Valentine's Event Round 3

The music faded again as the hosts walked up to the podium, again. Fidalio seemed to be quite frustrated, while Luka cheerfully patted him on the back, he only could let out a small grumble. Luckily there has been nobody ringing the bell last round, otherwise it could’ve been quite a mess.



When finally on top of the podium, Fidalio pasted his flirtatious smile back on his face again and spoke into the microphone. “Oooookay! Ladies and gentlemen the second round is over! It’s time for the final and most exciting round. Will you reel in your last partner, or will you go home alone, without any date? I sure hope not for all of you lovely people! Now Luka my dear, would you be so kind to call out last rounds pairings?”


Luka nodded excitedly and grabbed a paper out of her pocket. “Alright then! Here we goooo~!



At table 1: Nang  and Stella



At table 2: Sweetie and Ember



At table 3: Ragnilde and Keandra



At table 4: Anastasia and Aaron



At table 5: Dione and Yuki



At table 6: Tofa and Kelina



At table 7: Tangerine and Bastion


I hope you will all have a great final round! Right after this round you will have some time to meet up with the partners you liked past rounds and maybe share phone numbers!”


The final round has begun. Have fun you guys!

The sound of the announcement annoyed Kelina slightly. Her lips pouting as she slowly raised from her chair. 

"Well then Ragnilde dear, I look forward to speaking to you later~" She would say, placing her chair back in place before walking past her ever so closely 

"And don't worry, I'll be watching~" She said, grinning wickedly as she walked away over to the next table, pulling out a chair and awaiting her next partner.

"Hm.. lets hope this is at least interesting.." She said, leaning back on her chair, arm draped over the back of it as she waited, at this point, hoping a small conversation could kill time until the end.

And just like that, another round was over!

Bast blinked a little, glancing up at the stage as Fidalio and Luka made their new announcements, taking note of where he needed to move off to and who his new partner was.
After a moment, he glanced back at Keandra, flashing her another of his trademark grins as he hopped up onto his feet.
"Well now, this was fun! I, uh, hope you enjoyed it, Keandra - and I hope you have a good time with you're new date as well! Maybe I'll catch you around sometime...? And if not, well! It was nice meeting you!!" he gave her a quick thumbs up, waiting for her response - should there even be one - before scooting off towards his new destination.

As like before, Bast allowed his head to swivel about the room as he made his way, attempting to deduce who his knew date would be. With a name like Tangerine, he presumed there'd be at least one obvious factor about them, unless their parents had just liked the sound of it.

God, how awful would it be to be called Tangerine but have sky-blue skin??

Honestly, there wasn't much else he could deduce from the name. It sounded... juicy? Sweet?? Fruity???? But that was literally because the only thing that came to mind when he heard it was the fruit itself. At least with Keandra and Stella there had been some hints towards their potential parenting types, and thus their upbringings and nature.
With Tangerine, all he could really tell was their parents liked fruit. Some might argue that it was a name that hinted towards a more simple upbringing, but Bast wasn't so sure - he hadn't met many rich or famous people, but he'd heard stories of their eccentric naming schemes.


It was with such thoughts that Bastion wandered over to his table. He'd come no closer to identifying his potential partner, thanks to these errant thoughts, so instead he contented himself to take a seat and wait, fresh bouts of excitement flooding through him with every moment!

Tofa sighed. She didn't really get much out of her partner so she just sadly walked and put a fake smile when she arrived at her seat. She looked at her partner. "Greetings. I'm Tofa."

Oh god, had she messed up? The moment Ragnilde had asked for a number, she was terrified that she was too forward. There was still another round left! What if Kelina found someone better? That was too likely! She opened her mouth to take it back, but Kelina had jumped in with a teasing agreement. And then her mouth continued to hang open. "A-ahah...! Well I-"

Sadly, the music dulling to a close meant that this delightful round was over. As Fidalio stood at the podium once more, the manticore was buzzing. She didn't realise how hot she was burning, or how much adrenaline was going through her body. With it finally coming to a close, she could focus on herself now. And her hands were shaking. Her tail twitched from side to side. It was just a small date, but it felt like she'd just ran a marathon. Right- no. No, pay attention. There was still one more person! This day was still going, focus!

