[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

[yancat]

[Jumin hates dating. He's sure he's made a list of pros and cons about it once, and not one benefit seemed to outweigh the disadvantages. His father's introduced him to women, but it seems he only knows the same ilk as his mother. Jumin hasn't seen his mother in a while.

... Right, dating. He hates dating. No one ever talks about anything substantial. It's always money, money, beauty, power. No one shows interested in him beyond his possessions, and he doesn't expect people to start now. Still, some people in the coven are interesting enough to get him to put his phone down. (That, and he can't get a compatible signal.)

There's only one thing he needs to know.]

Are you allergic to cats?

[LOOK,]

[akumas]

I am not. Cats are magnificent, despite I have a stronger preference to avians.

[Eva doesn't want to be here either since courting is something that embarrasses him. Good luck trying to ask anything personal from this teenage-looking man.]

Do you own a feline companion?

[yancat]

[Jumin smiles. It's fine. He's not interested in anyone but his cat!!

Though he does wonder what a baby is doing here......]

Yes. Her name is Elizabeth III. Would you like to see a picture?

[TOO LATE he's already taking out his phone. It's time to cat dad it up.]

[akumas]

[Is it time to pet dad it up because Eva would rather do that than date. What's romance? Let's share our cute animal friends.

He smiles fondly at the picture of cat.]

She's magnificent! I could tell that she holds the marks of true royalty. Fur white as snow and blue eyes containing an endless sky... An angel gracing a world undeserving of her presence.

[Jumin even didn't ask, but Eva brought his phone out as well to show a picture of his own pet. A small gray owl.]

Feast your eyes on my own companion. His name is Sammy.

[secrowtary]

[ After meeting lots of new people and listening to some (sometimes weird) questions, Hibiki can't help feeling relieved when he spots Jumin. ]

No. If I were, I wouldn't want a life like that.

[ That's pretty extreme?? But it's the truth. ]

Does that mean that you own a cat?

[ Braces self for a tl;dr about Elizabeth 3rd ]

[yancat]

[Same here, friend. You are his people. Why can't Zen understand he had the most tragic of afflictions?

Jumin's smile is warm and surprisingly affectionate.]

Yes, I do. Elizabeth 3rd — she is my companion in life. With her eyes as blue as sapphires and fur as white as snow, her mere visage takes all my troubles away. I've never seen a creature with such elegance and grace. I miss her dearly.

[secrowtary]

[ He can sense the affection in Jumin's smile, and, of course, in his words. Elizabeth 3rd must truly be special to him. ]

I wish I could see her, Elizabeth 3rd-san must be gorgeous. [ Did he really add a suffix to her name. ] One day you will reunite, I'm sure of it.

[probablynoteren]

[Lenka probably wouldn't have minded if he'd just stayed on his phone, honestly, he's perfectly fine with sitting in silence until his chair decides it's time for the next meeting. This is honestly the most bizarre series of work(?) meetings in his life.

Jumin's actual question gets him the most baffled look. But then, Lenka already knew he was eccentric. Even if he came from an ordinary world (maybe).]

Uh. I don't really know. I don't see a lot of cats.

[Honestly, probably a handful in his lifetime. It's debatable whether he's ever even petted one.]

[yancat]

[Jumin can hear a record scratch.]

You... Don't see a lot of cats.

[Kind of. Having a crisis. Lenka, you are missing 80% of your life. How? Why???]

How come?

[probablynoteren]

[Sorry Jumin, he lived under a metaphorical rock a zillion years away from what was left of civilization. Also, they're just getting started, because this is going to be a mess and the record ain't gonna be usable by the end of this interview.]

The Aragami. [even if Jumin doesn't believe in them... he'd asked] They devour everything. There just aren't a lot of cats.

[Cats are going extinct.]

[lohengrins]

[ he folds his hands. ]

No.

[ percival's lips are pressed into a thin line. ]

Are you fond of cats.

[ it's not really asked as a question, you see. ]

[yancat]

Yes.

[Jumin immediately looks away.]

Are you.

[Please say no.]

[lohengrins]

Yes.

[ completely unfeeling. ]

Why are you fond of them.

[ it better be good, jumin. ]

[mapsio]

[They don't have to date to have a mutual love for cats.]

I'm not allergic to cats at all, I happen to be very fond of them.

[Talking about cats actually makes her miss Morgana...]

Do you have a cat?

[yancat]

[That is perfectly fine with him. Screw dating.]

Yes, I do. I have a picture of her...

[He takes his phone from his pocket and shows her a photo of... A white blob?]

She's very beautiful.

[mapsio]

You cat must be very fluffy.

[That...that is a white blob Jumin.]

What is her name?

[doublesharp]

[I mean, you can't say that the man doesn't have his priorities straight.]

You must like cats a lot, huh? I'm not allergic to them, but I have to wear a mask when I pet them just in case. So I always carry one with me!

[....Okay, he doesn't carry the mask specifically so he can pet cats, but he's not going to go into the details of his asthma out of the blue when Mr. Unexpected Cat Man wants to talk about soft kitty companions.]

[yancat]

I see.

[He probably has asthma, but Jumin's not about to pry.]

I do like cats. You must like them as well if you care enough to wear a mask to pet one. [Actually...] Do you have any pets?

[doublesharp]

Yeah, I do! Who doesn't?

[This guy doesn't look like a cat person, somehow, so the fact that he opened up the conversation with cats is somehow really cute.]

I wish I could have pets! I bet I could keep fish in the dorm if I asked.... but fish aren't very cute. Oh, but you must have a cat, then! Or more than one?!

BREAKS THE RULES AND DOUBLE DIPS BECAUSE CATS

[actus]

[ there was probably an odd number of people here, or something that causes his chair to return to jumin eventually. but he's almost glad it does, because that question makes akira perk up and lose the air of indifference. he looks genuinely intrigued. ]

No. Actually, I have a cat back home that thinks my chest is his own personal bed.

[ a talking cat, but minor details. ]

[yancat]

...Haha.

[Jumin smiles.

Jumin rarely smiles?!]

He sounds adorable. What is his name?

[actus]

[ cat conversations are the best, it's fine. ]

Morgana. He's mostly black with some white.

[ but he's not really a cat, but he might as well be. ]

...He gets upset if I don't buy him extra fatty tuna.

[pussywhips]

[ Ann has no problem talking to strangers, really, but this whole speed dating element is just taking this to embarrassing levels. She definitely didn't sign up for this! Sure, she's single and all, but... like... she's not desperate enough to do something like this!

Besides, this guy looks... old. Older. Is this really appropriate? ]

Huh? [ The sudden question catches her off guard, her surprise showing on her face. This guy looks as cool as a cucumber, which is unnerving her even more. ] Oh... well, no.

[ ...Okay, she has to ask. ] Look, uh... no offense, but how old are you?

[yancat]

If you have to ask, then I'm not interested.

[It hasn't even been a minute and he's already bored. He is twenty-six and Tired.]

Neither am I committed to this whole affair. Frankly, we shouldn't be meeting potential partners at an event like this unless we're desperate.

[pussywhips]

[ She's torn between feeling relieved by the terse dismissal and also a little offended. But hey, she doesn't need some other grown ass adult creepo in her life, so relief wins out. She sighs, her shoulders relaxing a little, and then reaches for a breadstick. ]

Tell me about it. Don't people only do this kind of thing if they're old and really want to get married or something?

[ Two things that she isn't!! ]