leonardo 'leo' harlowe @leoharlowe - Tumblr Blog

ofmerrit:

a coy glint enters her ocean orbs with his continuation of the tv talk, deciding it’s not fair to press him further. what she feels for the young harlowe boy is almost indescribable, something that transcends the duty she’s crowned with… something beyond softness and gratitude? she cannot tell. they walk in empty halls, hand in hand, a proud smile ready to envelop her features if they encounter a friend. she doesn’t mind it, really, playing a part, being his girl — it’s no different from her daily life anyway. “yay, i knew she would like it,” she choruses, pace fastening with excitement. a balanced combination of her grandmother’s love and grandfather’s toughness, she’s made out of the most exquisite clay, specifically moulded to meet their needs. still she wants to take a part of the credit, for enduring it, enduring all of it that she now calls her upbringing without a flinch. sharp but dainty nose crinkle when she feels his gaze on her, stomach making a nosedive as an unsettling feeling creeps into her systems. she listens, a plastered smile still gracing her pale face. “don’t interrupt me again,” grandfather warns her, “people like us are born with grace and decorum, never forget it.” merrit’s mouth twitching from the phony grin, she resists the urge to scream and shout like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum, back to grinding her teeth as she did in high school. her grip on his hand loosening, she attempts to move it over her head to be released, aligning her body right in front of him, giving no space to walk away. “i don’t understand why you’re being this way, leo,” she mutters, head tilting to check for any hidden figures in her peripherals. people do fight, just not them — not the young, elated couple, merrit and leonardo. his words still playing in the back of her mind, stinging like thorns, her expression grows distant. unfamiliar. “you don’t have to like me. i may not be the girl of your dreams and i know i may never please you but,” eyes study him for a second, hoping he understands the wreckage she’s trapped under “it’s what our families need. your father and my grandfather made a deal, and we are to honour them for two more years. you may want to talk to your father after graduation, but until then this is happening.” she finally takes a deep breath and drops her shoulders, voice lowering. “i will do anything to make my grandmother happy and she is not going anywhere any time soon.” apples of cheeks perking with a gentle smile, merrit reaches for the hand she’s just let go, fingers ghostly dancing across his skin. “i will make it easy for you, i swear. whatever you need and want, i will be there to help you.” there you go, she wishes to say, here’s your wife to be. the lady macbeth, minus the guilt, to your king. “now let’s forget about the photo thing if it makes you this upset, i will photoshop something for grandma later. no worries.” meekly taking her place next to him again, a beaming smile tugs at the corner of her cherry lips. “do you want to get coffee first? i’m craving an iced-americano.”

if leo knew how much she was a people pleaser, he probably would’ve fought harder against his father. he tried his best not to interrupt merrit as she spoke, but all he wanted to do was tell her to shut up and ask if she truly believed this is all she could do to please her own family. did she really think she had to be in an arranged possible marriage with someone in order to make her grandparents happy? if so, he had a few choice words for the amount of pressure they were putting her through. sure, his parents were similar, but he wasn’t afraid to get in his father’s face and fight against it ( of course not winning the arguments ). the deal was utter bullshit. leonardo didn’t even know what she wanted. it was upsetting how she wasn’t agreeing with him, instead acting as though everything was fine and would be fine if he just bit his tongue. merrit had a lot to learn when it came to leonardo and his thought process. “i don’t need anything from you,” he snapped in a voice low enough for only her to hear. he glanced over his shoulder in order to see if anyone was coming their way. “i want you to stop being a pushover. why should i pretend with someone whose only desire in life is the please others? it’s pathetic, really, mer.” the side of him that he showed everyone was starting to appear, but it was for good reason. if he was going to be stuck with merrit, she ought to see this side sooner rather than later. call it being stubborn or just an asshole, he didn’t care. his face lowered so it was closer to hers and his voice turned into a whisper, “you will never be my girl, merrit hornsby. trust me on that.” his hand stayed, although he wanted to rip it away from her grasp. his father could’ve chosen any other girl at this school and he chose one that was a complete doormat, it seemed. leo wanted to grab her shoulders and shake that smile away. god, that smile. it killed him how she was able to hide behind it and act like things between them were perfect or she didn’t take to heart anything he was saying. but he loved it at the same time. taking a breath through his nose, leo’s head nodded and put on a forced toothless grin. “yeah, i’ll pay.“

#c. merrit

ofmerrit:

