Leona's wife (real)

ii.

Before Yuu can even move from their side of the bed, Leona's growling against the back of their neck,the slight press of his lips on the exposed skin there is a wordless implication.

"Leona..." Yuu calls out yet there's no reply aside from him pulling them closer towards him. The strong, athletic build of his arms wrapped around their waist, one was even slightly slipping underneath their shirt,where the warm pads of his fingers were absently grazing their skin there.

"...I have to go,Leona.." Yuu tries again, wriggling a bit in his hold which earns another deep growl from him. They let out a small yelp when he deliberately lets his canines bite into their neck,not enough it breaks the skin but definitely the right amount of pressure to have Yuu blushing.

"..Yeah, back to sleep yer' mean." Leona's voice is gravelly with sleep, he doesn't even have his eyes open but it already feels like his gaze is boring into their existence. Yuu shivers and it's noticed by him almost immediately.

"Hm...See? My herbivore's agreeing already." The smirk in his tone is evident. He knows he's won.

"Leona..!"

He laughs and the sound makes its way under Yuu's skin and it's suddenly too warm but whichever way they try to turn, Leona doesn't make it easy for them and after a good few minutes of struggling,Yuu resigns to their defeat and Leona buries his face into the crook of their neck, inhaling their scent as they fall back into a deep sleep.

iii.

Azul haphazardly finds himself reaching towards Yuu's arm just as they begin to leave the bed. His hair's a mess and even when they're open, his eyes are struggling against the dimness of the room. Usually Octomers have no trouble in the dark, but Azul's been up on the surface for quite a long while now.

"...Where—" his voice cracks,words breaking off as he clears his throat the same time he feels Yuu leaning closer to him and his hand circles around their forearm. "You're leaving?" He says, and he actually means to ask where they were going but realizes it sounds as if he was implying they were leaving him, which has him recoiling both physically and emotionally.

Yuu notices and as if they're seeing something else in his expression, they call out his name and suddenly,Azul feels them taking back his hand to hold in theirs. The gesture sends a chill down his spine and his breath hitches slightly.

"I—Ah, no, don't mind me...I was merely half asleep and..." He trails off,averting his gaze yet not moving away from Yuu. Why was he like this? It's not as if this was a first. Yuu was an early riser and yesterday Azul had done quite a lot of planning for their cafe which is opening in less than a week from now, so of course he'd be exhausted but this....was completely uncalled for.

He must look like an idiot. Clinging childishly.

"I woke you?" Yuu says but it's not their words that makes Azul blush, it's the slow, deliberate way they lean into him before pressing their head against the side of his. The lightness in their voice cooing in his ear.

For a brief moment,Azul doesn't know what to say. His mouth is open slightly, heart beating out of his chest and stomach knotting in anticipation. He swallows the lump in his throat.

"No..I—"

"Shall we go back to sleep?" A tease. A promise? Or a demand? Azul isn't certain. His chest and stomach flutter. He blinks his eyes and sees that Yuu is grinning up at him coyly.

iv.

Kalim wriggles around in his sleep. He tosses and turns and murmurs about flying carpets and endless parties, and all the while he clings to Yuu as if his life depends on it. He's stronger than he looks,really,and his drowsy embraces also include nuzzling and missed kisses and quite a few times Yuu has woken him up with their laughter echoing off the walls of their bedroom.

He wasn't always this comfortable with them. Kalim has confessed to them that he'd been quite a light sleeper due to the fact that people had actually tried to kill him in his sleep. It was a terrifying and devastating thing to find out about their partner,but it was also a sign of trust. Yuu was touched by the gradual ease in which Kalim managed to let himself sleep in whenever Yuu was in bed with him.

Even now, Yuu finds themselves craning their neck as a laugh leaves their lips while Kalim talks about bejeweled crackers and talking parrots and an oddly specific sceptre that's insisting him to dance on sand. He has his arms wrapped around them,their equal height allowing him to press their foreheads together before he leans his head on their shoulder.

"...Yuu" he murmurs,his voice soft and tender and the warmth of his skin makes Yuu hum in response. "...Yuuuu.." The feel of his lips kissing their shoulder makes Yuu gasp and even in his sleep, Kalim hears it which earns a small smirk from him.

