#blotober

“This species is known to average around twenty-three hours of sleep per day.” Leona had enough practice with Cheka interrupting his naps to keep his expression under control. Only one corner of his lip twitched upwards. “Researchers have yet to discover this fascinating lack of self-preservation, but theories have circulated the community. The popular one being an inflated ego paired with piles of thaumarks.” 

Another shutter click made Leona’s tail flick. His eyes may have remained closed, but his spatial awareness flared the moment the prefect crept into his tent. The tent crinkled under her precise movements. He wondered how much film her ghost camera held as she snapped another picture. 

“Despite this lazy species contributing little to nothing to the community, documentation of him is wildly popular to the population of female preteen and older. Multiple marriage proposals have been thrown at this lazy good-for-nothing with only minimum success. What is the gatekeeper to this wild beast’s heart? This documentarian is sad to say that the ladies may forever stay heartbroken as the answer to that question has yet to be found.” 

A loud crinkle of the tent floor behind his shoulders signaled the time to strike. He twisted his torso with a speed and dexterity Yuu clearly hadn’t anticipated from her expression of startled dismay. It was easy for him to wrap one arm around her waist and haul her over his hip to land with a startled squeak against the back of the tent. He anchored her legs with his own to limit her method of attack in that area. His other arm snaked around her shoulders, and his fingers tangled with her hair when he cupped the back of her head and shoved her face against his collarbone. 

Yuu’s attempts to squirm away from him were met with a husky chuckle. “Your research is lacking, princess.” 

Yuu huffed into the collar of his outdoor jacket. “I think I've done a very good job.” 

“Lazy is a poor descriptor.” Leona curled around her the more she attempted to squirm from his grasp. He smirked at the pained grunt he received as he effectively maneuvered her into the position of a living body pillow. “Intellectual is a better word. Intelligent, handsome, powerful—.” 

“Lazy, average, egotistical,” she snapped back. Her arm wiggled free from his hold and attempted to reach for the camera that went flying from her grasp when he had snared her. “Lemme up! I have an important job of documenting to do.” 

Leona hummed and loosened his grip as if to let her go free. Her squeak of indignation was all the more amusing when he tightened his grip just shy of her reaching her ghost camera. “And you call me egotistical?” 

“It’s not egotistical if you’re doing a job assigned to you!” 

“But important?” He chuckled again when she clawed at his shirt with her blunted nails. “Last I checked, this camp was set up for the sports team. Not little herbivores running around with a camera.” 

“Just wait until I get free! I’m going to bust out some moves you never dreamed an herbivore could do!” 

His humming laugh shifted into a large yawn. Yuu protested when he rolled more on top of her. “I thought as a documentarian you’d be interested in documenting what was previously a mystery.” 

“And what exactly is that?” 

“The gatekeeper to a wild beast’s heart.” 

Yuu paused in her struggling. Leona smirked at the silence, and his eyes drifted shut once more. Sadly, the silence didn’t last. “Suppose I was interested. For record keeping sake. And totally not to give the girls at Mourning Dove Institute new material on Magicam to leave me alone for a week.” 

Leona’s smirk widened. “So that's why you were sneaking in to take pictures? I almost feel violated.” 

“I am a self-proclaimed documentarian! All of my research is done for the greater good.” 

“I said almost. So you want to know the way to my heart, kitten?” 

“This is getting awkward now.” 

Leona swallowed a chuckle. He leaned down over her head to whisper into her ear. “The key to my heart—” 

“Could you not make this more awkward?” 

“—is a good body pillow.” 

Leona reveled in the moment Yuu realized she had truly become his prey. Her hand shot out to the tent’s wall as she frantically beat against it. “Ruggie! Save me!” 

Ruggie snorted from outside the tent. “You’re kidding me, right? I told you to leave him alone.” 

“Epel!” 

“Sorry, princess. I sent him off to gather more wood. He’ll be gone for a good hour now. Shyeheeheehee.”  

Leona matched the hyena’s snickers with a dark chuckle of his own. “You should know better by now than to sneak into a lion’s den.” 

“You just wait until you fall asleep. We’ll see who regrets what then.” 

Leona emitted a hum of disbelief and nuzzled his face into the top of Yuu’s head. They had barely made camp but she already smelled like the woods: the airy scent of the pine trees with an undertone of smoke from the campfires. He balanced his chin on the top of her head and settled in for a nice, long nap. 

When you see your introverted friend outside for the first time in a month