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Gogglebox

Takato slouched lower in his chair, tired despite not having even started the task he had originally sat down to do. It wasn't that he hadn't tried, as proven by the paper and various pencils scattered across his desk. The assignment had him second guessing himself every time he attempted to start it.

"Drawing yourself shouldn't be this hard," Takato groaned into his hands.

"Do you need me to hold the mirror for you?" Guilmon asked as he approached the desk.

"That's not really the issue." Takato sat up straighter. "I'm just kinda lost as to what I should draw."

The prompt seemed pretty straightforward on the surface. His instructor wanted the class to complete self portraits, with the only restrictions being they had to be performing an activity and that activity couldn't be related to drawing. Takato figured these rules were meant to encourage creativity and self reflection, though he wondered if his current identity crisis was also an intended part of it.

Takato glanced at his computer, which currently had a window open to Henry's D-Chat program. After logging in and seeing who was online, he thought it would have been helpful to get some fresh opinions on the matter. Progress was a little slow at the moment.

Davis: I still say you should just draw a picture of Gallantmon.

Takuya: Didn't he just say he didn't want to do that?

Davis: Yeah, but it's still an option.

The conversation had been going in circles like this for a few minutes now. Some different ideas were thrown around, but none of them felt right to Takato. It was getting to the point where he worried he was being too picky and was deliberately wasting his friends' time.

Tai: You never explained why you didn't want to go with that.

Takato started and stopped typing his response a couple times, not being entirely sure how to summarize his thoughts. Partly was the simple fact that Gallantmon was representative of himself and Guilmon, meaning that this didn't feel like the answer to his current problem. He also wasn't comfortable with the image of himself that going this route presented. The last thing Takato wanted to do was make himself out to be some kind of hero or savior to the rest of the class. He didn't consider himself to be anything of the sort, and definitely not any more so than the rest of his friends.

Takato: It just doesn't feel right.

Davis: Not sure why. You give me this assignment, and I wouldn't hesitate to draw myself on Raidramon's back.

Tai: The reason is Takato's ego isn't half the size of yours.

Takuya: Maybe you just have to look at this from a different perspective.

Davis: Such as?

Takuya: Not sure. Was kinda hoping Tai would swing in with a suggestion.

The chat went quiet, all of them likely waiting to see if Tai came up with anything. No response came, however, leaving Takato a little disappointed. While he respected and wanted Davis and Takuya's opinions, he would have been lying if he claimed he hadn't logged in looking for Tai's advice. Maybe simply due to the experience that came with being the oldest of the four of them, Tai seemed to have an innate ability to say the thing Takato needed to hear when he was stuck on something.

"They mean well, at least," Takato said softly as he scrolled up and down through the chat, hoping that maybe something that was said previously would become some kind of inspiration.

Takato glanced to his right, not necessarily expecting Guilmon to still be paying attention though still curious where his attention was. He found his partner with a single claw on his chin and his eyes locked on the computer screen.

"Something on your mind, boy?" Takato asked.

"Just thinking..." Guilmon turned away from the screen to face Takato. "You normally don't have this much trouble when you draw me or the others."

Takato knew that Guilmon was right, and even had the stacks of drawings and rough sketches to prove it. Off in a corner were three particular pieces, each of one of the three individuals he was conversing with right at that moment. Having only met them in person the one time, Takato had mainly based them on his impressions of them from their conversations while testing the D-Chat over the last couple months.

Takuya's sat on top of the pile, being the most recently completed. In it, he sat with his feet up on his desk while spinning a soccer ball between his fingers. Slightly younger than the rest of them, he gave off a more laid back demeanor, or at least that was what Takato had been trying to capture. Sunlight came in through a window, causing Takuya to cast a shadow in the shape of Agunimon, the Legendary Warrior of Fire whose spirit Takuya had been partnered with. Takato had been particularly proud of this last bit, thinking of it as a fun way to highlight Takuya's unique connection to the Digital World.

Next was Davis, a drawing that Takato had had some fun with. Davis stood up at his desk, talking at and basically shouting into his computer screen. A grin was plastered across his face, to show he did so more out of enthusiasm rather than obnoxiously, because that was basically who Davis was. His optimism was infectious, coming across even through text on a computer screen. The scene's final touch was DemiVeemon, who sat next to the keyboard while looking up at his partner with a curious look on his face.

Lastly was Tai, the drawing that had started this exercise in the first place. Tai leaned forward, chin resting on the palm of one hand while the other hovered just above the keyboard. He was ready and attentive, while still somewhat relaxed. Again, Tai was the oldest and most experienced of them and he carried that with him, but never used these traits to hold himself above his friends. Agumon completed the piece, standing on his tip-toes with claws holding the edge of the desk, eagerly trying to get a view of what was happening on the computer screen.

