A Feast of the Heart (Alicia/Elliot&Isaac)

Honestly, Elliot didn't even know what he said that pulled it off. Was she so driven by her past goals that she didn't even notice the easier solution hovering right in front of her? "I'm so glad I could help," he simply said, smiling gently. "You've already helped us all out so much. This is the least we can do for you, right?" He wasn't as strong as Alicia, or talented as Alicia, or capable of doing great things like Alicia. After all, he was just 13! However, he could still try and help with words, even when that was all he could do. As seen by today, sometimes words could be way bigger than they originally seemed.

Alicia's plan sounded really fun! Except for one gaping issue, of course. Isaac guiltily looked down at his food, not wanting Alicia to start drawing up plans that would fall through before they were even properly made. This would have to be a really, really near future if it was going to include both the real brothers and the surrogate brothers. He wondered how to best break the news to avoid killing the high-flying spirits of the day, before eventually just deciding to come clean with his worries. "I don't know how much longer we're going to have to be here for, sadly," Isaac said. "We only have like three more days left." There was even a little bit of pain in his voice. Seeing how excited Alicia was made the idea of leaving even more painful than it already was.

Isaac shook his head. She was crazy. Absolutely crazy. And he couldn't help but love it. Her optimism was pretty infectious after all, and while Isaac had a million and one reasons to doubt it he found himself going along with her train of thought. Shelling out tons of money for their tickets? Flying across the entire freaking Pacific Ocean on her own? Why was this coming off as reassuring instead of nuts? Despite everything, he found himself smiling slightly at Alicia in response. "You know what? Sure. Let's give this a shot," he said. "I'll be damned if I ended up never seeing you again, after all. That'd be no way to treat my surrogate big sis."

He couldn't help but find his grin widening at that statement. As weird as it was, it just plain sounded right. How had he been becoming so much better at meeting people since coming here? In less than two weeks he went from feeling rather alone, to being surrounded by people he cared deeply for. Okay, two people. But that was still significant!

Right! Food! Isaac turned to his plate, eagerly devouring the rest of the scampi and marveling at how great it was. Elliot, who had been done for a few minutes now, was just drifting half-in and half-out of a food coma while listening to Isaac and Alicia talk. "That was amazing," he muttered, still in a bit of a deep daze. He didn't expect him to ever be able to make food this good, but maybe if he could keep observing Alicia he'd at least be able to pick up a few tricks of the trade. "Today really turned out to be a wonderful day, didn't it?"

"I know you can do this!" Elliot chirped merrily as Alicia mentioned her dreams coming true. It was such an inspirational image, and one Elliot was incredibly glad to be here for. Alicia was so kind and hardworking. He couldn't imagine anyone deserving to sort out their life more. "Can I help out more before Isaac and I go back to California? I'm really going to miss you," he admitted. Whereas Isaac admitting stuff like that tended to be sheepish and withdrawn, Elliot was earnest to the point of bluntness. Moving away from Alicia was going to suck, and that was the bottom line.

Isaac considered Alicia's offer. Their mom probably wouldn't be jazzed about them showing up on the lap of a strange, older woman. Sure, she seemed very out if it in general, but that one night they had to stay in the Digital World probably got her back to her old, vigilant self. Besides, they could probably walk home easily from this point. It wasn't the distant expanse of the Valley of Dragons, for example. On the other jand, it'd be fun to spend more time with Alicia, and he'd hate to seem ungrateful for all of the help that they had already gotten from her. "We could walk it from here, buy if you don't mind it would be pretty fun catching up with you mo-"

And then there was a loud thud, coming from the living room. Or perhaps an upstairs attic. Regardless, a small vlice whined "Ugh, my back. SantaAg- uh, Pere Noel makes it look so easy!"

The EbiBurgemon propped himself back on his feet, dusting himself off and coughing up soot. He tried to look as prim and proper as possible by the time he recovered, but he had already done a great job of making himself look stupid through his clumsy accident. How unfortunate. However, by the time Alicia spoke, he found himself caring less about what she sounded like and more about what she smelled like. Or, rather, what the food in her kitchen smelled like. His nose sniffed, then wrinkled up slightly. Up close and personal, he had no clue if he liked what the Alicia was cooking or not. It didn't outright revolt him like most of the human world's food had, but it still lacked that certain je nais se quoi he was looking for. He shifted to match her pose, figuring it to be how chefs in this world looked. She didn't really sound French enough, though. It'd never work!

