Takato's Hatchling
Takato's Hatchling
By milesprower06
Chapter 2 – 'Takatomom'
SHINKUKU PLAYGROUND
SATURDAY – 2:30 PM
Takato sat on his knees, on the floor of his room; at a loss for words and movement; all he could do was stare at the small red dino sitting in front of him, it's back to him; the remnants of the egg scattered around it.
The tip of it's tail thumped a slow, steady tempo into the floor, it's wing-like ears twitching at the noises they picked up, it's big, golden eyes perceiving the world for the first time, various pitched growls and groans emanating from it's throat.
Takato simply stared at the newborn Digimon with awe. He looked to be about a foot-and-a-half long; from the start of its snout to the tip of its tail. Ever so slowly, Takato reached out for him…
"Guilmon?" he said softly, not wanting to startle him.
The dino's ears perked up at the sound of Takato's voice. He turned his head towards the source of the sound, and blinked. Takato froze his hand where it was, inches from the room's other occupant.
Guilmon very slowly got to his feet, and, having never walked before, unsteadily stepped towards Takato's hand, sniffing cautiously, but nonetheless curious. Takato wasn't sure what to do, so he remained still, as the crimson raptor moved slowly closer.
Now centimeters from Takato's slightly outstretched hand, Guilmon sniffed it for several moments. Then, satisfied, he licked it. He nuzzled Takato's hand, encouraging the boy to pet him.
As Guilmon rubbed against his hand, a smile formed on Takato's face, and he began slowly stroking the baby Digimon.
"Hey there, Guilmon" he said.
Takato slowly placed his hands under the dino's arms, and very carefully picked his new Digimon up, and brought him closer, holding him up to eye level. They looked into each other's eyes.
"Hi. My name's Takato, and I think I created you."
He brought Guilmon to his chest and hugged him, albeit with care, and he snuggled into his shirt in return.
However he ended up getting him, one thing was for sure; he was just so cute. Cool was usually his description of things, but that really didn't fit this time. Now, a thought finally hit Takato; how was he going to take care of this little guy?
Takato set Guilmon down on the floor, near the remnants of his egg. He went over to the closet, and began digging through the infinite piles of junk he had stored away. He came out moments later with an empty shoebox. He came back over to Guilmon, who now aimed his curiosity at the box. Takato removed the pieces of shell from his hoody, and set it inside the shoebox to use as lining. He then picked Guilmon up and set him inside the shoebox.
'Alright, I have a nest squared away. Now what?'
It took a few moments for the penny to drop. Food, of course. In all of Ms. Asaji's lessons about newborns, the mother immediately fed their young after hatching.
"Wait here. I'll be right back." Takato told Guilmon.
He left his room and went downstairs. His mom and dad were now tending to the evening customers. He snuck into the pantry and took several of the day-old bread rolls. He took them back up to his room. When Guilmon saw him, he tried to get out of the shoebox.
"Relax, boy. Here I am."
Guilmon calmed down only slightly until Takato was kneeling directly in front of his box. Takato picked his partner up and set him down on the floor. He started sniffing at the bread, but wasn't sure what to do with it.
"This is food. You eat it, see?" Takato said, taking a bite of one of the rolls. He chewed and swallowed.
"Okay, now you."
Takato tore a small piece of bread from the roll, and offered it to Guilmon, who sniffed at it for a few seconds, then took it in his mouth and chewed it. He swallowed, and a smile formed on his face. He took the entire roll with his claws and began devouring it.
"Like it, huh?" Takato said.
It didn't take long for Guilmon to eat the entire roll. When he was finished, the dino coughed dryly.
"Yeah, you probably want something to drink after all that bread. I'll be right back." Takato said, and then left his room once again. With the way Guilmon messily snarfed down that bread, Takato thought it might be best to give Guilmon a bottle of milk instead of a glass or bowl and have him spill it all over. He went to the storage room all the way in the back, and began rummaging through various cardboard boxes until he found one marked TAKATO'S BABY CLOTHES.
'Probably in there.' he thought. He parents had owned this bakery as long as he could remember, and he never remembered having a garage sale of anything like that, so he was confident that if he dug through enough of this stuff, he'd come across one of his old baby bottles. He opened the four flaps on top, and began rummaging through the box.
