Matched. Placed. Perfection.

[WarriorHeart]

Loch stood in front of the mirror. All he had on was a pair of underwear. He had always been comfortable with his body and in recent months, thanks to working out with his older brother, Loch believed he looked good. His muscle tone had increased and his skin had cleared up almost completely. His sister-in-law had exclaimed that he was sexy. So why was he so nervous? He smacked himself in the forehead with his palm and turned away towards his closet. "Stop obsessing, knucklehead." This was probably the fourth time he'd said it aloud. There were three sets of clothes strewn over the bed. A simple black suit, a ridiculously fancy tux and the coolest outfit he had ever seen. Many years ago, when Loch was small, his grandfather had told him that the importance of a good blue suit can never be understated.

Spoiler

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Deciding to go with the advice of Grampa Penn, Loch began to simple yet tedious process of getting ready for such a milestone. Everyone tried to downplay the situation to him but the truth was he was going to meet the woman with whom he would spend the rest of his life. How is that possibly no big deal? Regardless, like going to the dentist, there was no avoiding the situation. Loch had printed out a picture of Luella. He had studied her face and the bright eyes she wielded for several days. Even though it was just a government ID shot, he was beginning to feel like this girl possessed a good heart. 'Eyes don't lie. That's why when people fib, they look away.' His mother was fond of saying. In truth, some people were very good at staring straight at a person and lying but Loch drew the gist of what she meant.

After plenty of time preparing had gone by, Loch exited his building and hailed a taxi. The ride went smoothly and didn't take very long. As he stepped out and paid the driver, Loch felt butterflies going crazy in his stomach. "I should've eaten something." He mumbled to himself. Standing up straight and proud [if you looked this good, you would too] then moved into the grand building. There were so many young people here. This was no small gathering apparently. How did they expect matches to find one another? There must be several hundred people just milling about. He set his jaw and entered the large double doors. Inside, the crowd seemed to be thicker than he had initially suspected. The main ball room seemed to harbor the majority of the group. When Loch passed through the giant marble archway, he paused and let out a silent 'wow'. Talk about awe-inspiring! He wondered how any people worked on the setup and how long it took them.

Loch moved off to the side. Everyone he passed seemed to be looking for someone. We're all looking for someone. Loch smiled politely to the woman who served him a sparkling water. Loch turned and began to walk around the edge of the room. His eyes scanned for the short little number whose eyes would be unmistakable. He had made his way around two sides and had seen neither hide nor hair of his match. He sighed and sipped his little cup of water with tiny bubbles. Loch almost wished he would've taken his brother's advice and brought a small flask of brandy.

Loch turned around and bumped into the back of a small woman with a little blue dress. They didn't collide too hard; he didn't even spill his drink but he apologized anyway. "I'm so sorry. Please excuse me." His eyes lifted to scan the room again and he took another sip of his water. As he took a deep breath, he hoped that the cologne he had splashed on would be pleasing to Luella. He wasn't worried about being overpowering as he had developed a science for amount and application. Without looking back to the young lady just yet, Loch sighed. "I wonder how they expect us to find our matches in a place like this. One would think Miranda Evergreen would've planned this out a little better." Loch turned to the woman in blue. "Have you found you match, yet?"

 

[Lilpuff]

Gail sat down in front of her vanity and rested her head on her hands. The dress she had planned on wearing tonight was nowhere to be found, and she now had to choose between a dress she'd had for a few years or the dress she wore to the banquet. Sighing, she stood and walked over to her bed again, contemplating between the two. Eventually, she decided on the older dress. Although it was a bit used and had been worn a few times, it still looked nice. Besides, her mother wouldn't even let her step foot outside her house in the dress she wore to the banquet. She took off her sleeping clothes, held back her hair, and shimmied into the dress. Luckily, it still fit. Staring at her reflection, she ran her hand down the dress, feeling the beautiful rose pink fabric between her fingers. She zipped up, smiling, and walked over to her vanity, where she put on an opal pendant her mother gave her after they returned home from the banquet. It went perfectly with the dress, and it matched the white heels she was going to wear to the ceremony.

