XX Squared [SVR]

[Amalea]

The red-head wasn’t entirely sure what had possessed her to sign up for the Saint Valentine Roulette. But the night for the event had arrived to find her wandering through Thornside Park waiting for the event to start. She had to hand it to the organizers, though. They had outdone themselves with the number and variety of activities available; if someone couldn’t find something to do, then they didn’t belong here! The stand heaters were a nice touch given the crisp winter air.

Given the earliness of her arrival, she snagged a cup of hot chocolate before finding a suitable place to people watch. Even at this point, there were quite a few people milling about though she had to wonder if all them were here for the Roulette event or if they had just come for the festivities. Based on her own experiences, she suspected it would be the latter. The dating scene in the city was a ***** to navigate on a good day, especially for someone like her.

At the appointed time, her phone beeped, signifying the notification from the app hosting the event that her first match was ready. Opening the app, she was surprised by the name; she wasn’t sure if there would be other ladies to be matched with. Clicking through, she scanned the woman’s photo so she had an idea for whom she was hunting down. A moment was taken to quickly look through their profile for anything that would be off-putting or raise a red flag. Satisfied, she flipped back to the event portion of the app so she could follow the cues that would lead her to her mark.

Weaving through the crowd, she dodged various other patrons who weren’t paying attention to their surroundings. She’d heard that love was blind, but it wasn’t meant as blind to one’s area. It was likely a good thing that none of the offenders matched the image she was seeking, otherwise she would have turned and walked away. She didn’t do that type of rude. A few moments later, her app beeped again to signify she was in the right place. Indeed, there was a blond before her. Smiling, she held her phone up slightly, ”According to this, looks like we got matched up this round.” She paused a moment as she slid her phone into her pocket so she could offer her hand, ”I’m Amalea.”

[Starla]

W E A R I N G

“Hm? Yeah, sure. Go ahead. You’ll live, promise. Unless it’s a serial killer you’re paired with,” the small blonde chuckled lightly, taking her hand from her phone to first give her childe a playful swat to her side as she retreated from their seat, and then swept her hand toward the table, taking up her Cosmo for a quick drink, setting the empty glass aside.

The woman turned to her phone again, then, her brief absence hardly noticed. Already, whatever effect the alcohol might have had was ebbing, its calming symptom evaporating as her phone chirped and whistled to the likeness of the famed droid, Artoo, a small icon popping up in the corner of her screen as she tapped at its center, making quick work of finishing up a quick exhibition of CS:GO. A few moments more, and the match was finished, the application closed as she swapped from one app to another, from game to the dreaded PerfectMatch app.

She still couldn’t believe that she’d allowed herself to be forced into online dating.

She’d sworn she would never do it, that the day she was so desperate that she resorted to the internet for a date, that she would swear off dating. And yet, here she sat, staring at the face of her match, tapping idly through her profile as she waited where she sat.

It wouldn’t do for her to go searching for this woman, as small as she was. She’d be lost in a small throng of people easier than most. They would pass right by one another. At least this way, she was stationary, and easy to find, and would know the face of the one looking for her, at least. She lifted a hand and tucked a stray lock of golden hair behind her ear and straightened her back, the warm glow of her golden eyes swept across the suddenly living crowd as people slowly meandered from one tent to another, or out and into the open, where they would find one another.

She smiled, seeing some of the pairs light up upon seeing one another, and could only hope for the best for herself; could only hope that this wasn’t as awful an experience as she expected an online hookup site to really be.

Her match, it turned out, was relatively skilled at following directions, at the least. She was slipping past a small group of couples that were beginning to disperse from their place around the perimeter of the tent she had set up shop in, much sooner than she had anticipated. She had slipped her own phone into her bag and moved to stand when the woman approached. She glanced up at the woman with the fiery red hair and she smiled her best smile, taking the hand that was offered in a gentle grip. “Amalea, I like that. I’m Starla, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”