trustfell | it's not unusual to have fun with anyone

[ The ballroom's a little swanky for a simple get-together like this, but...

Well, actually, judging by what you see when you come in at the appointed time (or even before that, but Aligula'll be huffy if you do!?), what was advertised is not exactly what's going on. Continuing her war on paper, Aligula's put up origami hearts (or her attempts at them; she got better as she figured out what she was doing, but they're not the best) pretty much everywhere. There's also sheets taped to every wall with encouraging things in her curly-cute script like GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER! and FIND A PARTNER! and WELCOME TO SPEED-DATING!

...Yeah, welcome to speed-dating.

There's a lot of chairs paired together, presumably for the whole "partnering up" thing, and everyone anywhere near the ballroom will be getting a sheet of questions titled SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS. There at least seems to be food like she promised? At least... there's signs pointing to the dining room across the wall to suggest it, and entering the dining room gets you hot chocolate (and water, if you're boring, as well treating you to the sight of a parfait bar, with various cups and glasses to stand in for actual parfait glasses. There's also things for making sandwiches—she pretty much grabbed whatever she could think of from the fridge and such—and of course, plates and utensils and etc.

And if none of that's appetizing then, like, kitchen's not that far, go make something yourself. She put a lot of work into this whole thing but especially the parfait bar because she loves parfait and everyone can have fun making those.

If you don't think your character would've come without a little help, don't worry; even if Aligula can't bodily drag everyone, she sure can bother them aggressively until they come just to get her to leave them alone. All in all, don't sweat the small stuff and have a good time getting to know each other! Or go sulk and play the piano, whatever. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It sounds as if they've survived many winters, then. I'm certain they will make it through more.

They're better fed now than they've been for a while. At least, they were...but they don't really need me.

...I'm sure that you're more necessary to them than you might imagine.

I don't think so. I wouldn't - I'd be more worried than I am, if I thought that.

Even if they can survive without you, they must be happy when you're there.

...yeah. I guess that's probably true.

But they'll understand.

They will. But... Keep in mind that you are important to them, I suppose.

.......alright.

[?????]

Do you have any pets back home?

[She nods.]

I have a horse named [insert name here that the author never actually specified].

A horse? Wow.

[She actually is mildly impressed; you don't see that shit in the city.]

Hardly anyone has horses, where I'm from. You see them around the park sometimes - they pull carriages for tourists to ride on.

Hardly anyone? But... How do people travel, then?

Cars, mostly. They're like big automated carriages - they burn oil to run.

[She blinks.]

They operate when they are aflame?

No...well, sort of. [She knows that isn't really it, but that seems like an easy enough way to put it?] The engine is on the inside, so you're not near it when you're driving. It's more dangerous because of other cars than anything else.

I see. So the flame is well contained.

[But...]

Why would it be dangerous because of other cars?

They go really fast. On a highway, the speed limit's usually 70 miles per hour? [I looked it up and apparently the UK uses mph for that too? Does Adelina even know miles per hour?] And it's a big machine, too, even the small ones. So if one runs into something, or two of them crash into each other, it can be really bad.

How many leagues is seventy miles?

[Huh.]

...Is there no way to make certain someone knows how to operate such a thing before they are able to receive one?

...I have no idea. How far is a league?

You have to get a license before you can drive one. The government makes you take a test to show you can. But people still have accidents, or do stupid things.

...I'm not certain how else to describe it. My apologies.

[A frown.]

That's a shame. Does it happen often?

Pretty often, yeah. They say it's more dangerous than flying in a plane. That's...just a big flying machine.

And people continue to do so despite the danger, without attempting to find a way to make it less dangerous?

They're safer than they used to be. Now there's airbags that come out to cushion you if you crash, and they make everybody wear seatbelts so they don't go flying out. I guess they're probably still working on it.

I see. It's good to know they're at least taking steps to make everything more secure.

[A pause.]

I apologize for all these questions, but how does a seatbelt function, exactly?

...well, if the car is going fast, and it suddenly stops, you'd be flung forward. So it fastens across your body to hold you in your seat.

[She mimes the general path of a seatbelt.]

I see! How interesting.

I believe it is my turn to ask you something, however, so... What is your favorite thing about yourself?

(no subject)

ninehundredlives - 2017-09-22 16:04 (UTC) - Expand