Ben10 & Digimon Tamers

Heroes and Humanity

Part 02: Humanity and Heroes

A Dream Deferred – Chapter 110

Originally Written: Wednesday, September 6, 2023 1029AM to 1114AM

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A/N: I am sick as a dog right now, so I apologize for the afternoon update. I think a little over a month was more than enough time for the site to fix up its server issues. Hopefully I'm making the right call. Thank you for your patience!

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"Gah! Geeze man!" Swamps jumped back as he nearly bumped into Jenrya on his way out the room.

"Sorry!" Jenrya laughed in amusement as he shifted out the way with a skip in his step, and a smile on his face.

Albedo chuckled. Once again, he found himself jealous of just how much sway the Tennyson family had over certain sects of the Plumbers. Either Gwendolyn herself or working alongside Jeri, managed to get Albedo moved to a room closer to Hugh and to an area that wasn't so desolate and bare.

According to Jeri, the room would be larger, and a good deal more decorative. More like an actual room, and less like a containment pod. According to Gwendolyn the formal reasoning was that he needed to start properly practicing maintaining his physical form. There was potential that since he was in a confined space as his containment vat, he wasn't fully comprehending the danger he was in subconsciously. She would still be by his side, but it was time to take the training up a notch.

Albedo wasn't sure if he minded. He hadn't minded the other room. Many of his newfound friends could visit him, and Hugh was on the mend, albeit a bit slower than he would have liked. He could admit he was tired of staring at computers and doctors all day. He still couldn't hold anything, or eat much. Both were situations that prevented him from doing much. Watching television never really entertained him, even if he was watching something educational or the news. Things Azmuth always scolded him for not keeping up with, even though the galvan didn't much himself to begin with.

Mostly Albedo had spent a lot of his time thinking. Gwendolyn called it mediating. He preferred thinking. There was a calm that washed over him with the end of his nightmare saga. His mind processed things and caught up on much needed rest. Occasionally Doctor Matilda Iris visited him, but the sessions were short, as neither were comfortable having an entire therapy session in front of so many strangers. Dr. Iris said both were good for him.

So he sat in his little containment vat, watching the world around him continue on without him. He blinked, and shook his head. Azmuth told him that once. No matter what accomplishments one made, once they were gone, the universe would continue on without them, as though they never existed to begin with. The only thing remaining would be those accomplishments and whatever impact they made, if any.

"Back again?" He asked

"Your room, Fridge's room, my room and the mess hall are the only places I'm allowed to go." Swamps watched Jenrya walk down the hall. He entered the room, Kirito following behind him. Albedo watched the two with a mild curious expression. Did Kirito always guard Swamps now?

"He was hiding," Kirito spoke, with a trill of amusement in their voice. "and ran right into the individual he was trying to hide from."

Swamps spun around really quickly and pointed an accusatory finger at her. "No, I wasn't! I was trying to find a different change of scenery."

Kirito smiled, and took a seat by the doorway. They took out a different book, and started reading. "Ah, my mistake."

Somehow, they both managed to ignore the doctors still running tests on Albedo and gathering data they wouldn't understand anytime soon. Probably due to there being less doctors than before. Albedo felt like they were getting bored, or were losing motivation.

"Why are you avoiding Jenrya?" Albedo wasn't sure if he raised an eyebrow, as his anodite form didn't have them still, but it felt like he did.

"I'm not avoiding Henry." Swamps looked around the room, focusing on looking at anything besides himself and Kirito. "No Gwen today?"

"She is on her lunch break." He continued looking at Swamps. "She'll be back within the hour." Juggernaut chose that moment to tell him he was holding steady at ninety-eight percent energy remaining. "And don't let her hear you call her 'Gwen'."

Swamps huffed. "Fine, whatever." He walked over to the containment vat and leaned in close. He spoke, but Albedo shook his head, no longer able to hear him.

Behind him, Kirito pressed one of the many buttons activating a speaker so Albedo could hear him. "...He keeps looking at Swamps in an odd fashion."

Swamps turned to look at them. They shrugged their shoulders, and pointed to the keypad the Plumber's electricians recently hooked up to his 'room'.

"His quarters are air tight, remember? He cannot hear you." Kirito explained.

Swamps chuckled.

Albedo waited for them to get themselves better situated. Some would say that the silence would disturb them. Albedo found it very calmly, yet he couldn't discern why.

"Can ya hear me, now?" Swamps leaned in quite close to the microphone.

Albedo winced at the volume. If anodites had cells, he would say that he felt the sound vibrating through them. "Yes. You can back away from it slightly."

"Oops. Sorry."

"It's alright." He waved a hand, mana swirled around it in faint wisps. "What's this about you and Jenrya?"

"Well, hadn't seen him since Ryo's dad grabbed him and the others. He started visiting again a few days ago, 'cept now he's looking at me weird whenever we see each other. I don't think you would know why or anything." Swamps folded his arms. "It's weird, ya know?"

Albedo shook his head, "You could always just ask him?"

Swamps took a long moment to reply. "The way you're looking at me, I feel like ya know why, and I feel like I ain't gonna like what he wants to know."

"I did tell him to wait for you to come to him, yes." Albedo replied. His gaze shifted so he was looking more at his mana than anywhere else in the room. His vision blurred as he focused on it, but his overall focus on the area around him remained sharp as it always had been.

"Aw man, it's that, ain't it?" Swamps' shoulders slumped. "I hate explaining it. He's not just looking at me, but other 'not-humans' are lookin' at me too."

"Is anyone else bothering you?" A hand trailed down Justimon's scarf, making sure the item was still there.

"Their looks always bother me, but looking ain't no crime. Ain't nothing for me to do but keep being used to it." Swamps shrugged.

"Let me know if they start."

Swamps blinked, and smiled softly. "Righty-o...I'll talk to him later, then. Might as well get it over with. By the way, why do people keep saying you're naked or you were naked like you're being scandalous or something?"

"For a time, I was technically…undressed in this form. …" A rush of mana filled his face and head. He pressed a hand to his cheek in curiosity. "Someone felt the need to loudly inform me…Word has spread." He looked at his reflection in the glass. A blue violet blush filled in his cheeks. He shook his head.

"Okay, but what's wrong with not wearing anything? It's comfy." Swamps shrugged, speaking more like he was talking to himself.

Albedo looked at him with a bland expression. "You are a tree. You can get away with it."

"Humans are weird, man. The amount of times I saw someone give someone else a plant's genitals as a gift, but someone shaped like them wearing nothing struts on by? Nuh uh, they ain't having it."

Albedo and Swamps laughed.

"Here, just have these flowers? Ain't they pretty?" Swamps leaned up against the glass as he laughed. "Could not be me."

"Cultures are fascinating aspects of society sometimes, aren't they?" Albedo looked at his mana, his vision blurring.

"Heh, yea." Swamps turned around and leaned his back on the glass. The doctors looked at him in concern, but he didn't pay them much mind. "Oh yea, Rika said Frigga just happened to plan a vacation over here. They gotta get through all the bureaucracy tape first, but when that's done, they'll come see ya."

Albedo focused on Swamps' breathing which he could barely hear through the speaker above him. "I would like that."

He remembered how annoyed he was when the trio dragged him off, back to West Shinjuku without even asking him. When he thought about what would have happened to him if they hadn't done so, he could only picture Albedo Prime in his mind.