Experimental First Date

"'Does anybody else feel like people just keep leaving?' -Griana Arande"Griana has a slimy first date with Talon Visk. Valdis moves in to the Greenhouse.

First Kisses
The gang is coasting on varying degrees of drunkenness and heightened emotions after the Prosperity dinner and the departure of Ora Faetris. They have little time to dwell on this, as they’re interrupted by a knock at the door. Talon Visk has arrived for his date with Griana, which she has completely forgotten about. He gives her a violet rose and offers to wait while she changes, but she decides to just put it in some water upstairs and fix herself up a little. Talon waits downstairs with the group.

Cyrine helps Griana touch up her makeup and gives her a pep talk, reminding her that just as she’s going on a date with a famous popstar, he is going on date with her. Dylan catches Griana in the hallway as she’s on her way out. She wishes her luck and explains the aggressive interaction that she and Talon had before, on the chance that he brings it up. “I was kind of rude to him, and it didn’t feel like me. [...] I’m jealous that he is taking you on a date, and I just don’t want you to hear that I was being mean or unlike myself from him. I want you to hear it from me.” Dylan vows to apologize to Talon, but is interrupted by Griana kissing her. Griana says that she’s unsure of what she wants; she likes both Dylan and Talon and she wants to see where things go. She says goodbye, leaving Dylan more confused than ever.

A Date with Talon Visk
Talon and Zil are downstairs debating who would win in a fight, a giant lion or a giant snake. He plans on bringing Griana to see a new play, “The Boy & his Bowls,” at Jester’s Dinner Theatre. He unfortunately has an unironic, deep appreciation for experimental theatre. He leads her out to the carriage, very enthusiastic about the play. The last show he saw at JDT involved blindfolding the entire audience for the full performance. They have a bit of time before the show starts and go for dessert at Little Duckling’s Delight, a tapas-style cakery spot. They get to know each other over bites of sweets. Talon was born and raised in Aeristead up until he attended and graduated from Juillibard, where both of his parents are professors. There he met the other three members of Kaos, organized by one of their teachers, and he has been touring at the same time. Griana remarks that he attended Juillibard at the same time as Franko, doing her best to brush past the awkwardness of her relationship with her brother. Eventually, they make their way over to the theatre. “The Boy and his Bowls” is an overwhelming experience from start to finish. Every cast member is on rollerskates, and the audience members are given the option to skate or go without shoes; Griana takes the skates, while Talon goes without his shoes. There is slime everywhere, and all of the seating has been enchanted to include sensory additives with certain events on stage (ie; gusts of wind, rumbling, location-based sounds, etc). They share a plant-shaped “seating pod” for the two of them, also covered in goo. The stage is filled with large bowls centered around one giant bowl. The events that follow over the next six hours are near impossible to describe.

Enter Valdis Helsing
Back at the greenhouse, Zil drunkenly tries to get the group to play a game of Uno. They are interrupted by Dylan entering and spilling the news that Griana kissed her. The group discusses the shock of the situation until a knock is heard at the door; Valdis has arrived with a duffel bag to move in as the team’s new second caretaker. They exchange pleasant introductions, and Valdis excuses herself with a drink to go review paperwork in her new room. The group privately feels that something is off with her vibe, but can’t quite put their fingers on what. Mavis retrieves more wine from the kitchen despite being banned, and they all continue to hang out late into the evening.

Cyrine checks on Valdis periodically throughout the evening. Valdis discloses that the Prosperity trial the next day is scheduled to be the same as when Cyrine competed in the gauntlet. They both know that it wasn’t the easiest task, but so long as the group isn’t horrifically hungover the next they should be able to take the win. Valdis asks a few more questions about the dynamic of the group: who the leader is, how well the rest of the group listens, etc. Cyrine sympathizes that the team change must be difficult for Valdis without Savka, and leaves her for the evening.

Second First Kisses
Talon drops Griana off after the play concludes around 4AM. He says she’ll have to get used to a lot of sleeplessness if she wins the gauntlet, since hero teams tour through all of the provinces after they win. As their conversation lulls, Griana takes the opportunity to bring up what Dylan told her earlier. She explains that she feels honored that both he and Dylan feel so strongly for her, but she isn’t ready to choose between two people. “I just think that maybe I need to be with myself.” Talon understands, and says that she doesn’t need to choose. She appreciates this, and expresses that she would love to be friends and under normal circumstances he would be her dream guy. Seeing in his eyes that he has gotten this exact let-down speech many times before, Griana tries to reassure him that she’s just not in the right headspace for dating. She initially tries to leave by kissing him on the cheek, but ultimately panics and kisses him. He leaves her for the evening, and once he’s out of sight Griana begins to cry.

The Boy & his Bowls
Excerpts from the show:


 * Act One opens on The Boy skating around the rim of a bowl and saying, "I can't stop spinning."


 * Act One concludes with The Boy smashing a bowl on the ground and looking out to the audience. "And that's when I knew I was adopted."


 * The beginning of Act Two features the sound of a baby crying, while the interactive chairs rock the audience like infants.

Trivia

 * Talon got Barry to be their carriage driver for the evening by complete coincidence, not realizing that he and Griana know each other. Talon and Barry share the same morning coffee route and have become good friends.


 * The logo for the tapas desert restaurant, Little Duckling's Delight, is a small duck in a chef's hat, holding a whisk and a tray of muffins.