perfectmatch | week three

Yes, it is, so do forget it and return my shoe.

[ Hand it over bean boy. ]

I don't know that I suit your wants for a match any, but... that is why I don't think it's unlikely, save for the confidence of our others. We might just be lucky in our connection otherwise, with "fate" having nothing to do with it.

[laughs, lowering his hand so he can pick up her shoe and toss it back to her. the camera crew has finally found them, panting heavily as they give them both the stink eye for their fifteen minute reprieve. Edamura ignores them]

. . . then maybe I should bump us up from a two to a seven?

[A SEVEN IS A GOOD SCORE!]

Do you want to know another secret, Odile? [a beat] It's not that serious. I promise.

[ Seven is a viable score, and she pays no mind to the crew either as she fits her shoe back on. Their fault for getting lost. ]

Well, go ahead then. You've been trying my patience all day.

[ Light as it is, still true. ]

[yeah! they were even kind enough to wait here in the store for them!]

. . . the truth is, I don't really know what I'm looking for!

[he says with a smile and a laugh as he turns back to the puzzle. once again not self-deprecating, but. . . painfully, hopelessly lost]

All that stuff I said before. . . about a "spark," or waiting for the right person to come along. . . it sounds nice. It's romantic and sweet and I'd like to believe in it. I'd like to think something like that exists for me.

[a breath]

But I don't.

[their puzzle is probably about halfway finished by now, with all the hard work they've been doing]

I think love is. . . in actuality, pretty messy and painful. I think it can hurt a lot more than people give it credit for. [. . .] Maybe. . .that's my problem.

[everyone else just knew. Furina and Ringo, Luka, Poppy and Shoko, Nico and Aventurine. they just knew, and here Edamura is, slowly dipping his toes into a world in which he has no experience, trying his hardest to be a romantic when. . . deep down. . .]

[he has never been one at all]

[ ... Hmm. She understands, both from his view and her own. Love is painful. That's why Siffrin's words had stung, why Edamura's slow build to the truth had clawed her chest, why... even the lack of it, from her mother, hurt so much despite her efforts. It has never been something wholly good or kind, only-- ]

You don't want to be hurt.

[ Simply, because she understands. Neither does she. ]

We are overly cautious, perhaps, and analytical to a fault. "Feeling"... is not our speciality. Unlike many others. But you should know, Edamura, that they have allowed themselves to be hurt, to risk that, and they have been surprised by the result. Aventurine wasn't certain at all last we spoke -- and I did encourage him to speak up, whether he thought he had, or deserved to have, a chance -- so at the very least, in his case... He knew well the messy, painful side of it.

[ Just as they do. ]

It does sound nice though, doesn't it? To find someone that may accept all that you have, or don't have, to offer. To find bliss in your every day with them. To be swept away by romance, to know. But I doubt any of them truly did, Edamura. They only wanted to look at the day ahead and see the person they like within it.

[ ... And, to that...

...........

Mmm. She can... perhaps, still see where it goes, once she has apologized for her bullheadedness and seen how he feels now, but... to call it anything so juvenile is beyond her. ]

You know, I was quite glad Furina and Ringo took to the booth. I still don't fully understand it, but I believe half of that dreadful "l-word" might be regret. And if there is someone or something you would feel "regret" towards for abstaining, then perhaps that is something worth trying regardless of the unknown result.

[you don't want to be hurt, she says. is that it. . .?]

[. . .]

[perhaps. he has been hurt before. not by love, necessarily, but just. . . by the many twists and turns that his life has taken. it rings especially true when everything Odile says reminds him a lot of what Ringo had told him. hadn't Ringo admitted that she didn't really know? that she had her own share of doubts and uncertainties? and in the end, hadn't she said that it all came down to bravery?]

You know. . .! I feel like I've been getting a lot of advice about this the past few days. [much-needed advice, funnily enough] Thanks, Odile.

I'll keep everything you said in mind.

Oh, don't think you're the only one getting something out of this. Talking about it outloud... certainly has been worthwhile, even if you are the only one I can confess to.

[ And the staff are so mad they missed the juicy "who are they talking about" bits. So sad. ]

But please do. And... I may revisit my thoughts on a certain someone in return, so perhaps you will have one more update to look forward to.

[SORRY TO DENY YOU ALL THE JUICY FOOTAGE OF EDAMURA'S SWINDLER PAST AND ODILE'S INTREST IN VERSO--]

Oh, yeah--? [leaning forward!] I'm all ears!

