34 - Love is in the Air

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: An enterprising pair of shinki is trying to spread love throughout the Far Shore with exciting blind dates.
When: February 14
Where: Hot romantic spots throughout Tokyo
Summary: Blind dates on Valentine's Day? Sounds like fun (or possibly a disaster, but everyone needs some good disaster stories.) That's not all that's going on, though. Ayakashi are looking to chow down on the negative emotions that a romantic holiday can generate, and those who aren't busy with their own dates might be sucked into helping out followers who need help to make the day go well.






The Dates

Blind Date Matchups

Those who have signed up -- or whose friends and colleagues have signed them up -- for dates will get cards with specified times and meeting places inside for the big event. The cards don't list their dates' names, but instead have a matching symbol to allow everyone to find their proper partner. If anyone tries to stand up their date, they can expect a small and angry owl to harass them until they give in.


• Date One: The Romantic Brunch.
  Couples will find themselves with reservations (and pre-paid coupons for the prix fixe menu) at a swanky French restaurant with a wide balcony overlooking the lake in a central Tokyo park. They can dine on dainty pastries, sweet milk coffees, bowls of grapes and hothouse strawberries, and a selection of fancy chocolates and petit-fours-- plus, some of the trees in the park are blooming in holiday-appropriate red and white!



• Date Two: The Aquarium.
  Couples scheduled for this date have tickets to a rooftop aquarium in Ikebukuro: brightly colored fish, animals including penguins, seals and pelicans, a small petting zoo and plenty of shadowy, secluded nooks to cuddle in make for a fun lunchtime date. The tickets even include admission to the one o'clock penguin and seal show!



• Date Three: The Amusement Park.
  This date sends couples to spend the evening enjoying themselves at a seaside amusement park. Ride the roller coasters! Take selfies with the costumed attendants! Share an overpriced ice cream cone while you watch the fireworks after sunset, then wind up the night with a ride on the colorfully lit Ferris wheel with a romantic view of the Tokyo skyline.

Ayakashi Menace

There's more than just romantic couples out to enjoy themselves today. Romantic holidays can be tough for those whose love lives aren't so rosy, and as always, those negative feelings draw in ayakashi who are ready to ruin everybody's day.

All across the city, besides the usual ayakashi, characters might encounter the following:

Flocks of dove ayakashi whose mournful call induces self-doubt, suspicion and paranoia in everyone who hears it. Are your friends really your friends? Is your lover betraying you? Shouldn't you hurry up and stab them in the back before they can do it to you? These ayakashi are small and agile, difficult to catch but easy to destroy once they're caught... if you can overcome the urge to turn on your allies first.

Long-fingered shadow ayakashi, large and powerful, and capable of sneaking around by blending into genuine shadows. These ayakashi draw those who are alone into their clutches, filling them with resentment and despair. Anyone battling them needs to watch out for the humans they might already have influenced, who may become unpredictable and violent as the ayakashi influencing them grows more desperate.

Cute teddy bear ayakashi, that influence anyone they cling to into greedy obsession: they need attention, affection and gifts, and they can never have enough. When attacked, the teddy bears turn out to fight a little more like a grizzly bear than a stuffed toy, so gods and shinki beware!

Praying for Love

Those who aren't busy with their own dates might find themselves busy taking care of other people's instead. On a day like this one, everyone's praying that things turn out perfectly! Prayers gods might hear include:

"He's just got to ask me out! I made him the biggest box of chocolates... please, let senpai notice me!"

"Does she really like me? Please, give me a sign."

"I got concert tickets for our date, but it's supposed to rain. Please let me find a way to make this work out anyway!"

"The restaurant I wanted to take him to isn't taking any more reservations for tonight. What can I do? I can't cook!"

Wild Card -- players are free to make up their own romance-adjacent prayers for their characters to fulfill.

In Summary:

• Enjoy your dates
• Fight some ayakashi
• Make sure to answer prayers for a good Valentine's Day
• Have fun~

Comments

[abgrund]

I figure the wish for flight is why they built this.

[ Ain hums, looking thoughtful. ]

For millennia, there have been humans who wished to fly, with varying degrees of failure.

[smilingbullet]

[ Ah. Now that he mentions it. ]

True. If we can use our positions and connections there's a whole lot we can probably go to see that normal people wouldn't.

[smilingbullet]

It could be.

[ That is why people built planes. ]

Yeah, sometimes people take a whole lot of risk for their dreams. [ He shrugs. ] Or for other reasons.

[alchemists]

I can get them out if you want to work on the next fish?

[mithrarin]

I'm sure one of the gods has dominion over the sea, right? Or at least followers that might be able to arrange it?

[myblueskies]

That's a good idea! [He goes to get another fish, passing the sharp knife to Elfnein so she can take the bones out and chop this fish up. He takes the new fish to the skin and begins descaling it like he had the last one. They will be finished in no time!]

We got to chop the vegetables up after this as well!

[wildguardian]

Huh.

[Thoughtfully, after a moment, he adds:]

Must be tough, having to rein yourself in all the time.

