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

[cloakedinruins]

[ He moved automatically into a guard position, giving the twisting sword a quick whip as if to clean it of gore before scanning for any more movement. The air felt better, less stifled and nothing moved but the dripping of water off the fake dock and the final few sparks from the fuse box. Shen Wei sighed and stood up, reaching up to push his glasses back into place and then blinked down at the sword in his hand.

Oh that's right. ]

Zhao Yunlan, return.

[ There, enjoy being suddenly back in your own body Yunlan. Giving a quick nod, he turned around and teleported to the boat where it was still bobbing on the track and picked up the jacket. He folded it primly over his arm and teleported back to the dock and held it out to Yunlan. ]

You've been cut too. Let's get back and get cleansed.

[wildguardian]

[It's funny, how teleporting always throws him off balance, but turning back from a weapon into a human being doesn't disorient him at all anymore. He's getting too used to this afterlife, he thinks, and can't help smiling despite the pain in his back as he reaches out to take his jacket back from Shen Wei.]

The cut's not too bad, but yeah. Let's.

[His shirt's ripped up, though; he can feel cool air on the burning blighted scratches beneath it, so he leaves his jacket over his arm for now.

And catches up Shen Wei's hand, brushing his thumb over the blighted spot--

-- ah, whoops, now he's got a streak of blight on his thumb; he always forgets how fucking contagious that shit is. It's fine, they're about to wash it off anyway.]

Lead on.

[Gods need to be touching to teleport others, and that's definitely the reason Yunlan's capturing his hand. Also because he plans to kiss it the moment they're washed up, but there's no need to give that away so fast.]

[cloakedinruins]

[ At his words about his injuries being light, Shen Wei just lifted an eyebrow in silent disapproval. He might be a dead soul in the Far Shore, but Shen Wei was still going to personally see to it that he does not ignore his injuries.

His fingers tighten over Yunlan's, his expression softening as he looks down at their fingers before away. He doesn't let go himself, even though he still maintains a distant look on his face before taking a deep breath and teleporting them to the Far Shore.

Then, in the archway leading to the springs, Shen Wei turns and presses against Zhao Yunlan, leaning up to kiss him softly. ]

[wildguardian]

( jumping to a log! )