What is Love? [Valentine's Date Event]

[fabricaketions]

It's shaping up to be another average day on the Transmigration 9. Crew members are going about their business as usual and all is (to most appearances, at least) about as "well" as things ever are on the ship.

Some crew members are going to be stopped out of the blue by impact with a force field.

"Attention Crewmen: You have been chosen to participate in an experiment!" GLaDOS's voice informs. They're not alone, someone else that was nearby is also caught within the same narrow radius. "Participation is mandatory. Please try to relax and enjoy the experience, as this will improve the quality of the test results."

Clearly this is going to be a wonderful day for science.

"You and your new scientific partner are now on a date," GLaDOS goes on. "As it would be detrimental to our study of the date experience if you were to be separated, you must remain close to your partner for the duration of the experiment. This will be enforced with the Transmigration 9 Crewman Containment Field. Prolonged exposure to the Transmigration 9 Crewman Containment Field may have unexpected side-effects. While any side-effects encountered will be documented and your desire to offer yourself to science is commendable, it is not a necessary part of this experiment."

"You will be informed when the test has been completed. We would like to thank you in advance for your full cooperation in the experiment and failure to attempt to foil it in any way."

"The experiment has begun, so you may begin dating."

[OOC: The exact details of your characters' confinement are up to players' discretion. Being trapped in a sensorium or other stationary place is a possibility, as is being stuck in a sort of roving invisible force field hamster ball that only affects the two of you. How far partners can move apart is probably subject to whatever's fun but they ideally shouldn't be able to sit on opposite sides of a room ignoring one another the whole time.

ICly the "test" lasts for a few hours and you are free to godmode GLaDOS telling them the experiment is finished.

If you would like a few tags from GLaDOS herself in your thread, ping me on this account or plurk or AIM or whatever is most convenient for you. :)]

Comments

[morphitudinous]

"Neither do I," Billy sighed. "I could have been skilled, but I didn't like the pressured environments it created."

He set about dealing little piles. "It'll work for a round or two. The only problem is cheating---certain friends of mine loved to. We had to have neutral observers ready to check," he remembered with a shake of his head.

[magnetlips]

"Don't worry, I only cheat at poker." Cassie smiled. "And monopoly."

[morphitudinous]

"How would you cheat at Monopoly?" Billy wondered, staring down at his hand. Nothing yet...pairs that might go somewhere, maybe. He'd have to ask when it was his turn.

"Do you shrink down when no one's looking and tip the die over?"

[magnetlips]

Cassie laughed. "If I had my powers when I was younger I might have tried that. My dad always let me be the banker to practice my math. Looking back I'm pretty sure he knew I was cheating and let me get away with it. Just as long as I didn't start robbing actual banks."

She looked at her hand. She didn't care too much about winning this game so she didn't bother thinking hard about any kind of strategy. It was Go Fish after all. "Any sixes?"

[morphitudinous]

That was sweet. Billy couldn't help but smile---one that quickly disappeared when she just happened to guess every card in his hand and issue a resounding defeat.

"...I don't think I like this game anymore," Billy admitted, smiling awkwardly. "Why don't we go to Hydroponics and see the grub moles? Playing with animals usually helps my boredom."

[magnetlips]

"That sounds great. Actually can we drop by my quarters first? I haven't said hi to my grub mole Pinky yet. I don't know if he's been to hydroponics lately." She asked brightly, completely oblivious to the fact that while technically on a date she was inviting a boy back to her room.

[morphitudinous]

"Sure!" Billy answered, completely missing the implications as well. He jumped up, eagerly waited for Cassie, then took off in an attempt to match her pace.

"She's really not leaving us much room," Billy grumbled. "It's almost as if the space is shrinking."

Is it? Oh, he hopes it isn't. He pulls his arms close to his sides, wondering.

[magnetlips]

"Is it?" Cassie was too eager to see her pet. She didn't slow down fast enough and her question was soon answered. She walked right into the force field, head first, and fell backwards onto Billy.

"Ow!"

[morphitudinous]

Billy didn't have a chance to answer before she discovered the truth for herself. He yelped, flopping rather messily to the ground beneath her. GLaDOS was kind enough to expand the barrier to accommodate his lying down after a brief delay where they'd been awkwardly bent over.

"...yes," he huffed, the breath knocked out of him. Oh, gosh. She was lying on top of him and he was trying not to squirm. Just how bad did this look?

[magnetlips]

The whole situation was even more awkward in that Cassie had managed to put on some weight in her recovery, and quite a bit of that had gone to her- chest. Which was now pressing against Billy.

"Crap."

Cassie tried to get off of Billy but it was hard to do that without touching him. Finally she got her hand on the floor and pushed herself up.

"Uhm, are you O.K.?"

[morphitudinous]

Just to make things worse, Billy's arm had instinctively wrapped around Cassie's waist to catch her. He held on until the jarring shock subsided, trying to fight his embarrassment. This wasn't good.

He squirmed to help her get a handhold, gently pushing her arm to give her a boost. Okay. Now he could sit up---but there wasn't enough room for both to have space. Their knees were touching. An improvement, but not exactly what he'd like.

"I think so. Just got the air knocked out of me, that's all," he said hurriedly. He knew he'd be red-faced if he looked at her. "Are you?"

[magnetlips]

"Yeah, I'm fine." Embarrassed and blushing but fine. "Sorry about that. I guess I need to walk slower." If they were an actual couple Cassie would suggest walking hand in hand to make sure that didn't happen again. They were not, however, a couple.

"I'll try staying at your side this time."

[morphitudinous]

"Right. We can do this."

That would first require getting up. Billy awkwardly pushed himself up, slowly enough to test for any barriers. He offered a hand up, then retracted it uncertainly---then offered it again. Was that bad?

"Come on. Let's just find Pinky."