Shogo Tatsugami, Azumi Akaishi and DemiDevimon
Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None
“Hmm.” Considering what he’d already gleaned from the conversation and the angel’s manner, the little spark of anger lingering in the back of Shogo’s mind pushed him to cross-examine Dominimon as he bemoaned the apparent lack of enthusiasm for the cause. But between his host’s clear and seemingly sincere dejection and the incorrigible influence of the other little spark floating by him, he let it pass for now. “I won’t repeat myself, though I would recommend you not try the others’ patience.”
If nothing else, the bat-like creature seemed to have a very real bitterness towards him and whatever establishment he represented that extended beyond the simple gut reaction of anger at being uprooted without warning; while she struck him as someone who was difficult by nature, unwilling to exert themselves without immediate material benefit, as ever there was likely a story behind that. He looked at her, still wriggling in the short young woman’s grip: her words and Vigilemon’s pleas had convinced him to hear Dominimon out, but perhaps if he turned out unwilling or unable to give a good account, she’d do the honours?
Though, before then, he supposed he had something he should do. Vigilemon seemed mostly at ease now, so that gave him a moment to look around the others himself. And considering what had happened between them before...
“I, uh-” He scratched the back of his head as he addressed the woman holding the struggling Digimon, wracking his brains for something intelligent to say. No such luck. Might as well get on with it. “I’d like to apologize for snapping back there. It wasn’t fair and it didn’t help either of us.”
Busy as she was with treating DemiDevimon as a particularly intractable plushie, it took Azumi a second to even register that she was being spoken to, much less apologized to.
“Hah?” She blinked towards the man. God, he was formal. Salaryman, maybe? Azumi examined him for a second, head tilting. Nah, his shit was too nice for how young he was. Nepobaby, then. Explained the attempt at formality, at least.
God, it was too bad this wasn’t real life. Or a stream. Rich oilers hitting supas were the absolute lifeblood of her rent payments. Either way, if everything sounded right, the whole thing was made out to be like a RPG party anyways. Which meant they’d all be in close proximity to each other for however long. Better not to start shit and just make nice. Not that the whole thing bothered her anyway, but it was just worth more right now to not try and exploit or extort this guy.
“Ah, don’t worry about it~ We’re all a little high-strung right now, I think. Mr. Jesusface still hasn’t even told us if we get cheat skills!”“Even so-” Shogo began to respond, before that strange feeling of deja vu hit washed over him again. He was sure he’d remember meeting someone like this face to face; even some of his more
colourful friends from back in the day were practically restrained compared to the sudden unflappable manic energy pouring out of her. And yet, here he was, scratching his head.
He squinted, craning his neck to the side as he looked her up and down once more. Definitely not someone he’d met in person, whether socially or professionally. He wracked his brain for anything that could help beyond that. She’d changed up her attitude on a dime, going from hanging on by a thread to taking control of the situation; her current behaviour was clearly something of an act, but it came naturally, seemingly without being any more forced than putting on a mask. Some kind of entertainer? Besides the briefs he got from the media department, he did keep an eye on up-and-comings himself, if only for something he could put on to make long nights in the office a little less-
“
Wait.” His head snapped back upright as he spoke, as his mind finally made the connection between voice, cadence and parlance. It couldn’t be… but at the same time, in that moment it couldn’t be anything else.
“Did you throw to the big monkey for content or did you actually not know that was coming?” And he had one way to confirm it.
The question was so well within familiar territory that Azumi responded practically on autopilot, her voice pitching just slightly up in the way she spoke on stream.
“Hey, Veppi doesn’t int! Maybe she just sucks shit at games sometimes, you ever think of that, chatter- oh shit.” Azumi’s brain caught up to her mouth, and she clasped her hands over her lips, eyes wide.
“Uh…” She coughed, staring at Shogo. Well, nothing to it, then. Might as well go for the all-in play.
“If we make it home and you dox me, so help me god I’ll have fake receipts up about you on Twitter within the hour~”“Well, shit.” So it
was Vep. The way things were going, Shogo wouldn’t have been surprised if they did all end up getting some cheat skill like they were in a bottom-shelf light novel or webtoon: all that felt missing at this point was getting dropped in a medieval walled town.
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t be caught dead trying that.” Still, he couldn’t help but smirk a little. A streamer wasn’t exactly the type of person he’d have expected the higher powers of an apparently collapsing world to place their faith in to save them from destruction, but he supposed it made sense; even setting the cliche of an intrepid bard to the side, dedication and the ability to influence people was likely to be as important to whatever mission was intended for them as it was in their own world. “But if you want to be sure, just remember not to yab yourself by posting it on main.”
… Wait, speaking of yabs, had she-
The sudden outward eruption of leathery wings between himself and the young woman confirmed his suspicions. In the heat of the moment, she’d let go of DemiDevimon, the bat-like creature letting out a grunt of triumph before she clamoured out of Azumi’s grip and climbed up to her shoulders in the blink of an eye. The strength of that compact frame was now entirely apparent, talons firmly gripping Azumi’s shoulders and wings fanning out with such force as to make it evident she could have lifted her clean off of the ground with little effort.
