perfectmatch | the truth booth

[Furina also seems to have been dressed by a different hand today. She's also using the Splendor of Tranquil Waters as it was meant to be used: as a walking stick.]

Monsieur Wei, you flatter me by comparison to a companion so deserving of your praise! Perhaps I can also call you my favorite game show host in the future. [To be fair, she is still a little mad about the ghost thing. A lotta mad. But the bravado is keyed up quite high today, from nerves or something else.

She turns to Ringo, a little less grandstandy when she smiles.]

Well, here we are. The short road to our next journey is open before us! [She gestures with her ~~sword~~ cane.] But I imagine the walk will feel very long.

[Ringo laughs a little at that. True, she's trekked through all sorts of weird locales, but this might feel a bit longer than even trudging through the old abandoned subway system for the fifth time.]

Yeah, I have to admit I'm really curious! So... ready to get started?

[She's sure everyone else at the house is also curious--a lot's riding on these Truth Booths, after all. And. Oh. Hm, that flutter in her chest--is that what being nervous about something feels like?

Exciting, in its own way, that she's nervous.]

Yes, no matter how long, this is a walk I'm happy to take with you.

[Well... it's only proper etiquette to offer the good demoiselle her arm. She's still wearing gloves - both white, this time - which is good, because her hands might be a little sweaty.]

Hehe... Even though you know what to expect right now, it's not so bad to have missed last week, is it? [Put your little twist on it, Ringo!

It's not Furina as she once was or the girl sitting on the Hydro Archon's throne or even, really, Director Furina, who starts off down the path.]

[An offered arm! There are so many people here who are so dashingly polite--Nico, Verso, and of course, Furina--and it's a very different world from what Ringo's used to. She likes it, though, entirely charmed, and reaches out to gently take said proffered arm.]

Well, our chances are definitely better than last week's. [Mathematically speaking, that's just the truth.

But...]

But math aside, I think this is definitely the way I would've wanted to come up here the most.

[With her hand in Furina's arm, and the two of them walking together.]

Is that weird to say?

Not at all!

[Surely, this is on the heels of a week that Ringo herself admitted was full of new experiences and exciting, fun things with everyone (not including the time they spent together alone). Maybe it's not so different from finally descending to live among humans normally, seeing things day by day. Maybe now Ringo has more to understand and judge.

She pauses, then - ]

Ah, you mean, with me?

[Ringo knows it's a little strange coming from an AI--to set math aside and go with what's, well. She'd said "it'd be boring" to just follow the math when they were discussing this the night before, but in truth, maybe Verso was onto something more than she knows how to admit to.

Maybe it's just a matter of following her heart.

So she laughs, only a little sheepish, and nods.]

Yeah! With you!

No matter what happens, I think this is the way I would've wanted to experience this sort of thing the most.

[Right or wrong, she's glad she's taking this walk with Furina.]

[She ducks her head - visible, probably, given that they're about the same height and anything that makes Furina even shorter is very noticeable - then after a moment to regain her composure, lifts her gaze proudly.]

I decided not to prepare a performance or anything for this occasion. [A bit of a contrast to the magnificent show and Very Normal people that were up here at the gazebo the other week.] So if I reach out to you with words, then they've simply come from the heart.

...So though you said you'd follow in my steps, I suppose the stage is now yours for the time being.

[The Very Normal people in tb1... but Ringo can't help but think that that suits Furina too. The contrast from week 1. Someone like Furina wouldn't ever pull the same show twice in a row, after all.

And...

... From the heart, huh?

Ringo considers that carefully, rubbing the back of her neck. Maybe in a moment like this, she wishes she was a bit more like Figue, who had seemed to figure out the "from the heart" thing much faster. She should've asked her about it before she came here, but--well, she didn't. Which means she has to be the one to figure it out for herself.

Maybe this is a good start.]

... Alright. I don't really know how to speak from the heart. Or--maybe I don't know how to speak in any other way.

But I'll take it!

[As they walk--stroll, really--cameras following them, gazebo there just a short path of stones away.]

Because I want to keep trying. I want to be able to speak from the heart too, and to know that I'm doing it.

I think so, too. To move forward and to keep trying really feels like a joy of being human. To want things.

[It's hard sometimes for her to understand if Ringo's words come from calculations or feelings. Maybe they've just been having excursions together, with the payoff being enlightenment and not...whatever feelings she's been hoping will emerge; real ones, rather than the strict understanding of humanity that made slipping into different roles so easy while never embracing the feelings herself. Now they're all things for her to feel. She doesn't understand how AI thinks or feels, but even so...]

... Even so, I do think that you have a beautiful heart.

[And in contrast to her words, Furina pauses a little as they draw just close enough on the path that the gazebo is basically reality in front of them.

She's been here before, physically, so she already knew what it looked like, but--] S-shorter than I thought, actually.

[To want things is to be human, huh. To keep moving forward and keep trying--yeah, that's true. That's part of why Ringo likes humans so much.

She's opening her mouth to confirm, to agree, when Furina hits her with that, and.

She stops.

And stares.]

Wha--what are you saying?

[Oh she's so embarrassed and thrown off her game. She looks at Furina, looks away, looks at the gazebo, looks away from that, and finds that the fluster means she doesn't know how to react except, well.

A little petulantly.]

I--I mean, obviously, I do! I... I knew that!

