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The Reveal... (Adrian + Leith)
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 10, 2018 22:17:23 GMT
Leith was a highly analytical boy. He mostly held back and let the family talk things out while he politely, quietly listened... and gathered information. For example, Leith gathered from Mrs. Boriker's comment that the Borikers were in fact still new arrivals to Shibuya, Tokyo, just like Leith himself was. This was a fact he didn't previously know. And Adrian apparently hadn't expected to make friends here. Then again, neither did I. Heh, if only we both knew then what we know now about everything. Well, Leith supposed it would be rude to eat nothing, so he made for the chopsticks, lifted a little tadoyaki, and gave it a shot. It was good enough to swallow, which isn't common for most foods Leith had ever tried, but even though he held onto the sticks he never went back for a second bite. This was a position he was well familiar with, at least.
Much as Leith wanted to keep gathering information, the lead man was struggling. So the young man stepped in to try and bail him out. "Adrian mentioned he wanted to invite them, but I wasn't sure. People tend to think they're pretty funny-looking, and it's caused some problems before." Well, that wasn't a lie.
"What did he just call me?"
"He wasn't talking about just you."
"Well, I say humans are the funny-looking ones. Who needs that much hair in that many places anyway?"
"What about fur?"
"That's different."
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Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 10, 2018 22:35:51 GMT
"Is fur really that different?" Shoutmon asked. He didn't have fur himself, obviously, so he couldn't really tell. "By now you SHOULD know that humans fear anything that's different... meaning us."
"Funny-looking?" Maaya asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's not something very nice to say, you know. And those people making fun of them should be ashamed of themselves."
"That's not what he meant at all, Mom," Adrian said, trying to cover Leith's ass on that comment. "It's just... they stand out. Like, you can easily spot them in a large group. And they have special talents, too."
Oh god, this is going horribly. It was too awkward to just say it outright, but if the Digimon decide to come down on their own, it'll end up even WORSE! Adrian was stuck in between a rock and a hard place here... It was truly up to Leith to properly get the ball rolling here.
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 10, 2018 23:15:20 GMT
Leith sighed. God, you suck. Weren't you gonna talk about race or something? Geez. The fight Leith had with his parents was harsh and ugly, but at least the young man had the spine to stand his ground even while shedding tears. Stick to your own damn plan! Leith figured the same binary Adrian did, that between bringing in the digimon and a little more prep work, but as the cautious individual he was he preferred to err on the side of caution. "Alright, we're making too big a deal out of this. The whole point we're trying to make is that even though they're all a little unusual, they're cool guys. I mean, we're all a little weird, right? I'm a gay, atheistic American metalhead, and Adrian's... well, we all know about Adrian." Leith smirked at Adrian, then, quite proud of his cheeky little jab. His face changed, though, when he realized he'd just spilled some of his most undesireable qualities in front of complete strangers.
Then again... I could use this. Leith's confidence rose again as he went on, "But, I mean, you know. That's what we're saying. You shouldn't judge people by their little quirks, right? Not if you're a good person, anyway." Leith couldn't help side glancing at Mr. Boriker as he finished, remembering Adrian's earlier charge of racism.
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Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 10, 2018 23:51:33 GMT
"Welp, Leith just dun goofed," Shoutmon sighs as he listens to their lame attempts to try and explain to Adrian's parents what Digimon were. "We should just go down now... wait, nevermind..." He remembered what Adrian had said about doing that...
Leith might have thought that saying all that random stuff in front of Adrian's parents might've made them instantly hate him or something, but in fact, it didn't do much at all.
"I'm personally agnostic myself," Maaya tells Leith. "I'm willing to believe that a God exists, but at the moment I just see no proof. I made it a point to have my boys learn that judging someone based off of things like that is wrong."
Okay, this was getting nowhere. Adrian decided to raise up from his seat and just say everything. "Mom... Dad... ever since we moved here, I've been keeping a secret from you. A secret that I just don't think I can hide anymore. Up in my room right now is a red four-foot-tall creature, named Shoutmon..."
"...I'm sorry, what?" Rokuro asked, extremely confused. "Adrian, what are you talking about?"
