WEEK FOUR MINGLE

[potatomance]

ᯓ⭐ WEEK FOUR MINGLE

Heya, lovebirds! You're entering the final week and things sure are... great.

Right?

Well, whether you're feeling great or not, you're going to find yourself looking your best in formal wear this week! Suits, gorgeous dresses, fabulously outlandish outfits, you name it, you're stuck in it. No sweatpants or lab coats for anyone this week. We have standards.

And we also believe in telling the truth, one way or another!

That's right, if you're asked a question, any question at all, no matter how innocent or dire, you are compelled to speak your most truthful answer. It could be who you think is the hottest in the castle. It could be your opinion on orange juice. Whatever it is, there is no longer a brain-to-mouth filter in place!

And maybe you'll figure that out and all decide to be merciful, but Riri will be popping up every now and then. And Riri? Riri will not be merciful.

Except for one thing, and that's a note in the main room that states simply: You all suck at this, so this week, our good ol' lesbian duo can now speak normally. You're welcome. ♥

FAQ ⭐ Truth Booth Voting ⭐ Mysterious Thing ⭐ Sex Dungeon ⭐ Perfect Match Voting

Comments

[aureated]

I am personally fine with sending Lin and Zhongli--though I would like to hear from both of them what they think of such a thing. Lin was very against going to the booth previously, and in a sense, the outcome is the same whichever pair we send.

[But she does agree that instinctively, Lin and Zhongli makes sense.]

As for yourself and Manuela... I am inclined to trust your judgment. Is she in agreement?

[A beat. Aurelia narrows her eyes as she thinks.]

If you and Manuela are a match, and we assume Mithra and Brenner are, then Oriphi must be paired either with Lucifer or Maruki.

[cosmoid]

Yes, we spoke of it after the ceremony. In our case, we are similar—perhaps too similar, but I think it is a fair inference to make from first impressions.

[ he frowns here slightly since he... probably should have left off the last bit, but oh well. ]

The pairs it seems, aside from your own, are simply assignments based on guesses and traits. Oriphi and Lucifer in that light, make some sense.

[psychs]

[ He's been wondering about this, too. Lucifer and Ori have the sort of gentle warmth the complements the other well, but where does that leave him? ]

If Lucifer and Ori-san are a match, that would mean I'm myself matched with Oz-san or Xianyun-san, and I'm not sure how likely either matchup would be.

[ Then again, he was pretty sure about Phoenix, so what does he know? ]

[voxnozzz]

... If it is us, I would not say it is entirely unlikely.

[



lmao ]

[aureated]

[Interesting, interesting...]

And if Lucifer and Manuela are a match, then it must be you and Oriphi or you and Uroko.

[She taps a finger on her elbow as she thinks.]

I wonder which of the pairings is the most likely...? It seems most are more candid than usual right now, which may very well assist us in determining that.

[thefinalcontract]

I mentioned this before... But I think the tactic is sending a Steampunk pair to the booth so that the two possible matches are not left on the floor, leaving Riri to decide who goes where.

I do not think we'll be granted so easy a win in regards to hoping that he'll match them for us when we don't know the answer ourselves. We were blessed with one hint I do not think we will be blessed with a win.

[He's going to stop there. He wishes he would. An effect where he has to speak the truth is a very dangerous thing for him.]

I also do not believe myself to be a match with Lin.

[aureated]

I've no issue with that strategy, though I do not think the potato would choose to sabotage us. [Nor has it really needed to... she thinks.] Remember that we are being watched. There would be an outcry if we were to get everything right, but fall at the last moment because of outside meddling.

Still, there is nothing wrong with such a sensible strategy.

[As for that... both of her eyebrows arch, interested.]

I see. Why do you say that?

[cosmoid]

[ oh, mood. he doesn't offer her thanks but gives her a nod; they're on the same page there because losing because of essentially, intra team pairs not being discovered rings hollow to him. it is a performance, after all. ]

[thefinalcontract]

[Aurelia... :(]

Because while we are both Geo users I think that is a poor metric to go by. We have little going for us otherwise. She being law enforcement and I a funeral parlor consultant as careers go. We are both stern when it comes to contracts and obeying the law but that is tangentially related and a pull at best. She is also a mortal woman and I am six thousand years old... Which would go against the very grain of what I was intending to find. [Continuing and continuing quickly.] If we make the assumptions of Mithra and Mister Brenner and Mister Wright and Miss Xianyun that would leave me with Oz who... well. It's a better match, I think in terms of a base level of what is being sought.

[Just keep talking, Zhongli.]

We have to make assumptions, regardless. That's the point we're left at. We're already assuming one of the pairs of Mister Brenner and Mithra. If we assume Miss Manuela and Mister Uroko as well then it leaves Lucifer with only two options. Miss Lin or Miss Ori. If we send in Lucifer with Miss Ori it confirms a pair. Leaving Miss Lin with Mister Maruki and everything is squared away and the remaining pair on the ground which should be Miss Manuela and Mister Uroko. And if that pairing is wrong then it's Miss Ori with Mister Maruki and Lucifer and Lin being the final pair.

And with that... There are no concerns of Riri's trickery.

