#although due to the new climbing system the time i spend jumping up and falling off cliffs has been reduced by a bit

[hzdtrees]

Winter’s breath

[realyouearthing01]

The benefits and advantages of Earthing / Grounding for animals/pets – Grounding to the Earth

As you will discover in this post, pets also benefit from Earthing / Grounding. So here is the testimony of different people who tell their experience with their animals and Earthing / Grounding, the connection to the earth.

When indoors, pets sense something familiar and beneficial when they come in contact with an Earthing mat or other grounding product.  They are definitely drawn to Earthing.  Although they can’t articulate what they feel, their actions and responses speak louder than words, as these accounts clearly indicate:.  Here is a sampling of feedback:

Extending Quality and Quantity of Life

The second edition of the Earthing book (2014) included a report from Sandra Wong, a musician in Boulder, Colorado, about how Earthing was helping her aged Grand Pyrenees dog, “Raffie.”

In 2013, she had first told us that “Raffie,” then 11, was suffering from severe, painful arthritis and multiple structural issues. She had exhausted conventional options, including medication that just made him sick to his stomach. She was reluctantly considering putting him down. Then a friend suggested Earthing and she obtained an Earthing throw for the dog. The results, she said, were striking. “Raffie” began resting and sleeping grounded. His energy amazingly returned, as did his mobility and zest for life.

In April 2014, the dog passed. “He made it to a miraculous 12 years of age, almost unheard of for his breed,” Sandra told us. “Grounding gave him an entire extra year of life and with quality that I didn’t think was possible.”

In early 2015, she told us she has helped other animals with Earthing. “The week before ‘Raffie’ passed, ‘Mosey,’ went into a steep downward spiral and was diagnosed with the lumbosacral disease, among other things. She’s another one of my Pyrenees. Her back legs were going out much of the time. She had full urinary and fecal incontinence. The vets didn’t have much to offer but after several months of using homeopathic remedies and encouraging her to spend more time on the Earthing throw, she has made a rather miraculous turnaround. She has been able to walk to and from the backyard without assistance. Her urinary incontinence and 99 percent of all accidents have stopped in the last three months. ‘Mosey’ is now 13 years old and a few months, and although fragile, she’s going stronger than I could have imagined possible with the only changes being nerve tonic (homeopathic), Traumeel (homeopathic), and her Earthing throw.”

Sandra continued: “A friend of mine has a rescue black Lab/chow mix with severe hip dysplasia. The old dog took a turn for the worse with the coming of colder weather. The pain meds he was prescribed left him lethargic, yelping, and disoriented. My friend put him on similar homeopathic as ‘Mosey’ and installed an Earthing throw, as I had done, in the dog’s bed. Now, two months later, it’s as if the dog was two years younger. He’s clear-eyed, connected, happy, and exhibited significantly less pain.

“Earthing also helped my mother’s dog, my grandmother’s dog, and my other Pyrenees, ‘Serafina.’”

In 2017, we heard from Sandra again. Both “Mosey” (14 ½) and “Serafina” (13 ½) had died the year before, 18 days apart. “However, both of them had a good quality of life up until the very end, despite their advanced age, with the help of the Earthing throw,” she said. “’ Serafina’ had a stroke shortly after ‘Mosey’ passed. I think she missed her sister.

“All this is to say, in my experience, Earthing is incredibly helpful to animals, including older ones with sensitive systems who reactive negatively to strong medications.”

Less Shedding

From Yavor Kresic in Ottawa: “My Siamese ‘Alexander’ loves going on the mat. I’ve noticed that he hardly sheds now. He’s an older cat and rarely goes out.”

More Comfort, Less Itching

From Ambien Hay of Vero Beach, Florida: “‘Jackson,’ my Jack Russell, loved his Earthing mat. It relieved his arthritis and pain due to Lyme disease during the last years of his life. He died at 16. After sleeping on it all night, he clearly felt more comfortable in the morning, as he pranced outside and had his breakfast.

“‘Sailor,’ my 12-year-old Westie, heads for his Earthing mat any chance he gets! He has been Earthing for more than eight years and is healthy and happy. The mat helped relieve his skin allergies and itchiness. He hogs my Earthing mat under the computer desk, his favorite place to snooze.

“All creatures large and small love to be connected to Mother Earth!”

In 2012, Karen Kolczak from Phoenix told us she obtained a mat for her cat after experiencing the benefits of Earthing herself. She said: “My old cat doesn’t get outside much anymore, but now she is going up and down the stairs much more frequently and curls up to me purring on the bed as if to say ‘thanks mom.’”

In early 2015, Karen reported that her cat had passed away and that she brought a new cat into the house who “loves the mat as well.”

Togetherness

New Hampshire researcher James Oschman sent this picture (below) from a doctor friend who commented: “Here are my daughter’s three cats. Ordinarily, they stake out separate rooms for their morning naps, but this is what they’ve been doing since I came to visit and installed an Earthing sheet on the guest bed.”

More Togetherness

From Linda Olk in Winston-Salem: “I have five dogs and a cat. And most of them, along with me, have been Earthing since 2013. The dogs get their indoor ‘dosing’ at night like I do, and sleep on the Earthing sheet I put over the sofa. Sometimes all of them pile on at one time. From time to time, some of them jump into my bed and onto the Earthing sheet. I have to shoo them off.

“The animals have all been in good health. After I added the Earthing sheet, they absolutely became calmer. Not that they had been rowdy or unruly, but they carried a certain agitation. That changed a lot.

“When the cat developed an infection from a bite, I noticed he spent more time than usual stretched full out on the Earthing mat I placed in the living room under my desk. The cat usually stays outside, right on the ground, under a tree, except when it’s very cold. Then I set the mat out and typically he gravitates to it.

“After I bought an Earthing yoga mat for myself, the dogs, and even the cat, want to lay on it. I sometimes have to shove them off when it comes time to do my exercise.”

It Works in Finland, too

Sisko Pynnonen from Kangasniemi says her dog usually sleeps on the floor during the winter and outside on the ground when the weather is warmer. “After I put an Earthing sheet on my bed, ‘Tahvo’ started to climb up into the bed in order to be able to sleep on the sheet. One night he even brought a bone into the bed. He seems to sigh with relief when he sleeps on the sheet…and sleeps there all night!”

Satu Laitinen, from Siilinjarvi, says her cats love the Earthing plush pad and compete to use it.

Maine Cats Know When They Need Mother Earth

From JJ, in Maine: “My two indoor cats don’t seem unusually drawn to Earthing sheets or their grounded pet beds when they’re healthy. However, when my cat Cleo had an inflamed paw pad, we noticed her resting on my daughter’s Earthing sheet in an unusual manner, with her arm stretched straight out in front of her, the sore paw pad placed gingerly on the grounded sheet.

“My other cat, ‘Pixie’ is an obsessive washer. Since she’s been sleeping grounded (two years), her fur has grown back on her sides and some on her tummy. Grounding seems to relax her and reduce the hyperexcitability of her condition.”

Don’t Get Crushed!

From Deborah Ebbers, Suttons Bay, Michigan: “I have a story concerning my earthing journey, started one and a half months ago. I bought the earthing mat for my bed and the results have been very positive; deep sleep, arthritic pain reduction, calm energy… and now my dog (who sleeps with me) has decided that since I’m earthed that it is perfectly natural for her to sleep on top of me……. there’s one little problem…she’s a Great Dane. Beatrix is 116 pounds!”

They Hog the Bed!

From Tina Morin, a German Shepherd breeder in North Bay, Ontario: “I have 7 dogs and they all try to get a piece of the mat on the floor lol I have a sheet on my bed and sometimes I catch them up on there too. They all sleep on it or on my bed lol as I have a grounding sheet there. They sure gravitate to grounding.”

Golden Retriever in Healing High Gear

Karen Poizin of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, reported that “Lance,” her Golden Retriever, had surgery to remove a large lipoma in his armpit in December of 2013. He slept on a pet mat during his recovery and, according to the veterinarian, “he healed quickly.”

“Juniper the Rat” − Life after a Stroke

Diane Higgins, of Toronto, is an ardent animal rescuer. “From fish to horses,” she says, and including rats. In 2015, she communicated to us about “Juniper,” her very senior and nearly three-year-old hooded female pet rat. The rodent had had a stroke, a fairly common affliction among elderly rats, and often fatal.

