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It's a Stuffed Animal, I Swear (Closed)
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Post by supesman on Jun 1, 2021 4:21:37 GMT
Zack was pounding the tiles of the endlessly huge mall. This place seemed bigger than the entire town that he had grown up in, like he could just pick a corner to sit in and nobody in the entire world would ever find where he was without the help of a large search party and several medium sized helicopters. The endless clatter of footsteps and just the buzzing noise that people made was a constant here, like the white, shifting static of a TV screen between stations. He was wandering, which was just another word for saying he was either lost as hell or had no idea what on earth he was looking for in the first place. He had been zipping back and forth across every part of town trying to find something, anything that would give him some kind of information to the little gossamer colored bug that was sitting, half stuffed into the netted pocket to one side of his backpack.
"Hey dad, hey...hey...hey dad." Came the unmistakably insisted voice of his charge hanging there to one side of him, a wrapper for a chocolate bar hanging halfway pushed out of the rim of the pocket, shoved up a little bit at a time by the bouncing winged bug ball. She had gone through at least three of the bars that he had brought and they had only been running "errands" for like an hour. He sighed but smiled, stopping and looking back and forth, scanning the crowd for anybody who might be idly looking in his direction or, god forbid, someone who had actually heard Marigold talk. But the sheer mass of people all around him was the best camouflage he could have possibly asked for. Everyone else was either absorbed in their phones, taken in with whatever conversation they were having for themselves of scanning their own gazes over window after window full of the newest clothes, games and other items. he ducked into a forgotten side hallway only a stone's throw away from the food court, hunching over behind a pair of water fountains. He unslung his backpack and pulled Marigold gingerly out of the little pocket that had been her seat the entire time.
"Man, you are eating me out of house and home, little bug." He said, playfully poking at the spot in the center of her face where he nose would have gone if she had one. He reached out, plucking the crinkling candy wrapper free with two fingers and tossing it in the nearest trash can, which was a big portion of why he had ducked into the hall in the first place, it was the first one he had found where there was a trash can and no people already loitering there. "You know, even if I don't know exactly what kind of...thing you are, something tells me that letting you live your entire life on granola and chocolate bars isn't the best for your health." He pursed his lips, placing her back in the pocket without digging out another bar for her to devour. He looked over his shoulder, seeing the bright neon lights and happy mascots of the food court, smiling to himself. "Eh, that's not the best for you either but at least it's arguably food, better than getting all of your intake from candy at least." He said, slinging the backpack back onto his shoulders and walking back out into the tide, having to plant his feet and step very purposefully so as to not get bowled over or to step on someone's foot, the last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself as the boorish American especially when he was trying to keep eyes off of him period.
He flopped himself into one of the cheap, plastic seats at the edge of the food court and took a load off, he had no idea just how tired he had been until he actually sat down taking a second to catch his breath and get the feeling back into his legs. He looked over each of the signs, trying to find something that he could actually live with himself putting into the stomach of the tiny bug blob. A burger joint, chinese food, sushi, other kinds of street meat and more than a few signs that his moderate level of Japanese understanding either wasn't reading correctly or were exactly as weird and gross as they sounded. He did lock eyes on a health food place with pictures of happy, smiling fruit and veggies lining the glowing banner. Well, when in doubt she was a bug so it probably wasn't the worst idea in the world to find something leafy, green and juicy for her to eat.
His line of thought was cut off and he shot up until he was sitting ramrod straight as someone pulled the chair across from him free and sat down in it.
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Post by karin on Jun 1, 2021 4:46:03 GMT
"Let's cut this out, I'm getting really tired of walking around like this... I'm tired of trying new clothes this and that..." a blond haired girl, with the tip of her hair put in a highlight commented as she looked so ready to flop on the nearest chair. She's wearing clothes that gives vibe of slightly... punkish perhaps? No? Rockstarish? Either way, her clothing looked closer to what you expect outta a Nomura Tetsuya game, not quite a clothes you expect for someone to go in on casually. "Guh! Seriously, why are we here again?"
"Ara, but aren't you used to running around? I can't believe just thirty minutes walk would make you tired."
"My body isn't tired. My body is normal. My mental is tired. I just want to just get in a cat cafe and nap with the cats..."
"That's obstruction of business, Ojou~"
"Screeeeeew it," Karin waved it off. The one beside her is a lady in a blouse and long skirt, with quite the tall figure and ponytailed hair. Her hair is the same shade as the girl, except without highlight. If anything, those two could be mistaken as sisters.
