Howard gives Ian a little look. "I don't need a pep talk, Teach." The apprehension that comes with doing anything against Stacy's quasi-rules has put him in a predictably snappish mood, and either way, he's been reacting with more hostility than usual to adults trying to be nice to him. It's not Ian or Barbara's fault; they don't know the bizarre behind-the-scenes politics of the medical bay, after all.

'Not a lot of room' means he's the logical choice to go up next anyway, being the smallest of the bunch, although not by a significant margin from Sakura. He takes one of her kunai.

He gives them all a little mock salute and starts climbing. It's slippery going, though less slick than what Barbara put up with, and Howard's got a little method of reaching up and stabbing the kunai in as high as he can and then tossing a loop of rope over, a little bit of rigged insurance against falling too far. He makes it up in fairly good time but requires some help from Barbara in getting over that ledge at the end; upper body strength is not his forte, especially not carrying a backpack full of whatever odd equipment they might need.

"It's nice and cozy up here!" he yells, tossing the rope back down and handing a flashlight to Barbara from his now-disgusting sweater pocket. "We should take all our vacations here!"