"I am EbiBurgemon!" he declared, letting out another overly-French laugh. "Those other Burgemon from the village seem content with mere patties. Yet I! I have cast my eye toward greatness, toward the gourmet! While honing my abilities I found a portal to your world, and decided to see what you humans considered dishes.

And you have all disappointed! When my companions lack vision, and you humans seem to have no clue, where could I possibly learn? Oh, zee wandering star, left without any means of truly testing himself!" He made an exaggerated stagefall, landing safely on his bun hat to avoid smashing his head into the floor. As he landed he squeezed an eye open, to see if Alicia was suitably amused.

"Moi? Know nothing about cooking? Ridiculous!" the Ebiburgemon protested, but it seemed Alicia was far too set off by his antics to even care about listening. He had awoken the sleeping dragon, and she was not happy with what she saw. Her stomps of rage shook him to the core, and her words had an icy fury to them that left him frostburned through merely listening to her. Was she right about misery? His single-minded pursuit of the great gourmet had left him isolated from his own village, forced to live the life of the wandering short-order chef. Meanwhile, here she stood with friends and defenders who would fight for her happiness and for her cooking. Would his road simply lead him to self-destruction?

And yet, it burned so brightly in front of him. He could feel raw talent coursing through his veins. His sharp mind dreamed of ingredients as he slept, and cataloged recipes as he marched from one urban center to the next. Success was so close he could almost taste it. Everything he did in life, every sacrifice he made, every silly accent he adopted, was all for finally achieving culinary mastery. He would reap what he had sewn, and recoup what was once lost. Living for mediocrity, for mere satiation, for making others happy instead of easing that burning feeling inside; would he really be happy with those? The fact that Alicia's words made him feel doubt were indication that perhaps, his resolve was not as strong as he had thought.

Or perhaps it simply needed to be tested in fire.

He ducked the kick, his hat sailing off into the distance as Alicia made contact with it. As he rose, there was a fearful look in his eye. "Perhaps I misjudged you," the Digimon frantically said, hoping to appease the girl another boot came. "Zis spark within you. It burns as bright as the spark in my own soul! I have yet to find human cuisine zat has met my taste, but yours does not smell completely irredeemable." Was that supposed to be a compliment? EbiBurgemon's tone sure seemed to be aiming for that, even if his words were way off the mark. "Perhaps we can have a duel, from one chef to another! You would like to see how that fire of yours can sear food, non?"

"Bah. You may be right," the EbiBurgemon muttered. She was right that the situation was heavily weighted in her own favor. Also that they couldn't exactly force the taste testers to eat beyond their stomach capacities. It would be way too late to ask for a retroactive taste test, too. Maybe this really wasn't a great time for a taste test, and as much as the EbiBurgemon's heart blazed he knew he would get his just desserts later. "No matter! Zee day shall come when you all know my talent. Zen we shall see what the human world truly has to offer!" The EbiBurgemon posed dramatically, pointing toward Alicia. He then about-faced and pointed toward the door, where he would be heading soon. "Until then, mademoiselle, I bit you aideu!" The EbiBurgemon was gone as soon as he had arrived, surprisingly content with accepting this delay.

"What the heck was his deal?" Isaac asked, watching as the small shrimp chef laughed Frenchly into the night. "Did he try to break into your house just to talk up his food?" Desperation much? Isaac already knew Digimon were strange creatures, but this was new even to him. They never really seemed this, for lack of a better term, petty. He kind of wondered if he should have just scared the Digimon off again. At least then, the EbiBurgemon wouldn't have interrupted their meal to go on some long ramble. Still, he made sure to keep a more vigilant eye out in the future. A startled Digimon was also often a canny, crafty Digimon. If something as dumb as this chef could sneak up on them, who knew what sorts of actual dangerous Digimon could silently make their way into the human world?