bakerstreet | (no subject)

(no subject)

The game is simple, really. Two truths, one lie. Can anyone guess which one is which?

» POST with your muse and their two truths and one lie.
» RESPOND to others guessing which is which.
» HAVE FUN calling people out!

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[ Will recalls a conversation with a ~~crush~~ colleague and friend, one where he'd been told 'You just don't seem like you date.' He'd been only mildly offended to hear it, mostly because he understands why she thought that - he doesn't do this. The small talk thing. Definitely not the small talk-about-dating thing. That's so very close to gossip.

--But that question veers right off from that and goes straight into the unexpected. Will blinks at her, startled into looking her right in the eye. ] Um.

[ His alarm scatters into confusion and then consideration, all of them tinted with something too wounded to be called annoyance. ] No.

Everyone's always-- changing their expectations to fit what they have access to. I think most people could end up with-- a lot of other people.

It's a survival instinct to settle.

[ Living (and loving) in a milieu where dating is short-lived and most relations play out on a one night basis, Mattea knows about lowered expectations, though maybe she wouldn't have called it something which sounded quite so sad. To her ears, at least. She watches him quietly for a while, the silence stretching out between them, some might interpret it as a sign of her having taken offense, but it isn't. She just -- ]

I've never thought of it that way, to be honest, but it does ring a bell, fits the picture... [ She smiles, just a quirk at the corner of her mouth. ] Most people don't desire loneliness, maybe we'd really rather desire others a bit more aimlessly. To fight it off.

[ Will nods, short and sharp, although he keeps a warily surprised eye on Mattea. Not a lot of people agree with assessments like that, but she fills in the frame he'd outlined, clearly understands what he means. ]

It's not-- I don't think it minimizes all possible relationships. I just think that people are so caught up in not being alone that they make up fantasies when reality doesn't work fast enough.

Fantasies and games with weird rules to abide.

[ She imagines him talking to Sacha or Rosalie - actually, she suspects that Rosalie and maybe Lizette would agree with him, but Sacha sure wouldn't, she'd sing songs of freedom, dye their shared hunt in different colors to make it look more appetizing than it really is. Though, Mattea suspects he'd understand that as well. ]

Maybe it's a talk we should continue when I know your name.

[ An indirect way of asking, she knows, but he strikes her as a private person, he might not want to give it away so casually. ]

Sounds like humanity. [ His grin's a bit off-kilter, but it's there - a quick flash of teeth before he fades back to baseline.

...And then down a little further and sideways, temporarily disarmed by the indirect question. ]

That's-- fair. [ And a bit smoother than how most people would ask. He nods, a bit jerkily, and his hand twitches like he knows he should offer it but is trying to avoid that eventuality. ] Will.

...and you?

Mattea.

[ She gives him her name easily and without complications. Then, she ventures back into the waters that they briefly left for the most basic of introductions. It's an interesting debate, she doesn't get to be so apolitical and in-depth at the same time very often. ]

I'm glad you think it's a humanity thing, though. It's reassuring. I've heard often enough that it's a mentality in the gay milieu and with the way life plays out at the bar, sometimes I forget myself and actually believe it. That we're not meant to settle down.

[ He gives that some thought, her comment that it's a well-spread concept that it's exclusive to gay circles. ] I think it's common enough to find desperate or lonely people in any kind of bar. [ ...But. He can sense that it might not be his place to comment, that he's never stepped foot in a club, gay or otherwise, but it's got the scent of just regular people on it so heavily that he finds himself churning up concepts already. ]

But I think anything that shrinks your dating pool, or makes it...dangerous to try to find partners, is going to change the atmosphere. People make different decisions when the stakes get higher.

[ So statistically speaking...maybe it's a rumor rooted in some unfortunate truths. ]

[ Why does he make so extremely good sense to her? She allows herself the silence for a prolonged moment, lets the wordlessness stretch into true appreciation of his point. Oh, she thinks he might even be right. When the stakes get higher, sometimes the logic goes out the window, becomes something wilder and less restricted. These little deductions of her own make her grant him a true smile in return, she shrugs one slender shoulder and says: ]

It's not the whole truth, I hope with all my little heart, but I'm pretty sure you've tapped into part of it. [ A slight pause, then completely void of sarcasm or edge. ] You genuinely strike me as the bright kind, Will.

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