The Roof; Sunday Evening.

[not_a_mused]

Cal had never seen anything like this sky before in his life; he'd be damned if he didn't appreciate it. From the height of the dormitory's rooftop, the view was even better, and it also added a bit of consolation in the theory that, perhaps, if anything did erupt, he was at a bit of a high ground, even if he was pretty sure lava could manage to

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[sarcasm_guy]

Sokka walked out onto the roof and gasped at the view. It was even MORE gorgeous from up here. It was, perhaps, the single most beautiful thing he'd ever seen (well, except for Mel naked) and it was poised to deal painful death to all in its path. The inherent irony, poetic as it was, touched his very soul and stirred complex, troubled emotions deep in his heart. Here was Nature, in all its power and glory, neither good nor bad but beautiful and deadly. He couldn't simply let the moment pass without giving voice to something, to some of the many emotions stirring deep inside.

"Uh... Please tell me I'm not the only one who's noticed the GIANT FRIGGING VOLCANO about to kill us all???"

[not_a_mused]

"Nope, sorry," Cal said dully, letting out a slow puff of cigarette smoke toward the incredible storm the near distance. "Only one."

[sarcasm_guy]

"Yeah, you know what I meant." Sokka moved closer to the edge, took a deep breath, and sighed. "That... That's poetry right there. Real poetry. It doesn't matter how good of a poet you think you are, Nature's always that much better."

He sighed again.

"Just before it kills you."

[not_a_mused]

"You ask some people," Cal pointed out, "that's all just part of the poetry."

[sarcasm_guy]

Sokka nodded slowly. He didn't know if Cal could see his nod or not. He wasn't looking at Cal. The spectacle in front of him was too awesome.

"Yeah, it is. The beauty and the deadly, and the irony, and stuff, and... Bah! Words! Words are but a pale, poor substitute for the poetry in front of us!"

[not_a_mused]

Cal snorted a little with his grin. "Even the Muses themselves," he offered, "hold up their hands in surrender to the effortlessness of Nature's artistry."

[sarcasm_guy]

"Oh, yeah," Sokka agreed. "You said it."

There was a pause, and more admiring of the view.

"...What are Muses?"

[not_a_mused]

Cal's grin grew a little more. "Greek mythological figures; their sole purpose is to inspire one to create. I think Nature, especially now, is more inclined to inspire us more toward 'don't even bother,' but at least she's damn good at it."

[sarcasm_guy]

"Nah. Nature always inspires us to create. I mean, that's how we achieve beauty, isn't it? By copying Nature?"

[not_a_mused]

"You're going to tell me that you can look at that out there and honestly think to yourself, 'Hey. I could do that.'?"

[sarcasm_guy]

Sokka blinked. And stared at Cal. "Of COURSE not! But I'll tell you that I look out there and think, 'someone should paint that'."

[not_a_mused]

"Maybe. But that painting will never be as good as the original."

[sarcasm_guy]

"Well, of course not. But that's not the point. The point is to capture some pale shadow of its beauty... hold that thought."

Sokka held up a finger, and then dashed back down the stairs. He came back a few moments later with his camera and, with a giant grin, started snapping pictures.

[not_a_mused]

Cal shook his head slightly, but, after a few pictures had been taken, he had to say, "When you print those, get me a copy, would you?"

[sarcasm_guy]

Sokka blinked at him. "Print...?" He shrugged. "Nah, I don't have a computer or whatever. I'll try in the library, though. If I can figure out how to hook it up, I'll email you a copy. Or else take it down to the photo hut thing."

[not_a_mused]

Sokka lost Cal a bit there, too. Email? "Uhh, well, I mean, you know, just keep the negatives of the film and you can make more prints from that."