Family Dinner (Otsu Only/HE Event Thread)

Zoe was thoroughly enjoying the large crowds of people at the Festival. She had her notebook out and was furiously scribbling down notes about everything she saw. Which was a lot. She knew she’d have to get a new notebook after the Festival just so she could keep recording all the marvelous things that the humans did. There were lights and music and dancing. Every type of food and drink imaginable.

Every type of food and drink imaginable.

Zoe was always hungry. And more than that, she wanted to try all the things. So naturally the first buffet table she came across she stood and stared, hunger and glee in her violet eyes. She gaped for a while, taking in the sight of so many different foods and then finally she adjusted her leaf mask and went over to the table. She had watched as party goers had taken small plates and put a few things on them and then walked to sit somewhere and eat. She didn’t see any of the small plates anywhere, but she did see a large, mostly empty, platter. Most likely it was about to be replaced with a fresh platter of food, but Zoe didn’t know that.

Zoe picked up the platter, pushing the bits of cheese off to one side as she went from dish to dish and heaped a generous helping onto her new ‘plate’. She was quite small even by human standards and so gradually the platter became full enough that it was comical to look at. A small white haired woman hoisting a platter filled with all sorts of meats and cheeses and fruits. Warm baked fish and steak tartar, pie and takoyaki and napkins. The napkins weren’t set to the side as you would expect them to be, Zoe hadn’t any idea that some of the things on the table were not for eating. She probably wouldn’t have cared anyway and attempted to eat them regardless.

Satisfied that she had at least one of everything on the table, she carried her treasures over to an empty table that was conveniently far enough away from the crowds that she could sit and eat while watching the crowds and not be conspicuous. Or so she thought. It was a testament to her adorable naivety that she somehow believed that a fully grown woman of only four foot nine inches, stark white hair and violet eyes with a metaphorical mountain of food in front of her on a table would go unnoticed. She sat there munching happily as she watched people walk back and forth, a huge content grin on her tiny face as she took a bite of something, scribbled a note and then moved on to repeat the process with whatever new thing she picked up.

“Ta-ko-ya-ki. Ta-ko-ya-ki. Azzie wants some takoyaki! Takoyaki!” Azzie would continue on with his newly created jingle as he weaved his way through the crowd, a bit difficult to do as he had to wear a mask. Something about someone saying it was a mask or aid ball. How was he supposed to eat with this mask on?! He could barely see! Well, Azzie could see, just the dark tinted lenses where his eyes would be, was dark. It being darker out did not aid Azzie in his endeavor to find the buffet table.

When he had finally arrived at the buffet table, grabbing two plates for himself, Azzie began searching down the line for some takoyaki. Unfortunately, there happened to be none at the current moment. One of the table attendants told him they would be bringing more out shortly, but Azzie wanted some now! With disappointment etching itself on his features, Azzie returned one of the plates back to the stack and began to lethargically fill his plate with non-takoyaki related foods. Packing his plate with some pan-fried gyoza, agedashi tofu, chicken karaage and tempura, Azzie slowly made his way through the crowd, and found himself sitting at a table with a woman who was far more excited about food than he currently was. He did not have half these foods before, but the lack of takoyaki made the disappointment set in deep.

Behind his mask, Azzie would find the takoyaki on the white-haired purple eyed girls plate, and his mouth would salivate at the thought of eating takoyaki. He would not focus too much on her plate. It was her takoyaki, not his. A muttered out “Takoyaki…” Would escape him as he lifted the mask to rest at the top of his head, so Azzie could at least try to enjoy the food on his plate.

Zoe had her journal out on the table next to her platter of food, and was excitedly scribbling down every new taste sensation as she took a bite out of the various foods and implements on her plate.

‘Takoyaki; still delicious. Interestingly it seems to taste about the same no matter where I get it from.

Yakisoba; noodley goodness. Difficult to eat without making a mess, unsure if this is a feature or a bug.

Ikayaki; literally fried sea bugs. Unsure why humans think I am strange for putting everything in my mouth.

Taiyaki; delightful! Surprise lying fish snacks! Turns out these are not fish at all, unless all fish are filled with sweet red paste. Further investigation required.

Chopsticks; these are probably not food. Or at least not food meant to be eaten without a sauce of some kind. Dry and hard to chew.’

When she was joined by a tall man with long white hair she would smile happily as she looked up from her writing, greeting the stranger with all the joyful exuberance that was typical for her.

