Earth Tourism, Tuesday 5th period

[unusual_sith]

Lana greeted them all at Portalocity with a huge smile and a huge crate. "Since you all seem to have no problem with heights, we're going to extremes today, so rather than have you all purchase ridiculous amounts of Earth equipment, I've brought some from home. I hope you all wore comfortable shirts and trousers to go under it, as I handwavily suggested."

She opened the crate and started passing out hooded jumpsuits of a dirty white colour with straps to secure them everywhere. Everyone also got a face mask equipped with breathing apparatus and comm unit. "These will keep us warm and alive and let us communicate more easily." She put on her own to demonstrate how it worked for those of the students who hadn't been to Hoth before. When they were all done, she nodded to the gnomes, and their portal opened up. Lana stepped through.

"Welcome to the highest location on Earth, Mount Everest. It's almost 9,000 meters above sea level, and is normally only accessible by experienced climbers with a lot of specialized equipment and a month or two to spare. And quite a few of them still die," she noted. "So please be careful. But it is a spectacular view, isn't it?"

Comments

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Whoa," Arden whispered, staring at the view. She didn't think she'd ever make the hike by herself, but damn was this an excellent argument for why people did.

Re: Check out the view!

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I don't suppose this view is making you not-hungry for steak and blooming onions?" Cal said in greeting.

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I hate to break it to you, but I might even be hungrier now," she said, looking up at him with a grin. "Definitely gonna have to add on a salad and some bread, too."

Re: Check out the view!

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal groaned playfully, but had a smile on his face. "You might end up with an appetite as big as mine. That onion did look pretty good," he admitted. "It's time for me to finally pay up for one of these bets. When do you want to go out? No gremlins allowed this time, I'll make sure of it."

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You've got that laserblade, right?" Arden teased. "Scare 'em off with it while I cower behind you magnificently."

She grinned and gave him a shoulder nudge - but gently because this place was a scary as it was breathtaking. "You see all this wide space here?" she said, arcing her arm to take in the vista, "this is like unto my schedule, open and free. Tomorrow night? Thursday?"

Re: Check out the view!

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal laughed, nudging her in return. It was so nice to just be friendly without any worries. "Tomorrow night works for me. We might need a boost after whatever happens at the shenanigans tomorrow," he pointed out. "I was too busy dodging paint yesterday to properly apologize for that."

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"For not taking any of the outs I gave you with the Dean, you mean?" Arden asked, raising an eyebrow.

Re: Check out the view!

[moreofaponchoguy]

"Why would I take the outs when I had less to lose? If I get kicked out of classes, I just can't take classes anymore. You getting into trouble would have been so much worse," Cal said.

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Because you really really care about the Dean's opinion of you," Arden said stubbornly. "And you deserve it. If the Dean tried to kick me out, there would probably be an appeals process." She had no idea but that sounded real, right? "There's no appeals for losing his good opinion. And I'm not gonna have you suffer because you wanted to show me a great time."

She folded her arms over her chest, which was harder than it looked, considering the puffiness of their gear.

"You deserve better."

Re: Check out the view!

[moreofaponchoguy]

"I mean, I could probably get his opinion back," Cal said, but he sounded kind of uncertain about that. "Or maybe he'd dislike me forever, but my future wouldn't rest on that. You're like... taking classes for a reason. That's important too, and you deserve to get that."

So there!

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

This was not at all a ridiculous conversation.

"Well, how would you respond to me apologizing to you about Friday?" she countered.

Re: Check out the view!

[moreofaponchoguy]

"You have nothing to apologize for," Cal said, looking genuinely confused. "I should have taken more precautions so we didn't get caught."

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

You know, if tripping him and knocking him to the ground wasn't likely to send them both off the side of the mountain with the resulting scuffle, Arden would be tempted.

"Listen," she said, stepping closer with her thickly gloved hands on her very puffy waist. "The climb? Was worth getting into trouble for. Okay? It was awesome. And when you apologize for it, you make it sound like a) you were the only one with agency during that climb and that's hella not true, and b) like you don't think it was worth it, or think I might not. And if you don't? Well, I'm sorry that that's true, but that's not how I feel. Okay?"

Re: Check out the view!

[unusual_sith]

"A better view than from the school tower?" Lana asked, teasing.

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

It was hard to tell that Arden was flushing under all the protective gear, though the way her head ducked, it was a good bet. "Er..." she said. "I mean, absolutely. You literally can't beat it. But knowing that the Dean won't come hopping after us like a jiangshi is another bonus."

Re: Check out the view!

[unusual_sith]

"Next time, you'll have to be sneakier," Lana said. "What's a jiangshi?"

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Is there a sneaky way to climb towers?" Arden asked.

...Maybe climbing it fully in dark and seeing the sunrise from the top? Hmm. Let's not start thinking that way while we still have detention to serve.

"It's a hopping vampire from China," she added. "You know, mythological and stuff." Because whose world had magic and supernatural shit? Not Arden's, honest!

Re: Check out the view!

[unusual_sith]

"Cloaking screens," Lana answered. "Or using the Force to hide yourself. I've no idea if Cal can do that."

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I, uh, don't really have access to either on my own," Arden said, a little flatly. "So I guess I'll just...depend on Cal, then?"

Re: Check out the view!

[unusual_sith]

Lana raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you know you don't have access to them? Use your resources."

By which she meant her.

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Assuming Lana was a resource for anything beyond offering an education in her particular classes was not something Arden would ever have considered. That smacked of entitlement on Arden's part (expecting Lana to be willing and able) and also trust that such a gift could possibly come without strings. Because why would she want to offer assistance to Arden? That didn't make sense.

"...Do we have some through the school?" she asked.

Re: Check out the view!

[unusual_sith]

"That's actually a good question," Lana said. "I don't know. But I have access to them, and I'm honestly inclined toward anything harmless that the Dean doesn't like."

Because Anakin.

"Although in fairness I should mention, if you did get caught anyway, knowing you had my help isn't likely to endear you to him."

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"So, you'd loan me one to spite the Dean?" Arden asked. Still pretty sus.

Not because of Lana just...look, she, like everyone else on the island, had a tragic backstory.

Re: Check out the view!

[unusual_sith]

"Absolutely," Lana agreed. "Also, it just seems like the sort of fun students ought to be having, and he's being ridiculous."

Her first school was the Korriban Academy. It's possible she had a skewed definition of fun.

Re: Check out the view!

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Does he come in another flavor?" Arden asked because well...

Anakin.