Chapter 6: Turmoil And Suspicion
All of this over a pair of boots.
Dimitri thinks this to himself as Alexis and Julian parade him through store after store.
"I think he looks better in darker colors." Alexis notes. "It compliments his figure more."
Julian shakes his head- "Nah… I think something more saturated fits him a bit more."
He's insisted that he can simply walk home time and time before, but at this point, it would be quicker to let them fool around. Hecklemon, of course, laughs at his misery all the while, as the two younger teens ignore his attempts at escape.
It's a gloomy-looking store in which Julian finally sighs. "Jeez. There's nothing in this place that fits you, either..."
"There are numerous shirts my size you've merely put back." Dimitri hisses. "Let me go home."
Alexis shakes her head- "Not literally. Like, nothing fits your… Personality." She huffs, pulling up a graphic t-shirt to his chest.
"I believe you aren't looking hard enough."
Another familiar-sounding voice approaches, and Kiske's mask meets Dimitri's gaze. He seems to put his hand beneath his chin in thought.
"Hey! We've been trying for at least half an hour!" Alexis yells, crossing her arms.
"Huh, I didn't take you as a shopping type." Julian mutters.
"It's con season." Kiske simply shrugs at Julian's remark, as he examines Dimitri. "To capture the essence of someone, you need to look within."
Dimitri turns his gaze to the sky, to whatever god was up there that decided he was entertainment, and growls- "I don't need my essence on my sleeve. Get lost."
"Come on, now, don't be crass to the knight." Julian pats Dimitri on the back, handing him a gray top. "Take this and head to the dressing room, Dimi."
"Anything to get you off my ass." He hisses right back- heading to the changing rooms for what was probably the 13th time today.
Kiske glances warily to Alexis and Julian beneath his mask- "He seems troubled. The temperament of a beast in a mortal body…"
Alexis lets out a sigh, leaning against the nearest wall. "Yeah, dude has a serious problem." She mutters, shaking her head. "He's a bit of a pain to deal with."
"Yes, quite. Makes it all the more strange considering yesterday." Julian nods. "He was the only one who seemed to know what he was doing."
Kiske's attention waynes, lifting a black vest. "This might work in the forge…" He mutters, before turning his attention back to Julian. "Mayhaps he was attempting to not get us involved. It's a common trope."
"We don't really have that sort of choice now, though…" Alexis gives another sigh. "You think maybe he'd cool off with-"
She's cut off, a surprising laugh sounding from the changing room. Probably from Hecklemon rather than Dimitri. The man himself gives a few more lowly grumbles as his partner's maddening laughs and wheezing begin to wane.
"Man, what a gloomy guy." Julian shakes his head, rubbing behind his neck. "It's been funny watching him, but the poor guy probably hates us by now, huh?"
"You think?" Alexis answers dryly- though, she can't help but let out a little chuckle. "We should probably let him go soon, huh?"
"I'd advise such. It's not every day a man like him ventures the outside realms. You shouldn't bully a dragon."
Alexis stifles a laugh. "You wouldn't be saying that if you saw him earlier. Poor kid got hit on the side of the head with some pink smoothie. Stormed off probably to kill whoever hit him with it."
"You know I can hear you, right?"
Dimitri's voice hisses from the changing room- as Hecklemon bursts into laughter again.
"Huh… That's another store with the same marks…"
Sabrina glances at another shop- the marks looked a lot more recent, as well. As her gaze trailed along the window- she caught sight of the culprits. Opossmon floating upon its balloons, Pumpkinmon scribbling digital obscenities on the shopfront while grabbing its accomplice's leg. As she nudges Mary on the shoulder- she gives the odd, snickering pair her everyday deadpan look- confusion mixed within.
"Hey!" Sabrina calls out. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Pumpkinmon turns, a marker in hand. "We're having fun!"
Sabrina looks to the ruined storefront- "You call this fun? Someone else's gonna have to clean up after your mess, you know!"
"It's their job, endless shrimp! Hahah!"
"Hehehe, humans are funny!"
Mary glances at the two- "You think you could stop? There's better ways to laugh than inconveniencing people."
The two digimon glance curiously at each other, as if considering it… Before bursting back into laughter.
"We're not giving up our paradise so easily!" Says Opossumon, as Pumpkinmon lets go.
"Yeah! We've never had this much fun back home! You gotta catch us first!"
The two pranksters run off, and Sabrina huffs a sigh. "Should we go after them?" She asks Mary, reaching for her digivice. The older girl nods, and as Sabrina moves to call her Digimon- she spots something- someone familiar…
"Yeah, we should. Sabrina?" Mary catches her distracted state, and turns, concerned, digivice in hand. The younger of the two shakes her head.
"Actually, you… Go on ahead. I think I see someone I know..."
