Jfcjosefina​:

NEW GIRL (2011—2018)

SEASON ONE, EPISODE TWELVE The Landlord

closed starter: @averydawson​ where: avery’s apartment

“Aaaaay...” Leo’s voice drawled out the first syllable of Avery’s name. He repeated the vowel from his seated position in front of Avery’s apartment door. His posture was slack against the wood. His muscles so loose with the amount of alcohol he had consumed to rid himself of his guilt. It took sixteen shots to do so. He repeated the vowel again meaning to be louder but instead reached a much higher pitch. It reminded him of a song a particular song from the sixties called, Sherry by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. He tried to reach the falsetto once again using Avery’s name in place of Sherry’s as he began to sing the song. “Aaaaa-AAA-ver-yyyy, can you come out tonight?” He practically screech sang in the empty hall. 

krosxn​:

Katz just shook his head. “The fuck do you think it means, Leo? If it’s so functional, why didn’t you go home tonight? Why are you on my couch?” He didn’t mind taking care of Leo. He was one of his closest friends, for some reason, and honestly, it was easier than taking care of Oliver had been. He’d be fine in the morning. At least, whatever Leo Davis functioned on daily “fine”. 

-

Leo’s lips parted into a silent gasp, a bit dramatic over Katz’s direct questioning. Leo didn’t wanna think about that truth. “Next! I don’t wanna play this game.” Childishly, Leo slumped further down on the couch, and grunted. He lawled his head to the side to see Katz better again and in quieter voice, he answered, “You know why I’m here Katz. She’d hate me, hate seeing me. Seeing who I am.” He rambled, saying his truth cryptically but in a way it could be interpreted lighter than he truly meant it. 

renfarber​:

She sat when he sat, and stared for too long just like he did. She saw his eyes taking in her new hair and her new tattoos, just as she took in his new facial hair, and his new… wedding ring. Suddenly the ten years felt like ten years. There was less than a foot in physical distance between them now, but there were ten full years, and a spouse, and at least one baby. But even so, she couldn’t stop herself from fucking smiling at him.

“It’s good to see you,” she said, and it was, although it probably shouldn’t have been. It was weird to see him, older and married and scared of her, but the dappled projector light softened everything. Like they were the ones in nostalgic black-and-white. “How long have you been married?”

-

The way she smiled at him kept his nerves from growing further out the lines. it was a familiarity he appreciated as he really tried to let time settle between them. The corners of his mouth lifted, causing his eyes to wrinkle with a soft smile. “I was gonna say the same thing.” He said, bringing his eyes back to her. Though he was still careful around her. Out of precaution or experience; he didn’t know which. He brought his eyes back to the screen. because he couldn’t let himself dote on her appearance any longer. It was far too easy to fall back into admiring her looks. He owed some restrain at the very least for his twenty-three year old self. he carried that broken hearted twenty something leo, too close and too long. 

At her question about his marriage caused his brows shot up and he looked at his left hand. The white gold still glinted in this light. “Oh,” he enthused and arranged his hands so his left one was out of view at the side of his popcorn bucket. “Almost a year or so.” He replied not really knowing the date by memory. It was somewhere in his phone. He finally looked at her again. “What about you--married?” He questioned quickly, his curiosity getting the best of him. his eyes even flicked downward to her hands. 

renfarber​:

“Mhmm,” Ren smirked, opening the door, and holding it for him. “There’s a fine line between madness and genius… and if you have to cup your pizza with both hands to keep the toppings from falling off the sides, you’ve gone too far.” It was way too easy to fall back into joking with Leo. She was still mad and she was still hurt and she was still really fucking confused, but she was still Ren. And he was still Leo. They couldn’t escape that if they tried.

Her apartment was on the second floor, and they had to walk up a slightly dingy staircase and not too far down a slightly creepy hallway to get to it. It looked worse than it was - the neighbors were great and the landlord was… fine, as landlords go. Even so, she’d move the second she had a chance to.