"...I swear, we have been walking here for two hours. I'm kind of hungry."
"Oh why that's a good timing then. Shall we go there?" Freya pointed at the food court.
"...Mmmm, sounds good, yeah," Karin mused. It's at this time that her Digivice pointed out that there might be chosen in her surrounding. "...That dastardly sound.... ugh, I just hope no one is going to be overfamiliar once they knew their Digivice is beeping!"
"Yes, yes, less of that and let's just order. What do you want to eat?" Freya asked as she pulled a chair... and found someone who's looking at her, sitting ramroad straight? Before she could say anything, Karin was the one who speaks the fastest as she loaded her thought without even a second of registering.
"She's not interested, not available for dating."
"So she said," Freya added with a smile. "Nice day isn't it? Although we're inside a building, but I think it's a nice day nonetheless. Ojou, what would you like to order again?"
"Something other than chinese would be good. I had too much of those lately."
"Then how about some katsu curry?"
"Make it torikatsu, please. And probably some lemon tea. Oh yeah, get some of the kurokke too."
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Post by supesman on Jun 1, 2021 4:59:14 GMT
Zack graciously deflated once the women sitting in front of him spoke, relaxing back down into his chair, leveraging his elbows against the tabletop and holding his head in his hand, mumbling something he almost certainly wouldn't have wanted his mother to hear coming out of his mouth as he sucked in a refreshing, if deep and heavy breath before sitting back up. He chuckled, his shoulders shaking with the unsteady breaths as he looked over both of them. There were a lot of things about a city this big that he was going to have to get used to and having to share tables in a place like this was one of them. Well, everything about a place like this was one of them since this place held more people in it at any one time during the slower hours than his entire high school graduating class.
"I...apologize" He said, feeling all of the panic that had been gripping him totally fall away as it seemed like they were just two regular women and not G-Men who had been tracking him the entire time to grab the little bug and run. "You caught me at a rather stressful time and I was just a spring waiting to jump." He said, again letting a laugh come out. His eyes were rounded with thick, heavy bags that let it be clearly seen that he hadn't gotten a good enough amount of sleep in at least the last night if not more. he looked like the kind of insomniac who had been kept awake by stress, the kind of insomnia that let all the worst possible outcomes of any situation run rampant on the inside of your mind leaving you staring up at the ceiling well into the wee hours of the morning and beyond.
"Hey. Lady. Back off of my dad!" Came the tiniest, most cartoonish little voice from the edge of the table. Zack froze, his eyes wide as his head slowly turned, ratcheting one degree at a time as if he was trying to put off seeing exactly what he knew he was going to the moment he actually made it all the way around. There she was, little tiny Marigold, peaking over the edge of the table, balancing on the top of the backpack, puffed up like a toad trying to be intimidating even though she was small enough to fit inside of a moderately sized soda can with plenty of room to spare.
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Post by karin on Jun 1, 2021 5:20:13 GMT
"Hm? Well you looked sleep deprived for sure... would you like to tell what you have weighing you?" Freya asked. "Probably you will feel better. I'm no psychiatrist, but I could at least listen to what bothering you."
Karin wondered if he's involved in something illegal. Not drugs for sure. Doesn't look like that. But it's definitely quite stressful for him so much that he couldn't sleep... could it be that he's running from debt perhaps? But then... she just noticed... Oh right, there's a choosen nearby. So that would mean...
"Hang o--" she pulled her Digivice before she heard unmistakable voice that doesn't seem to belong from anyone farther than this guy... "............Oh," was all she could say when she noticed what's going on.
"Ara, what a cute little Pupumon. How are you, dear? Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to take your dad or something... but admittedly it have been a long time since I heard a Digimon refer to their human as their Dad... it's quite something endearing."
"...So you're someone new... Alright, I pretty much got the gist of it," Karin mused. Shit, if this is Scramble Crossing, she could have pulled him somewhere far closer and more private, like Le Petit Draco! Over here she have no idea which shop caters to secret places for Digimon... guh. "...I'm guessing your sleep problem have something to do with this chibi then?" Karin asked, perhaps a bit too bluntly.
"From the looks of it they're getting along well at least! Probably it's some stress related to... say, some new fatherly responsibilities. Pretty sure when you don't know what's the best for your Digimon, you won't be able to sleep... but thankfully, this little one is insectoid, so..."
