Terrible Ideas (Maia/Isaac/Elliot)

"I mean, I sneak in to visit your grounded daughter, and your reactions are "here's the table" instead of "here's the door." That seems pretty kind to me," Isaac said. Knowing his own home, people would've never have been able to get away with something like that. Especially when that man was still living there. But that was life with a control freak in a nutshell, wasn't it? Then again, glass half empty, glass half full. There were tons of ways of looking at a situation.

He nodded as he listened to Maia's father talk about his collection. Personally, guns weren't his cup of tea, but everyone needed a hobby to keep track of. At least it was a more productive one than Elliot's World of Warcraft kick. "Ah, I see," he said, unsure if there was really any follow up here. Maia's father was a pretty quiet man, who seemed to leave a topic closed once he brought it up. And it wasn't like he needed to ask if the collection was missed or not, judging by his grumbly reaction about having to leave them behind. Still, it was always good learning a bit more about the people he was talking to.

Now, Isaac had been expecting this next part to be an ambush. After all, there was no way Maia's mother could have spontaneously whipped up an entire feast, right? When Maia brought in the first two plates and commented that her mom made too much food, he figured it wouldn't be a big deal. "Want a hand with that?" he offered as he noticed her making an attempt not to drop either of the two, taking one plate off of her hands if she wished or letting it be if she was fine carrying both.

Then she left and returned with the next plate. And then her mom returned with the next plate. Isaac's eyes widened as he realized just how much food was put out on such short notice. That was a bigger dinner than he had ever had back at home! It smelled amazing,, to boot, and Isaac found himself almost missing the first question from Maia's mom as he got lost in the appetizing scent. Elliot may have been the family gourmet, but that didn't mean Isaac appreciated a meal this great looking any less.

"It looks amazing," he said, a bit of warmth returning to his spaced out voice. Isaac was starting to wonder if he had enough lunch today. Nah, less lunch meant more chance to dig into this amazing meal. "Thank you very much!"

Isaac didn't need to be told twice. Once everyone had made their choices Isaac started loading up his plate, taking a healthy amount of everything present. The cheesy biscuits seemed like obvious favorites, although he restrained himself somewhat due to not wanting to spend an entire meal eating bread. He definitely could, though. Especially when said bread was paired with cheese. There were few combinations on Earth more mouthwatering, especially when they smelled as delicious as these. Judging by the huge plates he and Maia's father were currently nursing, it seemed that Maia's assessment of 'made too much' was a little bit off the mark.

The fact that Maia's dad actually wanted to include him in an activity? Now, that was an assessment way off of the mark. Isaac figured it would have been tough earning the rare and coveted Dadpproval, and yet it seemed he was already under consideration as being pretty okay. Well, unless the gun range would've been paired with the Mildly Threatening Dad Talk, but Isaac wasn't worried. Instead he smiled politely at Maia's father, saying "Thank you for the offer." Although it seemed Maia's mother wasn't the biggest on the idea, citing the fact that her husband apparently did it a lot. Now Isaac had the hilarious mental image of him trying to teach a tiny Maia how to shoot.

He went to assure Maia's mother about her worries, but then found himself running smack-dab into a major worry of his own. The subject of an age gap had to be brought up. Dear lord, why did the subject of an age gap have to be brought up? Okay, so it was about grades, but still. He found himself wishing that the Japanese school system had more than 3 years of high school. "I'm a sophomore and she's a senior" sounded much more of an acceptable age gap than "Well, I'm in my first year, and she's in her last." At least it hadn't been the case he feared of starting in junior high, though! That would've gotten him laughed out of the house for sure.

Isaac had been wrestling with his insecurities the whole day, however. This may have been a major one, but he wasn't going to let it beat him. He simply buckled down, lowered his head, and continued pushing through the storm known as his brain. He'd have to just tear the question off like a fresh bandage. "No, sadly. I'm in my first year of high school here," he said, fighting the urge to blush from embarrassment remarkably well. Besides, with how he had handled the question, he could've been 15 or 16. And the latter wouldn't be much of an age gap at all!

Digimon were digital, weren't they? Isaac had no idea how much of a difference was made by them eating table scraps, with the obvious exception of taste. Even that Isaac was only sure about on a guess. For all he knew Kuu was just big on the feeling of eating, liking whatever was put in front of him so long as it was chewy. Isaac not having a partner was frankly a huge hindrance on his ability to properly understand Digimon, because even when transformed his thought patterns tended to skew entirely towards those of his usual human self. Moreso than anyone else he knew in Shibuya, to him Digimon remained truly alien.

He was incredibly relieved to see that nobody had much concern over the age gap. After all, it wasn't like he was a 10 year old graffiti genius. In fact, if anything, Maia's mom seemed to be expecting an age gap in the other direction. This subject seemed to be a particularly embarrassing point for Maia, likely since it was the first time taste in boys came up during this dinner. Something told Isaac that if the parents started grilling her about why she chose him, poor Maia would just fade away like a heavily embarrassed ghost.

Still, was it true? Signs pointed to no, considering she was dating a rather young looking 15 year old, but now that little bit of curiosity lingered. Briefly, Isaac wondered what he could do to look older, but he had the feeling if he showed up with a beard Maia would disown him on the spot. Oh well. Whether it was true or not, at least Isaac was glad to be the exception.

For at least the fifth time today Maia's mom was acquiring a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. Isaac had to wonder if her husband was always so vigilant at pointing out when she was digging herself deeper with her comments. Not that Isaac entirely minded. Honestly, he was in too good of a mood to even be offended by what she was saying! He had the feeling the rest of the family desperately wanted her to stop, though, so he decided not to stoke the fires of the conversation any further. "It's okay," he said, to let her know he wasn't offended at least, before taking another eager bite of dinner. "These biscuits are amazing!" he added once he was done chewing.

