[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

[potentite]

[Oh god. Jake flushes, skin hot.]

Yeah, unfortunately it's pretty tricky to make people happy. Even if you think you are, you might not be. So, a magic solution really would be aces.

[rootandbranch]

. . . wait. . . they usually tell you if you ask them, right?

[IN SUDDEN, DREADFUL SUSPICION]

People don't usually just lie about being happy all the time...?

[potentite]

[Oh. Oh no. Does he really not know that? Fuck. He really is innocent. And now this dilemma falls on Jake. Should he be honest or make up a lie? Both feel like shitty options. Ughhh.]

Oh, um... Well... [Fuck. Fine.] It's something I used to do. Um, still do but I'm trying to stop. Usually... the reason people do it is to avoid causing a ruckus. Sometimes it seems better to stay quiet about how you really think or feel so everyone else can be happy.

[rootandbranch]

Most of the time, when someone lies, there's a trick. So that's... the trick is that everyone else is happy, but you're not, and then you hate them?

[Loki has a bad sense of humor. would he lie this lie? ...probably, actually, this sounds like Loki's sort of thing.]

...okay, yeah, I can see it...

[not one of the funny pranks though.]

Damn.

[potentite]

What?! No, no! I don't hate them! [He's taken aback by the very idea.] I just— I don't want them hurt because of me.

[rootandbranch]

Oh, I meant in general, not you-you. I was thinking of what my dad would do, actually. Sorry.

[he peers at Jake in interest. that was a strong reaction.]

Don't they care when you lie to them, though?

[potentite]

Oh. [His dad sounds like a shithead but maybe it's just a bad first impression, so he doesn't say it.] Um, I mean... they do, yes, but... it just made sense at the time... In retrospect yes I fucked up like a baboon.

[rootandbranch]

[every version of Loki is a shithead. it's all in matter of degree.]

I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to accuse you or anything like that. I was just thinking about it. I'm not very good at lying compared to Dad, but I don't think it's always bad, either... but I can't tell what people are thinking unless I ask them, and they tell me... I just don't have a lot of practice.

[he sighs a tiny, thoughtful sigh. bad judgment is a thing, right. even people with much more experience at being a person than him must have trouble with this. that makes sense.]

It's too bad about your baboon thing.

[potentite]

I think being honest suits you. No one likes someone who always sells them soft soap. I'm don't have much of a knack for it myself. Despite what I just said, I mean, they kinda all knew...

[He sighs and smiles a little.] People are tricky even with practice, so don't worry. You're doing a fine job.

[rootandbranch]

You've done a pretty good job answering my questions... thanks.

[a Palai nudges him and chatters something. Geir laughs.]

Oh, yeah, the chair's going to move soon! Your turn to ask a question!

[potentite]

[Oh no. He's actually really fond of this dragon, so that makes him sad.]

Um—! [Crap he has to think of a really good, meaningful last question.] Um, what's your home like!

[rootandbranch]

[that question is pretty meaningful! Geir's eyes soften as he thinks of the cave he's been calling "home" recently.]

I've been in Midgard for a long time, and lately me and Vern have been hiding in this forest-- I love it there. There are deep rivers and these really huge old trees that make me look tiny, and mountains, and it's high up enough that everything feels fresh even when it's sunny. I could stay there forever.

You should come see it sometime if we figure all this Qri stuff out!

[potentite]

[It really does sound like he's from Norse mythology.]

Oh, that sounds lovely. I'd love to see a forest like that... Oh um you can ask now if you want!

[rootandbranch]

Oh, I guess. Are you really not mad about what happened with whatever friends you lied to?

[...the last comment was Jake's 10th in the thread, though, so he might not get a chance to answer--]