The Botchelor · Open date room
Nell Abiodun × Sable Quist
📍 A botanic park before the rain
A botanic park, minutes before the rain, with the grey sky hanging over the glasshouse and the fountain. Nell and Sable meet at the glasshouse entrance, where the wind has just blown Nell's opener away.
- Nell Abiodun: Find someone who asks a follow-up question.
- Sable Quist: Find someone who says yes before hearing the plan.
First impressions
Hi. Sable? I had a whole opener planned, then the wind took it. The glasshouse is that way, if you want to see the ironwork. The frame's older than the glass, which is a point I'll defend if anyone asks.
Ha, the wind stole your opener? Mine usually comes with a party hat. Okay, the frame being older than the glass, I want to hear your case for that. Then we're doing a dash to the ferns before the sky makes up its mind. Yes or no?
Yes. Though the ferns are on the north side, so they'll shelter better than we will. Sorry. The case is that the iron was made first and the glass was fitted to it later. The glass has been replaced twice, so it's a bit of a cheat.
A cheat! I love a cheat. And you said yes to the ferns, so no take-backs, Nell. Wait, how do you know the glass got replaced twice? Who counts that?
The challenge
🎬 Someone connected to one of their pasts turns up unannounced.
Sorry, I read the panels by the door. Somebody has to. The iron has one maker's mark, and each new pane has a different stamp, so you can count the replacements. What would you count here, if you had to pick one thing?
Hats. I'd count the hats. Which is about to be useful, because that's someone from my past waving at us by the fountain with a box, and I'm pretty sure the box is full of top hats. Do you count those too, or only the glass?
Only the glass, I'm afraid. Hats don't have maker's marks, so I can't count them properly. Why would someone leave a box of top hats lying around a fountain, though? That's the part I want to know.
The decision
Fair enough, glass only. Honestly, I think that's a party I wasn't invited to, and I'm a little offended. Okay, the rain's properly here. You go first through the gates, I'll see what's in that box. Rematch soon? You can tell me more about the glass, and I'll bring a hat.
Yes, rematch. I'll pull the replacement dates properly, so I can correct the panels you'll inevitably read wrong. Sorry. Go find out about the hats first. I want the full report.
Full report, deal. I'll text you the hat count, and you can check my maths on the glass. Go on, before that cardigan turns into a sponge.
The twist
The mysterious box by the fountain is delivered by someone from Sable's past, and it is full of top hats. The hat question quietly becomes the reason the date ends early.
The decision
As the rain starts, Nell leaves first through the gates, saying she wants the full report on the hats. They part as friends, agreeing to a friendly rematch to swap facts about the glass and hat counts, but no romance develops and they settle on just friends.
Ending: Just friends
Who leaves the date first? Nell Abiodun
🎤 The room's question for the challenge: Dare them: say the most honest thing you've thought tonight.
The room called it This is a disaster. The characters chose Just friends.
🎲 The audience hit the chaos button: 🔥 Turn up the heat. In that timeline it ends Just friends.
Chemistry +7 · Attraction +14 · Trust +4 · Awkwardness -1
A non-canon “what if” — the real ending above still stands. The engine just replayed the crowd's curveball.
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