Fiberglass Slipper: Part 5 - ...Plus a Touch of the Moon
Title: Fiberglass Slipper: Part 5 - ...Plus a Touch of the Moon
What: Digimon Tamers fanfiction
Rating: PG13
Words: 1895 + two signs
Summary: Jenrya breaks his arm in an attempt to climb a tree one-handed. Drama ensues, along with bad art and a nerdy cure to seasickness. Established Jenrya/Ryo, some vague one-sided Kai/Jenrya (what the hell, man). Written for 30_ways using theme #14 - trees.
Previously: Part 4 - Undone by a Touch of Sun in June...
Notes: With thanks to Steven Sondheim for the title of this and the last part. Guess where I got the card scans? Like Kai, I can't draw Digimon. Well, that's a lie, I used to do a great Calumon, but I digress.
Sample: Be one with the boat.
“If I still know Kai,” mutters Takato, attempting to see above the crowds, “he’ll be...”
From his higher vantage point on Jenrya’s head, Terriermon points with an ear. “Right there, with the flattering sign.”
Takato groans. “We look like Powerpuff Girls.”
“So the artistic talent runs in the family?” quips Terriermon, not unkindly. “What a pity he can’t draw Digimon, I would’ve liked to see his renditions of us.”
Being taller than Takato, Jenrya can see Kai turning the sign before he does. “No, wait, he’s changing it...”
“Kai!” Takato yells. Spotting him, Kai lowers the sign and runs across the terminal for a hug.
Jenrya watches the cousins (and Guilmon, joining the fray) with a smile, then is pleasantly surprised when Kai disentangles himself from the group hug and throws his arms around him. “Erm. Hey, Kai; nice to see you again in less dangerous circumstances; mind the arm.”
Kai pulls back, staring. “Whoa, dude. Did you get that being a Tamer?”
“No, just being a boyfriend,” Jenrya replies without thinking. “Believe me when I say having a picnic up a tree is a bad idea.”
“Right on, man.” Kai grins. “Hey, I was thinking: You’re Chinese, right?”
“Half, from Dad, yeah,” answers Jenrya, wondering where this is going.
“So do I call you Jenrya or Jianliang?”
His accent’s perfect. Jenrya blinks, then turns to Takato. “Takato, I had no idea your family’s part Chinese.”
Takato stares at his cousin. “Believe me, neither did I.”
Kai laughs. “Nah, I’m all Japanese. But this is Okinawa, man, you learn more than your fair share of Chinese around here.”
“Oh, true.” Jenrya smiles. “Call me Jian.”
“Jen, Jian; boy, is this vacation going to get confusing.” Takato mutters.
The sea is rough tonight. The ferry is barely twenty minutes out of Tomari Port when the storm hits, and even Kai is below decks. It's Jenrya’s first time on a boat, but he can cope alright, so he holds the sick bag for Takato as the younger boy throws up.
“I thought we had some pretty bad turbulence on the plane,” he tells Kai, “but this takes the cake.”
Takato does not comment on their flight, only gazes queasily at anything that isn’t moving.
Jenrya leaves Kai on barf bag duty as he goes to get more bags. By the time he gets back, an idea is fully formed. “Takato,” says Jenrya, “stand up.”
“What?” Takato manages.
“I’m serious, Takato, stand up.”
“You’re insane,” remarks Kai, but his cousin struggles to his feet.
Terriermon smiles at him from his perch on Jenrya's shoulder. “There, don't you feel better now?”
“No,” says Takato, stumbling, “I feel like I’m about to fall over.”
Jenrya, on the other hand, keeps his balance as well as Kai. “Look, you know how I’m staying up? I’m moving with the boat.”
“What?” Takato repeats.
The ferry bucks up then falls again, and Jenrya grabs Takato by the wrist and hand to stop him falling over. It’s awkward, but Jenrya is glad Takato’s not throwing up on him again. “You can feel the boat moving. Move with it.”
Takato almost tumbles forth into Jenrya’s arms, and he has to laugh. “Takato, I’m not holding your hand because I like you.”
“I can’t stay standing!” Takato shouts. “This is crazy-”
His brain hits an analogy. “It’s like Guilmon, right? You’re one with Guilmon, and that’s why you always went through his motions when he fought as Megalo Growmon; that’s why when Guilmon hurts, you hurt too, so much more than me and Ruki; that’s why you and Guilmon were able to matrix evolve.”
“I think I get it,” says Guilmon, and Terriermon applauds in surprise.
Jenrya probably sounds like his sensei, but it’s a chance he has to take. “The boat is one with the sea, and that’s why it’s moving around so much. Be one with the boat.”
