deleons | The (Forced) Speed Dating Meme

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speed dating

The (Forced) Speed Dating Meme

Maybe You Want to Be Here, Maybe You Don't
But You're Here!

It's as the tagline says. Maybe you want to be here - have a few laughs, get to know some new people, make new friends, maybe take someone home - or, maybe you don't. Either way, you're here, complete with a name tag, a list of preferences, and a mysterious magical force that's keeping you from leaving. Whether compelled to sit at your table and wait for your next match, or to visit tables yourself, it's time to partake in a thrilling game of speed dating. And no, you don't have a choice, so you might as well make the most of it.

How to Play:
- Make a top level with your character name and canon in the subject line. Include in your top level what's written on your character's tag. You may use this format if you wish:

Feel free to assume that your character filled it out themselves, or that it was magically filled out for them when they arrived and they aren't able to remove it. Whatever suits your character best!

- Assume your character is either seated at a table awaiting matches, freely exploring the room, or being propelled by some otherworldly force to mingle. That is to say, tag around to other top levels and speed date away!

- It may be a good idea to put in your top-level some preferences for whether you are looking for shippy threads, friendship threads, funny threads, etc.. whatever you'd like!

- Tag around, have fun, be respectful, follow basic dwrp rules, etc.!

Anyone and everyone is welcome, including fandom characters, fandom OCs, canon OCs, AUs, CRAUs, etc.! Feel free to spread the word and thanks for playing!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It’s...terribly strange - strikingly strange - that he doesn’t hate the sound of his name on Kunimi’s lips. Terribly strange indeed. It’s enough to bring about the vaguest look of surprise.

[The sensei bit he, of course, could do without.]

Just Whelk, if you would...

[He sounds almost careful as he says it, like he doesn’t quite trust where this conversation is going.

[Not so desperate as I was, he thinks, and again, it’s a terribly strange sensation. He notices then for the first time that Kunimi isn’t bad looking - not by a long shot.

[He then feels annoyed at noticing it. Whelk is very seldom not annoyed by something.]

Did you come here intentionally? [He wonders what he’s desperate for, to speak so surely of it.]

Sorry. Just Whelk.

[Kunimi's eyes sparkle with amusement but he doesn't push the teasing any further. Probably a bad idea for him to emphasize the student and teacher thing, even with him being at a different level of education, if Whelk's not comfortable with it.]

Mm - yeah. I haven't had any problem making friends here but everything else has gotten complicated. [Good job choosing a university in the American South, Kunimi.] I'd rather do this than try to buy what I'm looking for.

[So that makes the source of his desperation pretty clear, right? Something about the way Whelk presents and carries himself suggests to Kunimi that "looking to smash" wouldn't go over as well.]

[Whelk looks confused, if not a bit amused.]

Considering hiring a prostitute, were you?

[~~Been there.~~]

[Okay, so there's a middle ground of straightforwardness that isn't outright crude. Good to know.]

Trying to avoid that level of hopeless. I'm not there but I can see where the road is going. Bars are just too exhausting.

[And unless he wants to get entrenched in the volatile world of queer rights in the United States, he's stuck with bars or pickup apps as his only options. This all-welcome speed dating event is pretty much heaven-sent, in his opinion.

Ah, but they're running out of time. Soon they'll have to rotate partners again and Kunimi doesn't feel at all inclined to leave things where they stand with Whelk. He watches people push their chairs back in preparation for the bell, heart beating just a smidge too fast in his chest, then gives Whelk what he hopes is a casual but encouraging smile.]

Find me after the event if you're interested. I'll be out front having a smoke. [There's the bell. He acted just in time.] Nice talking to you, Whelk.

Mm. [It’s a soft sound of acknowledgment without much else to go on - no returned well wishes or “nice to meet you”s. He does lift his chin with it though to further press that he’s at least heard what Kunimi’s said.

[Then, after the event, he goes out front for a cigarette. A co-worker’s just recently told him that he was too pretty to smoke, thereby making the assumption that he doesn’t. It was a false assumption.

[He casually approaches Kunimi from the side as he lights up, but makes no formal greeting.

[He was enjoying talking to him, at least in comparison to the other conversations he was forced to sit through, so he’s decided to continue doing so. First he takes a drag and lets it out.]

Tempus fugit, tunc vastata.

[His Latin is quite pretty even with the Old Virginia accent.]

Do they smoke Camels in Japan?

[He’ll wait for Kunimi to pull out a cigarette, and once he puts it to his mouth, he’ll bring up one hand to cup the air around it, the other with a lighter. Pretty boys don’t light their own, you know.]

