week three | mingle

[marriagebroker]

No outright changes this week either. Week three rolls around, braced for impact as ever. The estate is still intact, the contestants are still motivated, things are looking good.

Well, aside from the fact you all had a blackout this weekend. That wasn't so good.

Either way, when Monday rolls around, Wei Wuxian seems to be in a cheery mood as he greets everyone Monday morning.

"Everyone, come here, come here. I have an announcement!"

Better go see what that's about, huh?

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

Comments

[gamboler]

[ He's still chewing his way through his last bit of when she asks that, one brow slow arching higher and higher. ]

Misery? That would hardly fit the festive mood, Miss Shoko. If you're referring to the Truth Booth, I'm over it. We all knew it was coming, anyway.

[ Useless man...it wasn't the Truth Booth that was ever the issue. ]

[irreversal]

[ Why are some men so committed to dooming their own yaoi. ]

...Yeah, which is why you've been upset even before the Truth Booth. You've got Vampire Prince Charming pledging his heart to you or whatever, so what's the issue now...?

[gamboler]

[ He'd like the blow the question off. Ordinarily would, if he hadn't spent the last few weeks answering hard questions for Shoko specifically, and asking them in turn. Even if it's partly why he's been drinking, to get away from the grasping chains just waiting to pull him back in.

He has his ticket to freedom. One that doesn't cost his own life. So what's the problem...? ]

...It's...not that simple.

[ Nothing ever is, though, and saying so is just empty words, meant to fill the space before he tries again. ]

Nico...invited me to go home with him, but...I haven't decided whether or not to accept.

[ He wants to. Goddess, he wants to. ]

[irreversal]

[ If there's a word Shoko could have used for what she might have been looking for in a relationship here, it's simple and clean. But nothing ever is. ]

Do you want to, or not?

[gamboler]

Of course I do.

[ That's not the part he'll beat around the bush about. It wouldn't be fair to Nico, and Aventurine has known what he wants since the moment it was offered to him. A frustrated groan, as he runs a hand through his hair. ]

But I have...unfinished business, back home. I can't just... [ He trails off. Can't what, exactly?

Idly, his gaze drifts to the nearest camera, before returning to Shoko. ]

Let's just say that my leash is not so easily slipped.

[irreversal]

[ Hmm. She suspects there are few of them here who can truly just waltz off to an entirely different world after this, so Aventurine's conundrum doesn't feel... insurmountable. ]

Then take him back with you first so he can help you get rid of your leash. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to assist.

[gamboler]

[ Nico is quite strong...a fact Aventurine is well acquainted with despite never having seen him fight —

But Shoko's suggestion does give him pause. Part of his hesitation is that he doesn't know what will happen if he doesn't go back to the IPC. Destroying his Cornerstone wasn't enough to get him cut lose, and if he chose not to return, there's no saying they won't find a way to come after him. Should he find some way to use his wish to cripple the Strategic Investment Department? Could a wish even rival the power of an Emanator of Preservation? Or maybe he should surreptitiously return his Cornerstone without a fuss, he could get Topaz on his side, but that could put her in danger —

...He drops his face into both his hands. This is making his head hurt, he can't be the strategist like this! ]

I can't risk Nico's safety, too. Too big of a gamble, and the debt incurred...I'd never be able to pay him back. Like I said, it's all...complicated.

[irreversal]

Is it?

[ From the way he mulls over it all in his head, she's sure it is. But that's just the thing, isn't it? He doesn't have to do it all in his silly little head anymore. Complicated doesn't have to mean impossible. ]

Aren't you underestimating Nico a bit?

[gamboler]

[ ...Maybe he is. But even so... ]

I'd still be betting with his life. That's a chip I could never wager for my own gain. There's a reason I'm famously impossible to work with, you know...

[ Because when it comes to the risk, the danger, he won't let anyone else take on his share. His burden. He gambles, and he wins — so that's fine, right? It's fine. ]

[irreversal]

The reason being... you want to deal with everything on your own, even if you have someone else wanting to help you.

[ People like this really piss her off sometimes... Shoko sighs, exasperated, and presses a hand through her hair. ]

Anyway, I'm not the one you should be talking to about this shit. Bring it up with your Prince Charming, will you?

[gamboler]

[ Yeah, yeah....REMIND YOU OF ANYONE SHOKO,,

Aventurine exhales out a long, deep sigh, a chuckle chasing its end. ]

I'm too old to believe in fairy tales anymore, you know.

[ And yet, here he is. ]

[irreversal]

And yet, here you are.

[ yeah, ]