[ORP] Speed Dating - Seeking Mr. Right or Lady Love! [CLOSED]

[shortcutt]

"Oh my god, Punkachu..." Creme shook her head and groaned, hurriedly apologizing to Shockstar for her mother's aggressive behavior. "I'm so sorry, she can be really inconsiderate of other people sometimes, but I swear she has a good heart. She means well, even though she doesn't always sound like it."

The mare was rather pleased when Shockstar and his kitten were eager over her handmade goods, her cheeks flushing a little as she watched. It never got old, seeing the joy on someone's face when they ate her confectionaries, and it was doing wonders for curing her misery. Just as soon as she collected her ingredients for the White Russian she was about to make, the stallion was pulling them from her hooves, setting them down, and then--

Banana Creme's breath totally left her.

Shockstar's arms were around her, pulling her close in a hug, apologizing to her for something that was out of his control. For a moment, she froze, and then in the second following, her chest felt like it was swelling with emotion, and she had to fight to keep the tears out of her eyes again. Contact was nice. Very nice. And when Shockstar pulled back, stuttering, she could hardly register his embarrassment over her own desire to do that again.

After a second of trying to process what the stallion was trying to say, she blinked, turning to get two glasses to mix the White Russians into. She made a quick pour of them, silently sliding a glass to Shockstar, looking up at him as she leaned forward over the table to hover over her own drink. "Cheers... To um. To shitty nights and much better after-parties." She gave a small smile, eagerly waiting for her friend to take a sip so she could watch his reaction. Just for his benefit, she put much less vodka into his glass, but it certainly wasn't gone from the drink entirely.

@Fealine

[cursedwanderer]

Paws looked over the chicken like phony with a tilt of her head, he seemed a bit shocked to see her.  He was alright though, which meant she didn't need to go tell someone off about being mean.  With that pressure off her the mare relaxed instantly. 

Play knight in shining armor?  Well she did that all the time!  Just not in the way this stallion likely imagined it.

"Well of course!"  She huffed, places her hooves on her hips.  "Who would want to play as dirty wimpy serf?"  The mare cracked a grin.  "I dress up like a hero at least monthly, but if I can squeeze in another con or two in I jump on it!"

With a laugh the mare pulled out her cell phone to show off some of the pictures of her different get ups.  "This one is me as wonder woman, this one is when I dressed as half of Kindred (my friend went as the other half), and this one is me when I went as Huntress!" 

"Oh, but where are my manners!  Do you like to dress up?"

@Gl!tch~

[Fealine]

She hadn't said anything?

Sooo maybe he hadn't just done goofed?

He didn't feel any more relieved though. He really just wanted to see her smile instead of being so worked up and well... hugs usually helped him. Especially Encore hugs, her little purring vibrating was just the best thing ever!!

However, she went quickly to mixing his drink and he couldn't back out now, especially not after that so he took a deep breath and reached out with his hoof to shakily scoot his glass closer to him. "Oh right, cheers?" he said, smelling the drink first. It wasn't like anything he had ever had before so he sipped at it gently at first. The taste wasn't.... too terrible actually. Kind of sweet but with a strong almost burn of an after taste. His eyes went cross eyed a moment and he swore he felt every drop of it slide slowly down his throat before he was able to finally take another breath.

"Woah...." was all he could say at first, a small smile creeping up over his muzzle.

@shortcutt

[shortcutt]

And there was the grin. He'd pulled it out of her.

"You like it? It's my favorite, y'know. It tastes like melted ice cream once you get past the initial alcohol burns. The more you drink, 'n all that..." Banana Creme swirled her own drink before taking a healthy gulp, her cheeks lighting up from the sweetness of it all. "Mm, pairs well with... 'Rons." Turning away from the table, she stretched out to the counter she had been working at before the night had even begun, grabbing an undecorated almond macaron. Carefully, she took a small bite out of it, humming with delight.

"It's so good. You really ought to..." Creme blinked at the partially eaten treat in her hoof and turned to offer it to Shockstar-- Not to hand it off to his own hoof, no, but to feed it to him directly. That was what she did with all of her nieces and nephews anyway. It's how she fed her family. There was no reasoning left in her hazy head as to why this probably should be embarrassing, and not a great idea to offer with a friend. She didn't even know how he felt about sharing food. Right now, she didn't even care, insisting that he eat it as she pressed the macaron to his lips. She just wanted to see his delight again. It warmed her right to the core.

"Open up~" she sang slightly. "Promise you'll like the um... uh... combo! Yeah, combo."

