week two | mingle

[showhost]

Welcome to week two, Teens Who Are Definitely Searching for Love!

Hopefully everyone got a lot of rest over the weekend, and are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the upcoming week, because there are a few things of interest this week.

But first, some changes of note in the house!

First: there is a giant rectangular box on the living room table, addressed to Lessing. It is a care package. The only thing in it is his sword.

There is some Bauernbrot bread on the counter. Ask Lessing about that too.

There is now a hot tub near the pool. It’s large enough to seat about six teens comfortably, but you can get more in there if you really try for some reason.

Okay I think that’s everything. Additionally, Tsukasa is here early this week! He’s looking pretty perky, seemingly recovered from the Match Ceremony, and he’s got some interesting info to share with everyone.

Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | Dates | Mini-Event
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

Comments

[gravkitty]

Hm... maybe! Tsukasa did say I've got star power. [But it's a little troubling. She's still confused about how this all happened. Maybe Goro really did just need someone who was willing to hear him out, but he also doesn't seem to feel sorry at all for anything he did before. It's hard to wrap her brain around.

She starts eating a piece of pocky, maybe so she doesn't have to speculate just yet.]

I'm okay! Just listening to everyone's thoughts.

[(A lot of people here have a really strong idea of who they might choose... That's good. I'm glad they're so confident.)]

[haircared]

[ Leaning in helpfully... share your wisdom, bestie... ]

[hgeegh]

Oh, right.

[His eyes light up at the mention of the All Blue. It's a dear dream—one that seems to take years off of him by how boyish he becomes over it.]

We're all a bunch of dreamers. The captain's going to be king of the pirates while the swordsman wants to be the strongest. Our navigator's creating a map of the world, and we have a sniper on board who'll be a brave warrior of the sea. That's half of us.

[makeine]

[ ah

her chopsticks stay lifted at her mouth, and she does the courtesy of finishing a meal she's lost the appetite for. patting her lips delicately with a napkin, and carefully laying her utensils on top. ]

... Is it obvious?

[singurarity]

[ thanks Much Taller bestie... ]

So I kinda sorta had a hunch so I sat him down and just asked him if he liked you, just based on what I'd noticed.

And... yeah, he does. He just seemed conflicted about it and it sounded like it was a bigger issue than I could help with. Anything else would probably have to be between the two of you, anyway.

[rosethorns]

[Dorothea is likewise hanging back and listening to the discussion at first. She is Fine™ but she may appreciate some Fou snuggles. Who’s to say!

Frankly, after the truth booth earlier, she’s a little glad for the feeling that she’s sort of along for the ride with whatever happens at tomorrow’s match ceremony. She had her chance to vote last week, now she simply gets to sit back and watch how things might play out.]

Considering we only had one pair correct last week, I don’t think we can really go wrong as long as different choices are made. We have to get more information to narrow things down somehow.

[singurarity]

[ Fou is here for snuggles, and Ritsuka is here to gently shoulder-bump with her! Double attack!! ]

Lessing and I talked it over and we're going to try to match up again, since I'm... not sure how likely it is that the other matches are going to happen.

[ Like there's no way Steve or Akechi-kun would pick each other, Anna-chan will go for Will, Will won't pick Minami, from his statement that they all knew about anyway-- ]

So I think almost everything else is guaranteed to be different, if it works out that way.

[hgeegh]

[Maybe he should've waited. But he's put it off for a while, hasn't he?]

I wasn't sure about prying before, but that didn't feel right once you asked me about falling. Do you want to talk about it?

[inparfait]

Yeah, but the fact that I lied to you all for a week was enough for most of you!

[ and the fact that he's a jerk and obnoxious and a million other reasons. ]

[gravkitty]

Hm...let's see...

[She holds the sheet up to the light, kind of like she's inspecting a bill for counterfeit marks.]

I've got "swap outfits with someone!" Maybe we could fit into each other's clothes... "Tell someone how you sincerely feel about them." That's worth the most points! Ooh, or show off a cool skill! You wanted to know about shifting gravity, right?

[She's chatty, so she offers a lot of different options across the difficulty levels.]

[makeine]

[ and he's still asking her if she'd like to talk about it. anna thinks of her talk with josuke, with tsukasa, with ritsuka in some measure, and crosses her arms on the table to make a pillow out of them.

... ]

I really, really like Will-kun.

[ bit muffled, but it's there. ]

[singurarity]

Tomorrow's... definitely gonna be interesting.

[ What a nice, neutral statement. ]

[gravkitty]

Darn... [She scuffs her foot, bending her arms behind her head in a stretch.]

