week one | overflow

[marriagebroker]

Ok, weirdos.

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

Comments

[anathemaw]

[ he's understanding how this game will work a little bit more keenly now. Everyone will get paired off weekly. So much for his plan of keeping out of it until the end. For the most part, he's been lurking towards the rear of the crowd, but he pipes up at last. Both of his snakes are coiled up in the folds of his cloak, reduced to only flashes of scales and green eyes peering out from the gaps. ]

It falleth upon one of thee to make me thy choice. [ a pause. ] Know this: I expect naught from thee. Thou needst not fear redress from me.

[scooptimistic]

Messmer!!

[ Hands on her hips. She is so stern. ]

Not everyone thinks that way!

[anathemaw]

I speaketh not to everyone. Only one amongst the flock must choose, and there surely be one therein.

[scooptimistic]

But that doesn't mean there's no chance one of them will pick you, and willingly. Verso's gotten along with you, hasn't he?

[anathemaw]

[ one of the snakes peers out at her from between the wrinkles of Messmer's brocade. ]

Verso hath prior spoken his choices.

[phenomerom]

Aah, that is a relief to know, Lord Messmer! I was worried you might be offended if I were to brazenly dare to call you up on that stage!

[ Haha. Is he joking? Maybe, maybe not.

But that aside ... gonna turn down the dial on his usual conman shtick just a notch to take a more serious approach: ]

But knowing that -- perhaps you could help us with these choices, Lord Messmer. Surely you must have some opinion -- people you especially do or don't get along with. Knowing that could help us eliminate some choices and narrow down options.

[ Messmer seems like one of the, ah -- most discerning players of them by a wide margin. His opinions should knock out some combinations, right? ]

[anathemaw]

[ he sighs, closing his golden eye. ]

Mine opinion matters not. It is not my choice to make.

[ he can say whatever he wants, but he imagines it would only muddy the waters. ]

[phenomerom]

That's not true at all. Those of us making the choices this week simply don't have enough information. Your opinion could be very helpful.

[ Seriously: ] Even if we assume that the producers -- those in charge of this game want drama, there is a limit to what they can get away with the excuse that it's "exciting." The conceit of this game is, after all, that pairs are meant to be people suitable for each other. If there are any pairs of people who absolutely cannot stand each other in a romantic context, then they can probably be eliminated -- or at least, put at a lower priority -- as options.

... is there nobody that comes to mind when I said that?

[anathemaw]

I am no scholar of men.

[ having to decide who's a good match for what is so far outside of his skill set. He's supposed to be burning the impure alive, not pondering people's romantic options! In any case, he's not entirely sure he agrees with Rom's concept. ]

If excitement be thy goal, doth hate not thrill akin to love?

[reverso]

Don’t sound so resigned, mon ami. Do you think someone would choose you for no reason at all?

[anathemaw]

Is it not easy to believe? I am ill-suited to these delicate matters, and ill-suited to all of thee.

[ he shakes his head slowly. ]

Mine words are born not of offense. I speak practically. Such is my wont as a lord of war.

[reverso]

I think you need to give it time before you can say that for certain. There are a few who’d like to get to know you better in these next few weeks. Myself included.

[Had Verso not wanted to try the “music” route this time, Messmer had been a faint consideration rattling around in his head. But it needs more solidifying, since the man is still mostly a mystery.

But that’s what these upcoming weeks are for.]

[anathemaw]

[ Verso is a gentle soul. One of the winged serpents pokes its head out from beneath the golden tassels of Messmer's mantle, peering at Verso curiously; Messmer doesn't pay it any mind. His expression remains impassive. ]

The future bringeth what it may. But it is tomorrow we must consider, and it is tomorrow of which I speak.

[ a pause; then, he bows his head in Verso's direction just slightly. ]

... Thy kindness doth not pass me by.

[ he at least deserves to have it acknowledged. ]

[nrangel]

[ Serpilia's smile is kind of pained, but hey she's been listening and noticing she's not exactly been miss popular in terms of the discussion of picks here tonight either. They're kind of in the same boat, buuuut she's also learned not to tease too much with this guy. ]

Wanna make a deal? We let everyone else do the picking, and we'll be the paired spares at the end. We can keep it low-key and not a big deal. Just get it over with right at the end?

[ Didn't she just give Yi Sang an order not to choose her like this?

