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Leona yawns as he walks out to the woods, none of his usual napping spots were free, so he may as well just crash on the forest floor where no one is likely to bother him for a few hours. Once he’s far enough in, he starts to hear the faint sound of someone humming and despite his better judgment he decides he wants to see what weirdo is all the way out here instead of literally anywhere else.
His ears twitch as he gets closer to the sound and the answer he’s met with just begs more questions. Sitting against the base of a tree, headphones on with his eyes focused down on his phone, is the Ignihyde Housewarden, Idia Shroud aka the last person he would expect to see outside right now. The man seems to be too absorbed in whatever game he’s playing to even notice as Leona strides over and takes a seat next to him, looking over his shoulder at the screen.
He’s known Idia long enough to know the guy isn’t going to hear him when his headphones are on, but he’s a bit surprised at just how close he’s gotten without the guy acknowledging him at all. Not seeing or hearing him is one thing, but the beastman is almost touching him at this point and that’s a little bit concerning considering they’re out of view of the main campus. Surely the other housewarden had to have some self-preservation skills.
“Hey,” he says, as he reaches over and pulls the blue haired man’s headphones off, finally getting a reaction as the guy yelps and nearly drops his phone. Leona almost laughs, but aside from a brief glance Idia still hasn’t properly acknowledged him. He’s just staring down at his phone, slowly tapping the screen as if whatever loads next is going to be worst possible thing.
Leona can’t make much sense of what he sees on the screen past understanding that it was probably a score. It didn’t look bad if you asked him, but one look at Idia told a different story. The brunet couldn’t tell if he was going to start crying or yelling and at this point he would take either over the eerie silence.
“Oi.”
“….one note… one singular note at the end because of course! Whats the point of a ‘GOOD’ note if it ruins everything, just say I missed! At least then I didn’t hit the note, but nooo there have to be more ways to end a combo than to keep one….and who just takes off someone’s headphones mid combo… I mean I don’t need to hear the song to play, but he startled me and now I have to try again instead of be done with this song and…..” If it was anyone else, Idia’s quiet rant probably wouldn’t have been understood, but Leona heard every word and he knows the Ignihyde housewarden is aware of this fact.
Leona slaps a hand over the younger man’s mouth with an exasperated sigh, “would you just shut up? It’s not my fault you’re unaware of your surroundings. What are you even doing out here, radish sprout?”
Idia finally looks at him, sending a glare before reaching up to pull the lion’s hand away from his mouth which Leona let’s him do. “Ortho wouldn’t let me stay in my room and said I need ‘touch grass’.” He gestures to the ground with his other hand and Leona can’t help but smirk at that, both of them knowing that the younger Shroud didn’t mean it literally.
“You got chased out of all your other spots by the others, huh?” It’s a guess, but judging by the pout it looks like they were both in the same boat.
“Every turn I made triggered a new social event and my stats are way too low to handle all the SSR characters one after the other…. I ran out here after Cater-shi tried to get me to take a selfie with him.” He pulls his headphones completely off, letting them rest around his neck. “And now… another SSR character shows up. Where’s this luck in my gacha pulls….”
Leona yawns as the blue haired man talks, shifting to get more comfortable. He’s tired of looking for another spot to nap and this seemed like as good a place as any. He thinks he hears some protesting as he dozes off, but Idia doesn’t seem to put up much more of a fight other than muttering more terms the beastman doesn’t understand.
He slowly starts to wake up, his ears twitching at the sounds of soft humming from above him and it’s then he realizes that he’s shifted from his position against the tree to laying on something a little softer than the ground. He opens his eyes and turns just enough to see Idia tapping away at his phone again, likely playing the same game Leona interrupted earlier but with his headphones off this time. He has half a mind to try mess him up on purpose, but bites that urge back long enough for the other man to seemingly finish the song with a quiet celebration and bright smile.
Idia looks down at the man on his lap and the smile fades as he looks anywhere else. “How long have you been awake...?”
The beastman yawns and makes no effort to move from the younger man’s lap, “not long… surprised you didn’t push me off or try to wake me.”
“Trying to wake you up seemed like a death flag, so I avoided it… Trying to move you on the other hand…” The ends of his hair started to turn pink, making Leona wonder just what the color change could mean. “Y-you… fell asleep on my shoulder… When I tried to m-move you… you just kinda… m-made yourself comfortable?”
Leona nods, already understanding that Idia probably just gave up at that point and went back to his games. Emerald eyes take a quick look at their surroundings and gather that he must have been asleep for awhile due to the way the light and shadows have shifted. They shift back to the fiery mane, hand reaching up to play with one of the strands that hung closer to his face. It still shocks him that it doesn’t burn, he remembers people saying it would back when Idia had first entered the school, but Leona had quickly figured out that wasn’t the case.
“Uh… Leona-shi? What are you doing?” The pink spreads up the strand in the older man’s hand.
