All Downhill From Here

Posted on Mon Jun 5th, 2023 @ 6:04am by Ensign Madelyn 'Madi' Moore & Ensign Anne Marie "Ree" Beckett
Edited on on Fri Jun 9th, 2023 @ 2:27pm

Mission: Sojurn
Location: The Slopes
Timeline: MD 333
2320 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Madelyn had never been one for extreme sports. Whilst the product of a family in service and, therefore, raised to consider her physical health as an asset, the petite woman had favoured more strategic sports, such as tennis, with a smattering of gymnastics before her innate clumsiness rendered it more of a health risk than a benefit. She had tried to learn to surf several times without much success, though she enjoyed swimming, and had also picked up quite a flair for golf on the rare occasion she'd been able to enjoy a round with her grandfather. Snow was not a medium she trusted, however; she'd already ended up in more snowdrifts than she cared to keep a tally of.

Watching the locals careen down the side of a mountain, stomach-first on hell's own version of a toboggan, was enough to make her cringe. To the best of her ability to gauge, the sport seemed to have a plethora of opportunity to hurl oneself into the air and land awkwardly; some were treating the board more like a traditional snowboard, others chose to kneel for a best-of-both-worlds stance. The equipment itself seemed to have minimal capacity to exert its own propulsion, with the larger boards of the experts allowing for ridiculous air-stunts that seemed to include far more rotations than gravity would normally permit. What had started out as a simple hike through the trees had brought her out onto one of the recreational slopes and now, mouth agape, the young scientist had spent the best part of the last ten minutes wondering how anyone even attempted that many flips for the first time.

"Pretty incredible, isn't it?" Ree asked as she joined the woman in watching the daredevils peeling down the side of the mountain. She'd originally had other plans concerning the snowdrifts involving forts and hoarding snowballs since the snow was that perfect pack of powder-to-wet ration for distance throwing, but she needed more than just herself to have a proper snow war. "When I first noticed them I was thinking 'wow that's a really steep angle' and then you add the speed from their little propulsion boards- that's a full body cast waiting to happen with some of those tricks. Maybe they're just really skilled or have extra vertebrae to allow for more of that twisting motion, but it's really neat to watch."

"I kind of want to see how one of those boards would handle. What do you think the statistics are for wiping out completely, breaking both arms and eating a ton of snow would be? It could be worth it," Beckett uttered with an excited little bounce. She was thrilled beyond belief to be calf deep in snow again. "Do you think they'd have something like skis? Or skates? Do you skate? Tell me you skate."

Being of the natural disposition to expect to be overlooked, there was rarely a time where being unexpectedly approached didn't elicit a slight jolt of surprise from Madelyn. Accompanied by a very swift moment of panic that she was about to be thrust into a conversation with a local; both a terrifying and thrilling prospect for so many reasons, the young officer relaxed almost immediately as a sudden jerk of her head in the direction of the voice revealed a familiar figure. By this stage, the crew knew each other, it was a little hard not to, but Madi didn't know many of them very well. Beckett had always been friendly enough, certainly to the point where she made for pleasant company in the midst of daunting prospects.

"I think I saw something like a skating rink back towards their entertainment precinct." Though it was impossible to see from her perch on the side of the mountain due to the entire forest that lay between their current location and the city, Madi still craned her head around as if to check. "I haven't skated since I was a kid though." And, she silently added, she wasn't even very good at it then.

"Oh, I could talk you through it! I help steady you, too. I've been skating since I was knee high to a goose. Not all fancy like, but I could play hockey just fine. And I won't be aggressive with it, promise, 'cause you know hockey gets a mite rough. Do you want to?" Channeling her best golden retriever energy, Ree gave the woman an absolutely beaming smile "Or there's some really good drifts just down that hill. Prime fort location. We could have a snow war set up in no time. Even pack some tunnels and such." If she wasn't up for it, Ree had plans to try coercing the marines next. That would be interesting, for sure.

The rapid blinking of one very startled young scientist was hardly a new development. Madelyn looked like that at least several times a day, usually when confronted with the unexpected, and typically when she was trying to adjust her situational awareness to keep up without seeming like she was utterly lost. If she'd spent any kind of time confessing to having no idea what was going on, there'd be no room left for other conversations. "I, uh. Wouldn't that be more fun with other people?" It was a genuine query, though it also stemmed from the sneaking suspicion that Anne Marie would wipe the floor with her in seconds. "We could always try to drag a few of the others up here later," she continued, improvising a thriving social life as if she knew anyone who'd jump at the chance to climb a mountain and hurl snow at each other. "Right now, I'm try to decide if I'm game enough to ride that." She pointed upwards.

It seemed, as far as Madi could tell, to function like any chair lift would. The difference was that the floating platforms moved as directed, dozens of programmable pods that were surely protected by forcefields but gave the impression that the people navigating them were standing on a hovering disc with nothing to stop them tumbling to the ground if they overbalanced. The view up there must have been phenomenal, but the adrenaline rush alone was probably equal to some of these stunts being pulled. "I think it looks like fun?"

"I think it looks like a busted collarbone and at least one shattered tibia. We should totally try it." Positively giddy, the brunette gave a little hop of excitement. If it was a tad foolish, positively thrilling and involved the outdoors, it was right about her speed.

It took a moment for Madi to catch herself staring, her mind racing with an attempt to reconcile her recollection of the quiet scientist with this thrill-seeking junkie that seemed overly keen to fling herself down a mountainside. Madi was not typically one for wild adventures but this was an alien planet and that was real snow and there was something about Anne Marie's enthusiasm that evoked a sense of uncommon bravery.