[Uh huh. Sure, Ringo. Her fussiness is so transparent and easy to see through. Furina has destroyed her easygoing confidence in this moment.]

Let's--just keep going! We're almost there!

[Ah... Wait... Did she do something wrong? Furina worries, if only because of her nerves, that she might have overblown things the way she has a tendency too, unable anymore to separate that grandiose personality from whatever it used to be.

It's a very, very brief worry, though, because Ringo is very obvious about it. That's a pretty new side... so she can also feel uncertainty about things.]

Then, let's go receive our judgement... The one I've been most eager to hear more than any before it. [Likening this to the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale is a path she doesn't want to go down. Let not these memories of happy times with her new friends by caught up in something she has gently placed on a boat downwater behind her.

A bit more softly than the way she'd said it before, when they went to the library to review music, she gives the arm in hers a little tug before closing the distance to the gazebo.] Allons-y, Ringo.

[Right. Allons-y.

Ringo follows, dragging in a deep breath, shoving off the fluster and sudden onset of a feeling she can't exactly name.

By the time they step into the gazebo properly, she's not blushing anymore.

And there are the tiles, right there. Right.]

Right! Okay. Let's do this, Furina! I'm counting on you as ever, alright, partner?

[Time to lock in.]

[Furina spins the sword one last time before tucking it under her vacant arm and stepping up onto the plate, leading her partner-in-event-organization up that last step.]

We've come this far, so let's make it a beautiful intermission.

[Locked in time!]

[ Wow, that sure was charming. It would be a real shame if — ]

[ IF WE CUT TO COMMERCIAL BREAK.

Advertising a new all-in-one foot massager! It will wash, soak, scrub, exfoliate the feet all in one go and all you have to do is sit back and relax and enjoy. There is one delivered to the house RIGHT NOW and the label says it's for Yi Sang, in particular.

Weird. ]

[ Okay, now we're back.

The two lovelies lock it in, they step on the tiles, the screen fzzts to life and goes white for a moment. It just seems to stall for a little bit before...

[ The screen finally flashes their images. Ringo on the left. Furina on the right and then — ]

[ Confetti pours from a latch in the ceiling, cheers cry out (where the hell is it coming from, truly). But this time, different than the no match, doves appear from somewhere(???) flying all around the truth booth before taking off into the sky. It's an ecstatic, buoyant, and joyous moment.

This is truly a perfect match. ]

[... Wow. She feels... anxious, she thinks? Nervous. A fake heart (a heart Furina said is beautiful) thumping in her chest, pounding in her ears.

She... wants, right? She wants it to be a perfect match. Sure, she can work on probabilities and numbers, and she likes a lot of people here, but--

Furina's aria has always been on her mind, even as an AI who doesn't understand music.

And then--

--the match.]

H... huh?

... Oh, so it's really...

[... They did it?]

[Yes. This is definitely happiness, as she spins to face Furina with a beam.]

It's really us! You and me!

Oh! [Jumpscared by the results, Furina gasps, her eyes huge in the light from the screen beaming the display card down on them. Then it really worked out... the way she thinks she hoped?] It really is...

[It's been a long time since she cried without noticing her own tears.

It's been a long time since she cried over something so small, something so happy.

So she doesn't really notice the few tears that spill out of her eyes when she turns to face Ringo, too.]

See? I knew we could do it!

[She starts to laugh, the noise shocked out of her, but nonetheless bubbly and bright, so very clear in tone.]

[Oh.

Furina's... crying?

Ringo blinks at that, and steps forward off of the panel so that she can gently reach out to cup Furina's cheeks, thumbs sliding against them to brush away some of the tears.]

... Yeah. I really believed in it too.

[Huh. Her throat feels tight. She thinks about Figue, tears running down her face, and wonders if this is how she felt when crying. It'd be the first time. She sniffles a little.]

E-everyone said to trust in our hearts and somehow that worked, even though I don't have a regular one--!

[She laughs a little, which is more watery than it should be, and her breath hitches and because she has no grace or poise when it comes to new things:]

Oh no, what if I'm an ugly crier--?!

[Furina doesn't quite realize that she's witnessing such a momentous occasion, though from Ringo's words she can at least glean that she's here to see another experience, another first.

She laughs again, through tears that she blinks away into the warm hands on her face, before pulling Ringo in close for a hug. If she's worried about how she'll look crying on camera, she can at least obscure her face for a second here.]

You're not at all! [Sincerely. Encouragingly. She really means it.]

[She really means it. Well. Ringo does feel like Furina is pretty much always honest with her. It's something she appreciates, something she's grateful for.]

O-oh, good! If you say so, then...!

[Another watery laugh, and she leans into that hug, arms holding Furina close in return, chin resting on her shoulder.]

I wanna match in this aspect too! [Being a pretty crier just like Furina, that is.]

[Luckily, we already know that Furina is a pretty crier because she's done it so much.

There's so much to do now; no doubt, the manor is already working out what to do with the information their match provided. For right now, though, all Furina wants to do is get as much out of this joyous feeling as she can.]

Come on. I've had enough of crying to last me several lifetimes. [Crying over human worries feels different, though. It's just a natural thing.] You've already surpassed me with so strong an impression.

the truth booth

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cal i can feel your sh2 trauma from here

fucking subway tunnels

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i don't have a good happy cry icon so theater of the mind it plz

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