[ORP] Public Relationship Opportunity Meeting (PROM)

[nepsah]

He was considering leaving - it'd probably been a mistake to come without someone else to hang out with anyway. Cerpin had seen him so that was enough to prove that he hadn't chickened out on the invite, right? He shifted his weight, thinking- and then a voice caught his attention. Blinking, he turned to stare at... What was his name again... Static. Yes... He'd been on the ship with Forera. "Yes, Deimos." He nodded, "Static, yeah?" He glanced down at his outfit - resisting a shrug. "Thanks, I guess. Nice to see you?" Was it? He didn't really know the blueblood that well and he seemed pretty timid during their ship mission. But... he supposed talking to someone he didn't know well was better than awkwardly standing in a corner.

"Oh, uh, no, I'm not." Dei shook his head, trying not to sound too.. what was the word.. grumpy? Probably. Some waving caught his eye in the crowd- he squinted past the blueblood for a second until he recognized the person waving. Immediately he peeled his eyes away, focusing intensely on Static. If he didn't look at her she would go away!! "Did you come with anyone? Uh, I think I saw you with Mahmud earlier, yeah? He ditch you for work? Bit of a workaholic sometimes ain't he." God, anything else would be a good topic.

Despite his best efforts his eyes slid back over toward Emiola- was she still waving? Goddammit.

Micillia

static is such a good boy.......

Melancholies

HI HELLO emi come join

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav Setlar

Ok. Geometry. Should be simple. Just lines connected to lines, a spiral stepping outwards. The yellowblood took a few cautious steps, feeling out how to move with the rhythm of the music. It was odd. Nice and slow, though. Engrav glanced around, taking in the other pairs that had joined them on the floor. Quite a few of them were moving hesitantly as well, enough that he was fairly certain he could at least seem unskilled rather than hopeless. But everyone else was pressed close together like a... He frowned. Why in the world was Polair the only one not wearing a corsage? He filed that away for later.

"Hey, uh..." the yellowblood squeaked out, still trying to find his voice. He didn't like this one. It felt like it was trying to sabotage him with inopportune cracks and squawks. "Thank you." Those were words he had to try to say more often. They were rusty with disuse. He took another few steps as Polair guided his feet, enjoying the feel of her prongs on his. "For this, I mean. Not just coming, but helping me with the stuff I don't get yet." He took another few steps, a foot just slightly out of alignment. Scowling, the yellowblood forced it back into place. "I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. So. Thanks." The yellowblood flushed, blood hot under his damaged chitin.

Then Polair pounced on him, pressing her entire body up against him all at once. The yellowblood's thinkpan shut down nearly immediately, and he let out a little grunt of half-surprise as he missed a step to catch her, arm pressed against her back. Too close. WAY too close. He tried for another step, missed it, managed to hook his own heel. Stumbling a little, Engrav managed to straighten himself out before he fell to the dance floor, but he was decidedly off balance in more ways than one. His flesh left arm waved in the air a moment as he desperately flailed for somewhere to put it, finally catching Polair's prong like a rope to a drowning troll. His other settled somewhere near the base of her posture pole, placed out of pure panic.

He caught a step, then another, finally settling into something like a rhythm. Truncated triplets? Easy. Well, at least it should be. His thinkpan was distracted by the heat he could feel coming off the Seadweller, how close she was and how good she smelled. He'd have thought that she would be... colder somehow, living deep underwater. Not that he'd imagined anything about her that would be unprofessional. Not in the slightest. But even if Engrav had he wouldn't have imagined she'd feel like a flame this close to him. Or maybe it was just him. It was hard to tell and everything was confusing. "Having fun?" the purpleblood asked, laughing.

Some sort of commotion started on the stage, but his addled lobesponge missed it completely. Some sort of drama. For once, the inventor wasn't interested.

"Yeah," the yellowblood said with a smile, steps finally coming a little more naturally. It felt weird the way the corners of his mouth tugged up almost involuntarily. "I really, really am." $^&@. This was dangerous. This felt dangerous. Engrav didn't like this. It was reckless and foolish and was probably going to get him culled sooner rather than later if he didn't cut it the hell out.

Engrav laughed. It was real. Not his forced chuckle, but full-throated and full of humor. Gog, he hoped no one was watching. He had a reputation to protect.

