Ask Setting Down Roots

[Jonathen Baize]

She had a fair point there. He wasn't afraid to fight battles he himself had started. He studied her eyes for a moment, trying to glean even a piece of her plan, but nothing came.

He shrugged. "Its weird; it never was an issue with my Stormtrooper instructors. Maybe its a flaw in your teaching style.." he said with a smirk. "Maybe I just want you to think I am afraid.." he said with a conspiratorial look. She moved quickly, almost causing a flinch, his muscles tightening ever so slightly as she kissed him. "You are evil." he chuckled quietly.

"No promises," he said as he moved to climb back on shore. Obviously, there was always a risk in these sorts of things, but it was pretty minimal, and they were both as trained as people could be.

"Climbing here? Maybe fifteen years ago? Climbing in general? I guess we trained often enough, though that was in Stormtrooper armor. Not sure I am going to know how to handle myself with all this mobility.." he said. Trooper armor was not flexible; climbing it was not ideal for sure, but they had trained all the same in case the need had arisen.

The next few minutes were spent climbing up about twenty feet. It was easy enough; hand holds had long since been carved out into the rocks as people had often come here to swim. He would help pull her up to the rock ledge before looking out below. The river wound its way down back the way they had come. The view from even this lowest lege was incredible.

He spared a look over the edge to the crystal clear pool down below. "So, who is going first?" he said, glancing over to her.

 

[Kalique Baize]

"Maybe it's the uniform...I've fought you in many different outfits, perhaps that's giving you a hard time" she kept teasing, playfully nudging him, before her kiss attack made him flinch. "And you're afraid" she added her final verdict after he called her evil, not even denying she had been intentionally devious.

While moving in the water, the shivering slowly ceased, but her skin was still fully laced with goosebumps as she climbed out of the pond. She dramatically rolled her eyes as he mentioned not making any promises, before she curiously listened to his story. "15 years...well, that means you're definitely rusty when it comes to cliff climbing" she started following him towards the first ledge, a smirk on her lips.

"Well...soon seems like this will be quite an adventure". Obviously, regular climbing in uniform wasn't the same, but she was already certain they'd have plenty of fun. They started just a moment later and while the rough stones left her hands, legs and feet with some cuts, they made it up unscathed.

As always, there hadn't been a single moment when she hadn't kept the Force coiled around them, so she was more than happy about having made it without any incidents. For a moment, she took in the view before she met his gaze with a warm smile.

"The pond looks wide enough...and feels deep enough" a quick assessment through the Force told her that, so she suggested, "So, together?". She didn't doubt it would be thrilling, especially because didn't faze her like that, but the jump would.

Before he'd managed to answer, if they both looked down, they'd see how Smokey was suddenly around the clothes they had dropped right there and was busy snatching Jon's pants already, apparently in an attempt to play with them somewhere else. "Oh no...", not intercepting just yet but rather watching with a mixture of amusement and suspense...Not that she couldn't stop him from here, but she was actually curious to see whether he'd listen to Jon.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

"I'll manage; just try and keep up, Knight-Captain." he said with a shake of his head.

"When is it not quite an adventure with us?" he asked with a wink as he started to climb. One hand after another, they scaled the wall until they had reached the platform.

He was quiet as she concentrated on the Force. He knew it was obviously deep enough, but it never hurt to be extra certain. "Together." he said with a smile.

They marveled at the sights for a moment as his eyes scanned where their stuff lay and spotted the dark gray color wolf diving at his clothes. "Hey! No! Wait!" he stammered. "Guess we are going now!" he said, grabbing ahold of her hand and leaping out over the water.

For an instant, they hovered in the air, seemingly weightless, before the planet's gravity pulled them down and plunged them back into the cold water. It would have been a lot more fun if he wasn't thinking about how the wolf was likely shredding his second favorite pair of pants right then.

After a few seconds of being submerged, he bounced back to the surface and scurried for the shoreline before running to the wolf. As he grew close, he could of sworn the wolf gave him a knowing look before moving to run off with his pants. "No!" Jon called out, diving and grabbing ahold of a pants leg.

A brief struggle ensued, Jon knowing the pants were going to tear any second. Finally, the wolf let go, his pants in a decent enough condition, through covered in wolf slobber. He collapsed back on the grass, breathing heavily.

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique was still excited about the jump when another pant-related catastrophe was about to enfold. "Should I-" she began, a smirk still on her lips, but Jon immediately voted for jumping, and she had no objections at all.

It wasn't that she had a choice either, because he was basically already pulling bed with him and with slightly widened eyes, she soon found herself in the air. It was indeed a thrilling experience, and it was hard to tell whether the jump or the collision with the ice cold water was more exhilarating.

Opening her eyes in the disturbed water, Kalique soon learned that seeing through all the air bubbles they had created was impossible, but the moment she resurfaced, her gaze settled on the cheeky pup outside. It was undeniable that Smokey had a little thing going on with Jon, but as long as it was of playful nature, she knew she didn't immediately have to interfere and correct the behavior.

She swam to the pond's edge, amsuedly watching the little tug of war before was really beginning to fear for the pants- in the last moment, Smokey let go and bolted off, knowing exactly that he still wasn't supposed to what he had just done. Kalique walked over to Jon, chuckling still before she went down to kneel above him.

"The poor pants...maybe you're simply not destined to have them survive..." she smirked down at him as she reached for the fabric and quickly assessed its state. It was acceptable, but she doubted they'd make it through the trip.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

Whether Jon had actually won the battle or (the more likely outcome) the wolf had bolted seeing Kali, he would likely never know. For now, it was enough that his pants had been saved..mostly.

