fandomhigh | Entries tagged with teamwork

You know what? It had taken a bit of quickly rearranging and discussing things on their part, but Gladio was feeling a little inspired by the dreidel game around the island that morning and decided to whip up something real quick based on that for their class that day. After all, it was the final class. Might as well make it really interesting.

So what you had awaiting you in the training room that morning was a giant Gladio sized dreidel, and one it were his own variations on the letters with four symbols, one on each side, of course. There was a pair of crossed swords, there was a Cup Noodle^SM, there was a large bird that some knowledgeable people might recognize as a chocobo, and then there was a large question mark.

"So," he started, "today's our last class, and, in the spirit of keeping you on your toes and balancing that line between fun and fight that we've explored this semester, I've convinced these guys," he hitched his thumb toward his co-teachers, one of whom had been much easier to convince than the other; guess which one!, "to veer a little off our original plan with something in the spirit of today's little bit of holiday whimsy."

"We will be spending the class," Ignis continued, "taking turn in spinning this overly large dreidel--"

"Stay clear of it when it lands!" Prompto pointed out with a chuckle.

Ignis sighed slightly at the interruption. "Well, hopefully, that would be obvious to you by now, but, yes, stay clear of the dreidel as it lands, and, based on what it lands on, that will determine what will happen next."

"If it lands on the swords," Prompto offered, "you're getting a random enemy to attack. If it lands on the Cup Noodle^TM--"

"Cup Noodle^TM, Gladio?" Ignis was not the one to interrupt, with another sigh, though Gladio just chuckled smugly. "Really?"

Prompto cleared his throat a little bit to get back on track. "If it lands on, yes, really, Iggy, the Cup Noodle^TM, everyone gets a random treat! If it lands on the chocobo, you get to play a random fun game. And if it lands on the question mark, that means you get to pick!"

"Pretty straight forward, right?" Gladio asked. "If not, obviously, let us know if you have questions, otherwise, whoever wants to give the thing a spin first, step on up, and let's get this class going!"

sword_chocobro

It would seem that someone had made a recent venture out onto the Isle of IKEA, and the spoils of that journey were now gathered there in the danger shop training room.

"There's a bit of an idea on this world," Gladio started, "apparently, that the true test of a relationship is the attempt to build pre-fabricated Swedish furniture together. If you're able to withstand that, there's a good chance you can withstand anything."

"I'm not entirely sure how much merit there may be to that claim," noted Ignis, "but it certainly does translate well into a teamwork building activity."

"And so," said Prompto, grinning proudly in a way that made it pretty clear which of them came up with this idea in the first place, "that's what we're doing today! We've got a lot of things here to build, and only vague instruction booklets based entirely on pictograms to show you how to do it! And we're going to see how many of these things you guys can manage to put together by the end of class!"

"While being attacked," said Gladio, grinning schemingly in a way that made it pretty clear which one of them came up with this addition, "randomly by holiday-themed monsters."

"With weapons," said Ignis, sighing resignedly in a way that made it pretty clear which aspects of this class none of them had prepared for, "that are all apparently candy canes today..."

"But hey," Gladio offered encouragingly, "at least they're big candy canes?"

"And I'm sure some of you could think of some really clever ways to put those hex keys to use, too!" Prompto chimed in and then bounced a little as he clapped his hands. "So let's get started!"

hashtag_chocobro

"Well," said Gladio, at the start of class, which was still held in the training room sim, but the place had been decked out in good holiday cheer like that rest of the island, the pillars wrapped in twinkling lights, the weapons all with big red bows, the light feeling of a dusting of snow drifting down from the ceiling, which was much more manageable than freaking marzipan, and your three instructors were standing in front of a very large Christmas tree surrounded by a variety of wrapped gifts, "if you haven't figured it out by now, it's December, which means the island's getting into the holiday spirit, and you know what? So are we. And this idea's almost all Prompto's, so, Prompto...." He gestured toward his fellow teacher. "Take it away."

( The Gift(?) of Giving! )

"So that," Prompto concluded proudly, with a little bounce in his step, "is what we're doing today! Iggy made some nice holiday snacks and treats to enjoy, too, while we're all just opening presents and figuring out how ruthless or kind we want to be, so take a moment to help yourself and then we'll get started!"

sword_chocobro

The usual training room had been replaced this week with a sort of open-air sports pitch of sorts, and Gladio stood with a big grin on his face as he was flanked by his two coteachers. They each held onto a weapon: Ignis held a sort of double-staff-like weapon, while Prompto was idly swinging what looked like a ball on a rope. Meanwhile, Gladio himself had a much smaller than his usual sword weapon slung over his shoulders with one hand, while the other one was tossing up and catching a skull.

(Not a real skull, it should be noted, although he did consider it, considering they probably had a pretty good resource for that kind of thing!)

"Today," he then announced, "we're going to be playing a game I came across that just looks like a whole lot of fun and could be a good way to work in all those teamwork and combat skills all in one. It's called Jugger, and it's from some apocalyptic movie from Australia, and I've been looking forward to bringing this in ever since I heard about it." He chuckled faintly. "The rules are pretty much like what you'd expect from a field pitch sort of game, like soccer or rugby or something like that...only with weapons and fighting. The goal? Collect the skull," he lifted the one in his hand demonstrably, "and run it to the goal at the opposite end of where your team started. But only one person, the Qwik...or runner, really...is allowed to actually touch the skull, and the remaining people, the pompfers...or enforcers...use these swords, staffs, and chained balls to defend their qwik and stop the other team's pomfers from interfering or the other team's qwik from getting the skull."

"So it basically is quite a bit like rugby, if you're familiar," Ignis offered helpfully, "only with weapons."

"Which makes it even cooler," Gladio said.

"Yes," Ignis sighed, "which makes it even cooler."

"So," Gladio continued, "we're going to break up into teams, and since there's an uneven number of you guys, we're going to join in, too. I'm gonna hop onto the Blue team, and Iggy and Prompto here will be joining Red."

"We'll want everyone to have a chance at being both qwik and pompfer," Ignis added, "so we'll switch things around every period. Now, let's take a moment to learn more about how the game is played and its rules, and then we'll begin. Please remember to warm up and stretch as we explain, as I suspect things will get quite physical once the skull in in play."

"I really wish we'd just call it a ball, you guys," Prompto chimed in with a sigh.

Gladio looked like he was considering it, and then grinned and shook his head. "Nah," he said, and tossed the skull Prompto's way. He struggled a little to catch it, and then looked a little like he wished he hadn't once he did, and then Gladio clapped his hands.

"Alright, guys. Let's get started."

hashtag_chocobro

"Alright, guys!" Prompto started out class that morning with his usual good cheer and excitement, with maybe a particularly eager grin to put what he'd been working on in the danger shop to good use for the lesson that week. "Today, we're going to start putting some of our teamwork training and combat skills," hey! He said the name of the class!, "to good use in what's essentially a dungeon crawl."

"Or," Gladio offered, "you could think of it as sort of a an escape room plus monsters."

"An escape series of rooms," Ignis corrected lightly.

