.” Your reply was short, but the annoyed tone wasn’t subtle, despite all your efforts to seem unimpressed with his teasing.

“How would you know?” he hummed thoughtfully, something you'd no doubt been faking. Since when did Floyd think about consequences? “ You had the same idea when you first went in here, right?”

You froze at his comment, already a fair distance away from the rest of the group; however, you felt it would be better to babysit the instigator of the last failed mining venture than to stay on foot with the rest and risk having Jade cause another fight. “How do you know about that?”

Floyd hummed with full nonchalance, putting his hands behind his neck and leaning on it for support as he walked beside you. “ Teammates tell each other everything.” Right. Of course. You’ve almost forgotten that Ace was in the same club as him. How those two troublemakers didn’t cause mayhem yet, you’re unsure of, but something tells you it’s because Jamil always keeps them in check.

“Aren't you scared of the monster coming back?”

“…not really, no.” You weren’t sure what made you answer so honestly, or even indulge in his idyllic conversation for that matter. Perhaps it was the dark surrounding area, or the need to let Leona enjoy this sudden expedition. After all, it was within your plans to take him inside the cave; it’s why you chose this location in the first place. He always had an interest in gemstones and mining areas, something you guessed was related to Sunset Savanna and its own vast den of riches. Granted, you didn’t exactly plan on having the worst group imaginable be your companions for the ride, but you’ll take what you can get. Leona, for the most part that you could observe, seemed to still be enjoying this task, even if he whined and groaned about being captain at first. Kalim was still very adamant about finding precious jewels, even if he had a collection worth more than anything this cave could offer. You had asked him before you entered why he was so insistent on going back; hadn’t he already got everything he needed for his studies inside there?

He only looked at you, shocked, before giving a determined smile. “I haven’t understood everything completely yet. I still wanna know how precious gems specifically are found!" His answer was profound, especially for him. It wasn't just the determination or eagerness to learn that impressed you, but the complete change in Kalim that you’re now witnessing. Kalim had always been determined, but never had you seen him this eager to learn. This eager to understand a luxury that he could afford with a snap of his fingers. He never seemed that interested in the hardships that came along with obtaining such luxuries, yet now, he’s eager to understand more than ever. Perhaps, you hummed in thought, since his ignorance had once cost him his entire friendship with Jamil, he’s quite keen on never letting that happen again.

Nonetheless, Leona’s thoughts about him ring true. Kalim is shaping up to be an admirable and kind-hearted inheritor of Al-Asim’s riches, and you couldn’t be more proud.

“I guess I can’t blame you.” Floyd’s words cut through your train of thought, making you feel a tad guilty for leaving him with such a short reply. “ You've seen a lot more scary things since your time here, haven’t you?” It was foreign to see Floyd so eager to engage you in a conversation. Usually he didn’t care much for the people around him unless they were the target of his amusement. It was nice, in a strange way, seeing Floyd be so interested in you as a friend rather than a target, even if your heart was dubious of his intent.

“…yeah but, it’s not just that.” You finally partook in his conversation. “ I just…don’t feel scared because I know I’m around a strong team of people. Sure, you guys are still the worst—“ you couldn’t stop yourself from adding that jab. Blame it on the awful students of NRC rubbing off on you and rotting your usual polite speech. Floyd wasn’t offended; if anything, he looked delighted by your bite. “ –but you’re still pretty strong, and I trust you could get us out of any issue.” Even though you loathe to admit it.

“Awww, Shrimpy, you’re too kind.” Jade’s voice had a teasing lilt that never seemed to go away, one of his hands coming up to ruffle your hair like a child. You grunted a bit in protest, looking at him embarrassed and confused. “But y’know…” his hand quickly stopped, firm and imposing on your head as his eyes turned wide-open, like a fish in a dark blue sea setting sights on its prey. It made your heart drop, a sinking feeling now emerging in your gut. “ You trust us too much.”

Without warning, he twisted your entire form back, bringing you face to face with a pale man, a murderous and downright horrific and grim expression highlighted and contrasted by the beaming white light. Your heart leaped into your throat, a shriek being ripped right out of you. Your brain did little to help you realize the man in question was just Jade with a flashlight tucked under his chin. It all happened so quickly. Your panicked mind scrambled for movement, as if opting to run away, but you fell back to Floyd’s chest instead, before he scrambled away with a snort and let you fall head-first to the stony ground.  Your brain completely shut down, your body going limp from the goosebumps, fear, and adrenaline coursing through your veins. Your hands quickly found themselves pressed up into your chest, trying to calm down your fast-beating heart with no avail. You closed your eyes and took a few deep breaths. It was nothing; that was nothing. That wasn't a ghost. That wasn’t a monster…..right? The more you calmed down, the more gears started turning in your head.

‘That wasn’t a monster.’

‘Obviously it wasn’t.’

‘……then who the fuck was that?’

‘…..and is that…..’

Your eyes peered open, ears sharpened. The noise was unmistakable.

‘…is someone laughing?!’

Your skin grazes the stones beneath you, becoming a tad covered in graphite as you sit up with a struggle, looking at the two chuckling psychos in disbelief. Floyd was driven to tears from his laughter, clutching his stomach and buckling on his knees. Jade was the more poised of the two, yet even he failed to show indifference in the matter and tried his best to stop his shoulders from shaking, one hand on his mouth hiding his chortles of laughter, and the other wiping a tear from his eye.

You should be angry. You should be yelling at them and cussing them out. Instead, you found yourself bursting into a fit of giggles, hiding your face in shame and embarrassment, unable to contain your laughter.

“Oh, fuck you guys!” Your tone was anything but malicious. Annoyed? A bit, but more so endeared and joyous over such an awful scare. The adrenaline you had from fear had morphed into this, and you somehow found comfort in that fact. Even when the two twins scared you so mercilessly, you still knew deep down they wouldn’t hurt you.

“goddamnit, I leave you two alone for one second….” Leona was the first one to arrive; his hair was disheveled, his breath uneven. He must’ve run all the way here; they were quite far from you and your unfortunate choice in teammates. His eyes widened when they landed on you, on the ground and full of chuckles.

“Aw ~ did Mister Sea Lion get worried for his little shrimpy?”

Floyd’s tease was mostly ignored by Leona, who was now walking up to you and crouching down to your level. “You ok?” he placed a hand on your shoulder, a strength far less forceful than what Floyd had when he held your head. “You didn’t get injured anywhere, did you?”

“What's going on?! We heard a yell—“ Jamil was the second on the scene, pausing in his tracks. He looked at you three, confused, weirded out by the shared laughter. He wasn’t sure what to say, or even what had transpired. His reaction seemed to embolden you three further into wheezes, losing your breath from all the laughter.

Jamil looked at Leona and panicked. “Ah…Leona…I think they got a concussion.” This only made you three laugh harder.

----------

After checking you for any injuries, internal or external, and a good solid ten minutes spent on each of the firm members of the group scolding the twins for messing with you so badly, you tried your best to lessen their anger, finding the interaction rather funny than scary. Leona, however, seemed to disagree with that conclusion.

“I knew he was gonna mess with you..but I didn’t expect him to go this far.” Leona appeared far more annoyed than usual. Whenever Floyd or Jade would be up to some tricks, he’d either avoid them entirely or not spare them a single glance. You presumed it’d be the same for this case, but the target of the prank being you had more effect on him than he’d be willing to admit. He clicked his tongue, a familiar tale wrapping around your waist. His hand then clasped yours and continued on his trek as captain. “Stay close to me.” Leona was never this protective, knowing full well you could fight your own battles. Your scream must’ve really shaken him up if the Leona ‘do it yourself’ kingscholar is holding your hand like a lifeline. You wouldn’t lie and say this isn’t endearing, but you’ll never admit it out loud either.

Jade and Floyd were delighted by the scene, even if Azul was glaring at them disappointingly. It’s the only thing he could do, given how he has no control over his two henchmen.

The rest of the trip was quite fun. Seeing Leona show off his vast knowledge of different rocks, crystals, and gems alike was a treat, something you’ve only heard of in passing by Deuce and Jack, but never had the pleasure to witness yourself. By the end of the trail, merely midway deep into the cavernous cave, you’d already found a hefty amount of valuable rocks, not as glittery as you’d expect them to be, but shiny nonetheless. When you mentioned this, Leona chuckled, looking at you like an audience member of a clown show. “You really thought a diamond would just pop out of nowhere?”

You felt your cheeks warm up in embarrassment, giving him an exasperated look. “No! I just thought they’d look a bit…shinier?”

“I agree with them.” Riddle frowned, sighing in disappointment and tapping the rocks gently. “ While I understand this is how they look without any manufacturing, they still seem quite disappointing."

“But that’s what makes miners so important, don’t you think?” Leona added, crossing his arms. “To find something so valuable in a pile of junk…it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to get that far.”

“Oh, I get it now! So some of these rocks get turned into rubies or emeralds?” Kalim grabbed one of the rocks from the pile, eyeing it carefully. Leona held back the urge to roll his eyes at his naivety.

“Nothing that valuable… but you’ll get a garnet and a peridot, if that’s worth anything.” He scoffed.

“…isn’t Peridot your birthstone?” Your question surprised him, landing his attention on you while the rest of the group started labeling the rocks, courtesy of Riddle preparing name-tags and pens in his bag. It was ironic, really. They brought everything with them except food.

“Birthstone?...” his mumble made you realize such a phenomenon must be unknown in the world they live in.

“Ah... well, in my world, every month has a birthstone associated with it.” you went on to explain. “kinda like zodiacs, but they look at rocks instead of stars. And yours is peridot, I think.”

“And what’s the reason behind it, exactly?”

You went quiet, blinking up at him blankly. Leona held back his smile, though it proved to be difficult. “You don’t actually know, do you?”

“Well, I never thought someone would ask me that!” You let out a nervous laugh, at a loss for words yourself. “I thought this was common knowledge!”

“To you? maybe. But to me you just sound like a lunatic.”

“What’s so crazy about birthstones?”

“The fact that they’re called that to begin with?” Leona countered. “Zodiacs…birthstones…wishy-washy fairy tale mahogany…I’ll never understand everyone’s obsession with making birthdays so important. It’s just a day.” Something about that line struck you as odd. Something about it just made your heart pang with a dull pain that you couldn’t quite find the source of. Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts and avoid the rest of the conversation, you grabbed hold of his wrist, as gently as you could, giving him every choice to walk away. Yet, he didn’t. He froze in his steps, his eyes slowly looking back at you, huffing in flustered disbelief as he saw how much you care, so much so that your adoration is visible on your face.

“It's…important because of the person born on it,” you mumbled, voice only audible to him, worried about others hearing your touching words and cringing. Had it been you, you’d probably cringe too. Had it been anyone else other than Leona, you’d never spill your guts out so earnestly. “ You're right that the stars, the rocks, and even the celebration itself don’t really matter, because it’s the person born on that day that is really worth remembering. And…well, in my eyes, celebrating that day is important, because I'm thanking the world for letting me meet them…I’m thanking you for being in my life.”
  

