discomposer | golden peacock inbox

Got it in one. The "Tenshi" is from Tenshouin, but it's also just fitting. Angels aren't all light and beauty, y'know. They're cruel and violent things that kill rather a lot, in the Bible. Shu said so.

[ He was curious about it - how much did Hiyori notice and think was the same, subconciously? He kept talking about the same kind of loneliness, and similar situations, and Leo wanted to know in the way his attention sometimes catches on this or that. ]

But if you've already done that, it's fine to tell you how I scared Hiyo. I told him that my suit never got that bad to worry about because I'd only ever gotten to the point of asking to be hurt here, not killed. I think I scared the hell out of him, even though I actually meant it to be comforting, 'cause he got way more frantic about introducing you to me after that.

[ The smile shifts to something softer. ]

Sometimes I mess up and scare the people who care about me. Do you do that?

( As someone who has already killed someone here who asked for him to, as someone who killed a second just to try and feel something— Esikko wonders how Hiyori would feel knowing the potentials he'd just set up. It's not as if he's some ruthless murderer, some psychopath who kills for no reason, right? There's always a reason. It's just that no one understands.

But someone who asks to be hurt, who feels at risk for asking to be killed, huh...

He hums, reaching out with his hand up as if to invite Leo to take it. If he does, he'll find his hand is unnaturally cold in temperature, but Esikko just means to lead them to somewhere they can sit. )

There aren't many people who care about me, so I'm not sure it's the same. I'm someone who might desperately try to create worry in those around me, and grow more desperate when I don't get it.

It's like the opposite side of a coin.

Where is your suit mark, by the way? Can you show me?

[ This was already an issue with Leo prior to anything, given every other Knights event he sets himself up to be a villain to be slain and they then refuse to do so and tell him to knock it off. He easily reaches out to take Esikko's hand, no hesitation.

There's places to sit. In this room, the living area with the kitchenette Leo barely uses for anything but coffee, there's some couches and a piano bench by the piano. There's a bedroom off a little hallway, and the bathroom, and his music studio where he spends about 99% of his time in his place. ]

The small of my back. You can see it if you wanna.

[ Leo doesn't have much if any shame about just about anything. ]

Hey, I don't think Hiyo gave you the warnings about me that he should have. Did he?

Let me see. Since I am here to check on you, after all. In exchange, I'll show you mine, though it's just on my arm.

( As much as he'd love to go straight to a bedroom, he picks one of the couches near the piano. Couches are comfortable, and he's heard he enjoys the piano, so it's nice to have near, right? He just needs to sit, or he'll get too tired.

That last question startles another laugh out of him, though, this one more breathy and quiet than his earlier ones. )

Warning, for you? What sort of warnings should I have expected? That you'd see through my icy eyes and somehow straight into my thorny heart?

I doubt there's anything that would trouble me.

[ Leo thinks that's probably wrong. The things that people should be warned about can be way too much for a lot of people, especially in a place like this. But then, does Hiyori see that stuff about him? He isn't sure. Even Rinne probably didn't because Leo knew well enough to not say some of the stuff that was true. ]

I'm too intense about a lot of things. [ It's the mildest, easiest way to put it. Leo doesn't usually bother to warn anyone, either, but he has just called Esikko out on a lot of stuff he apparently shouldn't have noticed from the last comment, even though he's always been far sharper than he likes to act half of the time.

Leo's a genius. He doesn't always act it. ]

I can't help it. I've broken precious things like that. The weight of my regard is way too crushing for a lot of people, even if it's only a sliver and I try to hide some of it. If I can hear a melody in something or someone I just wanna get as close as I can to listen, and I can't help but feel love.

[ He's pretty sure that part of him is sometimes painful to certain people, and he thinks, maybe, he should give one of them who might hate it a chance to run away. ]

Hey, Ikko. If you aren't careful, I'll crush you with my love, too. People might think they wanna be a muse the stars revolve around, but none of them realize just what that means.

