Mrs. Amelia Jessica Pond-Williams Cordially Invites You to Get Your Freak On {Blind Date Mixer!}

[and_she_waited]

In some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey universe where it is a perfect Saturday night and certainly not a Sunday afternoon, one can walk into a lounge out in the heart of space and see it made over with candles and linen tablecloths and red rose centerpieces. It's not anything quite as grand as what Q could do. Amy is using the romance of the room: windows looking out across the stars, soft lighting; she even has a trio in one corner playing flute, cello, and violin.

As you walk into Ten Forward, you'll see a sign which says ♥    BLIND DATING TONIGHT, 7PM    ♥ and a redhead standing by with those name tags you stick on your shirt that say HELLO MY NAME IS ______ and a clipboard of seat assignments. Not all the tables are taken; even if Amy's first go at this had been that big of a success, the woman in charge, Guinan, insisted the room stay open for other patrons. She's taken mostly the tables around the outside of the room, where there is the best view of space and a little privacy, and each of those tables has a number on it.

If your name is on her list, you'll get a name tag and a little card with your table number on it. "Here you go. The bar's open while you wait, I bribed Guinan t' have out the real stuff, so you can tell her I sent you. No gettin' carried away, though. And no funny business, you treat your date with respect or I'll have you by the ear before night's out. I'll be round if you need anything."

Once everyone's been checked off her list, she's going to settle at the bar and have a drink. Match-making's hard business, but she truly thinks she outdid herself this time.


[ooc: So for everyone who's been on a blind date before, you know the drill. You and your partner will get a card with your table number, introductions can happen there and where it goes after that is up to you! The Date Gone Wrong scenarios are here if you need a refresher. You can mingle with other participants at the bar; after all, this is all about meeting new people! Threadhop, tag around, tag someone you might not otherwise meet, have fun with it. Again, you don't have to use this post, you can make your own locked posts for your dates, but this should give you a good idea of the setting you have to work with. Amy will be close by if anyone needs her, and I will be available all night if anyone needs me! HAVE FUN. :D]

Comments

Inari Raith

[whitefoxkitten]

In an effort to meet new people and become a more active part of the community, Inari had signed up for the mixer. She was such a social butterfly, she couldn't just sit around in her room all day, and what better way to get to know some of her new neighbors than with a little one-on-one? Plus, she got to do a little people watching while she was at it. There were so many fascinating people on board, with so many stories to tell; she wanted to hear them all!

Okay, so maybe she was a little bit excitable, but that was to be expected from an empatic sensitive in a bar full of nervous, excited, and potentially intoxicated guests.

Card in hand, and began weaving her way toward her table, keeping an eye out for whomever had been given the same number. This was going to be an interesting night!

[mr_laforge]

Interesting is one word for it. Geordi wasn't really sure what to expect when he signed up for Mrs. Pond-Williams' dating service, but with all that's been happening around the ship lately and Q making the holidays seem even lonelier than usual ... well, he was up for trying new things.

Amy slaps a name badge on his uniform and sends him in the direction of his table, and once he sees his "date" he thinks maybe this won't be so bad after all. That is, if he can keep himself from stumbling over his own words. He clears his throat, and walks up to their table.

"Hi," he grins, holding out his hand. "Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge. I, uh, think I'm your date?"

He holds up the card with their table number on it, just to be safe.

[whitefoxkitten]

Inari looks up at her date, and smiles back at him as she clasps his hand. "I think so!" she says, showon him her matching card. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander. I'm Inari Raith." She has a feeling that she's going to like him a lot. "Am I right in guessing that you're one of the Enterprise natives, so to speak?"

[mr_laforge]

Boy, she is something. His grin gains a little confidence, even if he sounds a bit nervous when he chuckles.

"The pleasure's all mine, Miss Raith — uh, can I call you Inari?" he says, touching his chest. Since she's already seated he can't really pull out her chair or make any other romantic gestures, so he sits down opposite her and folds his hands on the table. "You can call me Geordi. We are, after all, on a date."

He ducks his head, and lets out another nervous chuckle. "I'm... not really used to doing this, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little rusty. Yeah, I've been with this ship since her very first mission. I'm the chief engineer, now. What about you? What is it you do, or did, back where you're from?"

[whitefoxkitten]

"Of course," she says, "Please do!" She wasn't particularly attached to her surname, she just hadn't ever bothered to change it. Too much hassle.

She smiles, offering a welcoming gesture as he takes his seat. She doesn't need to be an empath to sense his nervousness, but it certainly helps; and she does her best to project calm. "I'm an interior designer, and feng shui practitioner," she answers, "Now, I suppose I'm just exploring my options."

[mr_laforge]

"Feng shui practitioner?" he asks, with a wrinkle in his brow. "That's a new one. I have to admit, while I've heard of the practice I don't know much about it."

There are some things from history that never quite went out of style, especially from regions in Asia, which seem to have more staying power and a renewed sense of tradition.

