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I'm Not That Bad, I Swear! (Asher)
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Dec 20, 2016 5:47:54 GMT
The innuendo flew right over Elliot's head, but Isaac found himself blushing slightly. Of all the ways to phrase that, did Asher really need to use that one? Then again, at this point, Isaac was pretty sure Asher had a dictionary of innuendos wedged in his brain, so it really wasn't worth challenging the point. Nevertheless, Elliot smiled patiently. "That's okay. I'm sure the train ride will give him a chance to rest. And even if not, he's clever. I know he'll think of something," Elliot said, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder.
At Ms. Fluffykins' inquiry, Elliot shot her a curious look. "I mean, I could," he said, looking down at his feet a little from embarrassment. "But truth be told, I'm not as comfortable with changing as Isaac is. I generally just wait until he does, or until I need to. It's just easier that way." See, Isaac? That's how you set a boundary! In some ways, just coming out and admitting it could really be the easiest option. "Maybe I'll do it when we get to the Digital World, if Isaac's still not feeling up to it by then."
Isaac grinned a little at Asher's reaction to the Trailmon. "Oh, trust me, you never really get used to it. And the fact that the public transportation's alive can make things kinda complicated sometimes," Isaac clarified. "Like the time Elliot and I got home way past bedtime because the terminal was shut down for a Trailmon birthday party. You ever see a train eat cake? 'Cause there's something I'm never gonna be able to unsee."
"Thankfully, it feels like time's a bit slower in the Digital World, so we didn't end up too far behind schedule. Mom was still really mad, though," Elliot clarified. Those were the kinds of questions that might have been helpful to answer for Asher in the first place!
"Right! Forgot the two big differences between home and the Digital World. That's one, and the other's that electronics don't really work nearly as well. If you're lucky you'll nab a stray signal, but phones are gonna be dead, radios are gonna be scrambled, and good luck finding a charge if a battery-powered device dies on you," Isaac added. "Beyond that, it'll be surprisingly familiar. Air's still breathable, words are still comprehensible, food's still delicious. You'll adapt easy.
So, assistant, huh? Sounds like that's gonna be a fun story."
"Ooh, ooh, tell me too! I love stories!" Worm added. By now the brothers and their new plus one would've been inside of the Trailmon, so there was really no escape from its poking and prying. Good luck, Asher!
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Post by Asher on Dec 20, 2016 6:12:12 GMT
Unlike Asher, it seemed his cat was a lot more concerned about how other's felt. Scrambling away from her human, Whiskers rubbed her cheek on one of Elliot's legs, purring. "Mew don't have to feel bad about it! Mew don't have to digivolve at all, if mew don't want to!" After all, it really was her job to keep her human safe. Not other human's! They shouldn't have to worry about doing stuff like this!
"Just like how I can't unsee a million eyeballs on a dragon?" Totally not a jab at you, Isaac! Never. But, hadn't Karin mentioned something about the time being slower in the other world? That was going to be so convenient. He was going to try to utilize that for extra naps, once this was all figured out! Or, just to get away from people. Though, he was a little bummed that he wouldn't be able to use the internet while there. "Do pictures still turn out, if you take them?" Ah, important questions! Totally... not to put on the internet, nope.
Like how he totally still wasn't posting cute pictures of Meicoomon online. Especially not just this morning!
There was a moment of processing, to try to remember any stories about the assistant. He had kind of forgotten that every kid didn't get one of those. "She was really, uh, energetic," he shrugged. "Helped me get ready for scenes, helped with homework," even though, wasn't all the work at home, considering he was home-schooled?
"My mom tried to fire her a few times, but I think she learned that if she kept talking about how amazing the job was, and that it was helping whatever-excuse-she-could-think-of-that-day, nobody could get a word in to make her leave." Maybe he shouldn't have gotten on the train. He didn't want to tell stories. "One day, she went crazy and bit someone's dog. Never saw her again after that!" Wow, cheerful ending! "She made really good cake, though?" That... really didn't make up for the crazy. But, whatever. It worked for a kid that had nothing to do with an assistant!
"How long do these train rides normally take, by the way?"
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Dec 20, 2016 6:29:06 GMT
Elliot happily scratched behind Ms. Fluffykins' ears, smiling at her. What a sweet cat! If this was Asher's guide to the Digital World, he was in really good hands! Sure, Isaac and Asher knew how much of a pain she could be, but to Elliot this Meicoomon was a little orange angel. "Thank you. I know it isn't that easy, and there's times where I gotta. Like to help people I care about. But I think I'll enjoy being me instead for as long as I can be," Elliot chirped. Whether this helped Asher feel less alone or just make his current state of body dysmorphia worse, Isaac had the feeling that Elliot's implication would not fall on deaf ears! Personally, Isaac didn't see it. He was always Isaac, even if he was borrowing a different body. If even the girl he was dating wasn't weirded out by it, surely he had nothing to worry about.