@Fealine

[Yasha]

The unicorn leaned against the wooden frame of the booth, arms folded in front of him. He took a breath. Honestly shocked that she was taking the time to talk to him. What a whirlwind of emotion. This was all so strange. He felt his shoulders relax as she explained what she did for a living. "Damn. That is quite the versatility. Sounds like influencer status. Why do you take on so many projects versus just having a niche?" He noted. It sounded like she didn't have much time to herself. Perhaps she preferred to stay busy. Time was money after all.

"You'd want me on your stream? I don't think I made the best impression this evening.... besides I like hiding behind the screen of my blog." Was she actually interested in seeing each other again? His tail gave a flicked as he panicked at the thought. Well it made sense professionally. Bringing him back would probably drum up some buzz.

"Hmm. Weirdest food.... That is pretty subjective. Things that would be weird to us might not be weird in other parts of the world. Insects. Brains. Durian..." He gave a shrug as he mulled over his answer. "I suppose one of the strangest food for me was Pidan or the Century Egg. It's a fermented egg, vile looking. It's black with a green yolk.  Kind of sour. Kind of creamy.... Honestly it wasn't too bad and with some hot chili oil I might even say good."

"Psssh. The radio DJ? I'd bet she loved the drama. You can say it was a PR stunt or some shit." He chuckled as he scanned the room.

"You should go over there and network. That's the reason you are here tonight... not to talk to a pig like me." He said looking back at her with a smirk.

@cursedwanderer

[Fealine]

He hardly had time to think and clear his head of the alcohol before a treat was being shoved in his mouth.

Blinking curiously, Shockstar did his best to focus on Banana Creme. He wanted to ask her something, anything but the treat came closer and closer to his face. He made a few mouth closed gasps before finally gave in. "Ah Baa--MMFMAF." he finished as the treat was shoved into his face. He chewed it eagerly, it did taste good, but the fact she had just fed him like a child was still a bit......strange?

Did she see him as a child?

Something about that thought made his tail droop. "Its really....good?" he said, a bit shifty eyed as he took his glass and took another sip, the same spinning head reaction happening and he wobbled a bit. "Oooh..."

@shortcutt

[shortcutt]

Okay. Maybe she shouldn't have done that. It was forceful, and BC never wanted to be forceful, but here she was, unable to think before making important decisions like, oh, say, feeding your friend from your own hoof. Dammit. But at least he'd said it tasted good...

It seemed as though Shockstar was beginning to feel the weight of the alcohol-- Wait. She hadn't put that much alcohol in it, had she? ...Had she?! Hurriedly taking a drink of her own White Russian, she made a horrible inhaling noise, realizing that she had accidentally pushed the phikachu boy her stronger drink instead of the baby drink she had made for him. ...Best not make a fuss and scare him. She would just watch him carefully and make sure not to let him drink too much. That was simple enough, right? Right.

"You, ah... You doing okay, Shockstar? Do you need a chair?" Banana Creme inquired, half slumping on the table as she took another sip from her baby beverage, pouting a little that it didn't have near as much alcohol in it that she wanted. Not that that was a bad thing right about now. She really didn't need more. Any further, and she'd absolutely make a fool of herself in front of her cute friend. Something about him just made her want to baby him, but also, like... You know. Get another hug. As soon as possible. That had been so nice. What in the hell did she have to do to make that happen again?

@Fealine

[cursedwanderer]

"I do have a couple assistants, but yes, mostly myself," she said, head bobbing along.  "We of course allow cremation services, but the standard burial usually does involve embalming.  In terms of transportation into Phonyland it depends on where they come from.  Some counties require that the body already be embalmed before travel, but not all."

Heavenly gave a dreamy smile as she listened to him.  "Reduce, reuse, recycle!  Your family is really into it.  That's very admirable.  I admire all your resourcefulness." 

"Do they ever have stories?"  She asked, gazing at the handsome stallion.  "The stuff you find I mean.  Like...  A battered old doll that looks like it's seen lots of love, with initials embroidered on the dress.
I bet you see lots of old items with interesting stories.  Old treasures that were forgotten and got tossed with the trash."

@Syrcaid

[cursedwanderer]

"Well, I sort of started out in a niche with the ASMR.  That is definitely my bread and butter.  But, doing the same thing all the time is exhausting and really sucks the fun out of it.  Plus coming up with new stories to whisper or items to rub on the microphone everyday...  Well at some point you start running out of stuff."  Hush grinned, becoming a bit more animated.  This was her thing and she did it well.  "The researched segments are really my passion project.  I get to talk about what i'm interested in and learn about new stuff.  I have a small team that I pay to help me too.  They help with research and stuff like moderating the chat.  When I have guests on we usually are more focused on specific topics that we all know about.  For example, I love to eat food and you like to talk or write about it.  So, if I were to have you on stream that would be the obvious choice of topic." 