“He’s not throwing up any more,” murmurs Kai.
Jenrya holds Takato’s gaze. Eventually, something shifts in his eyes, and the younger boy starts shifting with the ebb and flow of the waves as Jenrya does, and he’s not just not throwing up, he’s relatively stable as well. Behind them, Guilmon does the same, and Kai watches, fascinated.
“You can let go of my hands now,” he finally says, “this is getting kind of awkward.”
Jenrya laughs, and lets go. He glances over at Guilmon to see how he’s getting on, and catches a glimpse of Kai. The look on his face is one he’s only ever seen on Ryo’s, one that speaks of curiosity, of interest. When he looks closer, it’s gone.
By the time they reach Tokashiki Island, the ferry is twenty minutes late, and the sun is setting somewhere beyond the rain clouds. Takato’s cousin sighs. “Walking home’s going to be fun in this rain.”
“Well, actually,” Takato says, looking at Guilmon thoughtfully, “I had a better idea. Guilmon?”
“Right,” replies Guilmon, and they matrix evolve. Kai’s jaw literally drops, making Jenrya and Terriermon laugh.
“Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt,” Terriermon grins.
“I don’t suppose you could give me that T-shirt?” asks Takato, blushing in the Tamer sphere. “But at least we’re still in Crimson mode. My plan shall work!” Dukemon lifts Takato and Jenrya’s bags, then turns to Jenrya. “You coming, Jen?”
“Of course; we’re too big as Saint Galgomon.” Jenrya smirks and lets Dukemon pick him and Terriermon up. Catching Kai’s eye, he decides to see if he can get more of a reaction out of him, and mock-swoons. “Oh, Takato, you’re so strong.” Kai merely raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t push it,” Takato warns him, but inside the Tamer sphere, he’s smiling. With that, Dukemon takes off, not bothering to bring Kai. “That’s for leaving us behind last time!”
“What...?” asks Terriermon, hanging on to Jenrya’s head.
He always finds it a bit unnerving to hear Takato and Guilmon speak together. “Last summer, he jumped off the ferry and swam home, leaving us to walk to his grandpa’s house from the port.” Guilmon takes over from there. “Takato got so tired he fell asleep and I had to push him home on top of his suitcase.”
“I thought we agreed we weren’t going to talk about that,” grumbles Takato, then he changes the subject. “I wish this rain would let up, I bet our armor is going to rust.”
“But it’s chrome digizoid, right? It should just be data.” Jenrya muses. “I don’t think it would have any iron in it...”
“You’re too practical,” says Dukemon, and Jenrya shivers again at their dual voice. Takato notices. “Are you cold?”
“A little,” Jenrya admits, only realizing it now. “You’re doing a pretty good job of keeping the rain off, though, thanks.”
“It’s only because they’re so big,” Terriermon stage whispers.
“We heard that. And it’s not like you’re much better as Saint Galgomon.”
“This is true,” the child concedes. “Hey, are we there yet?”
“Just about...”
“There?” asks Jenrya, pointing out a house.
“No, that’s a neighbor. Hold on... There!”
Dukemon lands neatly by the deck, to the stares of Kai’s grandfather. Panting, Kai runs up, and grins as Dukemon puts Jenrya, Terriermon, and the bags down then reverts into Takato and Guilmon. “Just a dog, huh, Gramps?”
His grandfather stares for a moment, then turns to Jenrya. “Who’s this?”
Jenrya bows. “Lee Jenrya, or Jianliang, sir. I’m one of Takato’s friends.”
Terriermon gets a pointed look. “Is this your dog?”
“Er...” replies Jenrya, lost for words.
It’s not homesickness or being in a foreign place. It’s not sleeping on the floor; they did that in the digital world. It’s not the rain pelting down on the roof, or the humidity that comes later. It’s not even Guilmon's snoring. Jenrya can't sleep, and he doesn’t know why.
Kai had said the house isn’t far from the beach. When the storm clears up, Jenrya puts his shoes on and walks there, taking his D-arc, and, rather uselessly, his cellphone, out of habit. There’s no cellphone reception out here. Takato had mentioned there’s some in the town, though he’d muttered afterwards that it wasn't much use to him anyway; he still doesn’t have a phone.
Ryo would like it here, Jenrya decides. (The urge to kick himself for thinking about him flickers feebly, then fades.) There had been a moment once when Ryo was up from Kitakyushu on a particularly smoggy day, and they’d been lying together in the park, his head in Ryo’s lap, Ryo’s fingers in his hair. Ryo gives the best head massages. But he’d been restless that day, looking up into the polluted clouds when Jenrya had looked up and tried to catch his eye. “I hate the city,” he’d muttered, “being all cooped up like this, people everywhere, nothing to do but be nice and polite and the perfect little Japanese boy...”
