The tamer sent the new photo to Fiona, who let him know they should get the pass later that afternoon.
He spent the rest of the morning trying to get through some work, but found it difficult with the near-constant interruptions from his coworkers. He hadn't realised how big a deal it would be for them seeing a new digimon in the office.
He managed to survive the onslaught of gawking colleagues, with the clock eventually rolling past midday.
"Ok, that's enough for one morning. Come on Ren, I'll show you the lunchroom. You can meet the other digimon."
"What about your coworker?"
"Hmm? Pete?"
Said coworker turned around and gave Ren a pointed look.
"Yeah, no thanks... afraid your tamer might steal my sandwich."
Ren looked over to his tamer with a raised eyebrow.
The tamer was quick to defend his innocence in response to the unspoken question.
"I haven't stolen anyone's sandwich! Jeez, Pete."
"Whatever. Enjoy your lunch date."
The tamer just rolled his eyes.
"Come on Ren."
The pair left the cubicle and headed for the exit.
Ren spoke up as they walked.
"I believe you might have misunderstood, Tamer. I was referring to your other coworker... the one who is also a tamer."
"Huh? Oh, Haley... right. Yeah, we should probably see if she wants to join us."
They passed by Haley's cubicle, but it was currently empty.
"...hmm, guess she's not around at the moment."
He popped his head into the next cubicle.
"...hey Steve, do you know where Haley is?"
Steve still seemed a bit wary of Ren, but he managed to keep his composure.
"Oh... um... I think she had to go to one of the sites. Uh... urgent issue with some plans not matching up or something."
"Damn, she wanted to introduce the other digimon. Oh well, can't be helped."
Ren turned to look at him.
"Should we... wait for her to return?"
"Nah, she could be a while if she's gone on site. It's no big deal. Let's head upstairs."
The pair headed out the front door and took the stairs to the next level.
"...so this is the main office. Most of the company works on this level."
The tamer swiped his card and they entered the larger office.
The overall layout was mostly the same as the smaller office, but with additional floor area.
The tamer headed for the large room in the middle of the office.
"...we've got a proper lunchroom here that everyone can use. The other digimon tend to hang around here mostly."
As Ren followed along through the cubicles, he realised quite a few people were staring at him. He whispered to his tamer.
"Why are they staring at me, Tamer?"
The tamer looked around and saw the curious states from his colleagues.
He gave a friendly wave to one cubicle.
"Hey guys, just showing Ren around. You saw the email from Fiona, yeah?"
A few nodded along and went back to whatever they had been doing.
The tamer turned back to Ren.
"...it's just more of what happened downstairs. People are curious. They'll get over it in a day or two."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, they'll be too busy worrying about other stuff. Come on."
He led Ren into the lunchroom. It was quite large, with a number of tables, chairs and even a few lounges.
"...oh, there's the other digimon."
They spotted three digimon gathered around a table towards the corner, casually chatting. There was a Gabumon, a Gaomon and a Gatomon.
The pair approached the table until Ren suddenly stopped. The three at the table also stopped chatting, turning to stare at Ren, as if sensing his presence.
The tamer felt a bit uncomfortable with the sudden standoff, so he tried to break the ice.
"Um, hey guys. This is Ren. He's my new partner."
Gatomon was the first to speak up.
"Ooh, fresh meat."
Gabumon gave the cat an elbow.
"Seriously Gatomon? That's the first thing you say?"
"What? He is."
"Just ignore her, we don't eat digimon in G-squad."
Ren gave a confused look.
"What is G-squad?"
"We are. See..."
Gabumon pointed to each of the digimon in turn.
"...Gatomon, Gaomon, Gabumon. G-squad."
"Oh, I see."
The tamer spoke up.
"So Gabumon is Haley's partner."
"Yep, but call me Gaby. You met Haley?"
"Yeah, this morning. She wanted to introduce you guys to Ren, but apparently she had to head out."
Ren looked over to Gaby.
"I find it strange you chose not to accompany your tamer."
Gaby gave a dismissive wave.
"Why? She doesn't need me for that site visit stuff."
"But what if something were to happen and she did need you?"
"Pfft, like what?"
"Well-"
Ren was about to continue but his tamer interrupted.
"Ren, it's not a big deal. You don't need to worry about it."
Ren didn't look satisfied, but relented at his tamer's request.
"Very well."
The tamer looked back to the group.
"Anyway, I was hoping Ren could join you guys while I go do some other stuff. You know, get to know some other digimon and not just be stuck with me the whole time."
Gabumon was the first to answer.
"Fine with me."
Gatomon chimed in second.
"I suppose, if he has to."
Gaomon remained silent, but gave a nod.