[But he's right. Some of the people here have no sense of whimsy or joy... they wouldn't last a day in the asylum where they raised Kat.]

Well, I like mine! What's wrong with your hair? Couldn't you just brush it back?

[She's not on the meme for this yet but Kat is actually a pretty lazy sleepy little creature... he's definitely already coiffed up by the time she gets out of bed.]

[haircared]

[ He controls his expression, in the case Sanji looks over here and sees them whispering and gossiping -- he doesn't want Ritsuka to get in trouble. Originally, he was anticipating saying something to the tune of well, he has a funny way of showing it if Ritsuka had simply answered yes, but this illuminates things for him.

Conflicted? Conflicted how? If it sounded like too big of a problem for Ritsuka to tread to, he wonders if it's even going to be helpful if he sticks his nose in, too. The last thing he wants is to make whatever's going on worse. Since they're sharing inside information: ]

So that's it... he acted like he was getting a tooth pulled during that game, but his heart was beating like he was about to jump off a bridge.

[ He stays leaned in close, his words sympathetic. He'd started thinking perhaps it was disgust, discomfort, or even embarrassment that had elicited such a reaction. Understandably, he wasn't exactly looking to experience more of being on the receiving end of it. Now, though, he thinks he understands, and he sees Sanji in a bit of a new light. ]

Whatever it is, it must be serious. [ He feels concerned, maybe even a little guilty. What if he's the problem? ] I hope he's not too bent out of shape over it... did it seem that way?

[gravkitty]

[A nice, neutral statement from someone who does her best to be neutral but could probably stand to be a bit more demanding with her feelings.]

Eheh... Pinky promise we won't let anymore disasters break out. [Her hand comes out.] You're lucky, Ritsuka... you already got to go through with your picks!

I can get a little carried away when I think someone might like me, so I've been trying not to come on too strong to anyone...

[(But maybe I could have tried to come on a little stronger...)

Then again, Asa did accuse her of being a whore earlier, so...]

[willandaway]

[offering it to her without hesitation, like it's the most natural thing in the world]

Is everything okay. . .?

[with Asa]

[willandaway]

[nope, he is making that one clear as day!]

. . . I don't know if my instincts are helping us, here. I was wrong about the two that I was most certain of.

[that is, Mark/Josuke and Dorothea/Sanji]

[singurarity]

[ His heart was beating that fast?

Well, that does contextualize things, doesn't it? She'd wondered if Josuke thought Sanji had been disgusted, which had ultimately been why she'd sat Sanji down in the first place to talk it over and then had nearly killed him by causing him to choke. ]

... Yeah. [ She'll be honest here. ] He said it wasn't because it was you, but he said the match was the problem, but then he said it didn't have to do with the show and that he'd figure it out. He just looked... really distraught.

I don't know what he's thinking, really, but I also didn't want you to think he didn't like you.

[willandaway]

[WILL STILL HASN'T COMPREHENDED THE "DIFFERENT WORLDS" THING. CRIES]

That's part of it. But mostly. . . I really enjoy everyone here.

[and he feels! lucky! to have met everyone!]

[titlecard]

[ RIP...

anyway they're both two goodboys, of course they don't know yet

Anyway anyway, Mark can't fathom Josuke having some other secret side to him. His eyes widen a little at the implication that he does before he's awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and trying to laugh it off. ]

No, no! [ yes but that's the thing he's sensitive about. ] Just, I can be, uh... a little forceful sometimes, I guess.

[makeine]

[ good. she's pulling his arm around her so she can cuddle against him, playing with his fingers as they lay at her waist. ]

She just needs some time. Mii-chan and I are comrades in the trenches of love and heartache, after all.

[singurarity]

[ Hooks pinkies with her! ]

It was really stressful last week, so I at least know how it feels...

But I think it's okay to be a little more straightforward with people. Otherwise, a lot of guessing does or doesn't happen. Not that it makes it easier either way, though.

[ It takes a lot of courage. ]

[hgeegh]

[He knew this, of course.

Well, he thought he did, but Anna's behavior—both now and then—has him wondering just what's going on between her and Will.]

Is that a bad thing? I thought you'd be happy about it.

[willandaway]

[she'll have an easy time with that! he easily moves along with her guidance until he is resting against her, arm wrapped loosely around her back and waist, fingers grasping for hers as she plays with them]

Love and heartache. . .? Is that why she snapped at Kat?

FINALLY SLIDES INTO THIS

[willandaway]

[he is outside, not anywhere near his li'l campsite. but a flash of silver glints in the corners of her vision. . . and if she looks, she will find--]

[Will, doing a flip kick with his sword, like it was some kind of skateboard]

[help]