Roof of the Principal's Tower, Saturday Afternoon

[thatsweirdright]

It turned out that parachuting from a building that was, at best, seven stories tall... would not actually work. But that did not mean that Jason was in any way ready to give up on this stupid and possibly dangerous idea. Please. It just meant that he and Peridot had spent some time dragging a number of mattresses they'd found in storage somewhere out onto the lawn beside the Principal's Tower to serve as a makeshift landing pad.

"Okay," Jason said, jumping from the dorm roof on to the Principal's Tower, and then shimmying over to the edge. "Ready?"

[ooc: for that Gem mentioned in the post! and also any passers-by or people who might otherwise question these two's choices, after said Gem has pinged in!]

Comments

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot made a little 'pffft' sound with her lips as she looked down at the mattresses far below them.

"Of course I'm ready," she said, with a sort of confidence that couldn't possibly come from a place of solid life choices and sound critical thinking skills. "It's a learning experience. I could have done this without the padded relaxation surfaces below us."

It was true. Peridots were made of sturdy stuff.

[thatsweirdright]

"Yes, well, humans generally aren't," Jason reminded her. "So better safe than sorry."

[era_two_triangle]

"True, true," Peridot allowed, "though whether I'm ready or not shouldn't have any sway on the outcome of your jump. I should be the one asking you if you're ready to go."

Semantics, Gem. Semantics.

"... Are you ready?"

[thatsweirdright]

"It's a human thing," Jason explained. "We like to check in with everyone involved whenever we're about to do something that might be considered dangerous or foolish. And yes, I'm ready."

[era_two_triangle]

"Huh." Peridot considered that for a few seconds, and then she nodded. "Well, then it would seem we're both ready. Should we jump at the same time?"

It would be better for observing the fall, you see.

[thatsweirdright]

"Of course," Jason said with a grin. "We'll count to three together, and then jump on three."

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot gave Jason a broad grin at that. This was a bonding activity. Normally she might have hesitated at the thought of throwing herself from a high place just for the sake of the thrill of it, but Jason had made it almost seem to make sense, and it wouldn't do her any harm, so why not?

"On three," she agreed. "One... Two..."

[thatsweirdright]

"Three!" and on that final count, Jason flung himself off the roof, letting out an exhilarated whoop as he fell.

[era_two_triangle]

And Peridot was right there along with him, though she wasn't whooping, quite so much.

This was a significantly longer drop once she was actually falling than she'd taken it for from the top of the tower, which mostly meant that she could keep an eye on Jason as he fell. You know, to observe the effect of falling on the human body. For science.

... Okay, she was whooping a little. It was possible she was sort of getting the hang of this 'fun' thing.

[thatsweirdright]

Jason's landing was... well, he wouldn't win any gymnastics competitions, but he managed to land on both feet. He immediately scooted off the edge and flopped down on the grass. He'd survived the fall just fine, it wouldn't do to then be smacked into by a Gem traveling at high speed.

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot's landing was a face-first 'whud,' more or less. She'd managed to aim for the mattresses, which was about as good as anyone could expect for someone who could barely manage to run on two feet at the best of times.

The mattresses were fantastic for breaking that fall. Or preventing any breaking, for that matter. They sank under her weight (not that she had much weight) and then sprang upwards again, making her bounce a few times before sending her into a tumble across the grass beside Jason.

She sat up, blinking.

"A perfect landing!"

Sure, 'Dot.

[thatsweirdright]

"Judges give it a solid nine out of ten," Jason agreed. "That was fun."

[era_two_triangle]

"It was!" Peridot gasped a little at that revelation. "I'm having fun!"

This was a new and exciting experience for her.

"I want to do it again!"

[thatsweirdright]

"I was hoping you'd say that," Jason admitted. "Race you up the stairs?"

[era_two_triangle]

"You're on!"

This wasn't even a fair race. Peridot not only had significantly shorter legs, she was also terrible at running on them at all.

