It's For Your Own Good

[thechurbyboxmod]

Blind Date Meme



Let's face it, sometimes it's difficult finding someone to share your time, and your heart (or maybe just your body), with. Luckily for you, you have well meaning friends. Unfortunately for you, you have well meaning friends who didn't tell you this was coming. That's right. They have taken it upon themselves (and no doubt friends of friends or family members or someone else who clearly doesn't know you) to arrange a date. Without telling you.

That's right. The dreaded blind date. Which means now you've got to get through at least a reasonable amount of time with a total stranger (or maybe not a stranger if you're particularly, well, we can't say if it's lucky or not) before you can reasonably escape. Maybe it will go well. Maybe this will be the start of the rest of your lives. Maybe you'll get laid. Maybe you'll have a horror story for the ages.

No matter what plays out, though, you're here. Might as well see just how your luck is going to play out.

How to Play

1. Post your character and canon below along with any preferences. Then go back and edit your comment with the next number in order (i.e. first TL is 1, second is 2, etc)

2. Tag other TLs. If a character isn't in normal preferences, ask if they might want a date that goes poorly instead!

3. Optionally, get yourself a truly blind experience by going here and randomly generating a number. Then find the matching TL (numbered back in step one) and enjoy your blind date.

4. For more fun, use the list in the first comment for randomized date locations!

Comments

Lord El-Melloi II/Waver Velvet | LE2 Case Files | 18

[ask_whydunit]

[ M/M for serious, M/F if you want a funny disaster thread. 21+ only for older Waver, but I can also give you teen Waver in the 17-19 range (I have icons!) if you want to do something different. Older Waver is probably here because someone is meddling with his personal life (Reines and co.) and made him, younger Waver might have gotten dragged along with one of his classmates (Melvin). ]

[seed_pilot]

Didn't RNG who I'd bring out for you. Bringing you this never been tagged baby Nida account. So I figured I'd rng location instead. Hilarious and maybe charming half-blind double date at a fast food restaurant? Maybe Waver's classmate wanted emotional support for a first date and was like 'listen come along, they're bringing a friend, you can have dinner with the friend at the next table'?

I love it!! Let me know if this works!

[ask_whydunit]

[ Waver propped his hand up on his chin. He could be studying right now, he should be studying right now. He had a paper to write, and this one was going to impress the professor. He knew it.

But, instead, here he was sitting at a table in the nearest fast-food place because Melvin had kidnapped him from the dorms before he could make his escape to the library. ‘You’re my best friend! Best friends support each other in their moments of need, Waver!! That moment of need, apparently, was some kind of date with the girl of the week he’d gotten smitten with. Since they’d decided to go to a fast-food place, the guy decided Waver was the best wing-man because he was but a commoner by comparison to Melvin. He’d know what was good!

Annnnd maybe this girl had a friend that Melvin agreed should meet Waver. The teen needed to learn to live a little, be an actual teen! ]

Uh... You’re here with Melvin’s date, right?

[ He finally asked with a small glance as someone stopped next to the table he’d snagged nearby, lifting his head from his hand with a sidelong glance to check and see if Melvin was alone still or not, which he wasn’t. Thank god, if Melvin was stood up they’d never hear the end of it. ]

[seed_pilot]

[Yeah, Nida wasn't exactly comfortable about this either. Like, Selphie had basically told him out of nowhere that he needed to get out of his evening study sessions and live a little. And that she had a date. Which of course was against Garden policy because wow they weren't supposed to be randomly off campus at night.

But worse than that, she'd somehow talked him into being here this evening? How had it happened? He doesn't entirely remember. Maybe a misused sleep spell? All he knows is that he's finished dropping off Selphie's portion of their order that he picked up from the counter, and going to the table she waves him to. And yep, there's the guy.]

Yeah. Selphie. She... She might have kidnapped me?

[He sits down across from the guy.]

Hope you friend, Melvin was it, isn't scared of a lot. She's a handful.

[ask_whydunit]

[ Waver feels a little bit of sympathy to hear that, awkward as this all is... At least he’s not the only one who’d been dragged into this against their will, right? ]

Ah... So she and Melvin do have something in common when it comes to getting their way.

