yousei-san (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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metamorphosis2016-11-18 11:43 pm
flair) wrote in metamorphosis2016-11-18 11:43 pm
Entry tags:
508;
Title: new beginnings
Characters: Black, Leonardo Watch, Angelica
Rating: G
The subject of dating hasn’t come up once in the last three years he’s stayed with Leo.
Will is determined to make sure it stays that way, even if it means tripping at the end of the hall and skinning his knees on the rough asphalt in his rush to get out of the apartment before his roommate can start. It’s not that he doesn’t like Leo or anything—he likes him so much that sometimes it’s hard to breathe, especially when he’s sitting next to him and especially when their fingers accidentally brush in the popcorn bowl between them.
His heart never fails to catch in his throat when Leo does that soft intake of breath that says he’s noticed it too, how he doesn’t start breathing easy again until Will offers to grab drinks and distance cools the tension simmering between them. It’s tension that doesn’t settle entirely in that moment; it’s tension that leaks into the littlest accidental touches (handing off mail, bumping shoulders in the cramped-and-definitely-not-made-for-two bathroom, a hug or hand on a shoulder that lingers a little too long), and that makes his life a mix of excitement, pure nausea, and at least three instances of basorexia.
It’s suffice to say that it’s almost too many times to count, and that the reason that most of them involve last night’s movie marathon explicitly might be because Leo started to ask him the same question he did every time they were alone together in post-popcorn bowl encounter silence. Just like every other time, Will had interrupted him and left with an excuse (last night’s was “I’m tired and I need to get up early,” which wasn’t a lie, technically), slipping under covers and pretending to sleep until he could actually fall asleep.
Morning at work goes smoother than his morning at the apartment, though the afternoon brings Angelica teleporting into the seat beside him to give him company and a hand with the file sorting he’s been working at for the past hour. They work in mostly silence, with small bits of chatter, before his co-worker finally sighs in that long way Will’s come to associate with women who’re tired of something and drums her fingers on the table between them.
“I don’t see why you can’t just go out with him,” she says, leaning forward on the table, and Will winces. Was he so transparent? “Don’t look like that, it’s just obvious!” So he was. “If you don’t like him, tell him, and if you do like him, date him! What’s wrong?”
“I can’t.” He sets aside the folder he’d been flipping through in the slowly growing ‘just archive this. we really don’t need it immediately’ pile and picks up a fresher one, shrugging. “It’d just feel weird, I guess, since...”
Since White had liked him a lot, and Leo had liked her right back—maybe even more than she liked him. Will fingers the edge of the folder, frowning, and looks up in time to catch Angelica shaking her head with pouted lips.
“No no no noooo, William, you know that’s not fair to either of you.” She smacks the table between them with the palm of her hand, then teleports to the filing cabinet across the room to collect another armful of files. She’s back just as quick and without a hair out of place (a feat he hasn’t managed to get the hang of, even though he’d been practicing his own teleportation for quicker escapes), setting down the stack with a soft sigh. “You should go after things you want! Isn’t that why you left Hellsalem’s Lot in the first place? So you could get your bearings and live your life?”
“I just didn’t want to be in the city anymore,” he replies, aware he sounds pouty and like he’s lying (because he is). “That’s all. Really.”
She gives him a look that thoroughly spells out how completely unconvinced she is, and Will squints at her before sighing again, standing up, and leaving her to finish.
(He grins hearing her squawk of indignation and ducks immediately into the closest elevator when she starts on I’m gonna teleport to your apartment, Will, and tell your not-boyfriend everything!)
What would’ve been a lie—going home early—quickly turns into the truth as he does just that to make sure Angelica doesn’t follow up on her threat. He lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when he peeks inside and finds the apartment devoid of human life, and he shrugs his jacket off when he gets inside and kicks the door shut behind him.
Or tries to. A yelp startles him at the same time the door bounces back open, and when Will turns to look, there’s Leo, holding his arm and grimacing.
“Sorry—I didn’t notice you, I’m really sorry,” Will’s words stumble out as he steps aside to let him in and closes the door. “Are you back for lunch—too, I mean?”
“Yeah.” Leo scrunches his nose (cute) and grins at him, holding up two bags. “Zapp was pissed I decided to skip out on him, but he’ll get over it. Besides,” he pauses, letting Will take one of the bags and peek inside, “I sort of met one of your co-workers on the way over? She said you were heading home early, and I… well, I mean, I kind of wanted to spend some time with you.”
