Subject: hopeless romantics, bi0licious 223 views

[skull]

unsure when she would arrive, the male had sat himself down. her username was cloudchaser. his memory recalled her appearance and readied for her arrival, but minutes would feel like hours and the impatient brunette began to regret even calling her out to join him. he wanted to become more serious playing this game, which was difficult on one's own. cloudchaser was a lot different than the other players he met, she joked along with him and was very sweet. he appreciated kind people that kept to their boundaries, unlike the friendly digimon of his trying to climb into his lap.

without a thought, rorukya shoved the little guy off and huffed his frustration. "why do you do that? don't do that..." he murmured, using the tree behind him to lean against so he could pull himself to his feet. it occurred to him his friend could be lost, maybe it'd serve them both well if he went looking for her instead of sitting around and waiting for her to come to him. yes, definitely. he nodded to himself. hands swiped the debris from his butt, leaning forward as he wiped away whatever else gathered on his pants. if there was something there, it didn't matter.

it was a force of habit to clean himself off like this, so he did it meticulously before straightening his posture. brows perked when he then noticed something approaching. was it her finally? he couldn't restrain the grin and gave a small wave to identify himself, but he eased into a coldness to this figure when something about it didn't feel quite right. it became obvious this wasn't cloudchaser. he frowned, glaring down at the tree's roots. however, he remained hopeful he was wrong and instead of moving away he stayed until the silhouette became distinguished.

that way, he'd know for sure it wasn't her.

[bi0licious]

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" A single-breath'd question that the red-and-blue Digimon that jogged circles around Bi0licious' legs repeatedly chanted. Over. And over. And over again...

With extreme caution, Bi0licious struggled not to step one foot forward at just the wrong moment and trip over the little Elecmon that scampered around at her feet. "We'll get there when we get there!" She jokingly scolded, chuckling under her breath at the red creatures' enthusiasm. This enthusiasm kept her on her toes, and it was a power-struggle to get this cheery little thing to sit still. It was certainly a challenge... but Bi0licious liked that.

Yanking at the chain that hung out of her front pants' pocket, the young girl pulled out the crest that had been assigned to her at the beginning of her travels. As she scanned the charm, Bi0licious admired the faint orange glow that emanated from within it. The same orange glow vaguely reflected in the iris of her brown eyes. Somehow, she could recognize the power that she was holding right now, in her very palm. This was certainly no ordinary key chain. Call her crazy, but Bi0licious felt a warming in her heart every time she looked at it. It was almost as though she could sense it; this crest was made for her. What was it called, again? The digi-crest of Courage? It's strange, Bi0licious felt that she had been all but courageous in her life. What exactly had she done in her life to prove her worthiness of the crest of Courage? She felt so... undeserving.

In her daze, Bi0licious found herself nearly tripping over Elecmon. She hadn't realized he suddenly stopped in the middle of their path. Bi0licious balanced herself after her near-fall, and stared incredulously at the creature as it stood at her feet. Haunches raised, belly and chest nearly to the ground, multi-tailed plumage spread like the feathers of a peacock, but in a rather intimidating manner. Even Elecmon's fur was raised, similar to the bristles of a porcupine as he flashed his fangs and gave a cat-like hiss at the dark silhouette in the distance. Bi0licious hadn't caught the mistaken wave of recognition before from the man across the way.

"...Uh... hello out there?!" Bi0licious called at the figure, praying for a non-threatening response. Perhaps it was another tamer, maybe even someone as lost as she was... But with her luck, as always, something out there was ready to kill her. Decisions, decisions...

[skull]

his posture perked when he saw the figure fall. at first, he was worried it was preparing to charge him but the feminine voice that followed reassured him on a subconscious level it should be alright. on that same level, he was a little concerned. he'd never fallen before, but wondered if it took away from player's health? his attention shifted around the vicinity, wary of wild digimon that could come out of nowhere. the male looked down at phascomon, that also seemed especially keen toward these interlopers.

it wasn't cloudchaser, that's for sure, yet he began toward her anyway. rorukya didn't move slowly. if he had somewhere to get to, he moved quickly across the forest floor without a thought that it might be taken as aggressive behavior. most of his mannerisms were rather aggressive despite not meaning them in such a way, even his face was stuck in a soft scowl. he'd get close enough to be able to make out her features, though it was in his nature to keep his distance.

the boy leaned up against a tree like he might try crawling across to escape. phascomon trotted after him, pausing at his side with a bit of a skid from awkward footing. "are you alright?" he asked, slitted hues running over her body in search of any sort of answer before she could call it. "i'll give you some disks if you need them..." the irresponsible player offered, preparing himself to hand them over without a rational thought to dissuade him--after all, she might need them and he wasn't currently using them.

why not?