[ It's the kind of love Shu would have understood. He's hurt his unit before, too. Leo straightens up from the way he'd been leaning in intently, tugging his shirt over his head easily so he can turn around. His suit is a chaotic mess, and darker than it should be, but then again Rinne has been gone a while and Leo has been working. ]

I wanna hear e~ver~y~thing. What's your voice sound like when you do this or that, what's it sound like when you're feeling or doing different things. I really really really wanna hear it. I've been told I don't see people as humans, like that, when there's someone I get that wrapped up in until my fingers fizzle and my head's all noisy with music.

Are you gonna get scared off?

Is it love, if you feel it so quickly? If you can feel it for everyone, is it even special?

( Esikko's words come out soft, with those questions, matched with the way he leans in to observe that suit mark. His fingers, still unnaturally cold, touch like ice cubes against his back, trailing up from the darkened mark purposefully. An intricate and lovely design, but still a spade. Coincidence, from his feelings earlier? Or no? )

I'm normally the one who scares others off, you know. ( When he gets obsessive. When he gets jealous, and possessive, and wants things just to have them, crushes things just to feel the sensation of it. His fingers end their trailing at Leo's shoulders, slipping away and freeing him to turn back around, if he wants.

Esikko is in a sweater, so rolling up the sleeves is too annoying. But he starts with the scarf, unwinding it and setting it aside on the arm of the couch to reveal the large TRANSGRESSOR mark now branded along the right half of his neck. )

I don't think I'm someone people can or should love. Perhaps you should focus on the here and the now, rather than the what-ifs of the future. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed, anyway.

( It's here that his sweater slips off so that he can show off the pink mark on his left shoulder, on the side. Pale, taken care of, and also intricately designed. Also out of place is a healed over scar on the upper left side of his chest, but aside from that, his skin is as flawless as can be. And cold. )

Here's mine. They almost match, don't they? In their own way.

I've been told that before, too, by a guy I can't get along with at all.

[ If you love like Leo does, does it matter? Leo knows he does feel things strongly, specially, but is that something he should ever say to people who don't get it?

Almost no one ever gets it. He turns around when that touch goes away, and then watches. ]

I told you. I'm a composer, and my first language is music. You have to love someone at least a little bit to write them a song. You have to look at them and see them as they are, the good and bad things, the beautiful and ugly. Sharp edges, smooth rounded corners - you can't ignore any of it. I've never understood anyone who could stare at someone's soul and not feel love, but then - that kind of person doesn't understand me either. Most people don't.

[ The brand on the neck is interesting. Leo reaches out to trace the letters. ]

It's still love. There's all different sorts. I love Hiyo and Nami as dear friends. I love Magi as something of a kindred spirit, but not quite. I love Knights like they're my own limbs in different bodies - I love Naru 'cause she's so intensely herself, and she calls me out whenever she feels like it. I love Rittsu because he's funny and irreverent and he plays the piano like I hear it in my head. I love Suo because he's so earnest and he believes in the best of all of us, like he can't see the corpses in the shadows. And I love Sena to my own destruction, and his, when he's cold as the moon and just as pretty.

[ He doesn't want to talk about Ruka right now. He doesn't like to talk about her anywhere near to something like this, his precious little sister. ]

There's people I love so deeply and so painfully that I can't get their impression out of my bones. "Can" and "should" don't matter. Today, tomorrow, time doesn't matter either.

[ He's the sort of person whose heart is never in his own chest. ]

What did you transgress upon?

( It sounds lovely, beautiful and fake, like one of those fairytales that good parents tell to their children. The sort of thing he's lived lifetimes without seeing, the sort of aura that Kirma thinks he gives off even when he's dripping with egoism. It's different here, he thinks, but he doesn't know this man at all, doesn't know if his words are just pretty poetry with convincing feeling behind them, like a play, or if he means it.

He finds himself hoping, more and more, in this place, that he could believe it. But then again, if that is true, if it is possible, then what would that mean for all the time up until now? He could have been loved, but he just wasn't?