"Great. Maybe you guys could share your experience of this world."
Gaby gave a simple nod and gestured to one of the free chairs.
"Sure. Grab a chair, Ren."
Ren looked at the chair, before looking over to his tamer in apprehension.
"I... should I not stay with you, Tamer? What if you need me?"
"I'll be fine Ren. I can use the digivice if I need you, right?"
"Well, yes..."
Ren looked uncomfortable with the idea of being separated from his tamer.
"Come on, it'll be good for you to make some friends. Look, how about this? Hang out here and I'll come back in half an hour."
The digimon still looked apprehensive about the idea, so the tamer clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, it'll be fine. I'll be back in no time."
The tamer guided Ren into one of the chairs.
"I'll see you later, ok?"
Ren hesitated, but gave a small nod.
The tamer headed off.
—
True to his word, the tamer came back about 30 minutes later, carrying a plain plastic bag.
It had quietened down since the lunch rush, but there were still a few late lunchers hanging around.
He headed over to the unofficial digimon table.
The G-squad members seemed to be chatting as usual. Ren was sitting on the opposite side, slightly distant from the others. He seemed to be listening to what they were saying, but not really participating.
The tamer gave a sigh.
"Might take a while for him to get comfortable, I guess."
He headed over.
"So, how'd you guys get on? Any interesting stories?"
Ren's ears perked as he realised his tamer had returned.
"It is good to see you back, Tamer."
"Really? I wasn't gone that long. Anyway, what were you chatting about?"
Gaby spoke up.
"Just sharing some tales back in the digital world. You know, some of my favourite battles."
The tamer frowned, realising Ren probably wouldn't be interested in discussing such things.
"Oh... um... you like to battle?"
"Yeah, love it. Can't get enough of it. It's what we live for, right?"
Gaby looked over to the two digimon sitting next to him.
Gatomon stood up on the chair and pumped a fist in the air.
"Heck yeah!"
Gaomon again remained silent, but gave an approving nod.
Ren was staring at the floor, avoiding the matter.
The tamer decided his digimon probably needed an excuse to leave.
"Um, cool. Anyway, I gotta show Ren around the rest of the office. We'll, uh... leave you guys to it then. Ready, Ren?"
The digimon was quick to stand up beside his tamer.
"Yes, Tamer."
Ren gave a small bow to the other digimon.
"...it was nice to meet you all."
As the pair walked away, the tamer swore he heard Gatomon make one last remark.
"Man, what a square!"
He saw Ren's ears twitch, the digimon's superior hearing easily catching the verbal jab.
The tamer made sure they were out of earshot before speaking again.
"You looked like you needed an excuse to get away. You gonna be comfortable hanging out with them?"
Ren hesitated before answering.
"I...think it may depend on who is present. Gaby seems quite reasonable. Gatomon is... very talkative... and combative. I do not think I would like being left alone with her."
"Hmm... yeah, she's a bit of a character. What about Gaomon?"
"She did not say much. It seems she prefers to let the others talk."
"A bit like you, huh? You looked a bit shy about speaking."
Ren took on a defensive tone.
"I participated when I had something to add."
"Hey, I'm not trying to criticise you. I know it'll probably take a bit of time before you build some rapport with them. But I do think it would be good for you to have a few digimon friends you can talk about stuff with."
"But I already have you to talk to, Tamer."
"Well, yeah... but you can't just have me. What if you want to talk about... like... digimon stuff."
"What sort of stuff, Tamer?"
"I dunno... whatever digimon talk about. Like, there's gonna be stuff that I don't know anything about, right?"
"I suppose."
"So wouldn't it be good to have someone to ask?"
"It... would be sensible."
"Yeah. And you don't have to spend every minute of the day with them. You can still hang around and watch me argue with Pete."
Ren gave a smirk.
"You two have an... interesting dynamic."
"Meh. He's alright... as long as you don't borrow his stapler. Anyway, I hope they didn't stress you out too much talking about battles."
"It was ok. Gaby sounds like quite a skilled fighter, and he chooses not to delete others unless he absolutely needs to. I would almost like to ask him to spar."
"Really?"
"Yes. It has been quite a while since I had a friendly match. But I... would not ask him in front of the others."
"Oh? Why?"
"I would not want to get Gatomon involved. She seems much more... callous about it."
"Hmm... it might be a bit hard. They're usually all together. Maybe see how you go after you spend a bit more time with them. Otherwise, I guess I could talk to Haley about it and she could ask him when they're alone."
Ren's ears perked at the possibility of a friendly match and he gave a small nod.
"That would be good."
"Anyway, I got us some food from the cafe down the road."
