Forced Diplomacy Practice

20250802

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

Sylvester always stepped into the restroom on arriving at campus - rarely to use the water-closet, but always to check his reflection in the mirrors. The uniform for diplomats in training was old-fashioned and he liked to ensure everything was in place.
Starched collar straight, hair pulled back in a tidy symmetrical bun, all buttons in order, cuff-links correctly-
“Who’re you trying to impress, swot?”
Ugh. Sylvester was grateful for all those lessons in keeping his expression neutral.
Thinking of this unwelcome meeting as surprise diplomacy practice made it easier to reply “Good morning, Harrison.”
“As if.” Harrison heaved a mournful sigh worthy of someone facing life imprisonment, not a day of classes preparing for a prestigious job.
Sylvester abandoned his preparatory ritual and headed back out into the foyer - but Harrison simply followed alongside him! Without even washing his hands!
The guy’s lacklustre, flippant attitude was all the more irritating knowing that he’d gotten a place here purely by having the last time “Wraithwhite”. That someone with passion who’d studied hard had been denied a place so this, this lout could cruise through the system and land a cushy position somewhere.
“Are you hoping Bridgette will finally notice you? Eh?”
Bridgette? Bridgette had a girlfriend. But if Harry didn’t know that, Sylvester felt it wasn’t his place to reveal the relationship.
Instead he drawled “Why would she be impressed by the same uniform she’s wearing?”
“Sooo why were you preening in the bathroom?”
“Because one day I’ll be representing my country. I want to build good habits now, when it doesn’t matter, so that when it does matter they’ll be second nature.”
“Psh, if the other side’s wearing bathrobes who’s going to notice your tie?”
“Ba…??”
Of the top of his head, Sylvester could think of four different foreign formal wear styles which could crudely be likened to a bathrobe, and nearly asked which one Harry was thinking of. But he firmly shut his mouth on the question. He didn’t want to encourage conversation.
Rather, he didn’t want to encourage Harry to linger; there were several people in the halls he’d be happy to engage in conversation, all of whom were subtly avoiding eye contact. The presence of Harry swaggering at his side was as socially isolating as having a smelly piece of toilet paper trailing from his shoe.
“C’mon, you’ve seen the photos.”
Uggggh. Making enemies with this fool would be a bad idea. But no matter how Sylvester mentally coached it as ‘practice’, the prospect of putting up with any more of his blathering was intolerable.
Think fast! What excuse could he use to…
Aha - double down on the ‘swot’ angle.
“Sorry, but I need to swing by the library before class. See you around.”
Surely Harry wouldn’t follow him all the way over there, much less expose himself to the withering glare of Ms Zhèng! Especially since they’d have to hurry to get back in time.
“Tsk. Tryhard.” Harry slouched against the wall and Sylvester hastily escaped.

Prompt was “Write a short story including a character who is ‘the rough in the diamonds’ instead of ‘the diamond in the rough’.”