[ He sighed, shaking his head. Actually, as the guy continued to describe Selphie? Waver gets a bad feeling these two shouldn’t have met to begin with. ]

No, he doesn’t scare easily. He’s too stupid to be scared easily. [ He huffed a little, shaking his head. ] As long as she doesn’t get freaked out if his health turns, then they’ll be fine.

[ And if not, everyone got to go home to studying sooner! ]

[seed_pilot]

Oh god. That sounds like a disaster. We've unleashed something horrible upon the world. Or I'd say that if we had any control over this.

[He sits down and unloads his tray with his burger and fries and shake. If he's going to be in detention for weeks, then he was going to eat well.]

Did you want something for yourself? I can get it. I've got a bit of change left from my stipend. And she... I don't know what she'll do then actually. Never seen Selphie in what she'd deem a crisis.

[ask_whydunit]

Hey, we unleashed nothing. We were brought here against our will. If anything, we should be counted among the victims after whatever mess they make explodes.

[ He offered with a shrug, hands raised lightly. His eyes lowered and glanced over at the food being sorted out on the table, and the teen shook his head politely at the offer. ]

Thanks, but I’ll get something in a minute. This is on Melvin’s dime, considering he insisted on all this. [ No point in damaging a fellow students wallet, even if they were probably from a different school. He doesn’t know Nida’s situation, and if he’s anything like him? Savings were important. ] And I’m in charge of ordering for both of us, since he’s never eaten fast food before. I just wanted to see if anyone would show or not first.

[ Waver’s a grump, but he would be lying if he didn’t admit he was a little worried his friend would get stood up. Rich or not, Melvin talked a big game, and he was a lot. Especially factoring in the rather big turn off his health could present. ]

Well, unless he hasn’t warned her- [ Waver would flip a coin on that one. ] we’ll probably see before too long.

[seed_pilot]

Don't say the 'e' word anywhere that Selphie can hear it. She might get ideas.

[Her specialty was combat magic after all. And a lack of restraint. Nida wasn't much of a mage himself. He wasn't much of anything actually. Just a guy that was going to be in so much trouble.]

Damn, I wish I was here on Selphie's dime. All she's paying me in is the chance for breaking our diets and the potential for a week of detentions cleaning the training grounds.

AS for Selphie, she might have forgotten about being told something, so I guess we're the safety net here?

[ask_whydunit]

[ Oh, that’s not comforting at all. ]

Noted: Don’t mention that word where she can hear it.

[ He doesn’t need that, no one needs that. With his luck, he’d end up expelled or something even if he had nothing to do with it, if only to get the riffraff out of the school. Lord El-Melloi (the first) would love that, he bet… ]

Really…? Well, you can steal some of mine if you want after. I’m not that hungry, anyway.

[ he offered as he pushed himself to his feet to put their orders in. Hey if Nida was risking all that, then he deserved some extra fries for this fiasco, right? Waver wasn’t the sort with a big appetite as it was. The teen seemed to live on sandwiches, mostly. ]

Yeah, if something happens you can like… Assure her that he’s not dying? I’ll handle helping out Melvin.

[seed_pilot]

[Military academies, they were a whole ass thing when it came to certain topics, weren't they? And Selphie was a top student in that area. Better not to trigger an idea in her.]

See, that's what I expected out of guys from your school. Really smart. And yeah, I might pick at it some. Of course for every half cup of extra fries I have to do so many crunches. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow.

[But with Waver standing Nida nods, his eyes immediately turning toward Selphie's table.]

I promise I'll take care of it. Guess it probably helps that I've already completed the first aid and field medic electives at school. She'll take it a bit more seriously. Hopefully.

[ask_whydunit]

[ If he smiled a little at the compliment about being smart, you didn’t see it. No one ever sees that he’s smart, aside from Melvin and their other friend Camus. Everyone else thought he was a waste of space in class.