“I’ve become all too familiar with the symptoms but this time I had a new weapon and so I decided to use one of the Earthing bands,” Diane recounted. “Rats, no matter how well we feed and take care of them, don’t live very long, but if this could improve the quality of her life, I was all for it. Often there’s nothing you can do to help them in these situations, the time between a stroke and their unfortunate demise is swift.

“’ Juniper’ is one tough little gal. She had difficulty getting around so I decided to try the band on her and within twenty minutes she was able to raise her head. Within an hour she was able to use her legs again. After a few hours, she exhibited more mobility and was able to lift her head.

“I put her in a safe, warm, and comfortable location with the band attached (she had wiggled out of it once, but I got her back into it) and she settled in and let the band do its thing.

“I got the shock of my life the next morning. ‘Juniper’ had climbed onto the roof of her mouse house ALL BY HERSELF!! She climbed up and ate breakfast! She gave me a bit of trouble getting her into the band this morning but I got her in. She has MUCH better mobility and is much improved.

“She does the rat equivalent of purring (bruxing) when she is in the band. This can also occur when a rat is upset, but she seems to be a happy little rat when she does this.

“On the third day, she was having less problem holding her food, all the red stuff around her eyes is gone. That’s porphyrin, a secretion indicative of stress, sickness, or poor diet. Her eyes look clear and her coat feels silky.”

“On day five, she continued doing well. She has made daily progress. The old girl is now able to get all the way up to the third tier of the cage. She seems to recognize her limitations with ‘down.’ She actually signals me when she wants to come down and I either pick her up and place her on the bottom of the cage or I gently ‘escort’ her with my hand and assist her.

“She has never eaten commercial pet food. She gets filtered water, organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, as well as avocadoes, bananas, mangoes, grapes, corn on the cob, carrot, spinach leaves, kale, and chaff from my juicing as well.

“Everything has worked in harmony. TLC without Earthing or Earthing without TLC would not have produced these results. When I first started this therapy with her, I was thinking she might not last another day. But she is doing so well and has been a great surprise.”

A week later Diane reported: “She is doing amazing!! She was able to fend off her younger companion ‘Thea,’ when I gave her one of her favorite treats, a piece of Pita bread. ‘Thea’ does NOT share. ‘Juniper’ is now able to drink out of the water bottle on the second cage level now. Her front paws are no longer tensed up and she is able to wash like she used to. She appears very calm and does that bruxing thing, which is so cute and endearing. OMG, she is so smart!”

“Juniper” lived actively for more than a month after her stroke, and then died peacefully. “I hadn’t expected her really to live another day after her stroke,” reported Diane. “She was a real trooper.”

Sweet Dreams

“I actually had to buy myself a second Earthing mat, because the minute I put my mat on the floor to put my feet on while watching TV, my Golden Retriever immediately would make a beeline for it. He then falls into a wonderfully deep sleep with lots of squirrel chasing dreams. For me, this disproves the Earthing doubters who explain Earthing benefits as a placebo effect. Both my dog and I know that earthing REALLY works!”

For more information, please visit https://realyouearthing.com/

[theliqht]

Why You Should Spend More Time Thinking About best portable keyboard

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[the-fauxpas]

five / watermelon granita

uni AU co-written with @ineffably-styles

a story of late nights, unorthodox household plants, and a trip to Vegas that changes everything

“How’s it going, guys?” a new voice sounded, Zayn appearing a few seconds later and taking a seat beside Alexa. “Has anyone tripped yet?”

“Niall landed on his bum about fifteen minutes ago. Kept whining about how he’s probably bruised his tailbone. Personally, I don’t think he’s really cut out to play this game,” Savannah commented, waving a hello at Zayn.

chapter four / story page

“Oh no,” Savannah slumped, spotting Louis and Reyna chatting together by Louis’ car, identical cups of coffee in their hands.

“Crap,” Alexa sighed, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder and biting her lip. Reyna and Louis’ heads snapped up as they approached, a broad smile stretching across Louis’ face.

“Need a lift?” Louis asked once they were close enough, dangling his car keys before them.

“Uh, sure?” Alexa replied, a little confused. Savannah just stood there, squinting over at Reyna as if she was trying to decipher a particularly difficult maths equation.

“Lou’s offered us a ride to uni,” Reyna shrugged, raising an eyebrow at Savannah’s blatant staring. “It’s a peace offering for ruining the movie yesterday,” she explained, narrowing her eyes a little at Louis, who was still grinning like a fool.

“Sure is. Now, chop-chop,” he clapped his hands together. “Don’t wanna be late now do we?”

“Ha!” Reyna scoffed, watching as Louis pulled open the passenger side door for her to climb in. “You’ve never been on time to anything education-related,” she said, moving past him.

“Not true!” he defended, racing over to the driver’s side. “I was usually on time for football games!”

“That’s not exactly education-related,” Savannah piped up, buckling her seatbelt and placing her bag between herself and Lex.

“Plus, you were late to those half the time,” Alexa joined in.

“I thought this was a peace offering,” Louis grumbled, pulling his car out onto the street. “Not a ‘let’s attack Louis’ freefest.”

“You brought this upon yourself,” Reyna shrugged, pulling out her phone. “What class do you guys have this morning?” she asked Savannah and Alexa, twisting a little to face them.

“I’ve got Brain and Behaviour,” Savannah grumbled. “Our lecturer talks at about the speed of light so taking notes is impossible. Plus, there’s someone who sits behind me who eats the noisiest food, I feel like he does it on purpose.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got Menzies first thing,” Reyna sighed. “If you guys don’t hear from me after that class, it’s safe to say that he’s locked me in the morgue to join the other bodies there.”

“I don’t have class until noon,” Alexa grinned cheerfully.

“I hate you,” Savannah glared at her.

“Yeah but you have a seven hour Renaissance art class later on in the week, so really, who’s the real winner here?” Reyna shot back, high-fiving Savannah as Lex slumped down in her seat.  

“I have a marketing class first thing,” Louis chirped with false cheer. “Not that anyone asked me,” he said, rolling his eyes and chancing a glance at the three of them. “It’s like I’m only good for giving you guys lifts to places and being made fun of.”

“That’s not true, Lou. You’ve also got a pretty sick apartment.”

“You know, if we weren’t already here, I’d throw you out of my car and make you walk the rest of the way,” he shook his head even as a smile fought its way onto his face - he was very proud of his apartment.

“Liar,” Savannah sing-songed as she crawled through the car and out Alexa’s door. She had a thing where, if her passenger side door faced the road, she would crawl over and exit the car through the opposite side.

Neither Louis, Alexa nor Reyna even blinked at her, but a couple students who were passing by sent them some weird looks.

“I can’t believe I’ve come all this way for a class that finishes at eleven. I’ve only got a lecture today and it’s more of an intro to the topic than an actual class. Apparently all we’re doing today is partnering up for some assignment,” Savannah rolled her eyes.

“My condolences to the poor soul who ends up being your partner,” Alexa joked.

“Hey, I’m not that bad!”

“Yeah, ok. Not like you basically traumatised the last girl you were partnered with by literally turning up at her doorstep at 2am one night with an ‘idea you just couldn’t wait to share with her’,” Reyna laughed.

“It was a good idea,” Sav grumbled, hitching her bag higher up on her shoulder as they four of them made their way towards their respective classes. “Why do we have to park so far away?”

“Because, finding parking on campus is near impossible,” Louis explained.

“It's true,” Alexa nodded. “Side streets are your best bet. Usually I just drop Sav off and find a place to park so I can escape her whining about why we have to walk for ten minutes.”

“I don't whine.”

“No, just a healthy level of complaining,” Reyna laughed.

“I like to think so,” Sav grinned brightly. “Is that Harry?” she frowned, leaning forward to try and get a better look at the figure heading towards them.

“Looks it,” Louis shrugged. “Oi! Haz,” he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth for maximal volume.

“Warn us next time you're gonna yell,” Reyna growled, thumping him on the back harshly.

“Ow, sorry,” Louis apologised sheepishly as Harry hurried his way towards them.

“Morning,” he yawned.

“Long night?” Reyna asked.

“Dad wanted to go over some old cases with me,” he nodded. “Wanted to prepare me for some of the classes I'll be taking.”

“Sucks,” Reyna made a face. “I'm so glad I didn't follow the family business. There’s not really much investment bankers can teach me about the cardiovascular system.”