"...hm, let's travel the world,Yuu.." Kalim murmurs, "...I want to show you everything you've never seen before... let's go,okay?"

How could I ever say no? Yuu thinks as a small, endearing smile forms on their lips.

v.

It's quite impossible to wake before the Fae Prince himself, more so when Malleus has expressed his preference of Yuu staying in his arms while they sleep.

Still, Yuu is the first to open their eyes and want to start the day early. Much to his dismay.

He's curling into a fetal shape with Yuu in his hold one morning and the poor human has to verbally tell him they're uncomfortable in the position for him to reluctantly acquiesce, yet not without a faint hint of drowsy irritation in the way he keeps them close against him while his breath fans the back of their neck.

"...Always so insistent in their ways." Malleus drawls out, not really unkindly but rather it sounds as if he was sulking. One hand comes to splay across their stomach,the gesture oddly intimate despite it being an absentminded motion.

"Not really more than you are." Yuu says easily and Malleus lets out a chuckle, the vibration of it settling into their bones. Malleus dips his head so he can plant a briefly but lingering kiss in the crook of their neck which has them slightly open-mouthed,eyes fluttering shut at the intimacy of it all. Malleus hums, satisfied.

"Leave the day for tomorrow." He says, and it's not quite a demand but it's not a question either. As if sensing this, Malleus adds a tender, "Please?" Before he nuzzles against Yuu like an oversized feline with the deep sound of his humming acting as an effective persuasion tool. Yuu huffs,their cheeks warm.

"Fine." They say and as usual, Malleus preens at their submission.

vi.

Idia sleeps curled up; His long, lithe body tucked away until he starts stretching his limbs to change positions. It's when his hand grabs onto nothing, that usually has him stirring awake. He's not particularly sensitive to the absence of Yuu but he lost a game last night and it does sting a little to be alone after that. Ugh. This whole relationship thing has made a mess of him...

He grabs the pillow on Yuu's side and uses it as a sort of body pillow,the drowsy, dim look in his eyes is almost threatening if it weren't for the fact he was still just sleepy.

"...major minus point for romance,Yuu..." He grumbles,the flames of his hair flickering with agitation when he unconsciously takes in their scent on the pillow. He has half a mind to push it off the bed, a somewhat petty gesture driven by the exhaustion but instead he buries his face into it, grumbling incoherently before a deep, thrilling chill ran up the length of his spine, almost as if he'd just took a swig of a health poultice and his entire life bar filled up to the brim.

"...." Right. That was not a good idea. Tartarus imprison him...this was such a cliche thing to get riled up over—What was he? Some kind of sappy dating sim MC? Haaa... He needed to cool down. No, actually, maybe he can just shutdown completely and pretend this never even happened. Yeah, that was better. He could totally do that. Maybe...

vii.

"...You're up early." Vil is sitting up in bed just as Yuu comes out of the bathroom, their bathrobe loosely tied around their waist earning a slight eyebrow raise from him.

"Surprise, surprise." Yuu says, smiling easily. Their voice is quiet and tender and Vil feels himself humming at the sound of it. There's a faint scent of cedarwood and pine in the air which makes the corners of his lips curl in satisfaction because it's the smell of the body wash he'd bought for them.

There's a purposeful glint in his eyes in the moment when Vil beckons Yuu closer, and as they obey without hesitation, the words that leaves his lips are practically a purr.

"And why are you up at this ungodly hour,hm?" His hand comes up to caress Yuu's cheek, deliberately tugging at their earlobe when he pulls away so he can watch them get flustered at his playfulness.

"Oh,ah..Well, I had a bad dream and it woke me up. I thought a shower would help ease me back into sleep." They sound lighthearted about it but Vil doesn't miss the brief shadow cast over their expression. He knew they were embarrassed about it but Vil will simply have none of that. What was there to be ashamed of anyway?

"Come here,Yuu." Vil says as he pats the space beside him; Yuu's usual spot on their bed.

"Um, I'm still a little damp tho—"

"I will pull you by your pretty wrist and have you on my lap instead." It wasn't really a threat, but it had Yuu moving as if it were and Vil almost laughs at them. Once they settle back into bed, he immediately slips his hand around their waist and pulls them closer against him. Yuu makes a startled sound and this time Vil does let out a small chuckle.

"Vil, I'm going to ruin the sheets..." They say, cheeks flushing with warmth that has Vil preening. He almost wants to bully them for more reactions but he leans in to press his lips against their temple instead.

"Don't be ridiculous. You've dried yourself well enough and that robe you're wearing,my love, is meant precisely to keep the sheets from being ruined." He presses another kiss but this time it's lower, right on their cheek.

"Now, why don't you let me spoil you back to sleep,hm?" Vil coos, and when Yuu turns their head to him as if to argue, Vil gracefully leans in and kisses their lips. Earning a muffled,if not breathless sound of surrender from them.

with the sunset savanna functionally on the very brink of social collapse, the economy destroyed, and the environment wrecked, its safe to say that leona is under a lot of stress all of the time. and that’s not even mentioning the stress that naturally comes from rising to power while still young, something he’d have had to deal with even without the sudden deaths of his family and the political turmoil happening under his rule. and while he’s never cruel to you and never takes it out on you — you’re his mate, after all, and he was raised far better than that — all of those points of tension have left him extremely depressed and overwhelmed in ways that will naturally impact your relationship. maybe even to the point of pushing you away for good if you’re not as stubborn as he is (he wouldn’t blame you for leaving either, leona is painfully aware of how bad things have gotten and he’s only still in power because he has no other options…)

that being said he does do whatever he can to somewhat shelter you from all the problems facing your people. not to say that he keeps you in the dark or treats you like some child to be coddled, because that couldn’t be further from the truth and he respects you too much for that, just that the darker sides of things are very carefully kept away from you for your own sake — sevens know he wouldn’t forgive himself if you started blaming yourself for the worst of it…

resources like food and water are incredibly scarce these days, even for the royal family, but despite that you have never once gone without food on your plate and a full glass to drink. sometimes the portions are a bit laughable or odd looking, certainly nothing traditionally grande or that you’d expect a monarch to feast on, but it’s always enough to fill your stomach and that’s enough. more than enough compared to what most get — and even leona, the reigning king, has gone without and set aside both his pride and his hunger just to make sure that his mate never has to

leona is notoriously cagey around the subject of his late family members, to the point of aggressively shutting down even neji with threats of violence whenever his former tutor and current chamberlain dares to even speak their names, but that same avoidance is much more easily broken through when it comes to you. though that’s only to be expected given your status as his spouse and mate. and as the only one who gets to truly see the depth of his grief, his pain, his guilt, you feel that much more determined to stand by his side even as the country falls to pieces around you

leona has never been one to care about tradition or royal protocol and he’s hardly going to start now, so from his perspective there’s absolutely no pressure for you to act or dress any specific way — of course the royal chamberlain will pitch in every now and then, and around certain important festivals and holidays he will pester you both into wearing the proper garments and such, but beyond that as long as you’re comfortable and confident in your clothing he couldn’t care less. not that he wouldn’t love to see you dressed in the official royal garb like you were on your wedding day… but still

you’re the only one who is able to actually break through to leona as you’re the only person who he actually sees as his true equal, so whenever there’s a problem that urgently needs addressing it’s you that neji seeks out first — only ever seeking out leona personally if you’re indisposed or it’s something he’s been sworn to never actually discuss with you, both of which are very rare situations

if you really want to leave the palace and he’s unable to accompany you, he insists on you taking an entourage of guards with you — ones that he knows for certain he can trust — as while it’s common knowledge that the people much prefer you over him, he absolutely refuses to take any chances when it comes to your wellbeing. sevens, you wouldn’t even leave the palace alone if he had his way… but unfortunately he’s never been able to say no to you, hence this compromise

most of his days are spent lounging with you in the area of the palace that’s the farthest away from the crowds that tend to gather at the gates — either sleeping the day away, talking about whatever comes to mind, or playing games of chess that he will occasionally let you win just to see you smile (the only good thing he gets to experience nowadays)

the only real times that you’ll get to see him actively engaging in a situation is when he’s lashing out at someone for mistreating you — as for his many faults as a king, leona absolutely does not play when it comes to his mate — or when he’s having one of his good days and gets to spend some uninterrupted time with you where you’re both able to temporarily forget everything happening around you… even if just for a few short hours