#leonxdylas

It slipped out before he could help it.

“It’s because of those cute little ears of yours.”

He’d been chatting with Dylas and Lest about something–Leon couldn’t even remember–and it had slipped out, and suddenly Dylas and Lest were both staring at him.

Leon slid on an easy grin, and the two blinked and turned, continuing their conversation like normal, because Leon making odd, offhanded comments was anything but out of the ordinary.

That night, Leon lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling and mulling over his thoughts. No one ever saw him like this. The playful smile was gone, his mask abandoned as he stared, his stormy blue eyes glaring into the ceiling as if demanding answers from it.

As had become frequent the past few months, a certain guardian named Dylas occupied most of his thoughts. In his day, before he became a guardian, same genders were not even considered to be romantic in any way. It was unheard of. So when he came to this era and discovered Doug and Lest’s… relationship… Leon had been taken aback, to say the least. It wasn’t just their relationship that had surprised him, but the easy acceptance by all in Selphia. Even Ventuswill, who had been around much longer than Leon, laughed and cooed and teased the couple as if it were as natural as fish swimming.

It took a while for Leon to wrap his head around, but he eventually did, and he could watch their moments of romanticism with fondness.

Which brought him to his current predicament.

Leon pressed the back of his hand against his eyelid, but behind them the vision of Dylas persisted. The brooding, quiet guardian had caught his attention almost immediately. He was tall, lean, and sullen–everything that Leon was not. At first, Leon had admired him for his quiet wisdom. Every so often, when they were left alone, they would talk quietly about their reservations about the past, and the difficulties of shifting into the present. Leon never breached the subject of Lest and Doug, because Dylas never seemed to care to talk about it, but Leon wondered if he’d had to adjust, too.

Of course, Leon would always end their talks with a joke, but Dylas would only raise an eyebrow, as if he saw through Leon’s mask like a window, leaving the fox guardian feeling oddly bare.

It was this, Leon was convinced, that lead to his thoughts to be consumed by Dylas. The low, quiet tone of his, the small ghost of a smile that tugged his lips at Leon’s jokes, or the knowing glance in his dark eyes as they shared secrets no one else but the other guardians could understand. But Leon only ever talked to Dylas about these things. For some reason, he felt that Dylas knew him on a level the others didn’t, or maybe couldn’t.

Leon sighed again, rubbing his temples and turning over. He needed to sleep and build up his energy. His mask was growing harder to keep up around the other by the day, and the last thing Leon wanted was for it to falter.

It turned out, he’d had reason to worry, because it faltered the very next day.

He and Dylas were sitting by the pond as Dylas fished, talking about nothing, and there was that ghost of a smile on Dylas’s lips that made Leon’s heart quicken in a way he didn’t want to think about. Leon wondered, briefly and so suddenly it made him recoil, what it would be like to kiss those lips. He shoved the thought from his mind, but it remained trailing at the back, even as their conversation trailed along.

“….really annoying,” Dylas grumbled. He was talking about tourists, of course. They loved bothering Dylas–and Leon, when he didn’t bother to try and disappear during busy afternoons–with flirting. The guardians were an extra draw to Selphia with their exotic looks.

Leon snorted.

“Come on, with a face like that, you should learn to love it,” Leon teased.

Dylas sent him a short glare and Leon grinned.

“It doesn’t bother you?” Dylas inquired. That was one of the things Leon liked about Dylas. He always seemed genuinely curious about Leon’s opinions and feelings.

He shrugged.

“I’m used to it,” he said.

Dylas hummed and murmured, “I guess you would be.”

It took a moment for Leon to register the words, and he blinked a few times.

“Wait… what?”

Dylas glanced from his fishing pole, which had been still except for one tremor since Leon arrived. Dylas’s cheeks were pink but Leon barely noticed over the loud pounding of his heart.

“What?” Dylas echoed, “People stare at you all the time, Leon. You know you’re…”

Leon stared, licking his lips. He tried to ignore the way his heart leapt when Dylas’s eyes followed the movement.

“I’m what?” he whispered.

Dylas’s cheeks darkened and he scowled a little bit.

“You’re attractive, Leon,” he muttered, and threw up a hand, “You’re gorgeous. You know that.”

Leon turned away, his chest feeling like it was about to burst. It was a meaningless compliment, he told himself, Don’t overthink it.

“…didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” Dylas was saying, and Leon forced himself to listen, “but you say stuff to me like that all the time.”

“Yeah, but… I’m joking,” Leon said weakly.

Dylas met his eyes meaningfully, and Leon knew his lie was seen right through. Leon felt transparent and bare, and he licked his lips again.

“Are you?” Dylas asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

No, Leon wanted to scream, but another part of him wanted to brush it off with a joke and excuse himself, and run far away.

 “Leon… it’s okay.”

It’s okay.

Leon nodded mutely. He barely registered Dylas putting down his fishing pole or shifting until a hand closed over his and Leon’s breath caught as just the feel of Dylas’s warm, calloused fingers over his. Was he really that far gone?

He met Dylas’s open, dark blue gaze, and Leon realized that, maybe, he was, and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.