“What’s it mean when it’s pink?” It hadn’t been until the ghost marriage incident that the brunet even knew it could turn pink, so the meaning behind it had escaped him. He knew very well what red meant, especially after what happened during Idia’s Overblot… but pink seemed rarer. A few of the others had written it off as embarrassment and while he could understand that conclusion he feels like there has to be more to it than that. This was Idia after all.
“It just reflects my mood.”
“I know that, but what does pink mean?”
“I don’t know, why does it matter? Why are you touching my hair?” The pink starts to fade and for the first time Leona thinks he sees a tinge of purple before the strand is pulled away from him in such a harsh motion the brunet just barely stops himself from flinching. Okay, in his defense he didn’t think Shroud cared if someone touched his hair considering he’d seen Vil playing with it before.
“Liar. If you don’t want to tell me just say that.”
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“That bad, huh? What, is it something per--” This time there’s hand slapped over Leona’s mouth and he gives a low chuckle against it as Idia glares down at him.
“It’s not like that!” There’s a desperation in his voice that the Savanaclaw housewarden translates to: but it could be like that.
They stay like that for a few moments until Idia finally removes his hand and starts moving enough that Leona takes the hint and gets off of his lap so he can stand. He watches as the man dusts himself off and starts to walk away before stopping long enough to mutter an apology that only confused the older man.
Well, that could have gone better.
The next time he sees Idia is at the housewarden meeting. Someone had managed to drag him out of his room to attend in person, but, much to Riddle’s chagrin, he kept his hood on the whole time and pointedly ignored any complaint the Heartslabyul housewarden had to offer. It would have been funny in the past, but having gotten to slowly know Idia he can’t help but wonder if maybe something was a little more wrong than normal.
When the meeting ends, he almost goes to check on their resident nerd, but sees Vil grab him before Idia even has a chance to try and run away. It’s not an odd sight anymore. The Pomefiore housewarden had been pretty adamant about roping Idia into whatever nonsense he came up with once he’d returned to school. He just passed it off as payback for everything the blue haired man put them through, but now he wonders if Vil just enjoys the guy’s company.
“I suppose Idia-san won’t be going to the club today either…” He hears Azul mutter to himself just before leaving the room as well. The beastman briefly wonders if one of the ‘SSR characters’ Idia had mentioned was his own club member before brushing it aside. It really wasn’t any of his business who Idia chose to spend his time with.
He awakes from a nap to the sounds a familiar voices, almost sitting up from his hiding spot to glare at them before their words register in his mind.
“Would you calm down? No one uses this room, it’s a glorified storage unit at this point, so you don’t have to worry about anyone walking in.” It’s Vil’s voice and if it had just stayed Vil’s voice he would have said something.
“Th-that’s hardly the o-only problem here...! I know I o-owe everyone, but th-this is too much!” Idia’s panicked voice follows quickly after, earning a heavy sigh from the pompous blonde.
“Just think of it like cosplay! Besides, I’m the only one here to see it.” Okay, what the actual fuck was happening.
He can hear Idia muttering to himself about how this feels like some weird fantasy and honestly Leona can’t help but agree even though he can’t see anything from his spot behind a few boxes. He assumes Vil has just gotten carried away with an idea and wonders if maybe now would be a good time to make his presence known, but Vil’s tone shifts in his next words.
“Alright, what’s wrong? This isn’t the first time I’ve had you dress up for me, so what’s going on?”
He hears the shifting of fabric followed by more quiet muttering, “...I just… it’s uh… overwhelming… today….”
“Oh.” Leona suddenly feels like he definitely shouldn’t be here as the tension in the air rises enough to put even him on edge. He shifts enough to peak through the cracks in the boxes. Idia is shaking, keeping his hood desperately over his head, likely staring at the ground, but the beastman can’t see his face. Vil looks guilty, holding on to some sort of costume before he sighs and tosses it aside to gently pull Idia closer to him. “It’s okay… you don’t have to wear it, so please don’t cry… You can just tell me from the start if you’re feeling this badly.”
Leona really feels like he shouldn’t be here, but a part of him for some reason decides he hates the sight before him. When Idia speaks again, he can actually hear the strain in his voice as he holds back from sobbing. “S-sorry…”
Vil holds the other boy a little closer, “It’s okay. If you’re not feeling well, you should go back to your room. Do you want me to take you back?”
Idia seems to shake his head at that. “No… You can go ahead of me, though… I need… a minute.”
Vil finally lets go of him, looking him up and down before sighing and picking up the costume. “Alright… I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He takes his leave and as soon as he’s out of the room Idia falls to his knees like he had been using every ounce of strength to keep standing.
“Leona-shi…. I know you’re in here.” He mumbles in a very defeated tone. Leona on the other hand freezes up at being caught. Idia’s back had been to him almost the whole time, so how did he even notice him. “If you don’t come out, I’ll just knock the boxes over onto you.” He emphasizes this by reaching backwards and nudging the box that happened to be closest to Leona’s face.
