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How to Make Friends & Influence People | 4th Period | Monday

Carter... Carter looked terribly confused today, and a little bit concerned as well. Fjord had explained the exercise that he'd wanted to do with the class, but somehow it all became a mess the more Carter thought about it.

"Hello, class," he said, smiling a bit anxiously at them. "Fjord's taking control today, so I'm afraid about all I have to offer you is cookies."

"Not a bad start," Fjord offered, glancing at the cookies with a crooked smile. "I'll get through the lecture, then you can help yourselves to cookies while putting this exercise to the test." He looked back at the class. "Today, we're polishing our public persona. That is, how we present ourselves when we're out in public."

See, that was right where Carter got confused.

"This is where he loses me," Carter admitted to the class. "I have yet to grasp why a persona is necessary at all."

Fjord gave Carter a faintly pained look.

"Some people need to work slightly harder than others to be looked upon with favor in polite company," he said, simply. "Or there's simply the fact that if everyone walked around wearing their inside thoughts on the outside, the streets would probably be running with blood within an afternoon."

Not actually an optimist, that Fjord.

There was... nothing faint about the pained look that Carter sent right back at Fjord.

Carter was actually an optimist.

"I'm sure that's just an exaggeration," Carter said mildly. At least, he sincerely hoped it was. "No one should be expected to have to lie to get by in society. Politeness alone suggests otherwise."

Fjord would have found that adorable if he didn't happen to find it outright offensive. But rather than start an argument in front of the students, he heaved a heavy sigh, ran a hand through his hair, and made a point to just keep his eye on the class.

"We'll leave it up to the discretion of the class as to just what kind of response they'd like to elicit from the general public," he said, at length. "While politeness might often garner a polite reply in turn, that isn't necessarily the case." He cast a sidelong glance at Carter. "Since arriving here, I've had people react with everything from outright fear to rude questions about why I'm green, and while I can't do much about the second sort of person, I can evaluate how I want to come off to people who react the first way."

Carter.

And... and Carter really had no response to that, except to look extremely, and genuinely, distressed on behalf of Fjord.

Fjord continued addressing the class.

"So, our assignment for today is to pair up and talk about how it is you would like the people around you to perceive you," he continued. "Pass thoughts back and forth, give one another suggestions on what it is that people expect to see when they encounter a person who gets the sort of reaction you're looking for. Incorporate those into how you present yourself to your partner." He glanced at Carter for a moment. "Or don't. Really, it's up to you."

Carter wrung his hands. "I really didn't mean to offend," he said, since he... he was pretty sure that Fjord was offended. "I simply cannot imagine people behaving that way."

He glanced at the rest of the class.

"And I do hope that all of you never have cause to endure such behaviour from others either. It's wrong and cruel of people to do such things."

It was because you were tiny and cute and human and blond, Carter. Fjord didn't say that, though. He simply cleared his throat and said, possibly a little tightly, "I believe you said something about cookies."

"Oh dear," Carter murmured, still very distressed, though he nodded. "Yes, everyone, there are cookies as well. Please, help yourselves."

And he'd go back to feeling very poorly about everything, given how upset Fjord was.

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Work on how you want to present yourself to the people around you, ask your partner for suggestions if they have any.

And Sidon was there working on presenting himself as an approachable and worthy partner for the activity, bright eyed and big smiles and squared chest, which would...likely have the exact opposite of his intention if it weren't for the fact that everyone pretty much already knew him.

Breq wasn't sure how useful any feedback Sidon could give her might be, but at least it would be an interesting conversation.

"So," she said. "Any thoughts on this?"

"I find it very interesting," said Sidon, after a moment of consideration and a faint smirk at Breq, "that there is all this talk of how to present ourselves, and yet our instructors do not seem too concerned with ensuring to present themselves as synergistic team on the same page, as they say, but there are very good points here. I, for one, try to present myself as approachable and kind and friendly, though I understand that, at first, my appearance would suggest I am anything but. Still, I believe I do a good job of it, as I don't believe any of my peers here at the school to find me frightening or unapproachable. How about you, though? What are your thoughts?"

