I'm still writing the bit where Mummymon & Alice grow to be good friends. Basically they meet each other a lot and talk, at first Alice tries to help Mummymon out with Arukenimon but as time goes by and nothing much works anyway she tries to take his mind off of her instead. Mummymon doesn't really notice that he's paying less attention to Arukenimon, but Aru sure notices. Alice might be falling for him, but she hasn't actually blantantly tried to hit on him yet. Lots of general chumming around. And then... I get bored and insert some 911.
His next visit was very different.
Nobody much was around that evening, so he was feeling a little lucky and pleasantly mellow when he knocked on her door. On the other side, Selkie barked plaintively, but Alice didn't answer. No cheery hello, no footsteps. He waited a little guiltily by the door for a few minutes and knocked again. Selkie made a positively pathetic yowl and started clawing at the door.
He blinked, a bad feeling brewing in his chest. Surely the dog wouldn't act like that just because her alpha wasn't around? He tried to remember if he'd seen any scratch marks on the inside of the door.
No... There hadn't been any.
"Alice?" he called out. Selkie howled again. "I'm coming in." He hesitated another moment, chewing his lip, hoping this was the right thing to do. As carefully as he could, he simply pushed on the door until the jamb splintered around the bolt, wincing at the sound. Selkie leapt on him with a flurry of licks and then dashed to the end of the hall, where she turned and waited. Mummymon took her cue and followed, seriously worried now.
Selkie led him to Alice. She was sprawled out on the kitchen floor, some food on the stove long since ruined. He reached over her to turn the heat off, then knelt down, lead in his stomach, not knowing what to do. At least she was breathing, and she didn't even really look uncomfortable... What could be wrong? He didn't know anything about humans. Selkie sat by his side, licking Alice's face hopefully.
After watching her for a few minutes with no sudden insight, he stood up and scanned the room. What... what should he do?
Alice's phone was mounted on the wall at the end of the kitchen counter. Some numbers were scribbled on sticky notes, plastered over the wall and cabinet nearby. He searched for any names Alice had mentioned, and at last found one- Akitsu, a friend of hers that he was pretty sure she'd said lived nearby... They worked at the same place or something... He picked up the phone and carefully dialled the number.
A female voice answered. "Hello?"
"Hello," he responded nervously. "This is, um... a friend of Alice's."
"Uh... okay..."
"You live near her, right?"
"Yes..."
"I came over to visit and she... passed out on the floor. I don't know what to do."
"What? Who is this?"
"I'm sorry, I can't stay- please come and help her?"
"Who the hell are you?"
He hung up on her, feeling awful. Selkie was looking questioningly up at him. "I'm sorry, girl. I can't help. I... I can't let the humans find me." He looked back at Alice, who hadn't moved. "I have to go. Please be alright..." And he headed for the door.
Selkie whined a little and followed him.
"No, Selkie. Stay here. Alice needs you."
She gave him an incredible stare. He got the distinct feeling that she was saying the same thing back to him. He tried to leave again, and Selkie followed him, scratching the broken door open and trotting up alongside him.
"No, girl," he pleaded, but the dog was determined. He looked around, a little panicked, and went back inside. Selkie's lead was hanging on the wall by the door, and she patiently let him clip it to her collar. He snatched up a bag of her food from the pantry, and then they were on their way.
He forced himself to walk slowly, trying to look natural, trying not to draw attention to himself on the dark street. Selkie walked ahead of him on the short leash. He wondered what he was going to do. Oikawa and Arukenimon wouldn't just let him bring a dog home. He realized he hadn't left a note to say he was taking care of Selkie and grimaced behind his high collar, but there was nothing to do about it now. Probably, Alice could guess that it had been him that had broken in and that he had the dog.
If Alice was okay.
All of a sudden it hit him, what it meant to be human. Fragile. Mortal. Oikawa had showed his lackeys the place where his friend was buried. When humans die, other humans put them in the ground, and they don't come back. They don't ever come back. And even if Alice was okay, it would still happen to her, one day.