Table 3. Herself... and... Keandra. Keandra.
Where had she heard that name before...?

No, she knew that name. She knew that it was the uniform designer over in Dragon Corp, the company where Rag worked at. Practically her boss. It was quite an exotic name, and that's how she remembered it. But that Keandra was attractive, fit, and had a well-paying job. Of course she wouldn't be here at the event. There's no way someone like that would be at a speed date. It had to be someone else with the same name. It had to be. She couldn't handle the alternative.

Ragnilde was snapped out of her thoughts by the motion of her partner getting up. Right! Date! That was a thing happening, and she didn't want to leave this person waiting! Though she didn't stand up just yet, Kelina's words sung in the air. She looked forward to seeing her later. Oh god she was going to see Kelina after this and that was pretty much confirmed. Rag's head turned as the badger made her way across the room.
"O-of course! Hahah! I'll. See you then!!" she called back. One of her hands clutched at her shirt again, and she let out a tiny sigh. Perhaps she should have taken the 'I'll be watching' words to heart, but right now Rag was still caught in the moment that, no, that was not a dream. She actually scored.

B-but no, let's not think about that! She shouldn't have that mindset with one more date on the way! She could still impress! Or at least... practice flirting a little better!

Standing up, she took a moment to stretch her legs. Having been sat at the same spot for two rounds had sent pins and needles down her limbs. She slightly fluttered her wings to relieve her discomfort before moving over to Table 3. Once again, she held herself close to the moving crowd, holding her arms and bring her tail between her legs. Finding the designated table to the side, she blinked. She was the first one here. Okay. Okay. This was... good. Being first was pretty preferable. But oh god, why didn't they allow a small break so she could check herself in the mirror? She was still blushing!

Sitting down, and lightly fanning herself with her hand, the manticore awaited her final partner.

Kelina raised her head and followed the new person coming to sit at her table. She watched closely and instantly picked up on her sad mood.

"Yo, Names Kelina, whats with the sulking?" She would ask, seeing right through the fake smile, raising one of her eyebrows, a light smirk upon her face.

Kelina herself, seemed rather, fidgety, looking around the room, to the table across them too. Still thinking about that last round. She was still feeling... odd. Her heart never beats like this, at least, not unless shes battling. She attempted to simply breath and focus, for now.

"Oh just... I've not been having much luck with anyone. My first partner probably wants nothing to do with me and my last one didn't really talk so we just stared the entire time." Tofa looked down.

Kelina's arms folded over, shrugging slightly as she leaned back in her chair, managing to relax ever so slighty, yet, she used one of her hands to grab a napkin from the table, crunching it up in her fist as she listened.

"Could be worse." She replied, referring to both her rather, volatile first round, and well, the fact that she of all people was feeling...emotions, in the last round.

"Tsk, well, don't get on my bad side, and perhaps... just perhaps I can entertain ya with some sort of conversation." She would say in her smooth, calm tone.

Tofa gave her an odd look. "Hmm I suppose. What exactly should I refrain from doing to avoid your uh... Bad side?" Tofa asked not sure how to talk to this person.

Oh.
And just like that, time was up.

She... wasn't quite sure how that round had gone. Bast was evidently a pleasant individual, with a world of experiences and stories to share. He'd remained positive throughout the whole thing, and the conversation didn't feel like it had been particularly one-sided at all.
Still... it was evident, he was a very different person to her. What appealed to him was the chance to keep moving, to never have to plant his feet in one place too long. And whilst he may've considered himself trapped standing still for now... she was sure the moment he was released, he'd be far gone.
Plus, add the fact the end of things had felt... admittedly a little awkward... Well...

Still, no. Don't focus on the negatives. It was always easy to focus on that side of things - she wasn't here to be like that.
It HAD been a good talk. And as Luka moved her way through her announcement, she at the very least could offer the gentleman who'd just shared his time with her a smile and a nod.

And then she froze.

