Before he knew it, the first 3 minutes were up. The buzzer went, and Feferi instructed attendees 11 – 20 to rotate anticlockwise to the next table. John was now seated opposite a rather shy short girl with dark blonde hair adorned with 2 pink bows. She pulled her green jacket a little tighter around her and looked shyly at the floor.
"Um… Hi…" She managed, with a sheepish smile in John's direction.
"Hey." John replied awkwardly, not knowing how to deal with someone this shy.
"My name's John!" He smiled unashamedly, hoping that she might open up a little.
"I'm Nepeta!" She chimed, still hiding a little behind her fringe. "It's nice to meet you." Letting out a little sigh of relief, John folded his arms casually and attempted to start conversation.
"It's great to meet you too, Nepeta! Tell me about yourself?" She blushed a little, but answered his question eventually.
"Well… I'm 20 and I work in a pet store…" She trailed off as John stared at her in disbelief.
"You're 20? Wow! I'm only nineteen, and no offense or anything, but you kinda look like you're 14 or something." He laughed, amused expression fading when he caught the slightly annoyed look she was giving him. "Oh, uh.." He cleared his throat lightly, wildly trying to formulate another topic of conversation.
"Well, um, pet store, huh? You must like animals." He salvaged, feeling his face heat up considerably. She visibly calmed and nodded. She appeared to be pretending he hadn't told her she looked like jailbait, much to John's relief.
"Yeah! I really do. My favourites are the kitty-cats we have in store! I sometimes get sad when we sell them though… I get really attached to them!" She explained.
"Oh, boy, cats are pretty cool. I had one when I was a kid." He reflected on his pre-teen years, when his dad had bought him a cat. "Yeah, he was great, until dad accidentally ran him over…" He just about felt the tension descend on them after that comment. Nepeta just stared at him in shocked sadness for a while. John silently urged the buzzer to go off. There was no saving ithis/i first impression. They proceeded to battle through the remaining minute with the most awkward and forced smalltalk known to man.
The trip to the next table was a godsend to John after that terribly formed first encounter, and thankfully, the next 2 went without incident. He met a suave, but slightly aloof young man called Eridan who, while he was charming and talkative, was a bit f a snob. John didn't really mind talking with him, especially seeing as Eridan's abundant one-sided conversations left no room for error on John's part. After that, John encountered a super grumpy guy named Karkat. He was a little gruff, but it turned out that he liked movies too (Maybe John, Karkat and Vriska could have a movie night together or something?), but he hated Nic Cage. So while they did have some differences in opinions, there was no lack of interesting conversations there.
By the fourth rotation, John was feeling a little drained. He knew he still had so many people to go, but it was getting tiring having to re-introduce himself every time, and make smalltalk only to be moved again as soon as he started feeling comfortable talking to the last person. Speed dating was hard work. His fatigue went away as soon as he caught a glimpse of his next conversational partner. He was tall and insanely skinny with messy blonde hair, and was wearing ridiculously dark shades indoors /iat night/i. John sat down, never being able to tear his eyes away from the stranger. The blonde had a strange air of confidence and unbelievable nonchalance about him, and John had no clue how to handle it.
"Sup?" He greeted, arms slung over the back of his chair. At this point it kind of dawned on John. This guy was a massive poser.
"Um… Hi…" He managed, snapping out of his dazed state.
"The name's Dave, yourself?" John almost laughed at how this guy acted and spoke. It was totally unbelievable how this guy probably thought he was the coolest thing to exist ever, everyone else go home.
"I'm John." He greeted, holding a hand out for a handshake. Dave just kind of looked at it for a few seconds before shrugging and engaging the brunette in a firm handshake.
"Cool." Was all he said beyond that, and John could do nothing but giggle a little. The blonde was completely unperturbed by John's reaction and instead continued to make small talk.
"You come here often?" He asked.
"No. It's my first time." John shook his head, slowly calming himself. It was Dave's turn to laugh.
"I know. I'm a regular." He smiled knowingly. Once his smile faded a little, he raised one eyebrow quizzically, gesturing loosely with one hand.
"What's your last name, John. I think I've seen you somewhere before. You look familiar." He stated, idly stroking his chin in thought. John thought for a moment.
"Well, I guess I'm in the newspaper sometimes for the work I do in Dad's business." He stated, shrugging a little.
"Yeah, that'd be it." Dave clicked his fingers, as if in sudden realisation. "Egbert, right? Egbert Engineering?"
"Yeah." John confirmed with a small nod.
"Wow. That's a pretty big business, you must do pretty well with it. Your old man must be proud." Dave flashed a small impressed smile.
"Yeah… He tells me so all the time." John admitted, feeling his cheeks heat up a little more at the subtle praise. The buzzer sounds not seconds after, and Dave takes off his glasses as he stands up. He looks John straight in the eye before he walks of, red irises burning into John's blue ones.
"It was real nice meeting you, John." He states, initiating another handshake before the brunette walks off, holding his gaze all the while. That was certainly an encounter he won't soon forget. He still didn't know what to think about 'Dave'. In fact, he didn't learn much about the mysterious blonde during that encounter at all. All he knew is that he kind of hoped that it wouldn't be their last.