"Yeah, hi. Can I place an order to pick up, please?"

Tamer and digimon had agreed on pizza. Or rather, the tamer had suggested it and the digimon didn't have any better ideas. The tamer was on his phone placing the order, while Ren listened in.

"Ok, I'll get a large Margherita… a large Hawaiian… and a side of wedges, please."

"..."

"Yeah, that's all."

"..."

"The name's Miles."

"..."

"15 minutes? Ok, see you then."

He hung up and noticed Ren staring at him curiously.

"...what?"

"The person you were speaking to did not seem very enthusiastic to take your order."

"Uh… you could hear what he was saying?"

"Yes."

"Wow, ok..."

He gestured to Ren's long ears.

"...guess those aren't just for show, huh?"

The digimon folded said ears back self-consciously.

"Well… of course not, they grant me a very strong sense of hearing."

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. Just surprised. Anyway, this pizza place… they're a small joint and they're not fancy, but they've been around for ages. The guys making the pizzas know what they're doing. But the dude answering the phone, he's much younger and I reckon he's just doing it for some cash. Probably a uni student or something."

"So he does not try his best?"

"Well… I guess that's one way of putting it. Look, it can be tough for young people. They're starting from the bottom of the ladder in the least interesting jobs for the worst pay. After a while it can get a bit depressing. I try not to hold it against them. You know, shouldn't judge people without knowing the full story."

"That seems… very reasonable."

"Good. Alright, I'm gonna head off and get the food. You… uh… you gonna stay here while I go get it?"

If you had asked the tamer how he felt about leaving a stranger unattended in his home yesterday, he probably wouldn't have been too keen on the idea. However, he had also heard that digimon were generally quite loyal to their tamer and Ren didn't strike him as the type to take advantage of the situation. In any case, the pizza place was only 10 minutes down the road.

Of course, Ren had other ideas.

"I should accompany you for protection, Tamer."

"Uh… protection from what?"

"Other digimon."

"What? Really? I'm only gonna be gone for like 20 minutes, Ren. You can just chill out here if you want."

"But I must uphold my responsibility as your partner, Tamer."

The tamer was surprised that the digimon had already developed such devotion to his wellbeing.

"Uh… well, if you really want to. Let's get going."

The digimon moved towards the front door.

"Uh, Ren… this way..."

The tamer pointed back down the hall.

"Are we not leaving yet after all?"

"No-no… garage is through the laundry. We'll take my car. Quicker, so the pizza will stay warmer."

He headed through the laundry to his garage, with Ren following after. Pressing a button on the key fob made the indicators on the blue Honda flash. He looked back at Ren for a moment.

"I guess he's a similar size to me. Shouldn't have a problem fitting into the seat. Only issue might be that tail."

"Um… I'm guessing you haven't been in a car before, right? How you gonna go with your tail, Ren?"

"Yes, this will be my first time in a car. I… will manage it."

"Alright, help yourself to the passenger seat."

The tamer walked around to the driver's door and got in with practiced ease.

Ren, however, took his time. It seemed his chunky fingers were not suited to car door handles. The tamer cringed at the sound of claws on paintwork as the digimon grappled with the sleek door handle, before finally getting a hold.

Actually getting into the car was also tricky. The digimon ended up clutching his tail around his front to prevent it getting squashed as he lowered himself into the seat.

Once in the car, he had a third problem. In the lounge, he could sit forward to leave room for his tail. However, there was a lot less room in the car, so he ended up with the base of his tail squashed up against the backrest and the rest curled around into his lap.

The tamer noticed Ren couldn't stop fidgeting.

"You ok, Ren?"

"It is… slightly… uncomfortable. Perhaps..."

Ren pushed his shoulders into the backrest to lift his hips and shift positions. Unfortunately, he reflexively uncurled his tail, swatting his tamer squarely in the face.

"GAH!"

The tamer recoiled from the unintended hit, swatting the offending appendage blindly with his arm. Ren quickly grabbed his tail away from the tamer's face.

"...pffft. Bleugh"

The tamer picked a few strands of fur from his lips.

"...damn fur in my mouth. Watch it with the tail next time, Ren."

Ren sat there clutching the offending tail and looking horrified at what he had unintentionally done to his tamer.

"Tamer, please forgive me! I did not mean for that to happen."

"Ugh… it's fine. It was an accident. Look… maybe you should just stay here this time. I want to get the food before it has time to cool down and you're clearly not comfortable."

