Those Eyes: Rise! Leo X OC

Chapter 8

Warning ⚠️:

Strong language

Recap:

Thank god. For once, nothing calls for me to go outside. The Lieutenant will finally leave me alone for the time being and I won’t have to check my phone every thirty (30) minutes.

Shit’s about to get peaceful.

• • •

9:30PM finally hits and I hear the familiar knock on my window. I hop up and walk over to the window as Leo smiles at me.

“Aw, waiting for me?” He teases through the glass as I unlock the window.

“Cut it out before I leave you out there.”

“You wouldn’t.” He smirks. “You love me.”

“Pshh,” I cover up my flustered visage, slowly lifting the window up, “shut up and get in here.”

Leo chuckles as he enters my home. “Did you find a movie to put on?”

“Nah, I was hoping you would. Just turn on the TV and look for something. I’ll make popcorn.” I step into the kitchen and unwrap a bag of popcorn—or do I need two (2)? How much does he even eat? And his hands are huge. He’s gonna eat it all before I have the chance!—and shove it into the microwave.

“Lala, your TV is broken.” Leo calls. “It’s, like, on a black screen.”

I glance at the TV. “Just press ‘menu’ and pick which one you want.”

After a few seconds, he calls again (which I don’t know why he’s doing because the living room and kitchen are connected), “It’s saying weird things like ‘Hula’.”

“‘Hula’? Do you mean Hulu? Leo, do you not know what a streaming service is?”

“A streaming what?”

I sigh as I stalk over to him and take the remote from his hand. “Hulu is a streaming service. So are Netflix and HBO Max and shit like that. You can watch shows and movies on them.”

The turtle gazes up at me, not a single thought past his eyes.

“You don’t watch TV, Leo?” I tilt my head in curiosity.

He shrugs. “My dad’s mostly the one using it.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” I say with a sarcastic baby voice. “Let’s get you accustomed. Look, you see that purple picture with ‘HBO’ on it? Press the arrow going right until the purple picture gets bigger and then—wait, no, Leo, that’s the settings. I said right.”

“Shh!” He shushes me. “I totally got this.”

“No, dude, that’s not HBO Max. Go back.”

The turtle puts a finger to his lips. “Shhh!”

“Do not shush me, Leo.” I flick the back of his head.

He shoots me a look. “Then stop talking then. You’re breaking my concentration… god, why is your TV so futuristic? Why don’t we get a VHS or DVD?”

This kid did not just ask me that.

“Ugh, just let me do it.” I reach for the remote.

Leo moves the device from my reach. “No, hold on, I got it.”

“You really don’t, Leo. Give it now.” I demand, but he just brings it further out of my reach. “Leo, you’re being annoying. Just give me the remote. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Lala, I promise you I got it. Just relaaax.” He attempts to assure me.

“No, Leo. You’ll somehow wipe my whole TV and I don’t feel like dealing with that—you’re just pressing random buttons! Give it! NOW!”

I grip onto his arm containing the remote, but he’s too strong. “Leo, if you fuck up my TV, I’m gonna be pissed!”

“Aaaaaand got it. You’re welcome.”

I look at the screen and am surprised to see the HBO MAX logo on it. The turtle drops the remote into my hand, a wide sly smile etched on his face.

“And you had no faith in me. I’m hurt.”

He really knows how to get under my skin, huh? Does he enjoy getting on my nerves like this or does he not realize he’s being an asshole?

I roll my eyes at him. “Why would I? You were pressing every—you know what? Just pick a movie, please.”

After finishing the popcorn, I take a seat next to Leo who’s still looking at movies to watch. I should’ve never given him that damn remote.

“None of this is Jupiter Jim.” He breaks the comfortable silence. “Or Lou Jitsu. Streamer service is garbage.”

I sigh and hold out my hand. “Give it back to me.”

Leo turns his head towards me. “‘Please?’”

“Leo.”

