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As the housewarden of Savanaclaw, Leona was used to people knocking at his bedroom door. Most times I'd be Ruggie or Jack, and on other occasional times it'd be one of his dorm runts. He particularly liked the very rare moments when his boyfriend would struggle his way up to his door for a visit, and assumed it was one of those moments when he heard a familiar mechanical knock at the door, but only found his lover's kid brother instead. Why in the name of the seven is Ortho here?
Disappointment lingered in the back of Leona's mind, but he paid it no heed as he addressed the child before him, “What are you doing here in Savanaclaw, little sprout?”
“I have a favor to ask…” Ortho looked both ways down the empty hall as he hovered about, “Can you let me in?”
“Sure,” Leona took a step aside, “But why so secretive?”
“It's personal!” Exclaimed Ortho as he floated in, “Super top secret!”
“Fine.” He shut the door, leaning against it, “Spit it out.”
As willing as Leona is to listen to Ortho, he’s still disappointed about the whole ‘no Idia’ thing, and he’d rather be in bed right now. He got out of his warm sheets to answer the door, damn it! They’re probably cold by now, and it’s going to take ages before they warm up to perfect nap temperature!
Ortho seemed as if he did not want to spit it out, “It involved niisan…”
“If it involves my boyfriend then I'm in to help.”
“Are you sure?”
“I'm sure.” Leona spoke softly, perhaps his snappiness to get back into bed, “You can trust me, Ortho.
“I have a trip coming up soon, and I'm hoping that you'll look after my niisan for me!” Ortho put his hands on his fists, “Sure, he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but I'll be gone for a few days and I'm worried because niisan and I don't spend a lot of time apart!”
“He was fine when he went to that flower city without you, wasn't he? What makes this any different?”
“Well, he was there on a quest with friends, this time he has no quest and he might be alone if he stays in his room all day!” Ortho slouched ever so slightly, his eyes gleaming with hopefulness as he stole glances at Leona, “Please? Can you look after niisan for me? I don't want him to be all alone without me…”
“... Sure.” Leona needed an excuse to see his radish sprout anyway, “I’ll look after your brother for you. Make sure you have a damn fun trip, got it? And bring back a souvenir too, you know how much your brother loves that shit.”
“I sure will, and I’ll get you something too!” Ortho skedaddled towards the door, more carefree than ever now that the burden of his brother’s health is off of his shoulders, “Thank you, Leona!”
“You’re welcome, Ortho.” Leona watched Ortho take his leave before flopping back on his bed. He’s going to have a long few days ahead of him, huh..?
Well, it’ll probably go by fast if he gets to spend a lot of time with Idia… he’s looking forward to it.
-🦁💀-
It has been a day since Ortho left on his little trip to bunny town with Deuce, Silver, and Epel. Despite Ortho being gone, he thought it’d be like usual with Idia; they’d meet on occasion in-between classes, eat lunch together, and share sweet kisses at the botanical garden after class. None of that happened yesterday, unfortunately. There wasn’t a whiff or sight of Idia around campus, the space where he usually is despairingly empty. It feels weird not seeing Idia so often, despite his boyfriend being a hermit and all. After they started dating, they’d see one another almost daily, or at least every other day. It’s day two at lunchtime, and there’s still no sight of his reddish sprout. He can’t be that upset about Ortho being gone that he’d just coop up in his room, right? He clearly remembered Idia wishing that Ortho could live more of a life as a kid, and this trip is one of those moments.
“C’mon, boss, are ya gonna eat or scowl off into space for the rest of lunch?” Ruggie leaned across the table, nabbing a few fries from his tray, “You look ugly when you scowl like that, if you even care.”
“Shut up. Don’t care.” Growled Leona lowly as he pushed his tray closer to Ruggie, watching him reach for a few more fries, “I’m allowed to scowl all I want.”
“What are you even scowling about, huh?” Ruggie raised an eyebrow at him as he popped a fry into his mouth, “Saying that we haven’t seen Idia in a bit, did he dump you?”
Jack spat out his drink, coughing loudly, “Did Idia actually break up with you?!”
“No! You fuckin’ idiots!” Leona slammed his fist on the table, “We’re still dating!”
“Go be a good boyfriend then and get him some lunch, yeah?” Ruggie cut a piece off of Leona’s steak and ate it, damn greedy hyena, “Since he’s been gone, he’s probably been starving himself and drowning his tears in Mountain Dew over his little brother growing up and going on little friend trips. Plus, you want to see him anyway, don’t you?”
