There is the respect the opposite gender gives because they find you attractive. There is the respect of someone who wants something from you without giving anything in return - flattery. Then there is the respect of a person who truly understands what you bring to the situation, that you are worthy and worthwhile. Leo could count on one hand the people afforded him the third kind.
Hawke, well he fit into none of these categories, but he was still willing to use Leo’s counterfeiting skills for his own ends. With the requested document forged, Leander was under strict instructions to deliver it personally to one of Hawke’s allies. Apparently it was too sensitive to trust to anyone else. That didn’t mean that the King of the Underworld trusted Leo - oh no, he had made explicitly clear that, in delivering the forgery, he would have an escort. Leo had been told that it was for his own protection, to make sure he wasn’t... happened upon by unsavoury men on his short but apparently perilous journey.
The passive also suspected that Hawke didn’t entirely trust Leander to complete the directive.
It was for this reason that, hidden away in a well-lit but cramped alcove in the Attic, Leo sat hunched over his work desk while an attractive yet intimidating woman stood over him. There were two more of Hawke’s minions waiting within the shop, probably annoying Resha something rotten with their presence. All three were waiting for him to complete the forgery, before they escorted him across Old Rose Harbor.
The woman showed some obvious outward signs of boredom or frustration at Leander’s painstakingly slow work. He probably could have completed the forgery halfway through the afternoon. It was well past dark now, possibly even into the early hours of tomorrow. He had hoped the woman would become uncomfortable, just to spite Hawke. She did not disappoint: shuffling and sighing every few moments. Any other time, this would have irritated Leo to no end, but today it had been blissful.
Niccolette Ibutatu. That was her name. She wasn’t a new face to Old Rose, nor to Leo. When she had first showed up at his door, Leo had to cover the smirk-turned-grimace at the memory of her husband’s powerful right hook when Leo had propositioned her. Of course, the husband was dead, now. Leo hadn’t cared for the specifics when the news was fresh, but he had been at least interested to hear of the beautiful woman’s widowhood.
For all his talk, Leander was secretly rather inexperienced in carnal matters, and privately his did find her rather intimidating, even when she wasn’t lurking over him on official business. That being said, being bested by her husband had never sat right with Leo’s pride, and there was some twisted satisfaction with knowing that he could piss on the man’s grave while telling the story of bedding his wife.
Of course, despite his lack of experience, he knew that no woman would be easy to bed if he kept up this farce of slow work. “Done.” The passive picked up the forged document and squinted, checking it over one final time before standing. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”