[IC] New Years Festival: Flirting Contest

[Mysticsage]

Kryas

Kryas blinked somewhat taken aback upon setting eyes upon his partner, "An apple,". He stifled a chuckle well I suppose a game is a game however, I apologize if I lay on my compliments may b a bit too sweet like caramel. We'll see whose flirting can bare fruit as it were he smiled.  He could sense that the apple had some kind of magical nature to it and while the exact details piqued his curiosity he was not that forward of a man this was a flirting contest after all he had a responsibility to his partner. 

"So how are the kids?" he asked after a moment realizing that he might be seen as rude to his partner, "I hope none of them have decided to become bad seeds." he continued to talk to the fruit as if they were old friends who had not seen each other for a long time. complimenting on its choice of glossy coloring and how the apple looked flush with the beginning of the new year. He did the usual asking questions about its family tree who the little seedlings took after the most. He painted himself a picture of a young mother who wore red gloss she had probably joined the contest on a whim he thought looking to test her own luck and see if she could have a lunch date with a handsome young guild member. She''d be a bit tart and cheeky full of the sweetness of life but was committed to her own roots and just wanted a good time to step away for a moment. He could over her a good laugh at least.

if i need to roll anything let me know

Serena

Serena looked at this Pinky with his Cheshire grin and smiled back brushing her hair to the side as she said, "I'm flattered the organizer himself is my opponent, but don't think that means I'm going to go easy on you now. Oh it seems like your enterance has gotten your hair out of place she said brushing a hand across his check to place a hair behind his ear. She was leaning in close to him then only a few inches apart took a moment to linger let the tension build then suddenly sit back with a wink and a small giggle.

"You'll find I've had practice dealing with incorrigible flirts before and have picked up a trick or two," Serena let herself relax a bit still chuckling at herself for allowing her half elven companion into this whole affair. "So Pinky why if I may ask did you decide to do a flirting contest for this year's festival of all thing? To be fair you have gotten my curiosity peaked." She sat forward to show interest but crossed her legs to create a physical distance between them.

[Linwelin]

You must be joking... Vladimir thought to himself as he stared at the pillow across from him. He looked around the room, noting the other contestants' partners were just as strange. They seemed to be jokes aimed at the participants' personal lives. That thought was confirmed when the gnome nearby screamed and jumped away in terror, flipping the table while he was at it. It's a joke alright...and very few here were laughing. Well, Maeve is an exception, it seems. Is...is that a mirror?

Now that the shock was wearing off, Vladimir stared at the pillow across from him. Is it Maeve because we've been around the festival together? I otherwise have no real attachments to her. Why Maeve? If their goal was to upset me, there are so many others from my past they could have chosen....Ah. No one would know of those individuals here. Seems their investigation into our pasts wasn't exceptionally deep. Good.

Vladimir sighed while he continued to stare at the pillow, still having not spoken a word. So what do I do? I can try to leave and forfeit, but I imagine that'd go over poorly. But I can't talk to a pillow. I was expecting an actual partner to speak with... It was then that Vladimir noticed that plenty of "objects" there seemed to be sentient. Maybe the pillow is the same?

What have I got to lose? Oh, right, a bit of dignity. Well, may as well TRY to enjoy myself.

Vladimir steeled himself, then finally smiled. "Good evening, milady. I must say, this lighting gives your skin and hair such a soft look. I admit, it's quite stunning, and gives you such a warm and comfortable air. So why has such a silken lady as yourself come here?"

[Nyuko Nyun]

That luscious red hair. Those strong bulging biceps. That familiar grin. Nyuko couldn't help but stare at the person in front of him. It looked very much like Golas, but it was a woman. The cat-boy blushed furiously, yet he couldn't heep his eyes off of her. Her eyes had the same intesity as the original, and Nyuko found them to be captivating. He gulped, momentarily forgetting that he had to flirt with the female Golas. Beneath the form-fitting leather armor and red cloak she wore, were lean muscles. Nyuko didn't have enough sense with him to look for the real Golas, so captivated was he with the person in front of him. The resemblance was uncanny, and Nyuko began to wonder if this was actually the same person or not.

The cat-boy stared at the Golas-woman's chest, more than a little suspicious. His blush reducing, he stared at the two large jugs triumphantly.

