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Satisfaction and Hunger (open)
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 3, 2022 8:56:20 GMT
Mandrake and Lothar's explanation of Ravemon's motives proved less than helpful in making Shouta understand the malevolent digimon's actions. Hex, on the other hand, could understand to a certain degree at least. Ravemon clearly wanted Mandrake under his power and was willing to do anything to achieve that. Beyond that, Hex needed no explanation and he suspected Ravemon didn't either.
"I see. I hope that he is dealt with some time in the near future," Shouta offered sincerely. Hex, meanwhile, sank further into the shadows, underwhelmed by the response to his latest questioning. While the dark feelings in Mandrake and Lothar hadn't faded, they seemed to have stabilized somewhat, enough that they could no longer satisfy Hex's thirst for stimulation.
"If I may ask, are digimon like that common? Should I be concerned that Hex or I would come under fire from a madman like that?" Shouta reluctantly questioned. In truth, he was concerned that any digimon who developed a fixation of that level on Shouta might pursue a similar strategy of going after his loved ones. The thought of any of his siblings coming under attack from a monster beyond his ability to protect them from, it terrified him on a deeply primal level.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on May 3, 2022 9:12:11 GMT
Lilly was beginning to find Hex's emotions puzzling as the Eyesmon seemed to enjoy the negative emotions around him. However Lilly herself definitely didn't enjoy the negative emotions but perhaps Hex couldn't help it since, after all, he was made of negative emotions. Yet the idea that he could be an empath like her but not feel the positive emotions that others were experiencing, like happiness or love, confounded the other newly evolved rookie more and more. She didn't dislike Hex though since she herself barely knew him.
"I agree with you about, Ravemon. However, for now, all Lothar and I can do is try our best to avoid him for the time being since he is still stronger than us combined. After all my father can't always be around to bail us out." Mandrake said with a sigh as he was beginning to feel better. Lilly noticing this backed away a bit when she noticed Lothar doing the same.
"At least Ravemon has one weakness we can exploit and that is being vulnerable to intense light." Lothar said recalling how they dealt with Ravemon with the help of a Shoutmon one time.
When Shouta asked if digimon like Ravemon were common, Mandrake said "Fortunately no. Most digimon are not that cruel. At best they tend to be friendly and at worst they usually are feral digimon not against trying to feed upon a digimon or human. You and Hex will still have to be cautious upon going to the Digital World when you go as all places have their dangers."
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 3, 2022 14:17:45 GMT
Shouta relaxed slightly at hearing that Ravemon was an abnormality, although he also took note of his apparent weakness to bright lights. While he certainly hoped that he would never come in contact with this monstrous digimon, he would rather be prepared for that eventuality. The more common, savage digimon were more of a concern but Shouta did not have any immediate plans to travel across the Digital World. If Hex had some particular need to return to his world of origin then they could arrange something in the future but for the moment his responsibilities were here, in this world.
"I will keep that in mind. It's always best to take precautions when travelling somewhere new and I can imagine that that is only made doubly true by the existence of digimon less friendly than yourselves," he remarked. "You mentioned that it was possible to travel between worlds reliably via the train terminal but can I ask is the connected station on the other end a relatively safe area? I would want obtain a holosuit for Hex sooner rather than later but I can't exactly drop everything to spend an extended time in another world," he asked, thinking of his siblings and what would happen if he disappeared. After Rin's birthday, there were no special occasions coming up but he still didn't want to leave them with his mother unsupervised for too long.
"The Trailmon terminal is right outside of Terminus City, the largest city in the digital world," Hex chimed in helpfully from inside Shouta's shadow. "It's a big city and there are plenty of dangers to watch out for but it's probably about as safe as anywhere in the Digital World. Feral digimon generally don't show up there and actively malicious digimon like Ravemon usually have to at least pretend to follow the rules," he explained. In truth, he had mixed feelings about Terminus City. It was a big place and could cater to any number of desires but it was a touch too crowded for him. Too many other digimon trying to get their hands, claws, wings or other appendages on whatever there was to desire for himself.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on May 3, 2022 22:24:48 GMT
"Terminus is one of the most known stations you can Hex can depart from due to the sheer size of Terminus City. However, Lothar and I generally prefer city's and towns that are much smaller. Digimon like Ravemon tend to hide in the shadows regardless and sends his minions to do most of his dirty work which is why Lothar and I have only seen him in person a handful of times." Mandrake said as his voice bristled with anger and disgust towards the cowardly nature of a normally powerful digimon.
