The tamer treated Ren to a variety of breakfast items like toast and cereal. He had doubts about letting the digimon use a butter knife after seeing how Ren handled it, but decided there wasn't really much chance he could hurt himself with it. More likely the knife would end up meeting some ill fate.
He had prepared a few rounds of toast for the digimon to try. After seeing Ren demolish the first round, he decided to let the digimon manage himself.
He planned to get some housework done today, so he left Ren in the kitchen to taste-test the different spreads he had. He went off to begin work on cleaning the shower.
—
After a good 20 minutes he had made some progress and decided to take a break. He sat resting on his knees in the bathroom, with a spray bottle and sponge sitting on the floor next to him.
"Just 'spray and wipe' they said. 'It'll be a breeze' they said. My arse it is."
He arched his back and stretched his arms upwards, trying to clear some of the stiffness. The tamer whinged out loud to himself
"Ugh… I hate housework."
"Can I assist you, Tamer?"
He flinched at the digimon's sudden appearance, falling sideways with arms flailing, as if inventing a new dance. He could've sworn he was alone in the room a second ago, but Ren somehow just appeared beside him.
He ended up staring at the digimon in disbelief from his new position on the floor, before coming to his senses.
"HOLY SHIT REN! Can you like… not give me a heart attack please."
Having got the shock out of his system, he picked himself off the floor and brushed himself off.
Ren seemed unphased by his outburst.
"Apologies. That was not my intention."
"Yeah, I know. Just… try walking through the door instead of magically appearing like that next time please."
The digimon tilted his head in confusion.
"But… I did do that."
"What? No way. I would've heard you coming."
"It seems you did not."
"No, I can't believe that."
He pointed back towards the door.
"...go back out and come in again."
"Very well, but I would not lie to you, Tamer."
Ren turned and headed towards the door. Sure enough, the digimon was effectively silent. No footsteps or claws clicking on the tiled floor, nor any rustling as his arms brushed past his sides. If there was any sound as he walked, it was completely hidden by the ambient noise.
The strangest part was that the digimon didn't seem to be making any particular effort to be quiet. He just casually strode away.
The tamer closed his eyes to focus. He could make out a few different sounds, like the low hum of appliances in the kitchen and a bird outside. But no footsteps from a digimon.
He opened his eyes and was about to tell Ren to come back in, only to find the digimon staring him in the face. Again the shock led to an impromptu dance and he couldn't help the strange noise that escaped his mouth.
"GAH-BA-JEEZ! REN! What did I just say about heart attacks?
A cheeky smirk briefly appeared on the digimon's face, before it quickly returned to its regular, impassive expression.
"Are you convinced,Tamer? Or should I perform another demonstration?"
"Yeah, alright… I guess you're pretty quiet."
"I will endeavour to be… louder next time."
"I'd appreciate it."
"So… can I assist you?"
"Uh...sure. I'm nearly done with this but we can find something else for you to try while I recover from the heart attack you just gave me."
He took a moment to think of what else he had planned to do.
The lightbulb lit up.
"...can you vacuum around the spare room? Get a head start on cleaning it up so we can make it suitable for you."
"Of course… how do I 'fak-yoom'?"
The tamer stared in disbelief, wondering how this intelligent creature wasn't familiar with a common household object.
The digimon simply stood there, awaiting an explanation.
"What are the odds digimon don't know what vacuums are?"
Then he remembered how all the descriptions of the digital world emphasised the cutthroat, 'kill-or-be-killed' mentality most digimon followed. Escaping the violence was a common reason why many digimon came to Earth.
"...ok, maybe they wouldn't be worried about cleaning up."
"So you don't know what a vacuum is then?"
"I do not."
"It's… well… uh..."
"...damn, how do you explain a vacuum?"
The digimon continued staring expectantly.
"...it's for cleaning up… like, dirt and stuff. It… uh… sucks."
"Why would you keep it if it is a disappointing tool?"
"Huh? Oh, no-no, this one literally sucks. That's how it cleans up the dirt."
"I see. Would you teach me how to use it?"
"Yeah, sure. I mean, it's pretty simple."
He motioned for the digimon to follow him and headed to the laundry.
Given the relatively small unit he lived in, his vacuum was just a small handheld model. He pulled it off the wall charger and showed it to the digimon.
"...ok, so like I said, pretty simple. You pull the trigger..."
He pulled the trigger and the machine whooshed to life. The digimon took a startled step back, face contorting and ears flattening back in discomfort at the noise.
"...it sucks up the dirt."
He released the trigger as he noticed Ren's expression.
"Uh… sorry. If the noise bothers you too much I can find something else for you to try."
"N-no… it will be fine."
"You sure?"
"Of course. A small amount of discomfort will not dissuade me from serving my tamer."
"Ugh. Suit yourself."
He held the vacuum out to the digimon.
It took a moment for Ren to find a comfortable hold. His large fingers weren't really suited to it, with the grip being designed for a smaller human hand. He eventually settled with one handpaw curled around the grip and the other supporting the vacuum from underneath. He gave it a test. His ears flattened back again at the noise, but his face stayed more neutral this time.
The tamer gave a nod of approval.
"Ok, I guess that works. Now then, you just run it back and forth across the floor until you've covered the room or it fills up. If it gets too full, it'll need to be emptied or it won't work as well."
"I understand."
"Ok, go for it. Let me know if you have any issues."
The digimon walked out, only to return a moment later.
"Which room is the spare room, Tamer?"
"Oh… I guess knowing which room would help. I'll show you."
He led the digimon through to the back of his unit.
"...so this is meant to be a study. But, since I have two bedrooms I just use one of those, and this is my… err..."
He glanced around at all the various bits and pieces lying around the room. He realised it would take a bit of effort to tidy it up for Ren.
"...storage room? Um, just ignore the junk, we can move most of this into the other bedroom and you can use this one."
"That is very kind of you, Tamer."
"Uh… thanks. I just thought… well, you're gonna be my digimon partner, right? Gotta look after you."
Ren gave a small smile at his tamer's words.
"...aw jeez, I'm getting sappy. Go on, let's see how you handle the vacuum."
Ren quickly got the hang of using it, so the tamer decided to leave him to it and returned to the bathroom to finish the shower.
—
The noise lasted a few minutes before stopping. Ren came through to the bathroom holding the vacuum.
"Tamer?"
"Yeah, Ren? Is it full or something?"
"No, not yet. However, the vacuum does not fit around some of your belongings. Do you have another tool?"
"Oh, you just need to swap the head if you want to get into the gaps. Let me get the nozzle."
He went to the laundry and got the other attachment, before quickly returning to the digimon.
"Here, try this one."
He casually chucked the nozzle over to the digimon.
...who proceeded to juggle it clumsily with one handpaw whilst trying to keep a grip on the vacuum with the other. The nozzle ended up clattering to the floor.
"...uh, sorry. Slippery little sucker, isn't it?"
"Tamer, please forgive my clumsiness. My handpaws...they are not suited for your tools."
The digimon stood there meekly, head down and ears again flattened back.
"A minor mishap and he treats it like the end of the world or something."
"Uh… it's fine Ren. Really, no big deal. I guess they're just better suited to punching rather than cleaning. Here, let me change it over and you can give it another go."
The tamer took the vacuum from the digimon to change the nozzle. Ren was left momentarily staring at his handpaws in disillusion, before clenching them in resolve and getting back to the vacuuming.