"Basically, though," Prompto continued, "the concept is pretty simple: you guys wanna get out of the dungeon, but first, you all have to team up to solve the puzzle to get out of the room, and while solving the puzzle means getting to move on, you'll also have to fight monsters to get to the next one. Which is kind of a slog when it's a real dungeon, but thankfully, we're only doing three rooms, because we only have so much time.

"And each of the monsters themselves," Gladio elaborated, "will also require different methods of attack."

"So essentially," Ignis gestured faintly, "each step of the way should require you to work with your teammates in figuring out how to defeat both puzzle and monsters and hopefully find your way to victory."

"So grab some weapons of choice," Gladio grinned, "warm up a little and ask some questions, and then we're throwing you in and seeing if you can get out by the end of class."

hashtag_chocobro

"Tonight," said Prompto, getting things started as everyone was gathered in the usual training space, "there's a party going on at Ignis' place for Halloween, and we," his hand danced between himself and his coteachers, as if there was any question about who he might be referring to, "thought that was a good set-up for an interesting discussion today! Because while we hope there's nothing like that which happens tonight, a party or a gathering can sometimes be the sort of event where you end up having to use your teamwork training and combat skills unexpectedly."

"As a matter of fact," Ignis added, his voice quite deal more grim and serious than Prompto's usually bouncy approach, "it was a series of treaty agreements and public addresses where some of the most devastating and egregious attacks on our nation occurred back during the war. Thankfully, in both cases, there was some amount of preparation that, while not preventing most of the devastating harm that befell both Insomnia and Altissia at the time, it helped to mitigate at least some of it."

It certainly didn't help that one of those was also quite planned, much to everyone's surprise, but he didn't need to go into any of that right now.

"So what we're going to do today," Gladio continued, "is we're going to talk party defense. There's going to be a big event, and you've all heard rumors that the enemy is going to use this as the perfect time to infiltrate and attack. So we're going to take some time to talk strategy and ask questions, and build from there, and then we'll put your suggestions and ideas into the sim and run them, and we'll see how it goes. If it goes well, awesome. If not? We'll debrief and reassess and try again. Pretty simple, right?"

"On it's surface, anyway," Ignis drawled. "I'm sure, once we start getting into it, you'll find that few things are ever rarely as simple as they seem."

sword_chocobro

"So next week," Gladio said, starting class with a clearly eager sort of grin, the kind that made it pretty clear they were leaning pretty heavily into one of his favorite wheelhouses, "we're heading to Quebec for the school trip. Naturally, I figured this was a good time to look into some of the military history of the area before we head on up there, and see what we can learn that might be helpful to is. Specifically, we're going to be talking today about the 1775 Battle of Quebec, where the American Revolutionary forces took it upon themselves to march on Quebec City after a failed attempt to rally the French-Cadanian forces to ally with them against the British. And it's actually a really good example of what not to do and what can go wrong, and so we're going to learn from their mistakes and discuss what worked for the French and the British, what didn't work for the Americans, and everything in between.

"In brief," Ignis offered, "pay attention to key elements that impacted the results of this particular battle: political loyalties, the importance of numbers and terrain, even the elements of weather...there are numerous points of critique, criticism, and consideration evident in a study of the battle, which I've no doubt you'll all be able to point out and explore further."

"We've got two short but concise videos for you guys to watch that'll explain it far better than we can," Prompto said with a chuckle, "so let's just get right into it, learn a little about this battle, and then we'll talk about it! And then, next week, while we're there, you can think about what was and what might have been! Because history is kind of cool and helpful in learning stuff that we can still use today!"

sword_chocobro

"You guys may have noticed," Gladio started class with a faint grin, "that we've been leaning pretty heavily on the communication concepts these last few weeks, which hopefully just really highlights for you how important we think good communication skills are for a team. And we still want to do a little something more with communication, but we also don't want you resting too much on your laurels in the combat part of all of this, so today? We're going to be playing a sort of communications guessing game....but with a twist."

"In this here bucket," Prompto lifted it up proudly, "is a bunch of various people, places, and things. You're going to pull out one of these random...well, prompts," excuse him a moment while he snickered at the word choice, "and then it's up to you to decide: you can either try to get the rest of the class to guess what your word is, but, you can only do so through charades and gestures and answering yes or no questions. No speaking beyond yes or no."

"Or maybe," Ignis allowed, "since sometimes the answer to a seemingly simple question can be surprisingly complicated."

"Especially if you're a pedantic asshole like some people in the room," said Gladio with a grin.

"Who shall remain nameless," Prompto added, as if no one really knew who they could possibly be talking about.

A pedantic asshole who was remaining nameless cleared his throat. "Are we talking about clear and precise communication?" he asked. "Or are we not?"

"We are! We are!" Prompto confirmed, barely holding back a snicker. "Anyway, we're getting off track. The point is, we're going to sort of do a charades sort of thing, you pick a word out of the bucket, and your teammates have two minutes to try and guess what that word is, and you're only allowed to use gestures or answer yes or no or maybe to questions. And, if your team fails to guess in those two minutes?"

"We unleash a few monsters on you guys to fight," Gladio said.

"So, yeah, you know," Prompto chuckled, "pressure's on! Get yourself armed up, and then we'll get started!"

chef_chocobro

"Last week," said Ignis, as class got started, and they were still in the Danger Shop, but it looked far more like a war debriefing room than a training room that week, "we discussed communication and demonstrate the ease at which it could easily breakdown, and we certainly hope that the playful nature in which we approached the topic did not distract from the importance inherent in such breakdowns when they occur. But what if the meaning of a message was intentionally obfuscated with the attempt to keep the information therein clandestine and confidential while still clear and understandable to those intended to receive it?"

"Codes," Gladio translated helpfully with a grin. "Today, we're talking about codes."

"Now, clearly," Ignis continued, "written correspondence that follows a certain cipher is the most common form of coded message, as it can be easily created, easily understood, and easily discarded. Of course," he smile went a little tight here, "that might not always be an option, though I have certainly found a knowledge of Braille or similar tactile languages to be incredibly helpful, even when not dealing strictly with those who cannot read standard writing. Even creating your own version to throw off the chance that your enemy may be familiar enough to break your code can be quite helpful. Speaking in a variety of agree-upon phrases and the strategic use of coded words that bear significant meaning can also be helpful."

"Sometimes codes can even be other things not written or said in messages, too!" Prompto offered. "Like, for example, let's say a ribbon tied around a certain tree in a certain color could mean something like 'okay to proceed' or 'danger!' or 'proceed with caution'. Flags are also big on this, as well as gestures, or little marks and sigils. Again," his grin was a little rueful as he gestured toward Ignis, "there are issues with visual cues sometimes, but not always. Audio cues like certain sounds can be helpful, too, or just the placement of certain objects. Like, if the cat statue is in a certain position, that's bad news! Something like that."

"Needless to say," Ignis added, "coded messages can take on a wide variety of forms and shapes, from your classic scrambling of an alphabet, to a series of sounds, or even something as particular as, oh, I don't know," the faint grin suggested he did know, actually, "choosing to pair a certain wine with a certain food that, to those in the know, sends a very clear message indeed."