“only if you can actually go on without ripping out everything, i can’t.” mind crawls back to the memory of her first assessment, how she almost went through a sketchbook while trying to decide on a damn outline. fingers blistered, papers rubbed with eraser, broken beyond repair. perfection goes hand in hand with dissatisfaction, her grandpa preaches, you have no choice but to be better if you are always feeling so. easier said than done, merrit can tell you that much. “thank you.” she doesn’t expect him to understand, but it’s the effort that matters.. or he just doesn’t care enough about her to continue, which sounds more appropriate for their situation. shoulders drop with the thought of him not giving a single heck, a beaming smile envelops her expression, though a crease quickly finds the space between her brows with his overenthusiastic comment. can’t get enough of it? it’s binge-worthy, at best, but nothing too great. “i especially love the alien invasion episode, what do you say? and ted’s love story with the queen x-12… poetic.” lips pursing together, she tries to contain her laughter, a fuzzy feeling spreading over her senses. he cares, enough to resort to a while lie. his arm, around her shoulder and she peeks at him, head instinctively tilting to close the gap. a gentleness she’s not felt in perhaps years puzzles her, his question replaying faintly like an echo. an uncharacteristic silence follows the unexpected yet delicate kiss that only lasts for seconds, though not in her mind, there, it’s imprinted — something she will continue thinking about for longer than she’d be happy to admit. still blinking rapidly, cheeks flushed, she bends her arm to hold his hand, fingers meekly resting atop his. “no, i like spending time with you. alone. it’s nice, as long as you…enjoy it too.” dimples rouse with a girly smile, looking up though lashes “so… i think grandma would love it if i mailed her photos of us. she was chatting about the antique frame she bought at auction and said some stuff about you.. and us, and i thought it would be cute. maybe i can get a similar one online and ship to mrs. harlowe? would she like it?”

brows furrowing at merrit’s continuation of the how i met your mother talk, leo nodded slowly. hid head moved a little too slowly, only due to the fact that he didn’t understand anything that was coming from her mouth. “the queen was the best,” leo stated. he hoped it would end there since he didn’t feel like explaining himself if he was caught lying. he knew merrit was too smart for his lies and didn’t want to make it a habit around her like he did so many people. with the feeling of her hand engaged with his, leo could feel himself getting a little nervous. it was rare for him to be seen around campus this close with a girl. not even his other girlfriends ( which his parents seemed to hate, unbeknownst to him ) got this side of him. he preferred to lay low, but ever since this arranged situation came up, he felt he needed to show they were a couple. he thought of her words but ended up giving her a shrug in response. the one thing leonardo wasn’t fond of was photos — especially if it consisted of him and the person he was involved with. but... they weren’t technically involved, so did it really matter as much as he was making it out to be? “she wouldn’t hate it,” he finally said. gift giving was something he sucked at. the only real reason he sent flowers to his mother every week was because he doesn’t know what materialistic things she’d be fond of. bad son alert. “she’d love whatever you send her, honestly. but the photos thing...” dark hues glanced down at the shorter one, secretly not wanting to be involved with the whole picture taking. “your grandma’s gonna hate those when she realizes this whole thing isn’t real, you know. i know we’re already deceiving them by doing... this,” his free hand moved between their bodies, “but she’s old. and i’m not going to send a picture of us if it means they’ll force it even more.” as if acting in public and around their families wasn’t worse than sending a harmless photo to someone. “once your grandparents are gone or whatever, we can stop pretending.” after that comment, he immediately caught his breath. it wasn’t meant to come off as insensitive, but he knew it was wrong to say out loud. and to merrit of all people.

#c. merrit #this sucks bye #djfkajdslflka

ofmerrit:

she nods, making a mental note of the book that has managed to capture his attention only to faintly remember the film with the same title. he doesn’t strike her as a ‘film over book’ kind of guy, so it’s best to keep quiet — maybe she can read it, god knows she has all the time in the world with the no sleep life style she has. a pathetic attempt to impress the young harlowe. grandfather would be proud of her efforts, at least she likes to think so, he probably couldn’t care less. leo’s decision to hold her hand catches merrit off guard, making her feel like she’s some sort of volunteer for the dunk tank game, anxiously waiting for the dexterous boy to sink her in the cold water and he indeed manages to hit the bullseye with the interlaced fingers. ironic she feels this way when she initiated it; the impulse to please him, to play the role of the perfect girlfriend overtake her senses, merely a robot, acting according to its codes written by their families. the brunette doesn’t want him to know how this arrangement suits her, delighted with the tailored dress, sewed into her skin — that pain is nothing compared to the one she would be facing in a case of hornsby’s discontentment. giving him a gentle squeeze, merrit deepens their hold, thumb aimlessly drawing small circles against his tendon. “deal,” she muses, cheeks plump with a beaming smile from his idea. “i like to use them for sketching, i know, it makes no sense but… looks pretty, i guess. they even make the errors look better, so i don’t rip the pages in frustration. so far it’s working.” the image of leonardo annotating with her glitter pens widens her grin; his umber hues squinting with utmost diligence, ruddy lips pursed together and his stray curl begging to be pushed back send tingling sensations over her chest, a ‘sipping camomile tea in a january night’ type of warmth. “um, nothing much. i’m done with the history of architecture course for today. it’s interesting, really. my instructor is nothing like ted mosby, but it’s nice. have you seen the show? how i met your mother? not exactly my favourite but i’ve been rewatching for the architect representation. i don’t know, leo, i’m happy to be back. i missed the garden, the sleepless nights, touring for inspiration and losing my way like a freshman fool. call me a dork but i do enjoy school more than i enjoy most things in life. the rules and regulations, projects, glitter pen sketches… keep my mind occupied, better than a blank canvas, i guess. plus… i have you guys here, right next to me. izzy, bex, romy… only a two minute walk, then voila, i’m in their rooms. isn’t that great? you could say there’s nothing really new happening, but i like it the way it is. my home. anyway,” she trails off, momentarily gazing at him to make sure he’s still present, not bored to death with the nonsense coming from her mouth. why do i care, is the million dolar question, but it demands to be answered another time, preferably while watching the sun rise from her bedroom window. “uhm, yeah. how i met your mother, so.. you a fan?” awkward tension etched to every syllable, she fastens her pace to avoid the face she expects him to pull, the type where he goes ‘what the hell is she talking about?’, not that she’s seen it on him before, it’s just a guess. “if you want we can invite people to hang with us. i don’t want you to feel forced,” a tired smile pulls at her lips and she shrugs “to be alone with me, you know? you don’t have to, it’s like totally okay.”

