Subject: Sunrise [needle] 260 views

[homme]

normal tamer • crest of purity • kudamon

It was the first time in ages that Homme had seen the sunrise. In the real world, he slept through it. He was almost never awake that early. This time, he was actually up late - not expecting a visit from his caretaker, and seeing no reason to log out early. He'd spent the day training, if you could call it that. He had no real control over his digimon - the kudamon did what it wanted, when it wanted. He couldn't have told it to do things if he wanted to. Mostly it seemed fine on it's own. The most he did was occasionally pointing out a wild digimon that had been missed by the kudamon for one reason or another.

Homme wasn't quite sure if digimon really got tired, or if they just faked it. Even so, the kudamon certainly looked tired, and he'd taken a seat near the base of a palm tree and let the kudamon curl up on the sand to sleep. He supposed it was closest to a ferret. He'd never had a pet before, but he had a feeling that this was mostly what it was like - except for the talking, really. He didn't count the family dogs as pets, because they were supposed to be for intimidation and security - you'd never have curled up with them unless you were wanting to lose a body part.

The timezone was set to Japan, and the sun was already starting to rise. It was only an hour or two off - he wasn't quite sure - but he knew it was probably about the time he should have been sleeping. He didn't feel like it. Logging out would put him back in the little apartment, alone until his caretaker returned. Even so, sleep was important, and he was getting a bit exhausted.

[needle]

[atrb=border,0,true;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i48.tinypic.com/av050n.jpg) repeat; padding: 10px; border-radius:3em; -moz-border-radius:3em; border: 4px solid #E9E9E9;][atrb=width,459,true] [STYLE= width: 474px; border-top: 10px solid #C3C3C3; border-bottom: 10px solid #C3C3C3; color: #626274; border-radius: 2em; -moz-border-radius: 2em; width: 395px; background-color:#EFEFEF; padding: 20px; font-size: 9px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana][STYLE=border-radius: 2em; -moz-border-radius:2em; border: 5px solid #D6D6D6; float: left; Background:url(http://i.imgur.com/sUOQu.png); width: 100px; height: 100px; margin: 5px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-right: 8px; margin-left: -1px;] [/style] [STYLE=border-radius: 2em; -moz-border-radius: 2em; width: 220px; background: #D6D6D6; color:#131313; font-family: georgia; font-size: 20px; padding: 2px; padding-left: 150px; padding-right: 14px; margin: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;margin-left:10px; margin-top: 12px;]Needle[/style] Gizamon had never seen his Tamer so quiet. He'd never seen her online so early either. They walked the way to the beach in quiet, even though they had passed many targets he was sure she would have normally gone after. It ... disturbed him. Something was wrong, wrong with her. Where was the usual attempt to force a fight? Where was the drive to 'hunt' as she called it? It seemed as though a part of her had been glazed over.. All he was left with was... this. The Digimon wasn't even sure what 'this' was. "Where are we going?" The frog kept up easily, Needle wasn't racing around like usual and his odd gait wasn't a hindrance. The player looked at him for a moment, a tired but reassuring smile on her lips. Even in game her body sagged, her demeanor more like someone who was overworked than the confident fight instigator she normally acted as. "To see the beach. Server should be quiet this time of day." His frown deepened as she turned her attention to the path in front of them. While her answer had been about the usual he could hear the fatigue in her voice, as if she hadn't slept at all in the day since h last saw her. The Digimon decided that writing the strangeness off as being tired wouldn't be a stretch. "I figured we haven't been out here yet, could do some scoutin' around." "That sounds... sensible of you." Gizamon sounded shocked by her words, he was use to setting up an ambush only moments before a player showed up at this point. There was a quiet, tired chuckle in reply. "Heh, I just wanted a quiet spot really." She slowed her pace as a figure game into view, halting as she shaded her eyes with a hand. "Mmm, appears I wasn't the only one." She moved her hand from her forehead to the air as she started walking again, giving a friendly wave. She'd hold off on a verbal greeting until she got closer. "They did a beautiful job on the sunrise didn't they?" Skills tags and what ever OOC junk you want can go here.[/style]

[homme]

normal tamer • crest of purity • kudamon

It wasn't often that people spoke to him. He kept to himself, by and large, and avoided starting conversations. Only some people were actually social. Most were more interested in the game, in fighting and digivolving and all that other stuff. Some were interested in socializing, and for Homme, those were the worst. They tried to start up conversations in a language he didn't understand, and all he could do was protest, in English, that he didn't understand. Some people understood and left him alone - some tried to carry on a conversation in English so broken it was incomprehensible. The very worst, though, were those who got mad. Some honestly did. Some got so upset he thought they were going to hit him, and that was enough to send him scooting away - or enough to make him log out entirely. Solitude was what protected him. Alone, he was safe - there was no one to hurt him.

He wasn't entirely enthralled when someone spoke to him - and at first glance, he assumed it was a boy. It took a second to realize that no, it was a girl - a few years younger then him, by the look of the avatar. Plus, they were speaking Japanese - oh dear, this was going to be fun. Homme cleared his throat before responding, staying seated at the base of the palm tree. "Sorry, I don't speak Japanese." He said in clear English. Even if French was his first language, English was simply more common.

[needle]

[atrb=border,0,true;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i48.tinypic.com/av050n.jpg) repeat; padding: 10px; border-radius:3em; -moz-border-radius:3em; border: 4px solid #E9E9E9;][atrb=width,459,true] Needle Gizamon frowned a bit as the other tamer responded in English, looking up at his tamer to see how she'd respond. If the other tamer didn't speak the same language, would she just get mad and attack them? Her patience seemed thin this morning. So imagine his surprise when she just stared for a few long (to the Digimon) seconds before a smile broke across her face. Needle knew she was getting rusty with her English, it'd been a while since hanging with the gang and her business orientated English classes had been more recent. The words were somewhat bittersweet to hear, the memories of the stupid fight and the shame of throwing the equivalent to a tantrum and leavin' still hurt but being able to speak English fairly rapidly was something she had been proud of. It had made her feel special, made her feel better than those who stubbornly held to the belief that one language was all they needed. "You do not need Japanese with me." Her English came out stiff and awkward, and her face twisted a little at the sound of it. It had been a while since she had heard the more informal speaking of her friends, at the moment she could only remember the more formal style of her class. "I said they had done a beautiful job with the rising sun." Honestly she was just glad they could speak instead of write, her written English was downright atrocious.

[homme]

normal tamer • crest of purity • kudamon

A smile? Well, that was good. Homme had been on the receiving end of some harassment previously, simply because he didn't speak Japanese. Those people were easy enough to spot - if he ignored them or tried to explain he didn't speak Japanese, they got angry. This girl didn't seem it - she seemed to be actually pleased by the fact that he spoke English. Not even neutral, but honestly happy.

How very strange.

Homme returned the smile, pleased with that at least. "That's for the better - I can't speak any of it, really. My English is a thousand times better." His French was even better then that, but English was so rare on Japanese servers, for obvious reasons, and French was almost nonexistent. It wouldn't surprise him if he was the only person on the server who spoke it. If she knew enough about accents, it wouldn't be hard to hear the French in his.

"They did do a very good job of the sunset - and everything, really. Sometimes I forget that I'm playing a game, which means they did an excellent job." Realistically, he probably should have been simplifying his language a bit - saying 'good' rather then 'excellent', for example - but he couldn't quite bring himself to do so. It was simply habit for him to ignore it, and to assume the other person he was speaking to would get the gist of things.

[needle]

[atrb=border,0,true;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i48.tinypic.com/av050n.jpg) repeat; padding: 10px; border-radius:3em; -moz-border-radius:3em; border: 4px solid #E9E9E9;][atrb=width,459,true] Needle It took Needle a moment to respond, her brain busy for a moment figuring out what some of the longer words were from context (or at least getting a rough idea) before she answered. She gave her head a belated nod though, her expression thoughtful as she looked out over the water. It was easy to believe this world was real, and she understood how the rising 'pandemic' of players who didn't leave, or want to leave, had happened. "I have been to a few of the other areas, they are also well done. Have you explored much?" Needle fumbled a bit for words in her head, trying to remember how to have a decent conversation with out insults. She felt a small pang of sadness. Her main communication with people was through games or at work where it was an endless routine of trying to speak in a calming matter to raging fools who didn't understand how technology worked. Her lips quirked in remembered anger over the previous day's work, and she reached up to run a hand through her hair. At least here she didn't have to play the part of dutiful customer service representative, forever cheerful and smiling while her hands were bound by protocol and angry voices were constantly in her ear. Needle's attention turned back to the other player along with her eyes, and she stared at him a bit as his username floated overhead and listened for his reply. She couldn't place his accent even though she recognized him as having one, and his name was a bit of an oddity as well. "How do you say your username properly?"

[homme]

[atrb=border,0,bTable] crest of purity • kudamon Other areas? Well, he'd been to a few - but mostly he stuck close to center. "Mostly I stay near the central area, where it's safer. There's adults and stronger if you go too far out. I didn't want to get caught in one of those areas and have to log out."

[/i] While Homme had full access to his inventory, he'd only managed to work out what two of the starter pack items were. MP and HP were easy enough to get, but the gate card icon left him confused - he simply had no idea what it was, and wasn't eager to test it out either.

