blakemadden:
Blake wasn’t a hard person to scare and right now she was terrified by Leo, not to mention the look in his eyes. The grip on her arm faded into the background compared to that because he looked….so angry. Like it was down in the depth of his soul and it made the woman shrink back slightly even before he’d let go of her. When he finally did her bicep was throbbing from the force. Still for some reason she wasn’t willing to let him just back away from her even on this busy underground train, taking a careful step forward towards him now she had some autonomy in her limbs. “Why…why would you grab me like that? I’ve never done anything to you.” Her voice was just loud enough for Leo to be able to hear her even of the din of the train going through the tunnel, her eyes imploring. After all the man in front of her was the father of her child, whatever she’d just told him, and god knows what he might have done if she had admitted the truth. It made her think in the immediate aftermath that she had done the right thing by lying to him, even though by her very nature lying was something the woman never liked doing in the first place.
-
When Blake approached him again, he took a half step back as a precaution. It was clear that didn’t trust himself. “I know, I’m—” he shook his head, feeling the fear that his anger cloaked itself with. He looked at her and saw how her beautiful face was contorted with fear. “Please, forgive me, I couldn’t have had the child be mine.” He panted now, feeling his mouth grow drier in the humid train. His brown eyes wide and his hands were tighten with in fists and he wrestled with his emotions. “It would kill my wife. Despite how I’ve treated her— I — don’t want to hurt her.” He sucked in a breath and shook his head. “She can’t know who I am.” One of his fists met with his quad, in the beats of his words, emphasizing the desperation he felt.
xbhandri:
@le0davis
“Don’t you dare say anything. I don’t want to know. Just because you’re teaching my ex-husband how to act does not mean I want to know if he word vomited anything about our night together. Tell me everything.” Xavier quickly backtracked on what he was rambling about. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Why is sex so good? Not with him. Okay, like, with him, but in general. I meant in general.” He scrunched his face with a small tilt to his head. Taking a sip of his drink, he tried to ignore the feelings instead. “So what about Broadway. What’s your dream role, lover boy?”
-
Leo laughed after Xavier went on a little tangent. His relationship between Nate was a completely different vibe than his with Xavier. with Nate, Leo was a teacher and felt such responsibilty with him. with Xavier, Leo was himself; the good and the bad fully. Xavier was the only one who knew everything. hell, xavier added fuel to Leo’s fire. “Sex is so good.” He agreed quietly with his body slack on the couch and his hand and a halful glass resting on his thigh. “Dream role?” He repeated and then proceeded to murmur himself as he thought about it. “Any male lead.” He answered but he felt it was too general. “Roger from RENT.” His heart answered. “That would be fucking sick.” His enthused, still just a simple theater kid underneath the full beard.
nate-jones:
Whenever Nate was set on something, he was stuck until he would do it. And with his contract soon ending- just after the Sleeping Beauty run- he knew he had to find alternatives. He loved ballet, but Kal was right, even if his words had been said with absolute anger. What was he doing with his life? He had danced for years, it was only a matter of time before his body would start catching up with everything he was doing, and he needed alternatives. Either way, he wanted to improve. No matter what happened, he wanted to be the best at what he did, even if he knew he was very, very far away from it. But he could try, and he might as well start with extra lessons.
He had researched Leo Davis before making his way to NYU, hoping to find him somewhere. His success rate was amazing, he seemed absolutely perfect at what he did, and that was what Nate needed. Maybe, in some way, someone’s brilliance would rub off on him, making him at least a little bit better. However, there was one problem; he couldn’t afford the lessons. So, finishing up work, he made his way to the campus, counting on miraculously finding the class. And for once, luck was on his side; just as he was approaching one of the buildings, the man walked out, the sudden appearance throwing the dancer off his feet. He hadn’t even rehearsed the speech he was planning to give, and here the teacher was, so close!