“Hold it, at least give me a second to actually move.” The lion makes his way out of his hiding spot and comes to sit down on the other side of the boxes. “How did you even know I was in here?”
“I thought about hiding back there when Vil-shi went to grab the costume… I was gonna wake you up, but he came back too fast… What part did you wake up at?” Idia doesn’t look at him, keeping his eyes to the ground, most of his face covered by his hood and what little hair he’s letting peak through.
“A little before you said it felt like some weird fantasy....What was all that about anyways?”
Idia is silent for awhile, almost long enough to make Leona consider changing the subject, but he finally says something. “...Since I owe everyone after what happened, Vil-shi’s taken to dressing me up in various costumes. It’s fine usually… today’s just not a great day for me. Plus… even if it was, I still think he’s trying to live some sort of fantasy with that costume. People don’t just put their friend’s in maid outfits for the hell of it! Especially not after shoving him in some dingy little storage room where no else goes! That’s like a prime otome scenario!”
Idia seems to be back to his normal self and Leona is thankful for that, but he also knows that based on what he saw and Vil’s actions, the guy in front of him definitely had something else going on in his head. Leona decides not to push it. Instead he focuses on a little detail and brings his usual smirk to his face. “So it was a maid outfit, huh? That would’ve been a sight.”
The Ignihyde housewarden finally turns to face him with a glare that had to be halfhearted at best. Leona pretends that he doesn’t notice the telltale sign that he really had been crying before. “I should’ve knocked the boxes on top of you and left.”
“Hey, I’m just saying maybe Vil is onto something.” He teases because he knows if it were him he would rather deal with someone being annoying than someone getting far too serious about things meant to be hidden.
“And you say I’m good at getting under peoples skin.”
“Guess we have that in common,” Leona shrugs, but he can tell Idia isn’t at all bothered by him now and quite frankly he isn’t bothered by Idia either. It’s not like he ever hated the guy, he was mad about S.T.Y.X. and could be annoyed with his attitude sometimes, but honestly the Ignihyde housewarden was a lot easier to deal with than most other people and he made for a good chess partner so Leona couldn’t complain so long as he wasn’t being insulted seriously.
There’s a silence between them again, but it’s more casual this time and more akin to the usual kind they have on days they play chess. Leona almost considers going back to sleep, but he suddenly feels the need to bring up something that has been bothering him. “You and Vil seem pretty close.”
He had expected the other boy to get defensive, but he seems more confused than anything. “Do we?”
“Uh yeah. He’s pretty affectionate with you from what I’ve seen and you don’t seem to mind it.”
“I never really thought too deeply about it. Things are kind of complicated between us.”
Leona pretends that that response didn’t bother him immensely and he quickly tries to snuff out the array of theories that pop up. It’s not his place to speculate like that when he knows that Vil is one of the major reasons Idia is even alive right now. “Well, you seem close to me.”
“Jealous?” Idia teases, causing Leona to turn his head in shock which makes Idia laugh and Leona realizes he’s never heard this boy laugh so sincerely before. “Wow, that really got you, huh? I’m just kidding.”
“You—” He’s a little too enamored with the laugh to even properly respond and he prays that Idia takes his loss for words as surprise and nothing more. It’s then that he notices that the Idia’s hair, which is mostly still tucked into his hood, seems to be glowing slightly brighter than it was before. It makes him wonder just how strong an emotion has to be for the color to change as vibrantly as it does when he’s angry.
He must have spaced out way too long because Idia is suddenly leaning a lot closer, waving a hand in front of his face. “Hello? Kitty-cat? You good?”
“Your hair got brighter.”
“What is up with your sudden obsession with my hair?” He pulls back, but unlike when Leona asked about the pink color he doesn’t seem upset about the conversation.
“It’s kind of hard not to be curious about it.”
“You’ve known me for three years.”
“Yeah, and it was only this year I learned it could change colors.”
Idia rolls his eyes, “it doesn’t burn and it sometimes changes colors. That’s pretty much everything there is to know about it.”
Maybe on the surface that was true, but Leona wanted to know everything down to the slightest shift in shades and getting close to Idia hadn’t exactly been possible when he first started school here. The most he had managed to learn during Idia’s first year was that his hair didn’t burn and then it took three years to learn anything else. Of course he would find the slightest change interesting.
“Does it bother you?”
“What?”
“That I like your hair.”
And just like that the faintest shade of pink can be seen at the very ends of his hair. Leona doesn’t point it out this time, but he makes a mental note that this time it turned pink when he complimented him. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m just…”
“Not used to it,” Leona finishes for him and the other boy nods.
That seems to be where their time together ends because soon enough Idia gets a message and excuses himself to head back to his dorm, leaving Leona alone with his thoughts once more.
“Checkmate,” Idia grins as Leona stares at the board, both of them knowing damn well which move cost Leona the game.
“Don’t say it.” Leona slumps back in his chair with a sigh.
