xp_logs | Nathan and Crystal, Tuesday morning (Reply)

Crystal stops in to see Nathan in his in-house office to ask about the proposed ice-climbing field trip.

Crystal floated down the hall, thinking about all of the planning she still needed to do for the Winter Ball. The event wasn't going to be what she had originally thought it would be, but sacrifices had to be made sometimes. Terry's taste in music wasn't bad, and she did have valid points. Last night, Crystal and Jennie had managed to reach an understanding of sorts, and Yvette knew that no one was mad at her. She still owed Haller an email, though. Crystal walked the last few feet to Nathan's office and lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in," Nathan called, vaguely grateful for the distraction. Marking was, as always, not his favorite part of teaching. "Hi, Crystal," he said as the door opened.

"Good morning," Crystal said. "I hope that I am not disturbing you." She doubted he'd actually tell her if she had disrupted him, but still… it was always nice to be polite, even if everyone did not feel the same way.

"Some distractions are very welcome," Nathan said with a perfectly straight face as he set the paper he was marking aside. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to find out more information about the trip you suggested on your journal last week, the ice climbing one in the Adirondacks. Crystal paused for a moment. "Of course, you did also mention another trip, one you went on this weekend, yes? Was this a good one?' Crystal knew that the Smichov "trip" had not been a pleasant one, and then Nathan had just "outed" himself as a telepath, so she hoped that he had not run into any problems on his most recent trip.

"Oman was lovely. In the best sense of the word," Nathan said, remembering something and smiling a bit. In a minute... "They pride themselves on their hospitality, and they went to some lengths to make sure that we enjoyed our stay, however brief it was. It was productive, too... that's yet another project well-launched."

Crystal smiled. "That is very good to hear; it is always nice to have a good start to something that is important to you." Who knew what her feelings about staying at the mansion would have been like had she not had the experiences she'd had shortly after her arrival?

"It's a bit of an experiment," Nathan said. "If it works out in Oman, that might give us the traction necessary to launch it in a few other places in the Middle East." Like Yemen. "Anyway," he said, setting his pen down, "you're really interested in the ice climbing?"

Crystal nodded. "Yes, I am. I have never been ice climbing before. It sounds interesting. I am assuming that there are some sort of safety precautions for people to take, although of course I do not have to worry about falling."

"Oh, plenty of safety techniques." Some of which might have to be adapted slightly for Yvette, Nathan realized suddenly. Given that her skin could probably cut through ropes. Maybe I could ask Forge if he'd whip her up a Kevlar climbing belt... "There are a number of techniques we'll have to go over prior to actually climbing. I was thinking of a couple of preparatory sessions here at the mansion, since we do have a climbing wall in the gym."

The gym? Crystal still hadn't voluntarily been to the gym for nearly two months. But going with Nathan and other students would be fine; it would be a planned visit there with other people, not a lone workout. "That sounds like a very good idea. It will be good to have some idea of what to expect when we are on the actual trip itself."

"Oh, I'd never take any of you up ice without some practice first," Nathan said very seriously. "It's not the least challenging form of climbing in the world - not unsafe, but not easy."

"Oh, are we going to practice on ice or just a normal wall?" Crystal asked Nathan. "I thought about that, a regular climbing wall in a warm environment is not the same as an ice wall in a rather cold setting. I seem to recall seeing a mention regarding the requirement to wear shoes due to the temperature."

"Practice in climbing techniques in general, I meant," Nathan clarified. "How to handle ropes and the like... there are a number of different pieces of equipment you'll all have to be familiar with prior to the trip."

"Maybe we can practice on ice, at least once?" Crystal suggested. "This would let the students have a better idea of the actual situation they will be facing during the real climb."

"We'll probably try the basic skills on some minor ice before I take anyone up a frozen waterfall. I actually looked into lodges in the area, so we can make it a two or three day trip, in January..."

Crystal nodded. "Perhaps another time the trip can be to a place with, what did you call them? 'Serious ice and serious mountains,' I believe."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, amused and somewhat tickled. "Are you serious? Wait, of course you're serious... I just might consider that, you know, if the ice-climbing does go over well."

