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

Aquarium I

[wildguardian]

[Zhao's dressed up for his dates -- not formally, as he's not a suit kind of person, but nicely, in a buttery brown leather jacket over a green shirt with an open collar, skinny jeans and boots to match the jacket. He's holding an invitation too, but more casually, flashing the symbol on it to anyone who cares to look.

He breaks into a smile as he spots Ginia with the map, and heads her way with a signed greeting.]

You're out doing these too, huh? Who's your lucky date for this one?

[unlucky7]

[It's always good to see a familiar face and she can't deny it's a good look for him. Ginia returns the smile, eyes looking down at the invitation. Her smile widens and she raises her own invitation, the symbols a match. What are the odds?]

Guess it's you.

[wildguardian]

How about that! [He looks down at his invite, double-checking, and smiles as he tucks it back into his jacket pocket.

In place of the invite, he produces a small candy box to hand over -- inside, Ginia will find a set of cute chocolate seashells.]

If I'd known I would've gotten you something other than chocolate. I saw that pile on your desk.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia tucks the invitation into her purse, relieved her second and last date of the day is someone she already knows. It takes all the pressure off of introductions and if it goes poorly, it's easier to laugh off. She takes the chocolate with an embarrassed smile, blinking at his statement and quickly typing and playing a message.]

What pile on my desk?

[wildguardian]

Oh hey, didn't you--

[He grins.] Never mind! Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything.

[Ebisu's temples tend to be much more convenient for crossing from one Shore to the other than Mars', and so after that first date, Zhao'd dropped back by there on his way to the aquarium--

-- and he'd had to go check his inbox just in case, which is how he'd realized just how much chocolate he'd accumulated. Having so many co-workers is going to be really expensive on White Day.

(Checking in on Ginia's desk, he admits, had just been so he could tease her later.)]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia blinks at him, comprehension dawning. Oh. OH.. Logically, having distributed chocolates to a fair amount of people in and out of the temple, Ginia is aware some chocolate would come back her way. She expected the possibility for White Day, but nothing is stopping the exchange of chocolate for any holiday.

Zhao could be joking. That's a possibility she wouldn't put past him.

He could also be completely serious.

No point worrying about that now, she'll take a look later and see.]

Thanks for the chocolate, though if you knew I was your date, would that defeat the purpose of blind dating? I'll have you get you something in return too.

[wildguardian]

True, true. Though these dates don't have to be completely blind... anyway! No obligation.

Want to go in and see the penguins? I hear they have penguins.

[He gestures grandly towards the aquarium entrance.]

[unlucky7]

I'd love to see the penguins. I've never seen them before.

[If she has, she can't remember, and nature documentaries on television don't count. Not really, not like this. She's a bit giddy as they enter the aquarium, shoulders and back a little less tense, though maybe it's also because she's not seated at her desk.]

Did you sign up or did someone sign you up?

[wildguardian]

I signed myself up -- actually. [His laugh is a little embarrassed as they move through the lobby.] Just between you and me, I signed myself up for a date with this one particular guy I met. He just got here too.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia huffs and gives his shoulder a very, very light punch. Isn't that sly. She can only guess who it is, considering she's met the one person with an investment in Zhao.

"He will always find a way to show up in front of me" indeed. Well done. For that, she's happy.]

I wish I thought of that idea. So? Tell me all about the lucky guy.

[wildguardian]

I did have to bribe that Minako kid with a cute selfie of the two of us if the date goes well... but, hey, I can live with that.

He's Chinese too, around my height, big glasses-- you know, the classy nerd look. Apparently he was a professor in life, and he still goes off on these biology tangents if you get him started.

[As critical as the words may be, Zhao's tone is full of affection: he sounds as if he finds unsolicited science lectures charming as hell. Which is only fair, because he does. As for the other things Shen Wei's told him: that he's not human, that he'd died for someone in a war (which also makes it very clear he's no normal professor)? Those, he keeps quiet for now. He suspects a lot of them fall under the heading of things Shen Wei shouldn't have been talking about.]

Also, he's real cute. Shen Wei's his name. Have you run into him?

[unlucky7]

[Ginia is familiar with the kind of loving compliments that come under the guise of criticism. It's pretty easy to tell Zhao's crush runs deep and it's charming. Shinki don't feel nostalgia, a tug toward the forgotten familiar, and yet, and yet somehow people manage to find each other.]

I'm really happy for you. I hope the date goes well.

[How can she not be? She'll always cheer on the happiness of others.]

And I did. I saw him painting, he's very good.