Leona didn’t say anything back, but for once in all these months that you’ve dated him, you’ve noticed a faint blush decorating his cheeks, only visible to you due to the proximity. He looks you in the eyes, his conflicted gaze softening as he meets yours, all before letting out a frustrated huff and pinching the bridge of his nose. “…you’re really killing me here, harbivore.” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “You're too cheesy…”

Your heart melted into a melodious comfort, relaxing your hold on his wrist and settling for his hands instead, clasping them against yours firmly before resting your head on his shoulder. “You know you love me for it.”

Your eyes settled on the continuing scuffle and petty arguments over who gets which rock from the chaotic second-year juniors, and you felt deep remorse and pity for whoever has to be their homeroom teacher. May the seven be with them, because god certainly isn’t. You were too distracted to notice Leona’s glued gaze on you, deep in thought over your words, mumbling out a response not even you could hear.

“….yeah, I do.”

------

“We’re here.”

Two elegant pommefiore and one ignihyde student could be seen running around the Queen of Hearts' domain, their purples and blues a clear contrast to the red, black, and white palette adorning the chaotic walls of their strict matriarch. The most elegant of the three, the blonde with tips of lavender, with a posture so refined and a pose so dignified one almost mistook him for a marble statue of high status, looked deeply bemused by the ordeal, glaring scornful daggers at the closed doors of none other than Deuce Spade. At this moment, only one question could run around the Heartslabyul students' minds.

Just what trouble did Deuce get himself into this time?

It is no secret that Ace and Deuce were always finding themselves center stage in a heap of trouble, though Deuce tries his best to evade such disarray; his choice of friends does little to aid him. Whether it was you, Grim, or Ace, he had always been a friend first, an honor student second. Even now, with a door being the only barrier between the three lion-chasers and the direbeast babysitters, one could easily close their eyes and hear a group of voices clearly. One was shrill, naughty, childish, and very unmistakably Grim. The other was more boisterous, with much more pride and ego clashing in his tones, though now it seemed more distressed than egocentric; there still always was a teasing lilt in his octaves. Ace. The last one, the mediator and common sense for the three, which is saying a lot, given how it belongs to a retired delinquent, seemed much softer and more assertive in his tone, even though the other two were clearly pushing his buttons just enough to have him revert into his old ways.

“I wonder if we should open the door or wait for Grim to eventually burn it down instead,” Vil muttered with a slight grimace, poised in his manner of disappointment. With a flick of his finger, he ordered Rook to take action. The door swings open with a creak, revealing two boys clutching each other's collar and hair, about to throw what seemed to be cards. Grim was hanging on the hair with his teeth latched onto a card in Deuce’s hand. Both boys were in casual wear, and the room they occupied seemed a mess on one side, neat and tidied up on the other. They all coincidentally froze together, mouths holding back all the curse words in the world, ones they so shamelessly wanted to throw at each other because of a simple game of go fish.

Vil looked at the scene with a face one could only describe as disgruntled, perhaps even disgusted. Like a mother who just caught their child doing something they’ve never expected them to do, yet cannot repent for doing so, since the action in question isn’t bad; it’s just weird and disappointing.  Rook seemed pleased, a chuckle rumbling in his throat as he smiled at them, a clear contrast to Vil’s reaction. The youngest of the three visitors waved excitedly at his friends, floating a bit upwards with his holographic shoes. “Hi everyone!!” he cheered.

“Housewarden Vil?!”  Ortho’s greeting went ignored, perhaps due to it being a common occurrence for him to visit the group with no announcement. Vil and Rook, however, were the last people they’d ever expect. Riddle was the common one, you were the second, and at rare times, Leona would drop by when he couldn’t find you anywhere, which Ace would always relentlessly tease him for. Deuce is certain that the partial reasoning behind Leona’s rare visits, despite them being close friends with you, was exactly because of Ace. Not that Ace would ever agree to it, or even back down for that matter.

“Sorry to intrude… uh…” Vil takes another look at the room, regarding the mess and clatter of pillows and snacks on the ground. He grunts when he spots the crumbs. “…whatever this is.” He could’ve just called their room ugly, and it would’ve hurt less. “…but we’ve come to ask you a few questions regarding Y/n.”

Ace tilted his head curiously, with Deuce frantically cleaning their room behind him, and Grim trying to avoid responsibility before Deuce grabbed him by the ears and handed him a broom. “Hm? I thought they were with you? Isn't Leona's birthday today?” Grim could be heard arguing in the back over his paws being ‘too tiny’ to sweep the floor. Deuce then suggested that he clean the windows instead.

“You’d think they’d be, wouldn’t you?” Vil muttered angrily. 

Ortho then continued for him. “They bailed on us at some point,” he holographic screen showing blue light strings from his eyes forming into a rectangular shape. “We've found fresh motorcycle tire stripes just at the path up ahead. At first we wanted to follow it; however, Vil suggested we use Rook’s magic instead to find the driver.”

“We’ve been running around like headless chickens in the forest already; I didn’t want to continue that little escapade.” Vil continued with a tired huff. “In short, we found the motorcycle, then asked the security who borrowed it from them. Lo and behold, it turned out to be you.” His eyes landed on frightened and frozen mid-cleaning Deuce.

“We'd be grateful for any information you could provide us with, Monsieur Spade.” Rook politely urged him to speak up.

“Care to tell us what happened, little spud?”

Deuce, who was just about to grab Grim by the scruff so he wouldn’t leave more crumbs on the floor on purpose (anger a kitty to clean and he will cause more wreckage instead. It is a lesson you learned the hard way.), gulped nervously, putting Grim down and avoiding the housewarden’s gaze. “ah-well, I was just out for a drive…”

“Yeah, Deuce does this all the time.” Ace cleverly covered for him. He was much more relaxed when caught red-handed, and found it much easier to lie and deceive than Deuce. It was something the wannabe-honorable-student had always been envious of. “ He goes for a drive anytime he wants to clear his head. And he’s been cramming a lot of extra studies this summer so…he really needed the break.” The evidence was backed up, with piles of books all towering on top of each other around Deuce’s bed, with sheets of paper all filled with various notes sprawled on his study table.

“Is that so?...” Vil pursed his lips, a taut frown on his face as he went deep into thinking. “So you know nothing about Leona and the prefect's whereabouts?”

“Nope.”

“Not at all.”

“Whose Leona?”

Ace and Grim glared at Deuce’s awful lie, both disappointed and not surprised by his tomfoolery. Nonetheless, the lies seemed to have worked; Vil’s shoulders sagged in exhaustion, running a hand through his temple. “I swear…when I find those two I’ll poison their saliva to smell like garlic! Maybe then they wouldn’t go hiding into a corner for a silly making-out session.”  He then gave a long sigh. “Very well then, apologies for bothering you three; carry on.” Vil turned out and waved his hand goodbye, making the three sophomores relax in triumph.

“Goodbye, Housewarden Vil! We hope you find them soon!” Ace warped his tone into a saccharine sweet boy, a complete contrast to his usual attitude.

“Tell Y/n to leave some pie for me!” Grim chirped.

Vil paused, looming at the doorway, his back turned to them. His eyes flashed in recognition, a knowing smirk on his elegant face. Akin to a snake catching its prey in a hidden trap, he turns around and meets them eye to eye once more, blaring his fangs to the three little mice. “pie you say?” he hummed so innocently, one couldn’t possibly think to peer at his sharp eyes and quirked brow, a man who's playing with his food. “that’s strange, I never mentioned any pie. Nor do I remember seeing her with any picnic baskets in hand.”

Realizing their fuck-up, they all froze in panic and looked at Rook for help. He only gave them an apologetic smile instead, grabbing Ortho’s wrist and taking him outside, letting the queen be alone with his suspects.

“And come to think of it, the security did tell us he saw you leaving with a picnic basket, but coming back empty-handed.” Vil tilted his head to the side, taking one step closer. They all took one step back. “ That means you must’ve dropped them off somewhere, so you did see them, didn’t you, Deuce?”

They all gulped in unison, looking at each other for a way out.

“So tell me,” the aura of Vil was poisonous, agitated from hours under the heat, angry at a lazy lion for being uncooperative, and annoyed by your secrecy. “By the sevens—, where on earth did they run off to?”

---

“Azul…I swear to—“ you were almost going to say ‘god’, but quickly corrected yourself. “—the sevens, if you make us go any further, I will destroy all your contracts again.”

“As intimidating as your threat is, there are no other contracts left thanks to you.”

You weren’t sure which was the more destructive of the two. Azul, who decided to go back into the cave in desperate search for more precious gems, or you, who believed it too dangerous to let a crew member walk all the way back here alone. As Leona would put it, he may have been the idiot walking back into the lion’s den, but why are you here aiding the greedy squid?

Leona would both say it's because you’re ‘too nice for your own good.’ Ace would argue, ‘It’s because you’re a pushover.’ Grim would add that ‘it’s because you’re too goody-goody.’ You’re glad to know there’s at least something these three could agree on, since there usually isn’t. But you’re also ticked off that it’s this of all things.

The truth is, they’re all partially correct. Though you’d argue you aren’t as ‘goody-goody’ as Grim would put it, after all, you’ve been transferred to NRC for a reason; you do still have a moral code of not leaving friends behind. And against all odds and beliefs, Azul still is your friend.

“You could leave whenever you like, you know. I believe it’d do both of us a favor.”

Even if he’s acting posh and, frankly, like a huge dickwad right now.

“Too bad. I’m staying.” You’re no newbie to stubborn housewardens, given your track record with Leona. Azul huffs at your restraint, his flashlight circling the area around. He’s trying his best to ignore you. You let the silence simmer, preferring it to an unassumed fight. You’re not sure why he’s so antsy about you partnering up with him, and you’re hesitant to ask why.

Azul clicks his tongue in frustration; this time, however, it wasn’t directed at you. The flashlight in his hand began to flicker; no matter how much he tapped its buttons, the battery inside was almost drained completely.

Though you were desperate to leave, you still dug through your own pockets. Don't worry, I got batteries on me.” Your hands brisked past the two diamonds, the keys to your dorm, your phone and wallet, finally digging out the pack of batteries Riddle gave you in practical foresight. He took them from you with a mumbled ‘thanks’, pickpocketing the old ones and tucking in the new.

“Can’t you see in the dark?” your own out loud question makes you click the puzzle together. “….are you holding the flashlight for me?”

Azul stays quiet for a moment before he turns his head around, away from your sight, yet you could still see the blush dusting his ears. “Must you state the obvious?” Even his tone failed to act cold, more resembling an embarrassing grumble.

“Awwww, Azul.” He flinched from your voice, shoulders slouching in resignation. Your ego flared upwards, your teasing meter through the roof. “You do care! How adorable!”

