Jason leaned against the sterile white wall, watching the brunette nurse as she took a call on her phone. However just as he was about to speak, he saw her raise her hand dismissively telling him to wait even before looking at him and his eagerness to speak to her began to fade immediately.
Jason's smile tightened. And then it disappeared entirely. Bad dogs did not deserve rewards.
The shift in his expression seemed to affect her greatly, as she expressed something of a surprise before masking it quickly. That was something that was not missed by Jason who was now sporting a neutral expression, not even looking at the Nurse.
He had let his gaze drift away, dismissing her presence just as she had his. As Jason stood there, staring at the clock on the wall as if she was intruding on her time, the Nurse found herself speaking quicker on the phone.
Jason immediately knew he was in. He inwardly had a smirk that was threatening to tug at the corner of his mouth as he stood there while thinking about the concept he was employing. It was something he learned a long time and rediscovered recently in CBT, the same principle that trainers used on dogs.
Operant Conditioning.
When a behaviour is right, a reward is given, but when it isn't, nothing but silence is given. Subconsciously, people responded to it just like animals. Right now, Jason's silence was the correction he was giving her, making her second-guess her dismissal of him.
After all, she was feeling the same thing he was feeling only a moment before. And the nice thing was that he was not even trying that hard at that moment. He was just being normal. This was super easy to make happen. How was he living this entire time?
It seemed he had been living under a rock. Or maybe he just chose not to use these tricks. It was after all, up to him to do things like these. He was someone who did not want to do this to people, however, what was also true was that some people did this kind of thing naturally, people who were naturally gifted at manipula... Ehem, Influence.
Finally, she snapped off the call, glancing at Jason with an apology. "Sorry about that. I had to handle an Outpatient call. Sometimes it's hard to say now, you know?"
Jason's eyes met hers as he saw her scanning him with appreciation. Well, there it was again, that Charisma stat applying itself. Anyway, Jason gave her a brief smile. A reward for her giving him her attention.
But inwardly, he felt his stomach twist, immediately dismissing this woman from taking her seriously. It didn't take a genius to know that she had not been talking to a patient. She had instead been talking to her boyfriend. And yet she was being dishonest at that moment. Why? Just because Jason was a bit handsome?
Women…
Of course, Jason was not bothered by this. After all, that was the name of the Game. Women will always be the choosers. Men are an island and women are nothing more than seagulls. As long as the islands look nice enough, a seagull will always land to see if it can get something to eat and have a good time.
"Not a problem," he replied smoothly. "I'm sure you deal with all sorts of people here. Not all of them must be this understanding though."
Jason's tone was friendly, and his posture was relaxed. This was another skill he was going to be employing very regularly. Mirroring. The doctor had been an easy test run, but this time, he was about to take it to the next level. With her, Jason was going to be subtler. He was going to try and get her to follow his rhythm instead of the other way around.
After all, he already had the impetus. She was the one trying to gain rapport with him since she broke it first. Therefore, Jason was going to mirror her only for a moment, before finally breaking and making her follow him.
"So you're a patient here, huh? How have I never seen you before?" she said turning to and standing up from her chair, admiring him further.
Jason shrugged, still exuding the relaxed demeanour he had, not shifting it to another pose that was more interesting as he leaned forward, putting his hands on the counter and leaning on them as he stared her down casually. "I just got here. And now I'm going to be leaving."
And then in the next moment, when she leaned in and put her shoulders on the counter too, Jason knew that she was copying him. She was coping with his stance subconsciously. She was falling into his rhythm, aligning herself with him just because she wanted to identify with him that much.
Jason soon got to work, glancing again at the clock and saying, "I need some release forms. Could you prepare them for me?"
"Anything for you, handsome. Just give me a second and I'll be done right quick."
Jason smiled when he saw this. The glance at the clock was a communication that he was on time. He needed to leave. And it seemed she had picked it up even without knowing, speeding up her actions.
Unconscious communication was such an interesting thing. Jason felt like he was in a new world. At that moment, a nearby nurse brushed past him, bumping into him. Recognising her as Isabella, the woman from earlier, Jason chuckled softly when he saw her cheeks flush as she got lost in his eyes.
"Careful there, Isabella," Jason said, with a voice that was low and warm. Isabella stumbled over an apology, unable to even look him in the eye and that made Jason want to laugh. What was up? Had he transformed or something?
Jason couldn't deny he liked the effect he had on people, but it wasn't something he intentionally sought. Still, he was curious just how far he could take it. How much control could he gain in situations with his insights?
Could he make someone shift their behaviour with one command?
Giving Isabella a knowing smile, Jason knew she would understand. After all, they were being watched right then by the same brunette doctor who was now rushing to complete the papers.
Then it seemed Isabella had noticed it too, and that was why she reached forward and touched him, saying, "Wow, you're fine already?"
Jason nodded, leaning down at her and saying, "That's right. It's the power of having a Guardian Angel watching over you. All your ailments just disappear."
Isabella smiled sheepishly, the flush on her face spreading further, still staring at him with a dazed expression. The brunette, who was watching all this, seemed to get some idea and immediately interrupted them, saying, "Oh Izzy, are you here for something?"