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

[rockthemonkey]

[ Goku jumps, startled out of his daze by Nia's sudden arrival, but he quickly recovers and grins at her once he realises who's joined him. ]

Dunno! [ He doesn't know how her day went. ] Felt pretty long. I'm pretty surprised Chikusa set all that stuff up! Even I'm tired now!

[ Even thinking about all this stuff seems like a lot of energy for Chikusa. Goku's impressed. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Lots of dates with lots of cute girls, huh? Turning into a lady-killer on me? [She grins, her weariness taking a lot of bite out of her snark.] Surprised they're not all hanging off of you still.

[rockthemonkey]

Uh... Guys, actually.

[ Goku rubs the back of his head awkwardly. Now he thinks about it, it's kind of weird he only got set up with guys, right? Not bad, necessarily, Goku doesn't mind it. But it's a little weird. They weren't even especially pretty or strong guys. Does Chikusa not know him at all? ]

... It's fine though! I didn't really come 'cause of anything like that. [ He only agreed to go on dates in exchange for chocolate. Goku drops his hand and grins at Nia. ] I'd have liked hanging out with you all day way better!

[ Nia's his friend, after all! The people he met today were fine, but it's always nicer to spend time with someone he's close to. He doesn't mean anything else by the statement, really. Probably. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Nia lets out a little 'snrk' noise, then begins laughing without any shame or restraint.] Set up with a bunch of guys, huh? No wonder you're smiling, even I must be a real sight for sore eyes after that!

[She doesn't think for a second she's anyone super-cute, especially if you take her attitude into account, but Goku seems to like it for some reason? He's at least been complimentary of her looks on occasion, so she gets the feeling he at least likes girls.] Me, I had nothing but winners. Starting to feel like I need a shower and to skip the next time someone signs me up for this no matter how rude it is.

[rockthemonkey]

[ Goku laughs too. ] They were nice! But yeah, not really- ... Chikusa just asked me to come, so I said I would.

[ He hasn't put a lot of thought into what he's into, but Goku knows he likes pretty and he likes strong. He's aware enough of society's expectations to know he's supposed to like girls- he's not that sheltered and he has spent the last few years sitting next to Sha "Hitting on my male friends as a joke unless you're actually into it I mean no homo" Gojyo. But he's not caught up in it enough to particularly care if pretty and strong come in a male shape instead.

But it doesn't really matter. Today he just met some nice people and had a fun time running around. ]

Next time we should just sneak off and do our own thing. I didn't even get to eat lunch today!

[ Brunch doesn't count. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

And you survived. I'm amazed.

[Another thing she likes about Goku is how she can tease him about his nature and he'll just cheerfully agree. Banter is all well and good, but sometimes she just likes to fire off a few zingers and have them land without causing any harm. After Ross, her snark volleying ability needs a little rest.]

[She slaps one hand to the seat, pushing herself up as she grabs for his nearer hand with her other.] Come on. Let's put some food in you before you start crying, I don't want to hear "Nia Nia I'm hungry" for hours.

[rockthemonkey]

[ Frankly, as mean as Nia might think she is, she's going to have to be a lot meaner to offend Goku. He's used to being called far worse things on a daily basis by people he loves unconditionally; everything Nia says just registers as playful ribbing.

Anyway, he can give as good as he gets. It's more fun that way, than having to put effort into being nice and polite all the time. ]

You're always hungry too, right? [ Goku grins eagerly and lets Nia pull him to his feet, smiling a little harder at the feeling of warmth from her hand. It's cold out tonight. ] If y'steal my dinner, I'm gonna get real pissed! I'm starving!

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Goku's taking her ribbing in the spirit it's intended, then, even if her snark might go a bit far for some people's tastes. Though when he gets up, she steps in slightly to elbow him in the chest. Not hard at all, just to get his attention.] Idiot, why would I steal your food when I'm trying NOT to hear you crying for it? We're gonna stuff you so I can go ten minutes without you wanting to eat something.

[rockthemonkey]

[ Goku responds to the sudden elbowing by kicking at Nia's feet with equal force. He's never been able to roughhouse with a girl before, it's kind of weird. Fun though. ]

'm just sayin', don't try anything! [ Heheheh. ] You're tryin' to be sneaky or somethin', I can tell!