There's a thin smile at the question, both proud and bothered by the mark. )

The House itself. It seems it doesn't take kindly to someone trying to carve a way home for those who want it.

( The interest in it is nice, almost as nice as the touch itself. Attention. His eyes slide to Leo, fingers curling into the sweater now in his lap. )

Let's make it a challenge then, why don't we? If you end up loving some part of me, then make me believe it. It's not as if I don't want to; it's not something difficult.

And in return, you can consider me someone who will open his arms to your intensity.

"For those who want it". You don't?

[ There's still open curiosity in Leo's gaze, but he won't care if he doesn't get an answer. He knows he ignores boundaries all the time and gets too close, and if someone smacks him away he'll go with it, verbally or otherwise. It's not any reason not to ask when he wants to know, when his fingertips start tapping out a rhythm on Esikko's neck because the only times Leo ever stops with music are when he's so badly gone down into his own darkness he can't even hear it.

He hasn't been like that in over a year. Not yet.

There should be a pause, waiting for an answer, but Leo just continues on blithely, his intent stare maybe just a little bit skeptical for a change. ]

I'm gonna take you up on that even if you regret it, you know.

( Esikko just looks amused, the more the threats come on. There's no way he's going to regret it— he can't imagine regretting it, if anything does come of it. With another breath of a laugh, he reaches up to catch those tapping fingers, not stopping them so much as redirecting them to his own fingertips. )

Do your worst. ( Playfully, he says this, and then rounds back on the earlier question, seemingly willing enough to share: ) No, I don't. There's nothing for me back there.

It's not that I want to stay here, either, of course. But there are plenty of other realms I might be able to sneak off to.

Hmmm. Then, if I win, I want a prize. ♪~♪~♪

[ He's redirected easily enough, fingertips to fingertips tapping away in motion because he can only stay so still for so long. The song at the edge of hearing, the one that starts with that amused look and a low voice he thinks he could compose to, is gradually coming together in the way that means he might get distracted by it soon.

Leo grins as he hums out the first snatch of it, brightening as he leans in. ]

If I fall in love with you, if you believe me, if you really can handle it - if if if. If all of that. If you don't wanna go there and don't wanna stay here, then I wanna keep you?

[ It's a bright, childish challenge. Entirely insane, of course, but Leo once saw Sena Izumi when they were first years and ignored every single denial he got until they were friends. ...and then they destroyed one another but they have since gotten better, don't think too hard about it.

Is he teasing or is he serious or is he both? He already gave Esikko a chance to run away, so now Leo has determined he can do whatever he wants, which means "whatever the fuck he thinks he's doing now".

He's always moved more on instinct and whimsy than logical planning. ]

( Now he's gone past just love, into falling in love with— and it's a distinction that has Esikko's chest clenching. What kind of person jumps at things like this? It's weird, of course, it's odd, he knows why anyone else would run away, right off the bat— but it feels... dangerous, is that the right word? His eyes follow the tapping of fingers, he listens to the humming that comes so easily, and he thinks of how he doesn't expect to live another year, another half year. How he's near certain he's in love with someone who won't feel the same, who's pointed their love elsewhere. How he'd chained himself into a time loop for far less— for someone he hated, just because he managed to make him obsessed with him.

Hm. )

...Sure. If, if, if.

( He repeats that playful little repetition, meeting their fingertips in the next taps that must be like the previous, he thinks— an attempted matching rhythm that he's trying not to think too hard about. Like the slight flush of his face at the idea of anyone even trying to talk like this. )

You're an odd one. But I can't deny you're charming.

( That energy. He leans subtly closer, eyes tracing from his hand to his face, to his neck. )

I wonder if we should start by taking care of that mark of yours.