"Those aren't real-nya!"

[Golas Rorn]

The large man kept watch as the wisps of smoke dissipated revealing their targets they they had to flirt with. He quickly glanced at the rest of the 'companions' that were summoned for the contestants. Almost all of them were inanimate things, but he did notice one particularly beautiful red-haired woman sitting across that cat-boy. He half a mind to switch seats, but it didn't take Golas long to understand the gist of it all. A moment later he began to laugh his deep and boisterous laugh.

"BUAHAHAHAHAHA!" He roared as he stared at the meat golem in front of him. He vividly remembered a previous meat golem he had encountered before in the city, so he had at first instantly recoiled upon seeing this creature in front of him. But the moment that deep and succulent aroma assaulted his nose, he paused. Immediately the large man stopped laughing, and almost unconsciously, licked his lips.

He didn't know whether to actually try to win in this ridiculous contest and flirt with it, or simply eat it.

"You have soft hands... milady." Golas began, picking up and holding the creatures hand - it was a succulent brown, not to mention it looked so very soft. Golas had to agree it was cooked to perfection.

All of a sudden he bit into it.

Flirting with it, or eating it?

Golas had no regrets.

He chose the latter.

[Fellow Rabbit]

Still need a post from Aion and rolls from Aion and Hawke.
This contest will be ending on January 10th, 2016 regardless.

[Fellow Rabbit]

Pinky Parks

'Yeeeesss, Pinky is very pleased!' The event host himself was growing enraptured with the way the night was progressing. The participants almost immediately began displaying their charm to their partners, each in their own way, despite the awkwardness of some of their targets. Granted, the gnome did end up completely bailing the competition screaming about some war that he must have been a part of, but even that was more or less part of Pinky's plan. Now he could be sure the gnome's unpredictability wouldn't cause problems later on.

Without a moment's hesitation, Pinky turned his attention to the lady he had paired himself up with. Serena, her name was. He had to admit she was attractive. If this wasn't merely a contest he may have considered for a fleeting moment he would have a chance with her. But only for a moment, before crushing the thought between his fingers and putting all his efforts into matters far more pressing at the moment. Here and now was perhaps nothing more than a way for him to divert his attention and relieve some stress by watching people try and gain the appreciation of objects and creatures that couldn't possibly return the sentiment. Then again, even this "distraction" may aid him in its own way.

It occurred to him Serena had begun speaking. He thought he would be able to focus easily, but before he realized she had already flirted at him, she was already reaching at him with her hand. He fought the urge to flinch, knowing she most likely meant him no harm, and relaxed a bit when he realized she was only fixing a hair that had gotten out of place as he teleported to the table. How clumsy of him! She probably thought he was some kind of disgusting slob! Oh, this couldn't be happening! He had to do something! Could he escape? No, he had already promised a prize to whoever won. Going back on his word would only seal his fate as the most deadbeat man in Ternadan. A bead of sweat ran down his brow as his eyes darted around the room. He began to observe the reactions of the other flirting partners in the hopes of finding the proper response to having to have someone else fix his hair.

What he saw was not helpful...

Eric (perhaps the least prepared for his partner) didn't even try to see the situation from her point of view. The cannon, in all it's pain, let a tear run down its barrel. It appeared glum; miserable even. As if its entire world had suddenly come crashing down. It was all it could not to just curl up on the floor and die, but what it ended up actually doing was probably worse. It visibly held in its grief for as long as it possibly could before losing all control. Fountains of gunpowder tears poured from its eye sockets, creating an unsightly mess all over the floor. It howled in agony as its very meaning for living soared out the door like a criminal from the authorities. It's sorrow quickly grew, engulfing the cannon until it finally exploded in a brilliant flash of fire and smoke, disintegrating instantly.

The clown he had paired with Callista didn't appear to be faring well, either. Pinky prided himself in creating accurate depictions of real-life people and creatures, but this clown's confusion and implicit offense was certainly not the demeanor he had aimed for. It seemed unhappy that it was being laughed at, though it was clear in Pinky's mind that a clown should relish the sound of another being who has taken joy in their presence. Clearly there was a miscommunication. The clown was visibly opening himself up to the fairy, but all he got in return was ridicule. Uninterested in going on trying to woo the creature he was created for, he pulled a string attached to his hip, after which he rapidly inflated until he popped like a balloon.

