PRIDE (Leona x Reader) [Twisted Wonderland]

Chapter 16

You moved onto the floor when Leona went to answer the door. Your heart sped up, praying you wouldn't be visible on this side of the bed, against the side of it with your hands around your legs and your head down.

"What is it?" Leona asked, and you could only listen. Please don't let this be about you...

"Housewarden, um, sorry- but, someone's been injured...!"

"Tsk. What do you mean?"

"Someone was attacked in the forest. Jack is taking him to the infirmary..."

"Attacked by whom?" Leona's voice was low and annoyed. He sounded dry with boredom despite the other beastman's urgency.

"A monster. Or, something. Well, that's how he described it..."

The sound of Leona's slow exhale carried an unmistakable hint of annoyance. "Fine. Have you informed the headmaster?"

"No..."

"Then do that. I don't see how this is my business. I'm not the local groundskeeper."

"But-"

Leona shut the door on him.

You turned around and peeked out. "...There's monsters in the forest?" You recalled the thing that had attacked you when Leona first met you. "Like, that blobby thing...?"

"Don't worry about that. We're doing a magic lesson. I'm teaching you how to use that key." His tail flicked behind him with agitation, sharp in contrast to his usual lazy movements.

"Didn't that silver haired guy say something about the forest too?"

He stared at you with a steely, unblinking intensity, "Why are you worried about that?"

"...I just am."

Leona handed you the key. "Do you want to go home, or what?"

You felt a little stiff, taking it and answering, "Well, I do, but this might be more important-"

"It isn't. And it's got nothin' to do with me. The professors will do it, or whoever else Crowley sends. The herbivore with the weasel, probably."

"Weasel?"

His posture shifted in a way that radiated complete disinterest. "I told you not to worry about it. Do you remember the last time you used magic?"

"Oh. I do, but I don't remember how I did it."

"Just close your eyes and... Manifest some power, first." He made a lazy motion with one hand, like a circle.

"...Manifest?"

Leona's brow furrowed slightly, a sigh escaping him as he pushed his annoyance aside. He took your other hand and moved them both to be holding the key. His hands were warmer than yours, and his touch was careful. His nails were kind of long. "In order to use a focus," he said, "like pens or keys, you need to be able to move magic through it. It's not safe to do it without once, since you'll accumulate blot."

"Um. Right... Move the magic..."

He could tell you were struggling. "Close your eyes. Feel it first."

"Feel it how?"

"What did it feel like, the last time you used magic. Powerful?"

"Um, no... It felt more, scary. Like I didn't have control over myself. It just happened on its own..." You thought back to turning yourself invisible. You had definitely felt something, but had assumed it was fear. Had there been something else, too? Maybe. But it was too tangled up to pick it out, especially so long after the event.