Leo and Natasha, backdated to 12/1/15
Dec. 1st, 2015 04:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
om_black_widow posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
om_mainNatasha meets Leo Valdez, and decides that the inventor may have some useful skills.
Natasha really wasn't sure why there were rubber bands and paperclips in these quantities in the rec room, but that didn't keep her from fiddling with them as she flipped through television channels. Friends. Soap operas. 1990s game show.
American television was a wasteland.
Leo had gone in search of a handful of cotton swabs, two forks, and a roll of duct tape, which he'd stuffed into his backpack with his other spare components, leaving behind his stash of rubber bands and paperclips and trusting that no one would mess with them.
And so, of course, when he came back to the rec room, he found that someone was doing just that. "Hey, those are mine!" Leo protested automatically as he walked around the couch to see just who the culprit was.
Natasha glanced at the source of the voice. "You didn't mark them very well," she pointed out, playing with them.
"Well, no. Because seriously, who steals someone's rubber bands? I - whoa." Because yeaaaah. Hot girl. Seriously hot girl. Possibly (though damn, Kitty...) the One True Love of his Life. "Yeah, so...you can have some of them." Or all of them. Because yeah. Wow.
"Who leaves rubber bands and paperclips in the rec room?" She retorted, quirking an eyebrow at his sudden about face. "What's your name?"
Name. He had a name, right? Two of them. Leo realized belatedly that he was staring, blinked, and grinned broadly. "Leo. Leo Valdez." He shrugged in what he hoped was a casual manner and tried to...grin casually. That was a thing, right? "You've probably heard of me."
She had, actually. Natasha had learned the names of everyone in the building within a day or two of her arrival. "I'm Natasha. So...rubber bands and paper clips?"
"Oh yeah, I was going to build something. Not sure what," damn, why was he admitting that? That was so not the confident, assured way to go, " but hey, I figured genius would strike. And genius almost always requires rubber bands and paper clips, y'know? And duct tape." Yeeaah, that was better. Duct tape fixed everything. Everyone knew that.
She boinged a rubber band, and smirked slightly. "Genius, huh? What else have you made before, genius?"
"Hey, all kinds of stuff! Have you seen Sharon's clockwork mouse? That was totally me." He grinned smugly, because yeah, Mouse IV was nothing short of awesome, thanks in no small part to Tony's circuitry contributions. "And then there's Buford. And I've got a good start on Jujube's talking closet."
"Buford?" She wasn't even sure how much she could even follow of what he was saying.
"Buford. He's totally the most awesome lab assistant ever. Waaay better than Vieve's octopus." Not that her octopus wasn't awesome, because it was, but seriously. Buford was better. "Anyway, enough about me. Are you new? Because I totally don't remember seeing you around before." Not, to be fair, that he'd come out of his lab all that often since he'd started working on Buford, other than to go to class or because Jubes dragged him, but still. He'd have remembered.
...octopus? Natasha decided to file it away for investigation, rather than to ask him about it. She wasn't sure she'd understand his explanation about it anyway. "I've been here for several weeks. I imagine you must have been busy, building all of that."
Weeks? This goddess had been around for weeks and he hadn't noticed? What was wrong with him?? "Well, I have been pretty busy," he admitted doubtfully, then grinned. "But that's all the reason to make up for it now, right? So tell me all about you? What do you like to do, other than play with rubberbands - which is a totally viable hobby, by the way. Rubber bands are the best. Waaaaay better than hair ties."
She really was not sure what to say to a boy who had firm opinions about rubber bands versus hair ties. "I go to school, I dance. What about you?"
"Me?" She was actually asking about him? Cool! "Oh, y'know, school," he said casually. "And inventing things. And, y'know, I've got my own YouTube channel. Well, with Jubes," he admitted, because hey, honestly was best, right? And it wasn't like Jubes was competition, because dude. You should never, ever get interested in your BFF. Everyone knew that. "You've maybe heard of it? Teen 'Technics?"
"Teen 'Technics?" Natasha made a mental note to watch it later. "I have not seen it yet, I will have to look for it later."
"You should, it's awesome. I mean, last month? We did a whole thing on popcorn with mutant powers. You know, kind of like the popcorn thing on Real Genius? But with Jujube's fireworks. And POW! Popcorn everywhere!" His arms cartwheeled in illustration. "Gotta top it next time, though, so we're still working on that. But it's gonna happen."
It was kind of like speaking to a toddler with pop rocks and caffeine, though not necessarily in a bad way. It just made him a little more difficult to follow. "So if her mutation is fireworks, what is yours?"
"Me? Oh, I have the awesome ability to not get burned by fireworks." Leo grinned, blew on his knuckles, and rubbed them on his shirt, then shrugged casually. "And something like limited reality manipulation, which means I can take those," he gestured to his pile of office-supply components, "and make them into seriously cool stuff. It's a thing. What about you?"