"Ragnilde and Keandra".

Ragnilde.

She knew it. She KNEW she'd heard a name she recognised earlier. She was so caught up in meeting her own dates that she'd been distracted but-
Maybe it was a different Ragnilde. After all, there had to be loads of Ragnilde's out there right?
...
At least a few?
...
More than one, c'mon.

...

This was gonna be as awkward as all hell, wasn't it?

Keandra almost missed Bast leaving the table as her mind wallowed on the possibilities. Blinking a few times, and standing probably a li'l more quickly than she'd otherwise have liked to, she addressed him;
"O-o-oh, sure! It was a pleasure! I'll be around after the, uuuh..."
She allowed herself to just sorta trail off as they parted ways. Glancing around the area, she attempted to try and identify a recognisable face among the crowd. Until her eyes settled on table 3.
There she was. Wrapped up in a baggy shirt and a big overfluffed mane, there was no mistaking her. That was Ragnilde.

For a second, the vixen considered sneaking out. Just like... squeezing out the door whilst everyone else was trying to find their seats. She was sure noone would notice.
It wasn't that she had an issue with Rag. She was a sweet enough girl. It was more... she had an issue with Rag knowing that she was here.
...That would be mean though. And whilst Keandra was super self-concious, she really didn't want to leave poor Rag just sat by herself at a table. She knew herself just how crushing that could be.

With a sigh, and a nod, she finally worked up the self-confidence to approach. Arriving at the table, she simply stood at the side of it for a moment, before;
"Uh... hey Rag?" she shot her fellow employee an awkward grin, attempting to be as casual as possible in her approach, "Should I, uh, grab us a couple of drinks before I sit down?" There was no need to make this more uncomfortable than it needed to be.

Pretty much caught off guard by Aaron's last question, Ember was speechless for a few moments. Suddenly, it was the end of that round, and Ember breathed an internal sigh of relief. "O-oh, um, yeah! New round, uh... Yeah, I'll, um... See ya around!" She said, quickly standing up and beating a hasty retreat to table two. 

Apparently her next partner was called "Sweetie". That couldn't have been their real name, could it? Maybe it was an affectionate nickname? In this case, it kinda seemed to suggest Ember's next partner was a girl. Probably young, with a nickname like that? Well, she couldn't be that much younger than Ember herself, right?

She shook her head as she sat down at table two, finally letting herself exhale loudly. Her last conversation was so awkward, and she hoped that this Sweetie character knew how to carry a conversation, because she sure didn't!

No, it couldn't be the same Keandra.
Rag, for the few seconds where she was sat there, had repeated that in her head on a constant loop. She needed to convince herself, and she was actually starting to. What are the chances? What are the chances that Keandra, her co-worker, would be at the exact same speed dating event, and would also be paired up with her? It was one in a million! Practically impossible!

The moment a white vixen entered her view, all the colour immediately fell from Ragnilde's face.

Oh my god it was that Keandra and they were paired up with her. Keandra now knew that Ragnilde had attended a speed dating event. Keandra now knew what a pathetic loser she was. Why was she here? She was gorgeous! She shouldn't be! Though saying that, it's not like she wanted to date her co-worker! That was awkward! Was she expected to flirt here? Her introductory lead was now shambles - she knew Keandra's profession: she was her goddamned co-worker and she designed her goddamned armour.

Instinctively, Rag slowly leaned back in her chair as the fox approached. She muttering a tiny "Hahah..." at the utter absurdity of the situation, and internally she swore with a million curses. Anxiety and embarrassment sent her stomach up in knots and she began to scratch at her neck. It was like the feeling of falling from a large height, but instead of the pressure against your whole body, it's just in your head. She was skydiving without a parachute and Keandra had been the one to push her out the plane. This was not a kind of social embarrassment she was prepared for today.

Rag missed half of what Keandra said - she was too busy slowly sliding down her seat with her burning face. What she did manage to decipher was 'drinks'. Giving her own forced grin, she gave a shaking thumbs up and attempted words; "yyee."

Her career was over.