Damn, food.  All that arguing had really sucked the energy out of her, she could use a recharge.

"You know what," she glanced towards the bar.  "I'm gonna order something.  Do you want something?  My treat, since you got me the water bottle and all," she blushed.  That had been nice of him and totally unexpected.  She would never of imagined he would come over and talk to her after all that.  If he had been a chatter in her stream she would of blocked him and she imagined he would of blocked her.  How totally, utterly bizarre.

"Ohh, Century Egg.  I saw a GooTube video about them once.  I think I've got you beat though," she winked.  "I've had chocolate covered shrimp on stream and no it was not a concoction I made myself on a dare, i bought it in an actual chocolate shop.  They were prepackaged and everything.  Also way too expensive for something no one but me would buy."  Surprisingly, it wasn't even half bad.

"Of course I'd want you on my stream," the mare cooed.  "You're evidently not completely terrible" she teased.  "And the viewers love drama.  You just have to know how to keep a healthy balance.  Too much negative drama attracts the wrong kind of viewer."

Hush was all smiles for moment, confident he'd be disgusted by her food choice and hopeful he'd accept her offer.  Then he suggested she talk to Shrill X instead of him and brought up some of her less kind words from earlier and the alicorn made a face like she'd sucked on a lemon.

"Ah, well..."  She tucked her wings against her sides and fidgeted with her hair, her confidence collapsing inwards.  "I did also say you were pretty attractive."  She gave a small cough and cleared her throat then quickly pushed herself up from her seat, "But since you'd rather I leave you alone, even though you were the one who came over here, I guess I have no choice but to abandon you to get a basket of fries, which are way too big for just one person, and share them with Shrill X.  Whom, might I add, is already preoccupied with a dance partner and likely not interested in eating at this time.  She probably won't believe me either when i say it was just a stunt.  I saw what faces she was making."

There was a small pout on Hush's face as she lingered a moment beside the table to see if he'd stop her.

"If she was the person I wanted to be talking to right then I wouldn't be here right now," she said quietly.


@Yasha

[Fealine]

Shocktsar grinned.

He threw up a hoof in mock thumbs sigh and laughed. "I feel great!" he grinned, blinking rapidly several times before glancing at his glass. He frowned at it and looked inside. "I don't... fffeel ushed to this. I am shhorry." he said then decided to just down half the glass because why the heck not? It tasted good and these things made BC happy so he should also be happy!

He swallowed, licking and smacking his lips as he glanced at BC.....annnnd the other BC? Wait a minute... "When did... you get a shister?" he asked confused before the two BC's turned back into one and he mades a shocked face, wide but small round black eyes, open O shapped mouth. "That... was school. So um... do you fffeel better now? I don't mmlike my friiendsh being sad." he shook his head, shaking away the woozy feeling. Man he was a cheap drunkachu.

Slowly he slunk to the ground, butt first, front legs holding him up still as his bolt shaped tail stuck out sideways at an odd angle.

Encore glanced at her trainer before back at Banana Creme and let out a confused but...maaabye amused trill?

@shortcutt

[Syrcaid]

"Absolutely, but a lot of them are very sad.  Things left behind, things people couldn't bring, and things from hoarding situations," Regrind piped up again.  "The saddest thing to find are unopened Christmas cards, even whole gift boxes from birthdays that never happened or were suddenly cancelled.  We do open them, check for cash and valuable toys.  I mean, waste not.  But we try to look up SOME of the names to see if they'd like to reclaim.  Salvage rights are strange things, too.  We pay a fee to Phonyland, mostly taxes, to claim salvage."

Regrind's second mocktail arrived and he sipped it before going on.  He really liked the dainty little garnishes of fruit peel and the tiny umbrella.

"A lot of times, it's cheap plastic toys.  You know, the stuff you can buy by the bucket at a major department store chain at the dollar bin.  Buuuuut, I've got ideas for those I'm going to try to make work.  Not every idea is cost effective."


@cursedwanderer

[Yasha]

Expired nodded along as she delved into some more details about her streaming. It was nice to hear the method behind the madness. It was starting to make more sense, but he was still curious why she felt the need to have such a big internet personality. "So ,why such a dramatic character in front of the cameras? Is that what people want to see or did you create her?" This alicorn before him was so much more vulnerable and likeable, well in his opinion... He guessed that others might want to experience Hush Money as the amazing, untouchable, stunning idol type. "So any old embarrassing videos of you out there when you first started on Gootube?" He said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Chocolate covered shrimp... And you didn't make it... You were able to purchase such a concoction...with money??" It was like he was having a system error trying to put the two flavor profiles together. What a world they live in. "That's amazing and now I have to try it. I'd say that is article worthy."

