Text; Leo ⇆ Ana

martinanselmo​:

Martín wasn’t a pushover. He got along well with most people, but he was his own person— probably, right? Honestly, he didn’t know how the board had managed to coax him into this ridiculousness. Holding presentations was hardly new to him, he’d been a TA for a while back in his school days. He was eloquent enough, even if he wasn’t always the most outspoken person in the room. But the classes were free for him, so hey, it couldn’t hurt, right? Maybe his new teacher had some good tricks to share.

Again, his doorbell trumpeted that horrible 8-bit version of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Martín sighed, as he finished up hiding the last of his dirty dishes back in the cupboards, and tucked away stray papers from his kitchen table. He straightened his shirt before making his way to open the door. “You must be Mr. Davis, come on in,” Martín said as he moved aside for the other. He closed the door, and then offered out his hand. “Martín Gutiérrez. Thank you for making a home call for me, it’s been a hectic week and I hardly have time to get home, let alone haul myself around Manhattan.” 

Martín directed the other into his living room with windows so covered in plants you could barely see outside. He had to gather them all there in the mornings, for maximum sunlight. “How was your trip here? Not too complicated, I hope.” Martín hovered awkwardly in the middle of his living room, hands behind his back, waiting. How would they get started?

-

“Hello, Leo’s fine,” he greeted back at his new student, and he moved through the open door. Leo was trying to keep his eyes from widening at the realization that the two shared the same style. Dark curls, full burly beard, and a collared shirt. Leo chucked it to the man having taste because that was also a compliment back to himself. He shook Martin’s open hand with his own, switching the empty cup from hand to other before doing so. Leo’s shake was a good firm two shakes before releasing Martin’s hand. “It’s fine. You’re in my home borough at least.” Leo shrugged. He wasn’t ever going to complain about a twenty minute commute.  His eyes moved to skim the place remotely, as they walked, and even noted the plants before turning back to Martin. 

“So not at all complicated.” He said, finishing the small talk pleasantries. Leo surveyed Martin a little bit now, openly sizing him up as they both stood in the living room. Leo stood straight with no sign of fidgeting, and Martin was the complete opposite. If this is what he was acting like in the familiarity of his own home with one stranger… what would he be like in front of a crowd? The short quick mental image of the man stuttering did not feel like a reach. “Oh, Martín Gutiérrez,” Leo said with proper accent inflictions, “looks like we got a lot of work to do, sir.” He offered a smile even if his words were pretty telling of how many lessons were ahead of them.

Leo did wonder how he’d run lessons that wasn’t specific to acting. But he did break down the skills needed in order to present the art form. First of all the lessons was confidence. Being an actor you had to be the loudest in the room with no fear of failure. In order to do that was to be so sure of one’s self. If you couldn’t convince yourself, you cannot convince others. “Your first lesson will be to build your confidence.” Leo announced and proceeded to make himself much too comfortable in the space he was given. He set his empty cup down on the table, and began rifling through his messenger bag on the couch. Was it a way to prove how confidence can make someone overtly comfortable in a new place? Yes. Was it also cause Leo constantly possessed audacity? Also yes. 

averydawson​:

She poked her head out to make sure none of her neighbors came out to see what the noise was before shutting and locking the door. turning her attention back to the man on her couch, she took a deep breath and walked back over to him. “Alright Leo, what brings you to my place at this hour, wasted?” she asked, sitting beside him. “finish that because you’re not leaving until you’re sober.” she lightly demanded. She’d be a terrible friend to send him back out in this state and for him to show up like this, something serious must’ve happened. It wasn’t everyday he was like this, not even on a night out at the bar.

-

“I think...” he began to say all while bringing the cup to his noggin to tap his temple with that hand. At first, Leo knew exactly what he was gonna say. He was going to spill everything out to one of his best friends. Everything that had happened the minute he left her place. But the fear of revealing who exactly he was had crept up again, making him close up again. Which allowed another head to begin thinking for him.  “...I came here to finish what we started.” He rose his brows with a glint in his eye. He was making such a bold claim for someone who was seeing a motion blur with every movement that was made.

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.” 

“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)

renfarber​:

She hadn’t realized how nervous she’d been until she saw him smile. This apartment was her, all over, just the essence of who she was splashed all over the walls. It was her, and it was Max, and so it mattered to Ren if Leo liked it. If he liked them. She didn’t know how to feel about that mattering to her, so… she just pushed it down with all the other feelings she had right now. They could come back out after some whiskey untangled them.

She dragged a chair over to the counter so she could reach the top shelf of the cabinet. She wasn’t entirely sure why she kept the liquor up here - it wasn’t as though Max could get into it at seven months old - but it was always good to make things like that hard to reach. For emergencies only. And this definitely counted. On her way down, Leo handed her one of Max’s toys, and she smirked. “Thank you.”

“Max is with my mom,” she said, getting ice out of the freezer. “I should text her, actually. She should probably keep him overnight.” Her eyes flicked up to him, knowing how he’d take that. She held up a finger. “Because we’re drinking. And we need to talk without a crying baby. You stay two feet away from me,” she smirked. She shouldn’t be joking about this, not when he had a wife, not when he had a baby with her best friend… it just… came so easily. 

She poured two drinks and passed one over, sitting at the table and sending a quick text to her mom. Seconds later, her phone beeped, and she rolled her eyes, texting again and then turning off her phone. 

“Mom says hi,” she smirked. Gloria had always loved Leo. Even now, after Ren had cried on her shoulder about the mess they were in. It was disloyal, honestly. But Ren supposed it was only fair, since she didn’t hate Leo either. She sighed, pulling her braids over one shoulder, and looking at Leo. “So… how’d you meet your wife?”

-

Leo’s brows immediately quirked up at Ren’s words, taking them just as suggestively as she assumed he would. He couldn’t help but break into a small laughter at the finger she had held up. He held his hands up and sat at the table at the furthest one from where she was currently. “Two feet it is.” He agreed though he did find it funny how she needed the physical distance from him. Like he had a pull. Though he felt the same way about her lips. 

He watched as she poured the drinks. His eyes admiring the caramel hue a bit too closely. It had been a minute since he was able to indulge. It was getting a lot harder to sneak away. His hand couldn’t help but tap on the counter till the drink was passed over to him. From there he had taken a well measured first sip while she was distracted with her phone.

“Tell Gloria, I said hey,” he smiled that shit eating grin that was just a permanent reaction to when his ego was stroked. Though that grin had immediately left his lips at the mention of his wife. His forehead wrinkled as he pulled his brows together, he laughed once before replying, “You don’t wanna talk about that.” He said openly refusing to answer. “We have other things to talk about.” He said quite solemnly as he brought his drink to his lips. 

text; leo ⇄ danny

danny: I'm not starting anything I'm just observing that u have the right dad energy

danny: My man I don't think it's the gods picking on u I think u just make terrible decisions lol

danny: Literally how did u not know they knew each other

leo: ugh I'm a dad

leo: I basically haven't seen (my ex) Serenity in ten years, and I've never met any of (baby mama) Blake's friends except her roommate

leo: I know it's a mess, and that's without telling Vihana

leo: I know she's going to leave me the second I tell her

text; leo ⇄ xav

xav: im sitting down

xav: wait let me take a drink first

xav: okay im ready

leo: there's no way to ease into this so I'm just gonna come out and say it

...

leo: I'm a dad

leo: I have a daughter with Blake

“I want someone to see the dark parts of my mind, the messy, the scary, the destructive, and still choose to stay.”

— (via hennigswrites)

why do we like to hurt so much?