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Terrible Ideas (Maia/Isaac/Elliot)
Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 7, 2016 6:54:23 GMT
"Tal just takes a while to get used to things," her husband notified, seeming rather indifferent to the situation. Mostly because he was incredibly used to it. "She doesn't like having zero control over this." Of course Maia's mom would have to be a control freak! But, there was no denying that Maia would keep Kuu, regardless of any rules. Otherwise, she would leave with him. And, that posed an extreme problem.
While at one point, the mother would give anything for her daughter to have friends, and a decent social life, it seemed that was a regretted wish. Sure, Maia had clearly opened up to more people, and had some close enough to apparently rely on. Hell, she had someone close enough to actually sneak into her room! But, with this change, it seemed that it was harder to actually keep the teen under control. She spent time out of the house, and didn't constantly answer her texts or phone calls. And, when things were threatened to be taken away from her, she fought back. Maia's mother couldn't ever fathom that her child had a mind of her own. Was it age? Or, was she simply possessed?
"I'll discuss it with her again, tonight," the father assured, mostly to Isaac. Of course, his daughter knew that this was an ongoing disagreement. Nightly, in fact. The family wouldn't pretend to be perfect, and even arguments held behind closed doors were considered subjects that the entire family knew of. Then again, a family of three was pretty easy to keep in the loop. Still, the man felt the need to check on how Isaac was doing with all of this. After all, it really wasn't proper to bring him into the ordeal. "Are you doing alright?"
Kuu exhaled, loudly, staring at Maia's plate from her shoulder. "I think we have a serious problem," he informed, looking around the table. "I'm not tall enough to have my own chair." Yes, that was a serious problem! It meant he couldn't have his own plate! Plates belonged on tables, after all! And, the last thing Maia's mom would be okay with was a Digimon on the table!
Still prodding at her food, Maia remained relatively quiet. Lifting hands up, she scooped the Kudamon off of her shoulder, and held him on her lap. "I'm getting impatient with it," the girl admitted, dividing a portion of the food to one side of the plate, and spinning the plate to have the new portion in front of her. Adjusting Kuu, she made a motion at the food, which was quick to be inhaled by the excited fox.
Of course, this was the perfect time for Mrs. Quinn to come back in, seemingly recollected. At least, until she spotted the fox eating at the table. A clearly distressed squeak emitted from her throat, while the woman moved to sit back at her seat, rigidly. "So, I decided to search online if demons hatch from eggs." This warranted ridiculous looks from both her husband and daughter, as she continued, "and, it seems that unless he is a spider, he can't come from an egg and be a demon."
"...What?"
This was just absurd! Who seriously searched 'do demons hatch from eggs' online? Who does that? On top of that, who writes answers for that kind of thing?!
"So, unless I find out it's a spider, disguised as a talking fox," which was crazy enough, "I guess it's not a demon." Was it really that easy to convince her of this? How had Maia been failing so hard until now? "But I still don't like it."
At least it seemed some progress was made?
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 7, 2016 14:13:50 GMT
Isaac had a feeling she was a control freak. He knew the type all too well. For a few seconds he was oddly quiet, lost in his own little world of memories, but he managed to pull himself together shortly thereafter. "Yeah. I know how that feels," he said, perhaps a bit too calmly. What else was he supposed to say? That he was raised by a control freak who wanted nothing to do with him? That baggage wouldn't be appropriate for the dinner table, though, even if it might seem increasingly suspect that Isaac had almost never talked about his own family beyond Elliot.
At the second question from Maia's dad, Isaac managed to force a smile. "I'm alright, thanks. I'm just happy I can help support Mai about all of this," he replied. If the first response was said carefully and with heavy restraint, this was back to a quiet earnestness. It seemed even if Maia's father felt guilty about Isaac being dragged into all of this, Isaac's only regret was being unable to do more. "I mean, I know if I ever needed she'd do the same for me." Isaac found the concept if taking Maia to a family dinner a lot less worrying than she did, but that might have been because it was just him and Elliot against the world there.
Just like it always was.