“Sorry, but that was like clicking the wrong move in a boss fight. How’d you of all people make that mistake?” Idia is doing nothing to hide his amusement.
He doesn’t want to admit that he only messed up because he’d been distracted by how happy Idia looked when Ruggie and Ortho had brought them drinks. To make matters worse… Ruggie has become far too aware of Leona’s feelings even though Leona himself has been trying to bury them deep, deep down. “I’m blaming Ruggie.”
“You know I would have let you take the move back, right?”
“Yeah, but something tells me you would’ve been a pain in the ass about it.”
“Oh, definitely. But I know it’s not a move you would have made if you weren’t distracted, so as amusing as it is, this victory feels hollow.”
“Good, now we’re both unsatisfied,” Leona smirks as he sets the board back up.
“Guess this next match needs to make up for that then,” Idia chuckles before taking a sip of his drink. It was some kind of bubble tea from off campus, which Leona finds odd because when Azul had hopped on the trend and made the lounge serve boba tea he recalls Idia saying he didn’t like it (and Azul being overly offended for the better part of a week).
“Is that any good?” He asks as he mindlessly makes the first move.
Idia hums, moving one of his own pieces before answer, “my drink? Yeah, it’s one of my favs. Why?”
“I thought you didn’t like boba tea.”
“Because of the way I roasted Azul-shi about it?” Leona nods and Idia laughs again. “I don’t like Mostro Lounge’s boba tea. It’s not bad, everyone else likes it… it just never feels or tastes right to me and that’s pretty upsetting, so I just don’t drink it very often because the shop I do like is off campus.”
That explains why he looked so happy when Ortho and Ruggie showed up earlier. “What flavor is that one? Ruggie just me the most basic one.”
“Thai milk tea with strawberry popping pearls. You wanna try it?” Idia asks, holding his drink out to Leona with one hand while moving a chess piece with the other.
Leona hesitates, but plays it off like he’s thinking over his next move and not genuinely shocked that Idia has offered to share with him. He moves a piece, then leans forward and takes a sip… right as Ruggie and Ortho return again. Leona ignores the smug look Ruggie is giving him and leans back in his chair again. “Pretty good.”
The game continues, but Leona’s frustration is quickly rising as he can feel not one, but two sets of eyes on him and he begins to wonder just what Ortho has picked up on. He manages to win, but god does he want to disappear from sight for awhile.
“Nii-san, I would hate to interrupt, but the maintenance time is almost over and I believe you said you had plans for the new raid.” Idia is putting the board away before Ortho even finishes the sentence. This is probably the first time he’s been grateful for Idia’s dedication to games because it means at least one set of eyes will be off of him.
Leona stands from his chair and stretches, still avoiding looking towards Ruggie. He does, however, make the mistake of looking towards Ortho who doesn’t seem as desperate to get back to the Ignihyde dorm as his brother does. Ortho was staring at him like he was studying him and, if it was anyone else, Leona might have snapped at them.
“Leona-shi…,” Idia pauses in the doorway, bringing all attention to himself for a moment. “Let me know if you want to play tomorrow.” And before anyone can respond, Idia hurries off to his dorm, leaving Leona alone with problem #1 and problem #2.
“If either one of you says a word it will be your last,” Leona threatens and he hates how he can tell that they both know he won’t actually do anything to them. Well, he won’t do anything to Ortho… Ruggie, on the other hand, is going to regret acting smug during tomorrow mornings training session.
It’s not unusual to see Idia out of his room these days, nor is it strange to see him with someone that isn’t just Ortho or Azul. Leona often saw him with Vil and, while he still felt a certain type of way about them, he had gotten somewhat used to it. Malleus, on the other hand…. That was a sight he genuinely hated.
There had always been something about Malleus specifically that pissed him off, but now it was coupled with blatant jealousy and, unlike with Vil, Leona couldn’t just bury it away this time. Not when Idia looked so happy talking to him, not when he smiled that brightly for a guy who was even more undeserving than Leona himself. It made his blood boil, his tail flicking back and forth at a rapid pace.
“Would you stop that?” Vil swats at his tail, clearly holding back frustration of his own, but that was probably Leona’s fault for accidentally hitting him.
His tail doesn’t stop, but he does shift a bit to the side which Vil seems to accept as good enough because he doesn’t mention it again. After a few minutes, Vil sighs and speaks again. “Alright, what in the world has got you so worked up? Normally, you’re asleep by now.”
“Nothing.” He bites back the growl that wants to come out, eyes still fixed on Malleus and Idia. He hates the way Malleus leans in so close to see whatever Idia is doing on his tablet.
“Wrong answer,” Vil shifts beside him, seemingly trying to find whatever it is that Leona is glaring so intently at. “Seriously? I know you don’t like him, but he’s not even doing anything.”
“Yes he is.”
“He is quite literally just sitting there.” The blonde sounds exasperated, but it’s not like this was a conversation they had to be having. He’s the one that chose to start a conversation.