[ Leo's smile stays, though there's something even more amused at the agreement. He knows very little but he wants to know more - there's an interesting sort of something behind what he can see, and if he doesn't have to hold back, great. He didn't say a word about anything reciprocal, so there isn't any worry there - Leo does not and never has cared about what he gets back for what he gives out. Pain, pleasure, whatever -

Well, this is exactly why he gets used off and on. For his music, usually, because that's what everything spins on back home, and Leo won't say "no" until it's all gone too far. ]

I already said it'd work with you, so sure. [ A pretty voice. Leo can make anything about music, and when it comes to sex he cares most about the sound, to a worryingly bizarre degree because he can take it to extremes, though he hasn't tried all of them.

Leaning into the touch is a nice option he entertains for about two seconds, but then he takes the implicit permission given and leans up for a kiss because he wants one and he's uncomplicated when it comes to doing what he wants once he's determined whatever that is. Mostly.

He hasn't had anything but coffee since the last time a friend barged in, some days ago, because Leo Tsukinaga can't actually take care of himself to save his life, but he's eager and cheerful enough to take charge for the moment. ]

Edited 2024-12-19 08:49 (UTC)

( Sounds like the beginnings of a completely wholesome and not at all toxic relationship of who knows what! Lonely people cope how they must.

And for Esikko, it's nice to have someone who doesn't get all up in arms about the whole sex thing. Someone who's just as eager for physical intimacy as him, without any of the embarrassment, or coyness, or any of the nonsense surrounding when he just wants to feel someone, to speak to someone in a way that he can manage better than words.

That is to say, he presses easily into that kiss, a slow building thing as he relaxes into it. His lips are as unnaturally cold as the rest of him, and so it might be an unpleasant sort of feeling at first, but he does warm from the contact, from anticipation and excitement. He blindly moves his sweater from his lap to the area behind him on the couch, not wanting to break the kiss for any amount of time to bother checking.

His insistent nature becomes clear near immediately. An attempt at patience, at allowing Leo to do whatever it is he wants, shatters the moment he feels too invested in where this goes. And so he shifts, presses a palm into Leo's chest, and follows into the light push with the lean of his kiss, chasteness quickly fading. )

[ This is the exact opposite of what Hiyori wanted so he'll probably regret it more than anyone else involved. Leo played at being the tyrant king of Knights and he's impetuous and sometimes selfish and often whimsical and eccentric, but he's also endlessly and effortlessly kind. That's why he's messed up, that's why taking on the role of king had so screwed him over when he'd had to crush people he'd adored who hadn't loved him back. It's why he's always so willing to sacrifice himself for Knights.

It's why he never complained when Rinne made a rule about not kissing, even though Leo loves it and always felt the lack. He's making it difficult as he's pushed down not because he's fighting but more because he's smiling into the kiss because Leo really loves kissing and he didn't even have to do anything special to get one. He didn't get shoved off and told not to.

Leo's the only idol from his home who didn't have any negative hangups on sex in one way or another. Idols aren't supposed to do this, whatever - Leo didn't fight it from the start, because he's curious and there's inspiration to be found in other people's bodies and warmth (not that Esikko seems to have the latter, but Leo is warm enough so it's fine, surely?) and there's millions of songs about this kind of physical thing and until he got here Leo couldn't write them with the authenticity he can now.

He likes touch. He likes sex. He likes not having any of the rules that he'll follow but chafe at, to behave and hold back and walk lines that he has to keep focus on. He couldn't care less who has the lead because that sort of thing has never mattered to Leo - he's the type to happily try anything once or a thousand times, as long as it's still interesting, and he's been both the tyrant king and (occasionally, sort of, when he doesn't forget) obedient pet both and the energetic knight somewhere between the two of them.

Smiling really isn't helpful, but laughing into it kind of is because while he lets himself be pushed back into the couch he's also turning the kiss open mouthed from the laugh and then going with that when he stops.

