ataraxia, lorenzo berkshire

"thirty three"

"where did you get your passion for flowers from?," i asked, curiously. it was beyond me how xander could contain this much specific information about so many breeds of flowers and plants, i can barely grasp the thought of remembering what i ate for breakfast that day for longer than an hour.

but i know that when you love something, you naturally remember weird, specific things about it, wether you like it or not, and they develop swiftly and stick around.

we walked in silence for a moment, a comfortable silence that was only interrupted by the crunching of the courtyard stones under the pressure of the soles our shoes.

i took the flower gently from xander's fingers, and began slowly twisting it in a three-sixty degree motion, squinting my eyes slightly as i indulged in the summery yet hazy pale purple tinge the petals withheld.

"you're adorable." i smirked, pausing suddenly, and catching him at the perfect moment as he slowed to a stop so i could gratefully kiss his cheek.

"see, lorenzo?," i suddenly called out to him over my shoulder, i watched as his head lifted up over the mainly-female crowd surrounding him,

"-this," i swung my arms around xander's torso, feeling him tense slightly, he was confused at the sudden affection, "-is a real gentleman."

i smirked mockingly at him before turning back around, leaving what lorenzo's expression would be after i had spoken would've looked like to my imagination.

xander's carved cheeks became a dusty shade of pink after that remark, but attempted to conceal it by cocking his head down facing the gravel beneath us - he began to nervously twist the silver ring upon his index finger, a timid smirk upon his face.

realising i'd probably publicly embarrassed xander ever so slightly, i unwrapped my arms from him slowly, and motioned for us to keep walking again, refusing to glance back although i heard a clammer of laughs and certain remarks from enzo's direction behind me.

"sorry, he's just being an asshole and-,"

"-it doesn't matter." xander replied quickly, reassuring me, "i understand your reason for it, i just wasn't expecting it, is all." he let out a small chuckle afterwards.

i couldn't help but smile at his selflessness and utter kindness that radiated from this man - he had the face of a merciless, cold bachelor boy who's definition of a female is a personal, obtainable collectible sex toy. however, he had the most delicate personality - like a flower; it was a shame he didn't flaunt it more often. it was a shame he didn't flaunt anything more often.

because if i looked like that and i was a dude, i'd certainly be pulling berkshire behaviour.

call me a hypocrite all you want!

we'd been walking in a comfortable silence from then on, until i felt an arm tighten around my wrist, forcing the harmonious atmosphere into a hostile one, as i swung around hastily on instinct and was totally prepared to deck this fucker in the face for scaring me.

"val."

my fists tightened as i turned to face the entity behind me that knew my name, and was met with a disgustingly attractive, yet disgustingly disappointing sight.

"lorenzo." i replied shortly back. i could feel xander's presence stood behind me, and i could see out of the corner of my eye that he had a concerned expression on his face.