When we last left our intrepid heroes, they decided to go visit their friends after becoming thoroughly stuffed full of cheeseburgers and fries, and quite possibly a few chicken fingers. The vacation they took was cut short, but they're still friends, and now it's a matter of becoming closer as a group, to improve their effectiveness against their enemies. Due to this, a related fact about DGA Guidelines, which I may start adding now and then when it makes sense.
DGA Guideline #27: A Team of agents is recommended to go beyond the bonds of merely being coworkers or allies. The mentality should be that your team is nothing less than your friends, maybe even an extended family if things work out right. A bond between friends is greater than the bonds of being a team, because the bonds forged in the fires of battle are stronger than almost any other bond. It is, with this thought in mind, recommended that all teams spend a few weeks together doing things friends would do together. Building up this bond leads to the team, as a whole, becoming stronger, and the Tamer/Digimon bond growing stronger still, leading to the Digimon becoming stronger and possibly speeding up the rate of Digivolution as the Tamer and Digimon become more synchronized.
Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Digimon. Thank you, and have a nice day.
…
I stared as we walked into the mansion, where a man in a black and white suit walked over and held out a tray. Sarah put her purse on it and he looked at us.
"Oh, Franklin, these are my friends." She said. "Well, friends slash coworkers." She gestured to each of us. "This is the head of the team, Percival Canterbury, Percy, and his partner Scott. That's Riley he's carrying on his arm, and Harrigan on his shoulder, her partner. That's Annabelle Summers, Ann, and her partner, the mighty Daisy."
"H-hello." Annabelle said.
"And this is Arthur Rowe, the Yank, and his good buddy Mao." Sarah said.
"Greetings." Franklin said. "Shall I prepare the guest rooms?"
"Sure, um…" Sarah said. She counted us. "Ann, I have a pretty big bed, so, mind if we share?"
"S-sure." She said, laughing. "Sounds fun."
"Riley, you might be able to squeeze in if you want, for a girl's night." Sarah said.
"Sure." Riley said. "I think I can actually walk now." Percy knelt and set her down as Harrigan dropped to the floor.
"Percy, I know you'll need your own bed." Sarah said. He laughed. "So, that's two between you and Scott… Arthur?"
"I'll be fine with just anything." He said.
"Okay, room for you…" She said. "Daisy, it might be a little tough to find a bed, but, we do have a pretty nice indoor garden, where the sun hits perfect every morning."
"Okay." Daisy said. "Sounds good."
"And, Mao, you sleep in a hammock?" Sarah asked.
"I can sleep just about anywhere." I said. "If I had a hose and a mask, I could probably sleep at the bottom of a pool." She laughed and Arthur put his hand on my head. "Harrigan, same?" He nodded. "Okay, so…"
"I will prepare them accordingly." Franklin said. "Are any of you allergic to any fabrics, that you are aware of?" We all looked at one another and shook our heads. "Then I shall use the good linens. I am sure they will be comfortable. And, are there any provisions you would like? A midnight snack perhaps, or a drink in the morning?"
"Some, coffee, in the morning?" Arthur asked.
"I could perhaps use a small tea cake, if there are any?" Percy said.
"I believe we have a few in the refrigerator." Franklin said.
"I think some PJs are in order for the girls." Sarah said. "And I think we'll all take breakfast out in the garden, so Daisy can enjoy the sun."
"Of course." Franklin said. "Your parents are not yet aware of your friends, and would likely enjoy meeting them. They are by the pool, currently." He walked over and set the tray down. "And while I am here, I should tell you all the ground rules, since Miss Valentine does not like reciting them. The upper east wing is off limits due to minor renovations that are being done during the day, as is the west wing's vivarium." He gestured. "The kitchen is here, and you need only speak to one of the staff to let them know you are eating or drinking something so that they do not have to look for it if they were intending to use it later." He gestured to the stairs. "The guest bedrooms will be made available shortly, and when you are ready to retire, speak to one of the cleaning staff and they will show you to your room. And lastly." He looked at us all. "There are some levels of attire asked of guests, that you are not currently meeting, so I would suggest following me to the changing room." Sarah put her hand to her face. "It is nothing serious, just a proper set of shoes and a jacket. Mr. Canterbury, you have your own jacket, so you merely need a change of shoes. If you would all like, we are happy to clean your current attire, and if I know Miss Valentine, you are welcome to keep the temporary attire." Arthur slowly looked at his clothes.
"Well…" He said.