He hasn't been kissed in a while, and he's selfish enough to want it to last a bit longer even though that conflicts always with his desire to hear someone speaking, so his free hand hooks behind Esikko's neck to try and keep him there, just a little bit demanding. You have to savor the treasures someone lets you have for free. ]

( This sort of thing could go in so many directions. And isn't that what's so exciting about it? Whether they crash and burn out, whether one swallows the other, whether they manage to make this work— it's something that can make them feel alive. At the very least, it makes Esikko feel alive. He, too, loves kissing, loves the connection between two bodies, loves to press himself as close as he can to wrap himself in the warmth he's no longer allowed to have. His own laugh mixes with a quick breath of air, the hold of arms around his neck drawing him closer so that their foreheads can touch. His arms, though thin and fragile, manage to guide Leo onto his back on the couch, one arm reaching just past him to grip the armrest, a prop to keep his own body up as he dips his other hand between them, fingers toying at the waistband of his pants. )

So what sort of things do you enjoy, then? Leo.

( Spoken against his lips, his fingers pry his waistband back and release it in a light snap, his own smile curved against the continuing hungry kiss. )

You seem like someone who would be fun to tease, you know. ( And maybe he is now, constantly interrupting this kiss, playing with clothes but not yet advancing things further. He likes that eagerness, that joy, that flash of impatience— and he wants to draw it out more. )

[ Leo isn't hard to lead. For one, he doesn't feel like struggling. For another, he's thin on his own part, though differently. He's the kind of athletic that can go on stage for hours, but Leo's also got a build that makes you think he skips as many meals as he actually does. Healthy but unhealthy with it? It's a contradiction, and really he'd only gained like a pound the last year before getting here because he'd lived with someone who forced him to eat on a schedule and now he's alone again and it's coffee when he remembers and food once he comes up for air from a composition. Sleep is the same way: he can't remember anything but music when he's composing. ]

Oh, teasing isn't gonna work at all if you base it on shame. [ He has none, you see, or it only functions once in a blue moon. It's not like he never gets embarrassed, but those times he's been mostly flattered and it's never once happened during sex to date. Not like Esikko was using shame just then - he sounds happy, too, and that resonates off of Leo's own and he doesn't mind Esikko speaking against his mouth and pulling back, but he does admit, perfectly honest: ]

But seems like you already got the picture to what would. I do get impatient. [ He also seems perfectly happy to let himself get teased, though. His eyes are wide and very brightly green and the hand that was at Esikko's neck fiddles with his hair, touching for the sake of it as amusement flares again on his side.

The thing about Leo is that when he's asked what he likes in bed he doesn't play coy about it or get ashamed, like he just said. He just spills it out easily, and it almost always throws people off or they think parts of it are weird, possibly because some of it is pretty uniquely Leo's nonsense even in a casino full of sex. Some of it is more normal, and that's the stuff he usually gets to do.

Well, mostly. He's still thrilled about kissing, and that's something he didn't always get to do. ]

I like kissing!! And I like making people happy, so I can be into almost anything. [ That's a crap answer, because "anything you want" isn't the revealing kind of honest Leo himself likes. It's true, though, so he briefly visits it before he goes on to spill out the rest messily between them, not caring if it's a "yes" or "no". He was asked a question, and it wasn't "what do you like that I like", which he can't even guess just yet anyway. ]

I like voices. I love your voice, it's so pretty. I like it when people talk to me and I like hearing them, and I wanna record every sound you make and put it to music, but no one has actually let me do that one yet, so I guess it's weird? Or embarrassing? I like it when someone else can be a canvas. About three quarters of my markers here are like, edible paint? I like seeing my music on other people's skin. ♪ I wanna write what what they make me hear and see it there even if it's easy to wipe away with a tongue. They're flavored, too!

[ He gets so excited about his edible markers please just. Pause as he gets all giddy about them. They're also! Colored!!!! He tries to stick to black for his normal markers these days so he can tell them apart, actually. ]

I've always wanted to hear someone sing something I wrote during sex, but everyone always says it's impossible, or they don't have the breath control, or it's weird or whatever. [ Is that even a kink with a name? ] Blindfolds wouldn't upset me but I think I'd cry if someone used earplugs. [ But he doesn't say that's a no? He's never tried that, it's just a tangent mentally as Leo tries to answer the question and ends up rambling, always rambling, flitting from one topic to the next with absolutely no care at all for how any of it is taken because Esikko said he'd take the weirdness and that means he gets it. ]

I think toys are fun. I like my hair being pulled and sometimes I like pulling it. I like biting! I like things that hurt and I like things that don't. I like new things even when I end up hating them because it's a new experience and that's inspiring and I'm never sure if I love it or hate it or hate that I love it when I can't breathe or there's a hand at my throat 'cause I've offered to let Knights cut off my head so many times and it always pissed them off and whatever it is I get all fizzly.

