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

[seed_pilot]

[That makes Nida smile right back. Yeah, he can live with that. He might even be blushing just the tiniest bit.]

Cool then. We'll root for each other.

[ask_whydunit]

Uh… Yeah, definitely. [ Yup, he’s definitely hiding behind his soft drink for a moment. ] Um…

[ How do people do this? The teen wonders. They always make it look way more smooth. Dammit. ]

Do you have a number for your dorm? So I can, you know, call if I find anything you might think is useful?

[ Waver, apparently, could not ask for someone’s number without feeling like he needed a reason. ]

[seed_pilot]

Oh. We, uh... We don't have phones. Not in the rooms.

[There are constraints on a military academy that probably seem wrong to other people. But it's accurate to him.]

I wish I had one though. I'd give it to you.

[ask_whydunit]

Oh, then…

[ He needed to think about that. It made sense, though. A military academy would have more restrictions on the students and all… So he offered a nod. ]

Then how about this? I’ll let Melvin know we could use another meet up and he can let your friend know however they’ve been communicating, and we can work something out then.

[ To be honest, Waver wasn’t sure how Melvin had set all this up to begin with, but it seemed a safe bet the guy had his ways. ]

[seed_pilot]

That would be good. If it works out.

[Because he wants it to work out. The guy is quite charming and he wants to spend the time with Waver if he can.]

Because it would be nice to hang out again.

[ask_whydunit]

Yeah, I kind of hope it does. Melvin would be happy too.

[ Waver takes a small glance at the other table. Melvin is still talking rather animatedly with Nida’s friend, probably telling her some story from class if he had to guess. ]

But yeah, it would be. This has been… kinda cool. You’re good to talk to, Nida.

[ Which was high praise, given he didn’t generally acknowledge enjoying something. ]

[seed_pilot]

[See, the thing was that Nida didn't care much about Melvin being happy to hang out with Selphie. No, Nida just wanted to see Waver.]

Thanks. I'm not used to people saying that. So, you know, uh, thanks.

[He's repeating himself, but he's blushing anyway.]

[ask_whydunit]

[ Waver isn’t used to being thanked, or being regarded positively outside of Melvin when he’s trying to badger him into something. So it’s pretty obvious he’s hiding behind his drink again for a reason, a small awkward sound escaping. Yeah, he’s so bad at this. ]

Oh… I um, you don’t need to thank me or anything. Just saying it because it’s true, and some people are stupid. Or just just find other things interesting, I guess.

[seed_pilot]

[Don't worry. They can be bad at it together.]

I guess it's their loss? I hope it's their loss.

[And not Waver's.]

I apologize for slow again, my health is cursed ;;

[ask_whydunit]

It is, even if they can’t see it.

[ Waver is very sure of himself about some things, really. And he tended to state things as he saw them. Which in this case? Meant Nida was interesting and wasn’t brushing him off the way other people tended to. He also didn’t seem to be the kind of loud person who generated a lot of chaos, which Waver usually tended to attract instead, so who knew what that said about him.

Which was why he let out of sound as an arm was slung over his shoulder and he almost dropped his drink. ]

Waver~! [ The platinum blonde beamed at both his friend and Nida across the table. ] You two should finish up. We have to be proper gentlemen and get them back to their dorms before it gets too late.

[seed_pilot]

[Someone was calling Waver's name and Nida looked toward the voice. Though he looks a bit sad.]

GUess this is probably goodbye then. Though Selphie's going to insist we walk you guys back. We're the military kids.

[ask_whydunit]

Guess so… [ Was he disappointed too? A little. ] I mean for now, anyway.

[ He added, reminding Nida in his awkward way that this wasn’t the last expected meeting. They had an actual plan, after all, and Waver wasn’t exactly deterred easily once he decided something…

Melvin side-eyed Waver curiously, then looked at Nida, then back at Waver… Then grinned in a particularly amused fashion. He’d never seen Waver willingly express an interest in seeing someone again. Usually, his interests were strictly things found between pages of a book! This was going to be fun to watch.

Meanwhile, Waver was wondering if Melvin would be disappointed that he wouldn’t get to be a ‘gentleman’ as he put it. However, Melvin’s main ploy was a little more time in the first place, so he nods almost sagely as he agreed with Nida. ]

That’s very thoughtful of her, certainly and perhaps sensible when you put it that way! Very well, we shall put ourselves in your care on the way back, then!

[ Waver let out a small huff at the other teen’s dramatics. ]

I guess if you guys want, if it’s not going to make sneaking back in unnoticed harder for you two.