“Well, I can’t have you stumbling and bumbling about now, can I?” he’s quick to assert control over the conversation, perhaps experienced in years of the eels teasing him. “And now my wrists are so sore….you ought to pay me back tenfold, prefect.” He gives out an elongated sigh. “Who knows if I’ll ever be able to hold a pen again.” Impressive, you’ll admit. He somehow steered the conversation to something he’s most experienced at, avoiding the octopus-caring-shaped elephant in the room.

You rolled your eyes at his moaning, grabbing the flashlight with a chuckle. “Alright, alright, schemer, I’ll take hold of it.” You clicked the button once more, flashing it around the area. “You could’ve just told me, you know.”

“Yes, well…” he tugged at his glasses, clearing his throat. “…I needed to assess why you’re here first.”

“You were willing to leave me in the dark?!”

“Let’s not dwell on things that didn’t happen- ah, look! A crystal!” he points to a chunk of mud-colored rock on the wall. He’s definitely avoiding the topic.

You’re not one to pressure others in conversations they may be uncomfortable explaining, so you let it be. Another twenty minutes go by with no findings, and Azul starts to mope around in frustration. “I can’t just go back empty-handed….”

It was true, he couldn’t. Everyone told him to just give up on the exploration, that everything’s already been found. But Azul’s greed was like no other, and he insisted upon exploring more of the mines. Leona told him it’d be a waste of time, Jade and Floyd started betting on how long he’d last, and in the end, Azul’s hubris led him to get into the bet. Practically everyone voted that he wouldn’t find anything, you included. If he goes back empty-handed, they won’t give him a good cut of the crystals they did find together. If he did find something, which was unlikely, he would share the spoils with the ones who betted in his support.” I’ll have double the rewards compared to everyone else! The kickstarter for the new maestro longue is one step away! “ you heard him mumble before signing his doom.

You felt bad for him. His own ambitions could lead to disaster. One could argue that he needs to learn about this sort of karmic retribution, but after everything that’s happened, it makes you wonder if there were any other reasons for his eagerness today. Surely it wasn’t just for his greed. You were sure he learned his lesson, albeit forcefully.

“…can I ask you something?” Your curiosity one over your opt for silence. Azul stopped his skulking tracks and hummed in response. “….why did you want to explore more?”

He was quick to open his mouth, yet paused to ponder that question himself before answering. “…well, we have similar caves like these underwater; however, ours form water-based ecosystems, so we don’t usually see such gorgeous crystalline works.” His hands traced the sharp edge of an empty spot, one you all collected rocks from. “... I was hoping to take back something valuable for my mother.”

You blinked in surprise. “….your mother?...”

“She's been helping me quite a lot, a lovely sponsor of my Mostro longue, you see.” He nodded. “ When I was a child, I used to give her pearl-based jewellery and such, often handmade. I thought she’d throw them all away, but…” a fond look passed his eyes, one you could’ve missed had it not been for the flashlight. “…she’s kept all of them.”

“…oh.” It was touching, really. You never knew Azul cared about such trivial matters, especially ones regarding someone else. But then again, Azul only kept people at a distance because he hasn’t met many good people in his life.

His posture straightens once again, the once soft tone becoming a dramatic lilt he’s famous for. “Dreadful, really! Don’t you think?” he huffed. “ All pearls, yet no gleaming jewels? As her son, I ought to get more creative with my gifts for her, no?”

“So that's why you want more crystals...”

He hummed in agreement. “ The amount we’ve gathered may seem a lot at a glance, but once they’re cut on a gem faceting machine, they will be quite small in size.” He sighed and shook his head. “My mother prefers large pieces of jewels, and she looks best with those on too. A tiny little pebble of gem will be strange to give as a gift.” You’ll admit, it’s cute how much he’s been paying attention to his mother’s tastes. To love is to be noticed, it seems.

“I’m sure she’ll like it too.” You smiled. “It’s from his son, and you worked so hard to get it, too.”

He’s surprised by your assessment, but holds back his fluster as something worse dawns on him and he groans. “yes that would’ve been the case..if I didn’t take that lousy bet!” he clicked his tongue and pinched the bridge of his nose. “…this is the last time I’m ever letting Jade and Floyd rattle me on like that.” Highly unlikely.

It’s a shame, really. You’re sure his mother would’ve loved his gift. The flashlight blinked once again, with a frustrated huff; your hands went back into your pockets to fetch a battery, wondering if you’d accidentally slid back in a dead one rather than the new one. Instead, your fingers touched a smooth, cool surface that lit a lightbulb on top of your head. You looked back at Azul with a smirk. “wanna make a deal?”

“You lost your house the last time you made a deal with me. wasn’t that deal enough?” he grinned all smug, omitting the part where he failed in his plans and you got your house back anyhow.

“So you don’t want these?” You brought out the two pairs of diamonds, a shining glimmer in the dark. Azul sputtered in shock. Your loss then—“

“Now h-hold on for just a moment!” His panic made you snicker, hiding the diamonds within your palms. “Where did you even find that?!”

“Trade secrets.” Theft. But no smart criminal would ever confess to the crime. “Doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll give them to you, for a price.”

Azul crossed his arms, a look of professionalism now hiding his excitement, though you could still see him holding back his mouth, tilting into an excited grin. “And that would be?....”

“You let us go back to the crew.”

Azul waited for you to continue. When you didn’t, he raised a brow and blinked. “And?”

“That’s it.”

“Wow.” Azul scoffed. "You're the worst dealmaker I’ve ever met.”

You would take offense to that if you were actually trying. “Do you want the diamonds or not?!”

“I—“ Azul scoffs in annoyance, as if you’re not handing him literal diamonds for free. Offer a greedy businessman a pot of gold, and they’d still ask for the rainbow. “yes yes- fine. It’s a deal.”

Your walk back to the crew was planned to be quiet, with Azul looking at the gleaming jewels excitedly. However, midway through the large mine, Azul stopped and asked,

“…May I ask you a question, this time?”

“Sure.” You waited.

He seemed to be thinking over his words, tilting his glasses back up and looking down at the ground. “….these diamonds, they are worth a lot of money.” He started. “ you could very easily hire a team of mages to help you get back home with these, or it’ll at the very least cover all of you and Grim’s living expanses here.” he looked back at you quizzingly. “ why are you giving it to me?” his gaze sharpened. “it’s not out of pity- is it?”

“What?! God no—“ you didn’t even think to respond; your entire instinct just screamed at you to deny such a brazen accusation. “Of course not! Also- why would I pity you out of all the people here?! You literally stole my house once!”

“That's exactly what I mean,” he hummed. “ You should have no reason to be kind to me, yet here you are, handing me diamonds for free.” Seriously, what’s wrong with these guys? Are they allergic to basic human decency? You’re starting to figure out that they are.

Knowing a simple answer such as ‘because I want to’ won’t satisfy someone as logical and practical as Azul, you shrugged and said, “I don’t need them.”

“I’ve seen how you live; you definitely do.”

You’re starting to regret handing him the diamonds.

“First of all, ouch— second, I literally have a prince for a boyfriend. Trust me, I’m fine.” And that was no lie. Leona did often spoil you. Just not in an observable way. Leona’s methods had always been subtle, in a sense. He’d once slept on your creaky old sofa, muttered about it being too ‘noisy’ and not big enough for two people to sleep in (he’d often drag you to cuddle beside him. it’s law by now.) the next day, you saw Jack, Ruggie and a few other Savannaclaw students right at your doorstep, lifting the old sofa and putting in a brand new one with no explanation except ‘Leona bought it.’ Ruggie then joked that you should somehow convince him to buy the hyena beastman a new pair of shoes. You did so on his birthday, though you didn’t take the credit and let Leona have it. You bought him a new pair of spell drive glasses instead, far more within your budget, and something he definitely needed after the last one broke weeks beforehand. For your own birthdays, Leona would buy you two kinds of gifts. One would be something sentimental, an object or game or anything hobbies related to you, and the other would be the practical one, usually gold jewellery. Sunset Savanna was known for its endless resources, especially in gold mines. Golden jewellery and colorful beads had been a custom dating back centuries, and Leona had always gifted you a variety of different golden jewellery throughout the years in your relationship. The first year was a necklace, the second was a bracelet; this year he had bought you a pair of earrings.

Though the symbols, shapes, and craftsmanship of all of them were different, you never thought each one had its own symbolic meaning, that is, until one day Lilia pointed it out to you.

“He must really love you.” Lilia’s voice startled you, blinking in surprise as you saw him hanging upside down from your staircase. You had invited him and his band, which included Cater and Kalim, to practice in your empty rooms since the class they’ve been using was under reconstruction. Something about Lilia’s high-pitched voice shattering a few glasses. You never knew someone as deep-toned and low-octave as Lilia could ever hit such notes, though he always had a knack for surprising you.

“Hm?” Your eyes were a clear indication of your confusion, your pencil and homework now forgotten in your hand as you looked at the chuckling bat.

“Leona, I mean.” He pointed to the necklace you adorned. Your hand subconsciously reached out for it and traced the lines circling the motif. Lilia took notice, but did not mention it. “ Citizens of Sunset Savanna don't just give gold to anybody.” You’d argue that gifting gold is a sacred tradition in most countries, since its amount in the world is scarce. But Lilia was right; you’ve noticed Leona himself had always worn colorful beads and strands tied in knots, but never have you seen him wear gold, unless it was for a very serious and formal occasion, which, to him, most occasions aren’t of such value or importance, so you’ve only seen him wear gold once, during his trip back to his home. Yet, here he was, constantly gifting you gold like it’s a trinket, never dwelling or speaking about the importance of it all.

“Really? Leona never mentioned it…” You were eager to learn now; Lilia could see that. The fae giggled at your excitement, making you flustered.

“Of course he wouldn't. He's not very famous for his words now, is he?” observant as ever, Lilia points out the truth. Leona never expressed the importance of his actions through words. He just…did it. With no communication whatsoever. It is both endearing and utterly frustrating.

“I suggest you check the library if you’re eager to know the meaning behind your gifts.” Lilia hummed. “You’ll see what I mean when you do.”

It didn’t take long for you to seek it out, though of course, you had to stay an entire night as a guest hostage in your own dorm, Kalim’s graciousness and kindness always taking the title of ‘host’ away from you. A battle you were destined to lose every time he was there. You've searched and asked for the best book about such symbolism, Grim helping you in the hunt, for the good price of an extra can of tuna.

“Where’d he live again?” You were amazed by Grim’s lack of memory, or best put, lack of care when it comes to topics like these. The only goal in his mind was to just graduate from this magical school, and you’ve always wondered what he plans on doing after graduation, especially when he knows so little about this world, a blank slate just like you.

“Sunset Savanna.” You were lucky enough that your boyfriend’s integral role in this world had made you transform from a newcomer to a somewhat informed individual.

“Yikes! There are so many books here about that place… you know for a guy with such a rich culture, he’s a real…”

You eyed him with a tease. “….be nice…”

Grim groans and rolls his eyes, tail swishing a bit as he softens his words. “…a real…blank…guy.” That’s somehow worse. Now you prefer it if he just stuck to ‘deadbeat’ or ‘boring’.