Nate was standing there for a little too long, and by the time he snapped out of it, the man was already on his way somewhere else. That was perfect! He could try and follow him, catch up to him and stop him so they could have a conversation. That was totally normal, right? It seemed normal to Nate, especially in a city like this. So he walked, practicing the speech inside his head, murmuring the words every once in a while as he walked a good few meters away from the man, both trying to catch up to him and to make sure that he wouldn’t screw it up when he did.
All came crashing down when he realized the man was now standing still, so close to him, and Nate suddenly came to a complete stop, surprise overflowing him.
“Oh, hi! Sorry! I promise I wasn’t stalking you or doing anything shady, which probably sounds extremely shady right now, but still! I just- I know you’re a fantastic acting coach, and I was hoping I could somehow persuade you to teach me.” He always ranted when he was nervous, and yet, a small smile appeared on Nate’s face. “Sorry about that.”
-
People on the outside were constantly telling him what a success he was. Yet his mind always finished off their praises with the tag line: for an acting coach. He had the highest callback and booking rate, currently, in the university circle. He should have proud about that. All the dumb comments and directions he was giving to his students were working out for them. Casting directors were eating up the specific changes he was making to his students’ auditions. He should be so, so proud. But he wasn’t. Their successes added perfect fuel to the fire of his own failure. It proved to him that he was always meant to a teacher to the Prima Donna, and never the actual star himself.
“Good for you.” Leo replied, a knee jerk reaction to being told by student that they got a call back. He was, however, glad that the student waited till class was over to tell him. But this also gave him the itch to walk home as soon as possible. “You know where to find me if you want more help. Now if you’ll excuse me, my wife’s waiting.” He huffed, slinging his messenger style bag over his shoulder and turning to leave the room. He flounced through the courtyard, not paying mind to anyone around him, as jealousy began to blind him. His jaw was flexing beneath his beard and his nostrils began to flare as he could feel the poignant flare of rage begin to rise within him. His hands were tightening around the brown leather and he continued his trek.
With his emotions on high alert, he began to have a sense of paranoia. Was someone following him? He was not in the mood for whatever New York weirdness that was falling into his lap. Especially not in this mood. Not when he felt like he needed a drink or a punching bag. But if he turned around, he could possibly have the latter. Leo immediately stopped walking, and turned to meet whoever was matching his step pattern behind him. His eyes were dark as he met brown eyes kinder than his own will ever be. This took him back. His own surprise was being mirrored by the other’s face. Leo’s forehead pushed together as tried to hear the man through his own shock. “W-wha-what? Wait, kid, slow down.” Leo’s hand waved in the space between them, as he blinked to process all that he had said.
“Well, you were right to start off with flattery.” He quipped, feeling his previous anger begin to be taken over by intrigue. The tension in his body language was visibly leaving. “You could have just called instead of following me.” He couldn’t help but scold the kid a little about that. “Now why do you believe I need some persuading to teach you...?” He questioned, because that really caught his attention.
starter for: @martinanselmo where: martin’s casa
Leo was intrigued by this next client, mostly because of how the arrangement came to be. It wasn’t normal to receive a call from a manager that wasn’t tied to an actor. And the ink on his paycheck had stated otherwise. He remembered the call and how he tried to argue that a speech class would probably be best. But Leo’s argument fell short when the deal of multiple sessions were brought up. He could certainly use the money.
That’s how he ended up in front of a tall door, in front of a townhouse on the northside of Manhattan. Though Leo would debate his townhouse looked a lot better on the outside than this one did. He adjusted his leather messenger bag on his shoulder before knocking. He was perfectly on time, Washington Heights was a reasonable twenty minutes from home today. He even had time to stop for a coffee. Evident by the greek blue cup in his other hand. He looked at the still unopened door before deciding to down the last of the cup’s contents.
renfarber:
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. There was no why. There was no reason. She’d had nine years to think of it (and many nights therein during which she thought of nothing else), and a couple of therapists thrown in, and all she’d learned was that she’d been scared. Of love, of being loved, of failure, of success… she’d just been terrified and overwhelmed by of all of it.
