[Speed Dating, Round One]

[callofkaren]

This wasn't the first time Karen had run speed dating, and she had everything down to practically a science by now. She was going to miss watching what sorts of trouble Tony could get himself in, but there were a decent amount of people signed up, enough so that she had to split them down the middle so nobody would be overwhelmed

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[frakkup]

Not for the first or even tenth time today, Kara wonders what the frak she thinks she's doing here. Speed dating? Dating, period? She's out of her godsdamn mind. Standing in front of the sign ups a week ago, she'd managed to convince herself it'd be fun. She never dates. Since Castiel left she's rarely even looked at a man with any ideas of settling down, sick to death of them leaving the instant she's anything close to happy, but this is supposed to be fun, right? Casual. Not terrifying.

Her hands wrap around the tables edge with enough force to turn her knuckles white, and Kara peels them away, curls her fingers around her glass of water instead. Just a bit of frakking fun. Belatedly, she wonders if she was supposed to wear a dress.

[theblondsheep]

He's not interested in anything.

That's a lie, he's only interested in one thing. None of the rest, with the feelings and shit which only ever lead to him feeling worse than ever before when it turns out she's still in love with her husband or he has to steal her car to flee the city. And maybe - probably - that won't happen here. He could suddenly have better luck; anything is possible without his family around. But chances are this will end with him improvising one of those sobbing montages from chick flicks on the floor of the hut he's now staying in.

Happily, Silas jumps into these situations regardless of what he knows will inevitably happen. He can be oblivious to a lot, but he's self-aware enough to know that he can veer slightly on the masochistic side, and beyond that, that he's a fucking idiot. So he's here tonight anyway, lowering himself into a seat opposite a woman who looks less than thrilled to be here. "Hi," he grins. "I'm Silas, it's nice to meet you."

[frakkup]

Kara looks him over with wide eyes. Tall, blond, blue eyed, wholesome looking in a way that begs to be remedied. Jesus frak, this kid has trouble painted all over him.

"How old are you?" Kara blurts, too stunned to search for anything approaching politeness. "Uh, I'm Kara. Sorry." Why had she given up drinking? "I'm twenty nine."

[theblondsheep]

He has experience on his side. Not the best experience, mind, but enough to know that it's not out of the realm of possibility, no matter what the age difference. This one happens to be minuscule compared the gap between himself and Lisa; he was younger then, too. "Nineteen," he says, simply, honestly, doubtful that mentioning that he's almost twenty will do him any favors. He flashes her another smile. "Are you having a good time tonight?"

[chose]

Okay, so, "Why not?" is a decent philosophy and all, and it's great for luring nervous sorts out of their comfort zones, but on this occasion, Buffy deeply regrets succumbing to such an optimistic line of reasoning. Now seated at a table, it's all she can do not to break into a nervous sweat. There's a drink set down before her, for the most part untouched, but she entertains herself by fidgeting with the straw. It isn't until someone approaches, of course, that she momentarily loses control of the straw and flicks a few droplets of island gin in their direction.

She cringes. "Oh, that's - I'm sorry, totally my bad. I'd say I'm usually good at first impressions but this is pretty much par for the course."

[hasnobullets]

Navigating the room is an interesting exercise, a balance between the performance of Matt Murdock and the skill of Daredevil. I manage to avoid most major obstacles -- like another man, for example -- but I can't anticipate getting hit in the face with someone's drink before I even open my mouth.

Promising.

I swipe the pad of my left thumb along the droplet that's landed on my cheek, and touch it to my lips: gin. Accompanied by the nervous (if charming) babble of a woman I'm fairly certain I've already encountered, it's not so troublesome.

"Fortunately," I say, easing myself down into the chair, "this isn't the first time we've met."

[chose]

"Right you are," says Buffy, her voice affecting an air of slight awe - she never would have expected to be remembered by the sound of her voice - and then horror, for the very same reason. "Oh god," she groans, "It was my babbling, wasn't it? That gave me away? You must remember me as the girl who never knows when to shut up. And there I go again!" When she pauses, it's only to laugh at herself, all too aware of how very not well she is doing already. "Wow, I'm sorry. Hi. How are you? I promise I'm polite!"

[hasnobullets]

I smile. (Grin, really, which I'm told is rare for me. Generally speaking, I keep my teeth to myself.)

"Breathe," I suggest, interjecting only once I'm sure she's not about to start again (and even then I can't help but wonder if she'll dive right in, but find I don't necessarily mind). "It's Buffy, right?"

[lexiepedia]

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. In fact, it still does, looking at it in theory alone. Since Lexie first showed up here, her social circle has only shrunk, so much so that some days, she barely knows how she does it. To have an occasion to get out and meet people in an organized way like this would be a good thing in itself; add to it the fact that she hasn't been with any guys since Mark disappeared a good six months ago, and this pretty much ought to be perfect

[theblondsheep]

As far as distractions go - and goodness knows he needs them if he's going to keep his mind off of the likelihood that he's responsible for his own mother's murder - speed dating has just as much potential to end on a high not as it does to result in regret. (Or worse.) But if reason and experience were things that typically registered with him, Silas would have given up on all manner of interpersonal relationships a long time ago. It could be that he's an optimist at heart, or, at the other end of the scale, a masochist. Fortunately, it's easy enough not to care once the rounds actually start, his thoughts traveling to a very different place.

While taking a seat, he greets the woman opposite, giving her his best smile. "Having a good time?"

