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

[gamboler]

[ Hey, look, he's got his Shoko-prescribed smoke as well! Aventurine's not even much of a smoker himself, only picking it up as a social habit to get him in the right places — but right now? He needs this. They both do.

Fated wanted his life to be a tragedy so much, if he doesn't treat it like something a little bit amusing, he'll feel like he's actually lost for once. ]

...Oh, not quite. It's more like...laughing to hide what's already broken.

[ordimame]

[hah. . . a slight upward tilts of his lips]

You sound a little edgy when you say it like that.

[but it is not said unkindly]

[gamboler]

[ A huff of quiet laughter. ]

I think it's the flair for the dramatic that keeps me sane.

[ordimame]

[you know what]

[that draws a grin to his features. and even if the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes, it's genuine. mildly amused, even! wryly so]

Sometimes, the best lies are the ones we tell ourselves, right?

[gamboler]

They have to be. That's the dress rehearsal, for people like us.

[ Can't convince others you are what you're not if you don't believe it at least a little bit yourself. ]

[ordimame]

[gods. that hits home. resonates with him in a way that makes his stomach turn uncomfortably. he does not feel like unpacking that emotion right now, of all times]

[though he does pause at that, using it as an excuse to take another drag of his smoke, mind meandering back to the secrets that were read aloud. out of all of them. . . Aventurine's was probably the most obvious]

. . . why your life?

Is that your only means of escape?

[gamboler]

[ He figured it was obvious as soon as it was read. He is a gambler, through an through, and his own life is always a chip he weighs in his palm.

It's his turn to take a long drag, cigarette burning low after speaking with Shoko. ]

...So I thought, but even my best attempts to get myself killed didn't take.

[ Awfully blasé, considering what they're speaking about here. Just another coping mechanism. ]

I win my gambles, but the prize is never what I'd like it to be. Ironic, isn't it?

[ordimame]

[. . . nnngh. the response is obvious— then why not bet against yourself instead? but he doesn’t want to encourage Avenutrine's self-destructive habits]

[so he frowns, brows knitted together, and offers up something else instead]

. . . maybe it's because your escape is meant to be something else.

[gamboler]

[ Ironically enough, betting against himself is exactly what brought him here. His reason was seldom so simple, but that had...been a part of it, too. His desire to lose, just once, and he hinged the bet on finding love on reality television, of all things.

...But he's lost that bet, hasn't he? By winning the game, by falling for someone...he loses the bet. He just...so genuinely didn't think it could happen, that the stakes were incredibly low as far as gambles go. And yet, here he is.

A pause, but not to smoke, just...to think. ]

You mean to say, something that isn't a gamble at all?

[ordimame]

[it's okay; Edamura takes another drag of his cigarette during that pause. he'll smoke for them both!!]

Well, yeah. [a slow exhale sees him expelling the smoke from his last drag] If gambling with your life isn't working, then maybe it's time to find a new tactic.

Even if it clashes with your aesthetic.

[gamboler]

[ Hah...he's nothing if not committed to his aesthetic. ]

Guaranteed wins might not be my style...but maybe you're right. Perhaps...it's time I think outside of games of chance and consider what a wish really means.

[ Reluctant as he is to rely on it...if he simply creates the outcome he wants, then it's not really a gamble, is it? ]

[ordimame]

[another tiny li'l grin]

Now you're thinking outside of the box.

[flicks at the end of his cigarette, sending ash scattering to the ground]

In my line of work, no win is "guaranteed." But I'd rather take the steps necessary to get as close to one as I can.

[though. . . when he says "my line of work," he can't help but wonder. . .]

What is your job, anyway?

[gamboler]

[ A fair question, at this point. He never really did explain it to Edamura, did he? ]

I'm...an investor, after a fashion. Going after assets that would prove beneficial to the IPC. I am good at what I do - my performance has never been an issue.

