Subject: Just Breathing [open] 578 views

[noirtier]

normal tamer • crest of hope • patamon

It was strange, the first time he opened his eyes. They were his eyes - or at least they felt like them - but they weren't really. They weren't his eyes, left behind with a broken body. They were digital, just like he was, and for once in his life, everything worked.

In the real world, his body had no idea how to do what he was doing now. He was sitting up, and his brain new how it all worked, put it all together. That was the reason for the delay, after all. They'd had to set it up so that he wouldn't immediately fall, so that the system would know what he was doing, and adapt. It was a bit more then usual, a bit longer, and now he was late. He didn't want to be late.

At the same time, though, he didn't want to rush. Everything was new. New sensations, new experiences. Walking was a new experience, stepping out of the room was a new experience. It was a common area, he guessed - still within the Magami building, but a public area, with people bustling all around. He'd read the manual, knew that he was supposed to go somewhere to get his digimon, but he didn't quite move. Not yet. Instead he stood there, gawking at everything and everyone, the digimon going past, the architecture, the fact that he was standing.

It was fairly obvious how new he was.

[galatea]

normal tamer • crest of purity • bakumon

It was difficult for her to accept the fact that she was standing on her own two feet, and without assistance. Granted, her posture was rigid, and she felt herself tense instinctively as though she were waiting to see whether or not she would lose her balance. It was almost overwhelming, especially once she noted the distinct absence of the wheelchair to which she and her ruined body had been constrained over the past several years. A surge of emotion welled up within her, but she willed herself not to indulge in it. After all, it was only a temporary blessing. The moment she logged out, she would find herself a prisoner once more. What she needed to do was brace herself for the inevitable disappointment of returning to reality.

Throngs of users milled by, seemingly unaware of her little miracle. As a matter of fact, they appeared to be absorbed in the instructions dictated to them by the player manual, looking as bewildered as she felt. Shaking herself from her shock, she began searching for a member of staff, or anyone who might have already figured out where they were supposed to check in and claim their Digimon companions. Within moments she spotted a taller young man standing motionlessly amongst the crowd. Perhaps he could point her in the right direction?

So with renewed confidence, she approached him from behind and proceeded to give his shoulder a light tap.

"Excuse me? I don't mean to be bothersome but, you wouldn't happen to know where new players are supposed to check in, would you?"

( ooc; I hope you don't mind that I tossed Galatea in here. c: )

[airsylph]

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[atrb=style,background-color: #11053F; border-radius: 35px;] Mai & Hyokomon Normal Tamer | Crest of Love It felt like falling. With the feeling of headphones around his head fading away, Mai made his first step; the darkness that surrounded him suddenly burst into a beautiful world. Without a pause, words floated right before his face: "Welcome to Azuka City."He inhaled hard and exhaled slowly. Everything seemed to be working. He then looked at his hand, turned it around and tightened it into a fist. There wasn't a difference -- everything felt real. Mai lifted up his head, tossing his blue-black fringe to the side, and looked at the sky. The clouds rolled by lazily, with the azure sky as its background. It was perfect, almost too good to be true. Why would anyone want to leave? The problem now was where to go. He didn't read the manual before he started and assumed that some sort of ingame manual would lead him through the city. The words already faded and somehow, he didn't know how to access the menu. He flexed his fingers, remembering vaguely what his friends told him -- there could be some configuration that would make the menu pop-up -- but it was to no avail. He bit his lip and looked around wildly. There were many people; but none of them seemed to be a guide. A voice: "You wouldn't happen to know where new players are supposed to check in, would you?" Mai kept quiet, unsure if he was welcome to the conversation. It was a girl with blue, almost white, hair, speaking to a boy who also had similarly lightened hair. Subconsciously, he combed his fingers through his own dark hair. Were they part of a guild? Still curious to know, but too shy to ask, Mai inched closer to them to see what would the boy's reply be. (OOC: I hope it is okay for Mai to join (: If not, do let me know and I'll exit the thread!) made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[noirtier]

normal tamer • crest of hope • patamon

Tamotsu - no, Noir didn't notice that someone was talking to him right away. It took him a second to realize that he was actually being spoken to, that someone was trying to communicate with him. He'd always had people talk to him before, but then, it had been more talking at him, not with him. Communication had been a struggle, and now someone was asking him something.

Check in? He paused, glancing around for a moment before pointing towards a large door. "I think it's up there. I only just logged in as well. I haven't gotten to pick up my digimon, yet." He didn't even notice that someone else was listening in. After all, there were plenty of people coming and going - what was one more? He'd never seen so many people before in one place - except on TV, of course. That hardly counted. He knew what digimon he'd gotten, had already picked at the selection screen, but he didn't know what it would be like. What if it wasn't friendly? What if it didn't like him?

