Fly Me To The Moon (Arisu / HE Event Thread)

There was little that Zoe loved more than eating. And it had been her primary hobby since arriving on earth. She had tried everything from seashells ‘Absolutely terrible, unsure why anyone sells them, on the seashore or otherwise’ to beer ‘Also absolutely terrible, beginning to wonder if humans have taste buds’. One thing that she had always adored watching when she watched Earth (which - she watched Earth as often as she could) was watching their festivals. There were so many people and colours and sounds! And she could have written (in fact did) volumes about the different types of foods available.

Zoe did not need to eat. She, like all the other Children of Light on Hala, had been genetically engineered to serve a singular purpose in the most efficient way possible. For her that meant that she ‘ate’ sunshine. She had been genetically altered as an embryo to include plant DNA and as such she behaved like a plant. She had been falsely told that the plant she had been spliced with was the Uke-Yuri, and she never questioned it.

And not needing to eat meant that until she had arrived on Earth - she never had. Now though, she could fully indulge in everything the whole world had to offer, all right in the same place. A Festival that people from all Nations were invited to meant an incredibly diverse buffet of food offerings, and Zoe was all about that. What Zoe was more about though was Arisu. She had shyly invited Arisu to go to the Festival with her and now she was waiting at the Heavenly Emporium for her. Zoe was wearing her usual white dress, though she had taken the time to weave flowers into her hair and had even managed to find a shop in Konoha that sold blue roses. Roses with the same blue shade as the one that Arisu had given her when they first met. Some of the roses were woven into her long white hair, and several had been put aside and tied with a single white silk ribbon. Zoe held the makeshift corsage in her hands tightly as she paced bounced back and forth, excitedly awaiting the arrival of the person who was always on her mind and in her heart.

Arisu was unarmed at the moment, having decided that she didn't need to arm herself for the time being. That said, she didn't choose to walk around unguarded, especially if she was going to be spending time with Zoe, so she had her Paths of Pain giving her a perimeter guard, although they all maintained a distance of 50 meters or so. It was primarily to keep a full guard while also being inconspicuous. She'd given Naitome the Kiba Blades, and the female path her other usual carried blade.

Arisu had chosen to wear a different style of clothes than she usually did. More often than not, she wore primarily white and grey robes, but this time, she chose a blue short kimono with long sleeves that left her shoulders exposed slightly. There was a golden flower pattern trimming it, with silvered trim. (This, but with a palette swap) Her hair was pulled back into a braid that was looped into a bun, held together by two long hairpins. Her Rinnegan were on full display, but that wasn't necessarily unusual for her at this point.

Walking up to Zoe, Arisu smiled as she laid eyes on the woman. She'd been excited to spend some time with her, even at this festival. It wasn't that she didn't care about the festival herself, but Arisu wasn't very used to being around massive crowds of people, especially when it was in a non war scenario. Due to that, crowds put her a little on edge, but Zoe had been so excited to come out with her, Arisu didn't have the heart to say no.

"Hello, Zoe."

Arisu gave a stiff and awkward curtsy to her smaller counterpart. It was still odd to her, greeting people in a non-serious environment. While she hadn't been given a strictly Shinobi training environment growing up, Arisu had been taught to be serious in all occasions and she didn't really know how to do casual just yet.

When Arisu walked up to Zoe, Zoe’s jaw went a tiny bit slack in awe. Every time she saw Arisu she had a similar reaction, everything else faded away and all that remained was Arisu. Zoe was, in a word, smitten. After a beat she returned Arisu’s smile, gazing up at the taller woman. “Hello, Arisu.” It took Zoe a second to remember she should speak more words than that. “You look stunning. I mean, you always do, but I thought it bore saying aloud. You look like. . . the night sky.” Zoe not talking was practically a miracle in itself, but with Arisu she wanted to just bask in her presence - there was something decidedly calming about Arisu. Even the words she spoke now, while still carrying her quintessential excitement were still more subdued, almost reverent.

Zoe gave an equally awkward curtsy back. In her head Zoe imagined that she could gracefully offer a sweeping curtsy, the kind worthy of a painting, but Zoe lacked the coordination for such a feat. She at least managed to curtsy without falling on her face, so that was almost as good as an epic greeting. “These are for you.” Zoe would shyly extend the small bunch of blue roses tied with a white ribbon towards Arisu. “I could, um, tie it on for you. I think you’re supposed to wear it on your wrist. At least it’s one of the human traditions I learned about. For when two people are. . . well, like we are. . .” Zoe would take a small step forward and speak quietly, she was less concerned about people hearing her and more having difficulty admitting she had feelings for Arisu. “It’s supposed to show that I like you. Like, like you like you.” Never having felt romantically towards anyone before Zoe was struggling to find the right words. She still didn’t even know how best to describe what she was feeling, but she did know that there were two ‘likes’ when describing how one felt about someone and one of them meant more than the other, and it was the one that meant more that she was trying to convey.

