Re: Final Confrontation (Alona/Andy/Kieran/Eleanor)

[Alona Andrews]

When she heard the last part of Richards's statement, she turned her eyes back to O'Hara. She rolled her eyes, a small smile plastered on her lips.

[Ellie Volkova]

Ellie blushed as he said this last part and winked. Her mind instantly flew to the dorm-room-night. "I never said that all communication has to be verbal... As for the skills and brains, we have plenty of that. The brains can be proved by the top academic grades we receive, showing that we in fact know our stuff and can give clients the best advice possible and explain the best course of action to take. As for the skills, well, I can say that we have skills in obtaining outcomes that others think impossible," she replied, looking him in the eye as she said this last bit.

[Kieran Richards]

He smiled a bit as she said the last part and nodded slowly, looking back into her gorgeous eyes. It was so true, in so many fields. However, after a few seconds of simply staring at her, he slightly shook his head, remembering that they were not the only ones there.
"So what you are saying, Miss Volkova, is that we do not have these skills?" he asked, raising a challenging eyebrow.

[Andy O'Hara]

Andy smirked, then seeing his favourite student rolling her eyes at him, he winked. "Going down," he mouthed to her, grinning.

[Alona Andrews]

Alona looked at O'Hara, narrowing her eyes. She slowly shook her head. "Never," she mouthed back with a grin.

[Ellie Volkova]

Ellie grinned slightly at that little display. "What I am saying Mr Richards, is although you may indeed possess such skills, they have not yet been made known," she teased with a straight face. "After all, you use your abundance of experience as a security blanket and therefore feel you don't have to make the first move or take risks. However for us 'unexperienced' ones, as you call us, this risk taking is the only thing we can do to further our knowledge of life experiences."

[Kieran Richards]

"That is right," Kieran told her, a small smile playing on his lips. She was really good at that, so he was glad that he had taught her well. "We don't have to make the first move. We let you, the young ones, do that because we know we gave a good comeback. Taking risks, Miss Volkova, is not always the best thing to do. So, we let you do that, while we managed to stay safe."

[Ellie Volkova]

"Ah, but do you ever stop to think that the comeback might be too little, too late?" she asked him. "Like with dear Severus Snape. Yes, he helped Harry in the end, but it was still too little, too late. Although a good comeback can be a good thing, it has the potential to just blow up in your face and no one likes that. And since when has playing it safe ever been a good thing? No one achieves anything by playing it safe. All progress would be hindered. Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, all the great composers - none of them played it safe. Same for the writers and poets, the scientists. All of them achieved greatness by taking risks and not be afraid."

[Guest]

Eleanor blinked in slight surprise when she heard Ellie's speech. She hadn't expected that sort of speech regarding greatness and risk-taking. It was rather inspirational. "Nicely put, Miss Volkova," she murmured, knowing that although she was supposed to remain quiet and unbiased, she couldn't let this pass without comment.

[Kieran Richards]

Kieran couldn't say that he was not surprised by Ellie's speech. But, he couldn't let her win that easily now, could he?
"Everything you say is true," he said. "But allow me to give you an example I am sure both Mr. O'Hara and Miss Andrews will agree with. The 2010 Medibank International match between Dinara Safina and Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska was leading with 5 games to love in the first set, when Safina's coach came on the court. Do you know what he told her? To calm down and stop risking so much. And she did so; she started playing safe. She turned the score upside-down and she won the first set with 7-5. With this style of playing, the second set was piece of cake and she won it with 6-4."

[Alona Andrews]

Alona's lips were parted as she listened to Mr.Richards's speech. She leaned closer to Ellie. "He's right," she whispered to him. "I've seen that match." Then, she turned her eyes back to the Law teacher. "My respect for this guy has just grown even more," she muttered to herself.

[Ellie Volkova]

Ellie's eyes widened a little. "Since when does he speak sports?" she whispered to Alona, surprised. "Ok, Mr Richards, playing it safe in some instances is a good thing. Indeed constant risk-taking is rather unhealthy and can be dangerous. Overall however, history constantly repeats itself when showing us that on the whole, those who take risks are better rewarded. In fact I'm sure those players took many risks to get to where they are now," she replied smoothly. "Had they played safe, I doubt that they would ever been discovered."