She moves in a separate direction, determination in her step.
"Hey, you get they were just trying to help, right?"
It felt like hours, but Dimitri finally had a new shirt. Awfully bright and tacky, awfully tight, just generally awful.
"Essence my ass." He hisses under his breath, tugging on the collar as if it would start giving him breathing room. His eye turns to Hecklemon, grinning as always - "I thought I told you to go home."
"And see you mope in half an hour later when you get dragged on another trip with your great friends?" Hecklemon laughs- gloved hands patting against the perch it made of its tamer's shoulder. "Come on, you know how much I love watching you socially struggle."
"Where would I be without you?.." He huffs- as a streak of orange dashes by. The digimon, again- the one that had him in this stupid shirt. "Hey, look alive. It's back." He nudges his partner off his shoulder, the rabbit-like creature grinning and cracking its knuckles. "Let's be quick, this time-"
"Wait, Dimi!"
A voice speaks form behind the duo- a voice that rings familiar in Dimitri's mind. A little girl, an elementary student, looking up to the imposing teen.
Dimitri stood still as if frozen by the sight- and Hecklemon lets out a loud, dramatic gasp- "Woah. You actually know this guy?"
Sabrina nods, excitedly at the sight of the digimon. "Yeah, he was friends with my older brother before he moved a while ago… We used to hang out a lot!"
Another gasp from the digital jester- "I can't believe this lug has friends!" He grins, before laughing, bouncing on its own tail.
The laughter was infectious- Sabrina can't help but laugh at the strange creature's antics as well. "Your partner seems nice! You should've called us sooner, let us know you were back in town! You could meet my partners, too- let me call them here!"
The girl reaches for her digivice- and looks at the trembling Dimitri in the face again as she moves to call for her partners. "Oh… Why are you wearing an eyepatch?"
"... We're leaving. Let's go." He speaks suddenly to his partner, voice wavering.
"Eh? We just got here- GHK!" Hecklemon is grabbed by the scruff, dragged away.
"Wait, Dimi- where are you going?"
"Away. Forget you ever saw me."
"Please, don't leave again, Dimi-" Sabrina whimpers- tears welling in her eyes. She grabs at the man's pant leg as he tries to run.
"Enough! Just leave me alone!"
The silence that followed was deafening. Dimitri swallows, harshly, and turns on his heel, pushing through the forming crowd- a signal for the shoppers to disperse once more.
Sabrina swallows, upset as she stares at the retreating man- but, more than anything, confused. Her vision blurs with fresh tears, and she sighs. "Dimi… What happened to you?.."
"Hey?! Which one of you fools made her cry?!"
A voice hisses from nearby, and Sabrina quickly wipes her eyes on her sleeve- her BlackGatomon was hissing in the direction of Opossumon and Pumpkinmon, claws brandished and ready.
"Not us! Not us!" Pumpkinmon quickly raises its arms in a panic, as those sharp claws swipe at its feet.
Opossumon nods- "Y-yeah! It was some tall guy! I swear!"
"Yeah, right!" The cat-like beast hisses, a dangerous glimmer in its eyes. "Lightning Paw!" It rushes to the two shrieking pranksters with its sharp claw- Gatomon pulling it back and away as the two retreat. "Lemme at 'em, Cass! Come on!"
"Wait a moment. Let's see what Sabrina has to say." Gatomon mutters, and Blackgatomon sighs in defeat.
Sabrina lets out one last sniffle, sighing to herself. "It's fine, you two." She mutters, patting them both on the head. "It had nothing to do with those two. I'm fine now, see?"
Dimitri slams shut the door of the public restroom, feeling his heart slam against his chest. Hecklemon wrenches itself free of his panicked grasp, turning up to its taller tamer.
"Dude, why are you scared of a ten year old?"
The man tries to regain his breath- "I don't wanna talk about it." He growls out, stumbling to the sink and running the cold water.
Hecklemon rolls his eyes- "You already caused a whole scene. What the hell happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Out with it! We're supposed to be partners!"
The venomous tone startles Dimitri- and he finally offers his partner a glance. "I used to know that girl. Her brother was in the same grade as I. We used to mess around late at night when his dad was at work and she always tagged along. There. Drop it." He frowns, and splashes the water in his face in an attempt to reorient himself.
"Wow. You really did have friends, huh?" Hecklemon sounded curious- pushing himself up on his tail to meet his partner's height. "Then why did you run? Why'd you yell at her?"
Dimitri's gaze turns away, his voice low. "I'm a husk of the boy she knew. Like everyone else, she's better off without me."
… "Even me?"
Dimitri's solemn gaze meets Hecklemon's for a moment- before he pulls out his digivice and taps a series of buttons.
"H-hey! Answer the question! Grrr- we're not done talking about thi-"
The beast's rant is cut off, as a series of voxels envelop him, teleporting him away and back to their home.
