It's one in the morning and I've had a beer. Or three. In the past thirty minutes. Sorry about taking so long with updates to the story, you know I love you guys. Yay. New chapter. Yayyyyy. I did a victory Bernie around my garage just to celebrate my finishing the latest chapter. Really, thank you for your everlasting patience and endless enthusiasm, reading the reviews and even looking at the viewer statistics following each new chapter is incredibly heartwarming. THANKS FOR READING, HAVE FUN STORMING THE CASTLE. DROP DOWN MENUS FOR STORY UPLOADING ARE HARD TO USE WHILE INEBRIATED.
"May I ask why we're bringing a tree inside?"
From behind a dense barrier of branches and pine needles Luke let out a bark of laughter, "It's another Christmas tradition."
Rose furrowed her brow as her tamer and his father shuffled past her, "It's a Christmas tradition to bring even more plants inside?"
"Well we're going to put strings of lights on it and hang shiny baubles from the branches." Luke tilted the Douglas Fir up as his father guided the trunk into a pedestal.
"Ohhh I see, so this is the... the Christmas tree that the Sovereign of the North places gifts underneath?"
"You could say that." Chirped Luke's mother from behind the Renamon; waiting with vacuum cleaner in hand to absorb the hundreds of needles shed by the evergreen as it had been manhandled into the living room.
"Hey honey," Interrupted Mr. Ekelstone from his position beneath the tree, "Could you make sure the tree is straight?"
Brushing by the kitsune, the petite woman had her son and husband yank the tree around for a solid minute until she was satisfied.
"That's always fun." Grunted the balding Mr. Ekelstone as he slowly got to his feet.
"Oh totally." Luke brushed pine needles out his hair as he emerged from within the depths of the evergreen.
Looking over at his digimon, the downturned corners and slightly hunched shoulders told the young tamer all be needed.
"Sarcasm."
Rose's ears immediately perked up, "I see."
"Really?"
The kitsune's jaw loosened but before she could speak a whirring noise filled the air. Hackles springing to life, the digimon spun in place and rapidly gathered her tail in her arms. The maker of the offending noise and the current subject of a suspicious glare was the vacuum cleaner that Luke's mother had just turned on. Two weeks ago Rose, in an attempt to help out around the house, was learning how to use the vacuum cleaner and accidentally ran over her tail. The machine, much to Rose's surprise and horror, began to consumer her tail. Upon bounding upstairs to determine the source of a rather unusual yowl, Luke had found his digimon, fur standing on end, snarling at an innocently humming vacuum cleaner.
Smirking as his mother apologized to the startled kitsune, Luke chided his partner.
"It's more afraid of you than you are of it Rose."
The digimon stopped daintily smoothing out her ruffled fur just long enough to toss a venom-laced glare in his direction.
"You're hilarious." Hissed the Renamon.
The young man chuckled, but his laughter was cut short as a grimace replaced his smile. Bending at the waist, Luke groaned softly.
"Alright laughing still hurts..." Murmured the tamer, "I like the sarcasm though."
"You alright kid?" Asked Mr. Ekelstone.
Straightening his spine, Luke nodded stiffly as the stifling, aching pain slowly receded. "I'll live. Should have taken it easier with the tree though."
The balding man released a weighty sigh, indicating that he shared his son's sentiment.
"Just take it easy." Proffered the aging engineer, unsure of what else to say.
Having returned the vacuum to the hall closet, Luke's mother re-appeared. Worry lines deepened on the woman's already permanently stressed features as as soon as she saw Luke's hunched shoulders and tense visage.
"Did you overdo it again?" fretted the matriarch as she picked at her offspring's clothing, looking for spots of blood that signified broken stitches.
"A bit. I'm fine though." Frustration tinged the young man's tone as he mindlessly picked at the bandages that covered his forearm.
By now Luke was used to his mother's worrisome nagging; she meant well and as a mother she had every right to worry. What bothered the tamer was how constricting his injuries were. It frustrated him to end that once-simple tasks now required a meticulous and delicate approach. Minor, otherwise redundant exertions were capable of sending searing bouts of pain lancing through the young man's frame. This frustrated Luke to no end.
Gingerly taking a seat on one of the couches in the room, Luke felt a familiar emotion drift through his mental link with Rose. She was, as usual, concerned and worried about her tamer. With a mental snarl Luke drowned her wisps of concern in waves of smoldering, rancorous indifference. Rose's gaze gently prodded the young tamer as she attempted to form some sort of link, verbal or non-verbal, with her tamer. He was having none of it, and as he stiffly stood up and moved to help wrap lights around the tree Luke made a point of avoiding making eye contact with his digimon. There was no point in doing anything besides letting his rage boil itself away as far as he was concerned. The emotions he was feeling were immature and Sisyphean; Luke knew his condition could not be changed through sheer force of will or by kind words.
