aterat | [Closed] It's A Matter Of Scale

Mono had been more than a little excited when he got the invitation to meet up with Nida, never one to pass up opportunities to learn here. Whether it be to see things like when Illyana took him to Limbo, or Ignis’ suggestion of new foods he could eat, he had learned a lot thus far…

And Nida was someone who he was more than a little curious about, and someone who could definitely help him get better at things that were quite important. It helped that the man turned out to be quite nice, despite his nerves before…

And there was something special in meeting someone who understood how important and useful it was to sneak around or to find interesting, not often thought of paths to get around the city.

It had made him look up to the man, really. Nida had been one of the few challenges when it came to his shadowing people around.

So the child didn’t keep Nida waiting long at all, running across the courtyard between buildings and tugging his hat a little more snug on his head. “Hello!” He said, skidding to a stop in front of the man, the old trench coat flapping a little in the wind. Even with new clothes underneath, the child seemed to refuse to stop wearing it.

There he was. Nida smiled at the other, and considered the clothes that the boy was wearing. That... might not work for right now.

"GOod to see you, Mono. Tonight we're going to do some climbing lessons. We're going to need somewhere to safely put your clothes. Tonight loose clothing will be a bad thing."

The kid definitely looked eager to start climbing lessons. He was already pretty good at it… But he’d seen Nida around; he knew he could learn how to do it better with a little help. Definitely something that would come in handy when he went home… That said, the child blinked a little when he was told loose clothing would get in the way. “Oh… Like my coat?” He asked, nose scrunching a bit. “Even though I always wear it?” It had pockets, lots of pockets, and that made it useful!

Still, he didn’t want it to get in the way of his lessons… So the child looked around a little, trying to decide if he’d put it somewhere and where might be safe…

"Yes. Until I'm certain of your skill, and you have a lot more practice under my tutelage, I wanted to make sure that you are not going to snag your coat on anything. It is better to start safe and then, as you grow skilled, shift to less specialized gear."

This was how he had learned as well. But Nida considered it thoughtfully. There had to be a good option.

"What if we tuck it away in a hiding spot in the library. Your first lesson could be how to hid things in a public place for safety."

Oh… So it was just for now? Well, that seemed to settle some of the child’s worry. It wasn’t like he could just leave it somewhere in his world if he needed to climb. There was no telling if he’d ever get back to it if he was running from something. But if it was temporary for learning, he could deal with that. “I guess that kinda makes sense… And I can wear it again, eventually.” He mumbled, definitely giving the impression that it was important.

He slipped it off his shoulders and carefully folded it up. Mindful of the thing’s he had hidden away in its pockets. “At the library? Okay, there’s lots of spots people don’t bother going in there, I think. It should be okay.”

Of course just for now. He was the same way when training people to fight. It helped to learn the basics before you ran the risk of getting yourself tangled.

"I don't want you getting caught on a bad piece of the building when you dont' know how to safely get free yet," Nida answered before running up the steps to the library.

Yes, there were lots of spots people didn't go, but there were other ways to hide things. Why not have that small lesson first.

"Come on."

That definitely made sense. It wasn’t as though Mono hadn’t found him in a bad spot similar to what Nida was suggesting before… “I guess that kinda makes sense. I got a tear in it once before like that.” He responded, carefully tucking the folded material under his arm for now. Well, it had probably happened more than once considering the coat's condition... But the point was that he understood what the other was explaining to him.

So he hurried after the man as he moved towards the library. "Okay!" He responded, catching up a moment or two later.

"I've ruined more than a few sets of clothing over hte years for not being prepared," Nida answered as he held open the library door for Mono to join him. Once they were inside he took off his own coat and moved quietly through the space. Time to find a good place to hide things.

"Seems like it would be silly to let your stuff get damaged on a training night."

Following Nida inside, he looked around to see if there were many people around. The child lowered his voice, having learned quite well by now that it was better to be quiet in these places. Both because it was the rules, and because of encounters in a library of a different sort. “Yeah, and it’s kinda hard to find new, good clothes. I’d like to learn to not ruin them, especially the coat. I need it.” He appreciated the nice things he’d gotten here, and the trench coat had been with him for a longer time than he could recall.

"Good thing to learn," Nida agreed, guiding the young man into the stacks. He had to help figure this out.

"So, the first rule for hiding things in libraries. Look for the dustiest old histories. Those don't get taken out much. If not that, local government records. Places that care about those records have their own copies."

Mono followed along, listening with interest. A lot of stuff was dusty in his world, because no one really bothered doing much of anything anymore. But if he ever had to go back to the school… Then finding the least travelled sections of the library would be useful too. The teacher still seemed to use the place… Or at least acted like she did. So he nodded quickly, making note of this for later and to use again in this world if it came to it… You never knew when things might change, after all. “That makes sense, I guess. Kinda how you know no one is gonna disturb stuff before you get back, right?”

"Exactly. And you're in a better position to see if someone did. Here, let me show you."

There he was, finally reaching the part of the library he cared about. Then Nida stood at the end of the aisle and smiled at Yuki.

"So, the first rules of hiding something. You want it to be somewhere other people won't look. And you want it to be somewhere you can get to. So, looking at these shelves, we've got to think about where people won't look and where you can get to it. With your height, you want to start with low places."

“Yeah, it’s always safer if it’s lower down to the floor where I’m from. It’s more effort for the really tall people to get to places they gotta bend or crouch to reach.” He nodded, feeling rather confident of that advantage. Being small had its good points, especially in his world. ‘The Man in the Hat’ had to practically fold himself in half to get through doorways, and many adults were more likely to look at things on their level (aside from the teacher). So hiding in low places like under furniture or even under floorboards had saved him on more than one occasion.