After doing her hair and fixing her make-up, she checked her appearance in the mirror once again. She smiled at her reflection, then walked downstairs, where her mother was waiting. "Oh, Gail, you look beautiful! Let's go, we don't want to miss the train there." Her mother smiled at her and whisked her out the door. The ride was uneventful, but when she arrived at the ceremony, it was more than she'd ever seen before. Silk tapestries, a buffet table, and waitresses walking around with trays of hors d'oeuvres and sparkling water were just a few of the things she saw when she entered. Her mother squeezed her shoulders. "I'm going to go sit down. See you up there!" she said, gesturing to the stage set up in the front of the hall. Gail smiled at her mother. "Thank you, mom. I'll see you later." she said, watching her mother walk off.

Walking down the staircase, she looked over the crowd for a tall man with black hair. All she had for reference was a head-shot of her match, and that wasn't enough to differentiate between the hundreds of teenagers she could see from her view, Walking down the stairs, she stood off to the side for a bit, sipping some of the bubbly water. After a bit though, she got bored and walked over to a girl wearing a long white dress and talked with her. "Hello, I'm Gail. Are you nervous about the ceremony?" She asked the girl, trying to start a conversation.

 

[Scout]

Thinking he was returning to his province later that day, Devlin spent most of the day lazing around the hotel room. Mostly sleeping and making sure he had his things packed. It wasn't until he was dressed in a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a regular t-shirt, and standing at the door with their bags in his hands did his mother finally break the news to him.

"Oh, Joe, sweetie. You're staying."

Devlin could only look at his mother with an expression that was the epitome of confusion. "...No...? We're both leaving tonight...?" His mother laughed. Laughed. Add that to the sympathetic look she was giving him and he was driven off the edge. Thick brows drew together as he finally dropped the bags onto the floor with an obnoxious 'thud', the only thing that conveyed his underlying anger. "There's a party tonight. All of the kids are going; you'll be able to meet your match there... Oh, what was her name again, Joe?"

"That doesn't matter. Listen, mom--" The glare she was giving him cut through his soul. Devlin took a step back, putting more distance between him and the she-woman beast in front of him. "What is her name again, Devlin Joseph? I'm sure you weren't about to ignore my question, I taught you better than that."

After clearing his throat, Devlin finally found his voice, though it was an octave higher than he would've liked. One doesn't show weakness in front of a rabid beast. "Lily. Her name is Lily."

His mother's face broke out into a bright smile, completely overjoyed. "Gosh. That sounds so beautiful doesn't it? Lily and Devlin. Has a nice ring to it." As she spoke his mother gradually made her way over to the door, grabbing her bag and opening the door. "Anyways, I thought you knew about it this whole time. The party started ten minutes ago."

Don't get him wrong. Devlin loved his mother to bits. But there were times she made him wonder why he loved her so much.

Mossy green eyes narrowed in a glare, though it went unnoticed as his mother slipped out of the hotel room to catch the train back to their province. Well, it looks like he was going to be fashionably late. His shirt and sweatpants were off by the time he grabbed for the bathroom door, shoving open and turning on the water. There was no time to waste. A party meant girls. Devlin quite fancied some girls. Maybe he could find one better than Lily? Find one he genuinely liked? When pigs fly.

It took a total of five minutes for him to shower and brush his teeth. With hair mostly dry he slipped on his boxers and dug through his bag. It would've been nice to know there would be a formal event. He could've at least packed something other than t-shirts and sweatpants, though he hadn't expected to stay long anyways. Just as he was about to give up, Devlin sent a glare to the bed his mother slept in as if he were really glaring at his mother. By some miracle a suit was laid out neatly, complete with black shoes and a skinny tie, with a messy note laid on top. 'A suit for tonight. Love Mom.' with the address of the party on it. A wide smile appeared on Devlin's face as he rolled his eyes. She probably snuck in when he was in the shower. A forgetful woman, she was. But he loved her, no matter how many times she got on his nerves.

