maybe i'll come back later (leo)

[Mary Taylor]

Living in a dormitory hadn't been easy at the start for Mary, but she was slowly beginning to get used to it. She was slowly starting to feel more like an adult, even though she was still only a freshman. She was young, but there was a certain amount of independence that came with living on the campus of a boarding school, and it did help to make her mature quite a bit. She'd been mature in her own way, but naive, too, and that was slowly but surely changing and developing.

On this particular day, once classes has finished, Mary hurried to the bicycle area of her dormitory to grab her pastel yellow, old-fashioned one that she'd been riding for over five years. It had been giving her some trouble lately and the chain was beginning to rust because of its age. It was definitely vintage, as it had been her mother's, but she was too attached to it to replace it and was hoping she could get some help down at the auto shop on campus.

She'd been a bit nervous about going on her own and asking for help, but the bicycle was important to her, as silly as it sounded, and so she wanted to at least try. With that thought in mind, Mary cautiously made her way into the shop, wheeling her bicycle alongside her as she went. "Hello?"

TAG: @leo

[Deleted]

Like always, any free time that Leo had he would be spending it in shop class. His current project was fixing up an old go-kart at the moment, in hopes to enter it in a few tournaments that happened in town. Once Leo had entered the shop class, he changed out of his Bullworth shirt and into a darker one, that way he wouldn't get yelled at by teachers for having oil on his uniform.

Once he got started, it seemed, that somebody had entered and was calling out for somebody. A small groan escaped from him. Of course he was the only person there and of course once he started working, somebody called for help. Wiping his hands off on a nearby rag, Leo made his way over to whoever was in the shop calling.

The shop wasn't big, but it was two building sort of comprised into one. The front park was where they had a lot of cars, bikes, etc on display & waiting to be worked on. The back was where they worked on the cars and what not. Seeing a blonde standing with a bicycle, Leo paused. He had seen her before. She hung out with Hayden's sister. She was nice.

"Yeah? Do you need help with something?" he asked, stepping into view.


WORDS:; 215
OUTFIT:; link
TAG:; Mary Taylor
MUSE:; n/a
NOTES:; Enjoy!

[Mary Taylor]

Mary had been a little worried that no one would be in the shop at the time she managed to get there, as not many people felt like hanging around once school was over and returned back to their dormitories. Only the really dedicated people lingered on, or the people who didn't have anywhere else to go and hang out.

Someone was in the shop, however, which surprised Mary a bit. She would have been glad, had it been someone other than who appeared. She recognised the guy as he was friends with Grace's brother, but she couldn't deny he still made her a little nervous. She tried not to judge people by their appearance, but there was something about this guy that she couldn't quite place that made her cautious not to approach him too much. Yet, here he was, the only one around!

He had already changed from his uniform, probably so that he didn't get it dirty, and it made Mary conscious of the fact that she was still wearing hers. She tugged on the skirt a bit, suddenly self-conscious, and looked at him nervously. "Um, oh, I'm sorry to bother you... I was just going to... um. Should I just come back later?" She could barely get her words out, and whenever she got particularly nervous her Romanian accent became a bit stronger, which of course only served to make her more self-conscious in the end. Oh dear, what had she gotten herself into now?

[Deleted]

Why was she so nervous? He was going to bite her. Leo knew people judged how he looked, he was aware of it. He wasn't stupid. He only played stupid. But he thought that she wasn't going to be so nervous being around him. Was it because they were alone? He wasn't sure.

Leo shook his head at her question. "If you come back later, I'll probably be the only one here still." he told her, being honest. Maybe Hayden would show up, but that was always up in the air it seemed. Did she always have an accent? He never noticed it before. But he hardly spoke to her ever, so of course he wouldn't notice right away. "What do you need help with exactly?" he asked, assuming it had to be something with the bicycle that she was holding onto.

The bicycle was old, but it looked like it was decent condition. It impressed Leo. He hardly saw old bicycles in the shop. Walking over to her and the bike, he began to examine it. "Wow, this is a nice bike. I rarely see bicycles in here, unless if you can motorbikes. Where did you get it?" he asked her, curious to hear where she obtained it from.


WORDS:; 208
OUTFIT:; link
TAG:; Mary Taylor
MUSE:; n/a
NOTES:; Enjoy!

[Mary Taylor]

The more seconds that passed, the more Mary felt like she'd dug herself into a hole she couldn't easily escape from. Hayden's friend was looking at her funny, undoubtedly because she was acting strangely, and now he was noting that he'd still be the only one there later on, and - oh, did he think she meant she didn't want to have to talk to him? Oh, no, well, that was in a way what she had been thinking but she hadn't meant it to come out that way, it was just that he made her so nervous... now she would definitely have to straighten all of that out so that she wouldn't hurt his feelings!

"O-oh, no, I didn't mean it that way, only that I didn't want to bother you if you were busy since you're the only one here, and...." again Mary found herself lost for words, a rare occurrence for a linguist such as herself. She cringed inwardly at her obvious nervousness, wishing that she were just a bit braver.

