Office Hours, Thursday, 7/25

[bitten_notshy]

Jack wasn't in his office much.

Or, really, ever.

But he had to teach tomorrow, and between being a terrier puppy and being a werewolf, he had a lot to catch up on if he wanted his class to be halfway useful. He busied himself at his computer, typing up his thoughts on how to interview witnesses without seeming like you were doing it.

[OOC: Open office hours.]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

"Good, as your company suits me as well," Jack said lightly. He was uneasy, being made someone's role model, but he supposed that as fans went he could do worse than Eponine. "Want to help me work? I'm writing a lesson on finding things out without being spotted as a sneak."

[filleauloup]

Yes. As for example the ones who'd arrived on the island this morning.

Well, maybe that was subjective.

"Me help you write a lesson for class!" Éponine burst out laughing. "As if there's anything I know fit for teaching children."

Never mind that she was barely older than them.

"But very well, it's your class, and I'm happy to help if you'd like."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm not so sure this class is fit for children," Jack laughed. "But all right. Say you wanted to find out something personal, like where I was born, without actually saying 'where were you born, Jack?'. What would you do?"

He knew what he would do, but it was always good to get a second perspective.

[filleauloup]

"Oh, that's the question." Éponine settled herself into the nearest chair, smoothing her skirt down over her knees and folding her hands in her lap. "It's not so hard if you've got a chatterbox on your hands -- then all you've really got to do is find a way to get him, or her, in a mood to share. Then it's only a matter of leading the conversation 'round to that."

If not, well, it got more complicated.

[bitten_notshy]

"Right," Jack nodded. "And if they aren't a chatterbox, sometimes it works to just keep talking about and asking whatever runs through your head, so the thing you actually want to know won't stand out."

Though that tactic had sometimes made Jack feel as if he were talking to a brick wall.

[filleauloup]

"That gets tiresome after a while, though," said Éponine, who had had that brick-wall experience with the tactic a few times herself. "When d'you decide it's stupid to keep trying, and find some other way?"

[bitten_notshy]

"When I feel like they're about to walk away," Jack allowed. "You can push people so far, but once they're past it -- no point wasting your time. Usually there's someone else you can ask."

[filleauloup]

Éponine made a vague noise of agreement. "That's tricky as well, but sometimes easier, if one knows who to ask, and how to do it carefully. I've a hunch it isn't so easy nowadays to simply follow someone home and find out."

Thanks, modern transportation.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack shook his head. "Not at all. Half the time you can't even get a bloody cab. Might be worth picking a pocket, but I can hardly tell children to do that."

[filleauloup]

A dark expression flickered across Éponine's face for a moment. "No," she said firmly. "Sometimes you've got to, but telling them that wouldn't do, not one bit."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm trying to keep them at least slightly on the right side of the law," Jack agreed. "Not that I think the school pays much attention."

[filleauloup]

"You ought to know; you study law," remarked Éponine. "Would you do that anyway, try not to teach them to break the law, even if you knew for certain the school didn't care whether you did?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Depends which law it is," Jack admitted, leaning back in his chair. "I think everyone should be able to pick a lock if they need to."

[filleauloup]

"Of course, one never knows when one might need that, and it's a handy skill to have anyhow," agreed Éponine readily; her moral landscape was still a bit of a mess, and she had no idea where exactly this fell but it didn't strike her as bad in and of itself. "Even if it's a bit trickier these days. I don't mind, it's not as if I have to do it now --" and her eyes lit up with pride when she said that -- "but I don't think it would hurt to stay in practice."

She trailed off, stared past Jack for a few moments while she hummed, then cut herself off to ask, "Are you going to teach them to do that, too?"

[bitten_notshy]

Jack bobbed his head in a nod. "I was going to do it next week, actually. Modern locks are tougher, but thankfully most houses have the same locks as ever."