“ripping out pages is what helps your craft,” leonardo sounded. at least, to him, anyway. the more frustration, the better the outcome a piece of work could end up being. “i used to scribble out most of my annotations before i really figured out what worked for me. if glittery pens helps you, i think that’s all that matters.” he was supportive of her decision, even if it seemed silly to her. the nonstop rambles from the girl’s lips couldn’t help but amuse him. in all honesty, leo wasn’t looking for a whole story to his question, but part of him was glad he got one. as much as leonardo wanted to tune her out and act like he was faking interest, merrit’s voice introduced a new feeling and sense of desire he’d never felt before. a sense of desire to hear more of what she was saying and how her voice sounded, yet he couldn’t describe why that was. never had he been this invested in an unnecessarily long response, either from his mother or a girl he was actually dating. his throat cleared as his head nodded; brown curls lightly falling with each movement. “oh, yeah, that show. it’s great,” leo lied. he’d heard about the show, but never gave it a chance since it looked boring. but if mer was interested in it, he wanted to check it out and have something to connect with her on. possibly even read more into architecture. “i... god, i love the plot. really. can’t get enough of it.” it was difficult to lie to her for some reason. he had no idea what the show was about, let alone who the fuck ted mosby was. his hand tightened its grip on the smaller one once he felt the pace fasten. yeah, it was weird between them right now, but what else should they expect? pulling her back a tiny bit and getting closer to her, leo let his grip loose and put an arm around her shoulders. the male’s eyes lowered to look at the brunette, a reassuring smile on his face in hopes it’d make her feel a little more comfortable. “now, why would i want someone interrupting my time with you?” and without thinking, leo pressed his lips ontop of her head in a quick kiss before pausing and replaying what he had just done. after a moment of silence from him, he looked at the view in front of them, immediately cursing at himself in his mind. what the fuck did you just do? “i mean, unless you want more company?”

#leo: does she ever stop talking???#also leo: her voice is so cute #c. merrit #not me writing this n then posting it without rereading it n hoping it makes sense #i hATE this response but i work in 20 mins </3

movedtobeforesunrise

#( wc. )

skamedits

#( inspo. )#mamas boy!!!

( closed starter for @diomandetm ! )

location: leonardo’s room

romeo was someone leonardo could be around for more than an hour and not want to tear his hair out. ever since the first day they met, leo knew they werent meant to be friends. it might’ve been because of their society, or the wealth they both had, or possibly because they seemed to agree on most things ( well, according to leonardo — he couldn’t speak for the other ). slumping deeper into the overly-cushioned chair in his room, leonardo began spewing a random frustration that he seemed to keep having. it was so random and managed to interfere with his thoughts every once in a while. “ro,” he started, his head turning to face romeo but not giving him any time to respond. tongue licking his lips in order to hydrate them, leo was not ready to hear another’s opinion until his words ceased. “i just... don’t understand the use. labyrinths aren’t adding anything to this school. i mean, why should they be allowed to step foot on campus? what, their parents are innovative and new and they have diverse backgrounds and opinions?” he scoffed at the thought. nothing about that seemed true to him. “as if our family lineage didn’t, y’know, create the foundation for them to be successful or whatever the fuck they’re deemed to be? we get no praise for their successes, dude.” hands lifted in the air in disbelief. “my grandfather practically led the way and i get nothing in return?”

