[Closed] It's A Matter Of Scale

[skyward_eyes]

Who; Nida, Mono
What; Master and Student Climbing Lessons
Where; Outside of the Historium
When; Late November
Warnings; None

There was always a time in the evenings when Nida was free, and tonight he had plans. He had sent Mono a message, cleared that the young man was ready for some work tonight, and then told him to meet outside of the Historium before dinner. Because this wasn't the sort of thing that one should do on a full stomach, not when you were learning.

Nida waited outside of the building, clad in tight clothing and he was pulling on his gloves. Another pair waited in his pocket for the child, and he waited for his young student. Time to have some fun while they can.

Comments

[monochromatically]

Now that would certainly be an interesting test, the kid would undoubtedly find that rather exciting.

But for now, he was focused on getting down from where he was now. Nida’s encouragement definitely helping as he tried to carefully make his way down the side of the building with careful movements. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite so well executed as his trip up and when he did slip this time (further down the wall at least than on his way up) there was a lot more scrabbling to get his grip again, a panicked sound escaping him. He definitely needed more work on the return trip.

[skyward_eyes]

Nida reacted before he even thought with the slip, immediately taking up the slack given to him on the line, holding the boy up to give him some stability as he anchored himself again.

"It's okay. Take a moment to breathe, to let your heart recover a tiny bit. YOu're okay, and you'll be okay."

[monochromatically]

Mono felt some relief as he realized that he was still held safely in place by Nida’s grip on the line. He wasn’t in danger. That wasn’t a problem here, not right now. “Thanks!” He called back, still sounded perhaps a little shaken by it. He didn’t know why, but it rattled him a bit. “It’s harder coming back.” He added over his shoulder as he carefully found his grip again and let himself breathe as instructed. Eventually, he slowly continued his descent.

[skyward_eyes]

"That's what I'm here for, kid," Nida said. "And yeah, it can be harder with some things. But if you don't learn going down like this, the other stuff won't help. But you can do this, Mono. I believe in you!"

He was so damn happy and proud, and the kid would absolutely know that when he hit the ground.

[monochromatically]

Mono guessed that was true. Nida was there to teach him… And making sure he didn’t fall seemed like an important aspect to the process. It was a nice security that he really wasn’t used to being there… He smiled to himself, though. Nida’s encouragement really did help as he tried to work out a path down the wall. It helped to boost the kid’s confidence as he chose his next movements downward.

It definitely was slower than his trip up, but eventually the kid settled his feet on solid ground. He turned with a little whirl, arms raised up lightly in excitement. “Hey, I did it!”

[skyward_eyes]

Feet on solid ground meant Nida could drop the rope and move to the child to catch him up in a hug. Yeah, this was good. He was so proud.

"You did it, Mono. Bet you've never done something like that before."

[monochromatically]

Mono had not expected to be swept up in a hug. Hugs were... weird. Not in a bad way, not when it was someone he wasn't anxious around...

And it was Nida, and the man sounded so proud of him, that he tried to adjust to it after a second or two of obvious surprise. "Nope! Never did anything like that! Usually I just gotta go up and keep going! So it was really neat to do it like that!"

[skyward_eyes]

Hugs were a good way to reward a kid. NIda could have done with more of them as a child.

"Well we're going ot make it so that you can climb up and down as fast as a squirrel. I believe in you."

[monochromatically]

Mono would figure all this out eventually, hopefully with enough time around Nida and others.

Still, the kid was pretty darn excited by the idea. “Really? I was watching some at the park, they’re really fast! I’m gonna have to practice a lot, especially with down.”

[skyward_eyes]

"They're really super fast," Nida agreed. Though yeah, that wasn't physically possible to do, but he was going to give the kid a goal. "Alright, take a breather. I've got some jerky here for you to eat to recharge a bit. Then we'll go again."

[monochromatically]

Mono nodded. “Okay, I like the sound of a snack.” He responded quickly, wondering what the jerky was. It was a funny word… But he would be happy with a quick snack. After all, the faster he ate, the faster he could get back to climbing and practicing!