"Miss Valentine, perhaps you should speak to your parents now." Franklin said. "I shall see your friends to you as they are ready."
"Okay." She said. She walked up to him and hugged him. "Thanks Franklin. You're a peach." He laughed warmly as she walked toward a hall.
"She is a very kind young lady, if a little 'wild' for her parents' taste." He said. He turned to us. "Don't worry, I am positive Mr. and Mrs. Valentine will be quite welcoming to you all." He gestured and started walking, so we followed him. "As I can see, a few of you will not be wearing shoes, but we do have jackets in your size… Master Harrigan, I assume you will want to keep your current attire?" Harrigan was silent. "Master Harrigan?" I walked forward.
"He's nodding." I said. "He doesn't say much."
"I see." He said. "Well, that is fine. I am certain someone will speak for him unless he decides to say what he wishes to be said." He opened a set of large double doors and we followed him in, slowing down. Several people looked over and as we stopped, they moved up to us, measuring us. "Do not fret, they are merely making certain they get the proper size for comfort, and they will find the proper jackets that suit you, so to speak." I held my arm up as a woman measured my arms, and she looked at my belt.
"Will you be wearing this…" She started. "And, keeping these, weapons?"
"Uh, yeah, but if there's a problem I can leave them in Arthur's pack." I said. "I don't want to cause trouble… Which, must seem odd, coming from an Impmon." Franklin laughed quietly.
"Miss Valentine keeps a loaded twenty two caliber pistol on her person at all times." He said. I blinked, but nodded.
"I thought I saw something tucked into her jacket." I said. Arthur laughed.
"You would notice a pistol on someone." He said.
"Yes, for that reason, you are all allowed to carry your sidearms…" Franklin said. "Apart from Miss Riley."
"You can just call me Riley." She said.
"Of course." He said. "Merely formality. It is a part of my training."
"Cool." Annabelle said. "Er, that you're so, nice to everyone."
"Well, if one is unkind, it leads to a very quick dismissal." He said. "We are picked for our skills, first and foremost, but personality is also a strict requirement."
…
I looked at the hot tub and slowly stepped toward it. I turned slightly and tested it with my tail. Co-ed hot tubbing wasn't something I expected for the day, but it was pretty cool. Sarah was still talking to her parents, and we'd yet to get a chance to talk to her, but her parents were very nice, and surprisingly down to earth, considering how much money they must have had.
"How is it?" Daisy asked. I moved my tail before stepping in, one foot at a time, hissing slightly.
"Hot, but…" I started. "Not too hot." I sat down as the others started getting in, and immediately Arthur jumped.
"Whoa, what do you mean not too hot?" He asked. The others laughed as he stepped in. "Jeeze, warn me next time." Daisy slowly got in, and the water level rose, but luckily there were plenty of places for it to go back into the circulation. She sat down as I held onto the pipe next to me, while Harrigan just sat at the edge. "So, am I the only one amazed that, our new friend is a millionaire?"
"It caught me off guard." I said. "But, it's pretty awesome. I mean…" I looked around for a moment. "All of this, and she invited us over. Every, what, five days, if we keep a rotation, we come here, and get to stay here."
"And in that same rotation, we get to eat Mrs. Rowe's heavenly cooking." Percy said. "I agree though, this is a surprise, but it is a welcome one. We have seen that she is capable, with her obvious upbringing. What surprises me, is that neither of her parents have an Australian accent."
"Well, we'll ask her." Riley said. Annabelle nodded, but seemed somewhat nervous. "Ann?"
"W-well…" She said quietly. "I uh, kind of, come from a, well off family." I looked at her. "Like… This, well off… Almost."
"Wow." Arthur said. "Uh, cool?"
"K-kind of." She said. "My parents, are a little less, nice. They're, probably not going to let you stay over, but, I don't know yet. They're, uh, elitist. Big time." I put my hands behind my head. "Like, if you're not able to enjoy what they like, they'll probably just kind of, write you off. I, told them, about all of you, except Sarah, and, they said they want to meet you anyway… I don't know if that'll last."
"Well, it won't be a surprise this time." I said. The others agreed when a door opened. I leaned back and saw Sarah, and I knew Arthur was staring. She wore a very skimpy bikini, a one piece, that showed off most of her body, though it was modest enough to cover everything. "You know, some Digimon like humans as more than friends." She laughed. "I can now understand why that thought exists." She stepped in over by Arthur, and he shifted.
