[Video]

[unbrokenwheel]

[Leo frowns, ignoring his dark hair that has gotten free of his protective goggles and inspects his latest work. The screen only shows him, some teenage kid working in the forge. The forge is somewhat grey, but the fire and the anvil are normal colored.

He steps away, giving the folks watching a good view of the sword blade waiting to be turned into a complete weapon. The craftsmanship is impressive, something that someone years his senior should be able to produce. He pushes his goggles up with a sigh.]

Okay, so, question time. This 'coloring' process. [He uses finger quotes before he starts bustling about, stirring up the fire in the forge with an expert's touch.] Can someone narrow their focus down and concentrate on one place?

Or is it one of those mysterious things that hasn't been explained?

Comments

[unrestrained]

[Percy'd learned long ago not to offer help in creating things with children of Hephaestus. More often then not he ended up messing things up and that was probably not a good idea. But that did make him feel a little bad as he weighted what to say.]

Dude, I'm not sure one person's capable of powering a whole city anyway.

[unbrokenwheel]

Good thing that's not what I'm asking. We're all part of this process to fix the city and bring color back. What I'm asking is if I can focus on one thing or,

[Leo starts assembling the weapon, carefully fitting the blade into the hilt.] Or it's like demigod stink to monsters.

[unrestrained]

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm saying. I think even the Gods would say making someone un-gray a place all on their own is kind of crazy. If it were that easy-- [A shrug as he watches.] I'm betting it's a group effort. [Why else insist on them being friends?]

[unbrokenwheel]

[Well, so much for that idea. He had a feeling that's what it was but, worth an ask.] I thought as much. When is anything easy?

[He has no idea what else to say. Sorry for letting you fall? It's a lot to think about.] I got picked up by the god Freyr.

Something about my drawings will be granted life? I haven't tested it yet.

[unrestrained]

[Not that Percy's 100% sure but the gods did want them to make friends and live and be happy here. Which sounded stupid.] Never, it sort of comes with the title. They should really put a warning label on that-- "Heroes: Only sometimes as Cool as you think."

[Percy's...really not putting the blame on Leo. Or anyone. So the idea they'd think it isn't something that crosses his mind. There were bigger things to worry about. And it wasn't like any of them knew about the spider silk that was attached to Ananbeth's leg.] He's the one we just had to save.

Hey, man, at least that's useful. Just so long as you don't make a burger that comes out and starts talking.

video

[daddyissues]

You can focus it in one area, yes.

Video

[unbrokenwheel]

Do you mean like strictly visit one area sort of focus?

Re: Video

[daddyissues]

Nah, just visiting one place more, interacting with the people and places there. Like my workplace is pretty bright.

Video

[unbrokenwheel]

[He glances back at the mostly mostly grey forge with a thoughtful frown.] Well, I know where to focus my brightness. Who knows, maybe in no time at all this forge will be like your workplace. ...where do you work?

[video]

[ourfirststeps]

Hey, how are you able to do that?

[Don't mind Bianca poking the communicator and straight at the sword]

[video]

[unbrokenwheel]

[Wow, she's cute. Leo blinks as he turns back to the anvil. Oh, she means the blade, right?] You want the long answer or the short one?

[video]

[ourfirststeps]

Uh...

I guess both?

[We're going to be here for a while]

[video]

[unbrokenwheel]

Okay. [He picks up his tongs and uses it to hold the blade, letting her see it's edges and the faint whorls where the metals blended together.]

To start with, we have the forge. [He points to it and pulls back the cover to stir up the fire and add more fuel to it.] There's a few types of fuel you can use for a forge. Gas forges are cleaner, more easy to control but I used a coal fire.

Coal turns to coke, a solid carbon fuel that burns with a lot of heat but little smoke. Fires like this you have to tend carefully, and you can't just walk away and leave it. I control the temperature, [He gestures to the bellows set out of the way for now. Leo steps over to it, adjusts it and uses the bellows to stir up the heat of the flames.] with this, called the bellows. You can use an electric one, but hand cranked just gets to job done without worrying about extra calculations.

With me so far?

[modernmarvel]

... Interesting place, you got there.

[Tony leans forward slightly, tilting his head as he peers past the person on the video feed to inspect the forge.]

Room for one more

[He's got a couple of projects that need finishing.]

[unbrokenwheel]

Not my place, it's a public forge. I don't see why someone else can't come bask in the fire. The more people using it, the more it will look less like some old 1920s film, right?

[He steps a little to the side so the forge its self can be seen more clearly.]

[modernmarvel]

[Tony chuckles, nodding.]

Guess this is the closest I'll get to a real workshop.

[He disconnects the video with a wave. In just over an hour, he'll show up at the forge, dragging a metal robot behind him on a sled made of canvas and rope.]


Sup.

[Action]

[unbrokenwheel]

[Leo is bent over a pad of paper. Once he'd figured out that his power was drawing, he'd been busy sketching parts and getting bits of metal as he needed it. A few test pieces are littered about a table. A single metal sphere sits by its self and a complex schematic is tacked above it.

He snaps out of his world of machines at the sound of Tony's voice.]

Uh, hi.

video

[holyfight]

Huh...

I've never tried to do that before, but I bet if you just stayed in the same place for a while, it'd color there instead of everywhere!

video

[unbrokenwheel]

Yeah. [Leo smiles a bit. Maybe he can help this forge live again. It would be something to focus on while he's here.] I wouldn't have to bunk here at night to compound the effects, would I?

[holyfight]

I couldn't say! But I bet it probably would do something if you even slept there!

[unbrokenwheel]

A forge isn't a bad place to spend the night. [He's thinking about it now, stroking his chin and getting soot on his face.]

Wonder what would happen if a bunch of people stayed the night in one spot.

[divinewisdom]

[ She's delighted and yet extremely worried that Leo's managed to stick around -- what if they're needed at home? But the gods said that time freezes, so she's trying not to think of the disastrous consequences if it isn't actually frozen...it's not that she doesn't trust them. More that she's concerned with all possible 'what if' scenarios and takes their word as a word of support in trying to hone in on just one. ]

As long as you don't start sleeping in the forge, I think you're doing a good job of the whole coloring process. We're supposed to just live and work here, right?

[ That's a nice blade, though. She looks extremely appreciative of the craftsmanship. ]

[unbrokenwheel]

I dunno, sleeping in this room wouldn't be so bad. [He's only half joking. Leo has been considering it since someone idly suggested the idea. He'd slept in a cot in Bunker 9 while working on the Argo II. He could do the same thing here. He's trying not to think about home.

Percy needs help and people around him now and despite his guilt, Leo isn't going to leave. Not now.]

Yeah we are. I think my skills with the forge and engineering can find me a job pretty easily. Or I'll just make one.

[divinewisdom]

[ She honestly understands the sentiment -- because she's pulled so many all-nighters studying and coming up with new plans that it's a wonder she doesn't just fall over from sleep exhaustion sometimes. ] Only if you come out to eat every once and awhile.

I'm finally going to get a real teenage job. You can be cool for the rest of us.

[unbrokenwheel]

There's a hardware store here. I might go there for a job for now.

[If he could save up enough, he could rebuild the Hephaestus cabin. Maybe even have a machine shop like his mom or his bisabuelo. While the idea excites him, he has a purpose here. To help Percy and Annabeth.]

Anyway, I'll remember to eat. [Sometimes.] What job are you going for?