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✖ Round 1
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Nobody seemed to know who had organized the event, but plenty of people had shown up for it. Even some who seemed less than thrilled at the idea. Charlie and Christian were among those who had received invitations, and they had been just curious enough to see what this speed dating thing was all about. It seemed incredibly awkward, but Charlie would give it a try. He was always up for something new.

Christian was a few spots away from him, it was kinda a bummer, but he supposed they were supposed to be talking to the girls. Not each other.

Round one found him sitting across from a cute little brunette. He offered a friendly smile as they waited for the five minutes to start. She must have been an Alpha, he couldn’t remember seeing her face around much and he was fairly familiar with the other Omegas.

“So…” He started slowly once the round began. “I’m Charlie. I’m guessing you’re on team Alpha since I haven’t seen you around.”

He had always been a very friendly, sociable guy. Talking to people came easily to him. The girl across the table from him didn’t seem too nervous.

“This idea has always seemed kinda strange to me. Everyone hates first dates, and here we have 10 or so first dates in a row? Then again, I’m not sure talking to someone for five minutes really counts as a date but they do call it ‘speed dating’…”

He gave a shrug. If nothing else it was a chance to get to know some of the other Alphas and Omegas. And he couldn’t say he had anything against that. “What’s your mutation?”

Round 1

Gabriel edged himself into the Speed Dating area. Mr. Summers insisted that he join, feeling that it might do him some good. However he was on the verge of passing out. He was shaking in his shoes. Penny loafers, he was wearing penny loafters for chrissakes. He had nothing to even speak of in terms of formal wear. They had to get him some nice clothes. A shirt and tie, he actually insisted on that. If he was going to do some kind of speed dating nonsense, he was going to look nice.

Even if he wanted to rip off the clothes and make his way to back to his sanctum in the shop.

He practically fell into his seat, the first round of women getting underway. She introduced herself, and seemed to at least make things slightly easier with this whole nonsense.

"Great! I mean... wait... sorry I'm... also not very good with this kind of thing." he chuckled somewhat nervously. "People, social situations like this... I am just not that great at it. Figure this would help you know?"

He then responded to her question regarding his name, "Yes, Gabriel Byrne. Siege on the field." that was probably the closest thing he would say as a complete sentence, the poor schmuck.

He continued to fidget in his seat trying to get himself in a comfortable position in the chair. If he remembered he was "shaking in his boots"

If he was wearing boots he might perhaps be more comfortable.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your mutation?"

If he noticed her attitude his cavalier posture gave none of it away as he glanced around the room to see who else had shown up. He wasn’t meaning to be rude, but when he affirmed her name the clipped tone told him she didn’t appreciate his company. The cowboy fought the urge to laugh and instead asked if she knew who organized the whole shindig. “Boredom does strange things to people with cabin fever.” He said, believing the event organized by a half-crazed mind more than he did someone who was desperate for a date.

His focus meandered once again, and this time he apologized - only for her to correct him on calling her “lady.” His cerulean gaze held a spark of mirth to it as he guessed that calling her “Ma’am” wouldn’t do either. “Beg your pardon, Peyton. The slip won’t happen again.” She bade him relax, and this time he did chuckle.

Of all the people in the room, Blake was not nervous. Speed dating was more akin to a goat rodeo than an actual date. Three to five minutes to talk to someone new couldn’t be counted as anything more than a passing conversation. “Okay.” He responded with a smile pressed to his lips, figuring it’d do no good to correct her misreading of his character.

She asked if he’d ever been in a rodeo and Blake nodded, finding that small bit of challenge in her tone endearing. By the way she sounded like she expected him to answer poorly, he figured she would at least know what he was talking about. “Not the bull-riding part. My ma didn’t want me to compete in any capacity but eventually agreed to other events so long as I didn’t go for an eight-second bull ride. But I was the Texas state champion of bronc-riding for three years. My younger days I did the tie-down roping because she thought that was safer.”