The night sky? Arisu smiled, hiding it by looking to the side and covering her face slightly with a sleeve. She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, a blush that was likely permeating her alabaster skin.

"Thank you. I'm not quite so eloquent with my descriptions. You flatter me with your presence."

When she returned the curtsy and then presented a corsage, Arisu's eyes fell on it, her body still for a moment. It wasn't that she didn't know what it was, it was more that the presentation had been rather unexpected. Up until now, she'd been unsure about why Zoe even wanted to spend any amount of time with her at all, but as the petite woman began to explain further, it finally clicked in Arisu's head.

"Oh."

Zoe liked her. Arisu blinked a few times at that realization. She'd been so taken in by her that she hadn't even stopped to consider whether or not Zoe liked her back in the same way, but Arisu had been fairly enamored with her since originally laying eyes on her in the garden. To be honest, she'd been spending time with Zoe just to selfishly get more time around her.

Holding out a hand for Zoe to tie the corsage onto her, Arisu channeled a small amount of chakra into her other hand, holding it behind her back so it was hidden. Out of her hidden palm, Arisu grew several flowers, creating a small bouquet of them. A range of different colored roses, primarily gold and silver petaled appeared, hidden by her torso for a moment.

Once they were made, Arisu focused on creating a small vine wrap to tie them together. She'd recently realized that she had the ability to make wood and plants, unsure how long that had been a thing, but it was likely tied to her proximity to the former God Tree of this planet. Once the bouquet was finished, Arisu presented it towards her suitor.

"For you then. More roses, I like you in the same way."

Zoe smiled happily at Arisu’s compliment, Arisu had an unusual way of speaking that Zoe found endearing. And her heart skipped as Arisu held out her hand for Zoe to tie on the corsage, which she did readily. Her touch was gentle and a touch clumsy, but eventually she tied the ribbon on and then stepped back so she could more easily look up at Arisu.

Zoe held Arisu’s hand for a few seconds long than was necessary to tie on the corsage, not wanting to relinquish their closeness. She was taken by surprise though as from behind her back Arisu presented her with a corsage as well. This one had gold and silver petaled roses and an audible ‘Oh’ sounded from Zoe’s lips as she stared in wonder at the gift. She hadn’t seen roses like these before, and she was in awe. “These are beautiful! Thank you!”

It took a beat for Zoe’s brain to catch up, and when it did she froze and returned her gaze towards Arisu’s face. “You. . . like me?” She didn’t know quite how to respond, many different courses of action ran through her mind as she stood frozen in place.

Firstly she wanted to jump for joy, probably yelling loudly as she declared how happy she was. That option was evident on her face as ‘stunned doe eyes’ turned to ‘exuberant elation’. Zoe felt a good many things as Arisu’s revelation settled in her mind; joy, relief, more joy, and then more relief. It had not occurred to her that she might be rejected, but in retrospect she must have unconsciously known it was a possibility, otherwise why would she feel relieved when she wasn’t rejected? Zoe would hold out a hand to accept the roses, unable all the while to keep her jubilant grin off her face. Taking the flowers she would bring them towards her mouth, nibbling at one of the gold petals thoughtfully. “I’m so happy you like me too. . . so happy. Um, but. . . now what?” She would glance around at the festivities as she asked her question, she hadn’t exactly planned this far ahead.

The feeling of the girl's hands near her wrist as she tied on the corsage sent goosebumps through Arisu, almost electrified by the simple contact.

"Of course I like you. How could I not? You're beautiful and you're very interesting."

Arisu watched Zoe's face as it seemed to express a whole range of emotions. It was certainly vastly more expressive than the average person that Arisu interacted with, which certainly added to the charm of the girl in question.

Another interesting quirk was the girl's tendency to nibble on things. A momentary thought crossed Arisu's mind, that she wished she was on the receiving end of some nibbles, although it quickly became a moment of confusion as she wondered about that thought and what it had meant.

"I suppose now, we continue on with our festivities? Experience the festival, but together together. Please excuse my poor etiquette, I'm not experienced with courtship. I just know that I want to be with you. If that's what you want, of course."

Zoe smiled widely as Arisu complimented her on being both beautiful and very interesting. Zoe wasn’t used to compliments, she didn’t have anything like low self esteem but her positive attributes were not something that often came up in her own musings. She simply was Zor-El, and now Zoe.

