the sweet smell of science

there was no where for me to stay, but I stayed anyway

'Well...it's part of my responsibilities to continually ensure the safety of the Skyships.' Everest reasons, puzzling this out for himself in real-time. "So it's an intended sub-order of previous orders I have been given and accepted, I suppose you could say." It isn't clear to him at all what the having of, or giving of, more credit would do for him, and so he merely looks somewhat skeptically up at the dragoon.

"Well, she would be incorrect." The aviator points out, and as Koa raps against his head, Everest mistakenly believes the dragoon is making the same point. "Exactly. Doors aren't hollow which is why they sound like that." He agrees with a slow smile that's quickly dashed by Koa's next instruction.

Think fast? Not unlike that gif of numbers and equations flashing in front of the not-Julia-Roberts face, Everest tries to think faster. Random thoughts flash before his eyes in an effort to do as he was told, and it's with blue eyes staring rather distantly that he blinks abruptly as the stone strikes his shoulder. Glancing down where it had hit before looking back to Koa, Ever tilts his head slightly in a clear gesture of did I do it? Did I think fast?

everest

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

K O A

and they will shake their heads
and wag their bony fingers

"Ok, sure, but did someone give you the sub-order?" Koa challenges stubbornly, "Or were you like, hey, this seems like it needs doing, might as well be me who takes charge?" He shrugs, feeling like he's proven his point, though arguments could be made to the contrary. He's also not entirely sure how they got to this place, but now that he's got a point to prove, he's determined to hold it like a dog with a bone.

The rock thuds ineffectually off Everest's shoulder, interrupting the rather hilarious either-thinking-or-constipated expression that has briefly overtaken the young man. Koa lets out a slow exhale, almost impressed by how thoroughly his experiment has failed. "Well. You did look like you were thinking," the Dragoon concedes with weary fondness, shaking his shaggy head.

"Maybe you should come to the training grounds sometime. We can work on your reflexes."

in all the wrong directions—
and by daybreak we'll be gone

there was no where for me to stay, but I stayed anyway

"Nei...ther?" Ever replies, though it sounds more like a guess. "It's a consequence of previous orders, so in a way the sub-order was given, in virtue of it necessarily following from something else I was told." He sounds a bit surer about this, but not by much.

"Did I?" Everest had in fact been told that when he thought quite hard about things he tended to seem on the verge of a stroke or a very large bowel movement, so Koa's observation isn't terribly surprising.

'Maybe I should. Mateo and I did recently try a brief round of training but it wasn't very successful. Or, it was in so far as we did in fact come into contact with one another, but other than learning how very much I dislike combat, I can't say I learned anything new."

everest

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

K O A

and they will shake their heads
and wag their bony fingers

Koa is quickly finding himself out of depth with this conversation, but also, he's still convinced he's right. And so he answers with as much eloquence as he can muster, his head tilted and an eyebrow raised as he fixes Everest with a fondly exasperated what the fuck look. "That's.... kinda dumb, man. Sounds like you're tryin' to over-explain something as simple as common sense."

"Well there's the problem. It doesn't have to be about combat," Koa protests, shaking his head. "There's plenty of reasons to train, and ways to do it without fighting. Gotta take care of your body, my friend. Sharpens the mind, too." Koa taps against his head, Roll Safe style. "Come by the training field sometime - I'll show you some stuff you can do on your own. Some orders to choose to follow on your own time. Or choose not to. Sounds fun, right?"

in all the wrong directions—
and by daybreak we'll be gone

there was no where for me to stay, but I stayed anyway

'I don't think common sense is very simple at all.' The aviator murmurs a touch reverentially before giving his head a little shake.

Raising his eyebrows not unlike the way a dog might perk its ears, Ever refocuses his attention away from issues of common sense, whatever those might be, in lieu of what strikes him as brand new information. 'Really?' Adjusting his notebook before realizing that Koa likely wasn't going to articulate the specifics of what he meant just now, instead Everest makes a note to himself to meet with the dragoon for a non-fighting training session. "I would like that very much." He wasn't sure he wanted his mind to have any hard edges, but given he thought that this might just be a figure of speech, he merely nodded. (He did however, write it down to confirm with Mateo later).

"I will come and find you at the beginning of the season if that sounds alright with you." Because you know, it's tomorrow.

everest

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

K O A

and they will shake their heads
and wag their bony fingers

Well, Koa may not have won the battle for Everest's enlistment, but as least he's made headway in the fight. Looking smug as can possibly be, the young man gives Ever a playful salute. "Sounds very alright," he agrees through a shit-eating grin, his crinkled eyes twinkling with copper delight.

Koa rises then, dusting his hands on his pants. "Well, I better get back to it. Road isn't gonna patrol itself." He nods down to Ever and his notebooks and not-ghost device. "Maybe I'll see you on the way back up, but if not, good luck with... this." And with a last cheerful wave the boy sets off, down the winding road.

{Fin}

in all the wrong directions—
and by daybreak we'll be gone