teaism | 90s sadness and gay???

[Truly, a dumb puppy. D looks at him for another beat before looking away himself, though not as much like an awkward preteen. He settles back into the couch with a short sigh that's more genuinely tired than bothered, for once. It's been quite a day.]

Are you going back on your word about your questions so soon? I will start to feel interrogated before long.

No, I was just thinking!

[Not even about the boat, god damn it. He's going to have this gay crisis for like a month.] I'm done already. You can do whatever your errands were...

[RIP both of them, D won't be able to handle it. It's already kind of too much, having to endure this... He'll definitely take this opportunity to get up and start to move away, to do his mysterious errands.]

Wonderful. Why don't you look though the paper and try to learn some of the words?

[Because that will work. Just keep busy.]

I'm guessing you don't have some magic way to get me to learn Italian.

[That would be too convenient. This is a dumb task he doesn't think will work, but he'll pick up some random phrases and try not to think about how pretty D is. This is a solid enough plan. He leans over to pick it up.]

I guess it's better than nothing.

[If only he had actual mystery plant magic, so many things would be easier.]

If only. [He wanders back over to the couch at this point to pat Leon on the shoulder. Very encouraging.] Good luck, my dear.

[Now he'll actually go off to take care of his mysterious chores. How long will Leon be able to deal with staring at words he doesn't understand?]

[Several hours, at the very least. Leon is genuinely trying to work with what material he has to learn. The next time D peeks, he might see Leon in the center of his frustration, face practically pressed up against the paper.

He can't understand any of this! Even if he tries to match the sentences to the pictures, or the words to the comics...! None of it, none of it makes sense, even with the words that look similar to english!!

His brain is going to fry.]

[Several hours gives D enough time to do all his mystery tasks with time to spare! He only peers in to check on Leon occasionally while he's occupied, otherwise leaving him to get frustrated over Italian in peace.

When he's finally through, D comes back to peer over his shoulder. He seems to be doing well... will he do better or worse when D squeezes his shoulders, because he is.]

How are you doing?

[Leon is so wrapped up in trying to find out if this article is about politics, food or soccer that he about jumps through the roof at the shoulder squeeze.]

What did I say about sneaking up on me?! Sheesh! [Even if D had passed in front of him, he's like this... He's so far gone in his fake Italian knowledge. He looks back at it now, lips curving down further as his fingers crumple the edges.]

I can't figure out a damn thing. Even when I was trying to talk to people earlier to fit in, they all just give me weird looks and start yelling! This is going to take me years...

Would you like my help?

[He's offering, but how good a teacher would he be...? Probably not very. He's already not apologizing for his illicit shoulder-touching.]

[Leon is innocent (stupid) and pure (dumb) so when the suggestion of help comes up, he completely forgets the lack of apology and all other incidents to ease up a tiny bit. He waves the paper between them.]

You'd help? What, with Chinese flash cards or something?

[Oh, he already doesn't want to help...]

And what would that do for you? At least get the language correct, at this point.

[He was trying to make some dumb joke about Chinese methods for learning Italian, but he realizes his mistake now...]

Yeah, yeah. Alright, I could use some help, so hit me with it.

[Maybe he really has flashcards, or just makes some out of regular paper really quick?? This is probably a safe assumption because D is weird and Leon is too dumb to learn a language without colorful pictures. They're not colorful pictures.

In any case, it goes moderately terribly, and eventually D just tosses his shitty torn paper flash cards onto the table between them and stands up. This is.... hopeless...]

Have you learned a single word yet?

Uhh, let's see... There's rosa, viola, bianco...?

[Random colors, in no particular order, and entirely because they are or sound like the names of some women. Probably not even women he knew personally. He gives up after that, grunting in his frustration and running a hand through his hair.]

I don't know about this, D. I've never been any good with languages. [He'll ADMIT IT, okay...]

[Those are just colors... D sighs, mostly pityingly, and moves around behind Leon again. Can he get away with this...??]

Perhaps. Even so... [This, as he settles his hands on his shoulders again with a lighter squeeze. Don't say a word and let him do this.] You are tired, are you not? You've had a very trying time, these past few days.

[Leon is so frustrated with himself... Why is it so hard when apparently everyone else can learn these things no problem? That's the way he's thinking when D counters and he feels the lighter squeezes to his shoulders. This time he doesn't jump out of his seat. Actually, he doesn't even comment... He's just incredibly tense.]

Well, yeah, but that doesn't excuse any of the other times I've tried to learn a language. It hasn't been that trying, anyway... [He mumbles at the end of that latter sentence, and his shoulders ease up the tiniest bit.]

It's going to be like this every time I try.

[D hums, letting Leon settle somewhat before he moves his fingers again, working into a particularly tense spot. He's still listening to Leon's woes about... being dumb, more or less, but most of his focus is on what he's doing with his hands. For whatever reason, he's being allowed to do this...]