Right now, as Leo could see when she unlocked the apartment door and swung it open, she and her son shared a studio apartment. She had a murphy bed that she kept up now so Max had space to scoot around and play. He had his own little section with his crib and his change table and everything he needed. She’d painted everything white so it looked bigger and brighter than when she’d moved in. She’d filled the place with her record collection and decorated it with posters of her favorite films. But as cozy as it was, they were essentially sleeping in the kitchen. That was life in New York, though, she supposed. [ x ]

“Don’t sue me if you trip over a toy. Max is obsessed with throwing things this week. Thinks it’s the funniest shit,” she said, shaking her head. She hung up her jacket and headphones and set down her work bags and turned back to Leo. “Bathroom’s just there, everything else is… here. That’s the grand tour. Want a drink? Might help.” 

-

Leo’s lips mashed together as he listened her tease him. His eyes had lit up. It still got to him that she would remember things. She knew him. He remembered how much that fact had floored him. And that it had struck him so much that he kissed her. His Serenity. But that had all  changed, didn’t it? She finally got meet the person he had become. A person he still hid from his wife. “Agree to disagree?” Leo offered as he kept watching her as he followed her. He was trying to see if he could read her face as if there were some answer there. 

But as Ren was unlocking her door, he realized he was being let into her home. He was going to see how and where she lived with her son. This wasn’t something that crossed his mind till he already had an eyeful of it. His eyes moved to the left to the right, up and down. And that’s all that was really needed to take in to get the gist of the place. It reminded him of when he first moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan. He had to share a similar space with another grown adult. But what Ren had done with it was far more cooler and cozier than he had ever seen a place be. It was like he could see himself living in the space. He walked in further, finding himself being taken with a retro styled movie poster for Universal’s Frankenstein. He caused him to smile because he had the same poster. 

 He laughed turning back around to face her, “That is the funniest shit.” But then he glanced down and saw a teething toy on the ground, and as a new parent, he saw how maybe that wasn’t really that funny. Leo picked it up and handed it to Ren. “Where is Max anyway?” Leo asked, and it surprised him how much he was actually hoping to meet her son. “And yeah I’ll take a drink. Whatever you’re having.” 

blakemadden​:

Blake settled the baby next to her father on the blanket, knowing Leo would want to spend some time with his daughter. For all the man’s downfalls there was one thing she was sure of and that was that he was a very dedicated father. He loved Mira just as much as she did, and for that the woman was beyond grateful. The little girl was always safe with him. “She likes that umbrella, look at how wide her little eyes are.” The brunette grinned as she joined the two of them, turning onto her side as well so she could look at both Leo and Mira, this was turning in a weirdly surreal but perfect day at the beach if you asked her. “Please don’t call her spawn, it makes me think of like…tadpoles or something. It’s so strange.” She giggled, rolling onto her back as she covered her face with both hands, shaking her head. Made sense that the man would want to go to some of the less tame parts of Pride too, it was Blake’s personal choice not to and she knew that. “Oooh that sounds dangerous. Uncle Xav and daddy together at the same party? We should stay away from there baby girl because it’s going to get crazy…” she stage whispered in her own sing song voice, knowing full well the man would be able to hear it as she grinned.

-

Leo laughed, hanging his head back for a second before relaxing it back on his hand. “Tadpoles,” he repeated with a little scoff, shaking his head. He had forgotten how silly Blake could be. The new mother had been so stressed and at often anxious. It was good to see her in the sun and bringing up tadpoles. The slyest grin grew upon Leo’s lips as Blake told Mira what his plans were. Leo was now a father, but he wasn’t going to let that change his ways entirely. Just like his marriage was unable to cage him. But laying on a beach and hiding from the rays with his daughter and her mother was tamer than he’d ever been at Pride. He had been a regular ally to the event even since before meeting Xavier. His best friend just opened the door to the even wilder side. “Buckwild is the threshold for this year’s Pride. Are you and my spawn going to be out here all day?” Leo asked, smiling as he held back a laugh. He was clearly amused with himself and his new word for his little girl. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he rephrased his question out of feeling some guilt. “Okay, okay, are you and Mira going to be out here all day? Cause if so, I could get you food before I grab Xav later.” 

renfarber​:

She’d thought she’d be prepared for this. She’d thought that enough time had passed (what was it, almost a decade now?), and that she’d moved on, and she was over what had happened… but she wasn’t. She was smiling, looking at him now, because he looked so much like the boy she’d loved. She was smiling, but her heart had sunk, and her brain was so focused on his face that it forgot to remind her to breathe.

