[OPEN]

[fotia]

Characters: Leo Valdez, Eponine Thernardier, and YOU!
Date: May 15
Location: Everywhere
Situation: Leo takes his hoverboard flying around the different sectors!
Warnings/Rating: Hey this guy is from a wholesome canon so G for now. Changing if needed!


[Leo sometimes remembers, vaguely, a promise to Annabeth that he would tell her about his hoverboard when he actually manages to finish it. Today is not that day.

He screws in the final bolt and grins as he watches the hoverboard rise from the ground. So he cheated, kind of, using a little bit of that Celestial Bronze to actually bring it to life, but whatever. Little details. He hops on it, wobbling for only a couple of seconds before he finds his balance, Thomas and Buford leaping excitedly below him.]

Alright! [He claps his hands together and rubs them excitedly.] Let's do this!

[And off he goes!]

Comments

[fatedchaos]

[:|a Does she? After a second, she floats back closer to the ground, reforming again in a trickle of silver mist. With a grin, she looks back up at Leo.] Is it safe?

[fotia]

Of course it is! I mean I like, totally crashed once, but details. [And he lowers the hoverboard so it's almost touching the ground, then scoots a little to the front to make room for her.] Well? Are you hopping on or what?

[fatedchaos]

Important details, Leo! [Her life flashes before her eyes just by looking at the hoverboard. She glances at him, to the board, and back at him again.] Yeah, okay. I'm hopping on. [Well... If they crash, at least she's well prepared for it. Don't mind her just clinging to your shirt a little as she steps on.]

[fotia]

[Leo just smiles innocently at that and raises the board, stepping on a green button that makes it move. He bends a little lower, shifting his weight forward, and the board slowly picks up pace.

He casts a glance over his shoulder at her, grinning.]

You alright so far?

[fatedchaos]

[Vanessa has the distinct feeling that she's probably going to die. Or break something. Or maybe both. But she attempts a grin back at him.] You know how to fly this thing, right? Like you've done this before?

[Paranoia, thy name is Vanessa Cleveland.]

[fotia]

[Vanessa pls] Of course I've flown this thing before! Like... [And he pauses as he mentally counts...] Less than an hour ago kind of before.

[And he leans forward a little more before she can get to respond, the hoverboard speeding up just a tiny bit.] So! Ready to go faster?

[fatedchaos]

[Leo pls, that is not enough time!!] This is a terrible idea.

[No no no no no.] Yes. [Gdi, Vanessa.] Should I hold onto you, or should I let go? [Because she's still just clinging to his poor shirt, sorry about that.]

[fotia]

Yep, that's me, bringer of terrible ideas. [Oh, so dumb and ignorant of the conflicting thoughts in your head, Vanessa.] Hey, if you stop clinging onto my shirt, don't blame me if you go splat on the ground.

[fatedchaos]

Oh, well, it's good that you've recognized this about yourself. [... Okay, she might be stepping in a little closer and maybe wrapping her arms around his waist. This is totally for safety's sake, okay.] Okay. I'm ready. Go faster.

[fotia]

[WHOA WHAT. Leo actually freezes for a second and he feels his face heating up, which is pretty bad because what usually follows that is a sudden burst of flames. It doesn't happen though, thankfully, and he tries his best to relax. You can do this Leo Valdez, calm the flying fritters down, Leo Valdez.]

Uh... [But by the gods Vanessa has her arms around his waist so that might have come out a little high-pitched. He clears his throat and tries again.] Alright, here we go!

[He leans a bit more forward to increase the speed the board and tries his best to keep his focus on the path ahead. Which is a pretty challenging thing to do now, but he's trying his best.]

[fatedchaos]

[Vanessa bites her lip, trying to not laugh at the way he freezes up or the squeak to his voice. It's pretty funny, though, because it's always been the other way around for her when it comes to guys.

Now that they're going, the laugh bubbles out of her, wild and excited. She's spent so much of her life flopping back and forth between living in a box and breaking outside of it, and this is definitely the outside.] Oh my God, Leo! This is so awesome.