Freya rummaged her bag and pulled out a small jar of honey. "Here for you, good sir. Feed it to your Digimon if so you please. It's just honey. It should be enough to satisfy her for the meantime?"
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Post by supesman on Jun 1, 2021 5:35:44 GMT
Zack sighed, letting himself deflate for the second time in as many minutes. This time letting himself slump down so far as to just smack his forehead against the table top, mumbling something else to himself before he sucked in a large, fortifying breath and sat up straight in his chair again, looking like the kind of student who was powering through a mid term project with about a gallon and a half's worth of coffee beans in his system. His hair was sticking up at odd angles even though it wasn't that long, he looked like he was ready to pass out at the first opportunity if his brain would just let him.
"Ok so, forgive me for asking the stupid clarifying question. A...Pupumon. Is that what she is?" He said, pointing at the grumpy marshmallow that looked like it was ready pounce on both of them if they got even a hair closer. "Marigold!" He said in a stern voice that wasn't quite a shout, shaking her out of her killing glare at the two of them. "We do not know these people and you coming out and acting hostile is not how we behave." He said, laying down the law in that way that parents had to, though both of the conversation partners sitting across from him could see the twitch in the expression accompanying it, seeing that he would crack under the weight of this disciplinarian act if she pushed against it at all.
"Yes dad..." She said, pouting like a scolded toddler, which considering the circumstances was exactly what she was. "I'm sorry misses" She said, adding a plural onto the word "Miss" in a tone that was enough to make the heart melt. She looked down at the floor but perked up at the sight of the golden-amber jar. Zack reached out and clutched it, setting it down in front of her, twisting it open. he fed it to her slowly so she wouldn't pig out, scooping up a good amount on the tips of two fingers and letting her eat it off of them like a makeshift spoon to test if she liked it. From the way her face seemed to light up like the fourth of July, it wasn't the worst thing she'd ever had. He reached to one of the cups of plastic utensils to one side of the table, pulling out a real spoon and feeding it to her one mouthful at a time.
"There you go sugar, there you go, don't you feel better getting something other than a chocolate bar in you?" He said, using his free hand to stroke two fingers down her back. For that stretch of time, the two girls across from him could see that he was dead to the entire world except for her, feeding her, protecting her, calming her, it came naturally to him even if it was exhausting to the young man. "And you got it right on the money there. I've been racking my brain trying to think of something. Anything to do about her." He said, getting rather serious. "She has no memories, no useful ones anyway. The only experiences she has are getting pitched into the rain and mud at the moment of birth and spending the only handful of days she can remember starving and freezing to the death in a forest all by herself. What she is, where she came from, it's all a mystery. Anything you can tell us will be a godsend." He said, letting his smile spread from one side of his face to the other. A genuine and unquenchable kindness behind the layer of mounting exhaustion. Marigold seemed to relax too, more focused on each spoonful of sugary goo than whatever had made her so upset. Zack whispered the next part, telling the girls what he was sure they already knew. "I'm...I'm all she has. All she's ever had. The only good thing she's ever known. So I ask you, be patient with her."
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Post by karin on Jun 1, 2021 5:48:43 GMT
"That she is," Freya nodded with a smile. "Well that's her species specifically. Hmmm... how to say, I'd like to talk more but this place isn't all that suited for any reveal... so those have to wait I'm afraid! But. I'll enlighten you about anything you want to know, that's a promise."
Ah, being pounced with a Digimon isn't something that the two of them is unused to. "Oh don't worry, at that stage she won't do that much of a harm. At worst probably your eyes gonna sting for thirty minutes or something," Karin commented. "But apologies accepted."
What to do about her is it?
"....Hmn, I can understand where you're coming from, but admittedly it have been... literal years since I last time took care of my own partner. So excuse me if I forgot some crucial stuff that I could tell you... but just in case I'll ask... your Digimon basically have past life, and in that past life, she was miserable... ad that's the cause of why she's seem thinking that this world is cruel, and is trying to take everything from her, is that so?" Karin asked just in case. "And so you wanted to know... what is she, and what species is she, is it it?"
"Sounded like a good starting point. Alright, first, let me begin our introduction... First and foremost, my name is Freya, this over here is my partner, Takamiya Karin. By partner I don't mean romantic partner. But the fact that we're a 'pair'. A human..." she pointed at Karin "and a Digimon" then at herself. "Digimon are Digital Lifeform. Think of us as a living AI made out data. However, our existence is... let's see, considering that you're a foreigner, do you know about 'youkai'? Yes, the japanese spiritual beings I mean. Our existence is similar to youkai in a sense. We're from a parallel world called Digital World. You can think of us as someone from another world."