“No,” she said - too loudly for the quiet, echoing theatre, “no, please don’t go. It’s a good movie… I’ve heard. I haven’t seen it, but… that’s kind of the appeal.” Of course, she didn’t need to explain that to Leo. Anyone else on Earth, maybe, but this familiar-but-distant man, standing in shock ten feet from her, giving her almost the same expression he had the last time she’d seen him… he already knew. He knew her love of new things, new experiences, new places, new people. He’d loved that about her once. And it had hurt him in the end.

When she finally remembered how to move, she made her way toward him. Slowly, gingerly, like he were a wild animal or a broken bird, and might either attack or flee if she moved too suddenly. She would deserve both, she knew, even if it had been ten years. But selfishly, she just wanted to see him.

The lights went down, and the projector came on, and they were still standing, staring, closer now but still unsure of each other. “Will you stay?” Ren whispered.

-

Her loud protest to him leaving echoed tremendously. It stopped him in his slow attempt to leave. And quite honestly it warmed him up a bit. It was a good surprise to know that she wanted him to stay and enjoy the film. He hadn’t seen it either, but he couldn’t find himself to speak up as he was grew overwhelmed and overstimulated by everything. He was at a crossroads of what to do. He knew had this meeting been less than the decade that passed he’d already be out the door. Hell, maybe even popcorn in her hair.

Leo’s feet stepped back once she began her approach towards him. He had only stopped when he remembered his drink on the ground. He was stuck between making a mess or allowing her closer. He went with the latter. It did offer him a chance to look at her better. Her hair was in braids, he’d never seen it styled like that before. He also noticed her tattoo collection had grown. When his own collection had diminished.

But it was different now. He was different. He had love coming at him from multiple hearts. Love that he had desperately wanted from just one heart, years ago. Hers. Did he still feel that way now? With his heart strings being pull down by someone on his phone and with broken vows he pretended to keep with his wife? The lights turning down and glow of the hazy film lit the room. It shown upon her face in such a familiar way. He would usually stare at her in this light to watch her reaction when they shared this pastime. He blinked and answered her wordlessly, by sitting back down in his seat. His eyes never moved off of her. He just kept looking at her with an air of anticipation. It took him a bit too long to let it go and turn his head to the screen. He began to become too aware of his own breathing as he felt the side of body she was at heat up. He parted his lips to say something but quickly closed it to focus on the film. But just a moment later, he did once again.

starter for: @oliverbrowncnn​ where: the soleil 

Leo was relaxed to say the least. His diluted drink was half way finished, the sweet spot for him as he could finish the next half in one go. He was enjoying Oliver’s rare company. Even if the mentions of Oliver’s successes fanned the flames of his own jealousy. It was still good to catch up when they could. There had been a comfortable lull in their conversation, and most of that was drawn by Leo’s absent gaze. 

Leo didn’t know what suddenly came over him. Was it the lounge music playing? The dimmed lighting? Or the percentage amount of alcohol that was in his slender frame? He squirmed in his seat as his thoughts began to race with his heart beat.

Say it, say it, say it. Say it to someone other than your favorite bartender, you coward! “I’m in couples’ therapy.” He blurred out, the recognition that he said it hit him like a rubber band, snapping him into reality. He even looked surprised as he looked at Oliver. Leo regretted impulsively opening that door, kicking it down was more like it. “We’re— we’re in couples’ therapy.” He corrected and adjusted the collar of his maroon dress shirt. 

“You weren’t the first to leave me but you were the first to swear you wouldn’t.”

— There’s no room for trust in my heart after what you did (via rambl-0n)