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

[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.

[aureated]

[She listens thoughtfully, arms still crossed, fingers tapping at her elbow as she considers what he has to say.]

I'm very willing to accept that you and Lin are not a match.

However, you've forgotten Manuela in your final considerations. If Lucifer and Orphi are confirmed to not be a match, then Lucifer and Manuela is still possible--leaving us with Maruki and Uroko, and Lin and Oriphi.

[So they're left with a complex 33% situation--which is kind of where they're already at anyway.]

Not to say you're wrong. Your logic is quite sound. Simply that it is more complex than you've laid it out to be.

[...]

I must say, though, this candidness from you is very refreshing. Your situation with Oz makes complete sense. We should have considered such things as immortality ages ago.

[thefinalcontract]

I did not forget them... The logic I offered was assuming they were already a match as we are doing with Mister Brenner and Mithra.

[He clenches his tea cup tightly.]

It is a small thing but a thing nonetheless.

[voxnozzz]

... Something lost to time would be a difficult match for those similar to us.

[ the previous sage...? it's one of the few times he's said goodbye, somewhat, and he can't recall their name or their face. ]

I will not ask more. [ because... because, ] I only aimed to acknowledge what you've observed.

[thefinalcontract]

I feel quite confident that out of everyone else here that could still be a match it is likely us.

More so with what Mister Uroko has said... We have not had the opportunity to speak in any great length.

[ziplash]

Oh, so you "don't have any secrets," do you.

[ SIX THOUSAND YEARS OLD???????????????? Someone's cranky, and open about saying it now, not that she ever held back before. ]

If you had such a preference for how old you were hoping your match to be, you should have said that weeks ago, since you're so convinced of its importance now.

[thefinalcontract]

[The cup hits the saucer a little too hard.]

It is still mostly irrelevant. [And he's clutching the cup a little too tightly.] And I have every reason in the world for wishing for that to remain private.

[That it came out at all is a problem all on its own and he needs to speak so very carefully.]

The reasons, aside from that, are quite viable and should hold merit. I said, at the beginning, that I would not allow my secrets to become an issue and they will not be.

[mechanideptus]

[ Um. Sir. You let a detail slip there. It’s fine though, she’s about to do the same. ]

Rex Lapis, by that logic should we not also consider that one is also millennia old? Phoenix is but a mortal man.

[thefinalcontract]

[Girl...]

[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.]

[ringsmaster]

Zhongli... I get where you're coming from, but if that's the logic you're using, then Lin can't be my match any more than she can be yours.

[ He's also immortal. The only way he's going to ever see half of the people here again is if they die and somehow end up in his world's version of Hell. ]

You also have to really consider the idea that the showrunners' idea of a pairing might just be surface level, or that it might not be based on your morta— I mean, you being a funeral parlor consultant.

[ they probably know you're the god of contracts, my guy. ]

As much as I hate to say it, Mithra's right. If happiness was all that mattered then you and I wouldn't be a part of this anymore.

[thefinalcontract]

It's not quite the same... Do you not get to be with those who eventually pass?

[His understanding of Lucifer's Heaven and Hell is not very good. Everyone goes down there which is why it's so important that his daughter's able to get people to go up. So all can be saved from the unjust exterminations... Right?

That said, Lucifer is right about this not being about happiness in the least. Still, he finds himself and Lin uncomplimentary but the same can be said for Lucifer and Lin.]

That aside, I do think it's you and Miss Ori... [Leaving Maruki and Lin which probably makes more sense in some way.] Angels and devils and all.

[He takes a sip of tea, running his thumb along the patterns on the cup.]

I do wish it had been so to be saved from the squabbling. Nothing is perfect, of course. Certainly not matches especially if they are being paired with the most baseline knowledge.

[He turns in his seat and reaches up to adjust Lucifer's hat.]

Besides... I am content regardless. I have an unexpected find with the spoils already seized and conquered. All that remains is to take such treasures home.

[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. ]

[thefinalcontract]

[He tilts his head up at the presence of another brushing his hands off in the bin.]

If they can be repaired then that would be preferred over throwing them away. Especially as the fault was mine that they were destroyed in the first place.

[voxnozzz]

... It is what happens when strong hearts converge.

[ oz doesn't mean this as something for zhongli to take positively, or at all. it is merely fact. wizards are solitary creatures for some of those reasons exactly: unable to bend, so painfully independent with their own emotions, beliefs, etched deeply into their selves... there is no one who will be exactly like you, and so you will fight.

but with that permission given, oz observes the damage quietly. there's a pang of something within him looking at a destroyed room with the echoes of reminders dragged up before, but he will not linger on that. ]

Vox Nox.

[ it's with that phrase, a raised hand, and a little bit of light that the room will begin repairing itself to resemble the state it was in before zhonglingate. pieces find themselves, the splintered table smoothed, and before long everything is at it was. ]

[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. ]

[thefinalcontract]

[He holds out his hands to take the cup, slowly lifting his head from his task but eyes remaining firmly downcast. He brushes a thumb along the pattern with no cracks to show for the violence done to it.]

There is an old art that's existed for centuries... Both in Liyue and the island nation across the sea. It's called Kintsugi. When something like pottery is broken it can be repaired with gold or silver powder making the item more beautiful than when it was in one piece.

I can see the beauty in it. The lesson to be learned. Would that all things could be repaired as easily as a little tea cup.

[He is glad for Lucifer's presence though. And since nothing matters at this point as far as secrets go. He lets some of his features come forth, wrapping his tail gently around the angel.]

[ringsmaster]

[ Lucifer steps into that embrace easily, though the smile on his face is a bit muted. A lot sure happened in such a short amount of time, and he doesn't like the way it made him feel.

He lets his wings out, folding them around them both in their own little sanctuary of feathers. ]

I think it's really amazing that you can take something broken and make it beautiful.

[ A pause. He buries his face in the crook of Zhongli's neck. ]

I think... you owe Lin an apology.