Valentine's Day CMO

[hurricane_chris]

Valentine's Day edition!

Call out one of the muses listed above and give me a prompt, or ask for one, and we'll go from there! Remember, all of them must incorporate Valentine's Day in some way!

Comments

Athrun

[justgessen]

[ Shinobi don't typically take part in civilian affairs. Rather, they aren't supposed to, but when you're young, you might as well live! That's what Shiki insisted to Yumi earlier in the week approaching Valentine's Day. While the leader of Gessen's shinobi didn't think much of the holiday, she would be remiss not to indulge at least a little.

That said, she's most certainly not pleased Shiki decided to set her and her teammates up on different blind dates. She's out on her own near the restaurant, but old habits die hard. She's on alert the entire time even though it should just be normal people milling around out here today. She doesn't appear to mind the colder weather much either. The temperature wouldn't bother someone of her elemental leaning to begin with, but she still thought it prudent to bundle up for the occasion. A little snow doesn't hurt anyone, but, as she knows well, a lot can be trouble.

Well, at least the mild snowy weather is good for keeping the box of chocolates she has cold! They're totally chocolate shurikens. Maybe they're not sharp enough to actually do anything, but...well, maybe they are! Who knows. They're another thing Shiki insisted on, as candy sharing is a staple of the holiday, date or not. ]

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun, on the other hand, had signed up for a blind date voluntarily -- though with significant apprehension. He may not be instantly recognizable, but he was still a war hero, and he tried to exercise caution.

However, being married to the job like he had become was quite unhealthy. Neither his mind nor his body was designed to work every waking hour, nor to engage in the latest happenings in politics. In addition, Valentine's Day was the anniversary of his mother's death, so he needed some way to keep his mind occupied. Therefore, he acted.

Athrun also keeps an eye out for any suspicious activity as he nears the restaurant. He's a soldier; it's second nature to him at this point. He's coming seemingly empty-handed, though his hands are tucked into his coat pockets. The cold weather is more uncomfortable for him, particularly since he has spent the last few years living in an island nation in the tropics. Thus, he's eager to get into the restaurant.

He catches sight of Yumi quickly, though. Is that his date? Only one way to find out.]

Excuse me. Would you happen to be Yumi?

[justgessen]

[ There's a moment where her whole posture stiffens at the approach of another, but she does relax herself when he asks. Looking at him, she's not sure what she was expecting, but she still looks relieved. It's always an anxious affair to wait and see just who it is you're going to meet.

Yumi's response is delayed for a second as she appraises him. He carries himself differently than a civilian would, and while that would normally be a red flag, she can tell he's not too different from herself in that he's not really looking for trouble. Quite the opposite, she's sure. She's not sure if he's actually seen battle or is a strategist or anything similar, but the air he gives off is definitely indicative of someone used to tense situations. And, naturally, he isn't hard on the eyes either. She won't say so out loud, as that would just be unladylike, but she does have to praise Shiki for picking out someone attractive! That is, if it turns out she had a hand in picking out the dates at all and didn't just throw names into her comically oversized hat. ]

That's right. You must be Athrun.

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun sizes up Yumi at the same time that she does him. She seems relatively unassuming, and unaware of who he is. He prefers it that way, to be honest; it makes life less complicated. He also notices that she is rather attractive herself. That was one worry crossed off his list; he can now feel more at ease that he knows he's on a date with a cute girl.]

I am. It's nice to meet you.

[He puts on a (rather shaky) smile and bows his head toward her, then straightens back up and places a hand on the door handle.]

Shall we go inside?

[Should she assent, he'll open the door for her and let her enter first.]

Oh, Justice boy!

[onecarriershow]

[What was supposed to be a normal day in the naval base quickly turned into a personal trainwreck.

It all started normal, at least -- Enterprise had gotten out to make her usual rounds, take stock, make sure Grim Reaper was fed; a routine, not unlike any other she'd formed since becoming part of the fleet.. Then in the distance, she heard cheeky laughter -- unmistakably the sign of someone about to get pranked. For a while, she thought that Saratoga would be taking her mischevious ways to someone else; there was no reason to think that she would go so far as to play a trick on her, right--

And then things went black, she panicked, yelped, and fumbled around.

It would have stopped there, but no; of course there had to be more to what was going on here.

The next morning, when Athrun wakes on the dawn of Valentine's Day, he'll find an inordinately large box sitting outside his room. And when he approaches, he'll find quite a bit of muffled noise coming from it.]