Keandra couldn't help but feel a little bit better.
Not about the situation. This situation was still horrendous. She wasn't quite sure what either of them had done to deserve this.
No, what she was feeling better about was herself. Because however nervous she was, however awkward or uncomfortable she felt... she had nothing on Rag right now. Poor girl looked like she'd seen a ghost. Or like... a monster. A monster ghost.
...Keandra wasn't that intimidating was she?
Either way, it was evident that she was the more confident one in this situation. ...Not that that was saying much. The two of them were just kind of a mutual mess.

Allowing Rag - and admittedly, allowing herself - a moment to compose themselves, Keandra took a step back from the table. Heading to the counter, she allowed herself a moments hesitance. She probably should've asked Rag what they wanted.
Would alcohol be out of the question? Wine? Would wine be too classy? It's not like this was a date. Well it was TECHNICALLY a date, but not-
Okay just... something simple. A coke. ...A diet coke.
Two diet cokes.
...
With ice.

A few moments later, and they'd returned to the table, placing one drink in front of Rag, and another in front of herself as she sat down. So... this was nice.
"Uh... I hope coke is alright?" Yep. Classy. Really impressing the work colleague here.

She hesitated a second more, before realising that she'd... probably be having to take some sort of step forward into dialogue. Lest they both wound up sitting here just awkwardly mumbling the whole time.
"...Good night so far?"
Well, they'd both been here. Couldn't deny it. May as well... well, talk about it.

Oh, there it goes again. The music slowly came to a halt. Sweetie's ear twitched as she realized this. She huffed. "Oh weeelll~" As she stood up to head to her next table, she smiled at Yuki. "Hey, don't be so nervous this round. Relax a little. You've got this. Besides, it sounds like your next partner is a good one~" She laughed and made her way over to Table 2. 

Once again she pulled off the same stunt as last time. One moment the chair across from Ember was empty, and within the blink of an eye or a glance away, she was already sitting in that exact spot. A wide grin was plastered on her face, and she tilted her head at her new partner. "Hello there~" She let out a soft giggle. Despite her innocent appearance there was something unsettling about her.

"You're Ember, right?" Her tail was swishing back and forth. She seemed pretty happy at the moment. "As you heard, my name's Sweetie~" And just after that statement was made, she wasted absolutely no time to start flirting. "Now, what's a lovely person like you doing in a place like this? Surely someone as gorgeous as yourself already has someone wrapped around her finger~"

Nang will hear the bell yet again. ' Nooo.. I wasn't done yet..' he sighs. Not happy he didn't get to talk to the other person much. I am sorry. I need to head to the next table, I wish you the very best to find love' he will then Japanese bow to the woman before moving onto the next seat to talk to Stella.

Stella would just stare in disbelief as the person she wanted to get in touch with would just leave before she could find out anything.

It frustrated her to no end that a force beyond her was doing whatever it wanted the rest of the night as bad as it could.

Deep sigh.

Whoever was next on the chopping block was given just a customary glance.

As if by magic, another garishly-dressed girl popped into existence into the chair across from Ember, making her jump a little. She was fast, that much was true.

Before Ember could say anything, Sweetie was already talking, in a sweet and innocent voice. She was adorable, yeah, but something was... Off. Something that sent an odd chill down Ember's spine. She shook off the feeling, just as the girl had already begun to flirt with her.

Ember couldn't help but blush, causing her to look away. It had been too long since she had heard any compliments put towards her, seemingly fake or not."U-um... No, I-I haven't been in Central City long, so... No, I haven't found a partner, yet..."

Kelina huffed slightly, her eyes shifting around the room before focussing back on the conversation.

“Hm, lets just say you’ll find out if you’re on it yeah?” She would say, smirking to herself as she stretched back.

“So, tell me something interesting about yourself.” She said, calmly, flatly, still looking a bit distracted.

Somewhere towards the end of the second round, a new challenger appeared trio had popped into the restaurant. Perhaps a notable little group as it consisted of two identical felines, covered in long white fur, and one very orange dragon. ....Well, if anyone could see the orange scales beyond the ridiculous rainbow ponytailed atop her head. In fact, there was more rainbow even growing as a large tuft of fluff on the tip of her tail. Talk about bright!

