WEEK THREE MATCH CEREMONY

[potatomance]

ᯓ⭐ WEEK THREE MATCH CEREMONY

It's That Time! Again! Woohoo! Step on up, take your seats, place your bets and pray for mercy!

It is once again the same set-up, so you'd all better be looking spiffy and spruced-up.

Riri looks the same as always, but that's because it's Riri.

"Let's see how you did this time? Lucy the Pussy is up first, so don't waste our time and get up here already!"

This is why Riri doesn't have any friends, maybe.

Comments

[hearthwarming]

Oh? And why's that?

[cosmoid]

[ with an amused curve of his lips. ]

You might find it an insult, hedges are hardly great elms. [ he curls his fingers around her own. ]

I'm teleporting us. [ a few moments later (that's enough of a warning, right?) he does just that—another 1-1 talk for them with the backdrop of the night sky, though this time they're nestled atop the largest hedge on the grounds. he's also managed to bring a blanket too, so they're not getting scratched by the leaves. ]

[ozzz]

Xianyun feels like the type to hold grudges. If Maruki is anything to go by, Phoenix is the opposite.

[alcoheal]

It's tempting, isn't it?

[She looks like she's seriously contemplating - or at least fantasizing about - the idea, then sighs and slumps her shoulders.] They'd spend the whole time looking for an escape route.

[alcoheal]

[Hah, he really is eloquent. This side of of him is charming in his own way, too, enough to make her blush, but when Manuela exhales it's to release a scoffing laugh.]

No need to kick a girl while she's down. Still, most men don't apologize to me. That's probably what's keeping me from flying off the handle.

[If he'd approached this conversation differently, she would have. Maybe there's some restraint involved here, too... She can almost hear the do as you please. But no, it's just that there's a thread that hasn't snapped yet.]

I already told Ori how I plan to handle things. At this point, I just wanna get out of here.

[alcoheal]

You're thinking that since your match is likely your opposite, the same is true for others'.

[They have been talking about this throughout the weeks... but it's really going to make things complicated in this home stretch.]

But not all of us, surely?

[hearthwarming]

Oh—

[ Before Ori can have a say, they're... stargazing on top of a hedge, and it takes a moment for Ori to orient herself with their new spot, looking around, and about, before glancing back at him with a genuine curiosity across her features. ]

Come to think of it... You've probably never climbed a tree properly, have you, Uroko?

[ozzz]

Yukong and Aurelia are opposites, aren't they?

[Yukong is nice (enough); Aurelia isn't. Still, he gives the question a brief moment of thought.]

Do you believe it's Zhongli and Lin, then?

[alcoheal]

[HELP NOT THE AURELIA SHADE...sounds like a Mithra skill issue, but she cocks her head as she tries to follow the logic she's getting more accustomed to after this much time.]

They're less similar than we initially thought, but not the way you and Dr. Brenner are, I'd say. I'd be more likely to be his match than you if that were the case. [She says this with a slight curl of her lip.]

I don't know. I didn't think about them enough. They're both serious types, but not in the same way. Their magic centers on earth, but that's a little flimsy.

[hearthwarming]

I thought we tried to pick our "similar" matches that first week because of Yukong and Aurelia having many similarities...

[ She hums thoughtfully... ]

Manuela did suggest that there could be something for complementing each other. Maybe... on the surface, our only proven pair have those similarities, but maybe in less obvious ways, they have differences that complement each other well. I can't really say with what, specifically, but...

[ And then she just shrugs. Everything happens so much. ]

[cosmoid]

I wanted to be clear because like you, I am not one to hold back when I speak. And frankly, it is the least you deserve.

[ he won't belabor the point though. ]

Things will end soon regardless, but I hope we can all speak from our minds and heart in this last week. [ a sigh of his own. ] We certainly need it to move forward.

[hearthwarming]

A little bit, but... Well, for one, Lin can just manipulate the lock... assuming she doesn't tear the hinges off of the closet door entirely.

[ This, she says without any hint of judgment! Lin is a girlboss, is the thing, but locking people in the closet probably won't work for them unless it's Riri making it happen. ]

I think all of us could probably use something to help... illuminate things further. Maybe nothing quite so harrowing as last week's secrets, but...

