[WORLD ONE] SPEED DATING EXTRAVAGANZA

[spellbindmods]

Who: Participating coven members
Where: The Palai marketplace
When: Day 49
Open/Closed: OTA

[ Any and all who are in the marketplace will find that there is suddenly a mysterious barrier around the marketplace (that may be eerily familiar to some) -- specifically one large portion of the marketplace with a large number of tables and chairs, perhaps purposefully set out for nefarious reasons.

A few Palai are ushering coven members to chairs, and everything seems about normal. As normal as the Palai can be when they're putting on a show anyway. It's not until a sizable portion of the coven members are seated (and also supplied with breadsticks and small shrimp), that things get a bit more bizarre.

Thanks to the power of the Eltos, a small band of energy keeps coven members stuck to the chair (magic can interfere, of course), but that's not the end of it. On each table, next to those delicious smelling breadsticks and shrimp, is a bowl of scraps of papers. Every five minutes, a strip of paper will pop out from the bowl.

If you ask the Palai, they'll be inclined to explain speed dating to you. Asking questions, getting to know a person, then being shimmied off to the next potential mate -- this is made possible by Elto magic yet again, through flying chairs that transport their holder to a new table at standard intervals.

The Palai are extremely invested in this exercise? Will you let them down? ]

[ OOC: In the spirit of speed dating, each character will have a top level. All who want to respond to this top level can with questions from this post, but the threads have to end at 10 comments from each character. After this last tag, the characters can be assumed to have been whisked to a different potential match. You're free to have characters make up their own questions, interact with Palai serving food, etc. ]

Comments

[actus]

[ what he expected: maybe food and easvedropping on the event. probably some laughs and information gathering. what he didn't expect? to be stuck in a chair and unable to leave. well okay then. despite his debonair charm, this could get dicey. there's very little chance of akira taking this seriously.

if you ask him absurd questions, he'll definitely appreciate it. if you try to take this seriously? he is going to deadpan. it's up to you. either way, he is not enthused by any of this. ]

Ah... I see. [ what does he see? who knows. but he's just going to munch on a breadstick. ]

[sealeted]

[Hakuno is also eating a breadstick, and seems more interested in it than him, at least until a scrap of paper suddenly appears in the little bowl.

Hakuno picks it up, looks it over, and chews quietly on her breadstick as her eyebrows slowly rise. After she finishes the bread and swallows, she looks him dead in the eye.]

So, what is your secret sexual fantasy, Pinnokkyun? ...apparently, that's appropriate first-date conversation topics around these parts.

[She eyes him up and down, and takes another breadstick, nonchalantly biting down.]

...'m gonna take a stab in the dark and peg you as a Maid-lover, or something. Is that about right?

[actus]

[ ... did that just happen?

akira's brows fly up his forehead and he nearly chokes on the bite of garlicky bread in his mouth. ]

I wasn't aware that was first-date conversation, actually.

[ he clears his throat, adjusting his glasses one more time on his nose. maids? really? ]

Actually, my Teacher back home was part of maid-service that did my laundry and cleaned my room for me. She was a real life savior. [ thanks akira that's not answering the question - ]

Why? Are you a maid, sometimes?

[sealeted]

Me either, but, when in Rome...

[She shows him the paper, the words 'What is your secret sexual fantasy?' printed out, plain as day.]

I've never worn anything like that, but... should I take that question as a come-on?

[secrowtary]

[ The idea of speed dating was foreign to him and at least now he knows why. Hibiki's been sitting with his arms folded and legs crossed, but when the chair guides him to Akira, he shifts his position, now lacing his fingers together on his lap. It seems that he's more relaxed than before, too. ]

Hello there. [ Greetings are important. What else is important? A good question. With the time limit given, there's not enough time to think carefully about it, so Hibiki goes with the first one that comes to his mind: ] What would you take with you to a desert island and why?

[ Maybe he should have asked about his grades instead... ]

[actus]

[ it's surprising how calm hibiki is. really, it's reassuring that hibiki is even here; it'd be awkward to have to explain this entire situation to him later that night if he hadn't witnessed it himself. ]

An endless supply of fresh water.

[ is he being serious? his lips curve up in a smile and he leans his his cheek against the back of his hand. ] ... But really, probably my favorite book. [ he's a total nerd, it's fine. ]

What about you?

[secrowtary]

I expected "You" as an answer, but an endless supply of fresh water is far more reasonable. [ Is he sassing him right now. ] Favorite book is fair enough as well.

[ He still can't believe he asked this. It must be the influence of the paper stripes. It's not that bad, though. Having a serious conversation here, of all places, would be pointless. ]

I would take a communication device so someone would rescue me.

[ Actually...let's try one of these questions on Akira. ]

Are you a virgin?

[ His monotonous tone makes it even more hilarious. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's not embarrassed by the question. Quite the opposite, the blush is already spreading across his face. ]

[yancat]

Ah, Akira. Yes, it appears we're both stuck in this predicament.

[Jumin looks neither reluctant nor elated to receive him. Then again, that's how he always looks...]

It also seems I'm allowed to ask you anything.

What's your GPA?