[fotia]

[Oh no, even her excited giggle is cute. Everything about her is cute. Goddammit why does he feel weird things in his stomach, like some bolt in him has loosened and is currently bumping against his insides? That ain't swagger, yo!

So he forces the weird, fuzzy feeling down and flashes her a grin from over his shoulder.]

Yeah, I know it is! So, ready to go faster and zip around town?

[fatedchaos]

[This isn't like cheating, right? Getting rides on a hoverboard with a friend is totally fine. So maybe she's standing a little too close, her chest to his back, as she practically clings to his scrawny body. That's out of the need for safety. Friends, totally.

She nods, blue eyes bright and excited.]

Yes! [Wait, is that too excited? Oh well.] Just try to not crash into anything.

[fotia]

[Leo gulps, hoping that she doesn't notice how red in the face he's turning. Or that his heart is practically breaking his rib-cage.]

I promise not to crash into buildings or trees or random flying kedan. Better? [Nope, not waiting for an answer.] Now hang on tight!

[The board zips forward, two stories high off the ground, and the colors of the kedan and foreigners and market stalls all blur together in some weird, abstract, hipster-esque painting. For a brief while Leo forgets to feel nervous and grins, enjoying the rush of the wind against his face and the whirring of the board on his feet and the satisfaction that his invention works super well.

And there's Vanessa, too. She almost makes him forget about Hazel, actually. Except when he remembers that she makes her forget about Hazel. Who has a boyfriend named Frank. Which he totally, totally must not forget.

But whatever. Before he even knows it one of his arms draws to Vanessa's own that's wrapped around his waist, and he sets it there to keep her steady.]

[fatedchaos]

[Honestly, Vanessa wants to ask what kedan are flying and if that's actually a problem, and should she be worried about it? But they're suddenly going faster, and the words die on her tongue as she gives another shriek of joy. There's a moment where she closes her eyes, but that's stupid. How is she going to see that way?

It's kind of freeing, in a different way than her own abilities. The wind whips at her different, catching her clothes, her hair.

This is a total Disney moment, if there ever was one, actually. Which is terrible. Do Disney princesses hitch rides with boys that aren't their princes? Is that a thing? Vanessa's not really sure.

She blushes when his arm moves over hers. Whatever, she's not really a princess anyway, and straight-laced guys have never really been her thing.] Leo, has anyone ever told you how cool you are? Because this definitely deserves that!

[fotia]

[She could probably feel Leo freezing at that comment, as he goes through conflicting emotions: the mild embarrassment and flattery upon being praised, and then the almost immediate feeling that he's somewhat undeserving of it. He doesn't think he's cool at all, really, no matter how much he wishes he is. He wonders how long it would take before she realizes how easily he manages to screw up everything.

But he quickly relaxes and forces the thoughts away.]

Honestly? I think "hot" is a more accurate word for me. [badum-chhhh]

[fatedchaos]

[Vanessa does feel it, the way he freezes up, and she bites her lip. She has a habit of saying stupid things, but she's pretty sure that she just gave a compliment.

Then again, she also understands not being able to accept compliments about things, how flustered she gets, how undeserving she feels of them. So maybe that's it.

She rests her chin on his shoulder without really thinking about it, laughing softly at the joke.] That's only if you're on fire, I think. Which I really hope you're not about to be in this second.

[fotia]

[Apparently it's possible to laugh and choke at the same time, because that's what he does as a response to the fire comment and a nervous reaction to the touch of her chin on his shoulder.]

I'm totally not—whoa!

[Because that distracts him enough to totally not see that giant building coming straight at them until the last second, and he makes a sharp sideways turn to avoid it, leaning almost parallel to the ground. His grip on Vanessa's arm tightens.

He sure hopes she's holding on tightly.]

[fatedchaos]

[She screams.

Which is a seriously embarrassing reaction, of course, and the rapid increase of her pulse coupled with the embarrassment forces her molecules to expand and contract without her controlling them.

But she manages to keep her arms together, tightening her hold as she presses her face into his shoulder now. Not the best reaction. If they crash or fall, it's probably better that she's paying attention so that she can make them both invisible before they die, or something less extreme than that thought.]