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Satisfaction and Hunger (open)
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 24, 2022 0:36:37 GMT
Hex's single eye watched the crowds of humans milling about beneath him, the Negamon's tentacles gripping tightly to the top of the column from which he had chosen to observe from. If he had a mouth, he would likely be licking his lips at the sight of so many humans running around and collecting so many wonderful things. Food, clothing, toys and a dozen other items that he couldn't even identify but knew that he wanted. He was kept from leaping down and exposing himself to the crowd in an attempt to grab some of their treasures not by any sense of patience or restraint but rather by sheer indecision. Every time he spotted some particularly enticing trinket and thought about grabbing it, some human would pass by holding another, even more distracting treasure. Not to mention the humans themselves. He knew that he wanted a human partner, needed one even, more than he needed any of the other fascinating treasures that kept catching his eye, but how to choose the correct one. There were big humans and small humans, humans who walked about in packs and those who hurried about on their own. He wanted the best partner possible but he couldn't help but reflect that he had no clue as to what qualities were desirable in a partner.
Take this human passing by beneath him now, for instance. Relatively tall and thin for a human, dressed in plain clothes without any of the brighter colors that caught Hex's eye on other humans but was moving with purpose, not ambling about or dithering as many of the other humans did but neither was he running or pushing through the crowd. He didn't look particularly happy but could that be a good thing? Hex wasn't often very happy either and a driven partner could help him get all kinds of wonderful things, things that might make them both happy. And the human was holding a bag! Hex couldn't make out what was in the bag but that didn't stop him from wanting it. His interest piqued, Hex tensed his multiple limbs and sprang from his perch to the roof of a kiosk as the human passed by, close enough for him to listen as the human spoke into his phone.
"Yes, mother, I got the jacket Rin asked for. As I said I would," Shouta said into the phone, unable to stop himself from putting a little extra edge into the last part. He knew that his mother was only trying to make sure that Rin's birthday went well and that he should appreciate her concern but she would be better served by attending to her own tasks. He had long since proven that he could fulfil his own obligations towards his siblings without her supervision.
"I know, I know, Momoka Yamaguchi's apologetic voice came from the phone. "I was just concerned that you might be having trouble. I know that brand of jacket can be hard to find and you're so busy that I didn't want you driving yourself crazy looking for it," she explained, unaware of how Shouta's natural frown deepened slightly as she spoke.
"I wouldn't have said I would get it for her if I wasn't confident I could obtain it. Rin deserves a wonderful birthday and if it takes a little extra time to find the present she wanted then so be it," he said reprovingly. His mother sighed on the other end and Shouta braced himself for another attempt to convince him to relax a little and let her take care of Rin and the others more. He was spared this repeat of the old argument between them by the sudden burst of static over the line.
"Mother?" he asked, surprised by the interference. The only answer was a few garbled, incomprehensible sounds before the call suddenly cut off. He glanced at phone in concern but ultimately placed it in his pocket. It was unlikely that there was anything of urgent import to discuss on the call and he could speak with his mother when he got home, by which point she would hopefully have forgotten her worries about him overworking himself. Still, it was somewhat annoying that the connection had dropped like that. He of course had no way of knowing that it was largely due to the now somewhat excited Negamon nearby, who had heard his end of the conversation.
Specifically, Hex had heard the human he was observing mention how he had obtained something at extra effort because somebody else had desired it. That was exactly what he had hoped a partner would do for him. A more patient digimon might have required further observation but Hex's desires had already been put off by indecision for too long. This human would be his partner.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Apr 24, 2022 4:17:59 GMT
Mandrake and Lothar made their way through the crowd with their daughter Lilly, a Gigimon with sapphire blue eyes, and the youngster was riding out of sight in Lothar's backpack getting a good view due to how tall Lothar was even in his disguise. The bag was open just enough so that she could see out of the bag but not be visible unless it was a digimon with even weak night vision.
Mandrake looked casually around upon sensing a digimon nearby but said nothing as this was not uncommon within streets of Shibuya. Either the digimon was hidden not far or using a holosuit to disguise itself. Then after looking over to Lothar, he quietly said "Old friend, it seems there is a digimon we don't know around here as I don't recognize the digimon's mental signature." Though he spoke quietly he knew the disguised Leomon known as Lothar heard him loud and clear even amongst the general chatter of the crowd.
