[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

[rootbound]

[Geir might not be mad at this but Vern is, actually growling a little in his throat; he is normal-sized and trapped in a chair and able to feel everyone at the table's emotional reactions and embarrassment on top of his own and honestly, kind of pissy in the way an overstimulated cat would be]

Do you know how to escape magical chairs. That is the most pertinent question here!

[talim]

[ jude can practically feel the seething rage from across the table. it's... a little jarring, to put it lightly. ]

It is a pertinent question, but unfortunately, I... do not.

[ jude sighs. ]

We could spend fifteen minutes plotting a way out and likely failing, or we could just introduce ourselves and agree to play along. It doesn't have to be a real date. I've never even been on a real date.

[rootbound]

I have never had time for a 'real date' with another human in my life and I don't intend to start now. Ugh.

[for all his obvious anger he is, in fact, able to speak fairly levelly, though his tone's pretty biting; after another moment's consideration, he breathes out through his teeth and leans back in the chair, tamping some of that down]

--Vern. It's Vern. You?

[talim]

I can understand simply being not interested, but you've really never had time? None at all? What is it that keeps you so busy?

[ a thoughtful pause. jude clasps his hands together, looking slightly nervous. ]

Jude Mathis. Um, it's— it's pleasure to meet you?

[ he sounds unsure of whether or not it's even appropriate to say it. ]

[rootbound]

Iiit's. I don't know. I don't think either of us are actually feeling that it's a pleasure. It's fine, though, I guess? You're trying to be polite.

[blunt as a rubber hammer, this guy. sorry, Jude. he does seem to mean the 'you're fine' part, though, and seems to be slowly, gradually unbristling]

...you probably don't actually want the answer to that question, though, it's not great.

[talim]

[ jude doesn't mind. he's rather good at reading people, and while, no, vern doesn't exactly seem thrilled, jude doesn't feel any malicious intent either. he's good. ]

You do know that saying that just makes me even more genuinely curious, don't you?

[ the barest hint of a teasing smile curves his lips. ]

[rootbound]

[well, he asked for it.]

I was busy traveling and researching to find out the most reasonable way to accomplish the complete destruction of Midgard and end men warring to enter the halls of the gods. A lot of what I needed was in pretty inhospitable areas, and you don't exactly call up destruction with faeries and rainbows, so I had little to no company and no reason to trust the company I did get. Are you happy?

[his tone was entirely bland and reasonable through -- most of that? it trembles just a little on the last three words, ruining the effect, and he scowls again when he hears it

damn

he wanted to be edgy but couldn't pull it off]

[talim]

[ don't cut yourself on that Edge. that being said, jude is appropriately baffled. ]

Um. Wow.

Seriously. Wow.

[ a brief, uncertain pause. ]

Am I supposed to be happy?

[rootbound]

[oddly, that seems to fluster Vern; he actually tries to slide lower in his chair and possibly attempt to hide under the table, but is of course held firmly in place by the magical band on his chair...]

That's up to you, isn't it? You got the answer you were curious about. I don't dictate how people feel in response, or anything...!

[splinten]

[At least at this point, Dirk is mostly offering the the emotional reaction of vaguely flustered mild irritation.]

I could destroy it if I understood it. Unfortunately, I have no damn clue how the Palai are using the electricity to get us stuck. Maybe some kind of magnetics. [Which is interesting in itself? HMMM. Emotions are now sliding into a detached intellectual curiosity, tbh.]

[rootbound]

Can you understand the chair. It's made of wood -- or very cleverly disguised, what do they call it, plastic? -- and probably some metal, it is a device intristically made for sitting your butt on. Probably if you remove it I will be humorously stuck to the ground instead.

[hiss hiss hiss proverbial puffsheen emote goes here -- but he doesn't seem entirely unwilling to have a conversation, just mad about it]

[splinten]

I'm willing to try if it's a risk you're willing to take.

[He will get you stuck to the floor if that's your dream, Vern.]

[rootbound]

You know what, go ahead. At worst I'll get a bump and it'll give me a talking point for anyone else who swings by this table.

[splinten]

[Dirk focuses on it. There's some strange crackling, and odd resistance—the chair trembles under Vern, and then shudders. A crack runs through.

It disappears, but the magic does indeed remain.

Pause.]

Wow, Vern. How'd you end up stuck to the ground.

[rootbound]

[ow, his butt

looks indignantly down at the sandy ground, tries to get up, fails, tries again, fails again, and finally just sprawls ungainly on his back with a huff, sending up a small cloud of dust]

I wonder. At least now you know the chairs are not strangely inexplicable! And now they have to dig up some of the ground withe me every time they want to shuffle us.

[splinten]

Like they'll let a little dirt get in the way of love.

[Honestly they're unstoppable.]

[rootbound]

[puts his arms behind his head, looking kind of obstinate]

It's not going to work; I'm not interested in you. No offense or anything. How did you know my name, anyway?

[alphonse]

Maybe.

[Depending on how one feels about dubious, poorly controlled magic.]

But there's still the barrier and a bunch of Palai to get past. Do you think it's worth making that much of a scene over?

[rootbound]

I am voicing my displeasure. If I were really actually making a scene everyone would go blind.

[he...sounds like he means that? weird. maybe it's his magic ability. Al gets a spark of visible interest from him, though, overriding some of the annoyance; he props his chin on one hand to look up at him]

Hey, did you give Geir a stone statue of himself the other week, or am I looking for a different person in giant armor named Alphonse?

[alphonse]

That's me.

[He's mildly surprised by the recognition. What was the word Geir used to describe his friend from home, again? Summoner?]

Are you the one he wanted it for?

[rootbound]

Yes; I'm Vern, we're from the same place. He surprised me with it the other day. So -- I owe you a thank you too, I suppose. You made him very happy with your alchemy.

[alphonse]

You're welcome. I'm glad I could help him.

[It's always nice when alchemy serves its real purpose and has a positive impact. (And he got to talk to a dragon so you know, win/win.)]

Geir's really cool. You guys must be from somewhere incredible.

[rootbound]

I don't know about that. We don't have anything as practical and -- widespread, Geir made it sound? -- as your alchemy. Though, I don't know if Midgard would do better or worse with a power of that kind.

[probably worse, since the world's already a war machine.]

He'll like that you called him cool, though. He's probably the best part of it.

[alphonse]

It's still strange to me that other worlds didn't develop alchemy at all, but you're right--I guess it's not always a bad thing.

[It's complicated.]

You have magic instead, though, right?

[Summoner sounds magical, at least.]

[rootbound]

We have alchemy, I recognize the term, but we can't create and shape things with it the way Geir described you doing? A lot of it's about changing things to other things, but with chemicals and such, not...

[waves his hands illustratively. alchemy???]

We do have magic, though -- at least, some humans do, but not all. Your alchemy really isn't defined as magic? It...looks like it...