ImaginationsParadise

 

[ImaginationsParadise]

"You're welcome. I'm happy I'm able to help out. We are friends, aren't we? We help each other out." Polair smiled. She couldn't stop herself from laughing at their nonsense, not even as the both nearly stumbled on the dance floor. This was fun, this was... something she never thought she'd experience after many sweeps of disappointment and pent up feelings. This right here was genuine, it scared her a bit but... It felt really good and she deserved to feel like so once or twice. "I'm glad!" A thrill of excitement ran though her. Really, she liked hearing his voice. It had a nice frequency and that laugh...

She got a tad closer to the yellowblood, giggles dying down as she took a hold of her emotions. Restraint, she needed to restrain them if not she'd get them both in trouble or worst... Draw unwanted attention that could ruin their little moment. "You've helped me in so many ways." She whispered. It was all said with a sincere and warm tone. Not her usual robotic, neutral and cold voice.

Polair felt her aquatic bloodpusher pang loudly against her chest. That was odd indeed. "Really I don't know just how many times I've thanked you Engrav. Intentional or not, you've shown me a new perspective. Even as I thought I had one. I mean I did, but it did more harm than good." And he, didn't had the necessity of weakening her with his words. Engrav had provided the words she was missing to encourage her to keep on moving forward. Not only him, she realized. There were other trolls that had helped out as much as him.

"Glub... The melody is lovely." She rocked her body gently as the song was coming to an end. The highblood didn't want to admit it but, she didn't want it to end. She knew she shouldn't be this close, get this close. She'd get hurt, she'd only hurt him as feelings tended to do. "I'm sorry. I haven't been myself lately." Her tone shifted, sounding a bit saddened. Because she knew that once it ended, she'd automatically repress all the feelings she was experiencing right now. And part of her didn't want that.

Buzzwulf

 

[screamingshark]

"Wait, you kept it!?" Good resourceful Mihail, this is why Knetic keeps him around. That and they were hatched around the same time and have been neighbors and friends since like...forever. But who cares about semantics?

"Hm. Maybe eating is better. For coordination and all that. After all, who dances on an empty stomach? That's not even a thing I think." He squeezes Mihail's hand again. Pondering if maybe he's being too aggressively hyper.

"Why don't...Why don't you lead the way, Mihail?" Reign it in, Knetic. No sense in possibly stressing out your friend.

nepsah

 

[Micillia]

Static Charge

"Uh, yeah," Static said, scratching the back of his neck. He hadn't really come with Mahmud, more like he had bullied his way into bothering the brownblood during work. "Sorta i guess." Static tried not to sound too down about it. Remember he needed a distraction, not a reminder of how he wad probably messed up everything.

The blueblood noticed a tealblood girl waving at them, and he coughed, trying to being Deimos's attention to it. When the tealblood boy proceeded to ignore it, Static decided the only polite thing to do was wave back at her, invite her into the conversation. "Hello," The blueblood started, "Im Static, its a pleasure to meet you. Do you know Deimos or, um, something?"

Nepsah

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Emiola almost gave up--almost--but lo' and behold, Static returned the wave. What a nice guy! She skipped right over, her dress billowing a little from the rush of movement. She clapped her hands together again as she approached the duo, "Hiya!" Her voice was chipper, "I'm Emiola! Totally my pleasure, dude." She did a small faux-curtsy, then proceeded to laugh at herself. It totally wasn't her style! But it was still fun to go through the motions.

"Deimos and I go way back!" She clapped the tealblood on the shoulder, "Seriously, it's so cool to see you here man! You guys can totally chill with me before I gotta preform. I'm just tryin' to keep an eye on my m--" She paused and looked around. No Masoal! What a sneaky little dude. "Well. Whatever. You guys try the punch yet?"

Micillia

nepsah

im so sorry

 

[Buzzwulf]

Quella Fehtan

Masoal was gonna win, huh? Gonna win at dancing? Quella shrugged, grabbing the tealblood's hand and dragging him towards the floor. He wasn't making it easy, and neither were her shoes, trying to trip her on every single step. She cursed the things under her breath as she moved, and whatever troll had come up with the idea of heels. At best, you could maybe stab someone with them, but they'd really have to not be paying attention. Hopefully Masoal would be willing to try to cooperate at least a little, and she wouldn't have to beat the snot out of him just to get him to play along.

