week three | match ceremony

[marriagebroker]

We're back, baby!

The courtyard is lit up with lanterns all over and there is now a second special couch near the Furina and Ringo couch from last week. This is the Verso-Nico couch, if they want to sit in it. But they don't have to! Live your truth, boys! Go sit with your situationships instead!

Wei Wuxian is here, still looking happy after his absence this week, and he is dressed to impress in NOT a hanfu this time, but a modern look. He's liking it, honestly. Look at him sparkle!

"Congratulations, my friends! You are once again free from a blackout and losing a wish as you found a perfect match at yesterday's truth booth. Good job!" Wei Wuxian explains, twirling his flute in his fingers as per usual. "You might still get no lights again otherwise but, uh, let's hope not! I believe in you!"

... Does he?

Either way, he bounces on his feet and calls out, "Team Suibian, it's time to make your picks!" Looks like we're ready to go.

Comments

[anathemaw]

[ he follows along quietly for the most part, also frazzled - though it hardly shows outside of his flush and the concerned fluttering of the serpents' wings - but he eventually mutters out a further response: ]

... It is the only room with privacy true... The eyes of the many follow thee not within. Its purpose extendeth beyond the name. So wouldst thou use it, I presumed.

[ please let him save this scrap of his dignity. It's all he has left..... ]

[phenomerom]

[ It's probably fortunate for the both of them that they've already stepped out onto the porch and Rom's had the chance to close the door behind them, closing them off from the rest of the group, meaning Messmer's flustered clarification won't be overheard by anyone else.

Rom, on his part, just gives a stilted laugh. ]

Aah, no. I understand, Lord Messmer. [ There's a quiet creak as he leans back against the porch railing, head slightly ducked as he casts his gaze aside. At least his usual reflexes means his expression is trained into his usual opaque smile, but ... this is really not how he thought this conversation would go. ] I know. I can imagine a few different ways people might want to use that room. Whichever purpose it served for you, that's none of my business, so there's no need for you to explain anything to me. I was just surprised it seemed like you thought of me as some -- ...

[ A small exhale. Actually, never mind. He doesn't want to finish that sentence. Time to gently redirect towards what he originally had in mind. There's a quiet pause before Rom looks cautiously back up at Messmer, trying very hard to compartmentalize his thoughts as he looks up at those fluttering serpent wings. ]

... though, well. Maybe the fact that we're needing to discuss this at all makes what I wanted to talk about superfluous. Hm.

[anathemaw]

[ is it fortunate or does it just mean a bunch of other characters will also think he propositioned rom...? pray for his soul.

Messmer is too tall to lean on the porch, which leaves him looming, as usual; he settles for folding his arms, and resettling his thoughts. What foolishness. It's not as if it truly matters what Rom thinks of him - he's had worse thought of him by many, many more. Still: Rom has been a consistent (if largely inscrutable) ally these past weeks, and it would be a shame for something so inane to change that.

If it's not already changed. He's been stranger than usual since the end of last week; now here he is, threatening not to say anything yet again. Messmer meets his gaze evenly. ]

... Thou hast muttered circles around me long enough, Rom. Speak what thou wilt, be it trivial or otherwise.

[phenomerom]

[ Look ....... Despite everything, Rom would go to bat for Messmer and help defend his honor okay. He will tell everyone that Messmer did not, in fact, invite him to the fuck palace.

Anyway --

There's that demand for clarity, the sort of thing that could almost come across as threatening, and Rom gazes up at Messmer quietly for a moment. Then smiles. ]

Understood~

[ That sing-song response is a final bit of levity before Rom takes a small breath. Exhales. Blinks slowly, then focuses his gaze on Messmer once more; his delivery is more somber when he speaks again. ]

You asked during last week's ceremony, if I was upset with you. ... I was, in a fashion. And I feel I should apologize for it now. But in the moment, I felt you'd been a hypocrite -- that despite your claims of only wanting to win this game, and nothing more, you were starting to stray from that self-proclaimed path.

[anathemaw]

[ Ah. Things begin to fall into place quickly. ]

Thou didst believe my choice lacking in strategy.

[ the serpents, settling down, lower back towards Messmer, the one that tends to stay by his head resting on his shoulder and watching Rom - although, as is often the case, Messmer sees more hat than anything from their shared vantage point. ]

[phenomerom]

Yes.

[ I can't believe Messmer spent three weeks mostly just seeing Rom as a little round black blob of hat .......... and still invited him into the fuck palace ...........................

Rom continues, his delivery even. Blunt, yes, but not trying to be harsh or cruel. ]

I mentioned before -- 'how this game views us' felt like an important factor to consider. This was the basis upon which I selected you as a potential pairing during the first week, and a basis that I assumed you would maintain. So to see you deviate so wildly from that assumption ... was a shock. I wondered if perhaps you'd gone back on your word.

[anathemaw]

[ to be fair i can only imagine what kind of horror blob rom's been seeing messmer as.........

he doesn't seem offended by any of Rom's words. It would take worse than a truthful response to ruffle him, at this point. (Apparently, being mistaken for soliciting sex is worse...) ]

I will speak plain. I share not thy knowledge of this game and its tendencies, nor did thine intuition convince me full. Even now, I know not how thou didst believe us perceived by the "game" - how we may play some role unknown. [ he sighs, golden eye drifting out to the gardens. ] If common ground be the basis of a match, then with Verso I did share more acres than thee. Hence was my choice made.

the yapper cometh 😔

[phenomerom]

[ don't worry about that it's fine :)

There's a pause before Rom smiles. ]

How nice! Speaking plainly. It feels like we're making some progress, doesn't it? And I guess there's no better time for it than now.