"Ah, here we go." he said to himself, finding what he was looking for. He put the rest of the items back in the box as neatly as he could, and then went back to the kitchen. Both of his parents were out front tending to evening customers, so they weren't back here to wonder what he was doing. He gave it a quick washing with hot water, then filled it with milk from the fridge. He then put it in the microwave to warm it up.
Upon returning to his room, he slid open the door, and Guilmon, having been leaning against it, stumbled out, falling on Takato's foot.
"You know, boy? It's a good thing I close the door. Who knows where you'd get to?" Takato said to him. He imagined for a moment how the customers would freak if Guilmon had made his way out to the lobby. He picked Guilmon up with his free hand and entered his room, closing the door behind him.
"I've got something for you." he said, going over to his desk chair and sat down. Setting the bottle down, he shifted Guilmon in his arms, so that he was cradling his partner in his left arm. He then picked up the bottle, and put the tip on Guilmon's mouth. Either by instinct or curiosity, Guilmon took the rubber nipple into his mouth and began to suckle from it. From the way that he devoured the bread, Takato expected Guilmon to drink the milk as fast as he could. So he was surprised when Guilmon seemed to relax and just drink at his current, steady pace.
Takato again took notice of just how sweet his partner looked, so content in his arms. Guilmon was revealing another side of him – a side that didn't just judge things by how 'cool' they were. Now he had someone to care for other than himself, and he was happily looking forward to it. Before he knew it, the bottle was empty, and Guilmon burped an approval of the second course. Takato looked over at his clock on the desk, and realized it was getting late.
"I think it's time for bed, boy." Takato said, setting the empty bottle on the desk and got up. He went over to the shoebox and set Guilmon down in it. He then walked over to his closet and changed into his pajamas. Going to the door, he shut off the light, and climbed the ladder up into bed.
He had just gotten comfortable when he heard a whimpering from down below. Sitting up, he looked down from the side of his bed at Guilmon, who was looking up at him from the shoebox.
"Don't worry boy, I'm right up here." he said to him. Guilmon didn't seem satisfied, and Takato hadn't even lain back down before he started crying up at him again. Takato figured that he'd eventually settle down, but several moments later, he heard him rustle around the shoebox, and before he knew it, he heard scratching sounds at the foot of the ladder.
"Oh, Guilmon." Takato said, as he climbed down the ladder. His feet came to the floor, he knelt down, and picked Guilmon up, reached up, placed him on the bed, and climbed back up the ladder. That goofy smile returned to Guilmon's face as Takato climbed back into bed. He lay down on his back, his head hitting the pillow, and rolled over onto his side, pulling the sheets up to his midsection. Guilmon crawled over to the head of the bed, then went partially under the covers, lay down, and snuggled into Takato's chest, at last settling down. Takato smiled as he watched his partner fall asleep. He exhaled, closed his eyes, and welcomed the world of dreams…
--
Renamon stood on the railing of Takato's small balcony, little more than a shadow in the night. Her icy blue eyes gazed into the darkened room, up at the bed.
"Well?" her Tamer, Rika, asked from down below. She wore her brown leather jacket, as it was a bit chilly out tonight, and grasped her blue-ringed D-Arc in her right hand.
"I see him." Renamon responded, continuing to stare into the window.
"And?"
"Rika…he's just a baby."
"What? My Digivice detected a Rookie-level signal."
"Well, I don't believe he's wild. Seems quite attached to the boy."
"So what do we do? Wait and see?"
"Unless you want to risk breaking and entering for what's most likely a miniscule amount of data, that seems wise."
Rika hmmphed, stared at her Digivice for a moment longer, then switched the hologram off, and sighed.
"Fine. We'll let him be…for now."
--
A/N: To everyone who's gotten into my latest fic, I certainly hope you're enjoying it. This chapter's title is just a fine hat's off to Crazyeight's story, 'Less Than Human".
Have any ideas or antics that Takato and Guilmon could get into? I'm having trouble thinking things up, so feel free to drop me a line!