perfectmatch | week two

[ Hah. "Ordinary", is it...the irony isn't lost on him, even if it's difficult to accept that Yingying was ever ordinary. Just as he insisted he was ordinary to her... ]

Well played. When you were such an "ordinary" girl, was your Wisteria tree with you?

[ Maybe he's getting a little too personal, but as they already broached the topic, he may as way take his chance and ask about it. There are mysteries abound in nearly every person in the household, and yet Yingying is the most mystifying of them all. There's truly something more ethereal about her than human, and yet...

Is that what she wants? To not even be able to keep material things, like a silly stuffed rabbit she made herself? ]

[ Here comes the part where she needs to put the little heart into her toy... she sends it off with a tiny kiss. ]

My moms found me under it among the petals as a baby, so it's always been with me. They told everyone that I must have been blessed by the tree, born from it even... that I'd grow up and inherit the tree's powers, and be able to grant wishes. I used to try to practice my magical powers all the time...

[ Her eyes close. ]

Then one day, I found the note I was left at the tree with. In reality — someone had abandoned me there. I think my moms just didn't want me to feel sad over it...

[ That's the real root of the legend — a story made up to protect the heart of a young orphan. Her smile is small, serene, while she removes the toy from the stuffening. ]

That's the real story, behind how the tree and I crossed paths.

[ She relays it all to him very calmly, wanting him to know that however mythical and otherworldly she might come off, she, too, was just a girl from a village once. However elusive Aventurine is, she knows that behind it all, he likely has a humble beginning, rooted in love from his family, just like this. ]

[ So it was a lie to conceal an ugly truth. A little white lie that may have had big consequences for Yingying. Such small things often hold the greatest power, and because of that lie...she didn't spend her entire childhood with the knowledge that her parents gave her up.

[ Carefully, he presses a soft kiss to the stuffed animal's heart and nestles it within the fluff, before pulling the black cat free, now nice and stuffed. ]

Knowing the childhood you had, and the one you could have, if you knew the truth from the start...were you glad? That they kept it from you?

[ To him, it seems like a beautiful lie, told out of love, to protect, and that hardly seems like a bad thing at all. ]

[ Look at their toys, all perfectly stuffed. Now all that's left is getting them stitched up, and picking out outfits for them!! ]

Mm... I think they did the right thing. I wouldn't have understood. And it makes me happy knowing they were always so protective of me, even when I was only a baby.

[ It gives context for why her moms had been so adamant about shielding her from any suitors, or person really, who might cause her harm. They really did love her a lot, from the moment they took her in. ]

In my homeland, we have a saying. "When you really love someone, you can't help but save all the best things for them." That extends even to giving someone happy memories. You can't help but want to protect their smile, I really believe that.

[ She holds both of her toys out an arm's length to look at them together — the white Yingying bear and the tan and brown bunny, with fur in varying colors of the hair her moms had. Earnestly, trying to steer the conversation back to the matter of the competition, their companions, and even their present feelings: ]

I feel the same way, coming to care about all of you here.

[ The sentiment she shares from her homeland is all too familiar to him, and it makes his chest tight with a painful longing. That's what his parents had believed, hadn't they? His sister. His people. They gave so much for him to be the blessing to lead them out of poverty and suffering, and yet...

His hand smooths between the black cat's ears, before he hands it over to the staff to let them handle the stitching. He's not much for sewing. Yingying reroutes their conversation, and he more than welcomes it, a smile easing its way back onto his features, even if it doesn't quite reach his eyes. ]

Oh? They do say love is best spent on someone who makes you want to be the best version of yourself. Do you feel that way about anyone here yet?

[ It be a little early to be saying so, but it's asked playfully, suggesting he's not entirely serious. He'd much rather gossip than think about the Horrors! ]

[ Well, she smiles vaguely back, handing over her toys to the employee. ]

A heart can't be completely won over so quickly.

[ Which is more of an anwer than he was looking for, even if she's also not being completely serious. Despite her flirtations and forwardness, her opinion on the matter is surprisingly chaste and not fast moving. She has opinions, yes, but she's shrewd, too, not willing to let him be the one to get clues without revealing anything about himself. ]

Honeyed words and fleeting kisses might bring a stutter of the heart, [ Dictated like a poet, graceful and lyrical. ] But a commitment that lasts a lifetime... it's not so easy to pluck out.

[ Because that is the only relationship she is really looking for, in actuality. Not a fling, not something transactional or for an ulterior motive... if she were to have a "perfect match" the way the game wants it to be, her vision for that is surprisingly romantic. ]

I have my own thoughts... but will you care to share yours? I might even be able to help you along the way... ~

[ It might not quite be the way he would put it, but it's what he's looking for, too. Well — insofar as he lets himself dream a little bigger than his britches, anyway. He's good at what he does, teasing, flirting, hooking someone just for the night, and then cutting them loose. If all he wanted was a fling, he could do that easily without coming here.