Serious concerns, considering how much time he was planning to drop into the game. "We could go together?" He offered. Had he just met his first friend? Did they count as friends?

[airsylph]

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[atrb=style,background-color:#11053F; border-radius: 35px;] Mai & Hyokomon Normal Tamer | Crest of Love (ooc: it's been a while; I hope you don't mind me cutting in, Galatea ) Mai wasn’t sure if he should say something. The light-haired boy seemed to know what he was doing, pointing at a large door. Mai pointed at the door as well, a small gesture he hoped no one would notice; and information spilled out – it was where he would pick up his partner. He had already picked which Digimon he would get when he created the character, but he wasn’t sure how his partner would react to him. He had heard about how advanced the AI was for these Digimon; it scared him a little, that his partner might not like him. In this case, it would be good to make a friend first; although Mai never liked to barge in, this boy seemed to be gentle and nice. He had asked the girl to go with him into the room where people received their partner. Mai bit his lip hard and struggled with himself for a moment. If he had somehow made the two strangers awkward by entering, he would eject himself immediately. He had done this in the real world and didn’t want to do it again here. With a little skip, he approached the boy and the girl and with a trying smile, Mai said, “Hello there, my name is Mai. Could… could I come along?” He crossed his fingers behind his back, stretching out his right hand for a handshake. This was how things started right? This is good practice for meeting people in the real world. Mai looked at the boy and hoped that the answer would be a positive. made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[noirtier]

normal tamer • crest of hope • patamon

Noir wasn't expecting people to talk to him - and rather then just one person talking to him, now he was getting a second person talking to him. He paused and turned, looking over the newcomer. Darker hair then him, maybe a bit older. Only there was no way if he actually was older. For all Noir knew, he might have been ten. Or eighty. It wasn't as if he had to be concerned about the things that people warned kids about. He wasn't ever going to have to be worried about meeting someone from online.

The game was the game, reality was reality. No need to merge the too, no need to cross them over. Mai. His name was Mai? What was that short for, exactly? He wasn't so good with names. It wasn't like television had very accurate names. He turned to face Mai a bit more, giving him a slightly awkward smile. "I'm Tam-" He'd started to say it, before realizing that no, here he wasn't Tamotsu. "Ah, Noirtier." He said, taking the hand and giving it an awkward shake. He wasn't exactly used to shaking hands, after all.

"You can come with us if you want."

[airsylph]

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[atrb=style,background-color:#11053F;border-radius:35px;] Mai & Hyokomon Normal Tamer | Crest of Love Noirtier’s hand grasped Mai’s awkwardly; the older boy simply smiled and gave it two pumps before letting go. His voice was gentle, almost like a breeze: "You can come with us if you want." Mai nodded gladly, thanking him quietly; he seemed welcoming enough, to a person whom he barely knew. Mai was not like this; he would’ve maybe mumbled something non-threatening before shuffling away quickly. However, this wasn’t real life. It was time to try something different. He turned to look at the big door and said, “So we’re supposed to go through that?” He silently smacked himself on the head for asking something so retarded, but he had to try break the ice, didn't he? He bit his lip. Just one more attempt maybe. “I know this will sound stupid, but I’m pretty nervous meeting him.” Mai felt like taking those words back (what if this guy thought that he was a freak for worrying about meeting a freaking Digimon) but he said it, it was out and it was too late to pull it back. Mai just scratched the back of his neck, trying to shake off the slight embarrassment and awkwardness. With a few light steps, Mai reached the door and pulled it open. Bowing slightly as a joke, he said to Noirtier, “Please come in, sir,” and grinned. made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[noirtier]

normal tamer • crest of hope • patamon

Noir had never had the option to make smalltalk before, but he'd seen it happen, both in real life and on the TV. It was nice. Polite. Probably routine for most, but for him, it was fresh and exciting. Really, Mai could have said just about anything and Noir wouldn't have thought it odd. He didn't have much of an idea of what 'odd' was. Odd was just a... a thing. A thing he didn't quite understand. What made someone 'odd'? Was he 'odd'?

Noir blinked as the girl seemed to vanish, and it took him a moment to remember what that meant. She'd disconnected, apparently. Maybe a connection issue? Oh well - at least he wasn't alone. He still had Mai.

"I'm a bit nervous, I guess. It's exciting more then anything." That was what it was. It was excitement, to meet his digimon. They weren't people, certainly, but they were like people. Sort of like training wheels for social interaction, since a digimon couldn't just run off on their own.

Right? They couldn't, could they? Suddenly he was a tad concerned about the possibility, but he pushed it away. As long as he tried, that should be what mattered as he headed inside, gawking around. It was all so... well, different.