Golas had apparently misunderstood the meaning of the contest. Despite the eating contest having taken place an hour earlier, this man had opted to sink his teeth into the delectable, savory meat he was presented with. This, Pinky supposed he should have seen coming, given who he had prepared the golem for. He had to admit this was not the outcome he intended. Nevertheless, the meat golem took the misinterpretation much better than anyone else would in its position. It actually blushed at first. It continued to look into the man's eyes, growing more and more unsure of what it should do in this scenario. After a fleeting moment, panic began to grow in its pungent juices, mounting with every bite until it had no choice but to yank back what was left of its arm, squeezing the bitten-off end with its intact hand. If its lungs weren't cooked to perfection, it would be able to scream. Moments passed, the golem grew still, and then it began to bulge outward. It continued to do so, in fact, until it swelled beyond its own capacity and simply burst, launching slabs of meat in all directions, but not so far that it could reach another table.

Nyuko perhaps wasn't old enough to be able to flirt effectively, which Pinky thought amusing at first considering he and Serena herself were the only ones lucky enough to be able to flirt with living, breathing, human partners. It seemed to go well at first. Nyuko appeared to be able to catch the intentional resemblance to the man he had been following for most of the day. He seemed enthralled by the sight of a female version of him, blushing like a child and perhaps excited to have what Pinky believed to be the catfolk's first love interest. But it quickly went downhill when the catboy noticed one of the more obvious details of the woman's body. Her face grew red as her own hair and she was visibly fighting the urge to slap the boy for his comment. Instead, she raised her hand in dismissal.
"That's it, I'm leaving," she said hurriedly, and she promptly burst into flames and disappeared into the smoke from whence she came.

Hawke had opted for a different approach to the contest, albeit just as straightforward, if not more so. It was easy to see the lizard creature's interest in the human before her. She had perhaps the most stately and dignified approach to her partner, although the unblinking stare was slightly off-putting. She politely awaited a response, containing her elation for being given the chance to have a candlelit dinner date with the man of her dreams, despite said man's visible awkwardness given the situation. But what she heard next was like a shard of glass through her heart. She knew she didn't have much time left, but still the man before her had opted for bribery rather than even attempting to create a relationship with her. Tears welled up in her eyes. Money and a cut of the prize was no gain to her. All she desired and all that she lived for was none other than Hawke Argento, but she had been plainly rejected. One of tears in her eyes broke free and slithered its way down her face. She put her head in her hands and began to cry.
"Where did I go so wrong?" she cried. She couldn't bear the pain. It had to end before more of it welled within her. There was nothing left to do here. She took one last look through her fingers at the man she could never have, let the image linger for a moment, and then disappeared amongst a brilliant fireball.

'My, my...' Pinky thought, 'So much rejection. Yeeess.' All of this he had seen at about the same time. None of the partners lasted for longer than a minutes or two before they expired. Thankfully, the others seemed to fare fairly fair in their endeavors.

Maeve had been the next contestant to catch his eye. At her table, she flirted so fluidly at her own reflection that Parks had no doubts she was well-practiced. Talking to herself, though she technically was, she answered each witty remark with another, mounting in sheer cleverness with each exchange. The tiger lady even managed to build the relationship further after pulling her make-up kit out and doing some touch-ups. Pinky hadn't seen a flirt like this since before the war. Maybe she was the best for the job? It would certainly be a major feat to top what she had just done.
A moment passed and the mirror let out a heart emoticon in a thought bubble above its head to express its affection. But the bond was perhaps too great, for the mirror began to grow red. Heat, perhaps? Parks was unsure his of his creation's capacity for love, but now he was beginning to fear it had reached its limit. It shook uncontrollably, looking as though it were caught in its own personally earthquake. A hairline crack stretched across its surface, spreading quickly throughout the rest of the reflective material. Then, in such a short time, the mirror shattered completely, frame and all. Shards of glass and splinters of eloquently-decorated wood dropped to the ground and lay there in a pile, lifeless; mere fragments of its once-beautiful existence.