“Yeah, but you’re studying medicine now, so obviously they’re not going to be disappointed in you,” Harry scoffed.

“True,” Reyna grinned. “Maybe you should’ve done medicine too,” she nudged Harry as they continued walking towards their classes.

“Dad probably would have disowned me.”

“But you literally just said parents wouldn’t be disappointed if you do medicine.”

“No, I said your parents wouldn’t be disappointed in you. I didn’t say anything about my parents,” he joked, although Savannah could tell there was a slight truth to his words.

“So, anyway,” Louis interrupted the two of them. “You’re coming to football practice today right, Harry?” he asked. “Reyna’s said she’ll come for moral support.”

“Stop putting words in my mouth,” Reyna cut in. “I said I might come if I’m not busy.”

“Are you busy?” Louis asked.

“Depends what Sav and Lex are up to.”

“Sav?” Louis looked at her pointedly.

“Probably nothing,” she shrugged.

“Good, then you guys can tag along too,” he nodded decidedly. “See you guys tonight,” he dragged Harry away before Reyna could argue.

“Great,” she muttered. “Come on, Sav.”

“Uh, actually, I’m heading in their direction,” she said apologetically, hurrying to catch up with the boys. “Wait up!” she yelled.

-

“You will be expected to attend all lectures and tutorials within this course. Failure to do so may result in your tutor refusing to acknowledge your final assignment. Now, the first part of this assignment is due back in week four of this semester, and so you will be expected to choose your partners this week to be able to get started on it as soon as possible. Please, choose wisely. No changes will be permitted once the names are written down and my free time is very limited. I’d rather not spend it listening to you bicker about who did what.”

Savannah sighed while her lecturer, a short, plump woman with wispy, grey hair droned on about the importance of the first assignment for the term. The lecture had been forty five minutes of absolute torture and if she had to listen to another minute of this speech, Savannah was sure she was going internally combust… somehow.

It was taking everything she had not to fall asleep and Savannah found herself regretting the decision to skip out on the coffee Alexa had offered to get her before class. Especially when the brown haired boy beside her was sipping leisurely at the cup of coffee sitting on his desk. Every time he picked it up and put it down, the smell would waft over towards her, making her even more grumpier than she already was.

“Remember, this assignment is worth an overall 50% of your final grade so failing is not an option.”

“Just like this class,” Savannah murmured, dropping her head onto her palm as she chewed on the pen she’d found buried in her bag. She had almost drifted off to sleep when a quiet chuckle made her jump.

“Tired?” an amused voice asked from her left. Savannah turned towards the Coffee Boy, narrowing her eyes a little at him.

“What could possibly give you that idea?” she asked sarcastically. “Was it the fact that I was half asleep?” So she wasn’t the most friendly person when she was hungry and tired, sue her. But Coffee Boy didn’t seem to mind, grinning at her as he downed the rest of his coffee while she eyed him enviously.

“I’m Dylan,” he whispered, glancing towards the front of the room where their lecturer was now going over the assignment’s marking criteria.

“Savannah.”

“Nice to meet you, Savannah,” Dylan smiled merrily before the two of them lapsed into silence as the lecturer - Savannah didn’t even know her name if she was being honest - finally stopped talking for more than a couple of seconds as a student asked a question.  

“Someone I know took this unit last year,” a girl sitting towards the front spoke. “He said we had to partner up boy-girl. Is that true?”

“Yes,” their lecturer nodded her affirmation. “I was just getting to that part. As part of this unit, it’s come to the faculty’s understanding that the there is a difference in the physiology of the way the brain works as well as a difference in behaviour between the two genders. And through this assignment we are hoping that this difference will be made prevalent.”

“Bloody fantastic,” Savannah grumbled, scribbling down a few notes as the lecturer made them.

“Not a fan of partnered work?” Dylan asked curiously.

“It’s not that,” she looked over at him thoughtfully. “Just don’t know any of the guys in this class is all.”

“You know me,” he grinned and Savannah saw that as her opening. “Is that your way of asking me if I wanna partner up?” she raised an eyebrow at him. Dylan shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I mean, yeah,” he muttered. “You don’t know anyone and I don’t know anyone. Makes sense we’d partner up, yeah?”

“You better do your share of the coursework,” she tried to glare at him fiercely, but from the small smile on Dylan’s face, it only amused him. After a quick glance at his notes - which were about two pages longer than hers - Savannah felt herself perk up at the prospect of spending the rest of the semester with someone who actually seemed like he cared about his work. She’d promised herself that she was going to try her best this semester, and partnering up with this Dylan guy seemed like a step in the right direction.

After the lecture, the two stood around exchanging details before they parted. As she walked away, Savannah spotted Harry sitting by himself on one of the couches, his head buried between the thickest book she had ever seen, brows furrowed in concentration. Knowing better than to distract him, Savannah walked on, feeling slightly sorry for Harry Styles.

-

“Louis, you owe me about three cheeseburgers for dragging me out here to this godforsaken place to watch you guys kick a football around while not actually scoring any goals,” Reyna grumbled, taking a seat on the bench as Louis swapped his trainers for some cleats.

“Come on Rey, just bask in the gloriousness that is English football. Doesn’t it feel incredible?” Louis said, lacing up his shoes and moving to stand up.

“No,” she grumbled in reply. “It feels like a wet patch on my bum and a field that smells like garbage.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” he sighed, saluting the three girls before running off to join Harry and Niall on the field. They were a part of the university football team, and were spending the evening getting ready for the first game of the season coming up. If Savannah had known that she was going to be spending the next two hours on a damp seat, she probably wouldn’t have been so okay about going.

Savannah and Alexa sat there silently, trying to follow what was happening with their practice. They started off with laps around the field followed by a couple of drills. By the time they started with their actual practice, Savannah was ready to fall asleep on Alexa’s shoulder. Reyna hadn’t even bothered looking up from her phone since it started, and was now playing Solitaire to kill time.

“Aren’t you supposed to be paying attention to this?” Alexa asked her, effectively pausing her game. “I mean, you’re the reason why we’re here in the first place.”

“Oh please, Louis’ the reason you guys are here. I was forced against my will,” she grumbled, tapping the start button on her game.

“How’s it going, guys?” a new voice sounded, Zayn appearing a few seconds later and taking a seat beside Alexa. “Has anyone tripped yet?”

“Niall landed on his bum about fifteen minutes ago. Kept whining about how he’s probably bruised his tailbone. Personally, I don’t think he’s really cut out to play this game,” Savannah commented, waving a hello at Zayn.

“Sounds like him,” he agreed, nodding his head as he watched the match.

“Why aren’t you playing?” Reyna asked, locking her phone and joining in on the conversation.

“Ah, I did for about two seasons but then my workload at uni kept getting in the way so I had to quit,” he shrugged in reply, not seeming entirely bothered by it. “Good riddance, I’d say. I barely managed to score a goal.”

“Oi! Zayn! Give us a bottle of water!” Harry yelled from across the field. Savannah looked up to find the group slowly making their way back to the benches.

“Get it yourself you muppet, I’m not your bloody waterboy,” Zayn yelled back, but went to retrieve a bottle of water from the cooler anyway. He threw it towards Harry once they were within close range - which he caught deftly - and reached back in to grab another one for Louis and Niall.

“How’d you guys find it?” Niall asked, moving to take a seat between Savannah and Reyna before gulping down half the water bottle in one breath.

“Uh,” Savannah began, watching wide eyed as he downed the rest of the bottle within the next two seconds. They were set to get back out there within the next five minutes and she briefly wondered whether he was worried about getting a stitch or not.

“It was good,” Reyna cut in quickly, not wanting to drag this conversation out for any longer than necessary. She really wasn’t much of a sports fan.

“Come off it,” Louis interjected, opting to take a seat on the grass instead of finding room on the bench. “You were on your phone this entire time, I’m pretty sure you didn’t even glance up once.”

“I did too!” she argued.

“Oh yeah? Which side of the field did we have to shoot a goal in?” he challenged, smirking.

“Left,” she replied coolly, holding his gaze as a means to say that she was not backing down from his challenge.

“Ok, you got that one,” he said. “But I’ll be quizzing you when this is over so you better be paying attention.”

A whistle blew from the distance and all the guys hurriedly got up to return to the field, but not before Louis gave Reyna a look to show that he wasn’t going to forget about their conversation.

