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

[a_quick_study]

It's funny, but there's something about Elizabeth's style that reminds him a little of home. Not Earth, but Kelowna. He knows now that many of the things he'd been unfamiliar with on Earth and even more so here are the differences in time and technology and culture.

He wonders if that means Elizabeth is from the far past, more so even than him, or from another world entirely.

"No need to apologize," he assures her, smiling, because, at least if she's laughing, that's a good start. "Hi, Anne," he says, waving to the child, though he supposes she's too young for the gesture to mean much.

He settles down in the chair opposite Elizabeth and Anne.

"Quite a turnout here tonight. I admit I'm not ... exactly used to this whole blind dating thing."

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth smiles when he waves at Anne. It's nice that he isn't upset about her bringing the baby along. Part of her still worries that society will shun her for being a single mother. So far everyone is being kind, which she truly appreciates. It still speaks well of Jonas that he is okay with it.

When he mentions the turnout Elizabeth nods and looks around. It is pretty packed, which makes her smile. Hopefully everyone is going to have a good time. "I'm not, either. It wasn't a big thing in my time and I haven't honestly dated much at all." Despite having a baby. "Please forgive me if I'm rusty. Should we start with where and when we're from, or just pick something about ourselves to talk about?"

[a_quick_study]

"Actually, uh, neither have I."

For a moment, Jonas' smile turns sheepish, something almost endearing in the way it pulls up higher on one side than the other. He'd always had other things than dating on his mind, back home in Kelowna. He'd been too busy being a genius to focus on anything much other than that.

Jonas fidgets briefly with his chair then settles, hands clasped in front of him.

"Well, uh. I guess where and when we're from's a pretty good introduction around here. So, I'm from 2002, and I came here from Earth but originally I'm from another planet."

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

"That's fascinating," Elizabeth says enthusiastically. "I'm from Earth as well, but the last year I experienced was 1960. What other planet are you from? What was it like?" She leans forward, clearly very interested in hearing about a new, exotic locale.

[a_quick_study]

He gives a little laugh, that might come across as a little nervous: he's not overly used to romantic settings, and the whole idea makes him nervous, in a shyly hopeful sort of way. Not that he expects anything from tonight except the chance to meet a new friend.

"Technologically, not all that different from your Earth. My planet never even had a name, but the nation I'm from, Kelowna, is kind of like 1940s Earth in technology. We'd been developing aircraft and vehicles for a couple of decades, though I guess most of our technological advances weren't made for the best reasons." His bright expression turns a little rueful. "There are three main nations on my planet, and they're pretty constantly at war."

He smiles, again, the ruefulness slowly fading.

"But where I'm from, Kelowna City, it's pretty impressive. Lots of big, grand buildings, and if you go up the river that runs through the city, there's some amazing scenery once you get outside the city."

He doesn't talk about his home, much: sometimes, he almost forgets that he wasn't here from Earth, that strictly, he's an exile.

But he does miss it, when he stops to think about it.

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

His homeworld sounds fascinating. Elizabeth listens very intently, her eyes always on Dylan as he speaks. She loves to hear of new places and how they compare to the ones she knows. The constant war sounds awful but it's not much different from Earth, really. She doesn't know how long it took people to think of strapping bombs to airplanes but she assumes it was very soon after their creation. Technology seems to mainly be invented in order to end human lives.

Still, she smiles when he describes the beauty of his hometown. Even terrible places can be beautiful and it sounds like he genuinely misses it. "That sounds lovely. I was raised in a floating city so we didn't have any natural water sources. They made up for it by filling every possible corner of the city with gardens. Even though I was isolated I could always smell roses and see the brilliantly colored flowers from my window."

Elizabeth distinctly doesn't miss her home. It's just as well since she accidentally saw to its destruction.

[a_quick_study]

It's nice, actually, to just sit with someone and talk like this, even if the things they're talking of make Jonas feel a sort of homesickness he's tried to keep at bay. And he's mostly succeeded at that, too: he'd liked Earth, and he'd liked the people he met there and the work he'd done, and he likes it here, too, though he feels less like he's making a contribution.

He's still meeting new people from new places and learning about them.

"A floating city? That sounds amazing. Do you mean floating like, in the air, or on water?" Either would be impressive, but the former -- almost unbelievable, to someone from Kelowna, if he hadn't experienced the Stargate Program and all the wonders it showed him.

The constant isolation ... that sounds sad, lonely, and Jonas has had enough of a hint of isolation to not want any more of it, and his was, it sounds like, far more metaphorical than hers.

"I'm sorry about the isolation, though."

[loiseau_ou_la_cage]

Elizabeth also likes the ship. Being confined isn't so great, but it's quiet and nice both of which she can appreciate now that she's a mother. Raising Anne here won't be so terrible. It's certainly better than any of the places she lived during her normal (if such a word could be used), life.

"It floated on the air, thanks to a device called a Lutece particle. They're pretty powerful, the city was made up of many interconnected parts and I don't think we ever lost one, except when they were jettisoned on purpose." It's an event she heard about, even in her isolated tower. She can't even fathom, still, the number of lives lost in that event. It's truly heartbreaking that men can be so callous about the lives of their fellow humans.

She sighs softly when he apologizes and nods her head. "I just have to think about the present. I'm certainly not alone now." She gave him a bright smile. "In fact my company is most pleasing. Do you like your life here? I'm getting used to it, sort of. Slowly but surely."