fandomhigh | Sneaky Spycraft: Week 3, Period 4

Aly was wandering around the classroom as the students arrived. As everyone took a chair, she smiled at them all and perched on the edge of the table at the front of the room.

"Good morning. Today is the first day we're going to talk about - and practice - some of the actual tools a spy uses." She grinned, excited. "Lockpicking isn't just used by spies, of course. But an agent can end up in a multitude of situations where a little manual dexterity is helpful." She winked at Seregil ~~if he was present~~. "Some of you already have experience in this of course. Either from another of my classes or outside activities. And for you, I have something a bit more difficult planned."

"But before we get into the actual practicing, let's go over the basics of how, exactly, you pick a lock." With that she took them through a short but information-filled lecture on picking locks.

She gestured them all to gather around the table. "Now, these are all training tools for learning. Take a turn at them, see what you can do. A third of picking locks is the theory, the other two-thirds is practice and steady hands." Aly smiled mischieviously at the class. "And I don't want to hear anyone complaining this is too hard. It's challenging, and those of you who've never done it before may take quite a while, but I learned how by the time I was four. There are sets of lockpicks on the table. Feel free to try out a couple different ones. And for those of you who want or need more a challenge, I have some much more difficult locks over in that corner." She pointed to where there was an assortment of pretty much any type of lock possible. Including one that didn't actually look like it needed a key.

he came back to the main table with a smile. "Right then, any questions before we start?" She paused to answer any that came up. "Now, I have one last thing for you. Part of being aware of your surroundings at all times is knowing who's near you and what they're doing there."

[OOC: ~~Wait for~~ the OCD ~~as is one's wont~~ is up, yo]

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"You just need to think about how a lock works," Mel said picking up a padlock and demonstrating with the picks. "You need to get a feel for how the pins in the tumbler are set up and then once you got those set..."

Mel did a little twist and the lock popped open. "And boom. You're in."

Willow watched carefully, then tried to recreate it on her own. "What if the lock doesn't want to open?"

"You might have missed a pin along the way," Mel said. "But a lock? It always wants to be open. The more stubborn the lock the better the stuff that it's guarding."

She may look a little wistful there.

"Especially if it's really hidden," Willow said. She tried to see what pins she was missing. "Do you think ~~Marty is the one who should really be teaching me this?~~ locks would like to be asked? Maybe the more stubborn ones wish we wouldn't be so rude about it."

"~~Well he is the best lock pick the school has ever seen. I bow down to his mastery.~~ I've been known to chat with a lock when I've been trying to get it open," Mel admitted sheepishly. "Though it usually involves a lot of curse words and threats."

"~~Well of course. That's not even in question.~~ Oo, like I do with computers sometimes?" Willow asked. "Only then not so much cursing as it is trying to lay on guilt trips. Which is surprisingly effective."

"Cursing works better," Mel replied. "I find the guilt trips to be ineffective. That could be just me though."

"Oh no," Willow said. "Never underestimate the power of a good guilt trip. It's passive, but that's why they rarely see it coming."

"It must be just me then," Mel replied. "Then again guilt trips aren't my style at all."

"Here, I'll show you," Willow said. Still fiddling, she gave her lock a sad and woeful look. "Won't you open up for me? Please? If I can't make you work I'll fail and then I'll have to spend the rest of my life in a cardboard box which, in addition to being terrible against wet weather, won't have any locks at all! It wouuld be awful!"

There was a click, and the lock opened up. Willow smiled proudly.

Mel was snickering. "Yeah. Okay that was actually pretty good."

She picked another lock out and placed in front of Willow. "Try this one."

Willow started trying to pick the lock open. "Open? Please? Otherwise I'll know the other lock loves me more than you do and I'll feel horrible about it and wonder what I did to offend you or maybe a member of your family."

Another click, another proud smile.

"Damn, Will. Keep this up and I'm dragging you with me on a life of crime," Mel joked.

"I have sworn only to use my powers for good," Willow said. "Seriously, I wrote it down and everything. It's part of trying not to go evil."

"Well... what about using your powers for fun?" Mel suggested. "Nothing wrong with a little fun, right?"

"Oh that I'm all over," Willow said with a firm nod.

"Hmmm...." Mel said drumming her fingers. "What could we do for fun that involves lockpicking?"

"Something involving boyfriends and handcuffs?"

Mel looked at Willow in shock.

"Damn. It is always the quiet ones."

Willow looked innocent.

Mel was still looking at her now with a mixed expression of suspicion, shock and a bit of admiration.

Willow blinked cutely.

"You're just messing with my head, right Will?"

"Sorta?" Willow said. "Peter gets all stammery. Which is cute in its own way, granted."

"You've been holding back on me, Rosenberg," Mel said chuckling. "And here all this time I thought you were... just a good girl."

Re: Picking Locks: The "Easy" Ones

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