( 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?”