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 11, 2018 0:43:16 GMT
"Actually, agnosticism and atheism aren't mutually exclusive. The spectrum is more like-" As thrilled as Leith normally was to educate a stranger about the nature of atheism (which was very thrilled, by the way), Adrian's sudden outburst interrupted him. "-yeah, no, that's cool. You talk about your thing." Still, since Adrian was blowing the lid off the whole scheme - his whole scheme, no less - Leith adapted as was necessary. He stood up, too, and took the digivice out of his back pocket and spoke right into it in front of everybody. "Guys, Adrian just ruined his own plan," the young man told his two digimon. "Screw it. Send Shoutmon down. Adrian's, I mean. And just him, too; best let the others get acquainted before we introduce too many of you."
Adrian's Shoutmon, of course, couldn't hear anything Leith said to his own digivice, so that all had to be relayed through the digimon who could hear. "...and he says you should go downstairs. He doesn't sound happy, though."
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Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 11, 2018 2:32:52 GMT
"Well, sorry that saying stupid things that make us look like morons wasn't working," Adrian bitterly responded to Leith.
"Honey, what's going on?" Maaya asked, worried about how her son was acting right now. A nice, normal meal at the dinner table turned into a mess of confusion in a mere matter of seconds!
"We'll explain everything as soon as he comes down," Adrian says.
"Until who comes down? Is there someone up there right now?!" By this point, not only were the parents worried, they were pretty freaked out right now.
"Promise me you won't freak out when he comes down, okay?"
"Adrian, what is-"
"PROMISE ME! Please!" After staring at each other for a bit, Maaya and Rokuro finally agreed to obey their child this one time. Then, small footsteps could be heard coming from the hallway. And, just like that, there's Shoutmon, out in public... or at least, in front of Adrian's parents.
"Uh... hi there. It's nice to finally meet you."
Well, they kept their word. They didn't freak out: they just stared at the red dragon, trying to comprehend just what the hell they were seeing.
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 11, 2018 2:45:49 GMT
Since cover was no longer a factor, Leith went right ahead and reattached his blue and black D-3 to his wrist. Perhaps that would make it easier for the two digimon still upstairs to hear, the metalhead Tamer thought. Poor Shoutmon, though. He has no idea what he's walking into or what might happen next. Same with Adrian, I guess.
"Leith?" Veemon attempted to make contact through the D-3.
"Not now," the Tamer calmly declined. Leith noted that at least, unlike his own parents, the Borikers weren't screaming and panicking... yet. Maybe I better say something. They might just get more tense the longer this goes. So Leith stepped himself between the Borikers and Shoutmon and tried to introduce as calmly as he could, "Mr. and Mrs. Boriker, that's Shoutmon. Shoutmon, these are the Borikers... though you've probably at least seen them even if you haven't met them." More specifically to the parents, then, the young man added, "Yes, he's short, made of metal, and neither human nor quite animal. And, yes, he talks. But before you freak out, give this a chance. Stay cool, take a breath, understand, and..." Well, Leith could only do so much himself. This was really Adrian's moment, after all; best the young man could do was try and keep the tension low. "Adrian, Shoutmon, you guys say something. This is still your show here."
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Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 11, 2018 2:58:30 GMT
Both the Boriker parents just stared at the red creature, not knowing what to do at all. Rokuro wanted to call the police, or the army, or SOMEONE, but Adrian claimed this thing was harmless. And Maaya wanted to scream, but of course, she had to keep her promise to Adrian.
"Hey, he's friendly," Adrian told his parents with a smile. "Come on, try and talk to him."
Maaya hesitated for a second, but eventually began to walk up to the red Digimon... very slowly. So far, he made no sudden movements. Maaya only had one question for this red dragon:
"Are you the reason Adrian brings up so much food to his room?"
"That's the first thing you ask?" Shoutmon asked, laughing. "No 'What are you?' or 'How are you talking to me right now?' Not what I was expecting at all. You're all right, Adrian's mom."
"This is incredible..." Rokuro says. "Another creature that's as smart as us! What's he called?"
"A Digimon. Short for Digital Monster. And there's a lot more out there."