“Well, we only need one book specifically," you hummed, eyeing the culture and arts section. Your eyes lit up as they landed on a heavy book regarding their accessories. You took it out with a grunt and wiped off the dust cluttered on the cover. Grim jumped on your shoulder, peering at the book and reading it aloud.

“A full introduction to Sunset Savanna Craftsmanship.” His ear twitched. “Introduction?! You mean this big book is just the beginning?! How long are we gonna be here?!”

“Relax…we only need to find one section about their jewelry. I’ll be done in a jiffy,” you comforted your direbeast, earning a disappointed sigh from Crowley a few rows back. He re-emerged unbothered, tutting as he held a book in one hand and his chin with the other.

“Child, don’t you have more pressing matters to search about? And here I thought you’d be searching for a way back home….”

You looked at him with incredulous shock, wanting to explain yourself. Grim’s paw pressing your head stops you, and you look to see him jumping from your shoulders to his, zeroing in on his book with a taut frown. You're literally reading a novella when you’re the one who's supposed to be helping them!”

Crowley staggered for a reply, quickly hiding the book behind his back. It was too late, for Grim had already snatched the book with his tail and ran away with it, hiding between your legs while a flustered Crowley followed.

Once those two set off on their own ‘adventure’, which was just Crowley punishing Grim with cleaning duties around the library, their ruckus earning a heavy glare from the librarian, you sat down on an empty chair and opened your book, reading through the list of contents and skimming through each one.

You couldn’t find much; however, the amount you did find made your heart soar through the skies, flustered beyond comprehension.

Every piece of jewellery Leona had gifted you had one thing in common: a lion symbol somewhere hidden in their designs. You’d often have a mix of animals, such as elephants or rhinos, all in a smaller form layered onto the bracelet in bronze, while the bigger animal, always the lion, was one tethered to the very skeleton of the bracelet, the very shape that forms the item, made in gold. Each clan had their own animal embodying a strength of theirs, with Lions in common fashion being related to leadership, pride, and strength. But what made your heart thud, what made Lilia’s words make so much more sense, was the importance it had within it. The animals, as some scholars and mages dubbed as ‘spirit animals’ within the text you were reading, aren’t just mascots for the clans. They were spiritual guides, protectors, and embodiments of the family, of the virtues tethered to that family.

The lion symbolism within his gifts wasn’t just cheesy décor or ‘marking’ from Leona, as some commoners would claim it to be. Leona was giving you something important, something deeply important to him. His family’s spirit animal was now protecting you too. He sees you as his clan. His….family.

You never thought you’d be bawling your eyes out in a dusty magical library. But there you were, knee-deep in research about the Kingscholars and their spirit animals, the jewels they wore or gave to a very select few representing them, so similar to the ones gifted to you by your lazy lion. It all made sense now. Everything fully clicked. You always wondered why Kifaji knew you well before you’d ever met him. Why Cheka seemed so eager to meet you, when you’ve only met him once at the tournament. And why his brother and sister-in-law have tried everything they could to somehow rope Leona into bringing you to the kingdom for the holidays.

“I don’t wanna bother you.” Leona would grumble. “ Trust me, if I could avoid it myself, I would. They’re annoying and a goddamn waste of time.” His brows were furrowed in a complicated frustration, one in deep thought and memories he didn’t seem ready to share. You weren’t faring off any better either. As much as you loved Leona, you were still deathly afraid of somehow not meeting the expectations of a royal family, even if Leona doesn’t care for their opinion in the first place. So, you held his hand in yours instead, an act of comfort you initiated for both of you. He seemed to relax from that alone.

“…but if I ever asked to meet them…” you had mumbled, too afraid to meet his gaze. “ a-and if you’re ever ready, obviously— would you…let me meet them?”

“If it’s what you want,” he answered so casually, you almost cursed yourself for dating a guy who gives zero fucks about such matters. Meeting the family is a big step in any relationship; it’s what you heard a million times. Yet here he is, acting like it’s a casual dinner with his co-workers that he hates. He’d rather die than hang out with them, but he’s forced to since it's his job (i.e his sister-in-law would kill him if he didn’t.) 

“But what if…” You couldn’t bring yourself to say it, to verbalise this intense and ridiculous fear.

“Hm?” Yet he was always patient with you, always giving you the time you needed to express your worries. It was shocking to see a lion that’s usually so impatient have all the time in the world for you. It's a ‘special treatment’ as Ruggie had called it. Jack then bonked him in the head and said: “You’re just jealous they’re close enough to pickpocket him and don’t.”

“It’s literally right there!” Ruggie stressed once, pointing at the two cuddling couples. “ It's not like he’d mind! Hell, he’d just give them the card with no worries whatsoever!” They really thought you were too deep in sleep to listen to their conversation. But you did. And so did Leona. None of you had spoken a word about it, though Leona did decide the next day to just hand you the credit card with no explanation whatsoever, and you took Ruggie, Jack, Deuce, Ace, and of course, Grim, to a nice, pricey dinner. (You’ve also packaged some leftovers for Leona later.) You hoped that this would at least ease a bit of Ruggie’s frustration, even if it meant teasing you the entire day there.

“You’re doing that thing again.” Leona’s sigh had snapped you back.

“What thing?”

“Getting stuck in your own head,” Leona grumbled, resting his head on top of yours. “Just say what you wanna say,” he then yawned. “I’m getting sleepy.” As if he hadn't woken up five minutes ago.

“Sorry—…I guess what I’m trying to say is that…what if… they don’t like me?” Every syllable carried a heavy weight on your tongue, making it harder to even breathe. Leona was quiet, his gaze falling on you, who was nervously picking at their fingernails, already foreseeing an unreal event. He knew he had to comfort you; he wanted to comfort you. But he wasn’t the best at it. In fact, he’s been constantly told he’s the worst at comforting people. Usually, he didn’t care enough to rectify that flaw, and shrugged and told the person, ‘I just tell it like it is.’ Disregarding any anger or hurt the other might’ve felt in that moment. But for you, who was so communicative and patient with him, somehow decided out of all the people in the world that he is worth staying for; he wanted to at least try.

“So what?” he failed spectacularly. He could already feel it from the way you froze. His ears lowered, tail swishing up and down, eyes closed in acceptance of his own blunder. He awaited the blowout he deserved, for you to finally realize he’s not worth the trouble. What he didn’t expect was to hear you giggling.

His eyes snapped back open, quickly landing on you. Your smile made his heart stutter, your teary eyes giving his mind an error as your held-back chuckles echoed in his ears like a siren’s call. You really didn’t know what kind of effect you were having on him. He is constantly surprised by how much you put up with him. And now, he's a tad afraid. What if your laughter is out of anger? What if he’s driven you mad?

His bewildered look made you burst into laughter, leaning more into his chest. “ What’s so funny?” he knew he was failing the comfort contest, but he felt like a kitty on the precipice of danger, unsure if the stranger ‘pspspp’ing at them is a friend or foe, or in his case, happy or mad.

“I just—I don’t know I-“ you felt your nerves lighten, a weight so imposing now lifted from you so casually. “I thought…you’d be a bit more intense about this?”

“Harbivore, since when did I ever care what they think?”

“I know you don’t. But I just..I don’t know..I always thought that perhaps…you were ashamed of me.”

“What?”

“Well—you can’t blame me for wondering that—!” You tried to defend your paranoid rambles. “ I always thought that, ‘if Leona's family were to see me, and they hated me, would he feel ashamed? Is that why he’s never let me meet them? Because he’s scared to be labeled as a failure because of my existence?’”

“Harbivore, I’m already a failure in their eyes-“

“You know what I mean, Leona.” It wasn’t about his reputation. It was about the kingdom. He’s already in hot water for being second-born; you were so afraid of dragging him down further.

“…Y/n..” Leona ran a hand through his face, his body slowing on top of you, one breath away as he gently took hold of your open palm, letting your fingers interlace. His gaze was so soft, a glimmering emerald under the moonlight. “You….”You’ve never seen him look so vulnerable, so open and bare with his heart right on a silver platter. He was having a hard time finding the words, his eyes far more honest than his. he opened his mouth. He paused for a moment, cursing himself for the wall strapped so close to his heart, blocking the words from ever reaching his voice. So he simplified, re-edited, nullified, and watered down the words, anything to let them pass through his barriers. “….you affected my life a lot.” He then added, before you could assume the worst, “... in a really good way.”

His hands caress your cheek, tail wrapping around your waist. “…they would love you.” ‘I love you, therefore,’ was the omitted sentence. “They would love you so much; I don’t think I’ll ever be allowed to bail on any of their dumb events ever again.” he then smirked. “I gotta admit…. It’s cute seeing you so worried about what I think.” Every single soft emotion you’ve had for him in that moment evaporated, burned to ashes by the fire of your bruised pride as you snorted and threw a pillow at him. He had a knack for avoiding prolonged vulnerability, in ways that ruffled your feathers more than you’d like to admit.

With the information you possess in your hand now, the notion that all his family members were eager to meet you not just because you’re his partner, but because he’s given you golden jewellery crafted with the Kingscholar's lion. You were important enough to him that he decided to give you the family emblem. Without even telling you about it, and avoiding any mention of it whatsoever. Oh sevens, if you didn’t love him so much, you’d punch him in the face for this.

Your train of precarious and long-winded thoughts is stopped by the repeated snaps of Azul’s fingers. “Hello?! Prefect?! Wh-have you been zoned out this entire time I was talking?!”

“Would you be mad if I said yes?”

“Obviously?!”

“Then no.” You’ve learned horrid manners from Leona, much to Azul’s dismay. “But just to make sure, could you repeat what you said?”

Azul grumbled, adjusting his glasses with a tired sigh and a mumbled ‘your attention span is worse than Floyd’s’ that he thought you wouldn’t hear. You let it go this time, a price to pay for being a shitty listener. “ I asked what Leona had done for you in terms of financial security?" You’re not surprised that his question related to money, though it did still amuse you.

“In many ways.” You gave a curt reply back. You knew better than to reveal Leona’s ways of wealth expression, especially to a shady businessman like Azul. He’s certainly your friend, but he's not Leona’s.

“…yes..many unnoticeable ways.” Azul jabbed. That one did affect your pride a tiny bit, your hands instinctively reaching out to the golden necklace Leona had gifted you, under your clothes and wrapped around your neck. You felt the semi-heavy jewel suddenly feel as light as a feather, a buzzing aura of magic around it. Before you could snap it back down, the purple glow lifted the necklace just enough to peek out of your collar, dragging your neck down alongside it to Azul’s peripheral vision. You take it back; Azul is not your friend. (he is; he's just also very, very strange. Much like most of the people you’ve met here.) He whistled, eyeing the gold necklace with a grin, looking at you with a mocked coo. “Oh, how charming of him!” Everyone took much delight in teasing you two; you’ve noticed. “To buy such an expensive gift…who knew that lazy loa- err…that nonchalant lion had such a generous heart!” By now, his spell had worn off, his curiosity satiated. “I can see what you mean by helping you financially now… if he’s willing to give you such lavish gifts, then who knows what kind of luxuries he could give you next! Tell me, has he helped with the dorm in any way?”