Buuut the smile shifts to surprise at the next comment. That was more exercise than Waver had probably done in any combined amount of gym class in regular school before he’d transferred to the clock tower (and he avoided the combat training grounds altogether)!! Seriously, he’s 5’1” and built like a twig. Forgive his shock at the very idea. ]

That much for just some fries?? That sounds exhausting! Can’t you like… Take a break sometimes?

[ Well, at least one other person wasn’t about to panic or get squeamish about some blood, right? At least in theory… Waver still hoped it wasn’t an issue. ]

Thanks, that’s uh… Actually good to know. I’ll be right back, shout if there’s a disaster.

[seed_pilot]

[Dude doesn't even get who his friend is dating, did he? Nida chuckles just a little as he downs some fries.]

I know we're not in the blue and silvers, but you do know just where Selphie and I are students, right? We're Garden cadets.

[Which made them sorta military, sorta mercenary, and partially trained mages at that.]

So breaks really aren't all that likely, you know? It's intense training. But go ahead, get your food. I'll monitor for negative results.

[ask_whydunit]

[ Oh… That does explain it. Crossed Waver’s mind briefly at the explanation. Godammit Melvin and his fixation more on the pretty girl he had a crush on than important details! Now Waver was embarrassed, and there’s an obvious flush on his cheek as he responded with an awkward tilt of his head. ]

Melvin didn’t tell me shit… He just waxed poetic for an hour about this girl he met from ‘another school’ and then dragged me out the door mentioning she had a friend and that I should come along. [ He sighed, this was so typical of Melvin! He’s probably laugh about it later, too, if Waver brought it up… ] But uh… yeah, I heard a little about your school when I first transferred here. I guess that makes sense, they sometimes have sparring matches with our schools combative magics classes, yeah?

[ Annnd he’s totally making his escape to the counter, still a little embarrassed. The teen ordered a couple meals and an extra order of fries in case Nida decided it was really worth the extra exercises that Waver himself could not imagine. On the way back, he stopped to slide one tray onto the table Melvin and Selphie were at along with Melvin’s card, rolling his eyes at the very excited thanks he got from his friend. He just managed to dodge a one-armed hug thrown at him in an attempt to get him to stay long enough to say hi (give him a second you fiend!), before politely offering an awkward introduction to Selphie that he would have given anyway. Once that was out of the way, he made his escape and set things down at their table with an exhausted sigh. ]

Well they seem to be enjoying themselves, you were right about them being alike. Sorry for the wait.

rolled a 6?

[orangewayfinder]

Terra was looking through a magazine that Aqua had found. It was one on where to meet guys and the like. She had found it under his pillow and soon the two had a discussion, one that Terra never really wanted to have. But she had suggested a place where you could get drinks, and still play basic games like pinball, so that's what he did.

Going there, he didn't see anyone sitting at the designated table that he was to meet his date at, so he went to grab a game of pinball. Once the game was done, he happened to look over and someone was there at the table.

Taking a deep shaky breath, Terra went over to the table to introduce himself properly.

So sorry for the wait, my health is the worst this year.

[ask_whydunit]

Lord El-Melloi II’s private life (or lack thereof) was often the talk of those around the Clock Tower. Fellow teachers, students and assorted members of staff tended to fixate on it to an inane degree, in his opinion. It was borderline insufferable to deal with turning people down and ignoring the rumors about him going around. They weren’t important. He didn’t have time for a social life and he wasn’t a challenging curiosity to be won over by the few that decided to try.

He was, however, surrounded by chaotic meddlers who meant well and an adoptive sibling who found the idea amusing and so decided it was their business. That’s not to say he’d agreed to this rendezvous without some fight, but more than a few inappropriate comments from his sister and a gentle explanation from his apprentice that the other’s had already put everything together had him buckle if only to get everyone off his back.

Seeing no one at the table once he arrived at the barcade, he sat down and waited, only to find himself being approached by a man who’d just finished with a pinball machine. It takes every fiber of Waver’s being to not go into his usual ‘let them down both clearly and swiftly’ mode, and instead he folds his arms and gives the man an appraising look as he tries to remember he promised to give this a proper shot.