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 11, 2018 19:19:02 GMT
"Don't jump to conclusions," Leith teased with a smirk. The young man got comfortable, leaning on the dinner table as he added the punchline to Mr. Boriker, "'As smart as us' might be a stretch."
"We heard that, asshole!" This was a reaction Leith had predicted and somewhat even intended. However, he did not intend for Shoutmon to shout back through his digivice so loudly that it was as if the red digimon were right there in the room even though he wasn't.
"It's a joke, friend," The young man replied to his digivice, "You know me better than that by now, don't you?"
Veemon noticed that Leith didn't scold Shoutmon for shouting and even felt comfortable speaking to him in front of the Borikers. So he asked, "So... should we come down now?"
Leith shrugged. "I guess so. Cat's out of the bag, anyway. Just, you know... be nice."
On Leith's suggestion, the sounds of the other two digimon padding down the stairs arrived before the pair themselves. When they reached the bottom, Veemon politely waved while Shoutmon just stood neutral.
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Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 11, 2018 19:49:37 GMT
"Oh, you really are Adrian's friend, huh?" Rokuro said as he laughed. "He says things like that to me as well." He was going to say more, but that was when Leith's Shoutmon shouted through Leith's own Digivice. And of course, Maaya and Rokuro put two and two together, and figured that Leith had Digimon as well. Explains how he and Adrian met...
The married couple braced themselves for whatever was about to show up, and saw one blue and one red dragon come down, the red one looking a LOT like Adrian's own friend. They also took account that the blue one waved at them.
"So, this... Digimon, you said, has been living here ever since we lived here?"
Adrian nodded. "Remember that TV that was just sitting in my room when we moved here? That was Shoutmon's gateway to come here. And we've been friends ever since. At first, I was freaked out too, and I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you'd make him leave..."
"I'm still just trying to believe what I'm seeing... they can't possibly be from Earth."
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 11, 2018 21:35:26 GMT
Wow, the parents were much faster on the uptake than Leith had expected. He betrayed that he was impressed by raising an eyebrow. "Not bad. You picked that up all on your own!" He then clarified, "I know that sounds sarcastic, but seriously. You're taking this way better than I did, or... well, my parents aren't really on board yet." Right then, Leith felt his cell phone vibrate, something that startled him because he had only recently returned from a world that made his phone little more than a paperweight. "...sorry," he apologized for his little jump as he took out his phone to look at it.
The notification itself was innocent enough: apparently one of the dinosaurs in his Jurassic World game had just hatched. But there were several others he had missed while he was in the digital world:
Missed call from Dad
Missed call from Dad Missed call from Mom Missed call from Dad Missed call from Skye Missed call from Mom Someone wants to meet you on MeetMe Match! Missed call from Skye Missed call from Mom
"Oh, my God."
"Leith?" Veemon ran across the room to stand across from his Tamer, but the young man hastily slipped his phone back into his pocket before Veemon could ask to see it.
"It's nothing. I'll tell you later." Then to the Borikers he continued on, "Digimon is actually an abbreviation for 'digital monster,' but don't take that 'monster' part too literally." Soon he rethought, "But take it a little literally. Look, it's super complicated, but you're right: digimon are native to- well, it's not really another planet per se but another dimension. At least, that's how I see it. Don't ask too many questions about that; you won't understand the answers, and I doubt I will either."
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Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 13, 2018 2:01:42 GMT
This was going WAY better than Adrian had thought... In his head, he imagined a lot more yelling, screaming, and being thrown out involved in this... either him or Shoutmon. He was so glad to have Leith and the others here with him; he owed them big time.
He heard Leith's phone go off, and Adrian thought nothing of it, at first. But then he noticed Leith's reaction to it, and now he was curious...
He would ask about it later though, as his thoughts were interrupted by Shoutmon's stomach rumbling for a second time. "Ahem... could we maybe have some dinner? We're sorta starving."
"Another thing you need to know about Digimon is that they eat. A lot," Adrian warned his parents. "There's enough left over for them right?"
"Oh! Definitely," Maaya says. "You guys help yourselves!"
"But leave some for the rest of us, please?"
