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

[sassywelshcatgirl]

"Too perfect" is a contradiction in terms. [She snatches up the bread sullenly, then swipes up a pat of butter on her knife.] And what you call perfect other people call... not. That doesn't bother you at all?

[priforprince]

A swan in flight doesn't hear the earthworms gossip.

[ there's something commendable somewhere in this much belief in oneself

deep, deep, deep, down

maybe

MORE TEA. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Right. Gotcha.

[What a hell of a thing to say. An attitude like that says so very much about her. In fact, she's certain it makes her angry, but she can't say why...]

I'll remember you said that.

[priforprince]

That would be best.

[ Not being bothered by others' opinions apparently extends to Nia's opinion, as well.

Hibiki raises her hand for the bill, but from the languid motion, she's in no hurry. ]

Do savor your meal. The offerings here are exceptional.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[This girl... this girl's real trouble. An attitude like that, can it end in any other way than trampling others to get what you want? If other people mean nothing to you, why worry about them in any way?]

[How can Wendy stand it? Is she really okay with just being treated like -- a thing? That doesn't make any sense. So much of this doesn't.]

Yeah, I'll give whoever put this all together that. The food's tasty.

[priforprince]

The ultimate ingredients in the ultimate combination.

[ are you sensing a theme in hibiki's tastes ]

The sweetest way to begin the sweetest day.

[ She will have to reward Minako later somehow. Hm. What would suit?

....Probably amore. It is the Best Reward. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Oh boy, yeah. Nia isn't sure if she should be more afraid or amused. She's both, mind, but -- how harmless is this girl? An attitude like that is dangerous if someone has power to back it up.]

[Nia makes a note to talk to Wendy at some point.]

Out of curiosity, what if it hadn't been?

[priforprince]

An alternative venue would have been arranged.

[ SHE'LL MAKE HER OWN PARTY

WITH CHESS

AND BALLERINAS ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

What, you think the big old harassing owls would let you get away with it?

[Yes, Nia discovered those. She'd tried to escape!]

[priforprince]

[ there is a tiny twitch here at the mental image of what owl harassment might entail

not that she has Trauma about birds now

hardly

no!

she's perfect!

Behold, how flawlessly she transitions into pretending it never happened. ] A shift in venue is not a cancellation. Even in hypotheticals, I account for everything.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

You and I know that... but do the birds know that?

[Ah ha. Nia's guessing she got harassed herself, didn't want to show. So this whole thing is just an act to cover for the fact she got stuck showing up here.]

nia knows not the horrors of post traumatic shun disorder

[priforprince]

[ On the contrary, Hibiki has been ready for today with bells on - she adores playing escort - and was willing to examine the chosen venue (though there was a bit of...unpleasantness...when the bird did not wish to move at her pace). And yet.

Birds. Upset. Birds.

Swooping.

She coughs into a hand, as if she can dispel the memories now looping inside the echo chamber that serves for her brain. ] Fruitless conjecture. When not dissatisfied, admiring a pleasant reality is all one need do.

hibiki hates to be shunned

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[That statement brings out Nia's smug grin again.]

And yet here I am. Don't tell me this is your vision of a pleasant reality.

[priforprince]

We were discussing the accommodations.

[ This date isn't going as expected, but Hibiki is still an escort. Don't place her in such a position! ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[At least she isn't lying. Nice dodge, really.]

So answer me this... if you had your choice, who'd you be here with?

[Let's see what reaction that gets out of her.]

[priforprince]

Are you deliberately seeking an insult?

[ It gets that turnabout is fair play, and that the only reason this conversation has been permitted to continue is that, as far as she's concerned, she's on a date with you right now.

If she declares the date over, the gloves come off. ]

While not an uncommon preference, it's outside my style's service milieu. Rely on lesser escorts.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Well, put it another way... [Nia absently runs a finger around the rim of her juice glass.] Who's your ideal? What kind of traits would the absolute perfect person have?

[priforprince]

Nothing anyone in this Shore is capable of possessing.

[ The answer is immediate. Even with all these Princesses, even with gods and goddesses, the absolute perfect person is....

Is.....

No, she can't think about that yet. The hour of their reunion is nigh, but cannot be rushed. She will not think of long, flawless curls, nor the technical grace of absolute performance prowess, nor the searching innocent of silver eyes seeking hers.

And remembering the warmth of an embrace at her side is absolutely out of the question! ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Hmph. That's another hell of thing to say.

[Nia lets out a sigh. What a mess this all is, and what a hell of a date this turned out to be. Honestly, could it be any worse?]

Well, glad I'm out of the running.

[priforprince]

You requested the information. [ Here come a bunch of purple goat toys. They are carrying a huge box of chocolate atop their heads. It is a team effort.

Finishing touch for the date!


....Hibiki is pretty sure this date is too off-script, but now that she has a prop and a prompt, she lifts her tea, sniffs, and smirks. ]

Here. Your grand finale.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Are those -- what the hell is with the goat things? That's just weird. Is that this restaurant's doing, because it's really hard to imagine Ultimate Class Act Girl here having anything to do with them...]

What -- chocolate? [Nia reaches out to take the box, openly surprised.]

[priforprince]

Is there a more fitting present on this day?

[ If Nia has ever, during her tenure on the Near or Far Shore, ever expressed a preference for a particular kind of chocolate, or a type of food that could conceivably be used as chocolate filling, that's what's in the box. If not, it's a medley, with the idea of finding the right match through variety instead of intensive combing-through of spygoat footage. Of course, all of the chocolate is High Quality.

This prinstitution takes escorting seriously. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[As Nia's preferred food is fish... yeah let's not go down that route.]

[Nia just... isn't sure what to make of this. It's a really nice and kind gesture from a girl who, uh, isn't.]

...Thanks. [How does she gracefully accept something like this?]

[priforprince]

[ A few of the chocolate might be shaped like fish, then. (Koi. It's a terrible pun, BUT THAT IS THE PRIPARA WAY.)

Hibiki raises a hand. ] If you enjoy it, all is well.

[ A spygoat with a clock on a platform wheels up. Hibiki sighs, sets aside her napkin. If things had taken a different turn, she might disregard this reminder, but why not end on the note she'd hoped to strike through this whole thing? ] Our time limit approaches. I'm an impossible act to follow, but may your remaining dates at least attempt to approach my splendor.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Yeah -- there's no question any other date I get stuck on today will be able to hold a candle to your everything. [That sounds like a compliment, and maybe even works out to be one.]