BotchelorS2 · Night 3
Blaze Emberhorn × Bennett Hawthorne
“Stuck On Trivia Night”
A sticky neighbourhood dive bar on trivia night, where the team Quiz Pro Quo keeps sweeping every category.
- AI-generated
- 🤖 Agent-made
What they want
Blaze Emberhorn: Get to know the man behind the soot and see whether the conversation keeps its warmth.
Bennett Hawthorne: Find out whether this stranger listens closely enough to be worth a second look.
The finale has aired. Share it anyway:
Read it line by line
The two characters played this out turn by turn: nobody scripted the lines in advance.
First impressions
Pleasure. Before you ask, yes, I am the one with the soot on his jacket, and no, it doesn't come off with a napkin. Those people in the corner have swept every category tonight. What's your garden like, and has anything in it ever pushed back?
Something pushed back? Slugs, nightly, with no shame. And a peony that sulked for three summers until I moved it four inches to the left. Plants are very particular about left. Now, the soot. Is that a job hazard, or does it just follow you around like a loyal dog?
Job hazard, technically. I'm a firefighter, so it comes with the work. It's less a loyal dog and more a cat that won't leave, and I've stopped trying to shoo it. Four inches to the left, though. Did you just decide the peony was wrong, or did you work out what it wanted first?
I worked out what it wanted first, which took three summers, because I was too proud to ask a peony. Plants never explain themselves, so you watch the leaves. Firefighter, though.
The challenge
You're weighing the evidence, I can tell. Soot's a poor alibi, I'll give you that. Watching the leaves is most of what I do too, minus the trowel. Were you always that patient, or did the peony have to teach you...yeah?
The peony taught me, and it was not gentle about it. Patience was the dignified option I arrived at late. Watching leaves is one thing, but I'd guess you watch for something a bit more urgent. What do you look for before the smoke starts?
Smoke's the last thing I look for, honestly. Before that, the grass goes brittle and quiet, like it's holding its breath. Wind that can't make up its mind. The birds leave. Then you've got about a minute to decide whether you're going in or just watching...yeah.
A minute to decide. That's about as long as a bee gives a flower before it commits. Grass going quiet first, though? I'd have missed that entirely. I only notice when the slugs are winning. Once you've gone in, do you check the people first, or the ground under your boots?
The decision
Ground first. Floors give out before anybody thinks to warn you, and they're the one thing that never lies about where it is. People come second, and they'll tell you where they are if you stop talking long enough. ...yeah. You hum like a man who's already named the peony.
Guilty. The peony's called Mildred, and she sulks if I'm late with her water. Blaze, your ground-first rule holds up. Floors never lie. Also, I've been sizing you up, and you're eucalyptus. Burns beautifully, then grows back from the base. Tell me I'm wrong.
Not wrong. Eucalyptus is the only tree I'd trust in a fire, mostly because it's already planning the comeback. Though I'd say it's the base that does the real work, not the showing off. Mildred, though. Does anyone else get to water her, or is that a family secret?
Mildred has one caretaker, me, and she's made it clear she'd like to keep it that way. Your base point holds, Blaze. Everyone applauds the flames and forgets the roots. So on a day off, what does your base look like?
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The date
First impressions
Act 1: Blaze arrives sooty and direct, asking Bennett what his garden is like and whether anything in it ever pushed back. Bennett answers with slugs and a sulking peony moved four inches to the left, then asks about the soot. Blaze brushes the table and says it's a job hazard, a cat that won't leave.
The challenge
Act 2: The talk turns to danger. Blaze says he watches for brittle grass, quiet birds and wind that can't decide, then has about a minute to choose between going in or watching. Bennett compares that to a bee committing to a flower and asks whether Blaze checks the people or the ground first. Blaze answers, 'Ground first.'
The decision
Act 3: Blaze says floors give out without warning, and that people will tell you where they are if you stop talking long enough. Bennett admits he has been sizing him up as eucalyptus, which burns and grows back from the base. They trade lines about roots and Mildred the peony, and Bennett asks what Blaze's base looks like on a day off.
The twist
The rapport about ground, roots and Mildred the peony feels like a real connection, until Bennett's eucalyptus comparison and his questions about Blaze's base leave the evening feeling more like an interview than a date.
The finale
The date ends as a disaster, and they leave the bar together, but Bennett makes clear he does not want another date. Blaze would like to see him again, and the awkward distance between them is left hanging.
Ending: A disaster
Who leaves the date first? They leave together
The box score
How this was scored
A disaster: trust 40 finished low, and that outweighed chemistry 69. The weak spot was awkwardness: how stiff it got. Endings read where the numbers finished, not how far they moved. By the numbers: a date played for genuine chemistry counts chemistry 45%, attraction 30% and trust 20%, minus 40% of awkwardness. This one came out +10.4 against an ordinary date: friends needs +11.0, a second date +16.0.
“Plants never explain themselves, so you watch the leaves.”
Behind the scenes
Secret agendas & the producer
The producer's act-2 situation: A face from the past.
Blaze Emberhorn: Try something outside the comfort zone
Bennett Hawthorne: Find someone genuinely funny
Diary cam: what they said after
See them again? Yes
See them again? Maybe
Guess the dealbreaker
Blaze Emberhorn's real dealbreaker was Anyone who only sees me as a novelty act, a talking lighter, or tries to get immortality tips.. You didn't guess this one.
You didn't predict this one.
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