He gave her a reassuring look as she vented about her impatience, trying to find something to say, but was interrupted as her mother returned. Wisely he decided to keep his mouth shut, letting the topic die unless Maia's mother wanted to restart it. The bad news? She did. The good news? She seemed to have come around on at least one part of the discussion. Sure, Kuu was still for from her favorite person, but he wasn't a demon now.
Isaac was incredulous at how she came to that conclusion, though. Really? Seriously? After months of her own daughter and husband insisting otherwise, freaking Google was what changed her mind? What kind of websites did you even consult about demon eggs? He shot confused looks to Maia and her father, as if trying to figure out if she did this often, before deciding to just not question it and move on.
He so, so badly wanted to quil that Maia being chosen by a special magic being was "just like your fan fictions," though. Oh well. Maia's dad was way better at the roasting than he was.
"If he's not a demon, does that mean he can have a second chance?"
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 8, 2016 6:22:11 GMT
Maia looked to Isaac, curiously. She was almost expecting him to further elaborate on his statement, but there was nothing more to it. Her father didn't seem too interested in prying, though the comment didn't go unnoticed by either of them. Either way, they seemed to agree the dinner table wasn't a place to bother him about it, and her dad especially didn't feel it was in his place to do so.
The rest seemed quite sweet, as Maia shifted her foot to tap it against Isaac's, again, under the table. "Of course I would," she agreed, managing a smile. This entire night had felt like a bit of a disaster, but at least Isaac was handling it well enough for the both of them. If someone could handle the mess known as her mom, and have any conversation at all with her father, they had to be pretty acceptable. And, who else could share the whole Digimon secret, anyway? If Isaac hadn't known about them, he certainly wouldn't have been allowed in her bedroom. Especially while she was grounded over a talking fox being in the house!
How things would have changed if Digimon hadn't affected even just one of them.
"It's a good thing that you didn't pick a spider, then, Mai." Was the first thing to fall from her dad's mouth, after processing that there would be no more arguments about demons.
Kuu was quick to chirp, "she didn't pick me at all! In fact--" The Digimon's head tilted, as if either remembering or debating something, then returned to complete the sentence differently, "she asked if she could send me back!" Flawless! With such a bumpy beginning to the duo's relationship, it was hard to imagine that the technophile would pick the obnoxious fox over her games and smart phone.
But, to Isaac's next question, the teen couldn't help but blurt, "she never gave him a first chance." Unless the first chance was about five seconds, before the screaming had started.
Mrs. Quinn had to debate how she was going to answer the question, only shooting Maia an irritated look. "We'll have to see." That was better than a flat-out no! "But, if I find out he's a spider, he's out of the house." Well, that seemed like a pretty easy deal to make! "I don't even know how you get one of these things, though. Why would anyone pick a... Whatever-You-Called-It-Before."
"Digimon!"
"And, I really didn't pick him." Clearly, Maia's mother hadn't been listening to the part about trying to return him! Why didn't that box come with a return address?
"Maia explained it to Gellatin," still the wrong name, Kuu, "like it was a magical girl anime. Because Gellatin isn't very smart and only relates things to anime, I guess." Then, there was a pause, as the fox crinkled his nose, "what is anime?" An explanation for another time!
This only received confused glances from both parents at the table. Of course, one of them were unaware of spirit users still, which made more sense. And, the tamer wasn't going to sign the term again to her father, with her mom looking straight at her for an answer. So, instead she simply shrugged, "whatever motivates people?" Hey, it stopped them from getting eaten by an angry spider digimon! ...Which, given her mom's sudden obsession with spider demons, seemed strangely suiting. That might have explained a lot. Spider Digimon must somehow come from Spider Demons!
Still, Maia's mom looked to Isaac for answers, when her daughter seemed to still be in question of possession. "Do you think that creature is safe to be a pet?"
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 8, 2016 12:51:24 GMT
Isaac smiled a little as Maia nudged his foot. At this point, he wasn't sure if she would be relieved or disappointed at how little family was at their family dinners. Especially when Elliot was likely to bail midway through and tease them about finally having some alone time. At least Maia's family was showing up to hers, as embarrassing as they could be. It was more time to spend with each other, though, and that's what would count the most if such plans ended up transpiring.