Upon being asked if photos held up, Isaac shot him a weird look. "I mean, they do, but trust me. You're gonna want to be careful with those," Isaac said. "Remember how I said there's some kind of organization monitoring Digimon, even if its kind of a skimpy one? Yeah, that's gonna catch their attention big time if you start posting photo evidence of it. But I mean, if you just want to do some scrapbooking for yourself, that's totally cool. There are certainly some really nice sights to snap some pics of."
"Tell me about it. You ever climb to the top of Terabyte Mountain? I mean, I can't. I'm a train. But people tell me it's really nice up there," Worm interjected. Thank you, Worm.
The assistant story was probably the first the bros had heard of Asher's mom. Isaac faintly recalled him bailing on a topic the second she came up before, but he shook the thought. That could've been any M-word that got him all shaken up. But when that was the kind of assistant that was hired for Asher, Isaac could understand why he seemed very hesitant about letting people in for stuff like dates. Who knows? Perhaps the next woman he asked out would also be a dogbiter who couldn't take hints. Seriously, a dogbiter! Why would anybody do that? "Yikes. Sounds like a mess," Isaac said, shuddering a bit.
"What kind of dog is it?" Worm interrupted. "A Dobermon? A Doggymon? A Sangloupmon? A Garurumon? Ooh, maybe a Fangmon? But those bite back really hard. A Labramon? I like dogs. They're really cute. You know, there's the saddest one that gets on for rides some times. This little Dobermon guy with three legs and one eye. I don't think he reformatted right. But anyway, he just pushes his little food bowl around with his head, trying to get enough to get by. Never happened on me, but all the other Trailmon talk about it. It's really depressing!"
Isaac and Elliot both looked like they had been kicked. "Anyway! These rides usually take a good hour or two, so buckle in and make yourselves comfy!" Who the heck could be comfortable when Worm was dropping bombs like that?
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Post by Asher on Dec 20, 2016 7:03:38 GMT
Of course a statement like that didn't go unheard. The teen shuddered, with a shaky breath, only to cover it with, "you would think having fur would make me warmer. I'm freezing." Hey, he thought it sounded like a good way to hide the actual reason for acting like that! And, it seemed he had to be a lot more careful with how he acted. If Isaac had seen him get all twitchy before, it wasn't going to happen again, if he could avoid it.
He didn't seem to pay much mind to Isaac's warning, though. "I don't scrapbook. I like taking pictures of Mr. Whiskers." How was he supposed to get his fill of cat photos if he couldn't take them?
Oh, oh crap. He forgot the train could talk already. What the heck was a Terabyte Mountain? "I'll take a picture and show you what it looks like sometime," the Renamon hummed to the train. Yep, talking to trains still felt crazy. And, wait, did he just agree to go to a mountain someday? Why would anyone want to do that?! He wasn't a mountain climber!
"I think it was a Poodle, actually?" What the heck were those other breeds? None of them sounded familiar! Labramon kind of sounded like Labrador. But, come on, Doggymon? What in the world was it? Just a mutt? But, that other dog sounded depressing. "Can't someone just, like, buy it a bag of dog food?" This world was so confusing.
"Just as long as mew keep him away from me," Meicoomon was quick to grumble. All of talk of dogs was making her tail fluff up!
Then, there was the timeframe. "Oh god," the vixen mumbled, in terror. Two hours of the train talking about damaged dogs. This would be fun. "Do we have a deck of cards or something? I mean, I don't. I don't have pockets like this. But I'm going to go insane if I have to sit still for two hours."
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Dec 20, 2016 7:19:06 GMT
"Huh, really? I dunno, Asher. It's been feeling really warm to me, at least," Elliot said, shrugging. Nevertheless, he reached into his backpack and pulled out his winter coat, offering it to Asher. "Hope this helps. I think you need it more than I do, anyway." Elliot was continuing to be far too nice for his own good, even to the point of missing completely obvious signals like this one. Rather than taking the time to consider the how or why, he just wanted to help his friend feel a tiny bit better. It was the kind of act that got Isaac rolling his eyes and turning away instead of focusing on Asher's strange reaction.