[ There's other things, more, but Leo gets bored talking about himself. ]

Tell me what you like!! [ Because he wants to hear the other half, doesn't even care if it matches up or doesn't. He just wants to know, both his hands sliding up to squeeze Esikko's cheeks just because. ]

( Very informative, all of this rambling. It's something that might get annoying, in certain contexts, or down the line— but annoyance isn't some sort of a deal breaker for Esikko, anyway. Right now, it's new and intriguing, and the words that do come out make all the difference. There's not a single thing he says he enjoys that sounds dull, not a thing that sounds like something he'd be entirely unwilling to do.

Of course, as Esikko thinks on it, as his eyes trace the shape of Leo's lips while he rambles, he thinks that maybe there's nothing like that in the world, anyway. )

I like when things aren't dull, so all of those things sound fun to me.

( To start things off. The one thing he'd be hesitant on is using his voice in sex like that, but the moment it was mentioned that no one else would? It was like a challenge, like something he had to step in and be the best at, be the only one, the best one. He's insecure, worried about the idea of singing to anyone but himself, but if anything, sex sounds like the perfect place for it. Relaxed, heated up, wanting more? Sure.

The hands at his cheeks are warm, and so he leans into one of them, eyes closing as he considers the words, hand tugging more insistently at the hem of Leo's pants, to lower them, to wiggle them off in the middle of all this. )

I like to feel alive. That's a wide range, you know, of things like doing it in places you shouldn't, or ways that are dangerous; I quite like blood, thanks to the way I use my magic, and that's not something I share with everyone for fear of them rejecting the idea. But you seem rather open.

( He seems like the kind of guy who'd try anything once. Or indefinitely? His face lowers again, when pants are out of the way enough, to pepper kisses from the corner of Leo's mouth down to his jaw, to his neck, speaking in between. )

I like feeling wanted, important, like I'm the only one who could possibly do something. Hehe... it's silly, isn't it? Childish? I think I'd like to make you beg, to hear just how much you'd like to hear my voice, until you're either so overcome with impatience that you draw it out of me on your own, or I take pity on you and finally give it all. Hm, that sort of thing...

But as for the methods, I don't think I'm so particular. I enjoy trying new things.

[ If Leo gets so annoying Esikko wants him to shut up, he should just say so whenever it occurs. It's the way other people usually handle him at home, and Leo rarely takes it badly - he knows he can be annoying and overwhelming as hell at times. He's quick enough to shift up, lifting his hips and maneuvering easily with little nudging needed. Flexibility isn't a problem for him, even though he skips practice whenever he feels like it. ]

How do you use your magic? [ Blood magic. Sounds scary, sounds cool, sounds fascinating! Leo doesn't feel the fear that the scary part should inspire, but he feels the curiosity that always chases after anything new, exciting. ] Wait, don't answer! Lemme imagine it.

[ Liking blood, because of how he uses it. Stories and possibilities open up, one after the other, stars in an infinitely expanding universe that won't stop until Leo has a real answer. For just this moment before he knows the truth the answer could be anything and he wants to drag that out, let it play out until he's buzzing with it.

Ugh, he can't kiss Esikko's mouth if he's moving down like that. Leo captures one of his hands instead, because he wants to kiss something and a palm works. ]

Let's see~! There's so many things it could be, exciting! A blood sacrifice, calling something from nothing? What you have to use to write a formula and call up that power? Or maybe it's not something you use to trade, but something you can use itself? If I cut open my wrist would you be able to move the blood however you liked? Can you move your blood? Do you like how it tastes? Maybe if you drink it then it'd warm you up? What's the weight of a heart, magically speaking? I wanna know.

