[closed-ish] Signs of love overshadowed by dreams

[pseudonyms]

Who: Everyone who signed up for speed-dating/speed-friending! (and maybe some people who just wander in?)
When: IC Date: 6/9
Where: A large booth at the CERES Academy cultural festival
What: Rise's holding a special event to help bring people together at the cultural festival! This may be chaotic
Rating/Warning: N/A thus far! Rise with a megaphone might be a warning though...


[The cultural festival at the school has been in full-on planning mode for a few weeks. Rise is no exception to the planning and included in the flyers that have gone up is a notice printed on bright pink paper and bold lettering for a very special event.

The booth itself has been set up with a small cluster of tables to accommodate for the amount of people who have been signed up and even for a few last-minute sign-ups. The tables themselves have been decorated with special candles and a tray containing two bowls, two spoons, and a a tray with all the ingredients needed for an ice cream sundae.

At the front of the booth is a collection of heart-shaped name tags with all of the names of each individual whose signed up, along with a number attached. Rise will smile at each person, handing both the name tag and a small envelope to them with instructions not to open it until she says so.

It’s only when everyone has arrived and is crowded inside the booth that she pulls out a megaphone (and really, who gave her that?) and she turns it on.]

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Cerealia School Speed-Matching event! Meeting people can be really hard here, but don’t worry, we’re making it easy! You’ll see that the tables all have numbers assigned to them. On my count, open your envelopes and see who you’re starting with. When the bell rings, switch partners! Seems pretty simple, huh?

[Nobody gets to get a say in this apparently, but they may see one Yu Narukami who’s sitting on the table behind Rise just watching everyone casual as can be. Why is he wearing glasses? Who knows.]

Okie dokie! Let’s get this show on the road! On your mark…get set…open!

[Hope you’re ready, colonists. Inside each envelope is a starter number for the first match, and also a list of starter questions for asking people about themselves. Some people have lists corresponding with the speed dating route, while others are for the “friends only” route. But wait…what’s that? Some of those lists are crosswired? Your character would try to mingle with everybody and flirt anyway? Well hey. At least people will be talking and mingling.

Oh, and don’t mind the people who may wander in and out of the event. Rise will try to moderator the event to her best ability but hey, she’s pretty social herself. Some people are bound to slip in and out under her watch. Have fun! And remember, beware of the bell! (Or Rise announcing "SWITCH" in a loud voice via megaphone, same thing.)]

[ooc: Hello everyone, welcome to the speed-friending/dating event! Thank you to everyone who signed up; above you’ll see a list of people and numbers for you to pick from! Pick your number and your friend/date by visiting the number generator to randomly pick a number to match your character with! Feel free to post top-levels inviting others to just tag in or tag around, too, without using the RNG. Any questions, please hit me via PM or on plurk at alternatively]

Comments

[notsolomon]

Perhaps it is because they do not weight death the same as we do? Or something like that. They might have no fear of death built in. And they can be potentially be rebuilt, which is a lot of like reincarnation, only less messy.

[Reincarnation which offered no advantages whatsoever. Why were you so unhelpful Solomon?]

[adornmental]

Oooh... Maybe? I never thought of it like that, but I guess it's kinda possible. Except that old CEO hasn't come back yet, I don't think, sooo.

[Maybe it only works selectively?! He sure has no clue.]

[notsolomon]

I do not think they are coming back. Whatever happened, it sounded rather unpleasant.

[As in he suspected that they had been killed. Which seemed like a rather weak way to go about your company politics.]

[adornmental]

Yeah, they were super-murdered and it was broadcast on the network. "Accidentally".

[Accidentally. He'd been willing to give the benefit of the doubt when he first heard that, but definitely not anymore...]

[notsolomon]

More like, "this is what might happen to you if you annoy us." A very nice accident then.

[Effective even, that much he could concede.]

[adornmental]

That's what I'm thinking. Fear tactics at their finest, yeah? [A sigh!] Eh, well. I guess that kind of stuff is normal for a situation like this.