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 13, 2018 19:02:26 GMT
"Oh, boy," and a chuckle were Leith's reactions to watching digimon get told to eat as much as they want. "You just opened the floodgates." Leith retook his seat, then.
As for Veemon and Shoutmon, they each ran straight for the table - or, almost straight for the table in Veemon's case. Veemon was the only one of Leith's digimon who was polite enough to bow and say, "Thank you," with any sort of inkling of politeness. Of course, after that hasty display of manners, he made straight for the dinner table just like his red counterpart.
At some point during dinner, Veemon and Shoutmon both managed to clean an entire plate each, and both simultaneously noticed that there was yet another plate that had hardly been touched. Veemon was the first to ask, "Hey, uh... are you gonna finish that?" Shoutmon, however, attempted a less decent method of simply waiting until Leith turned to Shoutmon before stealthfully reaching for Leith's plate. The young Tamer wasn't fooled, however; he deftly slapped Shoutmon's wrist an inch before his plate was violated, which made the red dragon pull his arm back in a hurry.
"Sure. Thanks for asking, though." As Leith slid his plate over to Veemon, his eyes were on Shoutmon.
"Thanks!" As Veemon demonstrated how much more proficient with chopsticks he was than Leith, he remarked, "So... this is what family dinner feels like."
"I have to use the bathroom." The speed with which Leith said that after Veemon's remark suggested that he was actually upset by that to a keen eye, and when he walked out of the room, he didn't even ask where the bathroom was. He didn't look for it either. He just found somewhere out of sight and melancholily scrolled through his call history.
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Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 14, 2018 1:55:31 GMT
Adrian's parents didn't know what Leith had meant by that, until all three Digimon began to rush towards the food at record speed. All three Borikers were just staring at the three in disbelief, Adrian less so than his parents.
"Even Aaron doesn't eat that fast," Rokuro commented. "And he calls twice a week to complain that he's hungry!"
"Isn't this Aaron an adult in your world? Why would he call back? Does he not know how to get his own food?" Shoutmon asked in between bites of food.
"No, he's just too lazy to," Maaya said as she laughed. "Oh! Aaron! I've got to call him and tell him what happened! ...I can do that, right?"
"He might as well know so he doesn't freak out next time he visits," Adrian says as he shrugged. "Besides, I think he'll like Shoutmon, since he's a musician as well. Hell, he'll probably get along with Leith, too!"
When Leith asked to go to the bathroom, Shoutmon was suspicious. So without him knowing, Shoutmon followed Leith to where he was going. He saw the metalhead human look through his smartphone. He looked upset...
"Leith...? Is everything alright?"
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Post by Leith, Veemon, and Shoutmon on Sept 14, 2018 2:50:52 GMT
Leith didn't respond to the digimon. In fact, he didn't even look at Shoutmon or give any indication he'd heard the digimon. This was a cycle he'd been through before, though; he knew he wouldn't just be able to shake off someone who'd even bothered following him, so he looked up from his phone and saw... nothing. "Huh?" He had to look around a little before his eyes settled on Shoutmon, apparently being momentarily thrown off by the height difference. "Oh... huh. Gotta admit, I kinda thought Adrian or Veemon were gonna chase me before you did." Even though Leith wasn't very obviously crying, the young man gave himself away by sniffing. When he wiped his eye, he tried to disguise that behind adjusting his glasses. "Not now. Leave me al-"
Before Leith could formally dismiss Adrian's digimon, however, he managed to lose his grip on his phone and drop it. "Oh, g- shit." Leith very hastily bent down to and really desperately grabbed at it to pick it up, but that only caused him to be clumsy about it. If Shoutmon were sufficiently observant, perhaps he'd notice just what Leith was trying to hide: the fact that he was one touch away from calling his sister. When Leith got his phone back, he swallowed, and his voice cracked a little as he told Shoutmon, "You know what? I think this is the first time ever that I was ever needed by another Tamer... and the first time I wasn't useless as one."
Meanwhile, at the table, Leith's Shoutmon asked his twin, "Should we go?" through a full mouth.
"I already know what he's thinking," Veemon dismissed, "Maybe Shoutmon will get him to talk, but I never have."
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