[wildguardian]

[Shen Wei's not familiar -- if anything, the way that he sometimes looks at Zhao as though he's familiar scares him a little -- but that does not make him any less completely Zhao's type. He grins at Ginia's comment, pleased.]

Right? He must have had to re-do that painting. I startled him when I said hi and ruined the first draft.

[unlucky7]

[She saw Shen Wei paint two drawing of Zhao. How many more did he paint before they found each other? The world works in mysterious ways.]

Since we know this isn't going to be a match made in heaven between us, if you want to leave early to prepare for your next date, you have my full blessing and permission. All I ask if you let me know how it goes later.

[wildguardian]

Ginia, come on! I'm not going to ditch you to go get ready for my next date. Besides, this place looks like fun.

[There's a nonzero chance that he's going to spend more of this date talking about Shen Wei, but, look, it's fine, he can behave. Sort of. Temporarily.]

And I'll let you know how it goes later regardless. [He flashes her a grin, and adds:] Then you can place some inside bets before I tell anybody else around the office....

[unlucky7]

I do like the idea of insider knowledge.

[With the stakes of some of the bets going around, Ginia doesn't mind offering a bit of help. Times are dire when a full weekend off with cellphone-off privileges is a top offer.

The first set of exhibits focuses around coral reefs. Brightly colored fish dart around in the large tank as carious types of coral are on display, a testament to the strange and exotic of the ocean. Ginia's expression lights up as she stares at the tank, waiting for a group of children to move on so she can get closer.]

[wildguardian]

[Zhao isn't quite as patient; he gives the brightly colored coral reef tank a look almost as pleased as Ginia's, and promptly side-steps the chattering kids' group to find a better spot. There's a place at the side of the tank where the wall comes up further, making room for a bolted-on panel with pictures of fish and brief scientific snippets about each species, and the glass above it is at the perfect height for a couple people over five feet to look through.

The first-graders, not being over five feet, are ignoring it. Zhao waves Ginia over, and points at a sleek five-foot shark circling in the water above the schools of bright reef fish.]

Check that out!

[unlucky7]

[Ginia quickly joins Zhao's side, staring with awe at the shark. It's a very serene predator, graceful and powerful. Do fish ever go missing as he shark gets hungry, or does the aquarium kept them content enough?]

Beautiful.

[She signs. It's one of the words she's taught him for his repertoire. Charmers need to charm.]

[wildguardian]

[Charmers need to charm-- so Zhao's memorized that word. He grins at her, signing agreement.] Yeah.

[And, switching back to speech, because his signing is a long way from fluency:]

Think it ever snacks on the other fish? It sure looks big enough to have them for lunch.

[unlucky7]

You have to imagine an accident happens now and then.

[Some of those fish could easily swim into a shark's mouth on accident. Or perhaps the fish bumps into the shark. That said, there's a sense of peace and understanding in the created ecosystem. The fish avoid the shark, the shark leave the fish alone in favor of other food.]

I've always wanted to go to the aquarium, but never had a chance or a good excuse until now.

[wildguardian]

You say "accident," I say "afternoon snack," same thing, right? [He bumps a shoulder affectionately against hers, and points as a stingray the size of a dinner tray ripples smoothly around the edge of a spire of coral and scatters the tiny electric-blue fish schooling there.]

Rays too! I've gotta say, those kids planned a nice day out for all of us.

[unlucky7]

[Any response is derailed by the stingray gliding through the water. What a strange yet cute looking animal! The ocean is truly full of wonders. Ginia pauses to snap a few pictures before replying.]

I'm really impressed. I imagine Minako did the finer details more so than Chikusa.

[Chikusa is meticulous, but also lazy, while Minako is brimming with positive energy.]

I was surprised they were working together.

[wildguardian]

Same. [He helpfully points out a toothy moray peeking out of a tunnel in the coral for Ginia to get some more photographs of.]

This seems like Minako's thing, but Chikusa? She must've offered him something really good to get him to join in.

[unlucky7]

Must have been a good hat.

[What? She's seen his various beanies and seen more than one person offer a hat bribe. But this also feels too big for Chikusa to get involved in without some personal stake. Something with Ken? No, why make it so big then? And blind dates too?

...Blind dates. Ginia stops as the thought occurs to her. Only Minako and Chikusa know who was paired with who. Was one of them trying to set someone up?

Sorry, Zhao, don't mind as she briefly zones out in her thinking.]

[wildguardian]

Uh huh. [Or something else; the way she's fallen suddenly silent suggests there are gears turning behind that distant expression. Zhao's eyebrows flick up in curiosity.]

Penny for your thoughts?