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun had woken up, hoping his damnedest that today would be a day like any other. However, after his mother's violent death, Valentine's Day would never be "a day like any other" for him, regardless of his relationship status at the time. He would always, always set aside some time to remember his mother and do something in her name, such as a charitable donation. So all of that is weighing on his mind as he goes about his morning routine. He wakes up, gets out of bed, enters the bathroom, and all of the various things a person does to prepare themselves for the day.

Then he leaves. And comes across the large box.]

What in the -- what is this?

[Carefully and thoroughly, Athrun inspects the box as well as he can. He's concerned about what the contents could be; it doesn't sound like a time bomb, but that didn't mean it couldn't be something else dangerous.

Eventually, as Athrun determines that the contents probably aren't dangerous, he takes a deep breath and opens it.]

[onecarriershow]

[As he lifts the lid, the muffled sound becomes clearer -- and even before Athrun gets it the whole way open, he can distinctly hear a certain Gray Ghost's voice, a shrill noise masked by what seemed to be a gag of some sort; that was without getting into the shifting and counterproductive attempts to free her limbs. It seemed as if whoever put her into this box made damn sure she couldn't get out of it...

And then there's the sight when he does get it the rest of the way open. If the voice didn't confirm it, the sight of Enterprise, hogtied and gagged face-up, her coat and shirt thoroughly ruffled and skirt lifted from how she must have ended up in this box to begin with, would. What lay next to her was a card -- with obnoxiously large handwriting, as if written using a permanent marker:

SOMEONE NEEDS TO SMILE A LITTLE MORE TODAY

GO GET DATED

The card itself is marked with Enterprise's name on it. But the way it's penned...]

[infinitejustice]

[With the way Athrun is standing, the first thing he sees is Enterprise's skirt. And with the way it's hiked, a whole lot more than that.]

GAH!

[Athrun instinctively leaps backwards -- and smacks into the wall behind him. Luckily for him, he caught it all on the back, which spread out the impact and left him unhurt. Just very, very surprised. And for once in his life, clumsy.]

What the hell is this?!

[Once he gets his bearings back, Athrun grabs the lid and throws it open, revealing the girl inside. Of course, at the same time, he sees the card and what is written on it. Immediately his cheeks burn bright red.]

Oh, my God, give me strength...

[His eyes trail back to Enterprise with great trepidation. He looks extremely sheepish as he shifts around and starts working to untie her.]

Bedivere! Or Xander, if you prefer. Time for pre-Valentine's shenanigans!

[prettybutlers]

[Normally, Vert would be... well, Vert, and busying herself with games she really wants to play -- i.e. 4 Goddesses Online, or her precious naughty collection. But today, she's opted to make herself an exception. Valentine's Day was just around the corner, and she wanted to surprise someone who'd been staying in Leanbox as of late. She couldn't do that if she went by her usual schedule.

So in a rare turn of events, Vert leaves the task of maintaining the guild for the day to her sub-leader -- she'll make up for lost time when she's done, she tells him -- and heads out for the morning, dressed in... her usual clothes, plus glasses.

Really, this was the best disguise she could come up with? Well, hopefully the target of her surprise wasn't out and about...]

[holyswordarm]

[Some time has passed since Bedivere ended up in Leanbox, and he has grown more comfortable the longer he has been here. He is fitting in well, and has been earning his keep by taking up bounties and requests in the city. In truth, it was somewhat similar to the life of a knight; he based himself out of a city and tended to the people who needed help.

He had also managed to ingratiate himself to the region's goddess. While Bedivere wasn't wild about fantasy video games unless they had a very compelling story -- a side effect of being part of the most famous medieval tale ever told -- he was also willing to humor Vert's hobbies just to spend some time with her. And he, too, was conscious of Valentine's Day coming up, and he had bought a tin of cookies from a bakery on a whim for her. His only concern is that it might not be appropriate for a wayward knight to present a token of affection for a goddess on a day for lovers.

So one might be able to imagine Bedivere's surprise when he sees Vert, who for some reason is wearing glasses, on a street in the city where there were various restaurants, bakeries, and confectioneries. Naturally, he notices her. And her "disguise" has zero effect on a man once known as King Arthur's personal tactician.]

Uh...hello? I, I mean. Hello. How are you?