"Exploring your options can't be too bad," he adds later. "I mean, the conditions aren't the best, true. But having the universe at your disposal must be a little thrilling."

It was for him.

[whitefoxkitten]

"It really is exciting," Inari agreed, "So much history, and culture to explore. And who knows. Maybe I'll discover an entirely new field of work that I wouldn't have thought of in the 21st Century." She didn't really know what that might be, yet, but that was the whole point. The possibilities were endless.

"Besides, being Shanghaied by some all-powerful alien is just one one many strange experiences I've had in my life. It's not so bad, really."

[mr_laforge]

Geordi grins as he listens to her talk. He likes her enthusiasm. He likes her, really, but he always seems to mess things up by moving too fast. So he nods along and tries playing it cool.

"There are many to choose from," he adds. "Not just on Earth, but on different planets where the native life and culture is vastly different from our own. You know, I know of one person who works by sounding a gong each time their employer takes a bite of food."

Okay, that's not exactly fair. Mr. Homn has many different duties, some equally as ridiculous, but that one definitely stands out.

"Oh?" he says, eyebrows arched. "What other experiences have you had?"

[whitefoxkitten]

It seemed there would be plenty of places, people, and things to learn about on board the Enterprise, and Inari looked forward to seeing some of them in person.

"Oh, let's see..." She tips her head, as if trying to determine where to begin when recounting her life on earth. "Finding out my family isn't actually human, discovering my empathic abilities, shadowing my sister on an adult film set..." She had quite a list, actually. "Oh, and this one time, I narrowly avoided being crushed by a frozen turkey that inexplicably fell from the sky."

[mr_laforge]

O-kay, he wasn't expecting that.

"Wow," he says, a little stunned at first. "You're right, I guess compared to that all this doesn't seem quite so bad... I mean different. Quite so different."

He clears his throat, cheeks flushing. After another second of thought, all he can really do is laugh. "I don't know where to begin with the questions."

[whitefoxkitten]

"Oh, yeah. It's different," she agrees, "But that's half the fun." She smiles back at him. She'd had some pretty shocking revelations of her own, over the past few years. It was hard to know how to react.

"First thing off the top of your head seems to be a good bet."

[mr_laforge]

The first thing off the top of his head?

"How about some wine?" he smiles. Conversation always goes a little smoother with some social lubricant, and once they've started with drinks they can think about meals. "And I guess, well. So you're an empath?"

His smile turns a little more sheepish. "Does that mean you know how I'm feeling right now?"

[whitefoxkitten]

"That would be nice," she says, nodding. "I don't have a lot of training yet, so I'm still figuring out my strengths and weaknesses. My family...our race...is usually able to incite and manipulate the emotions of others, and even feed on that energy, but I lost most of my powers when I came of age. There's a...a rite of passage, I guess...and I chose to forsake the family tradition."

She takes a deep breath, grimacing a little at her own vague summary of the White Court. "I don't really know much about my mother's side, so I'm just learning as I go. Anyway, I do pick up on strong emotions, especially if I'm in in physical contact with a person, or an object that has strong sentimental value or emotional significance to someone. Also...crowds can make me jittery sometimes. Like listening to static. But I can't read your thoughts or anything like that."

[mr_laforge]

He nods, and turns around to flag down a waiter. After some thought, he settles on Tulaberry wine. If she doesn't like it, they can always get a more traditional Earth wine later.

"I see," he says, once he's returned his focus to her. "Why did you choose to forsake it? If - you don't mind me asking you that."

He has to admit, he's kind of relieved she can't read his thoughts. Boy, would that be embarrassing. Still, he tries not to think about himself right now, glancing around the room instead. "Is this all right? Would you prefer to move someplace quieter?"

[whitefoxkitten]

"Oh, no. This is fine. I have some practice tuning out the background noise, so to speak." She smiles, looking forward to trying the wine, and continuing their conversation, even if it is a rather complicated subject.

"To be honest, the White Court are not nice people. They tend to look on humans as...well. Food. Not to mention any of the things my father did to my older siblings in order to maintain power over the family line. So when my brother broke the old taboos and told me what our family was really like...I left."

[mr_laforge]

"Wow," he breathes, eyebrows arching. "That must have taken a lot of courage."

He doesn't want to dig too deep on a sensitive topic, not when they only met about ten minutes earlier, but. Well. He is interested, and his expression plainly says so.

He'll let her decide how much more she wants to say, though. "So what are you if not Human?"

OK, starting now he'll let her decide how much more she wants to say.

[whitefoxkitten]

"I don't know much about my mother's side, so I could be half human. But I'm White Court Vampire on my father's side, which is basically like saying I'm half succubus." And knowing the price she would have paid--the price her sisters had paid to become full members of the Court? Inari didn't think she could have lived with herself.

"Now, I like to think of myself as what's called a Sensitive. Basically human, with extra-sensory perception."