[her biggest hype man]

You will be the first to hear of it, Edamura. That I promise.

[ And one she will keep, since he wasn't the first to hear last time. ]

[aw]

I thought you were going to tell me now.

[disappointed. . .]

[ Not a chance, bean boy!!! ]

Not until you have something of your own to share, brat. I've learned my lesson about trusting you to make any kind of jump with me.

[. . . she has him there!]

[squinting at her for a moment, before. . .]

[A SMALL SIGH. . .]

. . . I had a really good time with Shoko and Serpilia last week. But they're both--

[. . .]

[another exhale]

Ah, you know! Again, some people know much faster than others, right. . .?

Edamura.

[ Her boy. ]

I think you have plenty of time and chances to see if one of them might spare you an hour of the day to state, at the very least, your interest in any of them, if nothing else. It is not a bold declaration of feelings, only a pronounced desire to know them better than you wish to know others.

[ ... ]

Rom too, if you'd like.

[ what's auntie know anyway ]

[. . . and they're back to the being brave thing, are they? Edamura slots a few more pieces of their puzzle together as they now move into the home stretch. they can solve this in one sitting!!]

Yeah. . . [. . . she has a point. . .] But I don't want to get in the way of any. . . thing. . .

[. . .]

[hol' up]

[squints at her]

What?

[ Sorry, she is finishing this puzzle. Even she can do it now. ]

You'll at least be flattering them. People love to know when they're wanted, you know. I wouldn't treat it so sacredly.

[HOL' UP!!!!]

[stares at her for juuuuust a moment longer, before letting out an exasperated noise, picking up a piece, and helping her with the final bit]

. . . I'll keep that one in mind.

[ It's why she was so touched to hear herself be the eternal bridesmaid!!! So many people saying she'd be their fourth or fifth pick. So kind. She will never be higher.

Except by Edamura, but that had still surprised her. ]

... Now that the puzzle is done, allow me to secure it.

[ With her palm straight over it, and then a light tap that... does not seem like it's done anything, visually, but there is the scent of wood lingering oddly in the air. ]

There. It's no different than binding books, really.

[ No bends or breaks on this completed puzzle!!! They can just...... Have it.... like that. Now. It won't fall apart no matter how it's handled. ]

[watching her hold her hand out over the puzzle, blinking slightly. and it isn't until the scent of wood reaches his nostrils that he realizes what must have just happened]

[that was. . .]

. . . magic?

[the very first time she has used magic in front of him?]

A Craft skill, but... yes, "magic". I was a book conservator for a time under my father's tutelage, so I learned a few things that've been useful over the years.

[ Mostly in repairing her own books. ]

Go ahead. Pick it up.

Edited 2025-06-18 01:12 (UTC)

[and he obliges, picking up the completed puzzle and hold it in front of himself like a picture tucked in a frame. perhaps if this had been two weeks ago. . . he would be freaking out a little bit more]

[but after one sees a man turn into a bat, everything else is just child's play]

It's like you glued it together. . .

Not just "like" -- I did, in essence, glue it together. Practical Crafts aren't given any sort of... fanciful name, [ not that her combat-focused ones do anyway, ] but they act the same as any other, taking a small bit of our energy, mixing it with intent, and giving rise to a variety of everyday "magics" for us to use.

[ Odile tilts her head after a moment, staring at Edamura.

... ]

I'm certain I could teach you... if you'd like to learn.

[it's the last part that takes him completely off guard]

-- what? Me? No, I don't think. . . we don't have magic in my world. Or. . . "Practical Crafts."

[don't you have to be born magical or something for that??]

Nonsense. Anyone can learn, I don't see why it would be any different for you -- you've got people who are exceedingly good at certain things, don't you? That feel as they have a knack for... sewing, for instance, or a way with a brush.

[ Odile takes the puzzle from him, then sets it carefully back in its box. Safe keeping. ]

... It isn't necessarily magic. As I said -- it combines your intent and your energy, and in practice you are enacting your will onto whatever it is you desire, or projecting it into whatever you may be making. A statue that dances. A pot that keeps itself warm. Clothes that grow with you, or candles that change their scent as time goes on. There's an infinite amount of things that one can do with Crafts; while it isn't my topic of study, I have found it fascinating to see the differences between various regions even within the same country.

[ Perhaps it was even part of her academics! Who can say. But it seems obvious that anyone, even Edamura, might be able to learn it. May be difficult. But possible. ]

week three | dates

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1/2 when will the multi comment chains end

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