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

[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.

[pocketpretzels]

"Quite reasonable," Watts agreed, gaze following to where Steven pointed. "Whenever you're ready."

[hasaknightjob]

Steven took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Right. Ready. I think."

[pocketpretzels]

"I have every confidence in you," Watts told him. "Now go, before you give yourself too much time to overthink it."

[hasaknightjob]

"Right, right," Steven said, because Llewellyn did know him well after all. Steven took another breath, quicker this time, and pushed forward again.

This time he still wobbled but he only had a couple of false stops before he was able to make it to the tree in question. Once safely stopped, Steven lifted his arms and gave a shout of triumph.

[pocketpretzels]

Watts hopped on his own bicycle and pedaled to catch up to where Steven was. Yes, he could have just walked with the bicycle alongside him given the short distance, but that seemed to go against the spirit of the activity.

"You see?" he said, sliding off so he could lean over and offer the promised kiss. "You've done it."

[hasaknightjob]

Steven looked as pleased as if he'd won a cricket match. "Got it in the end, didn't I? Trick is not to think about it. You're right."

[pocketpretzels]

"I often am," Watts said smugly. "So, another goal-post? A little further, this time?"

[hasaknightjob]

"Agreed," Steven said. "I've another idea as well. Why don't you go first? Then I'll be concentrating on watching you and not overthinking it."

[pocketpretzels]

"That seems logical," Watts agreed. "That tree there, then?" he said, pointing to one that looked to be roughly twice as far as Steven's initial jaunt.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven looked to where Llewellyn pointed, then nodded. "Looks about right. Let's try it."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts nodded, swinging his leg back over his bicycle and settling down on to the seat before setting off in one smooth motion.

He didn't go as fast as he normally might, but he also didn't go excessively slow, either. Just a nice, even pace.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven waited until Llewellyn was a length or so ahead, then followed behind him. He kept his attention on Llewellyn ahead of him and where Llewellyn was going, which in turn helped Steven from thinking too much about what he was doing. Thus muscle memory had an easier time taking over. The bike still wobbled, but not enough that Steven had to stop along the way.

(Did it help that the view of Llewellyn from behind was pleasantly distracting? Yes. Absolutely.)

[pocketpretzels]

Watts stopped once he reached the designated tree, hopping back down from his bicycle. "How did you find that?" he asked, since he had resisted the urge to glance behind him and see how Steven was doing himself.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven came to a stop near him a moment later, since he'd been at a slower pace as well. His steering was still wobbly, but not as bad as before. It was starting to learn more towards being the kind of turning of the wheel one did to keep the bike upright rather than because one was losing control.

"Not bad!" Steven said, pleased with himself. "Keeping an eye on you helped. I didn't look down or worry about my bike as much."

[pocketpretzels]

"Come here," he said, gesturing for Steven to lean his bicycle against the tree. "I do hope you don't get bored of this particular reward," he said, as he pulled Steven close.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven did as indicated, both in leaning his bike against a tree and in coming close for a kiss. "Hmm. No chance of that, I'd say. Far too fond of it, you see."

[pocketpretzels]

"Good," Watts said firmly. "I am glad we are on the same page there."

[hasaknightjob]

"You're an excellent incentive," Steven said. He wrapped his arms around Llewellyn's waist, hugging him close. "I can't believe you did all this for me."

[pocketpretzels]

"There is very little I wouldn't do for you, darling," Watts told him.

[hasaknightjob]

"This was a lot," Steven said. He was touched by how much effort Llewellyn had gone to. "Thank you, Llew. You're wonderful."

[pocketpretzels]

“You were willing to give it a try,” Watts said. “That meant very much to me, so I wanted to- remove any stress I could from the experience for you.”

There had been the option to program in characters that they could choose to interact with, and Watts had rather firmly decided against that.