"And that," said Gladio, with an air of conclusion that would be a little misleading, "is the key to a good code: making sure everyone who needs to now knows it, and that no one who shouldn't know doesn't. So today, we're going to go over a little bit about different methods of codes and ciphers and some ideas for making some to sort of get your brain working, and then we're going to see about making your own secret messages and seeing who can decipher them."

hashtag_chocobro

"We've just had two pretty combat-focused classes," Prompto said, getting class started with that eager grin of his yet again, "so this week? We're going to take it down a notch and focus a little more on the teamwork aspects. More specifically, today, we want to do some work with communication."

"Communication," Ignis continued, perhaps with that slight touch to tightness that came with a very personal awareness of the application of words to reality, "is key to success with a team, in all aspects of life, be it on the combat field, in a place of business, or even at home in your personal relationships. In a combat situation, effectively communicating with your teammates has, in many times, been crucial to our success in a battle. A quick rapport can maintain energy, impart important details that the others might not have noticed, or simply share strategies to give one an edge on the field."

"But communication," Gladio added, his deep rumble sounding particularly grim, "can also breakdown pretty easily, too. And sometimes communication can fall on the wrong ears or in the wrong hands, so you've got to be careful and aware, and it's those two concepts we'll be working on today, and then, next week, we'll combine communication and combat together. For now, though, we just want to explore some various aspects of it. Today, we're just going to focus on game to really show how communication can get lost in the jumble. Next week, we'll have some fun with codes, so if you want to get a head start on a code system, you know we'll be impressed, and then we'll bring communication into action. Pretty solid plan, right?

"And so," Ignis concluded smoothly, "in respect to the topic at hand and in hopes of demonstrating effective communication right off the bat, are there any questions before we begin?"

hashtag_chocobro

"Last week," Prompto, of course, was bouncing a little with the excitement of being the one to head class this time around, especially considering how much more erudite and imposing his fellow chocoteachers were, "we sort of got a feel for what part of a team we might best fit into and divided a little, and so it would just stand to reason that this week is all about conquering!"

"Which means," Ignis offered, "putting some of those skills and traits we discussed and worked on in last week's session to good use in actual combat."

"Well," Gladio amended with a snort, "as actual as it's going ot get in a sim. But yeah, this week, we wanna focus on the actual fighting, and this class is going to be a lot less of us teaching you guys much as just sort of overseeing a scenario where you guys can put some of the things we talked about into actual use with a battle, see how you bounce off of each other, and maybe discover if what you thought were your strengths in a certain area really are. That means you try and stick to the group you chose last week as best you can, and, if it's working out for you, great, lean into it, and if not? Time for a reevaluation and to consider a different approach."

"It took us a while to think about what kind of enemy we wanted you guys to fight," Prompto said, "and we knew we wanted to step away from the usual Bust-A-Base scenario we usually throw our classes into, but we've ultimately decided on one of these guys..."

Prompto gestured to a empty space to their side, where the ground suddenly seemed to begin to roil and shimmer with a strange dark energy, shot with purple energy and smoke, and what crawled up from within the dark portal with a great big grumbling groan was a massive daemon, practically as big as a house, all muscle and giant arms, which were clearly needed to heft his ridiculously enormous blade that put even Gladio's usual greatsword to shame. And as it pulled itself up to its great height and pulled back to let out a fearsome roar, a sort of surreal giggling sound accompanied it, as several bright flaming Bombs of varying colors seemed to spring up from their own smaller portals around him, grinning at the group with big sharp teeth and black, black eyes.

"These," Ignis explained, "are an Iron Giant and a variety of different elemental Bombs, common daemonic enemies from our daemon hunting days. We could, to borrow a phrase, practically fight these particular enemies with our eyes closed."

And, yes, there was a smirk there, but he continued. "However, I suspect they are quite new to you all, even if you have fought something similar. So we'd like you to take a few minutes to prepare yourself with weapons or other details before deciding, as a team, how best to meet this enemy, and then, of course, attempt to take them down."

"But don't worry," said Gladio, grinning, and throwing in a wink as he gave his own sword a bit of a twirl to his side before settling it comfortably across his broad shoulders, "we'll jump in if we start to feel like you guys could really need the help. You're not gonna, though...." He quirked a challenging eyebrow. "....right?"

chef_chocobro

"Last week," said Ignis, being the one to start the class of this week, "we mostly focused on teamwork, with a small bit of the combat on the side. This week, our focus is going to be entirely on the combat, with incorporating the teamwork aspect next week. In fact, this week, we'll be breaking down the elements of our specific team and exploring them separately, because, though it may initially seem antithetical to the whole concept of teamwork, focusing on your individual strengths can sometime be beneficial to when you eventually bring them to a team."

"Exactly," Gladio agreed with a firm nod. "The real key there is that you don't cling to that individual mindset once you've got a partner or two, and knowing how to synergize your skills with theirs, but that's going to be a lot harder if you're not already working from a solid foundation for yourself."

"So this week," Prompto flashed a bit of a grin for how smoothly this was all going; lead by example, baby!, "we're going to be splitting up into three different groups based on what you feel is the best combat style for you. Gladio here is going to be the brute strength offensive, Ignis is going to be more focused on finer details and finesse, and I'm, obviously," he pulled out a pistol and give it a demonstrative twirl around his finger, "going to head the ranged attack group."

"Now, clearly," Ignis offered, "these are far from the only classifications for types of fighter, and you may very well not fit into any of them yourself. Perhaps something to explore a bit later, or within whichever group you feel is closest to your style. We are clearly basing this one our own strengths and what we feel we can bring to you with the most confidence, but adaptability is also a big part of understanding your combat style, as well, from both your side of things and ours."

"So take a moment," Gladio concluded, "and think about which group you want to work with today, and keep in mind that this is just sort of getting started, we're going to be mixing it up big time in the weeks ahead, but, for now, since we're just getting started, go with what you're most comfortable with, and that's what we're focusing on. Any questions before we split up? Or are you guys pretty much ready to jump right into it?"

sword_chocobro

Class was, probably unsurprisingly, being held in the Danger Shop, where it was likely to be held every week, unless the students were informed otherwise. The setting, however, didn't seem that particularly thrilling or exciting: a good, open space for training, with plenty of mats on the floor, weapons on racks off to the side, and several cactuar-shaped training dummies, one of which one of your instructors was leaning on companionably.

(Prompto. It was definitely Prompto, who grinned at everyone and flicked a wave in the air, but it was Gladio who was going to be doing most of the talking).

"Hey, everyone," he said, starting with a firm nod and his arms folded in front of him as he looked over the familiar faces not unlike a general observing a lineup of new recruits, "and welcome to our Teamwork and Training class. Now, we all already know each other, some," he may have broken with a faint smirk and a nod toward one student in particular just then, but never mind, "more than others, but that's a good base to start with. Because knowing your teammates is easily the first step toward success in working with them, be it on the battlefield or anything else life might throw at you. As you all know by now, our background is in combat: the three of us trained together as Crownsguard back in the day, with the intent to be Kingsglaive, the elite force that protected the king of our nation. Some pretty gnarly shit happened, that whole society crumbled, but we continued fighting together when we could as Daemon Hunters for about ten years, until everything came to a head again, and we came together to fight gods and immortal assholes again to save the world as we knew it. You know." He smirked again. "No big deal.