[cosmoid]

No, though I could have reached this height by jumping. [ he tilts his head in a silent ask of why.

also, if he jumped he couldn't have brought the blanket as easily. (though he's also just lazy.) ]

[ozzz]

[He gives her the faint arch of his eyebrow at that. Does Manuela have bad taste or what? What a worrisome woman.]

They're both engrossed in the past. If that makes them a similar match, then . . .

[He trails off, as does his gaze.]

[alcoheal]

[Manuela starts laughing at the thought of Lin performing an immediate jailbreak and undoing their attempts.] She'd arrest us for the trouble we went to to help her! And I already feel like I'm imprisoned. [Well, that stopped the laughter pretty quickly. Well, Manuela, time to ad lib!]

Maybe trying to hold a soiree right after last week's ceremony was poor timing on my part. I wasn't in the right mindset to have a good time.

[hearthwarming]

[ Ok. She probably should have expected an answer like that... ]

Well, that's not as fun.

[ Regardless, she settles in, carefully sweeping her long hair over the front of her shoulder before she sits back on this blanket nestled atop a hedge. ]

Is there something on your mind? Oh, I guess most of us do at this point, but...

[ozzz]

[Don't look at him. He picked Aurelia and Lin. In retrospect, he thinks he should've voted for Yukong and Lin if they were choosing similar matches . . .

He also has no idea what everyone is saying. Yukong and Aurelia are opposites; this is firmly cemented in his mind.]

Then it's all the more reason to believe it's those two. Weren't they talking about choosing the same person the other day?

[hearthwarming]

[ Oh. The way Manuela's laugh just withers away pulls Ori's lips into a frown. ]

Did... something happen, Manuela?

[ She'd taken a bit of a break after the ceremony, to just collect her thoughts away from everyone else and fret over Juni and Val's wellbeing, but... ]

[cosmoid]

[ ??? she can practically see the question marks above his head, but they can find out how awkward it would be for a fish to climb another time. ]

Besides you? [ playfully, though he sighs into the end of it. ]

Truly, that is most of it... [ right, his words. ]

You captivate me Oriphi, in a way that is not supposed to be possible. I told you of the Sea God, but I did not tell you that I share his feelings, past and present; good and bad. And I know what dating is like, from his children and their lives in Shioshishio, as tangled as it often becomes.

It is not something I had considered myself interested in beyond words, until now. The reason I exist is in essence, a rebuke against such things—in breaking himself into pieces the Sea God dispersed his hurt and loneliness away from his soul.

Still, I wish to see your forest one day. And I want to show you my Sea. I want to keep seeing you beyond this place, in the same way, and more.

[alcoheal]

[NO!! Also yes, but in this case, no. But as someone who used her own ambition to climb to the very top, she knows about that level of determination.

He gets distant again, a little like the way he did in the blanket fort, and Manuela leans forward in response.]

You just thought of something, [she prompts.]

[alcoheal]

Nothing that hasn't happened before, dear.

[Though at least in the past even her most public fumbles haven't been recorded and broadcast quite extensively as this one is promised to be.]

I can't say I've ever been so excited to get back to work before, and I even like my job.

[ozzz]

[Manuela, no!!

With a small nod, he turns back to face her.]

Well . . . it has nothing to do with the matches.

[thefinalcontract]

I think it's something we should take into consideration. Would we be allowed to win by just leaving four people without knowing their matches and hoping they'll be solved for us?

[hearthwarming]

Well... Either way, whether we decide to send them or Zhongli and Lin to the final booth, we'll be able to verify... Unless we get another sort of hint from the fairy this week.

[ But even so, there's so many... unknowns and variables here. ]

We do have another light to account for, to. What are the chances it could be you and Brenner after all...?

[hearthwarming]

[ At that, she looses a quiet, resigned huff. ]

Still, though... Wish or no, I stand by what I'd said while I was out of it the other night. I'm glad I was able to meet you and get to know you a little bit here, Manuela...

[ If she's allowed to, Ori will gently grasp one of Manuela's hands in both of her own. ]

I still would love to hear you sing someday, once you have your voice back.