Maybe, but it's a little different when it's her offering an olive branch to someone who seems to feel uncomfortable with the whole thing. ]

[anathemaw]

[ serpilia.......

her appearance is somewhat unexpected, considering her appearance and her social nature - but, he supposes, the nature of the game is that one must be left unpaired, doomed to be stuck with him. ]

Is that truly thy wish?

[ rather than uncomfortable, he simply sounds tired and aloof. ]

[nrangel]

[ Doomed is such a harsh word. While Serpilia can't say she knows everyone particularly well yet, she's starting to get a feel for some of them, and thinks that she might be able to make some good friends here.

Messmer is a harder read for sure, and she kind of doubts they'll actually end up a pair, but... you never know? ]

I wouldn't mind it. We got off on the wrong foot a little too, right? Maybe this would give us a chance to get onto a better one. Unless you've got someone you're hoping picks you instead. I'm not trying to stand in the way of a real connection here or anything.

[anathemaw]

In that, we are aligned.

[ he's just here for the wish; like Serpilia, he doesn't want anyone to feel like they owe him. That was part of why he spoke up, too. ]

... Very well. Shouldst thou find thyself bereft of options, I give thee my name.

[irreversal]

[ Shoko tends to hang out on the fringes of these group discussions, too; she's been catching glances here and there of the snakes lurking beneath his cloak, but eventually... ]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but... What kind of connection do you and your companions in there have? [ A beat. ] Do they have any thoughts on this?

[anathemaw]

... Thou wouldst ask the winged serpents?

[ one thin brow raises. He supposes they are in a desperate situation, but still... Messmer lifts a hand, coaxing one out of the confines of his mantle after a few taps to find it. ]

They are my guardians, and careth not for the affairs of men, save mine own.

[irreversal]

[ Oh! There they are. She does lean forward a bit so she can see them better, but she'll not deign to touch them or anything. (Yet?) ]

But you're saying that they do care about your affairs... maybe even your romantic affairs?

[ heh heh... but no— ]

Can you communicate with them? Do they understand our speech?

[anathemaw]

[ it seems mildly uncomfortable to be pulled from its warm spot, but rests its belly on the back of Messmer's hand, surveying its surroundings - which are mostly Shoko, at the moment. ]

There is an understanding between us, of sorts.

[ it's somewhat hard to explain how without straight up saying they literally share a body, and he's trying to avoid that conversation. Even if he did say it, he can't entirely describe their connection - a kind of innate sympathy that he's never needed to dissect. ]

They hearken to thy speech as I do. Our senses are as one.

[fireball]

[ Oh buddy this is sad.

By now she probably knows his deal (not a cosplayer; she does not need to try to get tips from him), but no, this is too sad for her to be afraid of any capacity. It's so sad she might even be concerned. ]

Hey there. [ Craning her neck to look up at him. ] You can expect something from us, you know.

[ Get some self-esteem loser. ]

[anathemaw]

[ she seems less freaked out than before - good. She was one of the people he had in mind when he decided to say his piece. ]

Yet I want nothing. I do thee a kindness by speaking thus. None here will be made unwilling consort to Messmer the Impaler.

[ the title is spoken with a sort of self-deprecating drollness. ]

I come for the wish, not for courtship.

[fireball]

What, so you don't have plans to impale anyone while you're here, Messmer the Impaler?

[ Waggles her eyebrows. Super suggestively.

Coughs. Anyway. ]

Look, buddy, [ thinks about reaching out a hand to him, but he's almost twice her height. Where would she put it. Nevermind, ] I'm sure the wish is going to mean a lot to you, but rejection sucks, alright? Even when you tell yourself it doesn't matter, it still sucks on some level. It's okay to admit that to yourself instead of being some self-fulfilling prophecy of loneliness or whatever. So just open up a little more, and I'm sure you won't have to worry about it going forward.

[ A beat. ]

Besides, if you want your wish, someone's going to have to want to pick you.

[anathemaw]

[ the impaling joke earns her the most dead-eyed withering stare imaginable...

the rest of what she says doesn't fare much better in the reaction department, either, though Messmer looks less irritated and more weary. ]

Lightless creature, cease thy prattling, [ he intones tiredly. ] Thou thinkest me a timid child, fearful of scorn. Yet I have lived thy entire existence ten times o'er. Treat me not as a coward; I have faced far worse than rejection this past century alone.

[ the two snakes peer out from the shadows of his cloak, one emitting a faint hiss. ]

Thou art mistaken most gravely.