Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

[future_sandworm]

Leto had actually made some plans for this meeting, in case Arthur and Zack would still be asleep, although if they had been, there would certainly have been a lot fewer people showing up.

Those plans were now pointless, however. There was no way he would put people through defining the goals of defensive tactics today. Clearly those who had spend their weekend in another reality were a little too emotional to deal with that now. Leto knew that from experience; he had spent the previous day being bitched at (hello Arthur!) or hugged and cried on. It was obvious that people needed some kind of emotional outlet today.

Also, it seemed like some people had trust issues after having run into alternate vampire versions of themselves. That could prove dangerous in a fighting situation.

"Good afternoon," he greeted everyone gathered. "Today we will work on what I believe is referred to in this time as team-building. Without loyalty and trust - both of leaders and of fellow warriors - a military unit is nothing. Where that trust is strong and army may rise about their actual level of fighting skill."

"Often this loyalty has been nurtured by shared pain and suffering. A guerilla group might have faced persecution together for a long time. Many forms of military training forces the warriors to endure severe hardships together in order to achieve something similar."

Leto smiled. "Today, I decided for a more playful and gentle approach. We will start with a shared meal. Eating together is a sign of friendship in many cultures. First, you need to divide the food." He gestured at a blanket on the ground with a large fruit bowl in the middle. "It needs to be divided equally, but for every fruit you take, you need to tell the group something significant about yourself."

"When the food has been divided, you may eat, but you may not feed yourself, only other people."

He watched the people gathered. "Any questions?"

[Wait for OCD! OCD is up!]

Comments

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. This was going to go well.

Re: Feed other people

[future_sandworm]

It wasn't that hard to guess what Triela was thinking, but she was here, in what looked like an attempt at participating, so Leto held out an orange segment towards her lips.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela eyed said orange slice like it was a poisonous snake. And she eyed Leto like he was... well, a guy holding a poisonous snake.

And she worked really, really hard to ignore the fact that a part of her wanted to lean forward and nip the fruit out from between his fingers.

Re: Feed other people

[future_sandworm]

"Not hungry?" Leto asked without pulling his hand away. He had to admit, that look in her eyes was kind of... well, it could be said to make him want to tease her.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"I'm just fine," she said, eyes still locked on the fruit like it might jump out and attack her.

"Thank you," she managed in a voice so tight it sounded like she almost choked on the words.

Re: Feed other people

[future_sandworm]

"You don't trust me?" It was wrong, he knew, but he couldn't help teasing her.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Her eyes narrowed. A number of answers flickered through her mind as possibilities. 'I trust you to confuse me, and probably on purpose', 'I trust you about as far as I can throw you' (but that was actually probably pretty far), and 'Yes. Absolutely' (which was an unsettling possibility).

Eventually she settled on. "Why should I?" It wasn't hostile. She was genuinely curious as to how he would answer.

Re: Feed other people

[future_sandworm]

"Do you trust your organisation?" he asked.

He still hadn't moved his hand holding the orange segment.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela hadn't stopped staring at the orange segment, either. Just in case.

"The Agency?" she asked, trying to clarify what he was asking.

Re: Feed other people

[future_sandworm]

"Yes." He moved the segment a little closer to her mouth.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela gave the question a moment of serious consideration which was why she missed the little movement.

"I trust them to be true to their goals. They will use me as efficiently as possible. They will provide the best intelligence and equipment that they can." But they weren't looking out for her best interests.

She was okay with that. She could look out for herself.

Re: Feed other people

[future_sandworm]

"And you can't trust me in the same way?" Leto asked. "That I will be true to my goals, to my nature."

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"Oh, sure, I suppose I can do that."

Which only left her with two problems. She could never figure out just what Leto's goals and nature were, and whenever she was around him she had a hard time trusting herself.

Re: Feed other people

[glacial_queen]

Karla held out a grape. "The rules of this exercise forbid pranking," Karla informed Triela with a grin. "So it's safe."

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"I don't remember that being mentioned," Triela said.

She did not go for the grape. Someone might be paranoid.

Re: Feed other people

[glacial_queen]

Karla's face fell a little. "I wouldn't do that to you," she said quietly.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela cocked her head slightly in consideration. On the one hand she didn't like seeing Karla unhappy like that. On the other hand, that is exactly the expression she would expect Karla to use to set up a prank.

The other girl was quite crafty, after all.

Re: Feed other people

[glacial_queen]

Triela had an excellent point, one that would cheer Karla up immeasurably later.

For now, however, Karla just brought her hand up to bite the grape in half.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

That made Triela smile a bit almost in spite of herself. "It's good to see you eating." She still remembered that worryingly-skinny Karla.

Re: Feed other people

[glacial_queen]

Especially since this Karla had lost her own fair share of weight. Several days of not eating right had already taken its toll on her.

"I could still eat and share, you know," Karla pointed out, slightly sulky

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"True, but I don't have anything to give you so it'd be like taking food away from you." Someone (A) didn't like sharing in public and (B) thought this entire exercise was ridiculous anyway.

Re: Feed other people

[glacial_queen]

"I'm not supposed to be eating it anyway," Karla pointed out. "So all you're doing is making it so I can't feed my friend."

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"You fight dirty," Triela complained.

Even if she thought that was a good thing.

Re: Feed other people

[glacial_queen]

"Is that what we're calling honesty now?" Karla asked with a smirk.

Re: Feed other people

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"That's what we call what you do," Triela countered archly.

Then she sighed and held out a gloved hand, palm up.