"...Was that too heavy?" Karin asked just in case. Because at this point, people would often have their mind blown at this revelation....
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Post by supesman on Jun 1, 2021 15:23:48 GMT
Zack nodded along with the explanation softly, leaning back in his chair in a way that made it look like he might just collapse at any point given the chance, the only thing that was keeping him totally upright was continually feeding Marigold who seemed more or less completely oblivious to the conversation happening above and about her as she slurped down mouthful after mouthful of the delicious golden goo. Another question of size was where exactly she was putting all of it when it was clear that the contents of the jar she had eaten was already of greater volume and possibly greater mass than she was herself. Zack let out a small chuckle and let his eyes roll up to the sky as if letting out an exasperated prayer to no one in particular.
"Yep, you've hit the nail on the head. More or less." He said, bouncing Marigold as her body rested in the crook of one of his arms. "I'm all she has...all she's EVER had really. Nobody there to take care of her. The fact that she somehow has the ability to talk without any type of guidance is a miracle in and of itself." He explained, speaking softly as if trying to keep the content of the conversation from actually registering to the tiny bug, wanting to let her have the moment of simply being alright for a while.
The rest of the explanation didn't seem to shake him all that much, again he was just nodded along, keeping his eyes attentive on the person that was speaking so that he made sure that he wasn't missing anything. If his hands had been free than he would have been taking notes because something was telling him that all of this was going to end up being important to some degree or another.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I read way too many comic books to not take that at face value?" He said, seemingly accepting the explanations with little more than a shrug and a tilt of his head. "So she's an AI creature from another world called a Digimon, which are generally like animals but her specific species is a Pupumon. They latch onto certain human partners and they can reincarnate after death, even if that previous life wasn't exactly pleasant."
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Post by karin on Jun 1, 2021 16:04:19 GMT
"Hmn," Freya mused as she started to form what's next to explain. "Well, you have read tons of comic books and not accept that at face value, but your sleep deprivation and the fact that two of us here knows what exactly she is... means that all of this are true, and this is not your dream," she smiled. "However, you might thought that we're like your hallucination or something, that's pretty plausible too."
"Don't make a guy's head even hurter than it already is," Karin warned her partner.
"I'm sorry, just a good ol teasin'~ Anyway... yes, you can summarise it like that. Digimons... as you might know, hatches from eggs, regardless whether they're mammalian or not. On that topic, Digimon grows, but you should probably call it "evolution" because that's how drastic it is for us. For example, from this stage, which is a Baby I stage, into Baby II stage, which is the next stage after this one, she won't look... way too differently... but from there on, you could... Ojou? Can you please help me here?"
Karin wordlessly showed her D-NexT and opened the analyzer screen, showing Kunemon, Tentomon, Fanbeemon, and other insectoid Digimons.
"Digimon's evolution path branched. Two different species of Digimons could end up sharing multiple evolutions and prevolutions. It might be surprising to you, but a sizeable flying guinea pig evolving into angel type Digimon isn't outlandish the slightest for us. But well... to evolve to stage above the child stage, which is two stage after her current one... you... usually would be faced with danger. a life threatening one that would cause her to evolve. But if you solely want to give her a long live, a happy one... this world might be your best bet....
though... I feel, financially, you won't be able to easily shrug the cost. By nature, Digimons eat quite a lot. It can range between two to three times normal human serving, with exceptional, high pwoered ones can go as far as five. Not to mention, how to say... You're right to hide all of this. Digimon are... very hush hush. And well... the government's official stance on Digimons are... they're invaders.
Honestly? Um.... you see... Digimons by nature are combat species. We might be intellectual, but Digimon's basic is something even more cruel than Pokemon in a sense. While in cities and various settlements we worked together, there are also wild areas in where the Digimons are more feral, sometimes even unable to talk at all. It would be nice if Digimons are on size of normal human, as strong as normal human... but the fact is... most adult stage would looks like a kaijuu in this world. They're as big as dinosaurs, with power to breath flame out and using other techniques. They could probably decimate buildings easily. Now, add bigger than that, you have Perfects who could explodes a block of a city quite easily. Higher than that probably would be strong enough to decimate a fleet. Many of Digimons of Digital World mostly are at Adult level, with Perfect being the "natural limit". The number of perfects are in hundreds... but Ultimates are also there. Nonpartnered ones, their number is probably at low-hundreds, like 200 or lower, or even in two digits.
