1.3 Forging Part 8

Legacy spins around to face the speaker.

This must be Gears when he is not wearing his armour.

The person that Legacy assumes is Gears is an impressive specimen with a strong jaw, broad shoulders, a rugged face and robust body that is lean and tall. The boy is wearing green cargo trousers and a white polo shirt. His hair is short and blonde whilst his eyes are shade of blue similar to Legacy’s own.

Wait what?

Legacy pauses as she thinks about her thought.

I don’t know my eye colour. So why would I think that Gears’ eyes are similar to my own? That thought just came unbidden.

Ask.

Going to be helpful this time are you?

“Hey Gears,” says Legacy, “What colour are my eyes?”

“Blue,” answers Gears blankly, “Why?”

“It just occurred to me that I didn’t know the colour of my eyes,” explains Legacy.

“Seriously?” says Gears, “How can you not know what colour your eyes are?”

“I can’t remember what I look like,” replies Legacy with a shrug, “I wouldn’t even recognise a photo of myself it was shown to me.”

Gears looks troubled at this piece of information.

“Then we shall just have to correct that,” declares Gears with a chord of determination in his voice, “Legacy, take off your helmet. I will take your picture for you.”

Legacy complies as she takes her helmet off and Gears take a phone out of his pocket. He points it at Legacy.

“Done,” says Gears, “Come and take a look.”

Legacy walks over to Gears and looks at the screen of the phone, where a picture of girl with short black hair and blue eyes is displayed.

Is that me? Must be. I don’t look particularly impressive. A pretty face with pleasant features, but nothing major.

“I should introduce myself,” says Gears as he puts his phone away, “I’m Leonard Geary. You can call me Leo.”

Leo holds his hand out and Legacy shakes it.

“And I’m Jaylyn Geary!” exclaims Jaylyn, “Now everybody knows each other’s names!”

Leo frowns slightly when Jaylyn declares her name, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I suppose I should tell you more about myself,” says Leo as he walks over to a desk.

He takes a seat and offers another chair to Legacy, which she accepts as she sits down next to Leo.

“As I said before, I got my powers at the start of year,” says Leo, “Not many people know about them and I hope to keep it that way. Even if people will figure out Gears’ powers, I don’t want anybody to know about Leo Geary’s power unless I tell them. So far I have only told you, my girlfriend and my best friend. Jaylyn knows of course since she is my creation.”

“And I’m very proud of that,” Jaylyn cuts in.

“Who is your girlfriend?” inquires Legacy.

“Joan Elizabeth Fowler,” answers Leo, “A rich kid of some local bluebloods. Her father’s family has been wealthy for generations while her mother is a beautiful immigrant from France. Joan is the youngest of her siblings and the one that suffers the most. While her mind and soul are both brilliant, her body is...less so.”

He pauses as sadness appears on his face.

“She has been quite poorly since she was baby due to a birth defect of unknown origin, but Joan’s condition has deteriorated as she has grown up,” continues Leo with a sigh, “It seems to be getting more rapid as she gets older to the point that she has had to live in a hospital bed for the last two years. But she has had a recent upturn in her fortunes. Thanks to my subtle and unnoticed actions and efforts, Joan’s condition has been stabilising much to the joy of her family and her doctors. I would say friends, but I’m the only person that has remained in contact with her out of her old friends. The rest have sort of given up on her due to her inability to properly socialise. We’re been friends since grade school and have been dating for the last few months.”

“And what about your friend?” asks Legacy, “His name is Charlie?”

“Yeah, Charlie Smythe,” replies Leo, “Total nerd and doesn’t take anything serious despite his appearance. Ridiculously long black hair and he always wears his red hoodie short of when it is in the wash. He always has a gaming device on him and always finds a way to turn the situation into a joke. Despite that, he is actually extremely smart and fit, or least more so than he looks. His stamina is excellent and he is skilled with old fashioned weapons. Got his own homemade armoury in fact. Charlie does farm work for his uncle every other weekend and is a great outdoorsman. And yet he is avid gamer. A lot of people can’t seem to wrap their heads around him being like that. Charlie is the epitome of not judging a book by its cover. And for not judging it by the first chapter either. He is also great at keeping secret hence why I told him. We get along marvellously.”

“Does he know about Jaylyn?” inquires Legacy.

“Nope,” answers Leo, “The only people who know about her are in this room.”

“Scott knows,” points out Legacy.

“Yeah,” agrees Leo, “He can be trusted right?”

“Yes,” answers Legacy without hesitation.

“Good,” says Leo, “Now, let’s get onto discussing our respective inventions...”