BLEED/HAVEN

[VII] LEO

Jet pulled up to the building in his own slick, black sports car. He opened the door and Leo saw his things were already packed in the back, so he climbed in without question. He threw on a long sleeve black shirt, replacing the top he was fighting in earlier, along with a pair of blue jeans and black and white sneakers. He pressed the gas and they took off into the skies.

"Are you hungry?"

Jet asked Leo. He could do for a bite to eat, it was a long evening and he skipped lunch for the ceremony. He looked over at Jet and replied,

"A little bit. I didn't have lunch."

Jet nodded and continued driving along. There was not a lot of Lestallum that Leo had not seen, he had been on cases that took him far and wide through the good and bad parts of the city. Jet was speeding through the sky traffic smoothly, his face was calm and he was patting his steering wheel to some instrumental music. He seemed to be content in its simplicity, but at the same time, Leo felt uneasy that Jet was so calm and any second a wrong move could get the speeding vehicle destroyed with them in it. They rode along in silence for some time before landing in a lot of a restaurant. Jet exited the car and Leo followed suit. The sky was getting darker by the moment, and the lights of the city were growing brighter in accordance. They made their way into a run down-looking pizza place that smelled amazing once they walked in.

The two sat in a booth next to a window and Leo took in the view outside. Everything was clean, pristine and perfect in this city, or so it would appear. The vehicles on the ground and hovering in the skies, the people making the transit from block to block of the bustling city, it was an everyday occurrence. Jet picked up a menu,

"Have you ever tried Hawaiian pizza?"

Leo actually had not ever tried it. He never heard of a Hawaiian pizza before. What made it Hawaiian? Leo picked up a menu and looked at what exactly that was,

"It's pizza with pineapples on it along with sweeter meats. It's actually really good. You should try it."

That did not sound good at all to Leo, nonetheless, he decided it would not hurt to try,

"Why not. Sounds like fun."

A waitress, dressed in black, white and blue came over with a big smile and placed straws and utensils on the table. She then pulled out a small device to take the orders of the two. She gave a big smile and Jet ordered a large Hawaiian pizza for the both of them.

"We have a special summer lemonade today. It's very sour if you'd like to try it."

She spoke in an endearing voice. Jet gave her a charismatic smile and nodded yes to the drink. Then he turned to Leo and asked,

"Leo? Care to try it? It's all on me."

That did not really make Leo feel any better. Now he felt like a freeloader to a man he had just met, but Jet was just so friendly— he treated Leo as if they had known one another for years on end.

"You don't have to do that-"

He began before he was swiftly cut off with a hand,

"No, I insist. A proper welcome to the team over some pizza is the least I could do, besides you did way better in the fight then any of us thought you'd do. You deserve it."

With that, he nodded to the woman and held up two fingers. She gave him a wink and took the menus before she made her way to place the order in the kitchen. Jet sat forward, placing his large arms on the table and sighed before asking,

"So. What do you know about Roakon, Leo?"

Leo did not know if it was a trick question or something, so he just answered honestly,

"It's the pro-human faction that seeks to expand the frontiers of humans by any means necessary."

Jet nodded, looking out the window before asking his next question,

"Do you know what that means?"

Leo understood what Jet was getting at,

"Yes. It means that some of the methods we use are less than desirable, but it's for the good of man."

Jet looked into Leo's eyes in silence for a moment. The eye contact made Leo feel uneasy, as he felt like he pushed the man's buttons for a moment. Again.

"What do you know about the Veverg and the catastrophes of Earth, Leo?"

That was a bit heavier of a question, but nothing he could not answer after accessing the databases of Lestallum,

"I know everything they teach on Lestallum. The Veverg crashed to Earth and Roakon studied the structures since the machines were broken open upon impact. They received an endless amount of research from it, allowing the advancement of technology. Then, after Lestallum was built, the rogue factions of Earth who weren't allowed to become colonists studied the Veverg on their own, planning to build their own colonies. Their tampering caused the Veverg to activate and cause the catastrophes."

Jet stared at Leo. Then after a few moments, he nodded, not responding. The waitress came back with their drinks and Jet released a hard sigh and thanked the woman. He then began to sip on the bright red drink.

"Try it. It's pretty good."

He dropped the conversation completely. Leo decided to simply leave it alone and sipped on the sweet beverage.

"So!"

Jet had a new tone to his voice, much more lively,

"Do you play any video games? What are your interests?"

Leo took another sip of the drink before answering,

"I uh, I play a few video games, strategy games and a few RPG's."

"NERD."

Leo laughed and so did Jet,

"But no, I'm a way bigger nerd. I'm into strategy games as well. Along with programming and working on my own robots in my free time. Robots building robots."

The waitress came back without any pizza and spoke,

"I'm sorry but could I check your V.I's please?"

They both showed their V.I's and the woman bit her bottom lip.

"So we're really busy right now and we have a group of four that needs a table. They're human. Would you mind waiting or receiving your order to go?"

Leo understood, seeing a family of four standing at the front podium awaiting a seat. He began rising from his seat without question, then heard Jet speak.

"Ma'am, we were here before that group and have already placed our orders to eat here."

"Yes sir, we were just wondering if you'd let them have your table because they have a family.."

There was a strange nervousness in her voice, but above that, Jet was being adamant about staying in his seat. Leo was standing, waiting for Jet to just give up the seat but he didn't. He looked like he was going to stay. Then his phone rang and Jet went to check it, he sighed and stood,

"Where do I pay for the food ma'am?"

She led him to the register and Leo followed, they grabbed their box of pizza and went back to Jet's vehicle. By now it was dark outside and the lights of the building and cars above and below were doing a good job of making the city appear lively. They both climbed in and Jet started up his car before once again launching into the sky. Leo sat with the warm box of pizza in his lap and spoke,

"Why didn't you let them have the booth Jet?"

He answered back quickly,

"Why do you think she asked for our V.I's? She was checking to see who was a synthetic so that they could get up for the humans. Anyways, I got up because I got a message from Set. Looks like home is going to have to wait for you."

He reached over and grabbed a slice of pizza, huffing when biting into it because of the heat. Through the cheesy slice he spoke,

"We've got a mission."