[Standing outside with his hands in his pockets, putting off his actual cigarette as long as possible so that he has an excuse to wait longer, Kunimi can't remember the last time he felt this blend of terror and anticipation. His high school MO was always quick, casual, and uninvested because he never managed to develop feelings for the people who wanted him back, and that disconnection from romantic/emotional bonds sunk even deeper into his hookup patterns as all his friends drifted away during two years of college. Not that he feels anything but mild intellectual curiosity toward Whelk, but when was the last time a potential partner interested him even that much?

He really can't remember. Crushes are a concept he crossed off his desirable life experience list so early, when a lot of boys were just discovering them.]

Eh? [The unfamiliar language throws him off at first, but his heart seems to know that Whelk has arrived; it kicks back into high gear before Kunimi even turns around to spot him. He can't help but laugh at himself, a brief and breathy sound, for making his nervousness so painfully obvious.] I can't even pretend to know what that means, but I like how it sounds.

[Okay. Now that he knows he's succeeded, it's easy to pull himself back together and take out a smoke - until Whelk moves closer to light it for him and Kunimi realizes the balance of power well and truly has shifted. Another pleasant and welcome shift. He gladly leans in to accept the gesture, then tilts his head up to blow the mouthful of smoke directly over their heads.]

Never noticed, I started smoking here. [He holds up his own pack to show Whelk - Marlboros, naturally.]

[Unsurprising. Whelk has rarely seen two smokers standing together that have the same brand. He idly wonders why that is - just one of those things, he guesses.

[As for the shift in power, it doesn’t go unnoticed by a man who loves nothing more than to feel powerful. He hasn’t in years, and it’s with the faintest hint of a smile that he realizes this is actually sort of fun.]

It’s Latin. Mother tongue of half the world, though not your side.

That interests me.

[You interest me.]

I have a fondness for linguistics.

Are you just using me for my first language, Whelk-san?

[It's very fun trying to shift power back into his favour during conversations like this, which he does in this case by switching to Japanese. If Whelk won't translate his Latin, well, two can play at that game.]

[Whelk doesn’t understand what Kunimi says, but the message is sent clearly even so. The smile on his face grows into a crooked, thoroughly amused smirk.

[He’s really quite handsome when he smiles, even if it hurts his cheeks a little.]

Tempus fugit, tunc vastata. Time flies, time wasted.

What did you say?

[Hook, line, and sinker, Kunimi.]

[Oh, is he ever handsome when he smiles. The guarded, slightly sour expression he wore during the actual event did nothing for him, and as much as Kunimi could tell that much at the time, he's still startled by just how charming Whelk's smile turns out to be.]

Idioms are so weird... [Kunimi thinks he gets what Whelk was saying with this one, but he has no idea how one means the other. It's not worth linger on, though, so he answers in turn:] I asked if you're using me for my language.

[Whelk gives a quick raise of his eyebrows while taking another drag from his cigarette, then speaks while still holding back the smoke.]

You'd be surprised how many of them come from Latin. [He tilts his head upward, letting the smoke out above their heads as Kunimi did. When he lowers it again his eyes lock with the younger man's, lopsided smile enduring.] I'm pretty sure I heard you say my name too.

[He holds that gaze for a long moment, allowing the tension to build until it feels it might break - and then, of course, he breaks it, shrugging and turning a fraction of an angle away as he takes another drag. No need to let too much on at once. It's been a while, no doubt, since he's done this dance, but it seems he remembers how to rather well, and that is an extremely satisfying feeling.]

It's a language I have no experience with. That can't be said for a lot of them. [Subtle flex. He can read his way through most of the romance languages, and bullshit his way through reading a few others.]

It's as I've said. [A glance back at Kunimi.] I'm interested. [Take that as you will.]

[Everything about this conversation, right down to the rhythm of Whelk's speech as he advances, pauses, retreats, then repeats the cycle again, now has Kunimi utterly spellbound. Kunimi has somehow watched the entire process and still can't believe how thoroughly Whelk has taken over their flirtation.

And he loves it. The only thing better than leading someone by the nose is being led by someone who has decided you'll be spending the night with them.]

In that case... I have an offer for you, Whelk-san. [A subtle confirmation that he did hear his name, and one that turns the name Whelk hates so much into an unequivocal come-on. Kunimi moves to close the slight distance Whelk placed between them and drops his voice to a hushed murmur so no stragglers from the event can hear him:]

If you take me home with you, I'll speak nothing but Japanese while you fuck me. Think of it as two for one.

[Uhm...holy shit? Don't say it out loud, Whelk. Don't think about how this kid would have been in one of your classes two years ago. Don't think about how much you didn't want to be here two hours ago. Don't think about--

[Yeah, let's just shut that brain off altogether for a while. He takes one last quick drag off his cigarette, then flicks it away unceremoniously as he snakes an arm behind Kunimi's back. The "come on" is implied as he leads him toward his car (just please don't break down on the way there...).]

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The (Forced) Speed Dating Meme

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