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

[wildguardian]

Exactly! So what kinds of prayers do you think you would be good at? [He grins, leaning forward like this has turned into a job interview instead of a date.]

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

[His demeanor isn't the only one that's changed. As she answers, her voice seems to gain a level in Surety.]

Well, Ah think Ah could answer agriculture an' farmin' stuff easy. An' even if there don't seem to be a lot o'call for it right now, Ah'm good with defendin' an' fightin'. 'Specially with polearm. Been farmin' my whole life, an' a soldier for over six years now.

[It's said without any boast to it. It's just facts.]

Ah'm a Sentinel, after all.

[Ok, that has her sitting a little straighter in pride and smiling. The capital letter is practically vocalized somehow.]

Could probably help with cookin' too, long as it ain't too fancy, or other...handywork stuff.

[She almost said "country", but whatever would he think of her then? Though she doesn't seem to realize her accent's a little stronger now, like she's been trying to lessen it and got distracted.

At some point she'll remember the thing she brought for her date, but this is a very interesting conversation!]

[wildguardian]

That's quite a list! Huh, I bet there's a lot of farming prayers -- agricultural gods are common, right?

[Maybe not among the newcomers. He can't think of any he's run into so far, but it raises an interesting question. How much do new gods tend to match the descriptions of whoever they're here representing? Agriculture might not go with Athena, but isn't she a god of war, too?]

Sounds like you'd do better with hunting down ayakashi than you would with helping somebody study.

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

In mythology, yeah, sure seems that way. Don't think Ah've run into many here, though...not from other worlds, anyhow.

[She...won't mention the one she immediately thought of. That'd be awkward.

And if she could hear him thinking, she'd be correcting that. Athena has a ton of things she's over...that has benefits and detriments.]

Yep, pretty good at beatin' 'em up. Probably would be better...at least Ah've started gettin' some prayers for Protection, though. Ah can handle that. Ah go down to the Near Shore once or twice a week as is, keep watch over folks. Adults can't really seem us easy, o'course, but kids an' critters...

[wildguardian]

That does sound like a better gig. [He grins, raising a hand to flag down one of the passing waiters, who promptly slides menus in front of each of them and settles a basket of pastries in the center of the table.]

Oh nice-- [Forget the menu for now, he's stealing a cherry pastry first and continuing between bites.

(Sorry about his table manners, Nephenee.)]

You know, I wonder if it wouldn't be easier just to do what you do, and see if that gets people praying for the stuff you can do. In the long run.

[mylanceisbiggerthanyours]

[What are table manners, are they something you can eat?

He isn't the only one to eyeball the pastries as they come by, and she's right after him in nabbing one. Mm, apple!

Look, she's hungry. Well, she's always hungry, but she didn't have breakfast when she woke up hours ago!

Even as she nibbles one and listens, she's thinking about what he's saying.]

That's a good thought...never thought 'bout it like that. If it's more obvious that certain things are happenin' more than others...Rather do that than stuff with cold logic, anyway.

[There's a twinge of unhappiness on her face for a moment at that. She wasn't a big fan of cold logic...for reasons. Even over a year later, that event...]

[wildguardian]

Yeah, you got it. [He glances over at her, catching that subtle shift in her expression, and waves at the plate.]

... Pastry for your thoughts, Nephenee? You look like something's bugging you.