But that's beside the point. The point was... there have happened a clash in both world that caused the relationship of both world turned rather... hostile, in a sense. Well Digital World is rather... separate with each settlements probably only cared about themselves first and foremost, but there were signs of prejudice against human that is... the same way the government have prejudice against Digimons due to what happened."
Karin finally raised her hand. "Sorry, but I'm pretty hungry. I'm going to order some food before they think we're just sitting here for no reason and shoo us."
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Post by supesman on Jun 1, 2021 20:49:22 GMT
Zack laughed, the kind of strained laugh that was very clearly just being used to keep him from having an abject mental or physical breakdown if he let himself meditate on any of that for anything more than a moment. He looked over the pictures of the different Digimon, casting a glance down at Marigold.
"So the most important part of this that I'm hearing, and correct me if I got any or all of this wrong." He said, taking in a deep breath to center himself. "Digimon are more of a taxa, and they come in different species. They come from a place called the Digital World which is exactly what it sounds like. They can "evolve" through different forms that can start off as small as this and get as big as a decent sized apartment building or bigger. Lots of them are not very nice and the usual way that someone like her ends up getting to one of those bigger forms is because she ends up in fight where she has no other choice." he said just rattling it all off in an attempt to get the words to stick to any part of his mind as something other than the ravings that would prove that he has had some kind of nervous breakdown. "Somehow, my friends, I do wish I was hallucinating. But hallucinations make more sense than this." He sighed, shaking his head as if there was something rattling around inside that would make a hollow noise if he shook loud enough.
He got a serious look on his face when he heard them explain that the Digimon were not welcomed here by the authorities and just how often they ended up fighting. His arms tightened around the small blob that he was holding though she didn't seem to notice as she was still stuffing her face with spoonful after spoonful of honey that she was packing away with far more vigor than should have been physically possible for a being of her size and volume.
"I sorta got that whole eating thing just by observation. She's a very hungry little thing to the point where I think like three quarters of her current mass must come from chocolate and granola." he said, suddenly moving to dig his wallet out with his free hand, still holding the spoon, pulling a medium amount bill out of it and handing it to Karin. "Would you be so kind as to stop over at that health food place over there in the corner? Pick her up something fruity and leafy with maybe some bread? I would really appreciate it. I'd do it myself but I don't think I'm going to be getting back up to my feet in any time this next hour." he grunted slightly as he shifted back to his regular spot in his seat. He turned to Freya and continued to talk, wanting to make sure that he wasn't leaving out anything that might end up being important. He should have brought a notepad. But before he could actually get anything out of his mouth there was a small sigh of contentment as Marigold swallowed the last of the sweet honey.
She began to glow brightly in his lap and he reached down, hunching over her body and trying to keep the light out of sight of the rest of the patrons. It only lasted a moment or so until the tiny yogurt cup sized blob that had been there was replaced with a humanoid bee looking creature, skin a deep gold from head to foot and about the size of a Beanie Baby or other similar stuffed animal.
"Hehe...dad, dad look!" She tugged on his sleeve with her new arms, spreading out all of her limbs in a beaming "Ta Da" motion. Zack smiled at that. he was still exhausted but he simply leaned down, kissing her on her little round bobble head.
"You look wonderful darling. My little sugarbee."
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Post by karin on Jun 2, 2021 7:32:40 GMT
"Lot of them that are in the wild. Those in the cities tends to be far more welcoming, except if one is on top of a gigantic turtle, then give it up. They're far more xenophobic than anyone in the world," Karin corrected. "El Doradimon unfortunately was caught up in a massive invasion, the same goes as some cities in Digital World, which causes them to have a... very negative views about human. The truth of whether that invasion happened or not is still sort of debated, but I think it have happened."
Freya chuckled. "Here, something else for you. It's a scented candle, designed to make it easier for you to sleep. I get that you want to be there for her all the time, but..." she looked serious for a moment "...I'd imagine it'll be far more heartbreaking for her to see you pass out from exhaustion. They eat a lot, yes, but... please, take care of yourself first. We Digimons are partnered to you in more than spiritual level... We're codependent to you. I don't think... she could ever bear the thought that her father passed out because he's exhausted taking care of her. That's why..." Freya gently smiled, although melancholically. "...please, take care of yourself too, alright? You're not alone either way... There's tons of help you can get. Here..."
she wrote something on piece of paper. "It's a site for Chosens and Digimons alike. You can look for help there. And... do you mind, Ojou?"