[seed_pilot]

[Nida rises to his feet, collecting his things. Which includes pulling a long cloth-wrapped parcel from under the table and passing it over to Selphie. A second, shorter one, he puts over his own shoulder.

Clearly the Garden cadets didn't go anywhere unarmed. Selphie wraps an arm around one of Melvin's and smiles.]

I have magic to help me, and Nida's an infiltration cadet. If we can't get back in, we don't deserve our marks.

[Nida sighs and roll shis eyes.]

What she's saying is we're already prepared for thing to go whatever weird way they go. So let us do this.

[ask_whydunit]

[ Meanwhile, mages didn’t tend to consider carrying weapons beyond the odd mystic code specialized and suited to their magecraft. Which was occasionally their own downfall when dealing with mercenaries who knew that much. How do you win a fight with a powerful mage? Bring a gun, apparently. Their hubris left them thinking they were above that kind of thing.

Waver feels some sympathy though at Nida’s sigh and eye roll. Yeah, Selphie and Melvin were definitely cut from the same cloth. ]

Uh… Alright then.

[ Waver grabbed some spare napkins and held them out to Melvin, who was already delighted to have Selphie on his arm. The dork probably would have forgotten to grab some otherwise, by the look on his face. Once his friend-duties and precautions were seen to, he fell into step next to Nida, pulling a backpack onto his shoulder. ]

Our dorm building isn’t too far from here, anyway. I think it’s probably pretty safe from ‘weird ways’ thanks to the way the wards are set up the closer you get. As long as no idiot has gone and tried something outside the designated spaces.

[ Which could happen, students testing their ideas and limits and all that. Or fighting with each other… It wasn’t weird for certain parts of the school to need sudden maintenance or rebuilding. ]

[seed_pilot]

[Nida slings the bundle that was about as tall as he was over his shoulder, moving to walk alongside Waver as they follow the others out.]

Listen, so long as it's not a dragon, we can handle whatever shows up. And I only mention not dragons because I don't have the right weapon for that.

[ask_whydunit]

Probably not. As far as I know, we don’t have anything like that around the Clock Tower. Unless you count the dead one under ground that formed the spiritual tombs.

[ Albion had passed and what was left behind below the surface was a trove of valuable magical materials and rare (but dangerous) phantasmal species that thrived in the environment and fed off the mana left behind. Only those contracted to work down there or were granted special permission were allowed to go there, though.

Waver raised a brow, though, tilting his head slightly as he focused more on Nida rather than the other two. ]

They actually teach you to fight dragons?

(ooc: I think we are at a point where I will need more information on Nida’s canon and what I should expect to mesh their canons together (which I like the idea of!) when you have time/feel up to it. ‘Cause dragons left Waver’s world with the Fae to the reverse side a long time ago, not that the fae don’t sometimes end up back on this side for reasons, so I can probably use that as a workaround. But I wanna like, not mess up what you’re thinking and I know I have already a couple times thanks to knowing nothing about his canon.)

[seed_pilot]

[Ew, dragons. Don't tell him there are some around. It hurts.]

You kidding? We have pseudo-dragons on campus in our training grounds. The type of weapon I use is actually often suggested to people who are after monster hunting with a specialty in large creatures. I mean, of course they aren't dragon dragons, but that's just how it is sometimes.

[OOC: we can talk about it soon. Probably not this week because life stuff.]

[ask_whydunit]

Seriously?

[ Waver’s brows lifted with a curiosity that was barely subdued. He knew those were around, but he hadn’t realized they were kept at the Garden. And the fact that Nida’s personal weapon of choice was actually the kind for monster hunting was… pretty cool.

Listen, he grew up on the old stories about quests and monster hunts as much as he did digging through his grandmother’s magecraft books. It would one day grow into a small video game addiction thanks to someone else’s influence.

So maybe he’s a little impressed by that, but only more than a little! ]

I mean, uh- I’ve never really seen a pseudo-dragon, but I guess that makes sense if you’re going to learn to deal with some of that stuff.

[seed_pilot]

These ones look like t-rexes. So not really dragons, but enough closely common ancestry with them, sans high magical aptitude. I don't know if they're really the same thing at all. Guess I could have gone into science.

[He chucklse and shakes his head. As if he was smart enough for that.]

