Love Springs Eternal (??)

[bright_and_blue]

Who: ERRYBODY
What: It's Valentine's Day, and there are matchmaking notices everywhere. Here's an open log for one and all to post their shenanigans, meet ups, freak outs, and whatever else they're going to do about this.
When: forward dated to Feb. 14
Where: All over Aqures Ixen
Warnings: Ridiculousness.

[Plastering the city are notices matching up all of the Heroes of Light with one another, both the best and the worst. Moogles are having a grand old time handing them out and hanging them up, and are encouraging Heroes to speak with their top matches.

Naturally, reactions to this are mixed. Some Heroes are intrigued, some annoyed, some offended. Despite their feelings or misgivings, the rest of the city is still celebrating Valentine's Day as well, and now the thoughts of love are everywhere.

OOC: This is an open log for everyone to use for Valentine's Day stuff! Feel free to make your own prompts.]

Comments

Open!

[chondriosome]

This was crap.

"No." There was some firm finality to Aya's no, too.

"You can't be serious, kupo!" Iva exclaimed. "Everyone is going to be finding love, and you're working?!"

"That's right, I'm going to work." And that was that. She was already on her way, moving at a brisk pace before anyone could take notice of her. Iva was floating, trying to keep up alongside her. Aya sighed and threw a hand out in front of her. "I don't care what day it is. To me, it's no different than any other day. This is ridiculous."

Clearly, Aya was not a fan of the holidays.

Iva just frowned, looking rather disappointed for some reason.

Honestly, don't these creatures have anything better to do? Like going on strike for the umpteenth time or something?

Re: Open!

[bloodynine]

"Another dumb holiday?"

Logen grizzles, having been headed somewhere on some errand or another, keeping his hands in his battered old coat as he looks at Aya, maybe squinting a little bit.

"There isn't any feasting for this one, is there?"

He sounds almost disappointed.

[chondriosome]

"Unless you consider an abundance of chocolates and candy to be a 'feast'."

Aya, for one, does not. While she doesn't mind the occasional indulgence, she's not a big fan of overly sweet things. The heathen.

She sighs and slows down, glancing to Logen. "I didn't even think they'd have this kinda holiday here, too."

[bloodynine]

He shakes his head. "Nah, that's more of just a time to eat sweets. A real feast has drinking and meat and bad songs and maybe a few fights."


"We don't really have holidays where I'm from. Just feast days when a chief decrees 'em. But we don't really have use for gods and the like, either, except in Khalul, and the Prophet is a big damn problem for the rest of us anyway."

[chondriosome]

"Those are my thoughts exactly. Well, minus the drinking and fighting part."

But hey, Aya can be down with food and bad songs. Maybe even a little crappy karaoke.

She listens, and nods. From the way Logen describes where he's from, it sounds like a very old way of living. "That sounds... somewhat better than getting all up in people's lives and pestering them if they don't have a date on certain days of the year."

Aya sounds bitter about this, if only because she's had bad experiences with this holiday. And most holidays. Aya kind of hates holidays.

[bloodynine]

"Life in the North wasn't all bad. Just cold and hard. But the good times were good."

He shrugs. "Dates, huh? Been married once, guess I loved some others, but it didn't come to much. Can't say I much see the point in it anymore."

[chondriosome]

"Sounds like a... charming place."

Not terrible, but not Aya's idea of a relaxing vacation resort, that's for sure.

Her eyebrows raise. "I never got the appeal, either. The last date I ever went on, it... didn't end so well."

Aya Brea, not dating since 1997.

[bloodynine]

"How bad was the ending? Trying to kill you bad?" He chuckles, as though remembering one of his less-successful attempts at romance. Or maybe he's just amused at the way women tend to walk away from him when he smiles at them.

[chondriosome]

More like total massacre bad, but Aya doesn't feel like talking about all those lives lost that week is something to bring up in a casual conversation. Even if the guy does look like he can handle it.

"Something like that, yeah," she says, not being one of those women to be deterred by Logen's smile.

[bloodynine]

"Uh. Well. I see." He changes the subject, sensing some tension there. "Well, uh, how are you adjusting to living and working here?"

[chondriosome]

Grateful that he drops the subject rather than pries, Aya manages a smile at the change.

"I'm... adjusting." She shrugs. "I think it helps knowing that all is currently well back home. Or, as well as things can be."

Lucky for her, she doesn't currently have a whole lot of unfinished business going on. And since time works differently here from there, there's nothing to worry about. Right?

[bloodynine]

"That is good. You had a good life then? Friends and such?"

