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

[myblueskies]

Okay! [He concentrates again as he slices into the fish, it cuts easily and it's easy to see the bones.] It should be easy to get them all out!

[alchemists]

I can get them out if you want to work on the next fish?

[myblueskies]

That's a good idea! [He goes to get another fish, passing the sharp knife to Elfnein so she can take the bones out and chop this fish up. He takes the new fish to the skin and begins descaling it like he had the last one. They will be finished in no time!]

We got to chop the vegetables up after this as well!

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein was being very careful with the knife, it took a bit longer then normal for her to take the cones out but no one got hurt doing it. ]

We can split that up as well.

[myblueskies]

[Romeo keeps his eye on the fish that he is descaling so that he doesn't make any mistakes.] We can cut the sparrow grass in half or just cook them whole I think, they're not too big! The broccoli is big though so that needs chopped up!

[alchemists]

Cooking them whole might be a good idea then. [ Elfnein has never used sparrow grass before so she's trusting Romeo on it. ]

Broccoli can be cut up and then steamed I think?

[myblueskies]

Steamed? What does that mean?

[They have came to the end of Romeo's cooking knowledge it seems. He finished descaling and passed the fish over to Elfnein so she could cut it and take the bones out.]

[alchemists]

Well, you put it over boiling water and let the steam cook it.

[ She took the fish and started to take the bones out carefully like before. ]

[myblueskies]

Over boiling water... [So they needed water. He understood that much! He scrambled off the chair to open the mans cupboards to find a pan. It wasn't too hard and soon he was at the sink again filling it with water.

The oven took a moment, Romeo peered at the dials. It was different than the one in the temple and he didn't want to do it wrong!]

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein turned the dial and there was a clip followed by a flame on the stove. The water wouldn't take too long to boil and most of their prep work was done. ]

I think we just have to put things in to cook and wait now.

[myblueskies]

[Romeo watched how she did it and grinned, that looked pretty easy. Now they had water that was starting to get hot and soon it would boil. He took the sparrow grass over.] So do I just hold it over the steam?

[alchemists]

Is there a colander we can use? It's the bowl with holes in it so steam can get in or you can drain the water off something.

[myblueskies]

Colander? [Luckily Elfnein explains what she means straight away and Romeo nods, he knows what one of those is! He just hadn't known the name.

He hops off his chair and goes to open more cupboards until he found the one with the pots and pans. He begins pulling them out. Finally he finds what he's looking for and holds it up in triumph.] Here you go!

[alchemists]

Just put it over the pot with the boiling water, then we can add the broccoli and the lid to the pot to let it steam.

[ Then it's just a matter of waiting. ]

[myblueskies]

Okay! [He does so, putting the colander very carefully over the pot of water as it began to boil. The sparrowgrass was easy to put in and he cut the broccoli up so it wasn't one big tree then he put that in too.] Do we put the fish in there too?

[alchemists]

You can cook it that way, but we have to be careful if we do that since the cooking time will be different from the broccoli.

[myblueskies]

Will it need longer or less time? [Less maybe? It was softer to start with. Cooking is tricky! But it's very fun to try out new ways to make things. He kept an eye on the sparrowgrass and broccoli. He knew it could be dangerous if you looked away when you were cooking!]

[alchemists]

I don't know, I've never used this method before so we might just need to keep an eye on it?

[ She figured that Romeo would have a better eye for this since it was his idea. ]

[myblueskies]

Okay! I'll keep an eye on it and make sure it all cooks right! [This would be tricky! But he was sure he could work it out! He tried to think of what fish looked like when it was cooked right and then when it got to look like that he would know it was ready!]

[alchemists]

Is there anything else we need to do ? I can handle another task while you keep watch.

[myblueskies]

Um... [Romeo had a think, trying to remember all the things he had been taught. It was a tricky thing making a dinner like this!] We need to make sure everything is tidy and then make the table look nice!

[alchemists]

I can take care of that while you keep an eye on the food.

[myblueskies]

Alright! [They made a great team! Romeo focused on cooking whilst Elfnein tidied up and laid the table. Soon he thought that the fish and broccoli and sparrowgrass were all done so he turned off the fire and hopped down from the chair.]

So we just got to put the food on plates now... Oh and...

[He skipped over to his bag where he had put his bento box, he brought it to the table and opened it to see what was inside.

It was perfect!]

They can have this first and then have the fish! Shall we go and tell them that it's ready!

[alchemists]

[ The contents of the bento were adorable looking, Elfnein almost wanted to take it for herself but didn't since they could make it later at the temple. ]

I'll start plating while you call them in, that way I''ll have enough time while they eat the appetizers to get the last part ready.

[myblueskies]

Good plan! [Romeo grinned at her and skipped off, assured that she would have everything ready by the time he got back.

He found his way to the living room, the mans girlfriend had arrived and Romeo did his best to not be noticed by her, even as he got the mans attention.

He announced that dinner was ready and skipped off leading the way, he rushed into the kitchen again and grinned at Elfnein.] They're on their way!