He couldn't help but keep wondering if him lacking Digimon would have changed that. At the same time, why dwell? He did, and he was here, and that was all that mattered.
He couldn't help but snicker a little at what Kuu had to say, even as he tried to stop himself. It was still hilarious and sweet to him how far tamer and partner had come. Maia went from unable to stand Kuu to sacrificing anything for him. He still remembered back when Kuu was tiny and nameless, and Maia acted like she was always holding him back. Now the two found so much strength and security in each other, and it was beautiful.
Did Isaac really help much that day? He knew Maia could never fail Kuu. She just had to stop dwelling on her own worries.
He shot Maia a somewhat apologetic look at her blurt, hoping his appeasing choice of words didn't downplay Maia's struggle for the past two months too much. He wanted to give her mom a rant as much as anyone else, but he knew he'd only make things worse if he did now. Today she was on the cusp of understanding, and how he acted could spell the difference between a lighter sentence for Maia and the next few weeks becoming hell on earth. Isaac had to firmly bite his tongue and focus on the nicer aspects of Maia's mom, rather than her quest to press every one of Isaac's control freak driven buttons.
This wasn't the man he refused to call father. She wasn't nearly as bad. Nobody in the world could be.
Now came the hard part. Isaac was thrust right back into the spotlight, and he'd have to explain what was safe about a magical talking fox. For most of today he really didn't have to comment on Kuu's character, just the idea of Digimon itself. But now? It was no secret he and Kuu had a rough beginning. And a rough middle. And even today, Kuu semi joked that they should push Isaac put of the window to hid the evidence of his existence. He found the fox annoying on quite a few occasions, and thought his inability to take things seriously could get Maia in trouble if she couldn't motivate some seriousness in his behavior. Yet at the same time, he was inarguably friendly and kind. He was loyal and devoted, in his own scatterbrained way. And he made Maia happy above all else.
This dinner was almost like meditation for him, a series of trials to let go of the past. Here came one more thought.
"Without a doubt. I mean, its not like he's physically much danger. A regular fox is more threatening looking, let alone some pets people keep like snakes or really big dogs. Kuu's just kind of silly. I'm not even sure if he has sharp claws. And he's really docile, too. I don't think there's a mean bone in his body. The fact that he can talk means he can help remind her of important things, or keep her company when she's lonely. He's probably half the reason why she's kept sane these past 2 months, even. He's loyal, he's friendly, he's cheerful.
But most importantly, he makes Mai happy."
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 8, 2016 19:42:57 GMT
The teen had to wonder what was going through Isaac's mind for most of this dinner. It seemed like a mess of embarrassment, or awkward conversations. Maybe both. Still, this night could have gone far worse. And, somehow, Isaac had enough social skill to make acceptable answers to the ridiculous amount of questions that were posed to him.
Of course, Maia found herself even more quiet when the question about Kuu's safety was pressed onto Isaac. It was as if her mom knew that of all the people that Kuu had encountered, his relationship with Isaac was the most strained. Then again, frequently reminding someone that they apparently smell was never a good way to make new friends. Why couldn't the Kudamon be a little more careful with his words? On top of that, he had just suggested to throw the spirit user out the window today! Oh, that really wasn't a joke. The fox may have been quite serious! Though, it seemed that he occasionally forgot that everyone else wasn't quite as durable as he was. Especially considering Kuu had flung himself out of that exact window multiple times since coming into the household, much to his tamer's dismay.
Kuu wasn't as interested in listening in silence, piping in, "I have sharp claws!" Then, the little monster looked to his nails, which did have potential to look intimidating, before his ears flattened, "maybe not." If he did, wouldn't he have a fancy attack that used them? "I can't even climb the curtains with them!" One of the many things Maia was glad about.
