Exhaustion!

[morganknight]

After fighting in a massive planetary battle -- well, less 'fighting' and more 'healing people, occasionally from literal death' -- the Akashic was, in a word, exhausted.

Not necessarily physically; regardless of how grueling shifts in Medbay might be at the moment, he made a point to stick to his schedule, sleep plenty, eat (ugh) enough gruel, and keep his body in shape. Not necessarily mentally either; good health and self-care, along with meditation and discipline, helped in that matter as well.

There was just a certain level of core, deep, ground-in exhaustion that couldn't be banished that easily, though. So that left only one thing to do for the best relaxation:

Snowboard in the sensorium.

Who wants in on this?

Comments

[bonnypiperlad]

Not being Awakened would have made things a bit difficult there, admittedly. Still, he seems fairly unfazed by the adjustments to the board, merely only glancing at it curiously when it changes, then nodding to himself.

Catching a glimpse of his kilt out of the corner of his eye, though, prompts another change - this one to snow-appropriate trousers. While he thinks he likely could learn without them, it might be a bit easier to wear something a little more suited for the situation in this case. Also, Morgan likely wouldn't thank him if he took a tumble off the board while wearing the kilt.

Studying the arrangement of the straps for a moment to figure out what he'll need to do, he slips his feet into the bindings, and fiddles with them a bit until he's gotten them settled. "Is this right...er, I'm sorry. I'd not even thought to ask your name."

[morganknight]

Yes, he's appreciative of that, though he hadn't been about to say anything. He was used to fairly shameless people, after all.

"Morgan Knight," he said, grinning as he ducked down to inspect the tightness of those bindings. "And yes, those look good. Step one is down! Now... when you straighten your board on the snow, it will move, so don't do that till you're ready. Going straight down the hill is easiest -- just point in that direction, and the board will naturally follow because of how your body moves. If you can stay on it and keep your balance, you're in good shape!"

[bonnypiperlad]

"Jamie McCrimmon." There's an amiable smile as well, although it's not quite enough to qualify as a grin. Tilting his head, he takes a good look at the hill before him, automatically checking out the path for any unexpected surprises that might cause an issue when he does move. Satisfied that there isn't anything that will - at least, not if he does go straight down - he nods. "Right. Let's give this a go, then."

He wobbles a bit as he stands, but manages to find his balance quickly enough that he avoids a tumble in the snow - although it's closer than he'd like. Once he's up, however, he's able to stay upright easily enough while traveling down the hill - and the grin that didn't quite show up earlier does now, with a vengeance.

It's not until he gets to the bottom that he realizes that he should have maybe asked how to stop. Not really sure what else to do, he tries to copy what he saw Morgan doing earlier, cutting sharply left. This does not work nearly as well as he hoped, and he finds himself staring up at the fake sky.

"Och."

[morganknight]

Morgan slid to a stop not far from him, grinning but not laughing thanks to willpower -- and expectations. That rough stop at the end is part of the training; it tells him what to expect from the student when they fall.

Morgan opened his bindings, then stepped out to offer Jamie a hand up. "Not bad! Not bad at all for a first time."

[bonnypiperlad]

Jamie accepts the hand up, although there's a rueful expression that lingers for a few seconds longer on his face.

Reaching back down, he undoes his own bindings, stepping free from the board as well. "Aye, well, I'll admit that stopping part's a wee bit tricker than I thought, but I'll get the hang of it yet. So what's next?"

[morganknight]

"Now, we head up and I teach you how to turn. The first lesson would ordinarily be 'getting on a ski lift with your snowboard,' but luckily this is all an arbitrary environment anyway..."

So he simply hopped onto the teleport platform down here at the bottom, to be whisked back to where they'd started.

[bonnypiperlad]

He has to admit, that teleport platform does make things a bit easier, and he hops on as well. Once back at the top, he starts the process of getting back into his bindings, eager to continue with the lesson. Or impatient. Either works.

Once he's redone them the way they were before, he looks over at Morgan expectantly. "All right. I'm ready to go."

[morganknight]

"Turning is easy," he said. "It's all a matter of shifting your weight and turning your body. You want to turn towards your toe side, you shift your weight onto your toes. Heel side, shift your weight onto your heels. Turning your body the direction you want to go helps accomplish that."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Turn on my toe side, shift my weight onto my toes. Heel side, shift onto my heels," he repeats, mentally filing the directions away for later use. "Got it."

And he has to turn his body too. Seems simple enough. He's about to shift his body and take a another run down the hill when he hesitates.

"So, how do I stop when I go down this time? Just fall over again?"

[morganknight]

"Shift your weight to the back of the board a little, then turn whichever way is easiest. Usually a heel-side turn," he said, as if it were as simple to do as it was to say.

[bonnypiperlad]

"Oh, I see!" He can do that, he's certain. So off he goes down the hill again, practicing a turn, which goes fairly well.

The stop...not so much, as he manages to try and do a heel side turn when he really should have gone the other way. It's not much of a surprise that he winds up having fallen over again. This time, he's looking decidedly crankier about the situation.

"How long did ye say it took ye to learn to do this?"

[morganknight]

Morgan was bending over to undo his bindings almost the moment he slid to a stop.

"About a week, before I could turn and stop semi-competently. The first day is always the worst for everyone, but I made it a lot worse on myself by getting pissed off and trying too damn hard. I was pretty obnoxious in my youth by anyone's standards, to be honest with you."

Legs freed, he stepped over to offer another hand up.

"You're doing fine, honestly."

[bonnypiperlad]

"A week?" He sounds vaguely dismayed, being under the impression that he could pick it up easier than than that. And a week was just to turn and stop. He's not sure he cares to think how long it would take to get to the point where Morgan is now.

Still, he takes the offer of the hand up, looking at Morgan curiously as he undoes his bindings once more. "Your youth? Ye don't look so old as all that."

[morganknight]

"But the first day is always the hardest. I've seen that in other people, and it was true for myself too. I made it worse by thinking I should be picking it up right away, though."

Morgan also has a certain advantage in that he was trained in physical diciplines, which carried over to this a great deal.

To the second comment, though, he just smiled with a tired mix of amusement and sadness. "I may not be so far away from the bratty kid I was in years, but it's been a lifetime anyway."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye. I know what ye mean." Actually, Jamie does understand that, to an extent. His life three - no, four - years ago, changed drastically enough that it seems sometimes like it's been a whole other lifetime. He picks up the board. "All right, then, let's have another go at this."

It may not come immediately, but he's not about to give up on it just yet. Besides, he likes Morgan well enough so far, and it's a fair way to spend the afternoon. So he continues on with the lessons until he gets tired enough of falling over to call it a day.