Hhhh first time writing for rottmnt wish me luck :o
Also also I wanna say that in all my writings the boys are over 18, I hc them to be in their 20s personally, unless otherwise specified! This just makes it more relatable to me as I am also an ~early 20s girlie~
Imagine Rise!Leo realizing he has actual feelings for you. Not just a fun crush, or a new friend who he enjoys jokingly flirting with. Which is what he convinces himself you are for a good while until you do one small thing which really shouldn't be a big deal, but it makes the enormity of his feelings settle deep in his stomach.
To be fair, the one small thing wasn't actually all that small, metaphorically speaking of course. Cheaply and poorly made, yes, but the meaning behind it was incredible to him. You had bought him one of those cheesy plastic trophies they hand out to kids for participating in little-league baseball. Golden lettering pronounced him "#1 Champion" across the base, a word that reflected the lights of the city back at him as you shyly passed it to him one night as he dropped you off at your apartment.
"I know it's a little silly I just... you deserve something for all you do for us," you gesture broadly to the city below you two as you stand on your fire escape. "Even if not everyone realizes it, I do." You're shrugging now and sheepishly avoiding eye contact with him, opting to stare down through the grates at your feet. Leo just blinks at the object in his hands, turning it over again to reread it's cliched message. This is weird. He's rarely this quiet, this serious. When he looks up at you, his eyes are unexpectedly intense and it makes you swallow and rub at the warm, flushed skin of your neck.
"You uh... you don't have to take it if you don't want to." Misinterpretation makes you panic and reach to take back the trophy. "I just saw it at the store and thought of you and- really I got it on a whim! It wasn't even that expensive." Your pulling hands are met with resistance as Leo doesn't let go of the little plastic object. In fact, he pulls it into his chest defensively, making you flop your hands down to your sides uselessly.
"Whoa whoa whoa hermosa, back off I'm the champion here! You go get your own!" He protests, feigning offense and puffing his chest dramatically as he gathers up his prize. Oh thank god, he's back to normal, you sigh, then shakily chuckle at his antics. He continues with his expected teasing, ribbing you affectionately in the way he always does that makes your heart clench at nothing in particular, just small notes of care that make you think maybe, maybe this means something more. Leo ends up surprising you again tonight though as he crowds closer to you after saying bye, rather than just cutting a portal into the sky and disappearing.
You stutter and back up into the railing before you're being pulled into a hug. Quick, chaste, and warm. Enough to keep you guessing. Always guessing with this guy. Before you can respond with more than a light brush of your fingers to his shoulder, he steps away and with a flash of blue, he's gone.
Imagine Rise!Leo portaling straight into his room after your interaction, shoulder sparkling where you'd touched him. Looking down and seeing the faint glow of his stripes that he'd been trying to keep at bay in your presence, but now that he's alone these indications of raw emotion light his room up in yellow and red.
He breathes sharply as he stares at his prize, rubbing his thumb along its raised letters. The way you smiled so softly at him and your mouth quirked a little crookedly in nervous energy like it always, always does. You'd said you had thought of him. That he deserves this. Your skin turning warm and dark, the smell of your shampoo when he'd hugged you. Shit. Shit shit shit.
Leo sets the plastic trophy on his shelf so he could read the words "#1 Champion" even while sat on the edge of his bed. Fluttering sensations fly around his chest and migrate to his stomach where they make him feel simultaneously nauseous and elated. He groans lightly. It's not as if he doesn't want to like you. You're a great friend, you get along with his family, and you are so endlessly kind it makes him ache sometimes. But beyond celebrity crushes and a few lingering looks from strangers in the Hidden City, he had little to no experience with this sort of thing. He doesn't like not knowing what to do.
Flopping onto the mattress, Leo takes a breath and tests a glance back to your gift, feeling a resurgence of the little birds in his stomach that he had worked so hard to get to land for just one moment. Shit. Shit shit shit.
Oh she got a bit angsty... I'll be honest I did not know where I was going with this other than I wanted to stick with the hc that the boys' markings glow with strong emotions!! Might continue this?? Maybe?? Leo + angst is one of my favorite combinations as long as it ends happily so. We shall see :))
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