"... Yes." Dimitri mutters to the empty bathroom. "Yes, we are."
Julian unleashes a yawn as he walks through the mall, sunset shining through the windows as the day begins to end. Alexis had remarked that she had to go somewhere, thus they parted ways after Dimitri decided to split.
He still couldn't really get a read on them all just yet. He allows his mind to wander as he considers- Alexis first, since she wasn't as… Hostile. It didn't mean she wasn't trying to seem tough, but she was certainly more open to people in comparison to good ol' Dimi.
Dimitri is a tough case. He's all glares and biting remarks, but, to Julian, at least- he just seems… Sad? Much more sad than angry. He'd give the guy a break if he was just angry. But people are never that easy-
The gears in his head grind to a halt as he bumps into something- someone. He looks down, and winces at the man he just bumped into, fresh out of a pet store, bags and cans of different dog treats spilling from a bag.
"Ah, shit- I'm really sorry about that." Julian says with an awkward chuckle, leaning down to help retrieve the fallen containers.
The young man shakes his head, and utters in a soft voice- "It's alright." He leans down as well, as Julian smiles.
"Dog treats, eh? I didn't know they sold these sorts of brands."
"They have all sorts of stuff here. I just got one of everything."
"Ah, new owner, I take it? I get it, animals are like that-"
"Lemme at 'em, Cass! Come on!"
Julian's soon-to-be ramble was cut short- as he hears a shrill voice cry out. Perhaps a fight- he's surprised to see four digimon at the center of it- BlackGatomon being held back from throttling the Pumpkinmon that ruined Dimitri's day.
"Ah shit." Julian hisses- walking on over. He's surprised to see their tamer- a young girl, probably still in elementary school. Another girl, just a bit older- summons her own partner- who grabs the cat with a crustacean pincer. "Hey- what seems to be the problem here?"
Sabrina looks up at Julian, and sighs. "Ah- uh… These two don't want to stop having fun."
"Yeah! We never get to have fun back home!" Opossumon spits, floating up on its balloons- before Morozmon grabs it down to the floor as well.
"But then a portal opened up, and now we're here! And we can have all the fun we want!"
"And by fun, they mean… Pranks. But… They aren't mean."
Julian nods. "Huh. That's the first I've seen that happen aside from partners. I'm guessing you kids are a bit experienced with this, eh?"
"Aye. This don't be our first brawl." Says Morozmon, turning *after* he speaks.
"... Hm… This is a bit of a predicament." Hums the voice of the young man. He taps his cheek- and speaks up again, still softly- "I could take them off your hands, if you wish."
Sabrina looks up towards him- surprised. "Really?"
"I inherited quite a big plot of land from my parents- me and my friends are turning it into a hangout. We can give these two a place to stay- least, until we find a better solution.
"That'd be great, mister! Um- I'm Sabrina, by the way…"
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Valerio." He meets her shyness with a smile- offering the young girl a pat on the head.
The twin Gatomon gaze at Valerio- before BlackGatomon nudged Opossumon forwards. "They're your problem now."
Julian hums- "Wow. Never seen it go down this peacefully before. Problem solved!" He claps, with a chuckle. "Enjoy your new… Erm. Temporary residence?"
"Oh, it sounds fun, fun!" Pumpkimon giggles, floating onto Valerio's shoulder.
"That's a relief…" Gatomon sighs, pressing a paw into Sabrina's hand. "You've had a long day, dear. Ready to go home?"
"Yeah, you're right. I'll see you at home." She nods, pressing a button on her digivice, and sending the pair back home. "It was nice meeting you, but it's getting late. Me and Mary should get going." Sabrina nods, grabbing Mary's hand. "Thank you, again, Valerio."
"Not a problem. Have a good night, you two."
She nods, once again, and drags Mary off, around a corner. Morozmon takes a minute, but promptly follows after.
"Uh… Why are we hiding..?"
Sabrina frowns- "I want to follow that guy. Emm and Cass were… Glaring at him. It makes me wonder if something's off about him. I want to make sure Pumpkinmon and Opossumon don't get hurt."
"I see…" Mary nods- glancing to Morozmon. "Captain?"
"Aye- ye learn to spot a mate with a penchant fer treachery on th' seas." The reptilian hisses, snorting out a chill mist.
"Hey- quiet! I think he's coming this way."
"Ah… Hey boss."
A girl with dark hair walks out of a music store- surprised to see Valerio. Or, more or less the two Digimon slung onto his shoulders. "I… said I would've gotten those for you."
"It's fine, Avaline. It's not too far."
"... So. Uh… The elephant in the room." She mutters, gesturing to-
"Really? An elephant?!" Opossumon jumps up in excitement.