"Which did you pick?" Did they all get the same options?

[airsylph]

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[atrb=style,background-color:#11053F;border-radius:35px;] Mai & Hyokomon Normal Tamer | Crest of Love The girl flickered away like a ghost and Mai took a step back. What happened to her? Then the realization that this -- this whole world -- wasn't real at all, and that she was really just an avatar that could flit in and out of this world. It could've been a connection problem; or it could be because of Mai's presence. Maybe... maybe she didn't like him very much. Mai bit his lip, still holding the door for Noirtier. As they walked into the room, Mai wondered why MAGAMI had to create 'Digimon'. It was virtual reality, where people could roam and live life the way they wanted to -- within reason, of course. What was the point of having little creatures that followed you around? The battling system didn't seem very well-developed as of yet, and most people seem to come here to simply enjoy themselves. Why Digimon? Because you need a friend. Mai came here for that reason. Lines of code that solidified into a creature, programmed to be loyal and loving -- that was something that might be able to emulate the perfect friend. As they walked, Noirtier suddenly asked, "Which did you pick?" Mai started to wonder if they all had the same choices. He had flipped through the manual -- perhaps people of similar crests had the same options. "I picked Hyokomon," he began, "and I have the Crest of Love. Who did you pick?" He scratched his thigh, feeling a little uncomfortable. Silence was something that Mai didn't like, and Noirtier didn't seem very much affected by it as they walked along the corridor. The door that led them to their Digimon must be somewhere. Mai asked, "Do you know where we're going? Because... I'm sorry, I'm not too sure." made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[noirtier]

normal tamer • crest of hope • patamon

Noir was used to silence. So much of his time was spent in it that it had long ago ceased to bother him. He had no way to stop it himself, no way to make any noise. Silence was his friend - silence was his life. If anything, it was strange to remember that he could speak, and when Mai asked what he'd picked, he might have been able to spot Noir's eyes blinking away for a moment before realizing that no, blinking wasn't necessary.

"Ah, I got a Patamon. It's a little... hamster thing. With wings." It was particularly hard to describe, all things considered. Most of his had been. A pink cute thing, a teddy bear with giant green ears, a little wolfman, and then... what was it? Oh, a fuzzy seal of some sort. Digimon were strange creatures, and Noir had no real experience with them beyond having the manual read to him. Who knew how many kinds there were?

It was only seconds later that he realized he'd only answered half the question. "Oh. I got hope." He figured it was fairly suitable for him. Hope. He hoped a lot, but he didn't get lost in it. He still had hope, though - didn't let anything get him down. Wasn't that good?

Noir wasn't too sure either - but the question almost answered itself as the hallway deadended with a little opening, opening up to a much, much larger room. "In there, I think."

[airsylph]

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[atrb=style,background-color:#11053F;border-radius:35px;] Mai & Hyokomon Bronze Tamer | Crest of Love "I got hope." Mai hated hope. He always thought it was the worst thing to have. In a way, hope plagued him; and he was glad he did not get it as a crest. Being gay and liking someone that was out of your reach because he was straight -- that was hope. And when hope refused to die, things got worse. Mai rubbed his hands together, just thinking about how things were like back in real life. How entangled all their relationships were now. If only hope could die. He looked at Noir's face and he seemed to also be thinking about his crest. To try lighten the mood, Mai said, "Well, I got the crest of love~ -- I don't really know what that means though. Do they actually analyze our brains using the pods or is it randomized?" Actually, love was also a loaded word -- why did they choose to give him love? Arisu once told him: Mai, out of all of us, you have the biggest capacity for love. What did that mean? There was no time to ponder, as Noir and Mai both entered the place. It was a dome-shaped room, huge and echo-y. Every step they took let loose hundreds of reverberations. Mai stepped forwards in trepidation. Suddenly, he could feel something, right in his heart -- a glow? The crest of love shone and without even skipping a beat, a glowing silhouette formed with the light and appeared right in front of him. Mai crouched down and tentatively raised a hand. His heart was pounding. Could this be? He knew what Hyokomon looked like; but what would his partner look like? In a flash, the bird Digimon stood in front of him. It grinned and said, "I'm Hyokomon. Are you Mai?" Mai nodded and the bird squawked. "We're partners then." Mai nodded again, dumbly. made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[noirtier]

normal tamer • crest of hope • patamon

Hope was what kept Noir going, and as far as he knew, in his very, very limited knowledge, there was no reason to ever turn hope away. If he didn't have hope, he'd be dead several times over. Hope was what kept him going, hope was what had brought up there. Hope meant he was experiencing the world for the first time even when people had said it was impossible, and while the world itself wasn't entirely real, it was certainly good enough for him.