"And now," he continued, "we wanna bring some of what we've learned through all our time together to you guys to help you out in your own battles. You know how it goes. And, today, while we all know each other, so proper introductions like we don't is just gonna be a pedantic waste of time," did he glance a little over toward Ignis just then? Maaaaybeeee, "it's still good to refresh ourselves on where we're coming from going in, so we're all on the same page moving forward. We're going to focus on a couple of things today: our strengths, our weaknesses, what we bring to the table, and what we need to work on. After we kind of get a base going, we're going to throw some scenarios at you guys to work through to figure out who in this team is better suited for what. Not everyone's going to get to be the hero of every story, sometimes you might have to carry a little more weight than the others, sometimes you get stuck in the sidelines for most of it, and that's okay, because being a part of an effective team is not only about knowing what the best course of action is, it's also being able to accept that sometimes? You ain't it.

"Just to sort of interject," Ignis said, "with an example: between the three of us, Gladio is, as one might assume, what one might consider a bit of a tank...when he fights, he fights heavy and hard. I tend to be the tactician; I like to analyze a situation before rushing into it, and once I do make a decision, I move in with swift precision. Prompto, meanwhile, in addition to having a proclivity toward technology, is also our ranged fighter. He works best from a distance, cutting through the fray with well-targeted shots. But not all situations call for rushing in, and sometimes, taking time to make a decision can cost you, and what happens when the shots go awry or the enemy moves in? We all have strengths and weaknesses that can be utilized in different ways for different situations, and that is what we intend to explore today.

"And if there's some time after all that," Gladio added, "I personally would like to spend some time with the practice dummy here to see those of you who are combat trained to see which weapons you like and what your style generally is."

"So with that," Prompto chimed in with a grin, "let's get started, yeah?"

sith_happened

For their final class today, the Danger Shop looked like the break room of a capital ship if you were from their galaxy, or like a slightly gray, boring room to anyone else. "Sometimes you have to practice in less beautiful locales," Anakin began, gesturing around. "If you are about to head into battle, it's especially important to focus beforehand and this might be what your surroundings look like."
"Hopefully you'll never have to find out for yourself, but battles are chaotic and messy," Ahsoka added. "Being able to clear your mind and work in harmony with your compatriots can be the difference between life and death."

Anakin ignited his lightsaber--real, not a trainer today--with the casual ease of someone who'd done that gesture a thousand times. "Jedi work in partnership with at least one other Jedi in battle, sometimes with multiple Jedi. It's vital to quiet your mind to react to those around you," he said over the hum of the blue light of his weapon.

Ahsoka followed suit, and if you thought they were showing off, look, they weren't wearing cloaks to dramatically toss aside, so clearly they weren't. "It would be awkward to hit someone on your own side rather than the other."

Anakin nodded. "Pair up with the practice lightsabers and spar."

While your teachers continued totally not showing off.

sith_happened

If you thought Anakin's creativity was limited to just making Rey's warehouse ~~a death trap~~ a death trap, you were happily mistaken, class! Today's Danger Shop had been turned into an obstacle course too! Oh, how lucky for all of you!

Anakin, at least, looked happy about it. That was probably the first clue that it would be a bad day.

Ahsoka for her part looked vaguely nostalgic, which probably wasn't a good sign if you were looking for any help there. "The true test of teamwork is if you can make it work under pressure."

"Most of the time you can't and then there's unhelpful yelling in the middle of a battlefield and it's just embarrassing for everyone around you," Anakin agreed with a nod.

"'Should you really be doing that, general?'," Ahsoka quoted in a passable imitation of Rex. "'Of course, I know what I'm doing!'"

"And I did know what I was doing and it worked and we won and then everybody clapped," Anakin replied.

It was possible that wasn't exactly how it had gone every time.

"Sure they did, just like you're good at landings." It turned out Ahsoka being willing to talk with Anakin wasn't necessarily better than the weird, awkward vibes.

"Those ships just weren't cut out for the fast paced environment I put them into," Anakin declared. "Right. Pair up, go through the obstacle course, don't get horribly maimed."

Should they warn for the ninja attack halfway through? Of course they weren't. It wouldn't be a surprise if they did that!

Teamwork!

sith_happened

"Next week is your final examination," Anakin said. "We trust you have learned enough about teamwork to pass it."

Presumably they have learned about teamwork somewhere else! Teamwork was all about weird vibes, right?

"If not, you still have some time to find a way to adapt before whatever ridiculousness Master Skywalker comes up with."

Were... were they almost acting comfortable to be in the same room as each other? Almost as if telling the truth to other people was good for you? Weird. That can't be right.

"It won't be ridiculous," Anakin promised airily.

"It will be ridiculous," Ahsoka said with the assurance of years of experience.

"So," Anakin said, shooting her a tiny grin, "ask questions about what might be on the exam. It is your final chance."

sith_happened

Granted, the sign would probably not help the students' impression of the weird vibes the teachers already had going on between them, but Force sensitivity plus massive awkwardness meant the truest form of teamwork today was just not showing up.

"NOPE" read the sign on the door.

Followed by "TAKE A COLD SHOWER. ALL OF YOU" in smaller, more controlled letters.

Ugh, this week.

snipsnspecks

"So we've talked about what it's like to work with beings who are annoying," Anakin said. "Today we're going to wade into the problems that occur when your teammates cause you to form crushes on them."

Don't make him bring out the horrifying safe sex presentation, gang. He'd do it. He doesn't care if some of you are adults.

Especially since it was bad enough even when Anakin wasn't trying to mortify you. Possibly even worse then.

"It's a situation we're both far too familiar with," Ahsoka added. Then after a beat. "Not with each other. Obviously." That was obvious, right?

Super obvious. "We're both from an Order that advised us to ignore those feelings until they go away," Anakin said, which was just a super healthy approach and explained so much about their current interactions, "but I've been told that other places get different advice."

"There's a difference between not letting personal feelings interfere with the task at hand and ignoring them." Only if you actually dealt with them like you were supposed to, Ahsoka.

"I can do both," Anakin said breezily.

That silence on Ahsoka's part was very much not agreement, Anakin.

sith_happened

New Wednesday, same weird teachers! "So," Anakin began, "we're back to normal again, back into our routines where the same people are doing the same things and gradually driving us all crazy by the way they tap their fingers against the table as they think, or never put the cap on the toothpaste, or drink all of the coffee without starting a new pot."

Just pulling examples out of the air, really, not from several decades of marriage.

"Leaving dismembered droid parts all over your shared quarters..." For another completely random example.

"That was Obi-Wan," Anakin lied.

"Lying about who left dismembered droid parts all over your quarters," Ahsoka continued without skipping a beat. "I know he didn't do Artoo's maintenance."