"An odd destiny for sure." he finally said as Kali kneeled down over him. "It's a good thing you are still getting paid credits; we may need to expand my clothing budget." he joked. He let her take hold of the mangled pants as he let out a sigh. White clouds lazily passed over above, the small clearly by the water pleasant and warm against cold skin.

"You think he grows out of that by himself or?" he asked, looking back up at her. She had the Force to assist in bonding with animals, which didn't mean she hadn't trained with the wolves; quite the contrary. He would have to win the wolf over the old-fashioned way. Smokey may have been stubborn, but he would soon learn that Jon was no pushover himself.

For now, he would secure away the wolf's target in his bag where it should be safe for the time being. He sat up, smiling at her, the excitement of the fight dying down. He leaned in, kissing her slowly, letting it build for a moment before pulling back. Pants drama aside, there was nowhere in the Galaxy he would have rather been than with her and the small pack of pups.

"You want to keep swimming? There are still a couple of higher ledges to reach," he said. "We kind of had to rush through the first one..." he said, glancing back in the direction Smokey had run off to.

 

[Kalique Baize]

The grey wolves was no where to be seen after he had been caught red-handed like that, but it was for the better at the moment. Kalique was amused, yet Smokey would have received an actual scolding for not having let go of the fabric right away, and especially because he had deliberately provoked Jon like that.

"The next pants you really like we'll just buy multiple times...better safe than sorry", she chuckled at her plan, giving him the pants back before she pondered on his question for a moment. "I think so, yes...He's still a teen, somehow he thinks he needs to battle you specifically for power. It's playful still, but the others know their boundaries better" she finally replied, softly brushing across his cheeks before he sat back up.

The moment revolving around the tug of war passed and Kalique enjoyed the passionate kissed they shared on the soft grass before he pulled back again. "Absolutely...we were rudely interrupted. I'm thrilled to reach the other ledges" her lips curled back into a wide smirk as she wrapped her arms around his neck, sitting on his lap still.

"Unless you want to enjoy a little break down here, I'll say it's best if you lead the way up again..." it had been obvious that he knew exactly where to step, but she was still thrilled to follow him again, yet there was another question on her mind: "Where are we going to camp? I'd guess we have at least two more hours before dusk breaks in". She was curious whether he'd lead her to a spot he already knew or whether they'd look for something new.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

"Such wisdom.." he said with a smirk. In reality, farm life was rough on clothes in general. There was always use for clothes with a little bit of wear on them.

He agreed with Kali about the rebellious wolf but decided he would re-double his efforts with the creature. "3 out of 4 are pretty good results, I guess. Wouldn't be too fun if there was at least one problem child," he commented. The sun's warmth felt good against cool skin as he pondered their next actions before they finally got back to their feet. "There will be plenty of time to relax tonight," he said, leading her back to the cliff.

"We will go back down the river a bit, camp on the shoreline," he said. Here would be a great spot to camp, but the waterfalls were a bit too loud. Downstream, they would still be close to water, but it would be much more peaceful. "Won't take too long to get there and get set up for the evening, but we probably should get moving in about an hour," he said.

Once again, they scaled the wall. He glanced down at her as they were about halfway up. "So we haven't talked about dates yet." he said casually as if they were almost 30 feet in the air. "Probably a bit too late for a spring wedding, but Summer or Fall maybe?" he asked. They could, of course, wait until the next year, but he didn't want to wait that long. Truth be told, he would marry her that day if it was feasible. He continued to climb as he listened.

 

[Kalique Baize]

"Good" she happily agreed, fully satisfied with his choice as she was looking forward to some more action before they'd move on to find a place for tonight. "Sounds awesome..." while the scenery was indeed mesmerizing, having the rushing waters as intense backdrop all night wasn't the best choice, so here she was also more than happy with his plan.

They started climbing again, carefully placing hand and feet while the glowing, pleasant sun warmed their bodies. He suddenly asked about dates and it made her chuckle that he, just like her, was excited and was absolutely looking forward to it already. "Late summer...early fall sounds just perfect" she replied with a wide smile, watching his next step closely before she followed.

"Ooooh I've got venue ideas already! What about something low-key dreamy in the forest?" her eyes widened in excitement as she glanced up before finally closing the last distance between them. They were way higher than before with the deep, crystal clear pond down below.

"We better jump quickly or else I'm afraid you'll really lose the pants..." she didn't spot either of the wolves, but she sensed that they weren't far away. Luna was swimming and diving for some underwater plants in a side pond to the right of the main pond, very distracted by whatever dwelled under the surface.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He nodded as she suggested a time. It would be a busy few months but he could finish their home before then. It would be dedicating himself here until then, which meant more time away from her but he knew it would be worth it when it was finished.

He pulled himself up onto the ledge and chuckled. Jon knew a lot of things, how to plan and decorate for a wedding was definitely not one of them. "What does...low-key dreamy mean?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "As long as you are there, I will be perfectly happy with it," he said with a shake of his head. It would be fun to plan and get everything ready, he was certainly ready to be involved but it was clear she would have to be the boss on this one.

There was a part of him who wanted to stay up here, and dream of the future with her but she was right, if they didn't get down there would only be a repeat of their earlier incident. "We should probably start for camp anyway," he said. "...and finishing out the trip with pants is pretty up there on my priority list," he said with a wink.

He looked at her one last time before his eyes drifted to their small canine pack. This had been the perfect day. As good as this day felt though, it paled in comparison to how excited he was for the future though.

With that thought, he leaped into the air. He hung weightless for an instant, water thundering behind him, sun beaming down on them.