fandomhigh | So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 5, Period 3

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So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 5, Period 3

"Three days until Parents' Weekend, and most of you are still here? I'm impressed," Aly said teasingly. "Those of you who are new, don't worry. No one's died as a result of parental or other visitors. Embarrassment, I can't help you with. What I can do is-"well, technically she was going to probably start the embarrassment early, but whatever "- possibly give you some pointers on handling not just this weekend, but every time you need to establish a quick rapport with another person whether you need them as a contact or ally for your movement or just because you want your girlfriend's mom to like you.

She flipped the whiteboard around to reveal the writing on it.

11 Ways to Start Off on the Right Foot, or a Guide to Flirting.
1. Remain Still and Composed
2. Smile genuinely
3. Maintain as much eye contact as you can tolerate
4. Employ the same body language you would use with an old friend
5. Your opening statement is crucial
6. Assess then focus on the other person's interests
7. Mirror body language and echo speech patterns
8. Plan in advance what you're going to say about yourself
9. Be prepared for likely topics
10. Maintain unshakable confidence no matter what
11. Work the silences

Returning her gaze to the class, Aly gestured to the board. "Everyone likes an easy tip sheet, right? Here you are then, eleven ways you can start to build trust and establish rapport with a new contact." She winked. "Or a new interest. In all honesty, you can look at this type of conversation as flirting without sexual intent. What is flirting other than initiating contact and expressing interest in another person? You want to appear interesting, sincere, confident enough for the other person to think you're worth continuing the conversation with."

She looked back at the board. "Some of these are rather obvious. 'Smile genuinely.' I'm sure you've all met someone who just pulled his teeth back from his lips and called that a smile. It's not and it won't inspire warm feelings or even a smile in return. 'Your opening statement is crucial.' It's all the other person has to reply to, and when you're making contacts or flirting, you don't want to force the burden of the conversation on the other person. So don't box yourself in. Don't say 'wow, sure is hot in here.' What if the other person likes the heat? Ask them what they think and move on from there. Everyone likes talking about him or herself so find out their interests and focus your attention there."

Aly paused then rolled her eyes slightly. "But not to the exclusion of talking about yourself. Don't dodge questions. It's obvious and from a technical standpoint, anyone smart enough to be your agent is smart enough to notice. I realise that sort of thing looks really good in the spy films or novels, but it just doesn't generally work. Give the person a reason to keep talking to you, give them a reason to share information about themselves. That's why you're planning what you want to say in advance."

"So, any questions about this, how you'd use it, why you'd use it, anything?" She asked, gazing around the room, meeting each student's eyes. Once any questions were answered, Aly continued. "Your assignment today is twofold - one, I want you all to pair up and flirt - or establish a rapport if that's easier to think about or your girlfriend is in the class - with someone. If you don't know them very well, that's a bonus." She glanced over the class. "The second part is to keep these ideas in mind throughout the weekend and try to consciously use them as you meet some of our visitors. Be ready to report back on how it worked next Wednesday."

She waved to dismiss them into the activity then called everyone's attention back to her. "One last thing. If there's anything you want to be sure I mention - or don't mention - to your visitors, feel free to let me know. I look forward to meeting everyone's family and friends, and I'd rather not let any cats out of the bag."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's because none of the girls he knew were Mord'Sith.

"I'm sure Aly would only pick someone she considers capable." You wouldn't think 'capable' was a word you could fill with innuendo, but you'd be wrong.

Percy swallowed. Hard. "You think I'm capable just because I'm the TA? Um, thanks."

Percy could hear the lack of confidence in his voice and kind of hated that. "I think I'm learning the job okay. I haven't done anything wrong."

There was a little more cockiness there. If he didn't think about flirting, maybe he could manage this.

It was a good thing Cara had very little sense of shame, or she'd almost feel bad about how easy it was to mess with teenage boys.

"I can't imagine how stressful it must be." This being a blatant lie, given Cara's own TA job. "So much responsibility, the trust that you'll rise to the occasion." So to speak.

"It hasn't been...that hard yet," he said, feeling his cheeks get a little warmer unintentionally. Percy cursed his errant hormones.

"And there's three other TA's," he reminded her. "So, I don't have that much responsibility. It's kind of, you know, split."

"I'm sure than when thing do get hard you'll be more than able to handle yourself." It was a testament to Mord'Sith training that Cara could say that without so much as turning an eyelid. "Though it's always preferable having someone else there to lend a hand."

"You sound like you know a lot about being a TA," Percy noticed, glancing at her but then away because...yeah. He was so not good at this. "Experience?"

"I've some experience at handling myself, and working in groups," Cara said by way of reply, moving further into Percy's personal space. "Enough to know what I like."

Percy could be a dim witted as they came but even he couldn't miss that. Amazingly, he managed not to move away. He just swallowed again and tried not to blush too much.

"Oh yeah?" he finally stammered out. "What do you like?"

Cara suspected that if she wanted to make Percy's head explode, she simply had to be honest, so it was for his own good that she played coy. Really. "I'm very flexible, so the real question is what do you like?"

Again, it was for his own good.

The only thing about asking Percy to be honest was that flirting was out of his league, he could sense the innuendo but he wasn't skilled enough to return it.

"...swords?" It shouldn't have been a question but it was.

[Sorry about that! I had to work late and then came home and just crasssshed hard]

That got an actual, genuine smile out of her, because males and their swords.

"And how well can you handle your sword?" Now that was just plain mean.

"I'm not too bad," Percy said, deciding on modesty for the current moment. If this had been either of his cousins, he would have exaggerated immensely. "I can hold my own, I think. I do all right."

If she listened closely, Cara could swear she heard a whoosh. "And up against a partner?"

"Depends on the partner," poor poor, stupid Percy said. "If the other person was good, I'd try to be better."

"And if they were very, very good?" To be honest, Cara would probably have gone about this the exact same way if she was actually talking about fighting.

"Then..." Then what? Percy found his words were gone for a moment while he watched her and tried to think of a good, confident response that wouldn't make him sound like some inexperienced toddler.

"Then, it'd be a fun encounter," he finally said, sounding somewhat confident of that fact. "Challenging."

"I do enjoy a challenge." Of course completely thrashing your opposition could be fun too.

"You think you'd be a challenge for me?" Percy asked, amazingly managing to look at her while he said that.

Cara's grin turned predatory. "Very few men can handle a Mord'Sith."

"You might be surprised at what I can handle," Percy said, able to dig up some more bravado due to the sheer fact that he knew he was something special.

That didn't mean he thought he could handle her, Mord'Sith or not, but he could act like he thought he could. He was trying to flirt, right? Maybe his ego could help with that.

"Maybe I would be." Cara doubted it though.

Percy barely resisted the urge to tug at his collar. His cheeks stayed pink but he didn't end up turning the color of a tomato.

"I'm very surprising," he stammered, nodding. "I think maybe should be probably."

"Do you now?" Personal space? What personal space? "And what makes you think you could handle me?"

Percy honestly didn't know. His ego had gotten away from him there and now that it was out there, he couldn't really take it back. He knew he couldn't back away now because that'd just make him look like weak and he was determined not to be that even when it came to girls who were intimidating him.

"A hunch," he mumbled, still keeping eye contact. "I'm tougher than I look. I've handled more than you probably know."

Of course, he'd handled monsters, not girls who wore tight leather and could kill you with a glare.

Cara had handled both, the latter in more ways than one.

"I could say the same of myself." She looked such a delicate flower too.

So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 5, Period 3

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