LEONA X YUU, but Yuu is allergic to cats... (P.1)
𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚
The first time Leona realized just how bad Yuu's cat allergy was, he genuinely thought they were dying.
They had only been sitting together beneath the sprawling shade of the Sunset Savannah tree in the dorm area for ten minutes, the afternoon warm enough that Leona had long since abandoned any intention of staying awake. His head rested comfortably in Yuu's lap while his tail lazily swayed back and forth across the grass, and for once the world was blissfully quiet.
Then Yuu inhaled. Leona cracked open one emerald eye.
"...You alright?" Yuu pinched the bridge of their nose, their expression shifting into one of pure dread.
"I..." A tiny hitch interrupted them. "I think..." Another hitch.
"A-ah..." Leona sat up just in time to watch Yuu explode into a fit of sneezes.
"Achoo! Ah-choo! Achoo!" Each one came harder than the last, leaving Yuu red-faced and teary-eyed while desperately trying, and failing, to catch their breath. Leona frowned.
"...Did you catch a cold?"
"No," Yuu answered between sniffles, waving a hand weakly. "It's..." Another sneeze cut them off. "...it's you."
"You... you're a lion." Leona blinked.
"And lions..." Yuu sniffed miserably, "...are cats."
"I'm allergic to cats." Silence settled over Savanahclaw. A butterfly fluttered past. Somewhere nearby, birds chirped cheerfully. Leona stared. "...You're telling me," he said slowly, "that my existence makes you sneeze?" Yuu gave him an apologetic smile before another violent sneeze answered for them.
Leona Kingscholar had never considered his species to be an inconvenience before.
Sure, his tail occasionally knocked things off tables, his ears twitched whenever someone spoke too loudly, and he shed enough fur every spring to probably knit an entire blanket, but none of those things had ever bothered him. Now they bothered him immensely. Because everywhere he looked, he found evidence. Chocolate strands clinging stubbornly to his uniform. Soft tufts tangled in the corners of his dorm room. Even the pillow he napped on seemed determined to betray him. He had never noticed just how much fur a lion actually produced until he started imagining Yuu sneezing every time they got within five feet of him. "...This is ridiculous," he muttered. Unfortunately, Ruggie chose that exact moment to walk in. "What is?" Leona was standing in front of a mirror holding a brush. Not just any brush. A brush large enough to groom a horse. Ruggie looked from the brush, to Leona, then back again. "...Boss."
"...Are... are you brushing yourself?"
"I don't want herbivore sneezing." Ruggie blinked once. Twice. Then a grin spread across his face that immediately made Leona regret speaking.
"You woke up early just to—" Leona's glare was so intense that Ruggie wisely decided survival was the better option.
"...I'll stop talking." Unfortunately, brushing only helped so much.
No matter how much fur Leona removed, somehow another strand always escaped. One afternoon Yuu was helping him study, or rather, pretending to study while Leona ignored every page in his textbook, and everything seemed perfectly fine. Until Leona stretched. His tail flicked behind him. A tiny brown hair floated through the air with all the grace of a feather. Yuu watched it descend in slow motion. Leona watched Yuu watch it. The hair landed squarely on Yuu's sleeve. "...Don't," Leona warned. "I don't think I have a choice." The sneeze hit before Yuu even finished the sentence. It came once. Then twice. Then several more times in rapid succession until tears streamed down their face. Leona reached over without thinking and gently plucked the offending strand from their sleeve before brushing away a few more he hadn't even noticed.
"...Sorry." Yuu looked up, still rubbing their watery eyes.
"...Why are you apologizing?"
"My immune system is the one throwing a tantrum."
"My fur started it." Yuu couldn't help laughing.
"You sound like you're negotiating peace between two countries."
"It'd probably be easier."
From then on, Leona became strangely meticulous whenever Yuu was involved. He changed into freshly washed clothes before meeting them. He brushed his mane/hair(?) every morning, even though he hated the effort. He refused to let Yuu borrow his jackets anymore, despite knowing how much they liked stealing them, because the inside was always lined with enough loose fur to trigger another sneezing fit. When Yuu eventually confronted him about it, they found him sitting outside the dorm, carefully picking brown hairs off his sleeve with an expression usually reserved for difficult chess matches.
"You've been avoiding touching me."
"You absolutely have." He didn't answer. Instead, he continued staring at another stubborn strand clinging to his cuff. Yuu sighed before walking over and sitting beside him.
