*KRAK-OOM*
It was a stormy night, one of the colder ones they'd had in a while. The tamer was glad to be inside and staying warm, once again cosied up in front of his computer.
However, tonight of all nights, Ren had decided to patrol the neighbourhood. The tamer recalled him mentioning something about a little bit of rain not getting in the way of keeping his tamer safe.
"Sorry Ren, but I think you underestimated the weather gods on this occasion."
He was a bit concerned that the digimon hadn't returned when the rain started getting heavier, but he also knew Ren could take care of himself.
He continued browsing for another 20 minutes.
—
"Man, still no good deals on under-"
A strange smell stopped him mid-thought, with his face scrunching up in confusion as he tried to figure out what it was..
"...why can I smell wet dog?"
Part of him hoped his digimon had safely returned. But another part really didn't want to have to deal with a soaking wet digimon. He hesitantly called out.
"Ren?"
A noise from the bathroom caught his attention. He got up to investigate and found a trail of water leading from the back door to the bathroom. The bathroom door itself was closed and light was spilling out from beneath.
He knocked and called out again.
"...Ren?"
"I am in here, Tamer. Please do not come in."
"Why, what's happened?"
"I... would rather you not see me like this. It is... embarrassing."
It didn't take a detective to figure out this mystery.
"You're drenched, aren't you?"
The digimon's response was filled with defeat.
"Yes."
"Do you need help drying off?"
"No, I will..."
Ren paused, obviously assessing his situation, before giving another defeated response.
"...yes please. A towel would be appreciated."
"Alright, give me a sec."
He went to the hall cupboard and grabbed a few towels, before returning to the bathroom.
He had to stifle a laugh as he entered.
"Oh, Ren, you poor bugger."
Ren stood over the bath, wringing water out of his tail. He had hung his gloves and new trunks over the shower screen to dry out. The fur of his tail and mane were flattened against him.
In short, he looked miserable.
The digimon gave a sullen glance over to his tamer before focussing back on his tail.
The tamer decided now was not the time for 'I told you so's.
"Alright, let's get you dry."
He grabbed the top towel and left the other on the vanity. He wrapped it around Ren's shoulders and began drying the sodden digimon.
As the towel began to dampen, he noticed how cold it was. He stopped and touched a hand to Ren's arm. It was similarly cold.
"Oh man, Ren... you're freezing!"
"It was rather cold outside."
"You need to get warmed up or you're gonna catch a cold."
"I would not worry. Digimon are creatures of data, so we are not suscep... suscep... s-AH-CHOO!"
"Riiiight. Maybe in the digital world, but here you gotta take care of yourself. Look, why don't you hop in the shower? That'll warm you up."
The digimon did not look pleased at the idea of getting even wetter, but reluctantly agreed.
"I suppose warm and wet would be preferable to cold and wet."
"Yeah. Let me start the water."
He moved Ren's gloves and trunks across to the bath and started the shower.
"...alright, I'll leave you to it. Give me a yell when you're done and I'll help you dry off."
He turned to leave.
"Thank you, Tamer."
"No worries, my sodden friend."
It was probably for the best that the tamer didn't catch the dirty look his digimon was levelling at him after that comment.
—
The water ran for about ten minutes, before being shut off. The tamer was sitting on the couch when he heard Ren call out.
"Tamer... are you available to assist me?"
"Yeah, coming."
The sight as he entered was almost identical to the previous time, except Ren was dripping off in the shower, rather than the bath.
"Feeling a bit better?"
"Yes. Whilst it is still unpleasant being wet, I am no longer cold."
"Good. Let's dry you off before you chill out again."
The previous towel was mostly useless after the first attempt, so he grabbed the fresh one from the vanity and set to drying.
It didn't take long for the second towel to become soaked through.
"...ok, plan B. Time for my secret weapon."
He went to the vanity cupboard and pulled out said weapon, holding it up in a triumphant pose.
"...the HAIRDRYER!"
Ren stared at him with an unamused look.
"Does posing assist in drying me?"
"Huh? Of course it does. That's like the most important part."
A skeptical look replaced the unamused one, but Ren declined to comment further.
"...oh, don't give me that look, you fun-spoiler. Alright, let's fire it up."
He plugged it in and turned it on. It took a moment, but eventually the air warmed up. He started wafting it across Ren's fur.
The digimon stood there, letting the tamer work, but soon became frustrated at the lack of progress.
"I think 'firing it up' was a bit optimistic, Tamer. It seems this is going to take some time."
It was the tamer's turn to look defeated.
"Yeah. I normally don't bother with a hairdryer, see..."
He pointed to the short hair on his own head, which paled in comparison to the amount of fur Ren had.
"...so I didn't think I needed to buy a decent one."
"Hrmm..."
"Alright. Plan C. You take this and keep drying. I'll see what else I can find."
He handed the hairdryer to Ren and went to search for something else to dry the digimon.
Left alone, Ren continued wafting the feeble stream of warm air over himself, before muttering.
"Well, this tool certainly sucks."
His tamer's voice drifted through from down the hall.
"I heard that, Ren."
The digimon's response was clearly flustered.
"Well, it... it... it does a very poor job."
The tamer came back carrying a fan heater.
"Yeah, well... it's not meant for someone covered in 20 tonnes of dripping wet fur."
"That is a gross exaggeration."
"Alright, alright... 19 tonnes."
"Grrr."
Being soaking wet had apparently left Ren short of patience for the tamer's antics.
"He-he... chill Ren... or actually, don't. Let's try this."
He plugged in the heater and turned it on. It also took a moment to warm up, but the volume of air it was blowing was a noticeable improvement.
However, it wasn't exactly designed as a handheld device. The tamer decided to set it on the vanity and let Ren manage himself.
With a proper volume of hot air, the digimon's fur began to dry off. However, there was an unintended side effect.
Ren's fur had fluffed up massively.
Once again the tamer had to hold in a laugh.
"Lookin' good there, furball."
"Hmm? What do you mean, Tamer?"
He directed Ren's attention to the mirror on the vanity.
Ren turned to look, expression dropping in horror at his current state.
"What?! Tamer, what is this? The drying has made my fur all... poofy."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you blowdry stuff."
"How do I fix it?!"
"I guess you'll need to brush it down. But I'm pretty sure I don't have anything suitable for that. Afraid you're stuck looking like that for now."
The digimon stared at his reflection in defeat, still not believing his predicament.
The tamer had a sudden thought, remembering something he kept in the vanity.
"...oh, wait... you could try this. Might take a bit of time though."
He pulled a cheap plastic comb out of the drawer and offered it to Ren.
The digimon let out a depressed whine.