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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 17, 2022 21:28:14 GMT
A young man wanders the streets of the entertainment district with his head high and a grand strut in his step. His eyes glitter with enthusiasm at all the wondrous attractions found throughout the streets, from the neon lights to the towering buildings. His mind races with the imaginings of what happens within the walls of each building. His mind in the clouds, he even begins to imagine himself as a performer of the district. The dancing, singing, and laughing found everywhere brings to his face a smile that shines even brighter than the lights of the district.
Suddenly as he feels his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jacket and he pulls it out only to see that it is just a text message from his mother saying, “You ok hun? You have been gone for a while.”. He sighs now fully detached from the environment he once gawked and marveled at as he trains his focus on texting his mother back, “Yes mom, I am just fine. I am just downtown taking in the sites. No need to worry about me.”. The moment he hit send he then put his phone on no interruptions mode and returns to taking in the environment though his posture is no longer held as high as earlier and his strut has left his steps.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Aug 17, 2022 22:00:59 GMT
Not far from the young man wandering around Mandrake was sitting on a bench with his and Lothar's youngest child, Circe. The shockingly human looking rookie was eating a chocolate ice cream cone that Lothar had bought for her before heading off to get some drinks but the line was apparently long cause it had been awhile.
Unknown to Circe, as she was absorbed in consuming the ice cream and wasn't paying attention to her general surroundings, a bratty child was approaching her and snatched the cone from her hand startling her. Before Mandrake could do anything though Circe slowly calmed down turning on the bench before looking around for strangers before locking her gaze on the boy who was about to lick her ice cream and a mischievous sparkle reminiscent of Mandrake's appeared in her eyes making it clear she definitely was like Mandrake more than the disguised Wizardmon thought.
Mandrake watched as Circe lifted her hand and shot a stealthy web out using it to snatch the ice cream and yanked it back to her unnoticed by any human grinning at the confused look on the thieving brats face before turning around and continuing to eat her ice cream. Mandrake smiled at his youngest. She was definitely full of surprises.
Meanwhile Lothar was walking back with a to go drink holder with three drinks on it and the muscular titan almost bumped into the boy on the phone that was talking to his mom but didn't drop or spill the drinks as he had stopped in the nick of time. Looking down at the boy he said "Sorry I was in a hurry."
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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 17, 2022 22:27:33 GMT
Michael looks up at the hulking man before him so he can make eye contact with him. He looks bewildered at the sight of this man and steps back a bit before saying in a meek voice, "No worries sir I should have been more aware of my own surroundings anyways.". He rubs the back of his head and smiles an awkward smile at the man. He then snaps himself out of the stunning sensation of the current events and corrects his posture to be more upright and confident.
Michael then clears his throat and speaks up with a lot more confidence in his voice than before, "Is there anything I can do to make up for being in your way sir.". He starts to break the eye contact and looks down a bit as to not make this encounter feel too forced or awkward even folding his hands behind him politely as he waits for an answer.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Aug 17, 2022 23:05:17 GMT
The young man looked up at Lothar looking understandably bewildered as he stepped back speaking in a meek voice. Keeping his tone gentle Lothar said "Don't worry young man I was just as guilty as you of not paying attention to my surroundings." Then the young man's very posture changed to an upright and confident one.
"It's no big deal I was just getting drinks for myself and my family." He said looking over the crowd spotting the well dressed disguise of his fiance and their daughter whose wizard clothes concealed her digimon features from sight. Most of the people typically looked one time in curiosity but never bothered the timid and anxious child.
Meanwhile Mandrake had seen Lothar talking to a young man but didn't want to leave Circe by herself so he gently grabbed her hand that wasn't holding the ice cream and the two got up walking to Lothar and the young man. "Hello there, Lothar. Who is this young man?" Mandrake asked while walking in a confident stride which was a fascinating contrast to their young daughter who had a tight grip on his gloved hand while eating her ice cream.
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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 17, 2022 23:24:14 GMT
Michael looks over to the man and young girl walking over, his eyes focusing on them and their out of place attire. He then manages to gain his focus back and speaks up, "Sorry I should have introduced myself, I am Michael Rosenburg, you can call me Rose though.". He then holds his right hand out towards the group of three for a handshake. He then speaks up again as his hand is held out, "I am pleased to meet all of you.".