Hayden's friend asked what she needed help with and then eyed the bike she was still standing with. She'd almost forgotten it altogether. He walked over to it, examining it, and complimented it, even asking her about it. He seemed very nice, so she didn't know why she was so nervous around him. Surely she was just being silly. There was no reason to be scared of him, so why was her heart beating so fast? She'd have to talk to Grace about it later. "Oh, um... T-thank you. It was my mother's. The chain is rusting but I am really quite fond of it, and so I was hoping...." that someone could fix it, but she hadn't been expecting to see only him there. What was his name again? She couldn't seem to remember. She wasn't even sure they'd ever talked to each other before. She always just saw him in passing, with Hayden while she was with Grace.

[Deleted]

Leo shook his head at her comment, he wasn't 'busy'. The go-kart he was working on was not for a person. It was something fun for him to do. He had nobody pressuring him to finish it by a certain time. He could take his time with it and make sure that it ran smoothly. "I'm not busy. It's fine" he said, hoping to reassure her.

Leo nodded his head, listening to her speak as he examined the bicycle in front of him. All that really needed to be fixed was the chain, something that wouldn't take him too long. Hopefully. He was sure that they had a ton of clean chains in the back. And if they didn't, then they'd have to order more if the bike shop in town did not have any.

Running his fingers through his hair, Leo stood back and looked at the girl in front of him. What was her name again? May? That sounded correct-ish. "Yeah this should not take long at all. I just have to go and check to see if we have any bike chains in the back really quick." he said and made his way to the back.

Although he was only Sophomore at Bullworth, Leo already knew the building like the back of his hand by now. Opening a drawer of dresser, he smiled as they had a few left. Grabbing a few, he quickly made his way back to the girl. "I was able to find a few. This shouldn't take long, you can stay if you want to. I'm Leo by the way."



WORDS:; 264
OUTFIT:; link
TAG:; Mary Taylor
MUSE:; Space is Cool
NOTES:; Enjoy!

[Mary Taylor]

Mary was relieved to know that she hadn't been bothersome and that the boy wasn't busy, and it showed on her face. He seemed to be a genuinely kindhearted person in spite of his appearance, something that gave Mary a small smile. Her stomach flip-flopped as she thought of the fact, and she became confused as to how she could still be so nervous when there was clearly nothing to be worried about. After all, no matter what his reputation was or what he looked like, he was still a friend of Grace's brother, so that meant something in itself. Mary trusted Grace and her brother Hayden immensely, so their positive judgment of someone was good enough for her.

Kindly, the boy offered to fix her bike right away as he had nothing else to attend to immediately, saying that if he could find the part it wouldn't take long. While he seemed quite open and generally friendly, running his hand through his hair as he spoke, Mary was still shy and closed-off, hands clutched together a bit nervously just below her waist. She nodded quietly at the boy's explanation and watched as he left to look for the chain, returning only moments later with the affirmative and an introduction.

"I'm Mary." she replied, introducing herself for the first time to him regardless of how many times they'd met in passing. "Thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it." she added sincerely, a light blush dusting her cheeks as she remained aware of her slight accent. In spite of her linguistic prowess, she'd never quite rid herself of it even with years of practice, and of course it showed itself now more so than usual. It was always there, of course, never quite disappearing, but it did seem stronger sometimes than others, and this was unfortunately one of those times.

At any rate, it wouldn't take long, as he'd said, so she might as well stay and wait. It didn't seem as if he minded her keeping him company, and perhaps it'd be better for her to hang around anyway so that she could hopefully rationalise herself out of all of that unnecessary nervousness.

[Deleted]

Mary! That was her name. At least Leo was close. Somewhat. "Anytime" he simply told her. Now that they knew each other by their first name, maybe she would speak to him more often? Or at least say 'hello' while passing him in the halls from now on. Carefully grabbing the bike from her hands, he nodded his head towards the back. "Come on, this'll only take a few minutes." he said before making his way towards the back.

Walking to one of the very few empty tables, Leo carefully set the bike down so it's seat & handle bars were on the table & the wheels were in the air. Most of the other tables had either a bunch of junk on them or somebody's project. Setting the new chain onto the table, Leo grabbed a few things he would need; some tools in case if the chain was going to be stubborn and some oil to help smooth things along.

Carefully removing the old chain off of the bike, Leo was surprised that it only gave him a little bit of trouble. Nothing major, he just had to jiggle it some & it was free from whatever it had gotten snagged on. Grabbing the new chain and carefully putting in place of the old chain, Leo began to move the pedals slowly, adding some oil when needed.

The whole thing took probably fifteen minutes, if that. He wasn't keeping track really. It was an older bike and wanted to make sure that it was back to working in 100% condition. He didn't want Mary getting mad if the bike broke a few days later. Once he was sure that the bike was done, Leo carefully placed the bike back onto the ground. "Here you go" he said, holding the bike out for her.