The boy was walking out the door, fumbling with his tie, in ten more minutes. That damn tie was making a fool of him. It wouldn't knot... tie.. whatever it was that ties did. Devlin got in the taxi much the same way, fiddling around with the tie. At least he had a noose if things took a wrong turn. The driver was thoroughly amused by the boy's childish sighs of frustration, but offered nothing other than a gruff 'good luck, buddy' when he pulled up to Devlin's stop.

He got out slowly, eyes taking in the venue. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before--wasn't like he saw much to begin with. Deciding not to waste any more time he quickly made his way into the building, tie all but forgotten around his neck. Inside was even more immaculate than he expected; tons of people packed into the small space. Many were roaming around, no doubt looking for their matches. Devlin made his way through the crowd, though with how broad his shoulders were he found himself bumping into people more than not. Apologies were thrown left and right, though with that effortless smile on his face he found many of the girls he bumped into giggle and bat their eyelashes at him. Eventually he made his way to the edge of the crowd at the back of the room. He took a moment to sigh, rubbing a hand over his face in as if he were trying to wipe the smile off. Smiling came easy to him; it made him appear welcoming and trustworthy even if he hated the person. A weapon he took advantage of.

With his attention off the crowd, Devlin was brought back to a pressing issue. His tie, which lay limply across his shoulders, begging to be put on properly. He began to mess around with it once more. If worst came to worst he could just shove it in his pocket, but that would defeat the purpose of wearing such a dapper suit without a matching tie. It would be incomplete.​

 

[Ty Lee]

Luella gazed around, not searching, rather, being cautious. Any one of these people could have seen her down in the tunnels, and that would spell disaster for her future. Casting the thought aside, she tried to make it look as though she was happy to be here, as hard as it was when her thigh was pulsating with the pain of the gunshot. She did have it covered, and the bandage did help somewhat, but it did catch her attention on more than one occasion.

She decided that she needed a drink, and soon, she made her way to the punch bowl where she got just that. Taking a sip, she decided to move back into the crowd, hoping it would be better for her to simply not be seen. Most people here were taller than her, so, she placed her bets on this little area indeed.
Suddenly, someone bumped into her from behind - and while this did startle her a little, she soon turned around with a frown and was ready to throw a few words at this uncoordinated buffoon. Though, she was stunned by who she saw instead.

"... I..." She blinked a few times, seeing the taller man within the blue suit for the first time with her own... eye. "Yes, it's really hard." Her tone soon flattened while she said this, eyes narrowing a little as she crossed her arms and took another sip from her drink. One could say she didn't look impressed, but another could argue that she was merely testing the waters somewhat. Luella only hoped there wasn't any sudden reaction, else she would really have to arc up like a poisonous snake.

 

[punkyears]

Delilah couldn't help but to be impressed at the awe striking, chandler filled, champagne colored, multi-story building. She sobered up her awe (ironically) by grabbing A gin and tonic from a silver tray as a waiter in a white tuxedo slipped past her, taking a hefty gulp from the spaceship shaped class. The kind of typical UFO that you see in cheap, old movies, the kind from the covers of old sci-fi fantasy novels that schools allowed children to read on their brand-new readers. The kind that people secretly get tattooed onto them when they're young- or for some, old,- as signs of either teenage rebellion, or of adults anarchy acts against the government and the capital. She looks around at the other 17 year olds, noticing that a few people had started finding their matches and were either greeting eachother, kissing violently, or sitting down talking. Not necessarily in that order though.


She snapped out of her trance when she just about ran into a huge, bubbling granite and gold fountain. It was decorated with chubby cherubs and infant angles sitting cross legged on baby deer, bunnies, and turtles with moss making up the green of their shells. Huge, beautiful male and female angles with huge wings and golden cloaks surrounded all 4 tears of the elaborate masterpiece. The area holding the majority of the water had to be at least 5 feet deep, at 20 feet in width. Monarch butterflies danced in the air around the fountain, and surprisingly and no couples were seated at the lip of the fountain. She took advantage of this opportunity, and sat on a dry section of the granite, letting the light mist of the fountain cool and spray her shoulders.