[ So on that note -- ]

When it comes to 'how this game views us,' my logic was quite simple, Lord Messmer. It hinged on who seemed to acclimate well to the game, and who seemed to be a relative outsider.

For example -- those brightest and most aesthetic would be best suited for this game and draw in a wide audience. Mr. Luka, Miss Yingying ... I would classify Mr. Nico here as well. Slightly below that -- those slightly less blinding, but nonetheless very well-suited to the game and its events. Miss Ringo, Mr. Aventurine, Miss Furina. ... Mr. Verso belongs here as well, in my mind. Once more below that would be people slightly less crafted for the spotlight, but nonetheless charismatic. And at the bottom -- the clear outliers, ill-suited for this sort of game, probably recruited in order to give the cast variety. Miss Odile, Mr. Yi Sang, myself, and you. In the end, this game is a production -- a show. And so it felt obvious to me that the pairings would be formed in the way audiences would find most acceptable: like with like. I thought barring an exceptional connection like between Mr. Yi Sang and Miss Yingying, matches would be made roughly within the same tier to minimize friction. With maybe one tier's leeway. The audience would not view any pairing as 'unfair.'

[ A pause. He'd never planned on saying what he's about to say, especially not after that accusation from Wei Wuxian that he would hurt Messmer. That was never his intention, of course; it's simply how the chips have fallen, and he would have preferred to keep his logic unspoken. But the game is what it is now, with Messmer as one of the last and most difficult puzzle pieces left to slot into place. Blunt honesty seems like the best catalyst to get Messmer speaking, so -- ]

... frankly, Lord Messmer. Within the framework of this game, I felt that Mr. Verso was too good to be a match for the likes of us.

[anathemaw]

[ he's been working in quite the detailed framework of assumptions - based in some logic from his pre-existing familiarity with the game, presumably. Messmer still poorly understands the ever-present "audience" when he can see no one but the staff of the game; he's been told the devices they use are transmitting their goings-on somehow, but how, and to whom, remain beyond him. Rom's guess seems as sound (or unsound) as anyone else's.

The comment about Verso being too good for either of them draws a pensive breath from Messmer. ]

Aye. And so, too, beyond its frame.

[ there's more to Verso than just the charm - a lot more - but he nonetheless still feels that Verso's a much better person than him by any reasonable metric. ]

Yet thou spoke not of this to me. Thou wouldst constrain me by plans to which I was not privy. Beyond this, my choice did naught but bolster thy theory regardless. These matches are purely tests of our ideas.

[phenomerom]

[ It's subtle, but his usual poker face falters just the slightest that. A touch of tension in the narrow of his eyes and the line of his brows, lips pressed together thinly as he smiles. Bitter. ]

... despite how I tend to come across, I don't particularly enjoy having to say things like this, Lord Messmer.

[ A small sigh before he hefts himself up to sit on the patio railing, hands loosely laced where they're resting between his knees. ]

Mr. Verso's a good man. I haven't gotten to know him as well as you have, of course, but even so, it's not hard to tell. And ... if you happened to find comfort in his company, I wouldn't want to trample on that needlessly. Even if my assessment of worthiness was strictly within the game's terms, it's still a cruel thing to say. And most people wouldn't be able to keep that strict divide between the game's pairings and their own feelings -- it's only normal to feel, if you aren't deserving of something in one context, then the same must hold true in other contexts as well. The bond you share outside of the game's rule isn't my business, and I didn't have enough proof to risk disrupting that.

[ A pause. His next sentence starts, then stops immediately, and there's a moment's hesitation before he continues. ]

And ... I suppose I thought it would be nice if I was wrong. It felt like the right choice to let things play out how they may, just in case my assumption was wrong. It was only after, when our all of our guesses for that week were confirmed wrong, that I felt a little cornered. That's why I was 'displeased.'

[anathemaw]

[ The people here are all so gentle with him - as if he isn't a ten-foot demigod hardened by neverending war. Messmer's been spit on, stabbed, betrayed, abandoned, yet Rom would rather stew in his own uncertainty than risk hurting his feelings. Perhaps it is natural kindness: the type a person possessed of a tender heart would show any stranger, no matter how odd or unwelcoming. Rom had spoken of his loneliness before, though in less exact terms, and of his closeness to the spirits of those passed. Sensitivity to the dead, in his experience, often equates to sensitivity to the living, as well.

And he's reminded, too, of his own bitterness, and his age. Not everyone can so readily detach themselves from their emotions. He's merely had ample time to practice. ]

My stance on this matter I have taken clearly. The game is of numbers alone; my emotions live separate aside. My choice was no more than educated guess, to expand further our knowledge. [ he pauses, then continues, a little more gently. ] ... I have striven to act alone, that I might burden none with my presence. I would have chosen otherwise, had I known thou wouldst be by mine actions troubled.

[phenomerom]

[ He exhales softly at that before shaking his head. ]

No. It's best that things turned out this way. The blackout ended up giving us a lot of useful information, even if it was stressful in the moment. And ... if I seemed displeased, that was a failing on my end. I shouldn't have let that slip in the first place.

[ It's not in his nature to let his composure falter like that, even slightly. Even if he'd like to blame it on the unfamiliar nature of this game and its rules, it's still a little mortifying by his own standards. Something he'll admonish himself for more at a later date.

For now -- ]

And besides. [ Rom sits up a little, casually clapping his hands together once to mark an end to the previous subject. Moving on: ] I don't know if acting alone is the best course of action any more. It's quite the tricky situation we're in now, isn't it? With only one week left.