“More or less.” The cat’s out of the bag anyhow; no use in hiding the other secrets when the main one, Leona’s careless spending on you, had already been duped by the dubious octopus.

“More or—?!” he facepalmed before giving a calm smile. “Ah..you must be acting humble. I see your game, Y/n…” You held back your own smile. Best to annoy him further than to tell him the obvious truth. “Well then, tell me, what’s the best gift he’s ever gotten for the dorm?”

“A sofa.”

Your simple answer received the silent treatment. You stopped your walk back, turning around and almost breaking character when you saw Azul’s face. Disappointed, befuddled, bewildered, and almost pitiful all at once.

“……a sofa.” He blankly stated.

“Yep.”

“…..” 

You both continued to walk.

 Azul then let out a frustrated scoff. “…we can get you a sofa! You don’t—by the sevens Prefect! All he got you was a sofa?!”

“It’s not all that he got me,” you defended. “he also fixed the front door lights once. I couldn’t reach it and neither could Grim.”

“Oh sevens—stop. Stop talking. You’re making this worse.” Azul was at the end of his rope here, only able to look at you with a foreboding sense of confusion and offense that you didn’t ponder asking Mostro Longue for help. Granted, they’d do it for a bargain, but nothing as extreme as what it once was.

‘One thing was clear though,’ Azul thought. ‘They didn’t give me the diamonds out of pity.’ And for that, he would abstain from directly criticizing their financial ruin any further. However, a sharp-eyed businessman like Azul couldn’t help but find it amusing that despite Leona’s royal status, it’s an invisible veil to a person’s eyes. The more he thought about it, the more he found it infuriating. He always thought that wealth and status must be shown through such extremities, yet here you are, hiding the gold necklace, Leona barely wearing any of his own, and both of you just content with a new sofa. It’s a foreign concept to him, the idea of accepting simplicity. If not arguing with the ‘norm’. Shouldn’t Leona find that boring? Azul thought he would’ve; he’s seen him frustrated before, unable to do anything as a secondborn yet forced to handle so much from it. Azul could barely survive the bullying in his life without coming out of it in desperate need of superiority above everyone else. He thought Leona was the same. Another part of him was simply baffled by how you’ve just accepted this side of Leona. Don’t you want the status? The power? The superiority over others? Don't you want to spend his money for all it’s worth? Azul certainly would, and he's sure Leona wouldn’t give a damn either way. He’s heard that you and Leona would spoil others, usually Grim and Ruggie with that wealth, but neither of you were foolish enough to let everyone else walk over you and use that ‘friend’ trump card. He may not be able to swindle Leona for his riches; neither would he ever let you or Leona, seven’s forbid, pity him. Even if it was deceit, the idea of being seen as weak disgusted him.

As the walk almost neared its end, Azul reached his own conclusions.

‘The Ramshackle dorm shall always be a fellow compatriot to the Mostro Longue.’ He smirked. ‘The newly added Savannaclaw dorm is just a friendly bonus.’  Azul Ashengrotto will call this strategic genius; therapists would say it’s one of his first (and very few)  healthy friendships. Leave it to the housewarden of Octanville to think his kindness and generosity are a deceitful web of masterful lies when everyone else knows it’s just his utterly baffling way of showing he cares about his friends.

--------

During your years at NRC, you’ve begun to accept the impossible as possible, and the possible as impossible. Whether it was rogue mages, generational trauma gone wrong, demon paralysis in the shape of a mouse stuck in your mirror, or vivid dreams about some fuckass statue on campus, you are now incredibly fluent in gibberish nonsense. You’re an expert at overblot management (debatable), a decent direbeast babysitter (possible), and, most of all, an unemployed counselor (confirmed). Surely, you’ve seen enough hammering insanity to be able to comprehend any magic-fused fiasco with the students of this cursed campus. Unfortunately, you do hold affection for these people, too much affection, some (Leona and Grim) might argue. So any problem of theirs had automatically become something for you to solve.  Yet, nothing, not even the mass psychosis overblot of Malleus—

“Leona! Drop that abomination at once!”

—could ever prepare you for this.

 Crewel panicked while clutching his hair, the long thin pipe hanging from his mouth, right between his teeth like a Pocky stick. “  That's a curtain I had the displeasure of recycling from my grandmother’s house! It is not meant to be worn with this outfit! It’ll look gauche!” his frets fell on deaf ears, as Leona was already scoffing and putting on the fabric anyway, now dressed back in that fanciful suit, tugging at his collar in irritation.

Crewel sobbed as he put the ‘coat’ on, hiding his face behind his hands as if he could not bear to even look at Leona now. overdramatic? Perhaps. But Crewel had always been this passionate about fashion, so it was nothing new to Leona.

Vil looked at Leona up and down, eyes widened and almost fearful, as if the ghastly coat was a wretched monster. “Leona, you cannot be serious. This is…”

You and Azul stopped, taking in your surroundings. Almost everyone was here, a far more crowded crew than what you’d two had left behind. A set and table with blaring lights all set up right to the side of the camp, and the other side filled with carpets and a multitude of foods and beverages you don’t remember packing.

While Azul was focused on the complete picture, your eyes were glued to the two despairing fashionistas and Leona’s new look.

Hair tied up with the hairband you’ve given him, hat placed on, and more glaringly, a veil-textured coat, with the upper ends of it cloaked in a completely different texture and studded with diamonds, as if it was ripped out of a sofa to sew back with the rest. It was so glaringly obvious that the new coat was meant for an entirely separate collection, a garment put on the racks while Crewel was seemingly busy fixing up Leona’s tattered collar so it could hide the missing diamonds. However, Leona wasn’t too interested in wearing more layers again, and decided to just…look through the entire thousands of coats Crewel had in hand and pick…this.

“…this is horrid!” Vil practically yelled, taking a step back in fear.

“Horrid or gauche, I don’t give a damn.” Leona rubbed his temples in exhaustion. “It’s the lightest fabric around, and if you’re gonna force me to do this, then I’m doing it like this.”

“At least put your hair down!” Vil demanded.

“Too hot for that.”

“Then take your hat off!” Crewel protested.

“The sun’s blocking my eyes.”

“You're insufferable!” Vil gave up entirely, opening up a purple parasol, fine details etched on the fabric with ruffles, a golden ‘P’ on top of it all.

“And you two are dramatic.” Leona clicked his tongue, sitting down on the furnished chair with ease. “It’s this look or nothing, end of story.”

Rook’s eyes nervously darted between the three before he decided to interject. “Moi de Lion, while I agree comfort is of utmost importance…aren't there people you’d like to impress?”

Leona’s brows furrowed, crossing his arms. “And that being?”

Rook casually pointed to you. How or when he has even noticed your arrival, you’re unsure of. Vil’s shoulders visibly relaxed when he spotted you. “Oh, thank the sevens! Y/n, come tell this buffoon how hideous he looks!”

“I’m right here,” Leona grumbled. You wanna say that to my face, drama queen?”

“I would, but I believe  your bad taste in fashion is contagious.”

“Hold on—Leona hasn’t done the photoshoot yet?!” Azul, who was beside you, looked at the scene in shock.

You let out a nervous chuckle, the laugh of a guilty lover. “yeah…we kinda sneaked out.” you then look back at the crew, feeling their expected stares as they await your response. one glance back at Leona, and you’re surprised to see him actually , albeit reluctantly, interested in what you’ll say about this.

“…do you think I should change?” his question was mumbled, murmured in self-conscious doubt, deep in thought. Something you’ve never thought you’d see on Leona. He was never one to care about his appearance, but here he is, caring about your opinion on it. You'd have to bully and tease him about that later.

“Well..I mean…” the coat was horrendous. Some long, rectangular sphere that ruined the entire shape and look of his clothing underneath. The tied-up hair made you mourn for his beautiful locks. Perhaps if he just had his hair down, that could distract the eyes from the rest of the get-up. You really wanted him to change, although..

One look at his mannerisms and you can see how far more relaxed he is like this. No longer suffering from the heat. He’s trying to make himself comfortable, to come into the set on his terms and with his boundaries. And who are you to refuse that?

“….it’s fine.” You chose love over beauty, and everyone booed. Some facepalmed in disappointment; others groaned in disgust over your love for him. But it didn’t matter. None of them mattered at that moment. Because Leona’s relieved sigh and relaxed, smug smirk, eyes looking at you with affection, made it all worth it.

----

Knowing that the entire photoshoot crew would have a bone to pick with you, you ran away to the other side of the campsite the moment they turned their heads around, Azul following suit. Your gaze landed on a variety of people, all of whom you knew well, and a few others, non-NRC students, putting boxes of food, beverages, a brand-new grill of all things, and a multitude of camping equipment down on the ground. Jamil had been the one mostly conversing with the staff, all with an irritated eye and exasperated huff in his steps.  You were about to ask him what’s going on, but Azul’s words snap you back into place.

“Hold on, isn't that Grim?!”

A gray-ish, probably cat, probably weasel, probably fire-breathing cat-weasel, otherwise known as your favorite direbeast Grim, was in fact right there. Desperately trying to fish out a can of tuna between the thin lines of a box with his tiny paws. Without a word, you run up to him and reach inside the package, taking out a tuna and handing it to him. Azul had gone his own way as well, heading to the two pairs of eels and sitting down, tired to the bone.

“Thanks, Y/n!” Grim excitedly chirped, opening the can with famished ferocity and chugging it down. The can was not latched onto his mouth as he destroyed the meat inside of it.

“I thought I left you with Ace?”

In the midst of his gluttony, he froze, tail suddenly snapping up and ears going alert. He looks up again, sees you, blinks twice, and panics. He looks back and forth, unsure of whether he should run away to you or from you, looking at your expression for any hint of anger. “I-listen, it wasn’t my fault, ok?! Deuce was the one who dished everything out like a dummy!” Your concern, though still there, switched to mild frustration, curious to know the whole story now.

“I didn’t even say anything yet—“ the ends of your mouth twitched into a smirk, but soon creased back into a confused frown. “Weren’t you supposed to be with them right now?!”

“PREFECT!!!” Deuce’s yell made everyone jolt.

“wha- WHY are you DRAGGING ME TOO?!” Ace’s volume was no less.

Speak of the red and blue devil, and you’ll have them running up to you, one sturdy and ambitious in his dragging and the other trying his best to recoil away, both equally determined for the opposite reasons. Before you knew it, Deuce had knelt in front of you, grabbing Ace and Grim by the head and pushing him to do the same.

“We’re truly sorry!” Deuce had yelled a tad too loudly. “This is all our fault! Vil caught onto us!”