He moved for a dusty row of books along a bottom shelf, “So somewhere like here would be safer, right?”

"Exactly," Nida answered with a smirk. Smart kid, and he'd learn how to make use of the lessons and adapt them as he grew older. So Nida thought.

"Somewhere like there is good. This is what we call, in the business, a slick. Slicks can be VERY well hidden, but that usually means it's not easy to access in an emergency. Or it can be easy to access, which means it's not always as safe. You must consider the importance of what you hide, and how fast you may need to access it. Hidden supplies that won't perish? Very well hidden most likely, because you want to come to them in an emergency but you want no one to find them."

Mono felt a little proud of himself for having been correct about the spot, smiling his rather unpractised little smile at the confirmation.

Listening to the explanation, he carefully tucked his coat in the hiding spot and tried to make sure he didn’t disturb any dust while he did it. “A slick…” He mumbled, trying out the term. That was useful, maybe something he should try doing in case of an emergency. Those seemed to be something that happened sometimes around here, even if adults didn’t want him to get involved in them… It might come in handy if he needed to get stuff fast.

“So if it’s something you might need to get to quickly, you gotta figure out an easier to get to place… While remembering it might not be as secure. That sounds harder.” He responded with a little frown. That might take practice.

But for now, at least his coat was safe and he could come back for it later.

"Exactly," Nida smiled, and he waited for the young man. When Mono was ready he started to lead the kid back to the entrance.

"If you'd like, I can teach you other things about slicks, if you're interested. I don't know how valuable they will be if you go home."

Mono was quick to follow after Nida, eager to get back out to their main lesson.

The kid had to think a little about the offer, as seriously as he usually did. “Kinda depends on where I am when I go back… Most people don’t really bother with stuff anymore.” Unless it was the TV, or something that interrupted them. “But there are, um… Some places that it might help with if I gotta go back?” Porcelain bullies, for one, were always a hazard if he found himself back at the school. They took things and broke them in their attempt to mimic real children.

The child continued a moment later with an afterthought, “And it might be useful here, right?”

"It might. I'll teach you small rules about the apartments then, and how to find things in them. I don't think people here will steal your things, but it's still something I can give you."

With that he finally took them back outside. It was time to get to the meat of the lesson.

"YOu have your chalk bag?"

“Okay! That sounds good to me.” He smiled a little, excited to add something else to the list of things he might learn from Nida. “I used to look around the grey building a lot when I got here. I was the only one there at first!” So he’d broken in to a lot of the apartments just out of curiosity, and doing his own weird little check of the place to see if there was anything dangerous hiding to worry about. He’d stopped once other people started moving in, though.

Mostly because that would have been a scary and awkward interaction…

The question got a quick nod as he held up the chalk bag. “Yeah! I got it out of my pockets before I hid my coat.”

“Well, we’ll see about showing you some of the methods I know,” Nida answered, thinking about his own apartment. Perhaps he wouldn’t show the boy all of them. Better to let the boy puzzle some out on his own, because it made them more secure if people didn’t know about them. And Nida wanted to hide some of his own in his apartment and house better.

“Good,” Nida answered. Finally he led the boy outside and around to the side of the building. Here the stones had clear space between each level, and he was happy to show off how to properly climb from here. “We’re going to start with really short climbs, and I’m going to make is super safe by putting in some ropes and pitons. Are you willing to wait here while I go up and do anchors for you?”

Mono would happily take whatever lessons Nida wanted to give him, so he would be eager to learn, regardless. Even if it came down to small tests to see if he could work things out for himself, he was resourceful enough to at least try.

Following Nida out around the side of the building, curiously glancing up as they went. Ropes and pitons? Very used to climbing up whatever he could find to make the job easier. This was an interesting way of going about it. But he supposed if this was a lesson, Nida would want to make sure it was safe… At least that’s the impression he was getting off of people in general where him doing things here were concerned. “I guess so? Is there anything I should do while I wait here?”

Well he was happy that the boy thought to ask, because Nida did have something he wanted Mono to do.

“I’m going to have to free climb to get the things in positions I want. So what I want you to do while I climb is watch me. You won’t use all the same hand and foot holds because of height differences, but seeing how I test them before leaving my weight to them can be helpful. Promise you’ll watch carefully?”

Watching to see how Nida climbed up without the ropes and stuff, testing his weight… Yeah, that sounded pretty important to him. He still sometimes makes bad choices and guesses when scrabbling up walls, so it would be a good lesson. “I can watch real carefully, promise!” He responded honestly as he stood back to make it easier to look up the wall and watch Nida work.

Just make sure not to tell his husband, Mono. Ignis would no doubt fret over this behavior. As it was Nida smiled and pulled off his gloves. For this level of training he wanted to make sure that his hands were free and bare to better feel the stone.

He started by standing back to look over the wall, and while he did so he did a running commentary to Mono so the boy would understand what his reasonings were on the route that he was outlining verbally. He even acknowledged that no plan was set in stone (which made him chuckle), and then he moved to the wall and started his careful climb.

Mono had definitely been realizing after a few recent conversations that sometimes it was best to not tell Ignis about some things. The man definitely would worry… So the secret was safe with him.

The child listened carefully to the commentary while he watched Nida scaling the wall. He even asked a few curious questions about what one should do in certain situations if he made a mistake. It was useful information, after all. Mono was definitely an attentive student, and this was a little easier for him to follow than other things he had to figure out in this world.

But one thing was for sure, Nida definitely knew what he was doing.

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