Disclaimer: I have to admit, I forgot the disclaimer at the beginning, so here it is, I don't own Digimon or anything related to it. And there you have it. Onto the next chapter!
Lessons In Friendship
Chapter 2: Not So Obvious
Davis stared at Matt for a moment, a slightly guilty look on his face, and muttering to himself he quickly dropped back into his seat, a tiny frown appearing on his face. "I never said that. It's just...sometimes it's hard to believe you got the Crest of Friendship. I mean...you always act kind of cold, stuck up, snobby, cynical..."
"Please go on, you flatter me," Matt replied, looking as if he were trying not to laugh.
Davis glared at him. "See, Ken? This is exactly why I didn't want to talk to him. He never takes me seriously."
The former Emperor sighed, and smiling to himself he sank down next to Davis on the bench, determined not to let things get out of hand. This conversation was getting absolutely nowhere, and if he didn't speed things up soon, they would be stuck at the soccer field forever. To his surprise, Matt smiled at Davis, and reaching over the table, the blond musician gave his younger friend's goggles a tweak to get his attention. "Davis, can I ask you a question?"
In response, the younger boy gave Matt a suspicious look."Depends on what it is."
"Do you like my brother?"
Once again, Davis stared at Matt before letting out an irritated sigh. "Well, yeah, of course I do. That's not the problem. I just don't like the fact that he acts as if I'm the one who's always starting the fights and he gets off looking all innocent."
At this sudden confession, Matt sat back in his seat, looking thoughtful. "Contrary to what you might think, I'm not completely blind to my little brother's misgivings. He's to blame every bit as much as you are for your arguments. No one's perfect, Davis. We all make mistakes."
Davis made a face, and Matt laughed. "Yes, even T.K."
"Okay, but you didn't answer my question."
Matt was the picture of innocence. "What question?"
"Do you really care about Tai? Dude, you have to admit, sometimes it can be hard to tell."
"Of course I do." Matt's voice was calm and serene, as if he had just made a comment on the weather. Davis blinked at the golden-haired Digidestined in surprise, shifting slightly in his seat, and realizing that Davis had turned to look at him, Ken merely shrugged, feeling confused.
When Davis didn't answer him, Matt gave the goggle-headed leader a sharp look. "What? No comment? Surprise, surprise. You never seem to run out of insults!"
"Prove it."
"Huh?" This time it was Matt's turn to look confused.
"If you care about Tai as much as you say you do, then prove it. If I find you convincing, I just might be willing to give T.J. a chance." A triumphant smile appeared on Davis's face, and he crossed his arms, looking as if he had already won the wager, though they had not even made the bet yet.
Unfortunately for the goggle-headed leader, that stubborn look had appeared in Matt's sapphire eyes "Fine," the blond said shortly, turning towards the soccer field. "Hey, Tai, do you mind coming over here for a second?"
Tai glanced up at the sound of his best friend's voice, and he nodded quickly, immediately dropping the soccer ball in his hands. The former Digidestined leader said a couple of words to his teammates before striding over to them with a smile on his face, though he looked a bit confused as to why he'd been summoned so abruptly. "What's up?" he asked, seating himself next to the blond musician.
Matt turned to gaze at Tai and his blue eyes took on a warmer tone. "Tai, you know I love you, right?"
Davis nearly fell out of his seat at this sudden declaration, his deep brown eyes almost popping out of their sockets in shock.
Well, that was certainly...blunt.
Tai, being the ever cheerful, live for the moment, type of leader that he was, never even batted an eyelash. He just grinned at the blond musician and put an arm around him, his smile growing even wider. "Well, duh, of course you do. How could anyone not love me?"
The former leader managed to duck the textbook Matt threw at him, and it landed in the grass with a thud.
"You have a funny way of showing affection, Matt," Tai snorted, giving the golden-haired Digidestined an exaggerated look of disappointment. Matt just laughed and elbowed his best friend in the stomach, his sapphire eyes sparkling with affection.
"Modest, aren't you?" Mimi laughed, rolling her eyes at Tai.
"So, what's this about?" Tai asked, ignoring Mimi and glancing between Davis and Matt.
"The usual. Davis and T.K arguing. Again," Matt smirked. "So, Davis, did I win?"
Davis scratched the back of his head, giving the blond musician a funny look "I think I'm still trying to figure that out."
Matt sighed. "Look, Davis, the hardest thing to learn about friendship is that you have to work at it. It's not something that just happens. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort to make a friendship succeed. "
"It's true, Davis. Do you think Matt and I didn't have our troubles like you and T.K.? Come on, you know better than that," Tai broke in, a faint smile on his lips. "There was a lot of sacrafice involved."
"My pride, for one thing," Matt said dryly.
"And my stubbornness."
"What do you mean that was a sacrafice? You're still stubborn now!"
"Do you want to get a point across to Davis, or not?"
"Of course, my apologies."
Tai smiled and patted Matt's shoulder. "That's better."
"Don't push your luck," the golden-haired Digidestined muttered. "Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that a friendship needs constant effort. It's not something you work on for a day, a week, or even a year. It's forever. For as long as you want the friendship to last."
"Right, so how long do you want your friendship with Tai to last?" Davis asked, sending his idol a quick look, though Tai appeared completely unconcerned by the question.
Matt smiled slightly, his sapphire eyes sparkling in the afternoon sunshine. "Well, we'll be best man at each other's weddings, name our firstborn sons after eachother, and then we'll end up in nursing homes, where Tai will be the friendly old man who tells stories to little kids and I'll be the cynical old man complaining about teenagers not showing respect to their elders!"
"Aw, Matt, I'm touched!" Tai grinned at the blond and laughed. Next to them, Sora and Mimi dissolved into a fit of giggles while Izzy continued to tap away on his computer, completely ignoring his fellow Digidestined.
Davis shook his head, and giving Tai a searching look, he said slowly, "What is it that you see in him?"
Tai turned to look at Matt, and he smiled softly before focusing his attention back on the younger leader. "You really want to know?"
"I wouldn't ask otherwise."
Tai nodded, and he gave Davis a small smile, his dark eyes sparkling in the afternoon sunshine. "What I see in Matt are all the things you don't see."