There was a glint to his eye as he considered his company, fully focused on her for the first time since he sat down. “Are you familiar with events of the PRCA?”

(Post 1, Round 1)

Running a little late to a "date" setting was usually grounds for a bad first impression (especially for a speed date), but Christian couldn't help it: he had to make sure he looked good, and that meant a few extra minutes making sure his hair looked right. Truth be told, he forgot he was a part of this little activity, and nearly woke up late, costing him some bed hair and a hurried morning routine. He had to fight the urge to yawn as he walked into the little dating area.

There were several tables set up to accommodate these quick meetings, and Christian's expression brightened a bit when he realized he wasn't really late yet: just late enough to miss the first announcements of the pairings, so he hadn't heard who he was paired with. He caught sight of Charlie taking his seat for his own date, and Christian tried to find his own. He caught sight of his seat, and gave the pretty brunette that was seated opposite of him a quick grin before he sat down. "Hey!" he said, trying to ignore that he was late.

"You."

He froze in the middle of sitting down, taking a look back at her, confusion on his face. That didn't sound like a happy "You". Was she really that upset that he wasn't punctual?

But it was when he looked at her that he realized that she looked familiar. Not because he'd seen her around (because he practically seen everyone at least once on this base), but because of how he'd seen her: he remembered the quick exchanges Katerina and this girl gave each other from time to time.

They must've had some sort of rivalry.

Her short greeting turned into a slightly more friendly one, prompting him to finish his sitting maneuver. Great, first speed date was up with someone with history with Katerina. He didn't know how she'd like him being here anyways, since she'd not gotten an invitation like he did from the looks of things, but it's not like the terms "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" got tossed around at anytime. Still, this must've been an awkward situation regardless.

"Christian, Omegas." he said, nearly bringing out his hand out for a handshake, but stopped himself when he wasn't sure if a handshake was proper for a date (speed or otherwise). He settled for a quick wave, before quickly bringing both his hands to the table and folding them together, unsure of what to do with them. "You're...Kat's friend, right?" he said, before clenching his hands together tighter, immediately regretting bringing up the name. It should've been bad etiquette to bring up another girl's name during a date, especially when both were acquainted with said "friend".

He looked away momentarily, trying to figure out a way to dispel the awkward atmosphere. This was a horrible start. "Sorry, this is probably really awkward for you. Me. Both." he said, deciding to address the issue. He forced himself to look back to his date, still keeping his expression from looking worried.

Round 1, Post 2


Alex heard the way Gabriel stumbled through his sentence. Here she thought she would be the stuttering one, or at least fidgeting in such an unfamiliar circumstance. Instead, Gabriel took on the obvious showings of nervousness. Because of that, she tried her best not to laugh, simply continuing to smile at him. "That is a good way to look at this. Hopefully, it will help you some."

She nodded, glad she hadn't messed his name up. "It is nice to meet you properly, Gabriel." Though, meeting in a speed dating situation probably wasn't exactly how she expected to have a conversation with one of her teammates. She shrugged the worry off as Gabriel went on to ask her about her mutation. As she looked at him, she couldn't help but notice how much he fidgeted.

The poor guy.

"I have the ability to enhance any of my five senses. Currently, I am only able to enhance one sense at a time. They saw that with further training, I should be able to enhance more than one sense at a time.. She explained calmly before tilting her head. "If you do not mind me asking the same in return, what is your mutation? Siege makes me think your mutation involves being able to do a siege of sorts. But, that is the only hint I get from your codename."

After asking that, she made sure to pour some water in one of the two glasses and place the glass on his side of the table. Hopefully, the glass of water might put him a bit more at ease. Because otherwise, she wasn't sure how else to help the poor fellow.

Round One, Post Two

Roland had to chuckle a bit when Alice referred to Blake as a slice of “Texas a*****e”. His gold eyes flickered in amusement, “He ain’t all bad.” he replied, his hands unlacing and spreading across his side of the table. His fingertips gently glided across the surface, slowly rapping along. The scarring across his knuckles plain and clear. Jean had been telling him to not hide his past, to not try and make efforts to cover up who or what he was.