[junkyarddog]

[Ken blinks bemusedly at Minako when she shoves him and Chikusa together - he doesn't quite understand how much she's invested in their relationship, and even if he did know he wouldn't be able to fathom why - but, from a practical standpoint, he doesn't really need to care. He's being told to go off with Chikusa and have fun, which suits him perfectly.

Especially after that kiss. He's definitely still a little red, no doubt to Minako's unending delight. The renewed awareness of Minako has him a little too bashful to make out with Chikusa properly in front of her...but that just means he's going to wait until the first moment they're alone to pounce on his boyfriend.]

C'moooon, Kakipi. [The way Ken drags out the word isn't quite a whine - it's more a sound of impatience, as is the way he's plucking at Chikusa's sleeve. He wants to go to the park!]

[abgrund]

[ Ain studies him for a few moments, before: ]

What a strange person you are....

[ Unafraid, as always. But he's not complaining. ]

we can wrap this one up here? :D

[abgrund]

[ He doesn't answer at first, though the edge of his eyes crinkle in a bit of a smile. ]

If you want to go again, we can. If not, shall we try something else?

we can probably end it here!

[kokuyoyo]

[In contrast, Chikusa has been around Minako's pushy and overly invested self for a while now, so he's not particularly surprised. There's just that usual dull and apathetic acceptance, even as he snorts a little bit at the noises Ken is making.]

Impatient...

[But he guesses that answers the question on if Ken had been interested in staying around the aquarium more. Maybe some other time, since Ken has clearly shown at least a little bit of interest. For now, Chikusa follows the tugging on his sleeve to get upright with only a pause so that he can slide his bag over his shoulder again. Minako has it covered, so it should be fine, probably. All he cares about is taking Ken's hand and shuffling off to the next destination.]

[He's thought about it carefully, after all, and with help from Ginia some time ago. The park has a laser tag building. Him and Ken might not be gun experts (although Chikusa knows the basics, just because he's had to with the kind of prey they used to go after together), but the idea itself should be fun. At any rate, aren't he and Ken already used to going after other people in dimly lit areas....?]

[They are going to wreck the competition. And Minako can gush over all the couples to her heart's content. And Ken can work out his energy. And, eventually, Chikusa can faceplant into their blanket nest.]

[It's a decent day for all of them, he guesses.]

[wildguardian]

Don't get me wrong! [He raises his hands in a warding-off gesture, laughing.] I'm not telling you to stop. I like the amount of alive I've got.

[It's just that he's not particularly afraid of Ain. Immense, inhuman powers the guy might have, but he goes to a lot of trouble to avoid hurting people with them, or even unsettling people.]

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein was being very careful with the knife, it took a bit longer then normal for her to take the cones out but no one got hurt doing it. ]

We can split that up as well.

we can wrap this one up here? :D

[abgrund]

I know.

[ Ain echoes Zhao's amusement, though in his own muted way. ]

There is a rightful order to everything. I am from a different world entirely, so it would only stand to reason that I adapt to this one while I am here.

[ To not restrain himself here would have consequences that are very troublesome. ]

[myblueskies]

[Romeo keeps his eye on the fish that he is descaling so that he doesn't make any mistakes.] We can cut the sparrow grass in half or just cook them whole I think, they're not too big! The broccoli is big though so that needs chopped up!

[smilingbullet]

No, yeah, there's definitely some arou- [ D2 stops talking just for a moment when they get close to the aquariums at the entrance. Thankfully he doesn't stop walking but he does go a little paler. But the lighting is pretty blue with all the water, so he looks off either way. D2 clears his throat. ] it's a definite on the water related deities 'round the Far and that might be a possibility.

yes, sure

[smilingbullet]

We could try something else first, and maybe return at a later point if we feel like it.

[ There seem to be a whole lot to experience here, after all. ]

[mithrarin]

[Dust isn't oblivious. The more so to D2, who he's known for a while now.]

...Is something wrong?

[alchemists]

Cooking them whole might be a good idea then. [ Elfnein has never used sparrow grass before so she's trusting Romeo on it. ]

Broccoli can be cut up and then steamed I think?

[myblueskies]

Steamed? What does that mean?

[They have came to the end of Romeo's cooking knowledge it seems. He finished descaling and passed the fish over to Elfnein so she could cut it and take the bones out.]

[alchemists]

Well, you put it over boiling water and let the steam cook it.

[ She took the fish and started to take the bones out carefully like before. ]

[myblueskies]

Over boiling water... [So they needed water. He understood that much! He scrambled off the chair to open the mans cupboards to find a pan. It wasn't too hard and soon he was at the sink again filling it with water.

The oven took a moment, Romeo peered at the dials. It was different than the one in the temple and he didn't want to do it wrong!]

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein turned the dial and there was a clip followed by a flame on the stove. The water wouldn't take too long to boil and most of their prep work was done. ]

I think we just have to put things in to cook and wait now.

[myblueskies]

[Romeo watched how she did it and grinned, that looked pretty easy. Now they had water that was starting to get hot and soon it would boil. He took the sparrow grass over.] So do I just hold it over the steam?

[alchemists]

Is there a colander we can use? It's the bowl with holes in it so steam can get in or you can drain the water off something.