week four | dates

[marriagebroker]

Get dressed up, go on the town, this is your last week for romance!

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[irreversal]

[ . . . ]

Poppy the Poodle...

[ Anyway, she's holding onto Poppy by the leash (help me) for now, but lets the poodle roam over to Yi Sang for an introduction before they properly enter the dog park. ]

We seem to keep ending up doing dog-related activities, huh?

[poans]

[Yi Sang squats down to offer the poodle his hand.]

Does it bother you? I was under the impression that you thought favorably of canines.

[irreversal]

[ Poppy (poodle) gives Yi Sang's hand an acquainting sniff, cold doggy nose against skin before she gives a little lick. She likes him! ]

I'm not bothered at all. I just think it's an interesting pattern, is all. I guess I'm more of a cat person, but I don't mind dogs.

[ She looks down at the poodle. ]

I think she likes you.

[poans]

[He, too, looks down at the poodle, who doesn't appear deterred despite his reflexive twitch from the lick earlier.]

Does she . . . ? That is good news. It would have been most unfortunate if we had to turn back for otherwise.

[irreversal]

Geh. You're always so quick to give up, Yi Sang. I would've just made you stand on the other side of the fence from me.

[ incredible date ambience. But thankfully they don't have to do that, so Shoko leads Pup-py through the gates to enter the dog park proper, trusting Yi Sang to close them up behind her.

They are immediately greeted by so many other pups who were already here playing!! ]

Whoa...

[poans]

[He lifts his head in thought. They could have done that. Would they have gotten into trouble for it? Truly, they've been blessed by the poodle.

Yi Sang does indeed close the gate behind him, and turns around to endless barks and wagging tails of joy.]

I have not seen so many canines gathered in one place afore . . .

[irreversal]

I'm glad I didn't wear anything too nice for this...

[ Since they will probably get doggy paws all over their pants at the very least. But she bends down a bit so she can take the leash off their loaned poodle— then off she goes, causing most of the other dogs to give her chase. ]

Ah, there she goes. She's as lively as our human Poppy, isn't she?

[poans]

[He watches the dogs chase one another, not a care in the world between them.]

Indeed, Miss Poppy is quite the excitable character. [He turns to Shoko.] But now I must wonder how the two of you have been faring.

[irreversal]

[ ...Oh? Shoko had honestly been wondering if people would start asking her about this, but she hadn't expected it to come from Yi Sang, of all people... ]

How we're... faring? Hmm.

[ Idly, her hand reaches into her pocket - but it's empty. ]

Ah... We're having fun. And it's been nice.

[poans]

[He clocks the motion. Is she looking to smoke, or simply hold onto something?]

That is good news. You two have enjoyed a comfortable connection since the beginning, no?

[It must be refreshing, not at all like what he put Shoko through in the earlier weeks.]

[irreversal]

[ Comfortable....... Yeah. Comfortable. At the end of the day, that's all Shoko really could have wanted from a relationship. So much else about her life is so complicated, so the opposite of comfortable, after all.

Which isn't to say that she values her more complex bonds any less. If nothing else, she's more accustomed to that. Her hand draws out of her pocket, only to hook her thumb in it, instead. One gets the sense that she was indeed looking for something - a smoke - and she's decided to just hold onto something in lieu of that. ]

...You could say that. Poppy... It took me telling her about what my life is really like for her to realize there was more to me, but... even so, it was nice to just be treated like normal at the start.

[poans]

[It's no surprise that a difference in worlds would grow such a gap. Fortunately, it sounds as though they've crossed that bridge since. Poppy is blunt and emphatic, but not unkind; on the contrary, Yi Sang knows her to be capable of considerable consideration.]

Are users of sorcery treated as others by those who are not?

[irreversal]

[ Shoko gives a low, mirthless chuckle, shaking her head. ]

In a way. Up until recently, the government had concealed things of our nature from the public. So things that were caused by curses were simply left unexplained - and people are always afraid of things they can't understand. So people who seem to be in touch with the spiritual, or who seem to bring misfortune, or seem to have a sense for what can't be seen by most... were often treated as outcasts.

[poans]

The fear of the unknown, is it.

[Instead of seeking to understand, they shunned what they couldn't grasp. He can only hope that Shoko found herself in kinder company. A heart such as hers should be appreciated, not alienated.]

And now . . . has aught changed as the world recovers?

[irreversal]

[ Shoko certainly didn't have it as bad as others, she thinks. She was never bullied in school, or ostracized by her family... it would have been even worse, in her book, to have been born deep in the web of jujutsu society, into a notable clan or something similar. But maybe she also got ahead of any social outcasting by othering herself before others could other her, getting into things like smoking underage, skipping classes...

To his question, she simply shrugs. ]

Some pretty powerful curses and curse users made a big mess of everything. But jujutsu sorcerers were also the only ones who were able to stop the madness, in the end, so it's hard to say. I'm sure some people saw that as heroic, but others probably think worse. I wouldn't blame them, if they did.

It's all above my pay grade, though. I'll keep focusing on taking care of my people. I don't need to bother with damage control.

[poans]

[It would be easy to write the matter off as the business of others and condemn them accordingly. Shoko's assessment of the situation is grounded, though, and he finds himself nodding in agreement.]

Rather than a boon, ruminating overlong on matters beyond our control can be to our detriment. [He would know, he thinks as he offers her a small smile.] Your people are fortunate to have you by their side.

[irreversal]

[ She smiles, at that. ]

I know.

[ Shoko's still pleasantly surprised, that Yi Sang would be the one to bring this sort of topic up. It's a marked departure from their first outing to the Pompompurin Cafe, isn't it? She welcomes the change. ]

And how about you? You've made an impression on quite a few of us here, haven't you?

[ She's thinking back, specifically, on the time she'd spoken to him off to the side while Yingying and Odile were having a bit of a disagreement. ]

[poans]

[The certainty is stirring. Her answer heartens him, though he starts to rack his brain when she brings up their fellow players.]

To whom do you refer?

[irreversal]

Hmm... Yingying, of course, and Odile. Aventurine, too. Remember how you snuck up on the two of us while we were drinking together that first week? Heh...

[poans]

Th-that was . . . an innocent, albeit poorly timed, jest.

[irreversal]

It was. But it was a pretty good surprise, though. I wasn't sure you had any sense of humor from our first conversation, so personally, I was glad to see a different side of you for a second there.

[ but anyway. ]

So? How are things going with our other contestants?

[poans]

[His brow lifts slightly. Did she think it was amusing? Then he'll keep doing it, whether it's in person or in the group chat, because he enjoys it so.]

As you know, Miss Odile and I are companionable to each other. [He believes the previous ceremony has made this abundantly clear.] Aventurine is much the same, though that's not to say that they are interchangeable. As for Miss Yingying . . . she and I have reached an understanding.

[irreversal]

[ An understanding . . . ]

A romantic understanding, right?

[poans]

Hmm . . . Wei Wuxian believed the same.

[Yi Sang didn't know then. He's still puzzling out the terms, in fact.]

If such a foundation is grounds for clear blue skies and the all-encompassing fragrance of violet blossoms, then . . . perhaps that is the proper name for what this is.