[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

[deem]

[9S wonders if her perception of him is accurate enough to let it go on those terms. He isn't quite certain that he'd taught himself, exactly. Rather he enabled himself to have a NFCS the same as combat models did, but that strikes him as a function rather than a learned ability. But maybe it's close enough, at least for now.

It's kind of her to say such things, besides]

I guess it's true I found studying enemy attack patterns interesting...

[And so maybe it's close enough. He's bending just a little to meet her summation of what he did, but that's alright. She's even using his nickname, though she didn't seem to like it very much before]

While I don't usually break into houses, it does make navigating hostile territory easier. Hacking, I mean. I've been able to help out 2B that way too. [And there's something in his voice that suggests this is even more important than simple utility: that he could look out for her] As for remote communications, I guess it's sort of like the network we use now.

[He lifts a hand to tap the signet, visible above the low dip of his uniform coat's neckline]

[drizzle]

[She'll notice the change in his voice upon speaking about 2B which will leave her pensive and interested too. The way he spoke just now. There was emotion there. A strong one too. But, she couldn't exactly pinpoint it neither. It was beyond feeling responsible for her and yet it didn't feel like actual love neither. Not the love she has witnessed between Luna and Livi or her sisters with their own significant others.

Just as Nike was going to ask more about his adventures with 2B, the ways he has helped her to get a better grasp of hacking was, her seat will begin to float.]

Huh? Wait! What are you doing?

[Her hands will definitely be on top of her pink dress, to keep the fabric from rising any further than it already has. The Palai in charge will inform of their time having just run out. It's been exactly ten minutes.]

Ha!? Already!? Are you serious? Just when we were gonna get to the best part!?

[The comment will leave the Palai confused, wondering if she was interested in mating with the boy. A lot of shaking hands later!]

No, no, no! Don't you dare misunderstand me! I just wanted to keep talking to him, is all.

[The Palai will point out there are rules in place and she isn't an exception to the rule unless a union is formed. Nike will be left feeling beyond frustrated.]

....whatever. I'm not going to steal someone else's significant other. You do know he kinda has a partner, right?

[Which wasn't a complete lie. It was clear 9S was 2B's partner of some kind. Now if it was romantic or not, she figures was up in the air, but if she could help them escape, then she gave 9S an opening. The Palai will put Nike back down just to turn their attention to him in checking if Nike's claims were true or not.]

[deem]

[Perhaps unfortunately for Nike, 9S isn't quite able to let the angle she's using just go in this way. He can understand not wanting to continue this strange game of musical chairs, but at the same time he doesn't want to inconvenience 2B by having the Palai forming their own impressions about their relationship.

They've got enough baggage between them as it stands without the locals getting any funny ideas]

YoRHa aren't really supposed to fraternize. [Not that it stopped even the Commander herself, but nevertheless, 2B was always the one reminding him that emotions were prohibited. If anyone were likely to adhere to something like that, it was her. At least, she always had] So we shouldn't be eligible for this sort of thing.

[That's his own appeal to make, though so far he hasn't managed to get through to the Palai. They don't seem to be concerned with the fact that androids aren't capable of the actual mating part, on top of all the other issues that this sort of situation gives rise to]

[drizzle]

All the more reason you two shouldn't be here!

[She wasn't going to allow the Palai to do as they wish with them. It wasn't correct to allow them be separated like this. There was a lot she didn't know about their kind or relationship, but she didn't want anyone to get any strange ideas with them. Just thinking about the way other men have treated her over the years, she didn't want 2B to encounter anyone like that. Even 9S was special too. The color of his skin and hair was very rare in her world. It was worth a great deal of money. He could easily sell it for great profit.

Nike will look down, feeling pensive over it, trying to find a way to get him out of this situation, but there wasn't much she could do if he wasn't willing to take her opening. Which makes her wonder if he even knew it was one or he did. Why did he reject it? Could it be due to androids being unable to lie or..?]

If they can't fraternize with others, then you're putting them in a difficult position! An uncomfortable one. Maybe even offensive too. Do you really want to leave a bad impression of you and your civilization by forcing them into something that's against their...ethics?

[She didn't have any other way of putting it. The thought of helping someone escape was more important at the moment. If she could figure out a way to help someone get away, then maybe she can find a loophole for herself. One that wouldn't reveal too much of her own situation.]

[deem]

[9S is quick to attempt to wave her efforts off, shoulders bunched with a given discomfort, though likely not for the reasons she might assume]

...You really don't have to trouble yourself on my account.

[Actually the thought of a human going to this length for him is at once flattering and disquieting. That a member of such a race would think enough of him to bother is certainly an honor, but at the same time, he knows that he shouldn't cause her such inconvenience. His core programming makes him all too aware of it.

It's a kindness that shouldn't be expended on him, especially having only just met. He's done nothing to warrant it.

Actually, he's reminded a little of Jude]