[thatsweirdright]

Which Jason realized in fairly short (pun not intended) order, and so maybe slowed down just a little bit. Not enough to make it obvious that that is what he was doing, but enough so that he didn't outpace Peridot terribly as they made their way back to the rooftop.

[era_two_triangle]

That was probably for the best. Peridot had given up on running on two legs and was taking the stairs on all fours by the time she reached the second floor, after all.

"I'm getting better at this! Yes!"

Peridot, you were terrible at running.

[thatsweirdright]

"... Sure," Jason said affably. To be fair, he had no idea what Peridot's running skills had looked like to start with."Are we going at the same time again?" he checked.

[era_two_triangle]

"Unless you can think of any reason why we shouldn't, I don't see why not," Peridot replied, picking herself up and dusting herself off. "I'm willing to go first or to wait until you're finished before I go, as well."

[thatsweirdright]

"Well," Jason mused. "Now that we know the landing is pretty safe, you could push me, if you wanted."

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot blinked, and then gave Jason the most sincerely amazed expresion ever.

"You'd let me? Really!?"

[thatsweirdright]

Honestly, on the list of Questionable Life Decisions Jason had made in the past year, this one wasn't even that bad. "Sure," he said. "As long as you don't push me hard enough that I miss the landing pad, I don't see the problem."

[era_two_triangle]

"Oh, I can do that, don't worry!"

... And then she shoved him.

HE SAID SHE COULD.

[thatsweirdright]

He'd expected some sort of warning, which... on retrospect, he realized that was kind of a dumb expectation. Oh well.

At least he didn't overshoot the mattress, so. Thanks, Peridot!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot was a very excitable little Gem when given half a chance. She scrambled over to the edge to watch Jason fall, and then, once he'd hit the mattress, she tossed herself over the edge to join him.

For science!

[bigdamnprincipal]

Zoe might not have lived in the tower anymore, but that didn't mean she didn't keep an eye on it. After last weekend, she thought it might be a good idea to check some of the unused spaces for damage and, well, the mattresses were the first clue something was up. She was far enough away when they made the first jump that she didn't think she was noticed, and she just waited patiently until they came down again, like crazy teenage idiots.

Hopefully, the look she was giving them would slow them down for a moment.

[thatsweirdright]

Jason's laughter as he rolled off the mattress pile trailed off as he noticed 1) that they were being watched and 2) just who was doing the watching.

"Uh," he managed. "Hey... how's it going?" he cringed inwardly even as he spoke. As much fun as roof jumping had been, he really didn't want to end up getting sent to juvie or something over this.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"I'm doing fine, but I also haven't been actively trying to break something," Zoe said, looking around a little and motioning to the mattresses with her head. "Were those there already, or did you haul them over?"

[thatsweirdright]

"Would you believe me if I said they were?"

[era_two_triangle]

"... They were?"

Peridot, honey, it was called 'lying.' Don't look so confused.

[bigdamnprincipal]

"I might believe the storm blew them over here," Zoe said, "if you explain why you think jumping off the tower is a good idea?"

[era_two_triangle]

"It's for science," Peridot said, in a tone of voice that suggested that really, it ought to be obvious. "Science isn't ever a bad idea."

...

She glanced at Jason.

"Is it?"

[thatsweirdright]

Oh, Peridot. You were asking Jason, the Lord King of Bad Ideas himself, whether or not something was a bad idea?

"More importantly," he said. "It was my idea. I was the one who convinced Peridot we should try it." And hey, that wasn't even a lie! "So if anyone's getting in trouble over this, it should be me."

[era_two_triangle]

"Hey," Peridot protested, quite possibly missing all the heroic undertones of Jason's selfless act, here, "Don't hog all the credit!"

[thatsweirdright]

Why do you have to harsh his vibe like that, Peridot? Why? She was too short to elbow, so he settled for (gently) kicking her ankle.

"Shh!" he hissed under his breath, hoping she got the hint.