estoria | [OPEN] If I'm to be your Camera

Entry tags:

hikari yagami

[OPEN] If I'm to be your Camera

Who:

thislittlelightofmine (featuring Tailmon) & OPEN
When: IC: late october-ish
Where: Shopping District
What: Having some afternoon bubble tea while recovering from a recent wave of ceres-induced paranoia
Rating/Warning: None to start. Will update if necessary.

"...Hikari?"

The young girl glanced up from the object in her hand to look over at her digimon companion. Tailmon was sitting in the adjacent chair, a half-eaten rice ball in her hands. On the table between them was a cold turkey sandwich and a tall glass of bubble tea. Milk tea flavored.

"Hmm?" Recognizing the look of concern on Tailmon's face, she forced a weak smile and shook her head. "It's alright. The paranoia...it's gone now. I think. I definitely feel better than I did before."

"Are you sure?"

She hesitated. Thinking it over. Instead of an answer, however, she glanced back down at her CereVice. During her younger years in Cerealia, she'd purchased a Camera. It was no small coincidence that photography would grow to be one of her favorite hobbies upon their return home, and right then was no question.

"I got some good pictures today." She changed the subject, tilting her screen just enough for Tailmon to better see. "What do you think?"

Tailmon looked. And she thought...of a question: "How come you never take any pictures of yourself?"

Surprised, Hikari's eyebrows rose. Lips silently parting for a moment. In the end, she could only chuckle sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders. It would have been easy enough to explain how she needed to be behind the camera in order to frame the shot...but there were ways. She'd seen other people use such techniques before.

Which meant, in the end...she didn't have an answer. Not one she was ready to vocalize aloud.

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It was nice that the elemental effects had worn off; Eiji felt a lot more level-headed in the past couple of weeks, compared to a few weeks before, and his inclination to do stupid things was back to the normal amount.

Unfortunately for him, that number is higher than zero.

He recognized Tailmon--or thought he did, anyway--talking with a vaguely unfamiliar girl in the shopping district. And given the last time he saw Hikari, she was a little girl, he turned to Ankh and asked, "Isn't that Hikari's partner? I'm kind of surprised she's out here without her."

Ankh had seen Hikari since she came back, so for him, the scene before them wasn't a surprise. Actually, Eiji's comment was the most surprising thing about it, and he looked over at him with an incredulously raised eyebrow. Then he gestured to the girl.

"Who's that, then?" It was the tone that said Eiji was being a moron for not having already figured out the answer to that question.

The pair's voices soon drew Hikari's attention, and she looked up and over at them. Eiji's face wasn't immediately familiar to her, though she thought she recognized him. But the boy beside him, she did recognize. Almost immediately

Tailmon, too, tensed as her instincts went on full alert.

"Ah!" Hikari let out an exclamation of surprise. Her face broke out into a wide smile, and Tailmon altered her gaze between the three for a moment before relaxing. "Ankh-san!"

Eiji followed Ankh's line of sight to the girl, then watched her smile and greet him back. It took probably longer than Ankh would have liked before he put it together.

"But she..." Then turned toward Hikari. "You...I thought you..."

Give him a minute before he can form full sentences.

Sometimes Eiji was extremely perceptive. Other times...

He gave Hikari a brief glance in acknowledgement, then turned back to Eiji with that same skeptical look. He didn't say a word, at least not until Eiji started putting it together and coming up with fumbling half-sentences.

"She went home. Time doesn't match up between there and here." It had been a while since Ankh got to be this smug about knowing things Eiji didn't.

It took slightly less time for Hikari to fit the puzzle pieces together.

She rose from her chair just enough to step around the table, offering a slight nod of her head in full greeting towards both of them. Her expression had since taken on a look of curiosity. Interest. She watched them both carefully. Not just the way they interacted with one another--(in truth, that look Ankh sent his friend reminded her a bit of her and Takeru's respective brothers' interactions)--but also the way they had been looking at her.

"You...know me too." She finally realized, looking at Eiji specifically. His name still escaped her, but... "I remember. We spoke before. The first time I was here."

By this point, Eiji just wanted to go die in a hole. So him actually being addressed was not leading to much in the way of second impressions.

"Yes, we...well, you were, and I thought..."

He was seconds away from apologizing, but for "looking like a tremendous idiot," he was probably better off staying quiet.

Ankh just watched the exchange, not having anything to really add. He wasn't about to try to cover for Eiji being stupid... but at least he wasn't going to make it worse, either.

It was then that Hikari gave a sheepish smile of her own, bowing her head slightly.

"I'm sorry. I know...my coming back after a few years seems to have caused a lot of confusion for people."

"Uh, it's okay. Really."

There, something coherent. Eiji was just going to smile, nod, and be quiet now.

Thanks for all the help, Ankh.

You're welcome, idiot.

Of course, Ankh was just going to be quiet for now, too. He wasn't planning on stopping and talking to begin with, so don't look at him to come up with something else to talk about that's not awkward.

His silence didn't bother her quite so much, being a quite person herself. And with Eiji obviously feeling a bit embarrassed over something she would have sooner blamed herself than him for (some habits just don't go away after a mere three years)...

"Would you two like to sit?" She gestured towards empty seats at her table. Tailmon showed no signs of abdicating her spot next to Hikari, but that still left two vacancies. "We were having lunch."