Quella stamped her feet to the beat for a second as the two of them walked onto the floor, looking down at the tealblood. Who was supposed to lead? All the other trolls that were dancing seemed to have figured it out. Well, Masoal said he was gonna win, so... "Tell you what, why don't you lead?" The hunter said, pulling the tealblood's hand to her waist. "I mean since you know so well what you're doing." Quella teased with a wink.

The huge blueblood let Masoal take the initiative, just swaying with the beat for now. She let herself get sucked into the music. It as like being in a grove of fronds, dancing with the whistling wind. Quella smiled down at the tealblood, wondering if he was having any fun at all. Probably not.

Saedusk

 

[Yamashii]

"It makes sense. I felt that way too. You were irritating. Endearing. It didn't make sense then." Cerpin mused, taking a seat on the floor next to her resting form. "You don't pull your punches." Aerona was both brutally honest and fiercely guarded at the same time. It was an interesting experience and it kept him wondering if she'd ever let down her walls.

Tears came and it looked like she had. He reached to put a hand next to her shoulder as she covered her face. When she didn't pull away at the contact, he moved closer, laying down side by side with her. Their shoulders touched and the warmth was comfortable. This was enough for now.

"Whoever she is, we won't be like that. I will ******** up and you might get hurt. But I will always listen and always apologize. You're-" He looked up at the ceiling, nervous and unsure at how to word this. It was easy to curl up next to someone and whisper nice meaningless words to them knowing you'd never see them again. It was a lot harder to tell someone that you wanted them to be a constant fixture in your life. And why.

"You're the first person I've ever let this close. Because you're the only person I've ever seen this sincere. I admire that about you." Tevini had come close before but she always disappeared at the moment their arguments boiled over into real progress towards fixing their problems. And Sascha inspired change in him but Cerpin could not bring himself to be honest with a man so emotionally rigid. Aerona blew things to pieces in a way that destroyed obstacles, not people. How she did it, he didn't know.

"I like you." He confessed. The words were not new to a playboy but the feeling was. Cerpin never would have guessed they'd be here like this right now when he'd met her that night in the swamp with pure venom in her eyes at the sight of him. Maybe that was the kind of moirail he needed, someone willing to kill him without a moment's hesitation if he stepped out of line. She voiced the things he worried about and threw them in his face.

"I'm game too. I don't care who else knows. So long as you do."

Sypon

 

[nepsah]

'Sorta I guess' didn't sound like a particularly strong answer but he didn't care to pry. He narrowed his eyes at Static's cough- trying to silently will the blueblood to ignore her but-- oh goddammit. He was waving her over. Deimos inhaled, and then sighed, shoulders dropping in an exaggerated fashion. "Hi Emiola." His tone was flat, expression one of exhaustion as she clapped his shoulder. He grumbled, reaching up to readjust the shoulder of his overdress. "You're performing?" Admittedly he didn't actually know that much about Emiola just that she didn't seem to care about boundaries and also screamed a lot which was not the best for trying to get some shuteye. This was probably the perfect place for her to be, no wonder she was here.

"No. Don't bother, people like, take the cups out of your hands." He still hadn't managed to get his hands on a cup of it. No, he was not sour about that. Okay. Maybe he was a little sour about it. "Anyway. Are you on duty or something?" Deimos turned to look back at Static, eyes flickering over his outfit. "Or just really attached to looking important."

Micillia

i'm so sorry...

Melancholies

deimos is a jerk

 

[nepsah]

"Wuh--well, y--you liked it so..." There was that bashful feeling again. "Mm... I uh, I guess. Ma--maybe a couple sn-snacks. You uh, you you --you wouldn't want to uh, get a stomach ache or suh--suh-something right?" Eating too much before physical activity was, in fact, a mistake. One that he'd made. Regrets were had that night. "Aa-ah, okay." He gave Knetic's hand a little squeeze, feeling a bit better already. Knetic always knew how to do that.