"Mmm. Nothing spectacular like fireworks or reality manipulation. Small scale electric discharge," Natasha said dismissively, waving his question off.
If Natasha thought that wouldn't capture Leo's interest, she was definitely mistaken. "So, you can like, jump start things? Seriously? Oh man, that's awesome." He'd known this girl was amazing, but that was beyond cool. "Can you recharge batteries, too? Because I'm always running out of batteries. Not that you have to, y'know, recharge them all the time," he said quickly, realizing that it probably sounded like he wanted her following him around charging things, "but if you could once in a while, I'd get way longer life out of them."
"I'm more likely to accidentally blow them up, if you're talking about double-As or something." Natasha had no real desire to delve farther into her mutation, but to refuse to talk about it would be more suspicions than simply replying. "So most of your inventions are battery-powered?"
Bummer. Leo tried to not let his disappointment show, and grinned as he shook his head. "Most are clockwork. Or rubberband powered," he gestured towards the stash of rubber bands. "You know - turn a crank, wind them up? Uber-environmentally friendly. But anything with circuitry needs power."
"Have you ever made, like, really cool guns or bows or anything? That could be cool," Natasha commented.
"You want a bow? I can do a bow!" Leo's grin widened. Because seriously, he should've known - anyone that hot had to be kick-ass too, right? "Not sure about a gun," he mused. "But hey, I'm willing to try anything. I just might have to hit Tony up for materials - all one piece things are tough."
She smirked, just slightly. "Well, if you get the urge to prove your genius to me, I think a bow or a gun would be very cool. I'd be very impressed."
"Hey, for you? Anything!" Leo came over to scoop up his incidental pieces assortment, then gave her an apologetic look. "Except I should probably do that in my lab. Because, y'know, more stuff there. And I can raid Vieve's if she's not around." Because yeeeaaaah. Impressing the hot redhead? Definite priority one!
"Don't let me mess up your method," Natasha assured him. She helped him scoop up his parts, and smiled. "And, if you go bow, I think a compound one would be best. If you do a bow and a gun...I like pistols."
"Pistols, right! Got it!" How could he make a pistol? There had to be a way...a compound bow would be easier. He could do that. Both would be a challenge, or hey, a bow that was also a gun would be epic! But it'd take some serious design work, and... "I'll catch you later," he said distractedly, belatedly remembering to look at Natasha and smile. "Make sure you're ready to be amazed!"
She chuckled. "I promise to have my most amazed face ready."
Natasha really wasn't sure why there were rubber bands and paperclips in these quantities in the rec room, but that didn't keep her from fiddling with them as she flipped through television channels. Friends. Soap operas. 1990s game show.
American television was a wasteland.
Leo had gone in search of a handful of cotton swabs, two forks, and a roll of duct tape, which he'd stuffed into his backpack with his other spare components, leaving behind his stash of rubber bands and paperclips and trusting that no one would mess with them.
And so, of course, when he came back to the rec room, he found that someone was doing just that. "Hey, those are mine!" Leo protested automatically as he walked around the couch to see just who the culprit was.
Natasha glanced at the source of the voice. "You didn't mark them very well," she pointed out, playing with them.
"Well, no. Because seriously, who steals someone's rubber bands? I - whoa." Because yeaaaah. Hot girl. Seriously hot girl. Possibly (though damn, Kitty...) the One True Love of his Life. "Yeah, so...you can have some of them." Or all of them. Because yeah. Wow.
"Who leaves rubber bands and paperclips in the rec room?" She retorted, quirking an eyebrow at his sudden about face. "What's your name?"
Name. He had a name, right? Two of them. Leo realized belatedly that he was staring, blinked, and grinned broadly. "Leo. Leo Valdez." He shrugged in what he hoped was a casual manner and tried to...grin casually. That was a thing, right? "You've probably heard of me."
She had, actually. Natasha had learned the names of everyone in the building within a day or two of her arrival. "I'm Natasha. So...rubber bands and paper clips?"
"Oh yeah, I was going to build something. Not sure what," damn, why was he admitting that? That was so not the confident, assured way to go, " but hey, I figured genius would strike. And genius almost always requires rubber bands and paper clips, y'know? And duct tape." Yeeaah, that was better. Duct tape fixed everything. Everyone knew that.
She boinged a rubber band, and smirked slightly. "Genius, huh? What else have you made before, genius?"
"Hey, all kinds of stuff! Have you seen Sharon's clockwork mouse? That was totally me." He grinned smugly, because yeah, Mouse IV was nothing short of awesome, thanks in no small part to Tony's circuitry contributions. "And then there's Buford. And I've got a good start on Jujube's talking closet."
"Buford?" She wasn't even sure how much she could even follow of what he was saying.
