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

[reverso]

And that makes you a...?

[If it's all prepared and ready, Verso cups his own tea in his hands, feeling the warmth.]

Professionally inquisitive mind?

[researcherstory]

[ Oh, that's new. And indeed it is. ]

One of the finer, or so I've been told. My professors were hard-pressed to recommend me a book I had yet to read across the academy's libraries.

[ It's... a bit of a nostalgic memory, now. One cupped in hand as she shrugs a bit. ]

And yourself, Verso? If you're used to sleeping with countless others, then I assume you travel much yourself.

[reverso]

[Oh, yes, he knows the type. Someone with an interest in learning, nose always in a book… No time or patience for nonsense.

He’s bringing the tea to his lips as she asks him that, and he has an inelegant moment of sputtering slightly before it reaches its destination.]

You— [Scoffing, he waggles his other hand at her.] Maybe don’t phrase it that way, Madame.

[“sleeping with countless others” rip]

[researcherstory]

[ A quiet laugh, hidden by her next sip, and she sets the cup down again once she schools her expression back to simple amusement. ]

You are the one who thought that way, not I. An older woman like myself doesn't have the time for dirty jokes.

[ Maybe she's fine with a bit of nonsense, Verso, she's clearly having a fun time at his embarrassed expense. ]

[reverso]

[To his credit, he recovers easily enough. He takes a sip anew, this time not sputtering at all.

Yes, it's clear she's having fun at his expense, but he's hardly bothered. Ahem.]

Uh-huh. All buttoned up, are you? Not sure that'll work in your favor here.

[researcherstory]

Nor will calling my peers "youths", or so I've been told. But that would only be the case if I was seeking a romantic partner.

[ Which means she's not, thank you. ]

Now, back to you. Travel much?

[reverso]

[That tells him one thing, at least. She's here for the wish, not for the love.]

I see. At least you know what you want coming in.

[Well, he'll answer her question then.]

Yes and no. I've roamed only a single continent for many years of my life; hardly a man who goes from nation to nation. But oh, the roaming I did. Lots of making camp, and all that.

[researcherstory]

[ When he finds out it's more complicated than that. ]

Any particular reason you roamed?

[reverso]

That's a full tale that requires more than just tea.

[Like wine. Or hard liquor.]

But the short version? I'm an Expeditioner. We usually travel in groups across the Continent, seeking a way to reach a certain destination. The journey's often fraught. It wasn't a kind land.

[researcherstory]

[ She'll remember that for later then. ]

Your face says as much. [ ... ] Do you see well out of that eye?

[reverso]

[Ah, the scar. He had wondered when someone might ask about it.]

I know it looks nasty, but my eye’s undamaged. I can see out of it just fine.

[Perfect vision here!]

Besides, I sort of like the scar. Gives me a handsomely rugged look, right? [Hard to tell if he’s joking or serious, but either way, he says it airily enough.]

[researcherstory]

It gives you a look, yes. A companion of mine suffered a similar injury that left him blind in that eye, so I was curious.

[ Lowkey wondering if she'd end up looking out for him the way she did them but, well. Good that she doesn't need to concern herself with counter corners. ]

They act the same way about it, funnily enough. All travelers are the same in the end.

[ But it's said lightly enough, don't worry. ]

[reverso]

A handsomely rugged look.

[If she won't say it, he'll say it for her!!!

Another sip of his tea.]

Are you saying travelers are vain? Aren't you one, too?

[researcherstory]

A look, Verso. You won't trick me into complimenting you just yet.

[ Mind the yet. Or don't. ]

And I'm saying travelers veer towards flippancy in regards to their own well-being. While I travel, I don't make my coin off of it the way you and he do. Though I will admit, I've lost myself in studying before and missed a few meals.

[reverso]

[Yet!]

I don’t make coin at all. But I see your point.

What is it you research, anyway?

[researcherstory]

I prefer to have people guess. It's a secret, and the two of my companions who keep attempting to learn have had some interesting ones. Such as candlemaking and animal husbandry.

[ She's just aggravating, honestly. ]

You really don't make coin for what you do? For all the apparent danger present in your lands?

[reverso]

[Animal husbandry?]

If you’re going to make people guess, you should at least give a hint.

[Ah, well.]

And no, I’m not an adventurer out to make gold or glory. When the Expeditioners are sent out, rarely are they expected to ever come back.

[researcherstory]

[ He can gain his own hints as he gets to know her, like everyone else has to. No freebies. ]

I would think you would earn some form of a reward for managing that, then. Such skill should hardly be taken for granted, much less put down to simple luck. It isn't as if they have to keep promises to dead men.

[reverso]

Ha. If it were reckless adventurers heading out just for the sake of thrill-seeking, then yes. You'd be right. But it's more than that.

[Those that lived in Lumière did not have the luxury of that kind of frivolity, to throw their lives away without purpose.]

Often times, the ones that leave the city only have a year to live, anyway. They leave to end that cycle of death... I guess if anyone were to return successfully- [happy faces, a parade of joy, the biggest welcoming back celebration one could ever think of] -then they'd be given all the reward they'd ever need.

You know, if saving humanity wasn't reward enough.

[researcherstory]

"Saving humanity" is more than enough for me, truthfully. A title I can put on my credentials and that be the end of it.

[ She, too, is not one for all that pomp. Did her time. Over with now. Thank you. ]

A shame that more can't travel save for at the end of their life, however. It has been one of the more enjoyable things I have done in my own.

[reverso]

With any luck, you won't have to do it just on your own anymore.

[If she finds her match. He's teasing, of course, because it's clear that isn't a priority of hers.

Anyway. Now he just HAS to ask.]

I have to know, though. What did you save humanity from?

[researcherstory]

[ Hmmmmm! Anyway, wonderful topic change. ]

A country, less impressively, rather than humanity itself... but there was a tyrannical self-proclaimed king who'd frozen the land and sought to keep it that way, stilled in time. My companions and I gathered a number of orbs to open the doors of his evil domain, yadda yadda, and...

[ Here she pauses, the sort that speaks to things unrepeatable rather than unremembered, and finishes with a shrug. ]

Stopped him. Vaugarde was saved, and we enjoyed an "End Of All Slash Hurray For The Heroes" party once we came down from the House of Change he had overtaken.

[reverso]

[Hm. A valiant tale, indeed, perfectly storybook. But that pause... Verso knows better. There's more grey than black and white.

He also doesn't think she'll expound on the matter. But he can prod in a roundabout way.]

Hip hip hooray and all that, right? I'm glad for you and yours. [Sincerely. But here comes that prodding:] Why did this evil king freeze time, anyway?

wow. ahem. Minor isat spoilers, so minor

[researcherstory]

[ "Hip hip hooray and all that" is exactly how she feels, yes, a tug of amusement on her lips. The same words she would have responded to her companions with, in fact.

... Why, though. ]

Ashamed as I am to admit it, I personally did not think to ask. [ Someone had though, even if she doesn't... ] One of my companions did, however, and he explained that it was due to the welcoming arms the King had been shown by those of Vaugarde. The King didn't want to experience losing a second home, and so... he instead froze it in time, so that it would remain perfectly itself.

gobbles up the spoilers

[reverso]

[Oh. Though perhaps not the full tale, and still not at all justifying freezing time itself, it still makes the king sound... sad, doesn't it?

He falls quiet. Decides to sip his tea.]

People go to great lengths to avoid loss. I'm not surprised to hear it.