perfectmatch | week four

Luka and Yingying are taken to go stargazing. In a pretty open field, with no light pollution at all.

Highlights

They're given some blankets and thermoses of hot drinks to stay warm.
The camera crew dim their lights to not ruin the atmosphere.
It really is scenic.

[ one last time for the fans.

stargazing, huh... ]

Do you like stars, Yingying? [ ever the gentleman as always, he'll make sure she's all snug in the blankets before joining her. ]

[ one more time with feeling... she's cozy this time.

As for the question, she uncharacteristically doesn't answer right away, smoothing out the blanket in her lap as he comes to settle in with her. ]

I like the night. Lights always look much prettier during that time.

[ Which doesn't really answer the question directly. Tilting her head up to look at the canopy of stars, her gaze lacks any real enthusiasm for the sight itself. ]

But sometimes... I get frightened, looking out at the stars.

Why?

[ he looks up at the stars himself, considering them more than anything else. he wasn't the type of child to stargaze and dream about another life away from the garden, but most of the other kids were. ]

[ Because it's Luka, she can relay this forwardly and without preamble or set up. She pulls the blanket up a little more, even though she doesn't need the warmth. ]

A shooting star fell from the sky once, in my homeland.

[ Her expression sobers, watching the dark blanket of space — as if at any moment, she might see another one. ]

What we thought was a miracle ended up being the end of everything.

[ After discussing this with several other contestants, she's able to keep her tone more distant and objective, keeping the words vague and somewhat fantastical. Luka already knows what's out there among the stars — she's sure he can imagine all kinds of ruin that a fallen star might carry, even if she doesn't lay them out specifically. ]

I can't help but has this feeling it will happen again, someday, when I look out there.

It might. But it isn't happening right now, is it?

Even if it does I can put in a good word for you, I'm pretty famous up there.

[ a joke but also the truth. ]

If you can't affect the future, then there's no point in worrying about it.

[ She doesn't respond verbally for a pause, just humming softly in acknowledgement. ]

I know... I usually don't.

[ Turning slightly on her side to look at him more directly, eyes curious, but expression serious. ]

When the star fell, there weren't... what did you call them... "Segyein" on it. But something strange from out there, all the same.

[ he meets her gaze easilly. ]

Gods? [ it's the only word that comes to mind, since it's a common theme in music, even in his time. ]

[ She shakes her head. ]

A contaminant... like a poison, you might say.

[ That's the best way she can think to describe it to someone who may not have ever come across something like it. It was a phenomenon in her world, after all, a world-ending one. It wouldn't surprise her if other people couldn't imagine a mutating substance from space corrupting the earth. ]

Did you survive by climbing your tree?

[ he-

asks this entirely seriously both because of his lack of context and because of his simple mind. ]

[ ...Pff. It's just more proof that Luka can be so boyish, so naive in unexpected ways. It's charming. In the sense that it makes her want to dote on and watch over him. It makes talking about this a little less painful, too. ]

No, not like that... the poison caused people to change into "monsters." Sharp teeth and extra limbs, more like that.

[ Really, his humorous interjection is allowing her to just relay the information neutrally to him, since she's thinking about trying to help make sure he understands. ]

I didn't change... instead, I gained powers. The wisteria and I, [ she laces her fingers together. ] Became like this.

[ he's doing his best to understand!!! ]

Do you like being like that?

"Like" isn't the word I would use.

[ How to explain it... he must know about plants, to some extent. Even if humans are few in his world, the earth still must have flowers and trees, and she saw him read about them in books. She doesn't to cause him undue distress about her condition either, when he can barely understand it... so she tries to explain the matter lightly. ]

It's made my health a big problem, you know. A weed is hard to pull from the ground because roots keep it there, right? It's like that. My physical body can't be separated from it, so I can't do things normal humans would do to survive like eat or move around. That's why I need energy from other people now and then... it's what's keeping me alive, while my body is stuck. You can think of this me [ she gestures down at herself, ] like an illusion.

[ It's more than just her being sleepy, being the implication. When she takes from the contestants here, it's usually because she no longer has the energy to stay alive and keep her illusory self up and walking around. Rest helps, but only so much. ]

week four | dates

luka and yingying

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject