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Everything Changes (Invite)
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Post by Hotaru Inoue on May 24, 2024 1:08:45 GMT
 "When I meant to demand respect, I was more meaning to become someone so skilled they can't fully deny your existence," Hotaru clarified. "Someone that even if they despise every other part of you for whatever reason, they still have to admit 'damn, he can ball, though', or something like that. Besides, respecting someone in one way can make people take notice of any of your other good qualities."
After that, they got to the Pizza (Straw) Hut and Jacob asked his totally reasonable question, to which Matsuri immediately answered. "Shisho says that it's because living on the edge always keeps his blade sharp!"
They got inside and the sharp-bladed BushiAgumon in question started to take Jacob and Pteromon's order, gazing at Jacob unflinchingly with his one eye. For an instant, the eye narrowed as if he annoyed by something, but instead of saying anything, he wordlessly moved into a back room.
"Shisho, give me the usual, plain cheese with absolutely no toppings or weird stuff!" Matsuri eagerly shouted as he went back.
"And give me my usual... In other words, surprise me!" Hotaru ordered with a much more serene expression.
After that, there was a small bit of time for the group to talk or ask questions or anything. And while that was going on, there was a repetitive metal clanging off in the back room, almost as if there were a blacksmith forging something.
Present:
Hotaru Inoue
Matsuri Usatora (HS)
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Post by Jacob Faulkner & Pteromon on Jun 14, 2024 19:44:38 GMT
Jacob had to take a moment to consider what Hotaru had to say. Back in Minnesota, he was as non-minority as they came. A straight, white male that came from a nuclear family who was not only conventionally attractive, but also the star of two sports teams at school. Gaining respect from other people was something that just came naturally to him, and he never had to worry about getting rejected from a team because he was a foreigner. "Then that means I'll have to try harder than I ever had to try before," Jacob said, coming to a conclusion. A smirk formed on his face. "I think that's doable."
When they got to the straw hut and Jacob asked his question, Matsuri responded by saying how this Shisho liked living on the edge in order to keep his blade sharp. Jacob sweatdropped. "So this guy likes having a constant fire hazard, greeeeat."
Jacob definitely noticed how this samurai dinosaur was glaring at him with his one good eye after he placed his order. What was it that he said? That it was stuffed crust? That there was pepperonis on it? That there was mushrooms only on one half of it? It boggled the poor human's mind; what part of that order offended this Digimon so much?
"Call me crazy, but I think that guy was glaring at ya," Pteromon said after Shisho had moved to the back.
"Gee, I wonder why you'd say that..." Jacob replied in a sarcastic tone. He looked over towards Hotaru and Matsuri. "You two seem to know him well, what did I do to offend him like that?"
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Post by Hotaru Inoue on Jun 15, 2024 4:36:10 GMT
Jacob looked like he had some kind of introspective revelation, and seemed pretty confident as a result. Hotaru just nodded along and made a tiny fist pump. "Right. Good luck with that," It probably could have sounded a little more genuine, but Hotaru really did mean it, even if she wasn't the best at sounding like she did. But she was still working past being her traumatized, cynical, angsty teen phase, so showing genuine positive emotion is still a work in progress!
Meanwhile, Matsuri didn't pick up on Jacob's sarcastic fire-hazard comment at all. "It really is great, right?" She said excitedly. "Shisho's all like 'I'm not worried about fires on the outside, 'cause it's nothing compared to the fire in my heart!' He's seriously the coolest, right, Hotaru?"
"No, he's just an idiot," She refuted, patting the overexcited girl atop the head. "Though I understand why you think so highly of him."
Jacob and Pteromon looked concerned about the BushiAgumon's demeanor, and Hotaru just shrugged. "Who knows. It's probably something dumb, anyways."
"I can answer that one!" Matsuri cut in, as if on cue.
"Seriously, why do you know so much about this guy?"
Matsuri ignored her partner and pointed straight at Jacob. "Shisho got offended 'cause you said 'Can you' when ordering! As someone who lives and dies by the sword and pizza, saying 'Can you' is super insulting to his pride!" She crossed her arms and glared at Jacob as if to tell him "You know what you've done"
"See, what did I tell you?" Hotaru added. "Something dumb."
Shortly after, the clanging stopped and the BushiAgumon came back out to the front with three platters with the pizza everyone ordered, up to their specifications, though they hadn't been sliced up yet. Jacob's was the pepperoni & mushroom, Matsuri's a plain cheese, and Hotaru's a personal-sized pizza that looked like it had undercooked dough, swiss cheese, alfredo sauce, with chunks of tofu, spicy peppers, and orange slices. "Look, this is the best part!" Matsuri exclaimed, hopping up and down in excitement.