The back of his neck begins to heat up. Will watches Leo through his eyelashes, throat tightening as his olive skin reddens in the quiet. He clears his throat, rolling the bag closed, and forces a smile past his thundering heart.
“That’s fine. I’d enjoy your company.”
Something shifts in Leo’s expression, but the brunet turns away before Will can ask about it, and it’s disappeared by the time they’ve shucked off jackets and shoes and sat down on the floor to eat (the table is still a nonentity, despite their agreements on needing one). It feels more comfortable like this regardless, he tells himself, and it makes snagging fries out of Leo’s hands easier too, laughing at the look the other shoots him when he pops it into his mouth and smiles.
Leo’s expression relaxes into a smile too, and a worrying warmth floods his chest. Will turns away, occupying his attention with picking up wrappers, and pauses mid-getting up to toss their trash when Leo catches his sleeve. He looks over, throat tight again, and tilts his head at him wonderingly.
“Will—” Leo starts, the same wondering, soft tone he usually has when The Question’s on the tip of his tongue, and Will feels panic jump-start in his veins... but his name chains him to the spot, and he sits back down, their knees almost touching.
“Yes?”
“I said I met your co-worker earlier, right? She mentioned something sort of...” Leo pushes around ketchup with his fry while he talks, eyebrows pressed together. “Interesting, I guess, and I wanted to ask you about it.”
He’s sure he knows what it is, and he wants to say so, but he just nods and goes through the motions of unfolding and refolding wrappers as Leo fidgets. His watch ticks louder and louder in the quiet as it goes on, almost suffocating, until it’s shattered by Leo’s sudden blurt of, “Why would it feel weird to date me?”
The question is a little more direct than he thought it’d be, and his hands quicken in their motions while he tries to swallow the lump in his throat. He can’t look at his company, and Leo doesn’t seem to be able to look at him either—not directly anyway. Will can tell he’s being watched out of the corner of the other’s eye, and somehow, that’s a lot worse than being stared at. The silence slowly rises in volume again, almost deafening when coupled with the gentle ticking around his wrist, and he jumps when he feels Leo’s hand on his. It’s warm and slightly calloused, the way normal people’s are because of work and school. Soft, but used.
“You liked my sister a lot, and she liked you, too.” He’s aware of Leo leaning closer because he’s being quiet, but it doesn’t make him want to talk any louder—he isn’t really sure he wants Leo to hear his reasons behind his reluctance. The tips of their hair brush and he breathes in sharply before continues on. “I guess... I thought it’d feel weird if we went out since... because of that.”
“I did like your sister a lot, Will. Black.” Leo’s voice is just as soft, but firm. Will thinks he could probably lean against it and feel safer than anywhere else. “And—I, well, I don’t know about her liking me back—”
Will laughs shortly, closing his eyes. “She did.”
“—but,” Leo continues even firmer than before, squeezing his hand in the don’t interrupt me way, “that doesn’t matter. I like you too. Like, a lot. A lot a lot.”
“Are you twelve?” Will asks before he can stop himself, a chuckle bubbling out with the words. Leo’s face warms beside his and he brushes their noses together. The hand holding his tightens, accompanied with a soft gasp, and he slowly opens his eyes to study the determined, embarrassed look of his company. Will bites his lips softly and sighs, leaning away; he keeps their hands linked, turning his palm over to better tangle their fingers together. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt you again.”
“You didn’t.” Leo swallows hard (Will can hear it) before he leans forward; he’s over his lap now, and Will knows if he leans back anymore, they’ll both end up on the floor. It isn’t an unpleasant thought at all, but it isn’t really appropriate for the slightly serious situation they’re in. “That’s all I wanted to say. I really like you a lot, and I want to go out with you. Like, steady, not on just a date or two.”
He wants to, too, but he bites down on the immediate reply and glances away instead. It still doesn't seem fair somehow, even though he's sure there's more than one person who'd tell him it isn't fair to him (Angelica had said it wasn't fair to either of them), but it's a little too good for him at the same time. He thinks he might've understood how his sister felt, except he has the chance and the freedom now to choose to say yes without worry.
Will exhales slowly, looking back to Leo, and leans forward to kiss him instead of replying right out; Leo stiffens in surprise, but he relaxes into it quickly enough, and his heart hammers loudly in his chest.