“That’s just what he wants us to think,” Okay, even Leona knows just how childish he sounds right now and how ridiculous of a notion it was that Malleus was intentionally trying to bother them by being so close to Idia.
“You are so right. He sure is sitting there menacingly and not in a completely normal fashion like he always does.” The amount of sarcasm crammed into that sentence is enough for Leona to momentarily take his eyes off of Malleus and glare at the very annoying Pomefiore housewarden.
Before he can even open his mouth, Vil is speaking again, “seriously, you’re usually never this angry with him for just existing. Frustrated, maybe, but you look like you’re ready to actually start a fight with him just because he’s sitting there this time. What’s going on?”
He really hates how Vil doesn’t seem to have an issue with how clingy Malleus has been towards Idia, but at the same time it helps remind him that things between Vil and Idia aren’t that way even if they are close. However, he now feels even more upset about everything else and he has half a mind to just walk away and go find a place to nap far away from that overgrown lizard.
“He’s too close.” It’s the only explanation he’s willing to give because he’s still not ready to openly admit what he actually feels towards Idia, but one extra persona being able to infer it won’t make a difference overall. Especially since Vil is unlikely to tell another soul no matter how at odds they might be.
“Too close…?”
“Mhm.”
Vil keeps looking from Leona to Malleus before taking a few minutes to observe the fae’s actions. It very slowly dawns on him exactly what the beastman meant by ‘too close’. “You mean… he’s too close…. To Idia?” his voice is so quiet, like even he thinks this information should be kept under wraps despite it not affecting him at all.
Leona doesn’t say a word, but the model takes his silence as confirmation.
“You owe me one,” Vil says and before Leona can speak, the blonde gets up walks over to Idia and Malleus, talking with them in animated fashion. Leona can’t hear a single word, but he can see them both nod and before he can process it, Idia and Vil have traded places.
Idia takes a seat next to him with a sheepish smile, “he said he couldn’t deal with working with you anymore, so I hope this works for you.”
He glances over at Vil (who Malleus also has to lean close to) before fully turning his attention to Idia with a nod and grin, “working with you will be a million times better than that asshole.” He makes a mental note to just ask Idia to work with him from the start next time.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. Dying, I mean.”
He’s not sure how they got onto this topic, but it’s the only time he’s never been afraid of admitting to thinking about dying far more than anyone should. Because at this point he knows Idia won’t judge him for it, nor will he suddenly try to take care of Leona or aggressively help him. Something had always told him Idia would probably understand how he felt.
“Me too,” Idia admits as he stares up at the stars in the sky. It’s not shocking to hear, not after everything he’s learned about Idia and his life, not after Vil admitted he’s genuinely afraid of leaving Idia alone for too long. “I kinda figured out awhile ago that you were similar.”
“Yeah?” He asks, but he isn’t really surprised.
“Mm… You sleep a lot.” And he knows that that’s the nice way of saying ‘I figured out the difference between your catnaps and your depression naps, but I won’t tell you how I know’. That’s fine. He doesn’t really need to know how Idia figured it out, just that he did.
“You don’t sleep much,” he says, turning his head enough to see if Idia reacts at all but the other boy is still looking up at the stars, looking just as tired as Leona felt.
“Not for lack of trying…” He gives a weak laugh and the beastman hums in response. The only reason they’re even out here rather than back in their own dorms was because Leona had woken up and decided he needed to be somewhere else and Idia had been messaging him about the plot of some game instead of sleeping, so asking him to meet up seemed like a good idea.
They’re silent for awhile, both of them simply accepting their mutual suicidal ideation and seemingly moving on as if all they had talked about was the weather. Leona watches Idia while Idia stares at the stars like he’s trying to memorize every last one he can see. It’s then he remembers that getting to see the real sky like this had likely been a rare occurrence in Idia’s life and it almost makes him want to bring him to the Savannah for one night for the sake of the stars.
He’s not sure how long they stayed out, but he knows the sun was already rising by the time he went back to his dorm and yet he didn’t feel as tired as he was before.
“What are you reading?” Idia asks, seemingly not nearly as invested in his game as Leona is in his book.
“Book on ancient magic,” Leona turns the page and continues reading, but he doesn’t miss the sound of Idia turning around in his chair. For someone who wanted to stay in his room today he sure is acting restless.
“That doesn’t look like the one Malleus-shi gave you.”
“Good eye. I’m still deciphering that one. This ones from the library.”
“We had one that old?”
“It’s the only one. I found it in my first year tucked away in one of the dusty corners, but I had a harder time reading it back then,” his ears twitch as hears Idia move again and he can only assume the sound is from him spinning in his chair. He has to stifle a laugh.
Idia seemingly goes back to his game, but the faint clicking comes to a stop once again and this time Leona actually looks up from his place on the bed. He cant really see the main screen from here, but he’s fairly certain the younger housewarden has closed out of whatever he’d been playing. “You good over there, radish sprout?”
“I’m bored.”
