She's One of Them! [Arianda/Sora]

The red that covered Sora's cheeks was bother from embarrassment and shame. It wasn't a date! She cleared that up before he could ask. Still, was it okay to let some cute girl buy him food when they just met? Sora's mind went wild with what the people of his past would say about him. Her telling him to relax did not help at all. Sora couldn't help but inwardly panic, some of that showing on his face as a bead of sweat fell down his temple and his eyes stayed wide in shock. He didn't move either, so she ended up dragging him by the arm. He kept up with her easily, but her small stature didn't help! He ended up leaning over just to walk with her.

If Sora had the attention span to focus on his own panic and Arianda's ability to blend in with Japanese culture, he probably would have been impressed. However, his panic prevented that and he followed her almost robotically, doing whatever he thought expected of him at any moment, including sitting down at the table across from her. His face was no longer red at this point, but his eye stayed wider than normal. Seeing that smile, he tensed up and focused on a random spot on the wall until she spoke up. Well, damn. She really had to call him out like that? Oof.

"Uh. I-I... W-Well, um... N-Not all, I think. Just most, maybe?" Sora stumbled over his words and did his best to look her in the eye. In fact, he tried so hard it was probably awkward, even if hilarious. "N-Never understood the g-girl thing, y-ya know? A-And... W-Wait, not that th-there's a girl 'thing,' but you gi-rls do this thing...where you're l-like... with the eyes, a-and the smiling." She smiled again and Sora pointed at her. "Y-Yeah, like that! All of that is just too... too... cute."

"Wait, what?" Sora said, not stuttering for the first time. The stability in those two words were different from anything he had said up until this point. It wasn't surprising that Ari didn't understand his fear. It's not like he was being completely honest himself. Yes, women were cute and that made him feel nervous at times, but talking to them always felt dangerous. Any time he had in the past, he got certain reactions that painted him in a light he had no business being in. It happened so often over a short period of time that Sora was traumatized by it. Of course, he said nothing to show that, but in short... Sora lost all trust in women, especially ones that he found attractive. He watched his mouth around them.

"Yeah, I-I'm okay. I'll get past it some day, maybe..." Sora said. A few moments later, Sora was giving his order to a waiter. He sat in silence, glancing around and trying not to make eye contact with the woman across from him. He kept his hands safely in his pockets too. Ari started talking about a confidence boost and doing something about his paranoia, but he doubted anything would work. Firstly, for something like that to work, he'd have to explain his real problem. Secondly, he'd have to be willing to do it, and he wasn't. "No. Honestly, probably not," Sora said, still glancing off to the side. "Women these days are either into each other, wannabe men, or reveling in the entitlement that certain social movements gifted them."

Realizing he probably sounded like a nut job, he sighed. A lot of his views came from a horrible amount of time being spent in western culture. Having returned to the east a few years back, he realized the culture shock was startling, but the damage had been done. Knowing that, maybe Ari could help him? Sora turned his head back to her, trying to make eye contact. "So, if I did ask you for help..." Sora said, changing his mind for the moment. "How would you help me? I mean, wh-what do you think could be done? Or how? I don't know very many of your kind."

Arianda couldn't help but smile a tiny bit as Sora started to talk quite normally. This fear of his was either really just of women, or it was something far deeper than just an idle fear of women. The demon listened to him, and frankly could not blame him for the amount he refused to look in her eyes and continued to try and hide himself, in a sense. Meanwhile, Arianda stared directly into her eyes with an unblinking focus, her silver eyes penetrating through Sora as if with x-ray vision. Eventually, the demon leaned forward, interlacing her fingers as she placed her arms upon the table, resting upon her elbows, the demon held her hands in front of her as she looked towards Sora with all the concentration and intensity of someone examining a patient.

"Whether your feelings are correct or not, and unfortunately they are a bit too accurate even for my liking, that doesn't mean you should simply give up. However, I can't blame you for being in fear of woman who will not treat you correctly. It's a genuine problem in this day and age..."

Arianda continued to look at Sora for a few more moments before the demon couldn't help but grin at his final comment, moving her hands to rest on the table once again; grinning a tiny bit more as she looked upon the man before her. He really was quite keen, especially given the lack of demons in the world as of late. She couldn't help but chuckle softly as she raised up a hand, her features changing before Sora's eyes until what seemed like a different woman, but obviously still Ari sat before him; with a tail... and horns.

"Sheesh, that obvious huh~? No point in lying to ya. But, I've stopped caring about what others think about me. It's not worthwhile garnering attention and approval from those who don't matter. But, back to you, Sora."

