perfectmatch | week three

Yi Sang and Aventurine are taken to a wine and cheese tasting. They'll have to dress a little fancy but they can eat charcuterie to their heart's content here.

Highlights

There's soooo much fresh cheese, straight from the farm!
And the wine is from a nearby vineyard!
Feel free to get hella drunk.

[ First of all: fit check, because he'll take any chance to dress up nice, of course. Second of all, he's already pouring himself and Yi Sang something dark and rich in color, before he hands the other man his glass. ]

Are you more of a white wine or a red wine kind of person, I wonder? Or maybe today's the day you'll find out the answer.

[ Did they have wine in those squares within squares... ]

[No, because he would've died.

Yi Sang's fit these days is a crisp dress shirt and trousers with a coat or jacket over his shoulders. There has yet to be a point where he's put his arms through the outerwear sleeves. This time, he's also put on a tie and a vest.]

I do not drink oft.

[Nevertheless, he accepts the glass and gives it a mild swirl as he peers inside.]

[ Outerwear sleeves are for fashion as much as they're for practicality. This is a lesson that Aventurine knows well...and Yi Sang is looking sharp! He won't give himself too much credit, but it's certainly nice to see him in a better state than he was even a couple weeks ago. ]

No? Don't enjoy it, or never had much of an occasion?

[ Delicately, Aventurine takes a whiff from the glass There are definitely some things he would know about it that I do not, so pretend that flavor text goes here. ]

[Yi Sang will do the same soon. For now, he occupies himself with studying the wine's visual qualities, his eyes fixed on the way it sloshes gently in the glass.]

There were seldom occasions when alcohol was our beverage of choice. I cannot say that I prefer to go without my mental faculties, either.

Mm, there's a fine line between buzzed and drunk, my friend. One might even expand your mental faculties, under the right conditions...

[ Maybe he wants to see Yi Sang a little buzzed. He might be a silly drunk — or he might be even more morose. Hard to say, really. Anyway, Aventurine finally lifts his glass to take a sip of his wine, smacking his lips as it goes down. ]

Hm...it's nicely aged, rather rich...go on, you have a try now.

[He must wonder for what he should expand his mental faculties.

In any event, he puts his silent admiration of the wine on hold for a small sip. He savors it with far less flair than Aventurine as he sets the glass down.]

It is as you say. Is this your preferred flavor?

As far as wines go, I'd say I don't have a preferred flavor, actually. They all bring something different to the table, pair well with different foods, bring different moods...

[ There are certainly alcohols he doesn't vibe with, though. Doesn't stop him from drinking them, but drinking is often not just about enjoyment. ]

[Even on matters of wine, Aventurine remains the same.]

You view the drink as accompaniment for the experience, rather than a mere part.

Precisely. You do catch on fast.

[ Taking another sip: ]

And do you have a favorite?

I do not. Instead of wine, I am accustomed to burned liquor.

[ Ah, Aventurine knows the kind. ]

Oh? This must be quite a bit different than what you're used to, then.

[He takes another small sip, savoring the flavor to get a feel for it. Whether he's fond of it or not, it doesn't show on his face.]

Indeed, it is even unlike the bourbon Verso suggested that we imbibe the week prior.

Hah, I would imagine so. Now — the idea is to give your impression of it, whether good or bad, so let's here it! Hold nothing back.

[ He's just curious if Yi Sang will have any particularly strong opinion at all. ]

[Yi Sang takes a look at the glass in his hand. His eyes slide shut as he takes in the aroma, then reopen thereafter.]

It is heavy and full-bodied, yet mild still. You spoke of its age . . . As a wine's flavor profile is said to deepen and grow in complexity with time, the depth of its color reflects its exact point in the aging process. Thus, it is a taste that will not be experienced for a second time once this moment has passed.

[ ...

Yi Sang is truly such a delightfully unpredictable person. Aventurine chuckles, leaning a forearm against Yi Sang's shoulder. ]

Well said indeed! If you keep pulling out poetic words like those, you might just have a career in this, you know.

I shall not, as wine tasting is beyond my faculty.

[He does not want to spend his days potentially inebriated . . . though he is, in fact, in desperate need of a career.]

[ Now it's time for them to taste the cheese: first up is a nice, fresh gruyere, in honor of our Frenchies, and also that time I accidentally bought $40 of gruyere from the grocery store. ]

What would your dream job be, then? Indulge my curiosity, if you will.

[He eyes the gruyere, noting its marked smell.]

I do not know.

[Jobs are taken for survival in the City, which means exploiting others. There are no dreams to be realized in that.]

All I know . . . is that I do not want to return to my previous professions.

[ ...That's something he can relate too all too well. He nearly says as much, but as ever, he remains painfully aware of the cameras, that they are watching him. Diamond is watching him. ]

Is that so... [ Idly, he picks at the gruyere with his fingernail. ] And will you not return? When this is all over?

[ There must be somewhere better he can go. He needn't return to the...squares. ]

In my glibness, I have rendered myself no longer welcome to the district of my previous residence. My only recourse is to relocate to another.

[ . . . and begin the cycle anew. He takes a thin stick of gruyere from the board and appraises it between his fingers, setting the tired thought aside.]

[ To relocate, huh...a change in department, then, but would he still be in the same system that's broken him down as he is now? ]

Are you sure you want to return at all? To your world, I mean.

[He raises the gruyere for sampling, only to lower his hand at the question.]

Where else would I go?

[ That's...the other half of the question, isn't it? It's not as though Aventurine can volunteer to let Yi Sang come back to the IPC with him. That's no better than where he'd be leaving from, but the sound of it. Again, Aventurine is just struck by the desire to...want better, for the friends he's made, here. ]

That's something you'd have to decide for yourself. But don't forget...you've made friends and allies here.

[ maybe they should all just go back to poppy's earth it seems fine ]

week three | dates

yi sang and aventurine

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