Summary: Axeru severely questions himself as to whether the nickname he has given the man he loves is appropriate.
cw: oc x canon (Leona x Axeru) Neither of them has a stable relationship yet, but if you look at them from a distance, you would easily believe that they do. Are they just pretending that no one notices? lol. This happens approximately in chapter 5, Pomefiore.
English is not my first language, so there may be grammatical errors. I apologize for that!
Axeru wasn't good at remembering names, not off the top of his head. Every time someone introduced themselves, he had to ask their name once or twice, obviously feeling embarrassed about revealing his poor memory—or complete lack of interest—. Maybe that's why he very cleverly came up with the brilliant idea of giving people nicknames.
They weren't specific nicknames like the ones Floyd gave, for example; they were not very individualistic. Very general: “Hey little guy,” “Hey big guy,” “Trio of idiots,” “Dumbass,” were some of the few in his repertoire, and these were only used if they were meant to annoy the person in question.
However, there was one that was born out of other intentions... a very special one, one that sounded softer, gentler, more loving. This nickname wasn't because Axeru had forgotten that person's name; in fact, that man could never forget it, even if his memory were erased, because it was burned into his heart. Even so, the nickname was born from a mere thought:
“I am not worthy of calling him by his name.”
So with that, whenever Axeru was with that person, he called him by his nickname: “(My) King."
(...)
The relationship between Axeru and Leona was curious. At first, outsiders saw them as oil and water, then it was similar to someone trying to swat away an annoying mosquito, but later it evolved into a relationship of mutual tolerance. It wasn't that the shorter one couldn't tolerate Leona, quite the contrary, it was the prince who had mixed feelings.
Certainly, for Leona, the redhead was... quite a “spectacle,” changing from act to act, and it was partly fun to try to guess which facet the sophomore would choose to use each passing day, but what was happening now took her by surprise.
—“Leona-san...”—. He could be heard, softly but with some hesitation, as if wondering whether to call her that or not.
The prince, who was lying on the warm grass of the botanical garden as he did almost every afternoon, only moved his right ear slightly, followed by his lion's tail in a heavy, loose movement. Getting no response, Axeru just sat down next to him, respecting his distance.
—“What about that?”—. The dorm leader asked after a few seconds of silence.
—“What?”—. The redhead asked with genuine innocence, despite already sensing what was going on.
—“The way you call me. Are you tired of being sickeningly sweet to me? Or did Ruggie brainwash you into calling me the way he does?”— Leona asked, though he didn't sound hostile or angry, no... it was something else.
Axeru didn't look at him, staring instead at his own fingers, which were touching and twisting together nervously. After a moment of silence, the younger boy spoke.
—“It's not that,”— he said, then continued. —“It's just... it's temporary, until I can think of something better.”—.
Something better? Leona thought, opening one of his eyes to fix his sharp gaze on the boy who had taken many liberties with him, including sitting next to him. Axeru gathered all his courage and fixed his gaze on Leona too, detecting curiosity and a certain... annoyance? Perhaps it was just his paranoia.
—“It's just that, I thought...”—.
—“Congratulations.”—. Leona interrupted cynically, yet a slight curve could be seen on his lips, one that widened a little more when he saw that Axeru also laughed at his seemingly offensive comment and relaxed more.
—“Wow, yeah, yay, I thought.”—. He laughed, then tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. —“I thought that maybe continuing to call you that might offend you.”—.
After that, silence. Leona now fixed both his emerald eyes on that “herbivore” next to him. Not annoyed, not irritated, just giving him silence so Axeru could continue.
—"I was talking about it with the guys, you know, Kalim, Silver, and Ruggie too, one afternoon when we got together in the cafeteria for lunch. We talked about my bad memory and how I tend to give nicknames and all that... but suddenly “this” topic came up, right? This... nickname."—. Axeru continued, emphasizing with his index finger and pointing quickly and repeatedly at both himself and Leona, the latter still saying nothing but already knowing everything that was going on, it wasn't very difficult to put two and two together.
—"Kalim didn't find anything wrong with it; in fact, he thought it was normal. Normal according to his sense of normality, I suppose… but then Silver asked me if it bothered you, arguing that maybe the nickname was like rubbing salt in the wound."—.
Leona had a slight twitch in his eye, but not because he had hit the nail on the head. He sat down on the green grass and brought his hand to his forehead, followed by a heavy sigh.
—“And of all the airheads at this school, you listened to the one with the most air in his brain.”—. The prince replied in a bad-tempered tone.
—“Hey, he wasn't the only one. Ruggie also told me with a smirk... a very curious one, I wouldn't know how to describe it."—. Axeru said, trying to remember so he could give a better description.
Leona didn't need to visualize it; he already knew what kind of smile it was.
—“I don't care,”—the third-year said, causing Axeru to look at him again. “I don't care what people think or say.”—.
With that response, the young lion brought his gloved hand to the redhead's head, caressing it and combing his long bangs back to reveal those carmine eyes that stood out like the most beautiful sunrise, those eyes so sincere that they were incapable of lying.
—“If you feel comfortable calling me that ridiculous nickname, then go ahead.”—.
Axeru was stunned, unable to say anything in those seconds when that hand had so gently tousled his hair, only coming back to earth when Leona removed his hand and Axeru's hair fell back over his face.
—“So... can I do it?”—. Axeru asked as if he needed a second confirmation.
—“Idiot.”—. Leona had been gentler with him, more sincere, slightly more permissive, and yet...
—“Is that a yes or...?”—.
—“I'm having second thoughts.”—.
—“Come on, my king, don't be so bitter~.”—.
After that afternoon, Leona could swear that nickname sounded gentler than before.
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