@veldinstar said: It was one of those moments he knew to pretty much keep his mouth shut. With the silent approach from Leo, that was his first hint. Arms had opened to welcome his friend into his warmth. Nose nestles into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent, as fingers absentmindedly play with Leo’s hair. After a long moment, Ratchet finally breaks the silence.. “Anything I can do to get your mind off things?” Note he doesn’t pester him about what such things were. He would respect if Leo didn’t want to talk about it. Normally that was the case, after all.
There was nothing to talk about. Yes, Leo did have personal demons he struggled with, but they were rarely something that would cause him to behave any different. Everyone carries their own burdens in day-to-day basis, so really, it was barely anything to bother your head with.
But.. there was something about today that truly highlighted something that Leo was so afraid of. One of his greatest fears, becoming the reality. How many times did he have to play with fire? Did he really never learn?
Today, he was too tired to entertain Ratchet with their usual, silly antics. There were no sarcastic jokes & no snarky remarks. Just.. silence.
His unusually quiet demeanor was, surprisingly, met with understanding & warmth. Leo was barely in the mood to explain anything & thankfully, Ratchet didn’t ask any invasive questions either. It was like he just knew.
But my god, his touch. So familiar & yet, so.. foreign. In his arms, Leo usually felt safe. But nothing about today felt normal; the touch he would often recognize as homey & good felt sad, & cold. The middle of his eyebrows tilted upwards, his eyes beginning to damp slightly. His lips parted, almost ready to say something to his friend. But he hesitated.
Once Ratchet finally broke the silence between the two men, Leo barely even flinched from his spot. Only thing he would do following his friend’s question was to bring his arms behind Ratchet, pulling him in even closer to his body. After couple of seconds passed by without any reply, Leo finally decided to open his mouth.
“No, I’m sure I just.. need to sleep this off, y’know. “
There was an attempt (though weak) to answer his question in a lighter tone, trying to downplay how he truly felt in the moment. Leo wasn’t yet fully comfortable showing his sensitive side to anyone, & he hated looking so goddamn weak in front of his good friend.
“ Sorry. This is just.. so fuckin’ stupid. “