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

C

[replicatedform]

[Yamanbagiri have some free time, and pondering on what to do today. Hearing someone asking him, he looks over with a blink.]

Hm? If I can help, I don't mind. [It really depends on what she want help with.] What is it?

[darkestbefore]

[ She smiles at him warmly - if a bit sheepishly - and holds up the most recent prayer she'd just received. ]

Petitions from hopeful lovers on the Near Shore, it seems. Apparently, they're worried about too much being left to chance and things going badly. Care to help me make sure their confessions go well?

[replicatedform]

[He step closer to look at the prayer better. It looks pretty simple enough. Hopefully, it wouldn't get too weird.]

Alright. [He nods.] If it's keeping things from interfering or something, you can count on me.

[Romance... isn't his expertise. But stopping obstacles? That's easier to understand and handle.]

[darkestbefore]

[ She smiles and holds out her hand to him in invitation. ]

Let's see if we can go find some way to help this one that couldn't get a reservation that the restaurant she needed, and doesn't know how to cook. Would that work? Maybe we can find her another place to go that would be special?

[replicatedform]

[Blinking, he looks at her hand for a moment.]

Let's see if we can get a reservation. But we can keep an eye out for any other nice places.

[It's Valentine's, so he wonders if they have good odds...]

... It's okay for me to hold your hand?

[Like, definitely okay?]

[darkestbefore]

[ She looks perplexed, glancing between him and her hand in confusion. ]

Why wouldn't it be? I thought I would teleport us there...?

[replicatedform]

Er... That is...

[For a moment, he's a little stuck with his words and look a bit confused. What's up with that, he asks himself? It feels a tad weird. He shake his head, and look back at her.]

No, don't worry about it. [Maybe he'll talk to someone else about this. Sakura? He holds out his hand.] But I'm ready to go.

[darkestbefore]

[ She smiles and gives his hand a warm squeeze when he places his own in hers, nodding. ]

Alright, just give me a moment then... [ She closes her eyes to focus and a moment later, they appear on a neat little street, quiet for the moment, but there are little shops and boutiques and cafes all along both sides of the street. The restaurant in the prayer is off to their left, a deep red awning stretching over the entrance and it's interior offering a warm, homey shelter from the chilly February air.

Yona points it out. ] I think that was the place she was trying to get into.

[replicatedform]

[It's quiet right now. So he guess it's before the "rush hour". Which is ideal, they can scout in peace. He walks over towards the restaurant, looking into the entrance.]

It looks really comfortable in there.

[He wouldn't mind bringing someone here for a meal (putting aside the usual "getting noticed" problems). He looks back at Yona.]

I'd like to confirm if they're really booked up first.

[You know, just in case there's a sudden cancellation. Which is a sad thing to think about.]