(Private) The Climb

May 29th, 2014 07:25 PM

Cut's call hadn't surprised her, really. They were talking about forming a Cabal, or a Hallow-finding squad, or a loose affiliation - fuck it, whatever it was going to be called, it didn't matter. The fact was, they needed to get to know one another a bit better. So when he had suggested that they should go to Pipeworks, of all places, Asp had chuckled quietly and said sure.

After all, she was curious if the guy could climb.

She waited just inside the doors, already changed into athletic gear and a good pair of climbing shoes. Her hair was up in a lazy pony, two elastics holding it there, and her everpresent Evian bottle was held loosely in her left hand while her backpack was slung over her right shoulder.

Time to sweat.

**Star** · May 29th, 2014 10:16 PM

The secret to putting someone else at ease was to make them comfortable. Conversation, environment, whatever. He'd read that. Somewhere. The sum total of what he knew of Asp was a handful of places she liked around the town, she jogged, and the whole Arrow thing. Not much. So pick something he'd picked something she'd said.

In retrospect, she'd also mentioned a jazz club and a lake.

Comfortable? She must be. He'd never seen so much spandex on one person in so little amount of time. Didn't the girl own any jeans? Cargo pants? Something... not so... tight?

He did. All the pants. All the long sleeved shirts, too. If asked, he'd call it practical. Pockets to put things in, sleeves to hide them in. If you put a gun to his head? He'd admit it was a carryover from the hellish days of school when words like 'scrawny' and 'chicken legs' were used. He preferred lithe. Olive drab khakis and a grey henley were paired with his own running shoes -- shoes which had probably seen far less usage than Asp's own. He'd also learned an important lesson, and carried a Gatorade bottle. Because electrolytes. It was red flavored. Sure, there were some other words on the bottle, but he was pretty sure Gatorade flavors were actually their colors.

"Hey," he greeted her, shaking his bottle at hers. "I came prepared, too!"

The words were tinged with a hint of pride, as if an epiphany of foresight were some accomplishment.

"So, wow, this is... yeah." Pride gave way to caution as he looked around.

Then the realization. Forgetting someone's name was awkward. Realizing you didn't know it? Or a Nom De Fallen? All the awkward, too.

shit

"And, ummm, I'm Jack. Yep. That's me."

That wasn't his real name. Who did that? Meeting someone and introducing yourself with a bullshit name? Total plentyoffish flashbacks.

May 30th, 2014 02:16 AM

Cut moseying through the door with his bottle shake brought a smile to Asp's youthful features. "Nice. Fruit punch. Good call, man." Fuck. She missed Gatorade. Pounding water was a habit now, and now that she was in the habit of being healthy like that, drinking a bunch of sugar wasn't her bag. She did a fair bit of weight training, which meant she wasn't eating like a rabbit, but, still...

She totally wanted some red Gatorade now.

"Yuuuup," she said in agreement as she stepped forward deeper into the building, chuckling at his introduction. Okay, Jack. "Aspen," the Obrimos replied, as if giving him her name for the first time. It flowed logically from what he knew her as, and was something she'd remember to answer to. "So, you a climber, Jack?"

Or was this a guy's version of when girls told dudes they liked hiking?

**Star** · May 30th, 2014 09:54 AM

Fruit punch?

OK. Everyone was a Gatorade-ologist but him. First Handy Mandy, now... Aspen. Somewhere down the Life Skills journey, he had ignored the fruit from the Knowledge of Gatorade Tree. Learning was a good thing. Aspen. That was clever. Maybe 'Cut' could be 'Cutter', but, that could get super awkward. Because Avis. Jack was OK. Jack of Diamonds. Or Jack of all trades... and master of none.

Following Aspen, a shrug and nod jostled his upper body like Sheldon Cooper trying to dance.

"Yes... no. Maybe. Sort of, Aspen," he waffled through answers, sticking her 'name' on the end to show he'd heard and begin to mentally associate it with her.

He grinned.

"I mean, not recreation style. Phone companies, there's some climbing. Poles, towers, sides of buildings, that sort of thing. Churches suck, by the way. Cabling the, hmmmm, nave, I think it's called. So I've done a little? But never a wall. Or, ummm, like a mountain."

No wilderness cred. Surprise.

"You? Is this your thing, besides running?"

And stretching.

May 30th, 2014 11:05 AM

Asp tried to think of how shitty it would be to try to cable a nave. First off because she wasn't techy, really, and had no experience with cables - but she also wasn't religious. Sometimes she thought if she touched holy stuff, she might burn, but that...

A flash of violence, of blood spatter. A body hitting the floor, their final resting place.

Innocence lost. Maybe she actually would.

"I definitely would not want to cable a nave," she agreed. At his question, she shrugged, idly bringing an arm across her chest to loosen up for the climb ahead. It was very important to limber up. "This is all right. I actually like going to pubs and finding good music and whatnot, but with work, the recommended dose of 30 minutes a day of heavy physical activity becomes a lot more like 'a couple of hours of absolutely required exercise to stay really fit', you know?"

Arrows did not have any place for people who weren't willing to train their body. The Supernal is the Self. Their bodies were basically living temples - at least, hers was.

**Star** · May 30th, 2014 03:45 PM

Now the stretching.

Eyes dodged, moving around the space to watch small figures spider up walls and whatnot. Should he stretch? He wasn't a stretcher. Maybe an arm windmill-er. Stretching made parts of his body protest. Ouch.