"Maybe Artoo left Artoo's parts on the floor," Anakin declared.

"Oh, and now we're blaming Artoo?" Maybe if it had been Chopper, Ahsoka might have bought it.

"Artoo isn't always perfect!" Another lie. Artoo was always perfect. Anakin coughed. "So. How do you stop petty problems from escalating? Do you ignore it? Bring it up? Move out?"

Join the Sith, Ahsoka didn't say. "The ideal solution is to talk it over like adults."

Stop laughing.

sith_happened

Anakin and Ahsoka were once again standing before the class with more than a few feet of distance between them.

"Sometimes things get awkward between team members," Anakin said in one of the more predictable and obvious set ups for a class, "and ignoring it until one of you moves or dies isn't an effective strategy."

"Not that that stops some people trying," Ahsoka added, voice dry as Tatooine. "Hard as that might be to believe."

"I'm as surprised as anyone to hear that," Anakin said.

Ahsoka didn't even miss a beat before replying with "Some people also have a teaching philosophy of do as I say, not as I do."

"There was an entire Temple of that," Anakin muttered. "Regardless, waiting for the heat death of the universe isn't an option, so eventually you must do something else."

He was choosing being passive aggressive, for instance.

Really? Ahsoka hadn't noticed.

"Rest assured that if you don't, the universe will find a way to force the issue." Was Ahsoka blaming their recent sleeping arrangements on the will of the Force? Yes.

Because the Force hated Anakin Skywalker in particular. Yup. Very reasonable assumption to draw. "So how would you deal with, say, sharing a tight space with someone you don't like very much?" Anakin asked.

"Or who you like, but have very understandable mixed feelings towards." Ahsoka's life would be much easier if she didn't like Anakin.

snipsnspecks

"Today we're watching an instructional video," Anakin began like it wasn't going to be a movie day.

"Before anyone questions the plausibility of the subject of this video, I should mention that similar events happened on the island when I was a student here, " Ahsoka added. "If anything they were even stranger."

"It was very, very strange," Anakin agreed, pursing his mouth. "So. Watch the video and then we'll discuss how teamwork that doesn't involve stealing my ship and bombing the weather event from space could help to mitigate this problem."

Because sharks falling from the sky could happen again. Stranger things had happened!

"Did we ever figure out who stole your ship?" Ahsoka asked offhandedly. "They certainly had your landing skills."

"I have my suspicions," Anakin grumbled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" A voice that definitely didn't belong to one Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra randomly yelled from outside the classroom. "And I'm great at landings!"

"Tell that to the ship's brakes!" Anakin yelled after her.

"Your shuttle had brakes?" Stop helping, Ahsoka.

Anakin gave her a look. "Sometimes I slow down." Not most of the time, though.

Ahsoka just raised her not-actually-eyebrows at him.

"That's not the point," Anakin decided, pivoting back to the movie. "Let's watch and then discuss."

And hopefully not spend a lot of time on Anakin's flying!

sith_happened

The two teachers were at the front of the classroom again and in an effort to never have anyone ever address Anakin as "Grandpappy" again, he'd decided that no one in class would talk today.

"We're playing Charades," he announced.

Ahsoka was only able to resist bringing it up because she wasn't sure how much he knew about that lumberjack business. "Think of it as an exercise in non-verbal communication. For when you don't share a language, or the person you're speaking with is hard of hearing."

"Or when you're in combat and need to communicate without yelling," Anakin added helpfully.

"Though in that case, it's helpful if you actually pay attention to the person trying to warn you about the gundark nest."

"There was no way I should've guessed that gesture meant gundark," Anakin protested.

"We were on Vanqor, what else could it have meant?"

"That's not the point." It was entirely the point. "We have a hat full of words for you to act out." None of them were gundark. "Let's see how well you do without talking."

snipsnspecks

Another Wednesday, another class featuring two awkward Jedi at the front of the classroom. “Sometimes you have to work with someone who might not like you,” Anakin said. He, of course, had never experienced this because he was an absolute delight.

That was one word for it. "Or they may just be angry at you." For reasons.

Anakin pressed his lips together. "Or that," he allowed. "But you still must work together and getting them killed on the battlefield or--" he paused to come up with a slightly less deadly option, "--finish a group project! How will you manage to collaborate?"

Was it by ignoring the problem? Because that was what Anakin was trying.

Because why deal with it, Ahsoka, who was not dealing with it, didn't say. "Getting into fist fights is generally considered counterproductive." Look, some people here had been involved in some somewhat unique group projects.

"Unless you're the only person who hasn't done their section, in which case you deserve what you get," Anakin added unhelpfully.

"You'd know." Not that anyone here had ever claimed pushing the data work onto their Padawan was a 'learning experience'.

"Well, sometimes the assignments are clearly punishments from other Jedi who are jealous," Anakin said with a shrug. "I wouldn't coddle them." Back to the topic, maybe, Anakin? "So how would you approach this dilemma, class?"

snipsnspecks

Today the teachers weren't any closer together, but they were using the excuse of the obstacle course set up in the middle of a fake backyard to be separated. "Teamwork is all about communication," Anakin said from where he was standing disconcertedly close to a bunch of clean, empty. suspiciously people-sized wheelie bins. He was also holding helmets, also a terrible sign.

Ahsoka for her part had an equally disconcerting stack of blindfolds. "After all, you never know when you might lose sight of your goal, as it were, and have to rely on the advice of others."

Anakin shot her a look for that. "So you'll get to see just how well that works when the person giving the advice isn't terribly good at it. You're going to pair up. One team member gets into the wheelie bin. The other gets the blindfold. The person in the bin is directing the person in the blindfold through the tasks on this course. That person may not speak Basic."

English, Anakin.

"Allow us to demonstrate," Ahsoka said, shooting Anakin a look right back before tying a blindfold around her own eyes. "It's simple enough if you're willing to listen to each other." Or if you could just use the Force to navigate. Either or.

Anakin climbed into the wheelie bin. "How's your Huttese?" he asked, sticking on the helmet.

Ahsoka's reply, delivered in bright and cheery Huttese, was very much not printable.

"That sounds anatomically unlikely," Anakin said dryly. "Right. We have three tasks to accomplish." He switched to Huttese. "//Straight ahead for two meters.//"

And he was wearing a helmet if she "accidentally" dumped him on the ground.

Ahsoka would never do that. That didn't mean she had to be gentle as she pushed the bin either.

Make this look good, he sent mentally. Because he was bossy forever.

Just for that (and because they came from a very dramatic line of Jedi), Ahsoka wasn't going to use her hands to push.

heroic_jawline

Yes, JARVIS had been insisting that today wasn't really Friday, but Steve had gone to bed on Thursday and so that made today Friday, right? He didn't remember anything else.

Logic!

"Welcome back to our final class," Steve said with a smile to the students he was sure were probably a little late. "You've done very well this semester."

"And you made it here even with the weather being what it is!" Tony added, frowning in confusion. He was pretty sure he'd said that same thing yesterday. He looked into his cocoa mug for answers, but it wasn't coffee, so it didn't have any.