[bi0licious]

As the figure neared and soon became the pale form of a dark-haired young man, Bi0licious' eyes followed from his feet, all the way up to his face. The speedy hop in his step as he hurried over felt almost like it should be out of aggression, but his sudden halt and casual leaning against the tree a few feet from her seemed to be much more relaxed and not as dense.

"Are you alright?" The stranger asked her... a good question. Was she alright? Bi0licious' gaze left the young man in front of her, before giving herself a quick look-over. "Huh? Oh... no, no! Save the disks for yourself, Sir!" A nervous chuckle under her breath as the girl patted down her shirt and her pants to rid herself of any residue or proof of her clumsy fall. "S'all good, no worries~"

Bi0's eyes followed to the sound of the continuous hissing that Elecmon wasn't ready to let up just yet. An awkward little tap with the side of her boot was enough to get the creature to snap to its senses and cool down. "Easy there..." Bi0licious sighed before quickly turning back to Rorukya. This man didn't seem like the social type, judging from the permanent look of slight displeasure on his face. She could already tell just by looking him up and down that this was someone she could relate with.

"Eheh, uh. Thanks for the offer, though..."

[skull]

the hissing elecmon had phascomon take a step back. it wasn't accustomed to a challenge, especially unsure what to do when its tamer didn't seem to notice the threat. rorukya tilted his head to the rise of his shoulder, arms folding over his chest as they had a tendency to do. he listened to her, glad that although annoying she talked fast. his eyes narrowed. she was still somewhat annoying, though it didn't seem that it could be helped.

the dark brunette sighed, sliding away from the tree. cloudchaser would be a better change of pace--what was her name? "bi-zero-..." this name was also terrible. there was nothing about this encounter he was enjoying, probably because he was comparing this female to the other and feeling she was a watered-down-spit-in version of the latter. "yeah..." he replied not so earnestly, for which he felt guilty. rorukya knew he wasn't being fair. there had to be some way he could compensate.

"... someone so clumsy probably shouldn't explore on their own, correct?" although not the most seasoned explorer himself, he sent the request to team-up to the female. "i'll feel guilt if something happened to you after i leave." he explained evenly, no real emotion other than indifference behind his words though he meant them sincerely.

[bi0licious]

Bi0licious found herself listening as the same stranger suddenly threw out an offer to join her in her travels. It was odd, what with his sour expression from the moment he had stepped in front of her, Bi0 hadn't expected him to suddenly make a friendly suggestion such as that... not that he seemed too happy about it in the first place. Rorukya was his screename, from what Bi0licious could see.

"...Ro..rukya, yes?" Eyes downcast, Bi0licious lifted her foot slightly and dug the toe of her boot into the dirt. "Uh, yeah. Sure. I mean. I guess I am sorta clumsy, and I--" Suddenly, a thought hit her square in the face like a eight-wheel truck. Was he suddenly judging her only moments after her first words escaped her lips? Sure, she had taken a 'clumsy' fall, but this Rorukya fellow was most certainly implying that the girl couldn't take care of herself.

Now that mixed look of disgust and skepticism on his face made all the sense in the world. This was one of Bi0's first non-CPU encounters in the virtual reality digital world, but it wasn't the first time she had been judged almost immediately upon her entry.

And then, there was a sinking feeling in her chest. Like someone had just punched her right in the gut.

"...Oh... um. Thanks... for your.. offer, Rorukya. But, uh..." Bi0licious started running through any possible excuses she could make to avoid submitting to this stranger. If she could just sit down and talk to him, perhaps she could prove she wasn't as bad as he was suddenly making her out to be.

[skull]

actually, he was pouting that cloudchaser didn't come when he'd expected her. he didn't exactly specify a time or date, so maybe that's why... he felt stupid, but better now that there was a plausible reason for her absence. he exhaled, hardly noticing the other girl performing his practically trademark move. once he came to his senses, his head snapped to face her but she'd already trailed off... he tilted his head forward, waiting for the rest of her sentence. "You?" his brows furrowed when it was clear he'd be left hanging.

that mixed look of disgust and skepticism was actually just his face. well, that and being moody about the possibility of being stood-up. "It's 'yes' or 'no'." he wanted her to hurry up and decide, because it was no skin off his back if she rejected him. though, the company would be appreciated. rorukya was the type of person that enjoyed having people around, though he didn't much care for the social aspect of it. nonetheless, he smirked and re-sent the request.

he'd wait a moment before re-sending it again, just to mess with her. "you really are better off with me than alone." he spoke more tenderly than he had earlier, wanting her to accept.

