week four | mingle

[marriagebroker]

Final week at the estate! Final week with your friends. Final week with your beaus. Time to make the most of it, everyone!

In fact, to celebrate this fact, today there is a cake. It's nothing special, just a nice little cake to enjoy with your morning coffee or throughout the day. Yay, cake!

And when Wei Wuxian arrives that morning, he is going to call out once again for everyone to join him, near the cake.

"Everyone, I have another announcement!"

Hell yeah, announcements.

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

Comments

[beatmatching]

[ at the onsen luka pretty much ignored these cards, they seemed silly and irrelevant. here, well he'll admit they're not silly besides maybe the person afraid of heights?

he'll just reach forward to take his with one of his usual calm expressions. ]

Is this supposed to frighten me? That was the entire point of the training... [ smh, literally.

he has in his hand "One of you has had your heart repeatedly stopped as a form of training." ]

[phenomerom]

[ Setting aside the question of what the hell production was thinking by unleashing this upon them -- ]

May I ask what the training was meant to prepare you for?

[ Rom sounds entirely neutral about this. Just curious. ]

[beatmatching]

To perform on stage, of course.

[ what idols in your world don't go through torture training to make sure they look good on stage? ]

[phenomerom]

[ That insistence on always being the best he can be, and now this sort of training? ]

It's quite the high-stakes stage you've trained for, it sounds like. [ Again, non-judgemental. ] Though I don't quite understand how stopping one's heart translates to a better performance on a stage?

[beatmatching]

You've heard of stage fright, yes? The concept is the same. If you have no fear, then nothing can catch you off guard in the middle of a performance.

So he trained me to keep my heartrate between 70-90 BPM at all times. Keeping calm is essential when the loser is retired, killed I mean, immediately.

[phenomerom]

[ Just one blink. And then, seemingly unfazed: ]

Most impressive! I'm almost a little jealous ... I certainly could have used some training like that when I was younger. Has all that hard work paid off for you?

[beatmatching]

[ hmmmmm

had this been earlier on, luka might not have thought anything of it but considering how everyone else reacted... ]

I'm the number one idol in my universe, so you tell me.

[phenomerom]

Waah, incredible! I always knew you were something special, of course, but hearing it put like that is a whole different matter!

[ Clap clap clap. It's not even that he's being insincere, because he's not, but just his general dealio probably makes this come across as kind of Weird ... ]

I wonder if it's been useful here as well, then? That special training?

[beatmatching]

[ jiiiiii. ]

There's little point in putting on a facade like that now, is there? [ yeah, he's not buying it. ]

[phenomerom]

[ He meets that stare completely evenly. ]

There certainly wouldn't be. [ Accompanied by his usual uncanny smile. ] But I'm being truthful, Mr. Luka. I'm genuinely impressed by your training. I think most people wouldn't be able to see it in that light.

[beatmatching]

Well, yes. Most people find issue with it being pet-humans and not just humans.

[phenomerom]

... you don't sound particularly thrilled about that. What people take issue with.

[beatmatching]

It's what's normal for me, that's all.

[ people be upsetti on his behalf and he's really just mostly been here vibing because four weeks is not nearly enough to completely upend your upbringing and your entire world view. ]

[fireball]

[ Training... Poppy just stares at him. ]

Is that why you're like this?

[ The question is part accusatory, part genuine. Is he brain damaged or something. ]

[beatmatching]

Like what?

[fireball]

Like... you.

[ Gestures at him. ]

Were you not hugged as a child?

[beatmatching]

[ wow.

luka huffs. ]

I hugged other humans when I was a child. [ sorry he's taking this literally and not entirely as an insult, which might say something in itself. ]

[fireball]

I would not have guessed.

[ Just instantly going into mean girl mode... ]

There's a difference between you doing the hugging and actually being hugged, though. You know that, right?

[ One without the other is kind of pathetic? ]

[beatmatching]

Obviously. Hyunwoo and Hyuna hugged me first.

[ TWO!!! friends!!!!!!

he's not the friendless loser, somehow against all odds.

also, who? it's fine. ]

[fireball]

[ No wait she doesn't like thinking of Luka as having friends. Gross. No, wait. Offensive? Yeah, offensive. ]

And yet you're still like this?

[ There that's better. ]

[beatmatching]

[ a beat. ]

They're dead.

[fireball]

[ ... ]

Oh.

[ well that sure took the wind out of her sails real quick ]

[beatmatching]

[ luka smiles. ]

What were you expecting to hear?

1/2

[fireball]

[ ................... ]

2/2

[fireball]

You know what? I genuinely don't know.