He was empty, deep down inside, hollow. He had never felt this way before. He didn't like it. He wanted to see her again, the way she always was, bright and lively. He would, wouldn't he? She was just asleep there, on the floor of her apartment. She would be okay. Her friend would come over and help her, and she'd be fine, and he could come over again in a couple of days and bring Selkie back.
He wished he knew more about humans.
He took the scenic route back to Oikawa's place, giving himself time to calm down and think. He stopped a short distance away and took Selkie's collar and lead off, pocketing them, and then went inside, Selkie obediently following. Oikawa wasn't in evidence, probably locked in his den, but Arukenimon was in the common room, watching the television. She glanced over at him as he walked in, looking venomous.
"And where have you been," she asked, "At "the park" again?" He didn't react and she scowled, then recoiled a little as she noticed the dog. "What is that doing here?"
"I was lonely," he responded, finding it very easy to sound downtrodden, "so I got a dog."
"You did not get a dog!"
Mummymon looked at the dog pointedly, then back at her.
She shot up off the couch and stormed further into the house, calling for Oikawa. Mummymon heard her all but whine to their employer about what "that idiot" was up to now, and tried to ignore it, taking Selkie to the kitchen and setting out a bowl of water for her, dumping some food into another one. She lapped at the water gratefully and he pet her, feeling a little better. Then, for good measure, he ruffed up her fur, trying to make her look unkempt.
"Mummymon." Oikawa stepped into the doorway, looking annoyed. "What is the meaning of this?"
"It's just a dog," he replied, "She's mine." Under his hand, Selkie's frame had gone stiff, tense, her hackles raised, and he wondered why. She didn't like the boss?
"You can't have a dog."
"Oh, please, boss? Can't I keep her? Just for a couple of days? She's just a poor stray dog, she's so hungry..." he gestured to the dog pleadingly. Selkie hammed it up, attacking the food bowl vigourously, spilling kibbles all the hell over the place. She was a sighthound, even fat, they looked thin.
Oikawa blinked. Well, there was no harm in it, he supposed. Nobody would miss a stray. And it would keep Mummymon occupied and out of his hair. Maybe he should give Arukenimon a pet too. "Fine, you can keep it," he said, and behind him Arukenimon gasped with outrage. "But not in here. Take it outside and wash it, and keep it out there. You'll have to tether it up with something."
"Yes, sir," Mummymon agreed, grinning broadly. "Come on, girl," he called, and Selkie followed him back outside. He smoothed her fur back into place carefully, and took her collar from his pocket. He took her tags off the collar with a solid pang of guilt, before fastening it back around her neck. Selkie, the tag read, Alice M. and a phone number. He wondered when he should try to call, when he might have a chance of finding out if she was okay.
The night was unusually warm, so he decided it would be okay to leave Selkie outside until he had the chance to sneak her into his room. He knew he'd get caught, but he also knew Oikawa had a tiny soft spot that he could take advantage of, as long as he didn't do it too often.
He didn't get the chance to call the next day. Oikawa had a mission for him. Nothing fantastic, just a scout round the Digital World to see how little Ken was getting on with the work. And then the boss got a curious look in his eye, glancing outside to where Selkie was snoozing in the warm morning sun. He wanted to know if Earthly animals could make it through the gate.
And they could.
Selkie had followed Mummymon fearlessly through the Digiport, and was now jumping around excitedly in the fresh grass of a new world, sniffing everything. Mummymon grinned, walking over to his waiting vehicle. He had never seen the stoic pup act so bubbly.
"Come on, girl," he invited her, holding the jeep's passenger door open for her. She barked happily and scrambled up into the seat. He praised her, chuckling, and slid behind the wheel. Then they were on their way.
It was a stunningly beautiful day in the Digital World. Cool wind met their faces, warm sun shone down on them out of a sky too blue to be Real. They crossed a zone into some sand dunes, following the trail of spires Ken had set up the day before, and Mummymon found himself completely unable to resist the temptation to just fool around, riding the jeep around over the steep dunes, spraying up mighty splashes of sand everywhere. Eventually they were just covered with sand, so he headed over to the lake that bordered the zone. Selkie bounded out of the jeep and into the water, crashing around in the shallows and shaking, getting the sand out of her mouth and her short fur, while Mummymon shook out his coat back on shore.