[bi0licious]

"A-ah..." Bi0licious' sentence trailed off completely as Rorukya urged her on to finish. Suddenly, his expression changed a bit, and he gave her a rather unquestionable addition at his final offer to try to tilt her to the opposite side of where she was leaning in this 'yes or no' answer.

They were both better off travelling in a pair than going seperate ways... at least until they could manage making it out of this forest. Who knows; this could quite possibly be the chance to just talk that Bi0 was looking for! There really was no reason to pass it up.

After tossing an awkward glance at the digimon by her side, Bi0licious sighed and gave a reluctant nod back in Rorukya's direction. "...Yeah. Sorry, there. I just, uh... I'll travel with you, okay?" A smirk made it's way across her face as she finally had a chance to finish a sentence or two. "I mean, two heads are better than one, am I right?"

Without a second glance at Rorukya, Bi0licious had already walked right past him and was heading off in the same direction she had already been walking before their paths crossed in the first place. She expected the man to be following right behind, and it wouldn't take much to catch up to her. Just in case, she made sure not too pick up the pace too suddenly.

"Are you lost here, too? Or... let me re-phrase; do you have any idea where we are, or how to get out?"

[skull]

It was certainly less lonely. Despite being friendly enough, Phascomon wasn't much of a talker and since neither was Rorukya, they spent a lot of time quietly wondering what to say to one another. This girl seemed to have something to say to everything, so the unnerving silence would be kept at bay as long as she kept her mouth open. "More like four," the male corrected, making a dull point of the digimon, "but yes, I agree." Sure, they were artificial, but it seemed cruel to ignore the fact they were programmed so well to mimic intelligence.

He kept a sheepish smile on his face, hands buried deep in his pockets while following after her. Although his attention was focused on her, wandering eyes watching the environment pass by their footsteps. "I was just wandering here, but I suppose I'm lost, too." Rorukya sniffed, pausing to wipe at his irritated nostril. "I know there's an inn somewhere around here, though. So maybe we're not entirely lost, yes?" He stepped lightly, though gained distance quickly in order to appear near her side. It felt strange to walk side-by-side, however, so he kept to sauntering just behind her.

"Maybe South from here..."

[bi0licious]

Rorukya did made a very good point. With the two digimon counting as an extra pair of "heads". Artificial intelligence was intelligence all the same, and that's exactly how Bi0 felt about Elecmon. They were living creatures too, in her mind. Everyone and everything was virtual in here anyhow, including she and Rorukya.

As the young man made a point of always lagging slightly behind, Bi0licious couldn't help but wonder why, exactly. He didn't seem the most... open person. He seemed rather reserved, and to be perfectly honest, Bi0licious felt the same way... at least, when it came to talking about herself or her personal life. Bi0licious feared this was going to be sort of awkward if she ran out of general things to say, as Rorukya didn't seem one to openly talk about himself, either.

But that's when Rorukya brought up the idea of an inn being nearby. "Ya think?" Bi0 asked, raising an eyebrow as she tossed a glance over her shoulder at Rorukya. "South of here, huh?" She sighed and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "It's times like this I wish I had a compass... or... a virtual map of the area... or something..." At this point, Bi0licious turned to look at Rorukya yet again. Perhaps it was too much to hope for that he might have either of those helpful items on him? Of course, if he did, then he probably wouldn't be lost like this, too...

While Bi0licious and Rorukya walked together, Elecmon was too busy bounding around, sniffing and touching every plantation he could before always returning to Bi0's side. Such an oddly excitable little thing...

[skull]

If he knew she cared to hear about him, maybe he would talk about himself. Though, there wasn't much going on in his life recently other than working and logging into the game. Her question put him at an abrupt pause. His posture straightened almost defensively when she faced him, "They have those things?" The male had never paid it much mind. He never really ventured out, and even if he did he probably wouldn't think to prepare himself, anyway. It was rare if he would.

Phascomon would toddle around Elecmon, shyly mimicking the latter's movements. Sniffing and touching the same things, and just like before the monster plucked a blade of grass that was presented to its tamer. Rorukya looked down, taking the grass and stuffing it into his pocket with several others. "Do you want to explore, or do you want to find the city?" He spoke with a tone that might some almost agitated.