[actus]

[ akira shrugs; he doesn't mind jumin at all. this isn't the worst possible thing that could happen. and thank god for makoto. ]

...Ah. I'm in the top five in my class.

[ surprisingly. somehow. he didn't have the energy or skill to become the best with all his running around, so - ]

Are grades important to you, then?

[yancat]

They're important. [He's not so invested in this dating thing.] You can get in a good university, a good job...

[He picks up a breadstick and inspects it for alien mold.]

Then you can find a good spouse.

[decipheringeye]

[ Hey look, a familiar face. He doesn't look too invested in this, which is a bit of a relief. ]

Mr. Akira! Please don't get the wrong idea about me showing up like this!

[actus]

[ ah! he's amused, and it shows by the slight warming of his expression. ]

Mm. I was conned into it, too, it's fine. [ he doubts anyone is here to actually find a date. ]

Should we take turns reading the questions so they don't get suspicious?

[decipheringeye]

Sure, that sounds great.

[ She checks the first question. ] "Do you drink? Will you drink with me?" I don't know if I know anyone who doesn't drink.

[teratias]

What? A way out?

[Waver's still trying to figure out how the hell to handle this whole thing. Dating is completely new. He barely has friends. Relationships?! Uncharted territory.

He's red faced as ever, looking like every inch of him has shriveled up and died.]

[actus]

[ wouldn't that be convenient, a way out! ]

If only. [ he says it entirely unfazed, setting the breadstick back down. this guy looks far too flustered to tease. he might as well set the difficulty to easy-mode. cut him some slack. ]

Mm. It says, "What's your favorite body part of your mate?"

[ "easy" mode. ]

[teratias]

[That is NOT easy mode. That is INTENSE PANIC MODE. Waver just looks like he's waiting for the ground to open and swallow him whole at this point. The hell kind of question is that?!

Well, it'd be easy for someone with dating experience. Which Waver lacks entirely.

Sidestep then. Sidestep.]

That's really technical language.

[goodlistener]

[that's, rude.

also, she's the one who's going to ask, if no one has, yet. maybe she even looks around, first, raising an eyebrow.]

What do you see?

[actus]

Nothing, really.

[ a shrug. wow, that's a great conversation starter. either way, he's going to reach for the small bowl of slips of paper. might as well humor them. he isn't exactly sure he's going to answer any of the question seriously, but stranger things have happened.

he undoes the slip ... and blinks at it. wow that's forward.

he clears his throat and rather than read it aloud, just sets it down on the table.

read it if you dare? it says "How do you feel about being called "daddy/mommy?"]

1/2

[goodlistener]

[are you a rude delinquent child and you just don't like her or something, akira? understanding that pursuing that line of questioning is a dead end, jeanne eases back into her chair and watches him closely.

this of course means that she's staring at the slip of paper as he places it down and leaning forward to glance at it in order to read the writing. carefully,]

How do you feel about being called "daddy" or "mommy"...?

2/2

[goodlistener]

[wait for it.

oh. oh, no.]

Ah—! To think they would...

["put that in there", is the end of her sentence.]

[pussywhips]

[ If she thought sitting across from a stranger doing this whole date thing was embarrassing as heck, she now stands corrected—because this is worse. She's literally never felt awkward around Akira (okay, maybe crying at him in the cafe when they first met was a little awkward...) before this moment, and somehow that scenario is worse than feeling awkward around 10,000 strangers.

It's not even like they haven't gone to eat together a million times! But throw the date word in there and now she suddenly wants to die of embarrassment. (Probably because she's never date...d... being a social pariah and all.) No, it's fine... she'll just... play it cool. Totally cool! ]

Um. [ She tugs anxiously on one of her pigtails. ] This is pretty weird, right?

[actus]

[ poor ann. he knows this is probably hard(er) on her than a lot of people, all things considered. no one is enthused that they're stuck strapped to a chair and have to "mingle" with potential "mates", but he can only imagine the degrees of awkward this must be for her. ]

Just a bit, yeah. [ he'll be honest. and then quickly ignore the bowl of questions and instead gesture with the breadstick. ]

They're good, by the way. Nowhere near as sweet as you like, but ... Maybe you could charm them into bringing over cake?

[pussywhips]

[ Oh, thank God—he's acting totally normal. Somehow that makes her feel a lot better about the situation, and she visibly relaxes, her shoulders sagging in relief. It's probably just the... expectation... you know, certain expectations attached to dating and stuff that weighs on her—people have had all sorts of expectations about her like that, and it's always made her uncomfortable.

In retrospect, she should've known better. It's Akira, and she's an idiot. ]

It's okay. I mean, I wouldn't want them to make a whole cake for me just because I used charm on them... [ That's just cheating! She reaches out and grabs a breadstick, stuffing it into her mouth. ] Mm! Thish is pretty goodf!

[imsorey]

That makes one of us.

[he sort of gets the idea of speed dating, but really, if someone wanted to date then they were probably already dating.

still, it's free food and good company. he grabs a breadstick.]

Want to fill me in on what it is you see?

[actus]

A lot of people.

[ AKIRA PLEASE.

he tilts his head, regarding him curiously. he needs to discern if this guy is taking this whole speed-dating thing seriously or not. ]

... at least there aren't brownies this time.