Ficlet: The Art of Negotiation (GH, Patrick, Matt)
Title: The Art of Negotiation
Author: empressearwig
Claim: Robin/Patrick
Fandom: General Hospital
Theme: 15 - Homework
Disclaimer: Patrick doesn't belong to me, however Matt does.
Matt sat at the kitchen table bent over his math workbook.
Patrick entered the kitchen whistling. As he passed by Matt on his way to the fridge, he ruffled his hair. “How’s it going, buddy?”
Matt looked up at him miserably. “I hate fractions.” He tugged at his hair, unconsciously echoing Patrick’s frustrated habit. “Do I really need to know how to do this?”
Patrick laughed a little, and came to sit at the table with Matt bottle of water in hand. “Unfortunately, yes.” He tugged the book over to him. “What have you got here?”
“None of it makes sense,” Matt pouted. “And Mom said I can’t go play my new racing game till I finish.”
“New racing game?” Patrick perked up. “When did you get a new racing game?”
“Uncle Mac dropped it off,” Matt said eagerly. “It’s so cool, Dad! You should play with me! I bet if you played with me, Mom wouldn’t notice if my homework is done!”
Patrick raised an eyebrow. “Your mom wouldn’t notice if your homework is done?”
“Well, okay, she’d notice eventually,” Matt conceded sheepishly. “But it would take longer and we’d get to play for awhile first!”
Patrick laughed. “How about I help you finish your homework, and then we go play?” he suggested. “What are you having the biggest problem with?”
Matt frowned. “All of it,” he said dramatically.
“Can you be more specific?” Patrick tried again. “You’ve only got a couple problems left, so you must sort of understand it.”
Matt tugged the workbook back in front of him. “Those were easy,” he said. “They’re all the same, see? I just don’t understand how I’m supposed to do this when they’re different.”
“Okay, I can help with that, I think,” Patrick smiled. “Alright, so for this one, you have to add ½ to ¾, right?”
Matt nodded. “Right.”
“So when you have two fractions and need to add them together, you want to make sure the denominators are the same,” Patrick explained. “So since four is bigger than two, that’s the one we need to make them.” He looked over at Matt. “Does that make sense so far.”
Matt scrunched up his nose. “I think so.”
“Alright, so what do you have to multiply 2 by to get 4?”
“Two.”
“So multiply both the numerator and denominator by 2.”
The tip of Matt’s tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. “So ½ is the same as 2/4?”
Patrick nodded. “Yep. So what happens when you add ¾ and 2/4?”
“You get 5/4!” Matt said happily. “That made sense.”
“Think you can finish the rest of them now?” Patrick asked. “Then we can go play your game, and I bet I can talk your mom into letting us have some junk food to celebrate finishing with the dreaded fractions.”
“I think so,” Matt nodded, still bent over the workbook. He looked up at his father and grinned. “Can you talk her into the triple chocolate brownies that she’s been trying to hide in the fridge?”
Patrick laughed and ruffled Matt’s hair. “I can try.” He stood up. “I’m going to go see what I can negotiate and you finish your homework. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” Matt turned his attention back to his workbook, pencil flying over the page as he completed the problems.
Patrick started out of the kitchen and turned back to look at Matt one more time.
All it took to get Matt to finish his homework was the proper incentive.
Author: empressearwig
Claim: Robin/Patrick
Fandom: General Hospital
Theme: 15 - Homework
Disclaimer: Patrick doesn't belong to me, however Matt does.
Matt sat at the kitchen table bent over his math workbook.
Patrick entered the kitchen whistling. As he passed by Matt on his way to the fridge, he ruffled his hair. “How’s it going, buddy?”
Matt looked up at him miserably. “I hate fractions.” He tugged at his hair, unconsciously echoing Patrick’s frustrated habit. “Do I really need to know how to do this?”
Patrick laughed a little, and came to sit at the table with Matt bottle of water in hand. “Unfortunately, yes.” He tugged the book over to him. “What have you got here?”
“None of it makes sense,” Matt pouted. “And Mom said I can’t go play my new racing game till I finish.”
“New racing game?” Patrick perked up. “When did you get a new racing game?”
“Uncle Mac dropped it off,” Matt said eagerly. “It’s so cool, Dad! You should play with me! I bet if you played with me, Mom wouldn’t notice if my homework is done!”
Patrick raised an eyebrow. “Your mom wouldn’t notice if your homework is done?”
“Well, okay, she’d notice eventually,” Matt conceded sheepishly. “But it would take longer and we’d get to play for awhile first!”
Patrick laughed. “How about I help you finish your homework, and then we go play?” he suggested. “What are you having the biggest problem with?”
Matt frowned. “All of it,” he said dramatically.
“Can you be more specific?” Patrick tried again. “You’ve only got a couple problems left, so you must sort of understand it.”
Matt tugged the workbook back in front of him. “Those were easy,” he said. “They’re all the same, see? I just don’t understand how I’m supposed to do this when they’re different.”
“Okay, I can help with that, I think,” Patrick smiled. “Alright, so for this one, you have to add ½ to ¾, right?”
Matt nodded. “Right.”
“So when you have two fractions and need to add them together, you want to make sure the denominators are the same,” Patrick explained. “So since four is bigger than two, that’s the one we need to make them.” He looked over at Matt. “Does that make sense so far.”
Matt scrunched up his nose. “I think so.”
“Alright, so what do you have to multiply 2 by to get 4?”
“Two.”
“So multiply both the numerator and denominator by 2.”
The tip of Matt’s tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. “So ½ is the same as 2/4?”
Patrick nodded. “Yep. So what happens when you add ¾ and 2/4?”
“You get 5/4!” Matt said happily. “That made sense.”
“Think you can finish the rest of them now?” Patrick asked. “Then we can go play your game, and I bet I can talk your mom into letting us have some junk food to celebrate finishing with the dreaded fractions.”
“I think so,” Matt nodded, still bent over the workbook. He looked up at his father and grinned. “Can you talk her into the triple chocolate brownies that she’s been trying to hide in the fridge?”
Patrick laughed and ruffled Matt’s hair. “I can try.” He stood up. “I’m going to go see what I can negotiate and you finish your homework. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” Matt turned his attention back to his workbook, pencil flying over the page as he completed the problems.
Patrick started out of the kitchen and turned back to look at Matt one more time.
All it took to get Matt to finish his homework was the proper incentive.