1/3

[prettybutlers]

[Even if she didn't see sunlight, oh so precious yet scathing sunlight, very often, Vert was not one to throw out the hard work of her peers, much less those who worship her. Today was one of those days where she had time to appreciate that work in person -- and given pastries were on the menu for what was to come soon, she wasn't going to just let an opportunity to spoil Bedivere slip by. The least she could do, after all, was reward him for putting up with her gaming sessions.

Well, that was her cover, anyway, but she wasn't going to let him find out what this actually was.

Either way, Leanbox's confectioneries weren't exactly Lowee's -- and why would they be, when Lowee's line has to pamper two little sisters that take to the stuff like bees to flowers? But they still had a distinct touch to them that made them appreciated across the landmasses. She'd make sure only the best would do for someone of Bedivere's stature. With that in mind, she came out of one such pastry shop carrying a box -- not one big enough that she had to hold it against her ample endowments, but wide enough she needed to keep her hands full until she could stick it in her inventory somewhere. She even requested for it to not have any place to peek into without lifting the lid, strapped down by a nicely tied ribbon.

Yes -- yes, this will do.]

That takes care of that... now to just--

2/3

[prettybutlers]

[It was at this precise moment, however, that she heard the target of her affections -- and immediately seized up like a deer in headlights.

Nonononono, it couldn't be. She couldn't have heard that precious silver-haired knight that she'd been inviting into her Basilicom fairly often as of late, right? It was just her imagina--

...no. No, it wasn't.

When Vert turns around and sees Bedivere a brisk stride or three away from being near her, her expression immediately turns to one of awkward realization, and, for the briefest of moments, the expression of someone that just screamed internally at what manner of contrived coincidence just put her into this situation.]

[prettybutlers]

[She does at least try to manage her usual disarming smile, regardless -- though her brow doesn't exactly do any favors to mask the baffled mess that was going on in her head.]

Ah... hi. I'm doing as well as can be, thank you. [Small talk would at least help her regain her bearings. She hopes.]

[holyswordarm]

[It's not hard to pick up that something was going awry within Vert's mind. Bedivere couldn't know what, but one thing that seemed likely was that she wasn't expecting to see him here He could also tell it took all of her effort to just sound normal.]

That's good. It's a wonderful day, isn't it? What have you been up to?

For a certain Justice pilot.

[onlytsunseveryone]

[It was a careless moment. Not the kind that you'd really want to have going on on an auspicious day like this, but Noire wasn't exactly the kind of girl to just stop at celebrating (even if she spent most of that time acting more like the textbook tsundere...) -- if anything, she was eager to get something done, too. She always found that rounding off a holiday with a good achievement was always a good way to close it.

Instead, she ended up putting herself a bit too close to harm's way. In her excitement to have completed a hunt for the guild this quickly, one careless move with an otherwise weak Ancient Dragon put her out for the count -- and she wasn't entirely sure what had happened after. Was it killed? Had the party she had gathered for it retreated already? There were many concerns, but--

Ah. There's the stinging feeling of an impact-induced headache. Groaning, Noire carefully opens her eyes to the light of her room in the Lastation Basilicom, lenses contracting and eventually settling. She tries to sit up -- but finds a certain blue-haired colleague's arm keeping her still.

Another light groan, and her head settles back onto the pillow.] Oof... I went and blew it back there, didn't I...?

[infinitejustice]

[As soon as Athrun had heard the news, he had rushed right over. Naturally, when he arrived, Noire was still unconscious. Such was his luck, he figured. He ended up pulling a chair over and sitting down next to her bed.

By the time Noire begins to stir, Athrun had found a magazine and was perusing it. As he heard a shift in her breathing and her position, he flips the magazine shut and looks over -- just in time to notice Noire trying to sit up. Immediately he reaches out and keeps her still.

It takes him a few seconds longer for him to respond to Noire's question to let relief sweep over him. He has to take a deep breath to steady himself.]

Don't worry about it. Please. You're going to be all right, and that's what's important.

[The tone in Athrun's voice carries equal parts relief and concern. Getting the news, and having to sit there while she lay unconscious, sucked. But at the same time, he's just grateful she's conscious right now.]

1/2

[onlytsunseveryone]

[Noire sighs and rubs her face for a minute, careful to not disturb the bandages that were put on her head.]

I'm not sure 'alright' is the best word to use for it, but if it's the best you have...

