week one | arrival

[marriagebroker]

The characters will arrive one by one, in whatever vehicle suits them the best to the front of estate. It's a beautiful estate filled with plants and trees and little ponds and all kinds of little hideaways. But it all cumulates at the main house, where they will be dropped off and greeted by a familiar face who stands outside the house and welcomes them in. They will be able to bring one suitcase with items and clothes as well as their pet(s?).

The main thing to notice when you step into the house though is that cameras are everywhere. Despite the many little hideaways of this house, there's no privacy whatsoever. Oh well!

When everyone is gathered together, the host from earlier will greet everyone with a merry:

"Welcome, my affection seeking friends! This is where you'll be staying the next few weeks. Find a place to settle in and get to know each other! I'll be around, in case you need anything."

He genuinely seems to mean it, at least?! But that seems to be it, he'll slip away in the meantime and leave you all to it.

A few things to note, of course:

• There is only one "bedroom" which is a large room, with a closet full of futons to roll out and use in said room. Sleepover time!


• There is an extra, extra, extra, extra large futon for Messmer.


• In one of the rooms of the estate, there is a lovely piano ready for use. Feel free to ask for more instruments, if you'd like.


• The kitchen is filled with food of all kinds and modern appliances so folks can cook whatever they'd like! There is also a bar in the kitchen, stocked with alcohol.


• In the living room, there is a screen showing everyone's profiles. It is touch screen, so feel free to swipe through!


• There is, of course, a banner in the living room reading 有緣千里來相會 (which, for the keen-eyed, translates to "Fate brings together those that are a thousand miles apart"). This was definitely written by the host.


• There is a welcome cake.

Boom Boom Room | Property Damage
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Voting

Comments

piano!!

[embellwish]

[ Yingying listens politely when he plays, waiting until he stops and smiles to say anything — she even stopped in the doorway to lean herself there, so as to not invade his privacy. Maybe this is a special moment. ]

It's beautiful, [ She remarks at his playing, eyes full of wonder and curiosity at the instrument. ] I've never seen an instrument quite like that before... seems like you know your way around it, huh?

[reverso]

[He pauses, retracting his hand casually. It was just a few scales, though, and her presence is hardly an interruption.

(Oh. She's quite a striking woman, isn't she?)]

Ah. I've been known to tickle the ivories now and again. But have you really never seen a pianoforte before?

[He can't imagine a reality without a piano!!!]

You should play around with it yourself, then. It's here for everyone.

[embellwish]

[ Well, in that case.... she'll just help herself! Gracefully, she enters the room in full, striding up to his side so she can touch a single key for herself. When it produces a single note, long and sustained, she smiles broadly, very pleased. ]

There weren't things like this in my time... [ Weird, shouldn't she say 'aren't?' Let's not worry about it. She blows right past that turn of phrase, continuing on. ] I'm more of a singer myself, anyway. But that just means we can make something beautiful together!

[ The words are earnest, but openly playful and flirtatious too — trying to see what kind of reaction he might have to the idea. ]

[reverso]

[The note sings brightly — it's a finely-tuned instrument, indeed.

Verso's brow arches, and he offers an entertained grin. He can meet flirtatious with flirtatiousness when it's surface-level. Ironically, the fact that he barely knows her only makes it easier for him. (And the fact that his reply would've been the same, regardless.)]

So many here with a taste for music! I'm surprised, but pleasantly. Of course I'd act as your accompaniment if the idea tickles you.

[He doesn't seem to bat an eye at the idea of her being from an earlier era(?), as that would explain the unfamiliarity with a piano. It seems Verso's already cottoned onto the fact that everyone here is from a wildly different... er. Place.]

[embellwish]

[ After switching between two keys a few times for fun (and research): ]

I think everyone would appreciate a song to welcome us all into the house. For most of us, we're in a strange land... the sooner we all feel "at home" with each other, the easier it will be to be friendly. Right?

[ She lifts her fingers from the keys, lifting her gaze to look at him properly. Oh, a white streak in his hair.... hopefully it's not from stress. Her gaze lingers on it, puzzled, if only because she's never seen something quite like it before. ]

Eating together, drinking together, singing together... people feel merrier when they've celebrated something side by side.

[reverso]

I couldn't agree more. Where's the fun in finding love if you can't enjoy the company along the way?

[Is this a notion he actually subscribes to? It's hard to say, but at least he seems amenable to fun. Probably.

Though he catches her gaze landing on his hair; the streak of white, no doubt. It's easy to guess at. He raises a hand and points at it.]

You look confused by this.

[embellwish]

[ She smiles, nodding a little. ]

I hope it's not from stress or overworking yourself is all.

[ It's said with a light scolding tone, preemptively prepared to bully him at a later time if she finds out this is the case. Slowly, so as to not startle him, she reaches up to move a scant few white hairs back into place with their brethren in the streak, the brush her fingers gentle and practiced. Just smoothing things out, if he lets her. ]

People's hair tends to only turn that color when they don't know how to take care of themselves, where I come from.

