[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

[sealeted]

O-Oh.

[Stuck in a chair, unable to escape until her task is completed... this is rousing some demons she had very resolutely been repressing. How rude. Still, it's all in good fun, probably, and the Palai have been pretty gracious hosts so far... Hakuno inhales slowly and tries to answer the first of the little papers posed as ice-breakers.]

Uh, let's see... being called "Mommy" is... something I never really had the chance to consider, before coming here. But, maybe someday. I'd love to have a family of my own. Not right now, since I'm still... really young. But someday, when I meet the right person, I think it would be really nice.

[fivefingerdeathpunch]

[He's gonna do it. He's gonna be the one to tell her, because Jotaro's been hanging around the wrong sort of people long enough to know what the question is really asking. He tries his best to look disinterested, to make it easier on both of them, but there's only so much to be done there.]

I'm pretty sure they meant, you know... [uhhhh no fuck never mind he can't do this his will is wavering he is a chicken among men they should just eat until the chairs move] In bed.

[sealeted]

........

[Processing.]

...what, really? I mean, I once knew a girl that liked getting called "Nee-chan" by younger boys, but that's...

[Weird. Not the weirdest thing she's ever heard, but weird.]

No, I don't have that interest.

[deem]

[9S isn't quite sure why Hakuno is talking about being a mom, or having a family, but perhaps fortunately he's too curious to concern himself with the how and why. Actually, this leads him to wonder about something rather important—]

Wait... does that mean an AI can reproduce?

[Machines sort of have children he supposes, although they don't reproduce. Maybe it's like that? Another point in the AIs being related to machines column. Come to think of it, Passionlip had referred to someone as her mother, hadn't she...?]

[sealeted]

I'm not actually sure. I know another AI who sort of... split parts of herself into new, separate AI based on her source code. I don't know if I can do that, but I never had the ability to bleed or turn into a squirrel before, either.

[Technically, her body is an exact copy of an existing human girl's form, right down to the atrophied, high-quality Magical Circuits she had to work on improving. It's not something she has really thought about, but having a kid the normal way might not be a stark impossibility.]

But, I could always adopt, too.

[deem]

Divided her code, huh...

[Another point in favor of his theory that AI are closer to machines. They're not exactly the same, he's sure, but he thinks of Adam and Eve when it comes to one entity splitting into more. Machines are more than code, and Hakuno herself is tangible, so 9S will have to wonder why the process only involves coding.

Adoption though, was that like the android who'd taken in a broken Scanner unit? It's the closest he comes to envisioning what she means]

Does that mean you'd take care of another AI then?

[sealeted]

Absolutely. Though, the ones I know are all fully matured.

[She shrugs.]

Or, an organic child, too. Human or any other species.

[deem]

[He's known a machine that took in animals, but this is an entirely different proposition.

Could artificial beings like them really raise a human? Would that be right? He shifts with a given discomfort in his seat, though he can move no further]

Guess I'd never thought about that sort of thing.

[sealeted]

I've only recently had the chance to think about it too.

[Why not? There's no set laws about parenthood.]

[deem]

You're freer in this organization than before, right?

[That's the impression he got from their first conversation]

[yancat]

[But she's an AI?

Well, Jumin miraculously has enough tact not to point that out. It seems that Hakuno is taking this seriously. Is she that lonely? He doesn't understand why people would feel so, but if she's being honest about this, it's only right that he respond in kind.

He closes his eyes.]

I see.

As the heir to my father's company, having a family of my own would be ideal for me, although I'm not sure if it's something I want.

[sealeted]

[She's a magical AI, and also adoption is a thing!]

Well, you're young. You have plenty of time to decide what you want in life. I'm sure finding the right partner is important, too.

[yancat]

You sound just like her.

[Before he can let her think about who he means, he seamlessly continues]

Anyway, Hakuno, I didn't expect you to stay so willingly. Are you looking for something?