“There is more,” Jenrya had murmured, but he couldn’t really come up with anything.
There must have been something sad in his eyes when Ryo looked back at him, because the older boy had smiled and said, “It’s worth it, for you,” and kissed him right there in the park.
But Ryo would like it here, in the middle of nowhere with no one around and the sea at his feet. He’d said once he liked the sea.
The waves are calmer now, murky in the night. Jenrya thinks they’re the color of Ryo’s eyes, when they’re intense and dark with desire.
“Jian! Don’t go out there at night!”
The water laps at his feet. Jenrya hadn’t noticed he’d stepped into the tide. He glances back at the beach, startled, and sees Takato’s cousin.
“I woke up, and you weren’t there,” Kai pants, by way of explanation.
In the moonlight, Kai’s hair is the same shade as Ryo’s. Jenrya steps closer - but no, Kai’s eyes are brown where Ryo’s are blue. Kai looks at him oddly, then tries to write it off. “Yeah, that’s it, get away from the water. People have drowned going for a midnight swim out there.”
Jenrya stops before him. How could he ever have mistaken Kai for Ryo, even for a moment?
“What are you doing out here, anyway?”
Snap out of it, Lee, Jenrya tells himself. “I couldn’t sleep, and... At home I usually just walk around the house, but I felt like that would be intruding, so I came here.”
“You’re insane,” remarks Kai.
“Yes, you said that before.” Jenrya observes. “Come on, let’s go back to your place.”
They walk the path in silence. Jenrya stalks ahead, still too restless to even think about sleeping, and he kind of wishes Kai hadn’t come after him.
“What were you saying to Takato before?”
“Hmm?” Jenrya glances back at Kai.
Kai does a passable imitation of Jenrya’s swoon. “‘Oh, Takato, you’re so strong.’”
At this time of night, he doesn’t have the patience to be nice about it. “It was just to see how you’d react.”
Takato’s cousin looks a little confused. But there’s that interest again. As flattering as it is, it’s unwelcome.
“On the ferry.” Jenrya attempts to clarify. “You were looking.”
Kai averts his gaze, but there’s a challenge in his voice. “So what if I was?”
For a moment, Jenrya stares at him, then he strides back up to the house on his own.
Part 6 - The Boys of Summer
What: Digimon Tamers fanfiction
Rating: PG13
Words: 1895 + two signs
Summary: Jenrya breaks his arm in an attempt to climb a tree one-handed. Drama ensues, along with bad art and a nerdy cure to seasickness. Established Jenrya/Ryo, some vague one-sided Kai/Jenrya (what the hell, man). Written for 30_ways using theme #14 - trees.
Previously: Part 4 - Undone by a Touch of Sun in June...
Notes: With thanks to Steven Sondheim for the title of this and the last part. Guess where I got the card scans? Like Kai, I can't draw Digimon. Well, that's a lie, I used to do a great Calumon, but I digress.
Sample: Be one with the boat.
“If I still know Kai,” mutters Takato, attempting to see above the crowds, “he’ll be...”
From his higher vantage point on Jenrya’s head, Terriermon points with an ear. “Right there, with the flattering sign.”
Takato groans. “We look like Powerpuff Girls.”
“So the artistic talent runs in the family?” quips Terriermon, not unkindly. “What a pity he can’t draw Digimon, I would’ve liked to see his renditions of us.”
Being taller than Takato, Jenrya can see Kai turning the sign before he does. “No, wait, he’s changing it...”
“Kai!” Takato yells. Spotting him, Kai lowers the sign and runs across the terminal for a hug.
Jenrya watches the cousins (and Guilmon, joining the fray) with a smile, then is pleasantly surprised when Kai disentangles himself from the group hug and throws his arms around him. “Erm. Hey, Kai; nice to see you again in less dangerous circumstances; mind the arm.”
Kai pulls back, staring. “Whoa, dude. Did you get that being a Tamer?”
“No, just being a boyfriend,” Jenrya replies without thinking. “Believe me when I say having a picnic up a tree is a bad idea.”
“Right on, man.” Kai grins. “Hey, I was thinking: You’re Chinese, right?”
“Half, from Dad, yeah,” answers Jenrya, wondering where this is going.
“So do I call you Jenrya or Jianliang?”
His accent’s perfect. Jenrya blinks, then turns to Takato. “Takato, I had no idea your family’s part Chinese.”
Takato stares at his cousin. “Believe me, neither did I.”
Kai laughs. “Nah, I’m all Japanese. But this is Okinawa, man, you learn more than your fair share of Chinese around here.”