Leona picks up his bookmark and tosses it in the book before setting the book down and sitting up. He may not have known what Idia was playing, but he had seemed pretty excited earlier. “Is the game bad or something?”
“No. It’s great.”
“…”
“…”
“Then why-”
“I just don’t feel like playing games right now.” Idia cuts him off and in the following silence Leona takes a moment to observe him. His hair looks a lot dimmer than before, but he swears he can see faint tinge of deep blue on the ends and, while he still hasn’t figured out most of what the color changes mean, he can infer that the boy’s mood dropped suddenly.
Leona gets off the bed and stretches before reaching out to spin Idia’s chair around to face him. He may have startled him slightly because he heard something akin to a squeak, but he ignores that and holds out a hand to help him out of the chair. “C’mon, let’s go get something to eat.”
Idia takes his hand without any hesitation. It’s not like it’s the first time Leona has done something like this. He’s long since learned that for them it’s easier to try more quiet methods to improve their moods before outright trying to talk about it. Maybe that’s why Idia doesn’t fight him despite having to leave his dorm suddenly. Well… it may also be due to Leona keeping hold of his hand as he drags him through the school, but the beastman couldn’t actually see his expression at the moment. If he could, he’d know that it’s likely a mixture of both.
“Idia-san, you know you can just push him off when he does that, right?” Leona can vaguely hear Ruggie’s voice, but he doesn’t move, intent on continuing to nap.
“That’s more trouble than letting him stay…. I can still work, so it’s fine.” He can tell by the tone that Idia is too absorbed in his work to even remotely care that the lion has claimed his lap as a pillow again.
“If you say so…” Ruggie must leave after that because the silence returns.
Leona makes himself more comfortable, the shifting somehow earning him a pat on the head from Ignihyde housewarden. Normally, Leona would get mad at someone for even thinking about petting him, but he’ll let Idia get away with it this time because when he momentarily opens his eyes he can see the boy is so focused he probably doesn’t even realize what he’s doing.
He closes his eyes again, falling back asleep within seconds. His faint purring is the only sound in the room and, unbeknownst to him, Idia is fully aware of it and continues to pet the lion beastman for awhile longer until he needs both his hands back on his work.
By the time Leona wakes up, he notices that Idia as somehow dozed off himself. It’s a rare sight and he can’t help but smile at how peaceful the other housewarden can look. He carefully sits up and grabs the book he had been reading before slowly shifting Idia into a more comfortable position on his lap instead. He mimics the actions of the other boy, slowly running his fingers through his hair as he quietly continues reading about cursed fire and the colors associated with it.
Leona doesn’t like being woken up and he especially doesn’t like when one Vil Schoenheit is barging into his dorm with an attitude. Leona hasn’t even gotten out of bed today, so just what could he have possibly done?
“Don’t you dare glare at me like that. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“I have a lot of explaining to do?? Vil, I just woke up, what the hell do I have to explain to you?”
“Idia,” is Vil’s only response which clears up absolutely nothing.
“What about him?” There’s a part of him that wonders if he upset the Ignihyde housewarden, but seeing as he only just woke up and Idia had been busy with other things pretty much all week… he’s fairly certain he hasn’t.
“How long do you intend to keep him waiting?”
“Hey, could you try making sense for five minutes? I don’t have any plans with him.”
“That’s not what I meant!” How was Vil getting more angry than when he came in?
“Then what the fuck did you mean? You’re not making any sense.”
Vil pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs heavily, the whole scene almost identical to every conversation Leona’s had with his own brother these past few years. Somehow, that comparison upsets him more than anything else had so far.
“Are you going to tell him how you feel or not?”
Leona wasn’t ready for this conversation. Not yet, maybe not ever, but he sure as hell didn’t want to be having it with Vil.
“How long are you going to drag this out?”
Until he wasn’t scared anymore.
“If you’re not serious then--”
“Of course I’m serious!” He sounds far more desperate than he does angry as he cuts off the increasingly annoying blonde. Talking to Vil was a pain, but having him insinuate that Leona wasn’t serious despite having known for months what his feelings are… that somehow strikes a nerve he didn’t know existed. “You know how I feel.”
Pomefiore’s Queen is silent for awhile, expression remaining neutral until he finally sighs again and walks over to sit on the edge of Leona’s bed. “I know how you feel… I just don’t understand why you haven’t done anything about it. You two are so close now… What could possibly be keeping you from just tell him how you really feel?”
That answer should be obvious, he thinks. It’s me.
It’s not like he hasn’t noticed how close they’ve become. It’s not like he hasn’t noticed the way they’ll sit way too close together or the way their hands will touch slightly and their shoulders will bump when they walk. The indirect kisses of their shared drinks, the way they’ll linger even if one of them really should be leaving….
Leona isn’t stupid and it makes him happy to get these moments with Idia, but now he’s started to think of all the ways this could go wrong and it sucks. It sucks because he knows that he’s the problem. He knows that Idia is probably analyzing every moment to see just how sincere and real Leona is being and he knows that the only reason Idia has to do that is because Leona just can’t fucking say it.