[reverso]

[He does allow it, though a little voice in the back of his head tells him that his woman is dangerous (in a hot way, not an actually dangerous way), being able to make such kind gestures with such ease. He can tell that she'll suit this game quite well.]

Mademoiselle, [he replies with a slight tilt of his head towards her touch] I'd be a sorry Expeditioner if I didn't undergo a hardship or two. That's just the way of things, trying to survive in a land filled with things that want to kill you.

[And while it's not the whole story, it's not untrue.]

But I can guarantee that I'll not be earning any more while I'm here. You'll help with that, won't you?

[embellwish]

[ So many people calling her ma-dam-way-cell. They must all hail from the same nation!

With his hair looking neat, spick and span, it's a good time to retract her hand — but since he leans into her touch, so she lets it linger there, cradling his head softly. ]

Since you've asked so nicely... I'll valiantly keep you safe, sweetheart.

[ Accented with a sweet brush of her thumb against his temple, before her hand finally lifts away. Even though she's joking, there's a solid foundation of confidence beneath her breezy attitude. ]

Does this mean you're the rugged adventurer type? A dashing hero eluding death....

[reverso]

[They all hail from fantasy baguette land!

She's so purposeful, too, he thinks, with that gentle touch of hers. Almost a shame to lose it when she retracts her hand, but Verso straightens all the same and laughs lowly, as though at a private joke.]

Oh, yes. I'm always dodging death. I've the scars to show for it, too.

[The scar over one eye probably the most notable of them all.]

I suppose if you had to give me a title, it'd be "Expeditioner." [like in his profile!]

[embellwish]

"Expeditioner?"

[ She blinks, interest welling up inside her. For as sure and confident as Yingying is in most matters, on the other hand, she seems clueless about a great deal of things, easily chasing her curiosity wherever it leads her. Perhaps it's that she's sheltered — or maybe she really is some sort of otherworldly being. ]

Does that mean you travel to a lot of different places?

[reverso]

[If she was an otherworldly being, it wouldn't surprise Verso — she seems to have the grace and aura of one.]

An Expeditioner is someone who's left what remains of the city of Lumière to traverse the dangerous expanse of the Continent across the sea. So, while it's not a journey to many different places, it is a long and perilous one.

[Verso gestures at the piano bench.]

Sit, if you like.

[While they talk!]

[embellwish]

[ Well, she'll just make herself right at home then!!! She sits down gracefully, keeping close enough for their shoulders to brush. ]

Oh my.... that does sound dangerous.

[ She wandered during her own long, perilous journey, but certainly not in the way he has. It was an aimless, ravenous march, rather than anything with purpose. Quietly, and to herself, she wonders if he might understand that, but she's far from being willing to raise the point. ]

The world outside my village had wars, and other dangers.. but my moms were always quite protective of me. [ Her smile is fond, but distant too, as though she only wants to scratch the surface of the topic before skating onward. ] You'll have to tell me more about it for me to imagine such things.

[reverso]

[Seated together just a moment later, he plays an idle melody with one hand, glancing down at his fingers as he speaks.]

I can paint a clear picture.

[He gets the sense that her story is told only in parts, and maybe purposefully so. Her village. Her mothers. A war. But Verso is much the same way, dropping fragments of a past and moving on, so he leaves it be.

Mostly.]

But let me ask you this, first. Did those "other dangers" in your world happen to be monsters?

[embellwish]

[ "Monsters," well, that's one word for it. The furrow in her brow deepens. ]

After a certain point, yes.

[ Despite the minuscule shift in her expression, her voice never wavers, still maintaining a sense of distance from her past and the truth. Her fingers grace the white keys again, but she doesn't press down with enough pressure to produce a sound, simply feeling their smoothness. ]

So you add hunter of monsters to your list of accomplishments, huh.

[ A HUNTER MUST HUNT ]

[reverso]

[FEAR THE OLD BLOOD???

Too busy looking down at his own fingers to note her expression, he answers easily enough.]

I'd not call it an accomplishment. It's simply survival. I'd avoid them all if I could. [A beat.] We call them Nevrons, and if you die to one, it freezes your... life energy; it becomes trapped in your body and you become like stone.

[embellwish]

[ Hmm... funnily enough, this is a very easy power for her to imagine. Much of her own magical strength draws from draining and transferring the very same 'life energy' that he speaks of — though, only now does she feel fortunate that she doesn't turn people to stone in the process of doing so. ]

Is there any way to recover from it...?

[reverso]

No. It's as good as being dead. That energy... cannot be released by normal means.

[And now, he begins to play. Hands running up and down the keys in a wandering melody.]

Such are the creatures that Expeditioners encounter on their way to the Monolith, where the Paintress had awaited them. Imagine, traveling across a dangerous, broken land, fending off creatures that wish to freeze your life into stone... only to face the might of what may as well be a goddess.

[embellwish]

[ It sounds terrifying in its own way, different from the terrors that she's faced. Part of what makes it so frightening, perhaps, is the will behind it — that this would all be wrought by the power of another soul.

She watches his fingers move across the keys, invested in both the show of his talent, and the story he weaves. ]

And among these Expeditioners... are there many of you? You must all be trying to put a stop to this "Paintress."