[ It's more that he hates who he works for, the same people who pushed the Avgins to the edge of the inhospitable desert, who ignored their pleas for help, who sold him well before he was recruited by the Strategic Investment Department. Even knowing the universal chaos it would bring...

There's nothing he wants more than to see it crumble. ]

...but I'm still theirs. Not my own.

[ordimame]

[it's not like Edamura has explained his own circumstances, either. but he supposes. . . this close to the end, with their darker secrets being revealed in such poor taste. . . maybe it's about time they talked about it. to understand why it is they are so, so similar]

. . . it's a shitty feeling. Isn't it?

[Edamura is not as trapped as Aventurine seems to be, but there were still circumstances in his life that limited his movements. and. . . certain people, who kept manipulating him into making specific decisions, giving him the illusion of choice when he was nothing more than their puppet]

I assume they have something on you that keeps you in line?

[gamboler]

[ ... Yeah. It's shit. That Edamura understands him in this isn't terribly surprising, given how similar they seem to be, and yet it's not the sort of thing he would wish on anyone, let alone a friend.

He exhales a puff of smoke. ]

The IPC is the single most influential and far-reaching entity in the universe. Their fingerprints are on every known planet. There's a reason why it would have been easier to just...

[ You know. Die. ]

I thought I could get them to fire me, but that didn't pan out, either. Did my job a little too well, I'm afraid.

[ordimame]

[nnnngh. . . so that's what it was. Edamura knows what it's like to work for a large, powerful organization with enough influence to absolutely crush deserters like the bugs they are. the kind of job you take on a whim. . . and find yourself trapped in for the rest of your days, because quitting would only get you killed. or. . . worse]

[. . .]

[quietly]

So. . .

[his tone is even as he lifts his gaze to meet Aventurine's, bringing his half-burned cigarette back to his lips]

Why not take them down instead?

[it was Edamura's only means of escape]

[gamboler]

[ ...It's not the first time he's considered it. In fact, if the wishes are as potent as they say, it's on his shortlist. Wouldn't it be just so satisfying to bring down the organization who not only keeps him leashed, but who left his people to die? Who turned a blind eye and sold him?

...Yes. He'd like that very much. ]

...There would be a lot of...consequences to something like that. [ Universal communications would be pure anarchy, anesthesia beacons would stop working, economics would come to a screeching halt entirely — and yet, none of those things are really enough to convince him it's not worth it. ] They say to never burn bridges when you leave a job...

[ Flicking just a bit of ash from the end of his cigarette. ]

...But I like to think there might be a few exceptions to that rule.

[ordimame]

[now that's a good look. confident. purposeful. determined. so much better than the borderline manic laughter]

[Edamura's mouth curves into a grin as he inhales the last remnants of his own cigarette, expelling the smoke with another breath and snuffing out the cinders on the table beside them. is it going to leave a burn mark? yes. does he care? . . . no]

You should have seen the bridges I burned at my last job. I lit them on fire with a tankard of gasoline.

[and gods, had it felt good]

. . . call me if you decide to go through with it. At least, with something other than your wish. [a slight tilt of his head] I might. . . know a guy. Or three.

[wouldn't that be thrilling. roping Laurent into a job for once. could he get the blonde asshole to call him "boss?" probably not, but the brief fantasy is a little exciting!]

[gamboler]

[ Hah. In the back of his mind, he wonders — is this what Yi Sang meant? About others reaching out to help carry his burden? It may not have been in the way he anticipated, but that doesn't make it mean any less to him. He and Edamura have an understanding that most can't quite put their finger on, after all. ]

I'll keep that in mind. The same goes for you too, you know. I may be a solo act, but when it comes to blending in and winning people over, I know just how to work the room.

[ Take him out for a job sometime, okay?? He'll always be a schemer at heart. ]

[ordimame]

[AVENTURINE WOULD BE GENUINELY BE AT THE TOP OF HIS LIST OF PEOPLE TO RECRUIT. . . more trustworthy than SOME!!! blonde jerks he knows!!]

I believe that! It might be fun to see exactly what you're capable of, too.