[ Esikko is better at bed talk than Leo. Leo's thrilled to be picturing something he definitely shouldn't be thinking about right this second, of course, but as usual he's honed in on something that fascinates him but is exactly the wrong mood (?) for what he's doing.

He bites the palm, then lets go and allows himself to explore more instead. Scar on the left of the chest. An anatomy chart in his head, and he follows the organs beneath that cut and grins again. ]

Isn't it fine if something is silly or childish? Hm, I think I hate that! I'll accept absolutely any level of "look only at me" but it's boring as hell if you try to soften it. [ That's kind of rude, Leo. But then again, he hasn't been polite at all this entire time, so is it really that shocking?

If his pants are off he feels that in fairness he should not be alone in this, and squirms around to get a hand further between them so he can fix that. ]

You have absolutely no filter.

( An obvious observation, and one he already made ages ago, but he says it with an air of amusement, right now. Like he's extra fascinated, like he's excited at the idea of it, so much so that even the rather rude comment gets written off immediately. He like, bit him and moved on?? Esikko is still amazed.

But for now, he allows him to mess with his pants in return, taking that as a chance to lean back in for another kiss. Shorter, thanks to their conversation, but not without the same eagerness as earlier. Fingers find their way to his hair tie to pull it loose, and he hums a thoughtful noise against his ear. )

Spilling all of those answers all at once... Wouldn't it get boring? I can tell you, or show you, but you have to take it one at a time, and you have to earn it. ♪

( Like it's a game, revealing his secrets, talking about the things he'd love to have the excuse to talk about. He wants to feel wanted, wants to feel interesting, so of course he's going to draw it out. )

[ A hum is a hum is a hum is music. Leo thrills at that, even though it's just a thoughtful little pause, and why's that what gets him to flush excitedly except well yeah of course it does. A pretty little noise that's halfway music and his breath will catch as he repeats it in his head again and again and again. It means he actually shuts the fuck up for a minute, wide-eyed and startled.

He needs the minute to stop staring with the force of his own little revelation - the same kind that always stops him in his tracks and makes him feel unmoored before he finds the thread of melody back in - and then has to blink and play back the words instead of the sound. ]

Huh, what? [ Answers, showing, what were they - oh, right, blood magic, they were talking about that. Right! ]

Show me, then. How does earning it work with you? [ Yes, a stupid absentminded little hum DOES throw him off his game more than kissing him or clothes coming off. Leo was not in any way lying about the voice thing.

Rebooted for some given value of it, he shoves up enough so Esikko has to help him get the pants all the way off or get dislodged. ]

( Oh, he's that easy with it. Esikko smiles, eyes twinkling with the sort of pride that he doesn't know how to hold back, and allows himself a short laugh after a press of a kiss near Leo's ear. He does move, after that, to help get his pants the rest of the way off, wiggling free and shoving them aside, sloppily on the couch. )

You'll have to figure it out as you go. Like you've just found a brand new instrument, you know~?

( Is this speaking his language? He can only assume so, as he leans back in for another kiss, his body looming in and knees touching down on either side of his hips in a proper straddle. )

Do whatever you want, and I'll do the same. Like a dance, we'll figure things out quickly enough, won't we? And I'll answer more after we've had a nice time.

[ It's an attempt at it, a music analogy. A brand new instrument! Leo's the kind of annoying genius who can pick things up without trying, musically speaking. He prefers working with digital, mostly, but his first love was a piano (literally) and if it's musical he cares enough to pick it up and try it. When's the last time an instrument was different enough from everything else it took that much effort?

People are way more effort, even though Leo does think music is a universal language. Emotion and general things get across well - but the fiddly little bits that make up real people can get lost in it sometimes.

