fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, January 17]

"Today we discuss lying," Anakin said as he closed the classroom door precisely on time. "Everyone lies. 'Of course that doesn't make your butt look big.' 'You like her, I like her.' 'I'm totally okay with you moving on.' 'Everything's fine, why do you ask?' It's how the world goes around because no one wants to be trapped in a conversation where someone whines at you for hours on end about how awful their life is."

He looked around the room. "Trust me. Everyone's life is terrible. They're just not telling you about it. Be grateful."

He reached onto his desk for a piece of paper. "Today we're conducting an exercise to see how well you pass this particular social ritual, then we'll discuss whether you think it is necessary. We're playing two truths and a lie. I'll tell you three things about myself and you have to decide which one is the falsehood. Then you'll all tell three things and we'll see how well you can either read each other or keep things hidden."

He gave them a small smile. "I'm very good at this." He schooled his face to absolute neutrality, put his mental blocks up to bar any psychics in the room from gaining an advantage, then recited: "During a war at home I was known as 'The Hero Without Fear.' I named my children after people I met in Fandom. I've never been beaten in one-on-one lightsaber combat." His eyes challenged them to call him out. "Who's next?"

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"I have three sisters, I'm a good rider, and I once performed a striptease." Karal was confident his body language wasn't going to give away which was the lie; he'd been trained not to allow it to, and right now, he was using it.

Andrew knew the answer, but he kept it to himself. He still had to snort a little.

Karal shook his head at Andrew, smiling a little, because he knew Andrew knew which one was the lie.

Rikku chewed her lip. "You've got a horse, so I bet you're a good rider. So that leaves ..." She grinned. "I'm gonna say you don't have three sisters. Because the other one is way more fun if it's true."

Karal went scarlet, which was probably answer enough, but in the interests of completeness, he gave a very strangled, "Yes."

Rikku grinned. "See? Always the quiet ones."

He groaned and dropped his head in his hands, laughing simply because it was the only possible response. "It will not happen again!"

"You know, I always say that about drinking, too." She grinned. "I've started to realize I don't mean it, though."

His eyes got very wide and he shook his head. "I mean it, I swear - never again. I didn't want to do it in the first place!"

Evey was just going to stare for a moment before saying, "...the last one?"

Sunlord, why did I think this was a good idea? He nodded sheepishly, blushing bright red. "I never thought anyone would pick that."

"You're blushing very red," Evey noted helpfully, a small smile playing about her lips.

Which simply made him blush more. "Could you pretend that I'm not?" he asked hopefully, smiling a little himself in response.

"I could," Evey said carefully, her smile widening. "Never would've taken you for one to perform stripteases, though."

Look, she hadn't mentioned the blush.

"I'm not! It was, was, I don't know what it was." He sighed and hung his head, peeking up at her. "There was a game of truth or dare involved."

Evey tried to hide her smile, for his benefit. "I'm not judging. I'm just surprised."

Karal had to laugh, it was the only possible response. "No, I know, and no one could have been more surprised that I!"

"You make it sound like an accident," she noted, again carefully keeping her face as neutral as possible.

He rubbed his temple, head tilted as he considered how to explain. "It was and it wasn't. There was a game we were playing, called truth or dare, and I accidentally chose dare." He'd been traumatised, he hadn't known what he'd been doing. "And that was my dare."

Evey could see how that would happen. And now she was blushing faintly. Benefits of an active imagination.

"We played that sometimes when I was younger and living with other children. But I never had to strip. Lucky me, I guess. Mostly 'cause I always picked truth. We did get in trouble for playing, though."

Karal was blushing again, and he wasn't even sure why this time. "Why did you get in trouble for playing?" he asked curiously. "It seems a harmless game, for the most part."

"The people running our camp didn't like it. Wasn't productive and it made us misbehave," she explained.

Camp? He put it together with what she'd said and decided it wasn't something he was going to ask about, at least not in class.

"The priests who supervised the Cloister would have had the same reaction. Some things are the same no matter what world you're in." Which reminded him of what he needed to ask her. "But for things that aren't the same, I spoke with Altra, and he's willing. Are you busy tomorrow afternoon?"

"I'm absolutely free," she said with a quick smile, brightening almost immediately.

Karal beamed at her. "I have library tomorrow, so it will have to be after that. Would you mind meeting me there?"

Re: Two truths and a lie

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