“Ok Sav, Lex, keep your eyes peeled,” she commanded them once they were out of earshot. “There’s no chance I’m losing to this.”

Savannah sighed, leaning her head against Alexa as she concentrated on the game in front of her. Five minutes later, she found herself being shaken awake by a glaring Reyna. The sky had darkened considerably and the boys were all gathering their things surrounding them.

“I can’t believe you fell asleep,” she scolded, arms crossed as Savannah blinked the sleep away from her eyes.

“Oh, I did?” she asked, still groggy.

“Yeah, and it cost me 10 quid too,” Reyna sighed, pulling Savannah and Alexa up from the benches. Savannah glared at the empty field, as if expecting an apology for it costing two hours of her life and her dignity.

Harry strode up to them, all sweaty and gross with his bag slung over his shoulder. “How was the nap?” he smirked, bringing a water bottle up to his lips and taking a long gulp.

“Terrible. The only way I’ll come to a practice again is if you kidnap my family and use it as blackmail. Even then I’m not sure I’ll willingly come,” she deadpanned, falling into step with Harry as they followed the others out to the car park.

“Oh lighten up, Simba. A couple of the guys have taken a fancy to you girls, by the way. Proper think we’re the coolest dudes on the team for even knowing you guys,” Harry smirked.

Savannah raised an eyebrow, “Oh really?”

“Yeah,” Harry grinned. “So you’re coming to the game next week, right?”

“Apparently, I have fans. So I’ll definitely be there to sign a few autographs if you want to give your team the heads up,” she grinned while Harry rolled his eyes.

“I’ll see you at uni, Sav,” he chuckled, squeezing her shoulder before sauntering off to his car.  

-

Savannah walked through the entrance to the library, juggling her laptop in one hand, while attempting to hide the greasy bag of hot chips she’d snuck in with her. Reyna - who was manning the front desk - rolled her eyes when she saw her creeping past, struggling to disguise the fast food by hiding it under her sweater. When she realised who was working, Savannah visibly relaxed, the stiff set of her shoulders softening as her whole demeanour changed from ‘innocent student’ to ‘tired student’.

“Thank god,” she breathed. “I feel like I’ve gone for a swim in grease,” she joked, pulling the food out from under her clothes.

Reyna only raised a brow. “You’re not allowed food in the library.”

“I thought you might say that,” she rolled her eyes. “Here.” Savannah pulled out a neatly wrapped burger and chips, placing them on the counter before taking out the bottle of Sprite she’d thrown in her bag. “Happy?”

“Very,” Reyna smiled cheerfully. “You’ve made my day.”

“I hope you realise how sad and boring that makes your life sound,” Savannah warned her.

“Piss off,” Reyna reached over the counter to punch her. “My life is plenty exciting,” she argued, retracting her arm to unwrap her burger.

“Plenty violent more like,” Savannah scowled, rubbing the spot that was now starting to turn slightly red.

“Whatever. How’s the assignment going?” Reyna asked, taking a bite of her burger chewing expectantly.

“It’s not. But Dylan will be here soon, and maybe we can finally start it. Send him over to my secret corner when he gets here will you?” Savannah asked, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder. The weight of the textbooks were now starting to really bother her, and she couldn’t wait to get to her seat.

“I hope you realise how kinky it sounds when you say it like that,” Reyna mocked, brushing some crumbs off the counter. “I hope you have the handcuffs ready.”

Savannah chose not to reply and instead walked away to eat her lunch - and possibly dinner because neither she nor Alexa cooked very often. That was maybe one of the cons of having them both living in the same space - both managed to burn water when cooking and so took to ordering in each night or eating at uni before they headed home to crash. Which meant that there was a significant dent in Savannah’s bank balance, leading her to pick up more shifts at the cafe and therefore significantly reducing her free time.

It had been a week and a half since uni had started which meant that the first part of the assignment was due in less than two weeks. Upon realising that a substantial portion of their assignment was undone, Dylan and Savannah had finally agreed to knock some sense into each other and both swapped their shifts at work in order to schedule a night to meet up.

Dylan appeared as soon as Savannah turned around, a strange expression on his face as he studied the contents of the paper box situated in front of her laptop.

“You know… there are at least 20 calories and 0.8 grams of fat in one single chip,” he chastised, glancing down at the mass of chopped potato on the table.

“Oh no,” Savannah muttered, trying to shield the box of food from his scornful gaze but to no avail.

“Meaning that of the maybe 25 to 30 chips in that box right now, you’d be consuming about five to six hundred calories alone. And don’t start me on that burger…”

“Please don’t start on the burger,” Savannah whined at him, pushing her meal to the side to try and ward off his attack.

“You could go for something so much better like carrot sticks and maybe a tuna sandwich with wholegrain next time. Great for your health and helps you study better too,” he said, pulling off his bag and sitting down next to her. Savannah rolled her eyes. She’d rather eat a burger and risk her health than eat bunny food and study better.

“I’m hearing words coming out of your mouth,” Savannah began, pulling her food back towards her - she really wasn’t going to waste a perfectly good burger. “But none of it seems to be making any sense.”

“Probably because of all those calories that you’re consuming,” Dylan scolded, eyeing the take-out with distaste.

“There you go again,” Sav rolled her eyes. “Speaking words that don’t make any sense,” she glanced down at her food, her gaze resting on the textbook she was using as a makeshift plate. “Just like the words of this assignment,” she sighed.

“Which we really need to get started on,” he nodded, seeming much more determined than Savannah was at the moment. Maybe it was all the bunny food he was consuming.

“Yeah,” she nodded sadly, taking a few final bites of her burger while Dylan unpacked.

“Ok, so for the first question…” his voice was all business as he dived right into the details of the assignment, and unsurprisingly, Savannah felt her attention instantly wane as she continued to pick at her food.

-

“Well, at least that part’s all over,” Dylan tried to reassure the both of them as they made their way out of the library together. After a gruelling four hours of research, they had mutually agreed that it was best to leave the rest of the assignment for the coming week instead of risking eating each other alive. “Besides, we’ve done all the research that we need. We just have to type it all up and I’m pretty sure we can do that over Facetime or something,” he continued.

“That’s comforting, we only have about fifteen pages to type up,” she snorted, hitching her books closer to her chest. “Anyway, it’s getting dark. I better go,” she said forlornly, glancing at the illuminated sign signifying the entrance to the tube.

“You sure we can’t give you a lift? Jess won’t mind,” he offered, eyes darting around for his girlfriend’s car.

“No. No, it’s okay. I don’t live far from the station. I’ll be fine, I don’t want to be a bother,” Savannah argued, turning to leave before he could really change her mind.

“Ok, well get home safe, ok Sav?” Dylan said weakly, spotting a car with it’s headlights on and turning towards it. “Text me when you get there!”

“I will!” she yelled over her shoulder as she power-walked towards the station. The entrance was near - she was only a few metres away from the top of the stairs. Keeping her head down, she snuggled deeper into her jumper and tried to look inconspicuous as she made her way there. The streets at night in London always freaked her out, and for good reason. She was maybe five metres away from the station entrance when a car screeched to a stop right next to her.

Savannah was more than sure she resembled a deer in headlights at that moment. She stood frozen on the side of the curb as a car faced her, two silhouettes barely discernible against the bright light. She knew that she should probably run. Or hide. Or grab a weapon of some sort - though she doubted her jelly pencil case would do much as a weapon, but she just stood there freaking the fuck out because she was an idiot and she wanted to get killed.

Suddenly, the door opened and the driver got out. He was obviously male, his face still hidden in shadows against the bright lights of the headlights piercing her eyes. The figure made a move towards her.

“Stay the hell away from me,” she warned, though her voice was barely a whisper. She took a couple of steps back, hugging her books tighter to her chest. Books! Her textbooks weighed at least one stone apiece, for sure - that was a lie but they were still bloody heavy.

The figure took a couple of steps forward.

“You know what,” Savannah muttered under her breath, fingers tightening around the spine of her Psychopathology textbook. “Sod it.”

And with what resembled a loud gargled shriek, she launched herself at the stranger, textbook swinging wildly into what she thought to be the side of the guy’s head. She backed up, tightened her hold once again on the heavy textbook and launched the book at him from a distance, nailing him in the face. She quickly pulled open the top flap of her satchel to grab one of the lighter books - anything to attack him again - and she almost succeeded in getting her relatively heavy workbook out (anything but the laptop) when the figure held up his arms in defeat, speaking out for the first time since he got out of the car. Or rather, the first time Savannah actually heard him. The ringing in her ears from her panic had just managed to dissipate as the noises around her became clearer.