He wasn't quite sure about how crests worked. He doubted it was randomized, though. His simply fit too well. "It... I guess it scans us? When it's making our digital forms, transferring it over or something. So I guess it's based on us." What did it said about Mai that he had 'love'? Was that current 'love', or the potential to love? Family? Friends? Who knew? Even Noir, social shut-in extraordinare, knew that you couldn't just ask about love things. At least, that was what every bit of TV ever told him.

Noir didn't notice the glow - his own glow was taking effect, the light forming in front of him. His wasn't on the ground, though, but instead hovering in the air, and with a pop, the patamon appeared, wings already flapping to keep him upright. Noir only barely held his ground, only just stopped himself from backing up. It was just a bit intimidating, for someone who'd never even played a video game before. The patamon didn't even speak right away, simply looked at him, and after a moment, Noir reached up, pulling the Patamon in for a little hug, it's front slung partially over his shoulder like someone would hold a cat. The patamon let out a little laugh, seemingly amused by the reaction.

"Humans are weird!" It chirped, snuggling in to Noir's shoulder.

[airsylph]

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[atrb=style,background-color:#11053F;border-radius:35px;] Mai & Hyokomon Bronze Tamer | Crest of Love Mai felt something writhing inside him; his peripheral vision allowed him to see the other boy holding and playing with his amused partner. Was it envy? There they were, in contact; Noirtier had his Patamon in his arms. Mai looked at the bird Digimon and tried a smile. The Hyokomon had his wings flanked outwards -- was he supposed to hug him or something? Was this supposed to be a happy occasion? Mai bit his lip and stuck out his hand. Surprised, the Hyokomon flapped his wings once or twice, before grasping the hand. Mai nodded -- "I'm Mai," -- before remembering that the Hyokomon already asked. The bird digimon stifled a giggle, before pointing up the stairs. "Should we go out? I've been waiting here so long for you." Mai shrugged and looked at the other two figures. They already seemed like friends; why couldn't he shake off this feeling? "Hey Noir, do you still want to walk around together or split up?" He wasn't sure what the boy wanted -- he did invite himself to walk here with him to collect their partners but now that it was done... Mai stood there, awkwardly waiting for his reply, as Hyokomon charged up the stairs first. made by kiwii at btn & ote!

[noirtier]

normal tamer • crest of hope • patamon

The sensation of touching something wasn't entirely new to him, but the feeling of doing it on his own was so interesting. He was doing it on his own. He got to pick it, to decide who he did and didn't touch. A normal thing for most, but for him, a particularly moving feeling.

The patamon wiggled up, pulling himself up onto Noir's shoulder, giving it a little spin before sitting down on it, facing the same way as Noir himself. It was a nice little vantage point for him - he liked giving it a look, and Noir didn't seem interested in pushing him off. That was good.

Staying together? Yes, that would be nice. They could do that. "We could stay together. I'm new to games like this." Roleplaying games in specific. He didn't really know how to battle or fight, or how anything like that worked. It was all new to him, and he was hoping Mai knew. "Have you played before?" Not this game in specific.

[airsylph]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][atrb=style, width:400px; background-color:#f5f5f5; border:1px solid #efefef, bTable] How could he explain the look on Noirtier's face? It was something different; it was how curious and surprised he looked when Patamon and him brushed skin -- in a way, Mai wondered if he even had touched anyone before. Mai himself rarely had physical contact; it was only with Aoi and no, he didn't want it because it only made it harder to not feel anything for him. Mai came here to have a new beginning and thinking about Aoi just moments since the game started was not a good thing. Mai's eyes still misted over with the memories. He could almost feel Aoi's arms around him when he crumpled up in anger and embarassment. He could almost hear the words: don't care about them, you have me. Hyokomon yelled from above, "Hurry up Mai! It's lovely up here!" Mai snapped out of it, beckoned to Noirtier to come up and followed behind the bird. "I haven't exactly played this particular game before," Mai said, gesturing at Hyokomon before realizing that probably wasn't what Noirtier was trying to get at, "A few other RPGs, yes, but not really MMORPGs like this. You know," he paused trying to think of how to put it before continuing with, "I only play single-player games before this. So, no, I don't really know." That's it, Mai, just ramble on. The yellow bird was prancing around in the sunlight; and Mai looked on at the little thing. Could it really have been cooped up in the darkness of the building for such a long time? Had it really been waiting for him for a long time? He scratched the back of his neck before turning to Noirtier and saying, "What's next? Did the manual say anything?" Mai thought a NPC guide would usually come out to tell them what to do but it didn't seem like the case. words: 000 tags: name notes: none. find me somebody to love

LAIKA of BTN and OTE