Subject: [o] cut the ropes 343 views

[vulcan]

the skies were dark and the sun had gone down a couple hours since, but the area was relatively brightly-lit for swamp standards. outside the inn, wild digimon lurked and waited for unsuspecting players to cross them.

vulcan and flamon, however, were happy to remain in the safety of the inn. as to why vulcan was still logged in at this time of day, flamon had a thousand questions to it but none asked. the tamer sat quietly at the side of his room, tapping away on the menu that projected itself onto to the boy's eyes.

"you may come to the hall for dinner now."

flamon's ears twitched at the smooth, quiet voice that floated into the room and disappeared at the end of the corridor. the digimon stood on its feet, opening the door then glancing over its shoulder.

"are we going, vulcan?"
"hm? oh, yeah."

the goggle-headed boy stood up, dismissed his menu, and headed to the dining hall.

notes basically, you're going to have dinner with a boy in a rowdy, noisy hall. open to anyone.

[lucius]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:100px; background-color:#dedede;][atrb=vAlign, top] IF WE CAN STAY HERE LONG ENOUGH, WE CAN PLAY WITH BLOODY MARY

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:350px; background-color:#dedede;][atrb=vAlign, top] The dining hall burst with the flare and life of what one would have imagined a medieval tavern in a peaceful land. Adding to the excitement the human population was making in their individual, festive gatherings were the Digimon companions occupying free space in the hall and in one's vision. Lingering around their tamers, their unique anatomies were standing out like a frivolous name tag. Their size, color and shape; type, level and form drew in scanning eyes stronger than human faces. The Digimon too was what identified its tamer's personality and ego. It was what Lucius would use to find among the crowd the person he was looking for tonight. But the search was delayed as anxiety tightened around his chest. Lucius adjusted his baseball hat for the sake of motion. His large, ballooning orange hat stood out like a sore thumb so he had it replaced by a navy blue hat. He added a jacket in his avatar out of precaution but the costume change only made him feel more open and vulnerable: paranoid. He had Gomamon X on standby outside as planned but Lucius was beginning to think that might not have been a good idea. Wasn't it odd to be without your Digimon partner? There were a lot of people though...a lot of people who wouldn't care either way. Lucius had to remind himself that these figures were real people back in the real life. They would be as apathetic to those outside their circles. Looking around again, Lucius recognized the continued existence of cliques and social classes. The dining hall was just another school cafeteria. He felt his shoulders sagged as if the eyes looking at him accusingly had finally turned away. There were never any eyes; it was his conscience and he didn't turn away from it either. He was pretending to be blind. If he thought of himself as the guilty criminal, he would never be able to take a step forward. But if this were a den of lions he must infiltrate, then that made him brave and those that were brave were heroes. With his resolution returning to his side, Lucius moved out of the doorway and took a vacant seat, one of the two chairs on either side of the table, on a far corner. Then he'd sit there and look around, avoiding eye contact at all costs. He searched for the black Digimon he overheard Hattori was bragging about in school. A Guilmon, was it? Lucius wasn't sure what that Digimon was but he was confident Hattori would show himself. That bastard was proud of his true colors. He would catch him in the act and when he does... Resentment made his fingers curl. There would be justice. SAY HER NAME INTO THE DARK, ACTIVATE OUR NERVE ENDINGS

made by RIVER! - he got GANGNAM STYLE

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[vulcan]

it was an awkward, quiet walk to the rowdy dining hall. clad in traditional japanese wear as anyone would in an inn, vulcan's steps were slow but firm as flamon trailed him on all fours. he approached the hall, taking a deep breath as soon as he reached the doorway.

the sliding door was before him, foreboding and stern. vulcan rested a hand on the indent to slide it open, and glanced over his shoulder at his waiting digimon. "don't talk when there are other humans around," cautioned the boy. it was a rule he imposed most of the time, but a reminder here and there was in place to ensure that flamon did not forget.

he saw flamon give him a nod, and opened the door. he was greeted by one of the serving digimon, who pointed him to several vacant seats. vulcan dismissed it; he wasn't here to eat or drink. he just wanted to sit in a corner instead of making conversation -- flamon's confusion was apparent in its gaze, but it remained silent and unquestioning to vulcan's decision.

the teenager spotted a free seat next to another boy. he made his way over to him, tilted his head, and asked.

"is this seat occupied?"