The older you become, the more difficult it is to learn a new language. Isn't that how it goes? [He wouldn't know, considering.]

When have you tried to learn a new language before?

[Belatedly, it registers that D isn't just resting his hands there still. It's still not enough to have him yanking himself away or anything even close, but he does pause in his speaking to consider it. He's slowly easing up, despite himself, and it's not like it feels bad... It feels pretty damn good after everything he's been through, actually. He shouldn't complain.]

There's always back in high school... Spanish was horrible. Isn't that pretty close to Italian, too? [His eyes are drifting closed for now, so he kind of just lets that happen.] There were a few cases where it would have come in handy, too...

[So he spent all night studying intensely to try and help the case, and got nowhere. Probably.]

Somewhat close. They are both Romance languages, although there are still dialects and other slight variations to consider...

[It's times like these D is reminded that Leon is not just a loud, dumb oaf bumbling his way through life. That's the least flattering way to reflect on how it's nice, being reminded he's not a detective for no reason at all, but it is what it is... He'd almost like to ask about one of those cases, but it would probably only add to the stress of being terrible at languages.

And he's sort of, maybe trying to combat that. With a casual massage.]

Perhaps a different language is more suited to you. But not Chinese.

I know better than to even try Chinese.

[He has this much self awareness... He's actually very aware of flaws like these. A little too aware. It's probably best that D doesn't ask, as he's beating himself up over the smaller self-confidence issues like these right now enough as it is.]

If there's a language out there suited to me other than English, I haven't found it. [That and the language of BAD GUYS!! But he's not going to say something dumb like that, this time. He's busy blinking his eyes back open and thinking about D's hands on him. Hmm.]

You don't have to try and cheer me up. [Just, you know... be prepared for him to take years even with honest effort.]

[D can call him whatever he wants in Chinese and get away with it, great. Or rather, he's honestly trying to think of a language that might not be so troublesome to Leon... at least this version of his trying to help isn't as crazy as nightmare butterflies.

He almost suggests German, but he wouldn't be able to resist a poorly-timed crack about following him to Germany, and some of the letters are different. Leon would surely panic.]

If we are going to... be here together, then it would benefit us both to be in at least somewhat better moods. [Not that he's going to share how tense he is still, busy as he is pressing the heel of his hand against a knot in Leon's back. He might be straying from the shoulders a little, here.]

It could be that being immersed in the language will help. You never know.

[Leon may be trying to help here, but he's still dense in a lot of ways. Because D hasn't mentioned any nervousness and has only encouraged relaxing since the picnic, Leon only assumes he's handling this better than him. He'll learn, slowly... maybe.

For now, he notices that straying... Is he getting a full massage here?? He blinks a few times as the pain of that knot eases into feeling better. Hmmm.]

Yeah, that's what they say... Here's hoping. [He doesn't want to be stuck and useless for too long. There's a small pause, and it's a little too hard to stay completely silent about the whole massage thing.] You're pretty good at that. [shhh]

[This might be a full massage, even if the angle is a little off because of the couch in the way. That's fine. He's good at it, apparently—]

Thank you. [That's all he'll say about that comment, mercifully. He could cut this short and consider Leon relaxed enough, but honestly he would rather keep putting his hands all over him, so that's what he's going to do. At least he's doing something somewhat productive, moving right along to a different tense spot.]

You've been pushing yourself too hard. [He means that as an idle observation, but it turns out it's sort of his fault Leon has gotten to this point, so... hmm. His touches pause for a moment, then continue.] It's quite a mess.

[He tries to sit to make it easier on D, and he's kind of wondering if he should stop him, but it's not like he asked him to do this, so he can't mind too much, right? Besides, it feels good. He has to keep telling himself this every few seconds so it doesn't get weird.]

I don't know about that. [Pushing himself too hard?? Gosh, he never does that. Following someone across the world and sleeping on streets is totally normal and not over the top at all.]

I'm always a little tense. [A little, he says.] Shouldn't you be the one who's tired? I wouldn't be able to do it. Running away like that...

[Thinking no one was on his side but two people... Dealing with his dead father... That's a lot to deal with, too. He's thinking about it now that he's deflected worries about himself.]

[A little... what a liar. D hums again, trying not to let his surprise at that question seem obvious. If he tenses up while literally touching Leon to relieve his tension, how embarrassing would that be?? He can't have that.]

I... [Hmm. He could say any number of things here about how he's perfectly fine, but it isn't and hasn't been, and he suddenly isn't sure he's fooling anyone anymore. Especially Leon. So...] I am very tired.

However, I have been tired for quite some time. [He punctuates this with a little squeeze not meant to be part of his massage, like that will make lighter the reality of what he's saying. The family business is a real drag.] So it is not entirely thanks to you.

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