Had Steve augmented his cup with marshmallow snow from outside? Yep. He toasted Tony with it cheefully. "So we've set up a small obstacle course to test what you've learned," Steve said. "And afterwards, you can have hot cocoa."

"It'll be great," Tony promised. "...possibly again."

heroic_jawline

"Welcome back to our final class," Steve said with a smile. "You've done very well this semester."

"And you made it here even with the weather being what it is!" Tony added brightly. Did both teachers have hot cocoa for the occasion? You're damn right they did.

Had Steve augmented his cup with marshmallow snow from outside? Yep.

"So we've set up a small obstacle course to test what you've learned," Steve said. "And afterwards, you can have hot cocoa."

"It'll be great," Tony promised. But would it be great on loop was the real question here.

Every day would be a fun surprise to Steve?

heroic_jawline

"Well," Steve said slowly as a powdered sugar-covered puffball went rolling by, muttering to itself, "today sure is a day."

Walking the dog was such a thing today.

"Isn't December fun," Tony ventured.

"It hasn't messed up the coffee yet?" Steve offered, dooming them all.

The look Tony shot him was positively betrayed by that tempting of fate. "When that happens, it'll be your fault."

"It's not nice to blame people in a course about teamwork," Steve said hypocritically.

"Accurate, though," Tony said. "But since this is a class on teamwork... we'll be working with what we've got."

"Work together and herd the puffballs into--" Steve pointed, "that corner."

heroic_jawline

It was movie day, gang! "Today we're watching an informational video--" wrong, "about working together in an office," Steve said. "And also why you should make sure there's enough cake for everyone at a party and why you shouldn't steal someone's favorite stapler.

"And the soulless nature of capitalism." You know. Said mister capitalist, Tony Stark.

Steve was not going to mention that inconvenient little fact, no.

"So enjoy ~~Office Space~~Needs More Flair," he said instead.

heroic_jawline

Steve and Tony--no longer a pony, thank goodness--looked dressed for a carnival, not a class, which was probably the students' first clue about what was coming next. "An important part of working as a team is knowing how to have fun together, too," Steve said.

"Which means class today is all about relaxing and having fun," Tony said. "Which can't be graded, but that's sort of the point. It's fall carnival time!"

"Though you will get extra credit if you dunk Barton," Steve said with a grin. "That's advanced teambuilding."

Tony nodded eagerly at that. "We do this out of love for our teammate," he assured the class.

"And the knowledge that he would 100 percent dunk us if the opportunity was offered," Steve added. He grinned and pointed towards the carnival. "Go have fun."

heroic_jawline

Today it was just Steve in front of the class, who had been ~~handwavily~~ informed to meet up on the beach. Well, Steve and a miniature pony.

Steve sighed heavily. "So," he began, running his fingers through his hair, "Mr. Stark has been...unfortunately transformed. Into a pony. These things happen around here. He, however, should not be encouraged to climb up the stairs to the school because then he refuses to come back down."

Pony!Tony managed to look smug.

"So thank you for meeting me here. Today we're going to talk about improvising. Say some kind of pony-eating swamp creature came out of the water right now--" Steve was ignoring the betrayed look pony!Tony was giving him. "How would we work together to stop that from happening?"

imafuturist

The Danger Shop was all done up to look like a perfectly nondescript museum in preparation for the fall trip.

Just what everyone wanted, right?

"Today we'll be discussing sticking together as a group. Which can be difficult when everyone has an opinion on where to go."

"Because clearly there's an order to a museum," Steve said, nodding. "You go left when everyone else goes right, but as a group. And you skip anything with dioramas."

That might just be him, though.

"Or, you compromise and see one diorama." Because Tony was a neeeeerd.

"Or you pretend to use the restroom while that one person sees a diorama, but you are clear and concise about what you're doing," Steve said, "because communication is essential when you're in an unfamiliar environment."

Tony snorted and shook his head. "Let's get started."

imafuturist

Class had been ~~handwavily~~ informed to meet up by the beach today for a fun, new team building exercise! Hey, it got you out of the school, okay? That counted for something.

"Welcome back. Hopefully everyone had a nice weekend with all the guests around," Tony said.

"Today we're going to work together to build a tent and set up a campfire," Steve said entirely too chipperly.

"Now, this isn't meant for one person to do everything, we'll be looking to see you guys collaborate and work together on how best to accomplish this all," Tony added.

"The tent even came with instructions," Steve said. The instructions were pictures with instructions in Estonian. They were of zero help.

"Good luck!" Your teachers were the worst, class.

heroic_jawline

Today Steve wasn't the tallest blond man in the class! "This is our friend Thor," Steve said, pointing to the huge man beside him.

"Hail!" Thor said jovially.

"He's not from around here," Steve added.

"This is going to go great," Tony said in a stage whisper. "Everyone meet Thor. He's a guest this weekend."

And a friend from work.

"He works with us on our team," Steve said, nodding, "and so today he is happy to answer any questions you might have about it."

"I have brought mead!" Thor added.

"Not for the kids, Thor," Steve said quickly.

"We can do Norse drinking games with apple cider to demonstrate bonding with your future or present teams," Tony suggested. Because those games were hilarious.

"And still none of you will be worthy to lift my hammer," Thor said, smirking.

"Not a euphemism." Tony was doing his very best not to laugh.

heroic_jawline

Was Steve a little enthusiastic about the height his students might want to trust fall?

Judging by the cliff he led them to, absolutely. At least Tony had countered by acquiring that big inflatable mat that police used for people who threatened to jump off buildings?

Because Tony knew just how much Steve liked to jump off high things without a plan in place.

"Trust falls," Tony said. "They're a little cliché, but still a fun exercise for people in the team building phase."

"Most people don't have people randomly falling on them in a normal environment," Steve said, "but I jump off of things all the time--" true story! "--and I know my teammates will catch me."

While bitching about why Steve gave them a half-second of notice.

Tony was shaking his head and mouthing 'don't do that to your teammates' at the class next to him.

"So first we're going to jump and land on the mat because it's fun," Steve said, "and then we'll work together to get everyone down the cliff without falling."

Steve: Still not sure how trust falls work.

"As a team," Tony agreed, maybe having his armor get here just in case.

heroic_jawline

No, you hadn't accidentally signed up for paintball class, students, but Steve and Tony had all of these leftover supplies, so...today was paintball. At least it wasn't really incredible, stupidly hot today?

"Hello everyone," Steve said with a little smile. "I'm Steve Rogers."

"I'm Tone Stark." What even. "Good to have you all! Teams, right?"

Yeah, it had been a weird few days. "Teams," Steve agreed. "Let's do students against teachers. We've got water balloons full of paint and places to hide. Work together and try to take out Tony--" with two syllables, "and myself."

"I could not have said it more good for self," Tony said, clearly not seeing anything wrong with this. "Let's get to it, shall we?"

Just don't disturb his feather beard. Please.

heroic_jawline

"Today is the last class before your final exam," Tony said. "Congratulations on making it through."

Really, surviving this place was a great accomplishment sometimes.

