halfbloodhill | SITUATION POST: JULY 21, 2013 (APHRODISIA)

[ He lets himself be pushed back a step or two. How cute; she has to think about it first. With a shrug, he turns to walk away. ]

Okay, you think about it. I have a dragon to work on.

[ Natalie did say he looked great when he's covered in oil stains. ]

[ In a flash, Natalie swoops to appear in front of him again. She did promise to bother him anyway. ]

How could you ever work on Festus with my distracting beauty in the room?

[ Eyeroll. ]

That all you've got?

[ But Leo has to admit it's a pretty good comeback. It's hard to look away. ]

You're not working yet, are you?

[ She shrugs nonchalantly and grins as she walks backwards, towards the dragon. Once her back meets metal, she casually leans against him, hands in the pockets of her denim shorts. ]

[ Festus whirs quietly at the contact, almost like a purr. ]

Touché.

[ It's hard to focus on what he needs with this spell messing with his brain. Wires. Reconnecting those wires and make sure the hose is staying connected, no more oil spills. That's right. Leo runs a hand through his hair, trying to ignore Natalie long enough to find where he put those things. ]

[ She can tell that she's doing something right with the way he abruptly starts looking for tools. Giving Festus a pat, she watches him for a moment, lingering on him even as she starts to climb up to have a nice perch in the middle of the bunker. ]

Tell me if you need me to get off. [ How's that for a distraction? Good thing Festus seems to like her. ]

I just need to get to his neck.

[ There, found 'em. When Leo looks back, Natalie's on top of Festus, the image drawing out a smile. ]

He likes you.

[ Hard not to, Leo thinks, shoving the wires and things in a pocket before climbing up. He has to brush by Natalie to get there, and the contact is hard to ignore. ]

[ Natalie scoots back for him, though she makes a careful note of how she has to gently grab onto him to steady herself. ]

I like him too.

[ She gives the dragon back a pat. ] How do you know he likes me?

[ It's tempting to stop there for a minute, where she can keep holding onto him like that. ]

If he didn't, he wouldn't let you get on.

[ Festus shifts beneath them, letting loose a series of clicks and squeaks. Leo laughs. ]

See? He said it himself.

I really like that you speak machine.

[ He gets a mildly flirtatious glance out of the corner of her eye as she plays with her necklace. Keep her hands occupied. Never mind that she keeps waffling back and forth between wanting to lunge at him and moving to the other side of Festus' back. ]

Thanks for letting me on.

[ Morse code, actually, but Leo's cool with people thinking he speaks machine. Sounds cooler. He just smiles in response gets to working on those wires, trying not to think about how he can get another glance like that one. ]

[ Back to hair fussing. She pulls her hair out of a ponytail and starts to braid it. Except it's too thick so she just shakes it out so it looks a little wild around her face. Not looking too great, she thinks, wrinkling her nose. Maybe ... Yeah, she uses a little magic, sweeping her hands over her hair so at least the curls are a little smoother. Magic's her language. ]

[ That wire connects without a hitch. Leo looks up to find the next one when he sees Nat and stops, staring, hand hovering at the halfway mark. Gods, she looks awesome with her hair like that. There's part of him that wants to ask her out right then and there, but he squashes that thought as soon as he thinks it. Love spell, he reminds himself. He and Natalie are just friends. Friends...

That word is unfairly disappointing right now.

He gives himself a mental kick. Stop staring. Stop thinking compromising thoughts. If you can't come up with anything to say - and he can't; he's too focused on her - then just keep working. ]

[ Watching his hands, she is acutely aware that he is looking at her, really looking at her. Her heart flutters and she nearly winces at how cheesy it must be, how dumb they must look together.

Briefly, she meets his eyes and opens her mouth to say something - but she doesn't. Her mind briefly goes blank and her throat is dry. Clearing it, she shyly averts her eyes and leans away from him. ]

[ If he'd been able to think, his mind would have come to a screeching halt just now. Luckily, he can't, so it's just an extra moment of blatant staring.

