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

[letteropener]

Oh, are you going to try it? [Celestia notices the hesitation and pounces on it without remorse, smiling down at Hibiki expectantly. Can she truly get away with NOT trying it now?]

[priforprince]

Such trivial matters hardly merit my attention.

[ She says, as she walks over and sits herself down in front of it.

Hibiki. ]

I'll prove its foolishness, then move on.

[letteropener]

Tell me, what precisely is it?

[She has the gist, but ponies have a far different equivalent, so this is not immediately recognizable. So Celestia comes to stand behind Hibiki and watch.]

1/2

[priforprince]

A card game for those with the focusing capabilities of a gnat sipping sugar water.

[ Which means, of course, that she shall make short work of this! ]

2/2

[priforprince]

[ .....So she draws the joker.

And makes an involuntary grunting sound. ]

[letteropener]

It is just like you to draw the most unique card possible.

[She isn't above trying to spin this into something positive. No matter the reason, she doesn't want to see Hibiki frown on their date.]

[A true and genuine smile would be nice, but Celestia doesn't hope for miracles...]

[priforprince]

.....Again.

[ Next game, this will be different!

"It can be a multi-player game," the attendant points out to Celestia, gesturing to the next cabinet over. Apparently a need to shill for money renders humanity capable of noticing the divine.

Capitalism is amazing. ]

[letteropener]

Oh, well then. [Gracefully, Celestia takes a seat at the next cabinet, glancing over at Hibiki with a smile. May the best mare win?]

[priforprince]

[ And win Hibiki shall! This time! For sure!

Hibiki is so absorbed in the game that she completely misses how everyone around them starts banging on their machines, complaining about this whole thing being a scam, and breaking up over bad results with their dates. She also misses how the air is filled with fluttering of shadowy dove wings and a low, sibilant whisper.

"Smells good....." ]

[letteropener]

[Celestia, on the other hand, misses nothing. The mutterings of discontent prick her (less-sensitive, human) ears, and her head comes up almost immediately. Then she stands, hands slapped to the side of her console to push herself upright quickly.]

Hibiki!

[priforprince]

[ This time, for sure - THIS TIME, FOR SURE -

-wait, does something in the atmosphere feel distinctly inelegant?!

Hibiki's head jerks upwards just as her hand spasms on the controls. ]

What?!

[ This place is....it's loud now! Intolerable! ]

What's going on?

[letteropener]

Something is wrong here!

[She isn't her niece, the Princess of Love. Which is a shame, because Cadence could easily use her talent to set this entire disaster aright. For this is a disaster, unquestionably.]

[She jerks her head left, then right, which ought to send her hair flying but doesn't at all. Then one long, elegant finger stabs out towards the shadowy flutter of wings in the darkness behind one of the tent lights.]

There, did you see it?

[priforprince]

It can't be.

[ Hibiki saw it. But Hibiki can't believe it. She stands up with enough force to knock her chair over. ]

This is our precious date time! How dare one of them interfere?!

[ She hasn't even won her hand of Old Maid yet!

The joker, chosen during her last spasm, sits unnoticed on her screen. ]

[letteropener]

Keep it away from humans, and I will be right back.

[Celestia glances over at Hibiki, body tense. She needs only that moment of acknowledgment before she can go.]

[priforprince]

Accursed ugly creature....

[ The ayakashi, not Celestia. Hibiki draws her holy water pistols (double wielding, of course) and moves forward to lure the foe away! ]

[letteropener]

[In a crack of light, Celestia disappears. Her teleport inevitably goes back to her own magic, rather than divine power, in time of need.]

[As for the dove? It still lurks in the shadows, slavering over the emotions it is corrupting still and yet. Hibiki is a god, and thus of little note comparatively...]

[priforprince]

[ Dear her. It isn't even the right time of year for dove hunting. Hibiki is forced to act out of season.

Another offense to add to its roster.

A stream of holy water shoots up, its aim true, straight for the offending creature. As previously proved on this date, aim is not something lacking in the Ultimate Prince. ]

[letteropener]

[Hisses like that should not come from a dove, but they do indeed, as a twining black tentacle that serves as a tongue lolls out of its beak before it takes to the air, flitting for the fairway proper where it hopes to ditch this meddlesome god in the crowds and the chaos.]

[priforprince]

[ That is the opposite of the desired effect. Hibiki scowls, then takes flight herself. It won't get away!

And if it insists upon staying around humans, it will get its wings shot until it moves in the direction she wishes it to.... ]

[letteropener]

[Hiss hiss hiss, and furthermore hiss! Determined to make its getaway, the dove attempts to put on height, the better to escape those noxious blasts. A feast awaits, and yet this damnable god is spoiling it!]

[priforprince]

[ Well, altitude is one way of escaping a crowd. Is it thinking it can lose her? Is it thinking she'll pursue it?

Foolish. Shikyoin Hibiki pursues nothing.

She puts on a burst of speed, aiming to overtake the bird before making her next move. None outdo her in anything! That is Shikyoin Hibiki's way, and this insufferable nuisance will have that knowledge burned into its birdbrain before its inevitable demise!

AH HA HA HA HA! ]

[letteropener]

[Well, this sucks, thinks the ayakashi. Effectively corralled, it has no choice but to change course, flitting off towards the closed waterpark section where with luck the god won't follow. Mission accomplished: it is forced to abandon its pursuits of humans for the nonce!]

[priforprince]

Hm.

[ Hibiki allows herself a moment's gloating before zipping ahead again.

The stage is set. Now, all that remains is the cavalry... ]

[letteropener]

[The distant crack of magic heralds the Princess's return, a golden glow visible in the air over the booths they'd abandoned when the ayakashi reared its ugly avian head. Celestia immediately swivels on her wings, a mare once again, looking for the doubtless obvious signs of Hibiki.]

[Hibiki is, after all, not subtle in her presence.]

[priforprince]

[ There is a purple trail of sparkles still left hanging in the air, headed towards a more deserted area of the park - and headed steadily up into the sky.

Will that suffice? ]