“Oh, true.” Jenrya smiles. “Call me Jian.”
“Jen, Jian; boy, is this vacation going to get confusing.” Takato mutters.
The sea is rough tonight. The ferry is barely twenty minutes out of Tomari Port when the storm hits, and even Kai is below decks. It's Jenrya’s first time on a boat, but he can cope alright, so he holds the sick bag for Takato as the younger boy throws up.
“I thought we had some pretty bad turbulence on the plane,” he tells Kai, “but this takes the cake.”
Takato does not comment on their flight, only gazes queasily at anything that isn’t moving.
Jenrya leaves Kai on barf bag duty as he goes to get more bags. By the time he gets back, an idea is fully formed. “Takato,” says Jenrya, “stand up.”
“What?” Takato manages.
“I’m serious, Takato, stand up.”
“You’re insane,” remarks Kai, but his cousin struggles to his feet.
Terriermon smiles at him from his perch on Jenrya's shoulder. “There, don't you feel better now?”
“No,” says Takato, stumbling, “I feel like I’m about to fall over.”
Jenrya, on the other hand, keeps his balance as well as Kai. “Look, you know how I’m staying up? I’m moving with the boat.”
“What?” Takato repeats.
The ferry bucks up then falls again, and Jenrya grabs Takato by the wrist and hand to stop him falling over. It’s awkward, but Jenrya is glad Takato’s not throwing up on him again. “You can feel the boat moving. Move with it.”
Takato almost tumbles forth into Jenrya’s arms, and he has to laugh. “Takato, I’m not holding your hand because I like you.”
“I can’t stay standing!” Takato shouts. “This is crazy-”
His brain hits an analogy. “It’s like Guilmon, right? You’re one with Guilmon, and that’s why you always went through his motions when he fought as Megalo Growmon; that’s why when Guilmon hurts, you hurt too, so much more than me and Ruki; that’s why you and Guilmon were able to matrix evolve.”
“I think I get it,” says Guilmon, and Terriermon applauds in surprise.
Jenrya probably sounds like his sensei, but it’s a chance he has to take. “The boat is one with the sea, and that’s why it’s moving around so much. Be one with the boat.”
“He’s not throwing up any more,” murmurs Kai.
Jenrya holds Takato’s gaze. Eventually, something shifts in his eyes, and the younger boy starts shifting with the ebb and flow of the waves as Jenrya does, and he’s not just not throwing up, he’s relatively stable as well. Behind them, Guilmon does the same, and Kai watches, fascinated.
“You can let go of my hands now,” he finally says, “this is getting kind of awkward.”
Jenrya laughs, and lets go. He glances over at Guilmon to see how he’s getting on, and catches a glimpse of Kai. The look on his face is one he’s only ever seen on Ryo’s, one that speaks of curiosity, of interest. When he looks closer, it’s gone.
By the time they reach Tokashiki Island, the ferry is twenty minutes late, and the sun is setting somewhere beyond the rain clouds. Takato’s cousin sighs. “Walking home’s going to be fun in this rain.”
“Well, actually,” Takato says, looking at Guilmon thoughtfully, “I had a better idea. Guilmon?”
“Right,” replies Guilmon, and they matrix evolve. Kai’s jaw literally drops, making Jenrya and Terriermon laugh.
“Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt,” Terriermon grins.
“I don’t suppose you could give me that T-shirt?” asks Takato, blushing in the Tamer sphere. “But at least we’re still in Crimson mode. My plan shall work!” Dukemon lifts Takato and Jenrya’s bags, then turns to Jenrya. “You coming, Jen?”
“Of course; we’re too big as Saint Galgomon.” Jenrya smirks and lets Dukemon pick him and Terriermon up. Catching Kai’s eye, he decides to see if he can get more of a reaction out of him, and mock-swoons. “Oh, Takato, you’re so strong.” Kai merely raises an eyebrow.
“Don’t push it,” Takato warns him, but inside the Tamer sphere, he’s smiling. With that, Dukemon takes off, not bothering to bring Kai. “That’s for leaving us behind last time!”
“What...?” asks Terriermon, hanging on to Jenrya’s head.
He always finds it a bit unnerving to hear Takato and Guilmon speak together. “Last summer, he jumped off the ferry and swam home, leaving us to walk to his grandpa’s house from the port.” Guilmon takes over from there. “Takato got so tired he fell asleep and I had to push him home on top of his suitcase.”
“I thought we agreed we weren’t going to talk about that,” grumbles Takato, then he changes the subject. “I wish this rain would let up, I bet our armor is going to rust.”