“I do, but I’m not goin’ to go see him just because you say so- and stop toughing my fuckin’ steak!”
Ruggie touched his steak anyway, tearing off another bite, “Mac and Cheese is on the menu for lunch, doesn’t Idia like that?”
“Great sevens- fuck you, Ruggie.” Leona got out of his seat, pointing one finger at Ruggie, “You better share that with Jack, got it? He’s growin’ faster than you ever will, and he needs that meat more than you to grow.”
“Oh fuck off! I’m pretty tall for a hyena!” Ruggie flipped him off as Jack stared with an expression that looked like a mix of horror and intrigue, “Go kiss your boy or whatever!”
Leona flipped Ruggie off as he stomped off towards the food line. He’s going to get Idia the biggest portion of Mac n’ Cheese there is, and he better be damn grateful and explain why he’s been hiding away! He isn’t going to leave his boyfriend alone, damn it! He made a promise to Ortho, dearly missed him, and got played by Ruggie of all people! He’s going to make this trip worth all of that (and maybe get a kiss. He really does miss Idia)!
-🦁💀-
As usual, the halls of Ignihyde are unsurprisingly empty. Not many hung out in the main area, and if they did they’d either be too distracted to notice him or skitter away at first sight. Still, despite its usual quiet chill, it felt oddly quiet and lifeless in a way he couldn’t quite explain. Perhaps it’s because there’s no Ortho rushing down the hall to greet him (he always knew when Leona entered the building for some reason), and the hall lights just seemed to dim around him as he got closer to Idia’s room.
Leona paused in front of Idia’s room, where the hall lights seemed the dimmest for some reason. What’s going on? He felt fine yet not standing here, as if there’s a familiar, inky tingling clutching onto his spine. He didn’t like whatever he was feeling, it’s suffocatingly heavy, like a weight he couldn’t quite shake off. Despite wanting to walk away from this uncomfortable feeling, it felt undoubtedly familiar in a way that seemed to tempt an itch in the back of his mind; it wanted him to hunger, to feast, to indulge in what is rightfully his regardless of his birthright.
Leona tried to push that tempting desire further back into his mind as he knocked on Idia’s door, “Idia?”
He waited, yet Idia never came. He could hear nothing behind the door; no scrambling, no gaming, nothing. He missed the voice of his boyfriend. He didn’t like what was going on.
“Oi, radish sprout, I’m comin’ in.” Leona flipped open the keypad, pressing in the digits of Idia and Ortho’s birthdays, followed by a 69 because his goofy boyfriend can’t be mature about shit, “You better have a good reason to leave me out here, or else I’m kickin’ your ass.”
The door opened, and Leona walked in, placing the huge to-go bowl of Mac n’ Cheese on Idia’s mini fridge, “Idia?”
Oddly enough, his boyfriend isn’t here. As the door closed behind him, he could hear nothing but a slow, steady dripping coming from Idia’s bathroom. It sounds uncomfortably wet in a way that doesn't sound like water. It’s slower, heavier, and for some reason it made him feel nauseous and desperate to scratch an itch somewhere in his soul that he can’t reach. If he had to describe it, it felt like he was back in the depths of STYX again, watching his boyfriend be consumed by blot. Such a feeling doesn’t make sense; they’re in Night Raven College, not a blot research facility.
“Oi, radish sprout!” Leona gripped the bathroom doorknob tightly, “This isn’t fuckin’ funny!”
It really isn’t funny at all. When Leona opened the door, all he could see is black sickly blot. Idia’s in a tub of blot, eyes closed, hair extinguished to reveal a deep shade of blue. It seemed as if blot was dripping from his head, down his face, spilling down the one arm hung over the edge of the bathtub to allow blot to slowly drip onto the floor and fade into the drain below. He looked deathly pale, face drained of any color but black.
What is this? Why is this happening?
Is his boyfriend fucking dead?
Leona rushed towards the tub, blot be damned, “Idia! Shit!”
He shoved his hands into the heavy, thick blot, trying to grab his beloved. As he made contact with his skin, Idia’s eyes fluttered open, pretty golden eyes looking right at him.
“Eh?” Idia sounded awful, which is expected since he’s been marinating in blot for who knows how long.
