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

[alcoheal]

If we get this right, there will be four left on the floor in the end either way. [And, as she feels she's almost certain to be one of those four at this point, she has a little care for how that must feel for them.]

We're out of time for baby steps and slow elimination. It was better to forge ahead now while we had the chance and get it all on the table.

[hearthwarming]

[ She is... trying hard to remain optimistic about their chances! ]

One of the fairy's pairs today was correct. Zhongli and Xianyun were right about them not being a pair, but now we have to figure out which one of their pairs is the one...

[alcoheal]

I never would've seen it coming. [If her concerned surprise at the match ceremony wasn't hint enough. The two pairs chosen by Riri had barely crossed her mind, so she feels ill-equipped to judge them.]

Maybe they should spend some time together next week. For real. Doing things they enjoy.

...Or we could lock them in a room and hope for the best.

[hearthwarming]

[ blinks. ]

Now there's an idea...

[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.

[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...

[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]

[ 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... ]

[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.

[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.

[ozzz]

Are you uncertain of which pair that might be?

[hearthwarming]

[ She nods readily. ]

I would have thought Phoenix and Lin to be a possible match, since they both work with the for and with the law... But between him and Xianyun, and Lin and Zhongli, I'm really not sure...

[ozzz]

Hmm . . . Is that so? If you ask me, I would choose Xianyun and Phoenix.

[hearthwarming]

Oh? And why's that?

[ozzz]

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

[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?

[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?

[thefinalcontract]

Leaving Riri to decide the final matches for the one team as it had to do today. Meaning a Steampunk pair has to go into the booth and be correct but there is too much left in the air if we decide to do that.

[alcoheal]

You think that Riri would choose the incorrect matches on purpose?

[This has never crossed her mind; for all that she wants to run it through a grater, it's only humiliated them, not lied.]

[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?

[alcoheal]

Well... [She leans her cheek against her knuckles and sighs.] Several people anticipated Phoenix and Lin would be put together today, but Riri stepped in to match whichever pair was the correct one. I know I was surprised by the pairs it picked.

Maybe it just wanted the chance to rub it in our faces, but Riri created that helpful match, not us.

[thefinalcontract]

I am curious as to why you think Riri will just give us a win. While Riri has been rude the response has been volatile to say the very least. Threats and actual attacks for what little good they did were still just that.

Riri owes us very little much less a win and putting the two pairs together for us when our group has done naught to deserve anything of the sort.

Positions reversed... Surely you would not be inclined to offer anymore favors or good graces.

[alcoheal]

[Her eyebrows knit tonight.] Hm... Maybe because I don't see it as "giving us a win." If we're on the right track, then the people who are left over won't be chosen deliberately.

Somebody helped Phoenix and Dr. Maruki get out of that well, too.

[She has nothing to say about the hostile relationship between themselves and Riri. That much is true. Hostility is often met with hostility...but it's hard not to have her boundaries pushed the very minute it shows up.]

But if you're right, who would you what to put to the test to take a pair from my team off the table?

[thefinalcontract]

[He's rather doubtful about all of that but... He does not have as much at stake as the rest. Nor is he overly concerned about a wish. If everyone wants to leave it to chance that is their choice.]

Miss Ori and Lucifer seems the safest option. But in the end there are many options that are being left up to chance. Furthermore, this all hinges on if Mister Brenner and Mithra are a match. Nothing at all will matter if that's wrong.

[alcoheal]

Ori and Lucifer... [Manuela repeats, turning it over and pondering the likelihood.] She sees the best in people and is so quick to encourage them. It's easy to see how they might be paired in that direction.

But you're right. We're hinging this all on an assumption that only one person is confident is true.

[She both trusts and does not trust Mithra about his assessment. He has never seemed untrue to his feelings, as murky as a puddle as they are. Given how very obfuscated they are, though, who can say if the ones in charge of the matches know how he thinks?]