Then there was Vladimir. The only one lucky enough to be given a truly inanimate object to try and woo. He was even smoother than Maeve, taking his abundance of flattery beyond her fantastic performance. Puns for humor, compliments for adulation, questions to build a relationship, and genuine cultivation that came straight from the heart. Vladimir was a natural - perhaps even more so than Meave. Parks was pleased to see such a marvelous performance. It almost made him wish he had indeed put a little animation into the pillow, if only to make the printed image of Meave in a bathrobe blow him a kiss of approval. That was perhaps an idea that Parks would have to save for a later uniting moment between the two.
A seemingly extended awkward beat followed Vladimir's remarks. He was perhaps waiting for a response from the body pillow, but alas, he would receive none. The tension grew like the population of rabbits without predators. Parks could swear he even saw a bead of sweat on Valdimir's cheek. And then... The pillow burst into flames.

And - finally - Kryas, whose unparalleled powers of charm left even Pinky in awe. The only other two contenders with flair - Maeve and Vladimir - may as well have pointed out the pimples on their partner's faces compared to this guy. He had taken it to places Pinky didn't even think possible. The apple itself seemed somehow shocked as Kryas went on as if his unmitigated charismatic excellence just flowed from every pore on his body. It grew more and more red with every word, every alluring glance, every captivating gesture the man made. He had the apple practically swooning into his arms before he had even finished his first sentence. The apple blushed, clearly struggling to contain itself in the face of such a bewitching coquette. It shed a leaf from its stem and began to glow brighter and brighter. So bright, in fact, that the red light it exuded actually became audible. And then it happened. The apple exploded, launching huge chunks of itself all over the marquee. Once they landed where they were going to land, every piece ignited, though somehow without damaging the material that made up the tent.

"Aaahaaha..." Pinky chuckled quite nervously, turning his gaze back to his own flirting partner just in time for a giant chunk of apple to land right on the side of his head. By this point, Serena had finished what she had to say. Parks managed to detect that she had asked a question somewhere in there, but with most of his attention focused on gathering methods to react to her flirting, he had no idea what question had been asked.

"Uuheheh, yes?" he finally replied, looking at her questioningly. He knew he had failed his own test. Granted, he wasn't going to get a prize anyway, but he still graded himself on the same level he graded each of the entrants. He would have had to put himself somewhere in the bottom half of the group at this rate.

But there was good news! He had to put himself in such an awkward situation no longer! He had gathered the data he needed! And now he could move on to phase two of his big plan! He looked Serena in the eye, put both his hands over one of hers, and fought the urge to scream as the ignited apple chunk burned the side of his head.

"Serena! Eheh... The time has come! Yes! We must go on without each other!" Without missing a beat, he stood up from his chair, saluted nothing in particular, and then disappeared into a cloud of smoke, along with the remains of all the flirting partners he had provided in today's competition.

Then the event fell silent.



"You have all pleased Pinky! Yeeesss!" a voice finally called from somewhere else within the tent. "But only one can take the prize! Only one has shown they carry it! Yes, the POWER! Ehehahahahaha!"

Fireworks suddenly exploded from everywhere around the stage. Flashing and spinning and bursting in colorful choreographed patterns, interacting quite nicely with each other, but also leaving the stage full of smoke as they dissipated. The figure of a man began to materialize behind the smoke, growing more and more clear as he stepped forward, until finally he stepped in front of the smoke, his arms held up and out like he was a popular person just entering the building. His whole uniform had changed, this time so something much more professional.

"Laddies and gentlefolks! Eheheh! Pinky gives to you..." he paused for nearly a minute while another wave of fireworks went off in the background. "The third place winner of Pinky's competition. It is Maeve Gallagher! For this performance Pinky rewards to you 500 gold pieces! Yes! But don't you leave just yet! Pinky has more to come!" He revealed a big bag of coins from his jacket and tossed them perfectly to the table Maeve was sitting at. It opened just right to show Maeve the treasures held within.

"And in second place for Pinky's Flirting Contest..." Yet another wave of fireworks lit themselves off in the background, this time all leaving trails of smoke in their own color. Rainbow smoke filled the stage. "Pinky reveals Vladimir Ludwik! Eheh! For you, Pinky parts with his very own Pyxes of Redirected Focus! Yes! Pinky trusts you use it wisely, yes? Pinky has placed it in the chair in front of you."

