week two | match ceremony

[marriagebroker]

Tonight, we're back in the courtyard. It looks similar to last week with the slight exception, there is now a plush couch near the stage, and a single lantern already lit above the stage. There's still food, drinks, all sorts of things available for the contestants to snack on and enjoy.

On the stage is Wei Wuxian, looking presentable in his hanfu for today. He's busy twirling his flute in hand as he waits for the contestants to show up and find their places, and when they do he'll extend both arms out, welcoming the cast.

"Second match ceremony! You're exempt from a black out tonight because you've already found one of the matches."

He'll gesture to that couch from earlier, which seems to be The Special Seat for Ringo and Furina to sit at if they'd like.

"Now, we know how this goes so let's not delay anymore! Team Wangji, it's your turn to announce your matches!"

Comments

[scooptimistic]

Welcome to my week. I was also blindsided, days before any of you.

[ A little dryly. ]

So maybe you understand or not, but I haven't really figured out how I feel yet.

[gamboler]

[ So Luka is a 0 to 50 kind of guy...Aventurine hasn't gotten to know him well, so it makes him question how genuine he is, but then again, he has no fingers to point in that regard. ]

You asked him to give him some time to decide how you feel?

[scooptimistic]

I did. I honestly didn't see it coming, so I wanted to think it through properly. I'm not sure how you realized it for yourself.

[ Since. Pretty obviously. He had. ]

[gamboler]

[ A knowing smile. No one's more surprised than he is, really... ]

Truthfully, my method is probably not one you want to mimic. I doubt I would have wound up saying anything to Nico if it didn't seem like there were other interested parties. I do so hate to lose...

[ And so he gambled, and won. He also couldn't quite recognize his feelings on his own, but he had help in that regard, too. ]

...But that's partly why I wanted to talk to you. Shockingly, it seems it's true what they say about talking to people about your feelings. You don't have to think it through all on your own.

[scooptimistic]

[ There's a faint noise she offers him--somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. ]

I've given that advice before, so it's not that shocking. I'm competitive, but in something like this, I've realized I'm... a lot more cautious than I usually am. I didn't have the best examples to look at before, I guess, in terms of romance.

[gamboler]

Mm, so you'd like to take more care with deciding where to place your feelings. I get it.

[ Even despite his current situation being as surprising as it is, he's still a lot more cautious than he gives off. Had it been anyone other than Nico, maybe his doubts would have held more sway — after all, he isn't an easy person to care about, and asking someone to tangle up their life with him isn't easy. He still worries that Nico doesn't quite have the full scope of what he's signed up for. But in the case of Maya... ]

That's not a bad thing. At the risk of sounding terribly cliche, you're worth waiting for, Maya.

[ And whoever is lucky enough to win her attention will realize that, too. ]

[scooptimistic]

[ There's a slow blink--and then that startles a laugh out of her. Because really, she wonders. How much could he know about that, when she's still...

Well. No one here really knows the full scope, either. But that's not the point right now. ]

I appreciate that, but let me recover a little first! I feel like I could barely get a foothold with you!

[gamboler]

[ A wry, knowing little smile. ]

Whatever could you mean by that, Miss Maya?

[scooptimistic]

Oh, if you play coy now, I will absolutely punch you.

[ Smiling. ]

[gamboler]

[ Holding up a hand: ] Hey, now. You know no one's more surprised than me, don't you?

[scooptimistic]

But you can talk about it. It did happen.

[ He found someone he can cherish, who cherishes him. Nothing to cartwheel away from. ]

[gamboler]

[ Oh, but his own happiness is his favorite thing to cartwheel away from. ]

But it feels a little too good to be true.

[scooptimistic]

Why? You didn't think it would happen?

[gamboler]

[ Giving her a look: ]

I... [ Hm. ] You remember how I told you I made a wager with myself before coming here?

[scooptimistic]

I remember.

[ Hard to forget, honestly. ]

[gamboler]

To put it simply...my wager was to not whether or not I could find someone I was interested in here, but whether or not I could find someone interested in me.

[ The real him. ]

[scooptimistic]

Someone interested in you.

[ A very slow head tilt. ]

As in, not the you that you've been showing others?

[gamboler]

[ Even now, it's difficult to volunteer the candor, he he'd promised Maya he would try. ]

That's right. The me that hid under the futon with you.

[scooptimistic]

... Sorry if I'm off-base here, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with that you.

[ Sincerely. ]

[gamboler]

[ A mirthless little laugh escapes him. ]

That's about what Nico said, too. But everyone here has only seen one side of me. Not all facets of a gemstone are as lovely to look through as the others.

[scooptimistic]

And? Do you think we haven't considered that?

I get it, trust me, but you've had flashes of the non-glitzy you for a while.

[ And that was just fine. ]

[gamboler]

[ She says that, and yet... ]

That's...only part of it. Maya, if we had met somewhere out there in the cosmos, you as a reporter and me as an IPC director - well. I don't think you'd like me very much.

[ Frankly and matter-of-fact. There's not much to like. ]

Much as I might play make believe here, I'm not a good person. I don't do good things.

[scooptimistic]

I probably wouldn't, but that doesn't mean things are locked in stone when it comes to impressions.

[ She can admit that easily. ]

And when you go back, is it back to doing bad things? Being an asshole?

[gamboler]

[ Is it?

He hesitates, but there is a very pointed way that he looks to the nearest camera, and winds his fingers around his own wrist, like he's wearing a shackle. ]

It's back to what I do best. Raising the stakes, gambling it all, and winning big.

[ Except for when it's the one thing he wants. ]

[scooptimistic]

...

[ Hm. ]

Well, what about that wish? If you want something different?