"Evening." He started at least remembering his manners that much.

no worries, please take as much time as you need and feel better!

[orangewayfinder]

Terra visually appraised the man now sitting at the table as he approached. The man was definitely handsome and of course that had him worry. Looks never affected him even as Phil thought that meant Terra thought of himself as too good to notice the swooning girls and boys alike at the games. It wasn't that, he was there to test his own skill, not to date anyone.

Phil was just being himself he'd supposed.

But once the man spoke, Terra inwardly froze even as he tried a smile. "Good evening, my name is Terra and I'm supposed to meet you here tonight for a date."

For a moment he pondered that he might have the wrong person but he and Aqua had been assured that no one else but appointed dates were allowed to sit at the appointed tables.

Thank you <3 I'm taking it a day at a time and doing things as I can.

[ask_whydunit]

There is a slight arch of his brow, trying to decide what he thought of the greeting. Either the man was nervous or wasn’t sure if he was talking to the right person. While the tables were reserved, Waver didn’t doubt the wrong person sat in them from time to time if they didn’t know that… And the mage really needed to turn his brain off for a bit and stop reading too much into every little thing about a person or interaction.

This wasn’t a complicated mystic code to reverse engineer or one of his case’s needing to be solved. It was a blind date.

Gods, he thinks standing in front of Faker’s Hecatic Wheel again would be easier than this… His apprentice would be frowning at him for thinking that, but it was mostly true! Sad that he was so ill-prepared for something as simple as a date, but mostly true.

Clearing his throat a little and trying to not sound awkward about the reminder that this was a date and he was out of his depth in a way he wasn’t even accustomed to. “Ah… Yes. That would be why I’m here.” He offers a hand in greeting, taking a moment to ponder over an introduction. For the sake of not having to listen to someone stumble over is very annoying title, he makes the decision to use his actual name instead. If he had had to explain that later… he would. If there was a later, he reminded himself. “Waver Velvet, it’s nice to meet you.”

Fair enough!!

[orangewayfinder]

For his part, Aqua had 'showed him the ropes' since she was dating some guy she'd met at the Games while searching for him. So she had shared her experiences and had embarrassingly even had her date give him a tip or five. All that he personally knew about dating was what he'd seen at the Games in Greece although that was more further along than just grabbing a drink or casually meeting someone or having dinner or something like that.

Surprised but in a delighted sort of way, Terra took the offered hand and shook it a moment before letting go. "It's nice to meet you Waver." He half thought to say Mister Velvet which automatically came to mind. But he recalled Aqua chiding him when he practiced with her and her guy friend, telling him that was far too formal and to go with whatever first name he got.

[ask_whydunit]

Waver did not have any pointers for this, though not for lack of people to ask. He was the odd one out among his peers, practically a confirmed bachelor as the saying went (hence the recent intervention that landed him here). Any number of colleagues or acquaintances (friends, Waver), could probably have given him some pointers for tonight… But Waver Velvet found subjects like this too awkward to talk about in the first place, even when someone was right there and prime for asking.

But now he sat here, feeling very out of his depth but determined.

And had an instant realization of the mistake he’d made in using his name. He wasn’t used to hearing it from anyone aside from Melvin, so hearing it from a very nice man (handsome, if Waver was being honest) threw him off balance a little.

How does one tell? His ears turn slightly red with a blush that didn’t make it to his face.

“You too.” He started and absently realized he already said it was nice to meet the man. Ah, fantastic. Moving on… “Ah, well, have a seat. Did you want a drink?” He added, hiding the clumsy thoughts well enough behind a professional façade he wore around the Tower.

If it came up, it would be an interesting connection that they had both been to Greece. When Waver was younger and travelling, he’d been a tutor for the sons of a mage working as an archaeologist at a site there. It was one of his fonder memories, one that had inspired his current career.

[orangewayfinder]

Terra had been quietly studying his date or whatever this was called. He could only imagine the ribbing Aqua or her boyfriend or whatever would be telling him to say or do. But those thoughts silently danced through his mind before noticing Waver looked a little uncomfortable.