He carefully pulled the other purpleblood over to the snack table, then looked over the selection. Lots of finger foods, perfect for a small snack before hitting the dance floor. "Se--see anything you l--like?" Probably the desserts...

screamingshark

 

[penemueIntuition]

Trust Poe to be innovative with his legwear, and trust him to be so kind with compliments too... and honest. Completely honest. Or at least, thats what he called having someone refer to the "load gaper" during a particularly sweet conversation. At the mention, Mahmud gave a little laugh that he did not bother to mask. "Well to be honest that's where you'd find me most the time anyways, just... fixing them..."

Poe... wanted to impress him? Really? Gog, why did he have the best boyfriends in all Alternia?! Both of them worked so hard to make themselves impressive for him. As Poe suggested a dance on the floor though, thats when Mahmud snapped back to reality. Oh yes. Right. Static. s**t. s**t. How was he going to tell them about each other?! He really should but he just... wasn't quite ready yet. Had to think of a plan...

"Actually I uh... just came from there! Yeah! Picking up some uh... well... we won't get into that." What an awful lie! Another awful, terrible lie! Squeezing Poe's hand as he said that, his mind raced with ideas for what they could do together... and he finally landed on one. "Photo Booth!" Perfect! It was hidden, out of the way... and he could get some private time in with Poe before dropping a bombshell...

... Plus he wanted a photo of his cute boyriend before he inevitably got punch thrown in his face or something.

"Lets go take crazy photos! It'll be fun! My bosses got all sorts of cool stuff in there. Or we don't have to use it..." Blushing a little, Mahmud leaned in and whispered into Poe's ear. "Plus I mean... I um... I just really want a photo of you looking even more handsome than usual."

It was only after he said that that Mahmud realized the error of his actions, about how much more that'll sting later on.
Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn...

purplerosesbeauty

if this isn't enough to go off of let me know!

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav Setlar

Were they friends? Engrav honestly hadn't thought about it. The inventor wasn't sure he could afford friends. But he wanted to spend more time with her, any time he could. And that was basically what being a friend was, right? And maybe it was scary and it was dangerous and that was what was good about it? The yellowblood didn't know. It wasn't like there was a book he could read about this kind of thing, and gog knew his husktop was no help at all. He couldn't help but feel itchy all over whenever the seadweller laughed.

"I think so," Engrav said, holding the seadweller close as they rocked slowly to the beat. He was finally beginning to cool down, to get used to the situation. His pumpbiscuit was finally slowing down in his chest, at the very least. Also he didn't feel like he was about to fall over, so that was new. Engrav let himself just hold the seadweller for a few moments, her body electric against him everywhere it brushed. "I mean, we help each other. Both of us. I think that's how this works."

She was right. It really was lovely. The yellowblood had never really given music much of a thought, but he could see the appeal now. At it's most basic form, it was math, but it was math designed to elicit an emotional response. He could feel it, worming it's way in to the center of his psyche, telling him that this was how he should feel. It wasn't overt, not propagandist, but it pulled things out of Engrav he'd much rather leave buried. "I don't think either of us has." he whispered back to the seadweller. "Been ourselves, I mean. Lately." Gog she was so close. He could feel her breath on his neck.

He could lean in, if he wanted to. She was right there, looking a little bit up at him. Well, not looking. But experiencing. Engrav could hear the final chords of the music winding to a crescendo, his breath catching deep in his bellowsacs. What then? What would happen? He found himself leaning down, his face just an inch from hers. A finger brushed away a stray strand of hair from her face, and he stood there, hesitating. He could feel her breath. He was pretty sure she could feel his, too.

The song ended.

Engrav pulled back shuddering.

What the #^@&. What the #^@&. #^@&! What in gog's name was he doing? Friends. They were friends. She JUST said that. Engrav let the dance posture fall, still holding her hand. "Do, uh. Do you have time for one more? Or are you performing soon?" Gog Engrav hoped she was performing soon. He needed to collect himself. Desperately. He didn't think he could take much more of this.

ImaginationsParadise

 

[Doutei]

Unfortunately for Engrav, a different act was filing on stage.

With a different yellowblood.

"Hope you're all having a great time tonight!" The first half of SHEshell stepped on stage with a microphone. She was dressed up in a showy dress that sparkled black and gold. Flydra entered next in a white and teal gown. Unbeknownst to the crowd, there was a third troll who'd accompanied them that night, instructed to wait off to the side until they were done. Scorpa hadn't been thrilled to have Buffel tag along on her date, having complained that she'd asked Flydra firstttt, but she'd relented and allowed him to join them. She would do whatever her moirail asked to make her happy.