[lucius]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:100px; background-color:#dedede;][atrb=vAlign, top] IF WE CAN STAY HERE LONG ENOUGH, WE CAN PLAY WITH BLOODY MARY

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:350px; background-color:#dedede;][atrb=vAlign, top] Where was it? That Black Guilmon. It was harder taking a look around while seated but how was he supposed to remain inconspicuous while walking around? Pretend to be looking for someone, which he really were? It sounded like a plan that could work, a plan that Lucius was about to set in motion until a voice broke through his line of thoughts. He needed better work at hiding when he was deep in thought. The initially daze took hold on his head. He shook his head before the question registered to him. Was the seat taken? Lucius stared at it across him as if he hadn't even known it had been there all along. He'd just agreed to let someone share a table with him. The realization sank in him with his heart. Oh no... He tried not to stare at him. It wasn't the other kid's face or clothes or anything was strange but Lucius wanted to see if there was any way he could get around this. What did he want seating with him? Did he - did he notice what he was doing? Was he suspicious? Did he already know? Lucius folded his arms before him on the table and buried his head down. Aw, fuck. SAY HER NAME INTO THE DARK, ACTIVATE OUR NERVE ENDINGS

made by RIVER! - he got GANGNAM STYLE

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[vulcan]

it was hard to say if lucius had indeed answered his question. the other boy hadn't said a word except stare blankly at the seat; vulcan was ready to seat himself, but found lucius's gaze prickling him. he wasn't sure what to think of the gaze shifting from the chair to him: it wasn't even a verbal agreement, and a stare hardly was a non-verbal one.

and so vulcan remained standing as the boy's head sank into his arms and above the table. the turn of events had left him relatively perplexed. he turned to look at flamon, who shrugged nonchalantly. it was there or no-where, and faced with no choice, he sat opposite lucius and accepted a cup of hot tea from a nearby tailmon.

he watched the steam rise from lucius's cup, before averting his own gaze. he wasn't sure what to think of the previous inquiring stares; lucius didn't remind him of anyone in particular, and vulcan was certain that his face was a common one (though his get-up wasn't quite. the goggles and hat combination made a unique fashion statement).

the hot tea seared vulcan's throat, and he realized that ignoring it was just as successful as not thinking about lucius's stare.

[lucius]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:100px; background-color:#dedede;][atrb=vAlign, top] IF WE CAN STAY HERE LONG ENOUGH, WE CAN PLAY WITH BLOODY MARY

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:350px; background-color:#dedede;][atrb=vAlign, top] Tomoki, think! You can't let it end this way. Not everything goes according to plan, you heard that in the TV a lot of times. You're not even the best in planning! But you can't screw this up, no matter what. If no one puts Hattori in his proper place, who will? Who would stop that bully from taking away one of his friends again? With a sudden surge of resolution again, Lucius abruptly raised his head up. "Don't be scared," he told to himself. "You can't be scared." Lucius smiled widely at Vulcan. "Hey!" he greeted with bleeding enthusiasm. The persona he adopted online had helped calm his heart when talking to strangers. This case was a little different and it must make him look so fake. So what? There were a lot of weirdos around. "Oh wow - is that a Flamon?" Change the topic and keep the other party occupied. Doesn't matter how stupid it made him look. He needed to find his footing first. But Lucius - as he had confessed - was not the best tactician. By bringing up the Flamon, he had also brought up his own absent Digimon. The lurching of his heart weighted like a ton when he realized this grave mistake. SAY HER NAME INTO THE DARK, ACTIVATE OUR NERVE ENDINGS

made by RIVER! - he got GANGNAM STYLE

[newclass=.frame] margin-top:-10px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:2px; font-family:ms gothic; font-size:11px; text-transform:uppercase; color:#3d3d3d; line-height:8px; text-align:center;[/newclass]
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[vulcan]

people of all sorts played digimon online. freeters, salarymen, aimless people who wanted to die -- he'd seen many of those, and it was apparent from their playstyle what kind of person they were. there were also the people who preferred to stick to their own cliques -- more often than not they were high schoolers, or middle school students who wanted to gang up on others for fun.

vulcan was different, because he was a-lone. the strange boy sharing a table with him was different too, because he was happy. he couldn't tell why, but the type of happy lucius had on was different.

did that make them the same, somehow?

he glanced around the ring of his cup towards lucius, and said nothing. even if it wasn't obvious from the appearance, the name that popped up on the basic scanner would reveal the digimon's specie. all the same, vulcan nodded once and continued to drink his tea, unperturbed by lucius's lack of digimon.