“See how you like it, you little shit.” As before, though, even as DemiDevimon directed that withering glare downwards at Azumi it seemed oddly… restrained, compared to the torrent of vitriol she’d levied at Dominimon. Shogo couldn’t help but wonder if it hadn’t entirely been Vigilemon’s influence that had kept her from forcing herself out of the young woman’s grip; as she let out a ‘hmmph’ and tucked her wings back in, she seemed more interested in proving a point than paying her back.
“Awful lotta guts for Fangmon bait.”“Oof!” The little winged devil’s landing on her shoulders elicited a grunt of air from Azumi. Though…there wasn’t quite as much impact as she’d been expecting. What, were they both playing ball, then? If that was the case…
“Ahh, that’s nice~” She let a relieved sigh out after, making a show of rolling her shoulders.
“Who knew you doubled as a masseuse? The ol’ shoulders really do get a bit stiff after streaming for eight hours straight. Hey, can you get a bit lower down my shoulder blades? There’s a real stiff spot somewhere in the middle.”With that, she glanced back to Shogo, tilting her head. Alright, so this guy at least was watching her last stream. Was he a regular? A frequent chatter, or god forbid, a donator? Well, she ought to ask, really.
“So…what’s your name? Online and offline. You a regular in the chat? Akaishi Azumi IRL, by the way~” She gave a peace sign and a grin, recovering at least some of her previous devil-may-care attitude.
Shogo spared one last cautious glance at DemiDevimon, before likewise turning his attention back to Azumi. He wasn’t entirely sure it was wise to test her, but judging by the way in which the bat-like creature’s facial muscles seemed to slacken in nonplussed bemusement, maybe he was worrying too much.
“Tatsugami Shogo.” Once again, he wondered if it was wise to name himself so readily, especially considering Azumi’s apparent threats: but in the face of everything else, it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t intending to call her bluff, anyway. “I think I started following when you were playing through the Souls games, started commenting around the time you started playing III?” He was less sure about revealing his online handle, though. Some things were meant to be carried to the grave. “You know, where someone got you to-”
“What the fuck are you two gassing on about?” Perhaps fortunately, DemiDevimon took that moment to jam herself back into the conversation, renewing her glare at Azumi for a moment before shifting it quickly up to Shogo.
“Alright, you sound like you’re a big deal, wherever you’re from.” The look she was giving him wasn’t quite as severe as the one she’d hit Dominimon with, but he still couldn’t help but feel a little discomforted as those sharp, dark eyes peered into him. “I think I might as well expect feathers over there to give up the piss before I get any sense out of this one, so. Care to explain?”
Tatsugami? The name sounded familiar, as if she’d heard it somewhere before, but Azumi couldn’t quite pin down where. Oh, well. Wasn’t like it mattered here, anyway. Problems she could get around to whenever Google was available again.
She focused back on what Shogo said, tilting her head. 3, huh? Someone got her to…oh, right. That dickhead.
“I mean, the reaction clip diiiiid get a bunch of views. So it’s even! God, huh, I must’ve still been in high school when I did the Souls games for the first time…” Azumi trailed off before glancing back up at DemiDevimon.
“Naaaah, that’s me, clearly~” It was even true, from a certain point of view. She was breaking four digits somewhat regularly now.
“I’d rather not get into that, but…” Perhaps he should say something, considering how open Azumi was being about what up until now had been a closely-guarded secret. At the same time, though, immediately flaunting his position felt painfully like something the twins would do, especially if no-one had immediately clocked the significance of his name.
“Well, I do have
some influence, though I’d be lying if I said it was purely by merit.” He settled on a cautious half-answer, just enough to give her an idea without giving away anything that wasn’t relevant to the situation. “I try and do right by it, though I’ve probably given this one a small fortune to get her to do some kind of nonsense or another.”
“If we’re speaking hard truths… yeah, she probably
is a bigger deal than me.” It stung his ingrained pride a little, but not enough to show on his face. Credit where credit was due, he was talking about someone who had worked her way to influence from the ground up. “I don’t know enough about this world to guess what your culture has produced-” He snuck a glance over to Dominimon, before turning it back to Azumi and DemiDevimon. “- but all the same, I imagine you have your artists and entertainers. The ones who work hard to develop their voice and craft, even if they think no-one else is listening. She's certainly one of ours.”
“Hah! Told ya~ Lil’ ol’ Azumi’s just barely above irrelevant! Consistent one-thousand CCV now, babyee!” She crowed smugly up at the creature atop her shoulders. And then she focused on the other guy’s words again. Okay, so her first assumption was right: nepobaby. And…a small fortune?! What the hell? Was this guy one of her oilers?? Azumi blinked, trying to work the math around in her head. She knew damn well who her big donators were, so he had to be one of them. Adding in trying to get her to do shit and from when…huh.