As all this happens, his mind begins to race as he is not used to suddenly being approached by so many people so quickly in public. He thinks to himself about many situations all at once causing him to lose some of his focus on the small group before him. These anxious thoughts cause his eyes to occasionally dart to random signs on the street and his smile trembles slightly.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Aug 18, 2022 2:35:08 GMT
Mandrake smiled and held his free hand out to accept the young man's handshake as he said "Pleasure to meet you, Michael. My name is Mandrake and the little one clinging to me is our youngest child Circe." When he released Michael's hand he indicated to the man mountain Lothar who was a disguised Leomon as he continued "And the man holding the drinks is my fiancé, Lothar." He could tell that Michael was beginning to become anxious as his eyes began to dart around randomly. He would occasionally see similar behaviors in Circe but his anxiety didn't seem as bad as his formerly abused and neglected child.
Circe had finished her ice cream but stood there silent tugging on Mandrake's arm pointing at Michael and he nodded before he asked "Michael, are you alright? None of us mean you any harm."
Lothar stood there silently watching not making any sudden movements just incase he startled as easily as Circe. Moving slowly he made his way over to Circe holding out a hot chocolate to Circe and the child slowly reached for the drink accepting it and smiled. Lothar smiled in return. Even though Circe rarely spoke to him it was clear she was slowly warming up to him.
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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 18, 2022 17:16:36 GMT
The moment Michael had words to focus on he started to anchor himself back to reality and calmed down. With the new calmer demeanor in place he looks at Mandrake and clears his throat to then say, "I am fine just a lot to take in around here.". He smiles though still with slight trembling of his lips. He then notices his hand is still held out and lowers it back down noticing how awkward he must look with his hand held up.
He then grabs the edges of his open jacket and pulls on it to straighten it out. He then pulls out a comb from his pocket and runs it through his hair, sweeping it to the side in a few simple motions before finally placing it back in his pocket. After fixing is appearance he refocuses to the conversation, "Thank you for the concern though mister Mandrake.".
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Aug 18, 2022 22:04:46 GMT
Mandrake listened patiently still noticing that Michael still appeared a bit anxious. However Circe was now staring at Michael as if trying to figure him out. Still sipping her hot chocolate she released Mandrake's hand but still remained close to Mandrake. Meanwhile Mandrake said "I can understand how coming across the three of us suddenly can be overwhelming."
"I was concerned because you seemed to have anxiety like Circe and, as a father, I couldn't help but be concerned." Mandrake said.
Then Circe stopped sipping her hot chocolate for a moment before the timid axious little one asked "Are you sure you're okay?" Her question was soft but audible as if she was unsure of if she should ask anything. Mandrake and Lothar were surprised as Circe didn't talk very much and to hear her so openly ask a question even if she sounded a bit unsure was huge. It was rare for her to come out of her shell like that. Meanwhile Lothar passed Mandrake the drink he got for him which was some kind of hot tea.
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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 19, 2022 13:10:46 GMT
Michael rubs the back of his head and laughs awkwardly. As Mandrake spoke more and more it would seem that he became less rigid and more relaxed responding with a level voice, "Yeah it is kinda distressing when three strangers interact with me, especially since I have not been around here for very long at all. As for the anxiety I suspect I may have an issue with that, but I never had been properly diagnosed with a disorder so I am not entirely sure." He then looks over at the especially strangely clothed girl as she pipes up. The concern she had shown makes a more genuine and comforting smile take the place of the nervous and scared smile on Michael's face.
As this all happens he responds to the young girl, "Yeah I will be just fine. I would assume that you are Circe, right?". As he says this he straightens out his shirt a bit making the half humor and half tragedy theatre mask decal more easily seen upon his shirt.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Aug 20, 2022 9:30:27 GMT
"Makes sense seeing as we also seemed to come out of nowhere." Mandrake said after Michael rubbed the back of his head awkwardly laughing as he explained how he likely had undiagnosed anxiety disorder. Then it seemed Circe's concern made Michael calm down and smile at the young girl.
When Michael spoke to Circe she seemed to become silent again as she nodded shyly. Mandrake gently placed a hand on her head gently rubbing it to calm the girl down. "Circe is a bit shy and timid." Mandrake gently explained to Michael. Meanwhile said child was cocking her head as she took a better look at his shirt as if finding it fascinating.
Mandrake began sipping his tea as he watched the interaction with Circe and Michael. It was cute to see the young one's fascination with Michael's shirt before he asked "Are you into theatere, Michael? I myself love things like theater. There are probably several shows in this district to see."