In a single instant, the BushiAgumon's katana was unsheathed, the pizzas sliced up perfectly into eight slices each, with nary a speck of food on his blade. "That's Shisho's Ultimate Technique: Four-headed tiger slash! It's like eleventy-billion slashes in a single instant that can't be seen by the untrained eye! They say that once you're within his range, it's impossible to counter or avoid!"
"S-such paltry tricks like these are unworthy of such titles or praise," The BushiAgumon retorted, looking away in embarrassment. "Anyways, do not concern yourself with payment. It is unseemly to profit off of one's passions."
And now, the real reason this random npc set up shop in a cheap-looking straw hut became all the more apparent.
Present:
Hotaru Inoue
Matsuri Usatora - Holosuit
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Post by Jacob Faulkner & Pteromon on Jun 18, 2024 1:35:55 GMT
Jacob wasn't at all surprised by the true answer of the straw hut that Shisho cooked pizza in. The fact that he too was an idiot just made all too much sense in Jacob's mind. "I've known my fair share of idiots back in my home country," Jacob said. "As stupid as cooking in a straw hut is, it doesn't even come close to the time a friend of mine attempted a 'blindfolded Sunday Drive' challenge."
"What is a Sunday Drive?" Pteromon asked. "Does it taste good?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Basically, he did something that was going to get him killed immediately, and the only reason he's still alive now is because we took his keys away from him."
Jacob then listened to Matsuri's answer to the sudden Shisho disapproval sent Jacob's way. And Jacob could feel his soul levitating out from his body in the process. "You've got to be fucking kidding me... that's why he's angry?! Because two simple little words hurt his pride? He's the one that's using an oven in a straw hut. The Digital World is so ridiculous..."
After a bit of waiting, Shisho came back out with three platters of unsliced pizza. One was the one Jacob ordered (pepperoni with mushrooms on one half of it,) one was a plain cheese for Matsuri, and one was an ungodly amalgamation of toppings that should've never even been considered to be put on a pizza to begin with... and it was undercooked, as well. Jacob gave Hotaru a very judging look, while Pteromon was just drooling as he took in the sight of this marvelous pizza.
The BushiAgumon then did something rather impressive after bringing the pizzas out. He pulled out his katana and the moment it was unsheathed, the pizzas were all cut into eight perfect slices each. Jacob and Pteromon smiled and clapped for Shisho after seeing this neat trick of his.
"Now, time to dig in!" Pteromon cheered as he grabbed his first slice of pizza ever, particularly a piece from the pepperoni-only side. His beak chomped down on the gooey cheesy slice of heaven, and his facial expression had changed into that of someone who had tasted true life-sustaining nectar for the first time before he ravenously shoved the rest of the slice into his beak.
"I think it's safe to say he likes it," Jacob said with a slight chuckle.
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Post by Hotaru Inoue on Jun 22, 2024 2:14:09 GMT
Hotaru just grunted once Jacob started talking about the Sunday Drive. As someone who liked rolling down stairs in her chair she wasn't exactly a risk-averse person, but even that seemed kind of dumb. Personally, she wasn't opposed to the idea of just letting idiots getting themselves killed, but she kept that to herself. Such thoughts were most unladylike! Matsuri, on the other hand, came to her own conclusions. "I see..." She mused aloud. "The roads on Sundays must be harrowing indeed if you have to put on a blindfold... Well, that's America for you!"
Jacob then justifiably flipped out upon learning about the BushiAgumon's inner thoughts, and Hotaru shrugged. "No point in judging him, really. He didn't say anything about it. All he did was throw a dirty look your way, right? It's not like he's demanding that you apologize for hurting his feelings or anything."
Then came the pizzas, and while Pteromon dug with all the enthusiasm of the world, Matsuri was quite a bit more reserved as she folded up a slice of her pizza, lifted it above her head, and lowered it into her mouth with the practiced efficiency of someone who ate too much pizza because their human partner was some kind of pizza nut.
Hotaru on the other hand, gazed longingly at her pizza, analyzing every bit of it with awe before snapping a photo of it, because of course she'd do that. Then she gingerly took a bite. She remained silent as she chewed, her face a stone mask until she swallowed. Then her face broke into a smile, her eyes lit up and she burst out laughing. "Dude, this has got to be one of the worst things I've ever!" She said in between laughs and taking a second bite of the atrocious pizza. It was at that point she noticed Jacob's judging glare, and oblivious to his thoughts, she held her pizza out to him and offering a slice.
Sure, this pizza tasted horrible, but they do say that food tastes better when you're not alone, right?.
Present:
Hotaru Inoue
Matsuri (HS)
Notes:
Inventory Change
+1 Pizza!
+1 Abomination!
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Post by Jacob Faulkner & Pteromon on Jul 15, 2024 3:12:53 GMT
Jacob could not even begin to comprehend the sentence that Matsuri just said. Pretty much everything that she had said made not a lick of sense to the average human being. "N-No, that's now how it works at all," Jacob said. "Driving with a blindfold on is a horrible idea, no matter which country you're in. The friend of mine that came up with the idea was just dumb... it was a miracle he had us to talk him out of things like that."
"Any friend of yours is someone I'd like to meet, Jacob," Pteromon said. "Can you introduce me?"
"Probably not right now, Pteromon. It's tough for a number of reasons..."
And then the group finally got to enjoy their long-awaited pizzas. Jacob and Pteromon settled with the one pizza they ordered while Hotaru actually decided to sample some of the weird pizza that she had ordered. The newly partnered duo watched with anticipation, expecting to see how she would react to such a thing. She took a picture of the pizza before taking a bite... which then caused her to break out into a big smile, exclaiming how horrible the pizza is. Hotaru noticed Jacob's judging glare, and then actually offered a slice to him. "You know what, why the hell not?" Jacob said as he took the pizza slice. Without any hesitation, he took a bite of the undercooked pizza with Alfredo sauce, tofu, spicy peppers, and orange slices. Jacob's eyes immediately went wide as he spit the pizza out onto his napkin on the table they were sitting at. Despite the reaction, he too was smiling and laughing along with Hotaru. "Yeah, nothing tops this on the list of worst foods ever!"
"Now I'm curious about this one," Pteromon said. He picked up a slice of the pizza and tossed the whole thing into his beak. His entire face suddenly turned blue and he fell over onto the floor, immediately regretting that decision. "Looks like that pizza was too much for a caveman like Pteromon to handle," Jacob commented. All in all, this experience had been a pleasant one for Jacob Faulkner. He didn't know about the truly traumatizing side of being a Chosen yet, but thanks to Hotaru Inoue and Matsuri, Jacob felt more confident about pursuing this life in the Digital World. He was excited to see what new opportunities awaited him and his new pizza-loving raptor bird companion in this strange, alien world.
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Post by Hotaru Inoue on Jul 27, 2024 4:18:15 GMT
And thus, things came to an end.
Delicious pizza was eaten, and much less-delicious pizza was tested. Matsuri shivered in fear when Jacob tried the abomination, and she moved in without hesitation when Pteromon fell over, pulling a bucket out of an infinistore cube and rubbing the bird's back as if she'd done this several times before.
But after their meal was shared, it was time to part ways. Hotaru would give directions to some handy places for newbies like Jacob and Pteromon to go, and naturally, how to get back to Jacob's world. But unfortunately, Hotaru and Matsuri had places to be and partners to visit, so the two had to be on their way. She even gave Jacob her contact information, just in case.
But just then, an entire gang of Gotsumon wearing leather jackets, spiky multi-colored wigs, came riding in on tricycles and surrounded them! They were known as the fearsome, totally-not-a-joke tricycle gang known as the Deltacrag Brigade, and they were here to cause trouble!
...but not really. That'd have to come another day. In reality, they just passed by, flipping the group off for no reason, chuckling all the while on their way to get ice cream. Matsuri gasped at the audacity of such a gesture, while Hotaru didn't even seem to notice.
"Well, take care," Hotaru bid farewell as she spun around to leave.
"See ya!" Matsuri excitedly waved towards them. "If you're ever gonna go on a big exciting adventure, take us with you!" Hotaru took a second to look back at Matsuri as the little girl just offered Hotaru's services up like that, but she noticeably didn't refute Matsuri's offer, either.
Only time would tell if Jacob and Pteromon would ever willingly cross paths again with the cynical, paraplegic high school girl and her eccentric, simpleton of a partner. Yet, even if they didn't, this experience would remain just as significant, however great or mundane it may have been. Life is filled with first-time meetings that never recur, encounters with people you'd rather avoid, and everything in between!
Present:
Hotaru Inoue
Matsuri (HS)
Notes:
Inventory Change
-1 Pizza!
-1 Abomination!
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