"Hello, I'm Gail. Are you nervous about the ceremony?" Said a very pretty girl dressed in a slightly informal salmony/pink lace dress. At first glance Delilah immediately recognized the girl. Her family was often on propaganda posters while she was growing up. But then she REALLY noticed the girl; from her perfect posture, she could tell the girl was nervous, but held a moderate level of superiority over the most of the people here, but not as much as Delilah held. The girl was most likely a lawyer or a judge, a rule follower and a goody-goody. She could tell by the way her appearance was perfectly kept, not a hair out of place, and perfect nails and teeth. She looked into the girls eyes and saw the shred of hope… Perhaps the girl wanted to make a friend. She seemed like the type to have many friends-no-acquaintances, but no true companions But she pulled herself out of her habitual analysis of society members, and greeted the girl.

"Hello. I'm Delilah. And nervous really isn't the right word, i guess." It was true that she was nervous to see her match, but nervous wasn't a strong enough feeling. Terrified would be more accurate in her case. She had no idea how He would react to seeing her after she had abandoned him. All she really hoped was that he didn't act out how her dreams nightmares had terrorized her into believing over the past few days. She smiled at the girl warily, waiting for her to continue speaking.

 

[Adira]

Lily had woken up in her house as per usual. She didn't live more then a half hour away from the capitol anyway, so her parents didn't feel the need to stay the night. Lily got out of bed and rubbed her eyes as she yawned. Her hair fell in loose messy curls around her face and stuck out at odd angles. She was usually a pretty good sleeper but last night had been a restless one for her. She couldn't stop thinking about the resistance meeting.. and worse, she couldn't stop thinking about Devlin. What if he wasn't perfect.. What was she saying of course he was.. right? Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother knocking on her door way and saying. "Lily get ready, were leaving for the capitol in an hour for your match meeting party. Wear something nice darling you look like an outsider." She said as she walked into the girls room and threw open the closet doors. "Something like this will do quite nicely." She said as she placed the sparkling emerald dress on her bed. Lily nodded as she reluctantly pulled herself from the comfort of her bed. Her mother lifted Lily's chin and smiled. "Oh Lily we are so proud of you! Devlin will be such a perfect match for you!" Her mother gushed before exiting the young women's room. Lily let out a sigh as she mumbled. "Oh yeah mom.. he'll be perfect alright.."

A hour later Lily was making her way to the air train with a few others. Her silver heels clattered on the marble sidewalk as the air train bordered and exited the station right on time. Lily was playing with a loose strand of her curls as her hair was pulled back into a beautiful bun. She tried to resist the urge to bite her lower lip, knowing that her pink lips would be smudged from her nervous habit. The air train zoomed past the countryside as it soon approached the capitols station and let it's passengers out.

Lily had made her way to the party on time. She was chatting to a few of her friends from school as they looked around the room for their matches. Lily had said her goodbyes one by one as they left to meet their soon to be spouses. Lily found herself searching every face for a sign of Devlin, with no luck she huffed in annoyance and made her way to the back of the room. She leaned against the wall with her eyes closed until she heard footsteps coming towards her. She opened her eyes to see the back of a guy, fiddling with his tie. "Lame party huh?" She asked, not really expecting a response.

 

[Scout]

The voice caught him by surprise. Devlin raised his head, a bright smile on his face. He was going to charm the pants off the chick. Even without looking he could tell she would be good looking just by her voice alone. It had a nice tone to it, almost soothing to the ears. Petite, delicate, yet confident and strong. The girl knew exactly what she had going on, and he had a perfect plan to reel her in. "The party's not that lame. My tie, on the other hand, is completely lame." His voice was suave yet innocent all at the same time, giving him an air of childish charm that would make any girl's knees weak. With a plan set in motion, Devlin turned around with a sheepish smile on his face, holding up the ends of his tie in defeat, a ploy to make the girl want to fix it for him. However his plan was foiled when he realized just who was talking to him.