Lothar and Lilly kept their mouths shut as Mandrake venting seemed to be helping the disguised Wizardmon more which was comforting to the pair. Lilly looked over at Hex as judging from his emotions he seemed to be having mixed feelings and asked "Hex, are you okay? Judging by your emotions I am getting the feeling you aren't that fond of larger cities either. It's the potential overload of negative emotions isn't it?" Since she could feel everyone's emotions she had a feeling she wouldn't enjoy large towns as much either. One advantage she's noticed about the holosuit was that her empathic powers were toned down a lot making her only able to sense emotions at close range so she loved the holosuit more. Maybe as the young empath got older she would be as comfortable with her empathic powers as Grandpa Theron seemed to be.
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 4, 2022 8:34:00 GMT
Hex eyed Lilly from within Shouta's shadow at her question. "Big cities can be interesting," he admitted. "But Terminus is too crowded. Too many digimon with their own desires. Anything worth having in Terminus likely already belongs to somebody else and the different emotions do block each other out so it's hard to focus on any one in particular," he pointed out, a touch of irritation apparent in his voice. It wasn't exactly that the presence of so many emotions could overwhelm him as it apparently did for Lilly but rather that it always felt like such a wasted opportunity, so many interesting feelings there and gone before he could properly enjoy them. Like being tempted with a delicious meal only to have it snatched away from under his nose.
"Interesting. I admit, I've lived here in Shibuya my whole life so I'm used to city life. I suppose I can see the attraction of less urban areas though," Shouta reflected. He could admittedly still find himself irritated and overwhelmed by the chaos that city life sometimes involved and he imagined that a more rural area make such things more manageable but the advantages were generally worth it, he felt. Of course, he could imagine that he might feel differently if he had empathic abilities of his own.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on May 4, 2022 10:47:12 GMT
"Oh so all the emotions you feel block each other out unless you are focusing on a specific person becoming much like white noise. I wish it was that simple for me." Lilly said before she then said "Though you are right about big cities being interesting. When I first came here riding in Dad's backpack as a baby just being in a mall in Shibuya during Christmas was a crazy experience. There were so many different emotions that the chaos was hard to sort out. Terminus must be like that mall but bigger then."
"Indeed it is quite a place, Lilly. There are so many minds there that it is hard for a telepath like myself to distinguish one from another unless it is someone I am close with." Mandrake said definitely starting to sound like he was feeling better before he focused his attention on Shouta as he then said "I have to admit when I first came here to Shibuya it was quite the experience for me since I had grown up in a fairly small village filled with other magicians."
"My family never stayed in one place since they are traveling merchants so growing up I became used to traveling everywhere with my mother and father. Probably explains why Mandrake and I tend to not stay in one place for very long." Lothar said after remaining mostly silent for awhile. This was how Lothar just was sometimes so neither Mandrake nor Lilly thought about it too much as they were used to Lothar being a tiny bit aloof at times.
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 4, 2022 17:31:30 GMT
Shouta nodded as the trio of digimon shared their own thoughts on urban and rural environs. He had to admit he likely wouldn't have enjoyed the nomadic lifestyle Lothar described, having a strong preference for stability and routines, but he supposed he might feel differently if he had been raised like that. He also didn't particularly take note of Lothar's general quietness. Not being the most social of individuals himself, he wasn't perturbed by less extroverted personalities, so long as they weren't explicitly rude, which Lothar certainly wasn't.
"I haven't lived anywhere long enough to form a preference," Hex admitted candidly. "But I passed through different places while looking for Shouta and they all had something interesting to them. I'd like to see some of those places again someday, and to see new places as well," he commented eagerly. Shouta frowned momentarily at that, aware that this did sound something that would require spending time away from his siblings to attend to for Hex, before catching himself and erasing the expression from his face. It was a somewhat futile gesture, as he was aware that Hex had likely picked up on his concern instantly, but that didn't change the fact that it would be improper to openly show his worry.
"Well, there is much to see here in Shibuya to begin with, and we can endeavor to arrange trips to other places in both worlds once you have settled in here," he offered, mentally trying to plan ahead and determine when he could afford to leave for a few days and if there were any places in this world that he could bring his siblings at the same time.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on May 4, 2022 23:02:18 GMT
"With Lothar and I our nomadic nature probably also started shortly after reaching our rookie stage. See we were childhood friends that met when Lothar's parents came to my home village for the summer. When they left I was determined to find him again and after reaching rookie journeying both the Digital World and Shibuya is what I did. When I found Lothar I learned he had been doing the same thing. Eventually it led to the two of us confessing deeper feeling of affection before it then led to us starting to have kids. Lilly is our third child and first daughter." Mandrake explained to Shouta before realizing that Shouta had no idea about digimon reproduction.
Fortunately Lothar took the lead from here as the disguised Leomon said "Before you wonder how two males could produce digi eggs it is quite simple. Digimon by nature are actually genderless but still establish their own gender identities usually at young ages. For digimon to have children it would take two digimon that love one another regardless of the gender identity they have to create a child through sharing data."