[skyward_eyes]

Nida reached into a bag at his side and pulled out the bit of seasoned, dried meat to hand over to the kid.

"This is touch and takes chewing. But it's tasty too."

[monochromatically]

Mono looked at it curiously, turning it over in his hands after Nida passed it to him. It really did look tough, and taking a bit out of it, he blinked, “Wow, it really is kinda hard and chewy…?” It wasn’t bad though, he kept eating it since the kid had learned you ate what you got. It was just a learned habit at this point in his life, because you never knew when your next meal would be.

At least that was how it was before, even if now it didn’t seem to be the case.

[skyward_eyes]

It was tasty in Nida's opinion, and he was happily taking out another piece for himself.

"They season it in all sorts of ways, and even make it out of different meats. I find it a practical protein boost on a busy day."

[monochromatically]

“Protein is good for climbing, then?” He asked, looking at it again before he took another small bite. He hadn’t heard that said about food before, so Mono had to ask to learn a little more.

It was definitely pretty good, not as good as apple turnovers or sugar cookies from Ignis, or Aerith’s Red Bean Bun things, or cinnamon sugar pretzels from Illyana… Yeah, the kid had been steadily acquiring a heck of a sweet tooth. But the jerky was definitely good, and if they were good to eat for climbing and stuff, then that made them an important snack!

[skyward_eyes]

"Protein is good for the body," Nida clarified. It was something in general. "But protein is a longer term energy source for people. Carbs are primary and quick, protein helps build muscles and can help in longer term."

[monochromatically]

“Yeah?” Mono tilted his head thoughtfully, “I didn’t know any of that…” He didn’t know a lot of things, though, which was probably unsurprising at this point. “So I should eat more stuff like this and not as much of other stuff? I dunno what carbs are.”

[skyward_eyes]

"You should eat a bit of everything, less of sweets of course, and do exercise. Everyone's needs are different. Very different."

ANd he thought fad diets experienced on the Galbadian continent are silly.

[monochromatically]

“Aw… But the sweet stuff people give me tastes the best so far of the stuff I got to try since I got here!” He responded with an unsurprisingly, childish tone. His lament was short-lived for the most part though, “The other stuffs been good too though.”

[skyward_eyes]

"Yes, it does. It's because, best I can tell, the human body is all 'mmm sweet' because it's quick energy. So we like it. Eating it some isn't bad, and being a kid means you can probably handle it better than other people."

[monochromatically]

Mono blinked. It really did that? “I didn’t know that… But I guess I have been kinda full of energy when I eat a bunch of them.” And then crashing at some point later, without very little idea as to why. The kid knew you had to eat, but he never really knew much about nutritional values when it came to his meals. You ate what you could find in his world, and here? Here was different. Here he just excitedly tried new things and enjoyed eating more of the things he found he liked.

[skyward_eyes]

"If you eat a bunch I'm guessing you get sleepy after," Nida notes. "Not immediately, but after some time. Yeah, sugar crash sucks."

[monochromatically]

Mono thinks about that rather hard for a moment, before he nods quickly. “Hey, I do sometimes get super tired! Like at the wedding, when I ate a whole bunch of those cookies. I got reeeaally tired suddenly.” The kid had thought he just wasn’t used to being around so many people for such extended periods of time, which, to be fair, was probably part of it, but a sugar crash had been the bigger culprit.

[skyward_eyes]

"Yeah, that's all the sugar," Nida answered. "Sugar's like... It's like quick energy. You burn more than your body is ready to give you. So you're WAY tired."

[monochromatically]

Mono’s mouth popped open in surprise as it all kind of made sense, the facts clicking into place based on his experiences. “Well, that kinda sucks. It tastes so good! It’d be kinda bad to get really tired at the wrong time, though.” So… He guessed maybe he should watch how many sweets he ate. Not that he would be good at it. Sometimes kids lost track of things, after all.