“Alright, alright, fine.” He finally hands me the remote. “Yeesh.”

I decide on Corpse Bride since he seems interested in older movies. Surprisingly, he doesn’t talk much during it. He actually seems interested in the animation.

My eyelids begin to grow heavy as I sink into the couch.

“Hey, don’t sleep. It’s not over yet.” I turn my head to see Leo staring at me.

“I’m not, I promise.” I reassure him. “I’ve watched this movie like five (5) times already. And so has like, everybody else on the planet.”

“Then I’ll watch it five (5) times to catch up.” The turtle says confidently.

I groan at his statement and start to close my eyes. It only felt like they were only closed for a minute, but the next time I open my eyes, the credits are rolling. I glance to my right shoulder to see a three-fingered hand caressing my shoulder. I look up at him and his eyes are still glued onto the screen. My heart skips a beat when he drags his hand from my shoulder to my forearm.

“I’m gonna go to bed, Leo. You should go home.” I gently move his hand from my shoulder and stand to my feet.

“Aw, come on, one more? It’s only 11.” He begs as he checks his phone.

“Yeah, but I have to start going to sleep earlier like I was saying yesterday—” he gazes up at me with big eyes and his hands clasped together like he’s praying. “Aw, come on, Leo. Don’t do this to me.” He whimpers a bit which finally makes me relent. “Okay, okay, one more. But I can’t promise that I’ll stay awake.”

“No, you have to promise you’ll say awake. It’s not fun when you’re asleep.”

God, why is he so persistent?

I sigh deeply before sinking back into the couch. “Okay, I’ll try.”

“Promise.”

“I… promise. Now pick something.” I have little to no intention of staying awake, but I’m interested in what Leo will pick.

A few minutes pass before he groans. “No, seriously, do streamer services not have any Jupiter Jim movies?”

“I don’t think so. Those shows are old and weren’t really popular.” I shrug my shoulders. The apartment complex I live in is old, so they still have VHS tapes and old DVDs for rent. Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu were amongst them and I’d watched a few. All I’ll say is I’ve seen better.

Leo scoffs. “Not popular? Jupiter Jim is one of the best space heroes in modern television. It’s okay to admit you’re uncultured.”

“Psh, I’m ‘uncultured’ but you don’t even know what a streaming service is? Barely.”

“I do know what it is.” He sits back with a pleased smirk on his face. “Now.”

“Look, I’d love to keep snarking with you, but I’m tired and you’ve been begging me to watch another movie. So if you wanna do that, I suggest you pick one.”

The turtle turns his attention back to the dark screen and eventually picks one (1) of the five (5) total movies i absolutely hate: Napoleon Dynamite. It’s not like I take the movie seriously or anything. I just hate complete nonsense and slapstick humor. He only picked the movie because of his nerdy ass glasses, he had told me. I concur.

Throughout the movie, he genuinely laughs at some parts and says several “I’m gonna use that”s. He also places his hand back onto my shoulder, which keeps me awake for the entirety. Even though he’s been either an asshole or annoying for, like, 70% of the night, his touch quickly melts away my negative emotions. His hand isn’t warm like a human’s, but it’s also not cold like a turtle’s. It’s a comforting mix. No one’s ever held me his intimately, so I’m not sure whether to lean into his hand or his shoulder. I remain stiff—maybe too stiff as my neck started to cramp.

When the god-awful movie ends, Leo again begs for another one.

“Leo, not to be dramatic or anything, but I’d literally rather die.” My eyes can barely stay open at this point. “Stay, leave, doesn’t matter to me. I’m going in my room.”

He pouts for a bit but ends up joining me in my room. I get under the covers and rest my back against the headboard while Leo sits on the edge of the bed and we continue talking for a bit. I let my hood down and start braiding my hair into four (4) sections.

“So, like, how does your Ōdachi work? Like, how does it make portals and shit?” I ask him.

He thinks for a bit before he shrugs. “No idea. Has to do with mystic powers or somethin’.”

