fandomhigh | How To Get By In A Hostile World, Wednesday

"Last week, we talked about fear," Atton said. "This week, we'll talk about some other stuff that can mess with your head."

He'd already been sitting on his desk when they came in. His eyes were a little glassy, and his face and posture made it clear he... might have been doing something this past week that involved not getting a lot of sleep.

"Sleep deprivation, cold, these are things you're going to deal with if you wind up stranded somewhere with no way to a roof over your head," he said. "Sleep deprivation dulls your reaction time and slows your thinking. Keep going long enough, and you get yourself dead. The same goes for cold - it makes you clumsy, causes you to make bad decisions, leaves you dizzy and eventually knocks you unconscious."

He shrugged. "There's a couple of ways to deal with both of these problems. Can't get enough sleep? Sometimes getting a dose of sunlight will remind your body it's supposed to be awake. Be selective in what you eat - protein'll do you a lot more good than sugar. If you can't get a nap, there's also some physical exercises that simulate rest. Actually, any activity is good. So is water. Any of these measures can keep you awake until you find somewhere you can sleep safely."

"As for the cold, well, that depends on how bad the situation is. If you just wandered into a cold situation, you're going to want to insulate. Wearing layers is usually more useful than wearing one big warm thing, unless that warm thing is a friendly bear or something. And when you're dressing up for the cold, for the love of the Force, keep your hands and feet and head warm. All your body heat tends to stick close to your chest, so those are the first parts that are going to freeze and fall off."

Just... take a moment to picture that. Please. He'd done his best describing it and everything.

"Oh, and water. Actually, that's generally a good advice. Drink a ton of water."

And wear sunscreen.

He ran his hand through his hair... mostly because the gesture allowed him to cling to consciousness. Not that he'd admit that. "'Course, if you're far enough along that hypothermia strikes - and you'll be able to tell by the memory loss and confusion, except, I guess, if you forget about this class - there's some other stuff you need to know. Like not taking off wet clothes unless you actually have some damned dry clothes to replace them with, because the only thing worse than being cold and wet is being cold and wet and naked."

Not that he had any personal experience with that.

"You're going to want to drink something warm to keep your body temperature up. Don't start heating your hands in front of a fire first or anything, because that just shoves all that cold blood right back into your body." Atton eyed the class. "Which also means that if you're trying to help someone with hypothermia, don't massage them unless you want them dead. Seriously, don't do that."

He took a deep breath. "Okay, I've got some sleep deprivation exercise for you guys if you want it," he said. "Otherwise, take notes or go take a nap, whichever."

Could class be over so he could get a nap? That'd be great.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I can handle it," Atton muttered. "I mean, at this point of the class, my job is basically just to sit here and look pretty while you people work."

He rubbed at his eyes. "Eugh. Next time I agree to do something for Mical, smack me."

Sparkle was super helpful, and reached out to try to swat Atton on the back of the head.

"For next time," he intoned. "Seriously, what the hell did he have you doing that kept you from sleeping for a week?"

"Mical's sucking up to the Republic, hoping they'll reinstate funds and support for the Jedi," Atton said. "They called for help with some rebellion out on some backwater planet, so of course Mical came to me. I went there, there were some assassination attempts, I wound up running with somebody's underground resistance while the bad guys chased us for a couple of days..."

He shrugged.

"If there's anything Skywalker's story has taught me about this business, it's that if you don't wind up limbless and on fire at the end, you're doing pretty okay. Doesn't make it more fun, though."

"No kidding," Sparkle replied, his tone a little dry. "Seriously, man, the next time you're running around like an idiot, freaking call me when you get home and I'll put on a goddamn movie or something. You look like shit."

Sparkle was so good at gentle criticism, truly.

"At least take the time to, like, shower and change before coming to the classroom, man. God."

"I didn't want to be late," Atton retorted. "I mean, not that I don't appreciate the idea of sleep right now, but this is my job and everything."

He was trying to make an honest go at it, damn it.

Sparkle was actually kind of weirdly impressed by that.

"Even so, uh, you know what island you're teaching on? 'Late due to interdimensional travel and other assorted bullshit' is totally a thing, here. People get it, so long as it isn't every other week, you know?"

"No, Sparkle, I missed the last couple of times we were zapped into an alternate dimension or I woke up with a pair of breasts on my chest," Atton muttered. "It's just a thing, okay? You can handle next week if you want to teach so bad."

"Okay," Sparkle said immediately. "Not like it'd be a first time. But only if you promise you spend that hour sleeping or eating real food or showering or, fuck, going to a spa and getting a massage and actually taking care of yourself for a change."

He was serious, Atton. He worried, shut up.

"Sure, mom," Atton muttered.

It was touching, the concern, really. But he wasn't exactly the champion of expressing and/or dealing with that sort of thing. "Maybe I should drag you to the Enclave sometime, you can let Mical know I need a break. Or just you at him for a while, see how bad it weirds him out."

He was rambly, apparently. Great.

Sparkle just leaned forward and grinned, cradling his chin in his hands and batting his eyelashes.

"Bring it."

Seriously, Sparkle would merrily torment Mical for Atton's sake. Hell, he would merrily torment Mical just for the fun of it. Plus the view wasn't bad. Even if the guy was an inept jackass.

Mical honestly wasn't that inept, and he was kind of a nice guy, but Atton would rather wind up limbless and on fire than acknowledge that. What? It worked for him.

"All right, maybe this weekend or something," he said, shrugging. "I'll buy you a nerf steak after."

Sparkle had to cackle a little at that.

"Never had nerf," he shared. "I'm looking forward to it, now."

Just so long as it wasn't made of foam, he was totally game for it.

"You should. Your cow steaks suck in comparison," Atton said sagely. Then yawned.

"Is it end of class time yet?"

Sparkle quirked a little smile at that, and then poked Atton's shoulder.

"Might as well be, man. Get some sleep already, would you?"

"Yeah, sure," Atton said, eyeing the door. "I'll even eat all my vegetables while I'm at it."

"I wouldn't strongly advise you to do both at the same time," Sparkle noted, "but if you want I can swing by with takeout later, whatever. I'm willing to bet you haven't eaten in forever, too."

Because Atton.

Atton considered it, then shrugged. "Sure," he said casually, "Why the hell not."

He'd been surrounded by more-serious-than-thou revolutionaries for the past couple of days. Making fun of Sparkle's hair for an evening seemed like a good way to get back to Fandom.

"Cool," Sparkle replied, shooting Atton another grin. "You go get some freaking sleep, then, and let me know when you're up. And then I'll show up with food and booze if you want it, and we'll just shoot the shit for a while. Sound good?"

"Fine, fine," Atton said tiredly. He raised his voice. "Hey, class? Class is over. Go home."

He looked back at Sparkle. "Catch you later," he said lightly.

Stupid Sparkle and his not actually being an asshole giving Atton a reason to be sort of glad about getting back to the island.

"See you then," Sparkle replied, grinning and nodding as he slung his backpack up over his shoulder. Yeah, he was claiming this victory, even if he wasn't going to gloat about it. "Go on and sleep, man."

How To Get By In A Hostile World, Wednesday

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA

Re: Talk to the TA