Ren's whole expression lit up in anticipation of food.
"What sort of food?"
"Just some sandwiches, Ren. No pizza, sorry."
Ren gave his tamer a judgemental look.
"I hope you do not think I will forget, Tamer."
"Oh, I'm sure you won't. Anyway, I thought we could head up to the roof and eat together."
"That would be nice, but should we not eat in the lunchroom?"
"Well, I thought it might be a bit awkward eating in front of the other digimon. I only bought two sandwiches, and I didn't see their tamers bringing them any food."
"Oh, I see. Yes, that may be wise."
"Yeah. Come on, I'll show you to the roof."
Tamer and digimon headed out of the office to the stairwell.
"...it does make me curious though. I wonder if the others normally have lunch with their tamers. I can't remember seeing it before."
"They did not mention anything about it. I could... maybe I could ask them about it next time."
"Yeah, why not? Might be a good ice breaker. You know...ask them what their favourite food is. I know you said digimon don't really need to eat, but I still think it would feel kinda wrong not giving you guys anything to eat. Like it would be excluding you or something."
"I appreciate that you try to look after me, even if you do not need to."
"No worries. I'm just trying to be a good tamer... although I still don't really know what that is supposed to involve."
"Perhaps you could ask your coworker."
"Um... maybe, yeah. I think Haley's been a tamer for a while, so she probably knows a thing or two. That's a pretty good idea, actually."
Ren gave a small smile, pleased to have helped his tamer.
They headed up the last flight of stairs, before stepping out onto the roof.
"...so this lets you get to the roof. Barely anyone comes up here as far as I know."
He glanced over to Ren. The digimon was looking around, surveying the roof.
Someone had put a few garden chairs to sit on and there were a few aircon units, but otherwise there wasn't much up there.
"...I'm just guessing... but you don't quite seem the type who enjoys big crowds. I know it can get a bit noisy in the office, so you can hang out here if you just want a bit of quiet. Just make sure you have your pass... uh... once you get it. This door locks so you need to swipe to get back
in."
"I will make sure to remember that."
"Good. It won't be much fun getting stuck out here on a hot day."
He took a seat on one of the chairs and gestured for Ren to do the same. He proceeded to open up the sandwiches.
"...so I got one with chicken and one with roast beef. I figured we could go halfsies on each, so you get to try both. You happy with that?"
"Yes, that sounds good. Which are you planning to start with?"
"Well, something tells me you'll really like the chicken, so I think save that for second."
"How can you know I will like the chicken more?"
"Well, you are a fox, right?"
"I... suppose. Or at least the digimon equivalent. How does that help you know?"
"Trust me, foxes love chicken."
Ren had a confused look.
"I... ok. If you think so."
The tamer unwrapped the sandwich marked beef and handed one triangle to Ren.
"So, this one has sliced beef, salad and a bit of seed mustard."
"Seed mustard?"
"Yeah, gives a little bit of zing. You'll see."
Ren took a bite from the sandwich and chewed. Shortly after, his eyes widened, before he cringed and shuddered.
He battled to chew through the flavour, eventually swallowing.
The tamer sat watching his reaction with a dubious look.
"...you don't like it, do you?"
The digimon was quick to argue otherwise, trying to be gracious for the food.
"No-no, it is...interesting. I think that mustard... it definitely... adds flavour."
The tamer did not look convinced.
"Ok, so you're gonna finish it off then?"
Ren gave a sour look at the prospect of having to eat the rest of the sandwich.
"...yeah, didn't think so. Give it here and you can have the chicken one."
Ren quickly handed over the offending sandwich. The tamer put it back with the other half and set it aside. He opened up the chicken sandwich and offered the package to Ren, who made to take one of the triangles.
"..no-no, take the whole thing Ren."
"What about you, Tamer?"
"Looks like I'm having beef today."
"But you should not have to eat that."
"It's fine, I actually don't mind a bit of mustard."
The digimon gave him a weird look, not understanding how someone could enjoy a flavour he personally found sickening. The tamer spoke up to defend his sense of taste.
"...what? It goes well with beef. Anyway, try the chicken. That one's got salad as well, and some mayo and avocado."
Ren took one of the triangles and set the package in his lap, before taking a hesitant bite.
Again his eyes widened, but this time there was no cringing.
His apprehension disappeared and he quickly chewed through the mouthful.
"Tamer, this is so much better! It is as good as pizza. Why would you not buy two of these?"
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with the beef. And you gotta have some variety."
Ren didn't bother to argue further, instead focussing on demolishing the rest of the sandwich.
The tamer gave a chuckle.
"Heh... I did tell you. Foxes love chicken."