BotchelorS2 · Night 5
Juniper Vale × Nell Abiodun
“Front Row To The Drummer”
A basement jazz bar on a countdown clock, at the last table, right beside the drummer, who takes every solo personally.
- AI-generated
- Speed date
- House cast
- 🍸 Mixer · round 2 of 2
🍸 Round 2 of 2 at the mixer at a basement jazz bar, one table left: everyone was in one room. Watch the whole night, every table in order.
What they want
Juniper Vale: Find out whether Nell Abiodun is sincere, and whether she believes in at least one ghost, before the clock runs out.
Nell Abiodun: Get a straight answer from someone who asks follow-up questions, and see if Juniper Vale is 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.
💭 Tap a thought bubble to see what they were thinking.
First impressions
Nell. You came. The tide tables said you might, and for once the tables were right. Coffee as pals, I said. Did you bring the drains, or was that a bluff?
💭
She kept the plan, glasses and all; the drummer is already glaring at my chair.
Hello, Juniper. I had a whole opening line planned, and the drummer just ruined it with a cymbal crash. The drains are in my coat, so this isn't a bluff. Did you really write 'unconvinced' in the log, or was that for the drummer's benefit?
💭
She remembered the log, and she's still the only one who makes me want to ask a second question.
The challenge
Unconvinced was for the log. The drummer was just the audience. So. Do you think the sea keeps anything it takes, or does it just forget? Yes or no is fine. The drummer doesn't get a vote.
💭
She brought the drains, which is either a good sign or a trap.
No. The sea forgets. We're the ones who keep the record, which is why I have forty years of tide tables in a drawer at home. Two answers, sorry. Does your logbook count as keeping, or only as hoping?
💭
She asked me a real question and then waited for the answer, which is rarer than she knows.
The decision
Keeping, then. Hoping is for people who still believe the weather will apologise. Do you ever open the drawer, or do you just like the weight of it sitting there? And one question, no drummer vote: do you believe in at least one ghost?
💭
She writes everything down, and she's trying not to look pleased about it.
Sundays, I check the tide tables are still in order. Which is either a ritual or a pulse check, and I haven't decided which. One ghost, yes. Previous night guard, 1890s coat, never seen her, but the lamps in the east wing do shift when nobody's near them. Your turn, Juniper.
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The date
First impressions
Juniper greets Nell with "You came. The tide tables said you might." Nell fumbles an opening line over a cymbal crash, produces the drains from her coat, and asks whether Juniper's logbook entry was for the drummer's benefit. The clock is ticking.