Brown hair knotted in an elegant bun on the back of her head, the color of her already pink lips intensified by her pink lipstick, fit body clad in a dress the same shade of green as his eyes, and with her silver heels on she was almost as tall as he was, thought he wasn't that tall to begin with; he was, however, broad and stocky, which easily made her seem small and fragile next to him. She was pretty, beautiful even, that he would admit--though such opinions would never leave the confines of his head. But they had yet to get to know each other. She could have the ugliest personality imaginable. He would take this one step at a time. The bright smile never faltered, though a look of acknowledgment entered his eyes.

"Didn't think I would be able to find you in this crowd." Devlin made not a move to embrace her, though a step towards her gave them some semblance of privacy in the otherwise packed ballroom. Clearing his throat and fixing the collar of his suit--shoving the tie in his pocket in an attempt to look as proper as possible--Devlin held out his hand, a mock-serious look on his face. "My name is Devlin Joseph Lockton. It is a pleasure to meet you...?" He trailed off, intending for her to fill in the blank with a playful twinkle in his bright green eyes. "Might I add you look ravishing in that dress." Little did he know his tie was sticking halfway out of his pocket.​

 

[Adira]

Lily couldn't help but laugh in reply to his charming banter. As he turned around Lily's eyes took him in as to analyze him. He was a cute boy, not too much taller then her and the muscular and broad body type made him seemingly tower over her small frame. His suit made her laugh a bit, without his tie, he ad a much more relaxed and bad boyish look which intrigued Lily. Her lips curved into a small smile as a soft laugh escaped her before she could cough it down. "Oh is that true? Then why are you in the back talking to me?" She asked playfully. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she walked closer to the mysterious boy.

She felt his eyes taking in her slightly dazzling formal dress. The emerald floor lengthen dress was hugging her body in a flattering way and her sliver heels, though they felt like they were stabbing her feet a hundred times, were accenting the sparkle on her dress to a t. Her eyes took in the boyish charm and green eyes and looked him up and down. Suddenly his voice echoed in her mind. "Didn't think I would be able to find you in this crowd." The words were like a rock that shattered glass and sent her mind flying in many different directions. She gathered herself together as quickly as possible, hoping her face wouldn't give away her shock. "My name is Devlin Joseph Lockton. It is a pleasure to meet you...?" "Lily. Lily Evans.." She finished his sentence with a smile as her eyes took him in, this time in a whole new life. "Well what an interesting way to meet you Mister. Perfect." She said with a playfully smile and a teasing tone of voice. She looked down as she felt the warm blush set in. "Thank You, I'd have to agree that you are, indeed, ravishing tonight," She stepped towards him and pulled the tie that was drooping halfway out of his pocket and threw it around her neck. "Though you might look more.. mature as Society would say, with the tie on" She said while tieing it around her neck and loosening it so that he could put it around his neck. She outstretched her and as she took his in hers and bowed her head. "the pleasure is all mine Devlin"

 

[WarriorHeart]

Loch sipped his drink as he scanned the crowd. He heard the soft voice flatten as if annoyed and he turned to see the woman he had so clumsily plowed into. When his eyes landed on the cropped hair and electric orbs set perfectly by those fine cheekbones, he nearly swallowed his entire glass. He very calmly lowered his drink and swallowed hard. "I must apologize for staring. Your picture doesn't do you any justice." He set his drink on a waiter's tray as he walked past the two. "As a formal introduction, my name is Lochlin Mason Penn, though everyone calls me Loch." He extended his hand; not for a handshake, mind you, but to take hers in the tradition handle [used from the Middle Ages until the early 20th​ century].

His dark eyes studied her closely and found that he was quite enamored by the small woman. At first glance, one would assume her to be frail but there was power in her stance and her body was traced with soft lines from muscle hidden beneath the surface. He smiled a genuinely charming grin and felt a slight blush creep into his cheeks. He was so nervous but played it off very well. The only thing that might give him away would be the extra loud pounding of his heart. "It's nice to finally have the chance to meet you."