“Stop it you psycho! What the fuck!?” the voice yelled, sounding slightly familiar.

“Harry?” Savannah asked, doing a double take as she gripped the second book in her hands.

“Yes, I’m Harry you crazy bint! Who did you think I was?!” he exclaimed, one hand covering his cheek as he stepped into the light.

“I thought you were some sleazebag who wanted to kidnap me or something! Who the hell just pulls up next to some unsuspecting girl in the middle of the night like that?!”

“Fuck, remind me to never try to do something nice again,” he muttered, pulling his hand away to see if there had been any major damage.

Suddenly, the passenger door opened, and the second figure in the car all but fell out of his seat, clutching his stomach in laughter.

“Shut the hell up, Zayn!” Harry yelled in the direction of the car, still glaring daggers at Savannah who at least looked a little remorseful.

“That was hilarious, Sav. Please do it again so I can record it,” he managed to say between gasps of laughter. “You know, your war cry was definitely the cherry on top. How does someone so small make a noise so loud?”

Savannah blushed a deep red, head hung in shame as she tried to avoid Harry’s glare. “What the hell were you guys doing here anyway?” she asked Zayn who’d managed to compose himself and was now stood next to Harry.

“We were going to give you a lift home,” he smirked as Harry fumed from beside him. “Which, uh, didn’t really go well, did it?” he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck nervously, shooting quick glances at Harry to see if he was going to get attacked anytime soon.

“No kidding,” Harry spat out. Savannah couldn’t help but laugh at the red welt appearing rapidly on his face - there was no doubt he was going to be sporting a massively bruised cheek the next day.

“Look, Harry,” Savannah started towards him but he pulled back, taking a couple of steps away from her as if she was going to attack him again. “I’m sorry!” She tried to get closer to him once again and this time, he allowed her. Tentatively, she reached up a hand to inspect his cheek in the light. It was definitely swelling rapidly - a lot faster than she thought.

Curiously, she poked it.

“Oh my god, don’t poke it!” he exclaimed, hissing in pain.

“I’m sorry!” she cried again, as Zayn doubled over in laughter once more. “Are you still ok with taking me home?” she asked, suddenly shy.

“Guess I have to now, despite the fact that you’ve just disfigured my face,” Harry sighed, pulling his hand away from his cheek once more and turning back to his car. “Come on, We’re not letting you catch the train alone at this time of night,” he said, gesturing towards the back seat.

“Is he mad at me?” Savannah asked Zayn as she picked up her fallen textbook.

“I have a hunch... considering you just nailed him in the face with a bloody book,” he chuckled. “But he’ll get over it soon. Come on, let’s get you home.”

-

“This is your place?” Zayn asked as they made the way up the stairs towards Alexa’s flat. On the car ride home, Savannah had insisted (albeit annoyingly) that Harry and Zayn come up so that she could get him some ice and some painkillers for the rapidly swelling bruise on his face and he’d grudgingly agreed.

“Yeah, I’ve just moved in with Lex,” she said, unlocking the door and letting the two boys in.

He whistled. “It’s pretty nice,” he said, admiring the cabinets laden with every movie and TV show known to man.

“Savannah? Is that you?” a voice called from down the hallway, followed by a pyjama-clad Alexa in her fluffy slippers. She stopped short when she saw who was accompanying Sav, shooting her best friend a questioning look.

“Honey, I’m home!” Savannah announced with a grin. “And, you know, these two,” she waved towards the boys.

“Hey Zayn,” Alexa greeted, trying to shield her less-than-presentable outfit from their line of sight. “Hey Har- what happened to you?”

From behind Savannah, Harry sighed.

“I hit him in the face with this,” Savannah explained weakly, holding up her textbook for Alexa to see. It was slightly battered and beaten from the events of the night, but still usable nonetheless - which Savannah was endlessly thankful for because that alone had cost her about 100 quid.

“Hold up,” Alexa interrupted. “You’re telling me that you attacked Harry?” she questioned, eyes widening as three heads nodded back in response. Harry began to look slightly smug as Lex’s face dropped, appalled. “And no one filmed it?”

This time it was Harry looking appalled. “That’s it? That’s what you’re going to ask?” he demanded, while Zayn chuckled beside him. “Piss off,” he turned his face to glare at Zayn.

“You know,” Savannah spoke softly, moving towards Harry. “I really don’t think it’s going to be all that bad?” she offered, but it came out as more of a question than anything else. Her finger was, once again, a couple centimetres away from his cheek when he reached over and gripped tightly onto her wrist, making her squeal and jump in surprise. “Sorry!”

“Oh, my god, Simba,” Harry groaned, eyes wide with disbelief. “Were you going to poke it again?”

“I just wanted to see if it still hurt as bad,” she admitted sheepishly, blushing slightly, wrist still held tightly between Harry’s slender fingers. “And don’t call me Simba.”

“I can assure you,” Harry rolled his eyes, releasing her wrist. “It does.”

Savannah bit her lip, her eyes lingering on his cheek as she unconsciously rubbed the wrist Harry had just freed. “Ok,” she said decisively. “Come with me.”

“Wha-” Harry didn’t really have a chance to respond as Savannah dragged him through the flat - almost knocking over a lamp - as they left Alexa and Zayn to awkwardly fend for themselves. “What are you doing?” Harry finally managed, once they came to a halt in front of Savannah’s rather large bathroom.

“Go in and take a seat,” she ordered. “I’ll be right back,” and without giving Harry a chance to argue, she was disappearing back to where they had come from.

-

“Hold still,” Savannah grumbled, tilting Harry’s face so that she could rub the ointment she’d found in the cabinet over his cheek. She remembered when Alexa had tripped and twisted her ankle last Christmas. They’d been out trying to find last minute gifts, when everything had gone horribly wrong. They’d gone to the emergency room where Reyna had been volunteering as part of her coursework (and even though her commitment was over, she’d stayed on because she enjoyed the experience). Reyna had sighed at the sight of them, throwing the stolen medication at them with instructions to tightly wrap the ankle and ice it afterwards.

“I just don’t understand why you’re covering my face in that gunk,” Harry pouted, once again trying to move his face away from Savannah’s fingers.

“Because,” she jerked his face back. “It will help with the swelling.”

“But it’s cold,” Harry mumbled, his pout deepening. “And it smells!”

“Don’t be such a baby,” she laughed lightly. “You’ll be thanking me for this ‘smelly gunk’,” she quoted him, “tomorrow morning when your face doesn’t feel like it’s been hit by a truck.”

“I’d be thanking you more if you hadn’t been the one to put me in this position,” he retorted.

“Potato, potahto,” she shrugged, refusing to rise to the bait. “There,” she exclaimed brightly, finally moving her hands away from his face. “All done. Now put this on,” she handed him a bag of frozen peas.

“Really?” Harry raised a brow in amusement.

Savannah tried not to blush. “We didn’t have an ice pack?” she posed it as more of a question than she’d intended, as she turned back to the sink where she’d set up her supplies.

“Of course you didn’t,” Harry chuckled before tenderly placing the bag against his cheek. “This hurts like a bitch. I expect you to be nice to me for at least a month after this, by the way.”

“I’m always nice to you,” she retorted, gathering the stuff on the counter and placing them neatly back in the bag. “It’s you who shouldn’t test me.”

“That’s no way to speak to the wounded,” he scolded, pressing the pack more firmly on his bruise. “I’m going to be sporting this bruise for a good week, at least. Going to have people ask how I got socked in the face.”

“I suppose you’ll be making up some macho story. Injury-via-textbook doesn’t sound so cool,” she replied, laughing lightly.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll tell them something wild. Like I wrestled a lion or something,” he grinned cheekily.

Savannah snorted, gathering up all the rubbish and dumping it in the bin. “Yeah, because Louis’ definitely going to believe that when he finds out about this.”

“Oh shit, Louis,” Harry’s eyes widened as he thought of his best mate and his tenacity to find things out before they even happened. He quickly pulled out his phone, determined to be the first one to tell him the story.

Savannah left Harry in the bathroom with the peas while she went to pack away the first aid kit back in the cabinet and headed out to Zayn and Alexa who were sat in the kitchen, chatting. They looked up expectantly upon hearing her come into the room.

