Pep Talk from the Fierce Cat [Eli]

"Yeah, Isaac's definitely the talker of the two," Elliot said. "I can't blame him, though. I think he feels like making Maia happy has been one of the best things he's done since coming here. He really likes helping people, and he'll talk about how he feels all day if it means getting to see her smile." Wow, even Elliot knew how to talk about Maia like his brother did. It was almost like Isaac was right there.

He didn't want to dwell on the mission too much. Instead, he just enjoyed Karin's gentle reassurance, thanking all of his lucky stars that she wasn't there to get hurt too.

At least Jeanne had interrupted him before he said anything like that. His pleading look seemed to excite her a little bit too much, and she was practically squealing about how cute he was while squeezing him further into her chest. Of course, she also accused him of enjoying it while he was too muffled to properly defend himself. Only a deepening blush could serve as a response. For a second he considered shaking his head to protest, but that could be taken way, way too improperly for Elliot's comfort. Poor kid.

Thankfully, Karin released him. Elliot took a breath that he had been holding in all this time, glad he could finally avoid Jeanne's teasing. However, one of her statements left him quite confused. "Fix what?" he asked, clearly wondering what terrifying thoughts were crossing Jeanne's mind.

As soon as Elliot bought the scarf, he promptly turned and gave it to Karin. "Surprise!" he chirped, smiling shyly. "I think that'll look good with your shirt, right?"

Elliot didn't really get what needed to be fixed about him. He was fine with himself! Sure, maybe it'd be nice to not get smothered in Jeanne's chest, but beyond that Elliot was pretty happy with himself as is. Then again, it seemed like Jeanne saw some stuff in him that Elliot didn't really notice. "Handsome?" he asked, a hint of disbelief to his voice. He seriously didn't get how such a thing was possible. He was Elliot! Adorable he could accept, but in the tiny kid way. Not in the it is a shame the ladies aren't fawning over him way like Jeanne seemed to be implying. It seemed like he would have to break Jeanne's maiden's heart, too, by confirming her suspicions. "Y-yeah, I don't really have anyone like that now," he added.

It seemed Jeanne already had plans to rectify that, Elliot taking a slight step back in shock at hearing it. "Wait, flirting lessons?" he asked. How the heck would that even work? Considering how terrifyingly effective Jeanne and Karin were at it, probably not very well. Elliot considered asking if this would just be Jeanne's excuse for further tormenting him, but what she said next thankfully convinced Elliot that Jeanne didn't need an excuse to torment him. His blush deepened hilariously as Jeanne asked if he enjoyed being held down there. "You," he stammered, trying to find the proper sentence. "You have a really strong grip." Seriously, she couldn't hold him hostage and then call him a pervert. That was unfair!

At least Elliot could count on Karin to bail him out of this. She had gotten Elliot out of Jeanne's mantis-like grip before, and she seemed committed to being the voice of reason today when things got a bit too predatory. Or, at least, that was the case until Elliot made the mistake of getting Karin a gift. That seemed to flip a switch in her brain, and whatever she thought of Elliot before now she seemed to see potential in him. Elliot swallowed nervously, withering a little under the terrifying and very attractive grins of Karin and Jeanne. "I really don't think that describes me," he said nervously, wondering where the heck that natural-born ladykiller comment came from.

Elliot had a bad, bad feeling about this.

Elliot nodded as he listened to Jeanne's example, although did it really always work that way? Isaac was always just kind of Isaac. And being related to Isaac, Elliot didn't exactly foresee a huge change coming his way either. Then again, they were both still young. Who knows what would await them in the near future? In a way, the idea that he'd look dashing actually reassured Elliot a bit. He softly smiled, looking up at Jeanne and saying "Thank you." Although Karin put an end to any talk of Yuuki being brought up, so Elliot decided wisely not to ask any other questions on that front.

Jeanne? Frail? She was pretty damn strong, if the slight soreness to Elliot's neck was any indication. A holosuit may have locked away the more Digimon aspects of her strength, but she still had one heck of a grip. Elliot wasn't exactly the strongest, either, although he noticed that such a fact had been changing lately. Maybe it was all the time spent doing high-intensity activity in another world, but Elliot was actually starting to get a decent amount of toning to him. It was barely noticeable unless paying close attention, of course, but he was in the best shape of his life! Maybe the Digital World had a few health benefits to make up for all of the stress and pain that it had caused him.

That didn't change the fact that Jeanne's grip, paired with his bad leg, wasn't a great combo. "I dunno. You seem pretty strong to me," Elliot said. She was certainly coming off very strongly, at least! Poor Elliot seriously didn't sign up for this.

At least the clothing store ended before either of the two decided to make Elliot model for his amusement. He sighed a little in relief, before his eyes lit up at mention of the arcade yet again. "Sounds good to me!" he chirped, smiling widely. Games were one of his main escapes after all of the stress that he had been going through, and now he would have a chance to indulge himself all over again. "Although I bet you're good at aiming. I mean, you fight a lot, right?"

Don't call her strong? Honestly, Elliot couldn't see why. Jeanne being strong was one of the things that was really cool about her! Still, people could be funny sometimes, and not all of them were as earnest in both giving and receiving compliments as Elliot. This kid needed to get a bit more guile to him! "I think that's a really cool thing, but I get what you mean," he said, taking down notes. What else would he be able to say that was really cool and special about Jeanne? Oh! There was one! "Would you prefer I call you an angel?"

Elliot may not have even paid attention to the implications that might've had, considering he was talking to a literal angel.