"Thank you, Mao." She said. "Sorry I took so long… I uh, figure you're probably, talking about, all this?"
"Y-yeah." Arthur said. "But, Annabelle's much the same." She looked at Annabelle.
"Parents loaded?" Sarah asked. Annabelle laughed nervously, but nodded. "Cool… And eh, the accent, I guess, must be on your minds. Why do I, a young lass with a powerful Gatomon, have an Aussie accent, while my parents have a Midwestern accent?" The others were quiet. "Real parents are in Australia, always wanted their girl to have the best chance at life, gave me up for special adoption, asking a family that owed them a favor for a lot of help a few years prior. I had a choice… Wanted to make my mum happy, wanted dad to be proud of me… Mr. and Mrs. Valentine were, trying for a kid, I lucked out and got a brother, who is now taking courses at a private school, comes home on the weekends, so we'll see him, actually, in the morning, I hope." I nodded as she laughed. "They've been good to me, treat me like I'm their own, but my parents visit once a year, for my birthday, and you'll laugh when you find out what day that's on. But, I'm lucky. Livin' a good life, got four parents that love me, got a little brother that's tryin' his hardest to be like his big sis by bein' smart."
"Wow." Riley said quietly. "Lucky." We all laughed quietly.
"What about you, Yank?" Sarah asked. Everyone looked at Arthur.
"You can't just, call me Arty, like Mao does?" He asked.
"Well, he already uses it, and you're the Yankee boy." She said. "Riley calls ya Arthur, Ann calls ya Arthur with a little joy in her tone, probably 'cause you're so nice to her…" Annabelle blushed deeply. "Perce calls ya Mr. Rowe when he's not talking to you, but about you… And Mao calls ya Arty. Everyone else, Arthur. So, Yank." He laughed.
"Okay, okay…" He said. "Uh, parents?" Everyone nodded. "Well, my mother was an award winning chef, now she's a stay at home mom, and she'll occasionally cook at a fancy restaurant on a consulting basis for money… Keeps us living, comfortably. My dad…" He leaned back a little. "Marine, on his third tour, they'll let him stay with us after he gets back."
"Wow." Sarah said.
"Yeah, he's a great guy." Arthur said. "He's, a sniper, actually. Threat neutralizer, he calls it. But, he's on so many ops, he can't often write to us. We just trust that he's okay."
"A brave man." Percy said. Arthur nodded.
"Can't wait to meet him." I said. "He should be home in a little under a month?"
"Two, three weeks." Arthur said. "But, other than that, I led a pretty boring life, up until Mao popped out of a computer and…" He reached back and gestured to the Optimizer. "That thing showed up on my arm." He moved back. "It was, a big change, things got a little more exciting, and now, I have a job as an agent protecting the city with my buddy."
"Sounds like a good life." Percy said.
"Just for that, your turn." Arthur said. Percy laughed.
"Well, I'm not exactly rich, nor are my parents a fantastic chef or a proud soldier." He said. "My father is an accountant and my mother is a lawyer, so we've always had more than enough money to get by on, and we have a fairly big house… I'm sure we've got some air mattresses and enough rope to make a hammock. My father does enjoy sailing from time to time, always has a little extra rope around the house." He leaned back a little. "I went to college for a year, but unfortunately, I was, expelled. I was entirely unaware that having a Digimon in my room was against the charter unless I was in a fraternity, and I was not. So, that plan down, Scott and I worked hard to get the card to bring him to Champion, and then the DGA found us one day, fending off a fairly large number of Vegiemon. They stepped in, helped us finish them off, and offered us a job… This was, four days before Arthur was asked to join. Since then… Well, you all joined us and we became a full squad, as of today." Everyone laughed quietly, and I smiled.
"Well, we have a college educated leader, even if it was just one year." I said. He laughed quietly.
"Well, it's not too interesting." He said. "But, uh, as is said, time to pass the story stick, yes? Annabelle? You said your family is, well off?" She nodded.
"My parents own stock in a lot of companies." She said. "Dad's a world class stock trader, able to predict where the market would change, good or bad, and no matter what, he'd somehow know the exact right day to sell, the exact right day to buy from companies that were just starting up. Mom, well, old money. She inherited a lot from my great grandfather, more than, I'd care to mention." She took a deep breath. "And they're rich, stuck up, and a little snobby… Elitist like you'd never believe…" She sighed. "And that means they have high expectations, but since I want public schooling, and a job at the DGA… They've been, supportive, but they keep telling me to hire on security guys with Digimon, and I keep saying we're okay."