[sealeted]

[Mysterious!]

Well, I won't say that I'm unhappy being single, but, I've never really had the chance to... connect with somebody like that. I've had a few people express their interest in me in the past, but circumstances made it impossible for me to accept their feelings or reciprocate them. Now that I'm finally free, it...

[She falters, and rubs her cheek as a faint flush spreads.]

It would be nice to fall in love, I think. Or even just have a crush. There's a lot I've never experienced.

[yancat]

[At that moment, Jumin realizes how young Hakuno is. She grew up too fast, and now that she has the time to do more than survive, she doesn't know what to do. Rather, she's taking her first steps into what the rest of her life has to offer.

He raps his fingers against the table. Should it be the same for him?]

I don't have any experience in that area myself.

[that's a fucking lie but hakuno doesn't need to know that]

Perhaps you'll find the right person here.

[Immediately shutting himself out, as usual.]

[sealeted]

[Hakuno fiddles with one of her long, fluffy forelocks, glancing at the table. Her voice is soft and thoughtful.]

Even if I don't find a lover... back in that place, I didn't get to touch many people. For a long time, having people close was like a precursor to an attack, or something scary. I didn't have the luxury to be held, or consoled, or be patted gently. I had... friends of a sort, companions, but I had to deal with outliving them, one way or another.

...I really, really do like it here. If not a lover, I'm certain I'll find people to love. And maybe we'll have to part one day, but I know how to treasure memories and feelings already. ...I'm looking forward to it.

[yancat]

[For someone so disinterested with the entire concept of dating, Jumin stares at Hakuno a little too intently. She knows the risks of letting someone in. So why does she want it? Her courage is irrational. It's beyond the sort of foolishness he can tolerate. Yet she dreams. Jumin doesn't dream a lot. Dreams are too much to handle. He's not weak, only sensible.

Anyway, it's none of his business.

But Hakuno's honesty wears him down, and in a moment of weakness — or perhaps strength — he says: ]

Hakuno.

Turn into a squirrel.

[lohengrins]

I see.

[ he raises a brow. ]

And how exactly would you define this "right person"?

[sealeted]

Let's see...

[She raises a hand to her mouth, thinking hard.]

Honestly, gender doesn't matter, so... a person who I can rely on, who trusts and respects me, and who I share a mutual attraction with seem like the first things to look for. Beyond that, I guess I have an interest in capable, passionate people.

[teratias]

[Well that's...a genuine surprise. In a way, Waver's not sure what he expected from a question like that. On the other, he's just realized that his stupid ass has never given that question any real thought. Only abstract hypotheticals.

So he isn't going to give his own response. He's going to just nod and respect the genuine answer.]

It's weird how just shifting locations gives you time to think about an entirely different set of things.

[sealeted]

[This poser.....]

Yeah. Distance grants perspective, more often than not. Plus, my life isn't in danger all the time, either.

[teratias]

[Hey. At least Waver didn't realize what else that kind of name calling could mean!

That's for better and worse, really.]

That too. Do they get to grow up on the moon, or on Earth?

[sealeted]

...not really.

[Great topic change, pal.]

In the Moon Cell, NPCs were meant to be deleted as soon as the Holy Grail War concluded, and only the victor was supposed to be permitted to have their soul returned to their body on Earth. So, if i did have a family, that's the last place I would try to raise them.

[teratias]

[Waver Velvet, king of bad choices on every front.]

....Definitely don't let them near any magi there then.

[Oh thank God, one of those ridiculous pieces of paper has popped out to save the day. Waver reads it first, then turns it around to Hakuno to show he can't make this up.]

What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done? Really?!

[sealeted]

I've... already answered that today, so... so it's not too bad.

[That's a huge lie. It's way worse. Geir is a dragon, Waver is a teenage boy, how does she up and tell him—]

I was once forced to... remove only my panties and keep running around a dungeon until we beat that particular enemy. What was yours?