Arianda's tail flicked in minor annoyance as she looked at the man before him. Perhaps he had once been crushed by one of the women he described, and there definitely seemed to be a certain reluctance floating about him; and Arianda couldn't help but notice how he always avoided her gaze. It was like he was doing the best to avoid her attention so he needn't talk with her at all. His fear maybe wasn't so easily pin-pointed as just scared of women.

"How could I help indeed? Frankly speaking, I'd probably just be making it up as I go. However, I'm afraid your reluctant attitude also draws women too. I could offer magical methods, or even just to knock around inside your brain until I find the problem and strangle it. However, would either of those provide you with the experience you needed to prevent relapse? No. What you need is honest to goodness time with a woman. Just talking. Let yourself relax. You don't have to trust her, shit you don't have to trust me; I have done nothing to deserve it. But, why live in fear of the unknown? Life is too short to be afraid of something like women. Death? Sure. That's just normal. But why fear the opposite gender just because of mistrust, rejection, and because they could vilify you on social media? There are worse things..."

The demon gave a small shrug before she gave Sora a tiny grin. She could see some honest potential in this man, if he could just get over his fears. Besides... it wasn't worth being afraid of women. Find the gem in life that actually loves you, and not some bimbo who just wants money.

"The best way I can help, frankly, is simply just spending more time with you. You need to get used to talking to a woman. And, because I can change how I look, I can easily make it so you're talking to different women. Otherwise, we could figure out a more physical method that would involve getting your ass beat by a woman to see if you could push past your fear and fight back~ I leave the choice up to you, Sora. Because you should not feel okay with the idea that you are so scared of women you can't talk to them. NEVER live in fear... Shit ain't worth it."

"Sheesh, that obvious huh~?"

What was obvious? By the time Sora realized what was happening, there was no correcting it. As Arianda transformed in front of him, his eyes went wide. His jaw dropped. He was frozen, a stone statue. His lungs wouldn't even let out a bit of air. Arianda had changed from an adorable black haired women with a smile that brought red to his cheeks, and into a eerily beautiful, white hair, blue eyed demon. As she talked, he was completely stuck, said nothing! He didn't even move a muscle! He realized what he said wrong. Her kind. It was that stupid phrasing!

"I-I-I-I-I m-eant...women," Sora finally said.

In truth, Sora had absolutely no idea Arianda was a demon. He knew something was off about her energy. He thought her strength was a little strange, but he assumed she was a human, maybe even a Quincy. It wasn't liked he cared! Well, about human or Quincy. But she was a demon! How was he supposed to react to this?! When he stupidly had said "her kind" he just meant women!!

Frankly speaking, there was nothing to really characterize or even correct this entire moment. Sora, having foolishly said something rather... Well... difficult seemed to have resulted in the entire situation they were in. Many people indeed had started to look upon the weird woman who had horns and a tail; sitting across from Sora. Sora, meanwhile, had to endure every single second of Ari's misunderstanding, and his lack of proper clarification that caused this entire situation. Not only was he dealing with a woman, but he was dealing with a demon woman. Frankly speaking, Arianda thought he was doing great already! He was talking to her, even if she had now just surprised him shitless! However, his admonishment to his previous statement of "Your kind" was quite enlightening!

He meant women.

Arianda couldn't help herself. She snickered, giggled, and soon burst out laughing in full merriment as she rolled forwards a tiny bit, laughing her ass off the whole while. He had absolutely no idea Ari was a demon, not at least she kinda revealed herself at least! The look on his face, the sheer air of the situation itself, Arianda couldn't help herself. So, she laughed. She laughed so hard that her eyes swiftly leaked tears of mirth, her arms wrapped around her stomach as it began to sting a tiny bit from the convulsions of her diaphragm. Eventually, through a torrent of giggles and chuckles, the demon was able to relax herself enough to wipe her eyes free from tears and give Sora a kind look. Still the same woman, just... ya know. Different looking! Could be worse.

"Heh... Sorry about that, I thought you knew enough about, as you so brazenly put it, 'my kind' that you had figured me out! When, in fact, it was a complete misunderstanding~ Ah, dear. Lesson one, never say 'my kind' to a woman, you'll get slapped~"

Arianda couldn't help but let out a few more chortles before she finally restored enough of her composure to sit up straighter; and especially to stop laughing at Sora. It may help him a bit better now, funnily enough, to know that Arianda was a demon. After all, demons could do some very odd things... and Arianda just happened to be a particular expert on emotions.