The three of them passed by before garbled sounds seemed to be coming from a young man's phone nearby as if there was some nearby interference. Maybe it was the unknown digimon as some digimon had the power to mess with electronics so Mandrake didn't think to much about it but had a feeling the day was not going to be a boring one soon enough.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 24, 2022 10:58:49 GMT
Hex's examination of Shouta was interrupted when he sensed the presence of multiple digimon in the area. His eye darting around the area, he couldn't spot any visible digimon which meant either they were in disguise or they were hidden like him. Whoever they were, they weren't feeling any particularly strong negative emotions that might let him pinpoint their location but they were definitely close by, which meant they were close to Shouta as well.
Narrowing his eye at the thought of some other digimon trying to claim his partner - and as far as he was concerned, Shouta was already his partner - Hex leapt into action. Tensing his tentacles once more, he sprang directly from the kiosk roof towards Shouta, aiming at the bag in his hand.
Hex's aim was true and he landed in the bag atop the jacket Shouta had purchased for his sister. In all likelihood, nobody who hadn't been specifically watching out for him would notice anything beyond a momentary dark blur in the air from his passage. Of course, there was one person who didn't need to see him enter the bag in order to notice his presence.
"Hmm?" Shouta said in confusion as he noticed the weight of something dropping into his bag. He reflexively looked up but of course there was only open air above him up to the mall's ceiling, nowhere that something could have been dropped into his bag from. Shifting his focus to the bag itself, he reached a hand in to see what the weight could have been. Hex shifted in the bag to dodge around the grasping hand without thinking about it, which led to Shouta's grasp ending up on something else.
"What on Earth?" he asked bemusedly as he extracted some sort of darkly colored electronic device, just small enough to fit in one hand and with plastic grips on the sides. He didn't recognize whatever type of device it was and certainly hadn't purchased it or anything else besides Rin's new jacket today.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Apr 24, 2022 12:54:58 GMT
Mandrake began looking around as it seemed the unknown digimon was on the move now and the mental signature of the unfamiliar digimon came from the nearby kiosk roof. Before Mandrake could spot the digimon the said digimon had leapt off the kiosk in a blur of movement landing in the young man's bag landing perfectly inside of it.
Though both Mandrake and Lothar were concerned which caused Lilly to crinkle her face in response to the negative emotions she was beginning to feel. She said nothing though as she didn't want unwanted attention drawn to her fathers. As the human stuck his hand in the bag as if looking for what landed within both Mandrake and Lothar were ready for potential trouble.
Then as Shouta extracted his hand from the back Lothar noticed something in the teen's hand before he said "Mandrake look. I think he has a digivice."
Mandrake looked where Lothar indicated before he said "Looks like you're right, old friend. That means this young man seems to be a new tamer but who is that digimon that hopped into his bag?"
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 24, 2022 14:30:14 GMT
Shouta turned the digivice over in his hand, examining it from every angle as he tried to determine exactly what it was. His best guess was that it was some sort of simple game system or virtual pet but that didn't explain where it had come from. He hadn't stopped in any toy or electronics stores where it might have been added to his bag by mistake. It was possible that somebody else had dropped it in his bag by accident but there had been nobody around close enough to place it in the bag. They would have had to throw it, which would mean either they deliberately wanted to get rid of it or they would be actively searching for it. A quick glance around didn't let him spot anybody who seemed to be searching for the device. There was just the usual throng of shoppers milling about, mostly unremarkable. There did seem to be a pair of men looking in his general direction who stood out by virtue of one being dressed in unusually formal attire for a mall and the other simply being large enough that he would likely stand out in any crowd. They didn't seem to be actively searching for anything though so Shouta dismissed them as merely happening to be looking in his direction by chance.
Hex, meanwhile, was picking up the sensation of concern both from Shouta and from the cluster of digimon, allowing him to get a sense of their location. It confirmed his original thought that they were very close by, likely within earshot, but they didn't seem to be approaching for the moment so he put them out of his mind and focused on his partner's concern. Hex had only caught a glimpse of the device that Shouta had drawn from the bag but he was almost certain it had been a digivice and given both the absence of any digimon already with him and the evident concern and confusion it was provoking in the human, it must be a new one, confirming that this human was perfectly suited to be Hex's partner. Now it was just a matter of making sure that that low level concern didn't prompt him to get rid of the digivice before Hex could firmly establish their new partnership. Fortunately, the concern was at a low enough level that it would likely be put aside if the human was focused on a more positive desire. And Hex happened to be resting upon something that he knew Shouta had already invested some time in obtaining.
