Part 2: MAKALU

A/N: Apparently it was popular enough to be worth continuing, so here is part 2! It's short, but most of these will be. By the end, it will read like a normal length chapter and it also means there will be quicker posts. Many of you asked about the validity of the facts for this story. If you have read my other works (which I would encourage you to do), you know that everything I write about has been thoroughly researched beforehand. I take pride in my work, and want it to be the most accurate as possible, so by the time you've finished this, you'll know A LOT about red pandas.

A few days later, Beca was holed up in her room once again. However, it was not because she was working on a mix, or that she was just being anti-social. No, this time, it was because she was working on level 2 of becoming a Red Panda Ranger. For this part, Beca was required to draw a picture of the best place for a red panda to live. Beca was not necessarily known for her artistic abilities, but she was determined to make the best drawing of a red panda habitat that there ever was.

After her Monday 2:30 class got over for the day, Beca excused herself up to her room. "Hey guys, I'm going to go work on another project. Call me when it's time to eat please," Beca said, as she grabbed a box of crackers and 2 juice pouches from the fridge to munch on. "Other than that, don't disturb me. It's really important." The few Bellas that were home when she was were curious but didn't pry. They were used to Beca disappearing for hours on end.

3 hours after heading up, Beca was still at her desk, head resting on her arms, surrounded by a few crumpled pieces of paper. There were even more crumpled balls in and around the waste bin that was placed by the door. She had her notebook out, that was filled with scrawls slightly smeared by her left handed drag due to laziness. Words like "bamboo", "forest trees" and "mountains" were scribbled on the paper, and a badly drawn doodle of a small panda head in the top corner. A blank piece of paper and some colored pencils lay untouched next to the notebook.

That's exactly how Chloe found her when she went to find her for dinner. Chloe has always been the elected Bella to fetch Beca when she was in the middle of something. The girls dubbed her "The Beca Whisperer" because Chloe somehow got away with breaking pretty much every one of Beca's rules when it came to interacting with people. It started before the two were dating, but now it's pretty much a no-brainer. Slowly approaching the desk, Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca's shoulders, planted a small kiss on Beca's temple, and gently whispered, "How ya doin' babe?" in her ear.

"Mmmph." Grumbled Beca. "s'hard."

"Huh?"

"It's hard," Beca repeated tiredly, as she slowly straightened up, twisting back and forth and stretching her arms out to work out the various cramps and kinks in her body. "How do these kids do it? I've got to be the worst at drawing on the planet."

"I'm sure the program isn't too picky. It's not like you're getting a grade on this. Besides, the tiny humans this is actually geared towards, isn't worried about what it looks like. They're doing this for fun. You're turning this into something way more complicated than it needs to be."

"You think?" Beca asked doubtfully.

"Becs, baby, you're taking this more seriously than the majority of your classes." Chloe replied with a chuckle.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Remember what they say on the airplanes, 'secure your air mask first before helping others.' You can't help save the red pandas if you work yourself to death before you even become a ranger."

Chloe couldn't believe what she was saying, but her poor girlfriend looked so pathetic and discouraged by her lack of creativity, she had to help somehow.

"Why don't we clean up a bit and get some real food in you. Strawberry lemonade and Cheeze-Its don't count as dinner. You can tell the girl's all about what you've been learning while we eat. We can come back to this later, after you finish your actual homework."

"Fine," Beca agreed, after thinking it over for a bit. "What are we having? I hope it's good. I'm starving."

"It's Fat Amy's turn to cook so—"

"YES! CHINESE!" Beca hollered, suddenly very energized. "Did you order..,?"

"Yes Beca, I ordered you your favorite. What kind of girlfriend do you think I am?"

"Um. The BEST one." Beca said, quickly kissing Chloe on the lips and hugging her as thanks. "When is it coming?"

"That's why I'm up here. I came to tell you that it arrived."

"Well, why are we still standing here? Let's go eat. Oh, you wanna know a fun fact? Red Pandas can be found in some parts of China. Maybe that's why I love Chinese so much. That and the fact that it's just yummy." Beca rattled off some more facts as the two descended the stairs. Chloe smiled to herself, happy to see Beca so excited about something other than music.