[Andy O'Hara]

Andy couldn't help but grin at Kieran's speech. Kieran was one of the last people he thought would have seen that match, but not only had he seen it, he'd used it as an awesome rebuttal. "Nice," was all he could say to his colleague.

[Kieran Richards]

"Allow me to contradict you, Miss Volkova," he said. "There are many people who became famous because of their safe, subtle work. I hope you do realize that sometimes, a too risky behaviour may be considered by many a blatant cry for attention."

[Ellie Volkova]

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who would these people be? Models and celebrities that were just 'discovered'? Anyone of actual notable fame, Mr Richards? And what's wrong with a cry for attention?" she asked. "Actually, if attention, or as is more often the case - help, cannot be provided, then some risky behaviour might just be what is needed for the person to be helped. So while at first the behaviour might seem dangerous, the end justifies the means if the person gets help."

[Kieran Richards]

"Notable fame is just a notion," he said. "I think that the most important is personal achievement. And yes, I am talking about the celebrities who were discovered. I can assure you that they had not expected that, so it came as a surprise, which turned into personal satisfaction. I am not saying that there is something wrong with a cry for attention sometimes. But those people who risk usually do not stop, so it turns into a constant cry for attention, which is not good and is often rejected by the society."

[Ellie Volkova]

"Personal achievement is all well and good, but there has to be a way to measure it. It's not enough to simply say 'oh yup, that's my personal best' and leave it at that. To achieve true personal achievement, you have to be prepared to step out of your comfort zone." She looked at him. "Just because society rejects it doesn't mean it's doing the right thing. They keep doing it, trapped in a vicious cycle by that point, hoping that someone will notice and help. And yet society turns its back on them. If I may say an example: self-harmers. They keep harming in the hope that enough attention will be paid to them so they can get help, yet what does society do but reject them? It's a constant cry for attention, a plea for help, yet no one does something."

[Alona Andrews]

Alona glanced a bit at O'Hara with a serious face. It was not just a bet between them anymore, or at least so she felt. They were talking about serious, important things, things that were able to chance someone's way of thinking. And even though she was tough and she didn't think about feelings that much, the two's speeches were really motivating.

[Guest]

Eleanor's eyebrows shot up. This was getting way too intense and far from the idea she'd had of a friendly debate. Alona and Andy were just sitting there mute as they watched this debate escalate into epic and intense proportions. She wondered whether she should stop it but decided to let them battle it out for a little while longer.

"Before I let Mr Richards come up with a rebuttal, I want to know if either Alona or Andy have any objections to continuing this discussion. I realise just how intense it's gotten, so if either of you are uncomfortable, say so now."

[Andy O'Hara]

Andy caught Alona's eyes, no longer chuckling at the debate. "With all due respect Dr. Brennan, maybe we could stop..." he said quietly. "Not that I'm not finding this interesting, but I think we just exceeded the perimeters of the bet..."

[Alona Andrews]

Alona glanced a bit at Andy, before turning her eyes back to Dr.Brennan. "I agree," was all she said, nodding slightly.

[Guest]

Eleanor nodded. She'd expected that. "Then I declare this case to be over. Prosecution and defence will shake hands before awaiting the verdict. All further comments and rebuttals regarding this can be made in your own time," she said to the quartet.

Watching as the two battlers shook hands, she looked at the pair of them. "I want to congratulate you. That was really intense and was most interesting to listen to. Mr. Richards, although you had some very excellent points, especially the sporting reference, Miss Volkova finished highest with that final speech of hers. Prosecution wins. Court dismissed," she told them.

[Ellie Volkova]

Ellie smiled, but her heart no longer felt in it. She cursed herself for using that example; it was personal and she knew she shouldn't be dragging personal into debates. She managed a grin as she gave her friend a hug. "We won. So free mochas all week," she said softly.

[Alona Andrews]

Alona hugged Ellie back, even though she realized that she had taken it personal. "Seems like that," she smiled back with a slight nod.

[Kieran Richards]

Kieran shook hands with O'Hara, then turned his eyes back to Ellie. When he saw Alona ready to leave, he went up to his favourite student. He gave her a small smile and a nod. "You did great," he told her sincerely.

[Sponsored content]