Still, Maia's mother found herself frowning, thinking over the entire situation. Was the fact that it talked really that important? Why couldn't Maia just want a cat? Cats were easy. They didn't talk, they weren't spiders in disguise, and they didn't have some sort of weird bullet obsession. "I don't see how That would make her happy," she mumbled, trying to figure out what could possibly be charming about the creature. He didn't even have back legs! But, she gave no indicator beyond that on if what the boy was saying was sinking in.
Instead, she looked over the table, examining everyone's plate and trying to ignore the fox sitting on her daughter's lap, then speaking to Isaac again, "how does the food taste? Do you need more to drink? Anything?" After all, what was the point in getting comfortable if anyone needed anything?
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 8, 2016 19:59:06 GMT
"Because he is her friend. And friendship's just not that simple."
Isaac was wondering how long it was taking for all of this to sink in, but he was starting to realize that he might have been putting the cart before the horse. At first, he figured Maia's mom wanted to know the whys of Kuu in more practical terms. She was looking at it like going to a pound and adopting a dog based on the needs of your family. Friendly or shy? Big or small? Hypoallergenic? In this case, Maia had gone to the "pound" and brought home a "dog" that she wanted but her mom didn't approve of. If it was in terms of animals, it would be super easy for Maia's mom to dig her heels into the ground and demand he be returned.
But Kuu wasn't just an animal. He could talk. He could think. Okay, that second part was debatable. Regardless, there was some sort of sapience that Kuu unarguably seemed to possess, and Maia's mom was asking questions that amounted to "why don't you take your best friend back to the store and pick out another one?" Everything seemed clear, with his interjection hopefully being the last piece of the puzzle. However, it seemed Maia's mom had moved on from the topic for now, returning to more familiar territory like dinner. Isaac could only hope that his last word in the discussion resonated with her. Surely she had to have friends her parents didn't necessarily approve of, right? After all, she did throw all those intense art nerd parties. That wasn't usually a parent-sanctioned activity!
There would be time to mull over his words later, though. Now he had to mull over this food, which he had been hungrily eating whenever he wasn't suddenly the focal point of the conversation. "The food's amazing," he admitted, bringing himself back to earth from his spirited defense of Kuu earlier. "It's been forever since I've had cooking like this.
May I have some tea if there's any left, please?"
The tea distraction came out again, even if it would be a way less time intensive one. If Maia's mom left to bring some in Isaac would shoot Maia a quick glance, as if checking to see if he was doing an okay job. The tiniest bit of worry shined through in his eyes.
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 9, 2016 3:01:05 GMT
There was a chance that it was never going to sink in. Stubbornness like that just didn't dissipate in a single conversation, after all. Still, there was no indicator on if opinions had been swayed, aside from that he could not possibly be a demon. That was progress, in it's own regard! Sort of. Considering the fact that Kuu never was a demon to being with, it might not really be much progress.
Still, the woman smiled at the compliment to her food. It was probably one of the first times that she had made that expression tonight! "I'm glad you like it, Sweetie. You're welcome to come for dinner more often." Well, that had to be a sign of a good impression! Maia's mom hadn't considered him a demon, and was inviting him back?
While Maia's father hadn't passed the same verbal judgement, he certainly didn't speak up, or even seem to be paying attention, when the offer was placed. Instead, Kuu had slithered under his chair again, vanishing from his tamer's lap, and began begging for more scraps. He had just been given a third of a plate to eat by himself! Why did he need to pester for more?
"More tea? Of course there's some," Mrs. Quinn nodded, before slipping out of the room again.
With the mother out of the way, Maia looked to Isaac, and managed another smile. This was still so awkward. She wanted to apologize for it, but there really was no point. He was here, and things had happened. It wasn't like a 'sorry' would reverse tonight.
Kuu killed the silence, yet again, as he squirreled up Dad's chair, "I think Not-Mom likes me," he nodded, receiving a stifled laugh from the remaining adult in the room. "What? It's not like I'm the only--" There was a pause, as the monster's eyes zoned in on something on the father's plate. Kuu was certainly doing great at interrupting his own statements today. "You gonna eat that biscuit?" Rude table manners! Still, it got him the biscuit, and nobody seemed to pay much mind to what he was saying. Kuu was mildly insane, after all!
