[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

[ensorcel]

Is that right?

[ BOOOOOOOOOOO!! camilla deflates slightly, tossing her hair over her shoulder. ]

And here I was imagining a lovely beach resort-like paradise... What a shame. Then, what is your beach hut like? When you say basic, do you mean minimalist-shabby chic? Not that I'm all that fond of shabby-anything, mind you, but I shan't complain.

[teratias]

Just...a bed, some storage, a place to sit, that kind of thing? [The hell did minimalist-shabby chic even mean!?] The exteriors are pretty bright though.

[ensorcel]

A garish exterior with boring furniture... What luck...

[ camilla isn't looking forward to returning to their base of operations anymore. ]

But please, forgive me. It is unbecoming of a lady to gripe so much in the presence of such a fine gentleman. Why don't you tell me about the house you lived in in the world you originally came from?

[teratias]

It was student dorms. Nothing worth talking about.

[Waver didn't want to think about what came before Clock Tower and on-campus housing. His parents' home was painful, and not something to discuss with a relative stranger. Hell, he wouldn't even discuss it if Rider if the servant ever asked.

He prayed that his quick glossing over and general avoidance of the topic would prompt Camilla to ask about literally anything else.]

[ensorcel]

[ thankfully camilla takes the hint. ]

So you're a student? That's wonderful. I'm not very studious myself,

[ she hasn't opened a book in like 4 months ]

so I have great respect for scholars. What is the focus of your studies? Sciences? History? Heraldry and alchemy?

[teratias]

...Alchemy, actually. [Waver tilts his head, clearly impressed.]

How'd you guess?

[ensorcel]

[ i never finished the f/zero anime that was a literal ass-pull, but camilla on the other hand could just tell. her smile lights up. ]

Women's intuition. You see, you remind me a bit of my little brother Leo, so I figured you two would enjoy the same subjects. Have you been studying it long? My brother has had his nose in the books ever since he was a child, so he's quite adept at it. Personally, I am not so talented with it.

[teratias]

[he's a nerdddddd who is obvious. Waver's not sure about being compared to anyone's sibling, in truth, so the whole thing feels a weight being put on him.]

....Yeah, actually. Same, since I was a kid. I'm plenty smart at it.

[At least, understanding it. Application is here-and-there]

[ensorcel]

My my! Passion is one of the most alluring qualities in a man, and you definitely have it in spades. Natural talent doesn't hurt either. Is there a dream you would like to achieve using alchemy?

[teratias]

I...it's been in flux, lately.

[There's color in Waver's cheeks, for a few reasons. First off, he's only ever been called boy or seen as a child. An adult? That's new. Natural talent is kind of a lie, but it's nice to think otherwise, and well...okay it just feels really nice to be talked to this way. He can't lie.]

Did your brother have any particular goals, or was knowledge a goal in and of itself?

[ensorcel]

Well, that only means you need to squeeze in a teeny-tiny bit more studying, doesn't it? Keep that cute little nose of yours to the grindstone, Waver. I expect to see an example of your dedication next time I check up on you.

[ camilla smiles coyly. poor waver.......she's already decided there's going to be a next time..... --though, his question gives her pause. ]

His goals... Well... Things back home are a little unstable at the moment. Truth be told, none of us siblings have a clear goal in mind, save for our eldest brother. Even I am at a loss as to where I will be the future.

[teratias]

....That I can do.

[Okay, he might have bristled at calling his nose cute, but it is pretty easy to promise results from studies. Hell, that's the thing he's best at, and Waver would never deny that fact to anyone. There's a little bit of a blush on his cheeks, but it fades quickly.]

...Can I ask why things are unstable, or is that some kind of royal secret?

[ensorcel]

[ a chuckle. ]

I've been told it is a secret, but since the rules are different here, I suppose there will be no harm in sharing what I know with you.

[ here's to hoping she doesn't disappear in a poof of light or something. valla is as shitty as nohr in its own way. ]

After the loss of his first wife and my oldest brother's mother, my father, the king, fell into depression. He was able to fall in love and marry again, but the then-queen passed as well.

[ her smile grows a little sad. camilla doesn't bother touching on the extra-shitty parts, like the whole murder and betrayal and other sociopathic acts related to the nohrian court. ]

Losing two wives changed him... He's become a despot now, and our country is in a sorry state. Disease, famine, lawlessness...

[ a shake of her head. ]

All us siblings could do was focus on surviving, and protecting our own.

[teratias]

That seems like something hard to keep secret anyway.

[It's a rather blunt observation, but Waver's not going to dance around what to him is just the obvious. But it is also impossible not to notice Camilla's emotional shift, and Waver tries his damnest not to trample over it.]

Still it's...a lot. Wow.

[ensorcel]

It sounds terrible when it's laid out all at once, but I'm very honestly happy with the family I have now. Certainly, things can get better, but I believe wholeheartedly in my big brother.

[ a chuckle. ]

To be honest, for a long while, if I wasn't on the battlefield, then I was either at the fortress Corrin was kept in, or at my family's estate. Socializing among the gentry can be so boring! I'd much rather spend time with my family, or knit, or read a good book.

[teratias]

[Part of Waver does mentally roll his eyes at socializing with other rich people being boring. Of course it is if you're born to it, not if you need it to move up in the world. But at least the knitting thing get said, and that pulls Waver right out of being a jerk land.]

Seriously, you knit?