"And now for the moment Pinky has been waiting for! Pinky's first place winner!" A gigantic wave of fireworks lit up in the marquee, leaving sparkling trails of fluorescent smoke in every direction. They grew in size and majesty until one final one filled the establishment with glowing fiery butterflies that flew around ever so gracefully. Pinky had spent nearly half his life savings on that one. He was glad to see it worked the way the wizard had told him it would. "Pinky is most pleased to give you Kryas Windsel! Yeeesss! Pinky is very happy for you! Pinky had no idea you loved apples so much! Eheh! For you, Pinky is more than happy to grace you with his prized possession! Yes! His very own autographed Cautionary Creance! Treat it with respect and it will carry you beyond your wildest dreams!"

"But wait, there is one last gift Pinky must give! The most important of all, Pinky thinks. Yes!" He reached a hand into his inside coat pocket and held it there for a moment. "Pinky has searched long for one worthy of carrying this honor. Here, Pinky sees two! And they work so nicely together. Yes! Hand-in-hand, Pinky might say!" He pulled forth his hand and held it high above his head, in it was the shard of a mysterious crystal, about fives inches long. A small glow emanated from the shard's center. It seemed to have a longing of its own.

"Pinky bestows this gift of greatness upon the two who call themselves Maeve and Valdimir! But the only way to truly win it over is to prove yourself, yes. 'But how?' Pinky hears you think. Pinky cannot help you. Maeve and Vladimir will know when the time comes! A single gemstone could bring you all together!" The event host, tossed the crystal into the crowd. It spun through the air, arcing along its expected path all the way up until it reached the point directly between Vladimir's and Maeve's eyes. There, it floated mid-air and would wait until one of both of them picked it up.

"With this final gift, Pinky says farewell! May the paths of you and Pinky cross in the future! Yes!" He snapped his fingers with an outstretched arm and the whole marquee began to glow. "Pinky is counting on it..." he said lowly to himself.

Then the entire event location disappeared, tent, tables, fireworks, and all. The contestants were left standing and sitting on the ground where it used to be.

• All participants receive 200 exp and 1 New Years Festival Competition point.

• Maeve receives 300 exp, 6 New Years Festival Competition points, and 500 gold.
• Vladimir receives 400 exp, 8 New Years Festival Competition points, and 1 Pyxes of Redirected Focus.
• Kryas receives 500 exp, 10 New Years Festival Competition points, and 1 Cautionary Creance.

• Maeve and Vladimir both receive Pinky's Unidentifiable Crystal Shard to share.

Waiting on Throndir to update character sheets and create survey.

[Ella]

Callista Fae

Callista had continued laughing as she and the clown sat there, failing to notice his discomfort. When suddenly reached down and pulled a string, her laughter died and her eyes got big with wonder. What was this? Was it going to be some sort of trick? A funny act to make her laugh more? She was not sure she could take much more; her sides were starting to hurt from laughing so hard. Very quickly, he inflated, as though he were a balloon and someone was blowing him up with a speed like no other. Once again, she could not contain her laughter. How amusing! An illusion that he was a balloon!

"Hahahahahaha!" She clutched her sides and fell over from her overwhelming need to laugh. She was so caught up in her moment of laughter that even when he popped, the faerie thought it was still part of the act.

She must have still been in her own little world of laughter and joy all during the announcements, for she did not stop again until she found herself falling to the ground and the entire tent and its non-human contents gone. A stranger might think that she was a child who had too long of a day and needed to be sent to bed. Rather than throwing a tantrum like some children, her tiredness may have gone to her head and made her silly. Even those who knew her a little bit might think she had gone a little nuts from attending as many events as she had that day; probably thinking that she had overexerted herself. The few who saw her the most often would know that she was always this full of laughter once something triggered it. The problem was, turning the switch off. Everything would be funny to her from here on out until someone or something found a way to put a stop to it.

Even now, after taking a  brief moment to acknowledge the situation, the faerie in child form flopped back to the ground to laugh at her newest circumstances. She was sure there was somewhere else for her to go, but it was good to let out a good long laugh now and then, and Mother Nature knew it had been a while since she had had a laugh like this one.

[Throndir]

Survey here, fill out when able: http://kwiksurveys.com/s/zEM0rV2p

[Linwelin]

Nothing... Vladimir thinks, staring at the now-certainly inanimate pillow depicting Maeve in a bathrobe. This confirmed he was the only one to receive an actual non-sentient object. And between the flying meat and apple bits, coupled with the screams and laughter, he determined that this event had to be the most chaotic of the festival.

And then, the pillow burst into flames.

Vladimir shielded himself, then blinked a couple times, looking around in confusion. Was that good? Bad? Then, finally, the gnomish coordinator spoke.

Maeve got third for flirting with herself in a mirror, as he had expected. But the second place winner was a complete surprise to himself. "Me...?" Vladimir pointed to himself, then looked in the chair across from him to see his reward. "A Pyxes of Redirected Focus." He turned the container over in his hand momentarily, then sighed. A cleric's item. Useless for me. Why do the gods insist I deal with everything holy in nature? I'm already a victim of necrotic magic, and yet I get no respite. Well, enough complaining, it's worth something, and I won.

As expected, his silver-tongued roommate took home the prize. Kryas Windsel had this in the bag from the beginning. But Vladimir was surprised once more, his mouth parting slightly in surprise. Having just used a string of puns himself, his mind was able to pick up on a few hints Did he just suggest Maeve and I as a pair? And offered a gemstone? Gods, do you truly wish trouble on me to this extent? Maeve detested undead, and was quick to violence. The moment she uncovered Vladimir's condition, he would be on the run the rest of his life in one way or another.

And yet, that gemstone, shining brilliantly, flew and hovered between the two of them. Vladimir met Maeve's gaze in mutual surprise before walking over and reaching out to the stone, taking it in his hand. Nine hells, I've been in worse situations. Let's see where this choice leads.

[Fellow Rabbit]

Poll results (200 exp for each winner)

Best Post:	Maeve and Golas
Best Overall Roleplay:	Maeve and Vladimir
Most writing improvement:	Hawke
Most Character Development:	Maeve and Nyuko

Waiting for Throndir to update sheets.

[Fellow Rabbit]

Eric Whittock

The cannon roared a mighty roar of power as Eric made his escape. The gnome knew that it was doing it merely as a show of dominance. He was still in range, which meant he would still be a target. Even the crates he dived behind probably wouldn't provide much cover, but he had hoped it had somehow lost sight of him before he hid.

He lay there for a good minute, quivering in fear and guarding the back of his neck with his hands. He heard an explosion. The enemy was more bold than he remembered, having already infiltrated the town and now systematically destroying his friends. Had they no sympathy for the innocent? What could Ternadan possibly have done to them to warrant such an occupation? Something had to be done!

But Eric could do anything. Another explosion rang out, followed by several more. There was screaming and crying hear from within the tent. Was he the only one that was able to escape? And was he such a coward that he couldn't go back in to help his friends? Maybe he was. He wanted to go back and start laying down the law, but he couldn't bring himself to move.

A moment passed and the tent fell silent again. It was then that his worst fears had been confirmed: they were all dead. He felt a tear roll down his cheek, but still he could not move. All he could do was lay there, face to the ground, preparing for explosive fire, while he wondered what had really happened inside that tent.

But then he heard something different. Explosions, yes, but not the same explosions as last time. No, these were fireworks! And he could hear the faint voice of the event host! Had they won the battle? He lept to his feet and peered over the crates he had taken cover behind. Through the entrance to the marquee he could see parts of the contest. There wasn't a single scratch of damage to be seen! No signs of explosives. No deaths. Not even an overturned chair!

He couldn't understand. Eric knew something had happened in there. There had to be some kind of invasion! He dared step out from his cover to take a closer look, now standing in the entrance to the event. Another wave of fireworks went off. They had to be celebrating some kind of victory. They must have just won a battle, right?

One more wave of fireworks, this time much more spectacular and showy than the last, lit up the tent. With butterflies. Eric was confused, but the fireworks had actually served to calm him down considerably. Enough so, in fact, that he had a much more peaceful reaction when the event location began to glow brightly.

