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

[hgeegh]

[This was an inevitability.]

"Those"?

[warhawks]

A horny pervert. [ Looks away from him... in disgust... ] Ugh, gross. This is why I can't stand boys.

[hgeegh]

[Oh . . . ]

Ah, Asa . . . ?

[Is everything . . . okay?]

[warhawks]

[ What she thinks: Not only is he a criminal, but a pervert too? I already decided I wasn't going to fall for him, but this is seriously the last straw. I shouldn't have to lower my standards. In fact, he should die for making me even consider it! I hate him!

What she says: ] What?

[hgeegh]

Um, I just want to say . . . I do like ladies, but it was drilled into my head since I was a kid that I shouldn't hurt a woman. That's how I was raised.

[It has nothing to do with perversion despite, uh. He just wants to clear that up for the sake of his mentor.]

[warhawks]

[ That's... slightly better? But she's far from appeased, because of course she's not. ]

You know women can be evil too, right? So what, you'd just let more people die instead of hurting one?

[hgeegh]

[His shoulders sag.]

Of course I know. A while back, there was this woman who humiliated my crewmate. I still haven't forgiven her for doing something so awful; however . . .

[He slides a hand in his pocket and pulls out a lollipop. A morning smoke sounds good right about now, but that'll have to wait. For now, gnawing on candy will have to do.]

. . . hitting women is the one thing I can't do. That doesn't mean I wouldn't lift a finger to protect people if they were in danger.

[warhawks]

That's... really stupid.

[ You can't just call someone's way of life stupid, Asa. At least she seems to mean it more in a "I can't believe this" way than a cruel one. ]

You'll die if you keep it up. You know that, right? You'll meet someone you can't stop without fighting, and they'll kill you.

[hgeegh]

I know.

[His gaze drifts to the floor. He's stupid and he'll die. It's not what she said, exactly, but he knows both are true.]

If not for Nami, that woman would've killed me. But Asa . . . I'd rather die than betray the person who taught me everything.

[Even though he doesn't want to die, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he were to forsake his cherished principles. So he won't. He can't.]

[warhawks]

[ What he's saying is ridiculous. It's ridiculous, and she wants to call him a pervert again, but it comes from a place of too much sincerity for her to do more than sigh. ]

I get it. There are things I'd rather die than do... but I don't know if I actually could. I just don't have that kind of resolve. [ It's not that she's attached to her life. It's that she's terrified of letting go. ] You're a way better person than me. That's why I didn't want us to get any closer.

[hgeegh]

[There's no censure. Sanji's heart stutters at her understanding.

Is he a better person? He's just a cook in a sea of extraordinary individuals, both in and out of this house. His life has little worth, and that's why he can throw it aside so easily. By what standards can he claim to be a better person?

He lifts his head, heart racing. Asa must have her reasons, just like he has his, to feel the way she did. And now . . . ]

What changed?

[warhawks]

[ It's obvious in the way she immediately turns her head, lowers her gaze, and generally does her best to try and disappear into herself that she Does Not want to answer this question... but after everything she just accused him of, she owes him whatever honesty she can give. Good thing Sanji has that women-specific super hearing ability, though, or he might still miss what she mumbles out. ]

I can't stand being alone, but I hate rejection even more. I'm always torn between my fear of both... and then I end up making the worse choice, every single time. I wish I could just stop.

[ Stop trying. Stop caring. Stop existing. Any of the three would do. ]

[hgeegh]

[Please, his observation haki is not developed yet; on the other hand, his natural senses are still highly attuned to women, so he does in fact hear Asa's mumbling. Considering how vulnerable she looks like this, he makes the effort to listen with even more care than usual.

What dreadful experiences has she had to harbor such powerful fears? The horrors of loneliness versus the agony of rejection—one is already painful enough. Why do people have to suffer both? What could justify these things happening to Asa? Why does salvation elude those who plead for so long that they end up stopping before it happens? It's too cruel, all of it. And yet, she still cares so much insofar that it's worn her down to this.]

You were just trying to protect me, weren't you? Yanami-san, too.

[From what, he doesn't know. Herself? Something else? He takes a step forward, tentative and asking.]

Asa . . . I understand that you're afraid, and I don't resent you for it. But what is it that you want?

[warhawks]

[ For a second, she considers spilling the beans, overwhelmed by the desperation to finally have someone to confide in. What stops her is the same thing that always has: the thought that maybe Yoru is playing mind games somehow, waiting to weaponize Asa's guilt at the end of all this. Being a perfect match would definitely count as some measure of ownership, and then... in front of everyone... she'd—

Could that petulant War Devil really be so conniving? She doesn't think so... but can she be certain, after what happened with Yuko? Or what Famine Devil showed herself to be capable of? There's no way. The fact she'd be detained and killed (at best) if the authorities found out about her contract barely registers on her concern scale. ]

I don't know. I really don't know. [ She chews at her bottom lip in frustration. ] It's like, every time I make up my mind, something else happens to make me change it. I thought coming here might help, but now I'm even more confused. You, Anna, Ritsuka...

[ The slightest, frailest of laughs, to go along with a pathetic sniff. ] Sorry. This is a lot to dump on someone before the sun is even up, huh?

[hgeegh]

No. It's just right.

[She carries so much. Why should she have to do it alone when there are people around her? He's not going to stand there and say she's wrong to open her heart, especially not when she's on the verge of tears. Just the thought of it hurts his chest.

Inwardly, he wonders with if it was Anna or Ritsuka who got through to Asa. If so, he's immensely grateful.]

It's as I said before. Whatever you have to say, I'll listen. You can tell me anything.