fandomhigh | Dating, Hooking Up and Sex, Class 3, Friday period 3

There was a woman dressed all in black skintight leather standing next to Dean when the class filed in.

"Hi guys," Dean greeted them. "You're all probably wondering who the hot girl beside me is. This, ladies and gentlemen is my Baby. She's also not usually human, but she's always hot. Usually she's my '67 impala, and I have no problem admitting that I love her. If I didn't, she wouldn't be here like this -- last summer there was a weekend here was a weekend where everything people really really loved became human, like my Baby here. As I'm sure some of you have already discovered, that particular brand of Fandom weirdness is happening again. And before any of you ask, yes, she is who I'm referring to in the title of the last class in the syllabus." He grinned. "Not quite as kinky as you all were afraid it was, is it?

"And speaking of the syllabus, today's class is about how to find someone to do all that stuff you wrote down in your lists last week. Today we're going to concentrate on the hooking up part of the class title.

"So you know what you want and you've found someone who is hot. Or interesting, or cute, or a green alien with three heads from Alpha Centuri. Whatever floats your boat. You've found someone you're attracted to and you want to get to know them better. There's tips I can give you on various kinds of approaches and lines and all that, but really the thing you have to always keep in mind in these situations is nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"Doesn't matter if you're looking for someone to jump your bones as soon as you exchange names or someone who you want to have a long slow courtship with lots of dating and handholding and blushing before you get to the good stuff. If you don't take that first step and talk to the person, nothing's going to happen except you pining from afar. So make a move. Stomp on your nerves, take a deep breath and go over and say hi.

"Once you get talking, the best thing you can do is pay attention -- real attention -- to the other person, to what they're saying and how they're saying it. Find things you have in common to talk about, and watch their body language -- you can learn a lot just by watching how they move in reaction to what you're saying.

"Humor works well to break the ice and settle the nerves, as does complimenting the person you're trying to hook up with. And I mean real compliments -- things that you're genuinely liking. You can throw fake things out there of course, but fake is fake. It always works a lot better when you're honest.

"And once you've got talking for a while, you'll be able to tell if this is something worth pursuing or if you should just cut your losses and leave. And if it's the former, there'll be a moment where it'll feel like the right time to make a move, ask for a date. Or a one night stand. Or whatever it is you're looking for. And that's when you take a deep breath and ask. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

He paused to take a sip of his coffee that was sitting on the bar before continuing. "Now I can't give you a step by step, this is what you say and when you say it because every person, every situation is going to be different. What works for me won't necessarily work for you. So this next part I want to stress is merely an example of one way of hooking up and not the One True Hookup. But I wanted to show you something before turning you lose on each other so..." He gestured at the Impala standing next to him. "My Baby and I are going to demonstrate."

Dean and Impala then proceeded to have a back and forth that seemed to be mostly about driving except every word was ladened with innuendo. After a few minutes of that, Dean turned back to the class, noting which students looked a hair away from facepalming themselves out of existence. "So that tends to be how the two of us go about things.

"Now it's your turn," he continued, rubbing his hands together. "Today's assignment is to find someone in the class you want to hit on -- or at least that you can pretend you want to hit on -- and do exactly that. No, I don't expect you to necessarily have the same goal in mind as my Baby and I did, or to approach it the way we did. Do what feels right for you. I'm not going to mark anyone down because they would rather quietly discuss philosophy or a good book instead of throwing around double entendres and innuendos. Just as long as I see that you're making an effort, you'll pass. So, have at it. Get venturing."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's a game," Karla explained, happy to burble on about flying anytime. "Everyone ties streamers to their arms or legs and try to snatch at other people's streamers while flying around. Whoever has the longest streamer at the end, wins. It's fun!"

"So it's kind of like flag football without the football," Luke said, perfectly aware Karla might not know what he was talking about. "I could be interested in that. Well, not right at this moment, obviously..."

He looked over at the shoes, who seemed to be interested in grooming his own wings instead of listening to the conversation.

"He's, uh, very pretty?" Karla offered.

And he was! Even if he didn't strike her as being all that bright. On the other hand--he was normally a pair of shoes.

"We really ought to get a game going sometime. There are a bunch of us who can fly on the island." She paused for a moment, counting. "At least seven, counting the two of us. Eight, is someone wants to borrow my loaner pair of wings."

Luke's shoes used to have a much more important job than being a teenager's plaything (not dirty), so he wasn't so much dumb as much as he was kind of bitter and bitchy. Personally Luke couldn't wait until he turned back into shoes.

"Yeah, that could be fun," Luke said. He'd never say no to games like that. "So you have wings? How do those work?"

"Craft," Karla replied. "My best friend designed them for me, after she made a a pair for herself. We've replicated the design a few times, and I've given several pairs to friends. They're made of cloth and wood and magic."

They beat out wax and feathers, that was for damn sure.

"That's pretty cool," Luke said. He still felt a little weird about the magic thing, despite where he came from, since he mostly considered his skills to be genetic rather than anything else. "I really like flying. I can skip the whole thing since I can teleport but, I don't know, flying's more fun. Slower, but more fun."

Karla's own gifts were genetic as well. It was just how Craft worked in her world.
A landen had no hope of ever controlling Craft, no matter how many books he read or incantations he spoke.

"You can teleport?" Karla asked, chin in hand. "Facinating. How does that work? Can you just will it, or is there some mechanism?"

Even Luke wasn't sure how the whole teleporting thing worked, but he tried to explain it the best he could. "It's not exactly willing it. I can, like, tear rips in reality and travel through those."

"But no permanent damage is done to anything when I do it," he quickly assured her. He knew the tearing thing sounded kinda violent.

"That sounds astral," Karla said. "There's nothing in my arsenal like that. When it comes to traveling, my options are sadly limited. Even flying, I can't go much faster than I could running normally."

"You should try out the shoes sometime," Luke said. "Anybody can wear them."

The benefit of them being Converse was that they stayed on if you tied the laces tight enough.

If Karla was a little dubious at the prospect of wearing a male's shoes--specifically, a male's shoes currently in human form--she didn't show it. "I'll trade you sometime," she offered. "My wings for your shoes?"

"It's a deal," Luke said with a smile. "Should be fun."

"Just let me know," Karla said. "I never turn down an opportunity to fly. Or to try something new, either."

About three class periods later, Karla would think back to this comment and facepalm.

Edited 2010-07-23 23:34 (UTC)

Dating, Hooking Up and Sex, Class 3, Friday period 3

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture

Re: Listen to Dean's lecture