“We were so young, Leo. And everyone was telling us that we couldn’t possibly be as sure about each other as we said we were. But I was sure. Even looking back now, I don’t see myself as some stupid kid who didn’t know what love was. I knew what it was, because we had it. It was real, and that was scary. I’ve never seen love work out well for anyone, so I guess I just… fucked it up. I wish I hadn’t.”
She winced slightly at his last words, as though physically struck by them, and was quiet for a moment. “I didn’t… decide to hurt you, that was never what I wanted. I know that I did, though, and I haven’t forgiven myself, so I can’t expect you to forgive me either. But… even if you hate me, we need to try to get along, right?”
-
He was completely enthralled by hearing the story of them from her perspective. Again an insight he never expected to have. She spoke of their love like some tangible and strong element. He had felt the same way. He was so sure of their love because he had been raised without it. Nothing had ever felt so potent or as sweet as his first taste of love with Serenity. He tried. Leo actively tried to fall in love like that again. He looked for the little things that made up Ren in other people. Vihana was actually someone he hadn’t expected. She was beautiful, kind, and took care of him. It was easy and simple because he never really was himself. Even now, she had no idea who he was.
He groaned with a roll of his eyes. It wasn’t directed towards her. It was energy that he needed to push out. The whole situation they were in now compared to where they were years or even months ago was nothing like he had ever fantasized. He didn’t have the right to be tired of the ride that dipped and derailed from his choices. But he was. There was never a break unless he had numbed himself with his vices. He brought his elbows up on the table, he held his hands together and proceeded to tap his forehead on them. “Serenity,” he said, his eyes closed as he rested on his hands. “I don’t hate you. I can’t ever hate you. I just hate what you did. But I can’t exactly talk now, can I?” He questioned, lifting his head up to look at her once again. “I didn’t exactly get into the situation I am in now by being a good guy.” He said with the glint of calmed chaos in his dark eyes. He didn’t where his mood was going. The alcohol made his veins sting and his attention jump around. Though the weight of his problems just kept trying to follow behind him. He grabbed his glass again to get rid of it. “I’ll play nice if you will.” He said swirling the remaining contents in his glass.
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg YOU | 1.05 Living With The Enemy
krosxn:
Katz just followed him to make sure he didn’t break anything in the process of…whatever it was he was doing. “Is it? Because as far as I’m aware, whatever this is, is not it. Not if you want to actually do something.” He grabbed his arm to help steady him, leading him towards the couch so he could sit down. “If you piss yourself on my couch, it’s about 1500 to replace and I will hand deliver you to your wife.”
-
“This, this, this...” he repeated in the same kind of negative tone that he thought he heard in Katz’s voice. Leo grunted as his legs gave out from underneath him, landing on the couch askew. “Geez, Katz, cranky much?” he questioned as Katz threatened him, but further sunk himself deeper into the couch. “I’ll hand deliver you to your wife,” Leo repeated to himself, openly mocking Katz, “I’ll hand deliver you a knuckle sandwich, how about that?” he asked rhetorically with a shit eating grin on his face, still managing to diss out his sass in his inebriated state. If only he could see outside of himself just right Katz was.
vihanadavis:
where: Vihana & Leo’s apartment, Manhattan. with: Leo Davis ( @le0davis )
She hadn’t meant to be gone so long. It had only meant to be five days, a week at most, but the mess and the chaos of the LA offices had kept her away for three weeks. She didn’t like being away from Leo for that long, not when she’d told him she would’ve been home much sooner. She had some serious making up to do…
She’d come home, unsure of when Leo would be back, and had been quick to work. The place had been left spotless by their cleaner, and decorated with vases of hydrangeas. Hana set to work, lighting candles, turning on and dimming down soft warm lights. She didn’t have the time or skill to cook what she knew Leo would love, so she ordered it in with a private chef - fresh lobster, tenderloin steak (ready to be cooked however preferred), duchess potatoes, an assortment of vegetables. Hana, being a pescatarian, would only be having the lobster.
As her chef preferred their food, Hana went to change quickly and top up her make-up. She stepped into a long white stressed, with a square bust and thin straps. All her jewellery - rings, necklaces, earrings - as always, were gold. Real gold. Combined with river pearls, malachite, moonstones, onyx. She saved her rubies and emeralds for more glamourous occasions. She had a spritz of perfume, scented with jasmine, and put on some music.
A Sunday Kind of Love, by Etta James. Classic, maybe a little cheesy but timelessly lovely.
She heard the door click open as she was setting the table, and felt her heart flutter. She moved to stand facing the door, wanting to see the expression on Leo’s face as he rounded the corner.
“Surprise.” She said simply, flashing him a smile.
-
Leo sighed, unlocking the door, he immediately expected to be met with utter silence as he had for the past twenty-one days or so. He tossed his keys into the decorate dish for them. But then he heard music which caused him to move further into the house cautiously. What or rather who he saw was not at all what he had expected.
“Vihana,” he breathed out as if he was holding his breath. His eyes immediately lighting up at the sight of her. He only focused on her even through all her handy work. The dim lighting and flowers and the scent in the air didn’t distract him at all from her beauty. Hell, he didn’t even spare a glance at her lovely gestures. Because she looked as she always looked to him, so beautifully unattainable. She was the queen to his lowly peasant. The God to his human. His leather shoulder bag was at his side like it always was when coming home from work. The only thing different about the man’s appearance was that he was cradling a pink box filled with berry cupcakes. That and his curly hair had gotten shaggier.
After the initial shock of seeing his wife, glistening and shining for his attention, he approached her quickly with a spring to his step. “You’re home.” He smiled, and immediately placed the box on the table and stripped himself of his bag, in order to wrap an arm around her waist. “You’re home, you’re home, you’re home.” He repeated, his voice ringing brighter with happiness each time. Leo couldn’t help himself and peppered her cheeks with tender kisses inbetween each phrase. Then finally he stopped to just look at her face. It was like she was gone for months rather than weeks. He gently cupped her face as if he was to kiss her. But words escaped him before he moved towards her. “I missed you.” His heart feeling as if it was soaring. This is what he had missed. This is what he was trying to replicate while she was gone.
oliverbrowncnn:
“Depends.” Oliver gave Leo a look. Weren’t he and his wife loaded? “I’ve seen people charge that for a hand job.” He smiled as a woman turned around to play the part of the offended dame . “I know ma'am. In this economy?” His eyes grew larger then, before he shook his head in dismissal. She could take her outrage else where.
“Anyway, you do whatever you want with this information,” sticking his hands in his pockets, he had a look over at the list for largest donors, expecting to find The Brown foundation somewhere in the top 5, and not exactly surprised to see they were in the top 3.
-
Leo’s brows behind the leather mask shot straight up at Oliver’s remark. Laughter from his belly left his lips which doubled when Oliver told off their eavesdropper. Leo’s laughter making the speed of her exit all the more hastily. “I don’t think I’ll ever stoop so low. But if I get there, you’ll know.” He sniffed, shaking his head, before focusing back on the donation slip. “And I’m of course--kidding about a five dollar donation.” He said, writing down four digits. This amount was safe for him and his wife’s combined income, but all he could see were the amount of drinks that could be had at the dive bar on the ninth. So. Many. Drinks. “On the safe side, I better ask Alaska.” He said, folding up the slip, and placing it in his coat’s inner pocket. He was buying time with the money, and mourning the potential loss of an excessive amount of his vice.
He made way to see what had Oliver’s attention now. Leo clearly saw his friend’s last name, and he nearly snorted. “Besides, why do they need my money when they got yours, you ol’ fox?” Leo quipped with tilting his head to the side, his lion mask surely adding the playful taunting that Leo was delivering.
renfarber:
Oh, this was dangerous. He shouldn’t be looking at her like this. And she shouldn’t be looking at him like this. They were grown ass adults now, and they should know better, and they had responsibilities, and they’d broken up for a reason, because she’d done something horrible, and then he’d said some horrible things, and enough time had passed now that there shouldn’t be any feelings left of any kind, but… there were. She could tell from his eyes that there were. And anyway, Ren had always rather liked danger.