With a sigh, Maia worked to fully collect her thoughts, before looking to Isaac again, "this could be going worse, right?" Some confirmation that this night wasn't just a train-wreck would certainly be nice!
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 9, 2016 3:14:14 GMT
That caught Isaac off guard. Somehow, he went from sneaking in to Maia's house to making a shockingly good impression on both of her parents. Now he was being called sweetie and getting invited back for more? Today had ended up more successful than he had ever dreamed, at least on his end. It was Maia's end he was more worried about. She seemed to be doing better, true, and there wasn't the usual messy fighting, but at the same time she had spent most of the dinner sitting in an embarrassed corner. Was today all that she had hoped? Isaac hadn't made it any worse, from the looks of things, but did he make it bad in a different way? His mission objective here was to make her feel better, and he hoped his presence made up for the fact that Maia's parents were in full parent mode.
Still, he might as well accept the small victories he earned today. He smiled warmly at Maia's mom, saying "Thank you very much for the offer. It would be my pleasure." Hopefully, it would be Maia's as well!
And then Maia's mom was gone, Maia giving Isaac a somewhat embarrassed looking smile. Still, at least she was smiling. That had to be a sign he was doing something right. In fact, this whole dinner seemed to be a long string of events in which Isaac did not screw up. Maybe he was better at this than he gave himself credit for. Maybe today was awkward for her, but it was one of the happiest days he had experienced in a while. He returned her smile with one of his own, more reassuring than overjoyed in nature. Whatever her look was apologizing for, his look attempted to excuse as being seriously no big deal.
Kuu's statement earned a raised eyebrow. Why did he always cut away from the juiciest sentences? "Not like you're the only what?" Isaac asked, curious. There were at least five or twenty different meanings for that sentence fragment! Kuu couldn't just leave them all hanging like that.
At Maia's statement, he decided to take a page out of her book and gently nudge her foot with his own. "Oh, it could've been so much worse," he promised her, a slight blush starting to take to his cheeks. Was he actually going to admit how he felt about today? Oh dear. "Heck, I'm actually having a really good time right now. Why? Are you okay?"
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 9, 2016 4:23:23 GMT
Well, Maia certainly wasn't going to argue if her boyfriend could be invited over. And, maybe there would be less pressure on her to make friends, as her mother had been harassing her to do for months. This was a clear sign that she had communicated with someone outside of the internet, after all! One couldn't just internet-up a boyfriend. Oh, wait. They kind of could these days. Whatever.
Drat! Someone noticed! Why did everyone except Isaac brush off these things? Mouthful of biscuit, the Digimon babbled something that was clearly nonsense, but made a nodding motion, as if they had to be real words. Swallowing his food, the rookie 'continued' his 'statement' with, "...s'not like it's a secret anyway." What? A curious glance was shot from his tamer, but Kuu was busy trying to sneak more food off of Dad's plate. Ah, well. Maybe more pressing would receive clarification. Or, it would just involve more random chatter, filled with food.
Either way, Maia wasn't interested enough to press it, and her father was busy standing up from his seat, and placing Kuu on the chair in his wake. "Nobody ever brought my glasses," he stated as an excuse, before disappearing into the same direction as his wife had moments prior. Chances were, it would take a while before she returned with that tea, now.
"I'm fine," the tamer finally notified, after her dad had stepped out of earshot. "I just hope this isn't too much for you," she admitted, looking over the ridiculous amount of plates on the table. "I mean, my parents go pretty overboard." Especially her mom. While introducing Isaac to her father was always something to dread, it was nothing in comparison to the rambling and embarrassing stories her mom could provide. After all, Mr. Quinn would have likely just grumbled at him from a chair. When Maia's mother orchestrated something it ended... well, like this. The concern seemed pretty necessary! "I, uh, don't want it to be uncomfortable." The blonde would like to see her boyfriend actually come back to the house after all of this!