"No, go on."
"Very well, here's our messenger address. if you need help, we can try to give it to you."
Anyway, Karin took the money wordlessly and walked to the health food stand and picked salad with soft crouton and some honey. She also ordered some curry for herself and Freya. She immediately returned soon after with the bowl. "This one," she would begin "could now eat something quite more solid, but just in case feel it's better if the crouton is softer anyway. Digimons by nature are omnivores, but... they also have preferences. So just pay attention to what they love to eat, it should be fine. Anyway, is there anything you want to ask?"
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Post by supesman on Jun 2, 2021 14:59:28 GMT
"Giant...turtle...Alright so I've stepped right off the crazy train into a Terry Pratchett novel. Good to know." He said, trying to keep from laughing too much in case it seemed like he was laughing at them rather than at the absurdity of the situation he had found himself in. He really was grateful, it was hard not to be when they had given him the first real direction or understanding about any of this that he'd had in the entire stretch of time that Marigold had been under his care. He took the candle, placing it gently on the tabletop, rolling it back and forth, just considering it with a heavy facial expression that made it clear that he was taking their warning very seriously. "You're probably right. I've just been so worried. I didn't know anything, didn't even know where to start. I felt like I just didn't have the tools I needed to actually take care of her and all that I could think about when I tried to close my eyes was how everything could end up going wrong." He said, still speaking softly, trying to remain calm so as to not let any of this really sink in as Marigold admired her new body. his hand still petting down the back of her head and neck.
He accepted the number with a smile and took a napkin from one of the holders beside him, borrowing the pen and scribbling his own number on it, passing it back. He tucked the number into his shirt pocket. Finally seeming to actually relax in a meaningful way once the plate of food way laid out in front of him. Marigold went to town, her appetite seemingly wetted well enough to stuff down the entire meal, the first real meal that Zack had been able to give her which did wonders for him feeling better all of a sudden. A light of inspiration came on behind his eyes and he reached into his bag, pulling out a short bandana or a length of crimson ribbon, wrapping it around the golden neck of his insectoid daughter as she munched happily on mouthful after mouthful of the crispy greens and crunchy croutons. Leaving her with what looked like a bright red scarf.
"I...Don't know how to thank you. Either of you. Really. I had no idea what I was going to do or how I was going to go about doing it until you just stumbled upon me and actually gave me some kind of...knowledge that I can really use." He beamed, still looking tired to the core but with a settled look in his eye that made it seem like he might actually be able to get some real sleep tonight. "You've given me the tools and the know how to actually take care of her. If there's every anything you need from me, all you need to do is let me know. I owe you one. Probably way more than one. I do have...one request. This Digital World, I think we should see it. Dangerous as it may be, it's where she comes from. Part of who she is an the life she's going to have to lead. Both of us should be as prepared as possible for that."
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Post by karin on Jun 2, 2021 18:18:36 GMT
"At this point you should just accept everything at face value because we're not going to trip you or anything," Karin muttered. "and it's too much of an effort to lie about what we see in such place... I couldn't for the life of me top any of those ridiculousness."
As for Freya she once again smiled before saying her piece. "...You know, you'll be a good father... but problem is you... feel as if Digimons are literal babies, that's what I think. They are, yes, they are to some extent at this age like hers. But you could teach them already, and they'd understand. For example, you can just leave few snacks in the room, healthy snacks like... say, dried apples chip, or something like honey... put them in plastic container rather than glass one, and you're set. They can open it pretty easily and safely, you can sleep for a while! Just tell them to not eat too much, and that's how it goes. You... don't have to like, stay up all the time."
And then came the request. Before that, Karin sharply questioned. ".........You, how long ago was your last sleep and how many hours was that? Digital World is a very physically tasking place. I'd rather not bring you while you're still sleep deprived like that. Forget passing out, that's probably the best sort of scenario. My suggestion is to either do what we're telling you to do and just take a rest first, then we'll take you there tomorrow... or we go to Digital World, but you sleep there before we go anywhere on the wilderness. It's up to you whichever you want. Bottom line is: sleep. I don't want to carry you while running from some dinosaur or something."