"Sorry, Takato," Guilmon said, drawing his attention back to the present. "I can't think of anything."

Another thought crashing into Takato's head kept him from responding to Guilmon's apology. He had been spending so much time looking outward and trying come up with an answer that he never considered trying to look from the outside-in and try to approach the assignment the same way he did the drawings on the desk. Before he could ask Guilmon whether or not he intentionally meant to give this advice, a new message appeared on screen.

Tai: Sorry, my keyboard spazzed out on me.

Davis: I thought Izzy Tai-proofed your whole computer.

Tai: Haha.

Tai: I just had a thought, Takato. Maybe you should try looking at this from the outside-in. Like, how would you approach this if you were drawing anyone else?

A small smile tugged at Takato's mouth. It was at least reassuring to know that Tai's brain went to the same place his did. He leaned forward to return to his keyboard.

Takato: That makes sense. The thing is I never really think much of it. I just kinda follow my instincts.

The same doubts as earlier started to come back up as well. This whole approach still hinged on how he looked at himself, and Takato worried about trusting his own judgment. Once more, he reminded himself this was likely the point of doing a self portrait.

Davis: Sounds like you need a second opinion.

Takuya: Isn't that what this whole conversation is about?

A pause in the chat followed, which soon became clear was due to Davis typing out his whole response.

Davis: What I mean is Takato said he does this by instinct. Maybe he's just thinking about this too much. Yeah, we talk on here a bit, but we only know him so well. I think he should just pick someone he trusts and just go with what they say.

Takato could feel his part of brain getting ready to start running in circles, to try and figure out who would be best to ask for help here. He managed to cancel this out, however, simply by glancing to his right one more time.

"Hey, Guilmon," Takato began as he put his thoughts together. "What do you think of when you think of me? Like, what's the first thing that comes to mind?"

Guilmon stayed quiet at first, instead resuming his "thinking pose" from earlier. A few seconds passed before he lifted his head to face Takato.

"Bread."

"What do you mean by that?" Takato asked curiously, knowing from experience not to dismiss his partner's thoughts until after he explained himself.

Guilmon smiled. "When I used to live in the shed, you never forgot to bring me food, even though you were afraid of Mom and Dad finding out about me. You're kinda like that with everyone. Always thinking of them first."

Takato let Guilmon's words sink in. Even putting self doubt aside, he needed a moment to figure out how he could translate them. After that moment passed, however, an image popped into his head.

The image was years old, during the very earliest days of his time as a Tamer. In front of the utility shed, Takato sat with Guilmon at his side, with day-old bread in hand as Guilmon excitedly accepted it.

Takato's mind jumped back to the parameters of the assignment, unable to come with any rules that specifically said he couldn't include anyone else in the finished product. Forgetting the rules, though, it was a drawing of Guilmon that had forever changed his life all those years ago, so including him in a portrait of this nature only felt right.

"What would I do without you?" Takato asked as he smiled himself.

Guilmon gave an enthusiastic shrug. "Probably fight less Digimon."

Takato laughed under his breath and returned to his keyboard.

Takato: Thanks, guys! This really helped!

Davis: No problem!

Takuya: Wow, did Davis actually give good advice?

Tai: Yep, he did.

Tai: Also, Takato, don't be so hard on yourself with stuff like this in the future. Next time you're busy seeing the best in everyone else, maybe project some of that inward.

Takato typed a quick response to say he would try his best before leaning back to gather up the supplies he needed to finally start his homework. He kept the chat window open as he worked, however, glancing at it every so often as the conversation continued without him. After all, a support group worked both ways.

Author's Note:

And with that, we have the last "D-Chat focused" chapter of this story. They're fun in their own way, but they're also more a leftover byproduct of my mindset when I started this story. When I decided to do a slice-of-life collection in the place of a proper next entry in this series, I wanted a way to maintain a sense of continuity for if/when I did return to something more story-focused. Obviously things change, and stuff like non-fanfic projects, motivation, and a couple personal hurdles have led to the limbo state of all the stories listed on my profile.

What does all this mean though?

For one, I would like to (at the very least) finish this story. 26 chapters has always been my goal, give or take, and I do still want to wrap up a couple of the threads going on here before I call it quits.

Not that I'm necessarily saying I'm abandoning ship once this story is marked as "COMPLETE", mind you. Part of me would like to take a shot at writing "Volume 3", even if it doesn't feel practical to think about right now. Still, a unique problem to that story is indecisiveness, as I've considered no less than three different ideas for it, each notably different from the last. It's on my mind, even if nothing is likely to change in the near future.

Why write out this whole note then? I kinda just wanted put down where my thoughts are at right now. It helps me to process things, and doubles as an update in the off chance anyone was curious what I've been up to.