He wonders just how much longer Idia will put up with the will-they-won’t-they until he just gives up on him entirely. Because, honestly, if he was in Idia’s place he would’ve started a fight with the first change is subject and been completely done by the third almost kiss.
It’s laughable how deeply he can talk with Idia about life and death, but he can’t bring himself to tell the guy outright that he’s in love with him. It’s laughable because at this point it seems like everyone already knows how Leona feels and he hates that even more than his own cowardice.
Vil places a hand on his arm and speaks in a tone that makes him wish the guy would just go back to yelling at him, “Leona… you have to tell him. It’s not fair to either of you to keep going on like this. You know he doesn’t deserve to be kept waiting forever and you also shouldn’t hold yourself back like you think everything is going to be ripped away from you the second you try to reach for it. A lot of people let it slide when you do things halfheartedly, but I can’t anymore. Not with him. So, either you tell him how you feel…. Or you let him go before this gets dragged out any longer.”
Leona stays silent, looking at a spot on the wall so he doesn’t have to meet Vil’s gaze. He wishes he would just stop talking, wishes he would give up on this conversation and leave like he normally does when talking to Leona is like talking to a wall. He knows that won’t happen this time, though. Because Vil loves Idia too much to let this topic die and it makes him wonder if maybe the blonde was hiding something too. He pushes that thought to the back of his mind.
“Leona.”
“Shut up!” Vil opens his mouth to speak, but Leona keeps talking just to keep him quiet. “Why are you bringing all this up now? Things between Idia and me are fine, so just stay out of it! It shouldn’t matter to you how slow we’re going.”
“But it does!”
“Why?!”
“Because Idia is stubborn! He has other options, but he’s waiting for you. You know that, don’t you?”
Yeah, he knows that, but it somehow makes him feel so much worse to hear it out loud. Leona’s not blind and, while he may not be able to figure out what Vil feels, he’s seen other people be fairly obvious with their feelings. It always made him wonder why Idia stuck around when someone like Malleus could so easily say ‘I’m quite fond of you’… He didn’t want Idia to choose someone else, but it’s shocking that he hasn’t.
“Why is this so hard for you? You know he won’t reject you, so what’s the real problem?” Vil finally asks and Leona has to stand up to pace around in an attempt to calm his mind.
Idia won’t reject him. He’s known that for awhile and that hasn’t been a concern since he realized Idia started flirting back. It’s not the idea of being rejected, it’s the idea of confessing and the idea that maybe those blue flames won’t burn brightly or changed to pink anymore once this will-they-won’t-they song and dance ends. He’s spent so long deciphering those flames and he still doesn’t know quite what it all means, because apparently cursed fire plus Idia was practically the same as ancient magic and he may never figure out every little detail the way that he wants to.
Vil sighs again, “you’re good for each other, so don’t give up before you even try. He deserves better than that.”
God, he hates that Vil is right. He’s not going to admit that to him, but he knows the asshole is going to be ridiculously smug as soon as Leona gets his act together and he really hates that. He doesn’t say another word to Vil in pure protest as he grabs his phone and sends a text before starting to leave his own room.
“Where are you going?”
“Where do you think?” Leona doesn’t stick around to let him answer, quickly sending a text to Idia to meet him out in the forest where it was it quiet.
“How did you get here before me?” Okay, he thought he would have a little more time before he had to see Idia face to face, but it seems even the world itself is tired of his stalling.
“Oh, uh… Ortho wanted to test some new camera techniques, so we were playing with Lucius nearby,” Idia admits with a sheepish smile.
“If you were busy you could have a said so, I would’ve waited for you two to finish up,” Leona wasn’t always a very patient person, but he knew how close the Shroud brothers were and so trying to separate them was out of the question.
Idia shrugs, “it’s fine. Ortho wanted to do some aerial tests anyways, we just got a little carried away since Lucius was being so compliant and letting us dress him up.”
Leona’s not even remotely surprised that they got off track, but he is a little shocked Idia managed to pull himself away from Lucius if the cat really was being compliant. “Glad to know I’m held in higher regard than a house cat, at least.”
“I think you’d maul me if I tried to put bows in your hair,” Idia laughs at the thought, his hair burning just a little brighter with the ends shifting to a lighter shade of blue as well.
Leona stares for a moment and he can’t help but smile at the sight before him. He can tell Idia’s in a good mood and based on the lighter blue he must be feeling fairly happy right now and that makes Leona a little less scared of the upcoming conversation. Despite everything, Idia is still happy to see him. “You’re beautiful.”
Idia gets flustered like he always does when someone suddenly compliments him. He stutters and doesn’t know where to look, but his hair stays bright and blue so Leona knows he hasn’t made him uncomfortable. “Th-that was unfair… My defense was completely down just now…”
Leona chuckles, “you should know to keep your guard up by now.”
