"Why not? If you do, you might find a reason to stay in." His conspiratorial grin pulled a laugh from me.
"I suspect most of the people here are expecting a little more than I can give them."
"You don't know that. And you never know who you'll meet. I saw a pretty dragon shifter over in the corner who I believe is some kind of architect. You like building things, right?"
I chuckled. "There isn't much call for a god of builders these days."
"Then you must not have been spending much time around people in the profession. I'm sure most of them would love to have a dedicated god."
"Those times have passed, Baal."
"Perhaps." He shrugged. "So now we get to actually have lives. I can't say I feel too badly about that."
He had a point. My life had been all-consuming when I'd been at the height of my powers. I wasn't sure I'd go back there even if I could. Having control of my own life was a welcome change from that, even if it did lead to a small amount of boredom in the process.
"You should sign up," Baal said. "Try it at least once, then if you hate it, you never have to do it again."
"Let me think about it." The answer was going to be no, but I'd at least give him the courtesy of thinking it over before I came to that conclusion for certain.
Just as he was about to say something else, the crowds in front of me parted, and I caught sight of the last person I ever expected to see at an event like this.
Bastet's dark hair was shorter than it had been the last time I saw her, and the dress was a more modern style than I expected her to wear. She looked good.
Was she really going to take part in speed dating? It didn't seem like her thing.
"Well, are you going to do it?" Baal prompted. "Sign-ups are about to close."
"I'll do it," I said without thinking twice about it. "Where do I sign up?"
"Over there." He pointed over to where Venus was standing at the table by the entrance. I'd waved her off when I'd entered the event. I was surprised she'd let me enter the room, though maybe there were other people in the room who were just here for the moral support of others.
I left Baal behind and made my way over to the table. Luckily for me, the two women who'd just been registering finished as I arrived, leaving the way open for me.
I cleared my throat. "Hi."
Venus turned to me and smiled. "Ptah, have you changed your mind about signing up?"
I nodded.
"I'm glad to hear it. You just need to fill in your information and pop on a name tag," she said.
"Thank you." I took the clipboard from her and filled out my information before sticking my tag on.
"Do you know how it works?" she asked.
"I have an idea, but I wouldn't mind a refresher." I didn't want to admit that I hadn't come here on purpose.
"All right, well when the bell sounds, you need to take a seat."
"Does it matter which?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Any of the empty chairs is a good choice. You'll have a short amount of time to talk to the person opposite you, and then when the bell sounds, you move clockwise around the room to the next seat."
"Will I get to talk to everyone in the process?" When I was going through all of this in order to talk to Bastet, it would be a shame if I didn't get to.
"That's the goal," Venus promised. "But it'll depend on how much time passes. At the end of your dates, you can mark on the card if you want to exchange details with anyone. If you both tick one another's name, then we'll facilitate the exchange."
"It all sounds good. Thanks." I smiled at her.
