1X1 with Kipori

[Kipori]

(Oh no worries, I've been super busy with work and getting some stuff squared away that I hadn't really noticed how much time had passed. The summer was great baring the heat waves and swimming was a lot of fun. We got to go again before the weather got to cold, though it was arguably to cold to actually go swimming the day we went but whatever.
Work is alright I guess, not really fun but not the most boring thing in the world haha. Since school is back in session, it's been a lot busier which means more people to deal with every shift but I'm managing to not totally deplete my social energy. Post graduation life is...rather boring honestly haha. I'm very much missing the structure of school and having deadlines to meet and things I am meant to be doing on a day to day basis. I wasn't entirely aware how much I relied on that structure until I didn't have it anymore so it's been a bit of a struggle to adjust.
How have things been for you? The rest of your summer go alright?)

Ollie Hobbes
Once the order came back to hold his position, Ollie only shifted slightly to ensure his footing was solid and not a risk of slipping out from under him before going still. He was, thankfully, at a stable point on the rocks with nothing around him that seemed at risk of shifting at a moments notice. Of all the places to stop, this seemed the best spot to wait out Rodger adding more to their rope.
"All good, I'm on something mostly solid." He called back when Rodger gave the warning that he was going to be taken off the belay. His heart jumped in his chest at the idea of being free of any sort of safety net for any amount of time. It would only be a few minutes at most but that did little to ease the bubble of anxiety that settled in his chest. To distract himself, he shifted his attention to the 25 or so feet he had left to cover, looking for different routes he could take which would get him across. There were a few different ones that jumped out to him right away but some were quickly dismissed due to either was looked like loose rocks or rather large boulders higher up that he didn't want to contend with or put the others at risk by going under.
He had narrowed it down to all of two routes by the time Rodger was calling out to him again and he looked back to see the other cadet settled back into position.
"Alright, shows back on the road." He called back, giving the rope a few tugs to make sure it hadn't gotten caught on anything while Rodger was working before looking back ahead. The two routes were basically the same baring one spot where he could go over or below a larger rock. Under was riskier since there was a chance the rocks below were unstable, as if anything was truly stable out here, but it would be faster in the long run. The other option, over and around, was slower but if the rock did give way at least there was no chance of it taking the person below it with them. Above and around was the smart choice, at least in the sense that it put the others at less of a risk because Ollie was sure he could make it under the rock just fine but Parker was not so sure footed and Ollie didn't want an injury on his consciousness for the rest of the trip.
Taking a breath and shaking out the last of the anxiety nerves that had built up over the course of the few minutes he had been disconnected from the system, he started to pick his way forward again. He was out of his groove so it was slow going again but he got back into the rhythm of test the rocks and stepping lightly after only a few steps. The pattern of checking the rocks, stepping light but sure onto them, checking the rope to make sure he had slack and there was no snags was easy to fall into and once he cleared the large rock, it was pretty smooth sailing from that point on. The rocks on the farther side of the field were medium to small in size, meaning they gave way under his feet more readily but they didn't run the same risk of taking him down with him or creating large rock slides.
Bouncing across the last two feet, Ollie was relieved when his feet finally touched solid ground for the first time in ages and he turned to look across the field and threw a punch into the air in victory. His legs felt weird on solid ground but he wasted no time letting them settle, instead beginning the process of untangling himself from the rope so he could attach it to a tree. Like the other side, the trees were a bit set back from the field but they were large and sturdy so he had no problem finding on that was close enough to accommodate their limited rope but also strong enough to hold on with a person pulling at it. His hands worked at the knots, which looked messy and wrong compared to Rodger's but a few tugs proved they would hold strong against any sudden tension on them.
"Think we are good to go." He yelled, once again tugging the line to check for snags but finding it seemed to be moving freely over the field.

Lt. Warren Frost
Though he had hoped they wouldn't need to disconnect Cadet Hobbes from the line to add more to the rope, hearing that there was still 25 feet to cover and looking at the remaining slack they had, Warren knew that would not be the case. As stressful as the idea of having a cadet standing untethered on the scree field was, he nodded his head when Cadet Castillo looked to him. What could he say after all? They had to cross the field and had gotten this far so going back and finding another way around would be a waste of the time they already put in. He trusted they knew the risks of disconnecting Hobbes, and Castillo would work quickly to get him back on the line and across to safety.
There was little he could do but okay the action and watch Hobbes out on the scree field for any signs of distress. He seemed to be fine however, perfectly content to wait where he was while Castillo worked. It was no more than a few minutes before Hobbes was given the all clear to move again, but it was a long few minutes where Warren was sure something would go terribly wrong. With these three, something always seemed to go wrong but this time he was proven wrong, or maybe Hobbes was just very aware of the dangers for once, as nothing went wrong and Hobbes was able to start picking his way across the remainder of the field again. As before when Hobbes had slide, the beginning steps were tentative and slow but soon he was picking his way over the rocks with efficient speed that brought him across the rest of the field in what felt like record time. Warren let out a long, relieved sigh at the sight of one of the Cadets safely across the field. Of course there was still Curtiss and Castillo to get across, but at least they were a quarter of the way there.