"I agree with you about our teachers," Breq said. "I'm not even sure it's deliberate, which could make sense."

She decided to smile at Sidon. "If people don't understand that you're kind and friendly, it might be because they're not familiar with your people. Prejudice isn't always easy to deal with."

"No," said Sidon, his smile growing quite a bit softer and quieter, "it isn't, but I can't help but see it as a necessary hurdle in most people's lives. At least with me, people seem to wear their prejudices very front and center, much easier to perceive, than it may be with someone who gives the impression," look at him trying to drop all those keywords, "of being similar. It's funny, that this topic should come up today, when I was just having a conversation about it with someone else just the other day. I think no matter how we try otherwise, we simply cannot control the impression someone may have of us, though we certainly can try to influence it."

Breq, who had seen her fair share of prejudice, mostly from the Radchaai towards the people they annexed, said:

"You're right. We have no control over it. Some less than others. So, what impression did I give you when we first met?"

She deliberately did not smile.

"You know," said Sidon after a moment, "it's strange, but I find it difficult to look back with a clear perspective of when we first met! I make the effort, but when I do, all I can see is you being very strong and serious, an excellent listener and one who is effortlessly selfless. Which, of course, those are all the impression that I have of you now. I am certain that, at the very least, strong and serious was very much my first impression of you, but how could I have known those other things back then? My view is either obscured by what I do know now, or, if it is clear, then clearly you left a lasting impression that has remained with me since."

And, because he couldn't help but asked, he added, "And what was yours of me?"

Breq considered how honest she was going to be, and decided for honest but not blunt.

"I was surprised by your enthusiasm and friendliness, and wasn't sure at first if it was genuine, if it was just politeness or if you had some ulterior motive. I know now that you're nothing of not a genuine friend."

From here.

"Sure," Lana said. She held out her hand. "Lana Beniko."

Breq, who by now had come to accept that kind of greeting, took Lana's hand.

"Breq. If I suggest we skip all the questions about you being new and our respective worlds, what impression would that give you?"

Lana thought about it. "That you were either unpersonable, wary of others, or tired of the way these conversations inevitably start. What impression would it give if I said I enjoy learning about all the different worlds people are from?"

"That you were curious, or wanted to find out useful information, or just found it a good topic for conversation," Breq said. "And if I evaded all your questions?"

She usually didn't, but this was hypothetical.

"That would narrow it down to either wary of others, or hiding something," Lana said. "Or possibly both. What would you do if I were to tell you I thought that?"

"That you were probably right," Breq said. "I would then ask if you thought I should have pretended to share more with you would have been preferable."

"I would tell you it would be less suspicious, anyway," Lana answered. "Unless of course I could tell that you were lying."

She could.

"Can you?"

Breq had met people who could.

"Yes," Lana answered. "But I don't generally point people's lies out to them unless there's a reason. We all say 'good morning' even when it's awful out, after all."

Breq wasn't quite comfortable with that. While her emotional reactions were never betrayed by her body language and voice, anyone who had access to her mind in ways she didn't understand and wasn't mutual, she... well, she preferred trusting them. She trusted Kanan. And hopefully Lana couldn't pick up on emotions in the same way.

"People have all sorts of reasons to lie."

Lana could pick up on emotions, but mostly she just made note of them.

"They do," she agreed. "I prefer not to assume people's motives without information. I'd rather not waste time in being wrong."

"Sometimes you don't have a choice."

Breq couldn't help being curious though:

"How do you tell if people lie?"

She had been able to do it a lot of the time with her officers, but having their implants feeding her constant data helped with that.

Lana shrugged. "I can feel it, if I'm paying attention."

"Can some people stop you from picking it up?" Breq asked, curious.

"Probably," Lana said. She smiled. "But I'm not telling anyone how."

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How to Make Friends & Influence People | 4th Period | Monday

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