Shouta was just considering locating a lost and found to hand the device in when Hex, wrapped in the newly purchased jacket, leaped out of the bag and onto the ground. The small digimon made sure to be seen this time, remaining immobile where he landed for just long enough to confirm Shouta had eyes on him before scuttling off at high speed, darting between the humans as he made for a stairwell where he could not currently detect any presences. It was possible that the stairwell was populated by a crowd of people in such rapturous delight that they didn't appear to his emotion sensing but that was unlikely and if it was the case, finding out what could so thrill them would likely be worth the extra exposure.
For a moment, Shouta could only stare in shock as something darted away with the jacket, which he had ensured was neatly folded in the bag, haphazardly wrapped around itself. Once he confirmed that he wasn't hallucinating and that the jacket was in the process of being stolen away by some unknown pest, he quickly set off after it, darting around the other shoppers as quickly as he could without barging through them. A part of his mind wondered how whatever creature was responsible had managed to get into his bag, wrap itself so completely in the jacket and then make a break for it so quickly but that part was drowned out by the part that reminded him that the creature was getting away with Rin's birthday present. Despite what he had said to his mother, it had taken quite some time to locate one that was still in stock and getting a replacement, while doable, would definitely be a tricky proposition.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Apr 24, 2022 14:55:57 GMT
Mandrake and Lothar quietly watched as Shouta examined the digivice as if trying to figure it out. To be fair the machine, as far as the human knew, came out of nowhere. Then Shouta began looking around as if trying to look for someone and it was likely that the young man thought the device was someone's lost possession as this was something that didn't take telepathy to read. Mandrake and Lothar noticed that the teen took notice of them and seeing as the two disguised digimon stood out in a crowd in their own way such a thing was understandable.
Lilly from within Lothar's bag was beginning to get confused by the various emotions coming from the still unknown digimon and, like her parents, was staring at Shouta's bag trying to figure things out without making a fuss. Then when the small digimon wrapped in a jacket that was clearly in Shouta's bag leapt out. Wrapped in the jacket made it impossible for the three digimon to identify the unknown digimon but that was not important right now as it seemed the teen had taken notice that the jacket was being snatched by some unknown thief and said digimon was heading for a nearby stairwell.
When the teen dashed after the moving jacket Mandrake and Lothar followed the crowd parting to avoid Lothar's bulk as the muscular titan ran with his well dressed companion right next to him. Mandrake shook his head as things definitely were no longer boring. Maybe when they caught up with the running digimon they could have a word with the little one about not trying to potentially cause trouble by doing what was done.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 24, 2022 16:37:02 GMT
Hex felt a surge of excitement as his bait succeeded in drawing Shouta after him. It was slightly tempered by the fact that those three digimon were still following further behind but they were still barely detectable to his senses so it was unlikely they had any immediately hostile plans. Fortunately, he was quick for a digimon of his level and was thus able to stay ahead of Shouta on the way to the stairwell, even as many of the passing shoppers reflexively jumped aside in alarm as he scurried past them, leaving the path relatively clear for Shouta to pursue.
Unfortunately, he had failed to take one detail into account in his plan. The door to the stairwell was unfortunately shut and with the jacket covering his eye, he wound up ramming straight into it at full speed. Dazed by the confusion, he was slow enough in managing to push the door open a crack that before he could slip through, Shouta had caught up and grabbed a hold of one of the trailing sleeves of the jacket that had been knocked loose of Hex's impromptu wrappings by the impact.
"Give me that," Shouta snapped irritably as he tugged on the jacket. Feeling his bait slipping loose, Hex just had time to grab the opposite sleeve in two of his tentacles. Given that he was only a fraction of Shouta's size, this would likely have done little to stop the human from retrieving the jacket but as the jacket was pulled between the two, it inevitably revealed Hex to Shouta's view and even as determined as he was to get the jacket back, it was hardly surprising when, upon catching sight of the cyclopean squid, he let go of the jacket with a yelp of fright, staggering backwards. The sudden absence of any tension in the jacket, combined with the sudden, distracting sensation of Shouta's sudden terror, caused Hex to tumble backwards and fall through the ajar door before it could fully close, taking the jacket with him.
