fandomhigh | 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

Hello, Cloud. Karla would like to assure you right now that the smile she is wearing is one full of friendship and optimism and can not in anyway be interpreted as 'wicked.'

Really.

"Kiss kiss," she said, sliding into the seat next to his. She flashed him that in-no-way-wicked smile again. "Want to be my partner?"

Now, you have to understand that Cloud was by no means a poor defenseless soul when it came to woman, really. The fact he was about to spat something along the lines of 'Better you than anyone' had absolutely nothing to do with it. Nada.

That was some not-wicked-at-all smile, darn it.

Cloud smiled back, in a even less wicked fashion -if that was possible-; while he still preferred torture to do this -and honestly, this could be considered torture on its own right-, Karla made things less weird. Or not. He would not dwell too much about it.

"Gladly", said as he took a deep breath. What had been on the board? Eye contact. Alright, he could do that. There, eye contact; Karla had pretty eyes anyway. Yes, this was working.

He was so doomed.

Eye contact first and then a genuine smile--which Karla's was, absolutely. And, if her body language suggested amusement more than anything else, at least she was still obeying the rules as written. She was often amused by her old friends, too.

Now, to find an interest... "You haven't been by the store recently," she noted. What? That counted as an interest! "You missed the chance to beat me at edible chess."

Nothing better than playing by the book, yes. Had Cloud been a couple of years younger -okay, maybe a couple of couple years younger- he would have probably feared that his words or actions caused a completely adverse reaction on a situation that involved flirt. Now? Now Cloud was more concerned in actually doing things properly; he had grown out of the doubt phase, at least. The fact he rarely engaged in such activities was a completely different story.

Karla's remark bout his absence in 'Dite's would have probably cuased a good deal of elaborate babbling, half apologetic and half flailing at the chance that visit Karla most of her shifts could not be considered stalking. Because stalking was a bad thing. Whatever the case, the mention of edible chess overruled whatever thought he had had up until now.

"That is..." He always got the difficult ones, apparently. "A shame. I take it there is no more edible chess then? I could always pass by and buy one. Or get regular chess...and then go somewhere to eat." See right there? He remembered he was supposed to flirt.

"There are still more in stock is you wanted to buy some," Karla promised. "But yesterday, I was buying because, well, there was edible chess and I was curious. And hungry."

Karla's default states, actually.

"But the chess at the store isn't the chess that I know," she added. "It's tiny with too few pieces and both players have to start with the same setup." She tilted her head. "Do you play, Cloud?"

"I suppose that few are the times when you can both satisfy your curiosity and your hunger", mused as he tried to keep his smile as such, and not turn it into a smirk; it wasn't his fault that smirking was easier.

"Tiny and with too few pieces...the I would need to buy two of them to have all the pieces?" What a ripoff... "The added difficulty is probably a fast way to encourage the players to move on and get to the eating part." It would work on him, at least. Can't hold the horse properly? Eat it! It'll serve it right.

"And not really", admitted as he shrugged a little. "Not in quite a while, at least, but it's never too late to rekindle one's interest for games, right? Specially not with the right company."

"Well, I think it had the right number of pieces for this world's chess," Karla explained. "The kind of chess we play in Kaeleer is different. But Tim didn't seem to think anything was missing from the board when we set it up."

Propping her chin up with her hand, she offered Cloud a smile. "My set will need new pieces, but they included molds to make them. So if you're ever interested and feel like I might be good company, I'll be happy to help you rekindle that interest. Or learn proper Kaeleeran chess, which is far more fun."

And complicated!

He had to figure that for a moment. Chess that wasn't exactly the chess he knew about. "What do you know, and both of them are called chess." It was an oddity of knowing more than one world, truly.

Cloud did as if he tried to ponder the best course of action for a moment, not losing his smile, using that small silence to lean his head on two fingers, elbow resting on the table. "Well, I happen to be quite interested now, with the added bonus of having edible pieces, not to mention I would really appreciate your company."

And more complicated, thought as his smile widened a bit. "If you think I can learn...why not?"

"And if you get good at that, I'll teach you cradle, too!" Karla promised, laughing. "You'll love it; it's so much fun!"

Run, Cloud. Run while you still can. Cradle was not meant for male minds to know.

Cloud didn't know a thing about Cradle...but something within him squirmed a little. "Let's take it slowly, alright? And I will require lengthy explanations of this Cradle thing."

In his defense, his mind had been broken enough times that he could almost put it back together by sheer willpower. Almost. He hadn't accepted, anyway. "Should I pass over 'Dite's regularly, then?"

"The door is always open," Karla said with a laugh. "You're welcome as long as I never have to toss you out on your ear. Or try to, anyway."

So far, Cloud hadn't really seemed the type.

That mental image might have been a little too much, but Cloud did his best to soften the chuckle. He didn't see himself as the kind that could earn such treatment, but at the same time, Karla looked perfectly capable of dealing with...unpleasanties.

"I shall then, and if you ever want to try", because it was better when it sounded as a challenge, "I've been lacking sparring buddies." All the dummies of the world wouldn't do unless they attacked back...and that sounded a good deal like a Fandom invasion, so in a way Cloud was glad it wasn't that way.

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

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