video, backdated to the afternoon of the 19th!

[philosophe]

[It's a pretty normal, sunny day on the back of a giant turtle... That is, until an explosion rocks the Fire Sector. And it's not even like, a normal, mildly alarming, muffled explosion coming from the Valdez household. It's a loud, deafening sound, almost like a cannon fire, coming from an open space that is really suspiciously near Leo's apartment.

In any case, what happens next is a broadcast of this certain message on the network coming from Leo's PC. Behind Leo and Combeferre is the usual mess of machine parts and sketches, except now there's a distinct black mist hovering in the room.

Leo is wearing a sheepish grin and scratching the back of his head. His clothes and parts of his face are covered in black soot.]

Right! So, about that explosion. Theoretically, if that happened to be caused by a super smart and tragically handsome teenager and a guy with a distinctly French accent and hailing from some ancient century, what kind of trouble will said guys theoretically get into? All theoretically, of course.

--The 19th century, it is hardly ancient. [Combeferre interjects from the background. The explosion has shaken him rather more than he would care to admit, but he’s just going to take a few deep breaths here, in an attempt to calm himself down.]

I, ah -- we were testing the mechanics of a model cannon. Theoretically. [He offers a sheepish grin.] Clearly, that attempt used far too much powder.

[Hands up in the air all pre-emptively going "hang on bros y'all gotta chill"] To be fair though, we like, totally didn't blow up an entire block, so uh, no harm done, right?

[Leo's brows furrow soon after, and he turns to Combeferre.] Hey wait, dude, did I just say "we"...?

[A tad absently:] Yes, you did. [He tries for a weak smile, though it’s pretty clear he’s not really paying attention -- especially to someone who knows him well.] I suppose the theoretical talk did not count for much, anyhow -- is there a chair about?

(OOC: Joint post from the resident mad scientists!  Leo is red, Combeferre is blue, come yell at them and get either!)

Comments

[video]

[eye_of_isis]

Valdez.

[video]

[fotia]

Sup Egyptian sorcerer princess, miss me already?

[ 8) ]

Action

[solo_patria]

[A shaken Combeferre already would have sent Enjolras on his way there quickly enough, but a shaken Combeferre, an explosion AND a model cannon as the cause? There is no getting there fast enough for Enjolras who is out of breath as he arrives, and tries the door, not even knocking. There are other things at stake just now.]

Etienne?

[And his voice is softer, everything about him suggesting calm as he moves to speak to Combeferre.]

Come, everything will be well. You are all right.

action!

[philosophe]

[Welp, sorry Leo, he'll apologise later, when he's got the sense to. Right now he is not exactly present, the smoke and the echoing boom of the cannon are far too familiar and painful, it's easy to fall back into the barricades.]

Enjolras? You are here.

video;

[iguanasolution]

Leo!

video;

[fotia]

Your astounding vote of confidence never fails to turn me into a blubbering puddle of goo, Frank Zhang.

[video]

[dragonconqueror]

[Don't mind Hiccup, he's just craning his head to see around the two of you at the sketches and parts. It looks kind of like his own workshop back home. But then his attention is drawn back to the topic at hand.]

Cannon? Not even the Romans had something like that. What is it?

[video]

[philosophe]

[He brightens a little.] It is an artillery weapon, usually larger -- and uses gunpowder to launch an object. In this case, a cannon ball.

I -- may have to explain more about it later, I apologise.

[video]

[fotia]

[Popping over Combeferre's shoulder!]

Yeah, what he said, except ours is going to be like, super pimped-out.

[A pause! And then he looks crestfallen.] Or at least it was supposed to be until it ran into a setback in the form of an explosion.

Action;

[fotia]

Uhh, sure.

[ have a chair slightly covered in machine oil, ferre ]

Here you go. [ and he pauses for a moment, finally kind of noticing how shaken the other guy looks ] You okay, man? I mean, it's really not that big of a deal we lost that cannon; I can totally build a new one.

Action;

[philosophe]

[That's alright, he sags into it gratefully. Motor oil is nothing compared to blood, right?]

Thank you. [He takes another deep breath and pauses.] I am not -- I am fine, it is only I was ...not entirely present for a moment.

[kelpful]

[Usually Percy is his bro in explosions, but right now he's scowling.]

Did you hurt the turtle?

[fotia]

[Leo's gotten to know Percy well enough that he knows when he's being serious, and to be honest it not only makes him mildly panicked but also serves to amplify his guilt even more.]

I swear to all the gods even those whose names I can't pronounce right that I triple-checked like, everywhere. No damage, bro.

video:

[grigio]

What the fuck? Are you guys okay?