The tree was decorated in short order and the elder Ekelstones, along with their offspring and his digimon, retired to the family room. Mr. and Mrs. Ekelstone buried themselves in the current day's newspaper, idly browsing through the sections they had previously forgone. Leafing through an overflowing binder, Luke stopped on a section labeled "Schubert Motorsports - 24 Hours of Dubai" and, drawing a pen out of a pocket in the binder, began meticulously analyzing the report. The dense, technical writing was the elixir the tamer needed; as he absorbed each paragraph he felt a certain measure of 'holiday cheer' return. The clicking of claws on hardwood signaled Rose's return; the kitsune had whispered upstairs when everyone had migrated from one room to another. In her right paw she held a book; it was not until she sat down in a high-backed armchair on the far side of the room was Luke able to recognize the cover.
"Rose..." Sighed the young man, a smile tugging at his lips, "That's quite the book you've got there."
"It is, isn't it." The kitsune turned over a worn copy of Machiavelli's The Prince in her paws before opening it to a previously marked page.
"So... What do you think?"
The snow-white tip led the rest of Rose's elegant tail in a lazy wave as the digimon mused to herself.
"Out of curiosity I asked your father what books he had about human society and culture. This was the first book he handed me."
"Of course it is." Snorted Luke, eyes dancing with amusement.
Rose raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but Luke neglected to elaborate and forged onward.
"What do you think of the scheming of the princes?"
Tossing a chastening scowl at her tamer, the kitsune continued where she had left off.
"It is a different perspective on society, one far removed from what I am used to. Renamon are not the most societally extroverted of digimon. While some clans have developed relationships with other digimon, other clans are…. Aggressively xenophobic."
Rose murmured the last portion of the sentence as if it were an admission of guilt.
Perplexed by the weight his partner had attached to the words, Luke opened his mouth before he could form a potential hypothesis.
"I don't mean to pry…."
"Then don't." Rose cut off her tamer before he could finish posing his question.
The venom in her curt response told the young man all he needed to know. 'Aggressive xenophobia' was in all likelihood a polite way of saying some of the Renamon clans were more akin to a sneering imperialist than a benign monk when it came to dealings with other digimon.
Furthermore, it sounded like Rose was intimately familiar with the foreign policies of the clans.
This was one of only a handful of times Rose had mentioned her previous life. While both of them had shared little in regards to their personal history, Luke could only remember a handful of occasions when Rose had brought up her family and clan. Perhaps it was finally time for him to ask her about her history. The young man made a tentative mental note to do so later on in a more private setting. For the time being Luke knew to not pursue the topic at hand any further, as it had strayed into questionable territory.
"My apologies."
Several hours later Luke's parents retired and after the usual smattering of tidings, the duo found themselves alone.
Ever since Rose's... Outburst at the hospital things had been been tense in between the digimon and her tamer. Luke had made a point of not talking about what had happened and as such there had not been any more intimate contact between the pair. Rose had even taken to sleeping in the guest bedroom, which was now her bedroom as far as the Ekelstones were concerned. This, of course, meant that there was a considerable amount of tension in between Luke and Rose.
As per his modus operandi, Luke was attempting to just ignore the issue until it went away but at the moment the tamer's universal solution seemed to only be extenuating the symptoms of the problem. Even as he absentmindedly glanced over track notes he could feel his digimon's pulsating presence.
Thanks to their mental link it was painfully obvious to Luke that they were trying their hardest to ignore each other and were failing miserably at doing so. Normally they were able to operate at sustainable levels without one of them breaking down but Luke had a feeling that tonight he might not be so lucky. As one their heart rates steadily increased; Luke found himself just staring at the page in front of him.
As far as he could tell Rose was barely able to contain herself as well, her mind was throbbing with energy. Mental klaxons sounded in the tamer's own mind as electric emotions crackled through his aching frame. Usually either Rose or Luke would get up and leave before the tension became too much to bear but on this particular evening things were happening far too quickly.
Luke sighed mentally and entrenched himself in preparation for the onslaught he knew was coming. A sinister thought bubbled it's way to the forefront of his consciousness: if he was to assert his dominance, he would have to ensure that Rose broke first.
Glancing up from his notes, Luke saw that the tip of his partner's tail was twitching rather vigorously. Furthermore, she had not turned a page in her book ever since his parents had left. In spite of himself Luke grinned.
He was winning.