For a moment, Shouta could only stare at the door, heart racing and eyes wide. He had thought that perhaps the jacket had been snagged by a rat or perhaps a small dog, even though he had been no closer to understanding how one would have gotten into his bag. That, however, had certainly been no animal he recognized, seeming more like an alien than anything native to Earth. His first instinct was to retreat and possibly call somebody for help, though he had no idea who - the police? Animal control? The military? - but the fact remained that he still wanted that jacket back. And the creature, whatever it was, hadn't seemed large enough to be an obvious threat. Reluctantly, he prodded the door open with his foot and slipped through, laying eyes upon the creature, now crouched atop the jacket which he idly noted would now have to be cleaned before he could give it to Rin.
"You," Hex declared gleefully, once again causing a spike of anxiety in Shouta that only further excited the digimon. "Be my partner," he demanded bluntly. A master of diplomacy, Hex was not.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Apr 24, 2022 23:50:44 GMT
The digimon was easily very small to be obscured from view by the jacket and apparently said jacket was blocking the small digimon's vision as the little one rammed into the door to the stairwell. As painful as it looked it seemed as if the digimon managed to get the door to open slightly. Before the digimon could slip through, however, Shouta had caught up with Mandrake and Lothar right behind as the teen took hold of one of the coats sleeves trying to get the coat back.
There was a brief tug of war that resulted in the digimon being revealed as a fresh level digimon which understandably caused Shouta to yelp in fright and release the jacket. The moment the jacket was released Mandrake and Lothar went to Shouta's size to make sure the teen was okay and it seemed he was fine just not sure how to proceed. When Shouta passed through the door Mandrake and Lothar followed finding the small digimon sitting on the stolen jacket. Mandrake stepped up closer to Hex as he spoke with a blunt demand to Shouta to be his partner. Not sure if revealing himself as a digimon would be a good idea given the teen's reaction Mandrake stepped forward staring down at the fresh digimon his voice taking on a paternal tone which had become a habit from having three kids as he said "Little one, get off the young man's jacket so he can retrieve it."
Lothar then felt movement as something clumsily climbed down his back but realized what it was as his and Mandrake's daughter Lilly was standing in front of Lothar staring at the other digimon with her sapphire blue eyes which matched Mandrake's narrowed before the child said "You heard my daddy. Listen to him." The young empath's tone was just as blunt and demanding as it could be coming from the in training level Gigimon. Mandrake sighed as his daughter may have inadvertently made things worse.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 25, 2022 10:55:25 GMT
Distracted as he was by the mysterious creature attempting to steal his sister's new jacket, Shouta didn't notice the duo he had noticed earlier following him until they entered the stairwell. He couldn't help but notice, however, that they seemed unperturbed by the little octopus-like creature, the man in the suit treating it more like a rambunctious child than a disturbingly eldritch entity. The reason for this was partially explained when another creature, this one red and vaguely reptilian, emerged from the taller man's bag and challenged the landsquid.
"Wh-what is going on here?" he demanded, the stress and confusion of the situation overwhelming his composure. He looked from Hex to the second creature to the pair of humans - although considering the second creature had just referred to one of them as "daddy", perhaps that description wasn't entirely accurate - in an attempt to understand what exactly he had gotten himself into. Who are you? What are these... things?"
Hex, meanwhile, had tensed up when the three digimon entered the stairwell and glared at them suspiciously, something that was not helped by Mandrake's attempt at conciliatory castigation nor by Lilly's more direct challenge. "Go away. He's my partner, get your own," he hissed angrily. He did relax his tone slightly when addressing Shouta's question but did not take his eye off of the trio.
"I'm Hex, a digimon. I want you to be my partner," he repeated his demand a little less bluntly this time. Raising one tentacle, he pointed at the digivice still clutched in Shouta's hand. "That digivice means you can be a digimon's partner and I want you to be mine," he insisted once again. This didn't exactly do much to explain any of the questions Shouta had in any but the most basic of senses but at least it didn't seem like either of the little monsters was about to attack.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Apr 25, 2022 12:53:13 GMT
Lilly made a face showing how uncomfortable she was with feeling Shouta's emotional stress and turned to face the distressed teen whimpering before she said "Please calm down. I didn't mean to startle you I'm sorry."
Mandrake looked at Lothar who looked ready to make a move before he put his arm out in front of his fiancé and quietly said "Easy, Lothar, this digimon is only a baby even though he seems a bit impolite." Then looking back at Hex, he said "Take it easy, Hex was it? None of us are after your partner or even looking for one. Please calm down."
