fandomhigh | Living With Difficult Women [Tuesday, Period 5]

Max had spent a large chunk of the past week rethinking precisely how he was going to run this class with all the... women in it. He hadn't really come up with a solution he liked, but it was class time now so it was apparently time to go with a solution he didn't much care for.

"Welcome back, everyone," he began as he looked around at his students. "This class is intended to be a practical one, but for us to do that we're going to have to be candid with one another. That, however, requires trust, and we don't all know one another that well." He quirked an eyebrow, wondering if anyone was going to challenge that assertion. "We're going to try to remedy that." He grinned suddenly before adding, "The trust part."

"You're going to pair up. Then each of you is going to share a deeply private secret with the other one. That way each of you will know that if you violate the trust of the other students in this class, someone else here holds a serious piece of information to punish you with. If the person you're partnered with judges your secret to be insufficiently powerful, they can demand another, so you're better off sharing one major thing than being forced to go through a dozen things that almost qualify."

Max let a hard gaze drift slowly across the room, letting it rest on each student until he felt he'd driven home how serious he was. "Understand this: by receiving these secrets you're being entrusted with something important. Violating that trust is not something I will tolerate. The only reason we're doing this is to help everyone to feel like the can be candid because they'll know that everyone has shared something here they don't want spread around."

He gestured to the ~~handwavy~~ list he had up. "I've assigned partners randomly. Find yours and get to it. I'll be stopping by to check on how each of you are doing."

"Oh, and Pendragon, Cauthon, I want to see each of you after class."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You realize that participation here is not optional?"

“I realize that’s what you intend,” Ino said, staring back at him defiantly. “But ‘till you define ‘important’ I ain’t telling no one nothing ‘bout me. And what ‘bout the squirrels? You think they going to care ‘bout ‘this is a trust thing, please keep it in the class’?” Ha, right.

"The point of the exercise is to ensure that even if others in the class don't know you, they'll feel confident that you won't reveal anything because there's something you don't want revealed either." He quirked an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "And you don't think I can take care of a little squirrel problem?"

"Ah," she said 'cheerfully', "the wonders of blackmail between students?"

"That's a crude way to say it," Max shrugged. An accurate one, too.

"But more accurate than saying it's a trust issue," she said waspishly. "Blackmail's a pretty poor way to form a bond of trust."

"It is expedient, though." Max smiled languidly at that.

"That's lovely for the rest of the class," she said angelically.

Because Ino? Wasn't participating.

No. Way. In. Hell.

"Again, you seem to think that this is optional."

"I'm opt-ing out," she informed him. "All difficult like, if you want."

"You're opting out of my class?" Max asked, eyebrow raised, but tone slightly dangerous.

"This activity," she said flatly, bracing herself for whatever punishment he decided she deserved. She'd take it. She just wasn't going to do this. "And if you don't get why then you weren't listening at J,GOB."

Hi, Ino had massive massive trust issues.

Max's eyes narrowed. "I was listening. But your personal problems do not give you a pass here."

"I don't need to be given a pass here," she snapped. "Since I'm taking one anyway. I am refusing to do this class activity on the basis of it interfering with my privacy and the fact that I don't trust a single person in here to keep any of my secrets if they thought it was better that people knew 'bout them."

Her eyes were cold. "I won't do it, Centurion."

Edited 2010-01-13 00:53 (UTC)

"I see." Max sounded... almost reasonable. Which probably wasn't a good sign.

"So this is how you deal with orders you don't like."

"No," she said flatly. "This is how I deal with classes that are inconsequential to my career and have activities that I don't like."

"Orders, I obey."

But for all he trained her, she wasn't obliged to follow his orders. Reno's, yes. Centurion's... he hadn't earned that yet.

The only people who'd never had to earn that were back home. Different world, different rules.

Max smiled far too pleasantly.

And waited to see if she had anything else to add.

"You ain't my commander," she said, looking down. "And my secrets are my own. Orders you got outside of class, I'll follow. Most of the orders inside class? I'll follow."

"This one, I won't."

"I see. Then you are free to leave for the remainder of today's class. And I'll see you in my office on Thursday."

That wasn't a suggestion, either.

"Sir," she said, grabbing her bag and slinging it over one shoulder. "I'll see you then."

Living With Difficult Women [Tuesday, Period 5]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject