A beautiful mage, clad in a long formal dress, traveled the cobbled streets of Torinelo at night. Her steps, small but hurried, betrayed her inexperience at walking in her current footwear. As she turned a corner, she made a black and gold handbag appear from thin air, taking a square of cardboard before it disappeared without trace.
She stopped at the front of an ornate, two-story building, with a white marble sculpture in front of a decorated entrance of the same material. Said statue showed a detailed depiction of a rocky outcrop beaten by waves, and a peculiar animal grinning as it prepared to take a jump: a flatfish.
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Ilaria had arrived ten minutes before eight at The Grinning Flatfish, she didn't want to risk being late. She showed the invitation in reception, being immediately ushered towards the elevator that would send her to the private lounge.
She couldn't help but pacing in her place as the elevator moved. She felt she had been roleplaying in easy mode so far.. True, Diana and Kyle didn't suspect her at all, but both of them were as inexperienced treating with females as it comes. The Speed Dating event was her ultimate test.
As she heard the sound of the elevator stopping, Ilaria took a deep breath. She pressed the button, opening the door to a breathtaking roof terrace under the clear, starry sky of Torinelo City. All along the edge of the building there was a thin wooden roofing, with two-person tables placed underneath.
Woah, this is amazing.
“Hello!” exclaimed Wanora, approaching Ilaria in a long-sleeved navy blue dress with a white scarf.
Ilaria walked into the dark parquet flooring, the sound of her heels barely audible under the soft string music. The Guildmaster had her arms wide open; Ilaria sighed to herself and hugged the taller girl in lieu of a greeting.
“I'm so glad you decided to come,” said Wanora, materializing a white handbag. “We don't have too many guild activities; this one is a chance for you to make your guild debut.”
“Yeah...” said Ilaria, crouching in her purple gown.
“Here it is,” said Wanora, pinning a nametag on Ilaria's breast.
“To speed up the introductions, everyone has this nametag,” said Wanora, pointing towards hers. “It has your name, class and level. That way if you're only interested in nabbing a good exp date partner, you can check out your compatibility at a glance.”
“I see,” said Ilaria, reading Wanora's nametag. She was a level 50, as expected... “Are you a rogue!?”
“Yup; wanna have a drink?”
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“We even have free drinks, this event is really fancy,” said Ilaria, sipping a strawberry mojito.
“Yeah, and the best is...” said Wanora, getting closer.
“You can't get drunk in Virtual Connection.” whispered Wanora to Ilaria's ear.
“Hmm... Wouldn't it make drinking pointless in the first place?” asked Ilaria, crooking her head.
“Nah, it gets you to the mild buzz state and then stops. It's magical!” exclaimed Wanora, taking a chug of her drink and leaving the empty glass on the bar with a clank. A tuxedo-clad attendant made the show of taking it away. “Another vodka greyhound, please.”
“What's that?” asked Ilaria, looking at the pale yellow drink.
“It's just pomelo juice with vodka,” answered Wanora, smiling. “Wanna try it?”
“Okay,” answered Ilaria, taking the glass in her hands and sipping the cocktail.
“It's bitter,” said Ilaria, frowning.
“It's an acquired taste,” replied Wanora, happily sipping her greyhound.
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“Shouldn't you get back to welcome the participants?” asked Ilaria, still nursing her first cocktail. “It's already eight.”
Certainly, it was already the time for the event. Even so, there were only Wanora, Ilaria and the bartender in the whole rooftop.
“Don't worry, you were the only newbie tonight,” said Wanora, smiling while holding her third greyhound. “Johnny's arriving 15 minutes late, or so he says.”
“In the guild chat,” the Guildmaster added, noticing Ilaria's confusion.
“So it's like that,” said Ilaria, scowling. She hadn't opened the guild chat yet–she didn't know how to–but making everyone wait for just one person was grating to her.
“Don't mind it,” said Wanora, laughing. “He's the one paying for the venue; we need to be accommodating, don't we?”
“I guess...”
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At 20 past eight, Johnny had finally made his appearance. He entered the room strutting with confidence–a tall guy in a shimmering violet tuxedo–with a way too perfect smile plastered in his face. There wasn't a podium, nor mic stand; but everyone recognized instantly that he was man of the day.
“Everyone, welcome to Torinelo City Workshops' Speed Dating Club!” exclaimed Johnny. He tucked his shoulder length almond-colored hair behind his ears, as if showing off the golden highlights that couldn't possibly be natural. “For the new ones, I'm Johnny, an officer of the guild and the host of this event.”
“Tonight we have 12 girls and 11 guys, so Wanora is sitting out this time. Such a pity for her fans,” said Johnny, glancing towards the bar; where Ilaria was with the Guildmaster.
“Is it ok?” whispered Ilaria.
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“Don't worry; I'm here just for the free drinks.”
The speed dating event was going to be managed by private message, organized in the background with something called dateBOT–probably a script running in a secondary display.
Each participating girl would first get a table number, in which they would be sit for the duration of the event. Guys would get assigned to a random table at the beginning and then rotate clockwise when the time's up. Since there were eleven guys, she would get to meet everyone once.
Soon after Johnny's presentation, the pop-up appeared in front of Ilaria's viewpoint. Table number 5.
The mage said her goodbyes to Wanora and got to her table with a little trepidation. She discreetly checked out the girls nearby; they were kinda cute but none a match for her current image. I can do it.
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“Hello, nice to meet you,” said a short guy in a blue blazer and jeans, before sitting in front of Ilaria. “My name is Roberto; you can call me Rob.”
“Hello Rob,” said Ilaria, lowering her gaze, and taking a glance at Rob's nametag by chance.
“Yeah, I know,” said Rob, showing a forced smile. “It's really hard to get a steady date partner as a male mage.”
“It wasn't that,” said Ilaria, stifling a laugh. “This is my first time speed dating ever; I just don't know what I'm supposed to do.”
“You don't need to worry,” said Rob, taking a gulp of his rum and coke. “For starters, I'm pressing Yes after our time's up, no matter what.”
“That's reassuring,” said Ilaria, looking at Rob's eyes. “You know what? I'll do that too.”
“Woah, I might have broken the system,” said Rob, laughing.
“Maybe,” said Ilaria, smiling. “I'm Ilaria, by the way.”
“Nice name, very original,” said Rob, taking a glance at Ilaria's nametag and deflating. “I would like to get a regular DD partner, but most girls want a warrior.”
“You got it tough,” said Ilaria, taking a sip of her drink. “I did date a mage once.”
“How did it go?”
“Not too well,” answered Ilaria, laughing. “But we were beginners; I think now I would do it much better.”
“I'd like to take you up on that,” said Rob, not hiding his hopefulness.
“We'll see...”
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Following Rob, Ilaria speed-dated a couple of high-leveled guys. They were mostly agreeable, but it was easy to realize that they weren't that interested in dating a low-leveled mage. Even if the level 20 date was the only one available at the moment for experienced players, it did make sense to date with someone close to your own. She didn't put much effort either, looking sideways from time to time, towards the real motive of her participation.
Here he comes.
As soon as she heard the ring signaling the end of the current round, Ilaria turned to her right, catching Johnny standing up from the table next to hers. He raised his head, Ilaria quickly looking down, resisting the urge of glancing at him.
“Hello Ilaria, welcome to the guild.” said Johnny, with a perfect smile on his face, as he took the seat in front of her. She hadn't been able to see his eyes before, they were of a clear, golden color.
“Hello,” replied Ilaria. She was still taken aback by the fact that he used her name.
“Sorry, I just knew it,” said Johnny, with a twinkle in his eyes. “There's only one new girl tonight, and there's no way I would forget someone like you.”
“Thank you.”
She forced herself to lower her gaze–those eyes were too eye-catching–immediately regretting it. The guy was wearing a tie-less white silk shirt, the top three buttons undone.
“I'm Johnny, by the way,” said Johnny, raising his glass and drinking.
“Yeah, I know,” said Ilaria, smiling despite herself.
“Are you having fun tonight?” asked Johnny, leaving his drink in front of him. It was violet colored, resembling his tuxedo.
“Yeah, Wanora told me you are providing for the venue,” said Ilaria, sipping the last of her mojito. “That's very kind of you.”
“It's my pleasure; I've got more golden hearts than I can possibly spend alone,” said Johnny, smiling. “You can get a new drink directly from the table, just press the button on the right side.”
“What are you drinking? It looks really pretty,” asked Ilaria, pointing towards the pale violet cocktail on the table.
“This one is a color-changing martini,” answered Johnny, swirling his glass.
“Color-changing...” said Ilaria, confused. “Is it magical?”
“It could be; you should check it yourself,” answered Johnny, winking.
It was irritating how he could manage to do such a perfect wink; a normal person would look stupid if they tried.
“Alright; it's free anyway,” said Ilaria, pressing the drink order button.
A four-button display appeared in front of her, named: reorder, favorites, keyboard input, voice input. She pressed the last one and said: color-changing martini.
Her empty glass disappeared from the table, a martini glass filled with a deep blue drink taking its place.
“It's blue,” said Ilaria, dumbfounded.
“Yup, as it should be,” said Johnny, stifling a laugh. “You see that small pitcher?”
“Yeah...” said Ilaria, just noticing a little jug filled with a pale yellow liquid next to the glass.
“Pour it over,” said Johnny, looking amused.
“Okay,” said Ilaria, pouring the pitcher's contents over her drink.
As the liquid mixed with the glass contents, violet swirls started to appear, slowly turning it into the violet cocktail that Johnny had.
“Hmm, so this is the magic,” said Ilaria, a little disappointed.
“All the drinks in this place are real life replicas,” said Johnny, taking a sip of his drink encouragingly. “I first saw this one in a cooking show.”
Ilaria raised her glass to her lips–the drink smelled faintly of alcohol and lemon–and took a small sip.
“Tastes like diluted cough syrup,” said Ilaria, frowning after swallowing the liquid.
“It isn't for everyone,” said Johnny, laughing.
Ilaria was getting flustered, fidgeting with her fingers along the side of the table.
I'll be damned...
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“That one's good too,” said Johnny, as Ilaria voiced the name of her new drink.
“And it tastes nice to boot,” added Johnny, winking conspiratorially.
Ilaria had decided that she couldn't force herself to finish her violet martini, ordering a blue Hawaiian in replacement. The drinks were just bits of data, so she didn't feel guilty about throwing an almost full cocktail down the metaphoric drain.
“Ahh, much better,” said Ilaria, sipping from her blue Hawaiian.
“Indeed,” said Johnny, leaving his sky blue cocktail on the table.
“Really!? So you don't even like it!?” exclaimed Ilaria, completely flabbergasted.
“Well, if you think about my image, wouldn't you say 'a violet martini just suits him'?”
After the drinks switcheroo the mood had completely changed. Ilaria asked Johnny to tell her of an embarrassing story as a punishment; yet he wasn't fazed, and she got into it despite herself.
“And then, Wanora stuck the gargoyle's head down the salamander's throat,” said Johnny, mimicking with his hands.
“Did it work?” asked Ilaria, excited.
“In a way,” said Johnny, showing a self-deprecating smile. “We didn't get wiped out by the salamander's fire breath...”
“But...” said Ilaria, prompting Johnny to continue.
*ring*
“Time's up,” said Johnny, flashing a winsome smile.
“I hope we get to talk again soon,” continued Johnny, doing another of his perfect winks before taking his leave.
“...”
→ *Do you accept to exchange contact information with Johnny334?*
→ YES