"What about the flower shop?" Arthur asked.
"Mom owns it, loves flowers." She said. "She figured, give her daughter a job so she can 'learn about blue collar life'." I laughed.
"Sounds like they want you to learn to be like them." I said. She laughed quietly.
"Yeah, I guess, they do." She said, sighing. "Anyway, we, live in this, big house, n-not too far from here."
"Annabelle, Summers…" Sarah said slowly. "Wait…"
"Yes, that's right." She said tiredly. "Victor and Cassandra Summers are my parents." Sarah smiled.
"I thought I recognized your hair." She said. "That blue really stands out." Annabelle blushed.
"I just…" She started. "Uh, Riley?" We looked as Riley's head rose.
"Hmmm?" She asked sleepily. "What? Battle time?" She yawned quietly and Sarah got up.
"Okay, I think you've been up long enough." She said. "Time for bed." She helped Riley up while we all stretched.
"Yes, I think, it has been long enough for us all." Percy said. "We'll dry off, and call it a night, oui?"
"Sounds good t' me…" Riley said tiredly. Harrigan stretched as he got up. "C'mon Harry, time for bed." Sarah picked Riley up as I got out of the water, and Sarah laughed.
"What?" I asked.
"Didn't think you'd be wearing swim trunks." She said. I looked down.
"Well, up until twenty years ago, Digimon didn't have genders." I said. "Some of us have ways of hiding it, like a lot of fur, or a pouch… Stuff like that." She and Annabelle looked at Scott, who was silent.
"What?" He asked warily. They stared and he cleared his throat. "In this form, there is a reason I choose to wear pants instead of just the cloth." Everyone laughed before looking at Daisy.
"No comment." She said as she got up. I laughed as she walked away.
…
I yawned as I got up, and I smelled tea. I looked to see a cup sitting on a saucer next to me, and the door closed. Likely Franklin wanted to wake me up quietly. I moved carefully and dropped to the ground silently, turning and picking up the saucer. I took the cup as I heard Scott getting up.
"Tea?" He asked quietly. I sniffed it as he looked over, putting his helmet on.
"Lemongrass." I said. I turned as he picked up a saucer, inhaling quietly as Arthur slowly got up.
"Chamomile?" Arthur asked.
"Yes." Scott said. I held my cup up.
"Cheers." I said. Arthur slowly picked up his cup of coffee, raising it.
"Prost." He said.
"Santé." Scott said. We drank our tea as Arthur drank the whole cup of coffee in one go, and he set it down, making an odd sound. "Not the brand you hoped for?" Arthur was silent.
"Tastes, strange…" He said. "No cream or sugar, no milk… Just, straight, coffee… I can't place what kind."
"This is a good cuppa lemongrass, I'll say that." I said. "Never had any this, flavorful before."
"Nor have I." Scott said. He finished his and looked around. "Do we, take these with us to the kitchen? Or, do we just, leave them?"
"Uh, no idea." Arthur said.
"Take them with us to the kitchen." I said. "I asked Franklin and he said we don't have to, but it would be appreciated by the cleaning staff." I finished my tea and stretched. "So uh, get dressed, and we'll go down."
"You too." Arthur said. "If I can fit my wings, you can fit your tail." I sighed and walked over to my jacket, which was, pressed, and on a small hook on the end of the hammock frame.
"Uh, Scott, Arthur, are your jackets pressed and hanging on something?" I asked. They looked as I looked over my shoulder.
"Uh, yeah." Arthur said.
"As is, mine…" Scott said. "And, my shoes are, clean. My shoes, and the ones they had me change into."
"Uh, how about your pants?" Arthur asked. "Because my normal clothes are clean, pressed and…" He sniffed. "Starched. I've never had clothing starched before." I slowly took my jacket down and sniffed it.
"My jacket's starched, too…" I said. I pulled it on carefully and checked, and sure enough, my uniform from the temple was clean, pressed, and starched. "Arthur, my uniform is cleaner than when it was made." He laughed as I checked my belt. "The belt is polished and oiled, and both Baffles are…" I sniffed. "Maintained…" I sniffed again. "Using high quality gun oil… And it's not a two part that needs to be mixed, which you know I hate because it separates in the can."
"It's official Mao, once every five days, we're living like kings." He said. Scott laughed.
"I have never had my pants cleaned before." Scott said. "Mostly due to not being in this form long enough to require it. But… It's, quite nice."