MHA Holosuite, Saturday Afternoon

[pocketpretzels]

It had taken no small amount of work, but eventually Watts had been able to program a scenario in the holosuite to his satisfaction. So following their return from the mainland, they'd gone back upstairs to change into clothing more appropriate for cycling- which yes, meant Watts was wearing a t-shirt definitely a t-shirt no matter what the photo is along with the bottom half of his running costume.

The setting resembled a park, with a well-paved pathway winding through landscaped trees and bushes, and two single-gear bicycles leaning against a nearby tree.

"Well," Watts said. "Are you ready to begin?"

[ooc: for the beau!]

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

Steven threaded their fingers together as they walked. It might not be far, but why not enjoy the contact all the same? "Marc's done this, turns out. So it should be muscle memory? Sort of?"

[pocketpretzels]

“That should help,” Watts nodded. “I also thought we might keep it simple with the terrain for this first try- it’s fairly flat.” And if there were any spills, it somehow wouldn’t result in injury. Watts didn’t know how that part of the technology worked, but he was glad for it all the same.

[hasaknightjob]

"It's a lovely setting," Steven said. "Sorry I didn't mention that when we came in."

He'd still been distracted by the clothes, you see.

[pocketpretzels]

“Very loosely based upon a park in Toronto,” Watts explained as they reached the tree the bicycles were resting against.

Depending on familiar Steven was with how modern bicycles looked, these two might seem a good deal simpler, with a lack of gears to switch between.

[hasaknightjob]

"You did a wonderful job," Steven told him.

The bikes were simpler and, based on the one shared memory he had of one, also different in that they were adult sized. But they were still bike-shaped so that helped.

"There is a saying about this," Steven said. "Hopefully that'll kick in when I get on?"

[pocketpretzels]

“Oh?” Watts said, curious. “What saying would that be?”

[hasaknightjob]

"'It's just like riding a bike'," Steven said. "Idea being if you've not done something in a while it's easy to pick up again. So maybe won't be too hard to translate the muscle memory as well?"

Of course Steven could just take the knowledge from Marc directly, same as he did when he needed to fight. But that wasn't the same thing as knowing how to do it himself. Even when fighting he wasn't as fast or skilled as Marc was at it.

[pocketpretzels]

“I suppose there’s only one way to see for certain,” Watts said, taking hold of one of the bikes and wheeling it out of the way so Steven could take the other.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven got his bike. He managed to take hold of it without getting his clothing caught on any part of the bike itself, which he was rather proud of. "Are we going along the path then?"

[pocketpretzels]

“That’s the idea,” Watts said. “A much smoother ride than trying to cycle through the grass.”

[hasaknightjob]

"Fairly straight as well," Steven said. He gingerly put one leg over the bike, again feeling proud when he didn't catch his foot on any part of it. "Step one down, I think?"

[pocketpretzels]

“There you go,” Watts said with an encouraging smile. “Do you- would you like me nearby to help steady you if needed, or do you think you’ll be all right?”

[hasaknightjob]

As much as Steven liked the idea of Llewellyn being nearby as a concept, let alone to keep him steady, Steven worried that might be too much. "Give it a go first, I think? Don't want to hurt you if I muck it up somehow."

[pocketpretzels]

“All right,” Watts said. “If you feel yourself getting wobbly, don’t worry about brakes, just take your feet off the pedals and touch the ground. Ready?”

[hasaknightjob]

"That's handy," Steven said, though he still looked for the brakes to be on the safe side.

[pocketpretzels]

Watts leaned over to offer a quick peck on Steven's cheek. "For getting to step one," he said.

[hasaknightjob]

"Now I get to pedal one?" Steven said, looking proud of himself. He gestured at the bike. "Eh? Pedals?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Absolutely incorrigible," Watts said, shaking his head. But he was also visibly holding back laughter, so.

[hasaknightjob]

Which Steven took as encouragement of all sorts in this situation.

He did turn his attention back to the bike, though, and attempted to push off. He was overthinking it instead of relaxing and letting that muscle memory take over, so he immediately started to wobble. He stopped himself after he'd gone a few feet forward. "Right. Er. Work to be done. I think."

[pocketpretzels]

"Still," Watts said. "Not terrible for a first try."

[hasaknightjob]

"There's a lot of moving parts," Steven said. Meaning the bike and himself, really.

[pocketpretzels]

"You're not wrong," Watts said. He thought about another time Steven was trying something new with a lot of moving parts. "You had trouble with dancing at first too," he pointed out. "But you've since overcome that. Perhaps what was helpful there could be applied here as well."

[hasaknightjob]

"That's a good point," Steven said. He hadn't thought of comparing it to dancing but it made sense now that Llewellyn had made the comparison. He grinned at Llewellyn. "Course part of what helped there was holding on to you. Don't think that's going to work. No room for the bike then."

[pocketpretzels]

"No," Watts agreed with a slight smile. "But I'll be nearby, at least. I have to be, if I'm to dole out your reward in a timely manner."

[hasaknightjob]

"Knowing there's a reward definitely helps," Steven said, giving Llewellyn a smile. He looked ahead of him. "Maybe a small goal? Like make it as far as that tree over there?"

Steven pointed to a tree that was about twenty feet away.