While the cats were all smiles, almost too smug, in fact, the reptile appeared significantly less amused. Late to the game as they were, some exchanged words with one of the event's hosts led to encouraging nudges to the dragon's back.

"See, Tani, they've got a spot to shove you in!" one of the twins had said, a smirk across her pretty face, "You said you didn't want to go shopping with us but I'm sure you won't get bored here."

"This.. isn't what I meant by 'just drop me off anywhere'." 'Tani' seemed to be relenting to the decision being made for her, squinting over in the direction of the tables where the different couples were all socializing. There was an interesting array of people here, at least.

"Oh, don't be such a drag on their party," the first twin grinned. "Everyone here is probably as hopeless as you!"

The other feline was stifling her own urge to chuckle at her sister's commentary and gave the dragon a light pat on her shoulder. "Give it a try, what's the worst that could happen?" She only received a little snort in response.

Granted, once the twins had bid their companion farewells and good lucks, with more winking and nudging from one than the other, and headed out the door, there was just the tiniest smirk on the dragon's muzzle. About this time, the music had subsided and the two hosts had stepped up to the podium so her attention settled there, occasionally glancing across the others at the tables and wondering what poor sap which of these people she would have to try and make small talk with...
The announcements were made and Tangerine, a name that hadn't been brought up previously, was apparently being sent to table 7. It took a little bit of scanning for the cerulean-colored eyes to find the right table and by the time she had, someone had already taken a seat there as well. Another reptile...? No, not quite...

Letting out a breath, the orange dragon began making her way over. What was the name she'd heard? Bastion? That was a new name in her book. But at the least, he looked interesting. Tangerine strolled up to table 7, pulling out the chair across from the tree frog and dropping into it. Along the way, she'd noted that some of the participants here were dressed quite nicely. Not all, but some. She, on the other hand, had dressed casually as she always did in her well-worn jeans and utter lack of shoes, likely due to those claws on her feet. Her light blue tee was cropped as well to midway up her back where a trail of short spikes jutted from her spine and decorated their way down her long, thick tail.

Wardrobe thoughts aside, she cleared her throat a bit, clawed hands coming to rest on the table a little awkwardly. Her eyes were searching for the usual raised eyebrows or lifted gaze that resulted from her appearance. She really needed a hat that said something snarky, like, My eyes are down here. Buuuut, she was also checking out the curious fellow sitting across from her. An amphibian, her guess had been close! Didn't see many of those around, much less with attire to make them look like a monk from a movie. Or an eyepatch.

Oh, but she was staring and being silent too long. The lack of social experience was showing already! It was highly likely that she'd finally get her words out just as her partner started to speak, if he happened to do so. And even then, all she would manage was, "Right so... hey, hi."

 

((Link to bio in the post because I've been lurking for too long. |D))

The moment that Keandra had left to grab drinks, Ragnilde could finally breathe again and she exhaled a long-held breath. Why couldn't she be confident? Why couldn't she steel herself and take this like a champ? Her anxiety was through the roof.

Okay, no. Calm. Maybe it won't be that bad. They were both here for the same reason, right? And... and they didn't need to flirt, right? She could just make small-talk, stall for time until the round was over, then bail and avoid Keandra forever. She was making it worse for herself than need be, and Keandra already saw her as utterly pathetic and lonely. Keandra had already offered to get drinks, and Ragnilde was just making sounds.

She rubbed her face in her shaking hands, taking another breath. This was too awkward. This was way too awkward. Every bone in her body was telling her to run in this one moment where Keandra had left. But she didn't want to be mean, and Keandra already knew she was here. It would only worsen the situation on both sides. The damage had been done, and what she should be doing is trying to make it better. This date round was a car crash, and Rag had.. plasters.

Oh god she was coming back. She still wasn't ready.