Characters: Black, Leonardo Watch, Angelica
Rating: G
The subject of dating hasn’t come up once in the last three years he’s stayed with Leo.
Will is determined to make sure it stays that way, even if it means tripping at the end of the hall and skinning his knees on the rough asphalt in his rush to get out of the apartment before his roommate can start. It’s not that he doesn’t like Leo or anything—he likes him so much that sometimes it’s hard to breathe, especially when he’s sitting next to him and especially when their fingers accidentally brush in the popcorn bowl between them.
His heart never fails to catch in his throat when Leo does that soft intake of breath that says he’s noticed it too, how he doesn’t start breathing easy again until Will offers to grab drinks and distance cools the tension simmering between them. It’s tension that doesn’t settle entirely in that moment; it’s tension that leaks into the littlest accidental touches (handing off mail, bumping shoulders in the cramped-and-definitely-not-made-for-two bathroom, a hug or hand on a shoulder that lingers a little too long), and that makes his life a mix of excitement, pure nausea, and at least three instances of basorexia.
It’s suffice to say that it’s almost too many times to count, and that the reason that most of them involve last night’s movie marathon explicitly might be because Leo started to ask him the same question he did every time they were alone together in post-popcorn bowl encounter silence. Just like every other time, Will had interrupted him and left with an excuse (last night’s was “I’m tired and I need to get up early,” which wasn’t a lie, technically), slipping under covers and pretending to sleep until he could actually fall asleep.
Morning at work goes smoother than his morning at the apartment, though the afternoon brings Angelica teleporting into the seat beside him to give him company and a hand with the file sorting he’s been working at for the past hour. They work in mostly silence, with small bits of chatter, before his co-worker finally sighs in that long way Will’s come to associate with women who’re tired of something and drums her fingers on the table between them.
“I don’t see why you can’t just go out with him,” she says, leaning forward on the table, and Will winces. Was he so transparent? “Don’t look like that, it’s just obvious!” So he was. “If you don’t like him, tell him, and if you do like him, date him! What’s wrong?”
“I can’t.” He sets aside the folder he’d been flipping through in the slowly growing ‘just archive this. we really don’t need it immediately’ pile and picks up a fresher one, shrugging. “It’d just feel weird, I guess, since...”
Since White had liked him a lot, and Leo had liked her right back—maybe even more than she liked him. Will fingers the edge of the folder, frowning, and looks up in time to catch Angelica shaking her head with pouted lips.
“No no no noooo, William, you know that’s not fair to either of you.” She smacks the table between them with the palm of her hand, then teleports to the filing cabinet across the room to collect another armful of files. She’s back just as quick and without a hair out of place (a feat he hasn’t managed to get the hang of, even though he’d been practicing his own teleportation for quicker escapes), setting down the stack with a soft sigh. “You should go after things you want! Isn’t that why you left Hellsalem’s Lot in the first place? So you could get your bearings and live your life?”
“I just didn’t want to be in the city anymore,” he replies, aware he sounds pouty and like he’s lying (because he is). “That’s all. Really.”
She gives him a look that thoroughly spells out how completely unconvinced she is, and Will squints at her before sighing again, standing up, and leaving her to finish.
(He grins hearing her squawk of indignation and ducks immediately into the closest elevator when she starts on I’m gonna teleport to your apartment, Will, and tell your not-boyfriend everything!)
What would’ve been a lie—going home early—quickly turns into the truth as he does just that to make sure Angelica doesn’t follow up on her threat. He lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when he peeks inside and finds the apartment devoid of human life, and he shrugs his jacket off when he gets inside and kicks the door shut behind him.
Or tries to. A yelp startles him at the same time the door bounces back open, and when Will turns to look, there’s Leo, holding his arm and grimacing.
“Sorry—I didn’t notice you, I’m really sorry,” Will’s words stumble out as he steps aside to let him in and closes the door. “Are you back for lunch—too, I mean?”
“Yeah.” Leo scrunches his nose (cute) and grins at him, holding up two bags. “Zapp was pissed I decided to skip out on him, but he’ll get over it. Besides,” he pauses, letting Will take one of the bags and peek inside, “I sort of met one of your co-workers on the way over? She said you were heading home early, and I… well, I mean, I kind of wanted to spend some time with you.”