Putting it in the exact terms of wanting to fall in love, wanting to experience romance feels a little fraught, for a number of reasons, but even if he knows better, the sentimental side of him still persists. As it always has. ]

Hm...so you won't lay your chips down until I do the same? I suppose that's only fair, considering I asked. It's too soon to really give you anything too definitive, but I can't resist the chance at gossip.

[ Even if the subject of the gossip involves his own affairs of the heart. Even if he worries that in saying his thoughts aloud, it'll somehow remind the universe that luck comes before happiness. ]

I have a few people who have caught my eye...what I said about Miss Maya at the ceremony remains true. We have...a few tendencies in common we agreed to work on together. Mister Nico's company has been like a breath of fresh air, and gives me the grace to hold my head up a little higher. Mister Verso is an intriguing fellow, Miss Furina simply echanting...and then there's you, Miss Yingying. So utterly captivating in your allure and mystique, and yet I wonder if you aren't the most tenderhearted of all of us around here.

[ She listens to his #gossip with a thoughtful, careful demeanor, cataloging each choice in her mind. Maya, Nico, Verso, Furina... and then her. It'd be easy to take the bait and start teasing and prodding and trying to pry out more about his thoughts about her, but for once, she doesn't jump at the chance, instead weighing the matter with a delicate, serious hand. ]

So that's what you really think of me, [ Tenderhearted.... she likes the sound of that. ] I'm flattered. Haha.

[ Earnestly, instead of playful and lilting. ]

Maya said something to me that made me see her in a new light... she mentioned that sometimes, you're the only one that remembers a dream. But that doesn't mean the dream is any less important.

[ And that had resonated with her. Yingying is the only one who can remember what the fete was like, her village, what it was like when the shooting star fell to earth. Maya had said that being that person carrying that memory makes every other moment that follows more poignant, and she can see why a person with that mindset might have touched Aventurine's heart, too. ]

As for me... Yi Sang is surprisingly romantic, isn't he? Even though he doesn't know it.

[ It's cute — endearing, even. There's a spark of fondness there in her eyes. More seriously: ]

I can tell he worked hard to say what he did at the ceremony, and I want to see him share that with more of us. [ Other than him.... she puts a finger to her cheek. ] Furina, Edamura, Shoko... and then you, too. It's a bit tricky getting close to you, but I'm not discouraged.

[ Which she says knowingly, perhaps affectionately calling him out. It's hard to get close to her too, so maybe if they acknowledge the elephant in the room, it might be easier to move past it. ]

[ Yi Sang is an absolute wildcard, in all senses of the word, but even Aventurine can't deny that he does have a knack for romance, whether even he realizes it or not. That Yingying should be drawn to him is rather sweet, and for all he still has to still learn about Yi Sang, he can't help but think that she might be a good influence on him.

But then she's mentioning him, which should perhaps be unsurprising, given their various flirtations, but he isn't used to this kind of attention. Never pursued or the pursuer, as he'd told her...

He laughs, the sound a little drawn inward, as the staff hands him back his black cat. All sewn up now! ]

And yet there are people back home I've known for years who know less about me than you do. [ Which says more to Yingying's point than anything else. ] Opening up, sharing a burden, revealing the past...it's difficult for any lonely, solitary soul to do.

[ Does she understand that too, he wonders? He suspects she too might be tremendously lonely, if even a stuffed rabbit can't keep her company. ]

Of course it's difficult... you'll feel even lonelier than before, revealing the past to someone you cross paths with fleetingly.

[ Whether because of fate, or death, or any other reason. Opening up is a risk, because if things don't work out, if the person you open up to is no longer around, it feels as though you would have been better off never becoming vulnerable in the first place. Yingying understands that, and deeply. ]

At least, that's how I feel. Getting close and having fun — it always feels like a dream that I'll wake up from.

[ He exhales, the sound sharper than he intends, for how deeply that resonates with him. ]

It...never lasts, does it.

[ Those brief flashes of joy, fleeting auroras of story books and honey cake, never last. Nothing gold can stay, and this brief reprieve of theirs is no exception. And yet...

Hadn't he stood at the edge of existence, expecting death? Hadn't he welcomed it? And yet, he's still here. He's still here. ]

...I met someone once who explained to me that sleep is the rehearsal of death. That we dream because we're not ready for the end, so we practice. Every single night...but if the dice are already weighted towards that inevitable outcome, why do we still...struggle against it?

[ "But before the end, there are many things that humans can do while on their journey. And because of this, the "end" will thus reveal a completely different meaning." ]

...Because this time, it might be different.

week two | dates

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path to nowhere spoilers

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these tags were a one-two punch ouch