“More like Grim fumbled the bag.” Ace’s grumble earned a hiss from Grim.

“Hey—! I wasn’t the one who couldn’t play dumb right when he already is one!” his paws pointed to Deuce.

“I can’t bring myself to lie to a housewarden! It’s not in the honor student’s code.”

“Even housewardens lie, you dummy!”

“Yeah, well if you didn’t think with your stomach once, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place!” Ace tugged at Grim’s ears, receiving a slightly clawed-out paw on his wrists in protest.

“Well, if you'd given me your slice of cake earlier, I wouldn’t have been so hungry!”

“You gluttonous fleabag, you already ate Tray’s slice! I wasn’t gonna give you some of mine—“

“You two are being so immature right now!” Deuce banged their heads together, ironically being anything but mature right now himself.

As the three continued to wrestle and argue, your tired, famished, spooked out, and busy self felt at peace. It’s only been half a day, but you’ve missed your three idiots dearly. Stupidity and all. Cater and Trey approached the pair with boxes full of Heartslabyul’s desserts, giving the three a concerned glance before looking back at you with a huff.

“Boy, are we glad to see you again…” Trey had mumbled. You smiled at him.

“It's good to have them back,” you responded. It felt right to be here and witness their silly squabbles, to have them care for you so much they were willing to set aside their myriad differences to hide your whereabouts, even if they failed spectacularly. They were idiots, but they were your idiots, and you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

------

After an amusing segment of the trio’s inner-fighting, you’ve stepped in and calmed down the three, forgiving them for their blunder and sitting down with the rest of the team for leisure. You were still wondering why or how this occasion happened. It was when you finally spoke to Kalim that everything clicked into place.

“Jamil thought I should put it on another day…but then Jade mentioned today was actually Leona’s birthday!” Kalim had told you in his ramblings. “I thought, oh my god! You’re serious?! It’s Leona’s birthday yet there’s no birthday party in sight?! We had to fix that!” Kalim’s joyous ambition made it hard to explain why there was no party, because Leona, very infamously, hated parties. Thus, you decided to just keep quiet and nod your head.

“But this is too much for just us!” Riddle pointed out, shaking his head a bit in disappointment. “Surely you’ve miscounted our amount here, have you not? We could all fit inside three camping tents, but you’ve ordered ten!”

“he could have been planning to have us sleep separately, you know.” Floyd leaned his elbows on the table. "Aww, goldfish, did you expect a sleepover?”

“Wh-what?! NO! I just—“ Riddle fiddled for a response, resorting to a growl when he couldn’t find even one. To his luck, Kalim was sociable enough to steer everyone away from teasing him any further, all with no notice of his own powers in the matter.

“Actually, I’ve decided to invite everyone! I mean, we already have so many people here, there’s only a few people left from our gang, don’t ya think?” it’s hard to believe Kalim thinks you’re all a friend group, as if most of the members didn’t want to tear each other apart the moment they have the chance. “it’s a birthday party after all! Everyone the birthday boy knows has gotta be invited!”

“Speaking of the birthday boy...” You set down your apple juice, courtesy of Epel, who was busy setting up a hopscotch game with Jack. Grim had taken your phone and left, for what purpose, you really don’t know. He's not particularly fond of tech, even if you saw him as the prime age to be targeted with such mass media. So you did not worry about giving it to him. The worst he could do on that phone was play Fruit Ninja. You walked away from the lively group and went back to the photoshoot, a fresh bottle of unopened apple juice in hand.

“Done!” Ortho turned the camera off, Rook clapping his hands in excitement. “C’est parfait! You’re free to go now, Roi de Lion.”

Leona mumbled a tired ‘finally’ before getting up, letting the other photography club members take away the set pieces. He unbuttoned the coat and carelessly tossed it to a chair. He was struggling with the tiny buttons on his collar, stopping immediately when he heard your footsteps. He turned around to look at you, eyes landing on the bottle in your care. You wordlessly handed it to him; he scoffed, one filled with affection, before mumbling a thanks and drinking it. Your eyes trail to the messed-up and wrinkled collar of his shirt, already putting two and two together.

“Mind if I help?”

He hummed in reply. That was all you needed to get into work. You were more patient in your work, far more caring towards the clothing than he was. When the collar finally loosened, Leona let out a relaxed breath, taking in the fresh, night air.

“They really kept me working till it got dark.” He yawned.

“To be fair, we did bail on them for several hours.”

“Worth it.” he shrugged. “If they wanted me to stay so bad, they should’ve picked a better spot for the photo.” He took a hold of your hand, slowly walking back to the camp. “... how’d the pity mining go?”

You rolled your eyes, lightly bumping your shoulder into his. “It was not out of pity, and it went well, despite someone’s nagging.”

“Aww, you’re never living the ‘goody-two-shoes’ title down, are you, Harbivore?” Leona wrapped an arm around your shoulder, bringing you close. “Look at you, defending your scummy friend, even when you voted against him too.”

“I may be a good friend, but I’m not an idiot.” Your reply earned you a laugh from Leona and a subconscious rub to your shoulder.

“ That's why I like you more than the rest.”

When you reached the party, everyone had already busied themselves with a certain section. Epele was busy playing chess with Deuce, Grim massaging his shoulders like a coach in a boxing ring. Ortho sat in the middle as the judge, while Idia nervously stood beside him with his phone in hand. At first glance, one would think he’s trying to avoid interaction with the rest, which, although a bit true, wasn’t the only reason he was glued to his phone. He was playing chess by himself, copying the movements between the two and strategizing which piece to move next. Seems like he took his bet with Grim last week quite seriously.

To your right, Riddle and Ace were busy playing horseshoes, with Cater recording their spiel. Jack was also beside him, watching the game with his tail wagging back and forth, arms crossed in self-control. He must like hopscotch, or well, he could be just enjoying the entire game to begin with. He was always fond of playing pet activities with friends. On the table were Octavinelle students, and the newly arrived diasomnias. Leona’s nose scrunched up when he saw them.

“I knew I smelled a slimy lizard…” he muttered under his breath. Malleus then waved at you with a kind smile. You waved back with a smile of your own,  all while Leona scowled at him. 

“Oi! Leona!” Ruggie ran up to you two with a snicker. “Come on, I got something to show ya.”

“Words I never want to hear from you.” Leona’s quip made Ruggie’s ear flatten, ticked off by his dismissal.

“It's something good! Alright? Jeez, you really need to trust me more.” He then looked back at you. “Mind if I take him away for a few minutes?”

Even if you had him with you most of the day, a selfish side of you wanted him to stay longer. Nevertheless, you nodded, much to Leona’s dismay and groan. Ruggie dragged the reluctant Leona off, leaving you alone to perceive the rest. Your eyes landed on Trey, who was talking to Kalima. A table was set for himself and Jamil, a big pot boiling under one of the secured firepits, a few dozen ingredients all scattered on the table.

“Are you two seriously going to make a grand meal in the forest?”

Your question was valid, if not the logical way to think about this case. Strange, abnormal, and downright stupid. Trey gave a nervous, polite laugh; Jamil, on the other hand, nodded his head in grim acceptance, but deep refusal to initiate the order.

“Kalim was planning on hiring a five-star chef in the middle of the night.” Jamil stressed. “ he’s already spending too much on this party. I had to do something.”

“I’m here to help.” Tray dusted off his hands. “Vice housewardens gotta stick together, right?”

Jamil nodded, wanting to slide another piece of tomato before Kalim popped up behind him. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Jamil froze for a moment before thinking and nodded his head slowly. “…ah, go set the table, and help Y/n set up her camping spot.”

“Wait, what?”

You looked at the three, confused, midway through tugging sleeves up and offering your aid in the work. Jamil smirked, setting the knife down. Oh? Has no one told you yet?”

“Tell me what?”

Tray, for as kind and charming as he wanted to seem, still was able to let out an evil snicker as he adjusted his glasses. “Well, we knew you and Leona would prefer some privacy, so we decided we’d let you have a secret spot to yourselves right after the meal.”

“We even saved your pie for you in the cooler!” Kalim beamed.

Heat rushed to your face, even when your heart swelled in gratefulness. You nervously scratched the back of your neck, unsure of what to say. “Oh…well… thanks—“ you never expected your friends, once foes or strangers, could ever become this considerate of you and your needs. It was touching, and you wanted to express your joy, yet something in your mind nagged you for a moment; you felt like someone was missing….

“There you are, spudling.”

You are so fucked.

To forget the queen is to dismiss his status; to ditch the queen under the sun is to mock it.

You felt your throat tighten, gulping down your fear. You slowly turned around to meet the rightfully angered Vil, a tight, pleading smile on your face. “Vil, my dearest friend,” he scoffed at your greeting.

“Dearest? Do you always keep your dearest friends in the dark about your little hijinks?!” You winced at his anger, hanging your head down in shame.

“I’m sorry, really I am—“ you heard him scoff; it only made your voice weaker. “I just knew you’d disagree with the sneaking out part.”

“Well, of course I would! It’s unprofessional and wastes time.” Unlike you, Vil was confident and cut-throat with his tone. “You could’ve very easily just waited for the photoshoot to be done.” His posture relaxed, though it never staggered; it was always perfect in its place. His tone visibly softened. “Though…I do think Leona would have preferred it as you’ve planned, so I know I couldn’t stop you even if I wanted to,” he pouts. “Curse you two, really! You two are as insufferable as you are in love. It's gross.” You held back your grimace, letting your pride bruise. You probably deserve this. In fact, you’ve expected worse. However, Vil knew not to make a spectacle of himself. Unlike you and Leona, it seems. “Just tell me next time, will you?! I was grilled under this heat for hours! I could’ve brought my parasol much sooner.”

You put your hands together and nodded, giving him a small bow. “Right—sorry, I’ll make it up to you!”

“Of course you will.” Vil put his hands on his hips. “ I expect your assistance with cleaning the pommefiore dance studio for a month. A month of that is equal to the day I’ve spent looking for you lovebirds.” His tone left no room to argue, not that you’d ever will. Arguing with Vil Schoenheidt is like signing your own death sentence. Vil looked pleased with your admission, then his brows scrunched up again. “I still can’t believe you let him wear that hideous thing…” Vil swiped his hair away. “…but I don’t know what else I expected from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” you blurted out.