The back of his neck begins to heat up. Will watches Leo through his eyelashes, throat tightening as his olive skin reddens in the quiet. He clears his throat, rolling the bag closed, and forces a smile past his thundering heart.
“That’s fine. I’d enjoy your company.”
Something shifts in Leo’s expression, but the brunet turns away before Will can ask about it, and it’s disappeared by the time they’ve shucked off jackets and shoes and sat down on the floor to eat (the table is still a nonentity, despite their agreements on needing one). It feels more comfortable like this regardless, he tells himself, and it makes snagging fries out of Leo’s hands easier too, laughing at the look the other shoots him when he pops it into his mouth and smiles.
Leo’s expression relaxes into a smile too, and a worrying warmth floods his chest. Will turns away, occupying his attention with picking up wrappers, and pauses mid-getting up to toss their trash when Leo catches his sleeve. He looks over, throat tight again, and tilts his head at him wonderingly.
“Will—” Leo starts, the same wondering, soft tone he usually has when The Question’s on the tip of his tongue, and Will feels panic jump-start in his veins... but his name chains him to the spot, and he sits back down, their knees almost touching.
“Yes?”
“I said I met your co-worker earlier, right? She mentioned something sort of...” Leo pushes around ketchup with his fry while he talks, eyebrows pressed together. “Interesting, I guess, and I wanted to ask you about it.”
He’s sure he knows what it is, and he wants to say so, but he just nods and goes through the motions of unfolding and refolding wrappers as Leo fidgets. His watch ticks louder and louder in the quiet as it goes on, almost suffocating, until it’s shattered by Leo’s sudden blurt of, “Why would it feel weird to date me?”
The question is a little more direct than he thought it’d be, and his hands quicken in their motions while he tries to swallow the lump in his throat. He can’t look at his company, and Leo doesn’t seem to be able to look at him either—not directly anyway. Will can tell he’s being watched out of the corner of the other’s eye, and somehow, that’s a lot worse than being stared at. The silence slowly rises in volume again, almost deafening when coupled with the gentle ticking around his wrist, and he jumps when he feels Leo’s hand on his. It’s warm and slightly calloused, the way normal people’s are because of work and school. Soft, but used.
“You liked my sister a lot, and she liked you, too.” He’s aware of Leo leaning closer because he’s being quiet, but it doesn’t make him want to talk any louder—he isn’t really sure he wants Leo to hear his reasons behind his reluctance. The tips of their hair brush and he breathes in sharply before continues on. “I guess... I thought it’d feel weird if we went out since... because of that.”
“I did like your sister a lot, Will. Black.” Leo’s voice is just as soft, but firm. Will thinks he could probably lean against it and feel safer than anywhere else. “And—I, well, I don’t know about her liking me back—”
Will laughs shortly, closing his eyes. “She did.”
“—but,” Leo continues even firmer than before, squeezing his hand in the don’t interrupt me way, “that doesn’t matter. I like you too. Like, a lot. A lot a lot.”
“Are you twelve?” Will asks before he can stop himself, a chuckle bubbling out with the words. Leo’s face warms beside his and he brushes their noses together. The hand holding his tightens, accompanied with a soft gasp, and he slowly opens his eyes to study the determined, embarrassed look of his company. Will bites his lips softly and sighs, leaning away; he keeps their hands linked, turning his palm over to better tangle their fingers together. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt you again.”
“You didn’t.” Leo swallows hard (Will can hear it) before he leans forward; he’s over his lap now, and Will knows if he leans back anymore, they’ll both end up on the floor. It isn’t an unpleasant thought at all, but it isn’t really appropriate for the slightly serious situation they’re in. “That’s all I wanted to say. I really like you a lot, and I want to go out with you. Like, steady, not on just a date or two.”
He wants to, too, but he bites down on the immediate reply and glances away instead. It still doesn't seem fair somehow, even though he's sure there's more than one person who'd tell him it isn't fair to him (Angelica had said it wasn't fair to either of them), but it's a little too good for him at the same time. He thinks he might've understood how his sister felt, except he has the chance and the freedom now to choose to say yes without worry.
Will exhales slowly, looking back to Leo, and leans forward to kiss him instead of replying right out; Leo stiffens in surprise, but he relaxes into it quickly enough, and his heart hammers loudly in his chest.