Chapter Text
Rook was sitting in the trees, hidden amongst the branches as we watched... He waits until a certain Beastman sits down in the cafeteria. The second Rook sees that, he grins, pulling out his camera while exclaiming to himself, "Ah, merveilleux!" as soon as the words make it out of his mouth, the Beastman tenses before looking out the window and glaring at him. Rook just smiles, "Seems like a Lion's instincts are still sharp when eating... oh how wonderful."
Yes that's right, the man Rook is hunting is no other than Leona Kingscholar. The second Prince of the Sunset Savannah, the Housewarden of Savanaclaw, and the Captain of the spelldrive team. He's up against a prime predator, but lucky for him...He likes the chase. And just like that Leona got up with a scowl and left, half his food untouched. Ruggie, the hyena Beastman that was sitting with Leona, piles the leftover food onto his own plate. Rook slides down the trunk of the tree before dusting himself off. Just thinking of the hunt get him excited. He can't wait to get him in his arms.
Rook walks back to the Pomefiore dorms as he fantasizes about how their cat and mouse game will go. How will he look all helpless?- No, he can't get his hopes up. Even if he knows he'll be the inevitable winner of this game, he can't get too confident. That's how hunters lose their prey. The fall leaves crunch under his feet as he walks. He reaches the mirror chamber eager to tell Vil all Leona's recent behaviours.
Vil rolls his eyes at Rook's rambling, "Why don't you just transfer clubs if you need to 'study' that beast so much?"
"Oh non, non! That wouldn't do. I could never, Roi du poison. I must observe all aspects of beauty!" Rook clasps his hands together as he exclaims, "Roi des Lions is a... unique case! Une chasse unique dans une vie!"
Vil scoffs, "oh please you can find a mangey house-cat like that anywhere." he crosses his arms as he scowls.
Rook cheeks go pink at those words before holding Vil's hands in his, "Your passionate dislike for Roi des Lions is absolument revigorant!! I can't help but feel my heart race."
Vil pulls his hands away before saying, "Don't touch me with unwashed hands."
"My mistake, my Queen." Rook holds his hat to his chest before setting off for the dorm washrooms. He hums a tune as he imagines how Leona would look at the end of his arrows. Oh how the thought silences any other thoughts!
Once Rook's all cleaned up, he sits on his balcony. He watches the clouds before he hears the distinct call of a wood pigeon. Rook is absolutely delighted, he watches it charge at the stray cat. Once the cat bats at it, the wood pigeon grabs the scruff with its talons and flies back into the safety of a nearby tree. Oh how fascinating nature is.
-
In the morning, Rook finishes up getting dressed, putting his hat on before setting out. His schedule got changed due to a miscommunication with the teachers. Class A3... Who does he know that is in Class A3?
He settles in, placing his bag down, and putting on his lab coat and goggles. He stands next to the cauldron and the ingredient cart. Professor Crewel stands at the front of the class before he smacks his desk with the riding crop he carries around, "Listen up pups! I'm only saying this once. This is a two-pup assignment. You'll have to mix up a sleeping potion. Follow the instructions carefully, do I make it clear?"
As the class erupts in, "Yes sir!"'s. Rook calls out, "Oui Monsieur!" Before he can even finish his sentence, Leona walks through the door with a yawn. It seems he's here because Ruggie wouldn't stop nagging him.
Leona stops in his tracks once he spots Rook. He scowls before he glances at the rest of the classroom; seeing that there's groups of two at every cauldron. Professor Crewel walks up to Leona and says, "Wonderful, we needed one more. Now go on pup, there's a free seat next to that french poodle."
Rook can't help but feel his heart soar, working next to the Roi des Lions? What a dream, seeing how Leona works, how he tics, and most importantly; how he acts when they're forced to interact. Rook smiles at Leona before saying, "J'ai hâte de créer de la magie avec toi..." and kissing the back of Leona's hand. Leona quickly growls and wipes the back of his hand on his vest, "Disgusting..."
While Leona is busy grimacing, Rook is savouring the subtle taste of Leona's skin. How he can taste the essence of the lemon. Rook's never noticed that Leona used hand creams... That makes him oddly disgruntled. He wants- no needs to know everything about Leona. He can't get enough. He needs it all.
He suddenly snaps out of it when Leona begins tossing things into the cauldron. Rook observes, curious to what Leona's doing but not stopping him. "Roi des Lions, are you listening to your heart when you're putting in ingredients, or have you done this many times before?" He wonders aloud.
"Tch, shut yer trap. Your voice is grating as it is, I don't needa hear ya when I'm makin' a potion."
That's when Rook notices the colour looks ever so slightly off, "Roi des Lions, It doesn't look right-"
"Didn't I just tell ya-"
BOOM
Blue smoke envelopes the two of them. Crewel comes over as he says, "I said to follow the instructions!"
Leona coughs as he waves away the smoke, "Yeah, yeah, we heard ya."
Rook just stares into the distance, "....Ah, Excusez-moi monsieur."
"Wash off. Make sure to get any residue out of your eyes, nose, and mouth. You two are dismissed." Professor Crewel says before returning to his desk. "Back to work, Pups!"
-
Once Rook makes it back to the dorms, he immediately heads for the showers. He didn't see what Leona put in the cauldron before he started watching. He can't trust his senses. Rook gathers his shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and face wash. He feels tired, so at least he can guess Leona put most of the right ingredients in. That's a relief.
As the warm water begins to run down his back, he finds himself staring at the wall and thinking about Leona. The taste of his hand cream, the look of surprise as the explosion happened, how he look agitated as his senses got hazy. "Beauté..." Rook mumbles at the thought of Leona. Rook helps fester the soap suds on the back of his hand before he spreads the soap on his face. Just as he gets to his chest, he hears Vil, or- he thinks he hears Vil.
Vil calls out, "Rook? I saw you come in here. I heard about what happened at the lab. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just a bit- ah-" He starts to lose consciousness. The sound of the shower covers the thud. As silence fills the vicinity, Vil comes closer. Vil doesn't trust the silence. As soon as he notices his hunter on the floor, Vil calls for help.