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 9, 2016 4:34:18 GMT
"Not like what's a secret?" Kuu, you can't hide from Isaac forever! Maybe the rule of 3 would finally bring this sneaky business to the forefront. After all, this second press would be the third time Kuu brings it up. That would have to mean something significant was said, right?
Isaac was starting to get the feeling that Kuu was way smarter than he sounded, in his own strange Kuu way. There was no way he could so gracefully dodge half of these conversation topics by dumb luck alone. Was it something else to do with Digimon? Regardless, if Maia didn't answer and her dad didn't even react, it seemed like it was a secret to everybody. Would Isaac end up unveiling something big?
Oh well. Not much time to focus on it. Maia's dad had left, and now the two could speak freely for the first time since dinner began. He was surprised to hear that her first reaction was worrying about him, but when she was the host for today that was perfectly understandable. That said, she was off the mark in so many places. How could anybody take issue with so much food? It'd be really weird to ever find that worrisome! "No need to worry, Mai. I had a really great time today. And hey, where you see overboard I see tons of delicious food." His smile seemed to take on a more sad nature as he continued. "Besides, too much is better than too little, right?"
He shut up as soon as he realized what he had said.
Maia's next concern jarred him back to Earth, but the pause was quite noticeable. Nevertheless, Isaac was committed to salvaging the mood. "Mai, uncomfortable's the last word I'd ever use to describe time with you. I didn't mind your parents much at all. In fact, I actually enjoyed talking to them. But even if today ended up being the worst case scenario, it'd at least be a worst case scenario we could spend together."
Isaac must've realized how cheesy that sounded, judging by how brightly he flushed after.
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 9, 2016 4:53:53 GMT
Finally, Kuu looked away from the food that he was being left now-unattended with. Self control was waning quickly, but chances were, Maia's father knew the fate that would befall his meal. "Oh, you know," the fox started, nonchalantly. Wide eyes shifted to attempt some sort of eye contact with Isaac, as he simply stated a chipper, "there are Digivices everywhere!" Okay, no. No, nobody knew what he was talking about at this point. While this would have made sense if the context had involved Maia, Isaac, and Elliot, it certainly didn't at the dinner table.
"No, they're not," the tamer pointed out, almost irritated sounding. Though, she had run into a lot of Digimon related people. If the Rookie had derailed from his prior conversation, it was possible he was just talking about the world in general. Why was it so hard to tell? It wasn't like the statement really fit what he was saying prior.
But, again, the monster was focused on Mr. Quinn's plate, slowly inching his face closer to the delicious food placed on it.
The perspective of 'too much' over 'too little' hadn't really crossed Maia's mind until that moment, causing a silence between the two. Not that Maia seemed to be overly talkative at this dinner. Or, ever, really. While the girl had a tendency to turn a blind eye to things, such as what Kuu often said, she couldn't help but feel like there was more to that statement, and the expression on her boyfriend's face. But, at the same time, she couldn't tell if it was something to press on.
As Isaac returned to Earth, it seemed the opportunity to question had disappeared. As cheesy as it was, the boy's words were probably one of the few things that could bring an actual smile to Maia's face at the dinner table tonight. Judging by the red color that his face had taken up, the girl imagined it was either a stupidly planned sentence, or hadn't been realized until the words escaped. "That's really sweet," she admitted, throwing a glance to the ceiling, while attempting to avoid any laughter. "But, you have to tell me. Did you have a script for that? Because that was so cheesy."
While scarfing a biscuit off of Dad's plate, Kuu piped in, "I like cheese!" That was good input on the conversation! ...Right? Okay, maybe not, but he wanted to be part of this too! Isaac couldn't just steal his tamer's heart like that! It was Kuu's for the having! He was the cute one, after all! Foxes trump teenage boys!
Either way, there was still a need for one more confirmation from Maia, as she inquired again, "so, all of this is okay? You don't mind it?"