"I..."

Ren gave a defeated look, turning to stare at the footwell.

"Sorry Ren… we can try to work something out another time when we don't have hot food waiting."

"Very well. I… will remain here."

The digimon reluctantly got out of the car.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Get comfy and watch TV or something"

The tamer pressed the remote to open the garage door and started the engine.

As he reversed out and pressed the remote again, he was left with the sight of the garage door

descending, slowly hiding a rather depressed-looking digimon still clutching his tail.

—

As he'd thought, traffic was pretty good at this time of night and it only took him about 10 minutes to get to the pizza shop.

Walking in, he saw the young man he spoke to over the phone. 'Mr Enthusiasm', as the tamer had decided to call him, was sitting behind the counter. He was staring at his phone and looking rather bored. The tamer had to smile as he realised Ren was spot on.

"Yeah, this guy has zero enthusiasm for his job."

Nonetheless he put on his best polite voice.

"Hi there. Order for Miles?"

"Huh? Oh… gimme a sec."

The kid trudged out the back to check before coming back empty handed.

"Probs gonna be another 5 mins bro."

"Uh… ok. I'll just take a seat."

"Bet."

The tamer turned to take a seat, rolling his eyes at the youth-speak.

He decided to have a play with the digivice to pass the time while he waited.

He had another look at Ren's stats. Overall, they seemed to be fairly balanced. Most attributes had very similar values, except for his speed, which was quite a few points higher than the rest.

Out of curiosity, he also tried the locate function again to see if it worked long-distance. The screen lit up with the arrow pointing out towards the street and the number 7 in the middle.

"Uh, that's not quite right. It should be pointing down the road, not straight out the front. And only 7 metres? Maybe it doesn't work properly at long range. Have to see if Ren knows something later."

As promised, the food was ready within 5 minutes. He paid for it and left.

—

As he entered the driveway and waited for the garage door to open, he was again met with the sight of Ren standing there. He greeted the digimon as he stepped out of the car.

"Hey Ren. You didn't wait here the whole time, did you?"

"No, I… found something to occupy myself. When I heard you arriving, I came to see if you needed assistance."

"Well that's good. Here, take these..."

He handed the container of wedges to the digimon.

"...and let's get in and eat."

He went to step past Ren, but noticed he had a bit of a twig and leaf sticking out of his tail.

"Uh… where'd this come from Ren."

Balancing the pizzas in one hand, he grabbed the twig and held it for the digimon to see.

"Oh… I had not noticed it. Thank you Tamer."

The digimon avoided the actual question and quickly headed inside.

The tamer just shook his head and rolled his eyes at the digimon's carelessness.

"Silly digimon getting stuff in his fur."

He headed in carrying the two pizza boxes.

Inside, Ren stood waiting for his advice.

"Where should I put these, Tamer?"

"Uh, we'll sit at the table. Let me get a bowl to put 'em in."

He went through to the dining table and put the pizzas down.

"...grab a seat, Ren."

After the earlier tail fiasco, Ren opted for a side-saddle position on the dining chair, letting his tail hang over the side.

The tamer grabbed a bowl from the kitchen and emptied the wedges into it.

"...I guess start simple. Try one of those and see what you think."

The digimon delicately grabbed one of the wedges between his claws and popped it into his mouth.

The tamer waited for him to finish chewing, interested to hear what the digimon would think of his first taste of Earth food.

"So?"

"It is… unusual. I have not tasted something warm and soft like this before."

"Soft? They're meant to be sort of crispy."

He tried one for himself and found they were indeed soft, rather than crispy.

"...damn. Gone a bit soggy in the box, I guess. I mean, take away is never quite as good as eating in but I'd hoped they would still have at least a bit of crunch."

"Were they not prepared correctly?"

"Nah, I think it's probably because they use a premade version and just heat them up. They won't be as good as freshly made. And they were sitting in the box for a bit. I haven't actually had them from this place before so I didn't know if they were any good. Just thought they would be something interesting for you to try. Lesson learned."

"Nonetheless, the flavour is quite interesting."

"Yeah, the seasoning's ok I guess. You need something to make potato a bit interesting."

"This is potato?"

"Well, yeah… what did you think it was?"

"I was unsure, however it is not like the potato I have eaten in the digital world."

"Really? This is pretty typical."

"I see. In the digital world, I have only ever eaten them as whole potatoes."

"Oh, so like roasting them whole in an oven or something?"