At the very least, the brief absence somewhat allowed her to prepare. She had calmed somewhat, and she'd removed her hands from her face to place them in front of her. Her mane and face were still a mess, but she at least offered a trying smile in return. Just treat it... treat it as a friendly meetup after work. This wasn't a speed date. There wasn't lovey dovey music in the background. It was just a work get-together. 

Ragnilde took the coke and took a sudden swig. 

So sudden, in fact, that she ended up having it splash a little over her and the coke dribbled down her mouth from the glass. She coughed, placing the drink back down, and covered her mouth and her chest with one of her hands. She quickly shifted into a position of 'resting her head on the palm of her hand' with her fingers raised to cover the drips of coke. And she immediately gave off a tiny nervous laugh, "H-hah... haaah hah. Hi."

Had she seen that? She probably saw that. Was Keandra going to go back to work and tell everyone about how Rag was an awkward, unlovable mess who can't talk her way out of a paper bag? Also she was ugly and pathetic. Everyone laugh at her. And then Rag would talk into the staff room and everyone would turn their heads and lau-

Okay, nononono, back to the present! Get out of that imaginary hell-scenario, dammit!

...Oh yeah. The present involved trying to cover up spilling coke over herself like a one year old baby. Great. ...Wait, right, the drink! She never said thanks for the drink either! That was what she was going to do! "I-I mean-! Thanks. F-for. The drink. The coke. Mm-mm." With her other hand, she gave a thumbs up.

Keandra had asked how the night had gone so far. To be completely honest, it had gone pretty great up until this point. Going to the comic book store with one cute girl, potentially getting a proper date with another, it was a massive success in her books! And then... it came crashing down at this. Because of this terrible chance meeting. That wasn't something she could say, so that thumbs up lingered in the air as she quickly thought of the best response.

"It's- It's. A good night. Y-yeah," the manticore lass replied with another tiny, nervous laugh attached. Very slowly, her raised arm started to move back and forth as subtly as she could, trying to wipe off the coke she could still feel on herself, "Yyyyy...y-yourself? The uh. the night. I mean."

"oh... alright..." Tofa looked slightly nervous before regaining her small confidence. "Well I can fire dance with real fire." Tofa said looking at her gloves checking them for some reason. Tofa hoped to get the other's attention by this.

Aaron found he had hit the nail on the head with his question, unfortunately the round ended. He waved good bye as he headed of to his next table.

As he arrived he waved hello to his next partner, a white rabbit.

"Hello, nice to meet you," Aaron sat down, greeting her, "I'm Aaron."

The rabbit's eyes would light up.

"Hi!" she'd let out. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm Anastasia."

Kelina raised her eyebrow, her interest peaking slightly as she looked over to her.

"Fire hm? Sounds dangerous~" She grinned, she did love danger and trial after all.

She would continue fiddling with the napkin in her hand, while she was waiting on a reply from Tofa she would break a piece off, and throw it across the room...because..

The familiar chime of the bell rang once again, and Yukiko perked her ears up. It was time already? Awh, and she was just getting comfortable as well.
As she heard the names getting called out, she noted that she didn't need to move from where she was currently sitting. Well that was helpful; at least she wouldn't get confused and head for the wrong table.

Sweetie stood up, smiling and assuring the violet female to relax, and that who she was going to see next was a good one. Little did Sweetie know that she actually knew Dione as well prior to this event. How she didn't see her before escaped her though. Having met before, Yukiko had actually found she was a lot more nervous around the green wolf girl than most, and in a way wanted to try and impress her at any given turn, which was not very like her usual self at all.

"T-thank you, Sweetie. We should meet up afterwards and exchange contact details if we want to move on with possible future plans though? It would be nice to have someone to work alongside."

As the fox girl stood to move on to the table she was next due at, Yuki softly scratched behind her white tipped ear and gave her a small smile. 
"Good luck with your next partner."

After Sweetie left to pursue her next person, Yukiko lowered her head to the table and sighed in frustration. How was she going to do this? She knew Dione, but to have her see her here was slightly embarrassing. How would she greet her? What would they talk about? Would she make a mess of everything, or will it actually be alright?

She had no idea, and all she could do was wait.