[EFFECT ROOM] The Red Thread of Not-Quite-Fate

[hyperhero]

[This room is definitely one that you wouldn't expect to find in a school, considering that it appears to be a gigantic cafe. Plush carpets, cushioned chairs, a whole bunch of fancy drinks and snacks...

Someone put a dating cafe in the school!]

((OOC: Here's how it works! The room is based off the idea of the red string of fate from Japanese/Chinese legend. On stepping into the room, your character will find a thin but completely unbreakable red string tied to their pinkie, with the other end tied to someone else who's come into the room. The red string persists even if you try to leave, and won't disappear until a full day later. The thread itself will lengthen or shorten depending on the proximity of the two characters, but it won't let you get more than a room's length away from each other.

Here's the complication: the Gods are kind of sort of drunk off their asses, which means that the red string could tie you to literally anyone. Your worst enemy, your brother, your father, Old Man Jenkins... it's one of those things where you're lucky if you get your soulmate! Furthermore, the strings can (by player choice) actually swap around repeatedly, so your character could end up tied to one person all day or have to deal with being tied to five different ones through it!

For characters who don't know about the legend, there's a paper pinned to the wall by the door that explains it (at least, the actual legend, not the drunk-gods part). While the paper can be ripped up, it'll just regenerate a minute or two later.

And yes I purposefully picked the most inappropriate journal for this))

Comments

[fluffydeathdealer]

Heh heh...

Of course, if you're so unhappy, you could persuade me to leave you alone.

[whiterosefoes]

[you'd like that wouldn't you. If "I was going to retreat before" wasn't compelling enough evidence, then she figures he'll just laugh at whatever she says.]

Nah. I'm gonna get a snack...

[thankfully she was on that side of the room so she doesn't have to awkwardly circle around him. If he wants to spite her, then she can spite him right back by being a killjoy.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Jeez. What a bitch. He scoffs, wandering off as far as he can to grab a drink, not caring for the snacks. There wasn't enough blood for him anyway.]

At any rate, I know it's all a joke. There's no way my soul mate exists in this time. Let alone it being one of your group.

[whiterosefoes]

[the snack is just an excuse, she's not even that hungry. And drinking in this situation just sounds like the worst possible idea. She's kind of side eying him for going for those, actually.

But she'll focus on her creme brulee.]

Please. What would you even do with a soul mate? You don't really seem like the romantic type.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He raises an eyebrow at that. She's right, but still...]

You'd be surprised. I have a boyfriend, after all.

[whiterosefoes]

[blink]

...That does come as a surprise.

[What boyfriend? Does he mean Malik? She can't say she's really given any thought to what their relationship might be, but there's no one else that he spends that much time with. Still, she stops herself from asking. She is fairly certain that would qualify as "Girl Talk" with the Spirit. The very thought is awkward.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

It surprised me too, when it happened. But I'm not entirely devoid of human emotions, you know?

[Flopping down on a chair, he props his head up on his hand, eyeing her curiously.]

[whiterosefoes]

Err. All right then, I'm sorry I asked.

[...She really is. It's uncomfortable. Never talk to her about your feelings again.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

Heh heh... It's fine! I don't get embarassed about it.

[...he does, but like hell he's admitting that to her.]

What about you?

[whiterosefoes]

[...he's still talking to her about this. Okay. She finally looks over at him, a bit dubious, but fine. It's not like there's anything big.]

Well. I'm single, and not really looking, I suppose. I haven't even been to my own time in about ... ooh, what, seven months, eight? It's been rather busy, so I'm just doing me. [She shrugs. Of course, she's not volunteering any information about past loves or ... future ones. That she might be interested in, hypothetically, if they weren't out of her league on so many levels it's ridiculous.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

Oh, so you and Eleanor aren't...?

[Why is he even discussing this? Apart from the fact that her face is funny when she talks about it, he's not sure.]

Surprises me.

[whiterosefoes]

What- [at first, it's surprise that he would think that. But another reaction quickly overtakes it:]

Why were you even thinking about that?! Oh my god. I need the emergency exit to this conversation.

... Seriously, was I giving you sexy looks when you were being Elly? How is this a thing.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Wow, she's really bothered by this. It's kind of hilarious. He grins a little wickedly, shaking his head.]

Damn, that's a pity.

[Leaving her to think about that - really, he hadn't thought too hard about it, but if she wanted to assume that he had, so much more fun for him! - he leant his head on his hand, watching her.]

You two were just so protective and sweet of each other! And you were so very flirty the first time we met, while I was in her body. Not to mention your horror that I dared to touch her tits. I guess I just assumed.

i'm backtagging just to make this joke (i'm not sorry)

[whiterosefoes]

Not that it's any of your business, but that's just not how we are. We're Rose Duelists, not Lily Duelists.

oh god that's perfect

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

I dread to ask where you learnt that connotation.

heeheehee

[whiterosefoes]

Internet.

[fluffydeathdealer]

...inter what now?

[whiterosefoes]

[This has to be explained? ... Whatever, it's better than girl talk. She'll take it.]

... modern information technology. It's a worldwide communication network. You never know what you'll come across on it.

[fluffydeathdealer]

Huh... I see! Ryou doesn't pay any attention to new developments; hell, that computer of his had to be the oldest model there is. So I never noticed something like that existed. That or it's ahead of my time a little.

[He does still use VHS tapes...]

[whiterosefoes]

Hmm, I expected a shy boy like him to be more interested in it. It's not a bad way of making acquaintances, for introverts.

[fluffydeathdealer]

The problem with being shut up in your room ninety per cent of the time is that it makes it hard to notice new developments. But it's still possible that it wasn't available to the public in Japan yet.

If it helps, it was 1997 when I came here.

[whiterosefoes]

[if there's a time discrepancy, she doesn't show any notice or mind of it.]

Well, it is still fairly new. I wouldn't really know about Japan either way.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Interesting... her timeline probably isn't too different, then.]

Heh, that's right... you're English, right? I haven't been there in a long time. Is it still as gloomy as it was then?

[whiterosefoes]

You're asking me about the weather?

[this conversation is still so bizarrely normal.]

...Well. Yes, it is. Just as gray in both times I've seen it - I suppose some things never change.

[fluffydeathdealer]

Oi, oi, can't a man be curious? With how grey it was back then, I was kind of surprised that I didn't find my target back then.

H-heh heh... With all of the fog and rain, it was a perfect setting for a horror movie! ...if I'd known what those were back then, I think that's what I'd have thought.