Then Mandrake looked back at Shouta as he said "I get all this is a lot to take in. See Lothar and I are digimon but are disguised as humans and with us is our daughter Lilly. If you are comfortable with it Lothar and I can deactivate our disguises to show our true appearances."
"I didn't mean to scare you more. I can feel the emotions of those around me so please calm down." Lilly pleaded her sapphire eyes looking sad and clearly looking for forgiveness.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 25, 2022 16:04:48 GMT
Mandrake's explanation was a lot more helpful than Hex's but it still raised a lot more questions, as well as confirmed that he and Lothar were not truly human. Under ordinary circumstances he likely would have continued to push for further answers but Lilly's distressed pleas did strike a cord in him. If Hex was a baby digimon like Mandrake said then it was likely that Lilly was much the same based on their similar sizes and he was never comfortable with young children being upset.
"Ah, right, I apologize. I didn't mean to overreact," he hastily offered the young digimon, trying to bring his emotions back under control. He was not an overly emotional person by nature but this situation had somewhat strained his ability to keep his composure. I am... taken aback to say the least but there's no need for you to remove your disguises if you don't wish to do so. I don't want to impose," he politely declined Mandrake's offer, falling back on basic etiquette while he tried to get a grasp of the situation.
Hex had also calmed down once Mandrake confirmed they weren't after Shouta, clearly sensing the lack of any guilt or other suspicious emotions that might indicate a lie. He was also much more interested in Lilly's own empathy, the way her emotions surged in reaction to those of others forming a pleasantly unique sensation for his own empathy. "You can sense others' emotions as well? All of their emotions?" he pressed curiously. "I can only sense certain emotions. Sadness, fear, guilt," he listed off casually. In speaking up he had drawn Shouta's attention back to him and to the original object of his attention.
"Hex, was it?" he asked as he eyed the creature. Knowledge that he was still young cooled his irritation at the theft of the jacket somewhat but he still wanted it back. "I'm not sure exactly what sort of partnership you're looking for but if you want to establish a good relationship with me, I would appreciate it if you returned that jacket to me. It is a gift for my sister and I cannot simply let you have it," he said sternly but with a certain measure of sympathy in his voice. Hex looked from him down to the jacket beneath his tentacles, clearly torn. While he had stolen the jacket simply to lure Shouta away, hat didn't mean he necessarily wanted to give it back. As it was, however, his longstanding desire for a tamer outweighed his newfound desire for the jacket. Reluctantly, he stepped backwards off of the jacket. Shouta immediately picked it up, just barely restraining himself from snatching it away. He quickly brushed off some of the dirt it had picked up from the ground with irritation and folded it over before returning it to his bag. "Thank you, Hex. Now perhaps you could tell me more about this partnership you propose would involve," he suggested.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Apr 25, 2022 23:11:25 GMT
"It's okay. You were scared. This is your first experience with digimon." Lilly said beginning to relax as Shouta brought his emotions under control. Yes that definitely felt better but it would be awhile before she would be accustomed to feeling negative emotions but that didn't mean she would ever enjoy the sensation as she seemed much like Mandrake in the regards that she was gentle and kindhearted by nature. When Shouta mentioned that Lilly's fathers didn't have to remove their disguises the little digimon smiled before she, to Shouta, said "One of my daddies is shorter than you." She said this looking at Mandrake before looking at Lothar as she continued "While my other daddy is taller than all humans but will still fit in here."
"What our daughter said was true. My true form only stands four feet tall and Lothar's true form is eight feet tall. These holosuits just allow us to move around with only minimal reaction as we can pass as humans." Mandrake said before he continued "As for our names, I am Mandrake and with me is my fiancé Lothar and our youngest child, Lilly."
"Yes I can feel all emotions like Grandpa Theron. Yet it seems all you can feel are the bad ones. Shame since feeling the good ones feels so good." Lilly said now smiling at Hex's curiosity in her empathic abilities.
"Lilly's empathic abilities skip a generation on my side of the family as she inherited them from my father. I inherited my father's telepathy and telekinesis while with her that seems to have not been the case." Mandrake explained as Shouta managed to retrieve the jacket from Hex by being stern but amazingly patient as well.