“Hello there! I’m Zoe, welcome to the table! I couldn’t help but overhear you mention Takoyaki, would you like some? I have lots to spare! Actually, help yourself to anything you like, but please tell me what it tastes like to you so I can record other people’s impressions of traditional human festival foods!”

His mask rested on the top of his head, while sad and joyless mauve orbs glanced at the plate of takoyaki-less food. The food on it was delicious, yet Azzie did not enjoy it as much as he did takoyaki. The joy he felt of eating agedashi tofu, chicken kara-age, and chashu was just not at the same level as takoyaki was.

“Hi.” Was Azzie’s reply, sadness laced in the single word though, he would attempt to smile, though it was clear that the newcomer to the table was distraught. “That’s… your takoyaki. You took it, so its yours. I think they said they’ll bring out more soon. I don’t know how long soon is.” As he spoke, his eyes glazed over his food, yet clearly he was not intrigued by his plate. His hand holding the chopsticks, would poke at the agedashi tofu, yet not move to pick up a single piece. “I do enjoy traditional human food too! I haven’t tried too much festival food though. I also tried to eat wolf food once… it didn’t taste that good.” There was a bit more excitement behind his words as he spoke, but the lack of takoyaki, even while offered, was still apparent. “Oh, right… I’m Azgodon Zaelious Vernizin Wyllt, but you can call me Azzie, everyone else does.”

Zoe would push over the plate containing takoyaki, she had no problem sharing and didn’t understand the concept of ownership anyway. Intellectually she understood what it meant to own something, but in practice she hadn’t fully absorbed the concept and so it was sort of a tangential understanding of something that happened with humans. “I insist, I can’t stay for long anyway I have to go find Arisu.”

Whether he accepted the takoyaki or not, Zoe would smile at Azzie’s comment about eating wolf food, an excited gasp escaping her lips. “Ooooh! I haven’t tried that! I did try seashells once, I highly recommend not eating those. They tasted of sharpness and disappointment.” She would pull out her journal and point to the various reviews she’d done of ‘food’ that she’d come across in her travels since arriving on Earth. There were normal things listed, like beer and fish and apples. And some not so normal ones, like hair, chopsticks and seashells.

When Azzie introduced himself to her, Zoe would smile broadly. “Azgodon Zaelious Vernizin Wyllt. That’s quite the pretty name, I like it. But if you like to be called Azzie I can do that. My full name is Zor-El, but here I’m Zoe. So you can call me Zoe, since that’s the name I took when I arrived.” After introducing herself she would put her journal in her pocket and jump up from the bench she sat on. “I hate to leave so quickly after meeting someone so interesting, but I really do have to find Arisu. If you’re ever in Konohagakure maybe we can spend more time together! I’ve been there for a while now, and I don’t know when I’ll be leaving. But if I’m not there then you can probably find me in Kirigakure.” She skipped away, turning and waving one last time before disappearing into the crowd in search of her date, Arisu. “It was nice to meet you Azgodon Zaelious Vernizin Wyllt! Enjoy the takoyaki!”

[Exit Thread]

Azzie would warily watch the takoyaki with hungry eyes and his mouth near watering with the thought of consuming such a great delicacy. After Zoe had insisted once more that he was welcome to them, he would slide over the plate slightly towards himself; he would take a few pieces of takoyaki off the plate Zoe had provided and deposit them onto the one he had brought for himself. “Thank you!” Azzie would enthusiastically state after he had accepted the fate of the takoyaki being in his own hands.

“Seashells?” Azzie would curiously tilt his head at the comment. He would never try eating such a thing himself – just from what he had read about them made it so he would never want to try them. “I don’t think they sound good to eat. I haven’t seen a wolf eat them, so why would I want to eat one?” Azzie was not judging Zoe, but rather contemplating why anyone would want to eat seashells specifically. He never read anything about any creature eating seashells, at least from he could recall.

“Hi Zoe Zor-El… no that was wrong. Zor-El… Zoe!” He would once again say hello to the woman before jumping back to the topic at hand… his name. “Most people don’t want to call me by my full name… I think its because its too long. Azzie is also easier for people to remember, so they can’t forget about me!” When Zoe mentioned she had to leave to find an Arisu, he would wave to Zoe. “Have fun in Konoha! I live with the Hokage!”

[exit thread]