“How’s the princess?” Zayn asked, smirking.

“Whining like a little bitch,” Savannah grinned, walking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. She had to admit, she felt slightly bad for the inevitable bruise that was going to appear on his face the next day, but the situation was too funny for her not to joke about.

“What’s new, hey?” Zayn laughed, immediately cutting off as Harry entered the space. He eyed the two of them suspiciously, eyes narrowing.

“Ready to leave, Malik?” Harry asked, glancing over at Savannah who stared back questioningly.

“Oh… yeah,” Zayn mumbled, pushing off the counter and walking towards the hallway. Alexa followed him, leaving Savannah and Harry alone once again.

He took a careful step close to her. “Give me your phone,” he demanded, holding his hand out.

Eyebrows raised curiously, Savannah pulled her phone from her back pocket and placed it in Harry’s hands. After a minute, he handed it back to her as his own phone beeped from his pocket.

“You have my number now. Any time you find yourself needing a lift, give me a call, yeah? I don’t want you travelling home alone in the dark.”

To Savannah’s complete and utter surprise, Harry’s cheeks flushed a pale pink, and she couldn’t help but be flattered by the gesture.

“I’m a big girl… I can handle myself,” she retorted half-heartedly.

Harry chuckled, shaking his head slightly, “Trust me, I know,” he gestured to the mark on his face. “But just in case,” he winked.

And with that, he turned around and left the room.

AN: hi guys, sorry we’re a day late on this chapter but we had a long weekend here and if i’m being completely honest, we both forgot about it oops. hopefully the content makes up for it though bc this was definitely one of my favourite chapters to write. as always, we love to hear your thoughts so shoot us a message if you have a spare moment. otherwise, enjoy!! x

[puckish-saint]

Scientist reader helping Mei, Mercy, Winston and Torbjorn in science stuff because why not

Mei

Whenever you’re in Mei’s lab youfind yourself vaguely surprised that the orange juice on her deskisn’t boiling. She runs around in only a pair of loose slacks, herbra and her lab coat tied around her waist, brushing across the floorlike peacock feathers. The cold unsettles her.

You greet her by lifting up two boxesof Chinese take-out, the only real food you get when everyone who’scapable of and willing to cook is off base.

“Oh! You thought of me, that’s sonice. Thank you.” she sets her tablet aside and makes some room ather desk, guilty throwing away a handful of candy wrappers, her solesustenance when she can’t be bothered to cook a full meal. Which isalways.

It’s nice to get away from work for abit even if you’re spending the time in the boiler room for one ofthe lower circles of hell. After some brief consideration you slipout of the sleeves of your work overall and tie it around your waist,much like Mei has with her coat. It’s still stifling hot in here,but with one layer of clothes less it becomes endurable.

“So.” you say, coming after a bitof small talk to the real reason you’re here. “I checked thescanners this morning and saw one of your weather stations wentoffline.”

She groans at being reminded of it andpulls up her overview window. She has about a dozen of stationaryautomatic weather stations in her immediate vicinity. Or as immediateas she can afford them to be, what with her being one of the fewscientists still pursuing her research. One of them has a red markermerrily blinking ‘offline’ at you.

“It’s A-02, the one I set up in theAlps. It was probably damaged by falling debris. It’s going to be ahassle arranging transportation and trekking all the way up there torepair or replace it.”

You take a sip of your drink, hummingas if you’re just now deliberating her predicament.

“You know, I could fly you up there.We’d be in and out, no trouble.”“Really?” she asks, eyeslighting up at the prospect of being spared a whole lot ofinconvenience. Then, just as you think you’re getting away with it,her eyes narrow in suspicion. “Wait a second. Haven’t you beenworking on new climbing gear? You’re just looking for a guineapig.”

Guilty as charged. You shrug, smileapologetically.

“I need to see how it works with morethan one person attached. It’s safe, I promise!”

“If you knew it’s safe you wouldn’tneed to test it.”

She agrees in the end. There’s atoken argument, because only a crazy person would crawl around theAlps in experimental safety gear without it, but in the pursuit ofscience, she’ll do it.

Right up until theory turns intopractice.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” sheasks over the soft hum of the plane engine. It’s one of Overwatch’sstealth models and it barely disturbs a snowflake as it hovers overthe small plateau close to Mei’s broken weather station.

“If it were safe, there’d be noneed for testing.” you give back cheekily and receive a fond slapon the head in return. After a last check of the equipment, makingsure you’re both as safe and secure as you can be with equipmentthat’s never left controlled environments, you jump out of theplane and into the knee deep snow. The plane’s autopilot moves intostandby and you start the few but arduous steps towards the mountainwall.

“I should probably have asked thissooner.” Mei says. “But why are there no ropes?”

You stop short, patting your pockets asif the rope will miraculously turn up. The search yields no fruit andyou turn around, eyes wide in a beginning panic.

“Oh my God, I forgot the ropes.”

“What?” She squeaks, standsstockstill, untethered on the stormy alpine mountaintops. Then shesees your face and places her hands on her hips.

“That’s not funny.” she says asyou support yourself on your knees to keep from doubling over withlaughter.

“It’s a little bit funny.”

She looks utterly unimpressed, waitswith her lips pursed until you’ve calmed down enough to start theactual climbing.

The system is deceptively simple.Instead of ropes you’ll be anchored to the mountain side via smallgravity wells set on hooks that drive themselves automatically intothe surface beneath them. If you fall the gravity well will surge upand pull you in. It’s a design adapted from Zarya’s particlecannon and in theory it should be safer and more convenient thanstandard climbing gear. Although it doesn’t prevent you fromfeeling like you’re climbing utterly unsecured several thousandfeet above ground.

But even with the nervosity of notwearing any climbing gear you make faster progress than you wouldwith it and soon both you and Mei stand atop the plateau that shouldhave sheltered her weather station. It’s gone. So is most of theplateau.

“Avalanche?” you suggest while shescans the area for any remains of the device. The scanner showsnothing.

“Probably. I’d hoped I could bringit back to the base for repairs.” Mei says as she prepares to setup the replacement.

You help her, holding the base steadywhile she drives the anchor points deep into the stone below. With awhirr and a beep it comes alive, sending up a small drone to hoverabove it, taking preliminary readings.

The way to and from the site takes thelongest, setting up the weather station is a matter of minutes.Afterwards you both move to the edge of the plateau, staring down thealmost ninety degree slope.

“You know.” you say, checking ifthe gravity well is ready to travel back down its anchoring pointsthe same way as it has traveled up. “Theoretically the well shouldbe able to safely slow our decent and keep us close to the mountainside. I designed the system to allow the users to jump all the waydown in an emergency.”

Mei shakes her head before you stopspeaking.

“No.”“Please?”“Noway. I’m not jumping down a mountain on nothing but your assumptionthat some tiny gravity well will catch us both mid motion while we’rehurtling past it at terminal velocity.”

“For science?”

Mei glares at you. Then she curses andadjusts her equipment.

“Fine. For science.”

Mercy

For weeks all field agents areencouraged to bag all their used medical supplies in specialcontainers and have them sent up to the lab. And by ‘encouraged’you mean they risk facing Angela’s wrath if they forget.

Thus you shouldn’t be surprised tosee the boxes and boxes full of used bandages in her lab when youenter that morning, asked here with sweet words and the promise ofcookies. Although you get the feeling that when this is over you’llhave lost your appetite for good.

“We get hurt too much.” you say andAngela agrees, hoisting the first box on the table.

While you unpack the individual bags,vacuum sealed to keep them fresh, she explains what she’s hoping togain from this.

“Our bandages are covered in gelinfused with biotic particles. I want to enhance their efficiency,get more healing with less paste, but for that I need to see wherewe’re at currently. We need to pull the bandages apart to get atthe gel that will have trapped all bodily fluids, dirt and dead cellsinside, then count the remaining biotic particles under themicroscope.”

Simple work but tiresome, as issurprisingly much of science.

You get to work, coffee maker chugginghappily along.

As you suspected opening the firstbandage fills the air with the repugnant stench of old blood, pus anddirt. Both you and Angela scrunch your noses, then dive in, eager toget this done soon.

One possible venue for optimisationreveals itself within the first hour.