When she brought up that Blake was likely to get some kind of payback in the form of some public display, he had to smile. His prediction that things were going to go to hell in a hand basket were slowly coming to fruition. He couldn’t help but appreciate the girl’s attitude. Temptation abound, as he wanted a cigarette, instead opted to pop some nicotine gum. Tasted like s**t, but he wanted to quit. A better reminder of what he was trying to do than any nicotine patch though.

Alice then proceeded as she listed off her “interests”. Not a fan of oceans, exercise freak (it showed), and would rather see a cage match? Roland whistled for a moment, ”Throw in some Po’Boys at a Slim’s and a beignet, you got yourself date night in the Big Easy.” a tad bit of his southern accent kicking in. Having spent so much intimate time around Xavier and the rest of them, his accent died down, replaced with a General American. Though at times his old Southern roots would kick back, especially when he talked about home. He remembered Slim’s like it was yesterday, little hole in the wall joint with the best sandwiches in the city.

“I’d say you’re less rebellious and more just spunky. I dig that.” he added, “As for who brought me here, that would be Jean Grey. The good doctor wanted me to also get some social experience. There’s also my morbid sense of curiosity of just how much of a shitshow this may turn into. But let’s keep that between us shall we?”

His eyes flashed again as he also took a glass of water. He let his armor slither over the fingertips, the silver-metal clinging across the glass. He was calm the whole situation, just now waiting to see how much fun the other women were going to be in this venture.

Alice sighed, nodding. "I know, his heart is in the right place, but he is still a thorn in my side. Like a permanent Dr. Phil. Accent and all." The gentle tapping on the table caught her attention as she watched the way his fingers started to glide over the wood surface. Knuckles were a little worse for wear, probably not that different from her own. Maybe they could share battle scars. No, dammit, Alice, don't give in and give Blake a reason to say 'I told you so.'

She laid out her interests haphazardly for him to pick up on. They were true, but some things she wasn't going to bother mentioning or go into detail for. The long whistle that came from Roland made her smile a bit. Then he started talking about something called Slim's and whatever the hell a Po'Boy was. "Whoa, slow down there. I'm from Chicago and I have no idea what you just said. But, it sounds awesome." She laughed a bit. If it had anything to do with throwing punches, Alice was down. She could never participate in that sort of thing, not without seriously hurting someone.

She shrugged her shoulders when he mentioned her being more spunky than rebellious. That's how Alice saw it, too. She could be a lot worse. Honestly, she mostly just had an attitude problem. Her other vices were pretty limited. She'd rather drink by herself than at a party, and she never once snuck out of the mansion when it was still standing, despite the pressure to do so.

So, the big bad bird brought him here, huh? Some sort of social experience, or whatever. "I can relate to that. Blake thinks I need to make friends. Kind of a lone wolf. He's like a worried mother." She took another sip of her water before setting the glass down. Her eyes went to his and a smile played across her lips when he mentioned things here turning more into a Jerry Springer episode than a successful date night. "We should start taking bets. I can almost promise August is gonna get slapped at least once."

Her eyes went to the shiny metal that was covering his fingers as he took a drink. Her eyes squinted for a moment as she took in the armor like material. It was pretty, but she wondered why his powers were surfacing now. Alice sat up in her seat finally, scooting forward and leaning over the table a bit more as her curiosity got the best of her and she reached a hand out. "Can I see?" She was patient for the hand to be placed in her own.

It was warm, in an organic kind of way. "Metal form or just an armor?" Her voice was almost distant, like she was hypnotised by what was in her hands. She slowly slid her hands away from his to remove her gloves, careful when she returned to touching the warm metal. Her knuckles matched his, old scars were layered over new ones. She was exceedingly gentle when it came to turning his hand over in her own. "Has it ever broken?" Maybe this night wouldn't be an absolute flop if she could find someone she could actually train with without killing.