I sit up a bit straighter. The Lieutenant had brought up that word before he left. “Mystic powers?”

“Yeah, like, from The Hidden City. Yokai and mystic things go there.”

“Hmm…” I stare down at my sheets. “Were you looking for something mystical at the hotel?”

The turtle shrugs his shoulders again. “I wasn’t really listening to Donnie’s nerd rant before we left. But the explosion looked mystic. Alla sudden we started floating and the whole place was blue and Donnie said it was gonna blow.” His expression switches from cocky to curious. “How’d you even get outta there anyway?”

I’m not sure if I should tell him, but I suppose I could just leave out certain details. “I ran down the hall after you and The Foot started to go at it. I went into one of the rooms and there was this glow-y thing in the corner. I don’t really remember anything after that except coming back here.”

With a hum, Leo readjusts himself on the bed, propping his leg up. “I dunno. Mystic stuff is confusing but it can be cool.”

“I guess so.” I hug my knees against my chest. There’s nothing cool about whatever I have going on, though, I think.

Against my wishes, Leo ambles over to my cluttered bookshelf and goes rummaging through it. He picks a book with a familiar pink cover.

Oh, no.

“Leo, no.”

“Why? What is it?” He questions.

“Leo.”

“Leo!” He copies my inflection as he pushes the book back into its place. “That’s all you ever say. Try ‘Leonardo’ or ‘Neon Leon’ or—my favorite—‘handsome devil’.”

I throw the covers off of me and yank his leather sash, “Try—” I step behind his foot causing him to trip and land on his back, falling down with him, “—pinned.”

He chuckles before grasping the collar of my hoodie and flipping me over, his forearm against my throat. I grunt as I knee him in the torso, but his plastron reduces the blow into nothing.

“Ugh, asshole.” I glare at him.

“You started it.” He scans my face for a couple seconds. “Y’know, you have really pretty eyes.”

Before I can say anything back, his phone rings. The turtle releases me when he checks the caller ID and places the phone against his ear.

“Hey, I’m busy.” His tone grows annoyed. “With nun-yuh… why didn’t you just text me?” Leo grumbles as the voice on the other end scolds him. Something about being careless. “Just relax, it’s not a big deal. What’d you call me for?”

After a minute or two, Leo hangs up and looks at me with an irritated yet somber expression. “Hey, I have to go. Bros need help.”

“Aww, one more round? Please?” I mock his previous behavior.

He playfully rolls his eyes. “Real funny. But seriously. I’ll text you later.”

“Okay, okay.” I smile. “Good luck and be careful.”

Leo opens a portal, winking at me before falling backwards into it and disappearing.

Is he trying to kill me with his charm? Seriously, I wanna know.

“Y’know, you have really pretty eyes.”

I fall onto my bed face first, my heart pounding out my chest. Literally everything Leo does freaks me out, but in a good way. He makes my brain feel all scrambled like the contents will leak out of my ears if I think about him too much. Why does he make me feel like this?

My phone suddenly vibrates and I face it towards me.

The Hare (＾ｰ^): u don’t go to school on sat and sun, right?

Yah no lol

The Hare (＾ｰ^): we should hang out then

Aw u miss me already? (*´∀｀*) ur so clingy, Leo

The Hare (＾ｰ^): how can I resist?

He then sends a photo of himself with his chin resting on the webbing in between his index finger and thumb while winking. In the background are his brothers fighting some sort of hippo mutant, the orange clad one adorning a hippo costume.

I giggle at the strange predicament.

Lmfaooo who even is that hippo guy??

The Hare (＾ｰ^): some C Class villain, no biggie

Oh, so you’ll have no problems then?? U better get at it then and stop texting me lmfao

He doesn’t respond for a couple minutes.

The Hare (＾ｰ^): I jus got knocked across the room so imma have to go, I’ll text u in like 10 minutes ✌︎('ω'✌︎ )

LMFAOOO