“Another seminar on basic first aidmight be due.” you say as you check the origin of the latestbandage, unsurprisingly marked J.McCree. The biotic particlesseem to have attacked dirt more than worked on the actual woundhealing. Some of them are still attached to something you have agrowing suspicion may be a part of a fingernail.

“I spent three years persuading Jesseto use our medical supplies instead of whiskey and honey. He used tosew his own wounds shut with threads he ribbed from his serape.”

You spend a happy few minutes notthinking about that hygiene nightmare.

The pattern, biotic efficiency reducedby foreign contaminants, repeats itself. With Jack they worksplendid, as he applies his own first aid with military precision.Hana doesn’t bother cleaning them at all, preferring to slap on abandaid to stem the bleeding and jump back into her MEKA.

During the course of the day you findother options to increase efficiency. Reprogramming the geneticstructure of the biotic particles may allow them to coordinate witheach other, focusing less on areas that are already being tended to.For all that it’s smelly and tiresome, it will give you a fewpercentages of extra healing in the end.

Noon rolls around and passes unheeded.You only get up to get more coffee for yourself and Angela and by thetime you’re finished it has gone dark outside.

Neither of you has much appetite.Instead of cookies Angela offers a walk to stretch your legs. Youreview the data together as you amble along the balcony surroundingthis level of the base, enjoying the warm evening breeze that carrieswith it the wonderfully clean scent of salt and seaweed.

“Professor Halldórsdóttir from theUniversity of Iceland developed a prototype particle not long ago.”Angela says, pulling up the related article on the web. It’ssimilar to your project, although it intended for the particles to bedeployed in cancer treatment. You wonder if the Professor spent a daygoing through old tumours. At least she wouldn’t have had to talkto someone about cleaning wounds by spitting on his thumb and rubbingat it.

“There seemed to be an issue withallergic reactions.”

The data is extensive, saves you bothseveral weeks of work, even though you’ll have to adapt it for yourown purposes.

All in all it was a productive day,spent in pleasant company. And now that the disgusting parts are overand done with you don’t mind extending it a little.

“What do you think, should we draw upa few genotypes before bed?” you suggest and Angela, checking ifthe caffeine supply holds steady, agrees.

Winston

He pings your comm at 3 am in themorning and, after you blearily fish it from your bedside table andhold it in the general direction of your ear, asks: “How large areyour hands?”

You open one eye to stare into the darkof your quarters as if an explanation might turn up out of thin air.None does, requiring you to request clarification.

“What.”

“Your hands. Could you measure themreal quick?”

If you were marginally more awake youwould have answered with something sassy or sarcastic, like that youforgot to keep the measuring tape for late-night measuring close by.Or that you’re sure they’re the same size they were during dinnera few hours ago, when it was still a reasonable time to chat.

As it is, you’re not even a littlebit awake and so what you do say, after some careful, sleep-addleddeliberation is:“What.”

Winston patiently explains why he needsto know the size of your hands. He has a project that resists hisfine motor control and he needs someone with smaller hands. However,seeing as it is late at night, he wouldn’t want to drag you out ofbed and into his lab just to discover that your hands are also toolarge for the task with which he needs help. That’s why he thoughtof having you measure them beforehand.His monologue takes a fewminutes, after which sleep has handed in its resignation. You mightas well get up.

Winston welcomes you with coffee and abox the length of your forearm, attached to a screen displaying anerror message.

“It’s just an issue with thewiring. But the space is too small for me to reach it and I don’twant to take the whole thing apart again.” he explains and, whenyou cast a look inside the box you see why he would have trouble. Theopening is barely big enough for your hand, nevermind the fiddlingyou’ll have to do inside. You give it a try, have Winston light thespace with a flashlight.

“How did you manage before theRecall?” you ask while you fiddle with the wires.

“Long tweezers and a lot ofpatience.” he says, with the long suffering sigh of someone whobroke a lot of the former due to a low supply of the latter.

It sounds tiring and even more so whenthe wire yields under your comparatively dainty fingers and snapsinto the right place. The error message is still there.

“Huh.” he says, pushing his glassesup his nose.

It’s coming on 4 am but being up toyour wrists in the project already, you have an interest in seeing itsucceed.

“Show me your blueprint?”

It’s a mess, the product of too manylate nights and not enough pairs of eyes that could force some senseinto it. But after following the video log and having the finished,albeit non-functioning, object in your hands, you work your waythrough it.

By the time the rest of the baseawakens the error message still blinks, but it does so for adifferent reason, which is what in scientific jargon is called a goodthing. The box has a lot of new holes through which a few combinedmetres of cables run, attached to various extra hardware anddiagnostics equipment. When finished it’s supposed to replace yourcurrent black box system for your flight computers, as well as theserver rooms downstairs.

Right now it’s serving as a coffeetable.

Winston puts his mug down on it andleans back in his tire, going over the schematics yet another time.

“We may need help.” he says andyou’re inclined to agree. As one you reach for the comm.

“Zenyatta. Yes, good morning. Just aquick question. How large are your hard drives? Could you measurethem real quick?”

Torbjörn

Sometimes science means braving hostileterrain to gather readings that may not be useful in the long run.Sometimes it means exposing yourself to dangerous and unbelievablygross biohazards and sometimes it is impeded by the limitations ofyour own body.

And sometimes it means sitting in alawn chair and throwing tennis balls over a cliff.

“We’re testing your new turretcalibration, right?” you ask, taking a sip from a colourfulcocktail with an umbrella in it.

“Yup.” Torbjörn says, equippedwith an equally colourful cocktail as well as a tablet remotelyconnected to about half a dozen turrets, all calibrated to differentsettings. You chuck another tennis ball, four turrets vaporize it inmid-air, one shoots too late and one falls over and beeps distressed.

“Good. Just so I’ll know what totell Winston when he asks where I’ve been all day.”

Two turrets help the fifth one upright.The next test involves two flying objects, for which Torbjörnreluctantly sets down his drink to take the tennis ball you’reoffering him.

“Helping me develop better defensesystems is more important than your usual duties.”

Together the balls fly over the cliffand into the net he set up below as none of the turrets can decidewhich ball to focus on.

“I wrote the software from scratch.”he says. “With the new hardware I’d just have mucked around withthe old code.”

He makes adjustments even as he speaks,pretty much the only indication you’re doing real science here.Which is what you’re doing. It would be cruel to let him do all ofthis hard work alone. Overwatch is supposed to be a team effort. Youwill sacrifice your time and energy to help out a friend in need anyday.

You toast your own integrity withanother sip of your drink.

One of the turrets mistakes a passingseagull for its target and fires wildly. Luckily the targetingalgorithm fries as it tries to reconcile its orders with the factthat the actual target isn’t small, round and yellow, leaving theseagull startled but unharmed.

Just to punish the machine for itsalmost accidental animal abuse you throw the tennis ball at its head.It targets it, fires and takes out the turret next to it.

“They’re like drunk babies. Withguns.” you say, beginning to realise where his attachment to hiscreations comes from.

He nods, pretending to wipe away atear, and tells you to throw three balls in quick succession

Turret number five seems to think threetennis balls are a threat too great for conventional ammo andlaunches its small rockets at them.

Your cocktail umbrella protects thedrink from being covered in yellow fuzz. So that’s what those arefor. Another mystery is solved. Today is a good day for science.

Jack comes by in the afternoon, rubbinghis back from scrubbing bird droppings off their satellite dishes allday. He questions your need to assist Torbjörn in this vital effort.

“We each contribute to science in ourown way.” you intone and let a tennis ball sail over Jack’s head.None of the turrets react, which was to be expected since they’reall shut down for the moment. It still serves to give him a littlescare and make him go away.

“Those turrets ... “ you saythoughtfully. “You said you could adjust projectile velocity.”

“Among many other things, yes. Why?”

“Enough to, say, match them to theattributes of your average paintball gun?”

He laughs when he catches on to yourplan. Together you set out to adjust the settings and procure somepaintball ammo.

A day later you both sit on therooftop by the main courtyard, laughing maniacally at the cursing andrunning members of your team ducking from turrets shooting paint withdeadly accuracy, while Winston swats at you with a broom.

Another great day for science.

[chloeandgregoztravels]

The West Coast involved a lot more driving than the East, some days that was practically all we did as we didn’t want to do too much driving at night due to the threat of kangaroos, cows, goats etc wandering around aimlessly with a death wish. A kangaroo over here is much like the irritating pheasant in England except it weighs 14 stone and moves a lot quicker, so it’s quite scary if they jump out at night. After 5 hours of driving we finally arrived at Tom Price, the nearest town to Karijini national park where we would be staying for 2 nights, we stocked up on food and petrol and made our way into the red sandy desert.