Vil gave a heart laugh, poking your forehead. “Oh, we’ve talked about this before, spud. You’re a real sap for him.” You wish you could argue back, but what’s the point of denying the visible, tangible, and embarrassingly obvious truth? “ It’s funny how you two don’t see how attached you are to each other…” Vil shook his head, patting your own gently. Vil was always observant, not as much as Leona, but enough for an actor to see the difference between truth and lie, love and hatred, greed and hospitality. You always wanted to know what the world looks like in Vil’s eyes. Whatever it may be, in his eyes, it seems, you and Leona are inseparable as it gets. Embarrassing, yet somehow…comforting to know. Most people don’t think that way. Hell, even you and Leona don’t see it that way either. You're both fully capable of being away from each other for a period of time; in fact, it’s been the norm for you to do so, since most holidays have him going away from the campus. A lightbulb lit in your head, a dawning realization as warmth spread through your heart. Vil said you two were inseparable, not clingy. That itself was true. Wherever you went, a part of Leona was with you; his presence lingered around you; your thoughts would trail back to him one way or another. And as Leona’s classmate, Vil must’ve seen the same thing happen to Leona. It felt impossible to think that Leona Kingscholar is always thinking about you somehow. But if Vil of all people is the one pointing it out, the actor with a thousand faces able to discern foulness from the truth, then it must be true. Vil hums and puts his hand away, elegant as always. “Come along now, let’s not bother the cooks any longer.” Without a protest, you followed suit. You owed it to be his company for a bit after the day you put him through.

----

A few moments passed by in idyllic chatter; the meal was still being prepped while everyone had busied themselves with either games, desserts, and such. Leona had come back as well, telling you the ‘surprise’ Ruggie had in question was just a few Savannaclaw students handing him gifts.

“It was a real hassle.”

“ I think it’s really nice that they did that.” You hummed. “I mean, they really went out and bought you gifts. Isn’t it sweet?”

Leona shook his head, leaning back on you. “Of course they did. I’m their boss.”

“Since when did people buy gifts for their boss?”

“Since I do my job right,” Leona smirked. Vil’s scoff was glaringly audible, making the smirk falter as you held back your own snort.

“Ah yes, because when I picture you, I picture a beastman who's very diligent.” Vil quipped, sipping his tea.

“When the work is interesting, yes.” Leona yawned. “It's too bad most things at this school are so dull.”

“Are you that fond of sports?” Azul frowned, weirded out by the concept.

“I’m fond of strategy, octopus.”

“Since when did running around all sweaty get considered as ‘strategy’?” Grim’s ear twitched.

 Leona whistled casually, leaning back and tilting his head up in pride. “Awww, what’s the deal with you two hating sports so much? Did you lose bets in that area too?”

Both Azul and Grim jolted in anger, their feathers, well, tentacles and fur in this case, ruffled by his stinging reminder of their deals.

“I swear, one day I’ll beat both you and that shut-in in chess!”

“Why don’t you ask Malleus?” Idia taunted. It’s concerning how he’s only confident when he wants to mock somebody. "He can make it happen in your dreams, maybe. But then again you were so bad I’m pretty sure you’ll even lose there.”

You and Vil gave them both a warning look before they could continue this any further. Best not to have the blue-fire emanators be at each other’s throats in a forest of all things.

“And for the record,” Azul steered the conversation back to him, tilting his glasses back up with one hand, his other one balled into a fist as he presented it to the table. “I believe I have won my bet, fair and square.” He opened up his palm, revealing the glittering diamonds placed on it. Azul puffed his chest in pride, waiting for loud exclaims of joy and wonder. When that didn’t happen, he opened his eyes and looked around the rest, confused by their silence.

You see, while you two were away on your journey, the rest of the team had been filled in by Vil about the ‘missing diamonds’ situation. So they knew a pair of diamonds were missing, small, circular, and very much in the hands of Azul right now.

“Ah! How wonderful, you won the bet.” Jade nonchalantly excused himself. “ I’ll be back soon.”

“Why is everyone so quiet?!”

Riddle fixed his agape mouth, clearing his throat as he readjusted his seat. “Well…Azul, they’ve been searching for this diamond the entire day.” He pointed to the speechless Vil.

“Pardon?”

“We’ve searched the entire premises for it for about four hours and thirty-seven minutes.” Ortho calculated. Idia synced up his phone to Ortho’s intel of the forest in a split second, his own eyes widening as he looked at him." Dude, how did you find a legendary drop on some random cave and not think it’s suspicious?” 

“Well…” Azul put his hands back, closing his eyes as he nervously scratched his nose in contemplation. Floyd chuckled.  "Oh ~ Azul is hiding something from us.”

“Come now, Azul, surely you didn’t steal it! That would be against the Queen of Hearts' rule #871: never lie about thievery.”

Grim looked at Riddle with a deadpan face. "Shouldn't it be about 'not stealing'?”

“Stealing happens whether you like it or not. But when caught, one must at least confess to the crime!”

“He didn't steal it,” you quickly defended, licking your dried lips before confessing. “I did.”

The whole room fell silent once more. That is, before Leona started snickering, Floyd followed suit, and Idia right after. Before you knew it, the entire crew was bursting into laughter as they processed the new information.

“The hell— what’s so funny?!”

“The idea of you, of all people, committing a crime!” Ace spoke.

“Excuse me?!” Embarrassment flooded you to the tip of your head, like an overflowing glass of water. “ I am not that much of a goody-two-shoes!”

“Certainly not now,”  Vil said through his chuckles. “ Who knew you had it in you!”

“I always thought you were born with no backbone! Well done, Prefect!”  Ruggie twisted the knife with a pat on your back.

You wish you could bury your face under the dirt and make them all explode. Unfortunately, such magic doesn’t exist. At least not yet. You had half a mind to somehow overblot right now and seek revenge. Even with the hot shame rolling through your grave, their laughter was too contagious not to join in, your nerves and embarrassment turning into a feverish cackle as you hid your face with your hand. As everyone’s giggles slowly melted into pauses for breath, you finally breathed enough to say, “You guys underestimate me too much.”

“Maybe,” Leona shrugged. Under the table, his tail wrapped around your waist. “But we’re always impressed.” His words made your lungs feel free, an elated spark of confidence now shining within you.

“Gross,” Ace muttered. Vil nodded in agreement as Deuce punched him in the shoulder to shut up.

“I won’t get in trouble for this with Headmage Crowley, will I?” Azul nervously looked at the rest. You all started to ponder.

“...not if we don’t tell,” Ace muttered, putting his hands on his hips. You were glad he was smart enough to know not to blackmail Azul, especially since Floyd could just squeeze him to death for it. There is, however, someone at the table who had every right to tell if he wanted to. That’s how all eyes started to land on Vil.

“I think,” Vil began, pursing his lips and releasing a breath. “I saw nothing.”

“Huh?” you all gasped together.

“I believe that after the gruelling hours my men and I spent trying to find these diamonds, while those two went back to their office with ventilation systems, we could not find a thing, and headmage Crowley shall first-handedly face karma for his own actions. “  he added with a smirk, “Maybe the added dent to his wallet will make him think twice about forcing us to do the dirty work again.” you admired his pettiness and sheer will to hold down a grudge.

“ah, well, whatever the case was,” Azul holds the diamonds close. “the point is, I won the bet! “ he was like a child on christmas day, only this time, the child in question made a bet with Santa on who can put more coal on the naughty children’s socks. It’s a pure coincidence that the ‘naughty kids’ in question were anyone who didn’t believe in him. “A deal’s a deal, isn’t it?”

Floyd nodded boredly, taking a bite of his cookie. “Yeah yeah, you’re one of the winners. " Congrats, Azul.”

“Why thank y—“ Azul stops mid-sentence, head snapping back to Floyd. “….did you say ‘one of?’ “

“AAAAAZZZZZZUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!”

Right on cue, two hands tackle Azul from behind. Azul lets out a choke yelp as he falls off his seat, hugged to death by a sweater-clad, ruby-eyed otter. Azul tried to stammer a response, yet his windpipes were all coughed out by the force of his tackle.

“Oh, I knew you could do it, Azul!! I knew it!” Kalim grinned ear to ear, sitting up but still having Azul pinned down. He was unaware of the ridiculousness of it all, or the blue-haired boy behind him taking pictures while snickering. “ I mean, well— I didn’t know how you’d win; hell, I even thought you’d lose too, but I believed in you!!! And I knew you’d somehow pull through like you always do!!” Kalim chattered away in excitement. Jade was walking at a slower pace, finally reaching the team and looking down at Azul with a polite smile. “I mean- everybody told me I’ll lose! That we’ll lose! But you come out here with a diamond?! Wahhh Azul! You're the coolest guy ever! I swear!” Azul was speechless, mind unable to come up with a plausible response as he tried to process the new situation.

“It seems like both you and Kalim shall be sharing the cave’s riches.” Jade’s polite smile widened, showing his sharp teeth. “ That's both the rocks and the diamonds. You’re so lucky that you found two Azul. It must be fate.”

Azul, who hours prior was planning on how to use both diamonds to his benefit, one for a jewel, the other as funds for a second Mostro longue, is now seeing his plans for the new establishment burn into ashes, again. This time by the hands of someone who actually believed in him. Azul let that thought ruminate before forcing a smile, glaring at Jade.

“Ah yes! Fate indeed!” he got up and dusted himself off. “A grand reward for me and my only supporter to share...” he opened his palm, showing the glittering diamonds. Yet before Kalim’s fingertips reached for one, he closed it quickly. “But my word…I cannot bring myself to give it to you, dearest Kalim!” he sighed dramatically. “Why, it’s so embarrassing! The size of this diamond, the simplicity of it all, no… someone of your status must already have a collection of bigger diamonds, practically the biggest diamonds in the world too! I can’t bring myself to give you such a tiny, small, pebble-sized offering for your grand support.”

“Are you crazy?!” Kalim took hold of Azul’s shoulders, looking him right in the eye. "Sure, my family has over five-hundred diamond collections—“

“FIVE HUNDRED?!” Everyone's jaw dropped.

“—but none of them are as valuable as this one, Azul!” he continued without a care. “ This one means the most to me, because it holds a memory, a belief to keep going no matter what! It shows our amazing time here together and the sheer determination and will you had to keep searching even when there were no diamonds in sight! It’s a beacon of hope! I will cherish this diamond more than any other diamonds I have.”

Azul’s eyes twitched, though his smile stayed on. “Oh… you’re too kind, Kalim—“

“Nonsense!” Kalim patted his shoulder, then opened his palm. “ I’m merely doing what I can to support you. Trust me, this diamond will never, ever be given away.”

“…ever?” Azul almost cried. Not for the reason Kalim was thinking.

“Ever! I’ll put it under my pillow if I have to!” Kalim held onto Azul’s fisted-up palm. Azul hesitantly unclasped it, letting Kalim take one of them, though midway through retracting his hand, Azul’s fingers instinctively clasped back onto it, desperate to keep the diamond in their clutch.

“Aww, Azul, come here!” Kalim, mistaking the clasped hand as an invitation to shake hands, opened his arms for a hug instead, squeezing the frozen octopus tight. “You’re too formal! We’re diamond buddies now! loosen up!”

“Yes...” Azul grit his teeth, his smile jarring. “….I am so happy.”