“Y’know, this’s kinda weird. I never thought I’d meet a Vepcon IRL that wouldn’t be a stalker trying to get a good ol’ grope in or worse. Actually, nah, you’re apparently rich: you could just pay someone to do that~”“Come on, Vep, have
some faith in your fans.” Well, she was proving as unflappable as he'd expected; she was true to her online persona, if nothing else. Initial catastrophe aside, it was refreshing to speak to someone he felt he didn't have to tread on eggshells around. Oh, that was a thought- "Besides, I prefer women that I don't have to worry about accidentally stepping on."
Admittedly that came with its own charm, and she certainly wasn't lacking in them besides; but it wasn’t the time to think on that. Throwing back some banter was enough of an adventure for now.
“Are you kidding? Have you seen chat? You’re all a bunch of degens~”“Are you fucking with me?” DemiDevimon simply maintained her unblinking stare at Shogo, seemingly refusing to dignify Azumi's smug look with so much as a downwards glance.
"I've passed turds bigger than this little brat, and you're telling me she's an idol with a bunch of rich idiots wrapped around her finger?""That is the premise, yes." Shogo replied gingerly, turning his glance back to her with a suspicious squint; though he wasn't sure whether he was more perturbed at the insinuation or the fact that she actually seemed to know what an idol was.
The bat-like creature maintained her blank stare for a moment, before finally allowing her gaze to creep down from him to Azumi. A moment passed, the struggle to reconcile the idea of the short woman who looked and spoke like she was taking caffeine through an intravenous drip with the reality of her being an artist with a wide audience and patronage apparent behind her stare-
“Ha!” But with another shot of the barking laugh from before, that seemed to pass as DemiDevimon shook her head.
“Well, shit. Clout and money to burn? Maybe I didn’t draw the short straw after all.”“Well, even with this going on, I’m big enough to admit when I got the wrong idea,” she continued, the blank stare down at Azumi becoming an imperious glare to meet her own, and her mouth twisting into a saw-toothed grin that put her impressive fangs on full display. Perhaps it was on a different basis from her own misgivings, but looking at them now, Shogo felt he had a better idea of why a bond had formed between her and Azumi in particular.
“I’m DemiDevimon. Used to be Dokugumon, before that waste of disk space over there pulled us all in to play the good king in distress or whatever bullshit he’s convinced he’s selling this lot, but I’ll be back to normal soon enough. I ain’t a lord or an idol or whatever, but I’ve been round the block and spin decent coin with my little hole in the wall out in the real country; if you hairless shits don’t mind helping me get back there, I’ll do you a good turn along the way.”“Now you’re getting it, Auntie!” Even knowing DemiDevimon’s name didn’t seem to dissuade Azumi one bit. If she was to be stuck with one of these weird creatures, good thing it was one that at least seemed to act…well, human. And not in the stuck-up ass way Dominimon over there was.
“So uh…guy over there said you were all gonna die if nothing got done. You sure you wanna just go and stay home? I mean, I don’t blame you, I hardly go outside at all myself! But I think there’d be juuuuuust a little incentive if there was, y’know, an apocalypse. Not my problem and all aside from getting home, but I didn’t take you for getting tired of life already.”“Well, he's not bullshitting you on that count.” DemiDevimon’s smile remained, but Shogo noted how it suddenly didn't seem to reach all the way to her eyes, their dark and canny glint, fading to something more distant and pensive. He remembered his previous observations, of how she seemed especially spiteful towards their host but surprisingly gentle to Azumi; and so he took a step back, giving the creature an unspoken gesture to continue rather than jump in over her. She shot him a strange look, but said nothing, for whatever that signified,
“To be clear, if I’m going out, I’m doing my damnedest to get stuck in the purple shit’s throat on the way down. But as you've probably put together well enough yourselves, I ain't doing it for the sake of these useless winged pricks, not on their lives and not on anyone else’s. Not without changes once we’re left to pick up the pieces.”As when she’d spoke of the matter before, her colourful vocabulary couldn't conceal the sharp bitterness of her words; there was a story here, Shogo just knew it. But before he or Azumi could interrogate that any further-
Shogo hadn’t forgotten about Vigilemon, but he had let his attention wander away for a moment as he offered his mea culpa to Azumi and spoke to her and DemiDevimon, and as she indulged her curiosity about the others assembled. The sudden warmth of her stubby spectral hand pawing against the back of his drew his attention back, making him aware of her and her sudden anxiety; he looked down at her, wondering what it was that had set her off in particular.
One possibility presented itself as she let out another unspoken statement of concern, this time not for Azumi or DemiDevimon, but for another of the creatures assembled; the purple lizard who the three of them could now see was being desperately attended by the red-haired woman. It seemed whatever their host had done to stabilize the creature had only been so effective; they looked now like they were steadily inching back towards death’s door.