[taikunfoo]

(I'm glad you got a chance to do some more swimming with your friends! I definitely feel the lack of structure - it's weird going from a great, steady schedule to a flexible work schedule. There's also a huge adjustment that you don't get to until a later point in time that's hard to describe.. Your classes change from semester to semester and you're constantly engaging in different things, but when you get a job it's just work all of the time and for a greater proportion of your time. Losing the summer breaks also suck and it takes a couple of years to adjust fully I think. I didn't get a 'normal' job straight out of college - I wound up having a semi-regular 40hr/week job but it was a mix of field and office work (mainly office) that was on campus as a part of the college after I graduated. From there I spent a year doing part time government stuff across the country, which was a ton of fun but also didn't provide health insurance and most of the money I made went to housing (still absolutely fantastic experience). So after about a year and a half out of college of semi-structured work and part time work I fell into a 'regular' office job. Then pandemic and I got furloughed for a while, which didn't help my transition into the workforce haha. The part that stinks too is you loose out on a lot of the social interaction you were getting from your peers and friends - some folks head home, others stick around in the area as they get jobs, and most move on, so you're stuck with a bit of a limited group of folks who you can socialize with.
My summer went relatively well - I got a chance to spend some more time hiking around with one of my friends which was great, and I got a chance to see another recently. I'm a bit disappointed as I had to turn down a trip to head up to the state I went to school in (where I still have a fair number of friends) for a party as the family hosting it wasn't vaccinated (admittedly for good reason - they have a number of health issues, but I wasn't personally comfortable with that).
On a side note did you do anything exciting for Halloween?)

Rodger Castillo
Rodger held his breath as he slowly and carefully let the makeshift rope unravel through his hands while Ollie made his way across the last stretch of the scree field. He had to remind himself to carefully breathe as Ollie came up to a large rock, carefully considered his options, and then went up and around. Rodger felt himself relax a little bit - he was thinking through his options and then made the safer decision. While they could always send an emergency alert for help if someone got hurt, it would take a few minutes for the medic on duty to hop in a shuttle and fly to them, which wouldn't do much good if one of them got crushed by the large boulder if it started to slide down the mountain.
When Ollie secured the rope on his end Rodger gave it a few experimental tugs, watching the rope bob up and down across the rocks and made sure that it wasn't getting hung up anywhere. There were a few spots where it dragged over the rocks that they'd have to watch out for, but he could always tie the rope off a little higher to try and keep the rope off of the rocks. Before setting up his end of the rope though he decided to put his weight onto it to make sure the rope on Ollie's end was holding. He leaned back sharply, putting his weight into it and letting the rope support him. There was a bit of back and forth wiggle as the rope took his weight, but Rodger felt relatively secure. Still, he wanted to have Ollie double check the knot on his end so he called over to him.
"Double check the not please!" It was always possible that a poorly tied knot could have started to unravel as tension was put on it, Rodger hoped that wasn't the case but he'd rather have confirmation before sending anyone across the scree field. He took his end of the rope and started to get it set up on their end, tossing the jacket currently tied around the end around the tree chosen for the anchor point and started working on a sturdy knot. While he checked it he glanced down at his watch - they were nearing 1:30 in the afternoon, which was a little later than he'd like since they still had to get everyone across the scree field, down the rest of the mountain, and get their camp set up before night fell. Laid out like that it didn't seem like a lot, but it had taken about a half hour for Ollie to get over the scree field, so that would likely be about the same travel time with everyone else bringing across their packs as well. Figure another hour and a half to get everyone and their gear across the scree field, maybe fifteen minutes to pack their rope and packs, an hour or two to get down off the mountain, and another hour to get their camp set up, so they were already looking at being settled sometime between 5 and 6 pm if everything went right.
With the rope secured, Rodger turned to Lt. Frost and Parker. "Who's next?"

Parker Curtiss
Now that Ollie was all of the way across the scree field, Parker took a mild interest in Rodger messing around with the rope and whoever's unlucky jacket that had been sacrificed to tie of this end. When Rodger straightened up and asked who was going next Parker simply pointed to the Lieutenant - he'd made up his mind a little while ago that he'd be going third, and he gave Lt. Frost a challenging look that conveyed he was willing to dig his heels in over this. Once Parker had made up his mind, he was set and there was no changing it. He folded his arms across his chest for good measure - he already had to cross the scree field with his pack and pushing (or pulling) Ollie's or Rodger's pack across with them. Just why did he have to carry his pack and mind one of theirs across the scree field as well? Eh, admittedly the packs did make them a bit top-heavy, which he supposed wasn't great when you were climbing on an unsecured rope, but it was still their packs, not his responsibility. Parker wasn't looking forwards to his turn to cross the scree field, but at the very least he wanted the heavier Lt. Frost to go ahead of him.