[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

[bulletbiter]

[ Julius might fall into the 'actually attractive' category due to having good genes and his inherited habit of making himself meticulously presentable - but those aren't just things one do for 'speed dating'. Keeping oneself clean is more of a courtesy to others who have to share your space. ]

I'm not inclined to embarrass both of us. If there's no penalty, I suggest we take this time to rest.

[ There's food. He could use a short nap. ]

[actus]

[ this is fine. he likes eating. ]

What's your favorite food, then?

[ just to keep the conversation going from an outsider's point of view. since julius isn't taking this seriously, there's no real reason to give him strange and peculiar questions and answers, so he reaches for another breadstick and keeps sibling. ]

[bulletbiter]

[ Actually, this is a good question. ]

I don't have one.

[ He's always eaten what was presented to him, or was available. There wasn't much room to put thought to food when there were other very pressing things to address. ]

[actus]

[ how is that a thing? ]

...Really? [ an arch of his brow. ]

Either you're picky or you like everything. [ he shrugs and reaches into the bowl of questions once more. another safe one, thank god. ]

Coffee or tea?

[bulletbiter]

[ He doesn't care. ]

Tea. It's easier to prepare.

[ There was a coffee machine but it's nowhere close to the standard of the old world. ]

[actus]

Ah. I tend to agree, but ... the preparation of coffee is an art form. It rewards the patient.

[ a beat. ] ... Sometimes.

[ or you're a beginner and you end up screwing it up and making it taste like gasoline, anyway. he shrugs. ]

[bulletbiter]

[ They can't afford modern coffee anymore. ]

I'd imagine. How does it work?

[ Might as well educate himself. ]

[actus]

[ oh boy...! ]

It's hard to explain without demonstrating. [ hm ... ] It's a matter of timing and temperature, really. If you pour too quickly, it's ruined, and if the water is too hot, it'll burn it rather than letting it develop.

[ he's piecing together pieces of advice from sojiro in a jumbled array. ]

[bulletbiter]

[ Yeah, that sounds about like what he knew about coffee. It was kind of a hassle, which is why he didn't really have time to touch it. ]

It does sound rather complex, but you seem to have a good handle on it.

[ Is it a compliment? Well, he's trying... ]

[talim]

[ jude — flushed an interesting shade of red not just because this entire situation is terrible but because this is julius, someone he's been getting to know rather well and has now been quite literally thrust onto an actual date with — mulls this over. the last thing he is is tired. if anything, he's restless. ]

... I mean, there's nothing wrong with a little friendly conversation, right? No need to be embarrassed. We both know this is ridiculous.

[ his poor face says otherwise. jude's still not sure whether he'd have rather gotten a stranger or not. as long as he can get julius to agree with him, then this is okay, right? ]

[bulletbiter]

[ Well, Jude is an optimist. That sets him apart, being able to try and take things the best they can. Julius has already given up. ]

We can talk, yeah. About other things.

[ Just... excluding the whole 'mating ritual' part. He has no desire to touch that with even a six foot pole. ]

[talim]

Okay.

[ ... ]

Um.

What do you want to talk about?

[ off to a great start here! ]

[bulletbiter]

[ Well, they could always talk about the weather, but where's the fun in that? ]

You told me about the environment of your world the last time. You can tell me more. I'm curious.

[ Julius says this all very politely, with a touch of formalness. He's earnest, though - the stoicness all comes from manner and not any way of actual reservation. ]

10 years later

[talim]

It's... sort of complicated. Where I come from, there are two worlds, Rieze Maxia and Elympios. For a long time, they were separated by a schism; I was born and raised in Rieze Maxia, a world where the spirits, and hence the environment, flourish. Everyone has something called a mana lobe. It's what enables me to use artes, both healing and otherwise.

Eympios, on the other hand, is barren. It's a dying world; the opposite of lush Rieze Maxia. The spirits there have been dried up, and that means that just about everything else has followed suit. What I've been studying is a solution to work around that.

pets

[bulletbiter]

[ It's magic, but phrased in a way that he can understand. ]

Are spirits like people, or plants?

[ If it was the latter, it might be less complicated. ]

[talim]

They're... well, some spirits are like people, but not all. Not plants, though. It's more like the spirits are what feed the plants what they need to grow.

[dragoness]

You can sleep sitting up?

[ ... that's not even close to what he meant. ]

[bulletbiter]

[ WELL: ]

I suppose I could if I tried.

please pretend like i was on time...

[pussywhips]

[ It might be a little obvious that Ann isn't really enjoying this whole speed dating business, at least judging by her tense shoulders and unhappy frown. At least she's acquainted with her partner this time, she supposes, though she can't decide if that's better or worse—either way, she can't help but think this is all very weird and embarrassing. ]

Huh? Rest? [ ...Okay, so she's a little caught off guard by that. But, hey... at least he seems just as loath to do this as she does, so that's nice. ]

Like, take a nap or something?

its ok shhh

[bulletbiter]

I'd suppose so, if you are tired.

[ It is weird and honestly Julius thinks it's just a waste of time. ]

dies slowly

[pussywhips]

I don't think I'm that tired.

[ She huffs and picks up a breadstick, tearing it into little bite-sized chunks with maybe a bit more force than necessary. But, hey, for lack of anything else to do... she stuffs a chunk in her mouth. ]

Do you know how long we're supposed to do this?

rubs ur back

[bulletbiter]

I'm not sure. But since they called it 'speed' dating, I'd suppose only a short while.

[ Though perhaps her next parter might not be as willing to ditch this charade as he is. ]

[pussywhips]

Yeah, but what if we have to do this with everybody here? [ There's quite a big crowd of coven members here, after all. Suddenly, as if just remembering—she gestures to the breadsticks. ] Oh, are you sure you don't want any?

[ Last chance before she eats them all, probably. ]

[bulletbiter]

Go ahead.

[ He's not particularly peckish. ]

How many people have you spoken to so far?

[pussywhips]

[ She picks up her next breadstick... her stomach is bottomless, apparently, because she's been eating these the whole time. ]

Mm, five. I guess they weren't that bad... [ Could've been worse, probably. At least none of them seemed interested in actually taking this seriously, so that was nice. ] But still!

How about you?