“But it’s chrome digizoid, right? It should just be data.” Jenrya muses. “I don’t think it would have any iron in it...”
“You’re too practical,” says Dukemon, and Jenrya shivers again at their dual voice. Takato notices. “Are you cold?”
“A little,” Jenrya admits, only realizing it now. “You’re doing a pretty good job of keeping the rain off, though, thanks.”
“It’s only because they’re so big,” Terriermon stage whispers.
“We heard that. And it’s not like you’re much better as Saint Galgomon.”
“This is true,” the child concedes. “Hey, are we there yet?”
“Just about...”
“There?” asks Jenrya, pointing out a house.
“No, that’s a neighbor. Hold on... There!”
Dukemon lands neatly by the deck, to the stares of Kai’s grandfather. Panting, Kai runs up, and grins as Dukemon puts Jenrya, Terriermon, and the bags down then reverts into Takato and Guilmon. “Just a dog, huh, Gramps?”
His grandfather stares for a moment, then turns to Jenrya. “Who’s this?”
Jenrya bows. “Lee Jenrya, or Jianliang, sir. I’m one of Takato’s friends.”
Terriermon gets a pointed look. “Is this your dog?”
“Er...” replies Jenrya, lost for words.
It’s not homesickness or being in a foreign place. It’s not sleeping on the floor; they did that in the digital world. It’s not the rain pelting down on the roof, or the humidity that comes later. It’s not even Guilmon's snoring. Jenrya can't sleep, and he doesn’t know why.
Kai had said the house isn’t far from the beach. When the storm clears up, Jenrya puts his shoes on and walks there, taking his D-arc, and, rather uselessly, his cellphone, out of habit. There’s no cellphone reception out here. Takato had mentioned there’s some in the town, though he’d muttered afterwards that it wasn't much use to him anyway; he still doesn’t have a phone.
Ryo would like it here, Jenrya decides. (The urge to kick himself for thinking about him flickers feebly, then fades.) There had been a moment once when Ryo was up from Kitakyushu on a particularly smoggy day, and they’d been lying together in the park, his head in Ryo’s lap, Ryo’s fingers in his hair. Ryo gives the best head massages. But he’d been restless that day, looking up into the polluted clouds when Jenrya had looked up and tried to catch his eye. “I hate the city,” he’d muttered, “being all cooped up like this, people everywhere, nothing to do but be nice and polite and the perfect little Japanese boy...”
“There is more,” Jenrya had murmured, but he couldn’t really come up with anything.
There must have been something sad in his eyes when Ryo looked back at him, because the older boy had smiled and said, “It’s worth it, for you,” and kissed him right there in the park.
But Ryo would like it here, in the middle of nowhere with no one around and the sea at his feet. He’d said once he liked the sea.
The waves are calmer now, murky in the night. Jenrya thinks they’re the color of Ryo’s eyes, when they’re intense and dark with desire.
“Jian! Don’t go out there at night!”
The water laps at his feet. Jenrya hadn’t noticed he’d stepped into the tide. He glances back at the beach, startled, and sees Takato’s cousin.
“I woke up, and you weren’t there,” Kai pants, by way of explanation.
In the moonlight, Kai’s hair is the same shade as Ryo’s. Jenrya steps closer - but no, Kai’s eyes are brown where Ryo’s are blue. Kai looks at him oddly, then tries to write it off. “Yeah, that’s it, get away from the water. People have drowned going for a midnight swim out there.”
Jenrya stops before him. How could he ever have mistaken Kai for Ryo, even for a moment?
“What are you doing out here, anyway?”
Snap out of it, Lee, Jenrya tells himself. “I couldn’t sleep, and... At home I usually just walk around the house, but I felt like that would be intruding, so I came here.”
“You’re insane,” remarks Kai.
“Yes, you said that before.” Jenrya observes. “Come on, let’s go back to your place.”
They walk the path in silence. Jenrya stalks ahead, still too restless to even think about sleeping, and he kind of wishes Kai hadn’t come after him.
“What were you saying to Takato before?”
“Hmm?” Jenrya glances back at Kai.
Kai does a passable imitation of Jenrya’s swoon. “‘Oh, Takato, you’re so strong.’”
At this time of night, he doesn’t have the patience to be nice about it. “It was just to see how you’d react.”
Takato’s cousin looks a little confused. But there’s that interest again. As flattering as it is, it’s unwelcome.
“On the ferry.” Jenrya attempts to clarify. “You were looking.”
Kai averts his gaze, but there’s a challenge in his voice. “So what if I was?”
For a moment, Jenrya stares at him, then he strides back up to the house on his own.
Part 6 - The Boys of Summer