Was this whole thing wrong somehow? Terra quickly reasoned with himself that the other was in fact here and hadn't run away, so they should be on the right track, or at least so he hoped. But then Waver spoke. Taking a seat at the other's request, he nodded. "A drink would be great."

That at least would give them both something to do. And of course he mentally made a note that he'd brought plenty of munny to ensure that he would pay for the both of them. Aqua had been adamant that he did that. So accepting the drink was fine, but he had the mind that he would pay for this entire thing which was more than completely fine.

Trying to make conversation he looked at Waver. "What do you normally drink?"

[ask_whydunit]

Waver was generally used to being studied and scrutinized between the nature of his position at the Clock Tower and the fact that he tended to attract people who found him to be a puzzle to solve or manipulate to get what they wanted. Many had tried, few succeeded beyond his sister, truth be told. That said, being studied by his blind-date, left him trying to figure out what the other thought.

It wasn’t that the whole thing was wrong; it was just outside Waver’s realm of experience. He wasn’t… a social person. More often focused on his work, the responsibilities he had accepted to make up for past messes made, and his students that were pure chaos on the best of days.

Once Terra got to know him a little better tonight, perhaps he might relax a bit as he had with a few people closest to him. Though a ‘loosened up’ Waver tended towards hot and cold moods. Calm and collected to easily riled up in about five seconds flat if you knew how, and he wasn’t doing his darndest to keep the ‘calm and collected’ lord of the clock tower persona in place like a set of armor.

The fact that he had… well, taken on the entire El-Melloi family debt on top of his own definitely meant he wasn’t as well off as someone in his position would be expected to be. But it would not reflect well for him to show that in most situations, and he was frugal out of habit even before that. So he had his own money that he could use on a night like this, which meant there might be a little fumble over who paid the bill.

“Great.” He offered back and let Terra get situated at the table. Mentally going over how dates were supposed to go, and this… seemed about right, yeah? Yeah…

Waver wasn’t the biggest drinker, so if he was going to drink, he tended to be particular about what. At home, he kept a fruit brandy from a specific place he visited during his travels, and generally drank that on special occasions. He also enjoyed certain red wines. But when he was in a bar in the company of someone, he permitted himself one drink. Two at most. “I’ll probably get a scotch, what would you like?” He asked, pushing to his feet to go over to the counter and retrieve said drinks.

Reines would admonish (tease) him if he failed to be a proper gentleman after setting all this up.

[orangewayfinder]

Terra didn't drink, but he figured since Waver mentioned a scotch, that had him looking over at the drink menu. So he ordered the first thing he saw. "A rum and coke if that's okay." He had no idea what that tasted like or how it was going to go down. But he couldn't look like a little kid and order something else. So he looked up at his date with a small smile, hoping against hope that it wasn't a bad choice.

He knew that he had to relax, but this really was nerve wracking and he wasn't sure what to do other than to 'hang out and get to know someone and have a good time' which was what Aqua told him. This was his first real date too and he wasn't sure what the expectations or customs were. And while it was true that he never worried about that before, this was important. Terra felt that he had to get this right although he didn't know the rules or anything because there were rules, right?

And he kept his mind on munny because he had to pay Waver back for the drink. Not that he didn't have plenty but it was important to mind his manners. His mind kept going over the fact that the other had long hair that he wanted to put his fingers through although he knew he couldn't do that. The man was attractive though and Terra berated himself for paying attention to that because he wasn't supposed to, right?

[ask_whydunit]

Waver notes that it didn’t take Terra long to order, which was curious since he had to look at the menu… Absently he notes that’s something he used to do when trying to get used to ordering drinks in the first place. Pick the first thing off the list, and move on. Then again, Waver mused, if Terra didn’t drink at all, he would have said so, surely. So perhaps he was reading too much into this, and he wasn’t about to rudely embarrass the other with the question… So he offered a quick, affirmative nod. “Right, I’ll be back with that in a minute.” He offered before turning with a light swish of his hair and disappeared over to the bar counter.