“So mean… Oh. What did you want to talk about, anyways?”
“How did you know I wanted to talk?”
“You usually only want to come out here because it’s quiet and people won’t bother you as much… and since we don’t normally hang out here I figured you had something on your mind you didn’t want other people to overhear.”
Shit, leave it to Idia to figure that out just because he picked the forest to meet up at. The guy was way too smart for his own good. “You read me like a book.”
“So, what is it?”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Idia must already have an idea of what this is all about, but he’s definitely giving Leona another out but not outright saying it himself. It’s painful just how willing the Shroud heir is to push his own feelings aside just to make sure Leona only does what he’s comfortable with. It’s more than a little frustrating to know that this has happened several time before, but the prince takes solace in the fact that this is the only time he’s ever asked him to meet up with the intention of confessing.
Idia is giving him an out, but this time he won’t take it.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Do you remember when we first met?” He knows it’s a weird question, Idia’s confused expression confirms as much, but he thinks it’s as good a place as any to start. The very ends of Idia’s hair also seem to turn the faintest shade of pink as well. Interesting.
“Uh, yeah? You cornered me in the botanical garden when I was trying to do an assignment… It was a surprise encounter that I was severely under leveled for and I avoided that area for months after.”
“You make it sound like I was bullying you,” he can’t help but laugh because he’s never thought about how scared Idia had to have been as a first year. He vaguely remembers the smell of fear and in hindsight he’s probably lucky Idia hadn’t started crying or passed out.
“I mean, looking back I know you weren’t, but the whole kabedon-esque thing you did when you backed me against a tree was definitely something,” he’s pouting and it’s adorable even though Leona has no idea what he was talking about.
“Trapping you was kind of the only way to make sure you didn’t run before I got a word in,” not that he wouldn’t have been able to catch him if he did run, but that would have been way too much effort.
“I remember being relieved when all you wanted was to know if my hair burned… I told you to just touch it and find out.”
Leona chuckles, reaching out to play with some of Idia’s hair as he says that, “you sounded so annoyed by the question, but then you looked shocked when I actually did touch it. Like people had asked you over and over, but never actually took you up on the offer. It’s still as soft as it was back then.”
“Is this your excuse to touch my hair again?” Idia accuses, the blush on his face becoming a little more visible even though his hair has lost the faint pink it had before. Leona makes note of that, still determined to decipher the ever growing mystery that was Idia Shroud’s hair. “You should know by now you really don’t need an excuse…”
Leona may be stalling just a little as he runs his fingers through the flames, but it’s not intentional this time. Idia seems content to let him do this for awhile, but he’s clearly still waiting for what the lion really wants to say. He’s been waiting for far too long, Leona thinks, but he won’t have to wait much longer.
“I’ve always thought your hair was pretty…” Leona breaks the silence, his anxiety starting to skyrocket again, but he does his best to seem calm on the outside.
“So you keep saying…”
“You never believe me.” His hand slips from Idia’s hair to rest on his cheek.
“Well, can you blame me? I don’t like it much.” Idia admits, leaning into Leona’s hand like he’s done many times before. He doesn’t expect more than this.
“You don’t like yourself much.”
“Neither do you.” The younger boy counters and Leona doesn’t deny it. Neither of them like themselves and he used to think that meant he could never feel so deeply for someone, but if that were the case they wouldn’t be here right now.
“Yeah… but I love you,” Leona finally says it out loud and it was nowhere near as hard to say as he thought it would be. He almost laughs as he watches Idia process what he said, but he manages to hold it back because he knows it was the last thing the Ignihyde housewarden had expected to hear after having been forced to wait so long. Besides… There was something incredibly alluring about watching as every last bit of blue flame was dyed pink by the time Idia fully realized what was said.
“Leona—”
“I love you, Idia,” He repeats before Idia can ask him to and the way he lights up even more is just so incredibly beautiful that he would almost curse his past self for being so cowardly.
“I love you too…!” it’s said so quickly, like he’s wanted to say it for even longer than Leona could imagine and like he’s afraid the lion could still somehow chicken out when they’ve finally gotten this far. That’s all it takes for Leona to close the gap between them, thumb stroking Idia’s cheek as his free hand wraps around his waist to pull him closer before he leans down and finally kisses him.
By the time they pull apart Idia is still clinging to him like there’s still that faint worry that Leona will turn tail and run as soon as he’s out of sight. “I’m not going to run away this time… I promise.”
“I wouldn’t let you,” Idia has buried his face in the beastman’s shoulder, his hair still flickering in a soft pink shade that must match his face. Leona just nods, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around him because, honestly, he doesn’t want this to end just yet. Having Idia close like this without either of them pretending it wasn’t anything serious…. It’s perfect.
“You’re being all cute right now, but you’re gonna yell at me later for keeping you waiting so long, right?”
“Yeah, so you better come up with one hell of an apology, kitty cat. Slow burn is even more agonizing IRL, y’know?”
“Whatever you say, radish sprout.”