42 Character Development Questions
7. How do they physically engage with other people, inanimate objects, and their environment? What causes the differences between these?
Leo isn’t particularly fond of physical touch, or being close to others in general. He’ll nudge them if he needs to, particularly when teasing. If objects are passed between him and someone else, he’ll make enough to not allow their fingers to touch if he’s unfamiliar with the person. Holding someones hand is a very intimate thing for him. As for inanimate objects, Leo takes particular care with many of them. His sketchbooks, though carried around everywhere with him, are handled with a lot of care, the leather slightly worn on a lot of them from where his hand always is. He tries to make sure he knows where they are at all times. He also handles fabric similarly, and small things. He likes to study them a lot, watching how a necklace swings from a chain, or how a pen clicks up and down, for example. Ironically enough, Leo’s less careful with technology. He’s cracked his phone screen a few times when it’s be pushed of tables after being forgotten. He doesn’t place much monetary value on things, rather than emotional meaning, or the intricacy. His environment is often what you would call organised chaos; it;s not exactly a mess, but his desks will be covered in papers and books and fabric, all stacked neatly but nearly covering the entirety of the surface. He likes keeping things organised. A lot of times, his apartment get neglected, in favour of staying somewhere else or his work. The locked room in the back has been untouched for a good few months now.
12. How are they bodily expressive? How do they use nonverbal cues such as their posture, stance, eyes, eyebrows, mouths, and hands?
Leo’s expressions are often very subtle. Most of the time, his boss jokes that’ll he’ll scare away the customers with his stoic face, but as soon as he manages a smile, it completely softens his features. Leo is a self conscious person by nature, and a wary person by nurture. This comes through in the way he’s easily flustered. He tries not to openly showcase many of his emotions, though they spill through in small gestures: rubbing the back of his neck, running a hand through his hair, folding his arms across his chest, tapping his feet or playing rhythms and melodies with his fingers against his leg. They’re not obvious, but easy to pick on up when you’re familiar enough with him. Also, despite his reluctance towards physical touch with people, if he’s particularly close to someone, he’ll become... slightly clingy. He’ll stand close to them so that their arms brush. Nothing more than him not realising how much he needs others to stay beside him. He also bites his lips and blushes a lot, digs his finger nails into his palms when he’s scared or angry... they’re are lots of little things.