[She doesn't care that she doesn't know either of them. She's concerned. It's how she rolls.]

video:

[philosophe]

We are quite fine, mademoiselle, you do not need to worry.

video:

[fotia]

[Oh hey a hot blonde!

Except wait he's dating someone right now, so maybe it's not a good idea to try hitting on her... So!]

Yep, absolutely fine! We're so macho we walk away from explosions completely unscathed.

[video]

[poeticverses]

Combeferre?

[Jehan is very concerned.]

Leo, is Combeferre quite alright?

[video]

[philosophe]

I -- I am fine, Jehan, only a bit shaken. Do not worry.

[video]

[fotia]

Well, I asked him what's wrong and he said he was fine, so clearly there's something wrong with him that he's not telling me, and maybe you should come over? He's your close friend, right?

[manofiron]

Theoretically, you two need to learn how to make better excuses. And cannons.

[ He would be annoyed that his work was interrupted, but he's blown up enough stuff by accident that he can't complain too much. ]

[fotia]

Uh, yeah, that was what we were trying to do, before it randomly decided to explode on us—

[Wait wait wait. Hold up.] Hey... Are you Tony Stark?

[angermanaging]

Why are you making a cannon?

[He's trying so hard not to be disapproving, but weapons. He hates weapons. Also kids with weapons.]

Are you both alright?

[philosophe]

[In Combeferre's defense, Leo would be perfectly old enough to handle a weapon where he's from.]

I have studied the mechanics and theory, we thought it would be interesting to put them into practice.

We are both fine; as is Asti, you need not worry.

[ video ]

[jondrette]

[It takes Eponine some time to recover from the blast, and by the time she's sure that she can stand up on her own two feet, she makes her way to the PC and starts up a video, glarring at the two culprits.]

Etienne Combeferre! Qu'est-ce qui se passe avec toi! You are a terrible man! As are you, young m'sieur! [That's you, Leo.] I could have sworn for a moment-- that was a canon! M'sieurs, do you know what it sounded like over here?

[Eponine is livid, a state these men have yet to see her in. It's not pretty, and she will have you know that your canon fire happened to cause some property damage all the way over in the Wood sector. 'cause shit is loud.

And by property damage, she is including PTSD. As that's what caused the damage.]

[ video ]

[fotia]

[Oh shit, cute girl being all angry at him. What do??]

Uhh... It sounded like a really huge explosion from an exploding cannon?

[Also damn you French people all need to schedule yourselves therapy sessions with Hannibal.]

video;

[demon_brat]

So... apparently, you have no idea how much gunpowder to use.

Very impressive.

[Not in the good way.]

Who else was nearby? Any casualties from the heat or shrapnel?

video;

[fotia]

[There is an evident pause before Leo speaks, and his usual annoying smile has disappeared at this point. He looks uncharacteristically serious, actually, and maybe even a little bit angry.]

Riiight. So are you done being condescending and assuming yet again that I am incapable of building things that are a little bit more ambitious than the plain, boring cannons wherein the amount of gunpowder should not have even been such a hard thing to estimate? Or did you want to keep acting all high and mighty and tell me that oh, you never make any miscalculations because you're totally super smart and perfect and just too awesome to make mistakes and that everyone should bow down to your superiority?

[Uh, whoops, he went on a tangent there, did he? Maybe it's because of the stress he's been getting upon realizing that Combeferre might not be completely okay with explosions and that this is his fault, because he should have known what was wrong; he's a demigod, for crying out loud. What's the point in being the Son of Hephaestus if he can't even tell what was wrong with a dumb cannon? He grits his teeth, and there's another brief pause before he continues with,]

If anyone had gotten hurt then we wouldn't even be on the network.

video

[sophos]

[Flatly:] If you wanted to avoid trouble, you probably should have avoided announcing you're the culprits to the whole network. [But really this is such standard Leo behavior she's not all that fazed.]

[....but ok because she can't really help it either, and she's already seen enough to tell no one was hurt so:] What kind of cannon?

video

[fotia]

Hey, at least I had the decency to announce it, right?

[Though he's brightening up considerably at that question AND HERE GOES MY BULLSHIT THAT RIVALS THAT OF A CSI: NY EPISODE] A lighter, more manoeuvrable cannon with a remote-control set-timer that can discharge a grapeshot with cannon balls that explode upon surface contact. [And then, added hastily!] I mean, we weren't actually going to fire it; [only because it exploded before they could try,] the cannon decided to blow up while I was making an adjustment to the gunpowder chamber.