week one | match ceremony

[showhost]

The weather is temperate and mild for the match ceremony on this fine Saturday evening, and the crew leads everyone onto a balcony with a cute seating set-up of couches and love-seats. The vibes are Trendy. There are enough places to sit for everyone, but there are only two single chairs, so everyone else is gonna have to cozy up on the couch. Or you can cuddle up in the chairs. I’m not your mom. Also there is only one egg seat. There's mood lighting, like fairy lights.

To one side, there's a small stage of sorts, with a podium where the characters will place their hands to lock in their answers.

Wednesday and Ryuji are led off to the other side so that they can take a seat of honor over on a comfy couch to one side--close to the other contestants, but just far enough away that it's clear they're getting special treatment. Don't you wanna go to the Honeymoon Suite now? Huh???

Anyway.

There are non-alcoholic drinks for people to take at will (all the better to catch spittakes on camera), and the weather is breezy and nice.

And, standing in front of the makeshift stage, with a set of seven unlit lights behind him and one lit light, stands the Overseer. He is dressed the part, of course. He also... looks tired for a moment, but he snaps back to his Proper Hostly Character as soon as the cameras are properly on them and everyone is settled in.

He presses a hand to his chest, sweeping the other outwards.

"Welcome, everyone, to your first Match Ceremony!"

He beams, all classic Tsukasa Sparkles. "As your host, allow me to explain how this will work."

For... the audience mostly. Maybe also for Ryuji? He's not sure how many of the contestants still don't know. It's fine.

"The lights behind me represent each Perfect Match. If--no, when you manage to light every single one, you'll have won, and you will all receive your wishes. For each Perfect Match you find at this ceremony, a light will be lit! And it is your task to figure out which pairs led to those lights appearing."

He nods firmly, eyes and expression shining with confidence in the competitors sitting before him. "And you do not even have to worry about losing a wish this week! It isn't possible for you to have a blackout, since Miss Addams and Sakamoto were a Perfect Match. Congratulations!"

Get on with it, Tsukasa. He clears his throat, pauses just long enough for there to be an inevitable easy cut to commercial break when they edit this later, and then:

"We will begin this week with Team Wonder."

He extends his hand to Dorothea, the other pressed over his heart. "If the lovely Miss Arnault would come up to start us off...?"

Looks like it’s the moment of truth, so strap in.

--

The ceremony has finally arrived! Each character on Team Wonder will be called up in an order determined by the producers (read: rng'd). Each will get their own sub-toplevel that characters can react to at will.

After the matches have all been locked in, we will then find out just how many you all got right.

Otherwise, feel free to use this log for reactions/toplevels for pre- and post-ceremony, and anything else you please. The world of reality TV dating is yours to embrace.

Comments

[hgeegh]

[Timing is a tricky thing. Sanji waits for the discussion to start before excusing himself in search of Asa, because all of that was frankly concerning.]

Asa! Are you here?

[warhawks]

[ Ugh... Asa knows that voice. Too bad it belongs to the second last person she wants to talk to right now.

She's in the bedroom, since she doubts anyone will be coming back here for a while after the ceremony; lying on her bed fully dressed and with her face pressed into the pillow. ]

Just leave me alone.

[hgeegh]

[Oh, she looks positively miserable. Still, Sanji's shoulders drop in relief once he locates her. He hastens to approach, though he stops before he gets too close out of mindfulness for the miniature garden that's her bed in this communal space.]

What's wrong? You can talk to me. I saw you leave the ceremony as soon as it ended . . . and there's the matter of Yanami-san . . .

[They were so close the other day while Asa's expression during the ceremony was nothing short of harrowing. He doesn't understand. What happened?]

[warhawks]

[ The fact he saw that and still came after her makes her snap. She's miserable, humiliated, angry, and worst of all — she did it all to herself. The fact it was for someone else's benefit doesn't make her feel any better. ]

I said leave me alone!