Zoe would move closer to Arisu, pausing from nibbling on the golden petal of the rose Arisu had given her and attempt to place her hand in Arisu’s. Should that be successful, Zoe would squeeze Arisu’s hand gently and beam up at the taller woman. If not she would simply remain close to the woman, the same joyful smile on her face. She appreciated Arisu using the same language as she had when it came to describing nuances of certain terms. Together together was a very nice way of putting it and left her with a warm and fuzzy feeling somewhere in her chest. “I want to be with you too, Arisu. And I think your etiquette is just fine, I also don’t have experience with courtship, only what I’ve observed and read about. As for what we should do. . . I heard some music coming from over there, maybe we could go see it?” She would point in the direction of a small group of musicians who had three dancers in matching black and gold outfits performing in front of them. If Arisu wished, Zoe would lead the way to the performers, staying as close as she could reasonably get to Arisu all the while.

The small one's smile was positively radiant. As Zoe grabbed for her hand, Arisu's hand had already moved to reciprocate.

"I'd love to go see some music. Please, lead the way."

An odd turn of phrase. One doesn't see music, they listen to it, but it was obvious what they meant. Arisu found it endearing how much Zoe liked human culture. While she didn't share the same enthusiasm towards most humans, Arisu liked the energy that Zoe had. It was probably good for her to experience the world that she would be in charge of more than she had been, but that was just a difficult thing when she knew that most humans were so far removed from the concerns that she had.

And yet, in a way, the two of them were little more than two people. It was humbling that Arisu could get so nervous about walking next to Zoe, feeling butterflies in her stomach, a slight tingling of her nerves as they walked close together. She let Zoe guide them if she wanted to, content to be the follower on this trip, despite her usual commanding presence suggesting otherwise.

She turned her attention to the music, trying to get a feel for it. The harps and lyres made for interesting sounds and the dancers added to the aesthetic. Arisu imagined Zoe dancing like one of them and her skin turned a shade of red that clashed very hard against her usually pale skin.

"Do you listen to music often?"

Zoe held Arisu’s hand and walked along towards the musicians and dancers once Arisu said she wanted to see them. She tried to keep from skipping along, but that was difficult for the short Otsutsuki as she was brimming with excitement. She made sure to not pull Arisu along, she was gentle as a summer breeze as she led the pair to stand in front of the performers, her eyes sparkling as she took in the sounds.

When Arisu asked if she listened to music often, Zoe turned to face her date, marveling at the pretty rosy colour on her cheeks. “As often as I can. And sometimes when there isn’t any music I make some up although I don’t think I’m particularly skilled at it. I haven’t quite grasped how humans put music together. But I like to imagine the colours of the notes, or the way they might taste or feel.” Zoe swayed to the music as she spoke, her violet eyes never leaving Arisu until finally she scrunched them up for a second as an idea came to her.

“Arisu, would you like to dance with me?”

"Colors of the notes?"

Arisu wasn't familiar with the concept. Truly, this woman was divine in her perceptive abilities. As they stood listening to music, Arisu strained to hear the colors that the notes were producing, but that was beyond her. She shifted her focus to try and taste or feel the notes, but it still wasn't reaching her in a way that made any amount of sense.

"I'm afraid that sense is beyond me."

Looking at the girl, Arisu smiled at the offer to dance. While she wasn't the best dancer, she certainly knew how to. Although the music playing right now wasn't something she'd really danced to before, but it was better to improvise anyhow. She gave a small 'ready' bow, placing a hand forward while keeping the stance.

"As you wish, Lady Zoe."

Her dance partner was cute as a button. Arisu did her best to steel herself for the dance and just try and enjoy the moment. If she let her nerves show, she'd only get in her own way and embarrass herself. She couldn't make a fool of herself so publicly, not in front of Zoe. Hopefully she'd do well.

“Yes. Well, they make colours in my mind anyway. I wouldn’t say I actually see them, see them. But they’re there for me.”

Zoe did perceive the world differently, but she hadn’t realized just how differently until Arisu asked about her wording. The way she experienced her senses was apparently at least different from the way Arisu did, and the idea was intriguing to her.

“How do you experience sound? Maybe I could learn from you!”

She wanted to know everything about the woman that she was now hand in hand with. And anything she could learn made her heart leap with happiness. Her happiness was impossible for her to disguise and as soon as Arisu said ‘As you wish’ Zoe would smile and take a step so that she was facing Arisu directly, gently placing her free hand around Arisu’s waist and attempting to being something approximating a waltz. Or rather, a waltz as only seen from far away and in distant memory without the appropriate skill or coordination to do it. It was. . . an attempt. But Zoe kept a smile on her face and her violet eyes locked on Arisu’s eyes as she enjoyed the music and the closeness.

“For me, people’s names aren’t just sounds or letters. Your name for example, Arisu, is like the effervescence of starlight when the sky first settles into darkness. It fills me with awe and excitement, and is at once all encompassing like the night sky and singularly and uniquely brilliant. Like you’re my own north star.” Zoe’s eyes sparkled as she spoke, trying her best to explain the way she felt.

**Continuing as a Flashback in the new subforum