The beast that was his manhood and male mind was becoming increasingly restless, the animal unhappy with it's current confines. Luke wanted to act, to do something, anything. The beast was hungry. But the tamer knew that if he was patient, his prey would come to him. The beast knew this, and was trying it's best to be patient. After all, the thrill was in the hunt. The prey was only an ancillary complement.
Rose gasped, a short intake of breath breaking the silence and sending the current situation over the edge.
"You're such a damnable asshole." Muttered the digimon in a matter-of-fact tone.
Bingo.
"Do be quiet." Growled Luke as his entire body and mind roared in excitement.
"What?! You... You..." Rose bristled at her tamer's off-handed command, "Since when were you in any position to give me orders."
"I'm your tamer." Responded Luke in a monotone, still looking down at the tables before him.
"So?" Hissed the infuriated Renamon.
"So?' That's rather pathetic. Is that the best comeback you can manage?"
Rose closed her book with trembling paws and placed it on the table next to her, mouth moving as silent curses spewed forth. "How... How... By the Sovereigns you are absolutely insufferable!"
"I am now?" Keeping a grin off of his face was proving to be difficult for the young man.
As sinister as it was, Luke found that tearing down his digimon's carefully-maintained composure was something he took great delight in.
"I despise you." Sighed the digimon as she buried her face in her hands, desperately trying to maintain herself.
"No you don't."
In the outer edges of his vision Luke saw his kitsune stand up and tug her gauntlets off. Warm leather suddenly smacked the young man in the face, and as he looked up Luke saw a rather cross-looking Renamon bearing down on him.
Closing the binder and setting it on the floor in front of him, Luke dragged his gaze up his digimon's lithe frame. Rose stood before him, hips cocked and arms crossed. Her narrowed eyes communicated veiled disdain, but the kitsune's swaying tail told a different story.
"I still have no idea why you chose me to be your partner." Mused Luke innocently.
Rose's eyes flashed.
"Was that an attempt at flattery by a man who doesn't even know the meaning of the word?"
"I suppose. I still am mystified by your choice though."
Rose's shoulders lost their rigidity, and despite her disdainful expression Luke saw hints of wry amusement dancing in the kitsune's eyes.
"My reasons are my own."
"Well I was under the impression you utterly despised so I figured I would ask…."
It took nearly every ounce of Luke's strength and willpower to maintain his stoic facade. Something about ribbing his normally dour and serious partner was incredibly amusing.
Fingers involuntarily balled into fists born of frustration, Rose spluttered at her tamer.
"You… just…. By the Sovereigns…. Gahhh…." Beneath silky fur the Renamon's sculpted abdominals tightened as she struggled to find the words to properly express herself.
Trying desperately to maintain the semi-scowl he was currently wearing, Luke bit the inside of his lip in an attempt to delay the grin threating to jump onto his visage. Although Rose had expanded her social breadth to extended conversations, she was still a prime example of an atypical Renamon at nearly all hours of the day. Perennially dour and serious, the kitsune had only recently begun to facilitate conversations with her tamer's closest relations. This had taken a great degree of doing on Luke's part; subliminally encouraging his digimon to move beyond cryptic responses had tried the young man's patience.
Yet what Luke had originally had assumed to be a combination of aloofness and deeply ingrained societal norms turned out to be something completely different. Following a particularly strenuous encounter with a wild digimon, Luke and Rose were tasked with explaining their actions to the tamer-digimon licensing class they were in at WSU. Luke ended up orating the entire battle to the class while Rose, tail tucked up against her legs and ears pressed against her skull, stared determinately at a whiteboard pen on the other side of the room.
As the pair returned to their seats, the blinding rays of revelation pierced the grey clouds of annoyance in Luke's mind. His partner was not aloof, overtly proud or spitefully regal.
She was simply shy.
Her overarching, awkward shyness was why Luke took particular delight in riling up his partner. It was common knowledge that needling a Renamon was not the safest of ventures; one was better off taking up bear cub kidnapping for a hobby. Although Luke sinisterly enjoyed watching his digimon become increasingly frustrated as he prodded at her, it was one of the surefire methods the tamer knew of for drawing the kitsune completely out of her shell.
"You frustrate me to absolutely no end…." Snarled the kitsune.
The provocation was by no means one-sided; Rose toyed with her tamer in equal measure. While a casual observer might wonder why neither party took offense to the actions of the opposite, Luke and Rose both knew that their fiery exchanges usually carried little weight.
One quirk that both fascinated and amused Rose to no end was her tamer's blindingly fast and unfathomably random thought process. Luke was prone to wandering off on various mental tangents all while concentrating on the task at hand. Although the young man was capable of regulating himself to some degree, Rose often bore direct witness to her partner's aimless musings. Like most internal dialogue, these thoughts were usually personal and not fit for the outside world. More often than not they were completely unrelated to the situation at hand.