Sunset in Karijini

Ten minutes away from our campsite was our first gorge, we weren’t going to have long until the sunset so we scrambled down the rocks to the lake at the bottom for a swim. The water was freezing, looking at photos of people in gorges and waterfalls always looks great but I could hardly bring myself to jump in after dipping my toes. The scenery was stunning and we were the only people around which made it all the more special. After the others played around in the water, Jo eventually persuaded me to ease myself in and once I was swimming around I did warm up.

  Hamersley Gorge

Back at camp we tried to make a fire but the whole area was cleared out of firewood we played a few card games like we had done on most nights on the road.

Possible King Brown Snake

I had a lot planned for the next day as I knew we only had a short time in the national park, most people spend a week there! We took our AWD out as the roads were so bumpy, the camper wouldn’t of made it in one piece so it was definitely worth bringing a car that could handle it. Suddenly we spotted a black snake sunbathing on the road and pulled over to take a closer look, even after two years travelling Australia this was the first wild snake Spencer had seen! I couldn’t believe it.

Cold legs

First stop was Hancock Gorge, famous for its Spider-Man walk, named after the thin passageways through the pass that you clamber through with your hands and feet on either side. The rocks in the area are made up of thousands of horizontal layers that result in areas of platforms to walk across or just sticking out enough to be a foothold above a meter of water. The walk quickly descends into the gorge down two steep, metal ladders, following a red path until you are halted by a river, we realised there was no way around and we would have to wade through hoping desperately that none of us would fall on the slippery rocks which were scattered between the sharper, hard rocks. The water was icy cold, halfway across I felt like I was getting pins and needles my feet were so cold!

Spider Man

  After that ordeal The valley opened up into an area called the amphitheatre as semicircular layers are carved out of the rocks, following the bend of the river. Finally we arrived at the Spider-Man walk where you have to spread yourself either side of the tight Gorge and hope you don’t fall into the rushing water below. It was great fun, although I wasn’t sure that my short legs and arms would reach through some sections, and I felt super proud when we reached the end.

  Flowing river into the Amphitheatre (left) 

        Kermit’s Pool

The four of us received all sorts of looks for just doing the walk in flip flops or thongs as they call them, some people even saying “Ohhh I’m not sure you’ll make it through there in those!” But we just took them off going barefoot which I’d say gave us more grip than those in walking boots. The end of the walk is at Kermit’s pool, it was such a brilliant blue colour but none of us fancied a dip as we knew how cold it would be.

As with many walks through gorges in Karijini it is one way in so we repeated our journey in reverse and ventured to Weano Gorge to tackle the handrail pool. I felt like we could do anything after our first adventure and it wasn’t long until we were scaling the edge of towering red rocks until the narrow alleyway dropped down and opened up into a huge open pool, a convenient handrail had been bolted into the rock face and foot wells carved out as there is no other way down. Jo and spencer enjoyed a swim, while I opted to stay dry and sunbathe with Greg.

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Clambering down Joffre Gorge

After we made it back to the car we headed to Joffre Gorge, this was more of a clamber than a walk, the car park is on the far side so the walk loops you around the Gorge and you descend via giant steps that are handily sculpted into the side of the Gorge. You are rewarded with a beautiful waterfall but the climb back up is probably the hardest part of the entire walk!

We finished our day taking in the view of Knox Gorge and gathering firewood elsewhere to build a more impressive fire and sharing a few drinks before a well earned rest.

Waking up refreshed and raring to go we headed to Dales Gorge as I’d seen there were a few waterfalls there that we could swim in, of course we had fun taking silly photos at our campsite before we left.

When a flip flop jumps higher than you…

First up we went to Fortescue Falls just a short walk to the beautiful waterfall, Jo was straight in for a swim but I was once again reluctant because I hadn’t brought a towel and I knew it wasn’t going to be the boiling bath temperature I wanted. I settled for paddling my feet and enjoying the view of the cascading water over the red rocks.

Fortescue Falls

Cockatoos

We wandered over to the Fern pool a little further away, another waterfall which is considered a sacred place to the local aborigines so they ask you to be respectful whilst you enjoy your time there. Jo jumped in first of course and this time I had the urge to join her for a swim, it was surprisingly deep and a long swim to anywhere to stand or hold onto but it wasn’t too difficult for us. It was such a laugh and Greg noticed these cockatoos having fun swinging on the trees, some were hanging upside down like bats!

Fern Pool

It would have been great to spend longer enjoying Karijini but with our small time frame we needed to head back to Perth so we made our way back to the town of Tom Price. After 3 days exploring, walking and swimming around this dusty, red National Park we were in desperate need of a shower, lo and behold the visitor centre had pay as you go showers. Now anyone who knows me, knows I love/ need a hot shower. When it came to my turn, would you believe it, all the hot water had run out. I was fuming. I phoned Greg from the cubicle to get someone from the visitor centre and it turned out the whole system had broken, and she would have to call someone out but it wouldn’t be a quick fix, so I grumpily endured the freezing shower.

Time to leave the red sands of the Pilbara region, we celebrated over the walkie talkies as we made it over the last bit of rocky terrain and hit tarmac again. I soon noticed we could no longer see Jo and Spencer behind us and tried the radio again with no response, so we pulled over to wait.

Slow moving from here…

After a couple of minutes we made a U turn and headed back around the corner to see them pulled over at the side of the road, we couldn’t believe it, after three days of driving the AWD we had a puncture minutes before we hit solid road again. The boys changed the tyre, covering themselves in the red sand we’d thought was behind us, the worst thing was the spare tyre limited us to just 60km an hour…. so slow!

After a long day and lots of driving we pulled over for the night near Carnarvon where we had booked to get our tyre changed. In the morning we lounged by the sea soaking in the sun, bought a new tyre and jumped back in the car to tackle another large portion of driving, feeling exceptionally happy that we could finally drive at a normal speed.

Look at that roaaaaaad

The landscape changed outside our windows but our catchphrase “look at that road” never tired, as the endless grey line rolled out in front of us, 400 kilometres and a million Disney singalong songs later we arrived at the stunning Hutt Lagoon in Port Gregory famous for its marvellous pink lake. I had read about it but wasn’t expecting it to be so pink on what turned out to be a cloudy day, well we must have been lucky because it was very pink! Almost bubblegum at some angles as we drove passed it. I believe the lake gets its wonderful pigment from a certain type of algae, you cannot swim in it as it harmful to people and animals.

Hutt Lagoon

A quick snack and we were on the road again, celebrating our evening after a long journey with a few drinks and card games at a place called Lake Indoon. We enjoyed a lie in, as it was only a 2 hour drive from our campsite to Lancelin sand dunes where we rented boards for a couple of hours to try our luck, we’ve tried this before but this time we would be standing up on the boards! I couldn’t believe the wind, it whipped across the dunes and when you reached the top it felt like you were stood in front of a sand blaster, there would be no need to exfoliate after an hour up there! I had a few goes but couldn’t get the knack and got fed up of having a face full of sand so I took over as chief photographer, I was really impressed with everyone’s efforts and Jo was definitely the champion, and proud of it.

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Camera shy Joey

Our last little adventure together was spent at Yanchep national park a short drive outside of Perth where there are lots of free roaming kangaroos and a small koala sanctuary. As we wandered around the boardwalks we noticed a lot of bees, looking around we spotted a swarm amassing near a koala, the poor thing. He scratched his head and body until he realised they weren’t going to leave and he started to bolt down this tree, I couldn’t believe how fast it moved, when he reached the ground he broke out into a run and up another tree for safety! After watching this unusual energetic encounter from a koala that many people know spend 23 hours of the day we were asleep, we informed a ranger of the bee swarm and ventured back to the car ready to end our journey in Perth.

I’m off!

What a fantastic experience the West Coast was, my only regret was that we didn’t have longer! Thank you all for reading and to Jo and Spencer for making our adventure that extra bit amazing! Photos for the last part of our West Coast adventure HERE!

Sand and Sunshine The West Coast involved a lot more driving than the East, some days that was practically all we did as we didn't want to do too much driving at night due to the threat of kangaroos, cows, goats etc wandering around aimlessly with a death wish.