#c. romeo #god this was AWFUL but here is egotistical leo for u <3

ofmerrit:

merrit often finds herself repeating ‘my life is perfect.’ like a mantra, as if the lie would somehow take pity on her. she no longer feels guilty for the fact it comes so easy to her, to live according to others’ rules, a puppet in love with the strings that keep her afloat. now it’s sort of a disappointment that she feels. of course there’s no resistance when grandfather tells her about him, the almost-stranger she should be marrying. ‘for our sake’ he says, ‘and yours.’ under different circumstances, it may sound identical to the pleas of a controlling yet doting parental figure and nothing else, but the sharp taste of his threat, that merrit can feel in her bones like she’s being poked by thousands of tiny pins, a voodoo doll incarnation. a soft smile tugs at her cherry lips upon spotting him, overflowing with gratefulness that he doesn’t seem to mind the arrangement, at least enough to play his part. “sure, i would love to.” words swim out her mouth in a mellow tone, awkwardly shoving her notebook and glitter pens in the tote bag not to keep him waiting, ultimately hoping it’s what her grandma would’ve done in her position. nervously playing with the bag’s strand, she rocks on her heels as she languidly studies his features. similar to words, affection also doesn’t come easy to her; a subconscious thing it is, she craves the idle touches, the subtle parades of belonging. a friend and possibly her future spouse, mixed signals are all she’s receiving and giving off, never knowing where the lines are drawn. he likes to read, that she remembers from before, something to use while she desperately tries to connect with him. “what have you been reading lately?” merrit asks while nonchalantly extending her hand to leo, a confusing neediness to feel him closer pulsating through her body.

a slight, subtle grin couldn’t help but form on his face at the sight of her stuffing glitter pens into her bag. of course, what else should he expect? there wasn’t much he knew about her, but the choice of pens didn’t seem surprise him at all. it only reinforced the idea that she was too sweet — innocent, even — for her own good. something that he hoped wouldn’t fade away the longer she spent with or around him. it was actually quite difficult to remove the upturn of his lips, which was a new thing for leonardo, yet one he ended up enjoying. sure, he had relationships with other girls, but something about merrit was different. god, what was he feeling? “i started into the wild last night,” he responded without hesitation. the book was so fresh in his mind that he could go on for at least an hour about the little details he picked up from it. pen inked on and filled up each page he turned. the brunet stayed up all night reading most of it, but still wasn’t going to bore merrit with it. his dark brown eyes glanced down at the gesture she made but returned in front of him; his brain and heart pulling at decisions to quickly be made. leonardo knew he had to play the part, but it was too weird to truly believe what was happening. the pressure to be perfect with someone he didn’t want to be vulnerable with — how was this thing ever going to succeed? if they were to end up married or whatever his family desired from him, how would that occur if he couldn’t show her the side he rarely showed anyone? fingers laced with hers after a second, and the feeling of her touch comforted him more than he ever imagined it would. “you should let me borrow those pens one day. i’ve never used glitter pens for annotating.” a shoulder raised in a half-shrug, wanting to talk more about her than him. “but what about you? uh, anything new happening?”

#c. merrit #the awk tension but also the ooo wat iz dis i like dis ??? tension #gettin me emotional lowkey

( closed starter for @ofmerrit ! )

it wasn’t hard for leonardo to act like things were going perfectly fine, even if they weren’t. whether at home or in public, he had a habit of concealing his emotions when it negatively affected his reputation. ever since the conversation with his grandparents and his parents ( the idea that he was to be with merrit due to both families being old money ), he had no way of rejecting the decision that was made for him. his father was well-aware of how it looked, but he was too invested in the money aspect rather than how his son felt. and his mother ( bless the woman ) was a little too ecstatic for a possible daughter-in-law that all she could talk to leonardo — or, rather, anyone that had ears — about was the romantic aspect of the young pair. ‘now, leonardo, you must be nice to her and treat her like she’s the only one in the room,’ his mother would repeat each time they spoke. and there was something about going against his mother’s wishes that hurt him, so he held his tongue and tried his best to please both parents. shaking the thoughts from his mind, leonardo took a breath, ran his fingers through his messy brown hair, and swiftly jogged up to the girl he was pressured to be around. “merrit,” his voice was somewhat stiff but still veiled with a kind of charm that was reserved for situations he felt he could try to manipulate. “i’m off to the yard, if you’d like to join?”

#c. merrit #............ this was awful but i needed at least one thread posted b4 working 8hrs </3

throwbackblr

#( inspo. )

skamnl

#( wanted conn. )#omg .. the annoyance this connection could bring ..

majidjordans-deactivated2023041

#( f. )

( hi hi hi ! i’m kat (21, est) and here’s my long overdue (and kinda short n messy n ugly) intro for my spoiled bby leonardo. i’m so excited to plot and start threads with all of u ! )