fandomhigh | Practical Diplomacy, Friday, February 17, 2017

Practical Diplomacy, Friday, February 17, 2017

Today the class was meeting in the Danger Shop, and the scenario was set up to look like a busy open air city market. "When you are acting as a diplomat, you aren't working in a vacuum," Anakin said. "There are numerous other groups who are invested in making you fail in your operation, or even just knowing what you're doing. Today we're going to have an exercise about being aware of your surroundings, dodging a tail, and tailing a target yourself."

"One would think this is an easy exercise, but it is not," Obi-Wan said mildly. "There is a veritable treasure trove of ways in which people can keep track of not just your movements, but your communications. You may also wish to consider leaving your communications devices at home."

Anakin nodded. "Even on this primitive planet--" ANAKIN, "--there are hundreds of phone apps designed to look like one thing that are really serving as recording devices. Flashlight applications, for instance."

"So do make sure to check your cell phone," Obi-Wan said. "The sim may make use of it as well."

The sim would definitely make use of it because Anakin was a cheating cheater. "Remember that your appearance can be changed--so can the way you walk, how you hold yourself, and so on and so on. Your job is to not be noticed."

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Peridot was following along with the entire lecture just fine, right up until the part where they said that 'appearance can be changed' bit.

As it was, she'd been iffy about the prospect of ditching her phone. It was her one bit of technology that helped her to feel like a whole and complete Gem again. But that last part?

She was three foot nothing, bright green, had large triangular hair, and was one of a newer wave of notably inferior Gems made after the war, without the ability to shapeshift. Everything about today's exercise struck a really, really raw nerve.

Rather than attempting to find some way to blend in - she wouldn't even know where to start - she tried to find herself a corner to tuck herself away in so that she could tweet the word 'CLODS' repeatedly to the world at large.

You...didn't really blend into that corner very well, Peridot.

"You feelin' okay?" Ada asked, going over to check on her friend. "You look...unhappy."

"I can't do this assignment," Peridot muttered, little green finger furiously tapping out a 140-character screed on her phone's screen. She couldn't quite bring herself to look up. "There is nothing about it that I'm equipped for."

Ada pursed her lips and looked Peridot over critically. "If this is rude, please forgive me, I don't know much 'bout Gems," she said, "--but how flexible is your hair?"

Okay, that got Peridot to look up with a squint.

"My hair?"

Well, it was...

She reached up her arm to the top of it all, and then squished it down so that it was almost flat against her head. It popped back up into place again when she let go, but it was still fairly flexible, for all that.

Edited 2017-02-17 16:59 (UTC)

Ada grinned. "Okay, I can work with that," she said, digging around in her bag for two elastics and her hair brush. "Here, scoot forward so I can sit behind you."

Peridot was going to get two cute, bushy little pigtails, if Ada had her way.

Peridot blinked up at Ada in confusion... but otherwise, did as she was told.

"What does my hair have to do with any of this?"

"It's th' easiest way to spot you," Ada said, starting to brush out Peridot's hair in long, soothing strokes. "If I can put it in a different style, then we can try t' use make-up t' change your skin color for your face, or just use a hat t' make it harder for people t' see you, an' clothes can do th' rest."

Peridot was making the weirdest faces at the sensation of having her hair brushed for the first time... ever. The weirdest.

"It can be... styled?"

Look, she was still pretty new at this. The fanciest she'd ever gotten was sticking her Valentine's roses into it earlier in the week.

"How?"

"You seen me with both my hair down, an' pulled up away from m' face, right?" Ada checked. "You can do different things with it, dependin' on how long it is."

She neatly smoothed half Peridot's hair into one bunch, and put an elastic around it. "What 'm doin' t' your hair right now is called 'pigtails.'"

"... Tails?"

Last she checked, that wasn't where tails went, but Peridot was willing to roll with this one.

"And this will help me... not be noticed?"

Ada grinned. "You're a tiny thing," she said, "An' it's a popular hairstyle for human children. They ain't gonna be lookin' for a little kid, they're gonna be lookin' for a Peridot!"

"So... I'll be camouflaged as a human child?"

That actually seemed sensible, even to Peridot. She silently mulled that over for a few moments, and then tried a tiny smile on for size.

"Yes, I think I can do that."

Someone was going to have to hold her hand if she was going to need to get out of here by bus, though.

"We can stick t'gether, too, since they probably won't be lookin' for pairs, but for individuals," Ada said, styling the second pigtail. "There. D'ya want to see how it looks?"

Peridot was feeling a little less hopeless now, at least, and was turning around to look at Ada with a nod of her head.

"Yes! Yes, let me see!"

Okay, a lot less hopeless.

Ada put the brush back in her purse and pulled out her compact instead. "Here you go," she said, flipping it open and offering the little mirror to Peridot. "One pair of pigtails, an' you've got a different silhouette!"

Peridot leaned forward to peer at her reflection, looking thoughtful. That was definitely not the silhouette of a Peridot, and she had to admit, she kind of enjoyed the way her hair bobbled around when she moved her head.

"It's... that simple," she said, maybe a tiny bit stunned. "To change a shape, I mean. I never would have thought..."

Pardon her. She was an Era Two Peridot. This was a big deal.

"An' no two people look th' same with th' same hair style," Ada said, shaking out her hair, and then using her hands to pull it back into two pigtails, her thick hair and long curls causing a different shape. "See?"

Peridot smiled a bit wryly at that.

"I look nearly identical to all other Peridots, with the possible exception of Gem placement and slight differences in hue," she shared. "We might surprise you."

But, since there were no other Peridots on Earth...

"This... might work, though. For the purposes of this... exercise."

"We'll get y'some clothes, too," Ada promised, already thinking. "Long sleeves, an' maybe shorts over tights or something, since most pants are gonna be too long on you..."

She grinned at Peridot. "Most of us don't come in such a pretty green color, unfortunately."

"Unfortunately," Peridot agreed, because green was an excellent color to be, naturally. "I... don't know what the rest of what you said really means."

She was gonna let Ada take point on this one, maybe.

"Different types of clothes," Ada clarified, getting up and offering Peridot her hand. "Let's go find you something that fits."

Peridot eyed the offered hand, and then smiled a little as she took it. She pulled herself to her feet and gave a little nod, resisting the urge to giggle in glee as her hair bobbled around with the motion.

"Yes! Let's!"

Okay, the excuse to play dress-up, she was all for.

"So, 'tights' are stretchy fabric leg coverings that come in lots of colors," Ada said, already looking for things for Peridot. "They're useful because they also cover your feet, so there's no gaps showing your skin. You wear 'em under a skirt or dress, or even shorts."

"You're also gonna want a shirt of some sort, an' maybe a hat," she continued. "I'd say try anything on, an' I'll tell you yes or no?"

"I can do that," Peridot all but chirped, and set right to work starting to rummage through the selection. Stretchy leg coverings... shirt, hat. Layers. Oh, there was a puffy green thing that looked like a shirt if the arm-coverings were torn off, and...

She blinked and held up a pair of sneakers.

And then gasped and immediately pulled them on. She'd have to remove them to get the tights on later, but for the time being, limb enhancers.

Sort of.

Re: Prepare to be sneaky!

boneyard_girl - 2017-02-17 20:15 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Prepare to be sneaky!

era_two_triangle - 2017-02-17 20:27 (UTC) - Expand

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