Now, Isaac had learned a lot about Maia's dad, but very little about her mom. Other than that she threw the wildest parties and had a sudden interest in Jesus. If he wanted to get to know Maia's family better, he'd have to try and check in on her as well. "So, do you have any hobbies?" he asked her, half wondering if this would lead to another embarrassing story from Maia's father.

There were many ways Isaac expected this day to go. He had expected to be firmly under the microscope from both of Maia's parents, each having their own reasons to dislike him, and ending up the most uncomfortable person in the room by a huge margin. He had expected his age, his lack of clear life direction, his height, and the Digital World to lead to him basically being killed in front of a live studio audience. Instead, when it came to embarrassment, he was at a comfortable third place behind Maia and her mother. How the heck did High Inquisitor Mrs. Maia'smomerson end up being the most embarrassed one through all of this? He hadn't expected his question to be another tipping point, and yet when Maia's dad started talking he knew exactly what was about to happen.

Well, not exactly-exactly. There were some revelations Isaac never saw coming. Maia's mom? Writing fan fiction? He tried to picture it, and his mind boggled. He almost found himself wanting to ask what kind of stories she wrote, just because he couldn't fathom a mom who still did that kind of thing. Did she keep writing about the fandoms of her youth, or was she keeping her pulse on the hot trends of the new generation? Elliot read the stuff more than Isaac did, which was to say "a lot" compared to "barely ever," but the idea of stumbling upon a super popular story that turned out to be written by Maia's mom was a strange mix of hilarious and disturbing.

He got the feeling that Maia's mother being put through the crucible was almost more embarrassing for her than being yelled at, though, so when Maia's mom through out a quick subject change Isaac was happy to take it. He tried to think on what his were, since lately life had been a bit of a blur due to the Digital World, but soon he was able to get a good sense of how to answer the question. "I've got a few of them," he offered casually. "Exploration's a big one. The day Elliot and I got here, we were already going all over Shibuya to see what it was like. I'm not as big on gaming as he is, but sometimes I'll play a few. And, well-"

Isaac looked over to Maia. He remembered confiding his huge doubts about going for drama beforehand to her, and the two never really had much chance to talk about it since. There was always something bigger and more important breathing down their necks. That's why his answer was directed almost as much to her as it was to her family. "Drama. I haven't had much time to pursue it, but once I get a firmer grip on the language I think I'll try and audition for a few roles."

The question Maia's mother raised was a pretty important one. Going professional for acting was like going professional for sports. You'd need more talent in your finger than the average person possessed in their entire bodies, years of grueling training, and enough luck to find someone willing to give you your big break. Those were factors Isaac didn't really have on his side, and unless a miracle was on its way they were factors he would never have. There was also the little worry of appearance. What market was there for five foot tall babyfaces? School stage productions were one thing, but if he was going to go on stage, or even on the big screen, he had the feeling his look would never cut it. "For the time being, for fun. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing," he admitted, deciding to bring up the basic facts of the situation instead of any of his insecurities. At least he still had plenty of time left to make up his mind.

At Maia's words, Isaac returned her a warm smile. "If I've got you backing me up? I'm sure I can do anything," he said, a new confidence lining his voice. Blech, more sappy stuff! But Maia bringing out the best in Isaac was starting to become an indisputable fact. Would he have even made it half as long in this dinner if it wasn't for her sake? He was enjoying it, true, but it was still that mix of exhausting and odd that only a family dinner could properly capture.

Even Kuu was offering his own unique brand of encouragement, even if it also came at the cost of repeatedly banging himself against the table. There had to be an easier way for him to navigate than that, right? Maybe if he slowed down for once in his life, things'd be easier for him. But that was just how Kuu was, and just as he rushed into the table three times in a row he also rushed into plenty of eager questions and requests for Isaac. He couldn't help but chuckle a little at the fox's enthusiasm, even as Maia's mother returned to a somewhat tense stare. Digimon stuff was forbidden, true, but it wasn't like he could just ignore Kuu while he was being talked to. "Sure thing. But maybe later, okay?" he decided, diplomatically weaving around all the conversationalists at the table. "We've still got so much food to eat, after all. I don't want to hijack the table practicing." Now he wouldn't be ignoring Kuu, and Maia's mom hopefully wouldn't have to go off on a tangent about Digimon stuff. Win-win!

Somehow, Isaac knew it would come down to this. He shot Kuu a worried look when Maia's mom called him a thing, as if checking to see if he was okay. Even if he could be annoying sometimes, Isaac didn't want him to feeel bad! Unfortunately, as the rest of the family rested their eyes on him, it seemed that he would have to be the one who answered Maia's mom's question. Je made sure to thoroughly chew his food first, taking advantage of social etiquette to delay hia answer and come up with a plan of action. Why him?

Probably because by now, Maia and her dad have tried and failed many times.

He could only delay the inevitable for so long. Food was made to be swallowed, especially when it was this delicious. As soon as it was done he would be cast headfirst into the spotlight for one last time. After all, past this point, how many questions would even remain? He swallowed his food, swallowed his nerces, and prepared himself for the question he hoped would never come up all day.

"Same way as anyone else. Talking to him and getting to know him," he responded, putting a bit of subtle stress pn the first him. After all, Kuu was a being, not an it. "He can be a bit much at first. Or a lot much. But when you give him a chance, he has a way of growing on you." He spoke from his own experience, both as someone who grew to care more about Kuu and as someone who Maia's mother was growing to tolerate more. He never expected this kindness from her look of horror when she initially spotted the two of them! When it was a situation she approved of, Maia's mom seemed incredibly nice. He just wished she would give Kuu a chance with that kindness.

"Have you talked to him much?"