"Dad! Daddy! Really!? Talking about babies and mushy stuff in public! Eww!" Lilly said in the typical tone a youngster would often use if they saw their parents kiss.
Lothar looked at Mandrake before the two exchanged mischievous looks before Mandrake said "Now. Now. Lilly, you never know. One day you could find someone and have hatchlings of your own." This caused Lilly to shake her head in disbelief at how cheeky her parents were being before Mandrake turned his attention back to Shouta before he said "I agree with you, Shouta. There sure are many things to see here in Shibuya but my favorite part of town is the Entertainment District. As for the Digital World other good places to go would be places like Whitewater or the general area of the Eastern Timberlands."
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 5, 2022 17:19:18 GMT
Shouta took note of the information Lothar provided, relieved that he hadn't had to ask such an uncomfortable question. Of course, that raised the question of what he would do if Hex did find such a relationship. His first instinct was to say that Hex was too young to be even thinking of reproduction but then again, he had no idea how digimon aged and matured beyond the fact that they passed through their various levels. If rookies were considered mature enough to leave home and travel by themselves, were they also mature enough to raise children? Lilly's reaction made him think that was a no but he would have to keep an eye out if Hex showed any signs of interest in another digimon.
Hex, meanwhile, was more interested in Mandrake's list of potential locales to visit. "What's the Entertainment District like, Shouta?" he asked curiously. The sole human present gave it some thought before answering.
"The Entertainment District is not too far from here and is, as the name suggests, primarily filled with sources of entertainment. It certainly has any number of sights to see," he acknowledged. In truth he had never been drawn too much to the Entertainment District himself, finding it a touch excessive in its extravagance, but he could imagine that it would be very interesting for the young digimon, who would likely revel in the overload of lights and sound to be found there. "The district was actually completely levelled some time ago by some disaster, though the specifics of what happened aren't publicly known. Fortunately, it has since been rebuilt and restored," he added.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on May 5, 2022 23:17:33 GMT
Despite being a rookie it was clear Lilly was still in her 'cootie phase' but that was alright since by human standards she wasn't a human teenager yet. Digimon however matured faster than humans when it came to their first few levels of life so her being grossed out by her parents being mushy wouldn't likely last very long.
"The sources of entertainment include things like theaters with some for movies and some for stage based entertainment for example. However there are also places to pick up food as well all over Shibuya." Mandrake said as Shouta talked about something mysterious leveling the Entertainment District some time ago and Mandrake thought for a moment before he said "As for that disaster, if the reason isn't publicly known it is entirely possible that it could of been caused by an issue caused by digimon. I wasn't there at the time since I hadn't made my first trip to Shibuya until long after the district had been restored."
"I remember when you told me of your first trip to Shibuya and how you ended up finding trouble through no intention of your own." Lothar said with a chuckle as he thought of when Mandrake told him of that day.
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 6, 2022 17:34:53 GMT
Shouta couldn't help but be alarmed at Mandrake's guess that digimon might have been responsible for the disaster that befell the Entertainment District could have been caused by digimon. He had surmised that digimon of higher levels might be exceptionally powerful by human standards but the idea that they could have levelled an entire district and that Mandrake seemed to believe this was not just possible but a likely explanation, hammered it home that the as innocent and naïve as Hex was for now, he could potentially grow into a serious threat if Shouta didn't help to curb some of his worst impulses.
Hex, meanwhile, was more enraptured by Shouta and Mandrake's ensuing descriptions of the district. He wasn't entirely certain what a theatre or a movie was but from context he could guess that they were some sort of spectacle, similar to the stage based entertainment he mentioned. And he certainly didn't need any elaboration on the food available. While many of his hungers were more abstract and metaphorical, he did have an abundance of literal hunger as well.
"Can we get some food from there?" he asked Shouta, rising back up from the shadow to stare at him pleadingly. Raising an eyebrow, Shouta gave the matter some thought before answering.
"I doubt that we'll have time to stop by the Entertainment District today, but we can likely get you something to eat on the way back to my home, or you can eat something when we get there. I am something of a talented cook, if I may say so myself," he offered. Hex actually began to salivate at the thought of having a partner who could make delicious food reliably. Shouta frowned and was about to say something about Hex's unsavory drooling when he noticed that the trail of drool that was leaking from his fanged maw was actually falling onto his own body and apparently being absorbed back into the miasma that made him up. Shouta couldn't quite make up his mind if that made it better or not, but at least it meant that it wasn't going to make a mess.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on May 6, 2022 21:23:48 GMT
Lilly looked over at Shouta feeling the human's alarm before she asked "Hey, Shouta, are you okay? I know what my dads are talking about is scary buy most digimon don't go about destroying things on purpose. As for Hex, as he gets stronger he'll be able to protect you from those powerful bad digimon that come up from time to time so you don't have to face them alone."
