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Sometimes, after spelldrive practice, Leona would show up at Idia’s door still warm from training. His hair damp at the temples. Shirt clinging slightly. The scent of sweat and sun and grass trailing in with him. Like he already thought of Idia’s room as somewhere he belonged.
Tonight was one of those nights.
Rather than heading back to Savanaclaw, Leona leaned against the headboard of Idia’s bed while Idia deep-dived into a game almost no one else appreciated on an intellectual level. Damp hair still hung around Leona’s face from his shower, and one of Idia’s oversized hoodies stretched across his shoulders. He was barefoot, something Idia always felt weirdly self-conscious about but Leona seemed to carry effortlessly.
“…and yeah, the lore implications are actually kinda devastating if you read the hidden item descriptions…
“Mhmm,” Leona hummed, a soft, rumbling growl that said he was listening. His tail twitched lazily across the bedspread.
Idia reached for his nail polish from the cluttered bedside shelf. Inky blue, nearly black in the low light. Just a little time-wasting side quest for later. Leona’s eyes tracked the movement.
Idia paused, gently shaking the bottle upside down. “…What?”
“Nothin’.” Leona tried to lean back into his usual comfy posture after getting caught, but his ears were pricked forward, a dead giveaway if Idia had ever seen one.
Warmth bloomed slowly in Idia’s chest. “Um… you wanna try?”
Leona clicked his tongue and looked away, which only confirmed it harder. Idia felt his heart lift, an unfamiliar feeling tightening his throat.
Because this was Leona. Leona, who carried himself like everything soft was a waste of energy. Who hated being observed wanting things.
Idia glanced down at the polish in his hands. Then, before he could overthink himself into another dimension, he held one hand out between them.
Palm down. Fingers loosely splayed.
“Y-you could do mine,” Idia offered, trying very hard to sound casual and not like he’d just said something embarrassingly tender out loud.
Leona blinked, a frown tugging at the edges of his mouth. He squinted at Idia’s hand like he wasn’t entirely sure he was allowed to take it.
“…you trust me with that?”
“I mean. Your spelldrive reflexes are terrifying,” Idia mumbled, suddenly fascinated by literally anything except eye contact. “S-so I think you can probably handle nail polish.”
“Tch.” But there was colour creeping faintly across Leona’s cheeks now.
Slowly, Leona took Idia’s hand. And just like that, Idia’s composure evaporated. Leona’s hands were large. Warm from the shower. Rough-palmed from training. Athlete’s hands.
But the way he held Idia’s fingers was absurdly careful.
“Hold still,” Leona muttered. Idia bit back a grin, heat prickling at his cheeks.
Leona unscrewed the bottle, his nose scrunching as the acetate scent of the polish hit him. He flinched away and sneezed into his shoulder, then grimaced.
“Damn. That stuff’s strong.”
Idia pressed his lips together, desperately trying not to laugh. There was something incredibly unfair about Leona being able to look formidable one second and begrudgingly cute the next.
Leona sniffled and set the open bottle aside, keeping Idia’s hand in his splayed palm while resting his wrist against his knee. He hovered the wet brush over Idia’s fingernails. His tongue pressed against the back of his teeth, hesitant.
Meanwhile, Idia tried to maintain the illusion that he was functioning like a regular human being while internally transcending the mortal plane. Was this ultra-rare event cutscene moment seriously, actually happening to him right now?? At this rate, his smartwatch was probably gonna classify holding hands as extreme cardio!
Then, Leona gently traced the shape of Idia’s fingernail with the colour, leaving a sweep of inky blue.
And oof, Idia realised - he was good at it. His large hand cradled Idia’s fingers securely while the brush moved with slow, careful precision. He was leaning low over Idia’s hand, focused on Idia’s nails with unexpected patience. A loose strand of damp hair kept falling into Leona’s face. Every so often he’d puff a quiet breath upward without looking away from his work, trying to move it aside instead of risking a smudge.
Idia could barely breathe normally anymore. This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Leona Kingscholar, captain of the spelldrive club, dorm leader of every extroverted musclehead jock-type currently enrolled in Night Raven College, was currently wearing Idia’s hoodie while carefully painting his nails dark blue at two in the morning.
Idia adored him so much he thought he might actually dissolve into static.
“Pffft... hehee… the concentration face is killing me. You look like you’re forging a legendary weapon,” Idia cackled. He trembled with silent giggles when Leona immediately glared up at him, thoroughly unimpressed.
“Aren’t you supposed to be keepin’ still?”
Idia grinned wickedly, unable to stop watching him. Despite the calluses on Leona’s hands, his nails at the end of each long finger were neatly trimmed and even, smooth and well-kept. They were gentle hands, really. For someone so strong, Leona never seemed to forget how easily he could overwhelm someone else.
Leona set down the brush. The furrow between his brows smoothed out as he gazed at Idia’s hand, still loosely caged in his. Neither of them moved immediately.
“There. Done,” Leona said gruffly, and Idia coughed and cleared his throat before any more of his internal processors caught fire. Reluctant to let go, he turned his hands under the light to see each of his nails perfectly painted, clean edges and smooth shine.
“Hold on, hold on… this is way too OP, you’ve practiced this before,” Idia blurted.
“No.” Leona shrugged, looking away again. “Can’t half-ass detailed work, s’all.”
Idia stared at him for another second, before his expression softened into something helplessly affectionate. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“You know,” Idia managed under his breath, “that was kinda ridiculously sweet.”
Leona, who was trying to tighten the lid on the nail polish, nearly dropped the whole bottle. Idia cackled in nervous delight, deciding to push his luck.
“...b-boyfriend-coded beyond recovery,” he teased, heart hammering against his ribs.
Leona’s tail twitched once against the blankets, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.
“Boyfriend coded?” Leona muttered. “Shroud, I thought I already was your…”
In the small silence that followed, Leona’s mouth became a perplexed frown. His ears flicked, then angled awkwardly sideways. Idia’s eyes slowly widened.
“Wuh… wai-”
“You’ve… fallen asleep on my chest,” Leona managed.
“Wehh.. wh.. wha-”
Leona gestured to the jumper currently hugging his chest. “I wear your clothes.”
“Wuh… we... whaaa-”
Leona closed his eyes in despair. “...introduced you to Ruggie as ‘my person’.”
“I THOUGHT THAT WAS FIGURATIVE!” Idia sputtered. One look at Leona's incredulous grumpy face only made it worse. Idia dissolved into helpless laughter, one hand instinctively reaching for Leona's sleeve.
The corner of Leona’s mouth twitched. He held Idia’s gaze for a long second, then he reached out his hand.
Palm up, this time. Fingers loosely splayed.
“C’mere,” Leona muttered, the faintest trace of colour prickling his cheeks. “Just so we’re clear this time… this is.. me askin’..”
Idia threaded their fingers together, his fingertips pressing into warm skin and nails painted with care catching the bedside light. The edges of Leona’s mouth threatened another smile.
“...didn’t exactly hear an official yes, either,” Leona groused, all warmth.
Every attempt Idia made kept getting intercepted by a grin. It spread across his face until his cheeks ached. Without thinking, he squeezed Leona’s hand ridiculously tight.
“Heh, um, yes,” Idia whispered. “Like, extremely yes. Maximum yes.”
Leona eased himself forward, ducking his brow to rest against Idia’s shoulder. Then, with a look so tender that Idia was definitely maybe gonna cry, Leona reached an arm around Idia and drew him closer, their joined hands nestled between them.
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