[He rearranges a couple of gummies in his bowl, making a little garden scene.]

Buuut, that's pretty depressing talk for a friend date! Why don't you tell me a little bit more about yourself, instead?

[notsolomon]

Yes it is a bit gloomy.

[And he has some ice cream to attend to.]

But well to start out with, I come from an old family back home in England and my intention is to become Prime Minister one day. Though that's a bit complicated here.

[Not impossible though, that much he desperately wants to believe.]

What about you? Any grand dreams?

[adornmental]

Prime Minister? I don't really know a whole lot about the West... Is that like, the king or something?

[He kicks his feet out a little, listening with a curious sort of look. These things are always pretty fascinating to him!]

For me, I don't really have any big dreams like that! If I could stay by the side of my master, that'd be good enough for me.

[notsolomon]

No, but it is better than the king. It would make me to the head of the government. Queen Victoria is just a figurehead after all, though one with a lot of influence.

[Though he'll probably not listen when the time comes, beyond what propriety requires.]

Is your master a good person? But I have a servant of my own, so I can understand that relationship.

[He actually has multiple servants if he's honest, but that would be complex to explain.]

[adornmental]

Ooh, I get it. [A nod! Kind of like how the emperor was just a figurehead while the shogunate held power for a while... Smart, smart - this guy must be ambitious and intelligent to aim for something like that.]

Good luck, then! And yeah, he is. Haruji's the best! He treats all of us like humans which is kinda weird, but that's the sort of person he is, y'know? Almost too good.

[notsolomon]

Haru? Oh I believe I met him. Then yes, it does seem you are in very good hands.

[Too good though...]

Well if he really is too good, it might just be that he is one of those once in a life time talents.

[adornmental]

He is, he is! He's baaasically the best person anyone could ever meet, y'know? Ah - but it sounds like you already know him! Good, good. He needs more friends that are kinda closer to his age.

[Since he mostly just hangs around with swords that are several hundreds of years old...]

[notsolomon]

I wouldn't say we have talked too much, but I will see if I can become better acquainted. I sort of have an older crowd around me back home, so I know what it's like.

[Most of them are hundreds of years old too.]

[adornmental]

[These poor youthful protags...]

Good! I'm sure you guys'll get along. Haruji gets along with almost everyone, y'know? [Not counting Asshole Enemies Who Deserve It.]

Eh, how old are you anyway?

[Sometimes he forgets humans can be fussy about those questions, but he just looks genuinely curious.]

[notsolomon]

That is a good quality to have in a person.

[William wasn't so good at the whole getting along with people sometimes. Too blunt and arrogant. Though he still some inexplicably found himself with a small group of friends.]

Oh just turned eighteen this month.

[It's not a sensitive subject for him at all, as long as he's not being cheated like a child. And he's pretty pleased actually.]

[adornmental]

Right? It's why he's so good at what he does!

[And he spoils the shit out of his swords so of course they all love him... But he looks a little surprised by that!]

Ooh, wow. That's like, coming-of-age in this time period, right? I think I heard something about that, anyway. Nice, nice! And happy birthday, belatedly.

[notsolomon]

It is I believe. Not that it matters so much when they have us all working anyways. and thank you.

[It would have been twenty one back home, the age of majority, which was a problem in a lot of ways.]

It's a bit hard to keep track of these things when we're coming in at different times though.

[adornmental]

Yeah, totally. It gets super tricky when you start talking about people coming from the same worlds, too... One person shows up and it's winter for 'em and another shows up like "hey, just got back from summer vacation!" Crazy.

[And he's bad at keeping track of these things on a good day...

That said, as he's about to open his mouth to continue, the bell rings to signal that it's time for a table-switch and Kashuu glances up toward the front table.]

Guess that's our cue to swap, huh? It was nice meeting you, though!

[notsolomon]

[Oh that time already? Well he did finish his ice cream as well, because he's surprisingly efficient at eating.]

Likewise! It was enjoyable talking with you and I hope to do it again sometime!