Aaaand then she looks away and Leo's brain starts up again. What was he here for, again? Oh, dragon. Wires for the dragon. He clears his throat and continues working, with Festus making a humming noise and setting off a few sparks where Leo's working. ]

Oh, for the love of Zeus --

[ The awkward silence is unbearable, Natalie moves in, grabs him by the collar and flat out kisses him on the mouth. It may be fueled by Aphrodite, but this is a long time coming, honestly, and since they're having a moment ...

At least it's a memorable first kiss on a dragon. ]

[ If it weren't for Festus asking dumb questions - what did he care about visitors or awkward silences, anyway? - Leo might slowly be sinking into the zone, fixing these little things and knocking them off the to-do list. He can even manage to ignore Aphrodite's spell - almost - as long as he's doing something and not looking at Natalie.

But that's when she yanks him around and - gods, is she - she's kissing him?! Under normal circumstances, it might take him five, ten minutes to gather up what's left of his senses enough to react. Apparently the goddess of love has him covered, though, because he's hardly registered what's going on before he's kissing her back, work forgotten. ]

[ On the plus side: he isn't pulling away but then again, they're both under the influence.

She is actually grateful for the lack of inhibitions. Maybe - and don't tell Aphrodite this - nothing would have been accomplished without some unwarranted tampering with the food. Natalie smiles against his lips and loosens her grip on his collar to rest her hand on his shoulder. ]

[ Maybe they'll regret this later, when they're both back to being themselves. But right now, the feel of her smiling into the kiss is definitely worth the awkwardness that's sure to come. When he finally pulls away, he feels dizzy and a little short of breath - does the spell really have to include that sappy crap? ]

I... uh...

[ Stammering! Real romantic, Valdez! Real suave! What are words, anyway? ]

Edited 2013-07-27 03:52 (UTC)

That bad, huh?

[ Joking! Of course. She knows how he's meant to feel under these strange circumstances and they're programmed to be into it and each other.

But it's not all entirely false, right? Right? As soon as the doubts start creeping in, Natalie's dopey expression shifts for a split second. No. Don't think about that. ]

What? No! Gods, no. You just... surprised me.

[ He bites his lip, running a hand through his hair. Honestly, he's more surprised the kiss didn't startle him into spontaneous combustion. He knows his temperature must be rising, but maybe the spell's accounted for it somehow? If that's the case, maybe it's not so bad.

When Leo sees the flicker of doubt in her eyes, he wonders for a second if he should say something about it. He's not good at talking about feelings or whatever, though, even if he knows he's thinking along the same lines. Machines don't have the same sorts of feelings as humans, and no spell will make it easier for him to understand. It does make him wonder if another kiss might help, but he doesn't make a move. ]

[ Maybe if she just keeps sitting here while he works and they don't look at each other for a while, this Aphrodite stuff will wear off, but Natalie likes when he looks at her, whether she realizes it or not. Why can't she just be completely reckless and go for it without hesitating every five seconds? With the way she's progressing, it's as if she has taken a few leaps forward and three times as many steps backwards.

But here she is, sitting close to him with her hand on his shoulder, acutely aware of how he could burst into flames here. ]

I - wanted to. Surprise you, I mean.

Not your best idea, huh?

[ Come on, Natalie, you should know that by now. It's a miracle no one got burned. Still, that's one more point for her today, which means his plans for payback are not going so well. Lucky for him, he's a little more on the impulsive side, and the spell helps push him forward for another kiss, one hand reaching up to touch her cheek. ]

I could have t -

[ Her words are caught up because her mouth is otherwise occupied and she chuckles quietly, giving his shoulder a squeeze. A little daringness on his part is appreciated because she might just babble on instead.

Besides, she could have taken Leo's explosions even if her head is currently in the clouds. (And thank gods all of this happened away from prying eyes. They'd never live it down otherwise, unlike more visible pairs around camp.) ]

[ He smiles in satisfaction at cutting her off. This is better than talking or awkward silences or just looking at each other, even if he did enjoy the view more than usual today. Totally worth it.

But of course the dragon has to ruin it by moving suddenly and nearly pitching Leo off his back. The wires go flying, and Leo has to pull away suddenly to find something to hold onto. Then he shoots Festus a glare. ]

What was that for?!

[ Festus just growls and twists his neck so he can look at them with a sharp-toothed grin. Not cool. ]

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