The fact that his hair might be a point of interest was not something Waver ever really considered himself, it was a small nightmare to manage on a good morning and sometimes took assistance to get it into the silky smooth, presentable order that it was in now. The only reason he’d kept it this long was for the practical reason of hair naturally storing mana and being good for a trick in a pinch when he was on a case, and Waver being as lacking in power as he was needed most of the help he could get. So there would be some befuddlement on his face if it ever became a point brought up.

Waver could not tell Terra if he was or wasn’t supposed to be paying attention to someone’s appearance, considering he knew about as much as the other man did on the subject of dating. He could recite things he’d read on the subject of beauty and attraction from an objective standpoint, but actually considering it on a personal level tended to get awkward for him. That said, Terra was not the only one noting certain things about their date. It was hard for Waver to not absently note (admire) how toned the other’s arms were, but if asked point blank, he’d probably blush and say he hadn’t noticed a darn thing, dammit.

It’s not long before the professor is returning to the table, setting Terra’s drink down in front of him first before getting back to his seat. “There we are.” He ended, setting his own drink down in front of him to sip at later. So they had introductions, a table, drinks… uh… What do you do now? Waver glanced around at the Barcade and tried to think of what to say. Small talk, presumably, to get to know your date was where you started… right? “I hadn’t realized this place was here. Do you come often for the games?” That was a normal question, surely.

Plus, as someone who was… an avid partaker of video games, it would be nice to know if they shared an interest.

[orangewayfinder]

Terra nodded as Waver left, noting again the other's hair. It was weird. The man had just left and he knew the other was returning but a part of him felt like a child because he didn't want Waver to leave even though he had to in order to come back with the drinks. So he sat there staring at the table before reaching over for the drink menu again in order to give himself something to do while the other man was so busy.

He tried to sit and figure this all out. He still wasn't sure how to act or deal with any of this, but he hoped that he would just sort of figure it out as he went along. He knew his gummi phone was in his pocket, but Terra didn't want to call Aqua and all of that. Besides, it might look like he had someone on the 'side' as her boyfriend had put it. Maybe this was just to discourage him from calling, but it worked regardless.

What were they supposed to be talking about? Should he mention the hair thing? But then he almost immediately felt heat at his face. No, he wasn't going to bring it up because it would be awkward, as if he already didn't feel that way about this whole thing.

When Waver came back with the drink set before him, Terra smiled. "Thank you." Master Eraqus had drilled manners into them with a fierceness as kids. He only took a sip of his drink after the other had because he thought that might be polite too. Setting it down on a napkin at the table, he shook his head. "No, I just heard of the place but if you're talking about games here, I was learning about the pinball machine game. It reminds me of something like that back home."

Surely Waver wasn't referring to the Games held in Greece.

[ask_whydunit]

The thanks get a small dip of his head to acknowledge it. “You’re welcome.” It seemed only right to get his date something to drink, or at least treating them seemed to be the right way to go about a date, as far as he knew. “If you’d like something else, let me know.” He added, a little unsure if he should offer a meal or something… But maybe it was best to wait and see how things progressed from here, a drink and a little conversation to get to know the other a little better.

The Games held in Greece were definitely not what Waver was referring to, mostly because he didn’t know Terra had been there in the first place. “So we’re both new to the bar, then.” He responded, offering an awkward smile.

People kept telling him he should be less serious, try smiling more (he did smile though! It was just a rare thing. Like shooting stars and rainbows.)… It felt weird? Did it look weird? He sure as hell hoped not.

Trying to focus less on if the smile looked weird, he focused on the comment instead. The pinball machines, huh? He glanced in their direction curiously. They weren’t usually his go to, but they were something of a classic in arcades. Then again, he was curious at the other part of what Terra said. “Something from home? So, you’re not from the city.” Waver wasn’t either. Technically, he’d grown up outside the city before moving to attend the tower when he was younger and staying permanently after his travels. It just seemed a bit curious to wonder if he’d been set up on a blind date with someone who was only around temporarily, if he wasn’t permanently living here as well. Seemed important to find that out now, he decided. Plus it was was natural to be curious about your date in general, right? One was supposed to get to know them. “Where are you from?”