A moment passed. He merely took a few steps back so he wouldn't be caught inside the tent when whatever was going to happen happened. And then it all disappeared. Tables, smoke, tent, event host, and everything else that wasn't the people he went in there with. Somehow that had calmed him down as well. He knew that the battle was over.

They had done it! They defeated the enemy with hardly a struggle! The thought was very satisfying. He sauntered up to the victorious bunch, puffed out his chest, adjusted his pants, and looked up at the nearest individual next to him, who happened to be Hawke.

"I'd say that went pretty well, don't you think?"

[Ella]

Maeve Gallagher

It seemed Vladimyar had finished by the time Maeve had remembered that she wanted to see how he handled the body pillow with the image of her painted on it. When she turned to look at him, he seemed to be watching his 'partner' expectantly, as though waiting for some sort of reply. 'Silly man.' She thought and turned back to her own 'partner'. 'Expecting a pillow to reply.'

She continued flirting with the mirror when the little heart suddenly appeared on it. The tigress was unsure of what to think when she realized it was now also cracking. 'What?! Why? How?' Things were going so well and yet it was breaking? Did this mean bad luck? Was she going to suffer from seven years of bad luck? Unsure of what was going on and what to do, Maeve looked around. She felt somewhat relieved to see that other 'partners' seemed to be suffering the same fate as her beloved mirror.

Then, Pinky started announcing the winners. How he knew how well they did was beyond her. It was unfathomable how she could only make a mere third place with all of her talent and practice over the years. Still, five hundred gold pieces was not a bad prize compared to the other prizes. To hear that Vladimyar got second, it made Maeve REALLY want to know what he did.

The final prize the contest host had to present confused Maeve. How could the two of them win the same prize? Now, Maeve enjoyed her time with Vladimyar, but who was to say if she would still be here when 'the time comes'? She was a traveler, and unless something happened to cause her to stay here, she was bound to wander off eventually. Of course, they could always decide who would get to keep the crystal later. That way, there would not be any problems later when it was time for them to bid farewell.

The tigress felt uncomfortable when everything suddenly disappeared in a poof. It took her a moment to recover and she found herself staring at Vladimyar without realizing. He seemed to take their eyes meeting as an okay to take the crystal from where it floated. That was okay with her.

She rose from the ground on which she had landed and moved to where Vladimyar stood. "Well... I have to say, I have never been in a flirting contest before, but this one was definitely not what I expected one to be like." Looking at him slyly, she added "I'm afraid I missed what you said to your 'partner'. Perhaps you can try it on me later." She winked.

[Linwelin]

Vladimir rolls the gem around in his hand before looking back up at Maeve. "Neither have I, but I'm almost certain it wasn't normal. That Parks...he's a strange one." From her next statement it took a bit to not be flustered, if anything he was becoming jaded to the constant, blunt flirting. "I was flirting with a pillow, Maeve. They're hardly worthy of reuse. Especially not on one like yourself." Vladimir winks back at the tigress, then after a moment and a smile, looks back to the gem.

"So what do you suppose this is?"

[Ella]

Maeve Gallagher

Maeve opened her mouth to push more, but thought better of it. Of course, whatever he said must have been worthy enough to get second place, above her own score. That meant he either was embarrassed by what he had said and was glad she had not heard or he did not like to reuse lines very often. Either of which, she was flattered, considering it was not just a pillow, but a pillow with her image on it. She smiled back at him.

Looking down at the shard, the red-head shrugged. "A crystal shard? We can go see that old guy we went to earlier and see if he can figure out more about it?" She really was at a loss about the shard. Such things were not what she usually dabbled in or paid much mind to during her travels.

[Linwelin]

Vladimir had flashbacks of the interactions with old man Cayne only hours before, this time actually getting flustered as he remembered his 'play' with the man. Vladimir made a light, embarrassed chuckle, "Seeing him so soon after our last visit...I hope he doesn't plan to keep up the act. But, you're right. We should head that way to find out what exactly this gem is." Vladimir pocketed the jewel, then motioned ahead of himself, toward Cayne's stall while looking back at Maeve. "Shall we?"

He really wasn't sure why they were both awarded a single prize, but considering the setting in which it was granted, Vladimir felt a little unsettled. As though, like his personal prize, he wasn't going to like the outcome.

Moving this to Cayne's shop so the mission can be closed out.

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