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 9, 2016 5:06:53 GMT
Kuu made sense. Some days, it felt like you couldn't go five minutes in Shibuya without tripping over another brand new tamer. Most of the time they faded away. Sometimes you ended up with a friend for life. Sometimes it was a Gallatin situation waiting to happen. However, they probably also stuck out more in memory than the hundreds of not-Digivice-having people tat were bumped into on a daily basis. Besides, the were in the Digital World, so of course they'd see more Digimon. And maybe they only arose in Shibuya, because Isaac had never heard of anyone who got to the Digital World from another place. Surely it was coincidences stacked on top of coincidences, and not any big global upheaval.
That said, would knowing about other Digimon tamers make Maia's mom feel better or worse about Maia being among them? "Oh, I see," Isaac said, making note to consider Kuu's statement a bit more closely.
He could tell Maia was doing her damn best to not laugh. Honestly, he was trying his hardest not to either. What the heck happened to him back there? Even the most gratuitously planned sentence would be less cheesy than whatever just fell from his heart to his mouth. "I don't even know where that came from," he admitted, stifling snickers to the best of his ability. "But hey, you gotta ask what's worse. The person who makes the cheese, or the person inspiring it? Just saying, maybe if you weren't so darn great these things wouldn't happen." These two were just incorrigible, weren't they? Isaac was just lucky Elliot wasn't around to record all of this dreadfulness, because it would be incredibly easy blackmail material once he got his hands on it.
That said, even his most embarrassing efforts didn't seem to be dissuading Maia. She still insisted on checking, even after his fifth reassurance. Maybe it was a sign that, on a day where he had let go of everything else, there was still one thing he needed to stop clinging onto. As much as Isaac hated it, he couldn't let this resentment keep boiling under the surface. On the other hand, he really, really didn't want to talk about it. Why put a downer of a cap on a perfectly good evening? Why reopen those old scars, even when they were pretty blatantly still open? Why would that man ever deserve to be brought up?
He sighed, not out of exasperation with Maia but exasperation with himself. "It's perfectly okay. I promise. I mean, it was really nice having something like this for once."
Crap. It slipped right out. Part of Isaac hoped Maia wouldn't notice. Part of him hoped she would. He was balancing on the edge of questions he never wanted to answer, and the winds were blowing him in every direction imaginable. What would he even say? What could he even say?
The truth, probably.
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 9, 2016 6:52:17 GMT
Shoving another chunk of food into his mouth, the little fox nodded, "it's like you can't even go outside before seeing one." Well, that was a given. Kuu saw Maia's digivice on a daily basis! If it wasn't on her person, it was on her desk. Up until recently, at least. After the grounding, she had decided to just keep it on her bed whenever it wasn't on her. It was awfully hard to sneak into a bedroom in the middle of the night and pull something off of her bed without waking up at least Kuu. The fox always seemed a little concerned about monsters under the bed, so he was generally a light sleeper, even without the threat of his tamer's digivice being swept away by a crazy mother in the dead of night.
Still, Maia was beginning to pay notably less attention to the food-stealing alien at the table, and focused on her boyfriend. Which, really, was a normal thing to do! ...Though, a normal person would recognize that a talking fox was probably a hallucination, and ignore it regardless. Or panic. But, the panicking stage had long-since passed, so ignoring was the most normal option!
It was a really good thing that other people could see Kuu, too.
"Definitely the person making the cheese," the tamer teased, shifting in her chair. The environment felt much more relaxed now that the parents had stopped interrogating. Or, really, just stopped being in the room entirely. Maybe, it wasn't such a bad night. After being grounded, it was really nice to be able to just see Isaac outside of school. Lunches and before and after classes just didn't give enough time, or any level of comfort.
And, maybe that was how it was so easy for Isaac to slip in a sentence like that. Even Kuu paused his insatiable hunger to process what had been said. It hadn't gone unnoticed in the slightest, as Maia opened her mouth, slowly. Where were the words to find clarity in this? Instead, she only inhaled, slowly closing her lips again, and softly placing her palms on the table. Okay, there was definitely no way for her to pretend not to hear this one. And, maybe? Maybe Isaac didn't want her to pretend. If he had, it was too late for her to ignore it, as she managed a gentle echo, "for once?"
