it begins Who: Leto and Levon When: Around midnight Where: the lobby
As predicted, Levon had tried to stay awake, but ultimately clunked out just shy of midnight. Smiling faintly to herself, Leto held him to her chest, and carefully made her way through the aisle inside Apollon Grace to head for the lobby, and therein, the elevators. He'd be mad, but maybe he'd make it next year.
She yawned slightly, not having had the benefit of a nap earlier in the day like her son had. She was just about ready for bed herself. She didn't mind not doing anything special for New Years, she got most of her partying out of her system when she was younger. Right now, bed sounded just as appealing as a party. You're getting old. she told herself, as she hit the button for the elevator. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the countdown begin. No, I'm not. I'm a mom. She was okay with that.
Just as the elevator doors opened, all hell broke loose. There was a horrible noise and Leto was thrown back, gasping in horror as she clutched her son. She heard people screaming and shouting. Everything had been tilted on its side. Everything was continuing to tilt to the side. Leto's stomach did a sick dive. Oh my God, we're tipping over.
No sooner thought and everything was being thrown in the opposite direction. Leto fell to her knees and skid across the floor, fighting to try and protect Levon as she went. That was the priority. She had to shield Levon from as much as she could.
As soon as she hit the wall again, she started looking around for a safer place. She ended up looking back the way she had come, from Apollon Grace. There was a small space where the halls grew more narrow. When the ship attempted to stabilize again, and things once again began to move to the left wall, Leto dove for it. She ran for the few seconds that holding her footing was possible, and skid to a stop in the corner. She made it.
She could protect Levon here. She wouldn't be thrown about so much. She didn't know what the hell was going on, but if nothing else, she knew that. She could still hear screams, and she looked down to comfort Levon.
He wasn't screaming. He wasn't crying at all. His bright blue eyes were wide open, and he had twisted slightly in her arms, to stare around the room in wonder. Leto couldn't help but feel a little stunned. Why wasn't her child scared? Then she realized his eyes kept ticking back and forth, between something. Leto looked up and tried to figure out what he was staring at, but there was nothing - or no one - there. Looking back down to her son, she watched him carefully.
After a moment, he shook his head. It dawned on Leto all at once that Levon did see somebody - somebody she couldn't. She suddenly felt very cold, her throat very dry. Levon kept staring in wonder, and a moment later, nodded solemnly, while Leto tried to keep them level in the midst of all the chaos around them.
"Levon, baby... what are they saying?" she asked, though for some reason she was terrified of the answer. Probably with good reason. Levon didn't answer, or even look at her. His attention was still held by his visitor. "What are they saying?" Leto repeated. This time Levon looked up at his mother, his little face completely indescribable, and altogether far too heavy to be that of a little boy.