"Is your fur more… golden than usual?"
At any given time Luke maintained a mental rail yard, with around a dozen trains of thought simultaneously. Like a persistently over-clocked computer, the tamer's brain was buzzing with activity from dawn till dusk. It just so happened that a stray thought had emerged from one of the currently running tasks and had made it past the young man's brain-to-mouth filter. Unfortunately for Luke, his most private of musings had the greatest proclivity for escaping.
Rose blinked in surprise as Luke kicked himself. The tension sloughed off of her face and her shoulders dropped. The tirade welling in her chest seemed to escape from her now slackened maw, leaving the Renamon speechless.
Aaaand now I have to run with it, groused Luke internally.
Gingerly lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck, the tamer fumbled about for something to say.
Rose's fur did indeed look different; the shade was removed from the normal soft yellow. A deeper golden-orange had crept into her coat, and it was the first time Luke had taken notice. His partner was an absolutely exceptional being; a flawless combination of taught, lean musculature and confident femininity. Physical beauty was a quality Rose seemed to maintain effortlessly, her oriental mystique drawing blatant stares wherever she went.
For the first few months of their partnership it the kitsune did give the impression that she had no need to devote any energy to personal appearance. Only after awkwardly asking the Renamon if she wanted to take part in his daily exercise routine did it become clear to Luke that Rose took her physical fitness quite seriously. Her studious grooming habits were another matter entirely, as the young man had accidently discovered.
Never one to notice a new outfit or new makeup color on previous girlfriends, Luke often found himself on the receiving end of what appeared to be baseless scorn. Despite concerted efforts to increase his diligence, the timeliness of his observations still needed work.
The young man cringed, assuming that this change was something he was supposed to have noticed and commented on some time ago.
Then again, it's not like we're dating or anything… Ah hell I'm in trouble.
"I… ahhhhmmm…. You just look… different and…." Luke tripped over his words, "Anddd… I… it looks good. Your coat does."
Making a mental note to repeatedly bash his skull against a hard surface later, the young tamer grinned sheepishly at his partner.
Warmth laced into Luke's cheeks, bringing with it a very unwanted blush. Raising a suspicious eyebrow, Rose still seemed unable to find her tongue.
Confusion tumbled from the Renamon across their mental link. To Luke's surprise mixed in amongst the confusion were hints of desperately concealed… embarrassment?
Compliments were not something Luke neither gave nor received well, especially when it came to women. His brain usually ceased to function about halfway through vocalizing his carefully constructed observations, forcing the young man to clumsily abandon the proverbial sinking ship. Words tended to lose their meaning, the young man's voluminous lexicon suddenly filled with blank pages.
Further complicating matters was the issue of Luke's heart rate. The traditionally calm muscle was now pulsating vigorously, it thick walls pounding against the tamer's rib cage. Blood coursed through veins at blinding speeds, the drastic increase in flow only serving to further debilitate the young man.
"It's my winter coat…" Rose spoke slowly, appearing to be slightly befuddled, "I suppose it is more…. Golden in hue, isn't it. I suppose you haven't seen my winter coat before, have you…"
Without warning Rose's ebony gaze sharpened and met her tamer; it was as if some sort of monumental realization had suddenly fomented inside the kitsune's brain.
"Was that a… compliment?"
Luke could feel his partner's obsidian glare tear through his body, searching for answers. Incapable of producing a cognizant response, the young man bit his lower lip none too gently.
"Possibly." Muttered the tamer.
Luke's admission escaped out into an awkward silence. Rose stood, statue-like, her laser-like focus centered wholly on the young man. Still unable to properly vocalize anything beyond a nervous groan, Luke fell back on attempting to meet his Renamon's all-consuming glare. Failing at this miserably, the tamer loosened his jaw in an attempt to possibly say something.
Yet before another breath could escape the young man's lungs Rose emerged from his stoic state. Gracefully bending at her waist, the digimon daintily picked her gauntlets up off of the floor. Turning on her heels, the curvaceous fox ninja sauntered into the kitchen and down the hallway. With a roll of her hips Rose disappeared around the corner, leaving her partner with his jaw hanging loosely on its hinges.
Slowly collecting himself, Luke unleashed a groan from deep with his chest as his heart rate descended back to normal levels. He flopped backward into the folds of the couch, exhaling as he did so. Tension leaked from Luke's body as he decompressed and gathered his thoughts, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
"What the hell…"
Several hours later Luke shuffled his way upstairs, treading carefully on each step so as not to wake the other occupants of the house. The gleaming hour hand on the watch attached to the tamer's wrist was well past its uppermost position. Vision blurry and un-focused, Luke stumbled into the bathroom that lay across from his room and clumsily went through his nighttime maintenance routine.
