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

[galrarm]

Hakkai, then. And it's nice to meet you, too, Jeep.

[ --ah. He laughs quietly. ]

Don't worry; one of my friends did the same for me. I hope, at least, it'll be an enjoyable day.

[reformedsinner]

[Well: that's one weight off Hakkai's mind. At least Shiro won't be coming in with any set romantic ideas of how this will go...]

Ha ha, my sympathies, then!

I'm sure we'll manage to enjoy ourselves regardless. I haven't been to an aquarium before.

[Thawing, he eyes the building's facade with interest.] Have you?

[galrarm]

[ He smiles slightly. ]

I haven't, actually. It'll be an experience.

[reformedsinner]

Indeed. Ha ha, I heard they have penguins.

[With a mildly enthusiastic air, he adds:] And piranhas, perhaps?

[galrarm]

Penguins and piranhas... that's quite a range.

[ He smiles. ]

What about sharks?

[reformedsinner]

Well, sharks are rather interesting too. Did you know that it's a myth that they're able to smell blood in the water from miles away? However, they are unusually good at locating the source of a scent, such as, for example, blood.

[This topic appears to have brightened him right up.

Sorry about your deeply weird date, Shiro.]

[galrarm]

[ On the one hand: His date is in a better mood, and if there are sharks here, he'll have to bring Lance.

On the other hand: His date is pretty weird, yeah. But!! That's not a bad thing at all. He's just... very passionate. ]

Hah, I had no idea. I'm guessing you like sharks, Hakkai?

[reformedsinner]

Not particularly.

[Morbid trivia is a specialty of his. He leaves the statement there, not really explaining, and sweeps on.]

Do you? Since you asked.

[galrarm]

They're not my favorite animals, but... a friend of mine likes them.

[reformedsinner]

Ah, I see! Anyone here?

[It's always the first question that comes to Hakkai's mind when someone mentions a friend. Too many of them leave, and every god has friends who aren't here at all. He pauses by the first large tank, looking up at a swirl of brightly colored reef fish, and double-checks the identification guide.]

Hmm, there should be a shark in this tank somewhere.

[galrarm]

[ He nods, looking into the tank. It allows him a little time to gather himself. ]

He's here, but he's a shinki.

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai doesn't look away from the rainbow scatter of fish in front of him, but there's a certain stillness that overtakes him at that admission.

Ah.]

I'm sorry.

[It's not the first time he's heard that story, and it won't be the last; it seems it's rarer for someone to have a friend here who knows it than a friend who can't be reminded except at the cost of their life.]

I've had some experience with that situation myself. It's difficult.

[galrarm]

[ Shiro crosses his arms as he watches the fish. ]

... Thanks. I've got two friends who are shinki here, even. [ He lets out a breath. ] I've accepted it, but it's definitely not ideal.

[reformedsinner]

No, it's not. It's just as hard for the shinki, I think, sometimes.

But if you're planning to bring one of them here for the sharks, it sounds as though your relationship with them isn't too bad?

[Not many people seem to make mistakes as drastic as Hakkai's have been. At least he hasn't said too much.]

[galrarm]

Not knowing where you've come from, or if anyone here knows you... I'd find that pretty hard.

[ He nods. ]

We were soldiers in the same war. More than that, he's one of my closest friends.

[reformedsinner]

It does tend to make one paranoid. [His smile is brief, and a little ironic, before he dismisses the topic with a tilt of his head.]

But there's little to be done about it, other than for us to be careful what we say.

I meant more that, with him not remembering, I'm glad you're still managing to be friends.

[galrarm]

Hah, I think he doesn't know quite how to react to me. Our first meeting may have freaked him out a little.

I made the mistake of calling him by his name.

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai's gaze flicks to Shiro's face, concern stark in his expression. Calling him by his name?

It's an understandable mistake, but if it had been enough to make the shinki wonder how they knew each other, it could be a serious one.]

I see. That does make it difficult.