[ The pillow muffles the volume of her shout, but does nothing to hide the pain behind it, or the crack in her voice. She's quieter when she speaks again, but only because she doesn't have the energy to keep yelling. ]

Stop wasting your time on me. The truth is... I didn't really come here to find a boyfriend. [ A self-deprecating laugh. ] I know the wish is fake, but I'm willing to humiliate myself like this anyway. Isn't that pathetic?

[hgeegh]

[The pain in her voice gives Sanji pause. He's heard a myriad of tones from her by now, but this one stands out for how wounded it is. The camel's back is broken, and his heart twists at the sound, then again at her self-loathing words.]

We don't know that. [He softens his tone, all but pleading with her to let him stay, if only so that her heart doesn't have to bleed alone.] The wish could be real. Even if it isn't, yours still is. There's nothing pathetic about a wish from the heart.

[warhawks]

"From the heart?" You have no idea—

[ How selfish her wish is, and she still can't fully commit to it. Every time she finds herself making an offhand comment to Yoru, only to be met with silence in her mind, is another reminder of what the rest of her life will be like. Being alone forever, or being possessed by the War Devil... what kind of person is she that she can't decide which is worse?

Taking a deep breath, she looks over at him, but only so she can deliberately roll and face the wall afterward; curling in on herself. ]

I'll tell you the same thing I told Anna. Stay away from me, Sanji. [ Feebly: ] ... It was nice while it lasted. [ Feeling wanted. ]

[hgeegh]

[The eye contact lasts for a fleeting heartbeat before Asa turns away. Sanji leans forward as if to chase her.

She's right. He has no idea, but he can say this much: The sudden shift in her behavior doesn't align with how she's been acting all week. All he understands is that she came for the wish, only to burn the closest bridge she's made, and now she's suffering while trying to distance herself some more. If this is what went down, it's no wonder Anna reacted the way she did at the ceremony. "It was nice while it lasted"? Who can accept that? And where has he seen that before?

He stares at her back. She looks so small—so fragile yet purposive—curled up like that.]

Are you safe, Asa?

[warhawks]

Me...?

[ Safe from others? Sure. Safe from herself? ]

Yeah. I'm completely fine. [ Come Monday, she'll be doing her best to act like none of this ever happened, outside of avoiding Anna and Sanji as best she can. This is her time to just... let the familiar self-loathing wash over her. ] Except that right now you're giving me a headache, so...

[hgeegh]

[If he's giving her a headache, then he's truly sorry; however, he can't walk away like this.]

You're lying. You're the one who's hurting, Asa.

[Please talk to him. He can take it. He'll make himself take it, whatever it is.]

[warhawks]

[ The thing is, she can handle being hurt. It's the only reason she's still alive, after everything she's been through. What she can't stand is dragging others down with her.

If she'd died back then like she was supposed to, then none of this would have happened. Even beyond that, she could have found some other way to deal with Yoru; one that didn't involve killing or hurting people. She just wasn't smart enough to think of it. Too selfish, too blind.

She just curls up tighter. He's not getting anything else out of her today. ]

[hgeegh]

[This is the limit of what he can do.

Sanji straightens, hands shoved deep in his pockets. As much as he hates to do it, the best he can do now is to let her rest. There's a good chance that she'll never speak to or look at him again once he leaves, but that doesn't bother him as much as the fear of whether Asa will continue to isolate herself. He doesn't want her to end up alone, even if it's only for a few more weeks. Dimly, he wonders what her life back home must be like.

Maybe he should've asked, instead of getting caught up in the torrent of his emotions the past week; however, he's failed again by letting that golden opportunity fly right past him. He's so stupid.]

If you ever want to talk, I'll be around. But Asa . . . I don't regret the time we shared, and I never will.

[He can't work miracles, but he's stubborn. Even if everything changes between them and he amounts to nothing before her, he'll always welcome her with open arms. He just hopes that it'll be enough.

For now, he makes a regretful retreat.]