As for usernams - hers was fairly easy, although it left him a bit mystified as to the meaning. Most usernames were easy to work out the significance. Some were short and simple for the sake of short and simple. Some had obvious meanings, like 'angel' or 'devil'. But 'needle'? He couldn't come up with any significance for that. "Homme." He pronounced, the french accent coming out fairly heavily. "It's French - it means 'man'." In a lot of ways, it was the most generic way he could refer to himself - that he was a man, or in the more general sense, a human. Beyond that it had no real significance to it, simply a way of linking back to the French history he'd so easily turned his back to.

"What does your name mean?" Perhaps that wasn't the right wording - he knew the meaning, but not what it really meant.

The kudamon simply continued it's nap on the sand.[/div][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[needle]

[atrb=border,0,true;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i48.tinypic.com/av050n.jpg) repeat; padding: 10px; border-radius:3em; -moz-border-radius:3em; border: 4px solid #E9E9E9;][atrb=width,459,true] Needle "I've been to a few other places, it can be dangerous but it's not so bad. I have yet to need to use my gate key." The pvper's lips curled with a small smile as she spoke the word dangerous. Sure, wild Digimon could be a problem, but she herself often set about to harass other tamers and their pets. "My partner and I have seen ourselves safe so far." At that statement she gave Gizamon a fond look, the amphibian matching it with a fairly close approximation of a raised eyebrow. He had yet to decide whether she was honestly making friends, or trying to sucker the non-Japanese speaker into a trap. A slight frown found its place on her lips as he said his username, but she mouthed it silently all the same. She couldn't pronounce it the way he had, but she could get an approximation. Maybe it was just the accent that made it so different? Ah well, he could manage hers well enough. There came a backwards roll and then upward motion of her shoulder closest to him as he asked about her name. A gesture meant to mean 'no big thing', and her words suited to match. "There is not too much to tell, it is something that has carried over from previous places. A friend was fond of phrases, I took a word from that." Other games, a time with a player she'd known long before her previous group. They'd decided to go about as a matched set, she jokingly taking 'Needle' as she had claimed he was much too dull to match. But that was something private, something personal. It didn't bother her like the more recent falling out, but she did not care to bring it up all the same. A yawn surprised her, slipping through her lips. When it ended she shook her head, blinking rapidly as if to help maintain her awareness. Her excitement at finding an English speaker wasn't enough to hold her fatigue in check. She offered the male a small smile. "Apologies, I did not sleep well last night." No sleep at all was more like it, but what troubled her from work didn't need to spill into this world except through her fighting. Skills tags and what ever OOC junk you want can go here.

[homme]

[atrb=border,0,bTable] crest of purity • kudamon Gate key? It took Homme a moment to realize what she was talking about. The gate key had to be the third item, didn't it? That would explain it - the icon did look like a gate. He simply hadn't realized that was what it was, and he felt a bit silly. How stupid of him not to realize - there would have to be an item or a menu command to get back to town. He supposed that made sense - and he wracked his brain to work out what phrase. Of course, the first one that came to his mind was actually wrong - that she was 'a needle in a haystack'. Considering the gender ratios he'd seen running around, he wasn't that surprised. Female players seemed fairly rare. Anything you could add to that, like 'an english speaking female player' would only make her more rare, as far as players went. He himself was rare - a French speaking player on a Japanese server. It wasn't like he wanted to be rare - and he made an effort to not shove it in people's faces. The yawn didn't bother him. He had an odd sleep schedule himself - sometimes he slept in for ages, sometimes he went to bed early. He had no work schedule to abide by, nor any school schedule, and that let him do what he wanted, when he wanted. If he wanted to stay up until midnight playing, he certainly could, and the only schedule that mattered was his caretakers. "Don't worry about it."

[/i] He said, waving it off as inconsequential. "Everyone's had a late night every so often. Are you in school, then?" A polite and general way to check what sort of age he was looking at. A highschool student? A college student? A full grown adult? Even gender was variable - people could pick and choose in the world of digimon.
[/div][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[needle]

[atrb=border,0,true;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i48.tinypic.com/av050n.jpg) repeat; padding: 10px; border-radius:3em; -moz-border-radius:3em; border: 4px solid #E9E9E9;][atrb=width,459,true] Needle Needle sighed in response, lowering herself to the sand to sit facing the ocean. There was a thoughtful look on her face and it was a moment before she began speaking. "Not school, I have a..level?" She paused, half-closing her eyes and thinking for a moment before finding the correct word. "I have a degree, it is in back-forth talking." What was the word she was looking for again? Something that started with a 'c' she knew. Abruptly she began chuckling a little, letting her head drop towards her chest. This whole scene struck a chord of nostalgia in her, bringing up memories. It had been a while since she allowed herself this interaction online. She didn't want to dwell negatively on it though, and turned her attention to him once more, though her eyes stayed on the rising sun. "It is late for most English countries. Either late or very early. Unless of course you are not attending class or night work." Her own attempt at weaseling an age out of the blonde, maybe a job as well. She wished she knew the proper English terms for 'ditching' and 'cutting class' though. Crest of Courage. Gizamon.

[homme]

[atrb=border,0,bTable] crest of purity • kudamon A level? Homme was endlessly relieved when she clarified - there were too many things you could get levels in, and it wasn't enough information for him to guess at. Degree, though - on second thought, he was fairly sure he'd have been able to get that. Degrees were good. That meant she was an adult, and he wasn't casually chatting up a twelve year old. That was always a risk on a game like this, where there was nothing to tie what you really looked like to what you looked like in game. He would have asked what the degree was in had she not specified, and that took a moment for him to connect. "Communications?" He suggested, almost entirely sure it was that. It was a largely useless degree in his opinion, but then he'd had a very low opinion of most degrees. Thousands of dollars for a piece of paper that barely got you anywhere. He didn't have a degree of his own - but then, he'd never needed one. He'd had his profession picked out from birth, and it was only fate that had torn him away from it. Not that he wanted it back. "It would be very late, yes. I'm in Japan for personal reasons." It didn't actually answer the question she was asking, but then, he assumed she was asking a different one - the unspoken question of 'why does someone who speaks no Japanese playing on a Japanese server?' That was the question everyone wanted to know - few cared about jobs or school, it seemed.

[needle]

[atrb=border,0,true;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i48.tinypic.com/av050n.jpg) repeat; padding: 10px; border-radius:3em; -moz-border-radius:3em; border: 4px solid #E9E9E9;][atrb=width,459,true] Needle "Yes, that would be the name! Communications." She snapped her fingers then said the word to lock it in her mind, trying to remember it for next time. She was beginning to remember how she spoke previously. It wasn't only Homme who thought the degree worthless, but when you had not specifics in mind it was funny how the worthless became better than nothing. It was expected of her to get a degree in /something/, after all. Even if that thing wasn't what she wanted. "Personal reasons. A lot of people visit on vacation or for business." Needle's voice was more pliable, the weirdly stiff tone slowly wearing off as she spoke. It'd been a while but her mouth and lips were starting to remember the shapes of words and how she had said them. The female was starting to remember the hidden little nuances too. Like how when people said 'personal reasons' it wasn't usually something to ask about unless you were in a certain circle of trust and familiarity. A circle you wouldn't be in with a stranger you just met on a beach even if you were half-starved for the sound of English in your fatigued state. "I want to travel some time. I have no destination though." It was a statement that was a bit too true. While the obvious meaning was she didn't know where to travel to, there was the fact that Needle didn't have a plan for her life. It was something she was all too aware of, something that itched like an elusive scratch or called attention like an addiction. Idly her hands reached for a cigarette that wasn't there, her fingers brushing against the waistband of the black jeans her character wore and a small scowl appearing. Needle was still use to having her little 'cancer-sticks' there, despite her current two week streak without one. It was good for her health, and saved her money besides, but there was comfort in routine and having a cigarette while chatting and shortly after waking had been something she had always just done. She had given up that comfort though and the fact that she wanted it hit her with the thoughts she had been having and she just stared at the ocean, a slight grit to her teeth that formed unconsciously but made Gizamon frown. Crest of Courage. Gizamon.

[homme]

[atrb=border,0,bTable] crest of purity • kudamon Needle was entirely correct in assuming that 'personal reasons' meant 'things I don't want to talk about'. Strictly speaking, Homme wasn't allowed to talk about it. He could end up in a lot of trouble, his pod take away. Part of the deal with the pods was that he had to stay quiet. It was a priviledge, not a right. It had been earned by a whole lot of good behavior, and he wasn't going to risk losing it. "I can't say I ever considered Japan for a vacation. Vacations for me means the Bahamas, or somewhere hot and relaxing. Skiing if I really need to go somewhere cold. I suppose for Japan, you'd go for the culture and experience of it." It was technically a casual change of topic, but he did his best to fit it seamlessly into the conversation, trying not to make it sound out of place. A vacation, though? Homme felt a little grin sneak onto his features. "You should go to Paris and get Paris Syndrome." As a Frenchman, he pronounced it the French way - definitely distinct from the English version. "The Japanese love Paris, and they'd flood the cities thinking everything is always amazing, and then they end up in the hospital from the shock." It was a bit of a joke in Paris - how much the Japanese talked up Paris, and then the horrible reality. Someone from Paris might not think it was such a joke, but Homme was from Marseille. Homme noted the reach - a familiar gesture. He'd smoked for a good long while before he broke the habit as it had gotten harder and harder to smoke around France, and it gave him a little twinge of his own. He still missed good cigars. The kudamon finally stirred - woken by the continual talking as it's white head popped up, blinking sleepily as it glanced between the two humans. "I hope he's not bothering you." It finally muttered quietly, not sure what to make of things.