"Maybe if you like that jacket your new partner will get one like it. It does look comfy to sit on so it might be comfy to nap in and maybe you can wear a jacket when you get bigger. I can't wait to get bigger. I hate being small and weak." Lilly said ending her excited babbling with a pout.
"Now. Now. Lilly you'll be strong soon enough. You should be reaching your rookie stage soon enough." Mandrake said with a smile and Lilly looked over to Lothar and saw her other father was smiling at her as well before the disguised Leomon took on a serious face once again. Since Lilly could sense his emotions she knew better but said nothing as she accepted it just as a quirk of her taller father.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 27, 2022 14:27:50 GMT
As Lilly relaxed, so did Shouta, glad that she was no longer so badly distressed even if he was still finding the entire situation rather surreal. Her comment about her fathers' natural appearances, coupled with Mandrake's elaboration, gave Shouta an idea of exactly how large digimon would grow, though the idea of Hex growing into a four-to-eight feet tall squid was more than a little unnerving, even without taking into account his apparent thieving habits.
Hex, on the other hand, found himself growing bored as all the sources of negative emotions faded from his senses, though it did allow him to focus on explaining Shouta's new role to him. "Digimon can partner with humans who have digivices like that one. It means they work together and help each other," he explained, scuttling closer to Shouta who just about stopped himself from recoiling away. "Digimon can protect their human partners from anyone who might try to hurt them and humans can help their digimon reach higher forms," he elaborated, though it did raise further questions.
"Higher forms," he asked, noting also Mandrake's comment about Lilly reaching the rookie stage. It sounded like they were talking about some sort of levels of development, though how he was meant to aid in that was beyond him.
"Yes! Your digivice will let me digivolve to the rookie level, then champion and even higher," Hex confirmed enthusiastically, tentacles squirming with excitement. Shouta took this in thoughtfully, surmising that his "digivice" could somehow trigger some kind of metamorphosis in digimon, even if he had no idea how such a mechanism could work. Lilly's comment about the jacket did catch his attention though, as he glanced at Hex consideringly.
Maybe if your next forms are more humanoid, I could find something like it for you to wear," he mused, only realizing as he said it that he already seemed to have accepted the situation. As strange as the scenario was, the idea that Hex needed his help to grow beyond an infant stage struck at his most sensitive issues.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Apr 27, 2022 22:52:49 GMT
"While digimon proceed to new stages on their own typically by forming a bond with humans the process of digivolution is often simpler." Mandrake explained helping Hex out with the process. "Digimon have various levels of power starting with the first two stages called fresh and in training. In these forms digimon are fairly weak but since they are very young it makes sense. The next stage, rookie, is the first stage where digimon are fairly independant and capable of decently being able to defend themselves. The rest of the stages are champion, ultimate, mega, and super mega. As the digimon advance in stages they grow more powerful."
"At the least such a similar piece of clothing looks like it could make a good bed. Reminds me of Daddy's cape. It is so warm and soft." Lilly said smiling at the memory of nesting in the cape at night. That was the only downside she could see to eventually digivolving so far but she would find a way to manage that she was sure of.
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Post by eyesinthedark on Apr 28, 2022 10:39:06 GMT
Mandrake's explanation of the digivolution process was more complete, giving Shouta an idea of how it would progress. From what Mandrake had said to Lilly earlier, he guessed that she was at the in training stage and presumably Hex was the same, as they appeared to be about the same size and neither one seemed like they were exactly powerful creatures.
Hex meanwhile became enthused at Lilly's comment. "Yes, I could have a bed like that, soft and warm," he suggested, eying the bag with the jacket hungrily. Noticing this, Shouta shifted the bag into his other hand, further away from Hex, but he did sigh in resignation.
"Well, I suppose we can find you something of the sort to sleep on. It wouldn't be right to just turn you away," he acknowledged, already thinking of any other supplies he might need to support a small, alien being that could be expected to grow much larger over time. It would probably be best to keep Hex from his siblings for the moment as he didn't know enough to be sure how either Hex or his sibling might react. Hopefully by the time Hex became too large to hide, he would have formed a more solid long-term plan.
"Yes!" Hex crowed in triumph, springing at Shouta and clinging to his upper leg. Shouta stiffened but then forced himself to relax. Fortunately, Hex's tentacles did not appear to be sticky or slimy so it was unlikely to leave any stains on his trousers. "We will be the best partners and I won't let anybody take you away!"
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