perfectmatch | the truth booth

[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.

[It really is nice, isn't it? This moment feels more private than anything leading up to it has been. The cameramen have gotten their key shots, and while they're still meandering around, the laser focus isn't there.

...

Furina's cried that much, huh? There's so much still Ringo needs to learn about her--wants to learn about her.

But... she's got the time to do that, right?]

No surpassing, remember? Just keeping up with you so we can keep walking side-by-side.

[A slow breath in, and when Ringo lets it out, it's much calmer and less shaky.]

... But I really am happy.

So am I. [She's pretty like this, too. Prettier, of course. Always lovely when she's shining brightly...which is always.

Furina breaks the hug but presses her forehead to Ringo's briefly as the embrace is separating, not quite being the one to deliver the lingering camera the kiss they're certainly desperate to steal a shot of.]

Shall we journey back together?

[It's an even nicer moment than a kiss might've been, Ringo can't help but think. There's an earnest honesty to the way that Furina leans in and presses their foreheads together, and Ringo lets her eyes slide shut for a moment while it lasts, just... to soak up the moment.

And then, of course, she reaches out with her hand for Furina's.]

Let's! Everyone's gotta be waiting to praise us.

[As is their due, as the Victory Lesbians. Time for them to head back properly.]

the truth booth

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

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