Practical Diplomacy

[sith_happened]

Today the class was back in the Danger Shop, but instead of a press conference, it was set up to look like an extremely stuffy reception. Waitstaff of various species wove through the crowd offering appetizers and drinks as people made smalltalk and tried to look and be as interesting as possible.

Anakin hated these events. "Right," he said to the class. "A huge part of your job as a diplomat will be making and maintaining contacts, and excruciatingly dull receptions is an excellent time to do so. Your job today is to find and remember three separate beings' names and what they do while holding a glass of something and eating a plate of appetizers. It's not nearly as easy as it sounds. You must also give them a false name and backstory. Silly accents are entirely optional."

Comments

Sign in 1/24

[sith_happened]

Ready to mingle!

Re: Sign in 1/24

[always_someone]

Norman Babcock

Re: Sign in 1/24

[refused2berescued]

Uma, daughter of Ursula

Re: Sign in 1/24

[misshapen_spark]

Yang Xiao Long

Smalltalk like its your job!

[sith_happened]

Today it is! Holding a glass and a plate, try to figure out three names and job descriptions, either of fellow students or NPC computer-generated guests while not spitting food and/or drink on anyone.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[always_someone]

Norman, or, as he was going by for the sake of this class, Percival Prenderghast, was not what you'd call 'social' even when he was mingling with his actual peers. That said, he was trying. If he just pretended the guests at this thing were dead, it was a little bit easier.

It helped that this reception was so dull, a few of them might as well be zombies, anyway.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"Salutations, Nor--" Sidon had started, but he caught himself before he got too excited for the opportunity to hob-nob with his little sibling and he chuckled. "Good sir," he corrected himself. "How are you enjoying yourself amongst these fine festivities and guests?" Gesturing, of course, to the room as a whole with nary a splash of his glass or a tilt of his small plate of snacks.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[always_someone]

"Oh, it is as one might expect," Norman said, putting on a kind of terrible fake British accent and putting his chin up into the air.

... Which mostly was just a side-effect of looking up at Sidon.

"These things are ever so refined, aren't they?"

He was rolling that 'r.' A lot. It was possible that he'd stolen this particular affectation from his old elementary school's drama teacher, Mrs. Hensher. She had been quite the personality.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[refused2berescued]

Right, Anakin was adorable if he thought Uma was doing anything other than scarfing down all the canapes she could and harassing the waiters for more of the fizzy drink.

If fancy important people wanted to talk, they could come to her.

On the other hand, before the hour was over she would be able to give a full report of some of the shady shit this caterer was pulling back in the kitchen, backed by multiple sources. Uma had been overworked in food service for most of her life. Getting to know the staff had been a breeze.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Sidon was a fancy important person! He would happily come to Uma to talk, especially since he was having way too much fun with this whole thing.

"My goodness!" he remarked. "The food must be quite exquisite; they simply cannot seem to keep you away from it, my dear madame! Tell me, is there anything particularly scrumptious you might recommend?"

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[refused2berescued]

Uma had to pause, first to wrap her head around the question (look, words like scrumptious didn't get a lot of use on the Isle) and then to figure out whether or not she should be insulted. "It's all pretty good," she allowed. "I like those little flakey mini-pastry...things."

She was pointing to some mushroom quiches, more things she didn't know the words for.

"They don't fall apart in your pocket or make a mess like those meatballs do."

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[misshapen_spark]

Please, Yang had been the hostess for any event at her home over the years, and more than a few at Signal. 'Perk' of being Tai's oldest daughter.

She knew exactly how to make polite noises and not actually listen to anything while enjoying her drink. Names were easy. Hunters had to be able to pick up stuff like that quickly. Bothering to pay attention to the boring details of some drone's office job? Who caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaares?

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"What a simply marvelous event!" Sidon remarked, greeting Yang with his bright toothy smile and a general careful gesture of his hand holding his drink at the room as a whole. "Are you having a good time, my lady?"

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Sidon's accent was already pretty ridiculous, so that was likely to say the same no matter how hard he tried to do something different in the spirit of things, but he did have fun weaving together a new persona for himself. Of course, he'd named himself Vahn Ruto, the first name that popped into his head, and decided that he was from a place called Azorilandia, which had nothing to with water at all, to prove how creative he was being.

But he was exciting. Mingling and chatting and getting to know people was what he did best, even if there wasn't anything really small about his smalltalk when you got right down to it.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[reicicled]

Multitasking where one of the tasks included eating? Oh, Bobby- sorry, Drake Roberts- was all over this.

Pretending to pay attention, though... that part he was less good at. But he was gonna try.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Why stop at just remembering three people? Sidon was going to try to get to know everyone! Outside of waterfall diving and spearing octoroks, this was truly his element.

"Why, salutations, my fine gentleman!" he said, intent on banishing the stuffiness of the reception with the sheer force of his good cheer. "What a splendid little soiree, I must say! Wouldn't you agree?"

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[reicicled]

Bobby's first instinct was to make finger-guns at Sidon... but his hands were full. Damnit.

"The food is great," Bobby said, around a mouthful of some sort of cheesy-bread-thing.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[refused2berescued]

"...I need your pockets," Uma said coming over to 'Drake Roberts.'

It was possible she didn't understand the exercise. Or maybe the point of the exercise. Or maybe she just didn't care.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[snipsnspecks]

If Ahsoka seemed particularly amused today, it was because she knew full well what Anakin was like at things like this. Especially if he didn't have Padme or Obi-Wan to run herd on him.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[midichlorianfail]

Theron was just going to try to fade into the background, thanks.

Re: Smalltalk like its your job!

[notamascot]

Kaylin couldn't smalltalk to save her life, but her memory for names and jobs was well-honed.

Her table manners were not nearly as well-honed.

If anyone asked she'd tell them she was Teela and had lived all her life in the city of Elantra with her parents.

Talk to Anakin

[sith_happened]

He can absolutely be one of your three people.

Re: Talk to Anakin

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"My goodness," Sidon nearly bellowed when he made the rounds and came to Master Skywalker, barely containing his grin, "I am quite certain we have not been acquainted. I am," and here he gracefully bowed despite every fiber of his being wanting to pump his fist, "Vahn Ruto, of the dry desert land of Azorilandia! Who might you be?"

He thought he was being devishish by turning it around on the teacher and putting him in a situation to pretend as well.

Re: Talk to Anakin

[sith_happened]

"I am Ben Kenobi," Anakin replied, "and the host of this event. If we aren't acquainted, how did you come to be on the guest list?"

OOC

[sith_happened]

Did this last night, actually. Diplomatting like a boss. A boss who doesn't get paid.