[Her lips pursed for a moment while she tried to pull herself together. The headache wasn't doing any favors, though it wasn't as bad as what was going on in her head after that slipup. Of all the things for her to do, of all of them, why did she get ahead of herself? She can already hear Neptune teasing her about it in the back of her mind...]

[onlytsunseveryone]

[She eventually refocuses, though, and looks to Athrun while her head's still firmly planted on the pillow.]

What happened to the dragon? I can't remember much -- just that I was running in to finish it off before... well, this happened.

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun takes a deep breath. He knows that Noire isn't going to like what he's about to tell her.]

Another team took care of it. Your group withdrew and let them finish the job.

[He remains seated through all this, though he leaves one hand on the edge of the mattress.]

Athrun

[the_galaxyfairy]

[It was Valentines!

Before this day, Sheryl could proudly say that she had never even boiled an egg inside a kitchen. Yet, here she was in the kitchen trying to bake cookies for her boyfriend who was going to arrive in a few hours for their date.

While at rehearsal, she and some of her female staff were talking about Valentines Day plans. Many of them bought chocolates for their male co-workers, but also had another box tucked away for their boyfriends. All were very excited to meet them.

Sheryl would never admit this, but she did find their excitement a bit enviable.

Because of her busy career, she had never had to worry about making anything for Valentines day before. However, she did give away chocolates to fans sometimes during fan events. With Athrun, she wanted it to be different and more special. She wanted to make it herself.

So after rehearsal and buying all of the supplies, she sets everything in the kitchen ready to make cookies. The recipe looked easy enough. ]

How hard can it be?

[ Famous last words. ]

(Note: This is so late! Sorry Chris, I only saw this today!~)

[infinitejustice]

[In the meantime, work was the same as always for Athrun. It was a rather uninteresting day in the office, with the most interesting thing he had on his itinerary being a debriefing of the shakedown of a brand-new, space-faring battleship. Well, that plus the candy that came with lunch in the base's mess hall due to it being Valentine's Day. He was more social during lunch than usual, though, speaking with the other officers dining with him in the officers' lounge as they ate.

Things only start getting different as Athrun leaves work for the day. First, rather than go directly home, he stops by at a florist in the city. When he's there he picks up a beautiful bouquet of roses. He puts them in the passenger seat of his car and then drives home. Then, when he does get home, rather than change into casual clothing, he instead freshens up a bit and changes into a neatly-pressed black suit with a red tie.

Once he's fully dressed, he gets back in his car and leaves. This time, he makes his way over to Sheryl's place. He parks, walks up to her door, and rings the doorbell -- holding the bouquet behind his back as he does so.]

[the_galaxyfairy]

[ Once inside, Athrun will notice that the kitchen wasn't just in a disarray --- it looked like someone decided to make the kitchen a battlefield and lost. A small stack of failed/burnt cookies can be found beside the sink. Failed batches of batter carelessly strewn on the floor and the smoke was coming out of the oven as Sheryl had just pulled another failed batch.

Sheryl had lost track on the time and had forgotten that she needed to get ready for her date with Athrun. That is why she was still unmade-up and dressed in her clothes from rehearsal.

She sighed with disappointment after seeing another failed batch. ]

I failed again?

Shirou? 1/2

[risette_truestory]

[ For Valentines, Rise and some of her single classmates decided to have a goukon with guys from another school. She was free after rehearsal that afternoon, so she decided to agree.

She also didn't want to be alone on Valentines.

Once there, since a few of the guys were fans of 'Risette,' she had no choice but to go with that persona. So she was smiling and flirty most of the time. It didn't help that they egged her to sing a couple of songs. With much of the attention on her, the other girls were not happy as well. She could see it in their eyes. They think she was just in this goukon to show off.

She wasn't! She wanted to tell them but couldn't. ]

2/2

[risette_truestory]

[ With the tension thick enough to cut with a knife, Rise excused herself to use the bathroom. But she didn't want one. She just wanted to leave the room since it was getting hard to breathe.

Once alone in a mostly empty hallway, she breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall.

Maybe ---- maybe this was a mistake. ]

Mou!

It is Valentines! I just wanted to find love! Is that so hard?

[wontdieifkilled]

[Upon Rise's cry of frustration, one of the doors to the room opens. Standing in the frame is Shirou, who is among the boys invited to this event. He has a look of curiosity and concern on his face as he looks out.]

Hey, are you all right?