“Great sevens, Idia!” Leona tried to pull Idia out, the blot seemed to desperately cling to the both of them, “Talk later! Get out now!”
Idia’s previously disoriented expression switched to something more desperate as he tried to push Leona way, leaving blotted imprints on his shirt, “No- no I'm fine-! Don't pull me out, I'll seriously throw up..!”
Leona stilled to look at his fucking insane boyfriend, “No shit! That’s what blot does to ya, Idia! Makes ya sick!”
“You don’t understand-!” Sobbed Idia desperately, “I’ll be sick without it! Put me back!”
“Fuckin’ sevens- fine!” Leona carefully slid Idia back into the disgusting tub of blot, quickly retrieving some random towel to wipe the blot out of his hands, just touching that shit threatened to make him go mad, “You better have a fuckin’ good explanation for this, Idia!”
“I do- I swear…” Idia desperately tried to wipe away his tears, smearing more blot on his pale skin, “Just… give me a minute.”
Leona felt awful. One of the reasons is because of the blot, but the other is because his boyfriend looks miserable as hell and it might be because of him.
“Ok.” Leona seated himself on the edge of the bathtub, “Are you… ok..?”
“I don’t know.” Murmured Idia quietly, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“Why are you saying sorry?”
“For jumpin’ to conclusions and makin’ you uncomfortable.”
Idia sighed at those words, “Don’t be sorry, Leona. You were worried for me, and I was the idiot who-” Idia paused to look at him before shaking his head, “Nevermind. Can you hand me a towel?”
“Sure.” Leona fetched him one, carefully taking a seat as he held onto the towel, “Here.”
“Thanks.” Idia took the towel, wiping one hand clean of blot before interlacing their fingers together. His hand is cold, which is quite an uncomfortable feeling since Leona is so used to Idia running more on the warmer side.
The two of them sat there quietly, hand in hand, not daring to utter a single word. Leona held onto his hand tightly, afraid to let go. If he let Idia go, he was almost afraid that he’d just slip into the blot that poured from his head and never be seen again.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions, like the blot.” Idia raised his other hand from the blot, allowing it to drop slowly from his fingers like honey, “I owe you so many explanations, so… ask away.”
“Why the blot?” Questioned Leona first, he really needed to know, “All of our blot should be stored safely in our gemstones, yours included. I know damn well your gemstone always looks clear of blot, so what’s all of this comin’ out of you?”
“... You know about my family’s curse, don’t you..?”
“To some extent, yeah, it makes your hair fire.”
“That’s not the whole story of my curse.” Idia fiddled with his unlit strand of hair, “The reason why it’s on fire is because it’s burning blot. Stupid, isn’t it? Blot is horrible, yet unlike an average mage I’ll die without it. I burn my own blot, but also blot around me… it’s one of the reasons why my damn family has to stay trapped down in STYX forever.” He let out a rather pitiful chuckle, “When there’s no fire to burn all this blot, it’ll just come pouring out since I have so much of it in me, you know?”
“That’s fucked.” Leona found himself saying that out loud, “What if you don’t have any blot to burn.”
“I dunno. I just know I’ll die. Maybe my fire will use me as kindling and won’t stop until there’s nothing left of me.”
“That is…”
That is awful.
From what Idia had briefly told him long ago, his curse made his hair turn to flame, and Leona had been stubbornly praising a curse that could kill the man he loved. Is he an Idiot? Is he stupid? He’s told Idia over and over that his hair is beautiful, like the twinkling galaxy that could be seen above their heads at night. He had called Idia a god trapped in a body of a mortal with his flaming hair as proof, when it is- has Idia secretly been uncomfortable about it? That the curse that feeds off of him is loved?
“I’m sorry.” Apologized Leona like a fucking idiot.
Idia looked at him with more love than he deserved, “What are you sorry for now, kitty-cat?”
“For sayin’ all that sappy shit about your hair when-”
Idia gripped his hand tightly, “N-No- please! Don’t say that! I-I get my hair is one of the world’s most crappy rolls, b-but I really like it when you compliment it! Really! It feels more like- like me! More like me than some curse I’m stuck with!”
“... So, it’s ok if I keep complimenting your hair..?”
“Absolutely!” Sputtered Idia, “U-Unless you don’t want to, of course, I mean-”
“I’d love to.” Leona raised the hand he held to kiss it, “Every part of you is worth loving.”