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Sept 9, 2016 13:54:45 GMT
Isaac knew it would come down to this in the end. As much as he wished it wasn't so, this was on the back of his mind since the concept of family was put on the table. Even with this knowledge, however, he didn't feel quite ready to talk about it. He wished he could think of any other topic to discuss. Maybe Maia's mom could come back and hijack the discussion again. Or Kuu could say something inane and distract them all. No matter how hard he wished, though, nobody came.
He had been strong all day. Maybe he could tap into that one last time.
"I never had a father, you know," he finally admitted, voice small and eyes wavering. "I wasn't his, and he made a point of making sure I knew it. Mom tried her best to keep things mediated, but he never really listened to her about it. Guess I should've never been surprised there. Elliot? I don't think he ever realized. He probably figured I just spent quality time with dear old dad when he wasn't. Wonder how things would've been different if he knew the truth. So that was family dinner for me. A mom trying to keep all of us held together, a half brother who had no clue what was going on, and a man who hated the fact that I was here.
She couldn't handle it much longer, I guess. Frankly, I couldn't either. But just kind of checked out when they finally divorced. Suddenly she had to go through all these court procedures, work more hours, raise two kids all by herself. The world fell on her shoulders, and that was when we lost her. She was never really the same after that, and it was like Elliot and I were talking to a ghost. We're hoping she'll get better after a year or two to settle down here in Japan, but its probably too late for us. I lost my chance at things being normal already, thanks to that man.
He still visited every now and then, even though he lost visitation rights. Mom was always too tired to fight him on it. Elliot loved it, of course. He still misses him. They used to bond over so much stuff, in a way I was never given the chance to. Hell, who do you think pays for his World of Warcraft account? Not us, after a fresh move to Japan. It can be really hard to not get jealous. But after all he's done to me and mom? I'm just glad the whole Pacific stands between us. Maybe that's part of why we moved. I'm still not sure.
I guess what I'm saying is just that it was nice, seeing what an actual family looked like. And getting to feel, well, like I actually have one for a day. So really, thank you." Isaac could barely hold this smile as he tried to blink back the tears. It didn't seem to be working, his blinks starting to look almost frustrated.
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Sept 9, 2016 18:37:02 GMT
With the opening sentence, Maia bit her tongue, about to inquire about the person that Elliot had referred to as Dad before. But, she knew it was better to let the story progress, as things would probably be cleared up. And, it was. Kuu remained in a state of pretending to be oblivious, as he most certainly wasn't leaving the table until his plate was clean. It wasn't like the presence of the pipefox seemed to be deterring any conversation, anyway.
There were a lot of questions that popped up. Did Elliot know now? She doubted it. If that wasn't Isaac's dad, who was? Had he met him? Did he ever confront Elliot's father on the situation?
Maia suspected that all of the answers would simply lead to 'no.'
Quietly, the teen pushed her chair back, rising to her feet. She wasn't great at knowing what to do in these situations. Or, most situations, really. So, rather than thinking too hard on the right thing to say, she stepped around the table to stand behind Isaac's chair, loosely wrapping her arms over his shoulders to hug him. "I'm sorry," she murmured. There was nothing for her to fix, but maybe she could have made him feel a little less awful if she hadn't been so concerned about how embarrassing all of this was. It was hard to see from a different perspective, when one didn't know it.
And, always known to be a killer of any mood that could ever exist, Kuu chirped, "Maia's dad can be your dad. He's everyone's dad. It's in his name." Of course, this was said through a mouthful of food, and the Digimon completely ignored that his tamer had begun glaring at him. Well! He was just giving advice! Why did nobody want it?
"I can't heal the past," the tamer murmured, after ceasing the death glare that she had given her partner, "and, I know it's not the same. But, sometimes the best family you can have," she paused, trying to think of the proper words to describe what she wanted to convey. "They aren't always related by blood." Heck, at least Elliot was half-related! But, again, she knew that really wasn't the same. There wasn't too much consolation that the teen could provide, though.
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