"Pardon my partner's sharp language, but honestly, she doesn't have ill meaning to it. She's... just very hardened I guess?" a chuckle escaped from Freya's lips. "But I agree. Maybe you two should have a little nap together before you jump straight to an adventure. Ill prepared one would cost your wellbeing."
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Post by supesman on Jun 3, 2021 1:10:30 GMT
Zack couldn't help but grin a little bit self deprecatingly as they laid it all out in front of him. He looked up a little bit and hummed, as if he had to actually think for a good, long second to remember the last time he actually slept. Which was more than enough to make the pair's point for them. he eventually let out a long sigh and looked up, evidently having settled on an answer.
"I don't think I've legitimately slept since she showed up, which would be sometime after midnight maybe two days ago? Meaning I'm running on just about Forty eight hours without real sleep. That's a general number though, I may have dozed off for a couple minutes a few times since then which may be how I'm still sitting here having this conversation with you but as for real, REM sleep, that would be it." He said, blinking hard a few times as if trying to keep his vision in focus as he kept petting Marigold as she scarfed down mouthful after mouthful. "She was just so...fragile. And all alone and every time she fell asleep on her own it made me feel like I had to watch over her, like she was going to shatter or break down if I closed my eyes for too long." He explained, which was enough to bring Marigold out of the rapture of gulping down more lettuce, honey and croutons. She looked up at her dad, snuggling against his arm and spoke in a voice that was only ever so slightly louder and deeper than the one she had had in that previous form.
"Dad...I'll be ok. You and I can even take a nice long sleep together right? Pull the blankets over our heads, that way you don't even have to worry about me going anywhere...I don't want you to hurt yourself because of me." She said, the look on her face sobering for him as she looked more concerned for him than about the world around her for the first time that he had ever seen. He sniffed, trying to hide the fact that he was wiping a tear from the corner of his eye with the heel of his hand.
"A...alright sugarplum. How about you and I go on a little field trip. We go to this Digital World and let these two run any errands they need to get done while you and I take a nice nap under a tree." He said as she polished off the last of her plate, nodding up at him with big, puffy cheeks stuffed full of food.
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Post by karin on Jun 3, 2021 3:29:58 GMT
"...That's even worse than I thought. The answer is absolute no, then." Karin answered frankly. "Listen to her. Plus it's far easier for both of you to feel at home in YOUR own home before tackling this field trip. I can't even call this field trip if you're like that... "some tree somewhere"..."
Karin felt like she just agreed to something that might cause her to get her life shaved by few years. Does this guy really doesn't understand the graveness of sleep deprivation?
"Let me word this more diplomatically, then." Freya looked at the napkin. "...Zack was it? Alright, so Zack... what we want from you right now is a good night sleep. Nap probably works, but either way... Digital World isn't going anywhere. The entrance is constant, and you can go anywhere as you please. We already said that we're free tomorrow too, so... is there a reason why you're hasting this process so much that you wouldn't even like... think of getting a nice sleep? You also need to remember that for her, that world is a cruel world that caused her so much suffering and anguish... Both of you need to be fully lucid and at your best shape for the best experience... does that makes sense?
So yes, please take a rest. As long as you don't like... ask us to go with you very early in the morning, we can easily do that."
"Currently nothing in the schedule," Karin added in.
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Post by supesman on Jun 3, 2021 4:21:40 GMT
Zack purses his lips, rubbing his hands over his face as he considered what the both of them had to say. After a moment he nodded. There was no way that he would be able to disagree with their logic, any of it. They were right, he was exhausted and it would be a miracle and a half if he was even able to get all the way too whatever entrance to the digital world there was, let alone find a safe enough place for them both to rest.
"Alright, alright, I hear you. Loud and clear." He said, standing up with Marigold wrapped up tightly in his arms, placing her in the netted side pocket of his bag where she went limp. She was smart enough already to know that she shouldn't be drawing attention to herself when they were walking home. "We'll head back to my dorm, catch as many Zs as I can handle and let you know when we're ready to rumble sometime tomorrow." He turned to walk away, only to pause and spin on his heels, giving them both a deep and meaningful grin. "Thanks again, both of you. I really don't know what would have become of us if we hadn't run into you." He said, waving to them over his shoulders.
When they got back to the dorm, he sent a text message to them both letting them know that he had gotten home safely, even sending them a nice picture of Marigold curled up into a fetal ball on his chest. By the time they sent a text back to him there was no reply, telling them both that he had passed out in the couple of minutes between the first message and the second. All's well that ends well.
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