Steve smiled at them all as he nodded. "Hopefully you've learned about the value of teamwork," he said earnestly.

"Precisely," Tony added. "So, today we're going with another useful survival skill... how to signal for help if you do end up lost in the wilderness."

"Please don't set the trees on fire with a flare gun," Steve said.

Tony looked worried, like that idea hadn't even occurred to him. "Yes. Flare guns are aimed at the sky. Never at the ground or trees."

"Unless you're using it as a diversion," Steve added. The Howling Commandos had made some choices.

Tony very quickly shook his head behind Steve.

grenadesandohana

Instead of the normal teachers for class today, the students would find a couple of detectives from the Trooper Station. "Captain Rogers contacted me yesterday," Steve began, "and he and Mr. Stark were unable to return for class today. So Detective Williams and I will be working on your survival instincts. That's why we're in this cool simulator--so your mistakes aren't fatal."

Well, that was a reassuring way to begin.

"Also because of safety regulations," Danny added dryly. "Because wild boars are mean."

"That's what makes it fun, Danny," Steve said.

"That's what gets you sued, Steven," Danny replied. "The boar isn't real, but please don't try doing this in real life."

"You can totally try this in real life," Steve said, nodding, "as long as you have the knife skills."

"This is exactly what nearly got us kicked out of the Aloha Scouts," Danny muttered under his breath, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "This right here."

Steve ignored him. "So we'll practice knife throwing using these palm trees as targets, then go catch a boar, okay?"

heroic_jawline

Steve held up a WWII-era shovel. "People joke that the military is mostly running and peeling potatoes, but they forget the very, very important digging holes aspect."

So much digging.

"These shovels were standard issue during my time in the service."

"Holes can also be used to make a shelter cooler in the warmer months," Tony added, sighing at the shovel in his hands. "So... it does relate to survival."

And not just the teachers being terrible.

"They can be used to hide food from animals," Steve added, "and save your bacon from enemy mortars."

Not normally a problem, but sure.

"Protection. Yes," Tony said, nodding and trying not to grin at that very specific thing. "So. We'll be digging--as a group. And decide how deep and how large this hole should be."

"Pretty sure there aren't scorpions in this dirt," Steve added helpfully.

Tony had been nodding along until his brain caught up with what Steve said there. "Wait, what?"

Steve smiled beatifically at him. "What what?"

heroic_jawline

The weather outside was cold and gross and while learning to survive in all elements was important, Steve and Tony just weren't feeling it today. So they were in the Danger Shop again, which had been programmed with palm trees, ocean waves lapping at the shore, and the humidity cranked to 90 percent.

And a huge, flat screen television. "It's Spring Break next week," Steve said, "and so I'm sure most of you are already visualizing yourselves in Japan."

"As you should! It's an amazing place," Tony said. "But the distraction means... movie day."

"So we found you a movie about survival skills!" Steve said, smiling encouragingly.

Well. Sort of.

"It'll be fun," Tony promised. Because that was what mattered this week.

heroic_jawline

Hello, Definitely Not Re-Enacting Survivor class! Thank you for reading Steve and Tony's email and arriving in the Preserve. If it helps, your teachers look just as un-thrilled about being in the Untamed Wilderness as you are.

"Welcome to Advanced Team Building," Steve said with a smile. "If you're worried this class is going to be a lot of trust falls and climbing obstacle courses, well..."

You were right to be worried.

"There will be other things as well!" Tony said, trying to give them hope. "So, let's make this nice and easy for a first class, shall we?"

There was a small pile of tarps and ropes next to the teachers which... might be a clue.

"Working together--" you were going to get so tired of that phrase, class, "--and using these tarps and ropes you must build a shelter with these supplies that you can all fit underneath," Steve said.

"It's a good ice-breaker if you're new!" That was so painfully corporate, Tony.

"We'll wander around, check your progress and get your names," Steve added helpfully.

wrongkindofsith

Heedless of the robot babies, your teachers today were dressed up in leather. Which, actually, wasn't that out of sorts for them. But this time they were both also wearing sunglasses. Which was slightly different.

"Wait, am I good cop or bad cop? Or are we playing aloof cop too?" Magnus whispered.

Some small part of Cara that was always going to be Mord'Sith was dying right now. "You're good cop," Cara replied, her tone indicating that should have been obvious

Shhh. Shhh, Mord'Sith part. Just accept the tender love of found family from a joke D&D podcast.

"Fine, but I'm three days from retirement if I'm good cop and my sciatica is acting up," Magnus decided with a firm nod. "And we can trade off for weekends."

"Oookaaaay..." Magnus would find remarkably little argument there.

"So it's time to live the buddy cop dream!" Magnus said, smacking the control panel on the danger shop to bring up car chases, cool shoot outside, and an explosion to walk away from all cool like.

And, some how, they all had a fuzzy 70s movie look to them.

"Find a partner and decide who's 'three days from retirement' and who's 'a rookie on the edge'." You could hear the finger quotes.

wrongkindofsith

There was a projector at the front of the class, and your teachers looked beat, which could mean only one thing. Movie day!

"SO today you're watching..." Cara looked at the DVD case. "...'Getting Ahead With Teamwork.'"

"Where it's gonna valuable lessons on working as a team to get ahead," Magnus explained. Yeah.

And any other week that's exactly the kind of terrible edutainment film they'd be watching. This week, however, there'd been an unfortunate mix up with discs and cases, and well, it still involved teamwork?

"See, I told you that taking your shirt off to flex on 'em was part of teamwo--" That train of thought was immediately derailed as the video continued. "Oh. Oh, it's a porno."

He then continued in a sort of high pitched stage whisper, "Did we... did we mean to show this?"

"It was in with the class materials." Look, given the nature of various Mord'Sith bonding activities, Cara wasn't necessarily the best judge of this.

Magnus had many concerns both for this school and his buddy Cara right now. "Yeah, and we have a hard rule against finding out what's past the explicit rating on iTunes," he said, going to shut the movie off. "How about we... sit and think really hard about what we think the real movie showed."

It had just started getting interesting, Magnus. "I'm sure they're already thinking hard."

Cara, no.

"No imnuendos!" It was Merle and the plants all over again!

"Fine, it'll be a very hands off class, then." CARA, NO

And it was a struggle for Magnus to not giggle at that. A real struggle. "Okay, that was a good one."

Cara thought about not saying it, she really did, but..."That's what she said."

And that's what set him off on a laughing fit as he held up a hand for a high-five. Sorry, class?

Sorry, not sorry in Cara's case. So worth it.

wrongkindofsith

Today there were several easels with what looked like charts and graphs of various types on them. Some might have been pie charts, some were bar graphs... but none of them actually seemed to hold much meaning if you looked at them too closely.

"Hi! Welcome back, Cara isn't a chipmunk anymore!" Yes, they could all see that, Magnus.

"I'm sure they noticed," Cara said dryly. If they hadn't, there was no helping them.

"I'm just happy you can talk again without needing to find a Druid or Merle," he replied with a sniff. "But it's good you're here because today we're..."

