chapter one: cuddle. // open //

As the boy reported that his affiliation was indeed infinity I felt my mind slow its pace. Was I more worried of him being Oblivion that I realized? Never mind that I suppose. "That's good. I would hate to have to fight you one day." As I finished my statement I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. I glanced over briefly and saw the waitress delivering out tray of food to us with almost perfect form. She set our meals on the table as well as my extra glass of lemonade, the scent of the dishes wafting to my nose smelling rather rich and fine. With a bow the woman departed for further work and I returned my attention to the boy as I picked up a piece of silverware.

He voiced his concern over being able to associate with the opposing team. I felt my muscles begin moving voluntarily as I merely shrugged in response. "Not especially. My digimon would make a fuss though." I poked my tortellini and swirled it among the sauce to allow it to be submerged in flavor. It is not my place to say what is right and wrong however I personally did not see the problem. Din insisted that I make keep Oblivion members in my line of sight and to make a clear distinction of them being enemies and not friends. Nayru on the other hand encouraged me to be open with others until they give me reason for otherwise. It was a headache. I figure it is best not to sugarcoat the situation.

"It is simply how the game is played. We are split apart to raise the competitiveness of the game and while we are allowed to make friends with testers from the other team, it is both our goals to win." I lifted my fork and placed the pasta gently into my mouth to eat. The pasta was rather succulent and as expected the flavor is rather rich. Delightful. Nevertheless as I chewed and swallowed the delicacy, I figure I must address the bad blood thought. "It is not all horrid however." I lowered my fork and make eye contact, staring into his golden brown eyes. How did I not notice this color previously? It was quite curious.

"Just the other day I met this Oblivion girl who was rather nice so I cannot say that meeting testers from the other team is all bad." I removed my fingers lacing the silverware and moved my hand to the lemonade glass, taking great care not to topple anything. I lifted the glass to my lips and poured the contents to sweeten the flavors that melded in my mouth. The cold liquid felt rather refreshing after a day of shopping. As I finished I removed the glass from my lips and replaced it into its previous position. I thought back on the girl I had met through the BBS who had fought against me and forced me to allow my digimon to recover. As I had my mind drifted to the other Oblivion member that had replied to the BBS message and how arrogant they portrayed themselves to be. I bit my tongue to prevent my features from shifting to dissatisfaction and released as I alleviated my mindset. "However I have also run across more cross types of players from Oblivion so be careful who you hang around with." I chuckled to alleviate any tension I may have created on the subject. Again who was I to say all this. "Then again I cannot tell you what you can and should do."

Was it me or was something off? My eyes glanced upwards to watch the male as he began slicing into the beef wellington, listening to his words with mild interest. I cannot figure out what was off yet. No matter I suppose. "I do not think there is a prize. It is more of a winning over others is fun type of deal. A sense of accomplishment so to speak." My hand gripped the fork that I placed down so I may continue to eat the tortellini. I noticed that afterwards I had begun to prod the pasta on my plate to assure myself of the moisture and texture of it. Force of habit I suppose. I was more concerned about how to explain, not that I knew much better anyway. "Similar to how others play board games against each other for fun. You do not win anything however the competitiveness makes it reasonably fun."

I finally took a final push into one and lifted it to my mouth to eat. I cannot say it is amazing however I can say that I have had far worse. Thus I will consume this without complaint. No reason to become spoiled or picky on what I eat, especially if someone else is paying. As I swallowed I pressed my fork into another but this time to slice one in half. "Then again I am not sure how closely we are to follow the design of the game. We are just beta testers after all." I should stop messing with my food before Bunny here decides that something is wrong with me. "I don't truly look deeply into stereotypes between our teams however I can see what you are saying. Aside from that one girl, I cannot see much of a reason to disagree with it."

As the boy stated that he appreciated the advice and would follow it, I felt a smirk poke at my lips. Most people rarely take my advice so seriously, however it appears that since I am the only one that has apparently offered I should not think too much of it. "You will be fine. It's just a game and not even a real one yet considering it is in beta." I took a halfhearted stab into a slice of mushroom and once again placed the food between my lips to eat. It was much easier eating it in bits and pieces like this. "Remember I'm new at this too and I'm not too huge on the digimon thing."

Now that I think on it, perhaps I should exchange contact info with this guy. If we were to ever need to help each other then that would be a good idea. "Tell you what, I'll give you my d-terminal number. That way if you run into trouble in game you can reach me." I paused. That would also mean our Digimon could meet up. I mean I get they were digital pets but I should consider not dragging them around everywhere on a whim. Or not. I doubted that Din or Farore would mind much regardless. Nayru would only put up slight resistance but would agree to it since she enjoyed the occasional conversation with other digimon. "That or if you ever want to hang out and have our digimon meet up too."

The boy appeared rather complacent with my explanation which is good. It meant that I was doing something that sounded reasonable. Nevertheless I broke my eye contact as to take another bite of my tortellini right as the male began to speak. He explained why he did not take much to the team idea and I understood why. If I had the option I would have not chosen a team at all and run solo. However I would say my reasons were quite different from what Bunny stated. His answer merely appeared to me as a childish answer not that I would say that out loud. I was quite fine with the responsibility, I simply was not much of a team player if I was not running the show. In this case it could not be helped. "I see." I lifted my fork to spear the pasta for another bite before I realized that I was consuming this quite swiftly. At this I glanced over to Bunny's meal to see if I was the only one.