Idia blushed and sputtered nonsense at those words, and Leona found himself wishing that his boyfriend’s hair wasn’t damp with blot so that he could see the tips of his hair turn pink. It’s a very cute sight, ok? He needed to see it more in his life.
“Still, something doesn’t add up, Idia.” Leona watched as a particularly fat blob of blot fell off of Idia’s face, joining the rest of the blot below with a rather hollow plop, “We’ve had a few baths together before, and your hair didn’t start drippin’ blot like this when I got your hair wet. What’s the difference?”
“It’s… complicated.” Idia briefly bit his lip in thought before he spoke, “Think of me like a glass. You can pour water in slowly, and it’ll hold all of it, until you hit a certain moment of time where the steady stream of water overflows. I’m kind of like that. My hair can stay wet for an hour, but after that the blot just starts to overflow.”
That… makes sense, weirdly enough.
“Ok. I think I get it.” Leona decided to move on to his next question, “Why were you sitting in the bath for more than a few hours? I’m assuming all this blot isn’t from two hours of bath time.”
As Idia moved ever so slightly in the tub, the blot around him hardly seemed to ripple and give way to his movements, “Do I… have to answer that?”
“You don’t have to.”
“I-I should… I-”
“You don’t owe me anything, Idia.”
Silence lingered between them for a moment before Idia spoke, “I want to answer that… please.”
Leona had no reason to refuse his willingness at this point, “... Knock yourself out, radish sprout.”
“I just wanted to… to be a good brother.” Started Idia, “A good niisan for Ortho. When he asked me to go on a trip with his friends, I-I felt awful, I didn’t want him to go…”
“Why not?”
“I was scared.” Idia’s lips quivered as he spoke, his voice just as unsteady as he curled up in his blot, “I just- I don’t want to be separated from him- we’re almost never apart.”
Leona simply nodded along to Idia’s words. He remembered Ortho saying the same thing to him before he left, he never knew that Idia’s separation from Ortho would affect him this much.
“Why were you scared?” Leona rubbed his thumb over Idia’s hand lightly, hoping the gesture is somewhat comforting, “Is it because Ortho’s out of your sight?”
“Yes! Exactly!” Despite the quiver in his voice, Idia spoke loudly, “Because he’s out of my sight!”
“He won’t get hurt without you, he’s a big boy.”
“You don’t understand, Leona, I know he won’t hurt himself, it’s just that- that I’m scared I’m going to lose him- again. Again and again and- whenever he’s out of my sight, he’s gone! I already lost one little brother by looking away, and I almost lost my other one in the same fucking way because I- because I was blinded! By blot, by grandeur!” Idia pulled at his hair, which Leona was quick to stop (he didn’t want his boyfriend tearing out all of his hair in a fit of insanity over blot or anything), “Every adventure- every adventure is almost always a departure, Leona! Don’t you understand?! I’m scared that he’ll go on an adventure and be gone! I’m scared, but he’s a ‘hero’! ‘Heroes’’ deserve to be in the sun with friends! ‘Villains’ don’t! I’d just be a ‘villain’ by stopping him!”
Adventure and departure? Heroes and villains? Leona couldn’t quite understand where Idia was going with this, but he felt like he did at the same time. Idia is obviously scared, isn’t he? Of losing Ortho, of having his brother out of his reach once more when he most needed him. Leona could understand that, somewhat, with how he got his scar… he’s luckier in the sense that he nearly lost an eye rather than lost a whole person that mattered to him.
“You’re worried that you’ll lose him, right?” Questioned Leona slowly, “But… he’s a ‘hero’, in your words, isn’t he? Heroes don’t lose.”
Idia looked at him blankly, “What are you implying?”
“I’m sayin’ that he’s a hero, and heroes don’t lose, so there’s no way you’d lose your brother.”
“Yes there is!” Hissed Idia, “Heroes die! Think about my dead and very gone brother, Leona! He was a hero- he was supposed to be one! And I’m the villain that killed him! I’ve been a villain from the start, but my brothers-” He let out a heavy sigh, “I couldn’t save him. I’m no hero. What am I supposed to do if I can’t save the only other brother I have left?”
Damn, that's quite a curveball of a question, isn’t it? Well, he’ll just have to roll with it…
“In the tale of the Lion King, Simba had to watch his father, a hero, die. But, through the death of his father, Simba made himself a hero and carried on his father’s torch. His light inspired others, and…” Leona could recall that tale with ease with how often he was told of it as a child, “Isn’t that like you, Idia? You’re just carrying on your brother’s torch, and that’s inspired your even smaller brother to carry his own torch. So, you’re both heroes, and I think you’ll both be fine, no matter the distance.”
