[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

[oneandmikleonly]

Maybe they're making allowances for the weird alien foreigners who like to wander off by themselves instead of naturally going around in twos and threes.

[sighs; that wasn't sarcastic; there's a telepathic tickle in Sorey's head too, like, you're seeing what I'm seeing, right...?]

I'm sure they'll let it down once we've all made enough rounds, though. You should try the shrimp too, they're good.

[imsorey]

[nodding in response to the telepathic nudge and to try some of the shrimp, plopping one into his mouth while he gives the barrier another look.]

It still seems like a lot. But it doesn't seem like a bad way to get to know everyone, since we're stuck here.

[oneandmikleonly]

You're right. You're absolutely right.

[and, with the barrier acknowledged and nothing they can do about it for right now, Mikleo goes for the next best option, which is: a shit-eating grin and a question timed right for when Sorey's mouth is full of shrimp]

So, tell me, stranger: what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?

[imsorey]

[he's not expecting Mikleo to play along and promptly nearly chokes on the shrimp he's eating, coughing to clear his throat.]

--Pass. Pick a different question and maybe I'll answer it.

[oneandmikleonly]

Are you even allowed to pass? How are we supposed to get to know each other better if you're not telling me your...

[scrolls down the list]

...feelings of being called "daddy" or "mommy"?

[he actually doesn't get what's up with that question either, but it seems absurd enough to make Sorey splutter more, so why not.]

[imsorey]

[with the coughing out of his system he leans over and tugs at the paper to make sure that Mikleo isn't making that one up]

I don't remember adopting anyone so I don't know why someone would call me that. Unless you're trying to say you adopted someone without asking me, in which case you're the mom.

[oneandmikleonly]

Wow, why am I the mom?

[he fights Sorey for the paper a little, but lets him have it after a tussle.]

Anyway, that wasn't really an answer. You can't deflect the weird questions forever, Sorey!

[imsorey]

Fine, we can both be daddy! That answered the question, didn't it? I can't believe that's actually a question.

[he squints at the paper with a frown before setting it down, satisfied that his eyes aren't playing tricks on him but feeling no less enlightened]

[oneandmikleonly]

[the corner of Mikleo's mouth quirks, but he's settled down]

At least it wasn't a question I already knew the answer to, right...? Which is...most of them.

[imsorey]

You could probably take a few guesses at my most embarrassing moments too. Not that you should guess, but you were probably there.

...We might have a harder time figuring out what we don't know about each other.

[oneandmikleonly]

Do we get out of it if we tell them we already have a pact . . .? I guess they like to go in threes, though, so maybe not.

[imsorey]

They're pairing us up in twos instead of threes, so they seem to be fine with just this. It's worth a try if you don't want to answer any awkward questions with people you're just getting to know.

[oneandmikleonly]

. . . It's not really that bad. I like getting to chat with people when we're not in the middle of some kind of fight and they're not confused about having just been dropped in here.

[imsorey]

No kidding. It's sort of nice to just be able to get to know people. I'm already learning a lot! About the people here, and the worlds that they come from. I'm guessing it's the same for you.

[there's a sort of unasked question of "can enough people see or hear you to hold a conversation?" but he doesn't ask outright.]

[oneandmikleonly]

[a little dryly, answering both the asked and the unasked question at once]

Someone put their hand on my face by accident earlier. But yes, I've learned a lot today.

[he looks sincerely amused rather than annoyed, even!]

[imsorey]

[laughing at the mental image that pulls to mind]

It's nice that even here, there's still a way for humans and seraphim to interact. It feels like it was a distant dream just yesterday.

Maybe next time you can hold a mask in front of your face so they know where it is.

[oneandmikleonly]

I did start eating after that so they'd know where it was, but it's not like they warned us we'd be stuck at tables talking to each other.

Think we could borrow a little of this magic when we go back home...?

[the chairs are stating to judder under them in preparation for moving them, uh oh]

[imsorey]

[uh oh!! he huffs in minor irritation. how do they expect people to have a conversation like this??]

If we can figure out how to bring it back then I'm all for it.

[oneandmikleonly]

Sounds like a plan.

[>D]

Good luck on the rest of your dates. I'll be rooting for you.

[imsorey]

What's that supposed to--

[but he's SWEPT OFF before he can finish]