"For this next number, hold your quadmate close while we..." Scorpa crooned into the mic while she and Flydra got into position on the stage. They'd scrambled to throw together a number for this event on short notice but she was proud of what they'd created. Hopefully the crowd would enjoy it too. Looking out into the sea of dancing trolls, one in particular caught her eye and Scorpa had to keep her face from frowning. Who was that with Polair? It certainly wasn't Bufgrand. Her eyes flickered questioningly to her partner, confused and concerned.

"Set the mood..." Flydra raised a hand to signal to the stage crew to start the track. Music spilled into the air and the two began to sing.



"Mmmmmm~"
"Mmmmmm~"

So this is pink, Mmmmmm
So this is pink
So this is my sweet fairytale~
Each small detail, Mmmmmm
Points me to pale
I must make you be my Moirail~

So this is red, Mmmmmm
So this is red
So this is to fall bit by bit~
It's not a crush, Mmmmmm
I feel a flush
You must be my destined Matesprit~

So this is black, Mmmmmm
So this is black
So this is our endless attack
I muse as I reminisce, each scar and every kiss
Mmmmmm
Mmmmmm
My Kismesis~

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

Poe wondered how often the patrons of this club destroyed the bathroom that his boyfriend was constantly fixing them, but figured he didn't... actually want to know. A reminder not to go into the bathrooms if he could avoid it. The things done in there weren't good.

He grinned at the suggestion and stood up again, briefly flapping his hands. "I'd love to give the photo booth a shot, and see how that event, develops," he said. The photo booth would be perfect! Away from everyone, probably quiet and dark. While he liked events like this he could quickly find himself overwhelmed. Also he had more photo puns than he did dancing puns. He'd have to think of some.

"We can take, really silly pictures, and maybe..." he paused, kissing Mahmud's cheek. "Very sweet ones too! And have pictures to remember it all, which, will be nice, to have a picture of you, as well." When he wasn't able to visit him much, it'd be nice to have. Plus... Mahmud really thought he was handsome! He'd have to thank Wander for her help later. Maybe she'd want to see a picture like that too. Taking Mahmud's hand with his soft one, he rubbed his thumb over his boyfriend's fingers and led him towards the booth, excited.

He stopped for a moment, as he listened to the performers. They were really good, but familiar. "Were those two on the television before?" he wondered aloud.

Skyli Peep

It's all good! Poe has no idea Mahmud is so conflicted lmfao, my son is not very observant

 

[Green Minuet]

Ephias Sagine

Ephias startled when Etsali suddenly appeared beside him, as quiet as a ghost. Well, probably as quiet anyway. One did not need to exercise much stealth in the current environment to sneak up on someone. Even so, he had not even seen her come in. He jerked his hand back to his side, flustered. “N-no, not at all!” Ephias stammered, his face turning red. “You arrived right-right on... incredible. Er, I mean, you l-l-look on time—increzabling.”

Ephias stopped himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. “You look incredible. Amazing even.” He offered Etsali a tentative smile. His pump biscuit felt as though it might crash through his chest. All at once, he realised how clammy his hands were. Discreetly he tried to wipe them on the side of his pants.

Etsali turned her attention to the backpack at his feet, and Ephias found himself relieved to return to a subject of familiarity. Crouching down, he unzipped the main compartment. “W-well, I guess it could be.” He held it open enough that Etsali could get a peek inside. A cluster of bombs, and jacket cuffs pinned with military insignias peeked back out at her.

“So, I cased out the... er... joint. And um... There are multiple entrances aside from the main one. I found four-four additional tunnels that exit in various places around Chittentown. There's also a passage directly to the surface that goes through the hive, but that's marked for staff only. Ideal locations for cover are beneath the stage, behind the bar, and up on the catwalk. We have four smoke bombs at our disposal as well as disguises. I also brought some basic weaponry but...” He looked at Etsali, eyeing her outfit with scepticism. “I don't know how you would have managed it, but I'd be surprised if you didn't... if you didn't bring something yourself.”

It might have seemed like overkill for a date, but to be fair the last time he had invited Etsali somewhere they had been forced into exile.

KitsuneAura