[ask_whydunit]

[ Waver’s attention is, more than a little, glued to Nida, and he ignored the cheeky smile on Melvin’s face as the other teen watched them. Nida seemed smart enough to Waver and lacked the condescending ‘better than you’ attitude of the mage association. It was refreshing! ]

No, that totally would make sense. [ Waver agreed with a smile. He kind of wants to see one, Nida. ] Same goes for the less high aptitude for magic, like… I think I read a paper about it that was published a while back. A lot of what we have today being vaguely related to the originals but more and more distant as time progressed. They survived and stuck around more easily than the true-blooded ancestors because they could adapt to the changes in the world better and the lowered levels of mana in the environment, and they also couldn’t leave to the reverse side either, since they weren’t true dragons.

Then there are things like phantasmals that developed from feeding off the remains of various species that didn’t leave, kind of like down in the tombs of Albion.

Nerd… Nida, your date is a nerd.

And realizing he’d been rambling a little, the teen hunched his shoulders a bit in a shrug. ]

Uh… But anyway, I guess I was just trying to say that what you said made sense.

[seed_pilot]

Wait, there are like, things that eat the residue of people? Like, Ghost energy drain or something?

[That sounds damn spooky.]

HOw do people deal with things like that?

[ask_whydunit]

[ The fact that Nida hadn't seemed bored and asked more was a pleasant surprise, and the hunch of his shoulder's loosened a bit as he answered. ]

Yeah, most things like that are down in the tombs. They’re really deep though, and the association strictly limits people going in and out that might run across them.

[ But that was dangerous work, and a lot of people ended up spending their entire lives down there. ]

But there can also be things either created or summoned by mages that can feed off people. Or they could call upon spirits that need a steady supply of mana to be maintained. Generally, it’s supposed to come from the mage that summoned it, though. It’s frowned upon to let them feed off other people. The whole secrecy laws and all that, people suddenly dying of weird unknown circumstances or disappearing to never be seen again and all that.

[ And the mages that did cause that kind of trouble usually ended up with a hit out of them or the policy department investigating and dealing out a punishment, if not a full sealing designation. ]

The department Melvin and I are enrolled with is specialized in summoning, studying and working with spirits or dealing with them. Generally, cutting off a spirit’s food supply helps, or whatever is anchoring them to this plane. If it’s an out-of-control situation, the church might intervene too.

[ Then there were grave keepers, but Waver did not yet know of them yet. Although they dealt more with the ghosts of the dead that lingered for whatever reason. ]

[seed_pilot]

Spirits that need a steady supply of mana... that sounds like our GFs. We have sort of a symbiotic relationship with them. They give us powers and access to magic, but we sort of give them a part of ourselves for them to feed and thrive on, when they aren't being summoned in our defense.

So I guess that means that potential SeeDs inherently sort of work in a similar department to you. We're assigned initial spirits to let us learn how to use magic, and as we get better we get paired with one that works well with our inherent nature. Mine is called Siren.

[But now he was wondering if some of those things Waver and them interacted with might sometimes be GFs like Garden Cadets desperately needed.]

[ask_whydunit]

[ Waver offered a nod as they walked along. It would not be strange to liken GFs and the kinds of spirits that some mages worked with. He himself would be involved in a situation in which he was meant to supply mana to a spirit in particular, for all that he didn’t realize that he was ill-equipped to do so yet. ]

That’s what I was thinking when you were explaining them earlier, so maybe we can look at angles where the dealings are similar enough that we can work out ways to improve on the foundation you already have. At least enough to help with the test.

[ he mused lightly, folding his arms. The biggest problem was Lord El-Melloi looked down his nose at magics that did not line up with the association’s traditions. Even those similar… Not that the man was successful in deterring Waver from his interests in exploring new magics or combining older methods in new ways. ]

I bet I could sneak you into our library so we could maybe compare details sometime when you’re not trying to make curfew?

[ Frowning lightly, he tilted his head. He kind of wanted to know more about Nida’s assigned GF, not to mention what he said about giving it a part of him. It sounded a little different from a mana drain or mana exchange… There were a lot of kinds of magecraft that had heavy costs to the users, though, like bestial magecraft. It would be good to know if he needed to account for that, he thought. ]

What do you give them as payment in exchange for using magic?

[seed_pilot]

[Sneaking into the library could be fun, especially if there aren't a lot of magical wards to deal with. But he doesn't know. For now he smiles at Waver. Or at least he does until the question of payment comes up.

Selphie must be listening in some because she looks back over her shoulder at Nida and the look that passes between them is... vaguely worried.]

There are... rumors. Suggestions that maybe it's memories that we give them in exchange. But it's hard to tell. Like, it's normal to forget quite a bit of when you were very young.

[But that shared look says maybe, just maybe, it's a worrying bit of loss.]