fandomhigh | Relationship Skills, Friday Period 3

The alert amongst the workshop attendees might notice that they had half as much teacher this week. Spoiler alert: it was the mean one.

"Jaskier could not be with us this week, as he is monstrously hungover and-slash-or struggling to write his next quote-unquote 'masterpiece,'" Yennefer said, with finger quotes. "Possibly both. His voicemail was a bit vague, but he did," she would begrudgingly allow, "tell me. Which neatly ties in with the subject of the day: communication. Communication is the key to any healthy relationship. If the way your best beloved lets the dishes pile up in the sink drives you crazy, you have to tell them that so they'll know they need to do better, otherwise resentment will build up and eventually you'll just explode and have a giant, possibly relationship-ending fight. Over dishes you don't even have to haul water in from a well to wash. Or, if you tell them and they continue the behavior, that tells you something about them as well, doesn't it?" Yennefer paused for a moment, and then said in a surprisingly impassioned outburst, "Or, if you use a wish from a djinn to bind someone to you through destiny, you should really tell them that from the outset so that they're not left wondering if how they feel about you is real or magical manipulation years into your relationship, whilst standing on top of a mountain next to a dead dragon," Geralt.

She paused again, composed herself, and said, "So: communication. Several of you have indicated this is an area you struggle with. The internet offers several helpful tips about communication, one of the most common being to phrase things as 'I' statements about how the issue at hand impacts you, rather than 'you' accusations such as, 'You left the damn dishes in the sink again.' This is supposed to help the other party understand your point of view or...something like that." Yennefer had gotten bored at that point.

"We were going to pair you up to practice this, but wouldn't you know it, that was Jaskier's job, so instead I want you to think about an issue that you've had either in your current relationship or a previous one, and try framing it as an 'I' statement rather than centering it on the other party. Hmm? Let's begin."

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Again he stole her pen to write back, You started it.

His handwriting was passable. Not sloppy, but nothing to (heh) write home about either.

She wrote and handed it back.

Yes, but how do you FEEL about it?

Oh that got her a look. Specifically a look that called Nell a wise ass. There was absolutely no smile because everyone knows Marc never smiled.

This time the note back had Marc's number on it and Will you text like a normal person?

From one abnormal person to another, really.

Nell had a phone because someone had made her get it, but she had almost never used it and texting? She'd seen people fiddling with their thumbs on the phone, but she'd never done it herself. Next thing he'd be telling her she could take notes or record on it or something.

With the subtlety of a very large intoxicated elephant, Nell managed to dig her phone out of her bag and managed to get it to light up. (Please don't let Yennefer turn her into something dreadful for disrupting.) She stared at it for a moment, then sighed and set it down before reaching for the paper and pen.

I don't know how.

Off it went.

That got her a quizzical look.

Are you from 1909?

What? The only other person Marc knew of who'd had similar issues was from that year. It was a logical conclusion.

No. I'm from a backward cult from the present day which hates the government and doesn't want to have a way for people to track them on these devil's instruments.

Okay, they'd never called the phones devil's instruments, but there had been lots of conversations among the menfolk about the government spying and interfering in their business. Still, it sounded good so she wasn't going to cross it out and put something more accurate down.

Which was a fair point. Still it did raise a followup question.

And during the last four years?

Why would I need to text? I got the phone so people could call me, didn't I?

Not that people did, generally, and she didn't call people usually. She just went to see them. They all lived in a dorm together afterall.

Considering their ages, Marc was pretty sure their roles were supposed to be reversed on which one of them preferred using their phone as a phone.

I feel that sounds a lot like talking.

That was definitely an 'ugh' face that Nell was making.

I mostly don't get any calls.

If she gave more people her number perhaps they would. If she knew her number, maybe she'd give it to more people. If she thought of it. If her phone was a smart phone and not the most basic of models and she knew she could have all the information in the world at her fingertips... she might just find the money to upgrade.

Marc was ignoring the "ugh" face.

Give me your phone for a sec if you want me to have your number.

She turned and gave him a strange look then passed over her little flip phone.

Marc took her phone, put his number in under his name, then quickly texted himself so he could have Nell's number. He also spared a moment to be thankful for whoever advanced phones on his world past the point of needing to hit a single number multiple times in order to type a letter. (Which, let's face it, was probably some branch of Stark Industries.)

He handed Nell's phone back to her with another hand written note, Thanks for the flashback to when I was your age.

Edited 2022-07-16 01:10 (UTC)

Nell took her phone back and read his note then wrote back to him.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Last time I saw a flip phone. You can call or whatever if you need me. It's under my name.

When Marc handed the note over he indicated her phone, then his smartphone, to highlight the comparison.

She nodded.

Yours doesn't have a way to close up all nice like mine.

But it looks very pretty.

Unlike Steven's, Marc's phone looked exactly like it came out of the box, which was to say undecorated and plain black. But even if Nell hadn't seen the phone, simply knowing Marc was enough to be able to imagine the dry tone in which he wrote back:

That's why I choose it. Because it's pretty.

Nell couldn't help it. She giggled out loud and then looked guiltily up at Yennefer. Though... they were communicating. Wasn't that what the class was about?

But how do you FEEL about it?

Marc gave her another dry look. If I wanted this I'd talk to the teacher.

Please. No one's making you write back. And isn't this better than sitting and glowering at the teacher?

I don't glower.

If you'un were to look in a dictionary, the picture next to the word 'glower' would be of you when the teacher wanted you to say the I feel thing.

Would that picture look like the expression he shot at her when he read that? Probably.

I was fine until paper kept showing up in front of me.

It's alright. I don't mind grumpy people.

Did she also make them grumpy? Perhaps. She might be fond of poking the bear at times.

When he looked over again she'd have her best angelic, super innocent face on.

Another totally not glowering look.

Lucky you

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