He wished Alice could be there with them. He'd never really understood why Oikawa was so fanatical about weakening the borders of the Digital World enough to let grown Humans in... but now, he found that he wanted it too. He leaned on the side of the jeep, watching Selkie play, and sighed, wishing that he could bring Alice here, even once, just once. Maybe, once Oikawa had succeeded and everyone understood, and they didn't have to keep it a secret anymore, he would be able to do it. She would love it, he was sure. He imagined her running on the beach with Selkie and smiled.
But the image of her lying alone on her apartment floor came back to him, and his heart fell. But no- she would be alright. He had to believe she would be alright. After all, Selkie was happy, and surely that meant nothing could be wrong? Alice always said Selkie just knew things like that, somehow.
Selkie was growling.
Mummymon looked up and saw the dog fluffed up with anger, backing away from some type of crab Digimon he wasn't familiar with. It was at least twice Selkie's size and armed with a nasty-looking set of cyborg claws. The creature diplayed aggressively, waving its claws, and Selkie growled louder, still backing away. A cannon flipped into view on its back and Mummymon was running even before his transformation began, as he watched its power build up. He ran straight into the lake, catching the barrel of the cannon with Snake Bandage and yanking its shot wide of Selkie.
The dog yelped as the shot blazed out and melted a chunk of sand into glass a few feet away. She curled her lips back and barked like mad. Mummymon hoped she wouldn't dash in and try to help. He released the cannon and fired on the crab with his rifle, laying a blaze of pain accross its front with a strafing shot. It hunched down in defeat and retreated back into the depths.
Mummymon didn't know if it had any friends to call on, and he didn't want to find out. He turned and scooped up Selkie on the way to the jeep, dropping back into his more human form. Behind him, the water roiled, something huge surfacing. He didn't look back. He dropped the dog in the jeep beside him, started it up and in moments they were out of sight behind the dune ridge.
They were a good way back to the Digiport by the time he'd calmed down. He looked over at Selkie. "You okay, girl?" he asked, petting her reassuringly on the shoulders. She turned and gave him an affirmative lick. "Good girl. I'm sorry I put you in danger." She looked up at him almost reproachfully and barked quietly, wagging her tail. He laughed. "Well, as long as you had a good time."
He thought about his Human friend as the Digital landscape unfolded before them, and after a while he asked, "do you think Alice is alright?"
Selkie was asleep.
The dog threw off Mummymon's balance on the way home, so the Digiport spat them out in a tumble back at Oikawa's. He gave his report to the Human and asked if he could have permission to go for the day.
Oikawa scowled. Mummymon hadn't always even wanted to go when there was nothing to do- he'd only gotten fond of the idea of going to the park after Oikawa had forced him a few times, wanting the house to himself. But he'd never actually had the audacity to ask for time off before. "No," he answered after a moment, "No, I don't think so. You can stay here today, Mummymon."
Mummymon blinked in surprise. He had always worked hard and he hardly ever asked for anything... Had bringing Selkie been too much? "Sir?"
"You heard me," Oikawa said, annoyed. "If you want something to do, go detail the car."
From the common room at the end of the hall, Arukenimon's quiet chuckle reached them. Mummymon glanced in her direction with a venom in his eye that Oikawa had never seen before. "Yes, boss," the Digimon said, just a little harshly.
Before he could react, Oikawa had him by the shoulders and pulled him roughly back to face him. "I don't like to be spoken to that way, Mummymon. You behave yourself, or we go back to training. You understand?"
Mummymon's face cracked in terrified disbelief- training? But training was over... He'd only needed training when he had first gotten here and didn't know how to be good, he didn't need training anymore! He couldn't! Oikawa nodded at the fear that welled up in his creation's eye, and let him go.
"I'm sorry, sir," Mummymon said quitely, staring at his shoes.
Selkie was growling. Oikawa looked down at her and scowled, something twisting unpleasantly inside him. "Tomorrow you will get rid of that dog," he ordered, and Mummymon didn't so much as look up in protest.
skip to the next written chunk of Selkie
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