Logen has a friend here now. He's kind of the best, even if he's part demon or something. Not that it ever stopped Logen before, after all.

[chondriosome]

"I had a good thing going for me at the time, yeah. I was taking care of my little sister."

Granted, Eve was more of a daughter than her sister, being Aya's clone and all. That's similarly a long story, so she keeps it simple.

She waves a hand at him. "What about you? Got anybody back home, or in this place?"

[red_planet_blues]

Someone did take notice of Aya, and it happened to be the guy who got her as his number one choice. Sparks was holding his results in his hands, looking uncharacteristically unsure about whatever was on it. If his results listed her at the top, was he on hers?

"Oh. Hey. You, uh. You didn't get one of these things, didja?"

[chondriosome]

Upon seeing her superior, her steps grounded to a halt.

"I did, but I didn't keep it."

Much to Iva's dismay, Aya may or may not have set hers on fire before coming here. Good thing for that fire magic, huh?

She gestured to Sparks. "You got one, too? I take it that's why you're asking."

[red_planet_blues]

"Well, moogles've been posting 'em all over town, so. Ya got that to look forward too."

It seemed pretty clear that Aya barely paid attention to hers. Sparks is the sort of person to say he doesn't care, but he can't help himself this time. Since Aya seemed indifferent, Sparks shrugged and scoffed.

"Pff, yeah, they're pretty dumb. I mean, moogles, right? Always up in our business." He crumbled up the notice and tossed it in a nearby trash can, unaware that behind him, one of the same notices is pasted on the wall. Aya's name is at the top of his list, at a 96%.

[chondriosome]

"They have...?" Aya starts.

Her eyes follow the paper into the trash can, and then towards the notice. She squints.

96%, huh? Well, it's only a little lower than her top three results -- not that she cares or anything!

"You've gotta be kidding me." She shakes her head before it falls into the palm of her hand.

[red_planet_blues]

Sparks turned around to see what Aya was looking at. Whoops.

"Oh, uh. Yeah. Just like that." He quickly pulled it down.

"Reckon if we really wanna ruin their holiday, we can hit 'em up for some littering fines. Or something."

[chondriosome]

"Y'know, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

Iva, still floating close to Aya's ankle, gasped.

She sighed and glanced to her moogle. "Relax, I'm not being serious." Aya then looked back to Sparks. "Anyway, where're you headed?"

[red_planet_blues]

"Y'know. The office. Just cuz it's Valentine's Day doesn't mean stuff doesn't need to get done." Or maybe because he left some paperwork to get done so he had a sufficient distraction.

"'N probably the pub afterwards. That... that sounds good right about now."

[chondriosome]

All things considered, she was inclined to agree. "That's where I was headed, too."

Not that that should matter between Sparks Nevada and Aya '96%' Brea, who appear to be all work and no play together.

"Guess we could both probably hit up that pub after work." She's not making suggestions or anything. Just because she doesn't drink doesn't mean she can't enjoy the bar food in this place with some company. Valentine's Day be damned.

[red_planet_blues]

Sure. It totally doesn't matter. Also it's not like Sparks doesn't visit the pubs regularly. This was nothing out of the ordinary. At all.

"Sure, why not? We can, like, avoid all those couples out on dates. Cuz who wants to deal with that after a full day of work, right?

So, pub then. Probably around 6 I'm guessin'. But not, like, anythin' set in stone. Totally not at all."

Smooth as ice.

[chondriosome]

For someone who has, on more than one occasion, been harassed for dates before, having a 'faux date' with someone -- coworker or not -- doesn't sound too bad right now. After all, who knows if she's ended up on someone else's list?

"Totally." She smirks. "Six sounds good. It'll be a decent excuse in case someone comes around taking those results too seriously."

Because Aya isn't taking them seriously at all.

Smooth.

[red_planet_blues]

"Right. And another reason to check 'n make sure the other moogles aren't posting more public notices airin' out other people's business."

Sure, why not. Sparks really did want to take more down. But he didn't want to come off as a buzzkill either, no matter how annoying the moogles were actually being about this.

They were just about to get to the precinct though, so it was time to go back to being professional. "So uh, I'll see you then?"

[chondriosome]

She exhaled a sharp sigh. "That's what's so annoying about it. No one has any right to get into people's lives like that."

Because Aya was perfectly fine the way things were. Really. It wasn't like she needed a holiday to validate her state of singledom here.

"Right, I'll see you after work." She nodded once they reached the front doors of the precinct. Although they were headed to the same place, it was time to get her game face on.

Which was... pretty much the same face she always had.