[lexiepedia]

He seems pretty young. It's the first thing Lexie thinks, an instinct she can't help. She does manage, though, to keep from outright asking how old he is, because she finds pretty quickly that it doesn't matter. This is all so well-organized that she doubts he could be too young or someone would have said something, and besides, she's no stranger to age differences, having been nearly fifteen years younger than her last boyfriend. This is all casual anyway, just for fun, and he is pretty cute. "Yeah, I think so," she says, nodding, the corners of her mouth pulling up in a smile. "I've never really... done anything like this before, so it's a little weird, but yeah. Yeah, it's nice." She holds out a hand. "I'm Lexie."

[theblondsheep]

"Hi, Lexie," he says, still smiling when he reaches out to shake her hand. She's pretty. It's not the sort of thing he can help noticing, but while it would suffice to say that just about everyone around here is unnaturally gorgeous, he's beginning to see - amid all the chaos of tonight - how each woman here tonight is distinctly gorgeous in her own way. "I'm Silas. I've never done anything like this either, but I'm new here and I figured it'd at least be a good way to meet people."

[notfaking_it]

It was funny, being in a group with two men she'd already slept with, but Lily couldn't find a single thing wrong with it either. If nothing else came of this, at least she knew she already enjoyed the company of two of the men in her group and that had to bode well for the rest of the night. Dressed in dark shorts and a tank top -- even here, she couldn't seem to break the habit of dressing in dark colours -- she'd pulled her hair back and was toying with a long necklace she'd found in the box months ago.

Relaxing into her chair, a drink on the table, she smiled as someone approached and let the necklace drop. "Hey," she said, nodding at the chair across from her in invitation, even though she knew they were supposed to sit down anyway.

[theblondsheep]

"Hey," Silas grinned, taking the seat opposite her. It wasn't often that he looked on past relationships with anything but intense regret, but tonight, he had to feel at least a little grateful for Lisa. Not that he expected anyone here tonight to be married, or divorced and still in love with her ex-husband, but as far as bridging the age gap went, he felt far less uncomfortable than he might have expected. The woman sitting across from him wasn't too much older, as far as he could tell, but the way that she carried herself and the amount of confidence she exuded, she seems younger and carefree in one moment, and wise beyond her years - in a way not entirely academic - in the next. "I'm Silas," he offered. "How's it going?"

[notfaking_it]

"Lily," she answered, resting one hand on the table, circling the bottom of her glass as she leaned forward to look at Silas. Cute, definitely, but awfully young, she thought, though that might not matter all that much. If he was here, he was likely older than eighteen, which would make her sound a little ridiculous if she said it out loud, but that was good enough for her.

"Good," she said, grinning. "So far, anyway. It's hard to have a bad night when you have the chance to meet so many new people. So where are you from, Silas? Before the island."

[theblondsheep]

"I know just what you mean," laughed Silas. "That's why I came here tonight, too, to meet people. I just got here a few weeks ago, so..." He trailed off, letting out another short laugh as he shrugged his shoulders. Then, he considered the question, and briefly, considered telling her that he was from Seattle, or Michigan, or even Iceland, as his fake passport claimed. But he wasn't Mike Newman anymore - here, he didn't have to be. "California," he said, finally. "But we - I, I was traveling for a bit before I got here. It was kind of a cross country thing, almost all the way to the east coast. What about you?"

[bothgodown]

This is a wholly new experience for Miranda. She is there because Olive signed her up and she trusts her friend's judgment. The purpose of this evening seems quite strange, yet another courtship ritual of the future that she is trying to understand. It is a new experience and despite the mess of nerves she has become she is bound and determined to make the most of it.

Fidgeting slightly in her seat, nervously smoothing the skirt of her dress as she casts yet another look around. At least the faces here are not wholly unfamiliar. A million thoughts are still whirring through her mind that she almost doesn't notice the fact that the seat across from her is now filled.

Turning her head, eyes widening at her own obliviousness and causing a blush to creep up her cheeks. "Oh I do beg pardon, I am afraid that I still find much of this to be overwhelming." She smiles a bit too brightly to make up for it. "Please forgive my rudeness."

[theblondsheep]

Silas greets her with a fond smile, one in direct contrast with the feelings called to mind with the memory of their first meeting, but he quickly puts them out of his mind, his reason for being here tonight running directly opposite to the temptation to dwell. Despite the circumstances, and the fact that he sometimes has to mull her words over in his mind a few times before he can make sense of what she's saying, Miranda did make a decent enough impression on him. Taking a seat, he found himself pleasantly surprised to see that she was his next date. "You weren't being even a little bit rude. It is pretty overwhelming, but I'm glad to see you again."

[bothgodown]

Ever so slightly Miranda relaxes, her posture losing some of its rigidness as she tucks a wayward strand of hair behind her hair. This is something that she can do, she knows that she can. It is all wild and strange and her curiosity is threatening to get the best of her, but she shall try.

It is made easier by the sight of a familiar face in front of her, even if she doesn't know him well at all. "Thank you," she says as her smile becomes a bit more natural. "I'm glad to see you again. Are you doing well? Clearly you are or you wouldn't have come here, would you? Silly me."

[theblondsheep]

"Actually, I thought it might be a good way to meet some people," he tells her, dodging the first question completely. He wouldn't have the first idea how to answer that, given that in all honesty, he really doesn't know. His mom might be dead, Stevie might be kidnapped, and Shane might already be wanted for murder. He might not have to worry about Andy if not for the fact that he's so deeply entangled in Nancy's shit that if she goes down, he'll soon follow. But he finally has what he wanted: a fresh start, a chance to go to school, a life apart from his family. He should be ecstatic.

"What about you?" asks Silas. "What are you doing here tonight?"