Lilly's attention then went to Hex as she felt the shadow digimon's emotions as Mandrake mentioned the incident. "Daddie, do you know more about that incident?"
"I'm afraid I don't know about what happened since I was only a child when it happened and can only make educated guesses at best. Yet seeing as the public is unaware digimon seemed like the most likely suspects." Mandrake said as he looked over at Lilly while explaining and that seemed enough for the disguised Guilmon as she asked nothing else about the incident.
The mention of food caused Lilly's stomach to rumble or maybe it was brought on by her digivolving as she said "Speaking of food. Looks like it's soon going to be time to eat." Like Mandrake her hunger was slow to build but, like Lothar, once it got there it was like a mighty beast. She definitely ended up with Lothar's appetite.
Mandrake noticed Hex drooling before he briefly made a disgusted face before he said "Hex, perhaps you shouldn't be drooling on your tamer. I know you're hungry but I doubt he appreciates that."
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 7, 2022 11:45:17 GMT
"Ah, yes, I apologize," Shouta said in response to Lilly's concern. "I didn't mean to worry you. I was simply caught off guard. It is a somewhat sobering realization to find that such an infamous incident could easily have had a cause like that," he dissembled, concentrating on calming his emotions so as not to disturb Lilly's empathy. Or Hex's, for that matter, though he seemed to enjoy the feelings he could sense.
Hex was indeed untroubled by Shouta's alarm but he was still mostly concerned with the thought of food. At Mandrake's chastisement, he tilted his head curiously as he paid attention to the feelings of irritation emanating from his partner. Reluctantly, he focused on controlling his salivation. "Can we get food now?" he asked directly, not bothering to trouble himself with subtlety. Shouta frowned again at the less-than-polite enquiry but taking into account Hex's apparent youth and lack of social experience, he supposed it was not too rude of a question.
"We can get something shortly but you must be patient," he answered, a touch sternly. With that said, he turned his attention back to the other three. "It would appear we each should be on our way to get something to eat. Thank you for taking the time to help explain all of this to me. While Hex here seems to have much of the same information, his delivery leaves much to be desired and would likely have made this a much more alarming ordeal if not for your assistance," he thanked them politely, inclining his head to all three in turn.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on May 7, 2022 23:24:08 GMT
"It's okay." Lilly said with a slight shrug before she said "I honestly would be far more concerned if you showed indifference to such a disaster in your own world. I think Daddie would feel the same if something bad happened to his home village. Good thing Grandpa Theron's village has good defenses despite being small. At least that's what I was told anyway."
It seemed Mandrake's stern words had caused Hex to try and get a handle on his drooling. Due to being a father of three the stern tone had become habitual but at least he had a better handle on it with kid three then with kid one. Hex, meanwhile, then asked with all the subtlety of an oncoming freight train if they could get food. Not the patient type it seemed. "Looks like you have to practice with patience, huh Hex?" Mandrake asked with a hint of playfulness in his tone so it seemed Mandrake was definitely starting to feel a lot better if his mischievous side was coming forth.
When Shouta thanked each of the three in turn, Mandrake said "Don't worry about it, Shouta. Seeing as this is your first experience with digimon, I'd say that you are handling it very well."
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Post by eyesinthedark on May 8, 2022 0:17:41 GMT
At Mandrake's words about patience, Hex was visibly unimpressed. "I know better than most that life is short and patience often leads to goals left unfulfilled. If I want something, I try to get it, the sooner the better," he pointed out, summing up his overall life philosophy in two sentences. As a digimon literally made of unfulfilled desires, patience was not something he had a natural abundance of nor was it something he particularly valued.
"That may be but a little restraint can help you attain things that mindless impulses would never let you reach," Shouta counseled. Hex merely grumbled at that, fully retreating into Shouta's shadow. More than used to petulant children and confident that Hex wasn't about to run off and cause mischief, Shouta returned his attention back to Mandrake as the digimon reassured him about his reaction to what he had learned.
"Yes, well, I do generally try to keep a level head. Today has admittedly strained that ability more than usual but the facts are what they are and panicking or causing a fuss will not change them," he pointed out dismissively. "Regardless, I should be off before my family starts to wonder what is keeping me. Or before Hex's hunger overcomes his restraint," he mused, reflecting that the latter might be the more likely outcome. Given what he had learned of Hex's origins and fundamental nature, it would probably behoove him to ensure that the digimon understood that theft was not an acceptable way of obtaining things. Saying his final farewells to the family of digimon, he stepped out the door of the stairwell, keeping one eye on the unusually dark shadow at his feet.
[Exit]
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