At mention of photos of Ms. Whiskers, Isaac shook his head. "Like I said. Just make sure to be careful with them," he repeated, tone more casual than cautionary. He had the feeling that, against all odds, Asher was surprisingly trustworthy. Maybe he wouldn't need to watch him like a hawk after all. At the same time, if any obvious slip-ups were bound to happen, he sure as hell wasn't gonna let them slide!
"I mean, it could buy its own dog food, but it's been fresh out of Bits lately, I guess," Worm added. "Hard for a Dobermon down on its luck to find work, huh? But it just keeps on pressing on, trying to make its way in the big city. Oh, if you had to see it . . ." At this point the bros had gone from depressed to mortified. Why did Worm insist on talking about this still? It was awful!
At mention of cards, Elliot shook his head sadly. "Nothing on us, sorry. But there's a lot of space to walk around, if you want to stretch your legs a bit. Trailmon are pretty smooth rides, so you don't have to worry about spilling over," Elliot suggested.
"And there's always plenty of conversation!" Worm no.
"Oh! Right! Conversation. You gotta tell me all your thoughts on my latest story," Elliot said, beaming. "I made this one special!"
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Post by Asher on Dec 20, 2016 7:29:21 GMT
Elliot was just too sweet for his own good. The digimon smiled, but shook his head. "I'll get used to it, but thanks." After all, it wasn't like he really needed it! And, what if Elliot got cold? Asher was not stealing some kid's jacket!
But, the talking train was clearly distressing the other passengers. "Hey, uh, Worm, was it?" Asher paused. Why the heck was a train named Worm? Then again, why were there talking trains? "Whiskers is really, really allergic to dogs," way to throw your cat under the figurative bus! "Just talking about them makes his nose itch! Change of topic?"
In all fairness, Meicoomon wasn't going to argue the allergy. This dog thing was just depressing.
But, it looked like Elliot already had some sort of topic in mind. "Oh! It's great!" Yeah, so great to be an awful dragon! "I've never been a dragon before. And, oh! Who could Isis have been? I wonder," eyes shifted to Isaac, curiously. "You read the story too, right, Isaac? What did you think about it?" At least Isaac wasn't as likely to accidentally call the dragon stupid.
This was going to be a long train ride.
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Dec 20, 2016 7:45:12 GMT
Elliot nodded, putting the jacket away. "Well, okay! If you say so," he chirped, zipping the bag up and reclining a bit in his seat. The good thing about human world Trailmon was that there was almost never anybody else on one, so Elliot didn't need to worry about fighting for leg room. He yawned gently, but with how light of a sleeper he was there was no chance he'd be drifting off on this train. Heck, he could barely sleep in his own bet, let alone in a moving vehicle!
Then again, this was a moving vehicle with its own train of thought. This generally made it even more complicated. "Oh! Sorry about that," the Trailmon said. "I know how she feels. Allergies really suck sometimes. You know, I'm allergic to peanut butter. That's not normally a problem, but one time someone dropped their peanut butter sandwich in the back of one of my cabins, and I had a big old welt on the side of my doors for days! Made it really hard to fit through tunnels, I'll tell ya that. They had to put me on the shelf for a month until the swelling went down, because I just couldn't do my job. That really sucks, you know. I mean, I'm a train! What else am I gonna do if I can't do train things? Just sit in the railyard, watching all the other Trailmon zip by. Gets really lonely, too. But hey, now I've got you guys, right? Or should I say, guys and gal."
Elliot looked confused. "What? Oh, no, no, Asher's a guy! Don't be silly," he said, as if completely unsure why Worm would even suggest that?
"Huh? Really? Could've fooled me. Then again, my eyes ain't what they used to be. Neither are my ears. Sense of smell's still great, though! Don't really know where taste falls. We Trailmon don't usually get much eating done. Always great when we do get the chance, though. Oh! You guys remember to eat before going on the journey? You'd be surprised how many humans end up forgetting all about their lunch. Time might be different between worlds, but you still gotta fill up!"
Isaac decided to focus on literally anything but the current conversation. "I have no idea. Who could she ever have been?" Isaac said, shooting Elliot and Asher matching deathglares. "Still, I liked it. Elliot's certainly getting a better handle on what he's doing. Even if sometimes his influences can be a little on-the-nose." Or totally inaccurate!
"Hey, they say write what you know, right? But I'm glad you guys both loved it!" Elliot said. "Lemme tell you all about the sequel, Ashnard's Revenge. Ooh, this is gonna be so fun!"
A long Trailmon ride indeed.
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