Regardless I had placed down my fork and picked up the napkin nearby to wipe my lips delicately of any remaining food. Afterwards I placed the napkin down and reestablished eye contact. I should say something. "You will get used to it. I will admit I'm not used to it either. Too used to running on my own." I paused after I said that. I suppose I did not have much of a choice on that one. I was always expected to do everything on my own. My parents were never around and the help in the household were not helpful with these types of things. Now that I thought on it, perhaps I am too used to being alone rather than a team player. I suppose that is why the digimon were appealing as they were essentially pets in a getaway world where I could spend time with them. I cannot deny that they appeared to be not used to working together either.

Amusingly enough Bunny broke me from those thoughts as he stated that he believed he was the only one unfamiliar with these Digimon which was laughable. I was not aware up until the point I heard of this game. Or perhaps I was and merely paid it no mind which was essentially the same thing. That as well as the fact that he called these things Diginoms as if they were some sort of cereal brand was priceless. Nevertheless instead of bursting into laughter I managed to control myself by steeling my facade. Thus I chose to simply nod in acknowledgement and move on. "Yeah. It is best not to worry yourself." After all, I did not. Even so I had no doubt that I would end up on the winning team. Din would make sure of that.

Then came the exchange of numbers. Pleasant. With this the male could contact me anywhere in game which while convenient she also hoped it would not be tiresome as if I handed of my cell number. Perhaps it would not be abused however. It would only suffice as a means to communicate within the game after all. In turn I made a mental note of the male's number as he stated it and nodded in understanding. It was a good thing my memory was not as faulty as what I make it out to be half the time. He swiftly followed with a quip about cuddling and another beautiful statement to which I shook my head at. "Aren't you a charmer?" I questioned jokingly though my voice was touched with slyness. Now what was the number. "My number is 4242. Quite simple to remember." Only reason I was able to bring it up from the top of my head. He had voiced how he doubted he would be able to help much and I could not help but think the same way but no matter. "The same goes for me, about being able to help and all. As I said I am new to this type of thing as well." Just as I was to say more the waitress appeared once again from the corner of my eyesight. I took this time to place my utensil down and leaned away from the table to signal that I was finished with my meal just as the woman placed the lean black cover that held the check for our meal upon the table.

I was not going to bother to check the book on how much our meal cost. It was not my responsibility. Bunny stated he would pay and by all means he would pay. It was a good experience either way and despite any cost it was likely I may attend this establishment again. Nevertheless my eyes remained on the younger male and part of me wondered if he was going to react negatively. I suppose only time will tell.

As Bunny commented when I stated I ran alone quite frequently, I glanced away and took a sip of my lemonade. The sweetness of the beverage had managed to take my mind off of the subject at hand quite easily to my surprise. There was not much I wished to say on the subject or elaborate on. In fact I was quite grateful when the subject shifted swiftly. I watched as the male took his final bite of his beef wellington and was rather curious of the quality of it but chose not to ask yet as he had taken it upon himself to pick up the black booklet.

I kept my eyes on his face to watch for any signs of chance. There was no reaction to the bill however. Whether it be a sigh, a gasp, or a raise of the brow none of those reactions were present which made me question the situation slightly. I did not expect for this guy to have deep pockets due to his reaction when I asked about the wellington earlier, however perhaps I was wrong. He is a foreigner after all. Perhaps they did not have that where he lived in America. Or perhaps this establishment was quite inexpensive after all. I suppose it was of no concern to me. As long as he was able to pay. Soon enough he closed the black booklet that held the check and placed it to the side for the server to retrieve to which I raised a brow at.

Did he pay? I saw him open the book and see the check however I did not see him retrieve any wallet of some sort. Did I merely miss this action? My vision blackened for a second as my eyes blinked at the sound of a chair sliding against the ground. I followed him with my eyes as I attempted to piece together what was going on around me. Before I could question him for more information however, he had swiftly taken my hand and prompted me to follow suit as he tugged me along to keep his pace. It was a rather bold move. I had barely gotten a hold of my bags with my free hand when he had done so. However I felt a light gasp escape my lips as I was whisked away from my seat towards the exit, my eyes glancing back over my shoulder in the process to eye the black booklet. The server had yet to come retrieve it and we had not waited a moment longer for her return thus it was safe to assume a credit card was not used. Did he use hard cash to pay? For one reason or another my mind refused to accept the likelihood of this. Along with how he was pulling me away, I was in shock.

Regardless one way or another I was taken out of the restaurant establishment and down the street by Bunny's whim. My pace quickened to keep up as to not appear helplessly pulled along with the man. That would not be a good image for me to have. Nevertheless he spoke once more and without missing a step had looked back to me with a question. I cannot tell if he was truly inquiring or using it as a cover up. I suppose I will not concern myself with trivial details however. I will discover the truth sooner or later if it was truly so important. "I do not mind either way however I think I have seen quite enough of the city for one day." That and I wished to check up on Nayru and the others. I wondered if they had fully recovered yet from their fight and I was more than curious enough to allow myself to venture into the game even after a shopping trip. I doubted it however. If healing injuries was anything like it was in the real world, I would require patience. It was a trait that both me and Din lack I think. I had then realized that might affect what Bunny would do and I shook my head. "But do not let me stop you from further exploring if you wish."