Did that even make sense? Sure, Leona was saying an absolute word salad of shit, but he’d rather try anything than sit here and watch his boyfriend be miserable in blot for the next couple of hours.
“You’re stupid.” Stated Leona, which would’ve honestly had more of a punch if Idia wasn’t whimpering his every word, “You’re so fucking stupid, kitty-cat.”
“Stupid?!” Sure Leona wasn’t even sure if what he said was comforting, but he’s trying really hard to have a good heart-to-heart damn it!
“You’re so fucking stupid…” He’s shedding a few tears now, which Leona felt partially guilty about because maybe he is an idiot, “I can’t be a hero, dumbass. I got the hero killed, and-and I built my other brother to be the hero because I can’t be one.”
Leona leaned over to carefully wipe away a few of his tears, “Villains want the downfall of heroes, don’t they?”
“Y-Yeah…”
“So you can’t be one. You’re scared the hero gets hurt, you’re scared that you can’t save Ortho if he’s far away from you. Isn’t that the attitude of a hero?”
“I could just be a-a weirdly obsessed one…”
“That’s just you being a caring older brother, Idia. Older siblings of heroes can be worried about the hero, y’know?”
“That doesn’t prove your point…” Idia leaned towards Leona’s touch with a huff, “Some older siblings of heroes don’t care.”
Leona really wished he could shake Idia until he listened, “You do. Plus, you’re a hero to Ortho, so you can’t claim all this villainous shit forever.”
“You don’t know if Ortho feels that way.”
“You don’t know either since you’re here thinkin’ you’re the villain for not wantin’ to be away from him because you’re a scared and concerned older brother.”
“I-I’m selfish! I want to keep him stuck here with me when he deserves to be out there! In the sun! Happy!”
“You’re worried about him, what’s wrong with that? Doesn’t make you any less of a hero, radish sprout.”
“Great sevens, it’s impossible to argue with you…” Murmured Idia under his breath, “Yeah. I’m worried, I’m scared. Doesn’t make me more of a hero.”
“Ortho would say otherwise, he often looks at you like you’re everything good in the world.”
“That’s only because he loves me.”
“It’s because he loves you, but it’s also because you’re his personal hero.”
“Sevens, shut up.”
Leona was going to personally count this as his own win since Idia isn’t spitting out some villain bullshit, “Maybe if you get out of the tub and come eat some mac n’ cheese for me.”
“You brought mac n’ cheese?”
“Yeah. I haven’t seen you at all yesterday, it’s only appropriate for me as your dashing boyfriend to assume you aren’t eating crap in here… which I might be right about saying that you’ve been rotting in a tub for hours before I got here.”
“I swear, my sad little bath for mental health reasons was supposed to be quick, but then I just got too sad to leave so I just took a nap…” Groaned Idia, “Can’t blame me.”
“I’m not, I get it. You’re worried about Ortho, but I’m sure he’ll come back fine without a single scratch… trust me. Heroes like Ortho don’t lose.”
“I guess I should have more faith in him as a hero, but I’m just…”
“Still worried?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s ok.”
“It’s ok…” Idia struggled momentarily to properly sit up so that he wasn’t just slouching in blot, “Can you get me a towel? I need to dry my air so that it can ignite again, then I’ll get out.”
“Sure.” Leona fetched a towel, and personally tasked himself with drying Idia’s hair of water (if there was even any in there) and blot, “Hold still.”
“Y-You don’t have to!” Squeaked Idia loudly as Leona held his hair, “I can do it myself.”
“I’m your boyfriend and you’re sad, let me pamper you a little bit.”
“F-Fine…”
They stayed quiet, and Leona worked on trying every inch of Idia’s hair. It was hard when Idia’s generating blot faster than Leona could wipe it all away, but in no time that dulled, damp hair was ablaze with life once more. Leona really missed seeing it, oddly enough. Suited Idia much better anyhow, he looked like he was at death’s door without it.
“So…” Idia extended his hand, the tips of his hair flushing a familiar pink, “Are you going to help your radish sprout out of this tub of blot?”