It made sense to Elliot that Karin would be more of a close range fighter. She liked hitting things. And people. A lot. Personally. Shooting skills probably didn't feel as satisfying to her as stomping down on them. Maybe that was why Asher was so scared of her. Most humans, and even spirit users, didn't turn out even scarier out of the Digital World than they did in it! Nevertheless, he had to admire the crisp form of her kicks. She really did hone this martial art skill to perfection, didn't she?

She asked if he wanted a chance of doing so as well. Elliot looked down at his bad leg, which he could either limply slap someone with or collapse on when trying to kick with his good leg. Yeah, that wouldn't be a good match either way, would it? "I don't really think our styles match up, sorry," he said, shrugging. "But I think Isaac'd really appreciate the chance to learn, when he's back. I think some structure in his life'd do him some good, and maybe he wouldn't have to fight everything like some kind of rabid badger." What he lacked in technique he made up for in spirit. How terrifying would he be if he had both?

Elliot blinked. Did people really want to undo that? Sure, Jeanne might have had a forceful personality, but she was also really fun to talk to! Her flirting kind of made Elliot want to crawl into a hole and die, but at the same time she was also helping him feel a lot better about himself. "Well, hey," he said, smiling softly at Jeanne. "If that's the case, I must like Satan a lot more than I expected." He meant that totally innocuously, but wow was that a line to drop. Elliot would never get off of Jeanne's radar today, would he?

Karin's martial art at least seemed a bit more expansive than Elliot figured, but the other major aspect didn't really fit with him either. He already had a hand full at all times due to his walking stick, so a sword was far from the ideal. Either he wouldn't have a shield to pair it with, or he'd have to very awkwardly work around a two handed one despite his disability. For a full one handed style, like a fencer, the bad leg and walking stick would make a proper stance nigh impossible. His brow wrinkled a little in concerned as he realized that, nope, any way he slices it such a style just wouldn't work for him.

Karin's third skill caught Elliot's attention, though. "Pile . . . bunker?" he asked, trying to figure out just what the heck he was talking about.

At Jeanne mentioning testing Isaac's fighting skill, Elliot laughed a little. "I don't think he could muster up the spark unless, like, Maia or I were in danger," he admitted. "He might talk big, but he actually really prefers solving all his problems peacefully. In fact, we haven't deleted a single Digimon since we've come to the Digital World." Briefly remembering his messier fights with the D-Reaper, Elliot cringed. Right. That was the closest he had come to properly "killing" anything, and the way that it made him feel was indescribable.

But hey, not much more time for talk. There were games now! Elliot sighed in relief as he noticed the seated game, sliding in right next to Karin and picking up his gun with surprising expertise. "Love this one," he said, running a few button checks before turning to Karin. "Ready when you are!"

If this was what hell was like, it didn't seem so bad. True, he was in such a state of embarrassment that his ability to even process embarrassment was starting to be burnt out, but at least he was being embarrassed by kind, generous people. Although . . . what was it that Jeanne just said? Elliot blushed a little at Jeanne's teasing, making sure to keep his eyes on everything but Jeanne. He didn't want to be accused of looking! "W-well, I don't think I'm scared of you. In fact, you're really nice, and really cool," Elliot said. "So I guess personality?" It seemed like Elliot wasn't really listening to Karin's advice as much as he should have. The poor fool.

He did listen to the advice about the pile bunker. It sounded like some kind of giant power tool that was supposed to be supported with one arm. Elliot blinked as he imagined himself strapping it on and falling over on his side like some kind of fainting goat. "Heavy" and "Elliot" just weren't words that went together! At all! However, while Elliot was busy wondering this, he almost missed something else that Karin had to say. He could tell she was planning something, and as he thought back to hear what it was he nearly did a double take. "Wait, fix it?" he asked. The plate grew in wrong at way too formative of an age. How could Karin even do that?

Elliot nodded at Karin's solemn look. "I know they come back and all, but I never want to do that," he said, resolute. "Nobody ever deserves to have to go through that kind of thing. Especially if there's not another way." They had been around degeneration, true, but never been the cause. As far as Elliot was concerned, it was staying that way.

What Elliot was totally fine with, on the other hand, was killing virtual zombies. He was a real deadeye in comparison, if only due to gaming for the entirety of his life. Not only did he do a good job of clearing his own side, but he even helped protect Karin whenever the zombies she missed were getting too close. Just because he was hilariously incompatible with Karin's preferred fighting style didn't mean he was useless, it seemed!

Or, at least, in a virtual world.

"Oh, shy. Definitely," Elliot admitted, making to clear this next wave of zombies quickly so that he could try and prove it to Jeanne. Was he seriously doing this? It seemed he was both very cognizant of his own flaws and surprisingly stubborn when rising to challenges. No wonder he was able to keep up with Isaac. There may have been a slight blush around Elliot's cheeks, but he wasn't exactly flinching away in fear, either.

Well, maybe Jeanne would try and change that, one way or another.

After all, Karin was trying to change Elliot's leg. Elliot looked down at it, very shocked at even the idea. "Back at home, the doctors said there was nothing I could do," Elliot admitted. "It was a growth plate break. When it grew in it grew in wrong, and it'd always keep growing in wrong. And that's why it's like this. Can it really be fixed?" There was a soft hope behind his eyes, which started to water ever so slightly. Unlike what Karin mentioned, which seemed to be a fix to a temporary problem, this was something far deeper. However, if Karin believed this was possible, so did Elliot. Maybe he'd just need to keep holding out hope, even if it was more pain than he had ever felt in his life.

Elliot smiled shyly at the mention of him being a great sniper. "I just have good reflexes," he said, looking quite bashful. "But thanks! Isaac always said I played too many games, but I guess it pays off sometimes. Although I don't think any of my forms ever ended up being sharpshooters. That's kind of a shame." Oh well. That's what video games were for!