PRIDE (Leona x Reader) [Twisted Wonderland]

Chapter 5

"So," asked the hyena, "Who are you?"

He'd rounded on you immediately, and you answered him. "Um, I'm Y/N."

"I'm Ruggie. And, how do you know Leona?"

"I, don't know. He saved my life, once. Or, maybe twice, now." Ruggie looked skeptical.

"You can't be from the Sunset Savannah, though. You're just a human, right?"

"Yeah. Um, I'm not from there, I'm from..." You didn't know who's to explain it. He continued before you could even try.

"And what are you doin' here? Leona didn't tell me nothin' about inviting anybody over. The only guest he ever gets is Prince Cheka. This sure is out of the ordinary. I've never even seen you before." He leaned forward, interrogative, like he was waiting for you to slip up or something.

"We only just met," you told him. "I'm not staying here for long."

"Are you comin' to breakfast then? Since you're apparently so hungry you couldn't wait."

"Um, breakfast? Where's that at?"

"In the cafeteria, obviously."

You paused and asked carefully, "Who's going to be there for breakfast, exactly?"

"Everyone," Ruggie shrugged. "The whole school eats in the cafeteria."

"Even the teachers."

"'Course."

You couldn't go there, then. Not if he would be there. But, if he was in the cafeteria, he wouldn't be in his office, right? Maybe that would be your chance?

"You look like you're planning somethin', now. What are you up to?"

"Nothing," you said quickly. You didn't really know why you denied it, but Ruggie's suspicion felt antagonistic. You didn't want him to know that you were going to sneak into the headmage's office.

Were you going to sneak into the headmage's office? You didn't really want to go back there, but where else would he keep the keys? Well, there could be a hundred other places, but you didn't know your way around enough to find them, especially at a school as big as this one. And you had to try something. It was better to take a risk now then to wait for him to come to you, right?

"I hope you're not plannin' to steal food that isn't yours again. I've got my eye on you, y'know."

You nodded, and Ruggie went outside, turning at the entrance, then quickly throwing his head back to look at the door, as if to prove his point. You attempted a smile, to match his threatening grin. You only released you breath once you were sure that he was gone.

You left the kitchens rather reluctantly, to sneak out to somewhere else before people started funnelling back in. The game was breaking off at the top of the cliff, you didn't hear anymore of the shouts or grunts from before, and you didn't want to be there when people started coming back to the dorm.

You didn't want to go back through the mirror yet either, you would wait for breakfast for that, at a time you were almost sure Crowley would be busy. He probably had to supervise or something, if there would be so many students at the cafeteria. At the very least, he had to eat. Instead, you wandered a little bit away from the dorm building, and toward one of the trees for shade. The sun was very heavy here, and you didn't think you could last in the direct light, with what you were wearing. You sat down under the tree, while you tried to think up a plan for what was to come.

X x X

The flood into the cafeteria had the mirror dome very busy. Students were coming in from all different mirrors, dressed in different versions of the same uniform. No one else had a yellow theme, and you realized then the the mirrors they were coming through were attached to some kind of color coding. Many eyes were on you, since you were the only one not wearing a uniform. You heard people whispering, as well. That wasn't good. If any news of this got to Crowley's ears, it would be your downfall, no doubt.