Yes, of course she was serious. Why would she joke about something like that? He had said that he missed real mountains, hadn't he? "Yes, I suppose that it is best to wait and see how the events of this trip play out before considering one of a more serious nature."

"I can't really do real mountains anymore, anyway. Not the really high peaks," Nathan said somewhat wistfully. "Not that I'd be taking students to any of those, I suppose."

"Oh, I see," said Crystal, wondering if this inability to climb real mountains had something to do with his apparent lack of a decent set of lungs. "I am sorry."

"Diminished lung capacity," Nathan said with a crooked smile and a shrug. "And actually, I was always running risks. The psionic brain has some physiological oddities about it that makes it unduly susceptible to odd forms of altitude sickness. But I love the mountains," he said quietly, "and I love climbing. You can find a lot of clarity, doing it."

Now the question was why his lung capacity was diminished, but Crystal was not going to ask. "I look forward to learning how to ice climb with you." People seemed to derive clarity from all sorts of different things.

"Friends always used to mock me, for loving climbing," Nathan said. "After all, I'm telekinetic - if I want to see the view from the top, I could just levitate up. But it's getting there that's the challenge. You have to be so careful, so deliberate. Especially on ice." His smile was more whimsical this time. "It's like a puzzle that you solve with your whole body, instead of just your mind."

Crystal nodded. "Yes, I assumed that getting to the top was not the point of the climb. If that were the sole purpose of the adventure, those of us who can fly or run up walls would do that instead of actually climbing. Doing so would defeat the idea of this challenge you are talking about." But if she slipped or messed up somehow, there was no way she was going to let herself plummet to her death or even get bruised or scratched.

"I think you'll find it interesting at the very least," Nathan said with a smile. "I'm not going to be presumptuous and say you'll love it, but it'll be a new experience. And the Adirondacks are beautiful in the winter."

"I am here to learn, after all," Crystal said lightly, "to have new experiences." And if going ice climbing with a diminished-lung-capacity psi who had broken his brain six months earlier and a shoe-hating feral who and had chopped off his own toes the last time he had handled a sharp axe wasn't a new experience, what was?

She was giving him that vaguely tolerant look again. It reminded him rather a lot of her sister, actually. "Oh," Nathan said, leaning back in his chair and opening one of the drawers in his desk. "I brought you something back from Oman, by the way."

"Thank you," Crystal said, surprised. She hadn't requested a souvenir, and she certainly hadn't expected Nathan to bring anything back for her. She had no idea what to expect this something to be. "You did not have to do that."

"I was getting something for your sister-" Which he had yet to give her, too. "-and thought I would pick something up for you, too." He handed over the delicate ivory box, only a few inches in diameter. It had been the carving that had caught his attention in the stall; the contents, really, had just been a bonus. "It's called bokhur," he said as Crystal took the box from him. "What's inside, I mean... it's incense, basically. The Omani burn it in their homes. That particular blend has got frankincense, rosewater, and sandalwood, according to the man who sold it to me."

"The box is beautiful," Crystal told Nathan, smiling. "I will burn some of the incense tonight or tomorrow."

"It's funny - the whole purpose of souvenirs is to share a bit of the trip with the people who stayed at home, obviously. But I don't think that many things evoke a place like a scent... which makes something like that just about the best imaginable souvenir." He grinned crookedly. "So long as one doesn't have fragrance allergies, of course."

"I do not believe that I have any actual fragrance allergies," Crystal answered, "but I have never before breathed in incense, so I cannot be sure of what I will think of the scent, or if I will have any sort of reaction to it."

"Well," Nathan said very seriously, "here's hoping it doesn't leave you sneezing." Pushing the drawer shut again, he looked up at her with another, more restrained smile. "So I'll put your name on the list for the ice climbing."

Sneezing? That wouldn't be very pleasant, but there far worse things that could happen. "Yes, please let me know when we will begin learning the safety techniques required for the climb."

"I should really get back to the marking," Nathan said, rather reluctantly eyeing the stack of papers. "I need to get these done by the end of the week."

"I will leave you to your marking, then," Crystal said. "Thank you for the lovely box and the incense." Giving Nathan another smile and nod, Crystal left the room, leaving him alone with his large pile of papers to mark.