"Buford. He's totally the most awesome lab assistant ever. Waaay better than Vieve's octopus." Not that her octopus wasn't awesome, because it was, but seriously. Buford was better. "Anyway, enough about me. Are you new? Because I totally don't remember seeing you around before." Not, to be fair, that he'd come out of his lab all that often since he'd started working on Buford, other than to go to class or because Jubes dragged him, but still. He'd have remembered.
...octopus? Natasha decided to file it away for investigation, rather than to ask him about it. She wasn't sure she'd understand his explanation about it anyway. "I've been here for several weeks. I imagine you must have been busy, building all of that."
Weeks? This goddess had been around for weeks and he hadn't noticed? What was wrong with him?? "Well, I have been pretty busy," he admitted doubtfully, then grinned. "But that's all the reason to make up for it now, right? So tell me all about you? What do you like to do, other than play with rubberbands - which is a totally viable hobby, by the way. Rubber bands are the best. Waaaaay better than hair ties."
She really was not sure what to say to a boy who had firm opinions about rubber bands versus hair ties. "I go to school, I dance. What about you?"
"Me?" She was actually asking about him? Cool! "Oh, y'know, school," he said casually. "And inventing things. And, y'know, I've got my own YouTube channel. Well, with Jubes," he admitted, because hey, honestly was best, right? And it wasn't like Jubes was competition, because dude. You should never, ever get interested in your BFF. Everyone knew that. "You've maybe heard of it? Teen 'Technics?"
"Teen 'Technics?" Natasha made a mental note to watch it later. "I have not seen it yet, I will have to look for it later."
"You should, it's awesome. I mean, last month? We did a whole thing on popcorn with mutant powers. You know, kind of like the popcorn thing on Real Genius? But with Jujube's fireworks. And POW! Popcorn everywhere!" His arms cartwheeled in illustration. "Gotta top it next time, though, so we're still working on that. But it's gonna happen."
It was kind of like speaking to a toddler with pop rocks and caffeine, though not necessarily in a bad way. It just made him a little more difficult to follow. "So if her mutation is fireworks, what is yours?"
"Me? Oh, I have the awesome ability to not get burned by fireworks." Leo grinned, blew on his knuckles, and rubbed them on his shirt, then shrugged casually. "And something like limited reality manipulation, which means I can take those," he gestured to his pile of office-supply components, "and make them into seriously cool stuff. It's a thing. What about you?"
"Mmm. Nothing spectacular like fireworks or reality manipulation. Small scale electric discharge," Natasha said dismissively, waving his question off.
If Natasha thought that wouldn't capture Leo's interest, she was definitely mistaken. "So, you can like, jump start things? Seriously? Oh man, that's awesome." He'd known this girl was amazing, but that was beyond cool. "Can you recharge batteries, too? Because I'm always running out of batteries. Not that you have to, y'know, recharge them all the time," he said quickly, realizing that it probably sounded like he wanted her following him around charging things, "but if you could once in a while, I'd get way longer life out of them."
"I'm more likely to accidentally blow them up, if you're talking about double-As or something." Natasha had no real desire to delve farther into her mutation, but to refuse to talk about it would be more suspicions than simply replying. "So most of your inventions are battery-powered?"
Bummer. Leo tried to not let his disappointment show, and grinned as he shook his head. "Most are clockwork. Or rubberband powered," he gestured towards the stash of rubber bands. "You know - turn a crank, wind them up? Uber-environmentally friendly. But anything with circuitry needs power."
"Have you ever made, like, really cool guns or bows or anything? That could be cool," Natasha commented.
"You want a bow? I can do a bow!" Leo's grin widened. Because seriously, he should've known - anyone that hot had to be kick-ass too, right? "Not sure about a gun," he mused. "But hey, I'm willing to try anything. I just might have to hit Tony up for materials - all one piece things are tough."
She smirked, just slightly. "Well, if you get the urge to prove your genius to me, I think a bow or a gun would be very cool. I'd be very impressed."
"Hey, for you? Anything!" Leo came over to scoop up his incidental pieces assortment, then gave her an apologetic look. "Except I should probably do that in my lab. Because, y'know, more stuff there. And I can raid Vieve's if she's not around." Because yeeeaaaah. Impressing the hot redhead? Definite priority one!
"Don't let me mess up your method," Natasha assured him. She helped him scoop up his parts, and smiled. "And, if you go bow, I think a compound one would be best. If you do a bow and a gun...I like pistols."
"Pistols, right! Got it!" How could he make a pistol? There had to be a way...a compound bow would be easier. He could do that. Both would be a challenge, or hey, a bow that was also a gun would be epic! But it'd take some serious design work, and... "I'll catch you later," he said distractedly, belatedly remembering to look at Natasha and smile. "Make sure you're ready to be amazed!"
She chuckled. "I promise to have my most amazed face ready."