Magnus squinted at something written on his hand for a moment. "Workshopping dynamic paradigm shifts?"

Yeah, they had no idea what that meant either. So they'd gotten creative. Cara gestured at the graphs. "Which means you'll be dealing with all these shifting paradigms."

By punching them. Because that was how they got creative.

"We have to get ahead of the trend," Magnus added, leaning into the indecipherable corporate jargon now. "With an uppercut!"

"Or a round kick." No need to restrict violence to their fists, after all.

Magnus offered her a high-five for that. Because of course he did.

Cara returned the high-five, because at some point she'd become the kind of person who did that.

magnusrushesin

There were posters hanging up all over the classroom today. The sort with majestic landscapes or an eagle in a clear blue sky on them.

You know, like stock photos.

"Welcome back, guys!" Magnus said, hanging up a poster with a kitten hanging from a clothesline. Living that cliche dream.

Cara meanwhile looked like she wished she was pushing thumbtacks into something other than a poster. "'Visualisations find exemplar motivation dual score goal'," she quoted flatly.

Anyone who suspected the class handbook had been run through google translate several times before reaching your teachers was probably right.

"And to help with... that," Magnus said slowly, running thast through another translator in his head. "We're gonna put words on these posters!"

Motivational posters for aaaaall.

"I'm sure you'll think of something suitably motivating." Unless you wanted suggestions from happy fun Mord'Sith here.

wrongkindofsith

Synergy! Cooperation! Monetize! Big Data!

Those were some of the words that were written on the board when the class arrived because they were all literally in the little booklet that the teachers were pulling this class from. So.

"I'm not even on YouTube anymore now that the guys don't work for Polygon," Magnus muttered under his breath, squinting at the board. "Maybe I can monetize the merchandising rights?"

Cara had no idea what Magnus was talking about, but that was going to be par for the course this semester. "So this class is about teamwork...synergy." She refused to pronounce the exclamation marks. "No so much punching."

Which was just as big a tragedy for her as you, guys.

"We can probably figure out punching too," Magnus added, shaking himself free of the lure of business buzz words. "Maybe a cool business fight club to promote teamwork!"

"...or something," Cara said dubiously. "Now according to the booklet, we're starting with 'introductory exercises for maximum trust.'"

"Trust falls!" Magnus translated for the rest of them. "Uh, we brought pillows in case people suck."

Or want to nap maybe.

Napping would probably be a better use of their time. "So tell us your name, throw yourself at the floor and trust the rest of the class to catch you," Cara said, refusing to demonstrate.

"I'll go first!" Of course he would. "I'm your teacher, Magnus Burnsides."

And then he sort of flung himself in Cara's direction. Because YOLO.

Only the fact they had to set a good example for the students stopped Cara from side-stepping and letting Magnus land on the pillows. "I'm Cara," she said, holding Magnus awkwardly at arms length.

whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com

[Class #13 - the Turkey Job]

There was -- a lot of food here.

Corn on the cob, turkey with trimmings, three kinds of stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, stir-fried vegetables, two salads, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, four kinds of pie….

“And a partridge and a pear tree!” Parker giggle-snorted. “No, that’s a joke, it’s from a song.”

"Because apparently there isn't enough emphasis on overeating this week in this country," Eliot said, sounding thoroughly exasperated. "Today you guys are having an eating contest."

Hardison, however, just looked proud of himself. "Careful not to overdo it too early on the carbs, yo," he told the class. "Ain't nobody winnin' if they fall asleep halfway through."

“I would have ruled at this game when I was in school,” Parker said thoughtfully. “So have fun with it! Consider it training for Thursday.”

"I'm trained in the heimlich," Eliot said. "Try not to make yourselves sick. This is a terrible idea."

whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com

[Class #9 - The High Note Job]

“Welcome to Fandom’s Got Talent!” Parker was making one of the judges chairs flip around back and forth, but finally made it stop to face the students. “in the grand tradition of teamwork and distractions, you guys are now a singing group.”

"Like the Dixie Chicks," Eliot said from where he leaned against the judges' table. "Or that, uh. Rascal Flats."

He was doing that on purpose to mess with you all. Maybe.

"Or, you know, a good group," Hardison said. "You could decide to be one of those instead. Like Hall an' Oates, but with more people."

“You have to pick a song, practice it, then perform it for our studio audience and the judges.” Parker spun her chair around one more time, and then propelled herself out of it. “It’s okay if you can’t sing. You can back-up dance. Or! You can gesture emphatically.”

"You can do basically whatever you want," Eliot noted. "Don't mean you're gonna win."

psychoticbiotic.livejournal.com

"Welcome back for your last week," Jack greeted the students once they were seated in the classroom. "Look, it's probably the last class on the last day of the session for most of you, and it's my last class before I leave the island, so I'm not gonna give you some huge speech or assignment that nobody would give a crap about. Let's just talk instead. What do you think you learned about teamwork? What do you still want to work on? Answer me, and you can head on out."

Her eyes totally weren't a little moist at the last-class shit. No. Not at all.

psychoticbiotic.livejournal.com

The students met in a standard classroom today, and there was something written on the whiteboard as they walked in:

Compromise: noun An agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions.

"Compromising," Jack said, gesturing at the board, "is what teamwork is about. Unless you're in charge and an ass, you aren't going to get everything you want all the time. You need to be able to figure out what you're willing to give up to get what you want. If you don't, you're not gonna get anything done at all."

She drew two circles on the board, one inside the other. "So this," she said, tapping the inside one, "is your inflexible area. This is the stuff you won't give up on. The outside circle is your flexible area. It's the crap that you could bend on, even if you'd rather not. When you're compromising, you can make a list of what's in both circles and then talk them through with your team to figure out what's the best choice for the most people."

"Your assignment for today is to do a circle like this to figure out where we're going for lunch. My treat, as long as we all agree on a compromise by the end of class. No compromise, no free food."

She tapped the inner circle. "So what's the stuff you absolutely won't compromise on about lunch?"

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The students met in a standard classroom today, and Jack had written a list on the whiteboard at the front.

Leadership Qualities

Honesty

Communication

Sense of Humor

Confidence

Commitment

Positive Attitude

Creativity

Intuition

Ability to Inspire

"Most of this class has been about working together as a team," Jack began, without preamble. "Teams have leaders, and today we're talking about what a leader should be like. The list's from an article. I found on what makes a good leader. Most of it explains itself. Communication means telling your team what's going on. Creativity means that if things get shitty in a new way, or if the way you normally fix things falls apart, you can figure out a whole new solution." She paused there to pass out the article, giving the students time to copy the list if they wanted.

"So today I just want to talk. What was the best leader you ever knew like? Did they match the stuff on the list, or were there differences? Best leader I ever knew had all this shit down, except maybe sense of humor. She wasn't exactly a laugh riot. But getting shot at a lot does that to you. If all the leaders you've ever known have sucked, what off the list do you think is most and least important?"

"And my second question for you is, what would you need to change about yourselves to be a better leader? Saying you'd rather make out with a pyjak than be in charge isn't an answer."

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