"So, Sora, with that little accidental surprise out of the way, what do you say? If you can talk to a demon woman, you'll be able to talk to any woman. Just need some time and practice~"

The occupants of the restaurant were trying not to stare, but who could blame them? The transformation and her boisterous laughter weren't easy to ignore. Sora kept making himself smaller, his face deep red as he sunk into his seat. Sora couldn't even look up at her as she laughed. His eyes focused on the table instead.

"B-But you didn't... slap me?" Sora said and then raised his arms in a panic. "That doesn't meant I want you to, o-okay? But you didn't! I was just pointing that out..."

As she was able to calm her laughter at him, they were no longer under the eyes of those surrounding them. Sora felt like he could rel-... Well, no, he stayed sunken in his seat, glancing up at Arianda every now and then, too nervous to keep eye contact. "S-So... just... t-talk? L-Like, right here? Now? A-A-Are you sure, because we could do this another time... without so many people here, around us..."

Sora really was an interesting man. One second, wondering why Arianda had not slapped him and then cowering when he thought she would because he suggested it. Really, he was hopeless, wasn't he? Arianda simply let out a tiny sigh and, instead of slapping him, reached out and gently gave him a pat on the cheek.

"Take a breath, relax a bit Sora. I'm not going to slap you unless you've earned it, and you have done nothing to earn a slap. Like I said before, you need to stop living your life in fear of the opposite sex. It's hopelessly sad to be scared of women when there are some who might like you!"

Arianda shook her head gently. As the waiter returned with their drinks and food, likely staring at Arianda for longer than was polite, Arianda gave them a warm smile and a warm thanks before they departed and Arianda briefly turned her attentions to her food and drink... Emphasis on briefly. Because Sora soon said something that made the demon giggle softly.

"What~? Would you rather take me somewhere else to talk, Sora~? Quite bold, we're only having dinner~ Don't be so scared, no one's gonna hurt you~ You're perfectly safe with me. Just take deep breaths and relax, okay? Nice and slow... maybe try to eat your food and don't think too much about the situation."

Arianda smiled at him before reaching over and ruffling his hair, looking into his eyes carefully. He really did need to work on his people skills, and having an honest talk with a demon would likely be the best thing for him.

"Don't think so much about me being a woman, okay? You're gonna be alright, Sora. Just start talking, breathe, and you'll do just fine."

Sora shut his eyes tight, expecting a slap, but it never came. Instead, a short pat on the cheek was all he got. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath because she told him to. What she said next was shocking. A woman like him? Ha! Doubtful. He wasn't worth anything! The most he could do is keep her safe from minor threats, but he had nothing to provide. He was a pathetic excuse for a man, a bum.

Sora's head stayed down as the food was delivered. He was so embarrassed and ashamed of himself. He wanted to learn and talk to women normally, but his fears held him back. Then she went on teasing him again. He opened up and she teased him again! Sora groaned and suddenly slammed his fist on the table. "I didn't mean it like that!" Sora yelled, standing up and startling the other customers.

"Ah, no. Sorry." Sora put a hand over his face and sat back down, trying to force the embarrassment away as she tried calming him down more. He followed her instructions and kept taking deep breaths. After a few times, it did seem to help and he looked up from the table again before beginning to eat. Through the calm she provided, Sora actually dull-faced at her over something she said.

"Yep, she's crazy." he thought to himself. "Have you not looked in a mirror? You were cute before, but now?" It was meant as a compliment, but Sora looked away and puffed out his cheeks a bit, pouting before he muttered. "This is ridiculous."

Frankly speaking, Arianda could understand why Sora had so many problems with women. Frankly speaking, the way he acted was adorable in a relatively detached way. He most certainly didn't mean to do it, but Arianda couldn't help but notice how adorable he was acting. Especially due to his, well, everything. His mannerisms, the way he did everything, and even when Sora stood up and yelled she could only grin and chuckle. Goodness! He was going to be a tough one. However, Arianda had a feeling if Sora could just overcome some of his initial problems, he may actually prove to be quite a good man; well, that was Ari's hope at least. This fear for women... He really was doomed.

"Beautiful or not, ridiculous or not, that doesn't mean you can just stop trying~ At least take those deep breaths when you find yourself getting scared, riled up, or otherwise compromised. Again, you'll do just fine. And, well, if you're too worried about me being a woman, then just talk to me and control your breathing~"

Arianda gave Sora a warm smile before she returned to her food, giving very little shits at the looks the two people were drawing from others; and especially whatever else Ari may be attracting just based on her appearance alone. Race notwithstanding, she did have a LOT of blue upon her.

"Tell me, Sora... How is your life as a Shinigami? Do you work for the Gotei United~?"