But it's cute, Leo thinks, that someone's making an effort to put it in a way he'd maybe understand. Leo doesn't think that's the why exactly - it's probably just a little bit performative, a way to stand out, but he's never minded that in other people. Leo thinks that's cute, too. Or fascinating?

Like a dance and he glances over near the wall, that particular solo penned and ready for someone not around to sing it - but then he refocuses again, hands warm on Esikko's thighs and fingers tapping again to that piano before he lets the thought of Suo fade away, too. ]

Cute. ♪ You're pretty smooth when you're doing that, huh?

[ A little bit manipulative and a little bit earnest, he thinks, slipping in music terms and setting up a scenario that Leo can recognize and finds compelling and entertaining, and Leo just got permission to do whatever he wants again and so he tests those waters by surging back up because really he can only stay semi obedient on his back for so long before he loses interest. He's pretty sure it doesn't matter how much they kiss - Esikko probably won't warm up, and normally Leo hates being cold but he figures it's fine right now. Maybe if he kisses him hard enough Leo can get Esikko on his back, is what he figures as he tries it. ]

Hehe, do you think so?

( But he's kissed again before he can fish more praise out of him. Honestly, it's nice to hear if he's coming across as "smooth" or anything close to it. After all, he started in this place with no knowledge outside of terrible, raunchy smut novels... Maybe he ended up better than he could have, in that regard.

As much as he wants to push back, to to wrestle with it, he's far more interested in the moment in seeing where Leo takes this. So, he accepts the press back, shifting slowly, carefully, and reaching his arms to wrap around Leo as he tugs him along with, even moving one leg up to run along the side of the shorter man's leg in turn.

Another hum, this one pleased and muffled by the kiss, sounds out. It's kind of fun, just messing around like this, clumsily trying things out, seeing where it'll go. And he meant it, when he said they could do anything— and that's the thrill of it, too. He has no idea what to expect, yet.

But it won't stop him from moving on his own, either, the fingers of one hand lacing through Leo's hair once he's settled onto his back enough, fingernails trailing along the side of his scalp as he goes. )

[ Flirting or dirty talk or whatever - Leo probably isn't the best judge of it, honestly. He enjoys it when people are enjoying themselves and being themselves, and even the way people act when they're trying hard not to be themselves because sometimes that's more telling. He laughingly accepts things that sound more like death threats at times and he thinks they're probably charming - his sense of "normal" never has been, and while he actually can turn on a more normal sort of charm, it's just when he bothers to lean into the usual fanservice Knights gives. He does it sometimes on a whim, but when he's being entirely honest what's actually flirting for him is always going to be more musical than it isn't.

The other stuff isn't not real, but it's different.

A different hum, a different meaning. Leo would like to somehow make those sounds physical things with weight he could pick up and pin to the walls, and he actually knows how to do that. He can break any sound down onto paper if he really thinks about it, can create notation that doesn't exist if there's a need. His left pointer finger sketches out how it'd go on Esikko's thighs, notation that won't be understandable as anything other than something specific from the methodical pattern, because Esikko probably cannot actually read music through touch the way Leo is crazy enough to be able to.

...not that anyone is weird enough to write it, but if they were he could read it.

He forgets a lot of things - names, often times - but as long as he writes down music he'll remember it. It's why it's fine if he writes it on his own skin or someone else's to wash off, or on walls or the floor. As long as he's written it, it exists and he can recall it. So now he has that second hum down forever, and then he annotates the second in nothing more than the same pressure of a warm finger writing on cold skin, trailing up Esikko's thigh in distracted exploration.

He wants more sounds to memorize, so the next time he needs a breath Leo goes about seeking them out. Different kisses in different places should yield various results - everyone always seems to have different likes and dislikes and reactions, and while there's significant overlap in some areas there's not much at all in others. Figuring out what people don't like is less fun than the opposite, but being too worried about that gets nowhere.

Still, he usually is at least a little bit gentle as he figures out the boundaries. So when he nips under Esikko's jaw it's not enough to draw blood or anything, but more the first tuning of a piano. Like that? Less? He listens. ]

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