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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 20, 2022 14:32:09 GMT
Michael looks at Mandrake for a moment and as he explains his point of view before responding with a curious voice, "Well maybe I should look into getting it checked out then, thanks for the input.".
He then redirects his gaze back at Circe as she seemed to be getting all shy again. As Mandrake finishes explaining her shy demeanor Michael yet again redirects his gaze back to Mandrake starting to speak in a cheery affirming voice, "That makes sense, that also explains her apparel, it must make her feel better to be able to hide a bit more easily."
When Mandrake mentioned the theater Michael's expression brightened up quite noticeably and responded with an excited voice, "Yeah I have been attached to entertainment in general since I was little, back where I used to live I even had helped around with some plays even starring in some though that was quite a while ago."
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Aug 20, 2022 18:50:49 GMT
Mandrake didn't know if Michael knew about digimon so he was planning to be careful with how he worded things. As for Circe, she just liked dressing like a wizard to be more like him in his true form. Her being a very human looking digimon made it easy to keep her digimon traits from being spotted by unknowing humans as her cape concealed her tiny spider legs from view. "She likes wizards and just feels comfortable dressing like them. Though it seems people in costumes year round aren't so odd so she usually only gets a passing glance at best. Though how did you know Circe was trying to hide? I get she's quite timid but none of our other children have been shy like her." Mandrake said. Circe was like Mandrake in many ways except for being anxious and timid around strangers. In Circe's case it was do to trauma from being beaten and abandoned to die a slow death by her 'mother'. If Lothar and he didn't find her when they did that sweet girl would of starved to death or gotten picked off by a feral digimon since she couldn't defend herself in the weakened state she was in when they found her.
"Mandrake and I have loved the entertainment industry ourselves from things like theatre, opera, and ballet. It seems two of our children have developed a love for performing themselves." Lothar said after being quite for awhile. Sure he wasn't shy just more of the man on action type.
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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 21, 2022 14:10:52 GMT
Michael looks towards Mandrake with a happy but slightly serious expression before responding to his question, "Well I kinda have this jacket for a reason.". He then zips up his jacket, puts up the hood, slouches over slightly, and dips his head down as demonstration. While all this happened it was very easy to see a decal on the left side of the chest, a tragedy theatre mask. He then lifts his head back up, straightens up, pulls down his hood, and unzips his jacket with the same happy expression but with none of the seriousness from before. He quickly pipes up once more, "So yeah I can kinda relate to her." and then rubs the back of his head.
Michael then redirected his attention to Lothar and smiled at what he had to say before speaking up, "Well I am glad to meet a bunch of people with so much love and passion for the entertainment world.".
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Aug 21, 2022 16:24:08 GMT
Mandrake watched Michael he noticed the tragedy theater mask decal. "Given how anxious you were when we approached you I see your point." Mandrake asked genuinely curious before he asked "Do you have any interest in becoming a performer, Michael?"
When Michael mentioned meeting a bunch of people with love and passion for the entertainment industry, Lothar lightly chuckled before he said "Well Mandrake is a magician by trade while by comparison I am more like a humble bodyguard by trade." This was true even before he reunited with Mandrake as he had to find a way to make a living in his journey. Lothar had handled not only guard work but also helped in assisting with physical labor to earn money.
"Dad's magic is real good." Circe said in the same quiet tone. Mandrake smiled wondering if the sweet little spiderling would ever fully come out of her shell. Would she be a performer? Or would she take on a more scholarly path? After seeing she had a knack for mischief and sneakiness from earlier he wondered just how cunning the young one was.
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Post by Michael Rosenburg on Aug 21, 2022 18:14:05 GMT
Michael happily responds to Mandrake's question with enthusiasm, "To be honest I would love to be able to do that stuff again like I did back when I wasn't so anxious.". He then turns his head to Lothar as he speaks up and his expression grew to become bedazzled with the fact that he had been speaking with a professional magician, an expression that only became more apparent as Circe had put in her opinion as well. With this expression of delight and cheer he then turns back to Mandrake once more, "Do you perform around here? If you do I would love to see a show of yours.".
Though as Michael noticed his change of attitude to being more excited and informal than he usually is, he would start to calm him self back down as he inhaled deeply and then exhaled a few times until his expression while still very cheery had become much calmer.
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