"No, just picked from the plant."

The tamer gave a quizical look, before realising what Ren was suggesting.

"...oh, you didn't eat them raw, did you Ren?"

Ren looked a bit confused at that question.

"I thought that is how they are meant to be consumed. Other food is edible like that."

"Well… I guess you can if you have to, but they're definitely much better cooked."

The digimon's ears pinned back in embarrassment.

"I did not know."

"Ah, well. You survived, so don't worry about it. C'mon, let's try the pizza."

He put the wedges aside and opened both pizza boxes.

"...which do you wanna try first?"

"I am unsure. Which would you recommend?"

"Well… I dunno what you like, so it's hard to say. I guess… maybe start with the margherita, since it's a bit more plain and simple."

He pushed the corresponding box toward the digimon and closed the other one.

Ren reached out, grabbing the crust and pulling.

The tamer expected him to stop and separate it from the other pieces, but the digimon just kept pulling until half the pizza was lifting out of the box.

"Woah, hold up Ren! You gotta break it off the other pieces first."

He reached over and grabbed the edge of the piece next to Ren's and pulled it until it separated.

"There you go. They do a bit of a rough job cutting it in the shop, so you gotta tear the pieces yourself."

"I see. Thank you Tamer."

Ren did the same to the other neighbouring piece and separated the piece he originally grabbed.

The digimon held the piece in front of his face, staring at the cheesy triangle. The point was drooping and had a few strings of cheese hanging down.

The tamer noticed the digimon's conundrum as he lifted the piece above his face, trying to angle the cheese strings into his mouth and away from his fur. A cheeky smile found its way to the tamer's face as he watched the digimon trying to figure out the best way to manage it.

The digimon quickly realised he was being watched and stopped, looking over to see his tamer having a chuckle.

"Am I doing something wrong, Tamer?"

"No-no, just… sorry, I guess I didn't really consider that you'd have to try and keep the cheesiness away from your fur."

"Yes, I would prefer not to get myself dirty."

"Right. So, I find the best way to eat it is to bend the crust a bit with your fingers. That'll help stop the pointy end from drooping so much and it'll be easier to get it in your mouth."

He grabbed a piece for himself and demonstrated.

He bent the crust to make a curve in the slice, which helped keep the tip from flopping. He then angled it easily into his mouth and bit down.

The digimon watched carefully before adjusting his hold on the pizza to copy his tamer. Ren's chunky fingers meant it was a bit more difficult, but he quickly figured it out and was biting into it.

The digimon slowly chewed, savouring the flavour before finally swallowing.

"Not bad, huh Ren?"

"Tamer… I have never eaten anything with so much flavour. This is the most enjoyable food I have ever tried."

"Um… really? I know pizza's pretty good but I didn't think it was quite that good. I'm glad you're enjoying it, though."

"Very much so."

"Well… dig in. Plenty more where that came from."

Ren didn't need to be told twice. Whilst his first bite had been a bit wary of the new food, the next few were taken in much quicker fashion. In the time it took the tamer to finish his first piece, Ren had already moved on to his third.

With the advice from his tamer, he also managed not to get any of the cheese on his fur, despite all but abandoning the decorum he had maintained so far.

The tamer watched the spectacle with a mixture of disbelief and admiration at the digimon's ability to demolish pizza.

Ren finally took a break after the third piece, when he realised the tamer was staring at him again. His eyes fell to the floor and his ears again pinned back in embarrassment as he realised how he'd been behaving.

"I..."

"You certainly made short work of that, huh? What happened to the disciplined Nightmare Soldier? You looked like you hadn't eaten in a year the way you were shovelling it down."

"I apologise, Tamer. That was… impolite."

"Eh, I'm not too fussy about table manners. That was a fair effort not to get any of it on your fur."

"I… did not want to allow any to be wasted."

"Yeah, that's definitely the reason."

Ren just continued to stare at the floor.

"...relax, it's fine. Help yourself to more if you want. Just leave me a piece or two, yeah?"

The digimon's gaze shifted to the unopened box, before looking back to the tamer.

"May I… try the other one?"

"Yeah, go for it."

The digimon pulled the box over and opened it, taking a piece of the hawaiian.

"...and you'll have to tell me what you think of pineapple on pizza. Big debate about it, you know?"

"I shall… make sure to test the flavour thoroughly."

A smirk appeared on the tamer's face.

"Oh, I'm sure you will."