Seriously. If stretching was supposed to keep things from hurting, but the actual act of stretching hurt? He'd go for possibility over certainty, where pain was concerned.

"It's pretty low on my list of things to do, but FNGs always get the crappy pulls. Sometimes I fantasize about easy pop-up ceiling in industrial offices, you know?"

Well, that sounded weird. Really good thing this was just hanging out with Not A Cabal.

"So, wow, really? Thirty minutes a day, and you do more?"

Like, for real, wow. Was there some Guardian regimen he was recommended to be doing thirty minutes a day? Sure wasn't going to ask. Never ask a question you don't want to hear the answer to.

"That's impressive. Really. I'm impressed. It shows. I mean, your dedication. Your dedication shows. That's all. Not 'that's all' as in I'm marginalizing your effort, just that 'that's all' I meant."

Getting labeled a creeper would put a damper on things.

"So I'm just going to follow your lead, then, I'm thinking? Since you do this. What, uh, what kind of music? I did notice you were wearing buds when we met."

Arrow, though. Could have been listening to Sun Tzu's 'Doing War Things'.

May 30th, 2014 04:29 PM

Asp snorted and laughed. "That's quite the fantasy there, Jack." She grinned broadly, then turned her attention to her drink for a moment, sipping away. "Yeah, I do. I've got to, right? I mean, martial arts instruction is pretty physical, so that usually covers me, but yeah. Off days." Shrug. It was what it was. "And thanks. I get what you mean." Of course he wasn't disparaging her.

She led him in, nodding to his question. "Yeah, sure, I can lead." Off they headed toward the walls, and she grinned. "Good memory. I was listening to LMFAO. It's like... a cardio mixed playlist. All kinds of upbeat 80s songs, and party rock. Stuff to pump you up, you know?"

Blink. "How about you, man? What do you do for fun?"

**Star** · May 30th, 2014 09:21 PM

"LMFAO."

He laughed. That was, literally, one step above Black Eyed Peas. Music snob much? Maybe. His ears were a temple.

Eyes watched carefully as other people put their harnesses on, and he watched Asp when he needed a closer look. It wasn't much different than a lineman's harness. Definitely lighter. A few bounces on his toes got all the wrinkles in his pants and everything else sorted out and adjusted. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

"Hey. Hey. I have fantasies. Real ones." Heroes of Cosplay? Yes, please. "I just take my work seriously."

An eye roll punctuated the last bit.

"So, me? For fun? I, ah... well. I actually practice card tricks a lot. It's fun. But you also have to keep the fingers nimble." Waggle the pianist's fingers. Jazz hands, even. "Actually, maybe that's like your physical activity thing? I like EDM clubs. And magic shows. I'm... not much of a pub or bar person. Or, I haven't been."

A light frown dismissed the thought. He'd never mastered the art of the pickup line, and worrying about what might pop out of your Awakened piehole once you got shit-faced put a damper on just hanging out with buddies. It's not like you could tell just anyone about the time Paradox caused spontaneous incontinence.

"But here I am! Broadening my horizons!"

He slapped the surface. Peeked at her to see if she was enhanced. Dark Matter could be useful. He'd known before he looked. Hadn't felt her. Scratch that. His Unseen Senses hadn't been triggered by spellcraft.

"Is there a trick to this? Idiot's Guide?"

May 31st, 2014 02:59 AM

Asp chuckled right on back. "What? It's not good music, but it keeps me from getting bored and has a good tempo for running," she said, harnessing up herself. She did it adeptly, having recently been here and gotten familiar with the equipment, and Asp smirked at his comment about his fantasies. "I'm sure you do," she teased, grinning for a moment before cutting that off with water. Mmm. Water. "Okay, Jack. I've been seriously interested in seeing a trick or two since I ran into you and saw you whipping that pen around your fingers. I'm from Vegas, and I'm not ashamed to admit I liked the magic shows growing up as a kid."

Checking her harnessing, she looked to the Guardian guy and nodded toward a wall. "Just breathe, and remember to let your legs do the work. If you try to climb all using your arms, you'll get tired quicker."

She was pretty sure he'd get tired. She still did, and Asp was... well, Asp. She worked out.

"I'll let the staff belaying us give us their speal about being on the rope, so you don't have to hear it twice. They have to give it every time." Shrug. Nobody liked to get sued.

**Star** · May 31st, 2014 05:24 PM

"Oh, totally, I get it. Like, I don't dance to crappy music."

Dance? More like bounce. Or pogo. Or, whatever. But you needed a beat.

"Anything less than a hundred and twenty might as well be talk radio, am I right?"

He took his eyes off the wall turning to look at Asp. Was she messing with him? You never knew, when someone said they wanted to see a trick. Most of the time, they just wanted a chance to call you out if they caught you slipping. Fair enough. Rarely the smartest guy in the room, but usually the quickest.

"OK? Seriously? Yeah, sure. I can show you some stuff. If you want. I can do that." The smile that peeked out was pure kid in the candy store. That was his thing.

Well, first: survive. Telephone poles and antenna towers had steps. Or something. Not... whatever these were.

"So, yep, we just use these, uh, chicken nugget things they have screwed on? I'm going to be really Not Happy if I end up having to chew my arm off. Or cut it off. Whatever."

Was he talking to himself, or her? Fingers plied at one of the blobs, testing it. Stop. Listen. This comes with staff instructions.

(Private) The Climb

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