perfectmatch | week two

[They can have this conversation later. If Verso survives it.

Anyway, he's not going to let her outpace him (delulu), so Verso starts chugging, too. It's a bold attempt, but ultimately, he is no drinking champ. It's likely she has the advantage.

So how is she doing?]

[ she's definitely doing just fine... almost unsettlingly so... but respect has to be put on her name when one of the few canon facts known about her is that she can outdrink someone like Nanami—

and actually, since she's about halfway through her drink, she'll pull one hand off the bowl just so she can flash a peace sign at Verso. ]

[Oh my god.

He had started off well, but he hasn't even reached the halfway point before he thinks he's going to have to put this giant bowl down. He, too, tries to give a sideways glance amid his chugging to view Shoko, and he's greeted with her flashing him a peace sign — yeah, he's cooked.

He lifts the bowl away from his mouth temporarily, sounding disbelieving. And like he already needs a break.]

Are you even human?

[ That's good enough of a win for her!! A moment after Verso draws the bowl away from his mouth, she grins and does the same. ]

Depends!

[ DEPENDS??? ]

You lasted longer than I thought you would.

[ ma'am ]

I'm tougher than I look.

[ma'am!!

He heaves a sigh, holds back an embarrassing hiccup, and finally sets his bowl down. Yeah, yeah, she wins. He'll happily concede the win.]

Waht do you mean, "depends"?

Being a sorcerer means there's a little bit more going on than with a regular human. Some physiological differences...

[ The way she can just say this after downing half a bowl of boozy punch. ]

Anyway, that was a good effort, Verso-san. Hehe...

[Yeah, he's setting his bowl down, though. Still, that doesn't mean the challenge to down the whole thing is over and done with — in that, they're still working as a team. Someone has to get this thing for free tonight.]

I might have lost, but I'm not done yet.

[Famous last words.]

I didn't know you were a sorcerer. That means you can use Chr- Er, magic?

[ But even if they're defeated, they don't have to pay for their own drinks anyway... Yay! ]

You could call it that. It's sort of like... having an extra type of energy in your body. So we're still classified as human, but there is a fundamental difference between normal humans and sorcerers, particularly in our brains.

[ Make sense so far? Time to make it make less sense. ]

Having a normal human brain is like, hyuu, but someone with cursed energy is like, byuu.

[ As she's gesturing with her hands vaguely. ]

[Hyuu... Byuu... Oh no, he's reminded of Esquie. And because of that, he seems to understand exactly what she means.]

But byuuuu isn't necessarily bad, despite being called, er, "cursed"?

[ Wow, he understands her just like that... This might just bump him up to a 9. And just for that, she nods emphatically, suddenly feeling more motivated to drop lore. ]

That's right! Byuuuu means you can use that energy to fight cursed spirits. Those are beings that form because of negative emotions generated by humans. Not a lot of sorcerers can use it to heal, but a few people have it figured out. It's even more rare to be able to use it to heal other people, though.

[The rating rises! Someday he'll have to tell her about wheeee and whoooo, too.]

Which is what you can do, then. So, first question: does this mean you can even get drunk?

[Could she just? Heal herself from it?]

[ She just offers him a Look. That therein lies the secret to how she can outdrink her colleagues... ]

Who knows...?

[ An enigmatic smile as she keeps drinking her bowl... ]

[Ma'am?

Resigned, as he picks up his bowl again-]

That's called cheating, you know.

I think it's more like... being resourceful, Verso-san.~

I'm impressed that you understood what I meant, though. A lot of people just don't have a sense for what I'm talking about. [ wonder why,, ]

Oh. That's because... I knew Esquie once — a friend of mine. He spoke in such a baffling way, but I've never met someone quite as wise.

[Though he speaks of the past, he doesn't seem to mind taking about Esquie. One of his best friends.]

We once had a conversation talking about our feelings, happiness versus sadness. A bit of 'wheee' and a little bit of 'whooo.' It captures the general feel of what you're trying to say.

[ Nodding emphatically. ]

I totally get it.

[ Though it's unexpectedly adorable, for someone like Verso to be talking about 'whee' and 'whoo'... ]

Esquie, you said? A friend? Do you think he's watching this?

[And it's so nice for someone to understand right out of the gate.]

I... wish. [And this is why he shouldn't bring up old friends, he thinks. There's a weight to the next admission, not so much evasive as it is merely resigned at this point.] He's gone now.

[ ...Ah. Shoko puts down her bowl, so she can reach over to rest one hand on Verso's shoulder. If she's able to meet his gaze, he'd find hers to hold the weight of sympathy and knowing in them. She's lost friends, too. (Smash cut to ghosties thread-) ]

...I'm sorry, Verso-san. It sounds like he meant a lot to you.

[ Someone he was able to have conversations about feelings with, especially. Even if it was spoken in whees and whoos. ]

[how this neatly ties into ghosties thread works so well in our favor...

His smile skews wan. She loses his gaze, briefly, drifting down to her hand.]

...Thank you.

[The guilt cuts through again. It always feels like a knife, but its edge is dulled, knowing that he might share a bit of it with her. Perhaps discussing his past isn't always so bad. Wei Wuxian might've been right about this honesty thing.]

It's one of those instances where I'd like to keep his spirit with me, that joy and strange way of looking at the world. Yet it's always easier said than done.

But hey, at least I've still got the "wheewhoo" thing down pat.

[ She gives him a nod before pulling her hand away. ]

I think the "wheewhoo" thing is nice, but maybe I'm biased. There are days when it might feel easier to keep that spirit, and days when it won't. That's natural.

[ Shoko reaches over again, this time to nudge Verso's bowl a little before she lifts hers up again. ]

Hey, let's call this a drink in his honor. Two disgustingly huge drinks in his honor. That counts as "whee," right?

[Shoko... He appreciates her saying that, truly.

His smile returns, just a little quirk at the edges, and he lifts his bowl up with a nod. It sloshes perilously.]

That's a good idea. The biggest "whee" I've ever laid eyes upon. A toast to Esquie, then?

To your friend.

[ she is not going to bother trying to pronounce the very french-sounding name. she clinks their bowls together just as perilously, and with that: ]

Whee.

[An official toast it is! They don't even spill any, even though it looks like for a second that they might.]

To Esquie.

Whoo.

[And he drinks, making sure to make it a good one.]

week two | dates

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