WORDS:; 302
OUTFIT:; link
TAG:; Mary Taylor
MUSE:; n/a
NOTES:; Enjoy!

[Mary Taylor]

Mary was inwardly reprimanding herself for being the way that she was. There was nothing to worry over. It was clear to her now that Leo was very kind, and she should have known it from the start, what with him being friends with Hayden and all. She could only stand there and hope that she'd continue to get more comfortable, though, because she would feel guilty if she didn't. Mary was never one to judge a book by its cover, so why would she start now? Again she thought of Grace, whose advice she definitely needed as soon as she got back to their dormitory. She was lucky to share a room with the girl who had ended up becoming her best friend - and her first real friend in all of her years at school.

Mary followed Leo to where he would fix the bike and watched in interest as he worked on it. She definitely would not have been able to do that on her own. He was careful with it, gentle even, and again Mary felt a surge of guilt toward the nervousness that she was feeling. She tried to wipe all of those thoughts from her mind and instead spent the time trying just to be thankful that her precious bicycle was going to be fixed in no time at all.

It did seem like no time - at the most, fifteen minutes - and he'd finished. Mary reached out and took the handles from him, wheeling the bike so that it was next to her. "T-thank you," she said shyly. "I never could have done that on my own, but... you make it look easy." Maybe she should learn how to do it herself so she wouldn't have to come in and bother anyone in here again? Though it didn't seem like he minded it that much, she still felt as though she should learn how to take care of such things herself a little more. She was only a few more years away from being an adult after all. Should she not try and be a little bit more independent?

[Deleted]

Leo chuckled, smiling at Mary. "It's no problem at all, really it isn't." he said, hoping to reassure her. He didn't mind doing this at all, he loved it. It gave him more experience so he could move onto bigger and better projects. He shook his head when she said that he made it look so easy to do. "Well I mean it's not super complicated. But if you don't know what you're doing, then yeah it is hard to do." he explained to her, hoping that he made any sense at all.

"Just be careful with your bike. Everything with it is fine now, but you'll want the chain to last as long it can. So keep it out of the rain to keep it from rusting. And I can always put oil on it if you need me to." Leo explained to her. Mary was nice. This sort of gave him an excuse to hang out with her more.

"So random question. How do you know Hayden's sister?"


OUTFIT:; link
TAG:; Mary Taylor
MUSE:; n/a
NOTES:; Sorry its so short!

[Mary Taylor]

Leo was way, way nicer than Mary had expected, that was for sure. She nodded slowly when he explained that it wasn't easy if you didn't know what you were doing - it made sense, anyhow. He knew what he was doing, so of course he made it look easy. She doubted she'd have the first clue in how to fix a bicycle herself, even if she looked up instructions, so it was good that there was someone around who was able to help her! She just hoped she would be able to continue to keep the bike in good condition as it'd always been so that it wouldn't have to be too often.

"I will." said Mary quietly as Leo advised her of the same thing she'd just been thinking. "Thank you," she added as he explained that he'd oil it if she needed him to. It was nice of him to offer that. She couldn't figure out why a part of her was feeling so strange about returning when he hadn't caused her any harm. As Mary stood awkwardly thinking of a way to say a last thank-you and follow it with a goodbye, making her exit, it turned out that she didn't have to, for Leo spoke again with a question.

"We're roommates, and she's my best friend." this time instead of having a shy smile, Mary's grin was genuine. She always smiled like that when she thought of Grace. The two of them were practically attached at the hip, and so it was no wonder that Leo was curious about how they'd met. "You're, um... you're good friends with Hayden, right?"

[Deleted]

Hearing her question, Leo nodded his head 'yes' to it. "Yeah" he told her, feeling awkward again. "Hayden is like a brother to me." he told, keeping it short & simple. He didn't want to admit that he had seen her hang out with Grace all of the time. That would be weird, right? Yeah that would be really weird. And he did not want to weird out the one nice girl to him. "And Grace is super nice & sweet."

Running his finger though his hair, everything began to feel rather awkward now. He was done with her bike but had no idea what to even say to her aside from advice on the bike itself. Opening his mouth a little, he quickly closed it. Now what? He had no idea really.


OUTFIT:; link
TAG:; Mary Taylor
MUSE:; n/a
NOTES:; Shall we start another thread for these two soon?

[Mary Taylor]

Mary nodded as Leo explained his friendship to Hayden. Hayden was like an older brother to Mary and Grace was like a sister to her, so she could understand that sort of thing. She smiled fondly at the thought of the siblings. She really did like them a lot, though she didn't see Hayden as much for obvious reasons. "Yeah, she is." said Mary about Grace. She was proud of her best friend.

Well, now that the bike had been fixed they'd run out of things to say. It would only get more awkward from here if Mary didn't just leave. A small part of her wanted to stay, though she could not imagine why, and so she decided it'd be best to go. "W-well, I'd better get going. Um... thanks again for everything. Have a nice day!" she added a bit awkwardly before turning around and heading out with the bike, looking back just one last time to give a final shy smile as she went out of the building toward her dormitory.