She invited him to have a late night snack with her and he realized two things. One, he could certainly go for some food. Two, he wasn't holding her here against her will. She actually wanted to continue to talk to him?? His heart rate escalated at the thought. 

As Hush playfully mentioned leaving and stood up at her seat he made the rash decision to block her. He darted in close, taking to moment to even realize what he just did. "No... Uh-Fries are fine with me..." Expired, a lump in his throat as he stood his ground. It was a strange feeling to be this physically close to someone. The pleasant warmth emanating off her, drawing him in.  The two of them sharing soft shallow breaths. He felt the need to jump back, but suddenly she was at his ear with a whisper. It sent chills up his body, leaving the fur, up his spine, standing on end.

"I didn't exactly answer your last question earlier... I think you are one of the most stunning creatures I have ever laid my eyes on." He stared into her soft golden eyes, just stunned at the turn of events this evening. Expired stayed for another beat, but all too quickly pulled away. He clapped his hooves together awkwardly, trying to break the tension. "So French fries? Yeah, sounds great..." His heart beating hard in his chest as he tried to recover himself. What was that?? It wasn't normal to yell at someone then feel chemistry right?? He was at a lost. 

@cursedwanderer

[cursedwanderer]

"Oh...  That really is quite sad.  I'm happy to hear you try to reunite them with their owners though.  I can only imagine what situation would cause for gifts to be left unopened."  The carousel mare closed her eyes, while the stallion had suggested cancelled parties, she could certainly imagine some sadder stories that may of led to their being tossed.  "You're the heroes to those with lost gifts," she said with a sad smile. 

HB watched the stallion sip his drink with interest.  "Well now, you really can't just tell me you have grand ideas for this misfit toys and not tell me what they are?  At the morgue, when it's winter, we glue little loops on spare baubles like toys to use as Christmas ornaments for the tree in the viewing room." 

@Syrcaid

[cursedwanderer]

Hush stiffened a bit as he brought up her past.  "People like to watch big personalities on GooTube.  If you don't have something to say and if you don't say it with passion then you're just going to be lost in an ocean of other streamers." She laughed nervously, tucking her hair behind an ear.  "I'm sure there's some cringy stuff archived out there.  Not that there isn't recent cringy stuff you could find clipped, like tonight for example..."

The mare relaxed at her place beside the table once the conversation circled back to snacks and she was quite pleased by his reaction to the chocolate.  "Yep.  It was a candy bar, it cost around $12 and it wasn't even very big.  The shrimp were little baby ones that were dehydrated.  It actually sort of complemented the chocolate with just a hint of umami and crunch."  She smiled and looked down at her hooves.  "I also have a chocolate bar with mushrooms in it back at my house, but I haven't tried that one yet."

Hush felt a light breeze and suddenly the stallion was standing so close they were practically touching. The creme colored phony let out a small gasp, heart suddenly racing and confidence wavering.  It'd been a long time since someone had been so close within reach to her, normally the bodyguards made other people keep their distance.  She hadn't even hugged anyone in years.  The most physical contact she'd had was handshakes during business deals. 

The mare stood there for a moment, frozen, before her eyes wandered over the stallion beside her.   The crystals in his hair lent him an ethereal air and his purple fur looked soft.  Up close he was even more handsome than he had been from across the table.

Then he said those words and she thought for a moment she was dying.  Emotional roller coaster indeed.

"Oh."  The small word barely squeaked out of her before Hush turned red from tip to toe.

"Y-yes, let me go get those...  Fries."  She slid past him, heading towards the bar to put in their order in almost a daze.

When she got to the bar she blurted out "Can I get some fries please!"  To no one in particular, cheeks still colored scarlet.

What was she doing?  She needed to recover her cool.  Think Hush think!


@Yasha @HopelesslyPretty ((hope you don't have to reply if don't want to   ))

[Yasha]

Hush quickly left the table to go order some fries from the bar. He stood there watching for a moment. Was she feeling as frazzled as he was? At least she was leaving on better terms this time. But he wouldn't blame her if she would make a quick turn for the bathroom to climb out of the window. This was all...a lot to handle.

Expired sank into the opposite side of the booth. It felt good to finally sit down. He exhaled deeply. Spending a few minutes to finally let himself decompress. He collected his thoughts, and went over the whole night again in his head. It still didn't make sense, but he was willing to accept that.

'Wow, what a night...' He thought to himself and took another swig of his water.

@cursedwanderer