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

[counton]

[ He looks so impassive about this, but... ]

That kind of thing, yeah.

[titlecard]

[ He looks impassive, but Mark can't quite bring himself to believe it. ]

... Isn't that a lot?

[ Aren't they like, the same age? And Mark is still kind of a wreck if he thinks too much about death and other people dying. ]

[counton]

It's not easy if that's what you're asking, but I've been in training for a long time now.

[ Even though, yes, he is about the same age as Mark.

Mark shouldn't worry too much about those implications. They're not the nicest to think about, but it's thanks to the upbringing he had that he's even still alive right now. ]

[titlecard]

[ ... a long time now...

He just. Stares for a second.

... Another few seconds. He doesn't know how to respond to that — at least not without totally exposing himself — so, after another moment of hesitation, ] Well, I'm glad you're here.

[ That feels like about as good as he was going to do there, so... yeah. Good talk, man. ]

[counton]

[ One ear tilts back at Mark's struggle to respond to his admission. Sorry, man. He didn't mean to make it awkward, so he won't force the conversation to go on for longer. ]

Thanks.

[ He'll let him skitter off. Sorry for the startle that started this talk. ]

[titlecard]

[ No, no, it wasn't awkward— Well, it was a little, but—

Mark is just thinking about the experiences he's had lately that should have killed him, but because he is who he is, they didn't.

And wondering how Lessing survived his — if he's had any near-death experiences himself, or — but he doesn't really have any way to ask that without outing himself, so he's... not going to bring it up.

Just nod at him and, uh. In lieu of being able to say anything actually meaningful — ]

... It's a really cool sword, though.

[ — it just feels extra awkward, even if he means it. ]

[counton]

[ Yes... the answer to that question is yes. Lessing's almost died more than once, but without being asked directly it's not information he would think to volunteer. It's not exactly something that people feel comfortable here, or really know how to respond to.

Though even if Mark can't get any useful information out of Lessing regarding that, he'll at least get another small smile out of him as he looks back at his sword. ]

Thanks. It's been with me through a lot.

[titlecard]

I can imagine.

[ Because of the whole... life and death stuff. He's relaxing a bit more though, both because 1. if it's important to Lessing, then it's important to be cool about the sword; 2. it probably can't hurt Mark anyway; 3. Lessing is a pretty chill guy, so the chances of him using his sword for anything nefarious seem really, really low, so there's nothing to worry about. He's probably one of the most trustworthy guys here, actually. ]

Well, in that case, I'm glad you've got it here too... even though you hopefully shouldn't need to use it.

[ wouldn't that be something if he did, ]

[counton]

[ Probably........

They won't get into how Lessing can use his world's version of magic to enhance his sword strikes, so that might make point two questionable. Mark's a good guy, so Lessing surely won't ever need to use it on him anyway. ]

I assume I probably won't. It's just comforting to have back in my hands.

[ He takes it everywhere with him. Literally. He goes shopping with this thing. ]

[titlecard]

[ taking notes for the next time i can get leigh to attack my character with a sharp object

Mark, though, taking in Lessing's words, demeanour, everything, and venturing a guess: ] Like it's a part of you?

[ Mark doesn't need a weapon; he is the weapon. But he'd get it. Having a special attachment to an object, for whatever reason. ]

[counton]

[ There's too much hope here that Lessing would ever attack Mark, and the next one won't even have a weapon with him when he ends up in zombie world.

No, Mark will just have to accept comfortably vibing with Lessing instead, especially since he seems to get him pretty well. ]

Something like that... I've had this sword for a long time.

[ Which is wild to think about, because it's as big as he is at his age, and if he's had it for years there was definitely a time this sword was bigger than he was by a notable amount. ]

[titlecard]

[ one day... sometime... when we both least expect it...

A blink at that revelation, though. ]

Like... you got it as a gift when you were a baby? That kind of long time?

[ That's the first thing that comes to mind. If Lessing has had it literally his entire life that'd be pretty important, right? ]

[counton]

Not quite that long.

[ It wasn't a gift from the Maeyers, but from the family that actually kept him after they gave him up. ]

I think I was eleven when I got it.

[titlecard]

[ Under his breath: ] Eleven...

[ So still a kid. Or a... lamb? A kid. Either way, that's... kind of a weird present for an eleven-year-old, but it's not like Mark has a ton of room to talk when it comes to weird childhood things. ]

I guess you learned how to use it when you were still a kid too, huh.

[ How Lessing would have done that when he was smaller than he is now is another mystery, but his stoic nature is kind of making more and more sense. ]

[counton]

Not well at first...

[ Because yes, it was significantly bigger than he was, and he didn't have the muscle then that he does now. ]

... but I started to practice with it, and eventually got the hang of it.

[titlecard]

Oh... I mean, I guess that makes sense.

[ Small, awkward smile. Not at the concept, just... it's tough to wrap his mind around Lessing having a sword that big so young. ]

That's how it usually goes, isn't it? For most things, I mean... even if it isn't something that's probably, like. [ venturing a guess here: ] Twice as big as you were?

[counton]

[ The guess isn't a bad one. Lessing does actually have to look at his sword for a moment as he considers that carefully. ]

A little less than twice as tall at the time, and I at least weighed more than it did.

[titlecard]

[ He's gonna skip right over the who thought that would be a good gift for a kid question, because it is very, very obvious right about now that Mark does not know Lessing's life.

Instead, peering back at the sword, genuinely curious: ] How much does it weigh, anyway?

[counton]

Not as much as you might think. A little less than three and a half kilograms.

[ As tall as it is, it's not like the kind of bizarre broadswords you'd usually see in anime, still staying fairly typical blade width. ]