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

[charming_jerk]

What, seriously? [He looks pleasantly surprised for about a split second before shaking it off. No, this was dumb, and probably fixed, and not to mention demeaning.

... But it was nice to know they made each other's lists.]

Well, I mean-- It's probably all rigged. Some moogle probably saw us hangin' out and slapped our names on there. Right?

[shinra_dog]

Yeah... Yeah, I mean, it's gotta be...

[He withdrew his paper again to look down at his results thoughtfully.]

With these results, that's gotta be it. Only thing that makes sense.

[Because even if he and Cloud could be an item, they were currently over a decade apart in age; and Reno and Rufus had already been there, tried that, and argued over the damn t-shirt. There couldn't be anything substantial to this at all.]

[charming_jerk]

[Moogles, man. Just blame them for everything. Maybe if Johnny and his moogle got along, he wouldn't be so quick to do so.

Johnny pulls down a few more posters with his name on it. Was that his name on the other Jack's too? His roommate? Hopefully she won't see this...]

This ain't exactly my idea of a fun way to spend Valentine's Day, but I guess we better take a look around for any more we wanna take down.

[shinra_dog]

[At this rate, taking the time to find all these posters, then time at the lab, and anything else, Reno might not get to spend much time at the hospital. He paused. That was what he wanted to do, wasn't it? Spend this Valentine's Day with Kyo? It would be the first one without him... and it had been almost a year since he'd seen the other man, animated and alive. So going would be what a good "boyfriend" would do, right? Except Kyo wasn't animated and alive, nor would he remember anything if he were because he wasn't the same Kyo. So they really weren't "boyfriends"... and it really didn't matter what he did.]

[Reno wasn't sure if he felt better or worse with that revelation. It felt like giving up, and that was depressing. But at the same time, Johnny was here -- and not just "here" in the city, but here right next to him. And Johnny was on his list, top three. Top one if he ignored the names that clearly didn't count.]

How would you spend it, then?

[charming_jerk]

Literally anything else.


Oh, uh... [That was a kneejerk reaction, speaking before it sinks in who exactly just asked that question. Johnny stops, blinking as he thinks and comes up short for an answer. He shrugs sheepishly.]

I dunno. To be honest with ya, I've never done anythin' for Valentine's before. Usually I just forget about it, but they kinda shoved it in our faces here this year. Last year, too.

[There's a beat before he tries to ask this question nonchalantly.]

You... wanna do somethin'? After we take care of this shit.

[shinra_dog]

[Reno couldn't help but snicker at Johnny's answer. He would have said the same thing.]

Now I'm kinda curious how you survived last year...

[Except after he said it, he realized he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. Because what if Johnny had been with someone else at the time? It wasn't that Reno was jealous exactly... But Valentine's Day was kind of important. It was the one day you really couldn't have a one-night-stand, it was the one day that actually meant significant interest in someone.]

[No. Johnny had said he'd avoided it before -- Reno would choose to believe that. No sense in over-thinking this and making it more complicated than it already was.]

Yeah. Yeah, that'd be good. I don't even have to find all mine...

[What would Rufus do? Just ignore it, like he should. Cloud surely couldn't take it seriously either, right?]

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny rolled his eyes a bit, recalling last year.]

A bunch of us got set up on blind dates. I got set up with that Kaji dude. I mean, I guess I coulda done worse, but. [An indifferent shrug. It didn't really go anywhere.] Moogles again. You surprised?

[He stops to think about how ridiculous this all is, Reno being there as a calming influence. Maybe he didn't have to pick up all of his after all. But he should. It's so embarrassing. He's clearly conflicted.]

I mean, I... guess it could wait, yeah. Those hairballs'll probably just post more before the day's out anyway.

[shinra_dog]

Kaji?

[Reno's nose wrinkled. That guy who was in the vision, at the lab? Ew. At least nothing had come of it... He stopped when Johnny stopped, waiting with hope. And smiled.]

Tch. Moogles. Though I guess this time they got lucky.

C'mon, we got a whole day t' do something way more fun than pick up paper.

[charming_jerk]

... Yeah, alright. [Johnny shoved what posters remained in his hands into the nearest trash can. Trying to ignore all this stupidity to have a nice day out with Reno was a much better option anyway.]

So... Whattaya wanna do? What do people do on Valentine's Day? I mean, besides the obvious.

[shinra_dog]

Well...

[He dumped his fliers in the trash after Johnny and thought about it. He hadn't bothered with anything before arriving on Atia. In fact, he'd specifically avoided Valentine's Day hook-ups. Girls were either way too ready to latch onto significance and commitment that didn't exist, or were sloppily desperate for attention. Three hundred and sixty-four other days of the year, he'd fuck just about anyone; not Valentine's Day.]

[With Kyo, there had been significance. There had been commitment. And it was special, and incredibly nerve-wracking, to actually face that and express it. What was the compromise? Reno liked Johnny, a lot. But things were complicated.]

[He smirked, with just a hint of self-consciousness.]

Well... I'm always game for a romp between the sheets. But we could do somethin', y'know, more traditionally "romantic" first. I'd suggest a movie but... they don't have those...

[He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something unique besides just going out for drinks as always.]

[charming_jerk]

[He chuckled at that, feeling similarly. He's pretty sure he's never done anything romantic in his life. How do people do this?]

Yeah man. I miss the hell outta movies, let me tell ya. [Wait, what do people do in movies for dates?]

We could, uh, get some dinner? Or we could catch a Blitzball game. Or, um, I think you can rent boats to take out on the lake.

[His face is getting red even suggesting this stuff, and he's not even sure why. Isn't this what people do? Why does it feel so embarrassing?! Maybe because Johnny's never been on an actual date before.]

[shinra_dog]

Not a boat!

[It came out a bit rushed, instinctive. Reno tried to change the subject rather than address how awkward it was.]

Y'know I actually haven't seen a Blitzball game yet? We could totally check that out.

[He'd been a little nervous about the concept at first, honestly -- a sport played entirely underwater, for... well, he wasn't even sure how long. A long time. Being totally submerged was nerve-wracking enough, but without a clear time period to guarantee the eventual intake of air...]

[Reno tried not to think about it. It wasn't him in the dome, it was trained athletes. And he wouldn't be out in the middle of a lake in a crappy paddle boat.]

[charming_jerk]

[He grinned a little at that.]

Alright man, no boats. Blitzball it is. Y'know, I was never really into sports back home, but maybe cuz they weren't as crazy as this one. Yer gonna love it.

[And also maybe he got into it when Yuna was playing on the team. Maybe. Maaaybe.]

[shinra_dog]

[Reno smiled, thankful Johnny didn't ask. Johnny never asked. It was a relief.]

Alright. I'm trusting you that it's gonna be awesome, yo.

[And if he did end up having to leave, he trusted that Johnny wouldn't mock him. He might even be worried... Gods, Reno trusted Johnny, period. What a trip.]