“Of course.” Leona grabbed his extended hand, kissing it, “Anything to get you out of this bathroom, it reeks of blot.”
Leona helped his boyfriend out, fetching a towel to pat him dry of blot. He didn’t like how that shit clung to Idia’s skin so desperately, nor did he like how it slipped away into the drain. He hopes that stupid blot gets sent off into the sewers and never seen again. Wait, is it a bad thing to leave whole clumps of blot unattended like that..?
Leona tossed the towel aside, getting a fresher one to wrap around Idia’s shoulders, “What are you going to do with all this blot?”
Idia merely shrugged, “Leave it be, I guess. If the blot has no magical source or host to cling onto, it should just wither away on its own…” Idia frowned, “I did let a lot of blot slip into the pipes, though, I need to check the school’s plumbing later to make sure the blot properly withered away and hasn’t clung onto something magical in the pipes.”
“You can do that?”
“Yeah, you’re talking to the future Director of STYX!” Idia puffed his chest momentarily, “Blot is my specialty!” He proceeded to shrink soon after, “A-And it’s also kinda my fault that I introduced blot to the school plumbing and-” Now his eyes are widening as he straightened up, “You!”
Leona pointed at himself, “Me?”
“I-I’ve exposed you to so much blot!” Idia grabbed his hand, tugging him out of the bathroom quickly before he slammed the bathroom door shut, “H-How do you feel?!”
Now that Leona was out of there, he felt more… refreshed, perhaps. The gnawing hunger seemed to lessen, but it lingered.
“I think I’m ok.” Leona wasn’t quite sure himself, “I’m not overblotting or anything.”
Idia let out a sigh, “Do you have your pen on you?”
“Yeah.” Leona took out his pen from his back pocket, “Why?”
Idia snatched it quickly, examining his magestone, “It’s murky…”
By the looks of it, it really was murky. The once orange gemstone now swirled with dark blot, nearly obscuring the flourish of the magestone. When did that happen..?
“I’m glad you had your magestone on you… it might’ve been worse if it wasn’t helping you with all the blot you were taking in…” Idia scurried over to his desk, grabbing the small skull device he usually brought around before handing it to Leona, “Here, you can borrow my magestone. It definitely won’t have any blot in it, so… it can help you filter out whatever blot that’s left in your system.”
“... Thanks.” Leona probably can’t fit this in his pocket, can he? Still, if he didn’t have his magestone around, what would've happened to him..?
“I’m really sorry…” Idia fiddled with the pen in his hand, “I put your life in danger, and-”
“It’s fine, Idia.” Leona smooched the top of Idia’s head, “I’d go into danger for you any day.”
“Y-You really shouldn’t, Leona! The immense amount of blot I’ve exposed you to could’ve easily gotten a normal person without a magestone-”
“It’s fine, Idia. I’m here, I’m fine.”
“O-Okay, I-” Idia gripped the pen tightly, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Leona hugged Idia close, just because it felt right in the moment, “Everyone is going to be fine, me included.”
Idia nodded into his shoulder, “C-Can I have that mac n’ cheese you brought..?”
“Hungry?”
“Yeah…”
“Yes, you can. I’ll heat it up, go put on clothes or somethin’.”
In comparison to all that blot, the rest of the day went by with ease. Leona got to feed Idia, convinced him to drink a little water, and spent plenty of time with him. All is well, and as hours passed by, the color of life seemed to return to Idia’s skin, which is a relief. It’s not easy to see Idia look paler than he usually is, after all.
As they laid together at night, snuggled together, Idia spoke up,, “Hey, Leona?”
“Yeah?” Leona opened one eye to look at the bundle of blue flame before him, “Can’t sleep?”
“No, I just… wanted to thank you. For coming. It’s nice to have someone here, beats just sitting here alone fretting over Ortho.”
“You’re welcome.” Leona closed his eye again, “I’d come over any time, you just have to call.”
“I feel bad bothering you…”
“Don’t be, I bother you all the time by draggin’ you away from class to nap.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Idia sounded happy, which put Leona’s heart at ease, “Good night, I love you.”
“I love you too, radish sprout.” Leona purred away, just the way Idia liked it, until he could hear his boyfriend’s breath even out with sleep.
He doesn’t really bother with planning for the future, but Leona knew one goal he would like to plan; he’s going to make sure Idia won’t ever be worried and alone ever again. That’s the least he could do as his lover and, hopefully, his husband someday in the future.