It had been a full day since Meramon had left, and Digitamamon had still not come back. And that was ok with him. Gomamon, having managed to evolve after resting for so long, had found Joe's glasses, hiding under the bed. The frames were warped from heat and there was a large crack running down one of the lenses. The creature held them out and Joe hesitated to take them. As though if he could see clearly, what happened would be cemented in reality. But he needed to check his wounds and make himself care about whether or not they got infected.
His fingertips brushed against Gomamon's claws and he jerked away, as though he would dirty the small seal with a touch. The creature pouted. All he wanted to do was show his Tamer that he still loved him, but Joe refused to even maintain eye contact with him. Joe could still feel the fire washing over his flesh, and he knew that there was a large burn on his hip where his pants were agitating the blistered flesh. He took and held a deep breath before sliding his glasses on. They sat funny on his ears and they were smudged, the crack rendering him almost blind in one eye. He couldn't bring himself to look over his body, to seek out the damage done to him, so instead he found his shirt, burned and buried in the crumpled sheets, and pulled it on. He wished the sleeves were longer to hide his skin, but he buttoned it all the way to his throat. He would rather feel like he was choking than risk exposing anything more than necessary.
His stomach grumbled in unison with Gomamon's and he let himself smile sheepishly at the creature. With the familiar hunger pangs wracking through his body, he could almost pretend that nothing had changed.
"Maybe we'll get lucky and Digitamamon will bring us food again?" Gomamon tried to sound hopeful.
Joe shook his head. "It's been over a day since..." He swallowed hard. Gomamon tilted his head and Joe knew that the seal wouldn't realize what had happened. Even when he and Matt had found comfort in each other, neither Digimon had understood what they had done. "He might just let us starve to death up here." And that would be just fine with him.
But his wistful fantasy of withering away to nothingness was quickly shattered as the door unbolted and Digitamamon stepped inside. A viscous snarl ripped from Gomamon's throat and he growled, "What did you do to Joe?!"
The monster completely ignored Gomamon's curses, instead leering at Joe. The blue-haired boy shrunk back, his empty stomach heaving. Just having eyes upon him was enough to bring flashes of the other night to the forefront of his mind.
"I see Meramon left you in one piece, just like I asked." Digitamamon nodded to himself. "By now you should be ready for your next client."
"For what?!" Joe yelped. He wrapped his arms tight around himself without noticing. "I don't want... anything like that ever again!"
"Well then, if you want to stay here, slowly working off your debt penny by penny, we can do that, too." Digitamamon made a shrugging motion. "I just thought that you would want to leave sooner and find your, snrk, 'friend'."
"W... What do you mean?"
Digitamamon stared down Joe, and the boy found himself unable to pull away. "I'm giving you an official offer. You can go back down to the kitchens, where you can attempt to straighten up and fly right, and you can finish paying off your original debt over the next year. Or," dark energy sparked around the creature's shell and Joe could see the dark grin in his eyes, "you can take on more clients. Just a few more, and it won't take longer than, let's say, a week?"
Joe hesitated. Inside, he wanted to scream and curse and tell Digitamamon exactly where he could stick that offer of his. But, on top of that, smothering all his good sense, was the deeply instilled sense of responsibility. He had, in fact, attempted to leave the restaurant without paying and every time he tried to work it off, he managed to destroy something. The small voice of reason saying he'd already more than paid back his tab was quickly being drowned out by his own swirling darkness. Even Gomamon couldn't reach him and any attempt at pushing love and support through their bond was cut off with an icy harshness.
"A week, right?" he found himself whispering. Gomamon whined, wanting to curse him out but worried he wouldn't be heard. "That's it? And then I can leave?"
"One week. From Today to Sun's Day," Digitamamon agreed. "And then your original debt will be paid in full."
"I..." Joe swallowed the dry lump in his throat. He could still hear Meramon laughing at him and he shuddered. "I'll do it..."