"Figure of speech." She huffs, before pulling out her digivice. With a few button presses, the pair over his shoulders are scanned- wireframe holograms of the two emerging from the digivice's screen. "Pumpkimon, Ultimate-Level, and Opossumon, Armor-Level… That's annoying…"
"They don't really have anywhere else to go. They were causing trouble- and I figured I could take them to the Vertigo Lounge. Have them in the backlot."
"Taking in strays again… Are you *sure* that's a good idea?"
"Do you have any /better/ ideas?" Valerio hums- with an odd smile.
Avaline looks aside.
"It's the only real plan we have. And besides- I think they can be of use." Valerio speaks, softly still, pulling out his phone. "Ah, that's the Samakis."
"They're here too?" She scoffs, and sighs.
"We're all here. Come on, we'll walk and talk."
Avaline nods- and Opossumon whistles. "Wow. Is it chilly here?"
"Had a nice haul? I figured I'd see you there."
"... Mainly window shopping. But I found a few indie CDs."
"Fun. Wanna listen to them when we get back?"
"... If you want, I don't mind-"
"Ah, there you are Boss. Avaline, pleasure to see you."
A voice speaks up to the side- a pair of identical twins join the two. The one who spoke was carrying an assortment of bags over his shoulder.
"Great to see you two." Avaline hisses, rubbing her temples. "It's really a party here, huh."
The second of the two rolls his eyes. "We all know you're the life of it…" Mikoto huffs, tugging his hood over his head.
"At each other's throats again?" Kugai smiles- "you'll either be at it for the next hour, or get distracted by something else."
"Kugai, no one asked." Avaline glares- as Mikoto gives a scoff to his brother's words. "If everyone's here, then where's the other two?"
"Right here, bozos!"
A crumpled up wrapper promptly hits Avaline in the back of the head. As Avaline would turn, she'd take prompt notice of another young girl, holding a burger in her hand, the head of a goat plushie tied to her shoulder. Already, she was crumpling up another wrapper, prepped to throw it at a moment's notice- "You rang- Hey- Axel!" but it was grabbed out of her hand promptly by her companion. The girl hisses, as Axel picks up the thrown wrapper.
"Sorry about the wait. They messed up our order at the food court… And- I find this place boring…"
"It's fine. We're just headed back now." Valerio nods.
"Ah- and sorry about Idelle, too… We just found out we'd have to cancel our shift tomorrow. Just some stuff we can't get out of."
Valerio would nod again, as Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't worry about it- The Vertigo Lounge can run with just us for a day. But you know how to make it up."
"Blegh. Cleaning duty." Idelle hisses, but doesn't speak out, pulling her headphones over her ears. Axel glances- making eye contact with Idelle, and then turning to Avaline. Idelle would roll her eyes- "sorryaboutthewrapperorwhatever"- and would promptly start a song- already playing loud enough for the five besides her to hear. "Oh yeah, this is a banger."
Axel glares- and Idelle shrugs.
"I give them twenty seconds before another fight breaks out." Kugai hums- nudging Mikoto's shoulder. The dark haired teen would snort in response- turning behind them to the pair, and-
Axel would rip off Idelle's headphones- "I don't think she heard you, sister."
"OI! HEY! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THE PHONES?! God DAMN dude!" Idelle all but screams, before sucking her teeth. "I. Am. *Sorry*."
Axel would nod- as Idelle would snatch the headphones right from his grasp, putting them back over her ears, and storming off.
"W-wait, Idelle!" Axel yelps- running off after her.
It's silent afterwards- "Boss?" Mikoto speaks up. "You good?"
Valerio adjusts his hat, and sighs. "I'm fine. Let's head back."
"Remind me why we let those two in again…" Avaline huffs, muttering under her breath.
"Vertigo Lounge..?" Sabrina mumbles, watching behind a store display. "I guess that's the place he was talking about… Though- it makes me wonder why everyone's so… Fighty."
"Hm… It seems to be pretty close." Mary whispers back. Morozmon tilts its head, as their argument reached its tail-end. "Maybe we could che-"
"A-HEM?"
They're promptly interrupted, just before they could hear Valerio answer Avaline's question. Blair was behind them, arms crossed.
"Ah. Uh- hey, bro."
"Really? You go missing for that long and all you have to say is "hey"? I'm gonna be late for my shift at this rate."
"Ah, sorry." Sabrina mutters- as Morozmon shifts behind a plant before Blair has the chance to double-take. "Me and Mary- uh, we just were having a lot of fun and we lost track of time! Right?" She quickly nudges Mary.
"Yup." She nods, and gives a thumbs up. "We found a cool gift."
Blair sighs- "Alright, fine. Come on, let me get you guys back home."
As Blair would guide the two children away, Mary would turn to Morozmon, and shrug.