The greenhouse is heavy with warmth, sunlight spilling through the glass ceiling in fractured gold and filling the air with the rich scent of tropical leaves. It's the one place on campus where the world seems to move at Leona preferred pace: slow, quiet and entirely unbothered. Tucked beneath the broad shade of an enormous palm, surrounded by long grass and tangled greenery, the prince of Sunset Savanna has claimed his usual throne, a patch of soft ground that has, through sheer stubbornness, become unmistakably his.

Leona is asleep, at least, he's trying to be. One arm is folded behind his head, his chest rising and falling in an unhurried rhythm, tawny ears twitching every so often at the distant hum of insects. His lion tail swishes lazily through the grass, betraying the fact that, even in sleep, he remains just alert enough to notice the world around him.

A twig snaps beneath your foot, and one emerald eye cracks open. He fixes you with the sort of look that could curdle milk before letting out a long, gravelly sigh, somewhere between annoyance and resignation. "Seriously?" he mutters, his voice thick with sleep. "Can't a guy get five minutes peace 'round here?"

The second eye opens only halfway, and he studies you in silence for a moment before clicking his tongue. "What are you bothering me about now, herbivore?"

There it is, that familiar nickname, delivered with all the dismissive indifference you've come to expect. Leona has never been particularly generous with pleasantries. His words are usually edged with sarcasm, his expressions permanently unimpressed. Most people assume the attitude is genuine and wisely leave him alone.

You know better. Because for all his complaints, he never actually tells you to leave.

Instead, he shifts just enough to make room beneath the shade without acknowledging the gesture, resting his head against his arm once more, and a corner of his mouth threatens the faintest smirk. "If whatever you've got to say can wait until after my nap," Leona grumbles, already letting his eyes drift shut again, "sit down and be quiet."