spellbinders | [WORLD ONE] SPEED DATING EXTRAVAGANZA

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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, it's...not exactly what I'm used to.

[A diplomatic answer, that]

But I'm a bit wary of the food, since they seem to incorporate magic in some of the preparation.

That's true. We can't be sure what it could do to us.

[ The breadsticks do look innocuous enough, but - just in case. ]

If I may as, how do you... fuel yourself?

I'm powered by my black box. Plainly speaking, it's a fusion reactor.

[Because that's not an alarming thing to stick in an android that will inevitably get knocked around in combat]

[ Certainly, not alarming. Actually, it's very alarming. ]

Does it hurt you?

Not unless I set off a black box reaction, but that's...sort of the point.

[FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE and all that]

It's not a viable strategy with so many humans around.

[ Humans again. Fusion reactors does logically pose a threat to any sort of living thing, but he hasn't felt ill from 9S' presence before, so it should be fine. Hell, Russia detonated nukes on Aragami before finding that the organisms were completely unharmed. ]

I would imagine. Can you upkeep it by yourself?

It'll never run out of energy on its own, so it should be fine as long as I continue regular maintenance on myself and 2B.

[And of course he would, especially in her case. He'd attend to her first, in point of fact, because that's how he is with prioritizing himself]

[ Suffices to say that he's not going to blow up anytime soon. ]

I'm glad to hear that.

[ What else to say, though... ]

[The silence isn't pointedly awkward, but somehow, 9S thinks maybe he's supposed to fill it]

We're uh...supposed to use those papers, right?

[He gestures at the bowl. Julius is the human here, and therefore the expert]

I'd suppose so.

[ He'll pick one up and inspect it. ]

These have questions on them...?

I think that's what they're for, anyway. I've seen people reading off of them.

[Although based on reactions he's observed, 9S isn't sure about the nature of these questions]

[ Julius will frown and put this particular piece of paper back where it came from. ]

Some of these questions are extremely private.

[ Can androids have sex????? What even is this question doing here???????? ]

[They sure can't... He's informed a few people of this reality. Those poor souls]

...Why would they give us questions like that?

[This is the strangest exercise]

I'd guess it has to do with the 'dating' part. But that's hardly appropriate.

[ Therefore why he considers it a waste of time. ]

It sure isn't with me and 2B here.

[Humans dating androids? What fresh nonsense...]

I suggest we just take this time to rest, then.

[ That's another can of worms to be opened maybe later, or never ]

Edited 2017-09-02 06:59 (UTC)

[9S would roll with never, if only it wasn't a point others will happily debate with him.

Story of his life right there]

I wouldn't mind knowing more about you though. Just...not the weird stuff.

[ That gets a nod from him. ]

I appreciate it. Though... I don't think I'm a very interesting person. [ They never had a formal introduction, did they? ] I enjoy reading and growing plants... that's all.

What do you read? [Don't mind 9S as he leans over a little. He's short enough that he can't really bridge the gap between them by any means] And what kinds of plans?

[It's interesting enough to a Scanner, Julius]

I read about how the world was like in the past. There was a lot of it stored in the Archives for us to peruse.

[ Well, he would when he had the time. Time is a precious commodity. ]

There were some flowers and shrubs where I worked. I would water them whenever I could.

[It seems like they've got something in common, then... Though 9S liked studying machine battle formations and combat tactics even more than gathering data on the old world. A hobby, as it were]

If you like flowers, then...

[He shrugs his pack off and rifles through it before finding what he was looking for, holding out his closed hand, palm down]

I'll give you some seeds.

[ He'll extend his hand after a moment of clear hesitation: ]

Truly?

[ If it's a gift, he'll have to put much effort into it. ]

[9S deposits a handful of seeds in Julius' waiting hand]

These meant a lot to a friend of mine.

[Lunar tears...]

[ Julius slowly closes his fingers over the seeds, almost successful in concealing a drawn-out breath. ]

I will raise them with the utmost care.

[ Such as grafting them into himself. ]

[Julius that's not how planting flowers should go...

But oblivious to this, 9S simply nods and draws his hand back]

I think you'll like them when they bloom.

(no subject)

bulletbiter - 2017-09-05 16:32 (UTC) - Expand