He smiled at the mention of her mother, and he joked about her ridiculous old friends, and she laughed at his dumb jokes and his smug smile and his popcorn-throwing, and what had felt dangerous a moment ago, now felt familiar and safe. Safe enough that she felt comfortable reaching up to fix some stray curls that had fallen over Leo’s eyes.
“Do you remember the night we met?” she smirked. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t, honestly. They were at work, and it was a particularly slow night, and nothing of interest really happened except for Ren meeting the only man she’d ever fall in love with. They’d spent the whole shift talking and laughing (and getting yelled at for talking and laughing), and sneaking booze from behind the bar. “I told you I felt like I’d known you in another life. And that nothing you could say would ever surprise me because of it. …I was a fucking weirdo back then,” she laughed, “but I still kind of believe that.”
-
The way she looked at him was almost becoming unbearable. Did she realize that she was looking at him the way she use to? Was he giving her the same adoring look that he had reserved for her all those years ago? Would the desire to stop wanting to reach towards her subside? How could he even approach her in such a way when she knew she was married and very clearly had honored that sanction far more than he did? No matter the answers, he had to behave, he had to.
Leo didn’t flinch or back away when Ren’s hand came to his obstructed view. He actually kind of welcomed not seeing her so clearly. It offered a bit of a shield, but she had brushed his shaggy curls away, giving him a sharp view of her stunning features once again. He’d never get over just how ethereal she appeared. And just like that, the urge to just move closer, grab her face and just kiss her took hold of him again. But thankfully she had given him another distraction.
He looked at the cute smirk upon her face as he took her question. The night they met. Arguably one of the best nights of his twenties. He would never tell her, but he even knew what phase the moon was in the sky that night; a crescent moon. He also regrettably even knew what the special was that night; a honey roasted duck. Which now he realized was probably the reason for the slow night. He kept his gaze on her as he recalled the rest of the details, the more important ones. Like how when their eyes first met, he became a stoic fool, melting into a stranger’s eyes. But then how quickly he had warmed up to her because of her charming demeanor, one that he matched up with his own. He definitely chose humour to captivate her, and he was smitten with her honesty no matter how eccentric it was. As he listened to her recalling their conversation about other lifetimes, his face had softened and there was smile shining from his eyes as well as his lips. “I think I remember it a lot better.” He gloated, of course, needing a spotlight on him being right once again. He leaned in closely, his elbow completely taking her arm rest as he did so. “Because you said, you felt like you’ve known me in a thousand other lifetimes.” The glint in his eyes still shown as he reminded her of that detail, the lighting of the movie’s glow helped ignite it brighter. “I asked if I were rich and successful in any of them and you said yes. And then like a lameass trying to shoot my shot, I asked if I got to see you naked in any of them.” His voice lowered an octave as if to keep that part intimately between them than it already was. Leo’s gaze, however, dropped down to the exposed skin at her collarbone before he forced it back up. His clutch on the popcorn bucket was unfortunately becoming obvious with the crinkling of the cardboard.
starter for: @norahphobia where: empire diner in chelsea
leo had to admit that he was a sucker for train styled diners. historic and rare were two attributes he’ll always admire. he had fond memories of diners such as this. once he was old enough to legally work, leo would bus tables and wash dishes. he admired the blue, silver chromium diner as he sat in a booth, waiting for his dinner date. and eventually, he shifted his gaze to the street outside. and then he had been sitting there long enough for the waitress to give the table two glasses of water.
“You’re late,” Leo said immediately as Norah had came into view. “I’ve already called the cops.” He said, crossing his arms in front of him. He looked at her accusingly as if he was blaming her for something he obviously didn’t do. He was masking his bit of worry with a joke.