Leo watched disdainfully as his brother Xander postured and posed against Ryoma of Hoshido. The sun had begun to rise yet again, gracing them with a new day; but the whole "meeting with your enemy" thing was quite drab, especially when it happened so early in the morning.
The air was quite cool. Leo could see his own breath, and when he looked at the faces of those in attendance, they looked cold and tired. He gave Takumi as subtle a glance as he dared—the two had met eyes upon arriving and that had proved to be awkward. Takumi had looked away, blushing again, and Leo... well, he wasn't very good at approaching these sorts of things.
But dammit, today he was going to try.
It appeared a miracle to Leo that Xander, crown prince of Nohr, and Ryoma, crown prince of Hoshido, had not yet whipped their dicks out in an effort to measure them. Instead, there was a lot of their horses stamping their hooves, and huffing and puffing, and "I'll blow your house down," to quote one of Nohr's fables. Everything except dick-measuring, which probably would've taken less time.
Then Leo crossed the line, the imaginary one that existed in arguments like this one, and pulled his steed up next to Takumi's.
Takumi played straight so well. His jaw clenched and unclenched. He gripped the reins, hard. And when Leo said, "Hey," he said, "Hey," right back. Takumi's sisters looked mildly surprised, but accepting. Leo's sisters stared daggers.
What Leo did next was what so many inexperienced lovers do when their hearts weigh heavy with a crush: he passed a secret note and prayed.