fandomhigh | Teamwork for Jerks, Friday

“Today we’re going to talk conflict resolution,” Jack began, as she welcomed the students to a standard classroom with chairs set in a circle. “Now, maybe you’re lucky. Maybe you’re some freaky gentle soul who loves everyone you’ve ever met. But for most of us, that ain’t going to happen. There’s going to be at least one person on any squad who you could drop out of an airlock and go away whistling.

“For me, it was this woman who worked for a group that tortured me when I was a kid. Not her fault – she was a kid back then too – but she didn’t want to admit the group maybe had a couple little problems for something like that to happen. We came this close to just having a throwdown before our commander told us to knock it the f- the heck off and concentrate on our real problem. Turned out she was right.

“And that’s the main thing you got to remember when you’re trying to work with somebody you can’t stand. They may be a total jerk, but they’re still on your team. Trying to kill them means you’re wasting energy that could go to killing an actual bad guy.

“There are a couple ways you can resolve the situation. You can agree to disagree and just drop it. You can find a compromise, which means everybody is equally unhappy but not totally screwed. You can just avoid the person you're fighting with. Or you can find somebody to mediate the fight.”

She went around the circle of students, handing out slips of paper. “Each of you now has an issue with the person sitting next to you. You get to try to work it out. If you need a mediator, raise your hand and I’ll come on over.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Alex Aaron - Your partner belongs to the alien race that killed your grandparents and doesn't seem to feel guilty.
Anya Corazon - Your partner likes to be naked. Like, all the time.
Barry Ween - Your partner’s been snooping through your stuff.
Edward Kenway - Your partner ate your chocolate that you marked ‘do not eat.’
Eleanor Lamb - Your partner hums under their breath constantly.
Isaac Lahey - Your partner borrowed your favorite weapon and gave it back broken.
Jalian d'Arsennette y ken Selvren - Your partner keeps flirting with your significant other.
Kathy Li - Your partner doesn't shower enough.
Tobias "Four" Eaton - Your partner is a bad driver, but you have to ride with them.

Barry looked at his point of conflict and chuckled.

Oh, did he ever have issues when people did that to him.

Four sat down next to him. "If you ride the brakes that hard, they're gonna wear out," he said, nodding. "Cut it out."

Four approached problems--even hypothetical ones about bad driving--directly.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Barry replied. "I drive just fine. And brakes always wear out. By the way? I know you're snooping around in my stuff. Cut that shit out, dude."

"Maybe I was looking for proof that you've ever taken a driving course," Four retorted.

"I've been driving since I was eight," Barry shot back. "I know exactly what I'm doing. And my stuff can fucking hurt somebody if you mess with it. You don't want that."

"I'm not afraid of your stuff," Four replied, rolling his eyes.

Barry groaned. "It's not about being afraid, you-"

Barry swallowed the insult and started again. This was about conflict resolution, right?

"My stuff could kill you or turn you into a blob of protoplasmic goo," Barry said struggling to maintain politeness. "Can we compromise? Stay out of my stuff and I'll check the rear view mirror. Occasionally."

Edited 2014-05-16 15:22 (UTC)

"I stay out of your stuff and you look in the rear view mirror and use your turn signal. Most of the time."

"Fine. But lay off me about riding the brake. That's what it's for. It slows and stops the effing car."

Peaceful negotiation, Four reminded himself. "Fine. Deal."

Kathy had noooooo idea how to handle her problem. Or, well, her partner's problem. How would you tell someone that they needed to wash more often while still being polite? She was sure it was literally impossible.

...There was an uneven number of students in the class, right? Maybe she'd be lucky and be the odd person out.

[I am leaving for the woods in a few and will be unable to pick up pings until Monday.]

It helped that her partner had very little sense of rudeness or tact.

"I don't think you realize how frequently you hum," Eleanor said, by way of introduction.

(HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND)

Jalian...wasn't even sure what that meant. "What is a 'significant other'?"

And here Jack thought she'd picked a term that would cover all the bases. "Somebody you're in a relationship with," she said. "Like a boyfriend or a girlfriend. A lover."

She was rolling her eyes internally at the last term, but it was descriptive without being crude.

"Ah." Jalian filed away the term for future. Then frowned. She wasn't sure why she should care about such a thing, but she supposed it might be annoying after a while.

Jack nodded as if she thought the conversation was done, but hesitated. "Is that okay, or do you want me to pick something else for you?"

She could think of lots of ways people annoyed each other.

Jalian looked up, startled. "It's fine. I don't understand why it would be so annoying," she confessed, "but," she continued with a grin, "I'm very good at pretending."

Jin'Ish had detested teaching her for just that reason.

"It makes a lot of people jealous," Jack explained. "Even if you know your sweetie wouldn't look twice at anybody else, sometimes seeing somebody go after them makes you go feral."

She shrugged."Love makes you crazy, I guess."

"I've seen persons do that," Jalian admitted. "I think it's silly. I would just stab them, if I cared that much."

"... your partner, or the person flirting with them?"

It was an important question!

"The person flirting, of course!" Jalian scoffed. "If I want to stab my partner, it's time not to be partners anymore."

Teamwork for Jerks, Friday

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