[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

[mech_and_mutt]

...I got about half of that, but I don't think too many of us are excited to be here, either.

[Especially when a lot of the people he's seated with inevitably end up giving him looks.]

At least they're only seatin' two of us here. Ain't their version of romance some weird three-part thing?

[splinten]

You're right. We're also lucky their idea of romance is relatively tame and familiar.

[There's a flat tone there like he has dealt with Too Much alien romance nonsense. Because he already has. And while he finds it fascinating, he doesn't want to be in it.]

[mech_and_mutt]

[Maybe it's the mutual impatience with this weird new form of 'romance' but Red's not entirely oblivious to Dirk's stance on the matter.]

Tame and familiar? We're playin' strapped-in musical chairs! What would it take to have you call it 'weird'?

[splinten]

They're not asking any of us to hatemance each other. Or platonically stop one another from becoming psychopathic murderers. Neither does anyone have to be the awkward third wheel that stops other people from hatemancing each other.

[#trollromance]

We've been the fortunate victims of matchmakers only interested in flush interactions.

[mech_and_mutt]

[...what]

That ain't romance, that's just-- I don't even KNOW what that is.

[...

NO. Stop trying to make sense of it. He occupies himself with de-tailing a fistful of shrimp cocktail instead and hurriedly changes topics.]

Well, hopefully your dates usually didn't end up getting this weird. Even I know this ain't how they're supposed to go.

[splinten]

[uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh time for a topic change for a topic change]

This isn't exactly how I do anything. Speed's for combat and transportation.

[mech_and_mutt]

[Well NOW you're starting to make sense, Dirk.]

I know, right? Though I always went for the heavy armor plating and lifting strength. Don't need to move fast to make fast work, right?

[splinten]

Right. [THIS is a thing to agree on. Because fighting is simple and makes sense, unlike romance.] What's your weapon of choice?

[mech_and_mutt]

Don't have one. --Well, I've got this stunsword, but my mecha doesn't have one. I usually just grab missiles and cannonballs and throw 'em back. [You'd think fewer people would use those things.]

That or I just yank 'em off their feet and heave 'em into the ground. How about you? Somethin' about you says 'drills.'

[splinten]

Sword. [If he says 'katana' does he get the Kamina joke anyway.] So is this a Voltron scenario or do you solo pilot that thing?

[mech_and_mutt]

Voltron...? I dunno what kinda mecha that is but that's an awesome name for one. Either way, I fly it solo.

Oh, PLEASE tell me that Qri let you keep yours. [And that maybe he could pilot it. Because he's convinced you're a fellow mech pilot with sunglasses like those.]

[splinten]

My... sword?

[He yanks his katana from his sylladex so furrydude can see??]

[mech_and_mutt]

...Huh. Nice sword.

[wait where was he keeping that]

But, no, your mecha.

[splinten]

Sorry, dude, I ain't a Power Ranger. The only time I work with anything mech is when I'm buildin' things.

[mech_and_mutt]

...Oh.

[WELL NOW HE LOOKED KIND OF DUMB DIDN'T HE. He'll just. Have a nice sip from his glass of water. And nearly choke in the process of getting it down.

Eh-hem. Back in stride. Play it cool. Don't look the fool in front of the first mechanic you've found here.]

So whaddaya build, then?

[splinten]

[Sorry, dude. Dirk will just not comment on the awkwardness.]

Robots mostly. The occasional mechanical limb and the like.

[mech_and_mutt]

Limbs? What, for people? I didn't even know you could do that.

Do you give 'em regular limbs, or... I dunno, chainsaw hands?

[splinten]

Only when Ash Williams asks. The other was a custom-made leg for some dude I knew over the internet.