-----

The meal on the table was as warm as the company around you, with chatter all around the tables and the crowd growing by the second. It was easy to forget this was Leona’s birthday party, and you’re certain he preferred it that way. The conversations were a miscellaneous of things, from professors to exams, camping trips and special events; you even had Idia ramble on about a game he’s obsessed with. Lilia seemed to be a huge fan of it as well. Although Idia seemed far too nervous to ask for his username. Gifts were given to Leona, though he decided not to open them yet and just place them in a pile for later. When everyone decided to circle the bonfire to stargaze, you once again took this as your chance to sneak Leona away into another corner of the forest, a few feet away from the camp and more near the river instead.

“Are you going to make a habit out of this?” Leona asked with a smirk, following you through the bushes.

“Maybe. Got a problem with it?” You lit up a bonfire of your own, letting the warmth spread through your palms as you sat back down on the blanket.

Leona whistled, lying down beside you. “…not at all, Harbivore.” Without a word, Leona wrapped his arms around your waist, flopping you back down with him. You landed with an ‘oomph’ and a chuckle, wrapping your arms around his neck. He tightened his own hold on your waist.

“…isn’t this better anyway?” you whispered, tilting your head up to look at him.

Leona nuzzled his face into your neck, taking a deep breath in. “…course’ it is.”

You let the silence wash over you, with the songs of the forest a lullaby to your abode. The crickets and birds all spoke together, fireflies dancing around you, twinkling akin to the stars right above. Your eyes landed on the moon, full and bright tonight, as if that boulder of light itself was in full spirits to commemorate your lion’s birthday.

“….thank you, by the way.” You heard Leona whisper, his own eyes staring off into the sky.

“…did you have fun today?” You hesitated in asking, but the worry still lurked in your heart.

Leona huffed, kissing your jew before bringing his head back up to look at you. “ What do you think?”

You bit your lip in nerves, opening your mouth to speak before Leona cuts you off again. “wait no- nevermind- you think too much, I forgot. If I had to listen to all your thoughts, I’m worried we’d be stuck here till my next birthday.”

You pouted at his joke, pinching his cheek as he smiled smugly. “ You know I’m right.”

“Shut up.” He was right. But there’s no way you’ll admit that. You bury your face in his chest instead, grumbling up curses as you feel his chest vibrate with laughter. It made you realize he laughed a lot today. A lot more than he usually ever does. He seemed much more relaxed today. A tad annoyed here and there, but never as agitated as he usually is. If so, isn’t that enough proof that today was great? That your mission was a success?

“…hey.” His voice cuts your thoughts, his fingers taking hold of your chin gently and making you look up at him. “….today was good.” Which, in Leona’s language, translates to great. You felt your body relax.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He pecked your forehead. You felt butterflies in your stomach, right before your eyes lit up again and you jumped up. g

“Oh shit! I forgot to give you your gift!” You quickly grabbed the basket, rummaging through the items and discarded objects. Leona blinked in surprise, leaning back up a tiny bit and resting on his elbows as he watched you.

“….you got me a gift?” his tail swung low. “ I thought this whole day was your gift.”

“Yes, but also no.” You grinned, hands finally reaching the paper-wrapped box with a bow. “Today was the set-up; this,” You take it out of the bag and shake it a bit. “is the real thing.”

Leona huffed at your antics, though a smile was obvious on his face. He took the box from you and treated it gently. He usually didn’t have the time or hassle to unwrap gifts carefully, yet here he was opening the thing like a delicate puzzle, the wrapping paper set aside as he opened the box and froze.

It took you more than you’d like to admit to make this.

You’ve noticed his accessories, the bracelets he wore, the strings and ropes with a multitude of colors and strung beads. Then, you noticed them on Cheka’s wrist, and a bunch of other Sunset-Savanna resident students as well. It took some time to warm up to the Savannaclaw kids; however, when you mentioned wanting to make this gift for Leona, the once abrasive and aggressive jocks of your campus jumped at the chance to help you. They may have had bad beef with you over their failed scheme at the spelldrive tournaments, but the loyalty to Leona never faltered. So there you were, in the Savannaclaw living room when Leona was busy with his spell drive practice, learning how to make these intricate bracelets with the help of the bulkiest and muscliest beastman you’ve ever seen. A comical sight, you’re sure. To see such strong-willed and unfortunately ‘alpha’-brained young boys teach their housewarden’s partner how to make a bracelet. At some point, Jack caught you in the act and got roped into the work as well, making bracelets of his own. Then Ruggie came a few minutes earlier than Leona, only to see the strange sight and be rendered speechless. He helped hide away the evidence around the area once he was filled in on the situation. For once in a long while, the Savannaclaw dorm actually came together as a team. For something ever so silly. You’re sure Leona would laugh at this if you ever told the story.

The bracelet you made was a pair, both in his and your own favorite colors; beads of both color schemes and palettes clashed together in a harmonious pattern, tightened with knots. Small charms dangled from the bracelet, one of the lion, and the other a symbol that signified you. His hands slowly plucked at the string of beads, carefully pulling it out and handling it like fragile glass, eyeing the details and amateur craftsmanship."This is...”

“—not my best work, I know.” you nervously stammered. “but- I thought you might like it since I see you wear them a lot—and I mean you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to I know it’s a bit headass and all but—“

He spoke your name, stopping you from your rambles. You gulped down your nerves and braced yourself for whatever his reaction may be. You did not, however, expect him to cup your face and ask,

“May I kiss you?”

You didn’t even need to say yes; you just closed the gap between you. A relieved, loving sigh escaped your lips as you both held onto each other; kiss after kiss, you’d try to pull away to breathe, only to have his lips locked onto your again for every second missed.

“So you hate it, got it,” you whispered between kisses with a grin. Leona chuckled and deepened the next one.

“Oh, I detest it.” he grinned back. Another kiss. “But it’s mine now. I’m never letting you live this down.” He held the bracelet up to your sight, easily sliding it between his wrists. “Such a terrible gift deserves to be shown off wherever I go.”

Your heart swelled. You cupped his face and kissed him senseless, till everything around you blurred away.

---

You’re not sure how long had passed when you both stopped, but the night was still young, and your favorite lion was still the birthday boy. Adjusting yourselves a bit,  you started stargazing on the blanket while cuddled close.

 “…hm,” Leona’s grunt made you tilt your head back up to him, offering for him to speak up. “…the stars look a lot brighter tonight, don’t you think?”

Your eyes scanned the stars across the sky, the constellations and stories you’ve heard from your own home, and the ones you’ve experienced in your new one. Tracing shapes that don’t exist, imagining stories that eroded with time, the only thing that seemed tangible and solid with every tale of the stars was the feelings behind it. The belief of magic, of wishes and dreams being granted under the pale moonlight. Stories changed, stars moved, but the feelings were all the same.

“…maybe they’re celebrating you?” you teased lightly.

“Why would they do that?” yet he still smiled.

“Didn't you tell me the kings of sunset savanna guide you through the stars?”

“They guide kings through the stars.”

“…well, maybe they’re wishing you a happy birthday.” You mumbled, playing with the ends of his hair. “King or not, you’re still…”

“What, a royal?”

“No.” you mumbled. “You're still family.” You simply stated. “…they still love you.” even if the court didn’t. Even if the world didn’t. Leona was still loved by the ones he sees as his family. Whether it was Sunset Savanna, the Kingscholars, the Savanclaw dorm, or yours, they all still loved him. You still loved him.

Leona kept quiet, his hold on you tightening.

“….I know.” And he loves them more than anything else in the world. He loves you more than anything else in this world.

And even though he never believed in wishes, spirits, or fairytales alike, in that moment, both you and him looked onto the shooting star at the center, the one in every tale and story, the wishing star of old.

You both made wishes you never told the other, not realizing the dream you had was similar.

‘I wish to stay by your side forever.’

----------A/N—------------

Where do I even start man.

First of all, thank you so much for reading this morbidly long fic. It was never supposed to be this long, heck it was supposed to be posted on leona’s birthday as a small gift to him and all his fans, but then i just…spiraled. I spiraled sooo bad when writing this.

This is the first time I’m ever writing for twst, but I hope it’s not the last. For the past three years, twst has been my comfort media, i adore the fandom and I adore the story with all my heart, and I am deeply in love with Leona Kingscholar. 

I know it’s considered a bit cringe or embarrassing now to like a character too much, but i truly deeply adore him. He’s been my comfort character for forever. And he’s been the only thing holding my sanity together for a long time now.

If you’re a long-term reader of mine, you’d know that I’ve been through a LOT this year. Too much. During the time I was at my lowest, I found comfort in imagining scenarios and stories with Leona and the rest of the cast. Sooo yeah. Anyways enough with the sap, let’s get into the rambles.

This was my first time ever writing for such a huge cast of characters!! Usually the medias I write for don’t have such a huge ensemble, so I’d make OCs or stories or short stuff for them, however twst is just another thing entirely. I’m a bit worried about some elements of the story seeming repetitive hear, because there were just sooo many characters. I genuinely do hope no one felt ooc or ‘cringe’ or anything. 

Please do comment if you liked this story!!! Hell if you even have criticism for it i am very open! Just be nice…ALSO before anyone says anything about using y/n here the thing is, I made a poll yesterday asking everyone if they’re fine with it, and they said yes, so I ran with it!

ALSO if you see ANY parts of the fic that had the wrong pronoun for the readert PLEASE do tell me so I can fix it immediately!!!

ALSO before anyone says 'radish-sprout' is leona's nickname for idia not grim's I KNOWWW that was intentional meuehehee. you may have noticed leona also using 'sheesh' at some point. jusssttt wanted to hint at them hanging around each other for so long (bc of reader) that they burrowed their own mannerisms or nicknames for others sbhshshs

Also twst fans I hope you reach my blog…I really love twst and I truly admire the fic side of the fandom but there’s so many people there and so many good writers too I’m lowkey intimidated BUT UHH I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS FIC PLS SUPPORT IT IF YOU DID!! Again, I adore comments so please if you can do leave your thoughts and rambles about it!!!!

Most of the stuff these characters do (like the mining in a cave or playing chess) is actually canon to the story! (except the ducktales monopoly. I just did that one for shits and giggles.) I went through the site twst.notes to gather all my info about leona

OH ALSO IF the diasomnia characters seemed too quiet or off to you that's because I haven’t started diasomnoa yet!!! Sorry about that!!!

Anyways please comment lmaoo also also ummm idk if anyone would ever consider this but i would genuinely sell my soul for fanart. I know my writing may not ignite fanart but I will still beg for fanart like a famished man in the desert. If you feel like drawing smth for this please do I DONT CARE IF YOU THINK YOUR SKILLS ARE GOOD ARE NOT DOES  A HUNGRY MAN STAY PICKY ABOUT FOOD? NO, HE JUST EATS. I AM STARVINNGGG PLEASEEEEE

Anyways,

THANK YOU FOR READING!!!! Comment and support if you can!!! I love leona and this was so fun to write, and at some point I just felt like bawling my eyes out for him because I love him so much that it’s hard to even write about how much i love him anyways HAPPPYYY LATE BIRTHDAY TO MY BELOVED LEONA BYYYYE<333