[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

[akumas]

I see.

[He has more questions about the YoHRa and all, but it's a bit rude to ask all the questions in one sitting.]

Do you have any questions of your own you would like to ask?

[deem]

[He sure does have plenty of them, himself]

Why were you given a designation like "bloody master" in the past?

[Eva seems perfectly nice to him]

[akumas]

I only remember little moments in my past before I was reborn into a human body. If I had to guess, perhaps I was one who drain the blood completely out of those who oppose me in order to spread fear.

Now, it's quite a fitting name for an idol who sings bewitching melodies. There are two others who perform with me as idols and they have their own unique names as well.

[Oh how he misses them... Hopefully they are well during his absence.]

[deem]

I think I've seen references to something like that...but I couldn't tell if it was folklore or based on some historical figure.

[And he wouldn't be surprised if there were more than one such individual in all of history. The Old World's so far back in the past it's impossible to investigate]

Are the other two friends of yours?

[akumas]

They are... Not just as friends, but they are like kin. Family. We became family since we were alone in the world due to various situations. People often compare that they are like my little brothers or even my own children.

[The comparisons are a bit cute to him, but he still loves Mio and Ban regardless of what they are called.]

[deem]

It must be nice, having people you're so close to.

[9S can appreciate the notion, though he's unsure whether he should characterize his relationship with 2B in this way. After hearing the message she left for him, he knows that the care is mutual, but...

In many ways, they've each erected their own barriers that stand between them]

Do you mind if I ask what they're like?

[akumas]

You, too, can have those kind of people. Even if you do not have anyone, you can forge those precious bonds. Nobody is truly alone in life unless it's their choice.

[He smiles a little.]

Of course. The talk of them is making me a bit sentimental. As I said, there is two others who perform by my side. Yamanobe Mio and Jumonji Ban.

Mio is also known as Death Choronos. He's a young one who excels in spells and potions. He can be stubborn and harsh to most people, but he's mostly a well-mannered child.

Ban's designation is Guilty Clown. A natural born acrobat. He's a cheerful one who could bring a smile to anyone's face. He's also always hungry... He could eat so much and never show signs of sickness. It's like the sin of gluttony created it's own human vessel.

[He laughs a bit. The sentimentally is really hitting him hard. It's most likely the effect of being away from them.]

I could only hope they are well during my absence.

[deem]

[Although his lips twitch, the smallest of movements quite easily overlooked, 9S doesn't say anything about that first comment. There's something both vulnerable and dangerous about having people close. As precious as 2B is to him, he fears her knowing certain truths about him.

The conflicting emotions he struggled with, and what he's been through...these are things he doesn't wish to weigh her down with. Not when he's the source of so much of her pain.

But he doesn't have to focus on this, stuffing the thought away in favor of listening to Eva's descriptions of his friends. At the least, he's an attentive audience]

From what you told me, it sounds like they should be safe. [And that, as a soldier, is among his first thoughts] Sounds like they'd stand out in a crowd, if they ever wound up here.