Toweling his face off, the young man released a low sigh as he nudged off the ambient light that lit his bathroom. Bare feet scrubbed across carpet as the exhausted digimon tamer bumped the door to his bedroom open and staggered inside. Closing the door behind himself with his left foot, Luke neglected to illuminate his room; instead choosing to rely on familiarity. Gingerly tugging his t-shirt off over his head, the young man grumbled as the cotton caught on stiffer bandage fibers.
A pair of gym shorts replaced the tamer's jeans; before tossing the denim across the room Luke fished his phone out of a pocket. Setting the device on his nightstand, the young man hesitated.
It had crossed his mind while he had been brushing his teeth.
Although it was not a new thought, it had flitted across the tamer's consciousness with ever-increasing frequency.
Initially muffled by pride, the seed have nevertheless been planted. Luke knew he had to act, had to say something.
She was his partner after all.
A deep sigh sent warm breath tumbling down Luke's bare chest.
"Fine."
Sloppily the tamer turned his back on the beckoning embrace of his poorly-made bed. The bedroom door was silently flung open again. Naked feet shuffled across carpet without so much as a whisper; Luke's teenage years had taught him how to move around his parent's home in the most silent manner possible.
Arriving at his destination, Luke pushed against the varnished pine door before him. The foot of the door caught on the carpet as it swung open.
Rose's soft voice drifted out of the darkness. "Yes?"
Unsurprised by his partner's immediate awareness of his actions, Luke simply rubbed the back of his neck. He had given up on trying to sneak up on his digimon long ago; the fox ninja was too well attuned to her environment.
"Do you… erm… have a second?"
The tamer's request hung awkwardly in the air for a moment. "Are you asking if I have time to speak with you?"
"Yes."
"In that case, I do." A rustling of sheets and a shift in murky outlines indicated to Luke that his Renamon was sitting amongst a throne of fabric on the bed; he did not need to be able to see properly to know that her obsidian eyes were regarding him carefully.
Ducking into Spartan room, the young man closed the wooden door behind him with a soft click. Taking a moment to compose himself, Luke found himself more grateful for his digimon's stoic demeanor than usual. She was hardly ever one to pry, choosing to spend more time listening than she did speaking. He was having a difficult time matching up his thoughts to construct coherent utterances, and Luke was glad that the persistent questioning that often accompanied scenarios like this had been replaced by still air.
"I apologize if this comes out as jumbled and disjointed… I… ahhh… oh fuck it." Luke groaned, "I'm sorry Rose. I've been a dick to you recently. As to why I have no idea, but I am sorry. I've been so… angry lately. Every little thing seems to make my blood boil, and it takes my entire wherewithal to not tear apart whatever it is that's in front of me. You've dealt with my… explosions without batting an eye and… I… Just…"
Growling in frustration, Luke tersely ran his hands through his curls as rage burbled in his gut.
"I know why." Rose almost sounded like she was admonishing a child; Luke's head snapped up as he felt his surging anger being replaced with inquisitive confusion.
"You hate to lose; your drive to better than everyone else around can absolutely consume you sometimes. In your mind, you lost that fight at the farm. You think that you failed, completely and utterly."
The truth carried by Rose's bold-faced admonishments robbed Luke of breath, rendering him incapable of responding.
"We made some enormous mistakes that night, and we nearly paid for it with our lives. But we won. Despite what you may thing, WE won that battle. It was not just ME, it was the product of TEAMWORK." The vitriol lacing the Renamon's every word increased as she went on.
"Your problem is that you refuse to accept anything less than absolute perfection from yourself. That's so incredibly stupid that I won't even bother going into the matter; you need to get the FUCK over yourself. One of the reasons that I chose you as my tamer was that in Hawai'i, you KNEW that you would beat that Bealzulmon. I have NEVER seen that kind of drive in any being before. Now I've learned that I need to shape your ego to match your drive."
Words escaped the young tamer. It was nearly impossible for him to process what his partner had just presented to him.
"And here I was thinking all along that you had just picked me because of my astonishingly chiseled features and good looks."
Well, most words escaped him.
A pillow bounced off of Luke's face, a grin splitting the young man's face in two.
"Well hey, in my defense I thought it wouldn't be so bad to have such an eye-catching digimon as my partner."
This earned the tamer another pillow to the face.
"You're so damn lucky boy."
"Oh hush, you know we would be nothing without each other."
"Don't remind me."