fandomhigh | Resolving Conflict Without Violence, Wednesday First Period [Week 4]

"Welcome back." Anne's usual smile was, perhaps, a little bit brighter than usual.

"We've spent our three weeks of class so far discussing a very specific non-violent approach to resolving conflicts: discussion. We've sought to hone our conversational skills, to improve our ability to examine our own positions, and others'. And while that will continue to be one of our primary focuses as we move forward, today we're going to discuss another tactic that's worth having in your arsenal."

She turned, writing on the board, and then stepping away with a flourish to reveal what she'd written. "Leave," she recited as she turned back to the class. "Sometimes this will be simple. In many situations, you can simply turn and walk away from whatever conflict crops up. Sometimes it will be more complicated. You may be in a location that precludes that option, such as an elevator."

Anne's smile slipped just a bit, dipping toward melancholy before recovering. "Sometimes you will find it difficult to leave because of your convictions. Because you can't simply walk away from a particular discussion even if it isn't violent. Or you may find yourself in conflict with someone who matters too much to you for you to simply walk away."

"So, before you can employ this particular technique, it's going to be important to recognize what situations you can use it in, and what situations you can't. And, as usual, the answer to that question is going to be different for each of you."

"So, today, let's take that as our topic of discussion: what sorts of situations do you feel comfortable walking away from? And, in such situations, what can change that makes you feel like you have to stay?"

"For myself, family is almost impossible to walk away from. I did do it once because I thought everyone would be better off that way, but in the end I regretted that decision. So, what about each of you?"

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"Then you definitely shouldn't walk away." And just like that, something had sparked in Summer, something snapped, and she sat up in her chair, her face starting to deepen to a red closer to her hair. "If you're in that deep, there's no turning back. You can't just turn your back on people right when they need you the most. If you reach that point, guess what, you stick with it, no matter what. You can't just abandon people, no matter how hard it gets. That's not what good people do."

And if she sounded a bit sore about it and glared slightly, it was just because she couldn't let the last part of the lecture just slip out of memory. Sure, she didn't know the story, and the lady only had one arm, here, but still! It just touched way too close to home and Summer Smith was not one to hold in her emotions during a moment.

Summer certainly sounded vehement there. If that bothered Anne, she didn't give any sign of it. Instead she seemed to consider for a couple of seconds before speaking again.

"No matter the cost? To you, or those around you?"

That seemed to blow the wind right out of Summer's sails, as it hit her brain and made her blink a few times. "Well, I mean, if it gets to that point, the point of no return, then what does the cost matter? You're already balls deep, might as well go out in a blaze of glory, fight for all you've got left..."

But...did she do that? She talked a lot of stuff about sticking through with things, but was she all talk? Suddenly, all she could think about was the wedding, and it all came rushing back at her hard. The whiplash between cheering Tammy on and then being gobsmacked as she turned and shot her new husband cold in the gut. The chaos that ensued afterwards, all the screaming, the laser shots, the bug aliens dropping from the sky to gun them all down. That was a moment where they were pretty balls deep, and what did she do? She couldn't remember, to be honest. She remembered hiding behind a table. She remembered running out and hiding in the catering ship and escaping with her family. She remembered breaking down into awful sobs when it became clear that they could never go home, they could never go back, nothing would ever be the same again. But what could she have done? She didn't have a weapon, there was fire filling the room from both sides, they just keep rushing in and shooting, shooting, shooting...Being covered in worms, Tammy's cyborg mom lady choking her...

Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Suddenly, her mind was just a mess of people dying before her eyes and her being pretty much paralyzed to do anything. Suddenly...ohmygod, was she having PTSD? What kind of bullshit was that?

So she closed her eyes, forced herself into deep, calming breaths, pinched the bridge of her nose. She was letting herself get all wound up and confused, and that was probably what they wanted. Confuse her, make her think that walking away wasn't so bad after all. The Federation had put her in this class. The Federation was trying to subdue her.

Nice try, alien assholes. Not going to happen. She might not be able to fight when you blindsided them with a surprise wedding massacre-slash-raid, but she could still fight vampires and brain sucking viruses and she could still get her grampa out of your stupid jail one day, too.

Summer sighed. This topic sucked. "Okay, so, let's say it's a choice between getting the hell out of there and saving people you care about and death? Then, okay, sure, walk away. That is probably much better. But that's, like, if there's no chance. No chance in hell you can fight and get out of there still breathing. There's always exceptions, there's always extremes, sometimes you're just....you're just...outnumbered...and scared...and there might just be a way out, so you should take it. Because everyone else is dead, and you'll be next if you don't move it. Then you can walk away..."

Then she folded her arms and sulked, perhaps a bit more than a sulk, because her desire to talk about this much more was comp-leeetely gone.

Anne watched Summer's face shift through some very complicated expressions, and it worried her. In fact, she was reaching out to gently place her hand on the girl's shoulder when she seemed to come back to herself.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should just nod and walk away.

"Too close to home?" she asked, voice almost impossibly gentle. "Want to leave it at that for now?" Because if Summer wanted to talk, well, Anne was there to listen, but if someone asked Anne if she wanted to talk? No. She wasn't ready.

"Yeah, I'm done," Summer said conclusively. And because she couldn't help the snark sometimes, especially when she was upset, she added, "I guess I'm walking away from this one while I still can..."

That didn't seem to bother Anne. She just offered Summer a nod.

"Sometimes that's the wisest course of action."

Resolving Conflict Without Violence, Wednesday First Period [Week 4]

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