"I'm game if you are," she declared, an attempt to sound far more certain than she felt. Wrapping her arms herself, Madi peered down to where the platforms seemed to originate. "Do you think we just go down and ask for one?"

"Most likely," Ree answered thoughtfully with her hands on her hips. "We'll probably have to sign waivers or whatever it is that they do here. Accidental death or dismemberment. That sort of thing."

"Okay, I give up," Madi said, both hands held up in submission. Assertiveness was not always her strongest trait but curiosity was certainly in the running. "Who are you really and what did you do with Anne Marie?" She smiled then, hopeful not to have caused offense. "I don't think I've ever seen you this excited."

Ree blushed a little at being called out and shrugged. "I... I don't know. This reminds me of home. The cold, the snow, the trees: I love being out in all of it. I think I really missed being out of the labs and back in my element again."

"-And there's people around! In northwest Manitoba unless you're a moose, elk or caribou there wasn't much of anything. Oh, and wolves," she added. "Sometimes bears and deer, but only in certain months-" realizing that she was rambling again, Ree stopped midsentence, took a breath and sighed. "Sorry."

"Don't apologise," Madi rushed to reassure, immediately concerned that she'd made the other woman feel like she'd done something wrong. "I may not be used to it but that doesn't mean it's not nice to see someone making the most of everything. I'm trying to," she confessed, her eyes traveling upwards once again to watch the zoom of platforms overhead. "I just hope I don't break my neck trying to fit in."

Pulling her scarf around her neck tighter, Madi picked her way down the side of a snowdrift, hands held somewhat aloft to act as counterbalance so that she could avoid, if fate was kind, making the rest of the trip down the mountain on her backside. It was slow-going, and provoked a certain degree of self-consciousness over her lack of grace, but the other scientist's enthusiasm was infectious and Madi found herself whooping as gravity took over and the only way to keep upright was to run downhill and hope for the best.

"That's the spirit!" Ree crowed and trundled down after her, pivoting into a slide where she could so she didn't trip herself up on her own feet. She found a couple of icy spots- and yes, her backside was covered in snow- but the whole experience was exhilarating. "I love this planet!"

The exclamation was all it took to finally prompt laughter from Madelyn. "I'm just glad to be breathing actual air again," she agreed, though she took in their surroundings with fresh appreciation given the timely reminder of all they'd left behind. They'd all found ways to cope with being cooped up, at least to the best of their ability, but the ability to just run without abandon wasn't something Madi was likely to take for granted again. Pink-cheeked and breathless, she reached a point parallel to the small kiosk she'd been aiming for and started to trudge across-ways towards it. "I hope you're intending to drive this thing," she remarked, glancing up again at the hovering platforms. "I mean, unless you want us to crash into the side of a mountain."

"I'll drive then." It couldn't be that hard, Beckett thought to herself. "Just lean when I say lean because I don't see any kind of rudder on those things." As Madi dealt with the kiosk, Ree grinned at some of the others watching and noticed that there were very few cheering the riders on. It was almost somber. She took a more in depth glance and noted the distinct lack of anyone that looked like a medic or a medical station. So... was this a sport? "Hey Moore? Why isn't everyone all pumped up watching the riders? You'd think they'd be more lively. I wonder if this is artistic."

Still somewhat starstruck from the direct contact with an alien, something Madi was utterly failing to adjust to despite the fact that the planet was literally riddled with a variety of them, the ensign took a moment to respond. Enthralled instead by the simple transaction that gifted her what looked like a small crystal on a chain, Madelyn smiled vacantly at the kiosk operator and then, startled, finally turned around to face her friend. "Huh? What? Oh." Trudging over, she took a moment to observe what Beckett was and grimaced slightly. "That's kind of eerie." Realising a second too late that this was exactly what her studies was supposed to have prepared her for, Madi cleared her throat and dangled the ignition crystal in front of Ree's face. "Time to fingerpaint then?"

"Exactly what do you mean by finger paint? I'm coming up with some disturbing imagery here..." Ree took the crystal and walked them over to where riders were choosing their boards/sleds/things and moved over to one with bluish marking. Blue was a good color. It was a calm color. Surely that had to be a good thing. "Does this one look good? It has room for the both of us."

"Wait, I thought we were going to take one of the transportation pods up the mountain." Madelyn's hesitation resulted in several slow steps that would have been arduous enough given she'd found a particularly deep snowdrift to wade through. "You actually want to try one of the tandem boards?" Her tone was dubious and yet, a glimmer, the tiniest spark of intrigue. Maybe if she didn't have to steer...

Beckett stopped and gave Madi a startled deer kind of expression. "Okay: I'm going to be real here. I have maybe two iotas of focus here between being happily outdoors, surrounded by snow, distracted watching everything and the addition of sports, so if you want to go u the mountain, we go up the mountain. Just plant a hand in my back and say 'that way, Ree. You're geeking out.' I promise that I won't get upset."

Coaxed to drag her attention away from the overwhelming nature of both their current prospects, Madelyn simply stared at her friend for a moment before properly focusing on the sheer glowing exuberance that radiated from the other woman. In many ways, she knew very little about Anne Marie, which seemed like a glaring oversight now that she realised it. She was definitely convinced, however, that she'd never seen her fellow scientist this excited about anything. Her features relaxed into a gentle, genuine smile.

"It's not like we'll get this opportunity again." Steeling herself, the ensign dug deep and allowed a similar air of expectation envelop her.

"Let's do both."