Twisted Wonderland Moments

😴Night on the Hammock (Leona/Mara)

This takes place when Ruggie is at the masquerade event.

Since Mara had to be Leona's temporary 'lackey' while Ruggie's away, she figured this would be the perfect opportunity to clean up his bedroom. Which she was more than eager to do.

She knew his room was a mess, but when she actually started cleaning, it was way messier than she thought. Other than the clothes lying all over the place and the unkept bed, there was dust everywhere, items scatter. Cleaning his room was on top of the list she was looking to personally.

The cheetah had scrubbed, vacuumed, wiped, and organized all she could in his room. Standing back as she brushed the sweat of her forehead, she observed her work and effort put into the room. There was no dust hiding anywhere. The bed was neat, and the sheets were cleaned and replaced with fresh new ones. The room was radiant from the savanna sun.

She smiled proudly at her work, purring in satisfaction. "Leona better repay me for this." She said, stretching her back as she heard it pop from constantly bending and twisting to clean up every angle in the room.

"Whiiiistle." Her ears perked at a whistle, and she looked behind her to see Leona entering the room, his green eyes lazily yet actively observing his now clean room. The cheetah grinned at him, eagerly anticipating his reaction.

"So what you think? Nice and clean, huh?" She pointed out, wagging her tail impatiently yet excitedly. Leona glanced at that little quirk and smiled a little, finding it cute. Made him think of his nephew.

"I'll admit, you did pretty good. I'll have to reward you later." He complimented, satisfying her as she beamed at him, ears upwards proudly. Leona had to admit, her cleaning skills put Ruggie to shame. But he thought what he didn't know while he's away wouldn't hurt him.

His gaze then fell down on his clean bed with the brand new sheets. He was already tempted to sleep on it. But the cheetah was quick and caught his where he was staring. Without a second thought, she side stepped in front of him, blocking him from the bed. "No. You are not sleeping on the bed when I've just cleaned it." She emphasized firmly, wagging a finger at him.

His eyes widened initially, surprised, but it instantly changed to annoyance. "Are you serious? I came to take a nap and just told you you did well. I don't even give that kind of pleasure to Ruggie when he does this. Plus, this is my room and my bed." Leona retorted, his ears pressed against his head.

The cheetah sighed as her ears flattened, unsurprised by this reaction. "I had a feeling you were gonna nap on the bed as soon as I finished cleaning."

"Luckily, I have a solution that we both can be happy about." She assured him, confidence brimming in her golden eyes. Leona raised an eyebrow at her, watching her walk over to his closet, where he noticed an orange cloth wrapped up and leaning against it. "What's that?" He cocked his head to one side.

"It's a hammock from the camping gear we used at Vargas's training camp. Your room has those two big pillars. We can use that to hold the hammock." She explained as he looked over to where her eyes directed to the pillars.

His ears perked at that idea as he smiled, already liking that. Especially with the sun setting down, that meant the weather would be cool. "You know. I like the way you think."

To her surprise, he took the hammock from her hands and helped her set it up. Once it was secured, Leona lay down inside the hammock, getting comfortable in it. He sighed in content, already feeling sleepy.

Mara had to stifle a giggle from how he really didn't hesitate to show his feline side. She found it humorous. She started to turn and take her leave so he could sleep in peace. But she suddenly felt something caught her waist and glanced down to find Leona's tail around her. She turned back to face him with a questionable look.

"Come here."

He motioned his head back to the hammock, implying he wanted her to join him. Mara felt a blush creep up her cheeks with how warm she felt. It sounded simple yet assuring when he said that. "You've been working your tail off cleaning. I bet you feel sore just standing." He explained to her, slightly tugging her closer with his tail.

Mara did feel sore and wanted to just rest in bed. It was tempting. She admitted it, and with the weather cooling down, that only made it more tempting. But she shook her head, trying to be the more level-headed one.

"Ruggie may be away, but Jack is still around. What if he catches us like this?" She reasoned with caution. Their relationship was something kept between them with only Grim and Yuu knowing about it. "Jack? Are you serious?" The lion retorted in fustration. Grabbing his own tail, he made one firm pull, and Mara slammed against his chest.

In one swift motion, his hand was on her back, and his tail pushed her legs up onto the hammock. His other hand wrapped around her waist, holding tightly and close against him. The hammock rock briefly from the sudden weight being thrown on it.

"Leona! Are you crazy?! You're gonna make us fall!"

He chuckled in amusement at her reaction, liking how she clung to him and her tail wrapped around his arm. "Heh. I thought you were faster than that." He teased, his amusement growing when she snapped her head to him and glared at him flatly. Her tail gently but fiercely smacked against his arm as punishment. That only made him chuckle louder and her mood worse. He always loved their little bantering.

Once Leona relaxed, he gently took off her headscarf she was wearing while cleaning. Her glare softened, staring at him in confusion. "Look, Jack's a good boy. I don't think he is the type to rat on us. Heck, he might be overjoyed. And besides, think of this as your reward. I could hear you cracking those sore bones of yours when you finished cleaning." He reasoned calmly, running his fingers down her hair to smooth out the dreads coming out from cleaning.

Mara thought on his words for a while. He did have a point that Jack, being a wolf, was loyal and wouldn't really betray them for anything. Second, being in the lion's arms while he gently ran his fingers through her hair, plus with the wind blowing inside from the night settling in, she was starting to fall asleep.

Her eyes were getting heavy, and when his fingers moved to her ears, one of her weak spots, she started yawning, showing her sharp white teeth. Leona chuckled quietly, finding her behavior endearing. The fierce king cheetah had moments where she started acting like a little cub.

"Fine, you win." she admitted to him. She then smirked at him before adjusting her position, so she was nestled against his chest with her head tucked under his. Their tails wrapped around each other as Mara purred contently in his hold. Within seconds, she was already falling asleep in his arms.

Leona glanced down, staring softly at her. He knelt down to kiss her forehead before gently rubbing his head against hers as a way of nuzzling. Leaning his head back against the hammock, he let out a roar like yawn before gladly letting sleep fall on him.