"...I guess." Because this was one thing he could manage to do without looking like a complete moron. Maybe.

"...So, I guess I missed a lot."

Eiji certainly did miss a lot as far as Hikari was concerned. So did Ankh, and he was sure he hadn't been filled in on everything, not that it really mattered. He'd just let Hikari say whatever she decided she wanted to that.

He took he up on the offer of sitting down, flopping into one of the empty seats. Perhaps less intended in that offer, he also helped himself to a bit of the lunch, grabbing the glass sitting close to the seat he landed in. What? The bubble tea looked good.

It did look good. So good, in fact, that after Hikari had ordered herself one, Tailmon insisted on getting a second for herself.

That second bubble tea just so happened to be the one Ankh took, earning him a very heated glare.

"You can order your own, you know. Right over there." Her claws flexed reflexively. A habit showing signs of annoyance rather than offense. Not yet; she had to play nice because she knew Hikari liked the guy. For reasons beyond her.

"Ankh, really?!"

Eiji was both aggravated and embarrassed--can he take you nowhere, Ankh?

"I'm really, really sorry about that--I'll buy you a new one, I promise!"

Another quick glare toward Ankh. This was not good behavior.

The real question would be why Eiji expected good behavior from Ankh in the first place. The only thing that surprised him about any of those reactions was getting the strongest one from the cat... meaning it was the cat's bubble tea he stole. Not that there was anything wrong with Tailmon but thanks to some other associations, the idea of sharing a drink with any kind of cat was more than a little offputting, and there was a slightly disgusted look before he replied with a characteristic "tch" and shoved it back at her.

"Fine, take it back." And just ignore the fact that he already drank some of it.

The sound Tailmon made in return was quite similar as she wrinkled her nose in disgust at the cup.

"No way. I'll get another."

Sensing some tension between the two, Hikari made an effort to speak up: "If...you wanted to try some, Ankh-san, you only had to ask. I wouldn't mind sharing."

(Granted, she would have asked him to not use the straw. He was far too old for her to be sharing an indirect kiss with....)

And in the middle of that, Eiji was dying of embarrassment.

"I'll pay for it, I promise. I'm sorry."

There might have been another glare Ankh's way, as if to say, "I'm okay with you just up and stealing my food, but please leave other people alone."

Ankh saw that glare, Eiji. And shrugged it off as usual. He was just going to sit there looking sulky and debating whether he wanted to touch that bubble tea he stole again considering it belonged to the cat.

"...you shouldn't have to pay for things other people do." Tailmon commented, her tone much calmer when addressing Eiji. Him, she didn't seem to mind so much. He seemed decent. Polite. Not a bubble tea thief. "But if it will make you feel better, I'll accept."

(It was good bubble tea.)

Again, Hikari spoke up. "So...what were you two doing here today? Shopping?"

"Still, I'm sorry." Because it wasn't like Ankh was going to pay for it. And for that matter, he bought one for Ankh too because he's not putting up with that sulk right now. It's your own fault, Ankh.

"Mostly just out to walk around. We'll probably pick up some food later for Gavina--Ankh's bird." Which was the best way to explain the hawk he'd stolen--she was very proud of being his and didn't like sharing all that much.

Then he turned back to Ankh. "If you like the tea, we can always pick some up to try to make back at the apartment."

There might have been a brief moment of surprise on Ankh's face when Eiji handed him another bubble tea. That was unexpected, and he wasn't quite sure whether to be touched or just smug that he got something out of that, after all. And he might let that expression linger just long enough for Eiji to catch it before settling on a smirk. The suggestion of getting some to make at home earned a vague nod. It seemed worthwhile.

"They've met Gavina," he pointed out casually before taking a sip of his new glass of bubble tea. Back when she was at the zoo. Though Hikari may not have known the part where Ankh took her home one day, unless she happened to notice Gavina wasn't at the zoo anymore and drew her own conclusion.

"Gavina..."

The name didn't ring any immediate bells, but Hikari did remember a previous encounter. At the zoo. Years ago.

"Oh! I remember. Your bird friend. A...hawk, was she?"

That hesitant expression and the smirk that followed it got a huge grin out of Eiji. Sometimes, he wasn't quite as much of an idiot after all.

He nodded. "Yeah, she's living with us now, ever since all the stuff shut down. It's kind of a long story." One that he didn't completely understand, mind you, but there were only so many things that Ankh did that he could get a decent explanation for.

And that grin earned a mild glare in reply.

It was a long story, and in all fairness, Ankh wasn't sure he understood it, considering it involved him forgetting things halfway through. He was pretty sure he hadn't planned on taking Gavina back home in the first place, but then she was there and she'd been there ever since. Not feeling like expanding further on that long story, all he added to that was a vague nod.

Hikari...wasn't entirely sure what was going on between the two of them with those contrasting expressions, but she couldn't help a silent giggle at the display.

"At least the story must have a happy ending. If she was fortunate enough to find a good home."

"Yeah. It's a little weird getting used to, but she seems to be doing fine."

Mind you, Eiji still wasn't sure where he stood in Gavina's eyes, considering how many times she tried to attack him at first. It was very hard when a bird was jealous of you for some reason.

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[OPEN] If I'm to be your Camera

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Sorry for so much delay

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