fandomhigh | Creative Problem Solving, Tuesday, period 3

Today, Parker was in black again. And looking very perky, outside a Danger Shop- created door.

“Something a little different from last week. There will not be cake. Sadly.”

Eliot tried not to facepalm in front of the students. This was going to be a Thing all semester, wasn't it. "Last week you all proved you're completely nuts," he said. "Except for Amy." STAIRS WERE A VALID LIFESTYLE CHOICE. "This week, we're going to see how you do getting out of a situation when you can't just leap off the side of a building."

Parker opened the door to reveal… a large storage closet. Paint buckets, a bookcase piled with tools of varying usefulness, and one small lit light-bulb were evident-- as was an air-duct with a small grate across it, just above head-height.

“We have enough closets for everybody. Or you can team up, and be locked in together. Object: get out of here before whoever put you in here comes back!”

"That's a simulated 'whoever'," Eliot noted. "We don't mean us." They weren't the bad guys in the class scenario. This time. "Once you're out, head for the room at the end of this hall." Eliot pointed to another closed, presumably locked door. "Where there will be something that isn't cake." You're welcome, Parker. "If you choose to team up, every person on the team has to make it, or you all fail."

“So don’t mess this up!... or stay in there just ‘cause it’s fun. I’m looking at some of you. You know who you are.” Or not.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"What?" Okay, she lost Eliot on that one. Could she, like, echolocate or something? "Yeah, 'course, whole point is to use whatever you've got at your disposal. Just, you know, singin' in air ducts is a real good way to get yourself caught when you're tryin' to escape."

"Okay but it also makes my hair glow," Rapunzel offered, smiling shyly. "So I was kinda using it like a flashlight? But I don't have to, next time, if you think it's more of a detriment than a, um, helpful thing."

"It makes your hair what?" There was no way Eliot heard that right, right?

"Glow," Rapunzel repeated, blushing. "Sorry, I know it's kind of weird? But, uh, that's why it's so long? Because it's magic?"

She hesitated, then sang softly, "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine -- " and her hair lit up brightly at the first note, starting at the roots.

Eliot took an automatic step back, staring at the hair and resisting the urge to use words that weren't totally classroom appropriate. "How the -- Okay. That's definitely useful."

That much hair could put out a lot of light, apparently.

"Are you sure?" Rapunzel asked nervously, her hair fading abruptly as soon as she stopped singing. "It's not cheating, since not everyone can do it?"

She didn't want to cheat, but...you know, it was nice to feel like her hair was useful.

"It ain't a competition," Eliot pointed out. Magic hair. Jesus. "And you ever get locked in a room for real, nobody's gonna be dockin' points 'cause you've got an advantage in gettin' out."

Rapunzel nodded, then smiled shyly, fidgeting. "That's how I got here," she said, a little proudly. "Um, not the glowing thing, but I kinda climbed out of a tower like how I got down from that roof last weekend? Your class seems pretty useful, in terms of sticky situations I've actually found myself in."

The closet thing seemed like a matter of time, honestly.

"Parker was pretty damn impressed with that trick last week." So were you, Eliot, don't lie. "What else can you do with all that?"

He could think of a great many ninja rope tricks that would come in damn handy in a fight -- so long as you didn't trip on it yourself.

"Oh, lots of stuff," Rapunzel said bashfully. "I can reach things with it and yank 'em down from high places, and climb up and hang in it if I need to reach something high-up for a long time, and swing on it, and use it as a blanket...."

She paused, eyeing Eliot for a moment, and carefully added, "And it heals. So that's helpful."

Hey, he was a teacher, and he seemed very nice, and she was sure she could trust her teachers, right? Even the kind of ruffian-y ones.

Hey! Eliot was definitely more than "kind of" ruffian-y.

"It heals." Eliot rubbed his eyes. Sure. Why not. Magic hair that glows and heals and is seventy feet long. Of course. "Yeah. Yeah, that is definitely very helpful. Especially around here."

"Yup! I've cured my friend's like, weird sciencey gremlin-y fever, and I cured another friend's hangover," Rapunzel said, grinning. "Lots of opportunity around here. But yeah. It's pretty handy. S'why I don't cut it -- I mean, it's this kind of awesome asset, even if it's...a lot to carry around."

"You kidding? I have trouble keeping mine in order and it's barely one foot." Eliot shook his head. "'A lot to carry around.'" He was impressed she could walk. "Suppose you've had time to get used to that, though."

"Sixteen years, give or take," Rapunzel giggled, nodding. "It's not so bad. I'd love to keep my hair as short as yours, though, 'cause it doesn't look too hard to maintain."

Shows what you know, Rapunzel.

There weren't a lot of people in Eliot's life who'd call his current hair 'short'. He smiled and shook his head. "It ain't too bad." If it were, he would have it cut. "You ever try puttin' all that up?"

Admittedly, he wasn't sure how that would work. Maybe a fancy braid. A whole lot of really fancy braid.

Parker had to come over and coo at that.

"SHINY!"

Rapunzel blushed deeply, all but actually scuffing her foot. "Thanks," she said, shrugging. "I mean, if that was a compliment. I guess 'shiny' is more, like, an adjective, and it doesn't have to be complimentary, and I'll be quiet now."

"Shiny is a fact. An awesome fact. Shiny is terrific, how do you get it to do that?"

Why would you be quiet when Parker was babbling?

"It's what the singing does," Rapunzel admitted, shyly. "My hair is, um, kind of magic?"

She fiddled with a lock again, then sang, quickly,

"Flower gleam and glow,
Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine."

Her hair lit up at the roots, and the light flowed down her hair like molten gold, now that she continued the song a little longer. "It's just kind of always done that," she added, shrugging. "So I was using it like a flashlight, in there?"

"Ohhhhhhhh." That was half realization and half amazement. That was the neatest thing ever. "We were worried you were freaking out! This is *so* much cooler."

"Ohhhhh." Oh, well that made a lot of sense. "Oh, no -- I mean, I don't love little spaces like that? But it wasn't, like, a coping mechanism. I'm okay! I know it's not real!"

"Whew." Parker's voice lowered. "Can you tell we haven't done this a lot? 'Cause we haven't. We were trying to figure out how to send you a computer janitor to check on you when you got all the way out."

Creative Problem Solving, Tuesday, period 3

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