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[octoblot]

[... Oh. He had kind of suspected it would take a turn somewhere, given the question that Leona had posed at the start about how cheetahs have what look like tear stains on their face. He frowns a little when Leona describes her crying, until he reaches that last sentence.]

... Hmm. That's quite a strong statement to make.

[But he doesn't dislike it. Leona is actually quite good at phrasing and telling this story in a way that provokes interest.]

[effortaverse]

Damn right it is. And Izinyembezi took it to heart.

So she went into the village to look for her children, and when she entered the village, the people stood in fear of her fangs. But as they stood in defense, they saw the tears that stained her cheeks. They stopped to ask the reason, and when she told them she was searching for the man who'd stolen her children, they lowered their spears.

And so Izinyembezi went through the village, through every home, and wherever she went and told her story, the men that feared her lowered their spears. Until finally she heard a cry that led her to the home of that poor sucker who'd stolen her kids.

[He grins almost wickedly.]

Izinyembezi found him and took him down quick. And while the hunter lay pinned under her claws, he cried out to his fellow men for help.

But everyone who'd heard Izinyembezi's cry turned their backs on 'im, and let Izinyembezi make her kill.

When she reunited with her kids, they'd gone and cried themselves tear stains, too. And no matter how much they kissed the tears from each other's faces, the black marks remained.

In her kids, and her kids' kids, and every last cheetah born after that.

[octoblot]

[Azul listens, and the more he does, he has a sudden, sneaking suspicion of why Leona chose this story specifically to tell him. That something about it had perhaps reminded the other man of Azul, and how his own face was stained with ink after those times he had cried in front of Leona.

He's not sure how to feel about that, if that is the case. Is he supposed to feel better or inspired in some manner about that particular instinct of his being relatable for a creature that Leona has knowledge about? Or is he once again thinking too hard about this and that it's just a coincidence that Leona picked out that story to tell here...

... He's too sleepy to ask. Instead, he simply gives a soft huff in acknowledgment, eyes still closed.]

Huh... I see...

[effortaverse]

[Leona sure doesn't give any indication one way or another. It's a good thing Azul can't see how smug he looks, though, content with having gotten Azul to chill out. He can hear the drowsiness in Azul's voice.]

And there you go, that's your story.

Time to sleep.

[octoblot]

[Azul makes some kind of noise, though it's hard to tell whether it was an agreement or an attempt to say something to keep the conversation going, instead of giving in to sleep.

Either way, he goes quiet now. It's not immediate, but give or take a few minutes or so, and Azul's expression slowly smoothes out, no longer a furrow to his brow like he's still thinking about something. An indication that he's relaxed enough that he's finally fallen asleep here at some point.]

[effortaverse]

[Leona watches Azul through one eye for a little while, but it doesn't take long for him to relax too, at the sound of Azul's breathing evening out.

This will work just fine for now. A big yawn, and Leona rests his cheek on his crossed arms, letting himself drift off for their mutual sleep.]

[octoblot]

[Leona will actually manage to get about an hour, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes worth of sleep before something will suddenly jostle him back to wakefulness.

Namely, in the form of Azul that he's still lying on here. Azul's eyes are still closed, still asleep, but something isn't quite right. There's a tension to his jaw as if he's grinding his teeth now, breathing harsher. His limbs are twitching too much to indicate a restful sleep, jerking about like as if he's seconds away from devolving into full on thrashing and flailing despite clearly still being in a deep sleep.

At this point, it would be safe to judge that he's experiencing some kind of nightmare, and that the only reason Leona hasn't gotten kicked or thrown off the bed yet is by sheer luck, and Leona's weight keeping him from squirming too much to cause serious harm to both of them here. Still, it looks like there's a danger of him potentially attempting to roll over and sending them both to the floor if Leona can't get him to wake up before that happens, or at least make him settle back down enough into a calmer manner of sleep...]

[effortaverse]

[Light sleeper that he is, Leona doesn't take much to notice something is up— but by the time he's up and alert, the movements beneath him have gotten a little more concerning. Leona sits up a little, noting Azul's distress under him—

It's like, probably a bad idea to wake people up by touching them when they're having fitful dreams, but that advice is usually given to people who aren't already on top of someone else. So Leona tries to pin down Azul's arms, hovering over him to do so.]

Hey. Hey.

Snap out of it.

[octoblot]

[At first, Azul starts shaking harder in response, initially trying to get free out of Leona's hold. But sleep keeps his limbs heavy, as does the weight on top of them, so after a moment the attempt to flail or roll them both right off the bed and onto the floor thankfully seems to stop for now.

His brow however is still furrowed, a confused-sounding whine leaking from the back of his throat when he stops clenching his teeth as hard as before. His eyelids flicker open for a moment, but his eyes are glassy, and clearly not actually awake still when his gaze happens to land on Leona's face.]

[effortaverse]

Azul.

[Repeats Leona, closer to him now, a little louder. He'd rather not have to shake Azul and risk him being able to hit one of them, so he focuses on calling Azul's attention.]

Hey. Wake up, already.

[octoblot]

[Azul startles at the louder voice, and as a result Leona just barely avoids getting headbutted right in the nose as Azul's head jerks forward slightly with a gasp, before falling back against the pillow once more. He's blinking harder, glassy eyes now trying to focus proper on Leona's face and surroundings.]

... Hah...? Le...ona-san...?

[His voice is rough and groggy, sounding confused still like he's half asleep, even if he does seem to be finally coming out of whatever nightmare he's waking up from here.]

[effortaverse]

Hey.

[That voice seems like enough to release some of that pressure; even if Azul falls back asleep, the important thing is that the dream has been disturbed, probably.]

You were dreaming.

Don't worry about it.

[Instead of continuing to pin Azul down, he leans his weight against his forearm, which he braces beside Azul's head.]

[octoblot]

Oh...

[Thankfully, it seems safe enough to not pin Azul down anymore as he doesn't do that flailing from before anymore. The only movement he makes for now is a slight flex of his hands, and a turn of his head here to glance at where Leona's arm is braced next to his head before he's closing his eyes again.]

... sorry... if I woke you just now.

[He may be on the verge of falling asleep again, but he seems to have gained some amount of awareness to guess that he was moving too much before, and that it had disturbed Leona's own sleep here.]

[effortaverse]

Yeah, yeah.

[he doesn't need the apology. what he does do, instead, is press his weight back down on Azul as he settles again. he pushes some of Azul's hair out of his face, gentle with his little act of grooming.]

Don't mention it.

Just get back to sleep.

[octoblot]

[Azul is unable to hide the surprise that widens his eyes a little--he had been expecting, perhaps, to be interrogated on what he had been dreaming about (which he'd rather avoid if he can because it was something embarrassing and stupid), or that Leona was going to get up and go instead of settling back down on him here, or the gentle brush of his hair out of his face.]

You're...

[Not leaving? Actually wanting to stay even if he potentially kicks you or something in his sleep again?

Whatever it is that Azul is attempting to ask doesn't quite make it out, his eyes already starting to drag close again from exhaustion. The nightmare did nothing to ease his tired state after all, so it's all too easy to give in to the siren call of sleep again like this. Especially when Leona is nice and warm--almost like a weighted blanket, maybe, as one of Azul's arms absently curls around one of Leona's here as best as he can in his current sleeping position.]