[ Not really, but it's funny to say so. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Oi, you wouldn't know sneaky if it snuck up on you! [She stumbles a little thanks to that kick, swatting at him with a hand that doesn't even come close to landing on him.] Come on, let's get some of those -- dough things. Funnel cake. The ones with the fruit and sugar.

[rockthemonkey]

I'm plenty sneaky!

[ He steals food all the time, just ask Gojyo! Goku snickers at the missed attempt at swatting him and tightens his grip on her other hand. Oh, he's still holding that, weird. Convenient for tugging her in the direction he can smell cake from though.]

Oh, man, that's sounds awesome! Let's get some of those!

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[You gonna hold onto that all day, Goku? Not that... she's necessarily complaining. But who has time to complain when she's getting hauled along!]

Yes, that's what I was saying we should do! Don't act like it's your idea!

[rockthemonkey]

I'm agreeing with you! That's all.

[ You can take the credit still, Nia. It does occur to him that he should probably let go of her hand, this is kind of a weird thing for friends to do- but she hasn't complained. And Nia's a weird girl anyway. Besides, it doesn't feel bad. ]

You were just takin' too long.

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Yeah, it's pretty weird that he's getting all handsy and stuff -- but hey, he's always been a physical sort, right? It's all right, she supposed. Not too bad at all.]

I can't teleport, and that's the only way that's fast enough for you. There's a stand over there, let's hit it up.

[rockthemonkey]

Nah, walking's fine.

[ He still kind of sucks at teleporting. As they approach the stand there's no longer any need to drag Nia along, so Goku drops her hand. There. Very reasonable. ]

Which one do ya want?

[sassywelshcatgirl]

That one. The one with the strawberries and caramel and sugar. [One of the more luxurious ones, of course, but she's hungry. She's always hungry. One reason she's so eager to indulge Goku's own appetite.]

[rockthemonkey]

[ Exactly his point! ]

Got it- hey, mister!

[ Goku waves his hand to get the seller's attention and orders. ] I want the one with peaches but can I get berries with it too? And one that's um, strawberries and caramel and sugar.

[ It's his turn to treat her! ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

[Oh hey, that's nice of him. A little curious to watch the proceedings, Nia grabs onto his shoulder to support herself as she cranes up on tiptoes to watch the guy funneling dough into the hot oil. Hey there Goku, don't mind her!]

[rockthemonkey]

[ Goku doesn't mind her at all! He climbs all over his friends sometimes too. This is normal friend behaviour. Her hair smells nice. Like a normal friend. ]

Oh, hey, you've got pears too? I didn't see those before! I want them too! [ The seller gives Goku A Look. His serving is going to be more fruit than cake at this point. ] ... Please?

[ He likes fruit and he's had a lot of chocolate today already, okay, give him everything. The guy rolls his eyes and holds Nia's cake out for her to take before he gets started on Goku's salad. ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

Don't mind him. He's 'special'. [Nia jerks her head at Goku with a roll of the eyes for the vendor's sake, even if she's still smiling.] Thanks!

[But she doesn't hurry to a seat yet. Like a good friend, Nia will wait till Goku is served. (Also she'll stay here to manage him.)]

[rockthemonkey]

I'm just hungry! What's wrong with that? [ Fruit is good for you he is being healthy. ] Oh, man, that smells so good...

[ After a minute, Goku gets his cake/fruit salad as well and pays for it all. ]

Thanks!

[sassywelshcatgirl]

You're always hungry. [Her eyes go up again, but in all fondness. Luckily for the both of them, there's an open table just nearby, so Nia plops down her plate to claim it and slides into a seat.] Though even if I weren't a shinki, the sight of this'd make me hungry too...

[rockthemonkey]

[ Goku sits across from Nia and pops a piece of fruit into his mouth with a happy hum. ]

Mmyeah! [ Goku, chew. Swallow. Then talk. ] S'good! 'm not a shinki but it makes me hungry too!

[ He's also always hungry though... ]

[sassywelshcatgirl]

You seem like being a shinki wouldn't even bother you. Just keep on being cheerful happy Goku. [She sounds a little envious, and it's not because of his funnel cake. After all, she has one, and the bite she takes makes her ears twitch happily.]