[cosmoid]

[ he'll leave the comments about the intra team pairings to the side for now, though he finds fault with them, they're not the most important thing. ]

Then who do you think is your assigned match, with the knowledge that matches have most likely been based off what that creature thought made sense with bare traits?

[thefinalcontract]

It's probably Oz. Because that's what is left if the other pairs are correct. There has to be two intra teams on each side. If Miss Xianyun and Phoenix are a match it leaves naught but Oz.

[ringsmaster]

Riri is a little jerk, and I'd love to shove his hating little ass into a food processor, but I don't think he's out to sabotage us deliberately. Besides, if we figure out everything beyond a shadow of a doubt, then we hold the cards. We can refuse to lock in until he lets us have our way.

Why not you and Lin, though?

[thefinalcontract]

[:( Points you in this direction.]

[thefinalcontract]

[After Zhonglin gate and the room has cleared up Zhongli can be found cleaning up the room where the "fight" took place. Sand from his Geo abilities, the table that smashed into it and splintered some. The broken tea cup and by proxy saucer that got caught in the crossfire of everything.

He's on his knees picking up pieces of the small bit of destruction and putting them into a near by dustpan. He picks up one of the larger broken pieces of the tea cup and turns the broken china in his hand, thumbing over the pattern.

Broken with no ability to repair it in sight, like many other things that happened within the past hour or so. In the end he can only drop it with the rest of the broken shards and continue what he's doing.]

[voxnozzz]

[ everything happened so much. it is not entirely surprising, given the nature of hearts left out in the open.

oz is not here to offer reassurances or condolences. he is... well, even if he wanted to, he is terrible at those things. there are others who would be able to provide that to zhongli with more meaning.

but he is here, in some capacity. he came back in to clean things up discreetly, but he should've expected someone else would be here. ]

If you desire it, I may repair the things that have shattered.

[ he voices that when zhongli drops the broken piece of china with the rest. ]

[ringsmaster]

[ Next to Zhongli as he keeps working, there's the soft tinkling of broken glass, as Lucifer crouches nest to the dustpan, rifling through the contents. He's shed his jacket at some point, and sits with his sleeves rolled up, picking out pieces of broken china.

In a soft shimmer of golden light, the teacup mends itself in his hands. He offers it over to the Archon without comment. ]

[ziplash]

I won't discount the possibility considering the lack of information we have to base it on, and no matter how we slice it, it's a fifty-fifty.

[ She's scowling, her arms tightly folded. She looks much more high strung than usual, if that's even possible. ]

And I was against going to the booth because I wanted to protect everyone — not because I just didn't want to go.

I refused to go with you or Yukong because... because before I came here — the kid I'm responsible for was nearly killed in the safest place in the world. That I haven't been able to let my guard down here is on me — but how could I live with it if something like that happened again on my watch? I didn't want even a chance of being forced out of this place.

[ woah that truth serum sure is hitting... for once, her voice seems tight with emotion, the plain stress of her feelings laid bare, instead of covered up with her anger and frustration. anyways! ]

All that being said, we don't know enough to discount or say for certain that Zhongli and I are matched. I can see cause for either outcome being true — lucky for us, like I said, it's fifty-fifty. We'd know which match it really was either way.

[aureated]

[LIN........

Aurelia blinks at that, slowly processing all of that. Ah. That's...]

I see. I am sorry that both you, and that child, went through that... Keeping your guard up in our circumstances is not a bad thing. If anything, we have all been too lax.

[They're lucky that Lin has been here, and they're lucky it hasn't been worse.]

But knowing that you are willing to go in does simplify the picking. Or complicates it, depending on how you look at it.

[ziplash]

Oh, well, [ SARCASTIC CHUCKLE ] It's looking like it's going to be the latter.

[ She waves a hand dismissively, chasing away the lasting vulnerability in her features and voice. ]

Doesn't matter to me, since sending either one will give us an answer, but this 'we should send someone else entirely' strategy is a bunch of crap.

[ozzz]

[These are too many words for him to follow, but Mithra shifts in his seat toward the end of Lin's outburst. This is why he tried and couldn't come up with the exact answer for Manuela just a few days ago . . . ]

[ziplash]

[ She is quirking a brow at him, wondering if he means to say something after sitting forward.... ]

[mechanideptus]

. . .

[ Oh. That is such a difficult feeling to have to work through—and to be pulled away so soon after is a cruel thing indeed. ]

One did not realize. Your vigilance is understandable—as is your determination now.

[ She saw you yell at Zhongli. And also attack him. She’s not mad about it, surprisingly. ]

[ringsmaster]

[ Sometime after Zhongligate, he's going to come find her wherever she's gone off to, and tentatively approach. ]

Miss Lin?

[cosmoid]

[ also after zhong li gate...]

Lin. Would you rather see children coddled, or taught a lesson? [ she can pretty easily tell that he's not talking about actual children. ]

[helmswoman]

[ Also finding her about Zhongligate wheeeee.

Wherever Lin is, Yukong will openly approach her, nodding to her in greeting. ]

That all spiraled out of control quite suddenly. How far you feeling?